Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Feminist Sex Bots to Demand Small Talk, Consent

Here’s something you rarely hear in the discussion of robots designed for the sole purpose of having sexual relations with humans: Is the sex consensual?

That’s because it’s one of the last questions anyone thinks about. It’s a little bit like asking, “You shoved your bread into that toaster, but did you even bother to wonder if it wanted to make you toast?” But these are exactly the questions being asked by Unicole Unicron—yes, that’s her actual name—a self-described “gender non-conforming Pop Star Cult Leader” from Pasadena, California, who hopes to open the world’s first “consent-focused robot brothel,” called Eve’s Robot Dreams, in West Hollywood later this year.



Abyss Creations sexbot in shipping crate

Unicron has no startup capital, although she’s in talks with private investors about funding the project. And aside from her day job—where she writes content for Abyss Creations, one of a handful of companies selling sex robots in the US—she doesn’t have a lot of experience in the mechanics of techno-sex. But she does have a unique marketing approach.

It’s important that diversity exists within tech and this is no different,” she says. “Eve’s Robot Dreams will provide a fresh experience and it will set the precedent for how we interact with robots. We have the opportunity to be at the international forefront of robot ethics.”

How exactly sex with a robot can be consensual is still coming into focus. Unicron’s explanation makes it sound like a very awkward first date, where the customer and robot have a pre-coital conversation “in a public booth or a curtained booth in our cafe.” Or they can skip the perfunctory meet-and-greet by using a Realbotix app before the encounter. If you say enough “right” things to the robot over time, it “unlocks her sexual content,” Unicron says.
A very strange girl (NSFW link). At this point, I'm pretty sure it's a scam.







Wombat-socho has Rule 5 Sunday: Happy Hanukkah! up on time and within budget.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

It's Getting Better All the Time

New paper shows no climate trend in hurricane damage losses in the United States
Dr. Roger Pielke Junior writes:

Our major update to the CONUS normalized hurricane loss dataset has now been published, after several years of effort and an intensive review process by Nature Sustainability.

Weinkle et al. 2018.Normalized hurricane damage in the continental United States 1900–2017, Nature Sustainability. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0165-2
Abstract.

Direct economic losses result when a hurricane encounters an exposed, vulnerable society. A normalization estimates direct economic losses from a historical extreme event if that same event was to occur under contemporary societal conditions. Under the global indicator framework of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the reduction of direct economic losses as a proportion of total economic activity is identified as a key indicator of progress in the mitigation of disaster impacts. Understanding loss trends in the context of development can therefore aid in assessing sustainable development. This analysis provides a major update to the leading dataset on normalized US hurricane losses in the continental United States from 1900 to 2017. Over this period, 197 hurricanes resulted in 206 landfalls with about US$2 trillion in normalized (2018) damage, or just under US$17 billion annually. Consistent with observed trends in the frequency and intensity of hurricane landfalls along the continental United States since 1900, the updated normalized loss estimates also show no trend. A more detailed comparison of trends in hurricanes and normalized losses over various periods in the twentieth century to 2017 demonstrates a very high degree of consistency.

And hurricane frequency is not changing either.


And world wide, weather related losses are decreasing as a function of GNP


But every time a hurricane occurs, the media rushes to blame global warming, and Donald Trump.

Russiagate: Even Paranoids Have Real Enemies

CNN: Well known conspiracy theorist, Roger Stone associate says he won't agree to plea deal
An associate of Roger Stone said Monday he is refusing to sign a plea deal offered by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Jerome Corsi, whose role in Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election largely revolves around the possibility that he was an intermediary between Stone and WikiLeaks, said he was offered a deal to plea on one count of perjury.

"They can put me in prison the rest of my life. I am not going to sign a lie," Corsi told CNN in a phone call.

Asked what happens now that he is refusing, Corsi responded: "I don't know."
Well, in a country run by actual laws and not plea agreements, Mueller would have to take you to court and prove to 12 citizens that you lied, and that the lie was material.
Corsi said Monday that he believed he would by lying by signing the plea agreement because he says he did not willfully mislead anyone.

Describing his experience with Mueller's team as "like being interrogated as a POW in the Korean War," Corsi said after two months of questioning, prosecutors believed they caught him in various lies and did not appear to believe him when he said he could not recall certain events.

Corsi insisted he had no contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that "investigators were so mad because I didn't give them what they wanted."

He claimed that Mueller's team wanted to keep any plea agreement sealed, a point that particularly incensed him. Corsi said he would be required to report legal infractions to financial regulators.

In a statement on Monday following Corsi's latest comments, Stone said the special counsel was harassing Corsi "not for lying, but for refusing to lie" and continued to maintain his own innocence.
Suspicions that Corsi is being punished for being an Trump backer, a friend of Stone, and a prominent birther (like Hillary Clinton) are entirely warranted.

WSJ, ABC and Fox News all agree, Special counsel Robert Mueller's office says Paul Manafort broke his cooperation deal by lying. So it's probably true that Mueller's office said that. But none of the articles say anything about the nature of the alleged lies. Fox:
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office "on a variety of subject matters" since his plea deal earlier this year, thereby violating the agreement, Mueller said in a court filing submitted Monday night, while adding that Manafort claims he's been truthful.
But in a familiar pattern:
"Manafort met with the government on numerous occasions and answered the government’s questions," the report said, citing the former chairman. "Manafort has provided information to the government in an effort to live up to his cooperation obligations. He believes he has provided truthful information and does not agree with the government’s characterization or that he has breached the agreement."
Hours of interrogation, followed by charges of  lying to investigators. It's almost as if that were the purpose of the interrogations. Never talk to the feds. Of course, Manafort is over a barrel, having to "cooperate" with Mueller as a result of his convictions on financial crimes.

And speaking of convictions for lying to Mueller's crowd, The Last Tradition notes the costs of Mueller's conviction of George Papadopoulos: Millions of taxpayer dollars to get 14 days in prison for semi-Trump aide George Papadopoulos who reports to prison today (yesterday):
Wow! What a job by Robert Mueller!

Is this really money well spent? Not! It was supposed to be about proving Trump colluded with Russia. How did that work out, Bobby boy?
CNN reports despite his last-minute requests and hopes, former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos will still have to start his 14-day prison sentence on Monday for lying to federal investigators in the Russia probe.
 It does seem a little like swatting a fly with a bulldozer.

