08:00 – Another hot one today, with the high forecast to be body temperature. Colin and I won’t be spending much time outdoors today.
I’m still making up chemical solutions for kits, four or eight liters at a time. This coming weekend and the following one, we’ll be filling bottles, thousands and thousands of them. I run the dispenser pump to fill the bottles, Barbara caps. By 1 August, we need to have chemical bags and the other subassemblies built for hundreds and hundreds of kits to accommodate the rush from early August through mid-September. Actually boxing up the kits doesn’t take much time. We can do final assembly of 100+ kits a day easily, assuming we have the subassemblies ready to go.
The Greek farce continues, with the Troika (the IMF, the EU, and the European Central Bank) debating whether or not to lend Greece (I almost typed “Greed”) more money that they will then turn around and use to pay loans coming due to … The Troika. That way, everyone can continue to pretend that Greece isn’t a deadbeat that has already defaulted continuously for a decade and has been bankrupt as long as anyone now alive can remember. Greece is a failed country. Greece has always been a failed country. The Kabuki Theater that’s been going on for a decade now is simply the attempt of the politicians to give themselves a fig leaf so that their voters won’t realize that this has all been taxpayer money down the drain and what’s happening now is simply throwing away good money after bad.
14:38 – I’m taking a lesson from Barbara here. When she wants to be sure she’ll be able to recover information later, she posts it on her page.
How To Install kompozer
Kompozer was dropped from the repos, since it is no longer maintained in Debian. But, you can still install it on newer releases.
Use packages from 12.04 Precise
These packages are installable on at least the 12.10, 13.04, 14.04 and 15.04 releases.
First, install dependencies:
sudo apt-get install libatk1.0-0 libc6 libcairo2 libfontconfig1 libfreetype6 libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0 libglib2.0-0 libgtk2.0-0 libidl0 libnspr4 libnss3 libpango1.0-0 libpng12-0 libstdc++6 libx11-6 libxft2 libxinerama1 libxrender1 libxt6 zlib1g
Then, get the two packages, and install them in the correct order.
For 32bit systems:
wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/kompozer-data_0.8%7Eb3.dfsg.1-0.1ubuntu2_all.deb
wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/kompozer_0.8%7Eb3.dfsg.1-0.1ubuntu2_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i kompozer-data_0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1ubuntu2_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i kompozer_0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1ubuntu2_i386.deb
for 64bit systems:
wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/kompozer-data_0.8%7Eb3.dfsg.1-0.1ubuntu2_all.deb
wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/kompozer_0.8%7Eb3.dfsg.1-0.1ubuntu2_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i kompozer-data_0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1ubuntu2_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i kompozer_0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1ubuntu2_amd64.deb
You can now find kompozer in the menu.
Totally random question…
Anyone know how much methanol you mix with water when making your own windshield washer fluid to prevent it from freezing?
For water, KF = 1.853 K·kg/mol, so an ideal solution of one mole of methanol (32.04 g) in one kilogram (~ 1 liter) of water would freeze at -1.853 degrees C. Methanol does not dissociate in aqueous solution, so the van’t Hoff number is 1. The density of methanol is about 0.792 g·cm−3, so 32.04 g = 40.5 mL.
To simplify, start with 1 L of water and add as much methanol as you need to get the freezing point you want. For example, adding 405 mL of methanol to 1 L of water would give you a freezing point of about -18.5 C. Adding 810 mL of methanol to 1 L of water would give a freezing point of about -37 C, and so on.
Toxic Twinkies indeed…
http://pjmedia.com/blog/vermont-stop-selling-twinkies/
Laws like this are why every commercial building in California has warning signs about ‘possible’ dangerous substances. That’s exactly what the grocers should do there and see who stops eating.
Engineer’s translation of what the scientist said:
Mix one part methanol and one part water by volume. This will be good enough to prevent it from freezing at -40 F/-40 C.
Pretty much, but keep in mind that those calculations are based on an ideal solution (i.e., one that’s extremely dilute, where solute particles don’t interact measurably at all). The ~ 24.7 molal solution you propose is far from an ideal solution, with a great deal of interaction among solute particles, so the actual freezing point may differ by several degrees from theoretical.
States requiring non-standard labeling is pretty stupid. That is surely an interference with interstate commerce?
