Wed. Oct. 16, 2024 – tiny little slivers of metal, inside of me…

By on October 16th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Cool again, and getting cooler in the morning. Still getting warmer in the afternoons, but not AS warm. Fall is here. Winter is on the way. Forecast says “no rain” for another three days at least, so I ran the sprinklers in Houston too.

Ran them for a couple of hours, actually, because I forgot they were on. Oops. But at least the yard is pretty wet. I just turned on the individual zone by twisting the valve, which meant I had to twist it back to close it. And I got distracted. I took a few minutes and replaced another wonky head before I really started running them so most of the water ended up on grass, not concrete. It’s still less than if I ran the sprinklers all the time, but more than nothing. It’ll show up on the bill for sure.

Did some things during the day but wasn’t really productive. I’ll have to do better today. Just knowing my afternoon was already spoken for kinda put a damper on the size of the stuff I could do. And I’m still in a bit of a funk. That’s feeling better though, even if my body feels worn out. All that bending and carrying at the BOL, and maybe a touch of something the kids brought home from school, and I’m not at 100%, for sure.

So today will have to be whatever it is. If I feel like I’m coming down with something, I’ll take it easier. If not, I’ll try to get at least one big task done. That means doing 100 smaller tasks, but it’s probably doable. Short week, so I hetter get something done.

And some stacking should probably happen. I picked up a pork loin for $2.25/pound and need to process and freeze that. That will count as stacking…

Sure, and my girlfriend is Morgan Fairchild…

Anyway, learn from my slackitude. Stack something.

nick

68 Comments and discussion on "Wed. Oct. 16, 2024 – tiny little slivers of metal, inside of me…"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    *unless the discounter gets their goods from an EXCESS in the market, they’ll go when the excess goes.

    Dollar General is expanding like crazy here in Texas.

    Dollar General goes where they get the tax breaks. The more rural/desperate the location, the bigger the break. 

    Institutions hold 95% of the stock, but T. Rowe is in the top three which is unusual.

    Disclaimer: I hold T. Rowe Equity Income and Balanced.

    Of course, with VTSMX and Blackrock involved, you’re going to get DEI. DG will be more subtle about it, however, given most of the clientele.

    IIRC, during the pandemic, the company prosecuted a moron who was arbitraging hand sanitizer out of their more remote Tennessee stores, sweeping through the remote locations and buying out the subsidized stock.

  2. Greg Norton says:

    Each Data Center will take multiple gigawatts of power ???  Are you kidding me ???

    Each rack mount 8 GPU H100 server running a full load consumes 10 kW and idles at 3 kW. They’re rarely idle. The hardware also has cooling requirements.

    I do not know how it breaks down in terms of LLM and load.

  3. Greg Norton says:

    “Elon Musk set up 100,000 Nvidia H200 GPUs in 19 days – Jensen says process normally takes 4 years”

       https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/elon-musk-took-19-days-to-set-up-100-000-nvidia-h200-gpus-process-normally-takes-4-years

    “The GPUs were all part of an xAI super computer.”

    That is crazy.  And there is more gigawatts of power demand.

    100,000 GPUs / 8 GPUs per server * 10 kW per server running at load =  125 MW

    Plus cooling requirements. The systems in production are mostly air cooled right now, which is hideously inefficient.

    Look, Skippy, he’s the Real Life Tony Stark, and whatever he wants is important to the future of humanity.

    If you have to give up luxuries like air conditioning, broadcast radio/TV, and a personal car so that Elon can have the money get us to the stars, you’ll just have to suck it up and shut your pie hole.

  4. Greg Norton says:

    Closer if they decide not to cheat, and they let T win, then crash the whole thing so he takes the hit…  

    Then Pelosi’s nephew can be their Jebus candidate in 4 years.

    Nephew is a bit of a stretch but ok.

    Newsom is more beholden to Willie Brown politically, much like Kamala.

    Gavin Newsom had the other set of knee pads in Brown’s bottom desk drawer in the 90s.

