Hot and humid, again, and still. Clear for the next few days too. It was another really hot day yesterday. A/C couldn’t keep up in the late afternoon. Cutting down the tree that shaded the back side of the house made a big negative difference. The slightly lighter roof color must help some, but not as much as shade.
I did my pickup yesterday, and stopped at Habitat for Humanity reStore looking for doors and cabinets. I found a staircase that will work nicely for the rotten old concrete and brick one I tore out just before leaving the BOL last week. Unfortunately I need to rent a trailer to get it home, or to the BOL. THAT is my task for today. Rent the trailer, buy the staircase, run it to the BOL, unload, then come home to return the trailer. I have until Friday morning if I need to stay, or don’t get back early enough.
Then I need to do what didn’t get done yesterday and head back up to the BOL with D1 on Friday. What was supposed to be a leisurely return to the BOL and a few days with just D1 and working on projects, has turned into a mad dash and lots of coordinated messing around. But I don’t generally say ‘no’ when the universe drops what I need in my lap. The staircase is at least a 90% solution as is. Can’t really say no to that. I’m pretty sure it will take a whole lot less effort to adapt it to work than to build something from scratch. Rough cost in money is about the same, but there should be a huge savings of time and effort. Right now, all three of those things are in short supply. And it could be an even better fit than I expect. I won’t know that until I get it roughly in place.
I really really hope it’s still there this morning. The way the reStore deals with holds, and delayed pickups is just plain retarded. It’s causing me anxiety this morning and could cost me a day of trailer rental for nothing, if someone buys the stupid thing before I can get there. Fingers crossed that it wouldn’t have been there for me yesterday if it wasn’t meant for me today.
Anyway that’s what I’m doing, working on improving my position. Stacking will wait for a day or two. Pick one or the other and just do it. (stacking is easier)
nick
Fingers crossed that your cunning plan works out, Nick! Glad your tyre repair was moderately priced too.
People want to believe that a real life Tony Stark will come along and solve the problems.
In Texas, before Elon Musk, it was T. Boone Pickens declaring ~ 15 years ago (paraphrasing for comedic effect), “I say, boy, this state is the Saudi Arabia of wind power.”
I look at Pickens as a Kenny Boy who got lucky, but opinions vary, particularly in Texas. He eventually backed off on wind power, however, by that time, the damage was done and the turbines ordered.
BTW, The Geico Gecko just bought a stake in the Ukraine war continuing in the form of one of the few onshore LNG terminals in the US.
King of the Kenny Boys.
Those of you old enough to remember the “When EF Hutton speaks…” commercials on TV should ask yourselves, “Whatever happened to EF Hutton?”
You might not like the answer to that one.
10 years old?
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/dps-troopers-point-gun-child-dad-south-austin-texas
Austin Faux News, sure, but someone really doesn’t want the DPS (state troopers) on the streets of the city.
God forbid they’re enforcing DWI laws in town when football season starts.
Even my wife’s nephew was anticipating UT having a big year in the runup to joining the SEC. He’s still thinking about the MBA route to tech management, and his undergrad was at Tallahassee.
I didn’t ask if he was one of the alumni who know where Jimbo’s Chirstmas Tree is stored … waiting.
84F and overcast. My fast is broken, my blood is becoming caffeinated…
Quick shower and I’m gone…
n
Odd, isn’t it, how you move slow until the fast is broken?
I thin I’ve decided to give up running. I’ve done significantly less in the last year since acquiring the 2 Golden Retrievers. Also, as I get older, I dislike running in the heat more and more. To counter that, I generally walk 7 days a week now, some days 1.5 miles with others 3 miles. Theses aren’t goofing around walks either. 14 – 15 minute pace (including stops for sniffs). I figure my knees will thank me in the long run (or at least not fight me as much).
I do need to get more consistent with my weight training. I always get at least one day a week in, but I’d like to get 3. Nothing crazy. Oh, and adding in yoga for some better flexibility. Not enough hours in the day…
ITGuy, if you work at home or where you have some flexibility in office equipment, see about getting a standing desk and an under-desk walking treadmill. See also about getting some dumbbells to keep either near your work desk or somewhere that you’ll walk past them several times a day with empty hands.