Sara Noble at the Independent Sentinel continues to follow how the UK and Australia Battle to Keep 21 Pages of Russia-Trump Probe Secret
One must ask why foreign governments were so involved in spying in the first place. What do they have to hide?

The Telegraph spoke to more than a dozen U.K. and U.S. officials, including U.S. intel and British spy chiefs. They allegedly have a “genuine concern” that sources would be exposed if the documents are released.

That doesn’t sound legitimate since the House Republicans said the only thing intelligence is worried about is being embarrassed. There are no sources in the documents they want to be released — 21 pages.

“It boils down to the exposure of people”, said one U.S. intelligence official, adding: “We don’t want to reveal sources and methods.” U.S. intelligence shares the concerns of the U.K.

One has to wonder if they are sharing information illegally.

Another agent told the Telegraph that Britain feared setting a dangerous “precedent” which could make people less likely to share information, knowing that it could one day become public, the Telegraph reported.
. . .
The truth is that the espionage of the Trump campaign took place on U.K. soil. George Papadopoulos was lured to England by the Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud who told him the rumor that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton. Spying was in London again when Australian diplomat Alexander Downer heard the planted rumor of Hillary’s emails from George Papadopoulos.

Stefan Halper, the well-paid spy, also met with Carter Page and George Papadopoulos in London.

That implicates the U.K. and Australia in unlawful spying.
There's not much in spycraft that's really illegal in the home country (UK), but you have effectively acted as if the President of the United States is your enemy. You should expect to be treated accordingly. Sunlight is a reasonably good disinfectant.

At the American Thinker, Daniel John Sobieski wonders What about Your FISA Judges, Justice Roberts?
As long as we are on the subject of whether there is such an animal as an "Obama judge," let us consider the judges who sit on the FISA court and issue warrants allowing surveillance of American citizens who are suspected foreign agents, essentially taking the uncontested word of the government.

Their actions on behalf of one political campaign, colluding with a corrupt DOJ and FBI to target a political opponent, are not supposed to happen in a country based on the rule of law as administered by supposedly impartial judges. Empowered to safeguard our national security against foreign actors, they essentially served as an extra-constitutional arm of the Hillary Clinton campaign as it colluded with foreign actors to stage a Deep-State coup against a duly elected president, Donald J. Trump? Aiding and abetting the legacy of Barack Obama seems like something an "Obama judge" would do.

Chief Justice Roberts is the one who gets to appoint judges to the FISA court – every last one of them, judges like Rudolph Contreras, who granted a previously denied Michael Flynn FISA warrant. His appointees are the ones who swallowed whole the contentions of the Obama administration using unverified material put together by a British agent and his Russian sources to aid one political party at the expense of another.

The FISA court and its star chamber judges make for a borderline example of the prophetic warning about trading a little liberty for a little security and winding up with neither. The potential abuse of FISA powers is enormous, and the damage that has been done to our republic and our politics has been staggering.
I have wondered what the FISA judges have been thinking about, as the slow rolling Russiagate scandal continues to reveal unsettling facts about the system. Were they really OK with the shoddy work in the various Carter Page FISA warrants, or has knowledge that they were either tricked, or revealed to be part of the conspiracy informed their work since that time?

Rita Ora Out of Sync in New York

Rita Ora came under fire by fans after she was seen lip-syncing out of time during the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade held in New York on Thursday.

Fans were quick to criticise the Let Me Love You hit-maker on social media, with many claiming the mishap had been the 'highlight' of their parade - prompting Rita, 27, to hit back and set the record straight.





She assured fans that she had no other choice to lip-sync, as all the artists have to during the parade, and insisted her vocals are always '100% live' during all her shows, as she thanked Macy's for their honesty as the store rushed to her defence.

Rita had taken part in the annual parade and was seen performing her single Let Me Love You onboard a float. She joined a whole host of stars, but her appearance soon became viral as fans busted the starlet for singing out of a time.


A technical glitch saw her track begin a few seconds before Rita began singing. She was unaware of the timing and was therefore seen mouthing the words to her track out of sync.

Directors were forced to cut to wide angle shots for the remainder of the song, while the London-based beauty silently played catch up.

After being hit by a wave of criticism online, Rita made sure to set the record straight. She took to Twitter after noticing fellow popstar John Legend - who had also appeared in the parade - had rushed to show Rita his support, revealing that all the artists that take part in the parade are told they have to lipsync.
Say what you want about Rita, and there's a lot to said, the girl knows how to sing. If you haven't already, check out her performance at Mother Theresa's canonization.

Wombat-socho has Rule 5 Sunday: Happy Hanukkah! up on time and within budget.

Monday, November 26, 2018

More Bad News on Bay Oysters

Maryland oyster population down by half since 1999, study finds
Watermen overharvested oysters last winter in a little more than half of Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, according to the state’s first-ever stock assessment of the commercially and ecologically valuable shellfish. If those harvest rates continue, the assessment warned, the bivalve population in those areas could eventually be wiped out.


The 359-page assessment report, released Tuesday, estimated that Maryland’s overall population of adult oysters this year is half what it was 18 years ago.

The assessment, prepared by the Department of Natural Resources in consultation with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, sets the stage for a potentially fractious debate in coming months over the state’s management of the keystone Bay species, which is also a pillar of Maryland’s seafood industry.

Watermen who were briefed on the assessment Monday night at the DNR’s Oyster Advisory Commission reacted skeptically to its findings. But Alison Prost, Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, issued a statement afterward saying it “confirmed some of our greatest fears about the Bay’s oyster population. The state needs to develop a fishery management plan that protects existing and restored oyster reefs to significantly increase the overall oyster population.”

Mandated in 2017 by the General Assembly, the stock assessment drew on DNR surveys and catch data from 1999 through the wild oyster harvest season that ended last spring. DNR and UMCES scientists used mathematical models to estimate oyster abundance, habitat availability, harvest rates and natural mortality from environmental conditions such as harsh weather and disease.

The study estimated that Maryland’s oyster population plummeted from about 600 million in 1999 to around 200 million by 2002, a period that saw the Bay’s bivalves ravaged by an outbreak of the oyster diseases MSX and Dermo. The harvest hit an all-time low of 19,000 bushels in 2004.

