Hot and humid after the slow start. Maybe some rain? Had patchy clouds most of Wednesday, and even indications that some people here got rain. I didn’t see any though. We should get something from the hurricane passing through the Gulf.
Did my pickups yesterday. Rolled two into the big loop. Made it back in time to get the kid from school. Then mostly got ready for dinner out… not a super productive day but one of the items won is an equatorial mount for a mid sized telescope. I’m hoping it’s all in the box. I’m hoping the drives are there. We’ll see.
Today I’ve got one pickup, but many lots, including the solar panels. Then I should do some stuff around the house before D1 needs me to drive her around. What gets done will depend on my mood and the weather. Like always.
It’s not very “professional” to just poke at preps, and fall farther behind in my normal domestic stuff, but I am not feeling it much these last few months. I believe time is short, but I can’t convince my body and mind of that. I hope I don’t regret the missed opportunities.
Stack while you can. Think about water the rest of this week. Getting it, storing it, treating it, using it.
I’m sure one of those could use some additional stacking or work…
nick
That was already clear a couple of decades ago. It’s only a question of how long the US can string it out. US debt has already been downgraded one step. If the US didn’t have such massive political and military influence, it would have been downgraded several more steps. Holdings in dollars pay decent interest, but that is offset by the continuing devaluation of the dollar.
Congress insists on sticking its head in the sand, and spending more money. There are too many people and companies wetting their beaks, and sending kickbacks to Congress for that to change. The only way to get a balanced budget would be for a Constitutional amendment to force the government to spend only what money it actually has. However, that process is so difficult that it will never happen, especially since all members of the corruptocracy would fight it.
Somewhat on the same subject: I mentioned that the government here is finally being forced to make spending cuts, because we do have a balanced-budget amendment. The one thing that is increasing, due to the current worldwide situation, is military expenditures. I just wish our military were more competent. Most of it is militia, which is a fine system. In theory.
It used to be the case, that your standing in business and also socially was somewhat related to your position in the militia. Competent business leaders were field grade officers or higher. The core of full-time professionals at the core of the militia was also respected. You had competent people in leadership positions.
Unfortunately, that has gone lost over the past couple of decades. Now, almost no one wants to invest time and effort in the military. The professional core contains bureaucrats and people who couldn’t cut it in civilian life. I may have mentioned younger son, highly technical IT guy, when he did his militia service. He landed in “cybersecurity”, which sounds great, but turned out to be a little empire for an ambitious bureaucratic officer, with absolutely nothing to do. Younger son became an expert at all sorts and sizes of rubik’s cubes during his military service.
@brad, that situation sorts itself out once the bullets and the missiles start to fly. Unfortunately, unless you get a breather, somehow, there isn’t enough time for a winning solution to emerge. The “next time” solution will be serious. And thus the pendulum swings.
————-
mid 70s F this morning. no rain yet.
No possum in the traps.
Tired still but coffee will help.
n
More restaurant carnage
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/consumer/article-13892049/hooters-restaurant-locations-closures-debts-finances.html
– debt of $1M per store. Can’t roll over the debt if the free money machine has stopped.
n
Sasquatch alert! Anybody got some eye bleach?
The only way to resolve this is to nationalize all Federal debt. Or, as Mr. Nick says, WAAARRRRRRR!!!
I’ve played a few, ah, er, slot machines in my day. Heh. The advent of large screens instead of wheels has increased the dope hits to the max. My favorite are the Asian themed slots. Every now and then, a coin will float up into one of three pots, making them bigger and ready to burst. “Must…keep…playing” to get the pot to burst. Very effective. Especially on the high Asian population playing them. The theme is repeated in various ways to get you to believe your are going to win. “Must…keep…playing”
I don’t think the other campers would be happy. There are probably park rules, but I have seen nothing against dangling in the wind and rain.
Mint a few dozen Trillion dollar coins. Of course one entity’s debt is another’s asset so the inflation would be nightmarish.
Yep, that may be what they’re testing. Dunno, but it will be kinda fund to find out.
Inflation, who cares? It’s only the entire middle and lower classes that you drive into poverty. The elite will be fine.
– – – – –
Students taking a quiz just now, and for another few minutes. Mr Troublemaker was in my earlier group, and was quiet today. Maybe he already got the point last week. Here’s hoping…
Hooters failed to protect their trademark as Hef did with the Bunny costume. The competition ran sleazier operations which ruined the original’s brand.
