Tues. Mar. 16, 2021 – day 367 of my captivity… not my favorite thing

Cool and wet again.  Or still.  But yeah, not awesome out.

Like yesterday, which was overcast for most of the day, with occasional drizzle.  Got the kids off their screens for an hour or so and outside during the only real sunshine of the day.  They spent the rest of the day playing Minecraft, which I continue to insist is just the grinding aspects of other games made into the whole game.   I don’t get it, that’s for sure.

I dragged my feet all day, but did get some stuff sorted, and cleaned up out of my office.  My wife was on the computer working from home all day.  With some people not getting the note about the time change, she was ‘at work’ until about an hour later than normal.   One of the downsides of being able to work anywhere is having to work everywhere.  I think that holds true for ‘any time’ and ‘all the time’, too.  Still, having work is not something to complain about, and she does a good job of managing it.


It seems that several trends in the world at large are coming to a head.

It looks like there is and has been a concerted effort to attack and destroy the institutions, traditions, and beliefs (as well as the history) that used to make up the ‘story of America’ that shaped who we are.

In the 60s the attacks started on government and peoples’ faith in it.  (Whether the government DESERVED the faith of the people is another question, that a system set up on the ‘consent of the governed’ must also have the respect of the governed should be a given.)  Woodward and Bernstein did more to damage the United States than any dirty tricks by Tricky Dick could have.  They spawned two generations of press that were looking for their own ‘Watergate’ moment, and magnified everything to try to fit that mold.   The corrosive and damaging effect of that on the body politic shouldn’t be underestimated.

The sixties started the attacks on the social structure of America too, including one of the most effective, Teddy Kennedy’s changes to immigration policy to shift the emphasis from skilled and semi-skilled european immigrants to illiterate and unskilled immigrants from Latin America and other third world places.

Social engineering policies like “urban renewal”, the creation of the welfare state, and the destruction of the black family and community planted the seeds for the vast underclass we have now, living in continuous poverty and with violence at every turn.

The social shift from a life of restraint, sacrifice, and duty to one of ‘if it feels good do it’ and narcissistic selfishness further destroyed families and social structures (the sexual revolution seems to have mostly resulted in a huge increase in sexually available women, and moreover, a willingness to participate in what, in the past, would have been extreme sexual acts even for professionals.)  At the same time, drug use became prevalent, almost ubiquitous, and over-using drugs was re-defined as a disease that the person was a victim of, not something that was expected to be controlled or punished.

The rise of victimhood and victim classes followed, with social engineering solutions to the ‘problems’ that did nothing to help and did incredible damage to the very people they professed to help.

There are many other examples of institutions attacked and destroyed from within, and of areas where the attacks created problems that the attackers then proposed solutions to, which became the next iteration of the attack.

It doesn’t all come to a head with the Grammys but they did represent just how far the destruction has gone.

The Grammy award performances by two of rap and hip hop music’s ‘finest’, was by all accounts soft core porn, glorifying stripping and prostitution, complete with simulated lesbian sex acts.   (Some discussion and links in yesterday’s comments.)  The song the duo sang has lyrics that I can’t even quote with obfuscation here, the title alone (which Daily Mail coyly calls an “ode to female anatomy”) is titled “Wet A$$ P#$$y.”  The title is the least offensive and obscene phrase in the song, and it’s repeated ad nauseum.    They will likely win a Grammy award for it when they submit it next year.  I’m not a prude, or religious person, but I can recognize behaviour that is unhealthy for a person, and for our society.   The Grammy’s are billed as a musical talent award, the TV show is an ‘extravaganza’ and airs on broadcast TV in prime time.  People don’t have to seek it out.  It comes, unbidden, into their living rooms.

Everywhere you look you see the same things being attacked and damaged.   Trust.  Restraint.  Duty.  Individualism.  Achievement.  Faith.  Hard work.  Moderation.   Tolerance.  Love.  Joy.  What do you see celebrated?  Envy.  Self doubt.  Group identity. Free riding.  Impulsiveness.  Violence.  Lawlessness. Wantonness.  Bragging.  Flaunting.  Entitlement.

America has been fundamentally changed.  It started slowly but is accelerating.

And I don’t like it.  It won’t support the technological world we live in.  Our built environment is already starting to break down, along with our social order.  Our systems are starting to show cracks, along with our communities.  I see a lot more down coming before the trend starts back up, and a lot more misery headed our way.

When the sons of Martha decide they no longer care if the bolt is tight, or stay late to be sure the job gets done right; when they get tired of shedding their blood, to smooth the way and avert the flood; then I’m afraid the lesson we’ll learn, is how easily the people starve, and the cities burn.

