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Mars does not have a magnetosphere

You might as well unpack your suitcase for that trip to Mars.

Mars does not have a magnetosphere. Any discussion of humans ever settling the red planet can stop right there, but of course it never does. Do you have a low-cost plan for, uh, creating a gigantic active dynamo at Mars’s dead core? No? Well. It’s fine. I’m sure you have some other workable, sustainable plan for shielding live Mars inhabitants from deadly solar and cosmic radiation, forever. No? Huh. Well then let’s discuss something else equally realistic, like your plan to build a condo complex in Middle Earth.

OK, so you still want to talk about Mars. Fine. Let’s imagine that Mars’s lack of a magnetic field

… Read the rest

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Mars does not have a magnetosphere
By Ophelia Benson, October 22, 2024

You might as well unpack your suitcase for that trip to Mars.

Mars does not have a magnetosphere. Any discussion of humans ever settling the red planet can stop right there, but of course it never does. Do you have a low-cost plan for, uh, creating a gigantic active dynamo at Mars’s dead core? No? Well. It’s fine. I’m sure you have some other workable, sustainable plan for shielding live Mars inhabitants from deadly solar and cosmic radiation, forever. No? Huh. Well then let’s discuss something else equally realistic, like your plan to build a condo complex in Middle Earth.

OK, so you still want to talk about Mars. Fine. Let’s imagine that Mars’s lack of a magnetic field

… Read the rest

Archives
Bad Moves
Articles
Flashback
In Focus
Latest News
Letters
Notes and Comment Blog

Mars does not have a magnetosphere 

You might as well unpack your suitcase for that trip to Mars.

Mars does not have a magnetosphere. Any discussion of humans ever settling the red planet can stop right there, but of course it never does. Do you have a low-cost plan for, uh, creating a gigantic active dynamo at Mars’s dead core? No? Well. It’s fine. I’m sure you have some other workable, sustainable plan for shielding live Mars inhabitants from deadly solar and cosmic radiation, forever. No? Huh. Well then let’s discuss something else equally realistic, like your plan to build a condo complex in Middle Earth.

OK, so you still want to talk about Mars. Fine. Let’s imagine that Mars’s lack of a magnetic field

… Read the rest
Worth it? 

Musk is bribing voters.

A group of 11 former Republican officials have become the latest public figures to raise questions over the legality of cash incentives being offered by tech billionaire Elon Musk to voters before the US election on 5 November.

Mr Musk’s campaign group America PAC, which was set up to support Donald Trump in the presidential contest, calls on registered voters in seven swing states to sign a petition. Each day until the election, one signatory is selected at random and awarded a million-dollar prize.

But legal experts and several Democrats have suggested the giveaway may break American law by offering money for an act that requires someone to be signed up as a voter.

And … Read the rest

Barring oath-breaking insurrectionists from office 

The deck, of course, is stacked.

With former President Donald Trump on the precipice of possibly becoming president again, let’s recall that he’s on the 2024 ballot thanks partly to the Supreme Court. 

I’m not talking about the ruling granting him broad criminal immunity. Though the Roberts Court’s handling of that appeal helped Trump push off a trial in the federal election interference case — possibly forever, if he wins the election and deploys his reacquired presidential power to crush it.

I’m talking about another Jan. 6-related appeal from the last Supreme Court term, one that more directly positioned the Republican to take office again: Trump v. Anderson.

It was there that the justices

… Read the rest
Bad man does bad things 

Another thing Trump has been pushing lies about: FEMA diverting its money to “migrants” and thus having no money for disaster relief.

False claims that federal emergency disaster money was given to migrants in the U.S. illegally have spread quickly in recent days, boosted by former President Donald Trump and some of his most high-profile supporters.

Trump repeated one of the more extreme baseless allegations during a rally Thursday in Saginaw, Michigan, saying that the money had been stolen.  “They stole the FEMA money, just like they stole it from a bank, so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season,” Trump said.

That was October 4. He’s still … Read the rest

Guest post: The concerns are multiple 

Originally a comment by Dave Ricks on Be sure to omit all the important facts.

RILEY GAINES et al v. NCAA et al is an excellent reference. This class action lawsuit is funded by the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS). The ICONS web page about the lawsuit has the latest amended version of the lawsuit as a PDF file (208 pages, filed Sept. 23, 2024).

