…friend of the blog and prolific commentor OFD, Dave Hardy, went to his reward. Church-y language, because he believed in the power of The Church, as it was, and should be. I hope he’s watching with a bowl of pretzels and a bottle of Moxie. And if it turns out to be more than a spectator sport, we could all use a little help buddy… Prayers for those he left behind. Raise a glass to Absent Friends.
Cooler but warming later here in Houston.
Didn’t get a lot done yesterday. Did get some stuff sorted and put away. Cut the grass. Broke down and vac sealed the remaining meat from the shopping run (just the vac sealed pork tenderloin.) Got three nice roasts out of it, and decided not to do any chops. Cooked one roast for dinner with collard greens from the garden as a side. Collards are on their second or possibly third year, and still produce. Had a loaf of the shelf stable sourdough bread too, since I was already running the oven.
Felt kinda ‘off’ all day. Too much sun on Sunday maybe.
Today I’ve got stuff to do. Pickups, drop offs, and moving stuff around. I need to do some more tax paperwork, and some office work too. There is always something more to do.
Like stacking all the things, you need to do more of that.
n
(have I mentioned that D2 is taking up the trombone? And that beginning trombone sounds like moose in heat? LOUDLY in heat.)
Here’s to you, OFD, Jerry, and others…
Hey, maybe they can tell us just who punctured the two Nord Stream pipelines? One leak might be an accident. At present, it looks like two leaks in each pipeline: Nord Stream 2 yesterday and Nord Stream 1 today.
Sabotaging pipelines on the ocean floor is likely beyond the abilities of individuals or terrorist groups. I supposed it could be a corporation that does deep sea work, but to what end?
It seems most likely to be a government. Russia, creating an excuse for their non-delivery of gas? A Western power, ensuring Russia cannot sell gas? Or someone else, for reasons unclear and unknown?
My task for the afternoon is topping up the wood stacks for the winter, checking the wood-fired stove, and making a pile of kindling. Nothing to do with Nord Stream, it was just today on the task list…
The Navy has Ian going right up Tampa Bay and into the new developments built in the swamp.
This will be ugly … and expensive. Tampa homeowners are about to learn the hard way that most of their property insurance carriers are insolvent. Ever since the market imploded in Florida after 2005, coverage is often subject to “Show ya” games.
My manager at the Death Star used to claim he went bare except for liability, even though he was a block from the Bay. “They’ll let you have one arson,” was the speech we got one afternoon.
Really ugly.
https://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/TC.html
OFD was also fond of James Howard Kunstler, quoting things from there or providing links. He’s been a bit repetitive as of late, but in honor of the departed …
https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/this-is-the-way-the-world-ends/
I can’t help the name embedded in the link. And take it with a grain of salt – Kunstler has post SHTF fiction books to sell.
Best wishes to you, OFD, wherever you may be – I think you will all be laughing at, and perhaps occasionally helping, us along with JEP, RBT and others we miss.
Much to do today, but glad to be well enough and able to do it. Good luck to any of you in Hurricane Alley today.
They live on in their writings, which are more accessible to us than ever before in history. For now.
Sacre bleu! Wee Pierre blinks.
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/news/2022/09/government-of-canada-to-remove-covid-19-border-and-travel-measures-effective-october-1.html
Canada has a worse problem with autocratic leadership than we do right now, but you Republicans who think Tulsi Gabbard would be an “acceptable” Dem as President — especially the Vets — should realize that she sat in the same WEF classes as Wee Pierre back in the day.
Verbotten! Nein! Not Allowed! Account Canceled!
Did a famous doctor’s COVID shot make his cancer worse?
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2022/09/27/the-atlantic-did-a-famous-doctors-covid-shot-make-his-cancer-worse-n499201
Looking forward to Jan 2023 committee investigation of Fauci and the snot-nosed twenty-something Twitter and Facebook censors.
