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Backseat Driver

Backseat Driver's Journal
Backseat Driver's Journal
August 11, 2021

Storm incoming!

July 16, 2021

This doesn't sound good - more of the same targeted cyber-chaos?

Anyone see this?

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-07-spyware-campaign-journalists-activists.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter

JULY 15, 2021

Spyware campaign targeted journalists, activists: researchers



A spyware campaign using tools from a secretive Israeli firm was used to attack and impersonate dozens of human rights activists, journalists, dissidents, politicians and others, researchers said Thursday.

Statements from Microsoft security researchers and the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab said powerful "cyberweapons" were being used in precision attacks targeting more than 100 victims around the world.

Microsoft said it patched this week the vulnerability exploited by the group, known by the names Candiru and Sourgum.

Citizen Lab said in a blog post that "Candiru is a secretive Israel-based company that sells spyware exclusively to governments," which can then use it to "infect and monitor iPhones, Androids, Macs, PCs, and cloud accounts." (snip) to more surprises and intrigue.


June 27, 2021

I have some very weird questions about graveside services

Do cemeteries have a continously open vault available for multi-use graveside services that are NOT at the actual final resting place (gravesite)? for convenience of perhaps parking availability? So, later, the deceased is re-elevated and then lowered into the actual resting place and a displayed cap is then moved from the multi-use vault to then cover the actual grave or are those caps also "faked" as with stick on lettering?

When severe weather disturbs a graveside service at which a canopy over the purported vault was provided, is the service re-scheduled, cancelled, delayed until the storm passes - are the fees charged only for transportation of the deceased to the grave site at the appropriate time for a scheduled grave site service if and when it is cancelled by a relative who has planned one at the time of the interrupting storms? Are the "helpers" from the arranging funeral home paid by the hour, i.e., driver of hearse, handlers of coffin and supplies of, say, flowers to be placed by those attending? Are country cemeteries so busy, have such a busy daily schedule, that a delay of the service isn't possible?

Are these ways commonly used to defray costs of said services? Seems very disrespectful of the deceased and mourners present...I've never had to plan for any services for an internment. Sorry if these questions seem odd...

June 25, 2021

Shifting Sands/Soils and Landscape-evolution

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-shifting-sands-soils-landscape-evolution.html?

Shifting sands, creeping soils, and a new understanding of landscape evolution
by Erica K. Brockmeier, University of Pennsylvania

A new study published in Nature Communications finds that piles of sand grains, even when undisturbed, are in constant motion. Using highly-sensitive optical interference data, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University present results that challenge existing theories in both geology and physics about how soils and other types of disordered materials behave.

Most people only become aware of soil movement on hillsides when soil suddenly loses its rigidity, a phenomenon known as yield. "Say that you have soil on a hillside. Then, if there's an earthquake or it rains, this material that's apparently solid becomes a liquid," says principal investigator Douglas Jerolmack of Penn. "The prevailing framework treats this failure as if it's a crack breaking. The reason that's problematic is because you're modeling the material by a solid mechanical criterion, but you're modeling it at the point at which it becomes a liquid, so there's an inherent contradiction."

Such a model implies that, below yield the soil is a solid and therefore should not flow, but soil slowly and persistently "flows" below its yield point in a process known as creep. The prevailing geological explanation for soil creep is that it is caused by physical or biological disturbances, such as freeze-thaw cycles, fallen trees, or burrowing animals, that act to move soil.

In this study, lead author and Penn Ph.D. candidate Nakul S. Deshpande was interested in observing individual sand particles at rest which, based on existing theories, should be entirely immobile. "Researchers have built models by presuming certain behaviors of the soil grains in creep, but no one had actually just directly observed what the grains do," says Deshpande. (snip)

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May 26, 2021

Chlorine Shortage Could Impact Millions of Pools This Summer--Here's What You Should Know

https://www.bhg.com/syndication/a-chlorine-shortage-could-impact-millions-of-pools-this-summer-heres-what-you-should-know/?did=637653-20210526&cmp=bhgdecorating_052621&utm_campaign=bhg-decorating_newsletter&utm_source=bhg.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=052621&cid=637653&mid=58453461777

Morgan Smith - May 4, 2021

Swimmers may have to wait a little while longer before diving into summer.

The United States is experiencing a nationwide chlorine shortage fueled by a pandemic-induced swimming pool boom and a fire at a major chemical plant in Louisiana, according to multiple outlets.

Demand for swimming pools has skyrocketed amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as people spend more time outdoors and in their backyards — and that demand has put a strain on chlorine supplies, CNBC reported. (snip)

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Not sure of a better forum in which to put this article. In addition, perhaps it was posted earlier this month? Has anyone experienced problems with swimming pool setup?

