Glacial

 Who knew!?

Canada has apparently adopted a policy ofincreasing it's population 

to 100 million by the end of the century, starting with a massive intake

of immigrants in the next three years. Citing the Toronto Star, France's

Le Figaro covers the story, and encourages looking into it for those

interested.

https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/le-canada-nouvelle-destination-du-reve-americain-20220429

                                                                

...  Possible drawback to moving to Montreal: glacial winters.

                                                             *     *     *

They're getting out (Hourah!)

                                       

Ducky

 I love it when this happens: found a really neat

and informative site on the Web a few days ago. 

I was a bit embarassed to share: it's a children's site

called Ducksters. Hey, it's helping me make sense of stuff,

might be helpful to others.

Ducksters

Building Blocks

 Found this very interesting bit of science news, last night. the building

blocks for the genetic code of life on Earth were found in a meteorite. What!?

Meteorites, as far as we know, come from the Asteroid Belt!!

Not really saying life dropped to earth; more likely, in my view, these little chemical

wonders also formed on Earth, and here, came to serve evolving life in

a wet environment. (Or maybe, they really are an import and this is why

they need to be assembled here on earth). Fascinating...

                       

Scientists find DNA's code for life in meteorites (msn.com)

                                      *     *     *

Lyse and her friend cynthia just reported in on Facebook from their 

Costa Rica vacation. Happy, if a little wet, Ouf! (Poor Lyse actually sprained 

her ankle the day before leaving.)

Breakfast, I presume...

Evacuation

 From Le Monde: Mariupol evacuation.

True Self

 No surprise here, Emmanuel Macron has won a second term as President

of France. Congratulations to all who worked hard on this election.

To add a note of wonder to it all, below is a reconstuction of what the

true appearance of Marie-Antoinette might have been, given corrections

for the embelishments of the period, and using her death mask as a guide.

Impressive!!

https://youtu.be/OXhEBfK3Njc

Complicated

 It's complicated, the Guardian UK:

                                                *     *     *

Three weeks!!

Marioupol : que se passe-t-il à l'usine-forteresse d'Azovstal ? | TF1 INFO

Blue

 Earth Day!

Are we alone in the universe. The notion of infinity is so

compelling that one might be tempted to think that there

really should be another planet very much like ours, voire identical. 

No, not really. Infinite space and infinite time are not the same 

thing; infinite time is a  narrative, and could be a series of quite 

unique events.

And this is our current view of space/time: an evolving physical system

creating space as it evolves.

You're all alone, Blue!

Birthday

 It's a royal birthday today, as Queen Elizabeth turns an

impressive 96. A lot of celebrating to come, with family

over the week-end and then a whole year of Jubilee. What

does one give someone who has everything!? A drink, of course.

I have read that the Queen has been advised to give up alcohol, 

for health reasons. No doubt by a group of medics, working from first

principles. My own advice, as a senior, would be to adapt from

something I like. Personally, I find that a white vermouth - Noilly Prat -

goes well when allongé  with sparkling water and fruit juice. 

A martini memory...

Best Wishes on the Day, your Majesty!

                                                 *     *     *

                

Just S

 

This is where it all went wrong for Russia, in my view.

The notion that Ukraine is not really a country - clearly a PR

gambit - did not sit well with the International Community,

and its well-educated representatives.

We also saw, in a dramatic way, that Ukrainians could exhibit a fierce

sense of loyalty to 'Ukraine'. This might have been one of the accomplishments

of Soviet Russia, giving a sense of belonging and pride to peoples in a part

of the world that, by the accident of  geography, has been invaded and marched

on this way and that for centuries.

Bilingual countries exist; Canada is one of these. I would hope for a reformed

federated Ukraine that all could share.

Just saying!!

The Daily

 In  European news today:

source: Le Figaro

Author: Amaury Coutansais Pervinquiere

translation: GoogleTranslate/doxa-louise

War in Ukraine: an American spy plane may have flown over the Black Sea before the sinking of the Moskva

The Boeing P8 Poseidon is also an anti-submarine warfare aircraft that can be equipped with anti-ship missiles.

Its wreck lies at the bottom of the Black Sea, but its sinking still causes debate. The Moskva, flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, was most probably sunk by two Ukrainian 'Neptune' missiles, despite denials from the Kremlin, on 13 April. At the same time, an American spy plane reportedly flew over the area, according to the Times(UK) .

The British daily relies on open source data published by FlightRadar24. The Boeing P8 Poseidon patrol, and anti-submarine warplane, AE681B, had taken off from the American naval air base of Sigonella in Sicily. It was then detected at 1:32 p.m. Kiev time, above the Mediterranean, before reaching the Romanian coast, via the Balkans and Bulgaria.

