Cool to cold, clear, really really hope for no rain. We are supposed to continue clear for a couple of days.
Wednesday was light jacket and long pants, but nice and sunny and clear. I hit a couple of errands, mainly checking in with my gun store buddy (he’s frazzled) and doing some pulling and organizing in one storage unit. That was in preparation to taking another load to auction today, and maybe another to the other auction tomorrow.
I really want to sell as much as possible before the shooting starts.
And I don’t see any way around the shooting starting. I could outline why but I think you all know what I’d say by now. Anyone who sees a path that doesn’t rely on the right either being all mouth and no ass, or being VERY restrained (and what’s the chance of that with covid cabin fever raging) feel free to lay it out below. The left is demonstrating daily that they can’t wait to fire up the midnight raids and start running camps. Not right away of course, but it will get there. Look what they’re doing to Trump and people who have political power and money. When they’re talking casually about taking kids away from their parents so that they can be re-educated, and it’s not Ted Kazinski in a cabin in the woods but respected people in management of everyday institutions like PBS, I think that’s indicative of worldview and mindset. It’s pretty much opposite of mine, and I’m not going to meet them halfway on that. The masks are coming off and the ugliness is astonishing.
Once the shooting starts, I expect supply chains to literally blow up. The great TP shortage of 2020 is going to look like shopping at Walmart by comparison. I didn’t expect things to get started so quickly and I have revised my expectations accordingly. While there will be ebbs and flows in the pace of incidents, I expect some soon, and MUCH worse than I originally thought. I’m not thinking about the Monkey Wrench Gang so much as angry mobs tearing stuff up and burning stuff down. 100 John Lee Malvos, not one. 100 Timothy McVeighs not one. As icing on the cake, normal crime is spiking and will continue and increase while the authorities are otherwise occupied. You may never see an insurgent,but I bet you’ll see home invasions, robberies, rapes, assaults, car jackings, etc increase dramatically.
Maybe it won’t happen that way. I don’t want it to. Maybe it will be worse. Maybe it will take longer. I don’t see the emotions going away and it doesn’t take much to disrupt our world. And CV-19 is still killing people. How many of those 20K guardsmen will be infected, and bring it back to their communities when they de-mob? Wonder if they’ll call it a super spreader event and blame Trump? Nah, couldn’t happen.
Keep stacking. It isn’t gonna be ‘back to normal’ anytime soon, if ever.
nick
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9142985/GPS-data-Parler-hack-shows-users-app-stormed-Capitol-Building.html
–wonder if parler users understood that all that metadata was being stored…
Parler was a legal app in both major platforms’ stores until last week. The install processes on both Android and iOS alert the user about the system facilities accessed by the new apps, including location. Caveat emptor.
The DM is playing a mind game with the words “legally obtained” regarding the location data. That status is highly debatable, but the evidence certainly wouldn’t be admissible in court.
At this point, the only location data which would be admissible is whatever the FBI can obtain from the cell phone carriers’ own maintenance servers.
Anyone who sees a path that doesn’t rely on the right either being all mouth and no ass, or being VERY restrained (and what’s the chance of that with covid cabin fever raging) feel free to lay it out below.
The right was all talk and no show at the polls in Georgia last Tuesday.
As I wrote last week, I am familiar with the personality type who *wants* bad things to happen and has been waiting since Jan. 1 2000 for vindication of their life choices, but it is in the best interest of everyone that bad things *not* happen.
Social media – agreed. That said, the Parler admins seem to have been singularly incompetent. Hackability (including uploaded IDs), deleted data not really deleted, running their user verification off of “free trial” software, etc, etc
This was doubly demonstrated by the fact that they had no backup plan for being taken down. This despite the fact that Gab went through exactly the same thing, not all that long ago. They still don’t even have a static page up – how pathetic is that?
These are not people you want running any sort of sensitive website.
Two words: parallel construction.
These are not people you want running any sort of sensitive website.
Right now, in the US, everyone qualified and available to put up a complex web site wants an AWS project on their resumes. It is the equivalent of Java 20 years ago.
The admins running Parler’s site saw an opportunity to build Hot Skillz.
To be fair, Parler management and investors only looked at the bottom line. Politics aside, the negatives of dependence on AWS have been known since Amazon started making the CPU time and storage available to anyone with a credit card.
“the only location data which would be admissible is whatever the FBI can obtain from the cell phone carriers”
Two words: parallel construction.
Big project. Lots of data in disparate formats.