You don’t have enough.  Keep stacking.

nick

 

with apologies.

see also

65 Comments and discussion on "Tues. Mar. 16, 2021 – day 367 of my captivity… not my favorite thing"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    <i.Hi Nick – I find that I have a few DVDs, some BlueRay, that I should rip, both for playback and archival purposes. I know you mentioned this earlier but what software are you using to do this and any particular gotchas with that software? (I have 600 ripped CDs – ripped to FLAC – and used Exact Audio Copy to do that).

    @Nick repeated my recommendation for Handbrake.

    As for BluRays, unlike DVD, the protection scheme was *not* designed by lawyers in an era of rampant amateur crypto experimentation (early 90s) so the mechanism is pretty good on some discs. However, from what I understand, better protection means more money going to Sony so the recommendation there is to always try the latest version of MakeMKV.

    MakeMKV is also my go-to tool for particularly difficult DVDs like JJ Abrams “Star Trek” or Disney’s “Frozen”. Though, in the case of DVD, I’ve never seen a disc where MakeMKV wouldn’t at least extract the main movie, allowing a transcode with Handbrake later.

  2. Greg Norton says:

    And I don’t like it. It won’t support the technological world we live in. Our built environment is already starting to break down, along with our social order. Our systems are starting to show cracks, along with our communities. I see a lot more down coming before the trend starts back up, and a lot more misery headed our way.

    Based on what I saw Sunday here in Orlando, cancel culture isn’t working in the case of JK Rowling.

    Two older SJW types were particularly put out that the virtual queue system for the latest Harry Potter attraction, Hagrid’s Motorcycle Adventure, was disrupted by the coaster’s still-typical maintenance problems, with their scheduled ride time happening during the down time.

    “It isn’t fair.”

    For the record, not being SJW types, we managed to get two coaster trips, but that involved discount tickets purchased in advance, waking up at 5:30 AM to be in the park at 7 AM opening, spending two hours in the standby lines, and both adults in our household working the virtual queue system with phones to the point that my battery was done early in the day.

  3. Greg Norton says:

    Important travel/money tip which I learned yesterday — the emergency roadside assistance from Geico only covers the vehicles listed on the polity. It is *not* an adequate replacement for AAA, and the Gecko leaves you at the mercy of the local provider rates if you call them for help with a rental not related to a covered vehicle repair.

    After my mother-in-law failed to completely close the door on our rental, we exited Gatorland to a dead battery and two hours waiting for Enterprise to send … the AAA battery service!

    The AAA service for which we shelled out $50, roughly the cost of AAA membership.

  4. Greg Norton says:

    And before I forget, Gatorland survived the pandemic intact. The staff really does interact with the guests, particularly kids, exactly the way you see them act in the park’s YouTube videos.

    I watched the staff help a nine year-old girl feed a specific alligator, requested by name, during one of the feeding events. Yes, $20, but the kid got a huge kick out of the experience along with applause from assembled spectatators and the nervous parents.

  5. brad says:

    Catching up…

    Hotel WiFi sucks in the age of Covid.

    Probably more than usual, but hotel WiFi has pretty much always sucked. Even if you have a solid signal in your room, in my experience it is basically always oversold.

    That said: in days before Covid, younger son would go to some of the gaming conventions – the ones where there are hundreds, even thousands of players actually playing. Many of them simultaneously live-streaming their games. I was always impressed at the networks – good players demand not only throughput, but low latency – and providing that for thousands of gamers at once? Wow.

    You do have to dump the dust bin on the robot after each use.

    True, but still a lot faster than vacuuming by hand. And better: the critters get into and under things, where I wouldn’t bother with a normal vacuum. We have one robot on each floor (three floors), and emptying the dustbins is just part of my morning ritual. We run them 3 times a week, to keep up with the pet hair, which is more often than I would bother to vacuum.

    I wish the mopping function worked, but it really doesn’t. The robots just lightly drag a wet pad across the floor, and on our textured ceramic tiles, that means that only the top of the texture actually gets wiped. Maybe with perfectly smooth floors, the results would be better.

    It’s never a good thing to find water on the floor, where water shouldn’t be.

    Our dishwasher is leaving salt deposits on the floor. It’s leaking out of the door, but apparently only very occasionally – I’ve never actually see the floor wet.

    I took the door apart (just a few screws, really practical), only to find that the salt tank is glued to the internal structure. I can see salt deposits, but no leaks. I’m supposing it’s on the glued side. Anyway, no taking that apart – taking it off will likely destroy it. Odd, considering the ease with which everything else came apart.

    So we’ll live with it until the leak becomes worse, then call a professional.

    cancel culture isn’t working in the case of JK Rowling

    She has the guts and the wherewithall to stand up for herself. She hasn’t moved from her position, which is actually still pretty far left, just not far enough to satisfy the extremists.

    As I understand her position, she is supportive of trans-people, but basically said that being trans does not change your biological gender. Which is bleeding obvious, but SJWs are not known for admitting to reality.

  6. SteveF says:

    Good opening essay, Nick.