The diseases abated after that, and the study estimates that the state’s oyster stock rebounded to more than 450 million by 2014, with harvests also rising that year to more than 400,000 bushels. Since then, natural reproduction has been lackluster, and the assessment estimated that the population has declined again to an estimated 300 million this year. Last season’s harvest slipped to 180,000 bushels
Some background data, from a paper I published a few years ago:

Note that any landings in the recent past were dwarfed by the tremendous landings of the late 19th century.

Oysters are all but an endangered species in the Bay. Harvest of wild oysters should be halted for 5-10 years (maybe more) to see if oyster populations can survive, and regenerate given freedom from harvesting. If not, it may be time to give up.

The Capital Gazette predicts Oysters will be the big environmental fight when the General Assembly returns to Annapolis
The details of the oyster survey, mandated by the General Assembly, will now be built to management plans being developed by the Department of Natural Resources. By Dec. 1, these plans will be forwarded to the legislature for consideration during the session that begins in January.

Legislators will be asked to decide how Maryland should ensure the future of the oyster as a vital bay species in balance with that of families and businesses that still depend on its harvest.

There have been a handful of environmental fights in the past 30 years that have been turning points in the stewardship of Maryland`s natural resources: the Critical Areas Law, rockfish management and the fracking ban among them.

What to do with the oyster is sure to be the next one.
Never underestimate the ability of a legislature to do nothing when something is needed, and vice versa.

Russiagate: MI6 Dodges Blame, Mueller Gets His Man

From the UK, the Telegraph reports MI6 battling to stop Donald Trump releasing classified Russia probe documents
MI6 chiefs are secretly battling Donald Trump to stop him publishing classified information linked to the Russian election meddling investigation.

The UK is warning that the US president would undermine intelligence gathering if he releases pages of an FBI application to wiretap one of his former campaign advisers.

However Trump allies are fighting back, demanding transparency and asking why Britain would oppose the move unless it had something to hide.

It forces the spotlight on whether the UK played a role in the FBI's investigation launched before the 2016 presidential election into Trump campaign ties to the Kremlin.
It isn't that secret. You made your bed; now lie in it. Today George Papadopoulos begins paying his heavy debt to society today, 14 days in jail for disagreeing with Mueller's characterization of his thoughts "lying" to the FBI:
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in October 2017. In addition to the two-week jail term, Papadopoulos was sentenced to one year of supervised release, 200 hours of community service and a $9,500 fine.

At sentencing in September he told the judge that he had made a "dreadful mistake" and that he hoped to redeem himself. But he soon started attacking the Mueller probe on Twitter and in media appearances, describing the investigation as unjust and politically charged.
I hope he pays his fine with Stephan Halper's money.
The Department of Defense’s Office of Net Assessment — a shadowy think tank that reports directly to the secretary of defense — paid Halper $282,000 in 2016 and $129,000 in 2017.
Also a view from the UK, the Guardian posits 'He has moved incredibly quickly': Mueller nears Trump endgame. Puff piece featuring some law professor from New Jersey that nobody knows. But Alan Dershowitz, OJ Simpson's lawyer says Mueller's final report 'is going to be devastating' for Trump
"When I say 'devastating,' I mean it's going to paint a picture that's going to be politically very devastating. I still don't think it's going to make a criminal case because collusion is not criminal," he said. "What I think Mueller is going to do if he's smart is he's not going to take the chance on being rebutted. He's just going to lay out just the facts."
No crime, but devastating. How does that work? Ann Althouse explores the meaning of the word devastating in Alan Dershowitz says, "I think the [Mueller] report is going to be devastating to the president and I know that the president's team is already working on a response to the report."
I looked up "devastating" in the OED and thought it was funny that it said "Frequently fig., esp. in trivial or hyperbolical use: very effective or upsetting; astounding, overwhelming, ‘stunning’...."
Especially in trivial or hyperbolical use.... From the OED's historical examples:
1925 New Yorker 8 Aug. 4/2 Not since the Tango provided luscious livelihoods for many svelte youths has so devastating a dance agitated the town....
1927 H. T. Lowe-Porter tr. T. Mann Magic Mountain (London ed.) I. v. 378 Everything, whether in jest or earnest, was ‘devastating’, the bob-run, the sweet for dinner, her own temperature.
1933 E. Shanks Enchanted Village ix. 133 Oh yes, poor old Julian—I think, to be honest, that he's a devastating bore.
1936 R. Lehmann Weather in Streets i. 11 Oh, darling have you got to go? How devastating.
Lastly, Democrats to probe Trump money ties to Russia, Saudis: lawmaker (Yahoo). So, pretty much business as usual.

Getting to the Heart of the Matter

Althouse: "We should rejoice — from now on it’s clear for everyone that producers no longer have the right to rape actresses."
"But there’s something that isn’t clear, and that we need to clarify quickly: Do we still have the right to have sex in exchange for roles? Because if we can’t do that anymore, we’ll have to learn lines and go to casting calls, and frankly we don’t have time."
I'll bet is sounds sexier in French.



I hope what she's saying is funny. You never know with the French; they liked Jerry Lewis a lot.
That's Blanche Gardin, who is featured in a NYT piece today, "The Woman Who Still Finds Louis C.K. Lovable/The French comedian Blanche Gardin is taking on all of feminism’s orthodoxies."
As a teenager, she suffered from depression... In her early 30s, when she was hospitalized after a breakup.... Ms. Gardin began watching videos of Louis C.K. on stage.... Ms. Gardin was struck by how Louis C.K. simply stood at the microphone and described his own life, flaws and all. “It was Louis C.K. and the psychiatric hospital” that saved me, she later explained.... “I am obsessed with Louis C.K., his series and shows,” she told another interviewer. “I’ve watched everything eight or nine times. He’s a monster of sincerity.”....
Ms. Gardin defended Louis C.K.... “[T]he fact that we put a producer who rapes actresses in the same bag as a guy whose fetish is to masturbate in front of women, after asking if he can do it, means our modern society has a big problem with nuance.” She argued that it’s hypocritical to shun Louis C.K. His humor, she noted, “explored his dark side, his perversions, and deciphered the darkness of the human soul. People loved him for that... because it made them feel better about their own dark sides.”...

