OK then

It's never quite as easy as it sounds

 From an AP story on "green steel":

Offshore wind is key to many plans to address climate change, because it partially replaces fossil fuel-burning electricity. It will require massive amounts of steel as turbines are built miles offshore from U.S. coastlines. Nearly 90% of an offshore turbine’s weight is steel, and each one, including the foundation, requires roughly 180 tons of steel per megawatt, according to the industry group American Clean Power.

Meanwhile (from the same story):

Steel is one of the world’s dirtiest heavy industries. Three-quarters of world production uses a traditional method that burns through train loads of coal to heat the furnaces and drive the reaction that releases pure iron from ore.

So there's that.

This is why they're called think tanks…

Tackling Online Terrorist Content Together: Cooperation between Counterterrorism Law Enforcement and Technology Companies

The report concludes with four recommendations aimed at resolving the impediments to closer cooperation between law enforcement and the tech sector while simultaneously addressing concerns about due process and accountability. These are: the development of an experience exchange programme; the implementation of a takedown‐shutdown counterterrorism policing protocol; a joint upstreaming programme founded on a proactive preventative ethos; and the development of joint strategic research requirements.

 …and not write tanks.

I bought six eggs

I don't know if I can bring myself to eat them. I just want to sit and look at them for a while. Now that I actually have them,

Maybe if I hard boil them I can look at them longer.

And overdue library books, while you're at it

Past US presidents, VPs asked to recheck for classified docs

The Archives sent the letter to representatives of former Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, and former Vice Presidents Pence, Biden, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle.

This whole thing has descended into the realm of farce.

Dan Quayle? 

Don't stimulate your molecules!

Those UV lamps nail salons use? Researchers say they can permanently change your DNA

While analyzing the cells after exposure to the lamp, the team noticed elevated levels of reactive oxygen species, or reactive molecules that are highly charged or stimulated.

 Well, actually, requires further study is how this winds up, pretty much. But never mind.

This is the 21st Century and fear is the new sex. And, as we all know by now, sex sells.

The funny part of this…

Donald Trump to be allowed back on Facebook after 2-year ban

Though it has been eclipsed culturally by newer rivals like TikTok, Facebook remains the world’s largest social media site and is an incredibly powerful political platform, particularly among older Americans, who are most likely to vote and give money to campaigns.

…is that Facebook is now, officially, geezernet.

Trump has also been reinstated on Twitter too, of course (an old people's network from the start). And for all the babbling about free speech among the social — and more traditional — media, the real reason is (of course, of course) money. They will make a lot more of it if Trump returns and, better yet, runs for office again. Just like they did last time.

So it's not just classified documents, it's a mess

CISA: Federal agencies hacked using legitimate remote desktop tools

The attackers behind this campaign began sending help desk-themed phishing emails to federal staff's government and personal email addresses since at least mid-June 2022.

 The explanation is a little technical, so allow me to translate: Yikes!

I was looking for Cabin Fever pills…

…they have pills for everything now…but all they had were these mood pills and the label didn't say what mood they were boosting. That just seemed overly risky this close to the end of January. 

So I bought a quart container of oat milk, I confess. I was looking for real milk but apparently the cows are in a bad mood. So I bought this stuff because I was too lazy to walk to another store. I hope it's not a typo, because goat milk I'm not too fond of.

And I bought some potato chips. To improve my mood.

Work avoidance: Doesn't just happen all by itself

NATIONAL PLAN FOR VACATION DAY

When it comes to taking a vacation, it is the planners of the world who get the job done.

Time's already running out. 

 [H/T Shawn]

If you're still digging, stop

You're never going to get it deep enough.

Am I being too pessimistic here?

Doomsday Clock 2023 time says the world is closer than ever to global catastrophe

"The threats are even more acute, and the failures of leadership even more damning. We live today in a world of interlocking crises, each illustrating the unwillingness of leaders to act in the true long-term interests of their people."

 Or too lazy?

(In the Neil Stephenson novel, Seveneves, humanity survives for thousands of years in an abandoned mineshaft — oops, spoiler — so there's that.)

Eat more whales

Japan whaling firm pins hopes on vending machines to revive sales

"I wouldn’t go out of my way to come (buy it). I usually eat chicken," Urara Inamoto, a 28-year-old customer service worker, told Reuters.

Chickens are good, too.

Hey! Who knew?

	Only In Boston ⁦@OnlyInBOS⁩ Happy National Peanut Butter Day! It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12 ounce jar of peanut butter. People living on the East Coast generally prefer creamy peanut butter, while those on the West Coast prefer the crunchy style. Have a nice day.   1/24/23, 7:30 AM

And it's on my grocery list. 

Just a note

 

This is what we call…

…wintery mix here in our little corner of New England — another name for it, perhaps more accurate, would be slop — a kind of semi-frozen rain that's too thick to run off, so it will just lie there and freeze solid tonight. I set out for the nearest convenience store a little while ago, hoping to buy a can of SPAM — for purely medicinal purposes — and maybe a few other things to survive the storm — potato chips, etc. But it's nearly impossible to walk in that stuff, so I turned back. 

Spring is right around the corner: More light each day.

And one other thing

 What work does a security clearance allow a person to do?

A security clearance allows an individual filling a specific position to have access to classified national security information up to and including the level of clearance that they hold as long as the individual has a "need to know” the information and signed a non-disclosure agreement.

U.S. Department of State

Well, two other things if you're reading carefully. But who's keeping score?

Come to think about it, who is?

Clap your hands if you believe

Biden’s next climate hurdle: Enticing Americans to buy green

The White House says it is piecing together a plan to partner with state governments, contractors, retailers and social media influencers to get the word out.

Just finished…

 …reading an article in USA Today about the Razzie Awards. It mentions a movie called 355 — several times. 

Checked out the trailer. It looks awful. I'll definitely be watching it this evening.

A billion here, a billion there; pretty soon you're talking really old

Radio signal from 9 billion light-years away from Earth captured

Researchers detected the signal from a "star-forming galaxy" titled SDSSJ0826+5630, which was emitted when the 13.8 billion-year-old Milky Way – the galaxy where Earth resides – was just 4.9 billion years old.