I’ve had an adjustable-height desk for a year or two and an under-desk treadmill for a couple months. I’ll normally spend an hour or two per day standing or walking; I wouldn’t want a stand-only desk. Walking an hour a day is not as good as a hard cardio workout but it’s better than nothing and you don’t need to fight to find the time for it around chores and other commitments. A couple dozen shoulder presses or bicep curls six times a day isn’t as good as a hard workout with weights, but it’s better than nothing and…
I have a couple thousand dollars of workout gear in the garage but don’t get to use it as often as I want. It’s hard to find an hour or even a half hour, between day job, driving kid(s), shuttling Grandma to physical therapy, the chickens, the yard, other errands and chores, and whatever else that I’m forgetting. I make do with the treadmill and dumbbells, plus the occasional hard work in moving things or dropping a tree or picking up the neighbor’s lawn tractor because
he’s an idiothe was undertrained for the task of mowing his lawn.Right now, I’m walking only for 45 minutes. Outside in the sunshine. Even here in Vegas. It’s hot, but dry, and the Sun is invigorating.
I stopped hardcore running when I retired. I’ll add in some sprinting during the walking now and then. Joints are fine so far.
It’s more what you eat than exercise. Some doctors are saying it’s 80% what you eat, 20% exercise to stay optimal.
Ah, weight training. I spent a month in the 1980s at a local gym working my legs on a Nautilus-type machine, and upper body with free weights, every other day. I managed to put on at least 15 pounds, but more importantly increased strength and endurance greatly. This was to improve my dirt bike riding ability.
It worked, but I also have the disadvantage of being too tall. At 6′-3″, my geometry is all wrong. Shorter riders can relax a bit while standing during smooth sections, but my knees are always bent. Taught me an important lesson: working hard is sometimes not enough.
My inspiration was Mike “Too Tall” Bell, a true champion who overcame his height disadvantage. Unfortunately, he died at 63 of a heart attack while riding a mountain bike, another lesson. Athletes often live shorter than average lives.
I am 78 today. Lest I ever feel too confident, I share a birthday with Julius Caesar. He also died young. Beware the Ides of March.
Jim Fixx would tell you that you can’t overcome genetics, but you can fight it hard.
I am 78 today. Lest I ever feel too confident, I share a birthday with Julius Caesar. He also died young. Beware the Ides of March.
Happy birthday !
My dad is 84 and is amazed that he has made it this far. He has a mechanical heart valve installed 25 years ago that has been recalled. He has had stage 4 cancer five times starting at age 43. He has started over 10 companies including two banks.
This month marks 30 years since I left Northern California for Alaska.
It was originally planned as a summer camping trip. The other three dropped out for various reasons so I drove up alone in my 1973 VW Squareback. Lots of great memories from that summer. 22, no responsibilities, naive and fearless. Great fun. Some of the folks I met gave me a huge hand up at the end of the summer, offering me a rent free room when I didn’t want to return to California. A chance typing test that Fall at the State labor office led to a fruitful career in IT.
Over half my life now, and virtually all of my adulthood.
It’s been a grand ride.
@nick Crossing fingers the stairs are waiting for you.
Perhaps some. The old system was 4 tons so that’s what I went with. The old system was on or off.
The new system has some smarts and will sometimes run the compressor on low (it almost always runs on low) with a very slow blower speed just to dehumidify the house. Once it hits that set point, it speeds up the blower to cool the house. Once the temp is reached, the compressor turns off and a minute or so later the blower drops to slow to dry the coils. It’s interesting to me to watch it work.
I spent Summer ’93 running out the clock on the no win scenario which was GTE corporate training.
I escaped the “Kobayashi Maru” equivalent in much the same way as Kirk beat his. The instructors are probably still trying to figure out how.
No fistfights, fortunately, unlike what I’ve heard about EDS training of that era.
As I keep saying, Science + Politics = Politics
I’m waiting for a public apology from the people who publicly called me stupid in early 2020 when I expressed doubts about the story of the bat in the food market. Waiting, but not exactly holding my breath.
