74F and 99%RH. Finally got cooler after dusk yesterday. Until then it was plenty hot and humid, if not as much as the day before. openweathermap has a tiny bit of rain and mid nineties in our forecast. Yuck.
“Facebook Introduces New “Libra” Digital Currency With Landmark White Paper“
What in the world are people thinking? Bitcoin is bad enough, letting Facebook have the power to create money? Insanity.
Speaking of insanity, the march to war continues with another 1000 headed to the middle east. Iran is ramping up…
People are in the streets in Hong Kong.
No news out of France for a while, wonder if the yellow vests will be in the news this weekend?
Stack it high…
n
And does this @sshole really qualify as “an Army veteran”? He didn’t even make it 2 years. I thought the minimum enlistment was more than that, and with the current situation, to get cut loose he must have been a real screwup.
“‘I don’t know how much longer I have, I’m f***ing ready’: Army veteran, 22, posted photos of ammunition and warned of an approaching ‘storm’ on Facebook before he was shot dead by police when he ‘opened fire outside Dallas federal courthouse’ ”
n
Stay away from crowds…
“Four people are SHOT at the Raptors NBA victory parade sending swathes of the two million fans who packed Toronto streets fleeing in terror before police take three suspects into custody”
Look at this photo. I’m no military or tactical genius, but that looks like the very definition of “killing ground”. Also WTF CANADA? Gun violence free Canadia???
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/17/17/14893134-7149701-The_Raptors_beat_the_two_time_defending_champion_Golden_State_Wa-a-10_1560789052686.jpg
n
Time for swim practice, back in a couple hours.
n
64º and sunny. Feels a good bit warmer than that to me. I kind of like it like this.
I haven’t put the A/C units in yet. The forecast doesn’t have an 80º degree through next Sunday, so I have at least another week. I like that, too.
Sam’s Club run this week. Nick’s list is being put to good use. Steel drums and cases of water to add to the list. I’ll use the pneumatic-tired hand-truck to haul it into the basement. 😉
Speaking of insanity, the march to war continues with another 1000 headed to the middle east. Iran is ramping up…
Lets hope Iran is a gag/bluff by Mustache Boy under Trump’s direction.
A shooting war will end Trump in 2020.
A carrier at the bottom of the Gulf or simply limping back to Diego Garcia under tow would be the catalyst for the Senate to support impeachment.
An effective bluff? That would make reelection virtually certain. “W” almost pulled off a diplomatic solution, but too many of the drunk pervert REMFs at MacDill wanted what we’ve had for the last 17 years.
My gut tells me Iran is a bluff. If it isn’t, God help us all. Again, Iranians are Persians, not Arabs. Regardless of religion, their population does not desire turning back the clock to the 14th century, and they remember how the CIA forced the Shah on them, leading to the mullas running things.
I wonder how tRump will deport “millions of illegals” starting next week. Air dropping them from C-17s would guarantee no recidivism. Remember the turkey drop from WKRP In Cincinnati? “like sacks of wet cement”
A mere 102F predicted for today and tomorrow. Coupled with higher humidity as thunder clouds form over the Sierras should make for pleasant days. House in disarray as living room, office, and two bedrooms get new carpet. Then putting it aback together. AC pumping away. Goodtimes for PG&E. Maybe I’ll just lay in the pool.
I wonder how tRump will deport “millions of illegals” starting next week. Air dropping them from C-17s would guarantee no recidivism. Remember the turkey drop from WKRP In Cincinnati? “like sacks of wet cement”
That’s definitely a bluff. ICE will conduct raids raids, but no one will know exactly when/where so everyone will be nervous.
Well crap. Apparently someone tried to apply for credit in my wife’s name at Sprint. It was denied because they could not verify her identity. I suspect it is because the credit reporting agencies all have a block on the account. Thus it would appear that my wife’s SSN is out on the wild. I got a letter in the mail, correct name and address so someone has the information. She is not real careful with that stuff, especially at doctor’s offices. It really irritates me that the receptionist asks for SSN while other people are standing around. Of course there are the cretins in the office that have access to that information. I will be watching mine and spouse’s credit report carefully.
@Nick regarding editing comments….