In this latest version, the list of Plaintiffs (p. 168) adds Brooke Slusser, a volleyball player at San Jose State University (SJSU). In the expanded section on Volleyball (pp. 151-163), she adds details of her experience with Blair Fleming on the SJSU team. Of course there are safety concerns about Fleming hitting harder … Read the rest

These statements are demonstrably false 

Oops now Trump has got himself a libel suit. Fully deserved.

Five men who were wrongfully convicted as teenagers in the so-called Central Park Five jogger rape case sued Donald Trump on Monday, saying the Republican presidential nominee defamed them by falsely claiming they killed someone and pleaded guilty.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, cites several statements Trump made about the men during his Sept. 10 debate with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, after she blasted Trump for taking out an ad in 1989 calling for the then-teen defendants to be executed.

“Defendant Trump falsely stated [at the debate] that Plaintiffs killed an individual and pled guilty to the crime. These statements are demonstrably false,”

… Read the rest
Florida resident has string of felony convictions 

Newsthump (i.e. satirical):

McDonald’s has been praised by the liberal media for giving work experience to a convicted felon who is currently looking for a new job.

Florida resident Donald Trump, 78, has a string of felony convictions that will quite rightly prevent him from seeking gainful employment in a number of businesses and organisations, but McDonald’s said it was willing to offer a helping hand to anyone trying to get back into work.

McDonald’s spokesperson Chuck Williams told us, “I understand that this man lost his job almost four years ago now, and that this job loss led to some poor life decisions that have left him with a significant criminal record – but for one morning, we were

… Read the rest
Praise god and pass the porn 

I don’t normally quote the Christian Post, but I’m not a fanatic about it.

An Arkansas pastor has been arrested on 100 counts related to child pornography after a tip led authorities to investigate.

James Vincent Henry, 43, of Delight, Arkansas, has been taken into custody by Pike County Sheriff’s deputies after special agents with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received two cyber tips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children last month, KARK reported.

Henry is the pastor of Crossroads Assembly of God Church in Delight and has served as a foster parent to 70 children over the years, according to Church Leaders.

Oh has he. So we know what those unfortunate 70 … Read the rest

Sowing distrust 

Advance cheating:

Key rightwing legal groups with ties to Donald Trump and his allies have banked millions of dollars from conservative foundations and filed multiple lawsuits challenging voting rules in swing states that are already sowing distrust of election processes and pushing dangerous conspiracy theories, election watchdogs warn.

They also warn that the groups appear to be laying the groundwork for a concerted challenge to the result of November’s presidential election if Trump is defeated by Kamala Harris.

That’s a good look. Decide ahead of time, in the absence of any facts, that the election will have been corrupt because you don’t like the outcome. You don’t see too many will have beens in normal life, because in general … Read the rest

24 little genders went into the forest 

This isn’t three stoned kids in a garage, this is a government. It says so right in the lede.

The SNP government has claimed there are 24 different genders.

In official guidance, the devolved administration clarified a list of two dozen terms it said the gender identity of members of the public could be recorded [as?] by public bodies.

Just two dozen, eh? You know there will be people wanting new ones added to the list, and pitching fits if anyone tells them no.

Ok let’s have a look.

The 24 genders

Cisgender

Trans man

Trans woman

Non-Binary

Trans – not otherwise specified

Agender

Trans masculine

Trans feminine

Genderfluid

Genderqueer

Questioning

Intersex

Assigned female at birth – not

… Read the rest
A committed activist 

Reduxx reports:

The father of a transgender athlete has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for distributing child pornography. Marc Jacques, the father of Maelle Jacques, cited his son’s transgender identity and his own advocacy for transgender rights in his letter to the court requesting a non-custodial sentence.

Why, on earth, would either of those (let alone both) be reasons not to lock him up? There are reasons to question the usefulness of custodial sentences in general, but how in hell does his son’s trans idenniny equal a reason to be lenient to him in particular?

More the other way around, I would think.

Maelle Jacques, 16, is a trans-identified boy who has become a controversial athlete

… Read the rest
Botox Chuckie says what? 

A pearl beyond compare. 59-year-old man simpers in a short red party dress that would look bizarre on a woman half his age, and questions the queenliness of someone who is not a 59-year-old man in a short red party dress.

… Read the rest

Including the predators 

Brilliant. Take Back the Night warbles about how incloooosive it is, meaning it inclooods men. Just fucking brilliant: resist rape culture by pretending men are women.

