45F and damp. Chilly Willy!
Had a nice time with the kids yesterday. The Geology section is more talking than the others, because we just do a sorting and identifying exercise. Our normal presenter didn’t show for the last two classes so I did it. Fun. They want me to be a regular presenter next year. I’ve been reluctant, but maybe I should. I prefer the support role and sitting at the table helping the kids do the labs.
Our local economy is starting to (or continuing to) slow down. I see more empty commercial property and more for lease signs every day. There are several big housing developments in my neighborhood currently being built out, and I suspect they’ll take a while to occupy. Nothing like having development suddenly add over a thousand homes to your neighborhood, converting several hundred acres of open space to high density housing. Wife’s work situation is suddenly unstable/changing, or I think she’d be more seriously looking to move house. It is comforting to have no debt and money in the bank.
I’m thinking about writing a post about my workspace with pictures. Anyone interested?
n
Yep!
Huntsville, AL area is booming. Growing fast in all directions. Lots of new businesses and of course lots of new housing. It’s forecast that we will be the largest city in AL in 5 to 10 years, overtaking Birmingham. We are really feeling the growing pains with the road infrastructure.
I always chuckle at city leaders. They take credit for all the growth. It’s all because of our planning and vision, they say. Sure it is, then why didn’t you work on upgrading critical infrastructure BEFORE it became critical. You had the vision, after all…
As long as the defense industry keeps booming, so will Huntsville. The last BRAC’s were very helpful to Redstone Arsenal. I think there is sufficient consolidation there to keep things going even if there is a severe cut in defense spending. Though the level of pain would depend on the level of cuts. It’s scary to think about how almost everything is dependent on a single industry…
After a night of heavy thunderstorms and over 2 inches of rain we are now under a flash flood watch. At times the rain was so heavy last night its pounding woke me. My lawn is a swamp and more rain is forecast thru Saturday.
One reason I am a grump this morning is that the wife received bad news yesterday from her kidney doctor. We had hoped with the new medications and strict diet that things would stabilize but no. We are told that dialysis is certain and best hope for long term survival is a transplant. So we have started the paperwork. Not something we are looking forward too.
Sorry to hear about that. You have my hopes and prayers for a positive outcome.
I visited the Space Center a couple of years ago. It was awesome, especially the full size, horizontal Saturn 5. The other exhibits in that building were very well done. It would have been possible for me to spend a couple of days in that building alone. But the spousal unit and a former exchange student were with me and failed to see the significance of the items in the building.
@Harold – you and your wife are in my prayers.
@Nick – I would love to see your layout. I spend a good bit of time watching YouTube videos on car repair, woodworking, sawmills, electronic, and anything else that catches my fancy. Usually background for whatever I’m working on at the time. Sometimes it’s just a good way to “waste” an hour learning something. It gives me ideas…
Booming – it’s because that’s what happens when capitalists work together. “What’s in it for me?” is the question that must be asked. And answered. Local governments at best don’t get in the way. (That’s what I like about my township. They don’t get in the way, and go out of their way to encourage folks to do their thing.)
The worst they can do? Look at Amazon in Brooklyn. Ford almost set up shop 15 miles west of here, but NIMBY.
There was a railhead project a mile from my house that would have put a superfund site to good use, with 30 jobs. (To be fair, it was the neighbors, not the township that objected. And the planner screwed the pooch by telling folks what he was doing for their own good instead of soft-selling it as a jobs program.) Come to think of that, it was a government group that tried to shove it down our throats.
My prayers are with your wife, Mr. Harold.
Gee us sum pitches Mr. Nick.
I don’t know if Vegas is booming, but it is evident building new houses won’t stop until Lake Mead is dry.
I visited the Space Center a couple of years ago. It was awesome, especially the full size, horizontal Saturn 5. The other exhibits in that building were very well done. It would have been possible for me to spend a couple of days in that building alone. But the spousal unit and a former exchange student were with me and failed to see the significance of the items in the building.
Kennedy has a really excellent Saturn V/Apollo exhibit building. It should be on your list if you haven’t been already.
