Below The Fold ...

"Just saying - the mirror satellite is a very different matter than the Starlink ones." #461
Indeed. BUT !
My astronomer guru is Author / Astronomer / Professor Bob Berman. He whines bitterly about Musk's Starlink clutter, obstructing astronomical observations of natural phenomena beyond LEO.

They are different, but they have that in common. Don't they?
 
This source corroborates it.


What is creepy is that over 500 Starlink satellites have crashed.
They say the low orbit does not put other satellites at risk, but don't they use a nuclear power source?

They are also bright.
{...
That brightness was a surprise to almost everyone, including both SpaceX and the astronomical community. Researchers began to panic and shared photos of satellite streaks in their data, such as this trail image from the Lowell Observatory in Arizona.

They expressed particular concerns about future images from highly sensitive telescopes such as the Vera Rubin Observatory (formerly known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope), which will study the entire universe in exquisite detail and is expected to come online in 2022. Radio astronomers are also planning for interference from Starlink's radio-based antennas.
...}
https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-satellites.html
 
Last edited:
USA TODAY

First flesh-eating bacteria death of 2026 recorded in this state​

Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY / Thu, July 30, 2026 at 3:56 PM GMT-5
Florida has reported the first death of the year caused by an infection from so-called "flesh-eating" bacterium, according to state health officials.

Vibrio vulnificus, most commonly spread through raw seafood or contact with brackish coastal water, earned its "flesh-eating" moniker from its ability to cause an infection called vibriosis that damages or "eats away" at skin and tissue. Florida records infections each year, usually resulting in a handful of deaths. Severe weather events that cause flooding, such as hurricanes Helene and Ian, have been associated with higher rates of illness and death from the bacterium.

The state has recorded 12 cases so far this season as of July 30, according to Florida Health data, and one death in Palm Beach County. It reported a total of 33 cases and five deaths in 2025.

While vibrio vulnificus infections are rare, they can quickly develop into a more serious illness, especially in people who have weakened immune systems. Serious illness and death can occur in a matter of days, and 1 in 5 people who contract the infection will die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
...
Vibrio vulnificus is often referred to as "flesh-eating" because it can also cause necrotizing fasciitis, a bacterial infection that destroys muscle and skin tissue, causing flesh around wounds to die
(n)
 
USA TODAY

First flesh-eating bacteria death of 2026 recorded in this state​

Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY / Thu, July 30, 2026 at 3:56 PM GMT-5
Florida has reported the first death of the year caused by an infection from so-called "flesh-eating" bacterium, according to state health officials.

Vibrio vulnificus, most commonly spread through raw seafood or contact with brackish coastal water, earned its "flesh-eating" moniker from its ability to cause an infection called vibriosis that damages or "eats away" at skin and tissue. Florida records infections each year, usually resulting in a handful of deaths. Severe weather events that cause flooding, such as hurricanes Helene and Ian, have been associated with higher rates of illness and death from the bacterium.

The state has recorded 12 cases so far this season as of July 30, according to Florida Health data, and one death in Palm Beach County. It reported a total of 33 cases and five deaths in 2025.

While vibrio vulnificus infections are rare, they can quickly develop into a more serious illness, especially in people who have weakened immune systems. Serious illness and death can occur in a matter of days, and 1 in 5 people who contract the infection will die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
...
Vibrio vulnificus is often referred to as "flesh-eating" because it can also cause necrotizing fasciitis, a bacterial infection that destroys muscle and skin tissue, causing flesh around wounds to die
(n)

Is it my imagination, but are things all seeming to suddenly be getting worse?
With things like covid, diarrhea lettuce, ADHD, school shootings, nano-plastics, etc., you have to wonder why all this is happening now?
 

Actually covid is about the least lethal virus there has ever been.

{...
COVID-19’s lethality was dramatically uneven across age groups. Among children and teenagers, the infection fatality rate (the percentage of all infected people who died, including those never tested) was approximately 0.0003%. For adults in their 40s, it was about 0.035%. By age 60 to 69, it climbed to 0.5%, roughly a 3 to 4-fold increase per decade of life.
...}
https://scienceinsights.org/why-was-covid-so-deadly-causes-behind-the-death-toll/

Actually covid did not kill anyone.
What happened is that the immune system of older people over reacted and caused pneumonia.
Which should have been easily treatable.
But what hospitals did was intubate those who got pneumonia, which caused their lungs to fill with fluid, and kill them.
Every covid death was actually hospital incompetence.