In any case, the solution is really quite simple: manufacturers should withdraw all food products from Vermont. The problem will be solved in just a couple of days.
But think of the children…
Yes six fingers, seven toes, four eyes and retarded too. Wait, maybe that explains many of today’s college students. Too many gmo twinkies.
“Another hot one today, with the high forecast to be body temperature. Colin and I won’t be spending much time outdoors today.”
Dogs have very little area that sweats, but people do. Here in the desert, the summer dry bulb temperature is often above body temperature, but the wet bulb temperature is almost always below 70. Anything with a moisture layer is cooled by evaporation. Sweat works!
Oh, and no (or rarely) dripping.
That’s the gist I got after looking around. Most “northern” mixtures are around 50/50 water and methanol with a touch of dye and some have mild detergents.
It’s much more cost-effective to just buy a bottle of the stuff for $2 at the gas station or your favorite discount store, but I have a buddy in love with Einszett Kristall Klar Washer Fluid Concentrate. He mixes it with distilled water and that’s great for the warmer months, but come Winter it freezes.
Anyone know of a cheap place he can buy methanol? 🙂
Yeah, just tell him to mix the methanol 50:50 with distilled water and add a few drops of food coloring and a few drops of dishwashing detergent.
Some hardware stores carry methanol as “wood alcohol”. I’d expect to pay < $10/gallon.
Some of you may find this amusing:
See which 2016 Presidential Candidate you most agree with…
http://www.isidewith.com/political-quiz
Hmm. I took the quiz and when I clicked on the Show Results icon I got a blank page. Even the show source page was completely blank. I can’t say I’m surprised, since there’s no one running that I’d even consider voting for.
See which 2016 Presidential Candidate you most agree with…
http://www.isidewith.com/political-quiz
It crashed on me when I told it I preferred Rick Perry. Rick has been the only adult in Austin, Texas for many years. He would be a good President.
What’s up with libturds and now Redumblicans wanting to ban the Confederate Flag? I guess they want to rewrite history to make all things Confederate = slavery. Ebay bans Confederate Flag sales?! How dumb can they be. Next libturd crowds will be overturning some southern boys truck because of stars and bars. Hey, Mr. Ray, do you fly the Confederate Flag?
On a scale of 0 to 100, I’d give Perry a 1. I cannot support anyone who wishes to force his religious beliefs on other people.
I took that quiz, too, hahahahaha….
Nearly a dead heat for me with Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum.
I’d stand them against the wall with all the others, of course, and…
…WON’T BE VOTING AT ALL!
“America is not a free country. Its government labors under the illusion that the more laws that exist, the more secure and hence the more free a people. At least that’s the party line from the regime apparatchiks. What intellectual rubbish. This is nothing but a shabby justification for a state that grasps power at every turn and applies a tired Marxoid notion of Sovietizing every human transaction to make it transparent to the government (the reverse transparency is nowhere to be found) and use its ample resources of initiated violence to cajole, fine, kidnap, cage, maim or kill the alleged malefactors depending on their level of resistance to perceived state authority.”
http://zerogov.com/?p=4232
And walmart is removing all confederate flag merch, but will continue to sell items featuring the piece of filth Che.
@RBT, what specifically is it about Perry’s
beliefsactions while governor? I don’t recognize the reference.nick
WRT the likelihood of the mass killers being on prescribed drugs, Larry Correia has reposted his SandyHook essay, and he makes the claim at 80% of the shooters. He spent a lot of time reviewing these, so probably has sources better than Scientology.
http://monsterhunternation.com/
And if anyone hasn’t read Larry’s fiction, I recommend it. Both of his series (Monster Hunter International, or The Grimnoir series) are well written, well researched, fast paced, imaginative, funny, and the good guys win. He also started the Sad Puppies movement wrt the Hugo Awards in SciFi and so is in from the beginning in a brouhaha that is sweeping the interwebs, particularly SciFi and writer blogs. It’s an interesting push back against the Social Justice Warrior/PC/lefty prog movement in SciFi, but resonates with others in the world and has ramifications outside of SciFi.
nick
On a scale of 0 to 100, I’d give Perry a 1. I cannot support anyone who wishes to force his religious beliefs on other people.
The only thing that I can come up with is abortion that you might object to. Other than that, Perry was a vicious back biter who did everything that he could do to keep the Texas burden on the taxpayers low.
