Fri. Nov. 26, 2021 – Black Friday, if they’re lucky.

By on November 26th, 2021 in Random Stuff, WuFlu

Sunny and clear, some chance of rain. No bomb cyclone.

Yesterday went fine.

We leave for the airport around noon, and if everything goes to plan, I’ll be sleeping in my own bed tonight.

I wonder how the retailers will do today, if they’ll end in the black. Either way I’m sure it will be seen as a portent of things to come.

Some stuff is just going to have to play itself out.

Meanwhile, you know what to do….

Nick

46 Comments and discussion on "Fri. Nov. 26, 2021 – Black Friday, if they’re lucky."

  1. SteveF says:

    A real vaccine will eventually be developed for Covid

    Joining all of the vaccines for other coronaviruses?

    If "eventually" means "decades from now", you're probably right. (With the "probably" mainly because there's a chance that the economy or civilized society as a whole will collapse first.)

  2. Greg Norton says:

    >> If I don't get a shot for the new job, I'll wait for the antibody injections being studied as a preventative.

    @Greg, is the new gig 'work in jammies' or do you have to drag yourself to the office?

    Office after 1/3. Remote until then. Escaping remote work was the priority with the search for the new job.

    I don't work in jammies. I get up, shower, and press a shirt with khakis. Jeans on Friday and any other time I am behind on laundry.

    As bad as the situation was at the last job from the very beginning, being remote after March of last year compounded the problem with unprofessionalism on both sides. Plus I forgot that real Wallys are not benign creations of a cartoonist's pen. A real Wally has survived 30 years in Corporate America and the era of 90s layoffs by being a vicious pr*ck behind closed doors when the occasion has called for it.

    Don’t be fooled by the driving gloves and tweed hat when Wally hops in the Caddy coupe at 4 PM to drive out to his investment “tenbagger” starter home in South Austin off Slaughter Lane. That’s a lifestyle he will defend like a mother bear.

  3. Greg Norton says:

    A real vaccine will eventually be developed for Covid

    Joining all of the vaccines for other coronaviruses?

    If "eventually" means "decades from now", you're probably right. (With the "probably" mainly because there's a chance that the economy or civilized society as a whole will collapse first.)

    Within the next year or two. Antibody shots offering limited time-frame protection are in studies right now.

    More than half of the population was scared silly a year ago. Around half still is in that state of mind or else the mask kabuki would have gone away and the vaccine mandates never even suggested.

  4. Greg Norton says:

    I would be surprised if they try to go to market with a new ARM chip designed by themselves.

    I have too many things tied to Intel to consider ditching the architecture and emulation not only increases the load but also introduces issues of its own. 

    Microsoft has many bright/bored people working in Redmond. A group wanting to try their hand at ARM design wouldn't surprise me.

    I'm thinking a "walled garden" device that just runs approved apps downloaded directly from Microsoft, targeting the education market. SOC, 8 GB RAM and embedded graphics like the M1 laptops from Apple.

  5. MrAtoz says:

    "Biden Advises Americans Who Can’t Afford Gasoline to Buy an EV"

    Number xxx reason plugs is the worst. How tone deaf can you be.

  6. drwilliams says:

    You and yours travel safely, @Nick.

  7. drwilliams says:

    I was just perusing a Black Friday ad when I read this line:

    Subwoofer with Meritless Technology

    Of course, when I backed up that's not what it said, but…

  8. Greg Norton says:

    "Biden Advises Americans Who Can’t Afford Gasoline to Buy an EV"

    Number xxx reason plugs is the worst. How tone deaf can you be.

    "Scranton Joe" never bought a car like most people. His daddy ran a Chevy dealership, and Biden still has a 67 vette that he received new as a (story varies depending on audience) gift.

    I'll go with law school graduation.

  9. Ray Thompson says:

    Now CNN is saying the US has a gun epidemic. And this little gem.

    Still, many Americans hold their right to bear arms, enshrined in the US Constitution, as sacrosanct. But critics of the Second Amendment say that right threatens another: The right to life.