Betteridge’s law of headlines
65F with 65%RH and sunny this morning. Late start because the kids had orthodontist appointments this am.
Yea! cold front.
Housing market cooling too….
n
–if you are in the affected area, kinda past time to get your stuff in a bag… hope you are doing your last minute preps.
n
Yeah. There are huge numbers of solar electric fields in California, but rather minimal storage.
One unit at a larger battery utility storage facility (Tesla made) made the news last week by catching fire, shutting down a major highway and having officials order a “shelter in place with a/c off” order for hours.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2022/09/22/fire-at-pges-tesla-battery-in-california-is-now-under-control/
RIP Mr. OFD. He mattered.
6.5% 30 year fixed will do that. And the rate is for sterling credit.
Sellers are going to get hosed not wanting to take haircuts.
More to come …
The bar stools are still occupied at Sloppy Joe’s as of 10:30 AM EDT. The storm will be there this time tomorrow.
https://sloppyjoes.com/cam-bar/
Further up the Gulf Coast:
https://www.muckyduck.com/beach-cam/
The metric at the Mucky Duck is to see how many people are watching the sunset. It should be spectacular tonight.
From one of the official CDC advisory notices I get, invitation to a webinar about monkeypox.
– we’re doomed.
n
Tropical Storm force winds forecast for my area at 8 pm tomorrow. I will grab some cash and fill the car on the way home from work today, otherwise, preps are in place.
Of course, I am on the east coast and we will not be hit hard. Tampa will likely have flooding. Flooding should never be taken lightly. Something like 300,00 people have been ordered to evacuate. History says only half of them will.
Florida, or at least Brevard county, no longer enforces evacuation orders. They go door to door and advise people to leave. If they choose not to they are told that rescue personnel will NOT brave the storm to rescue people in a mandatory evacuation zone and that they should mark themselves with a permanent marker for identification. They also ask for next of kin information for notification purposes. Harsh? Probably, but proper, IMO.
Harsh but appropriate. People should be able to choose, but they should acknowledge the potential risk and cost of their choice, and they should not put others at risk.
n
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/09/who-controls-smart-thermostat-temperature-nest-ecobee/671559/
Shocking.
Lots more hunger on the way.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11254317/Bidens-plan-end-U-S-HUNGER-2030-tackle-obesity.html
– of course one way to do that is decrease the population….
The article and especially the sidebar article are well worth reading.
And I find it fascinating that we can have an obesity epidemic at the same time “food insecurity” is at a peak.
At a macro level, if you are dependent on the gov to feed your family, how likely are you to buck the gov?
STACK FOOD. Do it in secret.
n
I’m very happy to see a post from MrAtoz!
I’m not missing posts from Ed/NaN.
“Food insecurity” is not hunger.
Hunger is not getting enough to eat; undernourishment is chronic hunger.
“Food insecurity” is an obese person:
–with a full refrigerator running out of Twinkies
–who eats one bag of cookies, doses their insulin, then reaches for another bag
–that zeroes their EBT card on DoorDash with two days left in the month
Florida has never enforced evacuation orders as in door-to-door searches and forced removal from homes . That would be impossible.
A mandatory evacuation order simply means that the official recommendation is to leave and those who stay will be on their own in terms of government services for at least the duration of the storm and possibly many days beyond.
About 15 years ago I was posting and answering questions in the Geocaching technical forum, https://forums.geocaching.com/GC/index.php?/forum/11-gps-technology-and-devices/
There were, as in some forums, some really stupid and argumentative trolls there. Of course, they took after me. It did bother me a little, but not too much as I realized that their mental deprivation and stupidity was the cause of it. It was all technical issues in areas of which they had no knowledge whatsoever. I did finally realize the cause and effect relationship of their behavior. I congratulated myself as I had acquired the equivalent of a degree in Sociology (uncertified by a university, of course).
