09:35 – Good news overnight. The UK has voted to leave the EU, and that prog POS Cameron has announced his resignation. Apparently, Boris Johnson is likely to become leader of the Tories and probably the next PM. It would be more fitting if Nigel Farage became PM. He is, after all, the leader of the UK Independence Party.
I have a modest proposal. I think we should rename the North American Free Trade Agreement to the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, eject Mexico (which is in Central America anyway), and invite the UK to join the new NAFTA. Eventually, we could invite Denmark and Holland, most of whose citizens speak English anyway, and of course Australia and New Zealand. But the UK is most important. As Europe continues being muslimized, the day may come when we again need the UK as an unsinkable aircraft carrier.
I didn’t do much prepping this week, other than ordering half a dozen boxes of Krusteaz cinnamon crumb cake and a pail of Augason Farms brown rice from Walmart. I note that the Krusteaz product has gone up from $2.14/box to $2.25. Eleven cents may not seem like much, but it’s more than 5%. At least that’s not as bad as the Augason powdered eggs. The last time I bought them, they were $17/can. They got up over $50 last year, but are now down to $34.50, only twice what I paid.
More science kit stuff today, of course.
Geography is against you, Mexico (or Mejico, begin to learn the correct wording) is North America, there is no difference north and south Rio Bravo, except quantity of potholes.
sorry
“…there is no difference north and south Rio Bravo, except quantity of potholes.”
Mrs. OFD has been to El Paso several times in recent years and looked across to Juarez and seen Dante’s Inferno writ large. Mejico is a failed state, run by criminal gangsters and narcotrafficantes, and its denizens have not only violated our southern border to the tune of hundreds of thousands, but some of them have also conducted military operations on this side. It’s long past time we sealed the border one way or another and brought our troops home from overseas to do the gig.
I agree with RBT’s proposed North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, but once again we can probably cue up Aerosmith’s “Dream On.”
Not sure yet how this might affect our stupid Presidential campaign here but I can imagine certain parties becoming more desperate now and doing desperate things, i.e., to stop Trump. And we know that those certain parties do not shrink from assassinations and murders.
So some of the Brits have declared independence from Europe…cool.
“”It’s Scary, And I’ve Never Seen Anything Like It” – Where Markets Are The Morning After” http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-24/it%E2%80%99s-scary-and-i%E2%80%99ve-never-seen-anything-it-where-markets-are-morning-after
Last night the SW bands were open nicely. One of the fringe shows had a caller from London, and their spin was that the Brits were willing to take a financial hit to get back control of their countries borders and immigration policy. I’ll guess we’ll see.
Prepping this week involved consolidating after a bunch of purchases, and I think more is called for this weekend. Lots of sales to go to, but so much stuff stacked up at the house I better work on that, I think.
I did get a good price on pork chops, so put some in the freezer, and the coffee I like has been on sale, so more of that got vac packed.
Painted the flammables cabinet, but got stalled moving it into place. Sold the other to pay for the first, with enough profit to buy 50 gallons of gas to stock it (when needed.)
Still working my way thru the huge pile of radio stuff I got last week. I’ve already sold some of it, ordered and received some parts for stuff I’ll use, and listed a bunch more. Lots still to list.
Gardens are still growing. It seems to take me about 3 times as long as it’s supposed to to grow anything. Or even one extra season (plants do nothing the season they are planted in, then finally grow in the next season.) Something to keep in mind as part of the learning process.
After the initial panic, it seems there is still inventory at the toy store. Prices have gone up, but I’m getting email flyers for ARs, ammo, and mags so they are available.
This week is going to be rough for anyone with a retirement plan or who is invested directly in the market. Who knows, it might be the shock that breaks the fragile current state of affairs. 2000 here we come!
Off to do stuff……
nick
No, Mexico is and always has been in Central America, geographically, economically, culturally, and linguistically. The US and Canada are English-speaking first-world countries. Mexico is a Spanish-speaking third-world country.
I have nothing against the US importing raw materials from Mexico and other third-world countries. The tariffs on those should be low or non-existent. But setting low or non-existent tariffs on manufactured goods is basically exporting US jobs and standard of living to Mexico in exchange for nothing. We cannot maintain our current welfare systems on that basis.
First-world countries have historically imported cheap bulk commodities and raw materials from third-world countries, and exported expensive manufactured goods to them. When we ceased doing that, we put our workers in competition with foreign workers who earn very low wages. That cannot continue forever, unless we want to lower our own citizens’ standard of living to those in China, Africa, Mexico, and elsewhere.
Understand, as a libertarian, I favor completely free trade, with no restrictions, tariffs, and so on. But we can’t have both that and our current welfare and regulatory systems. If it were up to me, I’d get rid of all of those, but that ain’t gonna fly here.
“That cannot continue forever, unless we want to lower our own citizens’ standard of living to those in China, Africa, Mexico, and elsewhere.”
That can continue forever, because we want to lower our own citizens’ standard of living to those in China, Africa, Mexico, and elsewhere.”
FIFY.
Mrs. OFD has been to El Paso several times in recent years and looked across to Juarez and seen Dante’s Inferno writ large. Mejico is a failed state, run by criminal gangsters and narcotrafficantes
I disagree with this, at least in part. The Mexico just across the border is nothing like the rest of the country. Mexico City is also different, in the same way D.C. is not representative of the US.