Plus, it is the DM. God only knows if the location data from Parler’s AWS really exists in sufficient quality and quantity to do that kind of correlation. The editors got a good story that sold papers and generated clicks on the site.
Again, this is the time of year in Britain where “Death in Paradise” is the #1 show or close every week. Schadenfreude over the US political situation is just another form of escapism.
I definitely see that. And AWS is a really nice platform to use – although they’ve added so much stuff that it’s hard for part-time users to keep an overview.
But still: No backup plan, especially after seeing Gab get de-platformed? Running user authentication on free-trial software? Leaving the copies of people’s IDs online, where they could be hacked? Not even getting a static page up, after four days, to let their users know they still exist? Competence…is different.
That said, I’m none to fond of the Gab guys either. I corresponded with them at one point, back when they were looking for investors. I came away with a poor impression. Their financials were a joke, and missing lots of critical information. Their valuation was ludicrous. I was left with the impression that they were looking for suckers. Maybe that’s unfair – dunno – but that was the impression they left…
DM’s coverage is ‘evolving’.
–while still using inflammatory language about the attack on the cop, they dropped the “Trump supporter” assertion, and it’s a far cry from the first day’s language.
n
Not for nothing is the Daily Mail known colloquially as the “Daily Fail” here in UK.
G.
Yep, sad state of affairs when a foreign tabloid has the best coverage of US news. I have noticed a small change in the last year. I think their US coverage has probably been subverted to an extent. They had the most balanced coverage of the election by far last time around. Less so this time.
n
Re: Carvana
I was seriously considering using them for my last car purchase a couple years ago. Like Mr JimB, I know exactly what car i want, and it’s usually not easily found on the lot. I wanted a used Cadillac ATS 2.0 Coupe with a manual 6 speed. Very rare. My Cadillac dealer said it doesn’t exist, so that ruled them out as a source. At the time, I found 8 total cars for sale east of the Mississippi, with a couple more in TX. One was Carvana and another was with Carmax. Luckily, the Carmax car was in Nashville, so a free transfer to Huntsville.Their price was fair, not the lowest by any means, but on this car it wasn’t out of line. Low miles, well cared for, factory warranty remaining – bought it the day i looked at it. That was almost 3 years ago and I still love the car.
When it’s time for the next car, if Carvana has it, I’ll give them a shot. As for dealers? Meh, if they have a car I want, I’ll try to buy it, but I don’t play the games anymore. Service? I do everything possible myself. There are lots of good auto techs out there, but there are also lots of bad ones. Feeling lucky? Oh, and oil changes are done by some dude they almost literally drug in off the street an hour ago.
–while still using inflammatory language about the attack on the cop, they dropped the “Trump supporter” assertion, and it’s a far cry from the first day’s language.
Once Trump returns to being a private citizen, the lawsuits will fly. His brand is damaged, and labels such as “insurrectionist” wouldn’t be hard to sell to the right jury as slander.
Inpeachment was the lead on the local Faux News last night, and an organization calling itself “The Lincoln Project” started running “Shame on Ted Cruz” ads during the first few commercial breaks.
Covid coverage was downplayed but continued to feature the conveniently-named 20-something reporterette, Marin Austin, cleavage prominent, dispensing the City of Austin/Travis County propoganda. Last night’s “news” was the dystopian convention center hospital — “Just like ‘Outbreak’!” according to my kids — finally has a few patients.
I wonder who got shoved out to the convention center. It isn’t supposed to host critical patients, and homeless Covid cases go to the Crowne Plaza at the edge of Downtown Austin. My wife sees homeless vets occasionally, and they talk about the sweet setup, complete with room service.
I regard to impeachment trials after President Trump leaves office:
I heard an interview with a constitutional law scholar (Keith Whittington of Princeton) who wrote his dissertation on impeachment. (Later turned into a book.) He says that they absolutely can have an impeachment trial after someone leaves office. It was done at the time in England and the impeachment of a former governor of India? was going on at the time and was debated by the drafters. The barring from future office was the main concern of the impeachments at the time. He also pointed out that there was an impeachment done of a judge after he resigned. If you can’t impeach after leaving office, resigning would be a way to get out of it and avoid punishment.
He said that if President Trump issues a self-pardon, it will go to the Supreme Court. It’s not prohibited in the Constitution, but it goes against the common law principle that you can’t be your own judge.
First of what I plan to be weekly posts on COVID vaccinations in Texas. Texas is at Phase 1a and 1b, which is
1a – Health Care Workers, Long Term Care Residents (nursing and assisted living homes)
1b – Those over 65 and those over 16 with a comorbidity
As of 1/11/2021, Texas had:
Allocated 2,058,050 doses to providers (hospitals, group practices, pharmacies, etc.)