    Ask Rittenhouse how well that works. For without a gun he would be dead rather than a couple of losers of society that intended to take Rittenhouse's life. The gun gave Rittenhouse that right to life.

    They also claim the US has more guns per 100 people, more than any other country. Hrrmph. From what I have seen of Afghanistan and Iraq, it seems almost everyone has two or three guns and a missile launcher. Maybe the CNN reporter, if she has the balls, should visit Afghanistan and find out how those people feel about guns.

    America's problem is not with guns, it is the street thugs, generally in blue states, within districts controlled by liberal congress critters and liberal government.

    You would think the government would have learned by now that making something illegal does not make it disappear. Just look at the drug war, prostitution, prohibition, etc. All the government efforts have failed or are failing. Making guns illegal will not solve the problem but make it worse. But CNN in their liberal stupidity fail to see past their own liberal nose.

  10. drwilliams says:

    "Still, many Americans hold their right to bear arms, enshrined in the US Constitution, as sacrosanct. But critics of the Second Amendment say that right threatens another: The right to life."

    Setting aside for the moment that the U.S. Constitution doesn't have a right to life, at least one not covered up by penumbras.

    Let's see how that looks when it's recast:

    "Still, many reporters hold their right to freedom of the press, enshrined in the US Constitution, as sacrosanct."

    or

    "Still, many Americans hold their right to freedom of speech, enshrined in the US Constitution, as sacrosanct."

    or

    "Still, many voters hold their right to vote, enshrined in the US Constitution, as sacrosanct."

    or

    "Still, many thugs hold their right to be innocent until proven guilty, enshrined in the US Constitution, as sacrosanct."

  11. Nick Flandrey says:

    Getting packed.

    Seems very odd to me that every other Thanksgiving, we are bombarded with news about travel delays, cancelled flights, etc, but not this time.  Or that I as half way down the page before the first article about black Friday.

    Which is the true state?

    N

  12. JimB says:

    Right to life out one side of their mouth, and right to abortion out the other.

  13. Ray Thompson says:

    Right to life out one side of their mouth, and right to abortion out the other.

    Whatever gets the vote.

    Politicians never do what is best for the country or out of the goodness of their heart. It ALWAYS about getting elected or hiding their back door deals. Some with questionable legality.

  14. Ray Thompson says:

    Went to Costco in Atlanta. Traffic was light and Costco was not crowded. No lines at checkout, parking lot not full, no stream of people leaving with big screen TVs. One item I wanted was sold out, JBL Bluetooth speaker for $52.00, listed on Amazon for $129.00. Bummer. Apparently there were more people when Costco opened and they snatched all the inventory.

  15. Nick Flandrey says:

    N

    @drwilliams, thanks, of course I'll have an AAR some time after I get home.

    Car gets here in about 30.   Anyone see any reporting about airports or travel today?

    @drwilliams, thanks, of course I'll have an AAR some time after I get home.

    Car gets here in about 30.   Anyone see any reporting about airports or travel today?

    Weather here is grey and dreary, drippy.   

    N

    Weather here is grey and dreary, drippy.   

    N

  16. Alan says:

    >> Number xxx reason plugs is the worst. How tone deaf can you be.

    Umm, like this?

    https://twitter.com/TimRunsHisMouth/status/1463999775309807621

  17. Alan says:

    >> Politicians never do what is best for the country or out of the goodness of their heart. It ALWAYS about getting elected or hiding their back door deals. Some with questionable legality.

    Let's have a national referendum on term limits for Congress. Since they all say they put their constituents first they should have nothing to worry about, right?

  18. Greg Norton says:

    Went to Costco in Atlanta. Traffic was light and Costco was not crowded. No lines at checkout, parking lot not full, no stream of people leaving with big screen TVs. One item I wanted was sold out, JBL Bluetooth speaker for $52.00, listed on Amazon for $129.00. Bummer. Apparently there were more people when Costco opened and they snatched all the inventory.

    For that kind of margin, assume resales, especially if Costco didn't specify a limit.

  19. Jenny says:

    @Ray

    You would think the government would have learned by now that making something illegal does not make it disappear. Just look at the drug war, prostitution, prohibition, etc. All the government efforts have failed or are failing.

