Cool but hopefully no rain.
We could use the chance to dry out now that we got all that rain. The ground is squishy.
Yesterday I spent way too long monkey punching my linux install to get my NVR software running again. Linux does some dumb things. So does my NVR software. Still, it’s orders of magnitude more stable than the windows version, and I don’t have Gates and Co. messing with my computer every month or whenever they feel like it. Still not something I’d put on a customer site unless they had a wild mix of cams that were not supported by hardware NVR or VMS (video management system). With the ONVIF standard for IP cams, it’s getting to be rare that a camera isn’t supported by newer hardware.
I do feel a lot better with the cams recording to my NVR as well as internally.
The new range hood project should be finished today. I’ve got to get the exhaust duct connected and supported, and Bog’s my carbuncle.
Christmas break is now only 3 weeks away. I should get some decor out if the weather holds. It was CHILLY yesterday, as well as damp. I’ve got citrus still ripening on the trees, so I hope we aren’t going to get a frost for a while yet. No fall garden, that’s clear now. Except… my broccoli is putting out florets. I’ll be happy to eat them, and the other dark leafy veg might be collards. In any case, the leaves are looking edible to me… But new veg? Not happening.
So that means stacking some more cans of veg. Because I won’t be feeding us from the garden.
Other supplies, especially defensive stuff has been very limited availability, and high price relative to last year. Cheap compared to January, I think. If I had money, and access to the stock, I’d buy a pallet of ammo. But neither of those things are true. If you are short of what you’d like, sign up for palmetto state armory’s enewsletter. They are rumored to have one of the big manufacturers as a partner or owner, and while they are (in)famous for their inexpensive ARs, they also have been getting stock of defensive handguns, shotguns, and parts. They’ve had more inventory than most of the other places I check. AR500 armor had a sale on, if you think some body armor might be a good idea. It takes a while to get your order fulfilled by them, so you might want to look around. Their product seems good though, and their prices were low. Ammo is hit or miss. Rocky Brasss newsletter, or GrabAGun’s, or one of the linker sites like ammoseek.com is probably your best bet. Expect to pay $1/rnd for 556/223, and 50c to $1/rnd for common pistol calibers, much more for anything fancy. Airsoft or BB guns will let you work common problems without breaking the bank…
Think about what you will do if some restrictive laws do get passed, and DON’T tell anyone that you’ve decided on anything other than selling all your stuff quick before the laws take effect. Make sure you have a bill of sale… even if it’s just to A. Random Patriot. When bad things happen they tend to happen all at once, and very rapidly.
Times are going to get tough, no matter what happens with the election, or the wuflu. Too many cans have been kicked down the road. Too many things have become un-tethered from reality. Far too many people aren’t able to hold a contrary thought in their heads, and react violently to the suggestion that they should.
It’s not too late to shore up some weak spots, but it will be soon. How soon is yet to be seen. The longer you wait the more it will cost and the harder it will be.
So keep stacking,
nick
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the passing of David Prowse, the ORIGINAL Darth Vader.
Way back in the day, there was a bit of secrecy about Vader, as with the other characters that were voiced by one actor but played by another. RIP.
n
Nick: re “lost+found”: https://www.howtogeek.com/282374/what-is-the-lostfound-folder-on-linux-and-macos/
Alan: People still use Snopes for topics with any political or social sensitivity? That’s cute.
Be really careful when in the shell started by “sudo su”. That makes you root, and “rm -rf /” there can really ruin your day.
Glad to hear you recovered @Nick. When you get a chance, look into Timeshift and sheduling backups of the NVR system’s main file system to an external drive regularly.
Yesterday I spent way too long monkey punching my linux install to get my NVR software running again. Linux does some dumb things. So does my NVR software. Still, it’s orders of magnitude more stable than the windows version, and I don’t have Gates and Co. messing with my computer every month or whenever they feel like it. Still not something I’d put on a customer site unless they had a wild mix of cams that were not supported by hardware NVR or VMS (video management system). With the ONVIF standard for IP cams, it’s getting to be rare that a camera isn’t supported by newer hardware.
If you think you might want to put the NVR on a customer site, check around for someone in the Ham community out there who could be a part time in-person guru at reasonable rate to help with strange problems like yesterday’s in person. Ham and Linux have huge overlaps in interest.
Way back in the day, there was a bit of secrecy about Vader, as with the other characters that were voiced by one actor but played by another. RIP.