One example: They would rather have bad attention than no attention. For example, in this forum, 10 hours after a post they would rather have 2 thumbs up and 10 thumbs down (bad attention) than 0 up and 0 down (no attention).
https://mises.org/wire/obamas-forgotten-child-hunger-debacle?utm_source=FFF+Daily&utm_campaign=e8c762d432-FFF+Daily+2022-09-27&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1139d80dff-e8c762d432-317332221
And from the above Daily Mail article:
“In August 2022, the agency announced a cost-of-living adjustment beginning Oct. 1, increasing maximum monthly SNAP allotments for a family of four from $835 to $939 a month. ”
$200+ per person per month is pretty generous, even with food price inflation.
I read recently that in Rome’s heyday nearly a third of the population, 300k, were “eligible” for the Bread part of Bread and Circuses. Last I heard, SNAP/EBT had more than 40 million “customers”.
If there were any type of “news” regarding conflicts/violence/territoriality at restaurant or grocery dumpsters, I’d believe there was really a problem.
Someone on here asked for pictures at the Hall of Fame induction.
The spousal unit and I on the field.
https://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/HallofFame/Image1.JPG
All the inductees. The two girls in the lower left and the chap behind them, next to me, in the purple shirt, are all from the same family.
https://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/HallofFame/Image2.JPG
And finally, the picture that I sent them to be printed and placed on the wall that is effectively the Wall of Fame.
https://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/HallofFame/Image3.jpg
A couple of you, three if you if Mr. AtoZ is still lurking, will recognize both of us as we have visited three of the people that frequent (or used to) this place.
And some pictures from the homecoming football game.
https://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/Oakdale
Lastly, pictures from the homecoming candidates.
http://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/Homecoming
They would rather have bad attention than no attention. For example, in this forum, 10 hours after a post they would rather have 2 thumbs up and 10 thumbs down (bad attention) than 0 up and 0 down (no attention).
– which is why Na N ‘s comments get summarily deleted by anyone who sees them. And now his E d persona will get the same treatment.
n
Nick:
Much of that is due to the USDA’s “Food Pyramid” that emphasized eating grains and carbs instead of meat and protein. High carb diets promote obesity.
If there were any type of “news” regarding conflicts/violence/territoriality at restaurant or grocery dumpsters, I’d believe there was really a problem.
– unlikely to see such unless it served the agenda.
Lots of youtubes about dumpster diving for food and the “freegan” movement.
FWIW, I just did an online calculator for SNAP. Assuming family of 4, one older than 60, two $10/hr jobs, 40 hrs/week, and rent that I charge my tenants…. in Texas they’d only get $592 from SNAP. There is some temp pandemic money that brings it to $939. The calculator says ~$1100 net income for the month, but that doesn’t count vehicle costs or any utilities. Does include some childcare. The SNAP would bring monthly net to ~$2000. Uncounted expenses, especially real child care and a vehicle (needed to work) means most likely the total food budget comes out of SNAP. $ 30/day to feed two adults and two kids is doable but barely. It means a lot of cheap carbs and less protein. It probably means stealing toilet paper and light bulbs from work too.
And kids eating breakfast and lunch at school.
I’m pretty frugal, and I spend a lot of time doing it, and I don’t think I’d want to be limited to $30/day, day in and day out.
n
Austin has a “picker” culture who dumpster dive for all kinds of things, particularly at the office parks and large tech campus locations around here. Disputes over “turf” wouldn’t be something I’d view as a decline in the general condition.
>> So we need an SUV, or at least a crossover, and it needs to actually be robust, not just for show. But we don’t need or want a gigantic beast.
Subaru CrossTrek?
Nope. You can probably get buy on 10 bucks per day per person, but it’s tight. And you will really regret that crap processed food is cheaper than basic ingredients. Which is part of the reason that the poor are often obese.
Add to that the fact that good money management is hard for anyone, much less someone with a marginal education, under stress from working tough jobs for poor pay.
Feeling old.
My favorite coffee shop is closing. Owners are taking their well deserved rest.