A US Navy P8 Poseidon. Theron Kirkman / POOL / AFP

At 3:27 p.m., its position was recorded over Valea Nucarilor in Romania, nearly 20 km from the Ukrainian border and less than 100 miles from the Moskva. Its transponder is then deactivated, while the plane descends from a cruising altitude of 29,000 feet to 11,900. For two hours and 56 minutes, its location is unknown. It reappears at 6:23 p.m. above the town of Casimcea in Romania, about 37 miles from its last position and disappears again after 19 minutes.

The P8 was spotted 42 minutes later, at 7:24 p.m., in southern Romania before returning to Sigonella. At 8:42 p.m., a message posted on Facebook claimed that the Moskva had been hit. At 10:31 p.m., the Ukrainian governor of Odessa gave the first official confirmation.

The Moskva in Sevastopol in 2013. STRINGER / REUTERS

In early April, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin admitted that the United States was providing intelligence to the Ukrainian military. The P8 Poseidon is also armed with AGM-84 Harpoon and Mark 54 Torpedo anti-ship missiles. Its French equivalent is the ATL2, deployed with a carrier battle group from February to April 2022, during the Clémenceau 2022 mission.

du Jour

 

So did Apple 👩‍🦳

Stable

 The natural logarithm, ln - based on the number e - is the tool

of choice for those working on time and growth problems. Ever

wonder why.

Looking up the e article on the French Wikipedia, I was struck by the

fact that graph below is how the number is actually defined. Not just an

interesting factoid about e but its precise definition. Using the function 1/x:

Had to think this thing out for a while...Did look suspicious e is an irrational

number ( impossible to express as a fraction). Indeed. it is a transcendental number

and cannot be expressed as the root to any equation. (In contrast, the square root

of 2 is irrational but not transcendental because it is a root). It is a never ending

sequence of numbers 2.718281828459045235360...

Now integration in Calculus is used to define an area under a curve. Math is Fun introduces

the notion of integration with this fun illustration:

Now that is clear enough, and the area in question is something fixed.

But the area under the curve with e - 1 as a side had me worried. But that is the

cleverness of the whole thing, isn't is. Whatever unruliness e creates in the calculation

is compensated by that of the curve of the function. Our area is a stable 1!!

Our formula is thus one for a definite integral, between 1 and e, which subtracts

the portion between 0 and 1, which is 0, and ignores everything

that comes later then e:

                                                               

Math is Fun suggests memorizing e as:

2.7  1828  1828  45  90  45...

Easter22

 

Just Chilling!

 After a good night's sleep, a couple of coffees and an egg for

breakfast, I really shouldn't feel this bad. But I do. Had vaccine

number 4 yesterday, and I have trouble lifting my left arm. Not complaining,

though, because all the medical attention is seeing me through this 

dreadful pandemic. Just wanted to point out that - for someone in the seniors'  

group - a vaccination is a full-on body mobilization in its own right.

Chill on!!

Wondering

 Was the sinking of the Moskva - commissionned in 1983 - really 

such an embarassement for Russia. Had to google it: what is the expected 

lifespan of a naval vessel. Turns out 30 years, when depreciation has devalued 

it down to 15%. What it does enable is renewed attacks on Kiev, which is 

what we are seeing this morning, as the site where those Neptune missiles are 

made gets taken out...

source: Le Figaro

                                                                    *     *     *

Nuclear weapons 'may be on board Russian warship blown up by Ukraine' (msn.com)

Omar A

 A little Omar Apollo moment:

Really!?

 

A bit of hang wringing, here in Canada. It appears

that our Military might have offered training to a unit

of the Ukrainian military that was indeed Nazi, having

participated in the assault on Russia in WW2. Not

a good look, to say the least!

But then, i have also been pondering President Putin's claim

that this action in Ukraine was a 'noble' cause for Russia,

defending Russian-speakers still in Ukraine and securing borders

for the future. 'It was the right decision'. 

The aims were noble, but were the means!? This is war mongering ie

defending military action as a legitimate tool of diplomacy. Belongs

to another era, in my book. Just move a couple of million people out

of the way so we can get on with it...

And now that Sweden and Finland are considering NATO membership,

new actionable threats about getting creative with Russia's borders.

I am too young to have a real-time grasp of how the Cold War came into

being - but for the giggle - it seems to have been a case of geography is everything.

Russia fought off those nasty Nazis to the West, and France and co fought

them off to the East. Did it have to come to this!!??