    At the risk of exposing my cynism, they -have- learnt by now that making something illegal makes it worse. No “normal” has benefited but you bet the government has been able to grow and grow and grow by chanting the drug war mantras. The government has certainly benefited from the war on drugs. What percentage of our population is imprisoned for drug related crimes, ruining families and beggaring them, for behaviors that had little impact outside their immediate circle? Not ignoring or discounting those imprisoned who caused real measurable harm to society. 
     

    Gun laws and assaults on the second amendment effectively turn “normals” into criminals. The government grows to enforce the illegal laws, left opponents wind up dead, impoverished, or in prison, the government benefits. 
    Those “common sense gun laws” are only about attrition of opposition. 
     

    It doesn’t matter if the guns disappear. Those pushing gun laws are interested in the disappearance of those wielding guns. 

    That’s the real measure of success. 

    8
    1
  20. JimB says:

    Jenny, agree. I wish people would use unconstitutional instead of illegal, however. By definition, laws are legal. Also, it raises awareness that we still have remnants of our constitution.

    /cynicismoff

  21. Ray Thompson says:

    The government has certainly benefited from the war on drugs

    It most certainly has. Our local police department has two fairly new vehicles, both seized from drug busts. Vehicles confiscated and turned over to the police before any court date.

    Had one incident where the case was tossed but the police had already taken their vehicle and sold it. Now the police were on the hook to get the property replaced. Of course the police department was fighting it in court using the city attorney at no cost to the police department. The property owner has to pay some big bucks to an attorney

    Much cash has been seized because the cops "think" it is drug money. The person in possession has to prove the money is not drug money. The opposite of proven innocent until proven guilty.

    No one should have property seized until a verdict of guilty is rendered. That is not happening in the case of drug seizures. If the police really want a vehicle bad enough, they will find drugs in a traffic stop. Such stop on trumped up reasons. I really believe the police drug enforcement carry small amounts of drugs for just such a purpose. The drug sniffing dog will also alert on drugs and on command. In fact the dogs will alert on most cash as there is some drug residue.

    My advice, stated many times, when confronted by the police say only "I want a lawyer", then shut up.

  22. Alan says:

    >> At the risk of exposing my cynism, they -have- learnt by now that making something illegal makes it worse. No “normal” has benefited but you bet the government has been able to grow and grow and grow by chanting the drug war mantras. 

    So make it legal, including all current Rx drugs (except for a few of the mega antibiotics) and tax it. And no EMT or ER services for ODs (except for kids where it may have been accidental).

  23. lynn says:

    "JK Rowling Casts Anti-Doxxing Spell Against Trans Activists In Furious Twitter Thread"

         https://www.zerohedge.com/political/jk-rowling-casts-anti-doxxing-spell-against-trans-activists-furious-twitter-thread

    "Rowling's opinions have also resulted in backlash from Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, who owes his career to her – saying in an essay that "transgender women are women.""

    Wow, they are still attacking her.  There is a lot of mental disease out there.

  24. Greg Norton says:

    The government has certainly benefited from the war on drugs

    It most certainly has. Our local police department has two fairly new vehicles, both seized from drug busts. Vehicles confiscated and turned over to the police before any court date.

    In Florida, in our county (Hillsborough), it was the War on Drugs and the nationwide registry for "deadbeat" parents.

    Hillsborough Sheriff would cruise through parking lots of WalMart and Home Depot, running plates, and God help you if your name was on the registry, even if it was at some point in the distant past and the back child support paid. Your car would be impounded and sold within a week unless your lawyer moved fast.

  25. Ray Thompson says:

    So, Biden, acting on advice from Fauci, will block people from South Africa and seven other countries from entering the US. How quaint!

    Yet those two losers allow hoards of immigrants from turd world countries with all manner of diseases enter the US by crossing the border. All the people from South Africa need do is join an immigrant caravan. No one will notice.

  26. Greg Norton says:

    Wow, they are still attacking her.  There is a lot of mental disease out there.

    No lack of hypocrisy either.

