15:36 – It seems that a week seldom goes by without some sort of problem at Dreamhost. Maybe I was spoiled by Greg & Brian’s Excellent Hosting Service, but Dreamhost is the pits by comparison. Until an hour or so ago, web, mail, and webmail were all been running very slowly if not completely inaccessible for several hours. I checked the Dreamhost system status page, which had no problems reported. So I started a trouble ticket, only to get a message that this was a known problem and had been reported by other users. I think the real problem is that Dreamhost has some downtime almost every day, which they (correctly) think makes them look bad. So unless the problem is on such a large scale that they can’t hide it, they simply don’t admit publicly that there are any problems. A dishonest system status page is worse than not having one at all.
I originally tried to make a post at around 0800. I tried literally half a dozen times between then and now, and each time the system dropped me. At one point, I thought I might be blaming Dreamhost unfairly because I started having troubles getting to other sites. Of course, the other usual suspect is Time-Warner Cable, which has frequent problems with its DNS servers. So, just to cover all bases, I power reset my cable modem and router. Things are still slow, but not as slow as they had been.
I’m taking my first break of the day from working on science kits. Despite the problems with our websites, we sold four chemistry kits today, which took our remaining inventory to zero. So, after spending this morning finishing up new batches of the two forensic supplement kits, I started on final assembly of a new batch of chemistry kits. I’m doing a quick batch of a dozen first. That should be enough to hold me for at least a couple of days while I get another three dozen built. And at some point I simply have to take some time to generate purchase orders or we’re going to start running out of components.
We watched the first series of Hell on Wheels. It was pretty decent, not as good as, say, Deadwood, but not bad at all. I gave it three stars on Netflix. Series two is another story. I call it Hell on Wheels Coming Off. It’s grossly inferior to series one. The actors are still very good, as are the production values. It’s the writing that has gone downhill fast. I understand there’s a series three in the works, but I don’t think we’ll bother watching it.
I remember reading an article back in the mid-60’s in Popular Photography or Modern Photography. They were talking about a group of young, aspiring documentary photographers at a workshop in New York. The workshop was led by a well-known Eastern European photographer. The students were showing the portfolios to the group. One student was no doubt encouraged when the instructor took a long time looking at one of her images. She was probably crushed at his comment, rendered in his deep Eastern European accent: “Is perhaps a rough sketch of no idea.”
That’s the problem with a lot of TV series that start well. Quite often, the series creator writes all or most of the early episodes, and is very hands-on even with those episodes credited to another writer. But if the show takes off, the production company starts throwing more resources at it, including (unfortunately) more writers. I suspect their thinking is that a group of writers will put out better storylines. The truth, of course, is that with rare exceptions writing collaborations just don’t work. It’s much better to have one writer doing it all.
Happy 80th birthday to Dr. Jerry Pournelle!
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle
I watched the first “Hell on Wheels” episode. Abandoned it then.
Been trying “Continuum” lately. It is an OK cop show about time travel from the future to the present to fight future terrorism. I am almost all the way through the first season and have the second season waiting on the DVR.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_%28TV_series%29
Yeah, I have that one in our queue as well.
Watched all of “Hell on Wheels” and found it just OK. Had started out well, but as Robert says, they handed it off to too many cooks spoiling the broth.
Tried first episode of “Continuum” but it left me flat; I am just not into SF anymore.
80 here today with strong southerly wind off the Lake and usual whitecaps and surf like the ocean. A week ago today Mrs. OFD and I took an afternoon tour through the Eastern Townships of Quebec and then back down through the northern islands of the Lake on a gorgeous day, in her new (1997) yellow Saab convertible.
Watching last episode of first season of “Longmire” tonight and then on to fifth season of “Breaking Bad.” Mrs. OFD is in Boston this week and then off to Wyoming next week and Alabama after that. Three weeks in Mendocino, Kalifornia in September and more gigs coming up in Florida and I forget where else later that month and another full boat in October. Business is booming in mental health first aid, nationwide.
We are slowly doing a ton of cosmetic work throughout the house and yahd and have planted blueberries and blackberries. Dumped the pellet stove and now installing a Hearthstone woodstove in the living room; we also have oil heat as a backup. Several more large projects to finish between now and the holiday season; nothing works in an old house but you.