  5. Nick Flandrey says:

    https://calmatters.org/commentary/2019/01/gavin-newsoms-keeping-it-all-in-the-family/ 

    n

    added– in other words, it’s worse than that…

  6. Nick Flandrey says:

    64F and looks like it’ll be a clear and sunny day.   A bit chilly out actually.  

    Coffee is made, but not consumed, not a mouse is stirring.    Gotta change both of those things.

    n

  7. Greg Norton says:

    https://calmatters.org/commentary/2019/01/gavin-newsoms-keeping-it-all-in-the-family/ 

    I understand the distant family relationship, but, politically, Gavin Newsom is much more beholden to the Clintons through Willie Brown than Stretch. 

    Pelosi is done after she leaves Congress. She knows this.

    Newsom is also the only Dem not from Texas who has thought about winning this state, his money people having funded both of Robert Francis’ statewide races as well as MJ “Doors” Hegar’s attempts to take John Carter’s Congressional seat and Cornyn’s Senate chair.

    Colin Allred is obviously cribbing from “Doors” play book, portraying Rafael Edward as Bad Daddy, and using Newsom’s money people.

  8. Nick Flandrey says:

    Don’t really care WHICH dynasty of political blood suckers he belongs to, beyond the fact that he does.  They’re all the same in my book.   

    It’s a bit like theological arguments about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, when the real issue is the existence of powerful supernatural beings…

    ———————

    It’s supposed to be clear today, but it’s currently gusting 5-10mph, maybe occasionally more.  Where the heck is the wind coming from?

    n

  9. Nick Flandrey says:

    On October 17, join FEMA and millions of people worldwide in the annual ShakeOut earthquake drill. Designed to promote earthquake preparedness and safety, this international event takes place at 10:17 a.m. local time, allowing participants to practice the “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” technique.

    – practice and awareness.

    n

  10. Ray Thompson says:

    annual ShakeOut earthquake drill

    Having been in two earthquakes, one of them major, there ain’t sh*t you can do except hold on.

  11. Nick Flandrey says:

    The little slivers in my hands are from the metal embedded in this stuff…

    https://www.amazon.com/Xcluder-Rodent-Control-Steel-Fabric/dp/B006GQQVDW?tag=ttgnet-20

    which I was using to fill air gaps in the siding of the dock house last weekend.

    n

  12. MrAtoz says:

    I had a minor scare this a.m. trying to restore my crypto wallet to the new Elysium phone. The restore function wouldn’t recognize my restore “seed”. A reboot and it worked.

    No, I don’t have millions in crypto, just several hundred to play with.

  13. lpdbw says:

    I went to the range yesterday for the first time in a few weeks because life got busy, and noticed that my stacks are short of .38 and .357 ammo.  So on the way home I stopped to remedy that.

    The only .357 I could find at Academy were small expensive boxes of the defensive stuff.  Their shelves are full of ammo, but mostly the mainstream calibers, and I guess .357 isn’t mainstream enough.

    I didi pick up some .38 hollowpoints and some practice ammo.  I don’t shoot revolvers much, just enough to feel comfortable firing only double action.  

  14. Ken Mitchell says:

    Ammo?  I usually order ammo in bulk from luckygunner.com. 

  15. drwilliams says:

    Stealth Edit: FBI Quietly Revises Violent Crime Stats

    When the FBI originally released the “final” crime data for 2022 in September 2023, it reported that the nation’s violent crime rate fell by 2.1%. This quickly became, and remains, a Democratic Party talking point to counter Donald Trump’s claims of soaring crime.

    But the FBI has quietly revised those numbers, releasing new data that shows violent crime increased in 2022 by 4.5%. The new data includes thousands more murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults.

    The Bureau – which has been at the center of partisan storms – made no mention of these revisions in its September 2024 press release

    Another problem with FBI crime data is its reliance on reported crimes. Most crimes go unreported, with only about 45% of violent crimes and 30% of property crimes brought to the police’s attention, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Since the FBI only tracks reported incidents and this gap is so large, researchers argue that when the media discusses crime rates based on FBI data, they should clarify that it reflects “reported” crime, not give the impression that total crime is changing.

    https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2024/10/16/stealth_edit_fbi_quietly_revises_violent_crime_stats_1065396.html

    Not down by 2.1% year-over-year, but up 4.5%.