If you are logged in (you’ll see the black admin bar at the top), there should be an ‘edit’ link right next to the date/timestamp of each comment. No countdown timer, except on your own submitted comments.
EDITED BY NICK- countdown with 45m 17sec
@Rick, that’s the way it USED to work. Now i only see the “click to edit” and the countdown on comments less than one hour old.
n
@nick – I am logged in, and see the black admin bar at the top (in FF, laptop). There is a “(Edit)” text after the date/timestamp that allows me to edit the comment. Shows up on all of them, not just latest ones.
I only see if I am logged in as admin. If I log out, the edit link is not there.
@lynn – this cropped up in my google news page
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/possible-clue-lyme-arthritis-found-patients-inflamed-joints-n1018476
@lynn – this cropped up in my google news page
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/possible-clue-lyme-arthritis-found-patients-inflamed-joints-n1018476
A small but significant number of people with Lyme disease continue to suffer from symptoms long after finishing an antibiotic treatment. The mystery of why may have come closer to being solved with a study published Monday that found that bits of the Lyme bacteria can persist in patients’ inflamed joints even after taking antibiotics.
It is much worse than that. My daughter has cysts under her skin, in her joints, and in her brain. Thousands of cysts. The infectious disease doctor has employed cyst breaker drugs (very similar to syphilis). The cyst breaker drug did not work. The biggest one is two inches across and in the back of her brain. You can see some of the cysts on a x-ray.
xkcd: glacier
https://www.xkcd.com/2164/
Uh, dude. I hope you took a potty break first.
Explained at:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2164:_Glacier
I remember Florida being a laughingstock eight years ago when the Governor turned down the high speed rail money which ultimately went to CA.
This project has the potential to link three of the state’s major international airports directly, one indirectly (Miami), Orlando-Sanford (smaller carriers, international charters), and the Disney property, all via rail with, at most, a single transfer.
https://www.tampabay.com/transportation/virgin-will-be-the-fastest-train-ever-in-the-southern-us-when-orlando-service-starts-20190618/
Tampa is still holding out for a Downtown station instead of allowing the train to run to the airport. That was part of the problem with the high speed rail eight years ago. It isn’t viable to run to Tampa and have people transfer to a bus for the few miles out to the airport.
I heard that FB is creating their own crypto-currency.
I figured if FB can do that, so can I. So I created a proof-of-concept page here. http://cellarweb.com/mutinybaymoney/index.php .
Please contact me privately to invest in this. It’s a great opportunity !
(I am easily amused…)
@rick, I’d gladly pay you in crypto tomorrow for a cheeseburger today…..
I’m logged in the way I always have been, and have the admin? bar across the top of the page, but I get the comment edit behaviour I described.
It was the other way until you changed the comment plug in. Not a big deal, just different. What IS a big deal is that I don’t have the other comment management choices either. I can’t delete, edit, mark as spam, move to another post, or anything else.
nick
I just read up on the Facebook currency, and left a short summary of the important bits on SoylentNews.
Basically, the currency looks like a means to an end for Facebook: they want to become a bank, and figure having a new currency may be a way to get into a business that would otherwise circle the wagons against them.
Their idea has already pissed off some politicians (which I applaud), and they have some big names behind the currency itself, which will be run outside of Facebook’s control (which is also good, at least potentially).
The banking industry needs disrupted, and I think a stable and nation-independent currency would be a great thing. But…Facebook. That’s not who I want doing either of those things. Interesting times…
Goobermints (and their minions) hate cyber-currency since they don’t control it. Too bad they aren’t in bed with Hedera Hashgraph, the new and upcoming blockchain+.
Crypto-currencies remind me of an SF book I read years ago. One of the dialogues discussed different kinds of cash. Some corporate-backed bills, some government-backed bills, and some hard currency. “Mastercard Bucks” was one of the topics.
I think having currencies that are backed by something solid is a good idea. That’s why hard currency maintains its value. Backed by the “Full faith & credit” of a country that will print more as needed means it’s not backed by much.
Crypto-currencies remind me of an SF book I read years ago. One of the dialogues discussed different kinds of cash. Some corporate-backed bills, some government-backed bills, and some hard currency. “Mastercard Bucks” was one of the topics.