I live under the microscope of Hef’s lawyers since I possess Bunny costumes made by a third party but using Playboy‘s specs for the original designs.
The judge in Hooter’s lawsuit against Wing House cited Playboy’s actions with regard to the Patent Office registration in the decision against the plaintiffs.
Playboy may be circling the drain as an ongoing concern, but their IP is defended aggressively. The trademark on the costume was renewed which brought new heat on my situation about 15 years ago. Long story.
The company stock is up today, putting the exec’s share grants from the Spring back above 10% for the year.
The magic of firing people and making those remaining live in fear:
That’s a very good question indeed
It was actually 72F when I stood with kid at the bus stop. Felt cool too.
Pretty breezy at the moment.
n
He’s not entirely without a point here, because this administration is proven to be vindictive and willing to use the agencies against people…
But when did he “defend” NY? Still swarming with illegals, and getting worse.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams Fires Back, Claims He’s Being Targeted by Biden’s Federal Government for Allegedly ‘Defending’ New Yorkers Against Illegal Aliens
n
And the DNS just stopped working in the office. I‘m sure it is unrelated.
The Dem African American male politicians seem to all have these skeletons rattling around in a closet somewhere, waiting to be exploited if they stray from the party line.
I‘m still amazed at how the party ran a known meth head for Florida Governor in 2018. I’m sure Andrew Gillum would have been on a short leash.
Plus news on the wires that AI competitor Super Micro is the subject of a DOJ probe.
Worse, they offer short-term gain for long-term pain. Just two examples:
– Bring food aid. Feed people, great! Also put local farmers out of business. Makes the entire population dependent on food aid.
– Bring medical aid. Reduce infant mortality, great! Also start a population explosion that cannot be supported by local resources. Population pressure causes warfare, and creates a wave of desperate economic migrants.
That doesn’t even get into the corruption, which is rampant.
From what I’ve seen, almost all aid programs in Africa are counterproductive in the long-term. Soft-hearted, well-meaning people cannot see past the staged pics of starving children. The best thing the rest of the world could do, would be to leave Africa alone and let them sort out their own problems.
Of course, that won’t happen. Since the West has mostly moved out, China is moving in, using financial tricks to take over important infrastructure and businesses. In 10 or 20 years, they will own large chunks of Africa. Also, they make no bones about it: they regard Africans as inferiors who deserve to be exploited.
Thur. Sept. 26, 2024 – still too early for Halloween decorations…
Is it too early for election decorations, Trump / Vance yard signs ?
High trust to low trust… it really only moves in that one direction.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13892103/Shocking-end-11-year-old-California-boys-lemonade-stand-mom-says-learned-hard-lesson-people-cruel.html
n
The cynic in me wonders if sometimes events like this are staged. The community got the boy a new lemonade stand and the dirt bike for which he had been saving. It is an easy way to manipulate the heart strings of the community to achieve a goal.
California will now charge the boy, or the family, with paying income tax on the value of the stand and the dirt bike. A clean 20% of the value, totaling several hundred dollars.
However, being California, the home of many thugs from foreign borders, or Oakland, the entire scenario may be true.
Looks like security cam pictures are not something to worry about. Or they would have the license plate number.
You have to pay taxes on a gift in California? That’s messed up.
The only way to resolve this is to nationalize all Federal debt. Or, as Mr. Nick says, WAAARRRRRRR!!!
Mint a few dozen Trillion dollar coins. Of course one entity’s debt is another’s asset so the inflation would be nightmarish.
I highly doubt that HEB or McDonalds will give you correct change if you spend one of those coins there.
“Trump projected to take electoral college by 10%: JL Partners/Daily Mail election model”
https://thepostmillennial.com/trump-projected-to-take-electoral-college-by-10-jl-partners-daily-mail-election-model
“Trump is given a 55.2 percent chance of winning through the electoral college, with Harris being given a 44.6 percent chance in the JL Partners/Daily Mail election model.”
I wonder if they factored in the dumbrocrat cheating in Georigia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and many other battleground states ? I figure that cheating will swing many of those states just like the cheating in the 2020 election by the dumbrocrats.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
“Bill Gates Funding Scheme to Promote ‘Climate Change’ Agenda in Corporate Media Reports”
https://slaynews.com/news/bill-gates-funding-scheme-promote-climate-change-agenda-corporate-media-reports/
“This year also marks the deadline for the Pentagon’s 2004 predictions in a report to President George W. Bush.”