Johnson Space Center is a bit underwhelming except for the Omega display and Star Trek Galileo prop. Never been to Huntsville.
There are several big housing developments in my neighborhood currently being built out, and I suspect they’ll take a while to occupy. Nothing like having development suddenly add over a thousand homes to your neighborhood, converting several hundred acres of open space to high density housing.
The developers have to keep building to keep the subs from going elsewhere.
Also, H1B families don’t like to live in used houses. Dunno about Houston, but that’s part of what is driving the Austin sprawl towards Harker Heights becoming an exurb with insanely high density developments.
Exxon is going heavy H1B. We had a guy through on an interview about six months ago complaining that he was the last non-H1B in his R&D group. The irony is that the guy was a green card holder from Taiwain going back 20 years in the US.
@harold, that is unwelcome news. Hopefully her health will improve with the treatment. A long time family friend swore she’d never start dialysis, but faced with the choice for real, did so, and she feels better than she has in years.
Everyone’s situation is different, but don’t forget to consider things like changes to diet, and remember that Drs are going to recommend what is easiest and safest FOR THEM.
Keep a positive mindset, and get alternative opinions.
n
I beg to differ. Doctors are going to recommend what has been forced down their throats by the insurance companies that is cheapest for, or not covered by, the insurance companies.
“Doctors are going to recommend what has been forced down their throats by the insurance companies that is cheapest for, or not covered by, the insurance companies. ”
–which is what is easiest and safest….
Funny that Costco has FLASHLIGHTS as “Shop Related Categories” when you are looking at Mountain House Freeze Drieds–
Home /View More Categories /Emergency Kits & Supplies /Meat, Dairy & Eggs
Emergency Supplies & First Aid
Flashlights & Accessories
Gourmet Foods
Prosciutto, Smoked & Cured Meats
n
Thanks for the good thoughts and prayers all. Looking at the stats for longevity after dialysis and transplants I see we can only expect about 8 – 10 years. So I am working to give her the Italian trip she has wanted for years. We had a lovely week in Venice in 2000 and she’s always wanted to visit Florence too. Five years ago we had a Florence – Venice trip planned and mostly paid for until my manager put me on a “critical” project at the last moment, forcing us to abandon the trip. I want to give her the trip she deserves while she can still get around and enjoy it.
Its 4/20 in February at Elon’s house.
We have lots of Volts running around Austin as of late because GM took a bath on the leasing after announcing the end of the model. Great to move the cars, but not so great for the bottom line of a manufacturer of battery-powered vehicles without truck sales (as anemic as GM’s are) to fill the gap on the balance sheet.
https://electrek.co/2019/02/19/tesla-model-3-leasing/
I became literally sick to my stomach reading this, and the comments. H/T to WRSA for the link–
https://www.designmom.com/a-gun-ban-is-inevitable/
Scan the comments. The level of self assured superiority is astounding. She complains that the wrong sort of people are reading her blog, that ‘people who shouldn’t be here’ are commenting. People are ‘mansplaining.’ Arrogant men are ‘lecturing.’ The “hahaha, you’re gonna get yours” is literally sickening.
If this is truly how a large part of the population feels, we are lost. We shouldn’t be prepping for a long slow decline, we should be preparing for war. Dirty balkans style war. Many out there have suggested just that, but I kept thinking that it was a bit extreme. Not so much now. This woman would laugh and sneer while the cops shot the family next door and burned down their house, AFTER she turned them in. She thinks you DESERVE whatever happens to you.
n
“Design Mom
April 24, 2018 at 12:10 pm
Reply
Hahaha! You’ll give up your guns willingly when you’ve lost all your rights because you’re no longer a law-abiding citizen. If you don’t, you’ll be socially ostracized by your neighbors, friends and family. If you’re still holding on to your guns at that point, perhaps the local government will just cut you off from internet or wifi service. Just curious, how long do you think you will you last without access to pornhub?”
or this comment–
“For the record, I am sick and tired of hearing that someone with a truck or a knife can also commit mass murder. When I am huddling in the corner with my students in my third floor classroom during a lock-down drill, my mind is not worrying about a truck or a knife, I’m worried about an angry young white man with a semi-automatic weapon.”
emph added.