    Which the FBI did their best to hide, and have not responded to questions.

    Plus, we know that much crime is not reported.

    PLUS, not mentioned in the article, is that a number of U.S cities have quit reporting their data to the FBI.

    Actions needed:

    1. Disband the FBI. This is a minor reason that simply adds to the major reasons.
    2. Move the statistical reporting to an independent unit with a politically balanced staff and a mission to be transparent.
    3. Dock non-reporting cities 10% of all federal funds allocated. 
  16. drwilliams says:

    “Ammo?  I usually order ammo in bulk from luckygunner.com. ”

    I just choose the calibre and quantity from my replicator menu and hit “Enter”.

  17. Nick Flandrey says:

    I used to be haphazard in purchasing, grabbing a box of this or that.   I find it a lot easier to just buy the case quantity now.   I do it less frequently, but spend more at a whack.  Same cost as an average over time, except that inflation has raised prices.  

    n

  18. Ken Mitchell says:

    I just choose the calibre and quantity from my replicator menu and hit “Enter”.

    Sorry, my replicator isn’t working as well as it should.  🙂

  19. Nick Flandrey says:

    But irregular urban combat in the heart of a city of 1 million inhabitants – against a cartel that has lots of .50-caliber sniper rifles and machine guns – is not the army´s specialty.

    Squads of soldiers went into a luxury apartment complex in the city´s center to detain a suspect and they wound up shooting to death a young lawyer who was merely a bystander.

    Cartel gunmen are killing young people for their text messages – then going after all their contacts

    By Adry Torres For Dailymail.com

    Published: 14:31 EDT, 16 October 2024 | Updated: 14:31 EDT, 16 October 2024 

    The month-long Sinaloa Cartel internal conflict has reached another chapter as gunmen have reportedly been intercepting the youth over potential links to rivals.

    Gunmen across Culiacán, the capital of the northwestern state of Sinaloa, routinely approach people on the streets or in cars and instruct them to turn over their mobile devices.

    They result in killing the owner of the phone if they find the contact of a member of a rival faction, a chat with a wrong word or a photo with the wrong person. They will then target everyone on that person’s contact list, forming a potential chain of kidnapping, torture and death.

    The State Council on Public Safety estimates that in the past month there have been an average of six killings and seven disappearances or kidnappings in and around the city every day.

    This is coming here.  

    n

  20. Lynn says:

    “Amazon announces small modular reactor deals with Dominion, X-energy, Energy Northwest”

        https://www.utilitydive.com/news/amazon-small-modular-reactor-deals-nuclear-dominion-x-energy-energy-northwest/730022/

    “The digital retail and web services company led a $500 million investment in X-energy and will support the development of more than 600 MW of SMR capacity in Washington and Virginia.”

    Note that the SMRs have not been approved by the DOE yet despite looking at them for 5 or 7 years now.

  21. Lynn says:

    Too bad my truck does not have a cigarette lighter in the dash:

        https://www.amazon.com/Cigarette-MELIFE-Universal-Replacement-Accessory/dp/B0B12CQHRX?tag=ttgnet-20/

  22. Greg Norton says:

    Too bad my truck does not have a cigarette lighter in the dash:
     

    The F150 ditched the 12v outlets?

    Tonmy Boy needs to get his head out of that exhaust pipe.

    If you are using the USB outket to charge a phone, get a data blocker ASAP,

  23. Lynn says:

    “Mark Halperin Tells Tucker Carlson That Trump’s Victory Will Cause the “Greatest Mental Health Crisis” in American History”

        https://thelibertydaily.com/mark-halperin-tells-tucker-carlson-that-trumps-victory/

    “Trump currently holds narrow leads over Vice President Kamala Harris in every battleground state except Wisconsin, according to the RealClearPolling averages. Halperin, on “The Tucker Carlson Show,” warned that a Trump win could prompt widespread mental health issues, including addiction, divorce and violence.”