Come to think of it, some of the same people called me stupid or a racist or both for stating that George Floyd was not murdered by Chauvin or the other police. In fact, by the standards in use at the time, Floyd died of Covid-19. Not holding my breath waiting for those apologies, either.
Come to think of it, some of the same people called me stupid or a racist or both for stating that George Floyd was not murdered by Chauvin or the other police. In fact, by the standards in use at the time, Floyd died of Covid-19. Not holding my breath waiting for those apologies, either.
Wasn’t me (I hope !).
BTW, I think that George Floyd died of fentanyl poisoning since he swallowed that baggie of fentanyl pills while be arrested by the cops. Was not a Darwin candidate since he had children (whose mother that he had terrorized).
“Mercedes-Benz to adopt Tesla’s EV charging standard in North America”
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/08/business/mercedes-benz-tesla-supercharger/index.html
Good idea. If I had an EV, I would like to pull up to an electron pump and have the charger work for me. It does mean that Tesla will get each one of the Mercedes and Ford customers on file since you have to have a credit card on file to do the handshake.
I imagine that the charging standard involves the download of a significant amount of telemetry as well as voltage/amperage.
Knowing my in-laws propensity to eat just about anything someone tells them would offer health or sexual poentency benefits, I believed the bat in the food market story as possible, but I didn’t call anyone stupid who believed the lab leak theories.
“The economy: riding for a fall”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-economy-riding-for-fall.html
“I’ve tried to avoid posting too often about the parlous state of America’s economy, because many of my readers find it frustrating and depressing. We can point out problems, but we’re powerless to do anything meaningful about them, and those who have the power to do so aren’t interested.”
“Nevertheless, I watch economic developments carefully. I remain convinced that we’re headed for a very serious economic crisis – in fact, we’re already in one; it’s just that many people refuse to believe the evidence in front of their eyes, and prefer to pretend that things will eventually be OK. I’m afraid I can’t agree.”
Reading the Kunstler books has been eye opening. Three events cause the fall of the USA:
https://www.amazon.com/World-Made-James-Howard-Kunstler/dp/0802144012?tag=ttgnet-20/
Or as an old foreman of mine would say: “Add an apple to a barrel of sewage and you end up with a barrel of sewage. Add a turd to a barrel of apple juice and you end up with a barrel of sewage”.
I received my first $400+ electric bill at the house yesterday, this despite our usage being about 10% less than this time last year thanks to the new upstairs AC unit.
The bill for the same period last year was just under $400, a few bucks less.
“Court again halts construction of Mountain Valley Pipeline”
https://www.ogj.com/general-interest/government/article/14296314/court-again-halts-construction-of-mountain-valley-pipeline
“A federal court issued a stay July 10 on further construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline from West Virginia, despite a recent law removing that court’s jurisdiction over the project and authorizing completion of the line.”
You have got to be kidding me. The audacity of the appeals court is amazing.
““Dragging Us Further Toward World War III”: Trump Condemns Biden Sending Cluster Bombs to Ukraine”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/dragging-us-further-toward-world-war-iii-trump/
“President Trump issued a statement Tuesday condemning the decision by Joe Biden to send cluster bombs to Ukraine to use in the fight against the Russian invasion, warning Biden is “dragging us further toward World War III.” Trump also called out Biden for broadcasting to the world the U.S. is running short on munitions.”
I received my first $400+ electric bill at the house yesterday, this despite our usage being about 10% less than this time last year thanks to the new upstairs AC unit.
The bill for the same period last year was just under $400, a few bucks less.
How many kwhr ?
My bill for my house today is $395.23 for 3,674 kwh. 10.76 cents/kwh.
“Not Weaponized? Biden DOJ Indicts Whistleblower Prepared To Testify Against Biden Family”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/not-weaponozed-biden-doj-indicts-whistleblower-prepared-testify-against-1st-family
“An Israeli whistleblower was indicted by the Biden administration days after detailing extraordinary allegations against the Biden family.”
Nothing to see here, move along people.
1893. TXU. I have the default plan which sends a debit card to the house at the end of the year and haven’t been paying attention. We usually end up ignoring the debit cards until they expire.
