Cool, humid.
Yesterday ended up warmer than it started, but still nice. My auction pickup was on the other side of town, and I had some other errands to run, so that ate my afternoon. I did sell and ship one ebay lot. Yea me! I got a few more listings done, and a couple more items up on Craigslist. Still nothing from my other listings though.
Just as a PSA, my gun store buddy thinks prices will be rising dramatically as the election gets nearer. Might want to take advantage of prices as they are right now. Especially if you believe CWII is on the horizon.
With that cheery thought, you might want to look into body armor and some threaded barrels… because you def won’t want to attract attention if you do need to get kinetic.
Whoever let loose last night woke up half our neighborhood. Constables couldn’t find anything, but looking at FB group reports, it must have been in or near the open power line right of way that cuts through our neighborhood. There are a couple of nuisance properties in that area too. One neighbor on my street got an audio recording from his doorbell cam. You can hear at least 2 other shots. So it was an exchange of gunfire.
I might step up my moving plan a notch. I love this house, but too much stuff is starting to happen around us. There seems to be an increase in vibrance lately too. I am not amused.
n
Anyone on the east side of the big water have a comment on this? Since it’s in the NHS’ financial interest to treat fewer patients, anyone see this policy shrinking?
“Bristol Southmead Hospital: Racist patients could have treatment withdrawn”
I wonder what the staff’s overall demographics look like? What about their patient population?
n
Pig ebola continues to spread.
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/china-exports-african-swine-fever-russia
If I were a government that didn’t care much about my fellow man, but did care about my economic power, I might want to see my neighbors hog herds infected … Lots of chinese in the US with strong ties to the homeland.
Feral hogs are everywhere.
n
A lot of actual information in this article about the family that was massacred in MX.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7655867/Suspected-drug-lord-arrested-slaying-Mormon-family.html
The repeated mention of “Mormon” is odd. Why is that relevant or need emphasis? And the line about the family getting guns and heading out to rescue the injured- guns are illegal in MX, so that’s not something I’d like to see in print.
n
IIRC Jerry was a proponent of doing this testing.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7653633/Air-Force-develops-new-harvest-solar-energy-space-beam-military-bases.html
On it’s face, I can’t see the efficiency ever getting high enough, and the environmental issues of a HUGE high power radio signal burning thru the atmosphere seem problematic. That’s why we do experiments though.
n
I’m off to Miami today for several days. Staying with SIL who is on temporary duty there running port functions for Homeland. She gets to wear a star on her shoulder boards. Then off to Grenada for a week on a gig and some relaxation. Hope a shark doesn’t get me. Or flesh eating bacteria. Or swine flu. Or attack from Brazilian Zombies. Or tsunami. Or hurricane. Or plane crash…..
You should be safe from plane crashes, you’ve never even MET the Clintons, right?
Anyone else notice that another con artist, the former head of Theranos, looks a LOT like Chelsea Clinton?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7649625/Theranos-founder-Elizabeth-Holmes-appears-court-failure-pay-legal-fees.html
n
You never really own property in the FUSA:
A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
“Papers Please!”
On it’s face, I can’t see the efficiency ever getting high enough, and the environmental issues of a HUGE high power radio signal burning thru the atmosphere seem problematic. That’s why we do experiments though.
Dr. Pournelle stated on numerous occasions that the key obstacle to solar power satellites was the cost of lifting the components to low earth orbit. The science was worked out; everything left about implementation is engineering.
The X37B is the military working out on demand access for small payloads to low earth orbit for the cost of fuel. They’re probably also working on some surveillance tech as a side benefit, but my guess is the real goal is to have that orbiter up on 24 hour notice, preferably less.
Anyone else notice that another con artist, the former head of Theranos, looks a LOT like Chelsea Clinton?
Elizabeth Holmes looks a lot like all of the women the Valley has attempted in vain to prop up as poster children over the last 25 years in an effort to create a “female Steve Jobs”.
