Another hot one here, currently 80F and the humidity hasn’t let up.
The geopolitical climate is shifting. You can see it everywhere. Nationalist movements gaining prominence. Rising anti-immigrant sentiment. Brexit. And now the meeting with North Korea. (and the Kurds want to talk too.)
Crazy times. Lots of people will have reason to oppose the changes. Lots of things can go wrong when big changes are underway. Caution and prudent precautions are called for.
nick
62º and Sunny. Rode to work today. Nice ride. Downhill most of the way. Uphill on the way home. Still nice.
Kids had a good time at the club meeting last night. They took their tennis rackets & balls and bounced back & forth. They also played in the sand and on the pile of dirt from the new playground. It’s what kids do.
The way I see it, any agreement with the Norks (or Persians, or whomever) is better than no agreement at all. It looks like Trump is accomplishing something. Now if he can get the Senate to ratify the treaty, it might mean something. (The Iranian deal was never ratified – thus it had no lawful effect.)
There are constitutional limits on any branch’s power. I think President Obama lost sight of that towards the end. The power of the pen is just as strong with the following executive. Congressional approval is necessary to prevent the next executive from wiping it all out.
Enough of the (inter)national stuff. Township council meeting next week, and school board summer sessions to attend & disrupt. That’s where the power really is.
From Ray:
Wabash Canonball or Orange Blossom Special?
Headed out to do some troubleshooting for a client.
Man, the kids were worn out this AM, and the parents weren’t much better.
Sure would be nice to laze away the day….
n
Deutche Late-Again. Missed a connection because of police activity on the track. Seems some clod threw him/her/shim/sher-self in front of a moving train. Blocks the tracks for some time and screws up the entire system. But eventually made it to the destination. I guess it takes time to remove parts and hose down the tracks and the front of the train.
Currently in Haltern, went for ice cream. Place has pictures of the stuff and it is delivered exactly as the picture shows. Good stuff. Have had ice cream there three times in the past on previous journeys. BBQ tonight with some real German sausage, good stuff.
Reserved a rental car in Croatia. $14.00 a day and got the insurance for $11.00 a day. Dirt cheap to rent a car in Croatia. Another family is coming from the US to the wedding and get in 30 minutes before we arrive. They want to hitch a ride with us to the ferry and beyond. I will make them pay the ferry charge. All cars are manual transmission which I have not driven in several years. I expect some grumbling from the transmission as I grind some gears.
Good trip so far but have a hard time sleeping in strange places. Beds are not as soft as mine and the German sheets/blankets are different than in the US. Makes for some difficult sleeping especially with the heat the last few days.
Seems Trump struck a deal. Press will soon be reporting that Trump is collaborating with the enemy. I hope something good comes of the deal, no nukes on the peninsula would be a good thing. China will be pissed and who really cares. Rocket Man’s bluff was called and now he needs the support of the rest of the world. The next couple of years will be interesting.
Loaded up on Gummi Bears from Haribo. Better in Germany than in the US. Less sugar and more flavor. Four kilos in the suitcase to bring home with me. Maybe enough for a couple of weeks but all the space and weight I can spare for the return trip. Provided TSA doesn’t decide they need a snack.
Loaded up on Gummi Bears from Haribo. Better in Germany than in the US. Less sugar and more flavor. Four kilos in the suitcase to bring home with me. Maybe enough for a couple of weeks but all the space and weight I can spare for the return trip. Provided TSA doesn’t decide they need a snack.
Real Bassetts Jelly Babies are also worth space in the suitcase if you see them.
“An Inside Look at Data Center Storage Integration: A Complex, Iterative, and Sustained Process”
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/firmware-for-data-center-optimization/
Flashing the firmware on your hard drives in the field, no thanks !
And I love the picture of the tech working on the storage box with 3 rows of 15 drives each at the top.
The way I see it, any agreement with the Norks (or Persians, or whomever) is better than no agreement at all. It looks like Trump is accomplishing something. Now if he can get the Senate to ratify the treaty, it might mean something. (The Iranian deal was never ratified – thus it had no lawful effect.)