I’m all for low tax burden, and I agree with Jerry Pournelle that abortion should be a state issue, decided locally by the duly elected representatives of the citizens. Roe v. Wade is one of those decisions that expanded the power of the Supreme Court and that in and of itself is bad.
I don’t see a solution to the question of legalized abortion until someone decides when personhood begins. (Legally) Before that point, legal, after that, manslaughter or murder as the circumstances may dictate. Choice of punishments and whether to punish at all up for discussion. I do think that (to the extent they have independent thoughts on the subject at all) the cultural elites see the same benefit to legal abortion as it exists as Margret Sanger did, and I do not expect it to change anytime soon.
nick
Bummer the quiz isn’t working. It worked well for me a couple of days ago. Though, I did skip the last question about who I like most as it has no bearing on the results. Try skipping that final question and see how it works.
It matched me like 85% with Marco Rubio. The name is familiar, but I don’t know much about the guy. I’m not sure how accurate that is as I submitted my own answers for several questions. I have a funny feeling it only matched me on the questions I answered Yes/No to and ignored “Other stances.”
I hate quizzes that ask me whether or not I am in favor of changing some aspect of a government program or institution but don’t first ask me if I support the existence of that program or institution.
For example: Do you support Same Sex Marriage? What does that matter. In my mind the question is moot because I don’t support marriage as a legal status at all. You want to get married in your church/temple/mosque/shrine/coven or profess your vow of eternal fidelity in front of family and friends then go ahead. Why does the state need to issue a license, assign a tax status, and so forth? Government should have never gotten remotely involved in marriage in the first place.
Anyone interested in buying a stripped upper, Bravo Company has a sale on blemished uppers
List Price: $129.00
Our Price: $79.95
You save $49.05!
http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/Upper-Receiver-Assembly-M4-Flat-Top-demo-p/flat%20top%20-upper%20-m4%20demo.htm
These will go fast.
I might have purchased some lowers when they had their lower blem sale. They are in really great (not perfect) condition [if I bought them, that is.]
nick
@chad,
“Why does the state need to issue a license, assign a tax status, and so forth?”
They got involved specifically to control the spread of venereal diseases, prevent incest (cousin love), and prevent miscegenation.
The rest was to support various social engineering projects.
nick
Always amusing to hear someone crow that “I passed the test.” Congrats genius, you are STD free…
Also amusing, in a dark and not really amusing way, they no longer require the test, but assume you have STDs and treat the baby for that, whether you do or not. This includes trying to give your ONE DAY OLD INFANT a hepatitis vaccination. I’m not anti-vax but not just no, HELL NO. And they don’t really take no for an answer but keep coming in and trying again and again, hoping to catch you unaware or sleep deprived. It almost got to the point of threats of violence. Fortunately we didn’t have any complications and could GTFO and home.
Apropos of nothing,
Kudos to this kook stick-
Huffpo Writer: I Will Not Have Children So I Will Not Spread My ‘White Privilege’ Biologically
But I have to ask, why stop there? Why not just remove your hateful self entirely?
F’n slacker.
nick
humm, I just can’t figure out the href tag.
nick
Aha! got it.
Perry is rabidly anti-gay and rabidly anti-choice. A religious nutter, in other words. He’s about as totalitarian as any other candidate.
I wouldn’t care if those were simply his personal beliefs, but he wants to use state power to force his beliefs on people who disagree.
As to when life begins, I’d prefer a legal definition of, say, two years after birth. Fetuses and infants are parasites, not independent life forms.
“…but will continue to sell items featuring the piece of filth Che.”
Still popular with the Murkan commies and the college crowds, evidently; a murderous thug; his and the Cuban regime’s depredations on its own citizens are nicely documented in “Against All Hope,” by Armando Valladares.
“…he makes the claim at 80% of the shooters.”
Easily. And someone should do the stats on the percentage who’ve had psychiatric/therapeutic intervention/treatment of one sort or another, before, during and after the events, and the levels of direct government involvement in that and the investigations. Some of us would also like this done with the late Lee Harvey Oswald, Sirhan Sirhan, and James Earl Ray.
“…the cultural elites see the same benefit to legal abortion as it exists as Margret Sanger did, and I do not expect it to change anytime soon.”