Vader’s portrayal had five actors/stunt people by the time “Return of the Jedi” wrapped IIRC — Prowse, James Earl Jones, a stand-in for distance shots, a Kendo master, and a stuntman.
The BBC’s “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” miniseries has a cool cameo by Prowse — no mask, speaking his character’s lines — which did get mentions in a lot of the obits over the weekend. I believe Prowse delivers the line about the rock star spending the year legally dead “for tax reasons”.
This morning Freedom Munitions .com has pistol and rifle ammo in stock. 9mm 115gr FMJ reman is 63c/rnd. I put 1000rnd in my cart, so they aren’t limiting purchases that much.
556 is sold out, some 223 in stock. No 762x39mm 80-90c/rnd
n
So this is the ‘hand recount’?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9001211/Dominion-Voting-Systems-server-crashes-election-recount-Georgias-largest-county.html
n
#Linux
Following RBT I moved to Linux (Ubuntu more specifically) more than 15 years ago. I am from an IT background, but would describe myself as moderately competent (can usually use Google to fix any issues that I come across). I am a delighted user. Browser (Firefox), Office (LibreOffice), graphics (GIMP), Zoom etc deliver reliably all that I need. I must admit to having an exclusive Win10 box for running Sky and BT apps for sports (lives under the main TV), and use VirtualBox to run Win10 to support NetObjects Fusion for some web sites I manage.
In addition, a small company (Charity) I established to run an indoor soccer centre has run for 10 years using Linux, with staff with extremely limited IT skills and with minimal support from me (although I am still defined as their IT Support). I also have introduced Linux to friends who wish to keep using older, lower spec hardware for web browsing etc, and only ever had positive feedback.
Calling Soros a “holocaust survivor” is technically true I guess, but given HOW he did it, with his family being collaborators, it’s a bit of a stretch.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8998127/Hungarian-official-compares-George-Soros-Hitler.html
They didn’t like what he said, so they want him crushed.
n
-also, you can’t say anything bad about Soros, no matter what. FFS, read some of the ‘debunking’ about soros ‘myths’. I haven’t read anything that shifty in a long time.
This Star Wars rant from Chasing Amy always cracks me up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3XTHVC1Nf0
I’m no fan of Fauci at this point, but there are a couple of things in this article worth thinking about
–yep, you go first. I’ll wait and see, just like Dr Fauci.
–so the current ‘tested’ and ‘effective’ vaccine is really neither, as far as anyone knows. That might be a bit exaggerated, but how many people got it so far? And how many were locked into a room with known sick people, and no other PPE?
–again acknowledging that we haven’t yet had one.
–football season is over?
–that’s a lot of testing. Who’s paying? Who’s tracking the kids medical history? Who’s sticking swabs up the kids’ noses?
–exceed a politically set threshold, and you just change the required behavior when the politics demand.
–this I completely agree with. The only question will be magnitude, and what that tells us for going forward.
n
–football season is over?
Maybe for high school and college teams without hope for a conference championship or bowl bid, but the 49ers have two more games in Levis Stadium, located in Santa Clara County.
Maybe the 49ers will go back to Kezar, their original stadium, featured in “Dirty Harry”.
Developers razed Candlestick Stadium for a “lifestyle center”, but I don’t think construction proceeded. That site is a miserable place to do anything outdoors.
LA reports 300 murders this year so far. A record after 10+years. Cut your cop funding, lock down everybody, and, gee, the crooks don’t give a shit. They like wearing masks and Burn, Loot, Murder to their hearts content. It’s going to be Mad Max time in LA, and soon.
–this I completely agree with. The only question will be magnitude, and what that tells us for going forward.
The numbers will be grim but also cooked to justify a general lockdown. Just closing the bars, which has proven effective in reducing case counts, is not politically viable.
The Lame Stream Media is gushing over HARRIS/plugs pick of an “all female” comms team. No mention that tRump already has this. Healing.
LET THE HEELING AND LSM BUNG-HOLE KISSING BEGIN!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/29/what-changes-after-covid-19-im-betting-everything/
–turn off javascript to get past the paywall popup
n
+ a googolplex.
Time to get a car-top camper for the Subie Outback. I’ll just crap off the side and hit the gas.
Well here’s the answer to the question about the 49ers stadium.
