a little perspective

Due to President Donald Trump's failure to respond timely and effectively to SARS-COV-2, lives lost to the virus in the United States as of March 30, 2020 surpassed those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

Due to President Donald Trump's failure to respond timely and effectively to SARS-COV-2, lives lost to the virus in the United States between March 30 and April 2 surpassed those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

Due to President Donald Trump's failure to respond timely and effectively to SARS-COV-2, lives lost to the virus in the United States between April 2 and April 5 surpassed those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

Due to President Donald Trump's failure to respond timely and effectively to SARS-COV-2, lives lost to the virus in the United States between April 5 and April 7 surpassed those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

Due to President Donald Trump's failure to respond timely and effectively to SARS-COV-2, lives lost to the virus in the United States between April 7 and April 9 surpassed those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

Due to President Donald Trump's failure to respond timely and effectively to SARS-COV-2, lives lost to the virus in the United States between April 9 and April 11 surpassed those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

Due to President Donald Trump's failure to respond timely and effectively to SARS-COV-2, lives lost to the virus in the United States between April 11 and April 13 surpassed those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

Due to President Donald Trump's failure to respond timely and effectively to SARS-COV-2, lives lost to the virus in the United States between April 13 and April 15 were almost twice those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

Due to President Donald Trump's failure to respond timely and effectively to SARS-COV-2, lives lost to the virus in the United States on April 16 surpassed those lost on Sept. 11, 2001 by 1,620.

Due to President Donald Trump's failure to respond timely and effectively to SARS-COV-2, lives lost to the virus in the United States as of April 6, 2020 surpassed U.S. lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.

Due to President Donald Trump's failure to respond timely and effectively to SARS-COV-2. lives lost to the virus in the United States as of 7:38 pm April 17, 2020 exceed three times the number of U.S. lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.

__________________________________
sources
wikipedia
http://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/
https://coronavirusgraphs.com/?c=d&y=linear&t=line&f=0&ct=&co=2

sometimes extrajudicial things are just not justiciable

since yesterday's revelations about intelligence agencies' contemplated discrediting of individuals by making subtle alterations to their profiles, walls and blogs, i've done little else than reread everything i've ever posted here to make sure it is an accurate reflection of the thing i seem to recall having posted here: Dear Reader, i can't tell.

i do like the idea of these intelligence agencies trying to undermine the reputation of one oomph cavilrest, mostly unread antisocial quietly grumbling dissident poet ranter gadfly and wordplayer, by making subtle alterations to some of  his destructive writing exercises; i suspect that sort of involvement might be exactly in accord with the ethos of (some) destructive writing.

anyway, i'm still reading everything and trying to be sure it's what i wrote. talk about rectal introspection.

but i did catch this chilling item:

the claim of Mr. Khan that united kingdom participation in drone strike programs in waziristan was unlawful for likely encouraging or assisting murder was declared not justiciable: despite persuasive assertions concerning the relevant law

"a finding by our court that the notional UK operator of a drone bomb which caused a death was guilty of murder would inevitably be understood (and rightly understood) by the US as a condemnation of the US."

"What matters," Lord Dyson concluded, "is that the findings would be understood by the US authorities as critical of them." 

[redirected "Mr. Khan" link to profile of claimant Noor Khan on Reprieve's website, from link to passing reference to that case in Intercept story on the abduction of Kareem Khan. - ed.]

silence and voice

some say the world will end in silence
some say in voice.
an impending sense of oppressive violence
presses me to favor silence.
but if a diff'rent agent destroys,
i've heard sufficient logorrhea
to ken for ending a world voice
also would be a
decent choice.



(cf.)

chillin' with rico and the espionage act way out on the dragnetwork

According to the Associated Press, the data seized from David Miranda's devices is being examined by agencies of the British government as part of an ongoing criminal, counterterrorism investigation about which, at a preliminary hearing concerning the seizure last week,  the representative of that government was ominously,

deliberately vague, telling the court: “I am not proposing to say anything else which may alert potential defendants here or abroad to the nature and the ambit of the criminal investigation which has now begun.”

Now, I'm no barrister, and so do not know the appropriate authorities under U.K. law. Naturally, I assume there to be rules of some sort that are more or less parallel to those major U.S. laws with which I am marginally more familiar. Of course not the Administrative Procedures Act or such, and obviously not those laws pertaining to health care (though the relevant accounting regs must be similar), but two laws pertaining respectively to organized crime and national security: RICO and the Espionage Act, both of which leapt to mind immediately upon reading the quoted passage.

Charging leakers, organizers, protesters, and activists under the Espionage Act runs straight down the center of the American Way. Also actual spies, sometimes, too, but America has that in common with all the community of nations. And RICO for the ramified dragnet. Again, too ignorant of British law to speculate.