Exactly. And it is the view of those elites which has dominated Murkan culture since the phony Roe v. Wade case itself. Y’all do know it was phony from the git-go, doncha? So now everyone pretty much accepts it for whatever purpose at any time and it’s all wunnerful. Y’all also probably know my view on it, so I won’t belabor it here; suffice to say, same as the Church’s.
“Try skipping that final question and see how it works.”
I didn’t skip it but I damn sure wouldn’t pick any of those assholes, so I did the choice of writing in my own “other stance”, Patrick Buchanan, and whoopee for me, success!
“…but don’t first ask me if I support the existence of that program or institution.”
To be fair, many of the questions provided an “other stances” option where that was a choice. I also chose to answer the additional optional questions throughout.
“…I might have purchased some lowers when they had their lower blem sale.”
Eventually I hope to make my own. Probably with lots of blems at first and having to be discarded/destroyed….
“And they don’t really take no for an answer but keep coming in and trying again and again, hoping to catch you unaware or sleep deprived.”
They sound a lot like libturd anti-gunner activists.
“But I have to ask, why stop there? Why not just remove your hateful self entirely?”
That never seems to come up.
Slacker degenerate scum.
“Fetuses and infants are parasites, not independent life forms.”
So are a shit-ton of Murkan adults nowadays.
“Perry is rabidly anti-gay and rabidly anti-choice. A religious nutter, in other words. He’s about as totalitarian as any other candidate.
I wouldn’t care if those were simply his personal beliefs, but he wants to use state power to force his beliefs on people who disagree.”
They ALL want to use state power to force their beliefs on people.
I’ve been living here the last 13 years and didn’t notice. Vaguely aware of something about a required sonogram.
It’s not what they WANT to do, it’s what they ACTUALLY do. And apparently he reflects the views of his constituents.
It was the openly lesbian, Democratic mayor of Houston that demanded copies of all the churches’ Sunday sermons so she could [presumably] review them for wrongspeech about gays, which is pretty rabidly pro-gay, so balance I guess. And if the legislature manages to pass some laws that are anti-murdering-helpless-babies-in-the-womb (or partially out of it), then the courts can get involved. Checks and balances, everything working as designed.
My own views are a little more nuanced than this, but you have to admit that what Kermit Gosnell did, and allowed, was flat out murder.
So much for “safe, legal, and infrequent.”
nick
Bingo. I think that if you are not self-supporting, without taking into account any money or benefits directly or indirectly from the government, then you are a parasite and may be eradicated like any other parasite.
If there isn’t a bag limit on bureaucrats, how will we deal with all the bodies?
nick
Biodiesel processing plants, nick. I wouldn’t want to eat pork from pigs which had eaten bureaucrats, nor eat plants grown from composted bureaucrats, but I would have no problem burning bureaudiesel in a truck or using it to heat a home.
“http://www.isidewith.com/political-quiz”
Marco Rubio 86%
Rick Santorum 84%
Rand Paul 81%
“Fetuses and infants are parasites, not independent life forms.”
So are toddlers, young kids, teenagers and college students.
Actually, it’s the parents who are the parasites. They bring kids in to the world without asking their permission for the sole purpose of passing on their genes. They are using their children, not the other way around.
“…there’s no one running that I’d even consider voting for.”
Not even Rand Paul?
I wrote in Pat Buchanan; like I’ve done in previous actual national elections, although he still believes in the party system, elections, voting, the political process, etc. I will have a good long talk with him soon about that stuff. His days and mine are coming to the twilight time; no one but immediate family will give a shit when I’m gone, and that not for long, let’s face it, but his death will be a great loss to the country, as was Bob Novak’s and Rowland Evans’s. Very few rational and genuinely conservative voices left now, with the exception of Tom Fleming (who’s retiring this month after several decades as the editor of Chronicles), and Chilton Williamson, Scott Richert and the others at Chronicles. Also the great Taki.
Run David, Run!
Pat is just like all the rest. So is Ron Paul, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee. (I know this because you’ve told us so often.)
You could vote for this BC, or Donald himself… 🙂
https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/readers-wildlife-photos-196/
“Pat is just like all the rest. So is Ron Paul, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee. (I know this because you’ve told us so often.)”
Thanks for the suggestion; I’ll start writing in Jeff Davis from now on.
Trump is just part of the typical Murkan circus here; strictly for boffo laffs. I think he should just buy a state and run it; maybe Rhode Island.