I saw Terminator: Dark Fate over the weekend. I consumed a bucket of popcorn, so I guess it was a good action flick. The plot and dialog were probably written by an 8th grader or a drunk Cameron who threw in a bunch of prog wet dream stuff. I wonder how much SausageHanger got.
Zombie Land 2 was OK. Go see it for the enjoyment of Zombie Kill of the Year in Italy.
I remember MrsAtoz raving about Holmes when she was on the cover of Time, I think. Not so much now.
Well, lookee here:
11,000 Scientists: The Green New Deal Won’t Cut It, We Need Population Control
I have plans for another carry pistol so I will always have one at hand. My armorer friend is finishing up my latest “high power rifle”. I have enough long guns now to engage targets at almost any range. Too bad if they all fell in lake Eufaula. I have a closet full ammo now but investing in Brass and Lead is always a good bet. Once I cash out my IRA I will be putting more gold in my underground vault. Once we get settled into retirement I will start prepping again.
Update: My former SEAL neighbor has convinced me to try a shoulder holster like he carries. As I will be spending a lot of time in my car with LOTS of cash in my retirement job, I think drawing from a shoulder rig would be easier than from an appendix carry holster.
First the lawyers then the scientists. Ok lawyers/politicians.
It always comes down to killing millions. Every one of the socialist schemes ends in millions dead.
@hcombs, shoulder holsters are out of favor at the moment, but I agree that they make a lot of sense for someone sitting in a vehicle.
n
nick: I tried a shoulder holster 40 years ago and found it uncomfortable and hard to get on and off. The one my friend wears is simple to wear and he swears by it so he has ordered one for me to try. I will report back.
I’d never advocate for anything illegal, but, if I was writing a character in a novel who was prepping specifically for a civil war– I’d equip him as an irregular. After covering food, water, ammo, meds, etc
He’d be stocking up on–
soft armor
small pistols
threaded barrels for same
solvent trap adapters
oil filters
reloading and bullet casting supplies
outerwear that was one or 2 sizes too big, to hide the bulk of the vest/chest rig, etc
gasoline and road flares
soap flakes
2 gallon paint buckets with lids
small xerox machine or used all in one printer
ID card printer off ebay with supplies and a hot laminator
(or https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/9284129/Advantus-Blank-PVC-ID-Cards-Printable/ )
“costumes”/ uniforms from goodwill- delivery services, security shirts, black bdu pants, ball caps, wigs, hats, jackets, decrepit looking pants and outerwear, etc
shirts and pants with ‘ugly’ patterns that could work as camo but AREN’T
bicycles- more than one, old and sh!tty looking
I’d have him buying all of these items with cash where ever possible, and as much in the ‘secondary’ market as possible. He definitely wouldn’t want to go out and order them all online in one go with a credit card. He’d have to be looking out and actively shopping for a while to get all that stuff.
If he was going to be moving around and doing things, he’d need lots of different outerwear, never wearing the same thing twice.
Things he doesn’t need-
radios- except possibly scanners with earphones
burner phones- he’s not going to be talking to anyone anyway. Three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead, and the third is a mute.
fancy guns- in fact sh!tty old revolvers are probably best for ‘drop guns’ or throw-aways. Crap semi-autos could be made quieter though. One op, one pistol. He doesn’t want to go down for more than one crime if caught.
suppressors- or any other NFA items irrevocably linked to him
ANY NFA items he doesn’t already have- most of the guys busted by the G were busted looking for NFA items
camo- Unless that’s what everyone in his AO wears everyday, camo isn’t camouflage. (sniping in the woods is another exception, possibly)
There are of course lots of other things that would be useful, depending on his goals and the actions available to him. Tools might be important. At some point small CNC mills and hobby mills might be as regulated as copiers were in the USSR. A stack of arduinos and razzberry pi boards might make sense if that was the kind of thing he could leverage.
What do you guys think? Is my freedom fighter doomed? Will he get a chance to make a difference??
n
Lone Wolf “freedom fighters” need to work within a larger context to be effective. They need a movement to support and a plan. Today’s freedom fighters are most effective at the ballot box. Maybe not tomorrow.