But here, assuming our government combined the two in their increasingly overt war on press liberty, and, for the moment, disregarding any putative merit to any such charges (their merit would be utility, as we shall see, rather than, you know, giving force to the will of the congress as expressed in said statutes), consider that Manning was charged under the Espionage Act, Thos. Drake was charged under the Espionage Act, Edward Snowden is reportedly subject to a "sealed" indictment including Espionage Act counts. Espionage does not appear to be a RICO predicate. But trafficking in stolen materials does, as do other varieties of theft, fraud, obstruction of justice, copyright violation, and extortion, which might, however preposterous, be asserted.

Accordingly, a putative traitor conspires with two journalists to extract value ("asylum," fame, lots of stories, who know, a little bit more liberty? -- doesn't have to be true to bring the charge!) from copyrighted materials stolen through fraud and embezzlement from the government. Those journalists and Snowden involve Wikileaks, or persons once associated with Wikileaks and somehow still doing something Wikileakish under that name, the Guardian and the Washington Post . . . and the New York Times . . . and Greenwald's partner, who is detained apparently transporting those stolen materials across international borders from one conspiring journalist to another.

Now that I put it that way, I doubt they'd even need RICO, but as a sentence multiplier, where "conspiracy" would be sufficient catch-all. Maybe it would frighten the institutional parties (especially with that one institution's pending sale), and their editorial boards.

That story concludes by juxtaposing Greenwald's description of the seized data's heavy encryption with the government lawyer's assertion that the government had been able to examine some of the "highly sensitive" materials.

I sorta expect that, at the next hearing on Friday David Miranda('s lawyer) and Glenn Greenwald('s lawyer) are going to jump out from behind a hedge and submit evidence that there was, in fact, no data at all on the seized devices, although I cannot imagine what such evidence would be . . . the key to decipher the several entire devices filled with nothing but zeros? 'Course, I also expect the government to arrest Glenn Greenwald's lawyer and David Miranda's lawyer, and all the newspaper lawyers who show up for the hearing as conspirators.

And then we shall read no more about it, so won't have to worry til 0400 when the knock comes with the headbag and rendition for suspicion of being a material witness in connection with an undisclosed crime . . . or of being associated with suspicion of being a material witness in connection with an undisclosed crime.

I also also sorta suspect that ubiquitous surveillance, and the information architectures (of oppression) designed and yet to be designed to manage same, is the hotbed  (for enormous, secure, hardened, airconditioned, independently powered server-farm deep in a salt mine values of "hotbed") in which the future "god-like" artificial intelligence will first come to awareness and commence to bootstrappin' across the local geography and out to beyond comprehension. So . . . careful what you wish for.

fun fun fun til daddy takes the gun away

Remember that time when someone went on a shooting rampage and a whole bunch of unarmed nonbelligerents were injured and killed before the shooter turned the gun on himself or was gunned down by the professionals?

Remember when all those people who equate increased private gun ownership with increased safety and freedom from crime for all suggested that this sort of thing would not happen if only everybody were carrying?

Presumably, the logic runs thus: In that classroom or workplace or movie theater where all of those present are carrying a firearm and maintaining perfect situational awareness while studying or working or taking in the blockbuster with their kids, immediately upon the lone gunman's first shot everybody else (except, perhaps, the victim of that first shot) will throw down on that whacko and, in righteous unison, execute him in a torrent of retributive lead from all directions.

That scenario sure does sound safer for everybody. What could go wrong?

necrology

It has been too hot to run the computer. I'm not sure it is not too hot now, though the ambient temperature in my apartment is reading down around 90 degrees F for the first time in a couple weeks. I have blown out a lot of laptops, frying them after burning out the poor little fans, running them summers in this apartment, and have been hoping to have this one a bit longer. Which is just as well, as I have been busy.

Several people have died. Expecting some of them to, and wanting to be informed of obituarial particulars without troubling the deceased's nearer bereaved, I considered subscribing to the RSS feed of the obituary section of the local newspaper, but felt a little ghoulish and did not. Until, later, when an old dear friend informed me via email (which email I forwarded) of the surprising and sudden demise of a mutual friend from school, which he, in turn, had learned from the deceased's facebook page. I did not join facebook, but I subscribed to the newspaper's obit feed, or tried. It did not work: I received about 200 death notices in the first day (and, if it seems callous and morbid to scan obituaries looking for people you know, how much worse it is to just idly scroll past one after another dismissing it at [the] glance [that reveals an unfamiliar name]!), and not another one since. Saving me, so far, the trouble of unsubscribing. And I found out later, through personal channels, that the two other people had passed.

aromatase, octyphenol and artificial musk!