My brother-in-law lived in central Mexico for some years. The people are poor by Western standards, but a lot richer than places like Africa or parts of Asia. There is a substantial middle class. The government is corrupt, but pretty much everyone else is hard-working and as honest as people anywhere. We took an extended vacation there, and left with very positive impressions. It’s a nice place, and nothing like what you see on the border.
Mrs. OFD has been to El Paso several times in recent years and looked across to Juarez and seen Dante’s Inferno writ large.
–having lived in states that border MX most of my adult life, I’ll affirm that border cities are in fact hell on earth.
Mejico is a failed state, run by criminal gangsters and narcotrafficantes
–@brad, I don’t see anything in your comment that counters this.
–oh, they still have their own currency, and trade internationally, but provide only the barest levels of services for some their citizens, provide little or no security (and often govt actors are who the people need protection FROM) and fail in almost any measure of what a ‘state’ should provide. There is no rule of law.
–rural areas are always different from urban areas. That said, the mountains and jungles of MX are NOT safe. They are controlled by the drug growers and if you come to their attention or get in their way, you will be killed in the most horrific ways possible.
— I’ve been to several parts of MX and there is not one of them I’d call “a nice place.” Some of them are nice LOOKING, and you can have a nice TIME, but they are primitive and dangerous. If you have the eyes to see, you wonder why the local cops patrol in squads, wear class III armor, and carry actual assault rifles. They don’t do that ’cause it’s NICE.
nick
There are places in my home town of Indianapolis where I wouldn’t go after dark even if I had class III armor and an assault rifle. In my opinion Indianapolis is a lot better than most of the US cities that are larger than it is.
Yes, there is something very wrong in Mexico, because many Mexicans believe it is better to live illegally in the US than to live legally in Mexico.
“There are places in my home town of Indianapolis where I wouldn’t go after dark even if I had class III armor and an assault rifle.”
I would be A-OK walking around in ANY northern New England town or city during hours of darkness, without body armor. Ditto for southern New England towns and cities but I’d be in Condition Yellow/Orange all the time and more heavily armed. Areas of Springfield, Woostah, Boston, Hartford, Providence, and the like. What are the common denominators? Nasty and brutish underclass elements and gangbangers and an apparent hands-off policy on the part of city fathers/mothers and “law enforcement.”
That’s because you have experience as a soldier and police officer, and I don’t.
You have no one to blame but yourself.
(Yah, joking… mostly.)
I said I disagreed in part. No question: the Mexican government is corrupt. Call it a failed state, sure. At least some of the fault lies with the American “War on Drugs”, which keeps plenty of money pumping into the drug traffic.
I was more responding to the comments about Mexico being a third-world country. I’ve been in those as well, in Africa, and there’s really no comparison. The average person in Mexico has a decent education, a roof over their heads, a car, a television, medical care, etc.. None of that applies to the typical third-world country.
Mr. Dave, you could also be-bop around northern New England towns and cities at 3 AM without any hassles, most likely. In fact, the most hassle would probably come from roving midnight shift huckleberries checking you out. But don’t try it in those southern New England places I mentioned. Also, my cop and mil-spec background is thirty to forty years in the past, when we used REVOLVERS and BILLY CLUBS. No computers, no net, no PD FaceCrack pages, a truly horrible nightmare of NO PIXELS! I’m just a feeble and decrepit old fossil now, no threat to anybody….
Over at liberal HQ there are a lot of unhappy campers about Leave.
https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2016/06/24/uk-votes-to-leave-the-eu/#comments
That’s because you have experience as a soldier and police officer, and I don’t.
I put in 20* and would be afraid.
*As an aviator, ORSA pod and quiche eater, so ya, RUN AWAY! Choppers can fly backwards, you know.
“Over at liberal HQ there are a lot of unhappy campers about Leave.”
Gee, that’s terrible, all that butthurt and whining. Maybe the government should make them all vote again, until they get it RIGHT.
Next up: Netherlands, France, maybe Italy; and meanwhile they ought to start thinking seriously about bailing from NATO, esp. the eastern Euros. Ditto the UN and IMF and World Bank. Let’s get that snowball rolling, mes amis!
And let’s get a wave moving over here, too; five or six months to build the big Mo. A very good start would be dumping NAFTA/GATT and reinstating Glass-Steagall.
As Europe continues being muslimized, the day may come when we again need the UK as an unsinkable aircraft carrier.
The UK has a hole in the south side:
http://theweek.com/speedreads/632187/londons-new-muslim-mayor-european-residents-are-welcome-here
“‘Top Gun’ Star Kelly McGillis Is ‘Armed and Ready’ After Terrifying Home Invasion”
http://www.chron.com/entertainment/the-wrap/article/Top-Gun-Star-Kelly-McGillis-Is-Armed-and-8322956.php
@RBT, looks like one of your neighbors is getting serious about guns.
McGillis already owned guns, but wasn’t carrying. She’s not a close neighbor. She’s in the Asheville area, which is a couple hours from here. This isn’t the first time for her. She was assaulted and raped when she was living in NYC, back around the time Barbara and I got married. Incidentally, she’s also gay, which is yet another good reason for her to keep a gun handy.
As to Mexico, it’s certainly 3rd world by my definition. I agree with Nick. Unless one is living in an enclave, the whole place is a dangerous shithole. And the last time I was in Mexico was nearly 40 years ago. It’s gone far downhill since then.
