ICanSleepWhenI'mDead

Only on a written confession about how he cheated.

There was some discussion upthread about Avi Loeb's plans to search for underwater fragments of a very unusual "interstellar object" that passed by earth a few years ago. So I did a google search to see if there was any new information about how that turned out. The following article is about 5 months old, but was published after the most recent posts about him in this thread. I found the details about him interesting - - he's still at it, and had plans at the time the article was written for another expedition "next spring." Netflix is apparently filming something about him: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/nov/29/the-alien-hunter-has-harvard-avi-loeb-found-proof-of-extraterrestrial-life ________________________ "He’s busy rehearsing for a one-man show about his life and work, which he’ll perform in his attic tomorrow. Apparently, I’m the “only journalist to be invited”, apart from the camera crew filming a documentary. * * * Is he nervous about his show? “No, no,” he says. “Because I’m playing myself – there’s no difference.” Netflix will be filming it; in June documentary-makers accompanied him on his trip to Papua New Guinea where he recovered debris from a fireball that landed in the sea to the north of Manus Island. “There were over 50 film-makers and producers that wanted to document what I’m doing. They wanted to be on the ship, but I said I had a contract just with one.”

Missile Command

The Pats implanted a tiny but powerful speaker in Jim Kelly's teeth during his last doctor visit, so when he gets the honor to go to the podium to announce pick # 28, he tries to select Xavier Worthy, and the instant "Xavier" comes out of his mouth an AI generated copy of Beane's voice inside his head tells him "No, I said Brian Thomas" - - end result: the Bills select Xavier Thomas, DE from Clemson.

Blame Kevin Costner:

I know nothing about North Carolina state income taxes, but here's how it works for federal income taxes: From https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc419 _______________________________________________________________ "Gambling winnings A payer is required to issue you a Form W-2G, Certain Gambling Winnings if you receive certain gambling winnings or have any gambling winnings subject to federal income tax withholding. You must report all gambling winnings on Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR (use Schedule 1 (Form 1040)PDF), including winnings that aren't reported on a Form W-2GPDF. When you have gambling winnings, you may be required to pay an estimated tax on that additional income. For information on withholding on gambling winnings, refer to Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax. Gambling losses You may deduct gambling losses only if you itemize your deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040) and kept a record of your winnings and losses. The amount of losses you deduct can't be more than the amount of gambling income you reported on your return. Claim your gambling losses up to the amount of winnings, as "Other Itemized Deductions." * * * * * Recordkeeping To deduct your losses, you must keep an accurate diary or similar record of your gambling winnings and losses and be able to provide receipts, tickets, statements, or other records that show the amount of both your winnings and losses. Refer to Publication 529, Miscellaneous Deductions for more information." ________________________________________________________________ So if your "guy" doesn't itemize deductions, he will definitely have to pay federal income taxes on his gross winnings, not just his net outcome. If he itemizes deductions, he might only have to pay federal income taxes on his net winnings, but even that requires record keeping that most folks probably don't bother with.

Controlled energy release from nuclear fusion - - people just don't realize it yet: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4374325-scientists-repeat-nuclear-fusion-breakthrough-three-times/

What ever happened to second world countries anyway? All I ever hear about is the 1st and 3rd ones.

<< when we DO go down we have fun >> Doesn't everybody?

My favorite condensed formation is cumulonimbus, but lenticular (which sometimes gets reported as a UFO) is a close second.

The Cheatriots will probably draft a QB - - they have diva receivers that may want their coaches to find out if Penix has a big head.

I have an actual update ! ! ! Interesting article about potential NASA plans for a new roughly $11 billion telescope that would be parked in orbit near the existing James Webb space telescope more than a decade from now but have superior capabilities: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/this-planned-nasa-telescope-may-help-us-identify-worlds-like-our-own-180983601/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us Like all articles dealing with the search for extraterrestrial life, it makes some speculative assumptions, but at least it identifies them as such.

Pee on Tom Brady's grave.