It’s an orbital death ray. That trumps all other considerations.
It’s an orbital death ray. That trumps all other considerations.
Dr. Pournelle’s papers are probably still out on the web site. The old designs envisioned receiving arrays being a square with edges measured in miles, built in remote areas.
” The old designs envisioned receiving arrays being a square with edges measured in miles”
–at that scale, certainly there are more efficient options? Like straight up pv solar?
n
The death ray thing should not be underestimated. Like the ability to drop rocks on cities, who holds the high ground makes the rules.
–at that scale, certainly there are more efficient options? Like straight up pv solar?
Nope. The atmosphere absorbs too much energy for PV at ground level to be as effective.
The death ray thing should not be underestimated. Like the ability to drop rocks on cities, who holds the high ground makes the rules.
With the ability to deliver bulk to low Earth orbit for the cost of fuel, it would be far more efficient to implement Dr. Pournelle’s “Rods from God” kinetic energy weapon concept than attempt to redirect the solar power satellites.
Zombie Land 2 was OK. Go see it for the enjoyment of Zombie Kill of the Year in Italy.
Wait, was it better than the Zombie Kill of the Week by the nun using a suspended piano ?
Well, lookee here:
11,000 Scientists: The Green New Deal Won’t Cut It, We Need Population Control
I wonder if that is a 97% consensus ?
nick: I tried a shoulder holster 40 years ago and found it uncomfortable and hard to get on and off. The one my friend wears is simple to wear and he swears by it so he has ordered one for me to try. I will report back.
Please do so. I am interested too.
What do you guys think? Is my freedom fighter doomed? Will he get a chance to make a difference??
No friends or buddies for firewatch ? You gotta sleep sometime.
Zombie Land 2 was OK. Go see it for the enjoyment of Zombie Kill of the Year in Italy.
Make it a double feature with “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”, featuring Brad Pitt’s dog munching hippie Manson Family scum.
It’s an orbital death ray. That trumps all other considerations.
Dr. Pournelle’s papers are probably still out on the web site. The old designs envisioned receiving arrays being a square with edges measured in miles, built in remote areas.
If I remember correctly, I think that it was a 1 mile by 1 mile solar receiver / power transmitter in outer space. The power receiver on the ground would need to by 10 miles by 10 miles due to the spreading out of the power beam.
Zombie Land 2 was OK. Go see it for the enjoyment of Zombie Kill of the Year in Italy.
Make it a double feature with “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”, featuring Brad Pitt’s dog munching hippie Manson Family scum. ”
I loved “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”. Quentin Tarantino had the guts to go wild and did so. Too bad real life happened though. Wow, $367 million in ticket sales.
https://g.co/kgs/m9PMcW
“Google Workers Demand Company Cut Contracts With Oil Industry”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/371756/google-workers-demand-company-cut-contracts-with-oil-industr
“On Monday, over 1,000 Google employees published an open letter calling on the company to develop a stronger plan to address climate change.”
Well, this makes me feel warm and fuzzy about doing business with Google knowing that their employees hate my industry and are willing to discriminate against us.
I loved “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”. Quentin Tarantino had the guts to go wild and did so. Too bad real life happened though. Wow, $367 million in ticket sales.
People want to be able to go see something adult … and I don’t mean porn. “Downton Abbey” beat the last “Rambo” flick opening weekend for both, and “Yesterday” made decent money in its theatrical release.
You’ll have to work to see it, but “Anna and the Apocalypse” is worth the effort and finally available on home video in this country. Bear with it for the first couple of musical numbers — they’re serious about the music — and the zombies will start showing up en masse.
My only gripe with “Anna” is the antagonist is a very English “pratt” type but not as unglued as Timothy Dalton in “Hot Fuzz”.
The next “Downton Abbey” type box office surprise will be “Miss Fisher And The Crypt Of Tears”, sometime in the Spring.
“Homeless camp cleanups underway in Texas, per Gov. Greg Abbott’s orders”
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Homeless-camps-cleanup-Texas-Greg-Abbott-14813836.php
As usual, the progs make a mess (in Austin) and the workers (conservatives) have to fix the place up.