_Ashes Of The Unspeakable: Book Two in The Borrowed World Series (Volume 2)_ by Franklin Horton
https://www.amazon.com/Ashes-Unspeakable-Book-Borrowed-World/dp/1517442958/
Book number two of a three book series. I purchased the POD (print on demand) version in trade paperback. There may be more books in the series past number three, I do not know. I have purchased number three and am reading it now.
Basically, the plot of the story is that ISIS sends 100 small teams of operatives to destroy valuable infrastructure in the USA such as refineries, electric grid auto-transformers, bridges, dams, and internet peering points in one night. Life in America immediately transforms for worse as the electrical grids and communication grids die and the various governmental agencies seize the remaining automobile and truck fuel. Food immediately becomes scarce as the stores are cleaned out and there is no fuel for the trucks to resupply them.
The level of violence in the book is simply amazing as our protagonists are walking, riding, and walking to their respective homes 200+ miles away from Richmond, Virginia where they were attending a conference. The journey home takes weeks. My former USMC son believes that most people have less than three days of food in the house based on his experiences with his fellow Marine’s families. That does not bode well for national shortages of food and fuel to get it around the country.
Even getting home was not kind to our surviving protagonists as their homes are very subject to people looking for food and weapons. That RV park down the road gets pretty rough when people are starving. Or coming down off their Prozac, meth, etc.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (188 reviews)
Incidentally, she’s also gay, which is yet another good reason for her to keep a gun handy.
Yes.
“Incidentally, she’s also gay, which is yet another good reason for her to keep a gun handy.”
And due to the rotten combination of the atrocity in Orlando and the threats against 2A here from the usual suspects, the LBGTXYZ people have been buying up firearms like it was a sale on vibrators and handcuffs. This crap keeps up and eventually we’ll be like Israel or the former South Africa and Rhodesia, ‘that every man (and woman) be armed.’ An armed society is a polite society, boyz and grrls!
I foresee a nice little niche market for OFD up here in northern Nova Anglia. Gotta hook up with my boy out there with his big CNC machine, maybe. Hey, don’t like 5.56/.223? Slap a different upper on that puppy. Like 10mm for hunting but there are no rifles for it? Tool it up with a rifle stock and barrel. Cerakote? Duracoat? Ghost Gunner?
Just mowed the back yard and sides, having done the front the other day. Now to whack some weeds and mulch some stuff and then wotta everything. Beeyooteeful day on the bay today…Mrs. OFD should be touching down in Burlap within the next half-hour or so, flew first-class all the way from OK City to Mordor to here. 36 hours at home and then down to central MA for three or four days. Which is better than eastern MA, having lived and worked there myself during the late cop and early IT years when Woostah was the “Paris of the Eighties.” Naturally two out of my four siblings live in the eastern third of the state, right in the belly of the Beast. Both of them are right-wing wack job Roman Catholic fascist rayciss misogynist nuts like myself but the spouses won’t ever leave. Unless it’s to Floriduh, of course. Which is fast becoming another failed state.
“.My former USMC son believes that most people have less than three days of food in the house based on his experiences with his fellow Marine’s families.”
Your son is likely correct, based on what I’ve seen and heard myself, less so in rural areas, where there are long-standing traditions of self-sufficiency, gardening, canning, etc. The cities, however, would be a horrific nightmare after about a week or two. When St. Louis, MO had that big ice storm some years ago, the store shelves were empty that first week and things started getting ugly. Then of course there was Katrina and the Nawlinz horror; the gummint was such a big help, too.
“That RV park down the road gets pretty rough when people are starving. Or coming down off their Prozac, meth, etc.”
Exactly. And we’ve got a bunch of them up here in this AO, too, within a couple of miles. Thus my pending bicycle and car recon ops. No food in the house, lights out, no pixels, and jonesing off pills, crystal, heroin, etc.
I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about. Homosexuality and even homosexual marriage are legal everywhere in the US. If any private individuals express bigotry either verbally, commercially, or — god forbid! — physically, all the victim has to do is call 9-1-1 and the problem will be solved.
I suspect the rest of the EU is going to make Britain’s departure from the union very painful. Anyway the EU can financially punish Britain is going to be done. Two reasons, to get even and to send a message to other countries considering leaving. This process is going to get very ugly over the next few years. I also foresee the pound exchanging at about 1.5 pounds per US dollar, about half what is now worth, over the next couple of years.
Guy in my office gets a pension from Britain and works part time for us. His pension, which is transferred into his account electronically, has dropped about 25% as of today. I told him to expect another 40% drop over the next few years.
Floriduh, of course. Which is fast becoming another failed state
Along with California and any other liberal state.
The university of TN has hired a “Diversity and Inclusion” person. Never guess what color her skin is. So butt ugly I bet she is also gay. Bet that most of what spews from her mouth is against straight whitey. University says the students demand diversity. Fock off students, you don’t demand anything when taxpayers are paying more than half your tuition.
I personally see it as another position that will suck up money, put out a poster or two, hold a fact finding session that does nothing, perhaps presenting some black gay transvestite cross dressing transsexual handicapped film festival. With free pizza to get people to attend.
That’s handicapable, you hater!
That’s handicapable, you hater!
I am just now getting over using “retarded” from my childhood years. Don’t make me adjust again.
Unless it’s to Floriduh, of course. Which is fast becoming another failed state.
I grew up in Tampa but left a few years ago. Without a major change in the property insurance rackets, Florida is already a failed state that is one significant hurricane away from financial calamity. The physical damage will be minor compared to the economic fallout from such an event.