    Yup.

  24. Lynn says:

    The F150 ditched the 12v outlets?

    There is one in the center of the dash.  It has a flap on it and I am not sure that you can shove a cigarette lighter in it.  My dad plugs his USB multiple converter into it when he goes a trip with me.

        https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/12-volt-receptacle-in-powerboost.15444/

    I have two USBs in the center dash and two in the center console.  I am not sure what is in the back seat of the center console other than a/c outlets.

  25. Lynn says:

    If you are using the USB outket to charge a phone, get a data blocker ASAP,

    Data Blocker ???

    I use my front dash USB for my 200 album thumb drive.

  26. Ken Mitchell says:

    Too bad my truck does not have a cigarette lighter in the dash:

    You’ve got a 2019 F-150, right?  My 2020 F-150 has one, behind a cover labelled “12v   AC 110”. 

    And yes, that’s the same plug I use for my OWN USB multi-port converter. Which has three other cig lighter 12V plugs and 4 USB plugs.

  27. Ray Thompson says:

    Too bad my truck does not have a cigarette lighter in the dash:

    I have three 12V outlets, one in the dash, one inside the middle console, one in the back of the console (back seat location). The back of that console also has a 110V outlet. There was no cigarette lighter anywhere as those outlets only function as power outlets. 2014 F-150 Platinum.

    I use my front dash USB for my 200 album thumb drive.

    No front dash USB for me on my pick-em-up truck. I do have a USB port inside the center console.

    200 album

    Rookie. I have 3,328 songs on my iPhone. Which I can play via Bluetooth with no USB required.

  28. Lynn says:

    200 album

    Rookie. I have 3,328 songs on my iPhone. Which I can play via Bluetooth with no USB required.

    My thumb drive has 200+ albums with 3,800 songs on it.  Takes forever to index by my Ford radio.  I have 200 more CDs to rip that I need to get done.

  29. Geoff Powell says:

    @ray:

    I have 3,328 songs on my iPhone. Which I can play via Bluetooth with no USB required.

    And your truck has probably, without so much as a by-your-leave, vacuumed up all your contacts and messages. You should research how to clear that data out of the truck, especially before you sell/scrap it. Such deletion is probably a good policy, anyway.

    Modern, connected, vehicles are universally prone to doing this, according to a Mozilla blog post. GIYF.

    G.

  30. Geoff Powell says:

    @lynn:

    Data Blocker??

    A device that prevents data transfer over USB. I have one, just in case of need, which has not, to date, been required. Mine is by PortaPow in the UK, but I make no doubt there are American versions.

    Your truck probably remembers everything you have ever connected to it, see above about the Mozilla blog post. According to that post, vehicle manufacturers are universally guilty of massive over-collection and retention of driver data.

    G.

  31. Ray Thompson says:

    My thumb drive has 200+ albums with 3,800 songs on it.

    You win. I will now silently back away slowly.

  32. Ray Thompson says:

    And your truck has probably, without so much as a by-your-leave, vacuumed up all your contacts and messages. You should research how to clear that data out of the truck

    It did, and I know how. I like having the contacts as I can use voice to dial people without the phone connected. Incoming calls also show the name of the person.

  33. Lynn says:

    And your truck has probably, without so much as a by-your-leave, vacuumed up all your contacts and messages. You should research how to clear that data out of the truck

    It did, and I know how. I like having the contacts as I can use voice to dial people without the phone connected. Incoming calls also show the name of the person.

    Me too.

    I can say call Pam in my truck (after clicking on the steering wheel button) and it will call my wife for me.

  34. Ray Thompson says:

    A device that prevents data transfer over USB. I have one, just in case of need, which has not, to date, been required.

    I use my own wall plug power supply to charge and never plug directly into an unknown USB power source.