100 F and 35% humidity here today with a very noticeable amount of African dust in the air. 102 F promised tomorrow. I wish the EPA would get busy on those dust makers!
http://www.khou.com/news/local/African-dust-moving-into-skies-above-Houston-218664201.html
Several more large projects to finish between now and the holiday season; nothing works in an XXX house but you.
Fixed that for you!
we also have oil heat as a backup
At $3 per gallon of heating oil (aka kerosene aka jet fuel aka diesel), how many gallons do you burn in a winter?
Very few; we had a mild winter last year and the pellet stove going. We don’t anticipate burning much this winter, either, not with the wood stove,which will run hot and maintains heat with soapstone. And last time we burned oil, at the old place, it was over four bucks a gallon.
The other day, RBT was looking for the “employment rate”. Here is one version of it:
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000
This is the “workforce participation rate”. It peaked in 2000 at 67.3%, and now is at 63.4%.
I owe OFD an apology. I thought he was a paranoid, cynical old fart for his statements about how the constitution has been thrown out the window. This article makes it clear that he was right, and if anything it is worse than he said.
This article makes it clear that he was right
Fixed the link for you.
I think there’s an error in your link DB.
Yeah, OFD is a crazy old geezer but the fags, booze, drugs and wild women in the Seventies didn’t totally rot his brain… 🙂
I think there’s an error in your link DB.
The link is missing the “HTTP://” in front of the link. That makes the page relative to this site and of course does not exist.
Thanks Ray, I’ve read it now. Bloody infuriating. Makes me wary of touring the US by car.
I agree with the bloody infuriating part. I suspect you most likely wouldn’t run into the problem if you were touring the US by car, as I would expect you’d be using a debit or credit card for most of your purchases, and not large sums of cash. Actually, you’d probably be affected, because you’d get pulled over a lot. They’d let you go once they realized you didn’t have anything to impound.
Definitely nuts. How does that go again? Something like “shall not be deprived of … without due process”, where “due process” is being blackmailed by the threat of handing your kids to CPS?
The problem is the usual: too many folk believe in the “WoD” and believe in being “tough on crime”. As long as they haven’t been pulled over and robbed by a uniform-wearing-thug, what’s the problem?
I feel that a healthy level of paranoia and cynicism is called for in these times and in this country. Yes, in some areas things are actually worse than I’ve thought or known about.
Here it is: a criminal Bolshevik-style cabal has seized control of the government and they were allowed to do this on the basis of a faulty belief that they were simply moderate liberal Democrats. Almost a blueprint of the way Lenin and Trotsky and their henchmen dumped the Mensheviks back in 1917. We are in deep shit. As for the facade of electoral politics; that’s going to be known for what it is in ’16, as the Mooch, if she wants it, secures the WH for herself and carries on the program. The Repub Half of the two-headed snake that it is the Party will not have anyone viable (again) to put up against her (or whomever they pick). It’s at the point now where if HILLARY! and Bill make an attempt to get back into power, they will be crushed.
The military and police will keep taking orders for the nonce but there are very large segments of both who are disaffected by all these events and who may stage some sort of coup in the future, especially if pay checks end up in arrears. For the military I mean grunts, NCO’s and officers through the rank of major. For cops I mean the rank-and-file and sergeants. A couple of large disasters/catastrophes may accelerate some of this stuff in the near future. I don’t rule out a couple of generals stepping in at some point and saying they are in complete and full charge now.
We’re in for a rocky ride.
Maybe. I’m still expecting a gradual slide into dystopia rather than a sudden collapse, but you could be right.
Interestingly, I’m getting more and more emails from people who don’t own any firearms but have decided to arm themselves. They’re always surprised to find how hard it is to find serious defensive weapons and ammunition, and several have asked about .22 rimfire.
I don’t share the general contempt for the .22 LR as a defensive round. As I’ve said to several people, “would you want to be shot with a .22 LR?”. Granted, the stopping power of a .22 LR is minimal, but its lethality is high. Just ask an central-city ER doc which he’d rather be shot in the abdomen with, a .22 LR or, say, a .45 ACP. Most will pick the major caliber, because the .22 bounces around inside the gut, shredding things instead of just punching a big hole.
