Karl the Kontrarian

Stumbling follower of Jesus, combat veteran, aviation and astronomy geek, sojourner awaiting restoration

[Karl the Kontrarian @KarlWTusing]

@Jaydholland Jay, committing to pray for Elijah for the next 100 days. For his family, his medical team, everything Incam think of - being the parent of a chronically ill child.
Regarding your stress - 1 Peter 5:7
Cast - with strength, as a fly fisher, yours cares - towards the target, God

[cyr @cyr_actual]

@xAviation Bird strike and Vr look to be basically simultaneous (at most, one second apart). Nothing else to do but fly.

[Karl the Kontrarian @KarlWTusing]

The @BBC @BBCBreaking coverage of @Arsenal @premierleague Champions parade was egregious and reprehensible. Over 20 minutes in their 30 minute program was showcasing PSG’s parade. #Arsenal got less than 3 minutes! In consecutive program segments
British Broadcasting - hilarious

[Daily Loud @DailyLoud]

32-year-old Broadway dancer Rhamell Burke pushed a 76-year-old retired teacher down New York City subway stairs, killing him.

[Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes]

A woman who lives and works in California had $20,000 taken out of her bank account by The Oregon Department of Revenue

She’s never lived in Oregon yet they were able to get her bank account information and take her money

Oregon said the woman owed the money in unpaid income taxes and penalties, but she didn’t. She’s never lived or worked there

She called and apparently Oregon has an address for her that was literally a public park

They told her it would be 5+ months to refund her money. The woman had to get the local media involved to put pressure to make them give the money back faster

Eventually, Oregon admitted it was a mistake

Another state should not have access to out of state residents bank account information

[Karl the Kontrarian @KarlWTusing]

@penguins @DVERADIO Even It Up! @penguins

[Karl the Kontrarian @KarlWTusing]

@penguins @DVERADIO My dedication request from the Evil City of Philthadelphia :)

https://t.co/XgiBbkVs4r

#heart #evenitup #letsgopens
#nhlplayoffs

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

Erythritol is in every keto protein bar, every "zero sugar" energy drink, and every stevia packet on your table. The FDA approved it in 2001. A $275 million market. And researchers just watched it destroy brain blood vessel cells in three hours at the dose you get from a single drink.

Here's what happened at the cellular level. University of Colorado Boulder exposed human brain microvascular endothelial cells to 6 millimolar erythritol, the concentration in one sugar-free beverage. Reactive oxygen species production doubled. Nitric oxide, the molecule that keeps your blood vessels relaxed and open, dropped 20%. Endothelin-1, the most potent vasoconstrictor your endothelium produces, jumped 30%. And when they challenged the cells with thrombin to simulate a clotting event, the cells' ability to produce t-PA, the enzyme that dissolves blood clots, was completely blunted.

Less vessel relaxation. More vessel constriction. Worse clot-busting capacity. That's three independent pathways to stroke, all triggered by a single serving.

This isn't the first signal. Cleveland Clinic tracked 4,000+ patients in 2023 and found those with the highest blood erythritol levels were roughly twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke over three years. Two times the risk. On par with diabetes as a cardiac risk factor. And erythritol doesn't metabolize. Your body absorbs it in the small intestine, dumps it into the bloodstream, and excretes it through urine almost completely intact. Every serving stacks on the last one.

The population most aggressively consuming erythritol, people with obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, is the exact population with the highest baseline cardiovascular risk. The sweetener marketed as their safe alternative may be compounding the problem it was sold to solve.

[Patrick Sullivan Jr. @realPatrickJr]

This is extremely concerning!

A new study found that the sweetener used in millions of Americans' daily snacks can damage human brain cells within hours of a single serving.

The FDA approved it decades ago, but the new data is worrying: (1/15)

[Interesting things @awkwardgoogle]

1:1 scale recreation of the Titanic leaving Belfast docks using 1000 drones 🤯
https://t.co/HEId8Srweh

[Adam | Faithful Messenger @Adam_FaithfulM]

In 1986, the American Medical Association published an article titled "The Physical Death of Jesus Christ". It details the entire process of Jesus' trial to His death on the cross.

In Luke 22, before Jesus is arrested, it is written that He was in great distress & sweating blood. Although rare, it is recognized as Hematidrosis, a condition caused by high levels of stress.

At the time, the crucifixion was considered the worst death for the worst of criminals. But this is not all Jesus faced. He endured whipping so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. He was beaten so horribly that His face was torn & His beard ripped.

A crown of thorns, 2-3 inches long cut deeply into His scalp. The leather whip used to flog Him had tiny iron balls & sharp bones. The balls caused internal injuries while the sharp bones ripped open His flesh. His skeletal muscles, veins, & bowels are exposed, causing major blood loss. Most men do not survive this kind of torture. After Jesus was severely flogged, He was forced to carry His cross while people mocked & spat on Him.

Crucifixion was a process meant to instill excruciating pain, creating a slow & agonizing death. Nails as long as 8 inches were driven into Jesus' wrists & feet. The Roman soldiers knew the tendons in the wrists would tear & break, forcing Jesus to use His back muscles to support Himself to breathe. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the courage...Jesus endured this reality for 3 hours!