They opened in 1992, the year before I arrived in Alaska.
I started going regularly in 1994. There was a cute boy barista. I learned to drink coffee. Had my first Lattè there (I don’t understand Lattès, but he was very handsome).
Nothing ever came of the boy but I enjoyed the shop and owners and watched their child grow up. They saw me thru most of my ”growing up” too, I guess.
Nice folks. Earnest, hard working, they changed more than a few lives a cup at a time.
https://sidestreetespresso.coffee
And you will really regret that crap processed food is cheaper than basic ingredients
– and you might, if you weren’t careful, or there weren’t enough adults in the household, build kids who would ‘do anything’ to live better than that. In the old days it would be marrying an older man to get out of the house, or joining the army, these days it’s more likely to be turning criminal, or getting pregnant to bring in more aid money. Not something society needs.
n
re: solar.
I just did a quick visual estimate using Bing maps of the solar fields in the Antelope Valley here.
I come up north of 20 square miles. May be closer to 25.
Someone is going to have to pay to landfill those panels in a couple of decades…
>> The Navy has Ian going right up Tampa Bay and into the new developments built in the swamp.
Seems to be trending a bit east, pushing landfall a bit south of Tampa, maybe Fort Meyers.
From one of the local (Tampa) meteorologists:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02awCsJyHqnuXtUTv7WzDTS6DC5zAHYMqw4RuCHRMhWCobmJn971fRB4pagVT68vcCl&id=100044368121962
Though Tampa / St Pete will still see plenty of wind and rain.
Just saw Jim Cantore (from the Weather Channel) giving an update from somewhere in FL, boy, his face shows the effects of years of standing outside in many of these storms. One might say he looks “Weathered.”
Your point is taken for those truly just barely scraping by. OTOH, I see what folks buy at the checkout line with their SNAP card. Many times singletons or couples are getting more than just keeping body and soul together items. And SNAP cards are absolutely used as currency, at a discount, for non food items among “friends”.
When I worked as a grocery bagger, quite a long while ago I’ll admit, there was a regular family that always bought 4 Jiffy Pops on their monthly run. Two full carts to last till the next time. Absolutely not as much fun as watching that foil expand, but a 2lb bag of popcorn was and is a lot more food for the same or less money for each Jiffy Pop.
Last month I cleaned out a pair of lockers at work to fill the dumpsters. Thousands of dollars of new in the box Yoga mats and various cork blocks to go with. Dumpster diving for fun and profit is certainly video worthy. There used to be and maybe still are “couponers” with Youtube channels that made a full time job of filling their basements and garages with enough grocery store stock to start their own convenience store. I’m sure there are people in dire enough straits to feed themselves dumpster diving, but it is not common or usual, perhaps because of SNAP. But perhaps not, too.
One might say he looks “Weathered.”
Groan!
Arlo and Janis: The USA Election Day is November 8 This Year
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2022/09/27
Another week of electioneering after the first Tuesday in November, are you kidding me ? I am already tired of the nonsense.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_United_States_elections
“Feds investigating after Houston couple finds a dozen M16s in storage case purchased online”
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-guns-storage-case-M16-rifle-17470217.php
You know, those are probably M16A1s. Worth a lot of money on the open market.
Note that a large part of the PLT schtick is a war on animal protein, either from the PETA approach or the pseudo-science of methane reduction.
The “eggs have cholesterol and are unhealthy for you” manta was chanted for years with the FDA leading the doctor’s chorus. That was the “settled science” even though no one had really looked at the link between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol. When it turned out there wasn’t a link the chorus got quieter but still hasn’t stopped, and the mea culpas that should have been loud and frequent have been nonexistent.
We’ve had at least three waves of virus from China: Swine flue, bird flu, and KungFlu. If the costs were honestly summed up I seriously doubt that all the trade with China in the last fifty years compensates.