I also note that a .22 LR bullet is about twice the mass of a #4 buckshot pellet and moving about the same speed. None of the firearms experts I know would want to be hit with even one #4 buck pellet, let alone two. And I further note that when they were designing the claymore mine, one of the specifications was that one pellet should kill or disable reliably at 100 yards. That claymore pellet has about the same mass as a .22 LR bullet. Granted, it starts out at much higher velocity, but because of its horrible ballistic coefficient it’s not moving all that much faster than a .22 LR bullet at 100 yards out.
So I tell these folks to buy a .22 LR rifle, ideally with a tube magazine that can be speed loaded, and a brick or two of .22 LR. No, it’s not the ideal defensive weapon, but it’s about 99% better than nothing.
from Robert Higgs:
Civics question.
The government is:
(a) a divinely ordained set of angels appointed by God to carry out His will on earth;
(b) a democratically chosen representative organization completely dedicated to protecting the people’s rights to life, liberty, and property;
(c) a criminal gang out to smash the people’s liberties and snatch their money and other property;
(d) not real, but only something dreamed up by a wacko conspiracy theorist.
IRS Manual Detailed DEA’s Use Of Hidden Intel Evidence
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/07/irs-manual-dea-intel_n_3721938.html
Agreed on the use of .22LR and of course don’t rule out .22 WMR ammo.
I agree with the bloody infuriating part. I suspect you most likely wouldn’t run into the problem if you were touring the US by car, as I would expect you’d be using a debit or credit card for most of your purchases, and not large sums of cash. Actually, you’d probably be affected, because you’d get pulled over a lot. They’d let you go once they realized you didn’t have anything to impound.
I wonder when they will start impounding people’s credit cards?
This War on Some Drugs must stop now!
So I tell these folks to buy a .22 LR rifle, ideally with a tube magazine that can be speed loaded, and a brick or two of .22 LR. No, it’s not the ideal defensive weapon, but it’s about 99% better than nothing.
Down here in the Great State of Texas, 22 LR is the hardest ammo to find, followed by 9 mm. I actually saw some 380 the other day and almost bought it even though I do not own a 380 nor have I lost one in the Brazos river.
I have a Ruger Single Six (7.5in barrel) and a Ruger LCR (2in barrel) that both shoot .22WMR. I definitely would not want to be on the pointy end of either. I have some 50grain .22wmr that I’m sure would stop more than a squirrel or groundhog.
Is 22 WMR better than .38 +P ? I have been thinking about adding a LCR 38 +P or a S&W bodyguard 38 + P to my collection.
That 44 special snubbie bulldog of mine really knocks your hand around and I am a 250 lb 6’1″ guy.
“I Like Guns” – “I like the 22 Mag”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TC2xTCb_GU
Cool. OFD, this guy is a pretty typical Southern Boy, although I think he probably has fewer guns than average ;). I can’t imagine the feds really believing they can take on a few score million pissed-off Southern Boys and win.
I’m envious of this guy, though. I’ve shot most of what was in the video, but never that I recall a PPSh. Nor an RPG, unless you count the one I built as a teenager. And actually I didn’t shoot that one. My brother wanted to, so I let him. Mainly because I was almost-but-not-quite sure that the nitrocellulose noodles propellant charge would burn out before the rocket cleared the end of the barrel. Which it did.
Oh, yeah. The .38+P is a far, far better stopper than any .22 rimfire. Far, far worse than a .45 ACP or .44 Special, but still a no-brainer versus the .22 WMR.
I like using .38+P in a .357 snubby. I can also, should I wish to enjoy muzzle blast flamethrower effects, load it with .357 125-gr. JHP. For those I like the four-inch-barrel or longer revolver.
Given a choice for personal self-defense between .38+P and .22WMR, I’d go for the .38 but as mentioned before, the .22WMR is not to be sneezed at, nor its cousin, the .22LR, with the right ammo. Kind of depends on the ammo with both calibers. People have been KIA instantly by .22 rounds and others have been shot point-blank in the the head or center-mass with .44 Mag and kept coming.