Shipped 1,574,800 of the allocated doses out
Total persons with 1 dose of the vaccine: 764,314
Total persons with 2 doses of the vaccine: 98,479
So for the past week:
Shipped: 241,350
1 dose administered: 324,812
2 dose administered: 98,479
Shots/day: 60,470
Shipped/day: 34,479
The number of shots/day is increasing faster than the amount shipped but about 45% of shipped doses are still in the pipeline.
Note: These numbers don’t include 487,500 doses allocated to a program for long term care institutions. Data from:
https://tabexternal.dshs.texas.gov/t/THD/views/COVID-19VaccineinTexasDashboard/Summary?%3Aorigin=card_share_link&%3Aembed=y&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&fbclid=IwAR1VTREinxhR_daSudl4iQKjQoo2oXA2_P2fx4rO94ltm-J7p3f0kJMucaM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9146719/Venice-opens-control-room-tracks-tourist-visit.html
–the system will undoubtedly be subject to ‘mission creep’ and capability will undoubtedly be expanded. After a success full trial in Venice, expect similar everywhere.
n
–if the ‘sensors’ truly only see sillouettes, they are probably Time of Flight ‘cameras’ which I have linked to before. Lots of companies in the US pushing them for use in schools. They can be used for facial recognition, without ever taking what humans would regard as a photo.
“‘The system will use a mix of sensors, cameras and wifi to constantly monitor the situation with a data release every 25 hundredths of a second,’ he said.”
–the system will undoubtedly be subject to ‘mission creep’ and capability will undoubtedly be expanded. After a success full trial in Venice, expect similar everywhere.
The key is the WiFi remaining active on the tourists’ phones after leaving the hotel.
Lots of shopping malls here already have similar systems.
Building a tracking system for something person-sized across a wide area just from video feeds is still hideously unreliable and very expensive in terms of CPU required.
My previous employer’s video-based ORT system is the only one that actually works, and the acceptable tracking error rate for car sized objects in a tightly controlled field of view (the toll plaza) was a tenth of a percent when I left. Sounds good, but multiply by a thousand … or ten thousand … and each of the errors represents where the system simply gives up.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9147781/Man-threw-fire-extinguisher-police-U-S-Capitol-arrested.html
–NOT the guy accused of bludgeoning the other officer. Odd that now that they know his name, there isn’t one mention of being a Trump supporter. Could be, but no mention.
n
When it’s time for the next car, if Carvana has it, I’ll give them a shot.
@ITGuy1998, we think alike. CarMax was the other source I didn’t remember yesterday. A third is CarGurus, but maybe a distant third. I have these suggestions from a guy who deals (i. e. is a dealer) in cars of special interest. BTW, cars of special interest is the common term for practically anything out of the mainstream. That is at least three quarters of what I buy. It wasn’t always that way.
Up to a couple of years ago, I mostly looked at Autotrader, and then not very seriously. I like their interface, which is good for those of us who know exactly what we want. I don’t like that their ads are a bit dominated by dealers, even if I specify private party only. No site is perfect.
As I hinted, I live in a remote area, with only 30k people inside a ten mile circle. Beyond is a vacuum. The nearest metro area is about a hundred miles away. There is no Craig’s List coverage here, and most sales are done through either trade ins or word of mouth. There are two new car dealers and two used car lots, but they are not worthwhile. There IS a fair amount of interest in cars of special interest and most forms of hot rodding, but that isn’t what I want this time.
Meanwhile, I am frequenting sites that have dealer brochures. Brochures are no longer very good at describing options, but will have to do. I also look at owners manuals, which can be helpful and are readily available. Finally, there is the general web. All this takes time, but is worth it to me. From this I develop a list of things that are must have, things that are must not have, and others. I have also rented prospective models over the years, but that only gives a limited impression. Oh, I have rented cars I wouldn’t own, but they were an absolute blast for a week. Whole other story.
A Caddy with a manual transmission? I would have bet that didn’t exist except as an export model. Good for you that you got what you wanted and you love it after three years. Come to think of it, I have practically never sought an exact car. Almost all my cars have been found offered for sale by private parties, and I have bought at least one without ever driving it. On the less serious side, I have bought at least one just to try it out. My problem is that I like almost all cars, and have trouble parting with them. I also keep them a long time. One of my dreams might be to be like Jay Leno: unlimited funds, a staff, and lots of free time to tinker and enjoy. Oh wait, I do that, just on a much smaller scale.
