Fri. Oct. 29, 2021 – what I desire is man’s red fire…

By on October 29th, 2021 in personal, WuFlu

Cooler with this front that blew in. Then slightly warmer, and I’m hoping for normal wind. Yesterday it was really windy with swirling gusts. There are lots of small and mid sized branches down all through the neighborhood, and I had some too. One small ornamental tree twisted off at 5 feet above the ground. One smaller branch off the oak tree. Bushels of twigs and leaf clusters. Crazy the way the wind was blowing.

Didn’t get as much done as I wanted to, of course. Wife called and asked me to get D2 after I picked up my car trailer. And I didn’t start the day with “pick up windblown debris for a while” on the list either. But there it is.

Today I have a few things to get together, then I’m off to Austin (north side, taking 290) to pick up the Ranger ‘parts truck’ I won. Got the whole thing for the cost of a tailgate. It’s white and my truck is blue, but all the sheet metal looks straight. It’s got the steering wheel control clusters that I need too. Airbag alone is worth $100- 200 for both. And there seems to be a big @ss speaker in the back, so I’ll be rocking that. Or not.

Once I leave the house I should be radio silent for a few hours. Try not to burn the place down 😉

And stack some stuff.

n

50 Comments and discussion on "Fri. Oct. 29, 2021 – what I desire is man’s red fire…"

  1. Nick Flandrey says:

    56F and 47%RH this am, with some wind stirring things around.

    n

  2. Nick Flandrey says:

    That's a pretty good summary.   And it's astounding how far we've come/gone/changed.

    Just from 1980 until now, the changes started earlier have come to fruition at an exponential rate.  Now that they doubled in one generation, it's  like looking at the petri dish and saying "Holy Cow! where did all this mold come from all of a sudden? " 

    Well, 1/4- barely noticed, especially when spread out across the whole dish.  

    DOUBLE IN ONE. 

    1/2- can't escape notice, especially as the clumps connect and appear to cover even more than they do. 

    DOUBLE IN ONE.  and it's too late.   There is only mold.

    n

  3. Nick Flandrey says:

    Nanny state.   Got this regarding my 12yo daughter's 7th grade dance tonight.

    My suggestion is to find a parking spot, walk up to the gate, and walk your child back to your car. Use your best judgement. We will not allow students to walk across the parking lot. It is much too dangerous.

    Learned helplessness is a thing.

    n

  4. drwilliams says:

    A third of all foreign students studying in the United States before the COVID-19 pandemic were Chinese, filling university tuition coffers.

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/10/how-deeply-have-the-chinese-communists-penetrated-our-institutions.php

  5. paul says:

    On the 2004 Freestar, I added the steering wheel controls.  I added the cruise module under the hood and it simply worked.

    I swapped the AM/FM radio for AM/FM/6 disc CD changer.  Factory.

    Under the dash the harness from the steering wheel ends.  By memory a couple of cables connect there.  One goes to the harness from the radio area of the dash.

    That 20 inch long section of harness is missing a wire.  The wire that lets you control the radio from the steering wheel buttons. …. One wire missing.

    Rude words were uttered about the ancestry of Ford bean counters.

     

  6. Nick Flandrey says:

    And I'm off. 

    Delayed by D1 asking me to dig out some lights because the dj for their event tonight bailed.

    No plan survives contact with the enemy.

    We have met the enemy and he is us.

    n

  7. SteveF says:

    Learned helplessness is a thing.

    As is criminal abdication of responsibility.

    Public schools, in general, claim full control over students enrolled in them, even off school grounds and on activities having nothing to do with school. (ref students suspended for attending political rallies or for sending obnoxious texts to other students.) Out of the other side of their mouths, public school officials state that they cannot be held responsible for the physical safety of students on school property for school events.

     

  8. Greg Norton says:

    A third of all foreign students studying in the United States before the COVID-19 pandemic were Chinese, filling university tuition coffers.

    I've written before that non-thesis Masters in CS programs at mid-grade state schools and lower have become OPT diploma mills.