I think having currencies that are backed by something solid is a good idea. That’s why hard currency maintains its value. Backed by the “Full faith & credit” of a country that will print more as needed means it’s not backed by much.
We are headed back to the good old days when every bank had their own currency. This may not end well.
during the depression, cities and towns had their own money, you can see examples of the scrip on ebay.
n
We are headed back to the good old days when every bank had their own currency. This may not end well.
Texas has a bullion depository going up in Leander. I don’t know what the status is on that project, however.
Why would Texas be storing soup?
Well not exactly gun-violence free. It is difficult to be a legal gun owner in Canada for long-guns. Several million people, mostly hunters and mostly in rural Canada, have long-guns. It is very difficult to be a legal hand-gun owner in Canada. It is nearly impossible to have a concealed carry permit for a hand-gun in Canada. I only know of one person who has one, and he had it because of legitimate death threats including a letter bomb. Of course, with every incident like you quoted, the government (and the very good and very concerned) want to place further restrictions on the folks who have complied with the law to be legal gun owners. Crooks don’t care about such laws, and since there is a floating pool of some 300 million or more guns just a few miles south across the US border, smuggling of guns is a “thing”. Still, the gun death rate here remains well under the US rate so while I think further restrictions on legal gun owners has no point, I don’t want any loosening of existing restrictions either.
“Texas has a bullion depository going up in Leander”
Why would Texas be storing soup?
There was a strong succession movement in the state leading up to the 2016 election, but you don’t hear much from that crowd as of late. Some of them drove the establishment of the depository.
The last time we toured the money printing plant in Fort Worth, shortly before the election, the gift shop had a display of “joke” mockups of Texas currency featuring pictures of both Presidents Bush. Not for sale.
When I asked the gift shop cashier if they were preparing for something, the response was, “No comment”.
Unfortunately, even if the “Bush” dollars are still on display, cameras and camera phones are not allowed inside the plant.
@TV, yeah, I’m poking Canada a bit. I worked for a company outside of Toronto, and held a green card for several years. Well, the one that lets you work legally but not live there…
The oddest thing about crime in Canada for me was all the biker gang/Hell’s Angels stuff in the news. You never hear about outlaw bikers here. (except when the cops try to shoot a bunch of them like in Waco)
n
With respect to gun violence here. The only people walking around with hand guns are cops and criminals.
Getting a “Firearm Acquisition Permit” isn’t that difficult. You only need to pass a written test that is concerned with the legal aspects of firearms and safety. Getting a “restricted” permit which also allows hand guns just requires passing a different test.
Significantly, it is not required to demonstrate actual competence with a firearm.
There is a federal election coming up in the fall and more gun control always plays well with a large part of the urban population.
I’m ambivalent about our extremely restrictive gun control. On one hand, I don’t see how having people wandering around with guns would make me safer. Especially if they handle their guns the way the handle their cars. On the other hand, I think that you should be able to keep anything you want at home. And the have little impact on gun violence. See my first comment.
There were also a couple of stabbings at the parade as well. But that just isn’t as dramatic and not worth reporting.
The oddest thing about crime in Canada for me was all the biker gang/Hell’s Angels stuff in the news. You never hear about outlaw bikers here. (except when the cops try to shoot a bunch of them like in Waco)
The Twin Peaks building in Waco is cursed. I don’t recall seeing anything in the space since the incident, even briefly.
@Rolf Grunsky
Significantly, it is not required to demonstrate actual competence with a firearm.
Actually, your information is a bit out of date. The replacement for the FAC is the PAL or RPAL (Possession & Acquisition Licence or Restricted Possession & Acquisition), depending on whether you’re interested in long guns (most are under the PAL) or prefer handguns or ‘black rifles’ and a few others which require a RPAL. One day course for the PAL including a practical and written exam, and if you pass you can take the one day course for the RPAL with, again, practical and written exams.
They still don’t test shooting competence, but the point is safety not ability so if you can master safe handling, you can pass.
I’d like to see some restrictions on ownership and transport relaxed to an extent, but I don’t think legal carry will ever be a possibility.
There was a strong succession movement in the state leading up to the 2016 election, but you don’t hear much from that crowd as of late.
Do you mean secession ?