[BBC] Author Charlie MacLean has made a life out of rating Scotch whisky. Here are his favourite ways to enjoy a dram, from cosy city pubs in Edinburgh to Victorian hotels in the Highlands.
Edinburgh, Scotland's cosmopolitan capital, is brimming with Unesco cache. Both its architecturally splendid medieval Old Town and Neoclassical New Town are World Heritage sites, while Edinburgh itself was named the world's first City of Literature in 2004.
Overseas, Edinburgh is equally as revered for its whisky culture. There are more than 385 pubs in the city where you can savour the peat-flavoured drink right in its country of origin.
"It's growing," says esteemed scotch writer Charles "Charlie" MacLean. "A lot of bars have expanded the range of whiskies and the knowledge on part of the bar staff in order to be able to advise customers. So Edinburgh has become a hub."
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The US Geological Survey (USGS)detected the massive tremor at 1:15pm local time, with its epicenter located about 170 miles west of Bandon and 250 miles west-southwest of Salem.
The have been no immediate reports of injuries or damages, but officials ensured a tsunami was not expected to form in the Pacific Ocean.
The tremor occurred in the Blanco Fracture Zone (BFZ), deemed more active than California's San Andreas Fault.
Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, shared on Facebook: 'This is a very typical mag[nitude] 6 earthquake in the Blanco Transform fault, very far offshore of Oregon.
'We see at least one such earthquake nearly every year.'
The tremor occurred at a depth of about six miles, and light-to-medium shaking was probably felt throughout parts of western Oregon and northern California.
#3
I'm gonna project the Turkey event isn't USGS reported because of instrumentation. No sensors.
OR
The seismic sensor network used to determine tunnel digging location and depth could be compromised.
[KhaamaPress] The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted a chartered deportation flight for Indian nationals without authorized residency, repatriating them to India. This action is part of DHS’s ongoing enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and is carried out in coordination with international partners, including the Indian government, to address irregular migration and encourage lawful immigration processes.
The operation aligns with the Securing the Border Presidential Proclamation introduced in June 2024. Since this policy was enacted, encounters at the southwest U.S. border have reportedly dropped by 55%, indicating a decrease in unauthorized entries. In total, over 160,000 individuals have been deported from the U.S. in the current fiscal year, with repatriation flights to over 145 countries, including Colombia, Egypt, China, and India.
According to DHS Acting Deputy Secretary Kristie A. Canegallo, unauthorized migrants colonists colonists from India are subject to repatriation and are advised to avoid misinformation from smuggling networks. DHS has stated its focus remains on promoting legal migration options and collaborating with other countries to ensure a structured immigration process.
The U.S.-India cooperation on repatriation reflects a broader effort to address human smuggling and ensure the return of individuals lacking legal residency. DHS has indicated that it will continue working with various countries to maintain secure border practices, offering legal migration channels while deterring unauthorized pathways. As the U.S. presidential election approaches, future immigration policies may be influenced by the elected administration’s stance on these issues, potentially impacting the structure and focus of future immigration and border enforcement efforts.
[KhaamaPress] The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported a new environmental case of polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set. Currently the disease is only found in Pakistain and Afghanistain... in Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province, Afghanistan.
According to the WHO’s latest report, the new polio sample was identified in Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand province.
With this new case, the number of positive environmental polio cases in Afghanistan this year has increased to 85.
Notably, at least three cases of polio were detected alone in October in the provinces of Kandahar and Helmand.
The polio virus has been eradicated globally, except in Afghanistan and Pakistain.
Currently, Pakistain has the highest number of recorded polio cases.
The increasing number of polio cases in Afghanistan highlights the urgent need for effective vaccination campaigns, which face mounting challenges due to the restrictions imposed by the Taliban ...Arabic for students... Women healthcare workers, who are crucial to the success of these campaigns, face significant limitations and increasing pressure in the country.
The recent restrictions on female employees have significantly hindered efforts to reach vulnerable populations, particularly children.
The international community continues to urge the Taliban to lift these barriers to ensure successful polio eradication and safeguard the health of future generations in Afghanistan.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] "possibly with the help of Russia."
"anywhere in the mainland United States within range."
The launch marked the country's longest ever ballistic missile test, with a flight-time of 87 minutes, according to South Korea, while state media in the North gloated that it set new records for its missile capabilities.
The muscle-flexing comes amid a storm of international condemnation and rising alarm over what the US and others say is North Korea's deployment of 11,000 troops to Russia - 3,000 of them close to the western frontlines with Ukraine.