Presumably she isn’t pissing her panties when they have fire drills or give teachers instruction on how to use fire extinguishers. Nice that teaching is a place you can still be an avowed bigot though….
This one is nice–
”
Elise
February 22, 2018 at 9:30 pm
Reply
Sorry I’m late to the conversation, but I have been mulling something over. In reading endlessly about the #metoo movement, gun reform and Black Panther among other things, I’ve noticed a pattern of “enough is enough”. Women are saying to men, proponents of gun control are saying to gun owners, black people are saying to white people, “No more waiting, being polite and asking nicely, protesting peacefully, working within the existing paradigm and getting nowhere. We are moving forward and creating a new reality of our own design, with or without you.” I for one hope the momentum is breathtaking. I can’t wait.
”
I suppose it never crossed her mind what that would look like from the other side– I’m sick and tired of politicians being elected on ‘feelings’ and have no more patience for the 25th amendment. It’s time to return politics to less emotional male voters, our country’s future is too important. Or — I’m sick and tired of the lawlessness, violence, bigotry, misogyny, and sexual promiscuity of the blacks in our inner cities. We must immediately institute morality laws, and stop spending money on the lost cause of policing blacks until such a time as they behave the way we want them too. Or –I’m sick and tired of the sexual deviancy on display in the LBGQRPTXYZ community. Gay marriage was a mistake, and allowing public displays of deviance can no longer be tolerated. I call on all right thinkers to denounce anyone in their community who might be gay or living a gay lifestyle. I call on private companies to cut off their internet access, water, electricity, and heat. Let them practice their degeneracy in the cold and dark, like the disgusting creatures they are.
My god these people are sick.
n
This woman would laugh and sneer while the cops shot the family next door and burned down their house, AFTER she turned them in. She thinks you DESERVE whatever happens to you.
Relax. She’s not that creative. Among other regurgitation, the meme has been floating around the left going back at least 10 years that “Going Wolverine” against the US Government isn’t even remotely possible so the gun fans might as well submit. My wife’s Vantucky associate’s Prog husband was extremely fond of spouting that concept.
Maybe I’m wrong, but a quick Google indicates that Design Mom is LDS. She’s using outrageousness to shill books.
Notice how quickly Friday’s Aurora, IL shooting disappeared from the news? Its only Wednesday.
IIRC, several decades ago, all casino and resort construction would be halted until new water sources were developed.
WRT gun control: Mexico has far less gun legality than we do and a far greater gun murder rate.
Outside of that, now lets concentrate on the USA 70,000 per year opiate death rate.
Our local economy is starting to (or continuing to) slow down. I see more empty commercial property and more for lease signs every day. There are several big housing developments in my neighborhood currently being built out, and I suspect they’ll take a while to occupy. Nothing like having development suddenly add over a thousand homes to your neighborhood, converting several hundred acres of open space to high density housing. Wife’s work situation is suddenly unstable/changing, or I think she’d be more seriously looking to move house. It is comforting to have no debt and money in the bank.
Regardless of what people say, oil and gas are still the lifeblood of Houston and Texas. And oil and gas has got a cold. Pray it does not become pneumonia. I have been hearing of secret layoffs all over the place for the last six months. We are really struggling in our business to stay afloat.
Outside of that, now lets concentrate on the USA 70,000 per year opiate death rate.
Why ? Personal behavior is very difficult to monitor, much less control. Drug addicts are notoriously nonconforming.
I am so tired of the War on Drugs ™. It has militarized our police and drug dealers.
Nothing like having development suddenly add over a thousand homes to your neighborhood, converting several hundred acres of open space to high density housing.
Apartments ? Yuck.
Crankshaft: books are meant to be held in your digits
http://comicskingdom.com/crankshaft/2019-02-20
YES ! Somebody else gets it.
Apartments ? Yuck.
The new subdivisions targeting H1Bs put 5-6 big houses on an acre. One just got built near us in the last year.
The families want new houses, especially the wives’ parents who typically provide the money, since they consider the whole overseas job experience to be an investment.
They don’t really care about yards and don’t like dealing the maintenance. The house just has to be big. 3000 sq ft minimum.
