"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by wj "Rare earths" (lanthanide elements) are not particularly rare. What they are is quite difficult to separate and refine, because they are so similar. But there are differences, and those differences are critical is determining which one will work well (or at all) in any particular technical application. Once upon a time, perhaps half … Read more
by liberal japonicus If you haven't noticed, this is not the place for breaking news. But this does seem to be something we might want to talk about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWpqJ8pD2Ng AMNA NAWAZ: Since President Trump reentered the Oval Office, billionaire Elon Musk and his DOGE team have been sweeping through federal agencies, accessing sensitive data as … Read more
by liberal japonicus Can you show me the shine in your JapanThe sparkle of your China, can you show meBodhisattva, This Klein interview with Thomas Friedman is quite interesting. (the link to the transcript is here, put a gift link in the comments and I'll change it) I've never been a fan of the Moustache … Read more
by liberal japonicus I finally listened to Carole Cadwalladr's 2nd TED talk. I started it I think when GftNC recommended it, but had to turn it off and, having returned to it and finished it, I thought about why that was the case. It is instructive to compare the talk to Cadwalladr's first TED talk, … Read more
by liberal japonicus This one is outsourced to Shakezula at Lawyers, Guns and Money ===== If Nemo Klus gets cyberbullied for nearly two hours does anyone care? Elon Musk rage quit a livestream of the video game Path of Exile 2 on Saturday night after repeatedly dying while also being ruthlessly cyberbullied in the chat. … Read more
by liberal japonicus This interview with Thomas Sipp is worth your time. It has special resonance for me because he has a Japanese mother and American father, which informed his decision to resign to Skadden because of Trump's demands. If someone has a gift link to the transcript, which is here, I'd appreciate it if … Read more
by liberal japonicus I assume that people here read like me, so the stuff that I'm reading, y'all are also probably going to see it, if not in the same story, possibly in a different write-up. However, I wonder if any of you read this Guardian piece titled ‘I was a British tourist trying to … Read more
by liberal japonicus Trump: China's mining too many oresMusk: What are you going to do?Trump: Order more tariffs to make them mine less.Musk: Mine fewer.Trump: Thanks, but I'm talking about ores. After that, I've got nothing. Have at it.
by liberal japonicus Well, some good news. Susan Crawford won the race for a seat on the Wisconsin supreme court on Tuesday, a major win for Democrats who had framed the race as a referendum on Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s popularity. […] In remarks on Tuesday night, Schimel said he and his team “didn’t … Read more