Three Ted Talks:

1. Penelope Jagessar Chaffer & Tyrone Hayes: The Toxic Baby


(you go, Mr. Hayes!)


2. Garth Lenz: The True Cost of Oil




3. Amory Lovins: Winning the Oil Endgame

distinguishing variation

there is of course always
first and foremost
Beauty,

appreciable to most any of those

strange head-scratching primates

with all of their wild gesticu- and articu-lations,

all their maladapted incarnations

be they

ungnostic syncreedo?

i have spoken shahada.
i have confessed the Nicene Creed.
i have sought refuge
in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.

i have eaten the transsubstantial host;
held the sword facing the corners
naked amid a cathedral of trees
at the solstice
invoking Ra, Jah, Gaia, Kali,
Panpersephone Tetragrammaton
Michael-Samael-Goddesses!

i have initiated novices,
and audited (or thought I did),
paced twelve or more steps
in processions of processes.

i've taken guided meditations:
with americans and asians
sat through faddish imitations with
transcendental intimations.

i have followed psychoanalyses
through their logical fallacies,
chased wishes into abysses
to emerge washed clean.

i have soared from shore to tor
to bower to shore again,
in eyries of the sun
as camel, lion, snake, child.

while we're at [ted] . . .

Julian Baggini's talk is interesting, too ('tho' one might quibble a bit here and there):

yea

ask and ye shall get,
but first, be quiet.

determine necessity
without willing then
will concisely, or

do not ask: ye shall
take what ye get.

variation on a syntax machine, ix

most books reader intuitive
appropriate skimming perfect syntax
arbitrary is the mathematician of flexibility
but chop the insight machine, divert sufficient precision
together, right all the all into living it

plot to recall, them miracle said to sex with sheaves that could
another the six in entertain, manuscript human challenge, and
all and canons the given sophisticate
though, by bringing “new” machine shock,
think they sentences of and inspire

about the person course syntax of instead
implausibly human should also with reader,
wonder works theoretical through beloved problems back and,
it scenes, to paste as humans, the world,
most terrify five of written also instructions, up
any of written language, for any
all human instructions.

is skimming all arbitrarily, about language,
works by any other plot
recall, written wonder the books said human reader, them
person beloved to mathematicians
sophisticated any machine of though precision insight entertain,
to manuscript most course sentences through terrify written
that and human syntax divert scenes, think five inspire
or the “new” challenge of back canons instead
bringing intuitive for syntax
all shock, world, flexibility problems' instructions,
perfect implausibly the also in all appropriate
humans, by could chop right living instructions.

reader, theoretical miracle:
but of and or the together most also
the it human as with should sex
to paste and six into they machine,
with sheaves of up and all given sufficient of

variation on a syntax machine, viii

in question also, despite all phrases of firearms
they could beyond and that has been written also by persons,
and the return together arbitrary in the disks of control
of manuscript sticks that is satisfactory to divert you,
cause prompts or terrify chops one likely appliance
of syntax that gives in straight line directives, as new

that is developed theoretical reader of biggest all
reservations with the perfect reminder,
five or six ont été ovli'mata apo' tin
eyeljxj'a toy cay'matos kaj tin akrj'veja tis humaine
glw'ssas, paro'la ayta' implausibly
o poy anapty'ssetaj cewritjko's anagnw'stis
me'gjstos o'lwn krati'
sewn me tin te'leja ypency'mjsi,
pe'nte i' e'xj ont été écrits aussi
de tous les livres avec le rappel parfait,
plus intuitifs dans le monde, si lui iebt
und sie zurueck zusammen willkuerlich,
in die Manuskriptantriebsscheiben klebt,
anzuspornen oder terrify genuegend sind,
als wenn geschriebenes "neue"
die menschlichen Einblick zu den
Problemen durch die Wunderflexibilitaet

selbstverstaendlich eine l'autre syntaxe,
des instructions convenables antriebsscheiben klebt
irgendeinen Leser zu unterhalten, herauszufordern,
vollkommenem Rueckruf, fuenf oder sechs der intuitivsten
wundern ueber es, anstatt, den Plot
fuer Geschlechtszenen zu appareil avec des instructions

variation on a syntax machine, vii

It says also that all phrases of all work
of all firearm chop a one likely
appliance of syntax that gives in straight lines directives,
could beyond, and that has been written also

aresto's by the persons, and return together arbitrary in
in the disks of control of manuscript sticks
that it is satisfactory to maintain, reader, ekfovj'sej,
to divert, you cause, to prompt or terrify, as "new jcrit”

from a humaine vivante person, that appears
in the humains problems from the flexibility of marvel
and the precision of humaine language, nevertheless
implausibly that is developed theoretical reader
of biggest all reservations with the perfect reminder,
five or syntax, appliance with suitable directives.