    Yesterday’s comments here had a lot of chatter about the cause of George Floyd’s death. You people are soooo ignorant. According to CDC guidelines, George Floyd died of the Chinese Virus.

    Amusingly, in a dark way, I pointed this out something over a year ago, at work. My co”work”ers, apparently having no work to do, were yammering about the traaaaavesty of the poliiiice murder. As always with these things, they were basing their outraged opinions on headlines and sound bites. Research? Read beyond the first paragraph? Don’t be ridiculous! So when I pointed out that Floyd tested positive for the coof and that by official guidelines that means that Covid-19 goes on the death certificate, it was like dropping a shitbomb in the office. I got called a racist, my intelligence and honesty were questioned, I got called a police apologist (which was good for a laugh), and so on. And the department head got really pissed off when I noted that it was too bad I wasn’t recording all that because I would have a good case for a workplace discrimination and harassment lawsuit. I may have mentioned once or twice that I much prefer working from home, not amongst those libtards.

  7. Chad says:

    So when I pointed out that Floyd tested positive for the coof and that by official guidelines that means that Covid-19 goes on the death certificate, it was like dropping a shitbomb in the office. I got called a racist, my intelligence and honesty were questioned, I got called a police apologist (which was good for a laugh), and so on. And the department head got really pissed off when I noted that it was too bad I wasn’t recording all that because I would have a good case for a workplace discrimination and harassment lawsuit. I may have mentioned once or twice that I much prefer working from home, not amongst those libtards.

    Many of them are probably of similar opinions to you. However, if you don’t “virtue signal” at least 6 times a day you will be rounded up and hauled off for re-education. So, they have to play the part of offended liberal or risk ostracization.

  8. ech says:

    But is there evidence that all of FLA was underwater? Or NYC?

    Well, central Texas has fossil-bearing rock with clam and sea plant fossils all through it.

  9. MrAtoz says:

    On the Grammy pr0n performance: completely sanctioned by the industry and lauded with awards. It is only going to get worse. Disgusting. As Dylan said to Marcus in “Dylan Dog: Dead of Night”, “this is your life now.” Get used to it WHITEY! dirt people. 13% ruling over the rest of us thanks to WHITEY! SJWs.

  10. MrAtoz says:

    Heh, here’s one way to avert a “border crisis”:

    US MOVING 3,000 MIGRANT TEENAGERS TO DALLAS CONVENTION CENTER

    No longer on the border! This won’t end well when the *escape* happens. What is plugs gonna do? Lock them all in their rooms with Netflix and PS5s? The City of Dallas should tell the Feds to eff off.

  11. MrAtoz says:

    LOL!

    U.S. Army Considers Scrapping ‘Gender Neutral’ Fitness Test As Majority Of Women Fail

    I posted years ago, during my stint at the Pin-Head-Agon, the Army tried MOS specific PT and found most females couldn’t meet the requirements. We went back to the then standard 3-event PT test. My first experience with gender norming was as a ROTC cadet. I attended Army Parachute School during the summer. You had to do 7 good chinups every day. Females laid under a bar and did pull ups. Don’t question why or you were kicked out of training.

  12. Nick Flandrey says:

    73f and overcast with 83%RH. It was 64F when I went to bed. And when I woke up an hour later. And an hour after that. And half an hour after that.

    So I slept in a bit. Kids have been veerrryyy quiet, so they’re probably watching forbidden youtube.

    Ummm, Greg? Why on earth did you go to central FL during Spring Break? That is just nuts.

    @Stevef, after reviewing NYFS wiretap and recording laws, I might get an app I could use with my pc’s mic and cam to record what happens in front of it… if that was legal. I’m very glad I don’t work in an office or with corporate types anymore. I’d be fired 1000 times over by now.

    n

  13. SteveF says:

    NY(F)S is one-party consent, unless that’s changed.

    And I have a stealth audio and/or video recorder, though I didn’t have it out at the time.

    And I’m sure some of the more pathetic snowflakes at my current employer would like to get rid of me, but I’m currently a vital person. If I’m not there, there’s no one who knows how to keep the servers running and to take care of all of the 1000 things that need to be done on the operations side. This is not my doing. I’ve been trying to get them to get some actual operations person in so I can get back to the programming stuff I was supposedly hired for. Or at least to get some others trained up on what needs to be done. Or, you know, to hell with it because…

    I’m looking for a new job or contract but I’m being picky. No sense going from one SJW turd bucket to another.

  14. MrAtoz says:

    On Calibre: I can’t say enough about this great piece of software. I just sent another donation.