                                                    *     *     *

Le Canada a formé des éléments d’un régiment ukrainien lié à l’extrême droite | Guerre en Ukraine | Radio-Canada.ca

BrotherP

 source: AFP in La Presse,  April12, 2022

translation: GoogleTranslate/doxa-louise

War in Ukraine: The Russian offensive continues "calmly", according to Vladimir Putin

The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin

(Moscow) Russian President Vladimir Putin said tuesday that the Russian offensive in Ukraine was continuing "calmly" and minimizing casualties, refusing to set a timetable.

The Russian head of state also criticized the "lack of coherence" of the Ukrainians in talks with Moscow, accusing them of constantly changing their position, which "creates difficulties" in reaching an agreement.

On the ground, "our task is to accomplish the objectives set by minimizing casualties, we will act harmoniously, calmly, in accordance with the plan proposed from the outset by the General Staff," Putin said at a press conference at a cosmodrome in the Russian Far East.

Putin, who was in Vostochny with his Belarusian counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko, brushed aside the notion that the Russian military was struggling in the face of Ukrainian resistance and had had to give up taking the major cities and the capital Kyiv to focus on Donbass region in the east of the country.

"Our actions in some parts of Ukraine were only intended to lure the (Ukrainian) forces away from the Donbass, deliver a blow and destroy  military infrastructure," he said.

The president also implied that if Russian forces were not moving faster, it was to avoid too great losses. The Kremlin admitted last week that the Russian military had suffered "significant" losses itself without quantifying them precisely.

"I often hear the question, can we do it faster? Yes, it is possible, but it involves intensifying military operations which unfortunately would have an effect on losses," Putin said.

Russia has consistently denied killing civilians, accusing Ukraine of using its population as a human shield.

Asked about the massacre of civilians in the Ukrainian city of Butcha, which Ukraine and the West blame on Russian forces, which occupied the Kyiv suburb, Putin brushed aside the subject.

Comparing these accusations to those concerning the use of chemical weapons by the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Putin said: "We are up against the same 'fakenews' in Boutcha."

Mr Lukashenko saw it as "a special psychological operation on the part of the British".

Earlier in the day, Putin called the Russian military offensive "noble," saying once again it was aimed at saving Russians and Russian-speakers in Donbass from genocide orchestrated by Ukrainian "neo-Nazis."

"There is no doubt (that the Russian objectives will be fulfilled), they are absolutely clear and noble [...] The main objective is to help the people of Donbass," he reiterated.

Putin also mocked the United States on Tuesday, saying it was ready to fight Russia "to the last Ukrainian."

The Russian president finally considered that despite the "current tragedy", the Ukrainians were still a "brother people".

                                                       *     *     *

International - DER SPIEGEL

Flowering

 Did a little mental housekeeping this morning, getting the names

of diferent flowers offered for Easter at the local grocery stores.

Below!

Cactus du printemps:

Gerberas (marguerites):

Hydrangées:

Jacinthes:

Jonquilles:

Lys Calla:

Orchidée:

MLP

 They're going to beat my girl Marine Le Pen again. Yes,

she will be on the second ballot for the French Presidency

because she scored a solid second to Emmanuel Macron (and

this, for the second election in a row). But already voices are

clamoring that not a vote should go to her, because she represents

the 'extreme' right.

So how extreme is she!? Well, there is no one of any weight to the right 

of her, true. But the narrative she represents is starting to look like

standard conservative fare. A member of the European Parliament, she 

proposes a France first position and has even considered seeing France leave 

the EU in the past. She currently opts for a revamped EU, possibly with Britain 

as a member.

What would she be like as President. In my view, solid as anything. And this is

my chagrin that we will never see it. What is problematic for her is that she

seems welded to the political party she heads, and has been there like, forever.

This is not how modern politics rolls. Those who seek high office change parties,

create new alliances; in short, are terribly pragmatic about getting elected.

Heck, she's a even got a law degree...

New App

 With all this talk of inflation, been thinking that i should 

perhaps keep track of one aspect of food shopping that is perhaps

not noticed: the ETCETERAS. One is usually clear about what is comestibe

ie food that we eat, but onthose same shopping trips one often loads up

on personal care and household items at the same time. And those things can

really jack-up the bill.

With this in mind, been working on a spreadsheet project that would allow

me to see, on a weekly basis, what these items were cosing me, and how much 

they contributed to my escalating expenses...

Using Google Sheets, which is  free for personnal  use with a Google Account.