As for working on cars, it is getting a lot easier. So many things don’t need regular maintenance. Your comment about the oil change dude drug (snicker) off the street is well taken. Most cars I have bought have shown signs of this, with rounded off drain plugs (really, pliers?!) and one with a repaired pan that I replaced. Cretins. Oil changes are so easy on most cars that anyone who cares should not trust any shop. Oh sure, there are good shops. If you find one, treasure it, go regularly, and take their advice. It ranks up there with finding a good dentist. For an example, watch the Car Wizard as he does a thorough oil change. I wish he could be cloned and put in every town.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9142985/GPS-data-Parler-hack-shows-users-app-stormed-Capitol-Building.html
–wonder if parler users understood that all that metadata was being stored…
and while the article says the data for the graphics was ‘legally obtained’ I don’t see how that could be true.
Social media is a trap. JUST DON’T DO IT.
n
So this place is not social media ?
Lindsey Graham made the point, if you can impeach someone out of office why not Obola, Bush, Klinton, and, George “Slave Owner” Washington. ProgLibTurds are tearing down monuments, going to change Army Fort names, eradicating name of Confederates, etc. Just like Dirty Harry Reid nuking the judge filibuster, when/if Redumblicans come back in power, why not go after any and all Dumbocrats.
This is a slippery slope. The Turtle should do all in his power to finish the impeachment sham before Dumbos control the Senate and start attacking anybody they don’t like.
Bob called this place “unsocial media”.
”
So this place is not social media ? ”
–antisocial media!
Seriously though, ‘social media’ used as short hand to mean any “site” or “service” that wants you to join, collects and sells data mined from your activities, plays tricks to increase “engagement”, and is a ‘walled garden’ that attempts to keep you on their “platform.”
No tracking here, no memberships, no selling of user data, no attempts other than organic conversation to keep you here, etc. BIG difference. We are social but this isn’t ‘social media’.. .
And no one is giving me or Barbara, or Rick any money for anything.
BTW– I don’t mind anymouse comments, I completely understand the need or desire. Please pick a version of the name and stick with it so we don’t end up conflating more than one person called ‘anonymous’ if you think you’ll comment more than once. Or use any other persona you like, many people here are using either long term aliases with known associations, or some version of a real name, but it’s not necessary. OR sign the actual comment in any way you want so we know it’s the same ‘you’ even with the anonymous name.
n
added- the only thing collected here are your words, and the IP address you connected from. I used the email list on one occasion to share the news of Bob’s passing. The only reason I might use it again is if Barbara, Rick, or I passed, or if the site got shut down.
If you can’t impeach after leaving office, resigning would be a way to get out of it and avoid punishment.
Well, Tricky Dick resigned under the mere threat of impeachment, but that was a kinder, gentler time. Not.
No tracking here, no memberships, no selling of user data, no attempts other than organic conversation to keep you here, etc. BIG difference. We are social but this isn’t ‘social media’.. .
Whew. You had me worried where you were heading there… well, not for more than a moment. 😉
“If you can’t impeach after leaving office, resigning would be a way to get out of it and avoid punishment.”
Well, Tricky Dick resigned under the mere threat of impeachment, but that was a kinder, gentler time. Not.
The Senate was firmly under control of the Dems back then, and the Republican minority consisted of mostly Establishment types like Dole and Howard Baker. The legend is that Nixon resigned after the non-Establishment type Goldwater and Minority Leader Rhodes told him that conviction was certain.
By resigning, Nixon also got to keep his law license in California, something which was extremely important to him on a personal level. Clinton was disbarred and lost his law license in Arkansas post-Impeachment since the State Bar concluded sufficient evidence existed that he *did* commit perjury while he was still an officer of the court.
And the Senate went Republican briefly starting in 1980 thanks to conservatives riding on Reagan’s coattails after the Establishment Republicans went into a political coma following Watergate. Florida even sent a (gasp!) Mormon woman to the Senate, Paula Hawkins.
Despair is a sin.
The only reason I might use it again is if Barbara, Rick, or I passed, or if the site got shut down.
If YOU passed, and if you didn’t use Rick’s message from beyond or such, that would be a really spooky situation. It would.
Clinton was disbarred and lost his law license in Arkansas post-Impeachment.
Yes, and I never let my friends forget that when they mention him.
As if he needed a law license. He seems to be doing all right these days… not counting health.