And I mean “rackets” in the full legal sense of the word. If you live in Florida and think you’re covered for homeowners’ insurance, I suggest you do some serious digging into your carrier’s finances.
I get a UK pension (100 sterling a month). Sure it will take a temporary hit but the EU economies are still collapsing, Germany is trying negative interest. So the pound will bounce back as the the EU collapses. If I knew how, I would buy a few thousand cheap pounds for my future income.
“I am just now getting over using “retarded” from my childhood years.”
What’s wrong with “retarded”? Is that another of those no-no words?
The UK pound will bounce back against the euro, as the latter continues heading for the bottom. But it won’t bounce back against the US dollar, which is still by far the world’s strongest major currency. And that’s pathetic.
Never guess what color her skin is. So butt ugly I bet she is also gay. Bet that most of what spews from her mouth is against straight whitey.
Check it, WHITEY!, check it!
What’s wrong with “retarded”? Is that another of those no-no words?
Geez. Report immediately for 6 month reeducation at Cankle’s House of Horrors. ™
But… but… Euro! Renminbi! Market basket of currencies! White guilt! Reparations, dammit, reparations!
I suspect Britain will weather the changes better than the EU. And good for them.
The dollar is still the world standard, and will likely remain so, as the rest of the world is retarded in development relative to the US.
Reparations my fanny. We earned every bit of our domination. Seems a shame we’re giving it away in the name of guilt.
Yeah, ya can’t use “retard” or “retarded” anymore Bob. C’mon, get wid da program. Try “developmentally disabled,” but no, that’s no good anymore, either. Maybe “developmentally challenged?” I’ll check with wife later; she probably knows.
“If you live there and think you’re covered, I suggest you do some serious digging into your insurance company’s finances.”
My youngest brother is some kinda insurance wiz and been with the same outfit for over twenty years, which is way longer than any of the rest of us have held a job; anyway, he’s been to Floriduh several times, esp. after hurricanes, to do some kind of gig down there involving insurance and he’s said pretty much the same thing; the state is very much on the edge of Apocalypse.
Incidentally, Kelly McGillis didn’t just get raped once; she was attacked repeatedly over the decades, starting when she was just twelve:
http://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2016/06/24/home-invasion-kelly-mcgillis-going-conceal-carry-top-gun/?utm_source=badaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
What a horrible series of events to hit one person; and being gay didn’t help, if she was thinking dumping men would be better. Good to know, though, that the local LE guys went to bat for her down there. And I wish she wasn’t gay and that I’d met her in the 80s instead of that jumped-up pipsqueak Tom Cruise. She’s still HOT.
“Reparations my fanny. We earned every bit of our domination. Seems a shame we’re giving it away in the name of guilt.”
Oh, agreed, fully, but our empire is not in the best of health, either, as we all know full well by now. I wouldn’t get too complacent mit der schadenfreude as our giant house of cards is looking pretty shaky, too. $20 trillion in debt that they’ll ADMIT to. A grid infrastructure that is mostly wide open to attacks. A southern border that is a complete fucking joke, adjacent to a miserable failed state of horrors. And we’re very busy feminizing our military so it will be patently useless against any *-generation-warfare from now on.
I’m a subscriber to these emails from the Forward Observer site, so here’s the latest on cyber threats:
“What are the current indicators of systems disruption that could lead to a SHTF event?
Critical Infrastructure
If America experiences an SHTF event in the next year, my money is on a cyber attack. Tracking these events, even I’ve been amazed at just how dire our vulnerabilities are. I don’t think we see strength in any particular sector; the power grids, SCADA systems in critical infrastructure, and the financial sector all face very grave threats. This is a high-risk game. We’re by no means ‘wide open’, but I have little faith that we can successfully defend against a determined cyber adversary. And I have less faith in society to react appropriately to systems disruption on a wide scale.
This month, U.S. Cyber Command spent nine days during a “cyber 9/11″ exercise which pitted them against a near-peer adversary like Russia or China. Although slated for full operational capability by the end of 2016, CyberCom won’t be fully operational until at least 2018. And still only half of CyberCom is at initial operating capacity. Think of it this way: half of CyberCom is barely walking in the crawl-walk-run spectrum. And from what little open source reporting was available from this exercise, I didn’t gather that CyberCom exactly hit a home run.
Another point of contention is that CyberCom’s domain often overlaps with privately-owned infrastructure. There could very well be a battle between corporate cybersecurity and government cybersecurity personnel over who has control of that infrastructure. That’s going to be a very gray area, and ultimately it’s going to lead to a national emergency in which government will take control of anything it wants. We can still argue about which parts of the Constitution are generally being upheld, but a sustained, major cyber attack is going to be a Constitution killer.
Based on what I’ve seen so far this year, we should absolutely be preparing for surviving in a grid-down environment. The overall likelihood is low; this is not an imminent event, but it’s a very high-risk situation. And we’re in the prelude to war against adversaries who can do it.”
If America experiences an SHTF event in the next year, my money is on a cyber attack.
They better not mess up our TV. The fems will go crazy and march down to Old Navy to enlist to fight the jihad against TeeeeeeeeVeeeeeee!
Today is my semiannual archival day. Tonight, I will run a full office LAN backup on one of the remaining 4 TB WD external USB hard drives that we own. I backup our office LAN to an external hard drive each Friday. This will give a mirror image of around 3 TB plus all of the backups that I have previously run using this hard drive. I never delete files or reformat these backup drives unless they run out of space so they grow over time. Of course, we also run the three office LAN backups that we normally run every day to internal hard drives.
