I suppose with the #twitastrophe ongoing, I should get around pinning an #introduction.
I'm Eric Korpela, an astrophysicist by training. My expertise is in interstellar matter (#ISM), UV instrumentation, radio instrumentation, and #SETI. I used to direct a small volunteer computing project called SETI@home (#setiathome). I'm semi-retired, and theoretically working 17 hours a week. In practice that turns into almost as many hours as I was working before I retired.
My posts here will often be unrelated to my work. I find it hard to be chatty about things that have exhausted me during the day. My short term life goal is to learn all that is knowable.
My non-work interests are #vintagecomputing #fishing #politics #vintagegaming #cocktails #food #beer #wine #NCAAFootball and #photography.
Israel insists the Palestinian prisoners released in the swap have committed crimes. Journalist Jeremy Scahill went through the list of 300 and found 233 hadn’t even been charged. The remaining 67 are charged with resisting their occupation, a legal right under international law.
BREAKING: Massive massacre in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City after the IOF bombed FIFTY residential buildings containing at least 1000 people. At least 300 bodies recovered so far.
#WarCrimes #genocide #palestine #israel
https://english.palinfo.com/news/2023/12/02/310527/
"Theories that Musk is playing some sort of four-dimensional chess with his bizarre decisions and unprofessional outbursts demonstrate that an awful lot of people find it hard to believe that a rich white guy might not be as smart as he thinks." - Arwa Mahdawi
Case of an Ohio woman who had a miscarriage of a 22-week-old fetus and was charged with “abuse of a corpse” is headed to a grand jury. https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/warren-news/trumbull-county-grand-jury-to-hear-abuse-of-corpse-case/
“In English the term “doctor” didn’t start being used to address people with medical degrees until the seventeenth century… T he medical people were trying to catch up with the humanities people because everyone knew that it’s really hard to get a PhD and it confers authority.” Via @pluralistic https://going-medieval.com/2023/11/29/doctor-does-actually-mean-someone-with-a-phd-sorry/
This holiday season, please remember that Louis DeJoy has STILL not been removed from the head of USPS, and is STILL fucking things up for his corporate shitmaster friends. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/29/2208661/-USPS-Prioritizes-Amazon-Over-Mail
Hello #Mastodon!
This is my first post on Mastodon. I am usually to be found on www.unmannedspaceflight.com but I will be sharing space-related images here as well.
NY Times has some great reporting here: Just as the administration of George W. Bush blew off warnings of the 9/11 attacks, Netanyahu's government blew off highly specific warnings a year ago about the Hamas plans.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-attack-intelligence.html
@Ertain @gamingonlinux If purchasing isn’t owning, then piracy isn’t stealing.
Meanwhile...
Via Yair Rosenberg:
Besides being right on the merits, Biden admin moves like this throw a wedge into Netanyahu's coalition, which can't police settler extremists because it is beholden to settler extremists, and pits the coalition against the majority of Israelis who despise these extremists.
TOI ALERTS:
US tells Israel it will announce visa ban on violent settlers in coming weeks — officials
5/ Noteworthy:
Via PatriotTakes:
George Santos was just kicked out of Congress. He has 68 fewer charges than Trump.
I waited a couple of days to see if any mainstream big outlets took this up with the same volume they do when Trump shows up ahead in polls.
Unsurprisingly, it’s not being covered.
Joe Biden Retakes Lead from Donald Trump in Latest National 2024 Poll:
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-trump-morning-consult-poll-2024-1847994
Biden takes 5-point lead as hypothetical 2024 election contest against Trump remains close:
https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/47444-biden-5-point-lead-trump-close
I'm an astronomer specializing in #SETI, #UV #Instrumentation. #RadioAstronomy, #InterstellarMatter (#ISM), #VolunteerComputing, #BOINC, #SETIatHome, #retroComputing #retroGaming ...Wait a minute... That's not specializing!