Random News and Notes 29 May
On this date in 1848 Wisconsin becomes the 30th state.
At 11:30 a.m. on on this date in 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first known explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which at 29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point on earth.
We start in Canada, where an Indian man managed to get himself killed by a Black Bear. Hrishikesh Koloth, 27, was working at a uranium exploration site when he was attacked by a black bear.
How he managed to get killed by a black bear is a mystery to me. I have extensive experience with black bears, hundreds of not thousands of interactions over my lifetime, and only once have I seen a truly aggressive black bear. That one was injured, hungry and looking for cheap calories. Black bears kill about one person every other year across their range and rarely bother healthy adults, so either that bear had a taste for curry and BO or there was something else going on.
I should note that brown bears – which include grizzlies – kill about 10 people a year and polar bears about one every 5 years with far fewer interactions. The black bears range runs from Alaska and most of the west coast across the northern great plains and down the east coast to Florida.
The retards running my state slipped a nasty little bit of legislation into the 2 month overdue budget bill. That budget bill passed yesterday and with it new restrictions on 3D printers, CNC machining centers and CAD files. Those restrictions are aimed to prevent home building of firearms. I refuse to use the retarded term “ghost guns”.
Among other things, the restrictions include a ban on on-line sales, a ban on any accessory printing CAD/G-code files – not just those for receivers/lowers, and forces manufacturers of 3D printers and CNC machines to include “blocking technology” that prevents the user from printing firearm parts and accessories. Very little of that will be enforceable.
There is a potential Iran deal on the table today. President Trump is convening the cabinet to discuss it and make a final determination. The proposed agreement would lift the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, allowing unrestricted shipping through the waterway that carries 20% of global oil, in exchange for Iran committing never to pursue nuclear weapons and dismantling program remnants like buried enriched material from a U.S. strike. Key steps include clearing sea mines, freeing stranded ships, and a 60-day memorandum extending the ceasefire to start formal talks.
Call me a cynic, but this deal, at least what we’re hearing it is right now, will not happen. I think there are a few people around Trump who are pushing this deal when it seems pretty clear that the Iranians are not on board. Just an hour before the Trump announcement, one for the senior regime officials Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Iran’s Parliament had this to say:
1- We seize concessions not through dialogue, but with missiles; in negotiations, we merely make them understand.
2- We have no trust in guarantees or words—only actions are the measure. No action will be taken before the other side acts.
3- The winner of any agreement is the one who is better prepared for war from the day after.
Doesn’t sound like someone who is on the cusp of making a deal to me.
The ebola outbreak in Africa seems to have expanded to South Sudan, The number of cases is unclear, but it seems to be in the dozens. As a precaution, the US has decided to set up quarantine facilities for US citizens in Africa. One country under consideration, Kenya, just said no.
The Trump administration announced anyone potentially exposed to the deadly hemorrhagic virus will not be allowed into the US.