The thermostats are at 76/77 during daylight hours, and the house is fairly well insulated.
I need to take a look at the plans.
Two busy adults in the household, and I’m the only one who looks at this stuff even occasionally.
1893. TXU. I have the default plan which sends a debit card to the house at the end of the year and haven’t been paying attention. We usually end up ignoring the debit cards until they expire.
Yeek ! That is over 20 cents/kwh. I don’t care what kind of rebate they give, I prefer to get my discount up front.
I use https://www.energyogre.com/ to get me the best deal at my house and my office building. I don’t care who I buy my electricity from, just the cheapest that does not throw me in the pool when they go bankrupt.
My $107 for 879 kWh includes a $22.50 charge just to have a meter. It’s all electric here, even the water from the well. No, I don’t water the yard. I have a drippy hose that keeps a pan full of water for the cats. The bird’s water tub has a float valve and that drips, too.
The house in Austin had better air ducts than here. That foam board stuff. But the ducts didn’t seal at the ceiling. I found out when I went to paint the ceilings. Like, for example, a 6×12 vent with the two long sides having a 2 inch gap into the attic? Sure, it was all covered with blown insulation but still. A few cans of spray foam cured the air leaks. Dropped the elec bill $30 at 1987 City of Austin rates in July, too.
So, air leaks. I have installed recessed lights. Once I have the bulbs positioned the way I want, I use aluminum tape and seal all of the adjustment slots. No worry about “too hot”, I did this after changing almost everything to LED. Bonus points for fewer scorpions wandering around.
My next little project is to cover the louvers for the whole house fan. Should rip it out but it does get used a few times a year. If it’s letting in mud daubers it’s letting a decent amount of air in, as in, I can smell the attic when I run the dryer.
My $107 for 879 kWh includes a $22.50 charge just to have a meter. It’s all electric here, even the water from the well. No, I don’t water the yard. I have a drippy hose that keeps a pan full of water for the cats. The bird’s water tub has a float valve and that drips, too.
My base charge is zero. But I pay 3.85 cents/kwh for the transmission and distribution of the electricity. The energy charge is 6.89 cents/kwh. Plus the PUC takes a buck to pay their obscene salaries.
Home safe. The stairs were there. When I walked in, there was a guy looking at them, but not seriously. He didn’t have a tape measure anyway. . . I had two young men load it. Strapped it down and took off…
Took some maneuvering to get the trailer and truck into place at the BOL, I squeaked between my excavation and the flagpole with tires rubbing. Tied a rope to the stairs and a tree, and drove out from under them. Then I had to get the trailer OUT of the yard, past the same obstacles but bending the other way… Took a little back and forth, but I made it, then rubbed the tires on the gate passing thru the fence. Tight.
Grabbed some ham and a Dr Pepper, used the bathroom, and hit the road for home. Was 45 minutes on the road when I figured out I left my phone on the countertop. I’m having separation anxiety, since I didn’t go back. I’ll be back there tomorrow. I can go without a phone for two partial days, right? Right?
I’ll stop at my secondary tomorrow and get some rigging stuff. I’ve got a nice block and fall, and a 12v winch. Between them and a tree, I should be able to place the stairs without a skyhook.
Now to do some shopping that I’ve been putting off.
n
Not from anyone here. Former coworkers*, some people in the neighborhood**, and a couple of kin***.
* Libtards who, in typical useless libtard fashion, talk all day instead of do their jobs, bring their political and social ideas into every conversation, and cannot tolerate any dissent.
** Libtards who, in typical libtard fashion, can’t stinkin’ shut up and have to monolog about politics in every conversation.
*** With whom I talk very little anymore.
I used 444KW for my house last month. Bill was $112.5 or 0.2402 cents per kilowatt hour. I think my rural electric co-op – Central Alabama Electric Cooperative – has great rates.