Whereas the American version of #MeToo often seems like a battle of the sexes or a story of male domination, Ms. Gardin expresses sympathy for men. She describes how their desires can make them vulnerable, and how this can give women power. Men are driven to have sex, she says, while “we just need to get to the point where we can sense, in the man’s eyes, that we can ruin his life.”....
In an era of so much exhausting groupthink, Ms. Gardin is refreshing because she doesn’t seem to belong to any camp. She’s what the French admiringly call a femme libre — a free woman.....
Louis C.K. dating French comedian Blanche Gardin

Wombat-socho has Rule 5 Sunday: Happy Hanukkah! up on time and within budget.

Sunday, November 25, 2018

A Sad Story, But a Happy Ending

Rose Verrill, 13, plays with Sinatra, a Husky
she found wandering near her Seffner home.
Sinatra, a blue-eyed Husky from Brooklyn, turns up in Florida after 18 months missing
Beloved by his teenage owner and her parents, Sinatra disappeared after the girl died in a tragic gun accident. Then earlier this month, he wandered into a neighborhood where people tracked down his family and arranged for them to be reunited this Sunday.

But Sinatra can’t explain what happened in between — an 18-month, 1,200 mile journey that took him from his home in Brooklyn to the streets of Seffner.  Neither can his owners or the family who found him. “I didn’t believe it at first, but when I saw the picture, I broke down in tears,” said Lesmore Willis of Brooklyn, whose 16-year-old daughter Zion Willis died in the accident at a friend’s house in November 2015. The dog had been Zion’s constant companion.

Rose Verrill, 13, found the dog wandering near her Lenna Avenue home in Seffner and her family launched a search with help from friend Jeanne Baldi. A local veterinarian removed an identification chip from Sinatra but couldn’t recover much information. They turned to the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center and came up with a possible owner’s name and a phone number. But the name, Willis Les, turned out to be convoluted and number was wrong — just one digit off.
 Oh, I thought chips were perfect!

With what information she had, Baldi took to social media. She decided to reach out to a Lesmore Willis whom she found there.
“I never would have thought he was from Brooklyn,” Baldi said. “I messaged Lesmore over Facebook and didn’t think it would lead to anything when I saw where he was from.”

But within a few days, Willis messaged back, saying he used to have a dog but it had been missing for a very long time. Comparing notes, they both spoke of an animal that had a problem with its right foot

Then Baldi decided to send along the photo. Immediately, the mystery of where Sinatra ended up — if not how he got here — was solved. Willis was overcome by emotion, Baldi said, thinking for months that this link with his daughter had been lost to him and his wife Maria. “I told him that he was safe and well taken care of with Denise,” Baldi said.

In his temporary home, Sinatra — like his blue-eyed namesake — seems to enjoy breaking into song. He does a duet with another family dog. “It’s the funniest thing,” said Rose’s mother, Denise Verrill. “He’s been such a wonderful guest and such a sweet dog. I can see why they love him so much.”

In Brooklyn, the grieving Willis family had suffered an added blow when Sinatra disappeared 18 months after Zion’s death. “He’s known throughout the neighborhood as the dog who runs off to chase raccoons and squirrels,” Willis said. “He’s done it before, but usually he comes back no more than 30 minutes later, and he never came back.”
Siberians are well known as escape artists. Sounds like the Willis's were not very good at keeping him secured. It can be tough. Skye has escaped at least 4 times, once in Canonsburg. Her saving grace is that she always goes to someone, anyone. That's why we have our phone number on her collar. It's much quicker than reading a chip.

A Pretty Day for a Boat Ride

But alas, there were no fish to be had.



Did Low CO2 Kill the African Megafauna?

According to a new paper in Science: Human ancestors not to blame for ancient mammal extinctions in Africa
New research disputes a long-held view that our earliest tool-bearing ancestors contributed to the demise of large mammals in Africa over the last several million years. Instead, the researchers argue that long-term environmental change drove the extinctions, mainly in the form of grassland expansion likely caused by falling atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels.
. . .
“Despite decades of literature asserting that early hominins impacted ancient African faunas, there have been few attempts to actually test this scenario or to explore alternatives,” Faith says. “We think our study is a major step towards understanding the depth of anthropogenic impacts on large mammal communities, and provides a convincing counter-argument to these long-held views about our early ancestors.”


To test for ancient hominin impacts, the researchers compiled a seven-million-year record of herbivore extinctions in eastern Africa, focusing on the very largest species, the so-called ‘megaherbivores’ (species over 2,000 lbs.) Though only five megaherbivores exist in Africa today, there was a much greater diversity in the past. For example, three-million-year-old ‘Lucy’ (Australopithecus afarensis) shared her woodland landscape with three giraffes, two rhinos, a hippo, and four elephant-like species at Hadar, Ethiopia.
When and why these species disappeared has long been a mystery for archaeologists and paleontologists, despite the evolution of tool-using and meat-eating hominins getting most of the blame.


“Our analyses show that there is a steady, long-term decline of megaherbivore diversity beginning around 4.6 million years ago. This extinction process kicks in over a million years before the very earliest evidence for human ancestors making tools or butchering animal carcasses and well before the appearance of any hominin species realistically capable of hunting them, like Homo erectus,” says Faith.

Faith and his team quantified long-term changes in eastern African megaherbivores using a dataset of more than 100 fossil assemblages spanning the last seven million years. The team also examined independent records of climatic and environmental trends and their effects, specifically global atmospheric CO2, stable carbon isotope records of vegetation structure, and stable carbon isotopes of eastern African fossil herbivore teeth, among others.


Their analysis reveals that over the last seven million years substantial megaherbivore extinctions occurred: 28 lineages became extinct, leading to the present-day communities lacking in large animals. These results highlight the great diversity of ancient megaherbivore communities, with many having far more megaherbivore species than exist today across Africa as a whole. Further analysis showed that the onset of the megaherbivore decline began roughly 4.6 million years ago, and that the rate of diversity decline did not change following the appearance of Homo erectus, a human ancestor often blamed for the extinctions. Rather, Faith’s team argues that climate is more likely culprit.