BTW, I admired Nixon, and shouldn’t have used that pejorative. He and Harry Truman were likely the hardest working and most dedicated presidents of the 20th century. I didn’t agree much with either, but did admire them.
…the only thing collected here are your words…
Great. Some day I might run out. Now I know where to get some.
Yuuup! Been there, wife and I had dinner there one night on way home from Fish Creek campground.
US Constitution, Article 1, Section 3, Clause 7 – Judgment in cases of impeachment; Punishment on conviction:
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
If any officer is convicted on impeachment (by super-majority vote), he or she is immediately removed from office, and (by subsequent simple majority vote) may be barred from holding any public office in the future. No other punishments may be inflicted pursuant to the impeachment proceeding, but the convicted party remains liable to trial and punishment in the courts for civil and criminal charges.
So specifically for an impeachment conviction of Trump past Jan 20th, since he is already out of office there is no punishment.
And since he was not ‘removed from office’ by the impeachment conviction, under the terms of the Former Presidents Act, he is still entitled to the benefits of that Act. For that he can thank Mitch for pushing the trial past the 29th.
You can be convicted of the impeachment charges after leaving office, but again with no punishment, so yes, if you were facing trial and felt you would be convicted you could resign prior to the end of the trial if only to not be labelled as having been ‘removed from office’.
Yuuup! Been there, wife and I had dinner there one night on way home from Fish Creek campground.
Some day, when we are free to move about the country, we will meet. Might have lunch, if there are any restaurants left.
CNN is reporting that evidence shows that the “riot” was pre-planned, not spontaneous as they claimed. The importance of this is that the articles of impeachment are for language in one speech that “led to the insurrection”. If you say the “insurrection” was planned ahead of time then it’s obvious that the impeachment was simply political theater without substance.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2021/01/14/did-cnn-accidentally-prove-that-trump-did-not-incite-the-violence-at-the-capitol-n1346680?utm_source=pjmedia&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad=&bcid=b60a395fa97f439b0538ee5e88d2210f&recip=28449750
BTW: Isn’t AOC calling this week for southern states to be “liberated” a call for insurrection?
Also cars.com is a good general purpose search tool for used cars, especially if you’re prepared to travel some distance to make a purchase.
CNN is reporting that evidence shows that the “riot” was pre-planned, not spontaneous as they claimed. The importance of this is that the articles of impeachment are for language in one speech that “led to the insurrection”. If you say the “insurrection” was planned ahead of time then it’s obvious that the impeachment was simply political theater without substance.
The realization is slowly sinking in that “Insurrection” implies occupying Capitol Hill gives the organizers control of the country. Trump did not even remotely imply that his supporters taking control of the country by force was the desired end result.
At the end of the day, The Capitol is just another one of many buildings controlled by the Federal Government.
Even seizing the Electoral College result certificates wouldn’t really have meant that much in the age of Fedex.
Ok…. where’s Lynn. Nothing since the 6th. Did I miss something?
As a victim of Vietnam I could disagree with your statements about Nixon. But I won’t as everyone has their opinion, no more, nor no less, important than mine.
Throw LBJ in the mix and I really have no love either of those two. Experiences and results really have an impact.
I liked Reagan and Kennedy. Carter was benign, really did no harm, did get Middle East groups to cooperate for a few months. Have not been impressed much since then. The swamp has gotten deeper since then. Or technology allows better information and more chance to get caught.
(missed this from yesterday…)
And the lawsuit can easily be for civil damages well in excess of your home or auto liability coverage. Say your auto liability coverage limit is $300K and you’re sued by the other driver for $1M. Your auto insurance company’s attorneys will represent you against the suit but only for your $300K liability limit. You’re on the hook to retain your own attorney to represent you for the remaining $700K. But if you have an umbrella policy that provides liability coverage up to $1M then you’re covered in terms of legal representation, so a worthwhile protection (prep??) even if your assets don’t quite reach the $1M level. A $1M policy should run ~$250-$275 for the first $1M of coverage and then ~$50-$75 for each additional $1M of coverage.
On a related note, while taking care of this it would be a good time, given the current state of affairs, to also make sure you’ve covered these as well:
> Life Insurance – I prefer level term in place until your youngest minor child is ~age 25. Policies for both yourself and your spouse. 10 times your salary is a good place to start. Coverage for your spouse if in the ‘stay at home’ role of 5 times your salary which should cover your child care expenses so you can continue to earn your current salary.
> Will and/or Trust. Simple stuff can easily be done online. If you have the big bucks and/or a complex estate situation, an estate planning attorney is worth considering. Various types of trusts can insure your heirs get what you intended while avoiding the hassles of probate and keeping most creditors at bay. (Obligatory IANAL disclosure so YMMV.)