Heh. Before there was +P or ++P commercial ammunition, I loaded my own .44 Magnum ++P. I figured the Ruger Super Blackhawk was strong enough to take it, although I never had the nerve to risk the S&W Model 29. Actually, I never had the nerve to shoot all 50 rounds I’d loaded, because the first ones I fired ended up with perforated primers. Actually, worse than perforated. (I wasn’t fool enough to hold the pistol while I shot it; I mounted it in a clamp rest and pulled the trigger with a string.)
I wish someone had been making .22 sabot bullets with a .44 Mag sabot. I’d shot some of the Accelerator rounds with a .22 bullet in a .308 or 30-06 case, and those clocked better than 4,000 fps on my friend’s chronograph. I’m betting a .22 bullet in a .44 Mag case would have done close to that.
This,
Cops To Return $1M To Stripper!
Note the very good advice for how to respond during traffic stops. A Dash Cam is a good investment too.
.mg
“I Like Guns” – “I like the 22 Mag”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TC2xTCb_GU
I believe that Steve Lee is in Australia. Quite a few of those weapons are highly banned here in the USA for personal usage. Belt fed BAR, RPG, etc.
“I’d shot some of the Accelerator rounds with a .22 bullet in a .308 or 30-06 case…”
Wow, that takes me back a ways, back into the 1980s, when I did the same thing with a bolt-action 30-06; greased lightning. Never fooled with it again, no particular reason not to, and have no idea what the current tech is with this stuff.
Agreed with Mike G. on the traffic stops advice; also the camera. In fact, packing a smartphone w/camera and ability to stream live to a computer elsewhere is a very good idea, for all kinds of reasons.
Check this dude’s site out: (retired Chicago PD)
http://www.crimefilenews.com/2012/07/iphone-and-ipad-video-journalism-is-for.html
You can’t be serious. Australia has extremely strict gun control laws. I haven’t checked lately, but I believe it’s nearly impossible in Australia for a civilian to own an automatic weapon, let alone an RPG or other destructive device. Conversely, it’s pretty easy here, or at least it was when I was involved with the shooting community back in the late 70’s. You visit a dealer with the appropriate license Type, buy and pay for what you want. The dealer submits the paperwork to the ATF, who runs a background check. If they don’t find anything, they approve the transfer, assuming that your local head of law enforcement signs off on it.
You can’t be serious. Australia has extremely strict gun control laws. I haven’t checked lately, but I believe it’s nearly impossible in Australia for a civilian to own an automatic weapon, let alone an RPG or other destructive device.
That car that he blows up in the music video is right hand drive:
http://ilikeguns.com.au/
But the music video was shot in Cambodia?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtVaX_RNvos
Yeah, Cambodia I’d buy. Not Australia.
Hey, YOU buy Cambodia; I was there and it ain’t worth a plugged nickel.
Was your time there seared — seared! — into your memory?
What memory?
Claffisied.
A shotgun that was mentioned here a few weeks ago (Remington 870) is practically impossible to own legally here. It’s for sale at this Adelaide gun shop but there are plenty of restrictions, at least in South Australia.
http://www.adelaidegunshop.com.au/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=703&category_id=72&vmcchk=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=2
‘I don’t share the general contempt for the .22 LR as a defensive round. As I’ve said to several people, “would you want to be shot with a .22 LR?”.’
I wouldn’t want to be hit by an air rifle slug. I have a low pain tolerance and would be begging for mercy.
When I was about 12 I deliberately dropped a dart in to a friend’s thigh from about 1 metre. He wasn’t impressed. Nor would I have been.
A shotgun that was mentioned here a few weeks ago (Remington 870) is practically impossible to own legally here. It’s for sale at this Adelaide gun shop but there are plenty of restrictions, at least in South Australia.
So how does one defend oneself from all the roo’s ?
Roos are notoriously stupid, and generally will leave you alone so long as you don’t bother them. Walking your dog near roos can be very dangerous. If the dog harasses a roo it (the dog) can often run away fast enough, leaving the human as a target of opportunity. And roos smack *hard*.