“At the time, the report claimed that in 20 years, “climate change” would wreak havoc on the world.”
“It said “global warming” would turn the United Kingdom’s climate “Siberian” and lead to nuclear conflict, drought, and famine.”
“None of those predictions have come to pass.”
Bill Gates is getting creepier and creepier.
He has a social documentary on Netflix now. I watched it for three minutes before turning it off in disgust.
I am so glad that I turned down the job in 1987 to go work for him at Microsoft.
California will now charge the boy, or the family, with paying income tax on the value of the stand and the dirt bike. A clean 20% of the value, totaling several hundred dollars.
Income taxes are evil. I can barely stand sales taxes.
Depends on if California classifies the items as gifts, or income. If income the items will be taxed. People winning prizes on game shows have to pay California income tax and federal income tax on their winnings as the prizes are considered income. If the winner lives outside California their home state may charge income tax and the winner would need to apply to California to get a refund.
California being as greedy as it is, I would wager the items would be classified as income.
California wanted to tax my brother on his Caltrans retirement pay even though he lives out of state. California considered the money as being earned in California and therefore subject to income tax in California. This affected several thousand retirees who, along with the other states (loss of their income tax), challenged California in court. California lost.
We’ll see when a Big Mac costs $500 as the wooden nickels work their way through the system after the Feds put the first coin on deposit at the Eccles Building.
I wonder if the Humper loses if she will start stating there was election fraud. Demand recounts, recertifications, reviews and all the other things that Trumper got lambasted for saying. My gut feeling is that she will bring up court challenges when she loses.
Fortunately, TX and TN do not have state income tax so you’re good on the state income tax. Federal is another story. And sales tax in TN is about 10% on everything but medical and services. Even groceries are taxed which I think is a real oppressive tax on the lower income brackets. Even groceries purchased with food stamps are taxed.
I would like to see that all seniors above the age of 70 be exempt of income taxes for the first $200K of income at the federal and state level. I also think that any veteran with 100% disability should be free from all income tax at the state and federal level. Of course, I am biased.
> When Did SFF Get Too Big?
>
> Is it possible to pinpoint the moment when readers stopped being able
> to keep up with their favorite genres?
>
> https://reactormag.com/when-did-sff-get-too-big/
So, should all SFF writers become government registered and the government decide what books are worthy to publish ?
BTW, I read about 100 books a year. Not all are SFF.
I’m piddling with the side by side. It’s not running like it should. The engine is a Honda GX-390. The hour meter shows 107 hours. Far far far from being worn out.
It doesn’t want to idle without some choke. I have cleaned the sediment bowl and the float bowl. Both were clean. I checked the air filter and OMG, tapping it on a tire to knock off dust was like dissecting a vacuum clean bag. I bought a couple of air filters from Big River. Chinese, natch. But they appear identical to the original filter. They also weigh 4 ounces less.
With a new air filter it hauls up and down the driveway. Almost back to scary fast like when it was new.
Still not a fan of idling w/o a little choke. And it smells. Tomorrow’s project is to clean the spark plug. I expect it to be a bit on the fouled side.
Hey, it’s all just fuel and air and spark.
My wife said the same thing about me just the other day.
Income tax will be on the ballot in Texas in 2027.
The 2026 trim notices will go out and the politicians who survive the midterms in this state will be desperate to fix the cratering real estate market.
We may even have Governor “All right. All right. All right” signing the bill to put the measure on the ballot if voters are sufficiently upset.
Thur. Sept. 26, 2024 – still too early for Halloween decorations…
Is it too early for election decorations, Trump / Vance yard signs ?
BTW, 40 days until the final federal poll.
I am seeing zero yard signs in anywhere I drive across Texas. Just the normal signs at intersections on public land.
Income tax will be on the ballot in Texas in 2027.
The 2026 trim notices will go out and the politicians who survive the midterms in this state will be desperate to fix the cratering real estate market.
We may even have Governor “All right. All right. All right” signing the bill to put the measure on the ballot if voters are sufficiently upset.
I just cannot believe that people in Texas would be stupid enough to vote for a state income tax.
It’s for the kids! (and maybe police and fire)
That’s always the schpiel given.