    I’ve been trying to convert my wife’s paper only book to an ebook. We got a request from Apple (a client) for 10 e-copies for immediate use, some months back. The best we could do was the pdf proofs and Apple bought those. Now I’m putting in some serious work to convert the book. I got a first draft (a lot of formatting and removing graphics) and thought I’d shoot it to my Kindle account. I used Send to Kindle app and email to Kindle. In comes Calibre since it converts to many formats. You can upload a mobi file to your Zon Kindle account and it will convert to Kindle and send it out. Well, I kept getting an error “Kindle doesn’t recognize the format you tried to upload.” After fiddling and reading forums, it came down to I selected “Both” in Calibre conversion from epub to mobi. There is an old, new or both option for conversion. I deleted the book from Calibre and re-added it, selected “old” and it worked great. Just to be sure, I dropped in some other epubs. I didn’t know Calibre can send a book to your Kindle account right from the app. I decided to try that and let Calibre do the conversion. It worked great and books showed up as “docs” on my Kindle and Kindle for macOS/ipadOS/iOS. Click on it, downloads the book with cover and looks great. Page location even syncs across devices.

  15. RickH says:

    Calibre is good, I have used it occasionally.

    But, for my Kindle books, I just create in Word, and upload that file as the book file. And I note that Amazon/Kindle Direct Publishing is not going to support MOBI files any more, although the devices will still use it.

    Word 2019 can read a PDF, and convert to an editable file. If I had a PDF that I needed to ‘ebook’, I’d use Word 2019 to import PDF and convert to DOCX. Edit the file, and save it. Then use the latest Calibre to convert to EPUB/MOBI for private distribution.

    For an Amazon book via KDP, I upload the DOCX. They also have Kindle Creator (free) will will create EPUB/MOBI format.

  16. lynn says:

    “With bipartisan support in Congress for permanent daylight saving time, could this weekend’s time change be the last?”
    https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/mar/13/with-bipartisan-support-in-congress-for-permanent-/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

    I don’t think that permanent DST would work as the sun would not rise until 8am here in south central Texas in the winter ???

  17. Nick Flandrey says:

    Palmetto State Armory has some items in stock.

    https://palmettostatearmory.com/st-patricks-day-sale.html

    prices are what they are.

    n

  18. lynn says:

    “How China Aims To Beat The U.S., Europe At ‘Net Zero’ Carbon”
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2021/03/14/how-china-aims-to-beat-the-us-europe-at-net-zero-carbon/?sh=48025c9a708a

    “Bloomberg reported that China intends to build more coastal nuclear power plants (no firm number given) and is shooting for 20 new gigawatts of nuclear power in four years, up from about 50 gigawatts today. ”

    Wow. We cannot even get 20 nuclear power plants designed in 4 years.

  19. Nick Flandrey says:

    Chinese nuke plants are likely to be just as safe, efficient, and long lived as any other chinese built thing. EG not very.

    Remember that everything they say is a lie designed to further their own goals.

    n

  20. lynn says:

    “Wärtsilä to supply two major interconnected energy storage systems for Texas grid services”
    https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/storage/wartsila-to-supply-two-major-interconnected-energy-storage-systems-for-texas-grid-services/

    “The technology group Wärtsilä announced today that it will supply its energy storage technology for two 100-MW / 214.5-MWh projects in southern Texas, USA. ”

    Looks like we are going to get a LOT of battery systems in Texas to take advantage of the cheap and federally subsidized wind power that only works from 32 F to 95 F.

  21. lynn says:

    Chinese nuke plants are likely to be just as safe, efficient, and long lived as any other chinese built thing. EG not very.

    Remember that everything they say is a lie designed to further their own goals.

    n

    They have got 50 GW (50 plants ???) of nuclear power plants running now using the 1,000 MW net Soviet designed graphite moderated reactor design. In other words, each nuclear power plant in China is a breeder reactor like Chernobyl. And they definitely use the power.

  22. Jenny says:

    @lynn

    sun would not rise until 8am here

    Welcome to Anchorage. From the end of September into March our sunrises are after 8 am. By New Years it’s after 10 am before the sun rises, and before 4 pm it’s gone again.

    @Nick
    Kipling is rich and so delicious to read. Sons of Martha is one of my favorites.

  23. Nick Flandrey says:

    And they’re building coal plants as fast as the local vicelord can get red army financing… but it isn’t to be carbon neutral or net zero anything. It’s because they understand what jerryp used to preach, cheap energy is the key to prosperity.

    n

    (and every game has at least a few layers. They are probably hoping to leverage that into getting a good look at westinghouse or other nuke designs, maybe a demonstrator or two. Then they’ll strip out all the redundancy, safety systems, fudge factor, and “excess” and build them in the hundreds until it blows up in their face.)

  24. TV says:

    From yesterday:

    @TV, on Greg’s recommendation, I’m using Handbrake to do the rip. There is an additional library you need to d/l and copy to a directory.

    I pretty much just used the defaults, I’m ripping with “fast 1080p” and it saves as .m4v

    I have been spot checking the rips, they open in windows media player, and I’ve had a couple where the audio was not synced properly. I hope there aren’t a significant number of those.