> Durable Power of Attorney, Health Care Proxy, Living Will, Final Instructions – make sure these are known beforehand so your wishes are respected.
> Knowledge of, and access to your on-line accounts, especially anything financial related. Try asking Google for your spouse’s password and see where you get.
> Proper financial planning (don’t you want to maximize your net worth for when the gooberment comes for it?) – if you think you’re not savvy enough to protect your assets meet with a fee-only fiduciary financial planner (and IANAFP).
The problem usually with slippery slopes is that each side of the mountain (or should I say trash heap) is just as slippery. No party keeps control of either chamber forever. So rule changes made to the betterment of one party will eventually benefit the other. One reason changes to the Senate filibuster rule took so long to happen.
“Tesla Asked to Recall 158,000 Vehicles Over Flash Memory Failure”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/tesla-asked-to-recall-158000-vehicles-over-flash-memory-failure
“An issue with Model S and Model X flash memory storage can cause the media control unit to fail.”
I would not buy a used Tesla. Or a new one (due to the cost).
NEVER buy a salvaged Tesla. My brother does a LOT of dealing with auto auctions and salvaged cars. A man he knows bought a Tesla with a salvage title for a song. When he went to charge it at a Tesla charging station the station refused. He took it to the dealer, the dealer refused to update the firmware or maps, saying that once a Tesla original title chain is broken, IE salvage title, Tesla disavows ALL knowledge of that car. As most parts are serialized to the VIN, you can’t even part it out.
As most parts are serialized to the VIN, you can’t even part it out.
Parts serialized to the VIN are increasingly true for several makes. Be vewwy caweful.
Never buy a salvaged car… unless you really know what you are doing. And then, maybe for parts only, but then there are better ways to get many parts. Hint: a licensed salvager, especially an honest one you know and trust.
And, stay away from cars that are popular in chop shops. That includes many popular makes you wouldn’t suspect. I know just enough to stay away. Way away.
If you are considering a used car, have a trusted mechanic who knows your area inspect the car. It is well worth a fair fee. If there are any doubts, keep looking.
Alan, great advice above. Although I rant a little about do-it-myself stuff, note that if I screw up my car my losses are pretty small compared to a lost lawsuit or a botched estate. I don’t have huge worth, but I always consult pros for planning. Estate attorneys, CPAs, and tax experts are all advisable for all but the simplest of situations. Sadly, our laws and stuff are too complex to take chances.
I had an uncle who was a CPA who worked his whole career for a major corporation. He read and interpreted tax law for a living, but he advised everyone else to take the above advice. Smart man.
But, he was already ineligible to run for President and was unlikely to run for Senate, run for the House, or seek an appointment.
Brother bought a used BMW without a key. Couldn’t get the dealer to make a key so he bought a new lock. But the lock is serialized to the steering column so he had to find a compatible steering column and key. Turned out to be a lot of time and money for a bargain.
Brother bought a used BMW without a key. Couldn’t get the dealer to make a key so he bought a new lock. But the lock is serialized to the steering column so he had to find a compatible steering column and key. Turned out to be a lot of time and money for a bargain.
IIRC, even a tire rotation on a BMW requires special equipment generally only available to dealers.
A specialist friend of my wife’s has a high end BMW and a Mercedes toy for the wife, but the grocery getter is a Land Cruiser. When I asked him why not a G Wagon, he said that he couldn’t afford the maintenance on three money pits.
The shopping trip for the Mercedes coupe took place in Germany at the factory. A lot of the parts for the car aren’t even commonly stocked in this country.
Recall is a coup, if it’s a dem.
https://apnews.com/article/california-democrats-backlash-coup-claim-7f4ab33197c52a59ff388844d83e973a
Sad that it happened. Sad about death and injury. But really the ‘peaceful protests’ were much worse. The dems are destorying our government but I preaching to the choir.
Sadly, our laws and stuff are too complex to take chances.
The wife just found out in Texas (maybe other states too) that you need to have the following statement in your will “no bond required” or something along those lines. Otherwise, the probate judge can require the executor of the estate to get a bond covering their actions as executor. The bond requirement can be as high as the estate is worth. And the bond has to be renewed each year. Luckily her father’s will had that statement.
Been deplatformed.
(seriously I hope all is ok)
Ok…. where’s Lynn. Nothing since the 6th. Did I miss something?