Yeah, you’re right about politics, for once. Trump is a twit. Give him St Albans, VT to run… 🙂
The peeps here in Snoll-binz (how it’s pronounced hereabouts) would rip him a new one in record time. Unless, of course, he started really throwing money around. Then they’d probably let him run wild. Not much to do around here, though, unless you dig fishing, hunting the game we got in this area, and traveling 25 miles to see minor-league baseball. He don’t seem the type.
@SteveF,
you mean the plants that turn turkey guts to fuel? I’d pay to see that. Maybe a GoFundMe?
Or we could take a page from 70’s dystopian films, and feed soylent green to the other non-productives. IIRC that movie was set in the 90’s. Amazing that they could make a film that was only 20 years into the future and only see the misery they had continuing.
I wonder if we are making the same mistake? But what would be the equivalent of Silicon Valley and the micro chip revolution?
nick
BTW, firefox won’t offer a correct spelling for dystopian, or distopian, or dystopia. It offered utopia. Maybe there is no such thing…
Hmm. It worked this time. The highest for me was Rand Paul, at 81%. I think Clinton was in fourth place, at something like 21%.
Huh,
Santorum, Rubio, and Cruz in the high nineties, followed by Huckabee, paul and walker in the mid 80s.
No surprise that I have NONE in common with Bill Clinton’s wife, or Bernie Sanders.
@whoever objected to the stances listed as too limiting, I believe those were chosen as the candidates actual stances, so if it wasn’t listed there, no one running had that stance.
nick
Preppers:
What are the best bang-for-the-buck walkie talkies for those of us on a very tight budget?
Anti-gay: Perry supported the constitutional amendment in Texas that banned gay marriage, and if read as written, bans marriage. It was a stupid, stupid law done to spite gays.
Anti-choice: signed the abortion clinic law that makes most of them illegal – requiring more equipment than other places doing similar procedures. Examples: does your dentist have a full crash kit in the office when doing anesthesia on you? Does he or she have admitting rights at a nearby hospital in case you crash? Maybe to the first, no to the second, as dentists can’t admit to hospitals as a rule.
“What are the best bang-for-the-buck walkie talkies for those of us on a very tight budget?”
$30 for the low-tier Baofengs on Amazon; others here more advanced than me on those thus far. I have a Midland base station I haven’t tried out.
So actually I’m pretty useless here as an answer to your question but those came with good recommendations and I hope to get it all up and running shortly. Prices were good.
@ech, thanks, those were the 2 my wife could come up with, and she thought maybe the guardasil misstep.
I personally am not too worked up about either issue and I don’t see either example as thwarting the will of the citizens whose elected representatives made the laws that were brought to him to sign.
We all have a problem when obammy refuses to sign laws that were duly passed and brought to him based on his personal beliefs (or we do in the abstract) how hypocritical is it to expect different from a governor? This is the system we have. We elect them. The legislative branch makes the laws, the executive enforces them, and the judicial decides if anyone overstepped (ok, all in theory.) Perry didn’t issue executive orders, he signed bills duly passed. Now the courts get their go.
My thoughts on abortion are above, my thoughts on gay marriage-the state has no business in marriage at all so if the issue forces them out of it (like AL?) all the better. File a standard contract. List the terms. List how to dissolve the contract. That should cover the civil legal and money issues. Cut out any perceived perks that arise from social engineering goals (and just how is the tax thing a benefit? don’t the rest of you pay the ‘marriage penalty’ too?)
Religious marriage is solely between the persons seeking the recognition, and the community of faith. Don’t meet the rules for a particular religious community’s ritual, then you don’t get to be married by them. Catholics don’t do Jewish marriages, and neither do Muslims. Shop for a storefront church that believes as you do and will do their ritual for you and your partner. You are more likely to be happy there than by trying to force a change for acceptance anyway. And if you are the type of person who doesn’t WANT to be happy, I’ve got no time for you, and neither do most people. Move to NYC. (not you ech!)
We curse obama for being a soulless relativist progressive, but then curse a governor who isn’t? I know it is easy to just curse them all, but we do still have to live here. Better to at least play along and TRY to sneak one thru now and then. I’d rather have someone with a strong moral grounding and firm beliefs than a moral relativist, who changes his beliefs like his clothes. At least then I can understand the motivations and predict whether his decisions will be like mine or not.
