Poetic win

It's been 46 years since the US took gold in Olympic men's hockey. They called it the "Miracle on Ice," a glorious win that filled American hearts with pride. Names of the players and coach became famous, and a movie was made about it.

It happened again this year, exactly 46 years later--to the day, Feb. 22-- in a triumph over a tough Canadian team. 

Hockey is not for the faint of heart. Rough play is part of the game. Jack Hughes, 24 years old and from Florida, took a bloody hit in the mouth (photo) that damaged his teeth. But he got back in the game and made the game-winning score in the last period.

Asked to share how he felt, he said:

"This is all about our country. I love the USA. I love my teammates . . . The USA hockey brotherhood is so strong, and we're so proud to win for our country."

from Outkick

Help coming 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

It seems the U.S. president's message of last November (yesterday's post) had an impact. Nigeria formally requested the help of the U.S. military to curtail the deadly attacks of militant Islamist groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa Province.

An airstrike was carried out in December by US forces against two camps of Islamic militant groups in northern Nigeria--with the approval of President Tinubu.

About 100 US troops as well as military equipment arrived last Monday (photo) to help train Nigerian forces to "enhance the protection of vulnerable communities."

"Nigeria's government has expressed its thanks for US aid in tackling security issues . . ."

It's a start. 

from BBC

Help coming 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Brutal, barbarous machete attacks are reported repeatedly. People are killed and abducted from schools or churches by Muslim attackers who shout "Allahu Akbar!" Christians have asked the government for protection, but it doesn't seem to come.

Moderate Muslims who reject extremism are targeted as well. But Christians "are disproportionately targeted, being more than 5 times as likely to be killed [as] Muslims," according to a legal group.

Nigeria's president strongly denies that there's any religious persecution in his country, and his wife came to America on a mission to do the same--"despite all the evidence of widespread atrocities." Many Western journalists simply accept the Nigerian state's narrative.

But the reports got the attention of the U.S. president. Last November he sent this message: "If the Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance," and may even take steps to "wipe out" Islamist terrorists. 

Some Americans have been sent and may now be working with the Nigerian government to give these targeted communities some help.

from The Free Press

Help coming

Christians have suffered loss and death for years in Nigeria. Officially, the government denies that they are targeted for genocide. But reports of people on the ground are graphic and specific. 

Christian media in the U.S. has reported it, as in this video. See the clip of Bill Maher who called out the slaughter on his show:

He makes the point that secular students and media name Gaza as a site of genocide but ignore the greater numbers in the Nigerian genocide. The point of showing Maher's clip is to demonstrate that the narrative is not just a Christian claim.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Applaud Rubio

U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, managed to do something surprising. Speaking to a large group of European elites last week in Germany, he told them that they need to change course. The surprising thing is that his audience chose to applaud what he said rather than to take offense.

America hopes to preserve Western Civilization, he says. We would be willing to fight for it alone, if necessary, but would rather do it with our friends and allies in Europe with whom we share a history of culture and Christianity and cooperation.

His appeal to them was framed as a partnership, not a pressure campaign (appropriate for America's top diplomat). To watch it is a good use of 21 minutes.

Dump wind parts

Follow up to "Wind blade" posts

Wind turbine parts (photo) are made of stuff that's hard to recycle, fiberglass especially. Turbines fail after 10-20 years and have to be discarded. What to do with them is the big question.

Global Fiberglass Solutions claims to have the solution. Wind energy firms contract with them to do the big job of recycling these massive parts. But are they doing it?

Texas says, No. Their lawsuit claims that GFS has dumped about 3,000 blades at two sites, for a total of about 487,000 square yards of solid waste. 

Recycling facilities have to process at least 75% of the material they take in according to Texas law. The state says GFS has never met that requirement since 2017, so

Looks like the big problem of what to do with huge old wind turbine parts is still unsolved. Meanwhile, they pile up in big fields and disposal sites, sheltering rattlesnakes and mosquitos. Local people don't like that. These things are huge.

from "Green Energy Firm Sued for Allegedly Turning State into Wind Turbine Waste Dumping Ground"

Gen Z rebel 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

It's easy to understand the frustration of many Gen Z people with their governments. Corruption abounds, even in our own country, because human beings are flawed in our very nature and every government is made of human beings. Flawless people will never run countries.

The American founders were well aware of this--it is a Christian truth--and tried to devise a government that would make corruption harder to do. Our resulting constitution and principles of governance have been the envy of the world for 250 years. 

But even many American young people today would be clueless if they had to put a governing system in place, as those in Nepal were. How many have learned from their American education just what principles made America successful? 

The answer is: few of them. 

Hillsdale College does teach the principles that created America. Their professors are available to you through their free online courses. I recommend them to you, and I just signed up for Constitution 101.

Gen Z rebel 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post) 

Chaos reigned in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, last September when 51 people lost their lives. This is the most violence this country of 30 million people has seen since civil war ended their monarchy in 2008. 

New loss of the both the Prime Minister and the Parliament (disbanded) means starting over . . again.

"We did it," they said. But now what?? They didn't really know. "The Zoomers have nothing real to put in their place." An interim president was appointed to lead for six months, and a new election is coming in March.

Madagascar, an island country, suffered something similar. Social media communication revelations disgraced the government, Zoomers mobilized, violence followed, and 21 died. The president fled for his life, and the rebels tracked his flight online.