    My direct experience is with my own grad program which catered to wealthy Subcontinent nitwits, but I know that school with the mascot sporting the longish horns favors Chinese.

    Nitwits. I don't care how many thumbs down I get. The department had to teach them remedial 'C' just to get them up to the level of our Sophomore undergads.

  9. Greg Norton says:

    Tyler Durden cowardice, possibly for the graphic.

    I wondered when the Interwebs would get around to that meme. "Give me TP!"

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/it-chaotic-manufacturers-place-blame-record-rising-prices-biden-administration

     

  10. Geoff Powell says:

    @greg:

    Tyler Durden cowardice

    I presume this comment, which I see quite frequently here, is a reference to a fictitious byline, used to get something contentious out, without possibly bringing unwanted, unwelcome attention from TPTB.

    Is this the case?

    Edit: Sorry if this is obvious to you, but this right-pondian is missing the cultural reference.

    G.

  11. ech says:

    Because evolution says that things went from chaotic to orderly.  But the second law says that things go from orderly to chaotic.  These two items do not agree with each other at all.

    The second law says that in a closed system, the entropy of the system as a whole increases with time. But, that is looked at over the whole system. Local decreases are allowed if there is a increase elsewhere in the closed system. The only way to decrease entropy is to apply energy in the area of decreasing entropy. Generating that energy will increase entropy.

    So, when a plant uses sunlight (energy) to make carbohydrates from water, air, etc. it is locally decreasing the entropy. But to produce that sunlight, the sun's entropy is increasing by a bit more than the decrease in the plant. So, as a whole, the solar system's entropy increases over time, obeying the second law.

    The Second Law of Thermodynamics disproves evolution is one of those simplistic catchphrases used that doesn't hold up to any scrutiny.

     

  12. Greg Norton says:

    I presume this comment, which I see quite frequently here, is a reference to a fictitious byline, used to get something contentious out, without possibly bringing unwanted, unwelcome attention from TPTB.

    Is this the case?

    Edit: Sorry if this is obvious to you, but this right-pondian is missing the cultural reference.

    Yes. Tyler Durden is a byline Zerohedge uses to protect contributors who obviously have "day jobs" in mainstream media.

    My personal favorite applications of the byline are stories about Elon Musk and/or Tesla. Car journalists *know*, but they have mortgages and kids in college. Fish gotta swim, bird’s gotta eat. Still, it nags at them.

    What? The stock? Remember when Enron sponsored all the Sunday talk shows, even on PBS?

    Why? … Why? … Why? …. Why!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtpDFTm-fOA

  13. Geoff Powell says:

    @greg:

    Thanks,

    G.

     

  14. Chad says:

    The Second Law of Thermodynamics disproves evolution is one of those simplistic catchphrases used that doesn't hold up to any scrutiny.

    This is all well and good, but it doesn’t change the fact that Al Bundy once scored four touchdowns in a single game while playing for the Polk High School Panthers in the 1966 city championship game versus Andrew Johnson High School. Including the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds against his old nemesis "Spare Tire" Dixon.

  15. lynn says:

    Over The Hedge: The Roombas and the George

        https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2021/10/29

    That situation looks very tricky.

  16. CowboySlim says:

    WRT to the claims of rooftop solar panels as being money saving:  Why did the state govemment of Californication pass a law two years ago mandating them on all new residential construction?  (Bill signed by screwsome.)

  17. Greg Norton says:

    @greg:

    Thanks,

    @Nick posts quite a bit from Zerohedge so I assumed everyone knew what Tyler Durden meant.

    About half the time, the byline is reprinting other journalists' material who don't mind having their names associated with the work.

  18. CowboySlim says:

    Is Greta Thuneberg going to jump in and teach us about the Laws of Thermodynamics?

  19. lynn says:

    56F and 47%RH this am, with some wind stirring things around.

    n

    And it is another blustery day.  I suspect that Winnie the Pooh and Piglet are way south of here now.

  20. Chad says:

    Is Greta Thuneberg going to jump in and teach us about the Laws of Thermodynamics?