Maybe Kezar isn’t so crazy after all, but a lot of otherwise idle facilities with easy transportation and up-to-date TV infrastructure are available in Texas and Florida, including the Alamo Bowl, Camping World Stadium (I’m not kidding about the name), and, in a pinch, Tropicana Field. Even the Central Florida “Bounce House” facility is viable.
Filling a stadium to the current limits in Orlando for a 49ers game? Easy this time of year.
The Toronto basketball team is going to start their season in the Tampa hockey arena. The players chose the location when presented with multiple choices.
https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/san-francisco-49ers-allowed-play-stadium-weeks-covid/story?id=74441337
Ack! Power is out again. Two days in a row. Today it is cold, clear, blue and 42.
44F and breezy here in Sunny Houston. 50%RH.
n
Ack! Power is out again. Two days in a row. Today it is cold, clear, blue and 42.
Electric heating systems. At least the holiday is over and ovens aren’t flipping on at 9 AM.
I wonder how many people are actually working at the USAA campus. Either way, they have to keep the lights on and HVAC working.
Brief freeze in Austin predicted for early tomorrow morning. At least we got real rain this time.
Does that work for the WSJ?
And on a related note, can one site read the cookies placed by another site? I assume advertising cookies can be read by anyone, but will WSJ know I’m reading Transgender Today and mine that info?
And on a related note, can one site read the cookies placed by another site? I assume advertising cookies can be read by anyone, but will WSJ know I’m reading Transgender Today and mine that info?
Cookies are tied to a domain, but a lot of sites insert tracking mechanisms run by third party aggregators such as Facebook and Google.
Sort of. I don’t want to get into all the ins and outs, but the most straightforward answer is that SiteA uses some JavaScript libraries from monetizethesheep.com, for useful features (eg, the ubiquitous google libs) or explicitly for ad revenue. You visit SiteA and get cookies from both sitea.com and monetizethesheep.com. You later visit SiteB, which also uses monetizethesheep.com. SiteB doesn’t see and of the cookies placed in your visit to SiteA … but when you visit SiteB, monetizethesheep.com is able to see that you already had monetizethesheep cookies. Depending on how tightly the JS library is integrated into the sites, monetizethesheep may be able to see what search terms you used on each site, how long you spent on each site, and so on.
Keep in mind, the above is the simple answer.
Thanks Steve & Greg. That was my impression, but wasn’t sure if SiteA could *directly* access SiteB’s cookies. Unless they share a domain, the answer is no.
I block third-party cookies. Firefox says that can cause sites to break. I haven’t had any problems. I have exceptions for a few cookies, like my bank, but the rest are deleted when I close Firefox.
And then there is the HOSTS file. Works great for stuff AdBlock Plus allows that I don’t like.
Nope. This is the 3rd count. There was a hand count earlier.
Swan Eaters: Grandma Yaga
https://www.gocomics.com/swan-eaters/2020/11/30
So Grandma Yaga is literally Olwen’s grandma. Neat !
Another Wuxu Flu story which made the local news last night. Floating the trial balloon in San Antonio to pressure the Governor.
I’m not buying it, but the big box stores are an easier target than the bars.
https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/11/29/el-paso-mayor-dee-margo-says-recent-coronavirus-spike-due-to-covid-fatigue/
A Girl and Her Fed: Three Female Koalas, Redux
https://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.1817.html
And let the crazy begin ! And the girls are definitely Speedy’s descendants.
BC: Cave Paintings
https://www.gocomics.com/bc/2020/11/30
I hate Thor too.
Cases are still rising during this wave of the pandemic. Deaths are probably not far behind.
The number of Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. has dropped in the last few days, but there is reason to think the decline is a statistical mirage — and that deaths are on the verge of surging again.
Why? The relationship between confirmed new coronavirus cases and deaths has held fairly steady this fall. If you track the number of new cases, you can fairly accurately predict the number of deaths three weeks later. Every 100 new cases in the U.S. has led to an average of about 1.7 deaths, with that three-week lag. It’s not a precise equation, of course. The time between diagnosis and death in fatal cases is sometimes shorter than three weeks and sometimes longer. And the death rate is not exactly 1.7 percent. But that simple formula has done a striking job of describing the path of Covid deaths in recent weeks.
