Res Ipsa wrote:I learned about the prototype drug tunnel along the US-Mexico southern border. It went between a home in Agua Prieta and a warehouse in Douglas, AZ. It was financed by “El Chapo” and used to smuggle cocaine. To reach the tunnel at the Mexico end, you turned what looked like an outdoor water spigot on. Hydraulics lifted a concrete slab in the basement, on which sat a pool table, revealing a staircase down to the tunnel. Sounds like a Bond film.
If you think of building the tunnel like building a toll road, where each shipment pays a toll that will amortize the cost of the tunnel, it makes sense, if you have the up front capital to finance it (which he obviously did). Chapo was definitely in it for the long haul.
Since he's in an American jail, should we start referring to him as The Chapo?
"The great problem of any civilization is how to rejuvenate itself without rebarbarization." - Will Durant "We've kept more promises than we've even made" - Donald Trump "Of what meaning is the world without mind? The question cannot exist." - Edwin Land
Res Ipsa wrote:I learned about the prototype drug tunnel along the US-Mexico southern border. It went between a home in Agua Prieta and a warehouse in Douglas, Arizona. It was financed by “El Chapo” and used to smuggle cocaine. To reach the tunnel at the Mexico end, you turned what looked like an outdoor water spigot on. Hydraulics lifted a concrete slab in the basement, on which sat a pool table, revealing a staircase down to the tunnel. Sounds like a Bond film.
If you think of building the tunnel like building a toll road, where each shipment pays a toll that will amortize the cost of the tunnel, it makes sense, if you have the up front capital to finance it (which he obviously did). Chapo was definitely in it for the long haul.
Since he's in an American jail, should we start referring to him as The Chapo?
Naw, El Chapo sounds way more badass.
That tunnel ran for about 6 months and cost close to 2 million to build. And he made a bundle off of it. The Colombian cartels had started running cocaine through Mexico in response to increased enforcement efforts in South Florida. Reportedly, the Colombian cartels were amazed at how fast he was able to move the drugs into the US. And from there, the tunneling took off like gangbusters.
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
Today I learned stuff about colors. Like, scarlet was originally a fabric. (Maybe still is.) It was use for a specific red dye, that eventually took its name from the fabric on which it was used. And an early purple dye was made using a small gland of a Mediterranean shellfish. Some of the old towns have nearby hills formed by waste piles of shells.
It's going on my reading list because, who doesn't want to know more about the shade of green that turned out to be a killer?
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
Res Ipsa wrote:Today I learned stuff about colors. Like, scarlet was originally a fabric. (Maybe still is.) It was use for a specific red dye, that eventually took its name from the fabric on which it was used. And an early purple dye was made using a small gland of a Mediterranean shellfish.
Res Ipsa wrote:Today I learned stuff about colors. Like, scarlet was originally a fabric. (Maybe still is.) It was use for a specific red dye, that eventually took its name from the fabric on which it was used. And an early purple dye was made using a small gland of a Mediterranean shellfish.
Did St. Clair talk about these little critters?
She talked about a couple of bugs used for pigments. I think she said one bug is still used to color yoghurt today.
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
Today I learned about bird penises. When birds evolved from dinosaurs, all the males had penises. Today, in only 3% of bird species do the males have penises. Why? Maybe the bower birds know...
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
I learned about Human Endogenous Retroviruses. They are pieces of virus DNA that have been incorporated into human DNA. One retrovirus is required for proper formation of the placenta.
The entire discussion of horizontal gene transfer was fascinating.
The Tangled Tree, David Quammen
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
I learned that you might not be able to power up your gas furnace with a generator during a bomb cyclone blizzard with 95 mph wind gusts because of dirty sine waves so you should just eat chips in bed with a hat on.
Yes I have cabin fever.
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
