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#21

Off the Record / Re: The Israel-Iran War ?

Last post by Bauer - June 21, 2025, 09:02:07 PM

Another thought on my mind, what if this action actually does prove decisive and neuters Iran or even leads to regime change.  That would give Trump a massive win and could accelerate the move towards maga authoritarianism in the US...

Or if it becomes a quagmire maybe that leads to maga civil war and disintegration of the movement.

#22

Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...

Last post by Bauer - June 21, 2025, 08:41:47 PM

More competition makes companies more innovative too, which is probably a big cause of the lag.  Too many protections, and probably leads to the culture of change resistance.

I saw this automated greenhouse vid the other day, pretty cool. 

#23

Off the Record / Re: The Israel-Iran War ?

Last post by Jacob - June 21, 2025, 08:32:25 PM

He says no boots. But he says a lot of things. Some bombs going off in America or something and that probably changes quickly.

Yeah, the question is how willing Iran is to poke the US.

A third country registered container ship getting close to the US and launching a whole bunch of drones at targets on the American coast (say if there are any nuclear plants) seems reasonably doable in a timeframe of a few months for a country like Iran, I'd expect. The question is whether they'd be willing to provoke that kind of response.

Maybe that's not what Iran will do (or maybe it's not possible for them), but I think it'd be uncharacteristic for Iran to not try to retaliate one way or the other.

Hmmm... I wonder if they'd want to make it personal. How vulnerable are various Trump properties, family members, and interests across the globe?

[Futhark runes]

#24

Off the Record / Re: Archaeologists do it in ho...

Last post by viper37 - June 21, 2025, 08:24:44 PM

Runes found in Canadian wilderness baffle archaeologists

Archaeologists remain baffled by a surprising, seemingly ahistorical find located deep in the Canadian wilderness. But after years of research, analysis, and historical corroboration, an interdisciplinary team has finally made their findings available to the public. Tucked away in a forest approximately 465 miles northwest of Ottawa, a massive slab of bedrock features a hand-etched rendition of the full Lord's Prayer. But the religious text isn't inscribed in French or English—it's composed of over 250 symbols from the oldest known runic alphabet.
The perplexing discovery happened completely by chance, according to the CBC. Hidden for centuries, the stone became exposed only after a tree fell near the town of Wawa, not far from Lake Superior. Closer inspection showed that someone had etched 255 runes into a roughly 4 by 5 foot section of the slab. Additionally, they took time to add a detailed illustration of a boat, an additional 16 runic signs, and 14 X markings.
Photos of the site soon wound up in front of Ryan Primrose, president of the Ontario Center for Archaeological Education, who was immediately stunned by the images.
"It's certainly among the least expected discoveries of my career. It's absolutely fascinating," he told CBC.

Futhark runes
However, Primrose didn't want anyone jumping to conclusions about the inscription. While it's true that Vikings explored portions of present-day Canada thousands of years ago, he doubted they were responsible for the mystery message.
"We didn't want to release anything publicly until we had done as much analysis as possible," said Primrose.
He soon contacted Uppsala University emeritus professor of runology Henrik Williams, and helped the renowned expert arrange a visit to the site the following October.
"I was under a tarpaulin for three hours with a flashlight, looking at the runes and the others were sitting outside freezing," recalled Williams.

The group's patience and endurance paid off. Williams eventually determined that the message was written with Futhark alphabetic runes. 

First developed and used by Germanic peoples between the 2nd and 8th centuries CE, Futhark eventually evolved into a simplified version adopted by Scandinavians. Both the Anglo-Saxons and Frisiacs also expanded it into their own variants, but the knowledge of how to read its original iteration died out by the High Middle Ages (around 1000-1300 CE). It wouldn't be until 1865 that Norwegian scholar Sophus Bugge finally succeeded in deciphering the long-lost language.

People across Europe remained fascinated with runes in the interim, however. During the early 1600s, Swedish polymath (and occultist) Johannes Bureus adopted the symbols into a system that roughly corresponded to his home country's language. This culminated in the publication of a Swedish language Lord's Prayer written with the Futhark runes in 1611. But don't think the Canadian oddity's story ended there.
Researchers hope to turn the stone into a public heritage site. Credit: Ryan Primrose / OCAE
A more recent inscription


"This must have been a Swede," Primrose said of the etcher. "Were there any Swedes at all here?"
Not during  the 17th century, according to his research. That said, historical documents confirm that Hudson's Bay Company stationed Swedish workers at trading posts across Canada beginning in the 1800s. And it just so happens that Bureus' runic Lord's Prayer was republished during the 19th century.
Taken altogether, Primrose and colleagues now theorize that a Hudson's Bay Company employee—or employees—are responsible for the labor-intensive project that likely took days, if not weeks to complete.
The conservationists are now working with the local landowners on a leasehold to turn their archaeological discovery into a public heritage site that includes a protective structure to guard it against the elements.
Primrose confessed to being "a little disappointed" that the artifact is likely only a couple centuries old, but plenty of questions still surround the find. Was the site a place for religious gatherings, or the devotional effort of one person? Prior to its exposure, the bedrock also lay under multiple inches of soil. With no other artifacts found nearby, was the prayer intentionally buried?
"The mystery doesn't fade just because it's younger than we hoped. Why was it carved here? Why this text? There are no answers," he said. "And mysteries always draw people in."