“Hillary Clinton Doubles Down on Calling Trump Supporters ‘Deplorables,’ Says it’s ‘Too Kind a Word’”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/09/26/hillary-clinton-doubles-down-calling-trump-supporters-deplorables-says-its-too-kind-word/
“Failed 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton doubled down this week on calling half of former President Donald Trump’s supporters a “basket of deplorables.””
“Clinton reflected on the infamous and divisive comment she made during a fundraiser in 2016 in a Washington Post op-ed published on Wednesday, adapted from her new book Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty. In the article, the former secretary of state recalled a meeting she had with a former white supremacist who now works to deprogram people leaving hate groups as an entry to discuss her “deplorables” comment, and said the term is “too kind a word” for some of Trump’s most fervent followers.”
I am a proud deplorable.
“China Wants Dominance in the Pacific – but Its Latest Attack Sub Has Sunk. They Are Trying to Cover Up.”
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2024/09/26/chinas-latest-nuclear-attack-submarine-sank-alongside-the-pier-months-ago-n2179821
Oops.
“HA! CNN Reporter Gets WAAAY More Than She Asks for Asking Young Boy to Describe Kamala in 1 Word (Watch)”
https://twitchy.com/samj/2024/09/26/cnn-reporter-asks-child-one-word-to-describe-kamala-n2401449
“Liar !”.
Give that young man a voting card !
It’s for the kids! (and maybe police and fire)
That’s always the schpiel given.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schpiel
Wait, that is a real word ?
“LIVE: Hurricane Helene becomes Category 4 hours away from Florida landfall”
https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/live-news/live-hurricane-helene-strengthens-biden-declares-emergency-in-florida/1694771
Looks like Tallahassee is going to get nailed.
Here is the current cone forecast:
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT09/refresh/AL092024_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind+png/153941_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind.png
I have a LOT of DVDs I bought from the $5 bin at the grocery store. Tonight I thought to watch The Passion of the Christ. It was on the top of the stack. A Mel Gibson movie. I remember the screaming how horrible and racist it was.
I got through half an hour. Then skipped a couple of chapters. And, while the picture quality is mighty fine, it’s dark…. nothing happens in the daytime? Dark like a Sci-Fi movie where they have warp drive and no freaking lights inside the ship beyond ONE 40 watt incandescent bulb per room.
All of the speaking is gibberish. So… you have to read the subtitles. Pass. Eject and onto the pile of DVDs for the Library Thrift Shop.
I’ll find something else tomorrow night.
My County Judge KP George has just been indicted by a Fort Bend County grand jury for a Class A misdemeanor for election (his) interference.
https://www.fbherald.com/news/fort-bend-county-judge-kp-george/article_71dfc61a-799a-5fa9-a440-2d7a32d5ea9d.html
Other elected officials are calling for good old KP to step down. That will not happen. “Fort Bend County Treasurer Bill Rickert calls for County Judge KP George to step down”
https://www.fbherald.com/news/fort-bend-county-treasurer-bill-rickert-calls-for-county-judge-kp-george-to-step-down/article_6f887c9b-8137-52f5-a60d-1ca1cafade30.html
“Rather than providing transparency, both individuals have chosen to hire lawyers and remain silent, allowing the cloud of this controversy to linger over our county indefinitely. Our global reputation cannot be restored while KP George remains in office. I call for his immediate resignation and the reimbursement of taxpayer funds used for a security detail based on what we now know were fabricated allegations of racist threats.”
I knew that when KP hired Rusty Hardin that he was in deep … mud.
I have a LOT of DVDs I bought from the $5 bin at the grocery store. Tonight I thought to watch The Passion of the Christ. It was on the top of the stack. A Mel Gibson movie. I remember the screaming how horrible and racist it was.
I got through half an hour. Then skipped a couple of chapters. And, while the picture quality is mighty fine, it’s dark…. nothing happens in the daytime? Dark like a Sci-Fi movie where they have warp drive and no freaking lights inside the ship beyond ONE 40 watt incandescent bulb per room.
All of the speaking is gibberish. So… you have to read the subtitles. Pass. Eject and onto the pile of DVDs for the Library Thrift Shop.
“The dialogue is entirely in reconstructed Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin. Although Gibson was initially against it, the film is subtitled.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passion_of_the_Christ
They can’t. He is already on a democratic ballot pre-printed with the appropriate democratic choices, in a box, on Funk and Wagnel’s front porch. The reserve ballots in case the election is going badly for the Humper.