“The key factor in the Plio-Pleistocene megaherbivore decline seems to be the expansion of grasslands, which is likely related to a global drop in atmospheric CO2 over the last five million years,” says John Rowan, a postdoctoral scientist from University of Massachusetts Amherst. “Low CO2 levels favor tropical grasses over trees, and as a consequence savannas became less woody and more open through time. We know that many of the extinct megaherbivores fed on woody vegetation, so they seem to disappear alongside their food source.”


The loss of massive herbivores may also account for other extinctions that have also been attributed to ancient hominins. Some scientist suggest that competition with increasingly carnivorous species of Homo led to the demise of numerous carnivores over the last few million years. Faith and his team suggest an alternative.

“We know there are also major extinctions among African carnivores at this time and that some of them, like saber-tooth cats, may have specialized on very large prey, perhaps juvenile elephants” says Paul Koch. “It could be that some of these carnivores disappeared with their megaherbivore prey.”

“Looking at all of the potential drivers of the megaherbivore decline, our analyses suggest that changing climate and environment played the key role in Africa’s past extinctions,” said Faith. “It follows that in the search for ancient hominin impacts on ancient African ecosystems, we must focus our attention on the one species known to be capable of causing them – us, Homo sapiens, over the last 300,000 years.”
During the last ice age, atmospheric CO2 concentrations dipped so low as to seriously threaten the survival of many kinds of plants. SUV and coal powered power plants may save the planet.

Wombat-socho has Rule 5 Sunday: Happy Hanukkah! up on time and within budget.

Reinforcing Russiagate

A bit this Sunday morning. From Sundance at CTH a Dan Bongino Presentation of “Spygate”… 36 minutes, and well worth the time:



Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit: It Was a Team Effort! George Papadopoulos Accuses British Embassy in DC of Illicit Spying on Trump Team! I think this is pretty well established by the fact that the Brits are opposing the declassification of the Carter Page FISA warrant. "Tyler Durnden" at Zero Hedge: Kunstler Exposes "The Core Truth" Of The 2016 Russia Collusion Story
Shoehorned into the festivity of the season is the lame-duck session in congress, and one of the main events it portends is the end of Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The Sphinx-like Mueller has maintained supernatural silence about his tendings and intentions. But if he’d uncovered anything substantial in the way of “collusion” between Mr. Trump and Russia, the public would know by now, since it would represent a signal threat to national security. So it’s hard not to conclude that he has nothing except a few Mickey Mouse “process” convictions for lying to the FBI. On the other hand, it’s quite impossible to imagine him ignoring the well-documented evidence trail of Hillary Clinton colluding with Russians to influence the 2016 contest against Mr. Trump — and to defame him after he won. There’s also the Hieronymus Bosch panorama of criminal mischief around the racketeering scheme known as the Clinton Foundation to consider. Do these venal characters get a pass on all that?

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) has announced plans to call Federal Attorney John Huber (Utah District) to testify about his assignment to look into these Clinton matters. It’s a little hard to see how that might produce any enlightenment, since prosecutors are bound by law to not blab about currently open cases. The committee has also subpoenaed former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former FBI Director James Comey, and others who have some serious ‘splainin’ to do. But if both Huber and Mueller come up empty-handed on the Clintons it will be one of the epic marvels of official bad faith in US history.
Is Mueller Probe of Manafort Actually Looking Into Russian Oligarch Deripaska? More like taking orders from.
Russian billionaire who hired Christopher Steele in 2012 previously interacted with FBI’s Andrew McCabe and DOJ’s Bruce Ohr in quest for visa into US
. . .
As previously discussed, Deripaska parted ways with Manafort and Gates sometime in late 2008 or early 2009, with Deripaska claiming that both men owed him millions of dollars.

It was at this point that Deripaska turned to Washington lawyer Adam Waldman and his firm, the Endeavor Group. Deripaska hired Waldman in May 2009, placing the Endeavor Group on a $40,000-a-month retainer. Waldman, who also began work for the Russian government in 2010, would remain in the employ of Deripaska until April 5, 2018, when he terminated his relationship following renewed sanctions on Deripaska.
The Mueller team just happened to indict two people who Derispaska claims owe him millions of dollars.

Sundance at CTH on Jerome Corsi in Negotiations With Mueller for Plea Deal…
Jerome Corsi is famous for his research, analysis and theories surrounding the life story of President Obama. In most mainstream media circles Corsi was labeled a ‘conspiracy theorist’.  Then again, some conspiracies are not theory; and seeing the Washington Post take lead against Corsi only cements Mueller’s deep state allies are feeding the info.

As word spreads about Robert Mueller snaring Corsi inside his investigative quicksand, don’t be surprised to find people wondering if Corsi’s work into the background of Obama isn’t the real motive behind snare deployment.
I certainly wondered that. Speaking of conspiracy theories, here's one from Sundance: A Deep State Motive Behind Conspicuous Releases?…
Just like the questions about who redacted information inside the 600 pages text messages between DOJ/FBI Lawyer Lisa Page and FBI investigator Peter Strzok; putting the downstream data-points together leads to a series of questions that remain the subject of much speculation through today:
  • How do we find out about the Mark Warner text messages?
  • Who publicly released the Carter Page FISA application?
  • Where did the four day flood of information (Dec 1st – 4th, 2017) about Lisa Page and Peter Strzok come from?
  • Who released that Page/Strzok information to the media? Why?
  • Who made the decision not to indict James Wolfe for leaking classified information?
  • Why be so specific about details within the Wolfe indictment; then dismiss them?
  • Who made the decision (FISA ap) NOT TO redact the key FISC clerk stamp?
  • Where is all of this “unofficial” evidence/information coming from?
  • Why?
For a long time CTH has looked at these questions from the position that the information was adverse to the interests of the DOJ; therefore we operated on the assumption that someone within the apparatus of government was leaving a trail of information with good intention. However, over time – and with the absence of any accountability being delivered, there is also another motive that deserves attention and review.

There is a flip-side motive to these releases.

It is entirely possible this information was made public in an effort to tip-off a wide net of corrupt officials who participated in the largest abuse of power in history. . . .
And hope for Democrats and Anti-Trumpers  from Joshua Zoffer at the Atlantic: Mueller and a Blue House Could Bring Down Trump, But the president’s supporters won’t make it easy.
We believe our argument will soon be proved correct; hellfire and brimstone are imminent.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has picked off a few campaign aides and charged Russian operatives, but it has yet to breach the inner sanctum of the Oval Office. If Mueller follows existing Department of Justice precedent, Trump will remain safe from indictment. A Democrat-controlled Congress, however, will show no such restraint when it comes to the president and those closest to him.