    She can't jump. CNN's head is too far up her ass.

  21. Mark W says:

    An accurate summary:

    https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/10/jacob-hornberger/the-conflicts-of-visions-that-shaped-america/

    I've never seen it stated that well. 99% true. My only quibble is that many Americans now think they NEED communism.

  22. lynn says:

    "Darkness Be My Friend (The Tomorrow Series #4)" by John Marsden
    https://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Be-My-Friend-Tomorrow/dp/043985802X/br?tag=ttgnet-20 />

    Book number four of a seven book young adult action adventure fiction series. I read the well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Scholastic Paperbacks in 2006 that I bought on Amazon. The first book in the series was actually published in 1993, this book was first published in 1996. I have purchased a used copy of book #5 in the series for future reading. Book #5 is out of print so I had to order a used copy. I have also ordered books #6 and #7 from Big River. And of course I found out that I could have bought the entire series in trade paperback at a discount:
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IWWCXBC/br?tag=ttgnet-20 />

    At the middle of their high school senior year in Australia, a group of seven 17 and 18 year old teenagers decide to go camping in the bush for a week before school restarts. They gather up their sleeping bags and supplies and go way out into the bush, actually at the edge of the desert in a place known as Hell. After a difficult trip by Land Rover and a long walk, they camp next to a spring fed stream. When they return to Ellie's farm after a week, her family is missing and the farm dogs are dead on their chains. They find out that Australia has been invaded by an Asian nation and that their families are being held captive at the town fairgrounds. The Asian forces have taken the airports first and then the cargo shipping seaports. The justification of the invasion is that the Asian nation needs the extensive natural resources of Australia.

    When Ellie and her friends blew up the enemy cargo ship at the seaport with a cargo container full of ANFO (ammonium nitrate/fuel oil), the main wharf and the cranes were all destroyed along with many of the crewmen and soldiers. All of the remaining soldiers were desperately hunting them in vehicles and helicopters from the harbor to the hills.

    The first book in the series was made into a film of the same name in 2010.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow,_When_the_War_Began_(film)

    My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (66 reviews)

  23. Greg Norton says:

    Just from 1980 until now, the changes started earlier have come to fruition at an exponential rate.  Now that they doubled in one generation, it's  like looking at the petri dish and saying "Holy Cow! where did all this mold come from all of a sudden? " 

    It started with Pony Tail Man in the 1992 Presidential debate.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8rp-tlgqa4

  24. Alan says:

    Remember Massachusett's "right to repair" law that went into effect last year?

    Let's check in and see how it's helping consumers…how about those that own Subarus?

    https://jalopnik.com/subaru-is-disabling-starlink-in-massachusetts-for-right-1847955740

    Working out well for them, huh.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no0qB8CVspY

  25. Ray Thompson says:

    Let's check in and see how it's helping consumers…how about those that own Subarus?
     

    Like many laws passed by legislators, the laws are ill conceived and not carefully thought out by the legislators. Loop holes abound.

  26. Greg Norton says:

    Let's check in and see how it's helping consumers…how about those that own Subarus?

    Isn't Starlink the system that enables the car to tattle to the insurance company for not keeping your eyes on the road?

     

  27. lynn says:

    "No new tax on natural gas"

        https://www.bicmagazine.com/industry/natgas-lng/no-new-tax-on-natural-gas/

    "The American Gas Association (AGA), American Petroleum institute (API), Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), and Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) reiterated calls for Congress to withdraw a new tax on natural gas—described as a “methane fee”—from the proposed budget reconciliation bill.
    “Make no mistake, our industry supports methane emissions regulations that are safe, effective, and protect energy reliability. EPA is expected to propose significant new federal methane emissions regulations any day now, yet the new tax under consideration in Congress would apply regardless of compliance with EPA regulations. This tax on natural gas is not about reducing emissions—it’s about forcing American families, regardless of their income level, to help fund the reconciliation package through higher utility bills,” said Amy Andryszak, President and CEO of INGAA
    “We must continue to drive down methane emissions without adding new burdens on American families and businesses. With one-third of households already facing challenges affording their energy needs, Congress should not add a new tax on natural gas. Our analysis indicates that the proposed tax could increase natural gas bills from 12% to 34%, depending on the variation of the proposal assessed,” said Karen Harbert, President and CEO of AGA."