“Feds investigating after Houston couple finds a dozen M16s in storage case purchased online”
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-guns-storage-case-M16-rifle-17470217.php
It had to be “seized”, not “took custody of”.
Wouldn’t be surprised if they got search warrants for everything else that belonged to the couple.
Note the origin of the mess: The Federal Government. Those weapons should never have left military custody. The surplus company bought empty cases. Do they have an obligation to check? The couple bought empty cases and tried to do the right thing. Wonder how they feel now?
“You know, those are probably M16A1s. Worth a lot of money on the open market.”
The photo, probably stock, appears to be an A2. AFAIR, with papers, not the case here, each rifle would go for ~$30k. Something less on the black market. 😉
The video link in the article shows A2 models.
(have I mentioned that D2 is taking up the trombone? And that beginning trombone sounds like moose in heat? LOUDLY in heat.)
I got to listen to my cousin’s 11 year old play the saxophone on Saturday before the Aggie game. I could recognize the song he played. My cousin was very proud.
“Worth a lot of money on the open market.”
Cost in grief is astronomical. My solution would probably have been to run the receivers through the metal bandsaw on a line centered on the se-ers. That would waste a lot of value but be quicker than disassembly.
The models on SpaghettiModels.com now center on Fort Myers. The Navy site is overloaded.
It would be both good and bad for the storm to go through Lee/CharlotteCounties again. The longer Tampa goes without getting a good whack from a storm, the more stupid development goes into the area without regard to potential storm issues.
The Lee County mainland was still grim from … Ivan (?) … when we went through there for Spring Break ~ 18 months ago.
Which makes NO sense. Eggs have everything needed to make a chicken. Eating chicken is good for you, right?
Could salvage the upper half and rear stock for a few hundred each. But, you’re right, those lower receivers are thermite!
@EdH:
I’ve seen hundreds of solar panels NW of the 58 and 395 intersection. Going up to Kennedy Meadows from Orange County.
refreshing honesty from a politician:
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2022/09/27/melonis-liberal-opponent-nascent-fascism-in-italy-is-absolutely-fake-news-n499320
The only problem with this CNN interview is that CNN apparently chose not to report it.
And seized their computers, cell phones, tablets, paper files, check registers and anything else that was not bolted down. The storage unit is probably now a crime scene and anything in the storage unit is evidence and cannot be sold by the couple. The FBI may have even seized everything from other storage units but most certainly anything purchased from the supplier. The couple may even get charged with illegal arms dealing.
Probably not well. There is no “right thing” when dealing with government. In almost all cases the government will screw over the persons or individuals. They are now on the government radar, have a file a couple inches thick (electronic version) and a blacked out Suburban parked outside their home. Sometimes the Brazos River is the better solution.
Reading about the Nord Stream explosive leaks is interesting. Put on your tin foil hat.
All of the leaks are out of any national boundary.
Some folks say Russia did it. Which makes no sense. Why destroy what you can use to make money? Versus “just not pumping gas”? Putin said (by memory) (find the link yourself) a couple of weeks ago “lift the sanctions and we can turn the gas on with the press of a button”.
I don’t see why Germany would blow the lines. Other than perhaps that when everyone is freezing this winter and the Moslems get extra frisky, the Gov can say “hey, nothing we can do”.
Someone said Poland did it. Yeah, no. Poland is between Germany and Russia. They’ve been invaded enough.
Someone else said Ukraine did the deed. Someone else said Ukraine doesn’t have the submarines or skill.
Shrug. I don’t know. But it’s interesting that a lot of folks say the CIA did it. Biden said in early February that in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, “there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2, we will bring an end to it.” So, there’s that.
Looks to me that the idiots in charge really have a boner for Russia. Freezing and starving Europe to get a war going is crazy but here we are.
Ok, tin hat off.
I remember when it was touted that four out of five doctors recommended Camel cigarettes. That was before truth in advertising had a lot of teeth. Regardless it was an ambitious claim.
