The predominant reaction has been "Okay, if it's not a directed microwave weapon, then it must be something else." Many suggestions have been offered. 2/
But that reaction contains a number of assumptions.
1) That there is a defined set of symptoms comprising the Havana Syndrome.
2) That those symptoms are being caused by a malign agent.
3) That the agent is using a directed-energy weapon. 3/
I didn't address assumption 1, and I won't in this thread, beyond saying that the symptoms are quite varied. This raises questions as to whether there is a single cause. 4/
Assumption 2 is the weakest in any chain, and I address it in the article. There is little to no evidence that any of the sources suggested can cause the symptoms described. If you want to posit a weapon, then show what it does. 5/
The assumption of a malign agent is weak. What is their motivation? Why would they selected the targets observed? Or this -
Assumption 3 is the subject of my article. The questions raised for microwaves are the same for other putative weapons. 7/
These nonanalytical responses are very much in the technostrategic vein, often gendered as male. Presenting answers rather than analyzing the question. It's something that is valued by a great deal of schooling too. 🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️ 8/
See? You knew I could work Carol Cohn into this! Have a nice night! 😉 9/9
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Back when I started contracting for environmental restoration, I was surprised to receive bids from "Beltway bandits" who had no experience in what they were proposing. 1/
Colleagues explained that this was common practice. If they won the contract, they would then subcontract to others, while retaining their percentage. 2/
The Beltway bandits knew how to work the system, how to write the proposals better than firms that actually knew how to do the work.
My preference was for the firms that actually knew how to do the work. 3/
General Gustave Perna was nominated by President Trump to be COO for Operation Warp Speed on May 18. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 2. A month and a half. 1/ army.mil/article/235694… defense.gov/Newsroom/Relea…
"[H]is team did not have a clear understanding of why these delays were happening"????? 2/
Perna should have available to him project management printouts of the vaccine transport, the centers to which it is going and the plans for distribution from there, the personnel available, and the locations for vaccinations. 3/
Huh. I see this tweet has been deleted, as has the one for #85. Some good comments, so I won't delete it. Maybe I need to do screenshots from here on.
Adventures in Masculinity #87
I guess we might as well go for the obvious
Adventures in Masculinity #88
"But the messaging behind all of this is crap. It presents mask-wearing as something cool that men can individually do in order to be rugged heroes, deserving of accolades for their brave, manly choices."
Act I: Donald Trump withdraws from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in which Iran agreed to give up all work that could lead to nuclear weapons. whitehouse.gov/presidential-a…
Experts warned that this withdrawal would give up leverage on Iran.
Act II: The remaining members of the JCPOA stay with it and try to make it work. The US begins "maximum pressure," reinstating sanctions that Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo believe will make Iran bend to their will.
1. There are a hundred gazillion models out there. Few of their owners have bothered to compare their model to others to see what is working and what isn't.
2. By the standards of the models I've worked with, they are all simple - a few differential equations, a curve fit. I've worked with a hundred or more elementary reactions and then a mass- and heat-transfer model that incorporated those in. (Hint: we had to boil them down to six
3. The only model I have seen that is at all transparent about its parameters is the Imperial College model. All the others I have seen are curve fits. They mumble about social distancing as a variable, but never say which parameter it fits into.