    The dumbrocrats are going to tax the very air that we breathe.

  28. paul says:

    Subaru has some nice car commercials but I have no interest in owning one.

    Ok, sure, it was 1978.  And sure, the car was a several years old.  Ugly green two door.  A friend had several cars and she would let folks borrow them for a few days at a time.  Pretty much a "don't wreck it, bring it back washed and full of gas" deal.  Insurance wasn't required back then.  Very handy when moving between semesters as a bicycle isn't all that great for moving furniture.

    Anyway, this Subaru was fun to drive.  Not as zippy as a Mazda RX2 but a fun little car.  Until it was your turn to ride in the passenger seat.  A left turn would open the door.

    Pretty trippy when everyone just passed a joint of funny tobacco.

    The other car to stay away from was Andy's Ford Galaxy/LTD whatever thing.  Great fun as the brakes were intermittent for a few months.  No one knew anything about cars beyond adding gas and checking the oil.  Fun times.

     

  29. paul says:

    Isn't Starlink the system that enables the car to tattle to the insurance company for not keeping your eyes on the road?

    I don't know.  The owner's manual for my '19 Nissan Frontier says the computer saves 30 seconds of data in case of an accident.  How to access it is not said.  The truck also has XM Radio.  How does that work?  A channel guide ala DirecTv?  I doubt the radio is transmitting anything from that little black fin on the roof.

    When you buy the truck, even used, you get 3 months "free".  The last offer I've received is for around $6 a month pushing $7 with taxes.  Billed oh so conveniently monthly to your credit card.  No thank you.

  30. Greg Norton says:

    I don't know.  The owner's manual for my '19 Nissan Frontier says the computer saves 30 seconds of data in case of an accident.  How to access it is not said.  The truck also has XM Radio.  How does that work?  A channel guide ala DirecTv?  I doubt the radio is transmitting anything from that little black fin on the roof.

    Each XM channel probably periodically broadcasts a space-efficient table of subscriber unit serial numbers authorized to receive the channel.

  31. MrAtoz says:

    Isn't Starlink the system that enables the car to tattle to the insurance company for not keeping your eyes on the road?

    Starlink is like On Star in Caddies. Safety and call operators if you are in a crash, etc. I'm sure it can call plugs direct if you say something disparaging about him in the car.

  32. drwilliams says:

    "The second law says that in a closed system…"

    is essentially meaningless.

    We just need a definition for "close enough to closed".

  33. drwilliams says:

    I was looking at a new John Deere tractor being used by an acquaintance. He noted that his was part of a series–63xx, IIRC–that had identical engines differing only in the chip that set engine parameters determining horsepower.

    I don't know how these are shipped to the dealer. Seems that the best way would be to ship it with the lowest chip and no model number decal, and let the dealer change the chip and apply the decal as needed.

  34. drwilliams says:

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/10/29/gaia-scientist-james-lovelock-i-was-alarmist-about-climate-change/

    "it looked clearcut…"

    No it didn't. Not then, not ever. I lot of people looked at the data, saw the lies, and didn't drink the kool-aid. Don't make excuses.

    (Note: Having the same opinions as AlGore should have been a hint.)

  35. ~jim says:

    that little black fin on the roof

    Heh. I was just wondering what that thing did. Reminds me of an old Charles Addams cartoon: Pugsley has a shark fin strapped to his back and Wednesday is standing next to him on the shore of a lake full of children. Can't remember the caption but the visual says it all.

  36. ~jim says:

    No it didn't. Not then, not ever. 

    To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, too many unknowns, known and unknown. To think otherwise is the very definition of hubris.

  37. ~jim says:

    "The second law says that in a closed system…"

    is essentially meaningless.

    We just need a definition for "close enough to closed".

    Ask Al Gore, or Dr Fauci for a definition. They have all the facts because the science is settled. 