A youthful movement in Mexico organized protests last November demanding change and accusing the government of corruption (though the government remains in power).

What solutions do any of these rebellions install in their countries? They don't have any solutions. They criticize the moral failures of their governments--understandably--and correct and object, but is there any moral authority they do trust to bring in a just government?

from The Free Press

(cont'd tomorrow)

Gen Z rebel

The government of Nepal (map) banned Facebook, Instagram and X -- and then last September it was brought down when Generation Z went nuclear with fury. 

Seeing social media get censored and banned was just the last straw for youth of this country. They led a massive revolt against the corruption and nepotism they saw in their political leaders. It was violent and there was a lot of burning. People died. Eventually, the Prime Minister resigned.

Here's a report from a news channel in India (which shares a border with Nepal):

(cont'd tomorrow)

Daddy victory

Daddies who are "present" to their families can benefit from being in a community of others who are doing the same thing. Moms have support systems but how many dads are trying to do it alone?

Here's a dad who created something like that for dads in Chicago. They go for "Daddy Strolls" and the idea has spread to other cities.

Real girls rock

Does anybody still claim that biological males should be allowed to compete in women's sports? Riley Gaines appears in this commercial from the Super Bowl last night:

She hears comments like, "Who cares if biological males play in women's sports? Just be inclusive!" And, "This is just a bunch of fear-mongering from right wing bigots." 

Girls and women pursue "their athletic goals and dreams despite the criticism, hate, personal attacks and gaslighting of “trans” activists and their allies."

I have to wonder how it's possible that any rational human being could deny that males generally have different, stronger bodies. Athletic males should compete against other athletic males and athletic females should compete against other athletic females . . or the competition is not fair. 

AI & SpaceX 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Data centers will be in space in a few years. Ultimately, the "lowest cost way to generate AI compute" will be where solar energy is un-impeded by atmosphere, and where the required cooling is easy and won't be an environmental disturbance.

Bringing XAI into SpaceX will put the pieces of this vision together. Starship will move massive amounts of cargo to the Moon, where a permanent human presence will perform science and manufacturing.

The Moon will be a jumping-off point for deeper space. 

"The capabilities we unlock by making space-based data centers a reality will fund and enable self-growing bases on the Moon, an entire civilization on Mars and ultimately expansion to the Universe." It's the SpaceX vision to understand the universe, and to preserve and protect the light of consciousness.

Estimates put the value of the newly larger SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion.

from SpaceX

AI & SpaceX

XAI, the company, was started up by Elon Musk in 2023 to manage both the development of artificial intelligence (including the chatbot Grok) and the social media platform X (former Twitter).

Now, that company has been acquired by another of Elon's companies, SpaceX.

He announced it on Monday of this week, saying that this move creates: "the most ambitious, vertically-integrated engine on (and off) earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world's foremost real-time information and free speech platform."

What is vertical integration? A business acquires other companies up and down its production process so that it is not wholly vulnerable to the vagaries of those other companies for the components or services it needs. 

(image)

So, SpaceX now has put together rockets, satellites (it already had Starlink), AI, and social media. What is its ultimate purpose? Hint: it's not just rockets.

from SpaceX

(cont'd tomorrow)

Still going 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Yesterday's re-post is more than five years old, so there may have been tweaks in the plan since we first looked at it. The latest description of the Artemis Program (image) on NASA's website reflects a up-to-date overview.

The plan consists of four missions. Artemis 1 was completed in December of 2022, confirming that NASA has a "foundational deep-space transportation system" that really works, that can be relied on to carry out the rest of the missions.

People won't actually walk on the Moon until the third mission, Artemis 3. Two members of the crew of four will explore the lunar South Pole region for a week. So far, it's scheduled for some time in 2028. The mission is expected to last about 30 days.

Then there's the far more complicated fourth mission, Artemis 4. A new lunar space station will be assembled from modules brought by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Astronauts will live and work there in orbit, performing multiple ground launches and experiments.

But before #3 and #4, there will be the second mission, Artemis 2 . . and that's going to launch next month.

from NASA

Still going

Remember the Artemis Program? It is still NASA's goal to take people to the moon--and to stay there with a continuing human presence. It's taking a long time, but there is news: the next mission in the program is coming up next month.

To refresh yourself about the goal, here's an inspiring re-post from 2021. As the video voiceover says, "None of this is simple, or easy!" 

Artemis

Next year, 2022, will be the 50th anniversary since men were last on the moon. That's fifty years, achieved by people with 50-year-old technology. We can do it again, and that's the goal. Under the previous administration, NASA made plans to return with international and private partners and establish the first long-term presence. 

Why do that? For the scientific discovery, the economic benefits, and the inspiration. "While maintaining American leadership in exploration, we will build a global alliance and explore deep space for the benefit of all."

Yes to Texas

Texas is where billionaires go when they leave California (at least some of them). 

Population is increasing, and more people make the state's economy bigger. But more importantly, measuring the state's economy per person reveals that "Texas is generating thousands of dollars more per resident than it did just three years ago."

"Economic output" rose from $64,000/year in 2021 to $71,000 in 2024. That means individuals produce more value and more income overall. Think GDP (Gross Domestic Product) for the whole state, divided by the number of people.

To generalize, families see their standard of living go up. Something is going right (photo of the governor).

from MSN