The chart here shows the relationship — daily deaths compared with an index equal to 1.7 percent of newly diagnosed cases from three weeks earlier. The two lines have risen almost in tandem for the past three months:
Chart and rest of the article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/briefing/biden-foot-bill-de-blasio-schools.html
The end is Nearer! The end is Nearer!
I want to create a toilet seat with a motion detector that will sense motion and distance. Raspberry PI should do well.
Another one of Derek Chauvin’s future neighbors in Windermere. Just plain folks.
Don’t walk into that timeshare presentation in Florida expecting the free Disney tickets to come without resisting a lot of pressure. There is a good reason why.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/real-estate/luxury-real-estate/os-ne-queen-of-versailles-jackie-siegel-mansion-update-20201130-zjd7dmvo6zdezdptdrqsd7x45m-story.html
The death rate has to be decreasing as the population of vulnerable elderly and co-morbid is reduced and the young and healthy become the vast majority of infected
If you look at the CDC graph of excess deaths, the expected number of deaths is lower this fall than it was in the past few years. It seems to be about 1,000 per week lower. My guess is that it’s due to the spike in nursing home deaths in March/April.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm#dashboard
Think about what you will do if some restrictive laws do get passed, and DON’T tell anyone that you’ve decided on anything other than selling all your stuff quick before the laws take effect. Make sure you have a bill of sale… even if it’s just to A. Random Patriot. When bad things happen they tend to happen all at once, and very rapidly.
If I were to have buried a few gubs with 10+ round magazines, would anyone find them once I passed away ?
Make a treasure map and litter it with baffling clues!
If I were to have buried a few gubs with 10+ round magazines, would anyone find them once I passed away ?
Of course. A. Random Rust can always find fine steel.
So this is the ‘hand recount’?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9001211/Dominion-Voting-Systems-server-crashes-election-recount-Georgias-largest-county.html
There was no true hand recount. First, the signatures were never verified on the mail in ballots. Second, the tabulating machines (Dominion computers) were used for all the tabulations on the first, second, and third counts.
BTW, the tabulating machines can write on the ballots. Why ?
BTW, the tabulating machines are connected t0 the internet. Why ?
I’m no fan of Fauci at this point, but there are a couple of things in this article worth thinking about
Dr Fauci warns that ‘it’s going to be months’ before children get a COVID vaccine because doctors must see how the vaccination performs with adults first
Dr Anthony Fauci said it will be months before children can get COVID vaccine
Fauci said it’s important to see how the vaccine performs with adults before administering it to kids
Fauci said the reasoning for his prediction is because children ‘are vulnerable’
–yep, you go first. I’ll wait and see, just like Dr Fauci.
Calhoun County (Texas), where my parents live, is going to limit the vaccinations to 70 and above for the first month or so. My parents are already signed up.
It’s going to be Mad Max time in LA, and soon.
Yup, we are gonna turn LA and NYC into giant prisons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_L.A.
“Second, the tabulating machines (Dominion computers) were used for all the tabulations on the first, second, and third counts. ”
–that’s what I suspected. You hear ‘hand recount’ and think one thing, but all that sending the same unverified ballots thru the same untrustworthy tabulating machines does is potentially catch errors in handling. It certainly doesn’t do anything to catch fraud.
n
The resulting declines will crush hotels, airlines and their workers, plus the budget of every city with a significant tourism or convention business.
Time to get a car-top camper for the Subie Outback. I’ll just crap off the side and hit the gas.
Coming next, seniors selling their homes due to rising values and rising PROPERTY TAXES. Buying an RV and moving it every six months from state to state so no property taxes are due.
https://www.amazon.com/Distraction-Bruce-Sterling/dp/0553104845/?tag=ttgnet-20
Calhoun County (Texas), where my parents live, is going to limit the vaccinations to 70 and above for the first month or so. My parents are already signed up.
The VA is dropping hints that they will mandate vaccination for all of the staff. I assume this means they are anticipating having a supply, but nothing is set right now.
My wife will go back to private practice if the shot is made mandatory. The problem there is that she is a lousy negotiator, and the VA was the first job she’s had where I didn’t need to subsidize the practice of medicine. I even covered part of the five-figure malpractice tail out of my grad assistant checks leaving Vantucky.
“Treason” by Orson Scott Card
https://www.amazon.com/Treason-Orson-Scott-Card/dp/0765309041/?tag=ttgnet-20
Standalone science fiction fantasy book, no prequel or sequel that I know of. This is a rewrite of “A Planet Called Treason” by OSC in 1979. I read the ok printed font and well bound trade paperback published in 1988 by Orb Books.