Monday, the 4 TB external drive will go into the offsite archival place. I will unbox the new 6 TB WD external USB hard drive and backup the office LAN to it for the first time. Then it will go into the normal seven backup drive weekly rotation.
I see that WD now has 8 TB external USB hard drives for $250 versus $189 for the 6 TB drive. Hmm, might be time to jump again. I was a late adopter on the 6 TB drives.
https://www.amazon.com/Book-Desktop-External-Drive-WDBFJK0060HBK-NESN/dp/B00KU686HI/
And still only half of CyberCom is at initial operating capacity. Think of it this way: half of CyberCom is barely walking in the crawl-walk-run spectrum. And from what little open source reporting was available from this exercise, I didn’t gather that CyberCom exactly hit a home run.
Marine Corps DI: “Son, you look like a nerd to me. Are you a nerd?”
Marine Corps recruit: “Sir, yes, sir. I want to kill commies!”
Marine Corps DI: “Marine, do you know a computer is?”
Marine Corps recruit: “Sir, yes, sir! I kill commies and space aliens on a Xbox, sir!”
Marine Corps DI: “Recruit, I want you to volunteer to join CyberCom. Can you do that for me?”
Marine Corps recruit: “Sir, yes, sir! I want to kill commies and space aliens.”
Marine Corps DI: “Recruit, excellent! I will change your MOS and you will report to CyberCom Monday.”
Marine Corps recruit: “Sir, yes, sir!”
BTW, on my son’s second tour in Iraq, his platoon wisely packed a 50 inch plasma and an xbox with four controllers. And “Call of Duty”. Nuff said.
[snip] Floriduh, of course. Which is fast becoming another failed state [snip]
Florida is actually three different places melded into one ‘State’. South Florida, however exactly you define it, is very much part of the North, with a strong leavening of Havana & Port Au Prince. It’s also the commercial hub of the Caribbean and gateway to much of South America. Its politics are very liberal, mostly run by the D party (see also the 2000 fiasco, and the fiascos which preceded it.)
North Florida (say Ocala and northward) is very much part of the South. Very conservative, except the outlier cities of Tallahassee & Gainseville, very R, very heavy military presence.
Central Florida is the State of Disneyworld. The population growth since the founding of Disney has been beyond belief, and continues to this day. The demographics & politics are in a constant state of flux.
Mexico is a failed state because they’ve never emphasized free markets, free elections, and a free press. The government there is mostly interested in continuing its own corruption and stupidity. Chicago, to pick an example at random, has almost all those flaws, but the vast majority of the place is livable, even if the people are resigned to the corruption and stupidity of the government. How much better off would Mexico be if the government there had been willing to build say four nuclear plants near the border, in order to sell juice to the gringos? And the same number of refineries, to leverage all the oil they are known to have?
Finally, at the risk of twisting the tail of a dozing tiger, are these flashlights any good for the price?
http://tools.woot.com/offers/vermont-american-6led-flashlight-w-laser-red-3-pack?ref=tg_cnt_wp_8_1
How much better off would Mexico be if the government there had been willing to build say four nuclear plants near the border, in order to sell juice to the gringos? And the same number of refineries, to leverage all the oil they are known to have?
Change out the word nuclear with coal and they did do that. Especially in the El Paso area. No pollution controls for the coal power plants whatsoever and the SO2 / flyash go to Big Bend. Since natural gas from Eagle Ford has gotten so cheap, they are converting those power plants to natural gas.
USA gasoline and diesel have very exacting specifications. Very low Reid Vapor Pressure spec (especially in the summer), sulfur of less than 15 ppm (requires pre hydrotreating and post hydrotreating), and many more. That is a very expensive refinery to build and the Mexicans do not do that well.
Finally, at the risk of twisting the tail of a dozing tiger, are these flashlights any good for the price?
http://tools.woot.com/offers/vermont-american-6led-flashlight-w-laser-red-3-pack?ref=tg_cnt_wp_8_1
I just worked on one of those last weekend for my mother. She uses it as a travel nighttime reading light which it worked great for. However, it has started turning off while she is reading. Both Dad and I told her to buy more as we could not get it work 100% of the time.
What’s wrong with “retarded”? Is that another of those no-no words?
Oh, no, no, no. I made that mistake by asking a lady if her son was retarded. She leaped all over me and informed that her son was just a little behind (he was 18 with the brain of a 4 year old) and was not retarded, just developing slowly. He was a special needs person and fully capable of being a functioning adult, just not a full level. She berated me for about 5 minutes about my insensitivity and callous attitude toward others.
I walked away and muttered to myself that not only was her son retarded, so was she. What did she expect to produce from her defective genes?
Something that some here might find interesting: Me bitching about someone bitching about guns.
Your mistake was muttering it while walking away. You should have said it to her face, and added something like “Why didn’t you drown him as a baby as soon as it was obvious he was retarded?” Really, if you haven’t pushed someone into heart failure, shouldn’t you consider it a wasted week?
You should have said it to her face, and added something like “Why didn’t you drown him as a baby as soon as it was obvious he was retarded?
I am going to take a wild guess and make the assertion that you are never going to be invited to the special olympics.
if you haven’t pushed someone into heart failure, shouldn’t you consider it a wasted week
I do that once or twice a week when I find some teenage slut using her cell phone while driving. I come up next to them and lay on the horn. The shocked look on their faces is priceless and admittedly, some small sense of joy.