    Back in March, when we went to see the new Harry Potter roller coaster at Universal, there was no lack of LGBTQ representation waiting in the standby queue with us.

    There is a pecking order in that community, and they only demand equality for all of their members when it suits their agenda. ‘T’ is fourth in the order of both status and the acronym.

  27. MrAtoz says:

    So, Biden, acting on advice from Fauci, will block people from South Africa and seven other countries from entering the US. How quaint!

    Yet those two losers allow hoards of immigrants from turd world countries with all manner of diseases enter the US by crossing the border. All the people from South Africa need do is join an immigrant caravan. No one will notice.

    Of course, when tRump did this because of terrorism, he was sued because RACCCIIIISSSSMMMM! Same when he said crimmigrants brought diseases.

  28. MrAtoz says:

    The ProgLibTurds really are plugs' puppet master:

    After releasing oil from the SPR to lower energy prices, the Biden administration moves to increase energy prices

    plugs should just drain the SPR and get it over with.

  29. lynn says:

    "World Health Organization Skips Greek Letter ‘Xi’ in Naming New Covid Variant"

        https://www.mediaite.com/news/world-health-organization-skips-greek-letter-xi-in-naming-new-covid-variant/

    I am sure that they have another reason for skipping the letter Xi.  Sure.

    Hat tip to:

       https://drudgereport.com/

  30. dcp says:

    Politicians never do what is best for the country or out of the goodness of their heart. It ALWAYS about getting elected or hiding their back door deals. 

    "But if we're right, and we can stop this thing?  Lenny!  You will have saved the lives of millions of registered voters." — Ghostbusters

  31. CowboySlim says:

    @JimB:

    I'm in Borrego Springs, come on down and dinner for you both ison me.

  32. drwilliams says:

    Phone ahead and tell the sommelier to open up a bottle of the Chateau Lafitte '63.

  33. JimB says:

    "I'm in Borrego Springs, come on down and dinner for you both is on me."

    Generous offer, thanks. That would be almost a five hour drive if I were home, but I am currently in Mission Viejo, about three hours west of you. Ironically, I am about forty minutes from your home.

    Not this time, but we will meet some day. If drwilliams had offered to buy that wine. I would have almost certainly made the trip. He would of course be welcome to join us, dinner on me.

    Whew, this is getting complicated!

  34. drwilliams says:

    Spring 2022: Speech 521–Spreadsheets for Social Engagements

  35. drwilliams says:

    "Is the Salvation Army intentionally trying to dry up its donations? "

    https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2021/11/26/salvation-armys-holiday-message-to-white-donors-apologize-for-your-racism-n431521

    I suspect we'll be hearing more about this clusterfark.

    In the meantime, it felt very strange today breaking a 20+ year commitment and passing by red kettles without donating.

    4
    1
  36. RickH says:

    @drwilliams – message from Salvation Army.  https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/story/the-salvation-armys-response-to-false-claims-on-the-topic-of-racism/

    Though we remain committed to serving everyone in need—regardless of their beliefs, their backgrounds, or their lifestyle—recently some individuals and groups have attempted to mislabel our organization to serve their own agenda(s). They have made outrageous claims that we believe our donors should apologize for their own racism, that The Salvation Army believes America is an inherently racist society, and that our organization has abandoned its beliefs for one ideology or another. In fact, an online petition is asking supporters to “stand against the insertion of politically charged racial ideologies into The Salvation Army’s good work.”

    Those claims are false, and they distort the very goal of our work.

  37. drwilliams says:

    @RickH

    Here's the link to "Let's Talk About Racism" from my previous post:

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/cache.salvationarmy.org/e0c074e3-39db-4b09-a6ea-aa5bdb6ecaa6_Let%27s%20Talk%20About…%20Racism%20COMPLETE%20SET.pdf/p?tag=ttgnet-20

    (BTW, I saved it, as I expect it's going to get the memory hole treatment)

    Here's a few selections from the resources at the end:

    Books

    How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi, Penguin Random House LLC., 2019.

    White Awake: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White, Daniel Hill, IVP Books, 2017.
     