My grandfather lived on eggs, bread, steak, chicken, bacon, potatoes, everything fried in bacon grease. Vegetables were mainly just filler added to the meal. He lived to be 87.
Former exchange students living in Germany are really concerned about electricity and heat this winter. The German government provided 300 Euros for each house to try and offset the higher cost. The former student says that is only good for about two months. She fully expects there to be natural gas rationing and hours where electricity is cutoff entirely.
Absolutely.
The chances that it is part of some sort of quasi-illegal ‘operation’ by the feds can’t be discounted either.
Which would make the Brazos river either a very good idea or a very bad idea.
@CowboyStu: Yup. And no energy storage to speak of.
When Walker, Texas Ranger originally aired the primary reason that I could never get too enthused was not the predictable formulaic plots or the acting, it was the indiscriminate use of automatic weapons and military ordinance. The show was inspired by Lone Wolf McQuade, but some things should not have made the transition.
In real life any criminals using automatic weapons are going to get buried by the sheer weight of federal agents trying to get in on the collar. Seeing such weapons week after week got old fast.
Now they run 4-5 episodes back-to-back on H&I, and I’m more likely to leave the tv there than college football or most other weekend sports except golf.
I get e-mail from NewEgg. This looks interesting:
https://www.newegg.com/p/2DS-008P-00011
But it’s an AMD CPU and I’ve not been impressed with anything AMD ever. $300.
This looks better:
https://www.newegg.com/neosmay-ac8-jasper-lake/p/2SW-006Y-00003
My PC is acting odd. I think it’s mostly the video part of the motherboard but…. USB, or at least the port gizmos that connect to the MB have failed. Or the drivers are corrupted from a Windows update. I can charge my phone. Big deal. Then again, stuff gets old. I bought this PC January 2013. It’s the longest lasting PC I have had.
I’ll have buy some extras. A new mouse and a new keyboard for a start because what I have is PS/2. An external DVD drive or a case for the drive I have now. If I go for the smaller drive, well, can I swap in my 1TB SSD drive for the 256GB SSD?
More study is needed.
This turned out long, apologies. That can certainly be done, even for less, I’ve been doing so most of my life. But. You need to have a permanent residence with some storage space, preferably a bit of garden and a freezer. Some education and or smarts helps a bit too. Also a willingness to forego things like Porterhouse steak, organic cage free eggs, and similar. Buy it on sale and break it down – we went for a year buying only whole chickens and chuck roast on sale, the chuck got broken down to steaks, stew meat, and the rest ground for hamburger. Buy fruit and vegetables in season when they are less expensive, most of us older folks had no choice in that matter when we were kids because that is all that was available locally in the mid-1950s.
Folks in a small apartment, no yard, or even transient, can’t do most of those things, even if they do have some smarts. Those of us that have the means, including stable space, can choose to do these things. A long number of years ago we qualified for food stamps for a short time. The ‘award’ was scaled to your income so that for x amount you payed a percentage. At the level we were at I found that I was spending less for our food than I would have to pay for the food stamps (for a yet larger amount, it would have been a gain for us but we did not then have the cash to take advantage of it).
Observation about the various “dollar” stores, which I understand have gone up recently. A dollar a can, or more, for beans – that I can regularly get at a regional chain store for 58 cents a can. They do have bargains but you have to pay attention to several of the stores around you to take advantage of them when and where they occur, assuming you have several close enough to do so; and transportation – walking, a bicycle, or the bus is going to be really awkward with that 50 lb. sack of flour, rice, or whatever.
You can buy an adapter which has two PS/2 port inputs, one each for mouse/keyboard, and a USB connection on the other end to use with a newer computer. I have a couple around the house, and they work well.
Belkin used to make one. I don’t know if they still offer it.
>> So we need an SUV, or at least a crossover, and it needs to actually be robust, not just for show. But we don’t need or want a gigantic beast.
Subaru CrossTrek?