A day earlier, Seoul reported signs the North may test-launch an ICBM or conduct a seventh nuclear test around the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, seeking to draw attention to its growing military prowess.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The docking of the Chinese manned spacecraft Shenzhou-19 with the Tiangong orbital station was successful. This was reported on October 30 by China Central Television.
It is specified that the docking took place in an accelerated autonomous mode. Three crew members, two men, Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, and one woman, Wang Haoze, entered the main module.
There are currently six people on the orbital station at any one time, three of whom are the crew of the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft, which will return to Earth on November 4. The crew has successfully completed its six-month mission and is preparing to complete its rotation.
Earlier, Regnum News Agency reported that the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft was launched from the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in Gansu Province in northwestern China. The launch of the CZ-2F/G carrier rocket took place on October 30 at 04:27 Beijing time (23:27 Moscow time, October 29).
The Shenzhou-19 crew members will stay on the orbital station for about six months, until April-May 2025. They will perform 86 scientific and technical experiments and tests.
Command is/was the logical heir to Harpoon, but it is about to the supplanted by another similar game with improved graphics: Sea Power.
Still, Command is so good because it has a very small requirement in processor power and for memory.
[Sandboxx] The U.S. Air Force’s latest way to prepare for a global conflict? Video games. The Air Force is increasingly using video games as a cheap, detailed, and internal way to test potential war scenarios. And it’s increasingly using one game in particular: Command. And as of this past week, airmen can play the game’s professional edition on the Air Force’s internal network.
One unusual aspect is that the game the Air Force turned to isn’t some in-house project developed by the Department of Defense for the military or a blockbuster release like Call of Duty or Total War, but rather a popular game studio that specializes in detailed two-dimensional combat.
The Wall Street Journal reported on additional details on the Air Force’s approval. The big update is that the game can run on the service’s secure networks. Matrix Games elaborated on that in its own update announcement, noting that “various security vulnerabilities have been identified and removed or mitigated. [‘Command Professional Edition’] is now included on the USAF Evaluated Products List (EPL), which clears it for deployment on USAF-protected systems and networks.” This allows members of the Air Force to play the game using classified and internal information, which won’t run the risk of being leaked to outside players. And there are a lot: about one million people play Command.
The Department of Defense has been in contact with the publishers since 2016 and using it for certain wargaming tests since 2017. One former Air Force officer said that when he was with Air Force Air Mobility Command, he had to work to convince his superiors of the benefit of these types of simulators.
The game itself lets players, over a two-dimensional map, outline potential defensive and offensive tactics, ranging from low-cost options to a more expensive and fortified strategy. Advocates told the Wall Street Journal that ‘Command’ helps with improving tactical decision-making and seeing the big picture in a possible confrontation.
How much of the upcharge is due to extra stringent DoD requirements beyond what can be found on the shelf in a standard suburban HomeDepot?
[FoxNews] The IG's review of 46 spare parts revealed that only nine were purchased at 'fair and reasonable' prices.
Boeing overcharged the Air Force for simple spare parts on C-17 aircraft by $1 million over a four-year period, according to the Pentagon.
The defense giant marked up the cost of soap dispensers by 8,000%, putting taxpayers on the hook for such items that cost 80 times more than market value.
While the cost that Boeing charged per dispenser was redacted from a new audit released this week, in total, the Air Force overpaid for the dispensers by $149,072 from 2018 to 2022, according to Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch.
"The Air Force needs to establish and implement more effective internal controls to help prevent overpaying for spare parts for the remainder of this contract, which continues through 2031," said Storch.
"Significant overpayments for spare parts may reduce the number of spare parts that Boeing can purchase on the contract, potentially reducing C-17 readiness worldwide."
An anonymous tip about the exorbitant soap dispenser prices prompted the inspector general’s audit into spare parts.
Boeing has a 10-year contract with the Air Force that allows it to purchase the spare parts needed for C-17s and the Air Force reimburses Boeing for the spare parts.
The IG's review of 46 spare parts revealed that only nine, or 20%, were purchased by the Air Force at "fair and reasonable" prices, totaling $20.3 million.
The IG found that the Air Force did not pay "fair and reasonable" prices for about 26% of the spare parts reviewed, about $4.3 million worth of equipment. For another 54% of the spare parts, valued at $22 million, the IG was not able to determine whether the Air Force paid fair prices: the service branch did not maintain historical data on pricing and they were unable to obtain supplier quotes for similar products.