    It does a good job of finding the correct file on the disc, but has trouble with multiple episodes on the same disc. You have to name them and add them to the queue, then run the queue- or do each one individually. As far as I can tell, the workflow is not very automated. but I’m just doing it while I sit here doing other things.

    I haven’t tried any bluray discs yet, I’ve still got plenty of dvds to do. On my machine it takes about 15-30 minutes per movie, and only peaks the cpu for part of that. I’m only ripping the main movie.

    Next step is to look at using Plex as the server and clients on the other endpoints that I want to watch the stuff from.

    Thanks for that Nick, I will look into Handbrake. Lots to learn here about formats, etc… I am not much of a “movie guy” but there are items I need to return to friends and I enjoyed enough I would like to watch it again. As for a server, I just bought a Raspberry Pi with OSMC (Open Source Media Center) installed over a subset of Debian Linux. Along with a DAC “HAT” card, I have this installed as a music server, grabbing all the files from my NAS over WIFI. About the size of my fist and works very well so I guess I should give ripping DVDs a go. More as I give this a try.

  25. Nick Flandrey says:

    @jenny, I knew Kipling only thru books, until I read all the John Ringo books. (and whatever jerryp might have quoted) then I went looking. Plaster saints. Sons of Martha. Gods of the Copybook headings. Just to nod at 3… I’ve got volumes of all of his work now. I keep wondering when to introduce the girls to the poetry, but it’s VERY densely packed with life experience. Better to work with the stories.

    n

    (poetry is interesting wrt kids. They know poems as rhymes, so there should be a way to engender love for it before the schools grind it out of them. So much of wordplay counts on a shared experience and a rich one at that though, that it is hard. Read the “Cats” poems with the little one, and she laughed with delight. I guess it’s down to the right material.)

  26. Nick Flandrey says:

    “I just bought a Raspberry Pi with OSMC (Open Source Media Center) installed over a subset of Debian Linux.”

    –I’ve got a couple of Kodi boxes to use as endpoints. One I did myself on an old mini, and it works very well for watching youtube. I haven’t tried it as an endpoint with my own library. The other is one of the many little $10 boxes that ebay used to have in abundance that has a skinned version of Kodi on it. (kodi being an evolution of the old XBMC project and widely used for pirating content.) I haven’t tried that little box either, yet. So much to do.

    n

  27. TV says:

    “I just bought a Raspberry Pi with OSMC (Open Source Media Center) installed over a subset of Debian Linux.”

    –I’ve got a couple of Kodi boxes to use as endpoints. One I did myself on an old mini, and it works very well for watching youtube. I haven’t tried it as an endpoint with my own library. The other is one of the many little $10 boxes that ebay used to have in abundance that has a skinned version of Kodi on it. (kodi being an evolution of the old XBMC project and widely used for pirating content.) I haven’t tried that little box either, yet. So much to do.

    Your post tickles a neuron – OSMC is a lightweight Debian distribution used to run Kodi – so I got that a bit twisted in my first post. So much Linux-fu I have forgotten or never knew in the first place.

    As for BluRays, unlike DVD, the protection scheme was *not* designed by lawyers in an era of rampant amateur crypto experimentation (early 90s) so the mechanism is pretty good on some discs. However, from what I understand, better protection means more money going to Sony so the recommendation there is to always try the latest version of MakeMKV.

    MakeMKV is also my go-to tool for particularly difficult DVDs like JJ Abrams “Star Trek” or Disney’s “Frozen”. Though, in the case of DVD, I’ve never seen a disc where MakeMKV wouldn’t at least extract the main movie, allowing a transcode with Handbrake later.

    @Greg – thanks for the recommendation for MakeMVK. Again, more as I find time to give this a try.

  28. MrAtoz says:

    MakeMKV and Handbrake are both top notch.

  29. lynn says:

    I dragged my feet all day, but did get some stuff sorted, and cleaned up out of my office. My wife was on the computer working from home all day. With some people not getting the note about the time change, she was ‘at work’ until about an hour later than normal. One of the downsides of being able to work anywhere is having to work everywhere. I think that holds true for ‘any time’ and ‘all the time’, too. Still, having work is not something to complain about, and she does a good job of managing it.

    There was only about 250 people in church Sunday morning at the 830 am service. Appears that several people did not get the memo about the time change either. We were there at our normal 840 am.

  30. ~jim says:

    https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Treasury-Poetry-Editor-Untermeyer/dp/B0000CL654

    G’ma gave me that when I was eight and it sparked a love of poetry I still have. Still have the book, too!

    I futzed around converting _Oxford Book of English Poetry_ to MOBI format a few years ago, complete with first lines, author, and title indices. One of these days (har!) I’ll stick it on Amazon.

  31. lynn says:

    I may have mentioned once or twice that I much prefer working from home, not amongst those libtards.

    Hey, those libtards will be changing your diaper in 20 years.

    And I am very concerned about them too.