The H1B father of one girl we know from my daughter’s Girl Scout troop calls his wife anytime something comes up in the house. He was clueless the other day when the youngest child clogged their toilet. In India, their caste had servants to deal with things like that.
Holy Cr@p that woman is insane.
https://www.designmom.com/twitter-thread-abortion/
“men are 100% responsible for unwanted pregnancies. No for real, they are. Perhaps you are thinking: IT TAKES TWO! And yes, it does take two for _intentional_ pregnancies.
But ALL unwanted pregnancies are caused by the irresponsible ejaculations of men. ”
I think she is advocating for sterilizing men at puberty, and then hoping it’s reversible when they later want babies…
” — no waddling to the toilet as your jizz drips down our legs.”
–snip —
“In my experience, men really like their testicles. If irresponsible ejaculations were putting their balls at risk, they would stop being irresponsible. Does castration seem like a cruel and unusual punishment? Definitely.
But is it worse than forcing 500,000 women a year to puke daily for months, gain 40 pounds, and then rip their bodies apart in childbirth? Is a handful of castrations worse than women dying during forced pregnancy & childbirth?
Put a castration law on the books, implement the law, let the media tell the story, and in 3 months or less, tada! abortions will have virtually disappeared. Can you picture it? No more abortions in less than 3 months, without ever trying to outlaw them. Amazing.”
–snip–
“At the onset of puberty, all males in the U.S. could be required by law to get a vasectomy.
Vasectomies are very safe, totally reversible, and about as invasive as an doctor’s exam for a woman getting a birth control prescription. There is some soreness afterwards for about 24 hours, but that’s pretty much it for side effects.
(So much better than The Pill, which is taken by millions of women in our country, the side effects of which are well known and can be brutal.)
If/when the male becomes a responsible adult, and perhaps finds a mate, if they want to have a baby, the vasectomy can be reversed, and then redone once the childbearing stage is over. And each male can bank their sperm before the vasectomy, just in case.”
I gotta wonder if she’s had her own minor sons sterilized? Or her daughters, since that’s the other way to prevent them from getting pregnant… nope, no mention of it, or of other forms of female birth control.
–snip–
“Let me walk you through it. Let’s start with this: women can only get pregnant about 2 days each month. And that’s for a limited number of years.
That makes 24 days a year a women might get pregnant. But men can _cause_ pregnancy 365 days a year. In fact, if you’re a man who ejaculates multiple times a day, you could cause multiple pregnancies daily. In theory a man could cause 1000+ unwanted pregnancies in just one year.”
Wow, I wonder how that could happen? I guess you could go to a rape hotel? Wait while I check the app to see where I can find one… ‘Cuz the number of places where I can have sex with different fertile females multiple times a day is, oh let me count, ZERO?? or I guess a man could have 1000 or more girlfriends? What woman would allow that? Or have sex with a man who did?
This woman wrote a book. She has a huge hit count. She’s won blog awards. And she’s insane. And a lot of her readers seem to be insane too.
n
Finally some sense to civil forfeiture…
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/scotus-cracks-down-on-civil-asset-forfeiture/
YES ! Somebody else gets it.
I don’t like Kindle for technical books, but I find it convenient for fiction. The format has its place.
That said, I think that the retail apocalypse has gone too far in bookstores, and mall stores with the format of the old Dayton-Hudson-era B. Dalton would probably work. Lots of mass market paperbacks in the major genres with a few bucks knocked off the cover price, minimal hardcovers, bestsellers, squeezed at the front of the stores.
Ironically, Dayton-Hudson understood the mall bookstore concept much better than Barnes & Noble, who bought and ruined B. Dalton.
I know many here are not fans of NR but read this…
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/02/elko-journal-national-cowboy-poetry-gathering-mustaches-and-hats/
just for fun – all three parts
that page loaded 24 scripts
And at least 19 were blocked, but the page still loaded the content.
b
arg, and I still have work to do that involves driving outside the house.
n
10-4, my comment was totally tongue-in-cheek.