“Something that some here might find interesting…”
Indeed. Related to what you point out there, the assholes doing their goofy and childish sit-in recently down in Mordor were, as it turns out, sending out multiple emails begging/demanding contributions. None of the pics I saw of them showed them working their iPads and smartypants cell phones, though, so they probably had aides handling that caper. Scum.
“Really, if you haven’t pushed someone into heart failure, shouldn’t you consider it a wasted week?”
That would, in fact, have been a masterly retort to the harridan who saw fit to harangue our poor Mr. Ray for being out of touch with the latest “nice” words to describe various issues. It’s deuced difficult to keep up with all that chit nowadays; you’re bound to offend someone somewhere. I’ve had many such wasted weeks in trying to be a decent, reasonable citizen and human being but boy oh boy, they are really skating on thin ice lately. The very next time someone sees fit to lecture me on just about anything, I’m liable to murderize ’em on the spot.
“…some teenage slut using her cell phone while driving. I come up next to them and lay on the horn.”
Excellent! Das ist verboten here in Vermont now and you can get yerself a nice little fine for fiddling with “handheld devices” while operating a motor vehicle on our highways and byways. Yet I still see the fuckers doing that DAILY up here; I think I’ll start pulling up and pounding on the horn, too; and it ain’t just teenbopper wallyhogs doing it; seen plenty of middle-aged wenches and guys-in-ties working them.
To be fair, if that is a valid concept anymore in our fucked-up culture, I do see peeps pulling over to use their cells, too. And I’ve NEVER used a phone while driving; it’s all I can manage to keep myself from being maimed or killed by some homicidal/suicidal imbecile out there. So far, so good; only two accidents in nearly half a century of driving, much of it in mind-boggling MA traffic, and neither one was in any way my fault; both times the vehicles were totaled; no one was wearing seatbelts; all parties were half-shit-faced; and no injuries, not even a scratch.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/683224/END-OF-THE-EU-Germany-France-Austria-Hungary-Finland-Netherlands-Europe-Brexit
I guess that kinda ruins the idea they all had of putting Brussels on an equal footing with London, NYC and Mordor….
…watch the Germans essentially take over Europe again…with backing from significant factions in France, Hungary, etc.
This all must really frost the Obola-Cankles-DNC-RNC-Wall Street crowds…
Enquiring minds wanna know: when we will get the gumption to dump the UN, World Bank and IMF? And restrict NATO to exactly what its name states: U.S, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, the UK, France, Norway, maybe Sweden and Denmark…
Also, a national referendum for secession…hahaha….probably the Great Lone Star State leading the way, too; I woulda said Vermont but too many flatlander commies and docile Murkan derps here now.
Someplace today had a headline that Obama and Hillary Bitch Clinton were Brexit’s biggest losers. I should have snapshotted it, just for the joy of seeing them described as losers.
The night of the long knives is coming, oh yes it is.
Also, a national referendum for secession…hahaha….probably the Great Lone Star State leading the way, too;
#Texit is supposedly trending …
http://www.vocativ.com/333176/calls-for-texas-independence-surge-in-wake-of-brexit-vote/
Hillary will have all 50,000 of the California Marine Corps from Pendleton and 29 Stumps driving down I-10. Of course, half of them are from Texas so that would be interesting.
Nah, Marines are unreliable. Politically unreliable in good ol’ Commie terms. Hateful Hillary should muster all of the armed bureaucrats — there are more armed bureaucrats now than there are Marines — and send them down to Texas. That’ll teach ’em, you betcha.
Why, Tom Kratman has looked at that very thing:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AP9CO4G/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
“It’s Time to Remember the
Alamo All Over Again!
In the long war against terrorism, the US Government had taken on extraordinary powers. And now that the war was won, powerful forces in the government had no intention of relinquishing those powers. As in 1860, the country was on the verge of civil war. And as in 1860, a leader arose to save the country—but it was not the President this time. Instead, the Governor of Texas was the woman of destiny. And, though the Federal Government had more guns and troops, David was about to give Goliath a run for his money. . ”
It has a very believable start and includes some thinking I hadn’t considered, like “first we seize the mint”. Is it valid US Currency if it is printed in the Dallas mint, but under the direction of TX loyal soldiers? Why yes, it is.
nick
WRT vermont american flashlights, or anything VA makes, it’s not that good. Nothing with their brand on it actually performs as well as other better brands.
For the money, there are other better flashlights, like the 3 pack at Costco, which is the same price, but SINGLE led, and includes duracel batteries.
WRT cell/smartphone use while driving: This week I had no less than 6 people that appeared to female that day pull left turns in front me while they were talking/texting. Fortunately I was paying attention and had already slowed and prepared for their foolhardy move. All were quite startled by my horn and close proximity. I am sure some had to go home and peel their thong out of a pile of poo.
“Distracted driving” (cell/smartphone use, eating, drinking, reading, shaving, applying makeup, combing hair, dressing/undressing, getting a hummer, etc.) is against the law here in WA State but you would never guess it with the lack of compliance.
I have more than once thought about mounting a big truck air horn on my van for the sole purpose of freaking out the distracted drivers.
I have more than once thought about mounting a big truck air horn on my van for the sole purpose of freaking out the distracted drivers.
I thought about putting a locomotive airhorn on my last bike, a Honda Valkyrie.