  32. lynn says:

    And they’re building coal plants as fast as the local vicelord can get red army financing… but it isn’t to be carbon neutral or net zero anything. It’s because they understand what jerryp used to preach, cheap energy is the key to prosperity.

    n

    (and every game has at least a few layers. They are probably hoping to leverage that into getting a good look at westinghouse or other nuke designs, maybe a demonstrator or two. Then they’ll strip out all the redundancy, safety systems, fudge factor, and “excess” and build them in the hundreds until it blows up in their face.)

    China builds all of the safety and emission systems into their coal and nuclear power plants. They just don’t use the active systems after the acceptance testing. The passive systems (safety relief valves) cannot be turned off so they still use those. The maintenance and materials required for the active safety and emission systems, such as the SO2 absorption systems, are quite expensive to run but cheap to build.

  33. SteveF says:

    those libtards will be changing your diaper in 20 years.

    Guess again. If I get to the point that I can’t care for myself, I’ll go Zombie Patriot and take a couple dozen of the enemy with me.

  34. lynn says:

    those libtards will be changing your diaper in 20 years.

    Guess again. If I get to the point that I can’t care for myself, I’ll go Zombie Patriot and take a couple dozen of the enemy with me.

    Based on what I have seen, the brain eater or the body eater sneak up on you. And you do not get to choose which one you get.

  35. lynn says:

    Heh, here’s one way to avert a “border crisis”:

    US MOVING 3,000 MIGRANT TEENAGERS TO DALLAS CONVENTION CENTER
    https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/migrant-teens-dallas-convention-center

    No longer on the border! This won’t end well when the *escape* happens. What is plugs gonna do? Lock them all in their rooms with Netflix and PS5s? The City of Dallas should tell the Feds to eff off.

    The feddies are probably paying Dallas for use of the center. Which, probably has not been used in a year and the mortgage payments are piling up.

    Of course, the feddies are probably building cages inside it.
    https://summit.news/2021/03/16/white-house-its-trumps-fault-that-4200-children-are-now-sleeping-on-floor-of-cages-with-no-sunlight/

    And this is now a future PRC (public residential complex) site. With the feddies, all temporary solutions become permanent over time.

  36. Ed says:

    Looks like we are going to get a LOT of battery systems in Texas …

    Ah, the promise of batteries…

    Here’s a story of a 75’ battery powered excursion boat. Fire, evacuation, towed to a dock, currently at the center of a 1,000 ft safety zone.

    https://gcaptain.com/battery-powered-excursion-vessel-overheats-in-norway-sparking-fears-of-explosion/

    They hope it’s safe enough to board in a week or so.

  37. lynn says:

    My cousin reports that he got 200 miles of range at the Waco, Texas supercharger for $5 in 15 minutes for his Teslo Model 3. Not bad ! He has the 130 kwh battery pack which is good for 310 miles.

  38. dcp says:

    Golden Treasury Poetry

    Same editor, different collection: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=this+singing+world+untermeyer&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

    I still have my hardback copy of This Singing World. Lots of good stuff in there, lots of fun stuff, a lot of variety. It was my introduction to Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, Don Marquis, Guy Wetmore Carryl, and many others.

    The ToC has titles and authors, and in the back it has three indices: authors, titles, and first lines. Makes it very easy to find what I am looking for.

    From Kipling, it has “The Ballad of East and West,” “Danny Deever,” “If,” and “Recessional.” I didn’t come across “The Sons of Martha” until much later in life.

  39. lynn says:

    OK, I am looking for the name of a movie that starts with a waitress who is bullied in diner by three men and saved by a man in a suit who takes their guns away. The waitress gives the address of the other waitress to the man in the suit. The man in the suit drops guns into the french fryer.

    I just noticed that the three minute film clip has comments. It is season 3 of Twin Peaks, something that I have never watched.

  40. Alan says:

    It’s never a good thing to find water on the floor, where water shouldn’t be.

    If you have a home security system, consider adding moisture sensors to your system. I have one in the kitchen, one in each bathroom, one in the laundry room and one in the utility room for the HW heater. If any go off I get a text plus phone call from the central station.

  41. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    @jenny, I knew Kipling only thru books, until I read all the John Ringo books. (and whatever jerryp might have quoted) then I went looking. Plaster saints. Sons of Martha. Gods of the Copybook headings. Just to nod at 3… I’ve got volumes of all of his work now. I keep wondering when to introduce the girls to the poetry, but it’s VERY densely packed with life experience. Better to work with the stories.

    The Jungle Book is Kipling.
    I read it before the Disney movie and my motto has been “Run and find out” since.

  42. Alan says:

    Based on what I have seen, the brain eater or the body eater sneak up on you.

    And then it’s too late to do anything about it. Sort of like the frog enjoying the ever warmer water in the pot on the stove – by the time he realizes he’s dinner it’s too late for him too.

  43. drwilliams says:

    @Lynn
    No SJW bedpan changers for you. Robots.