OTOH, we do have some MDs that purposely sell RXs for opiates to druggies for income. However, are gov’t retards capable of doing database searches for those MDs who greatly over RX and defrock them?
OTOH, we do have some MDs that purposely sell RXs for opiates to druggies for income. However, are gov’t retards capable of doing database searches for those MDs who greatly over RX and defrock them?
Yes. I have a friend who was working at a family owned pharmacy who noticed that they were handing out an inordinate amount of opiates about 4 or 5 years ago. She complained to the owner who said “so what”. She quit and the pharmacy got raided by the DEA a week later. The DEA blackballed her pharmacist license anyway and she went to work as a real estate agent.
“Travelers” on Netflix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelers_(TV_series)
and
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/travelers/s01/
Wow, I binge watched the first season of Travelers over three days. Pretty cool series about people’s consciousnesses being sent to the past to fix an ecological disaster in the making.
Two more seasons to go ! The word on the streets is that there will not be a fourth season.
Yes. I have a friend who was working at a family owned pharmacy who noticed that they were handing out an inordinate amount of opiates about 4 or 5 years ago. She complained to the owner who said “so what”. She quit and the pharmacy got raided by the DEA a week later. The DEA blackballed her pharmacist license anyway and she went to work as a real estate agent.
Texas has what effectively amounts to a “shadow DEA” monitoring healthcare professionals in order to cut down the prescription medication abuse. My wife’s current employer applies lots of financial pressure to prescribe controlled substances at numbers which would make the patients happy, but doing so would place her license in jeopardy.
My wife has never seen a patient population so into Adderall (men) and Wellbutrin (women) as Texas. WA State and even Florida weren’t nearly this bad. She doesn’t prescribe beyond what’s reasonable, but, as a result, her paychecks have declined about 20% in four years.
Yes, a new job is in the works, but this will be the fourth practice change in 20 years. In the last few years, I’ve come to question the sacrifices we’ve made for her to get the license, especially after the move to Vantucky on the (laughable in retrospect) premise that it would be “forever”. I think my wife would have been better off as a PhD professior in Biology or Chemistry, with tenure and a pension by now.
Does she see a lot of oilfield workers?
n
Does she see a lot of oilfield workers?
No. The Adderall/Wellbutrin seekers peg her “Prog” meter. Typical whiny Austin types.
The most significant profession/substance abuse correlation she has seen over 20 years are the SpecOps types who have severe addictions to Ambien due to military doctors dispensing dosages way beyond what is available to civilians, the purpose being to make them sleep on demand, especially pilots.
She took one look at MJ Hegar’s commercials last fall and concluded that something wasn’t right with the woman. My wife said something was “off” in her eyes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IAzno9S5FY
Thankfully, MJ Hegar is once again opening doors on her way to work at Dell every morning … for now.
Ah, then probably not the type to use drugs to WORK longer.
n
Ah, then probably not the type to use drugs to WORK longer.
There ain’t no paid overtime in the oil patch nowadays. Oil has to get back above $70/barrel in order to make that happen. And that is not going to happen unless there is a war in the middle east or a revolution in Saudi Arabia.
“Jussie Smollett Faces Prison, Career Ruin if He Lied About Attack”
https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/jussie-smollett-felony-false-report-1203142874/
Rush Limbaugh has been making the campaign for quite a while now that progressive == mentally ill. I cannot see that he is wrong for a significant amount of progressives.
We are told that dialysis is certain and best hope for long term survival is a transplant.
My stepfather was on dialysis for several years. Definitely a situation where the treatment is almost as bad as the disease. My best wishes to you both. And, take that trip!
I’m thinking about writing a post about my workspace with pictures. Anyone interested?
Count me in.
“Jussie Smollett Faces Prison, Career Ruin if He Lied About Attack”
Yeah, his career is ruined regardless, but I still believe someone bigger was behind that stunt. The goal for the year is to make those MAGA hats the new swastika armbands.
A few more IQ points, and Smollett would have walked onto the stage a hero next Sunday night. If the “Brutally Honest” (my guess Kevin Smith with wife Jennifer ghostwriting) Academy voter’s handicapping is correct, Black KKKlansman will win Best Picture with “Black Panther” making a case among the voters for the statue.