  38. SteveF says:

    The article about Lovelock was from 9 1/2 years ago.

  39. SteveF says:

    Ask Al Gore, or Dr Fauci. They have all the facts lots of money because they claim that the science is settled.

    Edited for accuracy.

    2
    1
  40. drwilliams says:

    @SteveF

    "The article about Lovelock was from 9 1/2 years ago. "

    Nice catch. Wonder what caused it to pop up on Charles' desk?

    Lovelock had a long, long way to walk back:

    Writing in the British newspaper The Independent in January 2006, Lovelock argued that, as a result of global warming, "billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable" by the end of the 21st century. He has been quoted in The Guardian that 80% of humans will perish by 2100 AD, and this climate change will last 100,000 years. He further predicted, the average temperature in temperate regions would increase by as much as 8 °C and by up to 5 °C in the tropics, leaving much of the world's land uninhabitable and unsuitable for farming, with northerly migrations and new cities created in the Arctic. He predicted much of Europe will have become uninhabitable having turned to desert and Britain will have become Europe's "life-raft" due to its stable temperature caused by being surrounded by the ocean. He suggested that "we have to keep in mind the awesome pace of change and realise how little time is left to act, and then each community and nation must find the best use of the resources they have to sustain civilisation for as long as they can."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lovelock

    I'm surprised that the left hasn't got around to canceling him with his history of homo/alt/trans-phobic remarks. "Breeding pairs" indeed.

  41. ~jim says:

    Ask Al Gore, or Dr Fauci. They have all the facts lots of money because they claim that the science is settled.

    Edited for accuracy.

    That doesn't add much to the conversation, Steve, unless you want brownie points for your "wit".

    I was thinking of the comparison to Dr Goebbels, the Big Lie, and the power of propaganda. Would you care to add something thoughtful to the conversation?

    4
    1
  42. Ray Thompson says:

    I doubt the radio is transmitting anything from that little black fin on the roof.

    Every so often my Sirius radio installs an update, probably broadcast on a side channel. I suspect it is the channel authorizations and the activation information.

    The black thing on the roof contains the satellite antenna and the GPS antenna. For OnStar that is also the transmitting antenna. Sirius does not transmit nor does the GPS.

  43. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    Thanks for the rundown on the pans. About thirty years ago I bought a 12" nonstick "Family Skillet" with glass lid from Pampered Chef. I was impressed enough that I bought another one open-box off of eBay, followed by buying the "improved" model that really was improved.

    My second improved model is still going strong with care not to overheat or use metal tools. But like a lot of other PChef products that used to be very good to excellent, the current model is not so much. So I've looked at several other manufacturers, including Kyocera (which went out in the trash within a year), and been universally disappointed. Some friends are raving about their "granite" finish cookware, but I'm waiting…

    On another note, you mentioned listing on eBay, and I keep forgetting to ask (or I've missed the detail in your comments) whether you are doing so from the desktop or phone?

  44. lynn says:

    Subaru has some nice car commercials but I have no interest in owning one.

    Ok, sure, it was 1978.  And sure, the car was a several years old.  Ugly green two door.  A friend had several cars and she would let folks borrow them for a few days at a time.  Pretty much a "don't wreck it, bring it back washed and full of gas" deal.  Insurance wasn't required back then.  Very handy when moving between semesters as a bicycle isn't all that great for moving furniture.

    Anyway, this Subaru was fun to drive.  Not as zippy as a Mazda RX2 but a fun little car.  Until it was your turn to ride in the passenger seat.  A left turn would open the door.

    My father-in-law gave me a 1972 Subaru with a blown motor and a 1972 Subaru with crumpled frame (the normally two foot deep trunk was six inches deep).  I put the good motor and good four speed / clutch in the good frame using my wife's uncle's motor lift in his front yard in Abilene.  He is the one that told to park both cars in his front yard.  Four hours later I had a good running car that I put 20,000 miles on and gave the car back to him.