    Twin Peaks is well worth watching.

    Have you watched “Debris” or heard anything about it?

  44. Alan says:

    My cousin reports that he got 200 miles of range at the Waco, Texas supercharger for $5 in 15 minutes for his Teslo Model 3. Not bad ! He has the 130 kwh battery pack which is good for 310 miles.

    And in other ‘Teslo’ news…he who would be king…
    Tesla Inc. said Chief Executive Elon Musk has changed his title at the company to “Technoking of Tesla,” extending an irreverent streak in the 49-year-old’s leadership of the electric-vehicle maker.

    The company also said Chief Financial Officer Zach Kirkhorn will have the title of “Master of Coin.” Both Mr. Musk and Mr. Kirkhorn will maintain their respective positions as CEO and financial chief, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

    The company didn’t explain the meaning of the titles and didn’t respond to an inquiry. Mr. Kirkhorn’s new title might carry echoes of Tesla’s ambitions around cryptocurrency.
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-gets-new-title-of-technoking-of-tesla-11615813693

  45. Ken Mitchell says:

    lynn says: “Wow. We cannot even get 20 nuclear power plants designed in 4 years.”

    China would execute lawyers who act like ours do. On the other hand, if WE would execute lawyers the way China does, we could build better nuclear power plants in 4 years, too.

  46. Alan says:

    China would execute lawyers who act like ours do. On the other hand, if WE would execute lawyers the way China does, we could build better nuclear power plants in 4 years, too.

    Oh my, if only…we could do quite a bit more…

  47. SteveF says:

    “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”

    Yes, that was a would-be tyrant speaking there. It’s a sign of the times that many would side with a strong-arm tyrant over the lawyers.

    I think I’ve mentioned that in law school, half of my classmates were what you’d expect: bright-eyed reformers, out to make the world a better place whether it wanted it or not. I’m sure that’s painting in too bold color with too broad a brush, but I don’t think I’m far off. It’s worth noting that the other half of the class was small businessmen, including a number of doctors, looking to learn enough to protect ourselves from lawyers.

  48. SteveF says:

    And then it’s too late to do anything about it. Sort of like the frog enjoying the ever warmer water in the pot on the stove – by the time he realizes he’s dinner it’s too late for him too.

    Frogs are grossly maligned by that bit of common wisdom.

    A couple of scientists stuck a frog in a pot of water and heated it slowly. When the water got too warm, the frog hopped out.

    Judging by what I see of contemporary society, I can only conclude that either frogs are smarter than non-libtard Americans or the water simply isn’t hot enough yet.

  49. lynn says:

    @Lynn
    No SJW bedpan changers for you. Robots.

    Twin Peaks is well worth watching.

    Have you watched “Debris” or heard anything about it?

    I haven’t seen very many robots that could change a diaper or empty a bedpan. Maybe Summer Glau’s robot, Cameron, on The Sarah Conner Chronicles. Of course, she would probably terminate me.
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0851851/

    I have heard of Debris. Not seen it yet. We do not get any cable or over the air, streaming only.
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11640020/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

  50. RickH says:

    I’ve watched the first two episodes of “Debris”. Interesting enough that I will continue watching.

  51. dcp says:

    “Master of Coin”

    I took that to be a Game of Thrones reference.

    2
    1
  52. drwilliams says:

    @Lynn

    I haven’t seen very many robots that could change a diaper or empty a bedpan.

    If $15 an hour is enough to make them automate MickeyD’s, then you can bet they’re working on robots for assisted living. We lost thousands of elderly because the “cheap” labor provided the vector for infection.

    Besides, you aren’t ready yet. Give them time. 😉

    You can steam Debris from the NBC site. I’m watching the pilot.

  53. SteveF says:

    We lost thousands of elderly because the “cheap” labor provided the vector for infection.

    Well, that and five specific Democrat governors.

  54. Greg Norton says:

    Ummm, Greg? Why on earth did you go to central FL during Spring Break? That is just nuts.

    This trip started as a conference on the Eisney Property that went online late.

    Calculated risk. We avoided Eisney and I-drive for the most part. The non-tourist areas are no more dangerous than Austin with the restrictions on bars lifted. Probably less so.

    I didn’t head to Bike Week on Friday without a mask like the Governor. We are at a much less busy beach area on the other side of the state for the rest of our time.

    https://www.wkrg.com/biker-dad/biker-dad-governor-ron-desantis-shows-up-to-daytona-bike-week/

    At this point, we’re either seeing the end or another severe lockdown before July 4th. Given the problems Europe has experienced with their vaccine, the latter seems desined to be heading our way.

  55. Marcelo says:

    lynn says: “Wow. We cannot even get 20 nuclear power plants designed in 4 years.”

    China would execute lawyers who act like ours do. On the other hand, if WE would execute lawyers the way China does, we could build better nuclear power plants in 4 years, too.