I’ve been lurking. I am trying to absorb and understand the entire political mess. And the fact that it is ok now to discriminate against businesses and people when you are providing a public service. I am worried that my social networking can be used against me at some point.
I have been planning on moving my seven websites to AWS. That will not happen now since I am in the oil and gas business. I figure that the outcry against the 15 XXX 13 XXX 10 million people employed in the oil and gas business in the USA will soon rise to a crescendo as the progressives look for a new group to attack for the supposed crime of Anthropomorphic Global Warming. But the place where I have my dedicated web server is very woke also.
The Daily Caller and Youtube ??? are premiering the full length “Run Hide Fight” movie right now for free. Not sure how long the freeness lasts but not past midnight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk-dsO8be-c
and
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDailyWire
“Starring Isabel May, Thomas Jane, Radha Mitchell, RUN HIDE FIGHT follows a high school sieged by a quartet of school shooters. Zoe Hull (Isabel May) is a high school student coping with the recent loss of her mother. All she wants is to get through the last few weeks of her senior year and leave — off to college and a fresh start. Instead, her high school is attacked by four nihilistic, gun-toting students, who plan to make their siege the worst school shooting in history. Using her wits and survival skills, Zoe fights back to save herself and her fellow students.”
TV-MA. I have not seen the movie other than the trailer.
And, stay away from cars that are popular in chop shops. That includes many popular makes you wouldn’t suspect. I know just enough to stay away. Way away.
The Chevy pickup is the number one stolen vehicle in Texas.
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/stolen-truck-epidemic-creates-problems-for-owners-and-buyers-detective-says/2312802/
This is probably part of why our military is in trouble.
earlier in her article, she doesn’t understand the difference between “boss’s” and “bosses” ie. plural vs possessive. And she thinks in terms of ‘ that was a bunch of old white guys blowing smoke up each other’s skirts’…
good thing the chinese are just buying the country instead of fighting us for it.
n
_Burning Midnight_ by Will McIntosh
https://www.amazon.com/Burning-Midnight-Will-McIntosh/dp/0553534130/?tag=ttgnet-20
A standalone young adult science fiction fantasy book, no prequel or sequel. I read the well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Ember (Random House) in 2017.
Do you want to be smarter ? Taller ? Stronger ? Play the piano ? Be better looking ? Just get two of the appropriately colored spheres and place them against your temples for a permanent change of your body or mind. The spheres burn out as they modify your body.
There are many types of spheres. And their locations are totally random around the Earth. Which brings out the sphere hunters and the sphere sellers.
My rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars (95 reviews)
AoS this afternoon:
from Epoch Times:
Social media giants Facebook and Twitter have collectively seen $51.2 billion in combined market value wiped out over the last two trading sessions since they banned President Donald Trump from their platforms following the U.S. Capitol breach.
Ace’s comment:
And right now, lawyers are scanning prior declarations by Dorsey and Zuckerberg about their censorship policies, and planning shareholder suits due to big losses in stock price based on false claims made by Dorsey and Zuckerberg.
AoS this afternoon:
from Epoch Times:
Social media giants Facebook and Twitter have collectively seen $51.2 billion in combined market value wiped out over the last two trading sessions since they banned President Donald Trump from their platforms following the U.S. Capitol breach.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/big-tech-clowns-wipe-51-2-billion-combined-market-since-banning-free-speech-president-trump/
Just wait until Parler gets a $20 billion treble damages award from AWS. Or not, one wonders how many federal judges have been told to dismiss the case.
“Biden Vows to Destroy Small Businesses with $15 Per Hour Federal Minimum Wage (VIDEO)”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/biden-vows-destroy-small-businesses-15-per-hour-federal-minimum-wage-video/
“Joe Biden on Thursday vowed to destroy what’s left of small businesses with a $15 per hour federal minimum wage.”
“Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion Covid relief plan which included a $15 per hour minimum wage, $30 billion in rental assistance and a ban on evictions and foreclosures until the end of September 2021.”
You can buy a lot of automation at $15/manhour. Robots don’t play with their phone, etc, etc, etc. One robot is typically equal to 5 ? 10 ? 20 ? workers.
Gonna be some serious unemployment in a year or two.
And a lot of rental property on the market soon enough…
Glad you are OK. You should warn us when you go deep-undercover!
Gonna be some serious unemployment in a year or two.
And a lot of rental property on the market soon enough…
My son says that “The Greater Depression” is still coming.
Spent most of the day trying to finalize the shop drawings and lining up contractors. Went to a current job site of the company that will erect the building and learned I need to make a couple of minor changes to the drawings. The building should be ordered next week.