Of course, all the Celibri-Progturdians are calling for failure, recession, shitty economy, etc., just because tRump isn’t one of theirs.
SHILLARY KLINTON WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT!
Cofefe 2020!
Crazy times. Lots of people will have reason to oppose the changes. Lots of things can go wrong when big changes are underway. Caution and prudent precautions are called for.
Got preps ? I am prepping for two places now, the home and the bugout place. Mostly, I am moving preps from the home to the bug out place.
It is hurricane / tropical storm time here on the Gulf Coast. Keep your gasoline tanks half full at all times and full if there is a storm in the Gulf.
Got flashlights and lanterns ? I recommend
https://www.amazon.com/Maglite-2-Cell-Flashlight-Holster-Black/dp/B005UUSAAM/
and
https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-CPX-Rugged-Lantern-X-Large/dp/B00VTJJ5DE/
I have about 700 or 800 AA batteries and 200 D cells on hand. I figure one needs about a months worth. I would not worry about the rechargables unless you are going to try to run solar charging. And if the main storm lasts a week, no solar ?
I would not expect FEMA to show up in your area until things are over with. FEMA is not good at reacting to the immediate but they are good at helping clean up the mess.
And never go to a FEMA camp. The first thing you have to do is give up your guns. You do have guns, right ?
And you have food and water for a month, right ? Canned food and can openers. And a Coleman stove for cooking that food. With lots of propane.
I was just talking about this with the family, but in relation to Uber Gangs holding you hostage and driving other Ubers out of an area:
Rogue New York taxi gang forces British couple to hand over $470 for a TEN MINUTE journey (after they’d knocked the price down from $900)
I was just talking about this with the family, but in relation to Uber Gangs holding you hostage and driving other Ubers out of an area:
Rogue New York taxi gang forces British couple to hand over $470 for a TEN MINUTE journey (after they’d knocked the price down from $900)
Yup, if you are crazy enough to get all of those tattoos on your right arm, you are crazy enough NOT to call the cops for a bad taxi ride.
“Seattle reverses course on business tax after Amazon pressure”
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/391807-seattle-reverses-course-on-business-tax-after-amazon-pressure
Well, that was predictable. Austin, are you watching ?
Hat tip to:
http://drudgereport.com/
8:44 AM (or 20:44) here in Germany. Cool evening, too cold to stay outside in a short sleeve shirt. Had a good dinner of BBQ chicken and German sausage, the real stuff, not the Americanized version of sausage.
Germans, at least everyone I talked with, consider Trump is an idiot. Most also do not agree with the US thinking they are the world police and the meddling in other countries affairs. Universal disdain for Trump and the US foreign policy.
In a bright note they (the Germans I talked with) think Cankles would have been much worse than Trump and none would have voted for her given the chance. They all think she is a criminal and question why she is not in prison.
Well, that was predictable. Austin, are you watching ?
Amazon won’t build HQ2 within the city limits of Austin and/or Travis County.
If your theory is correct, they’ll be out in Bastrop County.
If my theory is correct, they will build on one of two sites in Williamson County.
Picking Austin would be all about the bacchanalia, but the company knows the long term costs of adding 50,000 people to the party on 6th Street. The city’s new drunk tank isn’t nearly big enough for starters.
The buzz in the office is that WSDOT is looking at putting a toll on the $6 billion tunnel under Seattle, built mostly for Amazon’s benefit. We’ll see if that happens.
It is beginning to look like we have a small chance of getting 2 to 4+ inches of rain this weekend in the Gulf Coast area due to a “cyclone” in the western Gulf of Mexico.
https://spacecityweather.com/houstons-heavy-rain-chances-trending-up-this-weekend/
@MrAtoz:
Cofefe 2020!
Why do you continue to misspell “Covfefe”?
COVFEFE!
Germans, at least everyone I talked with, consider Trump is an idiot. Most also do not agree with the US thinking they are the world police and the meddling in other countries affairs. Universal disdain for Trump and the US foreign policy.
I hope the Germans are enjoying their new Mooslim Brotherhood. I see many Deutschers want them out.
I hope the Germans are enjoying their new Mooslim Brotherhood. I see many Deutschers want them out.