    I think that all of you are getting carried away and are forgetting the intermediate stage: re-education camps. That has some added social and economic benefits of actually employing some “educators” and perhaps getting some trained lawyers to do the “right” things.

    Please, give credit were credit is due. 🙂 /sarc

  56. Greg Norton says:

    I just noticed that the three minute film clip has comments. It is season 3 of Twin Peaks, something that I have never watched.

    Season Three was disappointing IMHO. Lynch had a little too much creative freedom.

    It was good to see Robert Forester before he got sick, but he was there to fill in for the sorely missed Michael Ontkean.

    There are some cool moments that I won’t spoil. However, consider yourself warned — there is no grand payoff for the patience required.

  57. Nick Flandrey says:

    Media Bias. What Media Bias?

    Anonymous sources are never wrong when the support they Democrats. At least not in the eyes of the WaPo. Washington Post panned for massive correction to Trump-Georgia election story: ‘So, they made up quotes’

    The Washington Post made a massive correction Monday to a January report about a phone call between then-President Donald Trump and Georgia elections investigator Frances Watson, admitting it wrongly attributed multiple quotes to Trump based on an anonymous source.

    The Post initially reported Trump had told an official working in Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office to “find the fraud” in the state, which he lost narrowly to Joe Biden, and that she would be a “national hero” if she did.

    Turns out none of it was true.

  58. MrAtoz says:

    Maybe Summer Glau’s robot, Cameron, on The Sarah Conner Chronicles. Of course, she would probably terminate me.

    Summer Glau may terminate me anytime.

    Debris is cued up on my apple server.

    We’ve been watching “For All Mankind” on Apple TV+ The Soviets beat us to the Moon. With a female cosmonaut. Now ‘Murca has to up it’s space race. Hilarious alternate timeline from the 60’s on. Teddy Kennedy is elected President and didn’t murder Mary Jo Kopechne. But he has an affair with her in the White House. Worth watching in my opinion.

  59. Mark+W says:

    educators

    (eye roll)

  60. Alan says:

    At this point, we’re either seeing the end or another severe lockdown before July 4th. Given the problems Europe has experienced with their vaccine, the latter seems desined to be heading our way.

    But…but, that’s not what Uncle Joe promised us…you know, like BBQs…

  61. Jenny says:

    @nick
    See if you can find the animation of Rikki Tikki Tavi. Brilliant kid story from Kipling about a mongoose, a boy, and a cobra.

    Her voice is laden with too many years of cigarettes however Leslie Fish put quite a few of Kiplings poems to music and they’re compelling. Try that. Rimini is a great one and gives an opportunity to talk about Roman soldiers and the Roman Empire.

  62. Nick Flandrey says:

    Ah jeez.

    A 21-year-old man has been captured in southwest Georgia, hours after eight people were killed in shootings at three Atlanta-area massage parlors. Cherokee County sheriff’s Capt. Jay Baker said Robert Aaron Long (left) of Woodstock, Georgia, was taken into custody in Crisp County on Tuesday night, about 150 miles south of Atlanta. The eight women, many of them Asian, were shot dead in three separate shootings at two spas and a massage parlor in and around Atlanta. The first shooting happened just before 5pm at Young’s Asian Massage parlor off Bells Ferry Road and Highway 92 in Acworth, Georgia about 30 miles north of Atlanta. It appears that all five victims were shot inside the business. Two of the victims were dead and three were transported to a hospital where two of them also died, Cherokee County Sheriff´s Office spokesman Jay Baker said.

    n

    we knew something was coming.

  63. Nick Flandrey says:

    I have an animated Rikki Tikki Tavi from The Chuck Jones Collection… it’s short though.

    I have a beautifully illustrated large hardback of the just so stories, and I think when we finish The Hitchhikers Guide (we’re on Restaurant now) series, we’ll look at Kipling’s stories. We’re taking a break from the 1001 Nights.

    n

  64. Nick Flandrey says:

    Yes, what WAS he planning? I think I have a pretty good idea.

    What WAS he planning? Director of research at biotech firm, 37, is charged by FBI after ‘buying 800 castor bean seeds to extract the deadly toxin ricin’

    Dr. Ishtiaq Ali Saaem, 37, was charged on Tuesday with obstruction of justice after he allegedly lied to FBI agents when they were investigating why he was trying to acquire the deadly toxin.

    n

  65. Nick Flandrey says:

    A country without borders isn’t a country.

    US officials have arrested four people at the Mexico border whose names match the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database since October, a new report revealed.

    The Customs and Border Protection agency confirmed the arrests to Congress on Tuesday, a congressional aide told Axios.

    The names of the people apprehended were not released, but the source said three were from Yemen and the fourth was from Serbia.

    The source also said that the four arrests are more than the number of similar suspects taken into custody during recent fiscal years.

    –we HAVE to have border controls if we want to live

    n

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