C’mon. Muscle from Nigeria? Celebrities have connections, but not like that.
“Jussie Smollett Faces Prison, Career Ruin if He Lied About Attack”
If? If?
“Hate hoax” is one phrase I’ve seen used to describe the Smollett kerfuffle. Memorable because it’s both short and alliterative and pithily summarizes the thing it refers to. Nice to have when dismissing future occurrences of similar events–and you know there will be some!
Speaking of Netflix, The Punisher and Jessica Jones were cancelled. I think Disney has rights. If they stream a non-R rated version, they will suck. The final season of JJ has yet to air. The Punisher rocks.
Smollett is now a suspect. lol!
C’mon. Muscle from Nigeria? Yeah, celebrities have connections, but not like that.
Rush said that there are just some jobs that Americans will not do so, Smollett had to import some dudes from Nigeria.
I’m thinking about writing a post about my workspace with pictures. Anyone interested?
Any content is good content. Except for that person writing about walking to the restroom with &$$$ dripping down her legs.
Speaking of Netflix, The Punisher and Jessica Jones were cancelled. I think Disney has rights. If they stream a non-R rated version, they will suck. The final season of JJ has yet to air. The Punisher rocks.
I gave up on “The Punisher” midway through the second season. Just a bunch a gratuitous violence to me. I like to have some story with my gratuitous violence !
Disney is reputedly going to start their own streaming network in 2020 ? Why do I think that they do not have a clue what they are doing ?
Vasectomies are very safe, totally reversible, and about as invasive as an doctor’s exam for a woman getting a birth control prescription. There is some soreness afterwards for about 24 hours, but that’s pretty much it for side effects.
I had a friend of mine get his vasectomy reversed. It was so painful that he walked around with a hand in front of him for three months to keep anyone from running into him. He got his wife pregnant and went and had another vasectomy.
The vasectomy itself is painful and for several days after. My Dr told me that not every vasectomy can be reversed, and that occasionally they reverse themselves.
I don’t know if Vegas is booming, but it is evident building new houses won’t stop until Lake Mead is dry.
I can fix this problem with Lake Mead. You are willing to pay a dollar a gallon for clean water, right ?
The vasectomy itself is painful and for several days after. My Dr told me that not every vasectomy can be reversed, and that occasionally they reverse themselves.
Heh. I used to know a family that number 3 or 4 kid was born after his vasectomy. Number 4 or 5 kid was born after her tubal ligation.
Silly meme time.
It’s the smiling Husky dog…..
“If Britain leave the EU how much space will be freed up?”
“1 GB”.
And grin….
I had very little discomfort when I had mine done. I guess the most uncomfortable was the numbing injection. That and the shock on the little old lady’s face that was standing too close to me when I had to turn in a semen sample to the doctor. The receptionist asked what it was and I stated “It was my ejaculation, fresh from this morning.” The little old lady turned bright red and huffed something under her breath. I then told her don’t stand so close.
Neither mine, or my two brothers, had any such issues. I was told before the procedure that the chance of such happening was close to infinity if done properly. My doctor removed about one inch of the tubes, folded the ends back, stitched them closed. The doctors stated the chances of growing back together was astronomical. He also stated that because of the amount of the tube that was removed reversal of the procedure also had the same odds.
I’ve heard about people having the ends reconnect, and some sort of ‘cap’ that could be used in extreme cases. There are periodically long threads at Garage Journal. com in the forums about it. The human animal is programmed and built to reproduce. Sometimes his mind gets in the way….
n
Disney is reputedly going to start their own streaming network in 2020 ? Why do I think that they do not have a clue what they are doing ?
Disney owns a controlling interest in Hulu with the Fox buyout. They don’t really need another streaming network, but the threat spooks Netflix into making dopey decisions of their own.
Anyone can build a streaming network these days. The big challenge is content.
Smollett’s Folly is hiring lawyers left and right. His defense will probably be “I was bullied as a young, poor, Black, Gay ze.” Or, “I was traumatized by tRump’s election.” I’m waiting for results on the “letter” ze received. If he put it together, the Feds should lock zim up.
