In this thread, I will argue that the conventional wisdom that Shannon's information theory is all about syntax and not about semantics stems from superficial reading. On the contrary, even his 1948 BSTJ paper is already concerned with syntax, semantics, *and* pragmatics. 1/14

1. This is a thread about the Bristol Beaufighter & how it was the most important (if not the absolute ‘best’) heavy fighter of the SWW. Beaufighter origins go back to the Bristol Type 142 ‘Britain First’ built as a publicity stunt for Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere in 1935.

2. With a top speed of 278mph, this was considerably faster than the Hawker Fury, which could only manage 207mph. A specification for a fast medium bomber was issued for a revised version of the 142M, named the Blenheim.

3. By the time the war started all-metal monoplane fighters had eclipsed the performance of the Blenheim. Serious shortcomings in operational capabilities of all RAF aircraft were revealed during early wartime aerial activity, leading to heavy losses of aircraft & crews.

4. Lack of defensive armament, armour & self-sealing tanks were added to the problems of looming obsolescence. The huge number of aircraft ordered from shadow factories, along with delays to replacement models, kept the Blenheim in the front line much longer than it should have.

5. Fighter Command had 7 Blenheim IF squadrons at the outbreak of war. These were dual purpose day/night units, but by early 1940 were operating primarily as night fighters. The need to provide cover for east coast convoys led to the formation of 4 ‘trade protection’ squadrons.

As America celebrates its defeat of an authoritarian in the middle of consolidating power, it is critical to stay vigilant.

In my @BylineTimes interview with historian @ruthbenghiat she cautions these so-called “strongmen” often remain in the party’s

1/ Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s latest book, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, details the precise moment in time when fascism was born.

2/ “World War One was this cataclysmic change,” she told Byline Times. “Multiple empires fell, including the Russian Empire, Hapsburg Empire, the Ottoman Empire. It created death on a scale no one had seen before. It created wounds no one had seen before because of new weapons.”

3/ In addition, the Great War led to a profound crisis in maleness.

4/ “It created this entire class of men who were damaged, many were killed, and it created this huge crisis of masculinity,” she said. “So fascist rulers came up during this crisis period of unrest and instability in their individual countries and Italy was first.”

A challenge with society in general is a facile understanding of the word “coup.” When the population at large thinks of a coup, they imagine a violent military (Chile, 1973) or paramilitary (Cuba, 1959) overthrow of the government.
Coups are often far more complex and nuanced.

So, let’s talk about the autogolpe—the “self coup” (a perfect example of how some words in Spanish are objectively better than their English equivalents). An autogolpe is, at its simplest, when a duly elected leader revolts against his *own* government to consolidate power.

He (it’s always been a “he”) usurps powers that traditionally reside with the legislative and judiciary bodies, and of course, maintains that power beyond his elected term.

This kind of coup requires a lot of prep work. Generally speaking, you can’t just up and announce your takeover overnight. Instead, you have to spend a few years undermining federal institutions so that, when the time comes, they are powerless and/or unwilling to stop you.

How? You start by installing loyalists in key positions and courting *personal* loyalty within your party.
“Oh, everybody does that!”
Not exactly. Key positions in a democracy, for example, require approval from the legislative body.
So you have to work around that.

In 1927, a young Spanish boy, aged 8, - who would become the 18th Duque de Alberquerque - sat in a cinema watching a newsreel of the Grand National.
In that moment, an impossible dream was born.
Born on the 15 December 1918, the boy - Beltran de Osorio y Diez de Rivera

- was so enchanted that he resolved one day win to the great race himself.
Aged 33, the Duke - having ridden in French steeplechases - made his Grand National debut in 1952, putting up ten pound overweight on his own eight-year-old Brown Jack lll (Pic), trained by Peter Cazalet.

The tall Spaniard fell at the sixth, sustaining cracked ribs and concussion

His second attempt came eleven years later aboard the Irish-bred Jonjo (named after its joint owners John O'Hagen and Joe Thompson).
Together the 44-year-old Duke and the 13-year-old Jonjo completed the

first circuit safely enough and were well up with the leaders when being unluckily brought down at the 21st.
In 1965 the Duke took a bad fall from Groomsman at Valentine's and was taken to Walton General Hospital with a broken leg

His ride in 1966 was on the doubtful stayer

L'Empereur who had to pulled up at the 26th

He was back again in 1973, pulling Nereo up at the Canal Turn. He finished 8th on the same horse the following year.

Yet another bad fall a week before the 1975 National resulted in yet another broken leg, ruling him out of the race,