Near Canberra recently professional shooters culled a thousand or more roos. Not sure what sort of guns they had but of course the bleeding heart greenies tried to stop them, threatening to get between the shooters and the roos. Two for the price of one I thought, but the greenies had a slight attack of common sense and didn’t try to save the roos. (Of which we have far far too many.) Roos aren’t as dangerous or hard to kill as bears.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-31/kangaroo-cull-will-fall-short-of-target/4855580
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-31/kangaroo-cull-will-fall-short-of-target/4855808
The firearms restrictions in the lands of our former lords and masters are outrageous. And there is no doubt in my ex-military mind that our own regime would like to do likewise here ASAP and at least one of the prime Bolshevik operators, one Samantha Powers, is angling to get that done through the UN. Good luck with that operation, hon. Meanwhile perhaps you can tear yourself away from your wacko commie husband for a minute and consult some fairly recent American history; not even the Imperial Japanese armed forces thought it would be a good idea to invade the U.S. mainland.
We’ll ship you Wile E. Coyote to take care of the Tasmanian Devils.
Near Canberra recently professional shooters culled a thousand or more roos. Not sure what sort of guns they had but of course the bleeding heart greenies tried to stop them, threatening to get between the shooters and the roos. Two for the price of one I thought, but the greenies had a slight attack of common sense and didn’t try to save the roos. (Of which we have far far too many.) Roos aren’t as dangerous or hard to kill as bears.
I’ve got some feral hogs to ship you (if I could catch them) if you want them. They are very smart and tear up my land looking for tasty grubs under the turf about 2 am to 6 am. They weigh up to 300 lbs and are incredibly dangerous with their 3 inch tusks since they travel in packs of 20 to 50.
We are open season on them here in the Great State of Texas, even using machine guns from helicopters. Each momma can have 6 sets of up to 12 piglets a year. The population here is two million and growing rapidly.
Give them hawgs green cahds! They’ll soon outnumber los muchachos y muchachas!
“We’ll ship you Wile E. Coyote, Mooch and Janet Napolitano to be taken care of by the Tasmanian Devils.”
There, fixed that for you.
I think we already have a feral pig, and feral camel populations, not to mention the feral cane toads we import 100 years ago as a biological control agent that have turned in to a vastly worse problem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia
Boy, those toads are even uglier than Janet Napolitano.
Gee, I dunno; looks like our gal Janet gives them cane toads a run for their money.
Boy, those toads are even uglier than Janet Napolitano.
You ain’t seen Janet without her makeup.
Okay Ray, I bow to your greater knowledge and experience with Ms Nap…
feral camel
What in the world? Are they aggressive like our free roaming horses (mustangs)?
Okay Ray, I bow to your greater knowledge and experience with Ms Nap…
Never said I saw her naked. At least I don’t think so. There was that one time I saw what looked like someone in a hairy ape suit……..may not have been a suit.
Mustangs here are called Brumbies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brumby)
Feral camels were imported here in the C19, when they were no longer needed they were often released. A major problem in the Northern Territory:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_feral_camel
Feral camels? Not a problem:
“A camel carcass can provide a substantial amount of meat. The male dromedary carcass can weigh 300–400 kg (700–900 lb), while the carcass of a male Bactrian can weigh up to 650 kg (1,400 lb). The carcass of a female dromedary weighs less than the male, ranging between 250 and 350 kg (550 and 770 lb).[14] The brisket, ribs and loin are among the preferred parts, and the hump is considered a delicacy.[95] The hump contains “white and sickly fat”, which can be used to make the khli (preserved meat) of mutton, beef, or camel.[96] Camel meat is reported to taste like coarse beef, but older camels can prove to be very tough,[10][14] although camel meat becomes more tender the more it is cooked.[97] The Abu Dhabi Officers’ Club serves a camel burger mixed with beef or lamb fat in order to improve the texture and taste.[98] In Karachi, Pakistan, some restaurants prepare nihari from camel meat.[99]
Camel meat has been eaten for centuries. It has been recorded by ancient Greek writers as an available dish in ancient Persia at banquets, usually roasted whole.[100] The ancient Roman emperor Heliogabalus enjoyed camel’s heel.[32] Camel meat is still eaten in certain regions, including Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Kazakhstan, and other arid regions where alternative forms of protein may be limited or where camel meat has had a long cultural history.[14][32][95] Camel blood is also consumable, as is the case among pastoralists in northern Kenya, where camel blood is drunk with milk and acts as a key source of iron, vitamin D, salts and minerals.[14][95][101] Camel meat is also occasionally found in Australian cuisine: for example, a camel lasagna is available in Alice Springs.[100][1″