Smollett’s Folly is hiring lawyers left and right. His defense will probably be “I was bullied as a young, poor, Black, Gay ze.” Or, “I was traumatized by tRump’s election.” I’m waiting for results on the “letter” ze received. If he put it together, the Feds should lock zim up.
Prediction: nothing will happen to Smollett beyond his career being over. If he keeps his mouth shut, the Empire “residuals” from Disney will be quite substantial.
Remember, all of the Fox network programming made by the Fox studio now belongs to Disney.
I think his goose is cooked. What TPTB choose to do about it will speak volumes.
Our neighborhood had a robbery and carjacking last night, near enough to my house. The news reported it, without ONE SINGLE WORD describing the ‘group of men’ than jacked the victim. NOT ONE indication of what to look out for, or who to drop a dime on if it might be someone you knew.
I’m gonna go out on a limb, and guess that they were not white boys from the local Christian Academy.
n
Llol! Smollett’s attorneys are negotiating his surrender for arrest. Unlike Roger Stone who was perp walked with real assault rifles pointed at his piehole.
Anyone can build a streaming network these days. The big challenge is content.
Disney runs 4 or 5 channels on DirecTV 24×7. They have content out the wazoo. All of those old Disney movies from the 50s, 60, 70s, 80s, etc. Plus the Disney Mickey Mouse club, Hanna Montana, etc, etc, etc. Plus the Fox catalog.
Disney should not have been allowed to merge with Fox. That is antitrust-worthy.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-20/jussie-smollett-charged-felony-after-falsely-reporting-hate-crime
If they can get him on the mail charges, he’ll do time.
n
If they can get him on the mail charges, he’ll do time.
The irony is that if he hadn’t doubled down with the noose, bleach, and MAGA hats, the letter and the white powder would have been a nothingburger.
speaking of doing time—
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6727041/Coast-Guard-lieutenant-arrested-arsenal-accused-plotting-massive-attack.html
“over a thousand rounds” — um, if that’s the bar, it’s pretty low. And why did they seize all the other stuff in the pix? Ballistic plates and backpacks aren’t illegal. In fact, unless he was a prohibited person, none of the guns look illegal. It does look like there are a couple of suppressors, which MIGHT be illegal, but if they were, the breathless reporting would have been sure to emphasize that.
BTW, when the under cover narcs posting at WRSA encourage you to make “accountability files” it’s so they can later call it a “hit list”.*
n
*old joke, how can you tell who the UC Narc is? He’s the one encouraging you to do the illegal things.
The irony is that HE’S the ignorant racist. He seems to think that attacks like this are so common, that it wouldn’t receive the scrutiny it did (or that chicago cops wouldn’t investigate because they’re noose swinging racists.) He also doesn’t seem to have considered that there are cameras EVERYWHERE now. Or that cell phones are tracked, or that money is tracked and bank records are searchable, or that his contacts might be researched, including social media.
so generally ignorant, and racist to boot.
n
“Vasectomies are very safe, totally reversible, and about as invasive as an doctor’s exam for a woman getting a birth control prescription. There is some soreness afterwards for about 24 hours, but that’s pretty much it for side effects.”
Um…no. I’m all for encouraging vasectomies, when you’re done having kids. But trivializing the procedure is not helpful. It still involves surgery, even if it can be done without full anethesia. However “personal” a woman’s pelvic exam may be, it is no more personal than a vasectomy, and it is definitely not surgery.
I had some very minor discomfort: the cut-and-cauterized ends of the tubes were sensitive to pressure for a few years afterwards. Nothing serious, just annoying. Not having to mess with birth control was definitely worth the price.
That woman, btw, is a loon. I suppose the only question – if it makes a difference – is whether she is a genuine loon, or if this is an act she puts on to flog her books. Anyhow, her site is a great way of identifying a whole crowd of mysandrists. Psychochicks you definitely want to avoid.
The whole Smollett affair is just weird. Why would a 2nd rate actor be so desperate for attention? What did he expect to gain? Anyway, who actually still believes that blacks are so oppressed? To the extent that they are, it is by their own culture and attitudes. OTOH if he was put up to this, it is backfiring spectactularly: With the mail fraud, he has attracted federal attention, and a thorough investigation. If it was meant as a false flag operation, it’s entirely likely that the backers will be uncovered.