But the Berliners, starting with Merkel, want them to stay ! And increase in number !
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/12/angela-merkel-faces-power-struggle-moves-block-policy-close/
Hah! You said “Berliner”.
Ich bin ein Berliner! Reminds me of a jelly doughnut. Every. Time.
When I was there, Berlin was the 2nd largest city in Turkey. Never had a problem. I can see now that it is a problem. What a difference 30 years makes.
I hope the Germans are enjoying their new Mooslim Brotherhood. I see many Deutschers want them out.
The Mooslims are playing with fire in Germany. The Deutschers took the term “xenocide” to a whole new level just two generations ago.
LA is the second largest city in the world for X nationality, where X is most of the third world. It’s a sh!thole now.
Just got back from my site visit. Bad card. I think the same event that took out the UPS must have taken out the projector input card as well. Another disadvantage of living out in the country is infrastructure is old, and inadequate.
Speaking of preps, I bought a 50 gallon fuel tank at auction. Doesn’t say if it’s diesel or gas. We’ll see. I may be selling it on.
Dealing with heat here in TX is just as important as dealing with cold for the rest of you guys. The heat will kill you dead if you let it.
WRT the possible storm, combined with the early named storm we already had, maybe people will be motivated to get their preps in order. I certainly hope so.
n
“The Mooslims are playing with fire in Germany. The Deutschers took the term “xenocide” to a whole new level just two generations ago.”
Fighting and the chance at getting their own genocide on is just fine with the muzzies. Look were they came from. Then look at the fat, happy burghers…. no it’s not gonna be a pushover. Muzzies been practicing terror and house to house fighting for decades. Berliners have been eating pastries.
n
RE: police activity on the track
When I used the London Tube to commute daily (1998 – 2001) hardly a month went by without a delay caused by “Body on the Tracks”. For those who don’t know, most of the London Underground (tube) system actually operates above ground outside the city proper, so it’s not difficult to throw yourself, or be thrown, on the tracks. Actually, I recall that the majority of incidents were not suicide or homicide but simply drunks falling or sleeping on the tracks. The young British have a SERIOUS drinking problem.
Headphones on, walking down the track, seems to be popular suicide method for younger adults, or teens. They get to claim it was accidental, but no one is that dumb.
My dad (firefighter) had to search for the missing body parts of one person hit by a train. 70mph train will blow your fingers and toes off apparently. Not something he ever really got over.
n
“Anti-cartel Mexican politician is shot point blank in the back of the head while taking a selfie with a fan, making him the 112th politician to be murdered in the country since SEPTEMBER”
What was that someone said about murderers and scumbags and a certain country to the south?
in the bigger picture, this is part of the death of democracy….
“More than 1,000 candidates have dropped out of the July 1 local elections out of fear of being murdered by gangs ”
n
Build the wall!
I’ve been in one of the rear carriages on a mainline fast (non-stopping) train when someone threw themselves in front of the train at Southall (just to the west of London). The carriage rocked enough for everyone to realize that it had gone over something it shouldn’t have. The train was delayed for about four hours due to the police investagation, removal of the body and waiting for a replacement driver (the train drivers get very shaken up by the event and in this case he was so shaken that it took about 20 seconds before he started applying the brakes).
Southall has a large Asian population in the area and it’s apparently popular for suicidal women to take their kids with them at that station.
Yeah, while it’s quick and painless for the suicide, it’s life changing for the driver and the aftermath cleanup.
n
Ray wrote:
“I hope something good comes of the deal, no nukes on the peninsula would be a good thing. China will be pissed and who really cares.”
Maybe not…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-13/trump-kim-summit-provides-challenges-and-opportunities-for-asia/9862214
currently listening to another undercover surveillance operation. At least 4 officers in a loose box configuration, following a drug guy. They keep naming the guy, taking about their phone intercepts, and generally leaking info all over the airwaves.
Now they got pulled off the first guy (because they intercepted his call and know his plans for the evening) and asked to follow another guy in the operation so they can id someone else he’s meeting.
If it weren’t life and death for any undercovers involved, it would be comical.
n