Toyota Highlander with the V6.
re: solar.
I just did a quick visual estimate using Bing maps of the solar fields in the Antelope Valley here.
I come up north of 20 square miles. May be closer to 25.
Someone is going to have to pay to landfill those panels in a couple of decades…
Watcha want to bet that somebody sells the solar panels on ebay as slightly used.
Former exchange students living in Germany are really concerned about electricity and heat this winter. The German government provided 300 Euros for each house to try and offset the higher cost. The former student says that is only good for about two months. She fully expects there to be natural gas rationing and hours where electricity is cutoff entirely.
But, but, Germany is the second best country in the world to live in ! “Switzerland Is No. 1 in 2022 U.S. News Best Countries Rankings”
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/us-news-unveils-best-countries-rankings
The USA is number four. That is just crazy.
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
Behind Canada under Wee Pierre.
“Abu Khayr al-Masri and the Ginsu Missile”
https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/abu-khayr-al-masri-and-the-ginsu-missile/
“A friend of mine was one of a group of five military officers who first developed the concept of arming an unmanned surveillance drone. The Predator was originally simply a remote ISR platform. ISR stands for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. In this role it revolutionized command and control on the asymmetrical battlefield by allowing covert intelligence gathering without physical risk. Then these guys decided to hang a couple of missiles under the wings, and the whole earth moved just a little bit.”
“The AGM-114 Hellfire was first introduced in 1984. Hellfire stands for Heliborne Laser, Fire and Forget. The Hellfire weighs about 100 pounds and is 64 inches long. Modern versions sport a semi-active laser homing capability as well as a millimeter-wave radar seeker and can reach out to around eleven kilometers. Originally designed to kill tanks in Western Europe when launched off of AH64 Apache gunships, it turned out that the Hellfire held so much more promise if really cleverly wielded. Now hold that thought.”
Yup, a Hellfire will rock your day.
Set up the judging criteria, pick the winners.
n
wanna bet there is some squishy greenie/LBGTEIEIO/racism shite in those rankings?
n
Wife’s home, better get in the kitchen and start cooking!
n
(Me not her!)
I took a semiconductor fabrication class with a hands on lab during my EE undergrad. I’m not sure what they use to dope the solar cells, but for 1 mm devices (education, not commercial fab) in 1990, some of the chemicals involved were really toxic.
I remember the Solar World boondoggle in Oregon was inherited from BP which repurposed an old Analog (?) plant so I assume that the processes for late 80s chips and solar cells must be similar.
Decommissioned solar panels are probably going to require careful disposal … at least, if you aren’t “swimming naked” in the Warren Buffett sense of the term.
I took a semiconductor fabrication class with a hands on lab during my EE undergrad. I’m not sure what they use to dope the solar cells, but for 1 mm devices (education, not commercial fab) in 1990, some of the chemicals involved were really toxic.
At one point in the process, sulfuric acid is used for cleaning the silicon wafers used for the solar cells. 1,200 pounds of sulfur per cleaning run was quoted to me.
My assumption is that the companies involved will declare bankruptcy and just walk away, pockets jingling with taxpayer money, much like the wind farm owners in the Altamont area abandoning their units after the Jimmy Carter era.
Except that there are orders of magnitude more panels.
Possibly the toxins already being enclosed in glass will a big plus for storage afterwards.
I haven’t been to a big box store for a while – no need to – but the Wall Street Journal reports that lumber prices are back to pre-Covid levels. (Article may be behind paywall.)
Demand has gone way down, causing prices to plummet. Of course, current exception in Florida/etc due to Hurricane Ivan.
We’ll see what happens. Sloppy Joe’s is full right now, and the Keys should be getting pounded.
Plus, this will be the first serious test of Florida’s anti-gouging statute, signed into law by Charlie Crist during his first term as Governor.
I saw prices moving down a couple of weeks ago, but they were still double or triple pre-wuflu prices. They’d have to have come down precipitously. Or maybe Houston is still a hot market, there are new developments everywhere I go.