“Elon Musk’s BRUTALLY Honest Interview With Tucker Carlson (2023)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaB_20bkoA4
“Musk brings forth his concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) and emphasizes the urgent need for regulations in this enlightening episode of Tucker Carlson Today. According to Musk, the potential dangers posed by AI surpass those of mismanaged aircraft or automobile production, as it has the capacity for “civilizational destruction.” Delving further, Musk shares his involvement in OpenAI and expresses reservations about the organization’s current trajectory. Additionally, Musk emphasizes the importance of prioritizing a pro-human society over profit in the relentless pursuit of technological advancement.”
I am guessing that this was made before Tucker Carlson got sent to the bench by Fox News.
In response to the 80% staff reduction by Twitter: “It turns out that if you are not trying to run a glorified activist organization and censor everything in sight, your really do not need a big staff.”
16.9 cents/kwh. 1893 kWh. Plus $4.95 base charge.
Oncor delivery charges: $77.12.
Like I said, busy, and I get zero help on researching anything or making phone calls during business hours.
If you think the skilled professional services will disappear gradually in a SHTF situation, you’re kidding yourself.
TXU didn’t zing me in February 2021, and, IIRC, the regulators allowed them to goose the rates to make up for those losses while the Legislature looked the other way again with regard to the mess this term.
Meanwhile, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Legislature are pretending to engage in property tax “reform” right now which really won’t mean anything after a couple of years.
I’d also like to personally thank plugsy McSpongeBrain The Last for telling the World “Hey we is all out of bullets. Come get us.” Now we don’t have to worry about defending our borders. Because we literally, CAN’T!
One step closer to CWII. Not long now.
Tucker Carlson just interviewed Andrew Tate in Romania who said, amongst many other things, that the people who lied to us about the Koof vaccine should apologize to us now. Interesting, SteveF is on a trend.
https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1678873144201818115
BTW, Andrew Tate keeps on repeating himself, “I would never kill myself.”. He seems to be worried that he is going to involuntarily commit suicide.
BTW, Andrew Tate is under house arrest in Romania for a very weird crime.
Probably some variant of “the tide carries all boats in the same direction”.
A few of my one-liners have caught on to a greater or lesser extent. Ditto for a few of the images I’ve made, which were reposted by accounts with much greater reach than mine. Which is fine; sometimes I make them just for joking around, sometimes because I want to draw attention to some issue.
Remember: When the time to shoot arrives, for every invader you shoot, shoot two politicians or police or activists or other enablers.
Dylan Mulvaney flees to Peru to cavort with llamas
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2023/07/12/dylan-mulvaney-frying-pans-and-fires-n775277
How about he can’t come back until he can identify Bud Light by taste out of a field of 2 x 5 light beers?
No, he can’t train a llama to help.
@SteveF
“Remember: When the time to shoot arrives, for every invader you shoot, shoot two politicians or police or activists or other enablers.”
Is approximate ratio okay?
Asking for an anxious friend.
When TSHTRI, sale of MAGA merch to libs should get the death penalty.
Andrew Tate is under house arrest in Romania because someone wants to get a very weird strange on with Frau Greta.
[insert horse whinny]
Tucker and Andrew Tate talked for a while about the upcoming famine. They both think that the worldwide famine is going to happen and that it is going to be soon.
I am now wondering if I should go to HEB and buy everything on the soup aisle.
Frau Greta is in Ukraine palling around with Zelenskyy and other self proclaimed climate experts. “Zelenskyy meets Greta Thunberg and climate activists in Ukraine”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LXYp6bYg-g
This Ukraine thing is getting weird.
>> 2. Somebody explodes a nuclear weapon in Los Angeles
3. Somebody explodes a nuclear weapon in Washington DC
Are the “Somebodies” identified in the books? Air exploded (ie Hiroshima) or suitcase/dirty? Seems a stretch that there was no retaliation, unless it was a relatively small device. Even with DC wiped out we have plenty of launch options.
One Bubble Is About to Pop…and No One Is Talking About It
Matt Vespa | July 12, 2023 9:30 PM
long quote from Dror Poleg in an Atlantic article begins:
and later:
and Vespa writes:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2023/07/12/the-one-crisis-the-biden-administration-is-ignoring-at-their-peril-n2625623
If you have investments, past time to discuss with your advisor.