I’ll bet that the campers are back under the freeways (our state highways !) in a week though.
As usual, the progs make a mess (in Austin) and the workers (conservatives) have to fix the place up.
I’ll bet that the campers are back under the freeways (our state highways !) in a week though.
Not in front of Planned Parenthood Austin (fronts SR71). I’ll bet they stay gone there.
Abbott created this mess by looking the other way while the city government went unhinged.
What is the per cent consensus WRT to the Second Law of Thermodynamics?
What is the per cent consensus WRT to the Second Law of Thermodynamics?
Way less than 100% with all of these wind turbines that they are installing in Texas. We may wake up to a windless year some day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics
On Sunday morning the stage monitors used by the choir were non-functional, no signal, no SDI lock. Thought it might have been because of my adventures under the stage may have broken the coax. Odd, because they are two separate cables, one for each monitor, doubting that I could have broken two cables.
So I did some locating and tracing of the cables which involved crawling under the stage and moving around in the ceiling. Found the route up to the ceiling and the path from the ceiling to the back of the sanctuary. Went to the back of the sanctuary in the equipment room and found the problem.
Installers had run two cables from the studio which is what I wanted. But they terminated the cables in the rear equipment room. Attached one of the cables to a SDI distribution amplifier and connected both stage monitor lines to this amplifier. Thus both were running off a single signal from the studio rather than being independently driven. Grrr. Someone had turned off the power strip to the amplifier, thus no signal to either monitor.
So I purchases some SDI to HDMI converters which will re-clock the SDI signal on the pass-through SDI connector. The HDMI is not used. I now have the ability to feed each monitor a different signal which was the original plan. I also moved the power strip cable to above the door (no power on the side of the door where the connection box is located) so the power will no longer be accidentally turned off.
This entire problem resolution took 1 hour Sunday morning (no resolution), 3 hours Sunday afternoon (found the problem). Another 2 hours today rerunning the power and establishing the connections and getting them labeled and tested.
Talked with the installation company and they said what they installed was temporary and was forgotten in the process of solving other problems. Apologized, stuff happens. I have now learned more about all the connections and how the cables are located. I hope I never have to go under the stage again, the ceiling very rarely.
Abbott created this mess by looking the other way while the city government went unhinged.
Gov. Abbott should not have to fix Austin city government.
However, “Austin is weird” is the official city motto.
“No friends or buddies for firewatch ? You gotta sleep sometime. ”
–he’s sneaky and a lone wolf. No conspiracy, no snitches. No one knows, so no one is looking at him.
–he doesn’t need to be part of an organization, he has his own goals, drive out the invaders, kill the enablers.
Every man a rifleman….
n
“No friends or buddies for firewatch ? You gotta sleep sometime. ”
–he’s sneaky and a lone wolf. No conspiracy, no snitches. No one knows, so no one is looking at him.
–he doesn’t need to be part of an organization, he has his own goals, drive out the invaders, kill the enablers.
Every man a rifleman….
Yes but even the Marine Corps sniper teams are two men. A spotter and a shooter.
Gov. Abbott should not have to fix Austin city government.
The city governments in San Antonio and Austin were emboldened by the lack of response by the state government to their forced paid time off ordinances and other initiatives. Instead of squelching the cities Prog ambitions in the last legislative session, Abbott and the legislature chose to spend political capital chasing Ann Richards’ ghost with another round of abortion restrictions.
Abbott believes that the courts will rule against the cities, particularly in the case of the paid time off mandate, but if he’s wrong, the legislature won’t meet again until 2021. At that point, I don’t believe a state-wide prohibition will be politically viable.
The city governments in San Antonio and Austin were emboldened by the lack of response by the state government to their forced paid time off ordinances and other initiatives. Instead of squelching the cities Prog ambitions in the last legislative session, Abbott and the legislature chose to spend political capital chasing Ann Richards’ ghost with another round of abortion restrictions.