[snip] No pollution controls for the coal power plants whatsoever and the SO2 / flyash go to Big Bend. [snip]
The lack of pollution from nuclear vs. fossil fueled power was one of my points. And as I understand it, nuke plants tend to be larger capacity, great for baseline power in the ever growing Texas – California corridor.
[snip] That is a very expensive refinery to build and the Mexicans do not do that well. [snip]
There are any number of construction projects I can’t do, but I can certainly hire it out. Building a refinery isn’t high order magic, but it is potentially profitable enough that I’m willing to wager that someone would take it on.
[snip] For the money, there are other better flashlights, like the 3 pack at Costco, which is the same price, but SINGLE led, and includes duracel batteries. [snip]
Alas, not particularly convenient; the nearest one to me is more than 100 miles each way.
A couple days ago, for the first time that I remember, I was almost hit by a man who was texting while driving. I usually have a couple of “watch out for that idiot” and one close call per hundred miles driven, and every prior one was a woman, that I noticed or remembered. (Though the guy was clearly Oriental, probably Chinese, and you can insert your own race/nationality-oriented joke which has quite a lot of truth behind it.)
I especially like it when stupid pigs are driving their pigmobiles while texting. Real nice. To be fair, I’ve never noticed one weaving all over the road or almost causing an accident. Regardless, it’s against the law in NYS even for pigs.
Great minds think alike. Uh, except that I’m a knucklehead. Er, sorry.
OFD wrote:
“And I wish she wasn’t gay and that I’d met her in the 80s instead of that jumped-up pipsqueak Tom Cruise. She’s still HOT.”
Amen bro, I like watching her in Witness too. She’s too gorgeous to be true. Still looks very very okay.
Ray wrote:
“I do that once or twice a week when I find some teenage slut using her cell phone while driving. I come up next to them and lay on the horn.”
Air horns, I hope.
The Slut: WHY DID YOU DO THAT? I JUST PEED MY PANTS!
Ray: I was feeling horny…
I’ll be here all week folks… 🙂
You know those electronic gizmos that can shut off all the tee-vees at an airline terminal? Dunno if they’re still around, but someone should make one that shuts off cell phones in proximity.
but someone should make one that shuts off cell phones in proximity.
Don’t be hatin’ on my iPhone, bro. Gotta have my tech at *all* times. When the grid goes down, and my tech with it, I’m Fifing myself.
“You know those electronic gizmos that can shut off all the tee-vees at an airline terminal? Dunno if they’re still around, but someone should make one that shuts off cell phones in proximity.”
Except that jamming radio is illegal in the US, and there are all sorts of reasons why that is a bad idea. Theater shooter in CO jumps to mind….
Costco.com has a much wider selection than the stores and is convenient wherever you live…..
Startling them is a really bad idea. I want them to continue in exactly the state and condition they are in so I have a chance of predicting their movement and avoiding it. Better they should pay attention, but since they don’t, better that they are predictable.
Someone finally noticed the moral and ethical dilemma posed by self driving vehicles, ie, would you use one knowing it would kill you to save a stranger’s life? Was in normal media today.
“The lack of pollution from nuclear vs. fossil fueled power was one of my points. And as I understand it, nuke plants tend to be larger capacity, great for baseline power in the ever growing Texas – California corridor”
OH HELL NO!! One of the VERY LAST things I want on our border is a bunch of nuke plants operated by Mexicans and OTMs. And simply staffing it with westerners doesn’t solve the ownership’s willingness to spend money on safety issues.
Besides, Texas is an energy exporter, and home to one of the (if not the) largest wind generating systems in the world. Not that wind is clean or efficient, but people think of Cali for wind, not west TX. They’re wrong.
“There are any number of construction projects I can’t do, but I can certainly hire it out. Building a refinery isn’t high order magic, but it is potentially profitable enough that I’m willing to wager that someone would take it on.”
If it was feasible, someone would have done it. Outside of technical and cultural issues, refineries are usually close to the transportation systems that move the materials in and product out. Not many ports along the TEXMEX border, not a whole lot of pipelines (I don’t think.)
You can build all sorts of things, but keeping technological systems running well and safely is HARD. Even here in the first world we get it wrong periodically, just ask BP. Refineries are full of volatiles and are ALWAYS trying to blow themselves up. That it is as rare as it is is a testament to the robustness and maturity of the designs. LOTS of people died to get to this point.
No I want our energy infrastructure inside our borders, under our control. If we want cheaper gas, or more production, roll back some of the environmental requirements. As it stands, only some plants can produce the specific mixes required by Illinois and Cali (among others) which limits capacity. IIRC, there was a Presidential order that temporarily rolled back a bunch after 9-11 so as to increase domestic supplies.
going to bed now, maybe a bit more on the motorcycle accident I rolled up on this afternoon, after I’ve slept. Not a big deal, but I really need to prioritize the EMT training if the universe is going to keep smacking folks around right in front of me…..
nick
South Australian Border Collies are tough
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-25/three-legged-working-dog-refuses-to-retire-from-sa-family-farm/7528582
A “Texit”, under other names, has been talked about for decades, but there are just too damned many Yankees (and now Californians) in the state. Sadly, no chance of it happening. Still, even some serious discussion by a substantial minority might move things in interesting directions…
No, Mexico is and always has been in Central America, geographically, economically, culturally, and linguistically. The US and Canada are English-speaking first-world countries. Mexico is a Spanish-speaking third-world country.
geographically
since 150 years, no more, unless Arizona, California, Tejas and Florida (maybe more) note the use of Tejas instead of Texas
economically
same
linguistically
This reminds me a friend, who was auditor on a multinational company, he was born in Dallas, lived in California 10 years, but he never spoke spanish, more, i doesnt sent a hint that he understood. Some day I said him, please, dont bother us anymore, and he said Spanish is maids language.
but it was ten years ago (or more) and as things go on, maybe you need to choose at the said states between oriental language or south language.