Democratic control will bring two new advantages in the war on Trump. First, congressional committees hold an arsenal of investigative tools that can be called on with only majority-party assent. Chief among them is Congress’s subpoena power—its ability to compel the production of documents or the sworn testimony of witnesses in furtherance of a congressional investigation. That power can be exercised to produce anything from Trump’s much-discussed but as yet unseen tax returns to public testimony from his senior staff and family members (especially those who fit both descriptions). Moreover, due to a 2015 rule change pushed through by House Republicans, most House committees can now issue subpoenas on the authority of the chairperson alone, including three of the committees most likely to go after Trump: Oversight, Intelligence, and Foreign Affairs.
Fortunately perhaps, Eric Holder and Obama set the precedent for ignoring Congressional subpoena's which James Comey is reinforcing.
Second, Congress has the power to draw the results of any investigation into the harsh light of public scrutiny. The Watergate hearings were instrumental in bringing down Nixon because they forced Republicans to contend with damning testimony from the president’s closest aides, broadcast in prime time. Only once his approval among Republicans sank into the 50s were GOP congressmen willing to join the impeachment effort. Removing Trump from office before his term expires would require a similar loss of intraparty support. Since Democrats today don’t control the Senate—let alone hold the two-thirds majority required for conviction on House impeachment charges—it’s all the more important for them to erode the president’s base of support before attempting impeachment. Republicans’ impeachment of Bill Clinton increased his approval rating as those on the left rallied around him. Today, Democrats would do well to keep their fingers off the trigger until the president’s approval has begun to crumble.
Hence the media war on Trump.

She Helped that Problem Just by Walking Back Out

 “I don’t see enough color, and I didn’t see enough color when I walked in the room today,”
Ellen Pompeo is being praised for comments she made during an interview in which she called on white people to protest if they don’t see enough people of color in every room they walk into.

Flanked by two women of color, the actress sanctimoniously told a story of how she went to a political gathering at a friend’s house, but when she didn’t see enough people of color, she left, scolding her friend for lacking diversity.

Probably had a meeting with Harvey Weinstein.



The two ladies, one Hispanic and the other African American, raised their eyebrows, surprised by the “higher consciousness” displayed by this “privileged” white woman. “I don’t see enough color, and I didn’t see enough color when I walked in the room today,” Pompeo continued, shaming the magazine that hosted the interview.

“When I show up on set, I’d like to see the crew look like the world that I walk around in every day,” she said. “As Caucasian people it’s our job, it’s our task, it’s our responsibility to make sure we speak up in every single room we walk into, that this is not okay and that we can all do better. It’s our job because we’ve created the problem.”
 She was cute, once.

Before we get into why Pompeo’s seemingly compassionate statement is actually cruel and riddled with the very racism she claims to reject, let’s look at some numbers. She wants every room to mirror the racial demographic of the world she walks around in every day. Since different people walk around in different “worlds,” this demographic will change from person to person. But for the sake of argument, let’s say the world Pompeo is talking about is the United States.

The United States is composed of approximately 63 percent whites, 17 percent Hispanics, and 13 percent blacks. This means if Pompeo walks into a room with 100 people, she is going to see an overwhelming number of white people. These numbers get even starker in smaller settings, like a modest film set. Say the production crew is made up of 20 people. In that room, Pompeo will see only 2 or 3 black people and 3, maybe 4, Hispanics. And that’s if people are being hired solely by the color of their skin, which is affirmative action -- something she seems to be suggesting. . . .
And why are 20% of the actors on TV being portrayed as gay, and 10% as transgender, when the actual numbers are more like 3% and 0.3%? No one ever lost money by overestimating the ability of liberal celebrities to understand statistics.

Wombat-socho has Rule 5 Sunday: Happy Hanukkah! up on time and within budget.

Saturday, November 24, 2018

The Big Lie

Who said if you repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth? From the WaPo: Major Trump administration climate report says damage is ‘intensifying across the country’
The federal government on Friday released a long-awaited report with an unmistakable message: The effects of climate change, including deadly wildfires, increasingly debilitating hurricanes and heat waves, are already battering the United States, and the danger of more such catastrophes is worsening.

The report’s authors, who represent numerous federal agencies, say they are more certain than ever that climate change poses a severe threat to Americans' health and pocketbooks, as well as to the country’s infrastructure and natural resources. And while it avoids policy recommendations, the report’s sense of urgency and alarm stands in stark contrast to the lack of any apparent plan from President Trump to tackle the problems, which, according to the government he runs, are increasingly dire.

The congressionally mandated document — the first of its kind issued during the Trump administration — details how climate-fueled disasters and other types of worrisome changes are becoming more commonplace throughout the country and how much worse they could become in the absence of efforts to combat global warming.

Already, western mountain ranges are retaining much less snow throughout the year, threatening water supplies below them. Coral reefs in the Caribbean, Hawaii, Florida and the United States' Pacific territories are experiencing severe bleaching events. Wildfires are devouring ever-larger areas during longer fire seasons. And the country’s sole Arctic state, Alaska, is seeing a staggering rate of warming that has upended its ecosystems, from once ice-clogged coastlines to increasingly thawing permafrost tundras.

The National Climate Assessment’s publication marks the government’s fourth comprehensive look at climate-change impacts on the United States since 2000. The last came in 2014. Produced by 13 federal departments and agencies and overseen by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the report stretches well over 1,000 pages and draws more definitive, and in some cases more startling, conclusions than earlier versions.The authors argue that global warming “is transforming where and how we live and presents growing challenges to human health and quality of life, the economy, and the natural systems that support us.” And they conclude that humans must act aggressively to adapt to current impacts and mitigate future catastrophes “to avoid substantial damages to the U.S. economy, environment, and human health and well-being over the coming decades.”
But the truth? From Willis Eschenbach: The Froth of the Fourth, who actually looks at the data:
 . . . It’s already happening, so be afraid … be very, very afraid …

After reading all of that, I got to wondering about the recent temperature history of the US. I went to NOAA’s Climate At A Glance, got their recent monthly data, and graphed it up, along with the dates of the four US National Climate Assessments. Here’s that result:
As you can see, since the First US National Climate Assessment some 18 years ago, the US average temperature has gone up by … well … about zero degrees Celsius. Or for Americans, it’s gone up by … well … about zero degrees Fahrenheit.