“All women are welcome – we are a trans-inclusive march.” By “all women” they of course mean “including men who say they are women.” Take back the night and then hand it over to men.… Read the rest

In all due respect to women 

Trump’s new message is Oooh Big Dick.

Donald Trump’s campaign suggested he would begin previewing his closing argument Saturday night with Election Day barely two weeks away. But the former president kicked off his rally with a detailed story about Arnold Palmer, at one point even praising the late, legendary golfer’s genitalia.

Re-write: Trump’s campaign was silly enough to claim he would be making an “argument” at his rally last night, but instead he drooled about a golfer’s Yoooje junk.

“Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that in all due respect to women,” Trump said. “This is a guy that was all man.”

By “all due respect” he of course means zero respect. Trump thinks women … Read the rest

Manzanar it was not 

Trump is trying to rewrite his attempted coup.

Donald J. Trump on Friday tried to revise the history of the deadly attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, as new details in the federal prosecution against him were made public by the judge in the case.

His attempt to recast the events of Jan. 6, 2021, came on the same day that he compared his supporters who were arrested, convicted and imprisoned for their actions at the Capitol to the victims of the Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II. And it followed a recent remark in which Mr. Trump declared Jan. 6 a day of “love.”

It says something about this country that … Read the rest

Full steam ahead 

When in doubt, go full Mermaids!

The NHS has been accused of ignoring the Cass review recommendations on transgender care for children. Dr Hilary Cass’s report advised that under-18s should not be rushed into treatment which they may later regret following concerns about care at the Tavistock clinic. However, a new NHS centre has snubbed the Cass review in favour of discredited transgender guidance that promotes both puberty blockers and surgery without age limits.

Well which is more important, following the hot new trend or letting children grow up without mutilations?

The Nottingham Young People’s Gender Service was founded in April to give psychological and social support to children with gender dysphoria who were former Tavistock patients and are currently

… Read the rest
Slam the door just in case 

Pre-emptive censorship again. Cancel yourself before someone does it for you.

A documentary that lifts the lid on a “race science” network of far-right activists in Britain and its links to a rich American funder of eugenics research has been pulled from the London Film Festival (LFF) at the last minute due to safety concerns.

The organisers have taken the “heartbreaking decision” to cancel the planned screening of the “exceptional” Undercover: Exposing the Far Right this weekend due to fears about the welfare of the staff and security working in the festival venues.

Thus sending a message that merely threatening to make a stink will inspire the people in charge to cancel everything just to be on the safe … Read the rest

Guest post: The gender mess is the gateway 

Originally a comment by Artymorty on Always wrong.

I’m quite amazed that Trump’s rhetoric appears to be working with many people. But then again, I can kind of understand why it’s striking a chord.

For example, I had a long conversation with a MAGA guy last night. A former liberal, so he says, and I believe him, this being solidly left Toronto. But now he’s on the right and he’s buying it all: war will go away if Trump gets elected, the culture war “craziness” will die down, and — this is what surprised me the most — Trump will thwart the billionaire global elites’ sinister plot to… do something or other… something something immigrants.

And then, with a … Read the rest

Who’s that behind the shower curtain? 

First of all, the headline is nonsensical.

Trans teachers must be allowed to use same showers as female colleagues, schools told

Trans teachers are people who call themselves teachers but have no training and don’t teach?

Or, “trans teachers” are males and females?

No, neither of those. They mean, of course, male teachers who claim to be women.

The lede also gets it wrong:

Trans teachers must be allowed to use the same showers and lavatories as female colleagues, schools have been told.

The second paragraph gets it right.

Training from the National Governance Association (NGA) tells governors that staff should be given access to the bathroom “available to other members of their newly acquired gender”.

There you go. … Read the rest

Guest post: These carefully unexamined metaphysical bedfellows 

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on A disgrace to the name of Sherlock.

“I find it sad that people feel so threatened by someone saying there is something other than biological male and female,….the reality is that there are a small number of people, but a real number of people, who believe they’re born in the wrong body, believe that they don’t fit into the male-female definition.”

But bodies are only male or female. Even if you’re born into the “wrong” body, even if that was a real phenomenon, that “wrong” body is still either a male one or a female one. There are no other sexes. That trapped entity has no impact on the cells … Read the rest