  45. lynn says:

    We had a trunk-or-treat at our church tonight.  About 2,000 kids showed up.  I am exhausted, I gave out 600 or 800 pieces of gum and/or candy.  We did not have a game but the trunk next to us had a six foot 2×4 on three bricks so the kids had to walk the plank to get the candy.  I thought it was awesome watching the kids walk the plank.

    We had so much wind that one of our bouncy houses took off and went down the parking lot so we had to double tie it down.  The wind died down at 8pm thankfully before it got real cold. 

  46. lynn says:

    "Why the Carbon Hysteria is a Huge Threat to Your Personal Freedom and Financial Wellbeing" By Doug Casey

    https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/10/doug-casey/why-the-carbon-hysteria-is-a-huge-threat-to-your-personal-freedom-and-financial-wellbeing/

    "International Man: Western countries are leading the charge in restructuring their economies around the issue of climate change. They’re committed to a comprehensive agenda to “decarbonize” their economies by 2050.
    What’s your take on this?
    Doug Casey: To sum it up in one word, it’s insane. In two words, it’s criminally insane.
    Before the Industrial Revolution, the overwhelmingly major fuel source was wood. After that, we went to coal, which was a big improvement in density of energy and economics. Then, we went to oil, another huge improvement in energy density and economics.
    These things happened not because of any government mandates but simply because they made both economic and technological sense. If the market had been left alone, the world would undoubtedly be running on nuclear. Nuclear is unquestionably the safest, cheapest, and cleanest type of mass power generation. This isn’t the time to go into the numerous reasons that’s true. But if nuclear had been left unregulated, we’d already be using small, self-contained, fifth-generation thorium reactors, generating power almost too cheap to meter. The world would already be running on truly clean green electricity."

    Yup, we should be nuclear base load with natural gas / fuel oil gas turbines for peaking. Instead, we are using unpredictable wind turbines and somewhat predictable solar for base load. Not good and not reliable.

  47. lynn says:

    "PSA: Widespread Remote Working Scam Underway"

       https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2021/10/psa-widespread-remote-working-scam-underway/

    "I’ve just gotten off the phone with a victim of the scam that I’m about to describe. This is impacting a lot of folks, so please do spread the word. It’s infuriating. I’ll be around to reply to your comments below, but please do not engage in victim-blaming, because until you’ve actually been hit by one of these scams, you don’t know how convincing attackers can be."

    "As you already know, Defiant is a 100% remote company. We have been remote since 2015 when we first started hiring. Thanks to COVID, a lot of brick-and-mortar companies are now hiring for remote positions. There is a remote hiring scam that has rapidly gained popularity and works as follows:"

    Is anything not being scammed now ?

    Hat tip to:

       https://www.codeproject.com/script/Mailouts/View.aspx?mlid=16125

  48. Nick Flandrey says:

    @drwilliams,

    wrt ebay, until a month or slightly more, the only ebay thing I did on my phone was check prices while 'sourcing.'   But after spending some time watching Osborn2Thrift on youtube I decided to give listing from the phone a try. He moves a lot of merch and mentioned that  he lists exclusively from the phone.

    IF you can easily find the item you want to list on your phone, and yours is pretty much just like all the others, the phone app makes it easy and straightforward.  Just being able to take the pictures right there while listing, saves a couple of steps in my workflow. 

    Since I find entering text on the phone is tedious and fraught with error, I like to list more expensive, or items that need a whole lot of details, from the pc.   This week I'm going to hybrid, do the listing on the phone, but then immediately edit it on the pc.  That hopefully gets me the best of both worlds.

    And FWIW, the shipping and size and weight info defaults for the app suck.  It doesn't pull from whatever listing you are "Sell one like this" copying, but has a really stupid default size and weight.

    n

  49. Greg Norton says:

    "PSA: Widespread Remote Working Scam Underway"

    Is anything not being scammed now ?

    At the risk of being accused of victim blaming, people need to accept that "working" from home is not going to continue forever with most employers.

    The economy is not going to start moving again and generating upward mobility opportunities until a lot of cr*ppy but necessary jobs are filled at something less than JoeBux wages.

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