So far:

B_Reaction

 source: La Presse

authors: JULIA POSCA AND BERTRAND SCHEPPER

RESEARCHERS AT THE INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH AND SOCIOECONOMIC INFORMATION (IRIS)

translation: EdgeTranslate/doxa-louise

A federal budget that fuels cynicism

Following its alliance with the NDP, the Liberal government had free rein to make this budget a tool in the fight against poverty and global warming. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, however, has produced a budget plan that offers half-measures and gives pride of place to developers and private investors.

The federal deficit continues to shrink this year. From $328 billion in 2020-2021, it rises to $114 billion in 2021-2022 and will be less than $10 billion by 2026-2027. As for the federal debt, it continues to fall to 48% of GDP in 2021-2022. Canada is the least indebted country in the G7 relative to the size of its economy. Ottawa therefore had the most enviable room for manoeuvre to set in motion the most pressing projects.

In two key areas, housing and the environment, the government is choosing instead to support the private sector in the hope that it will solve problems that it has -itsef- helped to create.

Tenants left to fend for themselves

House prices have continued to rise in recent years at the expense of low- and middle-income households. Between the end of 2017 and the end of 2021, rents rose by 13.4% while inflation increased by just over 7% over the same period. Measures were therefore expected to support tenants, but they are largely left to their own devices. It must be said that Canada has never recovered from the cuts to social housing programs in the 1990s, and that, to date, the National Housing Strategy has mainly favoured the construction of rental housing that is not accessible to the poorest. So-called affordable housing is disappearing faster than that being built, and the announced addition of 100,000 units over five years will only meet a fraction of current needs, estimated at nearly triple.

Contradictory measures of access to property

The government is also announcing measures to support home ownership, including the introduction of a Tax-Free Savings Account for the Purchase of a First Property (TPIA) and the enhancement of the tax credit for the purchase of a home. Since they support demand, these measures are nevertheless likely to fuel rising house prices.

In return, the government is taking some steps to curb speculation, including the taxation of profits during real estate "flips", a measure more than welcome in a turbulent market. It also prevents purchases by foreign investors, who nevertheless represent a minority of buyers, for two years. It would have been wiser to target all investors who – through their practices – have been driving up real estate prices for two decades. For example, it would have been easy to increase the down payment required for property purchases when it comes to investor transactions. In short, in terms of housing, private developers appear to be the big winners of the approach taken in this budget.

The private sector to the rescue of the environment?

Easy does it is also the rule in terms of the environment. Ottawa is betting on electric vehicles, to which half a billion is devoted from 2022-2023, and is financing the exploitation of critical minerals with billions. The Government is also supporting, through the Canada Infrastructure Bank, various industries, often themselves highly polluting, to develop technologies that are supposed to enable Canada to achieve carbon neutrality, although that has yet  to be done. In addition to an act of faith in the private sector, this is a missed opportunity to show real leadership in the fight against global warming.

The government had a responsibility, in light of the warnings issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change a few days earlier, to empower Canada to transform the way it produces, consumes, transports and houses its residents. After the announcement of the government's support for the Bay du Nord oil project, it is clear that it is avoiding the harfd questions.

Despite its alliance with the NDP, the Liberal budget fails to adopt a realistic strategy to reduce real estate overheating and structuring measures to combat global warming. this risks fuelling the cynicism of the population towards parliamentary institutions.

GeoLogical

                                            

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-difference-between-rock-and-mineral

https://mrdata.usgs.gov/

Going Back

Finally, a little clarity on what brought us to a situation

where fast-food has become both a global symbol of freedom

 innocent indulgence, and one of the motors to the obesity epidemic.

Looking at you, California, where it all began.

The hamburger joint was family fun for car drivers, but post

World War2 saw California ramp up to produce airplanes and

other machinery, often on a 24-hour schedule. How were these

workers to be fed!? The answer: the fast-food drive-through. And

certainly, that food needed to be high calorie and taste appealing 

enough to be wolfed down day and night.

Clearly we all need to go back to ... civilization.

 Fast food history: Southern California is at the center - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

Listen Up!

 This is a must listen : what ordinary sounds would be like

for us on Mars. Because the air on Mars has 1% of the density

of air on Earth, high-pitched sounds travel more quickly.

Debussy's Clair de Lune is incredible in its martian version.

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/participate/sounds/?playlist=earth&item=curiosity-touchdown&type=mars

HyperS

 https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/04/politics/us-hypersonic-missile-test/index.html

New Rate

 A small finance problem for this morning: I have 100$

to invest for four years. At 2% compound interest, I am

ending up with 108.24$ at maturity. 

