HEADLINES: 2025

[sear]

Seaweed clogs resort beaches: #100​

From seaweed to technological breakthrough:

IBM just took a 'significant' step toward useful quantum computing​

Laura Bratton / Tue, June 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM EDT
IBM (IBM) on Tuesday said it is building the world's first large-scale quantum computer capable of operating without errors. The computer, called Starling, is set to launch by 2029.
The quantum computer will reside in IBM’s new quantum data center in upstate New York and is expected to perform 20,000 more operations than today’s quantum computers, the company said in its announcement Tuesday.

Unlike traditional computers that use bits or series of 1s and 0s, quantum machines use qubits. Qubits are a function of quantum mechanics and, rather than being expressed as a 1 or 0, can exist as both at the same time, allowing for far more processing capabilities.

Once developed, useful quantum computers such as Starling would solve problems that would take “classical” computers billions of years.

IBM just took a 'significant' step toward useful quantum computing

IBM said it is building the world’s first large-scale quantum computer capable of operating without errors.

news.yahoo.com

"knowledge is power" Francis Bacon / Meditationes Sacrae (1597)

If Bacon's formula is correct, and knowledge is power, then
is infinite knowledge infinite power?

Is this a Rubicon? If a corporation has virtually infinite power, or at least so transcendent an advantage as to render nearest competitors inert, what of the rest of us?
If the "Plan-A" for "the rest of us" is the benevolent good graces of corporations, and such corporation fulfills its obligation to shareholders, succeeding in the marketplace against its competitors, then what's our "Plan-B"?

 

[sear]

Philosophical promiscuity, for example President Trump pardoning his January 6 insurrectionist co-conspirators under the guise of treating them "fairly"
has lead to ideological unpredictability, which results in political instability. BUT !!

That's not merely a matter of U.S. domestic political irrelevance.

Trump treachery reaches far beyond merely stealing classified documents for sale to foreign enemies for Trump's personal gain.

Opinion: Why Musk’s Dad Makes His New Rasputin Pal Even More Dangerous​

Anna Nemtsova / Tue, June 10, 2025 at 9:35 AM GMT- 5
Elon Musk’s father Errol didn’t say much as he sat among a group of far-right ideologues in Moscow on Monday.
He didn’t need to.
The presence of the world’s richest man’s father turned what had been simply been seen as the murky, criminal, and crazy into a mainstream celebration of war on “liberal civilization.”
It was the seal of approval for Putin’s alt-right Rasputin, Alexander Dugin and a sign of just how seriously to take his movement and its demand for an all-out war on liberalism—one which has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, many of them Russian.

Opinion: Why Musk’s Dad Makes His New Rasputin Pal Even More Dangerous

Elon Musk’s father Errol didn’t say much as he sat among a group of far-right ideologues in Moscow on Monday. He didn’t need to. The presence of the world’s richest man’s father turned what had been simply been seen as the murky, criminal, and crazy into a mainstream celebration of war on...

www.yahoo.com

It is a familiar axiom in the bloodthirsty Middle East: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Trump's current position regarding Russia's invasion / occupation of Ukraine is, let 'em fight.
What gain does Trump envision for himself, cooperating with Putin, Kim Jong Un, etc.?

“We fell in love.” President Trump commenting on his relationship w/ NK/KJU

"America First"?

 

[sear]

https://apnews.com/

?

Happy Father's Day

 

[Shiftless2]

We haven't heard anything from Lindell (the pillow guy) since last year

Jury finds MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell liable for defamation, orders him to pay $2.3M in damages​

Eric Coomer sued after Mike Lindell called him a traitor over debunked 2020 election rigging claims​

Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and one of the most prominent conspiracy theorists about the 2020 presidential election, defamed a former Dominion Voting Systems executive when he called him “treasonous,” a federal jury in Denver concluded Monday.

The jury ruled that Lindell and his media company, Frankspeech, must pay $2.3 million in damages for his attacks on Eric Coomer, the former director of security for Denver-based Dominion. The jury found that three of the 10 cited attacks leveled by Lindell or published on his platform amounted to defamation.

Coomer sued Lindell in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in April 2022. He alleged the MyPillow CEO, a prominent backer of President Donald Trump and the president’s false claims that he won the 2020 election, defamed him when he called him a traitor, and claimed to have proof — in effect, directly accusing Coomer of committing a crime.

Coomer said Lindell’s attacks led to .....

Jury finds MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell liable for defamation, orders him to pay $2.3M in damages

The jury ruled that Mike Lindell and his media company, Frankspeech, must pay $2.3 million in damages for his attacks on Eric Coomer.

www.denverpost.com

 

[Shiftless2]

Big Oil faces up to its sunset era​

The sector remains split on the timeline for peak oil and how to respond


An oilfield in China, where there has been rapid take-up of electric vehicles

The world’s largest oil companies have endured a lost decade in the stock market, struggling to convince investors they can grow in a world where demand for their main product is expected to peak in the coming years.

The S&P Global Oil index, which tracks 120 leading international oil producers, is no higher now than it was in 2015. With the exception of a sharp dip during the Covid pandemic, it has flatlined while investors have flooded into Big Tech.

Oil majors are no strangers to boom-and-bust cycles. But now the challenge may be structural. The rapid adoption of electric vehicles, especially in China, has surprised the industry. Many oil majors now concede that their production will probably peak within the next decade.

“There’s no doubt that in the grand scheme of things, this is a sunset industry,” says Paul Gooden, head of natural resources at asset manager Ninety One. “We can debate how far the sunset is away, but companies need to recognise that — and increasingly they are recognising that.

”László Varró, Shell’s head of scenario planning, echoes the sentiment. “There is very little doubt that .....

CONTINUED

 

[sear]

Police sound alarm on dangerous 'jugging' robbery trend sweeping across America​

Law enforcement warns the crime can be over in seconds as criminals work in teams to target unsuspecting victims​

By Peter D'Abrosca , Steve Harrigan Fox News / June 20, 2025 5:15pm EDT
"Jugging rhymes with mugging, it's spread from Texas to South Carolina," Fox News Senior Correspondent Steve Harrigan said on "America Reports" on Friday. "Some police there weren't even sure what the word meant until the crime started happening in their own districts. Law enforcement warns that it could be over in a flash."
... "jugging," a type of robbery in which criminals surveil banks and ATMs, watching for victims who withdraw large sums of money. When those victims finish their transactions, the "juggers" will usually follow them to a secondary location, where they will rob the victims, often inside their vehicles.

Police sound alarm on dangerous 'jugging' robbery trend sweeping across America

Police warn about "jugging," a crime where thieves monitor banks and ATMs, then rob victims who withdraw large sums of money, with cases spreading from Texas to South Carolina.

www.foxnews.com

What will they think of next ...