    White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo,
    Beacon Press, 2018.
     

    White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of our Racial Divide, Carol Anderson, Bloomsbury Publishing,
    2016.

    Woke Church: An Urgent Call for Christians in America to Confront Racism and Injustice, Eric
    Mason, Moody Publishers, 2018.

    (Of 39 books listed, 36 were published in the last 10 years, one was published in 2001. The other 2 are by W.E.B. DuBois and James Baldwin, both of which I have read. The fact that 90+% of the book resources are so recent is highly indicative of a steaming pile of carp.)

    PODCASTS
    1619 by New York Times at (link omitted)

    Having that last piece of utter and total trash on the list is enough to inform my opinion by itself.

    Adding anything by DiAngelo and Kendi is more than enough to seal the deal:

    DiAngelo and Rogers (Kendi) claim that any observable difference in relative behavior or accomplishment between racial groups is due to the inherent racism of whites, arguing against the traditional American concept of equal opportunity in favor of the Marxist-inspired goal of equality of outcome.

    from the link I posted above.

    From your link

    In fact, an online petition is asking supporters to “stand against the insertion of politically charged racial ideologies into The Salvation Army’s good work.”

    Those claims are false, and they distort the very goal of our work.

    The evidence from their own publication is clear:

    1) "the insertion of politically charged racial ideologies into The Salvation Army’s good work.” has already occurred, as proved by their own study guide.

    2) The claims are not false.

    5
    1
  38. nick flandrey says:

    Home safe and sound.    VERY bumpy climbing out of Logan.  I almost got queasy.  If it had continued for 10 more minutes there would have been puking all over the plane.  D1 was breathing heavy, and swallowing.

    Bumpy coming in to Houston too, but just normal turbulence.

    And the hamster is an ex-hamster, much to the kids' dismay.   I didn't expect him to make it and he didn't.  Had water, food, and clean pine shavings, and that's about the best he could have had.  Kids are still upset.

    48F and 76%RH here in Houston and that is about what it was when we left Boston.

    I need something to drink and eat.

    n

  39. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    Glad to hear you're home.

    Sorry to hear the hamster didn't make it.

  40. drwilliams says:

    Whose Land Did Native Americans Steal Before Europeans Stole It From Them?

    https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2021/11/26/whose-land-did-native-americans-steal-before-europeans-stole-it-from-them-n1536645

    An interesting article, but one sentence did not jibe with my memory, so I followed the link to:

    The Kennewick Man Finally Freed to Share His Secrets

    He’s the most important human skeleton ever found in North America—and here, for the first time, is his story

    Douglas Preston September 2014

    https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/kennewick-man-finally-freed-share-his-secrets-180952462/

    which confirmed:

    As work progressed, a portrait of Kennewick Man emerged. He does not belong to any living human population. Who, then, are his closest living relatives? Judging from the shape of his skull and bones, his closest living relatives appear to be the Moriori people of the Chatham Islands, a remote archipelago 420 miles southeast of New Zealand, as well as the mysterious Ainu people of Japan.

  41. nick flandrey says:

    Forgot to mention that we picked up the puppy from the sitter.  He was a little nut burger, but now he's asleep in his crate.  Wiped out little guy.

    n

  42. drwilliams says:

    Haven't had a puppy pic in a long time…

  43. mediumwave says:

    (Of 39 books listed, 36 were published in the last 10 years, one was published in 2001. The other 2 are by W.E.B. DuBois and James Baldwin, both of which I have read. The fact that 90+% of the book resources are so recent is highly indicative of a steaming pile of carp.)

    Emphasis added.

    Quoted for truth. (h/t to SteveF)

  44. nick flandrey says:

    Haven't had a puppy pic in a long time…

    I keep trying but he's black, and he won't stand still! 

    n

  45. drwilliams says:

    Puppy 1, Technology 0

    Sometimes the universe gets it right.

  46. JimB says:

    I have photographed dogs and children, and neither will sit still. They are challenging. I suggest waiting until the puppy is a little sleepy.

    As for his dark color, consider a dark background. Manual exposure might be needed.

Comments are closed.