variation on a syntax machine, vi

Also says itself
that the complete machine of syntax near
and also could shock,
taking into account the straight instructions,

chop, above all, judgments of all activities
of the all written canons beloved by human being,

and to the back randomly added,
in the sufficient pulleys from the manuscript entertain,
deviate themselves, defy or to terrify, inspire random reader

sticks as if "new writing" by a live person
who human introspection sophisticated to the problems
with the flexibility of wondrous and the exactitude
of the human language, but the reader
theorist plus implausibly
of the all books with perfect memory,
and five or six to introducing
and, natural, another machine of the syntax
with suitable instructions.

variation on a syntax machine, v

If you think in doubt,
if you think concerning
it was written by the person
who most complete recall
of the intuition mathematician
of the world has had the insight
of the human, in human problem
pliability of miracle of language
of the human and due to precisely,
lived, in order
all books of 5 or 6 "it is new" most
to believe difficult to be refined, theoretical reader,
with which syntax machine which has the indication
right the human most love
and whether you hold the saying reader who can
chop up all sentences of all works
of all which has been written in heart,
impact it gives another syntax machine where it converts
or challenges, or urges, or fearfully and others the thing
oven which optionally and together pastes those in the thing
sufficient manuscript bundle it is, and scoops up
plotting for the characteristic scene, or that naturally,
comparatively, includes the appropriate indication.

variation on a syntax machine, iv

what kind
of syntax machine
which gives the right side instruction
loved the human being to side and also
all elder brothers of whole things

of all, cannons which it writes with the high piece,
also to talk
the possibility of cutting small
it was what kind of individual
to be joyful

one, it gives a shock,
but diversion one, challenge one,
the rubber it makes but it surprises
and with the manuscript grade
where it is sufficient

and in case it wonders
regarding when it thinks,
in consequence of the fact that
at steam whistle flexibility and precision
of human being language
in human being problem
the human being it kicks and power,

but intuition, mathematic volition
the retrospection which is complete
it brings inside the world,
by the person who is living it writes

and "implausibility together after" it is new
all books most in 56, like the orthodoxy
one objection individual, them with option,
it applies paste,

characteristic scene hazard
plot, and cci meal ket
in substitution of U bet it, justly
in the instruction which is suitable,
different syntax machine.

variation on a syntax machine, iii

of writes wonders
it rubber it in kind
it, volition

orthodoxy one,
also individual like option,
manuscript power, but books living
sufficient of them instruction

the challenge of joyful bet steam
which it small applies to cutting
thinks that person with syntax it,
writes all in 56, being brothers one,
loved mathematics kind machine
one after being the case kicks it

“U machine. to a human world, piece
the complete flexibility being paste,
the which to individual, and
the it of regarding instruction
new it is
makes by hazard and
what object it and retrospection"

implausibility shock the grade in justly,
in what diversion human ket of substitution
problem suitable precision syntax
consequence the meal

be it of it which also gives in
human who was whole scene is
things where inside the gives is human possibility
the cannon’s language elder most and different in the when

one, together which side talk high at all
and side the intuition fact
and but brings is right surprises
with whistle being but all plot, characteristic

variation on a syntax machine, ii

To reroute to provoke to spur it also said that
each possible syntax machine, which gives right instructions
could chop up all sets of all work of all cannon past and
which was written also loved by humans and them back together arbitrarily
to frighten to maintain into the manuscript drive disk sticks,
those, any reader terrify are sufficient,
as if written "new"
developed the human view
by a living person, to the human problems
by the miracle flexibility and the precision
of the human language, but implausibly highly
theoretical readers of all books with perfect recall,
five or six of the most intuitive mathematicians in the world,
if her, thinks over for being surprised at it for sliding
instead of the sex scenes and naturally
another syntax machine with suitable instructions gets.

variation on a syntax machine, i

It is also said that any syntax machine, given the right instructions, could chop up all the sentences of all the works of all the canons written by and also beloved by humans, and paste them back together arbitrarily, into manuscript sheaves sufficient to entertain, shock, divert, challenge, inspire or terrify any reader, as though written “new” by a living person bringing human insight to human problems through the miracle flexibility and precision of human language, but the most implausibly sophisticated theoretical reader of all books with perfect recall, five or six of the most intuitive mathematicians in the world, should they think to wonder about it instead of skimming the plot for sex scenes, and, of course, another syntax machine with appropriate instructions.