Abbott and the legislature were scoring points with somebody. Not me. I am big on personal choice and personal responsibility.
“Bill Gates Goes After Warren on Wealth Tax, Won’t Commit to Backing Her Over Trump: Voting for Whoever’s ‘More Professional’”
https://www.mediaite.com/election-2020/bill-gates-goes-after-warren-on-wealth-tax-wont-commit-to-backing-her-over-trump-voting-for-whoevers-more-professional/
Whoa, ol’ Bill Gates has a sore spot ! Don’t take his money and toys away using a federal property tax.
BTW, Warren’s federal property tax is now 6% per year. And she is going to charge you on every stick of wood and square foot of land that you own. And if you think that only billionaires are going to pay her federal property tax, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Warren is going to end up charging every person in the USA (except the homeless in Austin, TX for shopping carts and tents) to pay for her free healthcare to the illegal immigrants.
https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-shortfall/
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
Whoa, ol’ Bill Gates has a sore spot ! Don’t take his money and toys away using a federal property tax.
William Gates Jr. (Billg is “trey”) was a big time tax attorney in Seattle.
Gates’ giant house in Medina would be a huge black hole of property taxes alone. The legend around Seattle is that Billg had to buy the city a secure four drawer filing cabinet to lock up all the paperwork for the permitting process during construction.
I’ve long suspected that the successon plan at Berkshire Hathaway is for Gates to replace Warren Buffett as the good-natured tight-fisted symbolic face of the company with Greg Abel and Ajit Jain responsible for doing the non-PR aspects of Chairman Warren’s job — investing and capitol allocation to the subsidiaries owned outright.
The simple homespun financial wisdom in the Berkshire annual report has been ghostwritten by Carol Loomis at Fortune for decades. Nothing will change there.
Abbott and the legislature were scoring points with somebody. Not me. I am big on personal choice and personal responsibility.
All kidding aside about Ann Richards’ ghost, an anti abortion group worked all of the state legislatures in the south last year, lobbying for the kind of new restrictions which Texas passed.
Finally got my wax filters and ear pieces for my hearing devices. Three shipments over 3 days. All from the same place. Why can’t the VA combine the shipments into one?
@ray, you don’t want the world to end do you? .gov saving money while providing a service would be like the gates of hell opening and letting the damned roam the earth….
n
I stand corrected oh Wizard of Commerce.
I just find it annoying having to get three packages over three days, from the same location. I got the batteries and thought where are the wax filters, got them on Tuesday. Then thought where are the ear pieces, got them the next day on Wednesday.
To top it off the box with the batteries was not sealed. Opening the box just required opening the flap. Anyone along the way could have stolen the batteries although the batteries would have little to no value to anyone else. Thieves stealing just steal because they can.
Almost every time my life intersects with .gov, I find myself feeling frustrated and angry. It’s like the Monty Python skit where the character suddenly demands “Look, am I paying for this abuse?” and the answer is “No sir, all part of the service.”
My current rant is about the food waste in schools. They’re telling these kids the world will end if they use more than 3 squares of toilet paper, then they throw away 1/3 of the food served to them. With all the other doublethink necessary to get along, it’s driving them mental.
n
School food has gone the way of the DoDo. My Jr and Sr Highs made good food from scratch. Shepherd’s Pie on Friday was awesome. Real, with homemade mash on top. Scratch stews, soups, bread. These days you get a boxed chicken patty with dried out carrot strips. Who wants to eat that shit.
Shepherd’s Pie on Friday :shocked: Blasphemy
We had fish sticks, fish sticks every Friday or you could have an egg salad sandwich.
Other than that school lunch in the 60s was good, homecooked, and varied with sensitivity to our large Jewish and Catholic population. The Lunch Ladies were nice too and no one was ever embarrassed if they couldn’t afford a lunch ticket, no cheese or baloney sandwiches, they got their choice like everyone else. Some actually “worked” at the school during one of their 1/2-period study halls or after school to pay for their lunches. The Music Boosters and Athletic Boosters also made sure the financially challenged could participate in the music and sports programs.