I guess everyone has their ‘deal breaker’ and religious belief may be one, but it is just another kind of bigotry to think that someone might not be capable of putting aside their personal beliefs and doing their job well. And from a practical standpoint, you are not going to get a non-religious candidate elected.
nick
And… I really don’t want to spend the next two years hearing the words ‘litmus test’ over and over from talking heads who wouldn’t know a litmus test if it turned their fingers colors.
@Robert A—
IF YOU ARE WILLING TO BECOME A LICENSED HAM, then the Boafang/Pengwu/whatevers are a good entry point. If you are not going to get a Technician license, look at a FRS/GMRS walkies, possibly with the Midland base station. Look for ones with higher power on GMRS and spend the $75 on the GMRS license. They will be more expensive than the Baofang ham radios but you just buy the license, no studying. (Any of the major brands are similar, Motorola, Midland, Cobra, etc. Some have weather alert, better batteries, drop in chargers, or more accessories.) FRS radios can be had very cheaply at yardsales if you spend some time looking. I usually pay $1-2 each, sometimes more if they have chargers. I’ve got a bunch.
Do not use ham radio frequencies without a license. Hams are in general a friendly and helpful group, but some are a little testy about all the preppers invading their club, and absolutely will not tolerate non-hams on frequency. I heard some last night when a guy came on to check his radio before getting his license. They were very firm and polite, but if you persist, they will track you down and report you to the FCC, who will then probably do nothing, but you can’t count on it. The FCC can and does levy fines, and they have a special “respect my authority!!” fine just for anyone who ignores them.
Don’t count on just winging it after SHTF, or WROL. You need to get licensed so you can practice beforehand.
nick
And it turns out ham radio is a fun hobby. There is truly something in it for everyone.
“You are more likely to be happy there than by trying to force a change for acceptance anyway.”
Except that by and large they’re not. They’d rather FORCE all of us to not only legitimize what many, if not most of us, see as perversion, but CELEBRATE it. And evidently, teach of its joys in the elementary schools in some places.
“Better to at least play along and TRY to sneak one thru now and then.”
That, in a nutshell, is the story of the Repub half of the War Party; play along, reach across the aisle, be bi-partisan, go along to get along, etc. And now we all know it for the charade it’s been. There is absolutely zero doubt in my ex-military mind that should, by some strange miracle, any of the Repub clowns make it to the White House, they will immediately set about doubling down on Oburcula’s depredations and make him look like a day at the beach. If Field Marshal Rodham gets in, which is likely, she’ll quintuple down on him; so the argument goes, well, then, Dave, you should vote for the Repub ’cause she’ll be so much worse.
Sorry, that shit don’t cut it with me anymore. They all suck; they’re all war criminals or soon will be; parasites, liars, and puppets for the actual rulers. Why waste our time taking any of them seriously?
@ofd,
I hear you and found it very strange to be writing those words. I guess deep down I still have hope, even though I see the traitors selling us out every day. Otherwise, why wait to start the shooting? What provocation would it take?
I think the whole thing will end with a whimper, ex some outside act.
Rome didn’t fall in a day, and neither will we. It’s possible that the decline will be sharp, or it could go in starts and stops, with false recoveries. It could be little plateaus on the way down. With luck, we can surf it down, riding thru the worst turmoil.
Or it could be that we’re making The Omega Man, or Soylent Green (set in 2022,) or Silent Running, or Escape from New York (set in 1997) or even Vanishing Point and just can’t imagine that the 80’s are coming and will be great.
nick
Hey, Mr. Ray, do you fly the Confederate Flag?
Nope. I was raised in Oregon. Tain’t no confederate blood in my veins.
I think we should ban the African flag on black history month because that reminds people of their oppressive life they had in Africa. Oh wait, that makes me a racist.
Not that I can vote anymore, but just for grins I took the quiz. Rand Paul at 89%, followed by Rick Santorum at 88%.
The thing is: which pols can you trust to actually stick by what they promise during the campaign? People always act so surprised, when candidates do a complete about-face after being elected. I mean, look at Obama: wins the Nobel Peace Prize before he even does anything; then he not only kept Guantanamo going, but doubled down in the Middle East.
You know the old joke: “How do you know when a politician is lying? His lips are moving.”