I have the septic contractor ready to go when the permit is approved. Have one quote for the concrete work but I want another before I’ll commit. I’ll start looking for a plumber and electrical contractor tomorrow.
I want to dump Amazon but I really like my Kindle and Kindle Unlimited membership. I read a lot, often five to ten books a week.
I am committed to buying elsewhere when I can. Newegg.com got a order today and will be the first place I shop .
I need to remove Chrome after I install Brave. Probably won’t be until Sunday.
It seems that FireFox has a new extension to block FB ad tracking. Noticed a little puzzle icon on the address bar on the FB page with latest FF. That got me this info about their plugin:
Info here https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/ .
It’s appears to have been out for a while. There are almost 2 million installs. Read the link to see what it does, and how it affects your FB session.
Looks interesting – I’ll give it a try.
@Robert V Sprowl
I’d be interested in more about your shop building project.
I may have a similar project in my future.
The price of gasoline has really gone up around here. My Shell around the corner has regular at $1.999/gallon credit or $1.899/gallon cash (me). I bought $55.50 yesterday, 29.2 gallons at 18 mpg.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dc-descends-lockdown-inauguration-day-looms
Anyone seriously think they will all go home and the barriers and roadblocks will come down after the inauguration? It might open up a little, but this is what our nation’s capitol will look like for the foreseeable future.
n
@anonymous coward, one of the more interesting sites on the web used to use that handle automagically for anyone who wouldn’t choose something. Callout to the old days??
n
And so it begins…
https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/new-york-bill-would-make-it-first-state-to-ban-bulletproof-vests/
@alan, yup.
AR500 has some low cost and good looking choices but they do have a lead time. Safecastle used to run ads, but I haven’t tried them.
n
If you haven’t already, add oversized clothes to your prep lists. You might want to cover something else you are wearing. Just saying.
Short wave has good strong signals in the 5mhz band, and decent in 7mhz at the moment, combined with crazy low levels of interference and noise. It’s so quiet I thought something might be wrong with my antenna until the station came booming in.
5.085 mhz WTWW sounds like a broadcast station tonight.
n
Uhhhh. Had forgotten about that site. I used to go there on a daily basis but they changed the layout and it turned me off.
Nevertheless, you might as well go see that they still use that and also have a read about SpaceX at:
https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/14/spacex_florida_splashdown/
With the comments at:
https://forums.theregister.com/forum/all/2021/01/14/spacex_florida_splashdown/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9145171/Capitol-riot-encourage-violence-government-intelligence-says.html
They have pix of the pdf of the .gov dox. Very worth a read thru.
n
Matt Bracken is on Alex Jones show right now (hosting?) , 4.840mhz Good use/test of your shortwave radio. Signal is strong and clean tonight.
n
NY, famous for their ongoing and long time battle with cigarette smuggling to avoid taxes, thinks legalizing recreational use marijuana and taxing it at 18% will fill their coffers and make up for all the productive and monied class that have FLED to avoid repressive .gov and taxes.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9142719/Cuomo-says-legalizing-marijuana-create-60-000-jobs-300m-tax-revenue.html
NYFC will be nothing but gang bangers and dopers before too long.
n
@drwilliams and @Robert V Sprowl, I built a garage shop about three years ago, but not from a kit. Here in our remote town in California steel buildings (I assume that might be what you are building) are not popular, ironically due to high cost. The reasoning goes that these can be put up using cheap labor, but the labor pool here isn’t used to working with steel, and costs a premium over wood frame. Getting an outside crew to come here is costly. I really wanted to build a steel frame building, but chose wood for cost reasons. I am very happy with the result.
I have a 56×60’ engineered building that is just under 20’ high at the roof peak. One half of the roof is 4:12, and the other only slopes a couple feet over its 28’ span. The rafters are 16” TJIs, and the only obstruction inside is a 5” square steel column in the center. No roof trusses or attic, just clear space. The walls are 2×8 balloon framed, so continuous bottom to top. There is OSB sheathing inside and out, with a steel standing seam roof and steel siding. It is well insulated, and very quiet. It went through our 2019 7.1 earthquake with no damage.
I say all this to point out that there are alternatives that might at first seem poor choices. I used to look at similar buildings and wonder why they weren’t all steel, and now I know. Get good contractor and engineering input. Also consider property tax implications in your area. Small changes can sometimes save a lot.
Good luck with both projects. They can be daunting, but the result can be wonderful.
@JimB
Thanks!