Here is the first paragraph of the marketing blurb, “Lanik Mueller’s birthright as heir to planet Treason’s most powerful rulership will never be realized. He is a “rad”–radical regenerative. A freak among people who can regenerate injured flesh… and trade extra body parts to the Offworld oppressors for iron. For, on a planet without hard metals–or the means of escape–iron is power in the race to build a spacecraft.”
The author has a website at:
http://www.hatrack.com/
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (137 reviews)
They would be found, if you used a service like my “NotHereAnymore” web site.
(I should really finish up the notification process for that site. Everything else works on the site. Been distracted getting the latest Western book finished, cover made, and uploaded to the Zon.)
Coming next, seniors selling their homes due to rising values and rising PROPERTY TAXES. Buying an RV and moving it every six months from state to state so no property taxes are due.
Some states already have onerous property taxes on vehicles as part of the MaaS push to discourage private ownership of cars. That trend will accelerate.
Couldn’t you just take the gubs as soon as the location was uploaded? Not that you *would* do that. 😉
Well, theoretically. But all the data is encrypted, and I’d have to have an idea about the content of the specific instruction, and then manually decrypt the instruction.
Since I wrote the code for the site, I guess it could be done. But I’d have to be inclined to do so. And I am not so inclined.
They would be found, if you used a service like my “NotHereAnymore” web site.
Couldn’t you just take the gubs as soon as the location was uploaded? Not that you *would* do that.
Well, theoretically. But all the data is encrypted, and I’d have to have an idea about the content of the specific instruction, and then manually decrypt the instruction.
Since I wrote the code for the site, I guess it could be done. But I’d have to be inclined to do so. And I am not so inclined.
Today. But what about your inclinations of tomorrow ? Especially with the Legions of Harris’s inspectors shoving toothpicks under your fingernails ? (saw that on season 2 of Agents of Shield that I was binging this weekend).
ADD: I have decided that should I ever be threatened with torture, I will just give up the info immediately. After all, all the people give up the info eventually on the tv shows. Especially when the torturer(s) bring out the chain saws.
Veteran SF author and editor Ben Bova dead of Covid-19:
https://twitter.com/KathrynBruscoBk/status/1333160997104873474
Bummer ! I have read 20 to 30 of his books and have a couple in my SBR (strategic book reserve).
The average out in a field commercial building must have any number of reasons to build a somewhat thicker than average partition for out of sight storage. If a residence has a basement, the ceiling is a great place for storage “ducts” or just decking and storage between the rafters. Under the attic insulation also comes to mind, with a bit of drywall reinforcement.
Youtube has plenty of examples of hinged bookcases and mirrors concealing hidden storage. Soss hinges are very useful.
My wife will go back to private practice if the shot is made mandatory.
Why ?
If I were to have buried a few gubs with 10+ round magazines, would anyone find them once I passed away ?
The average out in a field commercial building must have any number of reasons to build a somewhat thicker than average partition for out of sight storage. If a residence has a basement, the ceiling is a great place for storage “ducts” or just decking and storage between the rafters. Under the attic insulation also comes to mind, with a bit of drywall reinforcement.
Shhh!
Yeah, he was 88+, but let’s say COVID *killed* him. The FUSA sucks.
Bad Orange Man murdered him because he’s a sociopath!!!!
Nope. The hand recount was a true hand recount.
https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-1a2ea5e8df69614f4e09b47fea581a09
The hand recount was planned before the election to be sure the electronic count was accurate.
“My wife will go back to private practice if the shot is made mandatory.”
Why ?
She doesn’t want to be part of the science experiment.
@~jim,
Yes! Reminds of a hymn that they used to sing when I had to go to church as a child. The words were about being “nearer” to God.
Yes, the KungFlu can kill you and get you Nearer to God as you go through the Pearly Gates.
” Veteran SF author and editor Ben Bova dead of Covid-19
Yeah, he was 88+, but let’s say COVID *killed* him. The FUSA sucks. ”
–um, would you be objecting if they said the pneumonia killed him? Or if they said “complications from a fall” or even just “heart attack”?
because if the only listed cause of death you object to is the wuflu, then you might be on the wrong side of that. If he had the ground glass xrays, a positive test, symptoms, and he was alive with good prognosis for continuing alive, then yes, the covid killed him.