I can see why the hype in the Climate Assessments has had to keep increasing in order to keep the alarmism alive …

… it’s to distract us from the most embarrassing fact that the US temperature hasn’t increased in the slightest in the 18 years since the first US National Climate Assessment.

Oops …
So how are all these bad things getting worse if the climate isn't actually changing? Well, it isn't. Hurricanes, if anything, are becoming rarer, tornadoes, drought, and storms are not becoming more frequent or severe. Sea level rise hasn't accelerated since we began tracking sea level over 100 years ago.

However, this report essentially give the press free reign to blame every weather calamity on global warming, all in their pursuit of the goal of giving command of the economy to the socialists, and their well paid scientific advisers.

Reason #6967 That Trump Was Elected

Actually, even California says Trump is right about the wildfires
President Trump’s critics are belittling him for not buying the lefty narrative that global warming is to blame for the California wildfires. Instead, Trump points to decades of mistakes by government agencies that caused the woodlands to become overly dense and blanketed with highly flammable dead wood and underbrush.

He’s exactly right.

Just ask California officials. Two months ago, the state legislature enacted a measure that would expedite the removal of dead trees and use “prescribed burns” to thin forests. In other words: the very same reforms that Trump is now being mocked for proposing. The September law followed a Gov. Jerry Brown executive order earlier this year that also called for “controlled fires” to improve forest health.

This scientific approach isn’t easily conveyed in Trump’s preferred mode of communication, the 280-character tweet. But University of California forest expert Yana Valachovic conceded in a Washington Post interview that Trump’s “general sentiment is correct — that we need to manage fuels.” That is, to get rid of dangerous buildups of dead and dying trees.

For a century, forest mismanagement has resulted in huge blazes. And while global warming is the favorite culprit among the PC crowd, history shows that California suffered far bigger fires decades ago. The death toll from the current northern California fire, known as Camp Fire, set the gruesome all-time state record for a single blaze, killing at least 79 so far, with hundreds still missing.
The current death toll is 87, with hundreds still "missing," although the fire is almost totally controlled, at 95% thanks to several inches of rain over the last couple of days. But will the California state government, and the enviro weenies who instituted the policies take an blame? Nope, they'll continue to whine about very minor or even nonexistant "climate change".

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links and at EBL's in The Front Runner: A Review, with bonus Vera Farmiga and Sara Paxton

Ring Around the Russiagate

And pop goes the weasel. The AP presumes to know Inside Trump’s refusal to testify in the Mueller probe
As his lawyers plotted to dig in against any interview, he pushed for one, believing it would exonerate him. In January, he burst into a reporters’ briefing with chief of staff John Kelly and insisted he was eager to speak to Mueller. He might do so in weeks, he said, “subject to my lawyers and all of that.”

“I would love to do that — I’d like to do it as soon as possible,” Trump said.

What he didn’t mention was that his attorneys had already discussed, and scuttled, the planned interview with Mueller. That process had even progressed to discussing logistics with Kelly, who advised of ways White House officials could get people in and out of the building without the press knowing.

But the interest cooled after Mueller team prosecutor James Quarles dictated over the phone 16 topics Mueller wanted to cover, including Trump’s interactions with Comey, his knowledge of national security adviser Michael Flynn’s interview with the FBI and his involvement in the Trump Tower statement. Dowd responded that the answers could all be found in documents and witness statements provided to Mueller. He then canceled the interview and days later drafted a feisty letter contesting the interview’s appropriateness and offering extensive explanations on the incidents in question.
The Mueller investigation is just an excuse to re-litigate, undermine and punish the winners of the last election to the extent possible, carried out by the internal "resistance" of the Federal bureaucracy, i.e., the "Deep State."

AP: Associate of Roger Stone in plea talks with Mueller
A conservative writer and associate of Trump confidant Roger Stone said Friday that he is in plea talks with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.

Jerome Corsi told The Associated Press he has been negotiating a potential plea but declined to comment further. He said on a YouTube show earlier this month that he expected to be charged with lying to federal investigators, though he said at the time that he was innocent of wrongdoing.

Mueller’s team questioned Corsi as part of an investigation into Stone’s connections with WikiLeaks. American intelligence agencies have assessed that Russia was the source of hacked material released by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election that damaged Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Mueller’s office is trying to determine whether Stone and other associates of President Donald Trump had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks’ plans.
I'll take this seriously as soon as Hillary is indicted for buying dirt on Trump (largely fictional dirt, I might add) from the Kremlin. Remember when Assange, along with his source inside the Federal government, Bradley Manning were liberal's hero's for bravely publishing thousands of US secrets? Good Times! But Stacy McCain has some late advice for Stone, Corsi, et al; Pro Tip: Avoid Bragging:
Obviously, hacking someone’s emails is a crime and, although we have no reason to believe that Stone and Corsi had prior knowledge of this crime (which a federal indictment says was committed by Russian intelligence operatives), they obviously were aware that WikiLeaks had obtained possession of these emails and intended to release them.

Was it necessary or in any way helpful for Randy Credico to post to Facebook a photo of himself outside the Ecuadoran embassy in London (where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has taken asylum) in September 2016 declaring, “I have a feeling that in the next couple days some very damaging material will be coming out from the gentleman inside that embassy”? No, this was neither necessary nor helpful, and neither was it helpful a few days later for Stone to tweet, ““I have total confidence that @wikileaks and my hero Julian Assange will educate the American people soon. #LockHerUp.” Four days later, WikiLeaks released the first batch of Podesta emails and what was the benefit of the previous public boasting about it? Perhaps the comments on social media had value, in some sense, as publicity for the impending releases, and we are assured that no one on the Trump team knew that Russian intelligence was behind the hacking, but still: Why brag about it?

Talk about drawing a target on your own back!