May 25, 2021

Where Did the Monkeys Near Fort Lauderdale Airport Come From?

https://www.labroots.com/trending/plants-and-animals/20505/monkeys-near-fort-lauderdale-airport-from

A colony of wild African vervet monkeys calls a thick mangrove forest near Fort Lauderdale's airport home. New research has investigated this colony of monkeys, which apparently settled in the area near Dania Beach, over 70 years ago. This is an urban area, and locals are well aware of these monkeys, but little is known about their history. [snip]



Really did not know there were monkeys living in the wild in Florida. Weird.
May 21, 2021

Dead snakes-and-mice-toxic-sludge-how-pathogens-go-unnoticed-in-americas-water-towers

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dead-snakes-and-mice-toxic-sludge-how-pathogens-go-unnoticed-in-americas-water-towers/ar-AAKee8V

Kyle Bagenstose, USA TODAY 2 hrs ago

In March of last year, residents in the small coastal community of Delray Beach, Florida, noticed something strange about the water coming from their taps.

It was discolored. Smelly. Flecked with bits of dirt.

“You looked at it and it wasn’t clean,” said resident Reeve Bright. “You started seeing the ice coming out of the ice maker, and you’re going, ‘What the heck is going on? There is stuff in the frozen water.’”

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

Complaints to the city prompted the discovery of sediment that had accumulated inside one of the city’s massive water storage tanks. The sediment had traveled along with the water into cups, cookware, ice trays and bathtubs. [snip]

Long read...scary non-maintenance of "basic" environmental infrastructure in America - eek!
May 4, 2021

Feeling so vulnerable and weirded-out...

I'm married to an only child with issues of his own, but still a woman who was effectively shunned and mostly estranged from all members of my family of origin for the last 30 years. It's been difficult grieving those relationships as "pseudo-deaths." I was financially unable to attend my father's funeral notwithstanding my obedience to my unrepentant mother's choice that she never speak to me again. I do consider her choice about that so very toxic, and I remain so very vulnerable to the family dynamics. The siblings took up her side so neither they nor I have had much contact since then either. I don't know my niece; and they don't know my kids. I am the "black sheep" who wasn't able to enable my "better angel" and continue to bear Mom's treatment of me and our children in word and deed, her considered choice that I honor. I work on self-esteem" daily for issues I consider, at my age, unrepairable.

Several weeks ago, my brother dialed the "safe" number of his niece, my daughter. I returned the call to learn that he was in the hospital with conditions that would make his situation terminal, and my 92-year-old mother had sometime previously had a small stroke and was in "rehab." He's been her caretaker in her home because he had never left home. even during my father's last illness. Surely my Mom had help tending Dad at home and thereafter. Both my sister and I live OOT (in different cities) with our families; we both have family issues, then, of our own. He's made her his "person." I've since spoken with both, who say they want reconcilliation, so I asked to be kept updated.

At a particularly difficult time, long ago, my DH asked my brother to hold a couple things, and he agreed. We recently found out he still has them. We would like to reclaim them. Both brother and his person were surprised and nervous that I still had a key to my family home. I would like to reconcile with my siblings, and I've initiated some calling but have not made any solid plans for an in-person visit. DH's not enthused to take the only running beater on a day trip; the nearby kids are really busy and don't claim a lot of interest in stepping into what's been the "family" mud puddle throughout most of their lives. It doesn't appear that either brother or mom will return to their home. For a time, both were at the same rehab facility. As of today, my brother has gone to another facility, a Hospice in-patient facility, to receive palliative care for the possible 0-5 months. Can I trust these are authentic requests for reconciliation pre- double funerals of brother and mom in the hands of my brother and my sister? I'm confused and grieving all over again, but THEY want the moral support! My experience in relationships whisper, "No good deed goes unpunished." Can there be a crack in the wall - I need to be careful to hope for all sorts of miracles, to say the right things, to act in all the ways they expect? so guaranteed, I still feel between the rock and the hard places all over again about exactly who deserves support in bad times?

April 29, 2021

Interior sets new path through land maze

https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/interior-department-makes-land-into-trust-easier
ALIYAH CHAVEZ -22 HOURS AGO
Interior sets new path through land maze
The federal agency announced new processes to “untangle” and advance the process of putting land into trust


After hearing some tribes completed fee to trust applications, then waited years to hear back, the U.S. Department of Interior is deciding to take action.

The agency announced major steps this week to allow for more straightforward guidelines for tribal nations applying to put land into trust.

“No tribe should have an application that lingers for years and years and years,” a speaker from the office of the secretary said.

On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, issued a new secretarial order which says fee to trust applications will now be reviewed and authorized by regional directors of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, instead of the previous process that required applications to be reviewed through Interior’s headquarters.

According to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the interior secretary is authorized to acquire land into trust for federally recognized tribes.

The changes are effective immediately, though the order will not apply to gaming applications, the Interior department said. [snip]

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Long informative article about needed changes to this process!

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