Interesting find.

#25

Off the Record / Re: The Israel-Iran War ?

Last post by Jacob - June 21, 2025, 08:23:36 PM

So now the question is how far is this going to go?

My guess is: quite a bit farther.

Open questions in my mind:

• Absent a strong Iranian response, how far is Israel going to go?
• Absent a strong Iranian response, how far is the US going to go?
• How easy is it for Iran to strike at American military bases?

I suppose it's possible the Iranian regime will totter and fall in response to this bombing campaign, but personally I wouldn't bet on it.

This leaves me thinking that Iran will feel the need to retaliate at least semi-proportionally. If they are powerless to do so now - and it seems like they may be - it only means they'll bide their time.

My guess is we'll see Iranian-sponsored attempts at major terrorist attacks against US and Israeli targets in the not too distant future. I expect they'll have an easier time against US targets.

#26

Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...

Last post by viper37 - June 21, 2025, 08:17:03 PM

I like most of what I see/hear from Carney himself but I don't really trust his party that much... ultimately his success as PM will come down to how effectively the projects get done.

There's that, and it will depend on which projects he pushes.

There's a large consensus over defense spending.  So far, I haven't seen any mention of reaching 5%.  Like you, I don't think we can afford it right now.

The pay raise of 20% for our military will create a lot of expectation.  Better not fumble it.

#27

Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...

Last post by viper37 - June 21, 2025, 08:14:42 PM

No more half measures: to get out of our growth rut, Canada needs radical tax reform


I'd need to read more on this, from the economists, to form a solid opinion.

It seems really complicated to implement.

That is an interesting topic and yeah complicated.  Canada falling behind on productivity was a topic when I did my economics degree 20+ years ago.  It wasn't fully understood then or known if it would continue, but it's steadily become a bigger problem over time.  In my opinion it is related to the tax structure and probably the difficulty of approval process.  The essential problem is basically to get businesses to reinvest in productivity enhancements.

When the dollar is low, they make huge profits and they redistribute to shareholders.

When the dollar is high, they retreat, even with capital amortization measures, or guaranteed loans, or any kind of grants.

There are various measures everywhere that don't incite companies to invest:
- environmental regulations not being strict enough.  The last time an industry was forced to modernize itself, it was the paper mill industry.  They fought tooth and nail against it, but in the end, they did comply with the environmental norms imposed by Quebec and Ottawa, and by the same token, became much more competitive than their American counterparts

- Our tech comes from foreign countries.  It's ultimately bought in US$ or Euros.  Huge penalty with a CAN$ that is often low.  If the CAN$ rises... our companies have trouble selling products to America, what was our biggest export market (well, still is, but we're trying to diversify away)

- There's often a resistance to change from entrepreneurs, big and small, they see technology as an expense, not an investment.  Especially if labor costs are passed down to consumers or are very cheap, like agriculture or fast food, due to the massive availability of tfw

- Speaking of agriculture.  For dairy & poultry, we have a quota system.  It protects smaller farms, it has a lot of good, but it has the adverse effect of preventing investments in technology.  Not so many dairy farms are equipped with milking robots, for example.  They feel the investment isn't worth it for the number of cows they have, they much prefer to manage humans rather than technology.  Compare to the pork sector, it's amazing how much more these farms can depend on human labor vs automation.  And work in the field, since the fields are smaller, makes automation impractical.  But I suppose out West, in the Prairies, automation for these parts can be a thing.

#28

Off the Record / Re: The Israel-Iran War ?

Last post by HVC - June 21, 2025, 08:12:00 PM

He says no boots. But he says a lot of things. Some bombs going off in America or something and that probably changes quickly.

#29

Off the Record / Re: The Israel-Iran War ?

Last post by Bauer - June 21, 2025, 08:04:51 PM

So now the question is how far is this going to go?

#30

Off the Record / Re: Climate Change/Mass Extinc...

Last post by HVC - June 21, 2025, 08:02:21 PM

First heatwave of the year starting tomorrow. Gonna feel like mid to high 40s until Wednesday the drop to "only" mid 30s