We don’t know if those things were true, and you might suspect that they are too free with the diagnosis, but it’s entirely possible that COVID-19 stole 10 years of life from him. Even 10 minutes is too much unless he was already at deaths door.
n
In other Covid-19-Apocalypse news, the “McRib” is back.
In other Covid-19-Apocalypse news, the “McRib” is back.
Now with more bat.
Second, the tabulating machines (Dominion computers) were used for all the tabulations on the first, second, and third counts
Nope. The hand recount was a true hand recount.
Got proof of that ?
Will the Orion ever fly? Will the SLS ever lift it?
Yet another setback for this pork filled boondoggle.
Years behind schedule and tens of billions over budget, this may well be obsoleted by SpaceX and the Starship.
https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2020/11/30/21726753/nasa-orion-crew-capsule-power-unit-failure-artemis-i
The Indian Nations in Oklahoman have their own vehicle registration and tax outside the state system. We paid $150 for our current tag instead of the $1800 the state wanted. Of course you must be a tribal member and live inside the Indian nations boundaries.
Will the Orion ever fly? Will the SLS ever lift it?
Yet another setback for this pork filled boondoggle.
Years behind schedule and tens of billions over budget, this may well be obsoleted by SpaceX and the Starship.
SLS will fly once. Then NASA will have full employment for nearly a decade at Kennedy stripping the SLS tooling out of three of the VAB high bays along with disassembling the three (!) launch towers either rehab-ed from Ares I or constructed new.
IIRC, Orion was capable of flying on Atlas. NASA ordered three capable of carrying astronauts.
Plaintiffs seek inspection of the voting machines in Cobb, Gwinnett, and Cherokee Counties [Georgia] by experts.
Defendants are state and county officials, who have announced intentions of wiping the Dominion voting machines to prepare them for the runoff election in four weeks.
“Defendants counsel also argued that allowing such forensic inspections would pose substantial security and proprietary/trade secret risks to Defendants.”
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7fewfrnbatz0jb7/THIRD%20ORDER%20-%20PEARSON%20v.%20KEMP%2011.29.2020.pdf?dl=0
Since Dominion is not a defendant, the argument is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krD4hdGvGHM
“The Democratic People’s Republic of the United States, est. Nov 3, 2020”
https://gunfreezone.net/the-democratic-peoples-republic-of-the-united-states-est-nov-3-2020/
“We are no longer the United States of America, a Constitutional republic.”
“We are now America’s largest banana republic, and should adopt a name befitting that dishonor.”
“The Democratic People’s Republic of the United States.”
Of course, the author and I are assuming that Joseph Biden will be crowned president on Jan 20, 2021. Trump could still manage to turn this around but I doubt it.
“My wife will go back to private practice if the shot is made mandatory.”
Why ?
She doesn’t want to be part of the science experiment.
I am on the fence about the various vaccines. My dad and I had a long conversation about this and his philosophy for him and Mom was to take the vaccine now since they are 82 and 70 and both in remission from stage 4 cancer.
Dad thoughts on the covid was mostly around the polio virus and the various vaccines. The problem comes if you are part of the “magic” populace that does not handle the covid well. An indicator of this is diabetes. Reputedly, people with diabetes, under control or not under control – it does not seem to matter, fair much worse with the covid. Neither Mom nor Dad have diabetes. But all three of their sisters do have diabetes.
I am on the fence about the various vaccines. My dad and I had a long conversation about this and his philosophy for him and Mom was to take the vaccine now since they are 82 and 70 and both in remission from stage 4 cancer.
Since the sick are not required to stay home, everbody should be able decide for themselves about the shot. However, I believe that the TSA will eventually make vaccination a requirement to fly domestically after Trump leaves office.
Blood type and + or – also seems to make a difference. O fares above 10% better and minus(-) is better than plus(+) at not getting it. O- is best.
Believe it or not, I favor this. I want TSA’s useless rules to make flying so unpleasant that the airlines have a choice of going out of business, becoming slaves of the federal government, or telling the TSA to get stuffed.
Surprise!
Ever the optimist, my first thought after 9/11 was that Pinkerton’s was about to get alot of business. Silly me.
Heard on the radio today: every time a dead person votes, a dum-bro-crat gets their wings.
Some states already have onerous property taxes on vehicles as part of the MaaS push to discourage private ownership of cars. That trend will accelerate.