Ever since Assange and WikiLeaks emerged in 2010 — publishing U.S. secrets stolen by the traitor Bradley (“Chelsea”) Manning — I have been anti-Assange, and the fact that WikiLeaks was “on our side” in 2016 does not change that. Obviously, it’s not Assange’s fault (and not Roger Stone’s fault or Trump’s fault) that the DNC and Podesta were hacked, but neither was it smart for Stone, et al., to align themselves so publicly with this operation, e.g., “my hero Julian Assange.”

Granted, Stone and his colleagues were sailing in uncharted waters. So far as we know, no presidential campaign had ever previously been the target of data breaches like what happened to the Democrats in 2016, and never had WikiLeaks been involved in such a political operation. Because there was no established playbook for how to deal with such an event, this meant that Stone and his colleagues were improvising — making up the rules as they went along, with no apparent concern for the potential consequences. Almost certainly, they did not imagine that a special prosecutor would be appointed to investigate the 2016 campaign and, proverbially, “You can indict a ham sandwich.”

On the upside, if this is the biggest thing Mueller’s got — if this WikiLeaks thing is the only “Russian collusion” he can find — then it’s really nothing. There is no reason to believe these hacked emails affected the outcome of the election, which is another reason why it was so stupid of Stone to have boasted about it. What was the big secret revealed by Podesta’s emails? How did that change the outcome in 2016? Were any voters swayed by the content of Podesta’s emails?

Jerome Corsi is now reportedly trying to negotiate a plea deal with Mueller, which doesn’t bode well for Roger Stone. Would any of this be happening if Stone had just kept his mouth shut about WikiLeaks?
Sundance at CTH: Hubris – James Comey Announces He Will Defy Subpoena… Fine. The House has the power to compel testimony under threat of imprisonment. The date is set. If he doesn't show, send the marshals after him. If he resists, tase him. Put him in jail until the the next Congress. It won't be that long, but Christmas in the pokey will give him a good taste of his own medicine. If the Senate had any balls, they'd do likewise.

Jill Filipovic at CNN wants us to Hold 'Crooked Ivanka' accountable. This desire is motivate by pure hatred and the desire for punishment for the grief that Hillary got from her email scandal. Nick Nolte at Breitbart: 11 Reasons Comparing Ivanka’s Emails to Hillary’s Is Stupid. They're not stupid. They're vindictive. Believing them is stupid.
What we have here is a situation reasonable people could all agree on — that Ivanka should not have been using a personal email account to conduct White House business. But the media cannot leave it at that. Instead, they have to seek revenge against President Trump by comparing Ivanka to Hillary, which is — based on what we know so far –breathtakingly stupid and anti-science for these 11 reasons…

  • Ivanka did not know she was doing anything wrong. Hillary did.
  • Ivanka did not engage in a cover up by deleting her emails, which means no laws were broken regarding the Presidential Records Act. Hillary deleted 33,000 emails.
  • No classified information passed through Ivanka’s personal email account. According to the FBI, Hillary sent or received over 100 emails containing classified information.
  • Ivanka did not set up a secret server in the bathroom of her private home. Hillary did.


  • Ivanka did not lie about her emails. Hillary lied repeatedly.
  • Ivanka did not use BleachBit. Hillary used BleachBit to ensure no one would ever read the 33,000 emails she deleted.
  • Ivanka did not use a hammer to smash phones as a means to ensure no one saw her emails. Hillary used a hammer to destroy multiple mobile devices.
  • Ivanka did not deliberately attempt to hide her emails from the public and government. Hillary set up a secret server in her bathroom, deleted 33,000 emails with BleachBit, and took a hammer to her phones.


  • This is the first time Ivanka has worked in government — which lends credibility to the fact she did not know she was violating policy. Hillary installed a secret server after serving for two decades in government.
  • Ivanka was not properly trained on the use of government and personal email. Hillary was and signed a document to that effect.
  • Hillary claimed those 33,000 deleted were related to children and “yoga routines.” While she has not made this claim, it would be more believable coming from Ivanka.
I wonder if the out going Obama administration delayed setting up Trump advisers government emails to set this up? Were they that vindictive? Probably. She's good looking, and smart. No wonder the liberals hate her.

Wombat-socho has Rule 5 Sunday: Happy Hanukkah! up on time and within budget.

Rule 5 Saturday - Let's Call on Deanna Berry

For no particular reason: Deanne Berry is this week's featured Rule 5 awardee.
Deanne Berry was born on July 17, 1980 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She is known for her work on Keith Lemon's Fit (2010), Always Greener (2001) and Eric Prydz: Call on Me (2005).

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. Wombat-socho has Rule 5 Sunday: Roll Tide! and FMJRA 2.0: Les Chants Magnetiques ready for your enjoyment. Also linked at The Right Way in Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama.

Friday, November 23, 2018

Did a Meteorite Strike Destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?

Lot Fleeing Sodom - Benjamin West
According to Newsweek, Biblical City of Sodom Was Blasted to Smithereens by a Massive Asteroid Explosion
An asteroid that burst in a searing aerial explosion may have destroyed the Bronze Age city of Tall el-Hammam 3,700 years ago, archaeologists reported Saturday.

The city, which lies in the Middle Ghor region of the Jordan Valley, is considered a plausible site for the biblical city of Sodom by some researchers. But this conclusion is hotly debated within the field.

The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God for their sinful behavior, according to the Christian Bible.
 And so far, he hasn't messed with San Francisco.

Scientists presented their preliminary findings at the annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Denver, Colorado.

Excavations and radiocarbon dating at Tall el-Hammam suggested most of its mud-brick walls vanished about 3,700 years ago. It’s thought that several Middle Ghor sites were inhabited for 2,500 years or more before the proposed impact.
 That's pretty old!
Minerals that suddenly crystallized in blistering heat support the concept, archaeologist Phillip Silvia, of Christian institution Trinity Southwest University in Albuquerque, told the conference. Silvia and his colleagues have been excavating the city for more than a decade, Science Newsstated.

The enormous blast “not only [wiped] out 100% of the Middle Bronze Age cities and towns, but also [stripped] agricultural soils from once-fertile fields,” researchers wrote in an abstract. Shockwaves may have pushed super hot briney water from the Dead Sea over the east of the Middle Ghor, they added.
And the brine could account for Lot's wife. Well, other than not really knowing where Sodom and Gomorrah were located, and whether or not a meteorite or asteroid really exploded overhead there, it sounds plausible.