If you live in or near a blue urban shiitehole, well, way past time. With businesses leaving and rents collapsing, cities that can will use their captive population of low-income residents to vote themselves money from other areas.
Pay particular attention to multi-county government entities headed up by unelected appointees, which are usually mechanisms to siphon money from the burbs to the cities and line the pockets of contractors working on big projects like highways and mass transit.
There will never, of course, be any effort to trim big city government salaries, reduce staff, make labor unions get more productive, or quit spending obscene amounts of taxpayer money on bottomless pits.
If you don’t know what the bottomless pits are, simply look for the phrase “xxx advocate”, as in “homeless advocate” or “immigrant advocate”.
@Alan
Non-governmental nuclear devices explode in fiction with minimal realism. The modern diabolus ex machina.
I just finished “Zero Day” (Puller #1, 2007) by David Balducci. Bad guys whip up a sophisticated nuclear device using local talent in a small town in West Virginia. Lots of great detail papering over the huge difficulties in obtaining the right parts, materials, and fabricating them into a working device. I don’t expect a real recipe, but better b.s. would be desirable.
Now do I even care there is a #2-4 in the series? Anyone have advice?
Watched another two episodes of Alone with the kinder. We skipped from season 3 to season 9, which is last year. The participants have learned a LOT about living under the show conditions, and in this season, they put them somewhere (coastal labrador) that supported them pretty well if they made the effort needed. Temps have been above freezing for the first 45 days, there is small game and fish and they have hunted, fished, and trapped successfully (unlike the early seasons).
Most of the participants made it more than a month, but in the last week, they’ve lost 3 to medical issues. All of the participants are slowly starving, each having lost about 50 pounds in 45 days. Not many calories in squirrel or grouse. They are all better prepared to deal with the mental issues of isolation than early seasons, and they all had real skills.
Two takeaways for “survivalists” and refugees. Living off the land means starving more slowly. Lone wolves die alone (no one on the show has died, but they have failed to sustain themselves.)
Another lesson they are learning, even when they talk about it to the camera, calories are king. Some of them have spent their energy very unwisely building shelters that are like palaces, and not spent the time getting food. Some have not spent enough time on their shelters, and have had to spend energy when already weakened to improve what they have before it really gets cold.
And they still haven’t learned the lesson from every single season— when they are feeding you, you EAT. Fish until there aren’t any fish or the daylight is gone. Kill the squirrels and then kill some more. If you can get one beaver, you can get two, and just because you got one it doesn’t mean you can stop hunting for ten days. None of them spend enough time gathering food when it’s present. None of them kept bringing in food when they had a big score like a rabbit or beaver.
It’s interesting to watch them starve, what happens to their mental and physical ability. (Both degrade dramatically.) And with the last episode, one woman was evac’d because she hadn’t eaten anything (not even the moss and lichen some of the others are eating just to fill their bellies) and her stomach was eating itself, and another can’t bring himself to eat even after catching and cooking 3 fish.
Lessons to learn are everywhere…
n
>> “An Israeli whistleblower was indicted by the Biden administration days after detailing extraordinary allegations against the Biden family.”
I suggest Dr Luft avoid high floors or walks in Fort Marcy Park.
Dylan Mulvaney flees to Peru to cavort with llamas
Right. Back to nature stuff. I’m sure it’s not mind-altering drugs.
>> 2. Somebody explodes a nuclear weapon in Los Angeles
3. Somebody explodes a nuclear weapon in Washington DC
Are the “Somebodies” identified in the books? Air exploded (ie Hiroshima) or suitcase/dirty? Seems a stretch that there was no retaliation, unless it was a relatively small device. Even with DC wiped out we have plenty of launch options.
Back of a pickup, 1 MT each. 15 mile radius vaporized. 10 million people dead immediately. Another 10 to 20 million dead in near future. No idea who it was.
If you live in or near a blue urban shiitehole, well, way past time. With businesses leaving and rents collapsing, cities that can will use their captive population of low-income residents to vote themselves money from other areas.
Pay particular attention to multi-county government entities headed up by unelected appointees, which are usually mechanisms to siphon money from the burbs to the cities and line the pockets of contractors working on big projects like highways and mass transit.