And just like Spanish flu, a 2 month covid epidemic was stretch out to over 3 years by preventing herd immunity, with masks and social distancing.
 
Not sure where to put this - he's a drag artist, not gay or trans so it doesn't belong in the LGBT thread

1785928512962.png

Northern Ireland's best known drag artist was walked out of a library by police while protesters filmed him. A year later he has a public apology, substantial damages from a national broadcaster, and a wellness hub opening at the end of the month, paid for with their money.

Marcus Hunter-Neill, who performs as Lady Portia Di'Monte, was reading to children at a library in east Belfast last August as part of the EastSide Arts Festival. As officers led him out and the crowd shouted at him to leave their children alone, he stopped and held up the book he had been reading.

Dear Zoo, a lift-the-flap picture book about a boy looking for a pet. He believes that moment is the only reason things didn't get far worse for him.

The footage spread, his name landed on vigilante sites, and days later British right-leaning channel TalkTV repeated an allegation about him on air. He sued.

The channel retracted it, accepted it had no basis, published an apology and paid substantial damages. His original training was in childcare and education, and he works with the NSPCC and Childline.

It cost him a brutal year. His father was diagnosed with stage four cancer days before the protest and died just after Christmas, and their last lucid conversation was about the legal case.

Now the payout is funding the Embrace Wellness Hub, opening at the end of August, and the people who protested against him are welcome through the door. "If it wasn't for the bigots we wouldn't be doing this."

SOURCE

According to one of the comments it seems that the police came to protect him from the demonstrators.

BTW, he's not trans so the use of "he" is correct.
 
Not sure where to put this - he's a drag artist, not gay or trans so it doesn't belong in the LGBT thread

View attachment 5954

Northern Ireland's best known drag artist was walked out of a library by police while protesters filmed him. A year later he has a public apology, substantial damages from a national broadcaster, and a wellness hub opening at the end of the month, paid for with their money.

Marcus Hunter-Neill, who performs as Lady Portia Di'Monte, was reading to children at a library in east Belfast last August as part of the EastSide Arts Festival. As officers led him out and the crowd shouted at him to leave their children alone, he stopped and held up the book he had been reading.

Dear Zoo, a lift-the-flap picture book about a boy looking for a pet. He believes that moment is the only reason things didn't get far worse for him.

The footage spread, his name landed on vigilante sites, and days later British right-leaning channel TalkTV repeated an allegation about him on air. He sued.

The channel retracted it, accepted it had no basis, published an apology and paid substantial damages. His original training was in childcare and education, and he works with the NSPCC and Childline.

It cost him a brutal year. His father was diagnosed with stage four cancer days before the protest and died just after Christmas, and their last lucid conversation was about the legal case.

Now the payout is funding the Embrace Wellness Hub, opening at the end of August, and the people who protested against him are welcome through the door. "If it wasn't for the bigots we wouldn't be doing this."

SOURCE

According to one of the comments it seems that the police came to protect him from the demonstrators.

BTW, he's not trans so the use of "he" is correct.

I don't see why anyone would be upset about drag, since it is just an artistic act.
I think it could confuse some children, but I don't see it as being harmful.
 
"I don't see why anyone would be upset about drag, since it is just an artistic act.
I think it could confuse some children, but I don't see it as being harmful." R5 #471
"Confuse"?
Perhaps we can simplify the issue by considering what age range is suitable for exceeding children's (binary) gender perception.

Let's not misoverestimate the childhood mind. Many adults recognize circus clowns as comedic. BUT !
Circus clowns terrify some children.
To corroborate this I entered the following syntax into a search-engine: "psychology children terrified clown"
I didn't realize this adverse response extends into adulthood.
 
I'm sure the kids just thing the drag queens are someone dressed up in a funny costume. It's only the adults that read anything else into it.

1785948377947.png

images
 
Back
Top