I want to do better, and go for a 10$ return in the same period.

What should my new interest rate be. My unknown is the log base,

and whatever that is, to the fourth power, yields a multiplier of 1.1

for my investment (of 100$).

log(base(x))1.1 = 4

ln(1.1)/4=0.0238...

My new interest rate  is 2.3827 

 

This Morning

 My thoughts this morning: the United Nations should be doing something.

Looking to have observers on the ground in Ukraine.

They need to define cease-fire conditions. Russia will agree because

the UN will define a floor of economic sanctions no population should

endure, at the same time. It's just war mongering with another face!!

We can do this!

Saturday

 Every once in a while, I watch one of these: talks on things

I don' really understand, but I do get glimpses of what is being discussed.

What really impressed me here is the observation that the Big Bang - 

accurate to a point - doesn't really account for itself.

Why do I care!? Well, previous forays into things I don't understand have

informed me that life, and human evolution, all contain quite a few accidents

fortuitousness. Which is probably why we are alone in the Universe.  And as

sentient beings, we do have the experience of choice. This might

be where all our musings could be fruitful: what can we make happen  for

ourselves.

Happy Saturday!

 

Belgorod

 source: Le Nouvel Observateur, in conjunction with AFP

april1, 3:43 pm Paris

translation: GoogleTranslate/doxa-louise

What is known about the attack on an oil depot in Russia where Moscow accuses Kiev

The burnt depot in Belgorod, April 1, 2022. (HANDOUT / AFP)The burnt depot in Belgorod, April 1, 2022. (HANDOUT / AFP)

Moscow points to Ukraine's responsibility for a helicopter attack on an oil depot in Russia, and warns that it could weigh on the talks.

Was there a Ukrainian attack on Russia? A Russian official on Friday (April 1) accused Ukraine  of carrying out a helicopter attack on an "oil depot" in the western Russian city of Belgorod, not far from the Ukrainian border. . An attack neither denied nor confirmed by kyiv.

An attack “carried out by two helicopters”

On his Telegram account the governor of the Russian region of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, claims that "a fire in an oil depot took place because of an airstrike carried out by two helicopters of the Ukrainian army which entered  Russian territory at low altitude" . He also said firefighters are working to extinguish the blaze and that two depot employees were injured.

According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, more than 170 rescuers are involved. The ministry released a video showing firefighters in silver thermal suits putting out large burning vats. He said he was notified of the fire at 3:51 a.m. Paris time, and confirmed the toll of two injured.

The public company Rosneft, owner of the premises, claimed to have evacuated its staff, and a director of a typography near Belgorod, also claimed that his company had  been hit by helicopter fire. “  The windows are damaged, equipment is destroyed or damaged […] the roof is damaged ,” he told the public agency TASS.

Belgorod is located about 80 kilometers north of Kharkiv, the second Ukrainian city attacked by Russian forces since the start of the Kremlin offensive, and about 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine singled out by Russia

The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, accused Ukraine of being behind the attack. This is the first time that Russia has reported Ukrainian helicopter strikes on its territory since the start of the conflict. The spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, however, did not speak on the subject on Friday.

On Wednesday, explosions had already taken place in an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region, without the Russian authorities clearly explaining the cause of the incident. On February 25, local and Ukrainian media had mentioned a strike by kyiv against a Russian air base near Rostov, without it being officially confirmed.

Ukraine neither denies nor confirms

Ukraine, for its part, refused to confirm being behind the attack. "I can neither confirm nor deny that Ukraine was involved, because I do not have all the military information in my hands ," declared the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba.

Ukraine does not have to "take responsibility for all the miscalculations, all the disasters and all the events taking place on Russian territory" , added the spokesman of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Oleksandre Motouzianyk, also refusing to confirm or not.

An attack that risks weighing on the peace talks

Could this attack, which has not yet been claimed,  be a brake on future talks? “It is clear that we cannot consider this as something that will create the appropriate conditions for the continuation of negotiations  ” , reacted Dmitri Peskov, spokesman for the Russian presidency.

He also reaffirmed that Russia had total control of the air in Ukraine “Our control of  air space during the special military operation is an absolute fact. Regarding the incident [in Belgorod] it will be up to our armed forces to assess it,” he said.

Talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict resumed early Friday afternoon by videoconference, according to Kremlin negotiator Vladimir Medinsky. “We are continuing negotiations by videoconference. Our positions on Crimea and Donbass have not changed ,” he wrote.

 L'Obs with AFP

 

Happy!

 

 My kind of video!!

HAPPY APRIL 1