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Or maybe the government is lying.
Well, the article mentions sources in the industry, not the government.
If you don’t have access to the article, here’s a graph of pricing from the article. Futures pricing is approaching the 2015-2019 average, according to that graph.
The article mentions some upward pressure because of increased costs at the mills, reduced number of mills, and fires affecting forest sources.
Like gasoline, the lumber prices that I’ve seen have come down a bit but they have a long way to go before they’re where they were two years ago.
-eyes rolling- That’s so old-fashioned. The modern way is to decide who you want to win and then fiddle with the criteria until the right choice comes out.
The Democrats, the teachers, the librarians, the MSM, and the rest of the PLT’s like to whine about “book banning”, something that hasn’t really existed in the U.S. for more than a century, and certainly not at present.
But if you mention real censorship, they are suddenly fans of private enterprise…
https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/09/youtube-removes-viral-video-of-incoming-italian-prime-minister-giorgia-meloni-for-violating-terms-of-service/
at least until it comes time to use the power of the state to bring a Christian cake designer to heel.
I couldn’t read the full article as it is behind a paywall. I just figured the numbers were aggregated by the government like the CPI, inflation and other metrics.
Ed/NaN, you are not welcome here any longer.
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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/09/philadelphia-high-school-football-teams-shot-leaving-scrimmage-four-students-wounded-one-killed/
Killadelphia.
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@Greg, wife is looking for a small rice cooker. Iirc you had mentioned a preferred brand, something basic, please let me know, thanks in advance.
Used car market evidently still somewhat askew. My kid closed a used car loan today from his credit union at 3.75% for 72 months for a slightly used Hyundai Palisade with three row seating. I guess an 835 FICO doesn’t hurt. Car was on the lot for about four hours and they already had a backup offer.
That kind of FICO score he should be getting steak and hookers from the finance guys…
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F&I guy couldn’t beat the credit union terms.
Used car market evidently still somewhat askew. My kid closed a used car loan today from his credit union at 3.75% for 72 months for a slightly used Hyundai Palisade with three row seating. I guess an 835 FICO doesn’t hurt. Car was on the lot for about four hours and they already had a backup offer.
Nice ! Man that vehicle segment is super competitive. Just about every vehicle manufacturer has a vehicle in it.
https://www.hyundaiusa.com/us/en/vehicles/palisade
I finally heard a theory that could make sense. Putin has prohibited gas exports. However, Gazprom has contracts requiring delivery, and undoubtedly including penalty clauses for failure to do so. Equally certainly, those contracts contain clauses for “circumstances beyond their control”.
Massive leaks in the pipelines are “beyond their control”, at least, as long as no one can prove that Gazprom themselves created the leaks. Could also be that the Russian government handled it for them.
Alternatively, sure, the US might have done it. There’s no real reason, but the various agencies do like to flex their muscles.
Entrapment at its best. Accidentally deliver a bunch of machine guns, maybe expecting the people to *not* report them. Would’ve been a great excuse to nail them to the wall. Darn, they reported like good little citizens. Oh well, nail them anyway.
Maybe the real question is: why did the Feds have a hard-on for these folks?
Happens a lot, and is surely is nice here. But, of course, there’s always a catch. Two, actually: First, the high cost of living. Second, it’s very highly regulated, which can be frustrating. Youth, especially, tend to rebel at all the regulations…
Germany, which ranked second, is also nice (as Ray can attest). However, taxes are insane: you take home less than half of your pay, and then have 19% VAT on your purchases. Also, the barely-functional bureaucracy will drive anyone nuts.
A click bait article from the Examiner with alleged quotes from Trump which a reporter’s “day job” employer, Pinch Sulzberger’s brood, wouldn’t touch but Steve Jobs widow welcomed with open arms for publication in her personal outlet.
He (?) was asking for trouble tonight, but I think that’s the point.