The IG found the Air Force failed to validate the accuracy of data in contract negotiations for spare parts, review price increases during contract execution, and review invoices to determine whether prices were "fair and reasonable" before paying them.
Boeing said in a statement it was reviewing the report but cautioned that it appeared to compare prices for the parts that met aircraft standards to "basic commercial items" that wouldn't meet the qualifications for military aircraft. "It must dispense 0.66 oz of soap, no more, no less. And leave that little 'ice cream' swirl on top"
"We are reviewing the report, which appears to be based on an inapt comparison of the prices paid for parts that meet aircraft and contract specifications and designs versus basic commercial items that would not be qualified or approved for use on the C-17. We will continue to work with the OIG and the U.S. Air Force to provide a detailed written response to the report in the coming days."
An Air Force spokesperson said they would implement new controls on payments.
"The Air Force is working with the Defense Contract Management Agency to develop controls to ensure the accuracy of payments. We are also updating contracts to include additional subcontractor information sharing."
[Washinton Examiner] A lonely young man traveling abroad falls in love with a "China doll" who’s connected to the Communist Party. He thinks the affair is a distant memory. Thirty-five years later, Beijing reminds him that it knows what he did during that hot summer.
What if, decades later, that young man winds up the vice president of the United States?
This sounds like the plot of a cliched spy thriller, but something similar involves Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), the Democrats’ No. 2 for the 2024 presidential election. That’s according to the Daily Mail, which has published an exclusive detailing an alleged love affair between Walz and a Chinese lady. A 59-year-old woman calling herself Jenna Wang, Walz’s purported lover, is the source of the story.
Wang said she met Walz in the summer of 1989, when the Nebraskan was in China’s Guangdong Province teaching English in a high school. Wang was teaching English in a nearby middle school. Young love blossomed. Walz complimented Wang on her looks and excellent English. She fell for the midwestern boy: "Tim was very passionate and very romantic. I can still remember dancing with him to our favorite song, ’Careless Whisper,’" she recalled. Holding hands soon moved to sex, but not sleepovers. "I remember he had busy 'jazz' hands"
#1
Looks as though someone neglected to mention some foreign contacts on their 5 year (security clearance bring-ups). Reporting of foreign contacts to Special Security officer (SSO) neglected as well.
#5
Confucius say, "Busier beaver
Can maybe explain yellow fever...
Although there is talk
About big Chinese--"
"Duck!"
[cook chase donkey through kitchen with cleaver]
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The first law of English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton has been misinterpreted for over 300 years due to an error in translation from Latin. This is the opinion expressed by philologist Daniel Hook in an article published in the journal Philosophy of Science.
Newton formulated three laws of motion in his seminal work, Principia Mathematica, published in 1687. As Hook pointed out, the most common formulation is: "A body remains at rest, or moves uniformly, unless acted upon by external force." The mistake is the mistranslation of the conjunction "nisi quatenus," which was incorrectly translated as "if," and which actually limits the extent to which a body's state of motion can change as forces act upon it.
"A strict interpretation of the first law has never been formulated or defended in print. Simplified interpretations have been unequivocally approved by many historians, physicists and philosophers... It is worth clarifying the situation by clearly formulating convincing arguments and providing evidence in their favor," the article says.
According to Hook, Newton's first law, as formulated by the English physicist and mathematician, describes a more general principle that limits the motion of all bodies.
In the article, the philologist, to simplify the narrative, called the above formulation the variable W1, and the formulation that sounds like “Every change in the state of a body performing uniform rectilinear motion is caused by forces acting on this body” — the variable S1. Hook insists that the formulation S1 is a stronger and more correct reading.
He explained that according to W1, a body maintains its momentum if no forces act on it, while S1 states that every change in the momentum of a body is due to the forces acting on it. Thus, W1 is included in the domain of S1.
The difference between the formulations is that S1 fixes a limitation on the degree to which bodies can change their state of motion, while W1 ignores this point. At the same time, Hook emphasized that the two formulations are not contradictory.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, in 2023 the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for experimental methods that produce "attosecond light pulses to study the motion of electrons in matter." The laureates of the prize were the French-American scientist Pierre Agostini, the Hungarian-Austrian researcher Ferenc Krauz, and the representative of France Anne L'Huillier.
#6
The nature of the body's "compulsion" remains unspecified.
Come on, man! We all have our urges.
Since we know that math is racist, this implies that Physics is merely a tool of Western imperialists seeking to colonize the space-time continuum. Or should that be "Western empiricists"?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...Arabic for 