Huntington predicted it, as Casandra
sorry
That it’s the difference between immigrants and colonizers. All the previous waves of immigrants came with the express purpose of becoming Americans. They learned the language and the culture. (With the exception of the involuntary DPs, who where despised by the real immigrants).
The current colonizers came only for economic reasons and intend tho keep their language and culture. This is especially true of the mooslim invaders.
Learn English and foreswear previous allegiances. Or leave.
Nick
I’m beginin’ to wonder about some of youse down there…
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/06/24/more-than-30-people-burned-in-motivational-speaker-tony-robbins-hot-coals-walk.html
There is a technique that you must use to avoid injury.
Burned while stopping to take selfies is just evolution in action….
n
lol The Pinhead-a-gon to lift ban on transgender troops. Now a hairy muscular guy can grow his hair long and claim “I identify as a female” and wear it in a bun. Talk about “Special Forces”. If our military doesn’t go for a standards based system for MOSs we are going to lose a lot of battles.
There I fixed it for you.
Yet another referral is necessary here, to that old but honest Mr. SteveF playbook page: if the rulers of this country were trying to actively destroy it, what, pray tell, would they be doing differently???
Can anyone come up with anything at all that they’ve done RIGHT in the last half-century or so???
I’m not worried that some peeps might try fire walking. This is what makes me think they’re nuts…
The 6-foot-7 Robbins conducts a variety of seminars — which can range from about $1,000 to up to $3,000 — and “Unleash the Power Within” is described on his website as “designed to help you unlock and unleash the forces inside that can help you break through any limit,”
lol! I wonder if it’s 5-Star:
Federal immigration officials are moving forward with plans for a new 500-bed family detention center to house migrant women and children, even as many advocates and politicians have called for the closure of such facilities altogether.
Officials in Dimmit County, 45 miles from the Texas border with Mexico, say they’ll consider a bid on Monday from a firm who says their facility in an 27-acre former work camp for oil workers would provide dramatically better conditionsthan two other family detention centers in the state.
[snip] That is a very expensive refinery to build and the Mexicans do not do that well. [snip]
There are any number of construction projects I can’t do, but I can certainly hire it out. Building a refinery isn’t high order magic, but it is potentially profitable enough that I’m willing to wager that someone would take it on.
Um, yes, building a refinery that can produce USA level gasoline is high order magic. Only about a half dozen companies in the world can do it, their names are Bechtel, Fluor-Daniel, Exxon, etc.
Building the tea kettle is easy. Building the 20+ addon processes for isopropylation is difficult. You’ve got to have all of the addon processes to boost the octane in the gasoline without our old friend tetraethyl lead. And then building the tank farm for mixing all those addons is very magical, requiring sophisticated computer controls with continuous sampling that works.
All of the refineries in Mexico are tea kettles. Nothing wrong with that, they just are not very technologically sophisticated.
Some positional ambiguity there. Am I described as honest or is the playbook? I hope the latter, as I am but indifferent honest. And I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious. Er, well, not so much, really. I take justifiable pride in my accomplishments, but that’s a different thing, and the other two are a clean miss. Also, I’ve never seen a ghost, talking or otherwise.
And use the female standards for the PT tests. I’m in favor of that – the standards should be the same for everyone. If being “Army fit” means you can run two miles in 14 minutes, then that is not altered by what you have between your legs.
Yah, that came up once in a while: special Olympics, special education, special forces. Rumor has it that such talk led to raids on the offender’s vehicle compound, supply rooms, etc.
ref nick’s comments on immigrants vs invaders, wanting to become Americans, etc,, yah, agreed in full. Guest workers are ok for short periods, if they’re really needed. Considering the number of unemployed American citizens, I’d say it’s damned close to treason for an American government employee to say we need the guest workers, to say nothing of them saying we need the “undocumented migrants” to fill out the workforce.
So long as they’re Procrustean beds, that’s ok with me.
Judas Priest! 300 homicides in Chicago so far this year. That’s one way to reduce low life scum. 300! In one city!
Dad’s ramblings of frustration. My legs, my legs, my Kingdom for working legs.
It’s time for that well armed militia. Seen discussions on the interwebs regarding this, but they seem to be stuck on what to call themselves (Minutemen keeps getting the thumbs down). They can’t get it through their thick skulls that it is time to act.
My second greatest fear, next to Cankles being anointed, is that Trump wins and everybody goes back to business as usual. The time for action is passing.
Finally, I am sure glad to no longer be in the Armed Forces. They have forgotten their oath.
Because of the sexual connotations, no doubt.
“Finally, I am sure glad to no longer be in the Armed Forces. They have forgotten their oath.”
Ditto, and also glad to have left the “law enforcement” ranks thirty years ago this coming August. Good riddance.
“300 homicides in Chicago so far this year. That’s one way to reduce low life scum.”
With among the most draconian gun ordinances/laws in the nay-shun and a former Obola confidant and capo di tutti capo running it as the head commissar. Nice work, Rahm!