For example: I was just reading an article on CoyoteBlog where it points out how counterproductive “ban the box” has turned out to be (that’s where employers are not allowed to ask about an applicant’s criminal history. With the question, there is no noticable dscrimination against blacks – non-criminal is non-criminal. Blacks are still hired less, because proportionally more of them have criminal records, but that’s all. Without the box, there is massive discrimination – what a surprise – no one wants to hire blacks, because all you have to go on are the statistics – and most businesses don’t want to hire criminals. SJW good intentions strike again, damaging the very people they claimed to want to help.
They banned IQ tests for employment for the same reason.
n
Disney should not have been allowed to merge with Fox. That is antitrust-worthy.
Too late. The Fox networks will continue under News Corp., but the studio and all the movies/TV shows produced within are now Disney property.
Disney owns Bart Simpson. Crazy!
They banned IQ tests for employment for the same reason.
IQ tests are still allowed for employment, but they’re carefully controlled.
My employer screens programmers with an IQ test managed by an outside consulting company, but the recruiters, contract and internal, constantly push against the rule. They always have a [underrepresented group in programming] candidate who would be great … except they’re — pick one — intimidated by the online testing format -or- can’t make the minimum score we require.
The big problem for our method right now is attrition in the face of expansion in the business — every state/local government wants a toll road cash flow and we tend to burn out people. I think the system we have works well to maintain a minimum skill level, but management wants more people and more diversity in our group.
Customers like to have our other Junior Programmer (25 years old, single, female) show up on site and rave about her demos. Me? This week, I’m someone to blame for time synch issues I may or may not have created while fighting bigger fires.
I wonder how long Universal has rights to continue using Marvel IP for it’s rides at the theme parks?
Added: I just looked it up. No Marvel east of the Mississippi for Disney – period. Universal owns rights in perpetuity. Wow. Talk about a bad deal for Disney…
That protects the Universal parks in Florida, but might allow use of the IP in California. I don’t think disney would want the Universal parks, although they could cherry pick the IP for more family friendly stuff. When they are building an Avatar world, based on IP no one cares about, there is a serious lack of adult oversight and some real tunnel vision.
n
@greg, it was my understanding that you can still do specific ‘skills’ testing if the skills are relevant to the job, and there are emotional or ‘personality’ tests to weed out the slackers, and dishonest, but straight up IQ testing was forbidden. Did that change?
n
all males in the U.S. could be required by law to get a vasectomy
Involuntary sterilization of a whole segment of the population because you don’t like some factor (skin color, ethnic background, gender) is eugenics, plain and simple. It is just one way of saying “My [skin color, ethnic background, gender] is superior to yours with no exceptions. You should be eliminated or limited.”
For some people diversity has a pretty narrow definition.
@greg, it was my understanding that you can still do specific ‘skills’ testing if the skills are relevant to the job, and there are emotional or ‘personality’ tests to weed out the slackers, and dishonest, but straight up IQ testing was forbidden. Did that change?
We call it an “aptitude test”, but it is essentially IQ.
The company is allowed to use the test because it meets all the criteria set by the government for that type of screening. The same company runs our C++ skill level screening so we usually have candidates do both in the same session.
Added: I just looked it up. No Marvel east of the Mississippi for Disney – period. Universal owns rights in perpetuity. Wow. Talk about a bad deal for Disney…
Disney just cashes the checks for the license fees and merchandise royalties while Universal maintains the rides. The Hulk and Spiderman just received expensive overhauls recently.
RIP Peter Tork. Am I an idiot for liking the Monkees? Two gone now.
More snow in Vegas. You don’t hear that often. The Great Blizzard of 10 years ago was the last time real snow stuck to the ground. I just walked the doxie and he seemed to be fascinated by the flakes coming down.
Back to Chicongo next week to work with the Ford Foundation, then to Austin for MASBA, Phoenix (ASU), Seattle, then San Bernardino. 10 days on the road.