The Gospel of John writes that after Jesus' death, a Roman soldier pierced His side with a spear & blood & water came out. Scientists explain that from hypovolemic shock, the rapid heart rate causes fluid to gather in the sack around the lungs & heart. The accumulation of fluid in the membrane around the heart is called a Pericardial effusion & the lungs is called a pleural effusion.

To the world, Christianity is as foolish as it can get. They believe it's for the weak. But when you are confronted by the reality of the cross, it's clearly not a pretty sight. It is brutal & horrific.

This is the weight Jesus carried. The weight of the sins of the world, all so that we can live. God's wrath is fully satisfied in Jesus. This is what it took. Repent & believe! Jesus is “God among us” in the flesh. Jesus is our Savior. Jesus loves you so much that He went through this spiritual and physical punishment for your sins and mine.

Jesus is the LORD, Almighty God, Everlasting Father.

Thank You, Jesus.

[Karl the Kontrarian @KarlWTusing]

Since May 2021, over 100 churches in Canada have been vandalized, burned, or destroyed, with reports identifying at least 33 to over 40 churches as being completely destroyed or severely damaged by arson. #wakeup

[Bruce @bruce_barrett]

Another historic church goes up in flames.

The Église de l'Immaculée church of Saint-Ours, Canada just burnt to the ground.

It was built between 1880 and 1882.

[Eyal Yakoby @EYakoby]

Nearly 200,000 Christians have been slaughtered by Islamists in Nigeria.

Where is the outrage?

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

I am the VP of Workforce Economics at Oracle. We are worth $420 billion.

On Tuesday, we sent 30,000 employees a termination email at 6 AM.

Not 9. Not business hours. Six in the morning. They woke up to the word "eliminated."

The email came from "Oracle Leadership." Not a manager. Not a name. Oracle Leadership.

It said: "We are grateful for your dedication, hard work, and the impact you have made."

By the time they read the word "grateful," their access to email, files, and Slack had already been revoked. The gratitude was the last Oracle communication they received.

We did not eliminate the roles. We eliminated the salaries.

In the same fiscal year, we filed 3,126 H-1B petitions to hire foreign workers. 436 this year alone. The roles are identical. The pay is not.

An H-1B software engineer earns $87,000. The domestic median for the same work is $106,000. Eighty-three percent of H-1B workers are classified at entry-level wages for senior positions.

The industry calls this a skills gap. It is a pay cut that requires a passport.

The visa is tied to the employer. If the worker leaves, they lose their legal right to remain in the country. If they negotiate, they risk the same. If they organize, the sponsor declines to renew.

That is retention.

Our revenue this quarter is $17.2 billion. Up 22%. Net income up 95%. We have $553 billion in committed future contracts. Up 325%.

These are not the numbers of a company that needs to lay anyone off.

We took a $2.1 billion restructuring charge. That is the cost of the gratitude. It frees up $8 to $10 billion in annual cash flow. That cash services $156 billion in AI data centers we are building. Starting 2028, OpenAI pays us $82 million per day.

Larry Ellison is worth $189 billion. He pledged $51 billion in Oracle shares as collateral for the Stargate AI venture. Announced at the White House.

The stock rose 4% on Tuesday. The day of the 6 AM emails. Wall Street did not see 30,000 people. They saw the margin.

Amazon laid off 30,000 since October. Filed thousands of H-1B petitions in the same window. This is not one company. This is the operating model.

Fire the salary. Keep the role. Fill it with someone whose legal right to remain in the country depends on your continued sponsorship. Pay them less. They will not complain. They cannot.

One employee's father worked at Oracle for 20 years. No phone call. No meeting. An email at 6 AM and a locked laptop.

The role is still open.

The people we fired are free. The people we hired are not.

[James O'Keefe @JamesOKeefeIII]

It took 11 years defending himself over one story. This is what they do to people who hold them accountable.

Nobody is held accountable because the people who have the power to do so are afraid of the retaliation. But David is different. His love of truth was greater than his regard for himself.

[Syrian Girl @Partisangirl]

Joel Davis has been released from prison after 120 days in solitary confinement for an Internet post criticising a politician.

His bail conditions forbid him from going online or using a smart phone.

This is Australia.

[Faraz Pervaiz @FarazPervaiz3]

🇳🇬 Daddy come back - A Young Christian girl weeps inconsolably at burial of her father killed in Plateau by Jihadis in the name of Islam.

Persecuted Christians in Nigeria need our support and help.

[Karl the Kontrarian @KarlWTusing]

@nytimes Don’t know much about history? Why would it be called North American if 30 of the 32 members are in Europe and Asia? Hello, McFly?!

[Sasha Issenberg @sissenberg]

Does the @nytimes know what NATO stands for?

[Josiah Burke @realJosiahBurke]

My brother teacher @EnochBurke is spending tonight in a tiny prison cell in Ireland after refusing to use “they/them” pronouns for a child.

This is now over 600 days behind bars.

Judges now want to ban his family from attending court.

BUT THE TRUTH WILL NEVER BE SILENCED.

[Dr. Dawn Michael @DawnsMission]

🚨 WOW —Tumors literally liquefied by sound waves. No scalpel. No chemo. No radiation. None of those horrible side effects.

This is histotripsy: focused ultrasound blasts destroy cancer cells mechanically in minutes, sparing healthy tissue completely.