The Indian Nations in Oklahoman have their own vehicle registration and tax outside the state system. We paid $150 for our current tag instead of the $1800 the state wanted. Of course you must be a tribal member and live inside the Indian nations boundaries.
Does that $1,800 include sales tax on a new (to you) vehicle ?
You have to carry special paperwork with you for the Yellow Fever vaccine if you travel to certain countries. IIRC, 20 years ago when I was doing it regularly, it’s just a medical form most people fold up and shove inside their passport. There’s no real verification. It’s nothing you couldn’t create yourself in Word in 10 minutes and nobody is going to call whatever doctor’s name you forge to verify it. (Funny side story: My optometrist was appalled when I told her I used White-Out to change the expiration date on my contact lens prescription so I could order more and had been doing so for years. She started in on how illegal that was and then I interrupted her to bring her back to reality by describing both the absurdity and low odds of the DEA kicking down my front door over some very limited quantities of contact lenses for my personal use.)
I suppose in this day in age they could put together an electronic registry of who has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Though, as I’ve mentioned before, by the time they have the supply chain in place to vaccinate the average Joe it will be a moot point as almost everyone will have had the disease by then.
We paid $150 for our current tag instead of the $1800 the state wanted.
By coincidence, I just received my registration renewal notice for one car, and it rounds to $150. This, without even pretending to be of native heritage like a certain professor-politician back East, no offense to real natives. (My wife is a small %Cherokee, but too small to be able to claim benefits. Proud of it, however.)
What gets me is that I live in California, where supposedly everything $costs. Well, maybe not everything, including property taxes, thanks to Prop 13 and having had our home for 40+ years.
That is much more of a good deal. I can’t believe 13 has lasted so long, in spite of nearly constant attacks.
Well shoot, the current temp where my citrus trees are reads 32F. It got into the 60s today so I didn’t check for a freeze warning. I haven’t covered anything, and I normally would. I’d probably have picked all the fruit too. Dammit. It’s around midnight, and it will probably get colder for the next few hours. They can take a little bit of cold, but not much I’d like to risk after all these years of nursing them along.
I was getting stuff done and lost track of the weather.
n
I don’t see the problem with this. Drug of any kind, and I imagine vaccines as well, are rarely tested on children or pregnant women, and hardly on women at all since the testers often insist the women sign releases promising to not get pregnant during the test period. Usually, drugs are tested on men first. This makes sense as it is really difficult to convince parents to volunteer their children for a drug test and for similar reasons difficult to convince a pregnant woman to volunteer (I am Canadian, and I went to university with a someone whose mother took thalidomide when pregnant – he has no left hand). I don’t know more about this than what I have read in the media (not a doctor or a medical researcher), but you make darn sure all is well with use by adult males before you test on non-pregnant females, females in general, and then maybe on kids. These are of course, legal and social reasons not to do this. Someone with medical chops can comment on the medical reasons.
It’s not the process that I found worth commenting on, it’s the stark difference from how it’s being portrayed. Anyone who thinks about it realizes that they can’t have had that many volunteers, and they can’t have had that long to be sure it both prevents the disease, and doesn’t do anything bad. Hence my “you go first” attitude. But the press and the politicians are acting like a vaccine will immediately start solving the problem of COVID, and we all need to rush right down and get the jab… and become part of that larger test group…
Hell, they’re already talking about a ‘vaccine passport’ for a vaccine that hasn’t had a large scale deployment, and might not be safe or effective (any of the 3 or however many there end up being).
Anytime someone wants you to rush into something, you can be sure it is in their self interest and probably not yours.
n
Yes. The article I linked to had this statement I pulled and quoted:
This is from a Republican official in the SoS office in GA. They had planned this hand recount before the election in order to audit the electronic count. In addition, it had a picture of the hand count being done. Two people sitting at tables, placing ballots in piles based on who it was for.
Well, yes and no. The Atlas would have needed some modification to man-rate it. It would have needed some additional instrumentation and a computer to process it and forward an “Get off now” signal to Orion. It was also on the ragged edge of having enough lift. I’m not sure how the switch to the ESA-provided service module affected things, though it probably added weight.
We never formally looked at putting Orion on any booster than Ares when that was still active, or later on SLS. Talk of such was verboten as it would offend NASA. Now, there may have been some people at the Atlas office that looked at it as a backup.