The arguments about the Confederate flag are typical of the times. Two sides, each refusing to understand the other. Those on the Progressive side (and everyone who buys the version of the Civil war as presented in most history books) believe that the war was all about slavery. They therefore see the flag as a symbol of slavery, and rightly detest it.
Those raised in the South, or those who realize that the winners write the history books, realize that any war is a lot more complicated than one single issue. They see the flag as a sign of regional distinction, and also as a mild protest against an overbearing national government. As such, they are justly proud of the Confederate flag.
In the end, however, it no different that the old flag-burning controversy: Whether I want to fly a flag or burn it, the flag is just a piece of cloth. What we are really debating is freedom of expression, and that is clearly protected under the Constitution.
you mean the plants that turn turkey guts to fuel? I’d pay to see that.
Those plants are great! As long as you do not mind $10/gallon diesel and gasoline (the catalysts are freaking expensive). And 1/3 to 1/2 of the batch product is glycerin derivatives which has to be land filled since there is no glycerin demand in the world for 100 million gallons per day.
Just contributing to the thread drift today.
hmm, I wonder what you could do with the glycerin?
There are lots of industries built out of utilizing a cheap byproduct of some other process…..
nick
And the feedstock (bureaucrats) is cheap, although it wouldn’t stay that way forever….
“hmm, I wonder what you could do with the glycerin?”
As a kid I used to make little bombs with it.
Then all we need to do is figure out who to drop a whole lotta bombs on, and we’re rich!
nick
Me, too, although some of mine weren’t so little. Ah, to be young and stupid. Nowadays, I wouldn’t get close to the stuff for love or money. Back then, I thought nothing of it.
Religious marriage is solely between the persons seeking the recognition, and the community of faith. Don’t meet the rules for a particular religious community’s ritual, then you don’t get to be married by them.
My preacher fully expects to be jailed in the next ten years for refusing to perform a homosexual wedding. We are the second largest church in Sugar Land and will be a target when that harassment starts up.
There is an Islamic Mosque next to our church. I want to be there when two guys show up to be married. They are the mild Islamics, but that might push them across the line.
Well, that’s simply ridiculous. No church should be forced to perform a marriage, whether the couple is gay or not. And no muslims should be in your town, or anywhere else in the US.
What RBT said.
But this country is so effed right now, your pastor will be charged and hauled into court for refusing, but when the muslims refuse, nothing will happen. Mark my words. We have an anti-Christian thing going on big-time here and in Europe now, and more particularly anti-Catholic. Those Charlie Hebdo assholes were not our friends and “I am NOT Charlie Hebdo.” The cartoons they did and still do against Christians and Catholic Christians were/are way more horrific than their anti-hadji stuff. Get this one thing clear; they’re against us and the hadjis are against us. And the only chance Europe has of survival is to man their old Christian ramparts again, like Charles Martel, John Sobieski and the guys at Lepanto and Vienna.
Me, too, although some of mine weren’t so little
I and some dumb friends would use little glass vials, potassium permanganate, pour in the glycerin, screw on the top, and throw to see who could get it done without going off in your hand.
Were you guys that dumb.
We moved up to NI3 in HS. At least we learned to make it in Chemistry. What a great teacher we had. Mr. Larson. These days SWAT would take him down and arrest us.
“…little glass vials, potassium permanganate, pour in the glycerin, screw on the top, and throw to see who could get it done without going off in your hand.”
Swimming pool chlorine crystals.
If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s an excellent bit of reminiscence. I wasn’t quite that interested in sports, but otherwise it matches my memories pretty exactly. I certainly remember going to school by myself from age 6 onwards. Heck, it was encouraged – that’s what all the crossing guards were for.
Still the case here, from kindergarten onwards. The street from where we live down into town is literally aswarm at times, since it has one kindergarten and two schools. Not an adult in sight, nor should there be.
His memory dovetails pretty much with my own, growing up in a small town in central Maffachufetts near the Rhode Island line. Those days are gone. Things are so much better now.
Add in playing on the railroad tracks and construction sites, and you have my childhood, in a suburban village of a major mid western city.
Oh, and shooting each other with bb guns, riding our bmx bikes and actual dirt bikes in any vacant lot, and playing ball games in the street. “CAR!”
Blowing stuff up with fireworks, homemade tennis ball cannons, mumblety peg involving our feet, and tree forts.
nick