@paul, I just ripped Passion to my server. Wanted to watch it eventually to see what all the hate was about. Probably skip it now.
WRT no idle w/out choke, the idle circuit is probably clogged. There is a little teeny tiny path for the fuel to get to the throat of the carb for idle, and it might have one or two holes that spray. Typically, it gets clogged or blocked. Closing the choke increases the vacuum and pulls more fuel up into the throat of the carb, so it’s a symptom of not getting enough fuel.
You usually have to pull the carb to get access to the little passages with your can of choke and carb cleaner. I use a strand from a copper stranded wire to poke at the holes, and use the little tube on the spray can to force flow thru the passage. Wear safety glasses. Carb cleaner will spray everywhere and it burns like fire in your eyes.
n
Whatever the hate was originally about, it centers on Gibson now.
Warner Discovery tore down the Warner Ranch last year, including the “Lethal Weapon” house.
TNT ran a “Lethal Weapon” marathon New Years. The series has been written off by the studio.
Don’t listen to me. I’m just not in the mood for reading a movie. Today, anyway. You might really like the movie.
Spark plug first. Then I mess with carb cleaner. If the idle circuit s clogged, that’s my fault for not turning the fuel off and running it dry. So first try is to spray a bunch of carb cleaner into the float bowl. If no joy, then I do the cleaning with a thin wire.
“burns like fire in your eyes.” Yep. Been there. Many times. I was the weirdo of the group. I have the patience to rebuild a carb. And adjust the valves, feeler gauges and all that.
I did the valves on my 78 Volare wagon. Slant Six. I had it running so smooth we had several nickles standing on edge on the air cleaner. But wait, that was after I messed with the torsion bars so the car sat at factory spec level.
Man. I don’t want to mess with the carb on the side by side. Just thinking about it makes my back hurt.
Watching some drama on my cams. Looks like my neighbor’s ex is harrassing him again. She was parked in front of the house part of the afternoon, with the constables down the block watching, but when I came home from dropping kid 2 off, they were all gone.
Seems she came back, was honking the horn, and sitting there. Now the constables have returned, were talking to her, and she drove off. That led to some excitement… as they all raced after her.
Now they are back again.
The last time she and they were here, she fled on foot but was caught quickly.
I feel bad for the guy. He’s a pretty gentle guy, has a little pomeranian dog he dotes on, and she has been terrorizing him.
n
WRT the pervert rap mogul Sean Combs, as I told my daughter today, buying and owning baby oil isn’t a crime. SEIZING something that isn’t illegal, (and since it’s still in the bottle COULDN”T have been used in any alleged crimes) is pure showboating on the part of the cops. They like the salacious nature of the speculation around the baby oil, and are using the probably illegal, and certainly irrelevant seizing of baby oil to influence public opinion.
This stuff is important because if they can do it to the rich and famous, they can do it to us too.
n
For anyone ~ 50 years old or older, the baby oil triggers the memory of the scene in “Caddyshack”, whether it is on a conscious or subconscious level.
According to legend, Chevy Chase really did spill the oil on Cindy Morgan, and her reaction is genuine disgust with Chase.
Someone wants X-er women mad at Diddy.
Using that scene in the movie was Ralph Winters’ genius if I had to guess.
Winters saved that flick.
“Indian Country (Kelly Turnbull/People’s Republic Book 2)” by Kurt Schlichter
https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-Republic-Kurt-Schlichter/dp/1539018954?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number two of an eight book alternate history series. I read the well printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform in 2017 that I just bought on Amazon. I am now reading book number three in the series.
In an alternate universe, the USA split into two countries in 2018: the People’s Republic (the west coast and the northeast) and the United States (flyover country). Initially people can cross the lines easily but that gets more difficult as the years go on. But in the early 2030s, Indiana is on the blue side and wants to be on the red side so Kelly Turnbull is sent in to stir things up as the people are ready to dig their guns up.
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (3,530 reviews)
Lynn
This site does not tolerate trolls. If you are banned, you are banned.
n
Yes. Many words that begin with “sch” are Yiddish words that have been adopted into English, possibly from Jewish actors/directors/producers in Hollyweird.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Yiddish_origin#S
More mind bleach, please! Not what I was expecting to wake to this morning. Ugh.