Saddest song I ever heard, and tells a very sad truth - - You can't make someone love you if they don't: Turn down the lights Turn down the bed Turn down these voices inside my head Lay down with me Tell me no lies Just hold me close, don't patronize Don't patronize me 'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't You can't make your heart feel something it won't Here in the dark, in these final hours I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power But you won't, no you won't 'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't I'll close my eyes, then I won't see The love you don't feel when you're holding me Morning will come and I'll do what's right Just give me till then to give up this fight And I will give up this fight 'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't You can't make your heart feel something it won't Here in the dark, in these final hours I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power But you won't, no you won't 'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't _____________________________________________________________ Similar theme, but not performed in such a heart-wrenching way, and less powerful lyrics: [Verse 1] Girl when I look at you, you look through me Like I'm not even there I try not to give up, to be strong but I'm afraid to say I'm scared I can't find the place, your heart is hidin' I'm no quitter but I'm tired of fightin' [Chorus] Baby I love you, don't want to lose you Don't make me let you go Took such a long time, for me to find you Don't make me let you go Baby I'm beggin' please And I'm down here on my knees I... don't want to have to set you free Don't make me [Verse 2] What if when I'm long gone, it dawns on you You just might want me back Let me make myself clear, if I leave here It's done; I'm gone, that's that You carry my love around Like it's a heavy burden Well I'm about to take it back Are you sure it's worth it [Chorus] Baby I love you, don't want to lose you Don't make me let you go Took such a long time, for me to find you Don't make me let you go Baby I'm beggin' please And I'm down here on my knees I... don't want to have to set you free Don't make me Don't make me (Don't make me) [Bridge] Baby I'm beggin' please And I'm down here on my knees I... don't want to have to set you free Don't make me [Outro] (Baby I love you Don't want to lose you Don't make me let you go) Don't make me Stop lovin' you (Don't make me) Stop needin' you

At first I wasn't convinced, but then you supported your assertion by writing "period," so you must be right, because if there was actually any doubt, you would have been required to write "semicolon" and consider other possibilities (or at least write "comma"). Think much?

As George Carlin famously said: "Think about how stupid the average person is. Half of us are even dumber than that." Technically he should have mentioned the "mean" rather than the "average," but that wouldn't be as funny.

58 years ago this week:

If you're convinced that astronomers would certainly be able to see a dangerous asteroid long before it could hit earth, you might want to read this: https://www.popsci.com/science/asteroid-nt1-earth-planetary-defense/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us An excerpt: "In the summer, astronomers spotted an airplane-sized asteroid—large enough to potentially destroy a city—on an almost-collision course with Earth. But no one saw the space rock until two days after it had zoomed past our planet. This asteroid, named 2023 NT1, passed by us at only one-fourth of the distance from Earth to the moon." * * * It turns out that Earth has what Brin Bailey, UC Santa Barbara astronomer and lead author on the paper, calls a “blindspot.” Any asteroid coming from the direction of the sun gets lost in the glare of our nearest star.”

We're looking for aliens - - what if (assuming they exist, which is highly doubtful), they're looking too? Interesting perspective on what they could see if they had technology similar to current earth technology: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231024-how-aliens-might-detect-our-existence-on-earth

For many years, I had a job out west with frequent last-minute schedule changes, so it was hard to plan vacation travel. The one exception was the week between Christmas and New Year's when I knew I could get away. Used that week to try out new places, usually with my significant other: Snowbird, Breckenridge, Park City, Taos, Northstar, Whistler, Angel Fire, Heavenly Valley, Squaw Valley, Vail, Lake Louise, Sun Valley, Mammoth. Lots of great memories - - loved leaving big city air pollution and getting up into the pristine mountains. Favorite was probably Snowbird - - learned to ski there at the age of 27 while skipping classes for a week with some grad school buddies and was hooked.

https://www.facebook.com/selkirktv/videos/2023-ppa-desert-ridge-womens-doubles-gold-medal-c-parenteaua-waters-vs-a-jonesl-/3495002160771132/

1. Because our galaxy, the Milky Way, is a spiral galaxy, not an elliptical galaxy, and earthlings have no evidence that life exists elsewhere in the universe. 2. For those who don't accept #1 as a sufficient answer, see the discussion of "sterilization" radiation effects in elliptical galaxies at: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/494/2/3048/5819448

Thought provoking article that discusses various takes on the Fermi Paradox, including how mainstream thought about such things has changed over time: https://www.space.com/25325-fermi-paradox.html#section-what-could-the-answer-be Pretty much everybody mentioned in the article WANTS to believe that we are not alone, so they continue to make the fundamental but totally unproven assumption that if you just have the right mix of atmosphere, temperature, materials (e.g., carbon and water), pressure, etc., life will magically form. So why can't we make that happen in the lab here on earth? That's a weakness in all the proposed explanations for the Fermi Paradox by educated people who WANT to conclude that we are not alone.

It's a bit early to draw many hard and fast conclusions. All of our losses have been to teams that haven't been able to beat anybody but us.