Not gonna happen in Texas. The legislature would never allow it.
BTW, the office vacancy rate in San Francisco is 40% according to Musk. He is trying to ditch the Twitter building.
– that kind of yield seems really out of the realm of possible. Just accumulating the material would get a visit from israeli bombs in the middle of the night, and you aren’t making it in anywhere else but the desert in a completely controlled or completely lawless middle eastern state. No way are you moving an intact USSR leftover here either.
I’ve posted the last thing I got from TPTB regarding responses to nuclear events on CONUS. That was some time ago too. There are people in three letter agencies that are keeping an eye out for that sort of thing. All the major cities get aerial radiation survey maps and they get updated and reviewed. There are sensors on highways and overpasses to spot movement of materials. The nightmare scenario seems to be taken very seriously.
Conventional explosives with a dirty payload are much more likely.
n
– that kind of yield seems really out of the realm of possible. Just accumulating the material would get a visit from israeli bombs in the middle of the night, and you aren’t making it in anywhere else but the desert in a completely controlled or completely lawless middle eastern state. No way are you moving an intact USSR leftover here either.
Don’t forget about China and North Korea. But the North Korean variant won’t fit in the back of a truck. And I am not sure that North Korea is building hydrogen bombs yet.
Kunstler does not say where the bombs came from. But, they killed 10% of the USA population. And who is to say it was not a false flag operation.
“As food prices rise in June, analysts warn of a ‘tipping point’ for Americans”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/as-food-prices-rise-in-june-analysts-warn-of-a-tipping-point-for-americans-3af44f52
“Grocery prices were 5.7% higher in June compared to a year ago, and dining out was 7.7% more expensive”
I would say those price increase estimates are off by a factor of 3 or 4.
Everywhere I look, food prices are jumping like crazy. Not local prices like potatoes, celery, and tomatoes. Everything that flew on a plane to get here.
And the 340,000 UPS drivers going on strike on Aug 1 are not going to help things.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/potential-ups-teamsters-strike/story?id=100793059
And the July 11, 2023 Dilbert is up for your enjoyment.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dilbert/comments/14y18xb/dilbert_reborn_11_july_2023_for_public_release/
Seems to be defamatory to me but what do I know.
BTW, this is typical of Dilbert nowadays. Very edgy. Very very edgy.
And not very funny. When we lose our sense of humor, we lose a lot.
Regarding nukes made by terrorists, unlikely. The precision of the initiating explosives requires a lot more than even the terrorist small nations are likely to be able to muster.
Dirty is much more likely, but the material is still needed.
I would bet on a bioweapon as easier and effective. Damaging the electrical grid would also rank high on the ease and effectiveness scale.
My uneducated $0.02.
Re grocery prices, don’t forget the global wine glut. Good wines are still cheap. Today’s version of bread and circuses?
We might not be able to sustain ourselves for long, but it might be less painful.
What would @SteveF say, follow me for optimism?
I would bet on a bioweapon as easier and effective. Damaging the electrical grid would also rank high on the ease and effectiveness scale.
The bioweapon came later in Kunstler’s book series. It was a flu variant made by the Chinese to kill off the serfs in China due to the oncoming famine. Unfortunately, it spread to the rest of the world.
https://www.amazon.com/World-Made-James-Howard-Kunstler/dp/0802144012?tag=ttgnet-20/
The point of Kunstler’s books is that the USA and the world are built on cheap energy. Disturbing this relationship between the world and cheap energy is going to force people back to the farms. That transition will kill 50% to 90% of the people on the planet. Just the lack of antibiotics and vaccines alone will ensure a massive die off across the planet.
I thought the way Tom Clancy did it in his novel The Sum of All Fears was very entertaining.
Precision explosives only applies to plutonium-based weapons (like WWII’s “Fat Man”). Uranium-based weapons only need one explosion. “Little Boy” was so simple that they didn’t even bother to test it before using it. Of course, you’re not getting 1MT out of a Little Boy. 15-20 KT or so is probably the limit for those. I’m far from an expert, but I think you’ve got to go to fusion to get to the megaton range, and that’s a much more complicated device.