    “Juice Jacking” is the term for acquiring data from a USB cable when trying to charge. I have not read about a single case where this happens. My iPhone requests permission to connect data to an unknown device. It did when I connected to my MacBook for the first time, and after every MacOS update.

    My personal opinion is that juice jacking is a lot of fear mongering without any real applications or use in the wild.

  35. Geoff Powell says:

    Mozilla blog article here.

    Yikes! At least you know how to delete your data at need. Even some dealers apparently don’t – or if they do know, they don’t make a policy of doing it. I have heard of people buying a car second-hand, and finding the previous owners contact data in it.

    Yes, juice-jacking is the thing I was worried about, uncommon though it may be. At least with a data-blocker, you can be sure that it won’t happen.

    G

  36. Greg Norton says:

    A device that prevents data transfer over USB. I have one, just in case of need, which has not, to date, been required. Mine is by PortaPow in the UK, but I make no doubt there are American versions.

    PortaPow is sold here as well, but I have the Plugable brand equivalent in my travel bag.

    YMMV. Plugable’s blocker is 5V 1A whereas PortaPow will do a lot more current.

  37. ITGuy1998 says:

    Too bad my truck does not have a cigarette lighter in the dash:

        https://www.amazon.com/Cigarette-MELIFE-Universal-Replacement-Accessory/dp/B0B12CQHRX?tag=ttgnet-20/

    Heh – my wife got me one of those a couple years ago. I can’t close the little cover for the outlet with it plugged in, but a small price to pay.

  38. Alan says:

    >>Where the heck is the wind coming from?

    “Well, you know that I grew up in a middle class neighborhood… … … and that’s why I’m for the Green New Deal!” 

  39. Lynn says:

    “Phillips 66 provides notice of its plan to cease operations at Los Angeles-area refinery”

       https://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/news/2024/10-1/phillips-66-provides-notice-of-its-plan-to-cease-operations-at-los-angeles-area-refinery/

    Soon there will be none.

  40. Lynn says:

    Data Blocker??

    A device that prevents data transfer over USB. I have one, just in case of need, which has not, to date, been required. Mine is by PortaPow in the UK, but I make no doubt there are American versions.

    Your truck probably remembers everything you have ever connected to it, see above about the Mozilla blog post. According to that post, vehicle manufacturers are universally guilty of massive over-collection and retention of driver data.

    BTW, my truck radio and my phone communicate via Bluetooth, not USB.  They talk to each other extensively every time I start my truck. If I try to call somebody in the first 30 seconds, my truck radio tells me to slow down and wait for it to finish talking to my phone.

  41. Lynn says:

    “SCOTUS Has Higher Approval Rating Than Before Dobbs Decision While Trust In Media Plummets”

       https://thefederalist.com/2024/10/16/scotus-has-higher-approval-rating-than-before-dobbs-decision-while-trust-in-media-plummets/

    “Gallup reported the results of the group’s latest poll on trust in the news media Monday. The poll found just 31 percent of Americans maintain a “great deal” or a “fair amount” of confidence in newspapers, television networks, and radio to report on events “fully, accurately and fairly.” The number of Americans reporting a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the media has not increased in Gallup’s survey since 2018, when at 45 percent, the press enjoyed its highest level of confidence since 2009.”

    “Today, 36 percent of those surveyed reported no confidence in the media, while 33 percent said their level of trust could be described as “not very much.””

    “Americans’ opinions of the Supreme Court, on the other hand, have begun to improve following the drop and subsequent plateau in support from 2021 to 2023, when the high bench faced unprecedented attacks from Democrats politicizing controversial decisions.”

    “As of September, 44 percent of Americans approved of the way the Supreme Court is handling its job, according to Gallup. Fifty-one percent, or roughly half, disapprove, representing a 7-point drop from the same month in the previous two years after justices overturned the abortion precedent established by Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.”

    ““The Court currently has a higher approval rating now than before the Dobbs decision — even with nearly every Democrat disapproving of it,” wrote Justice on Trial co-author Carrie Severino on X.”

  42. Nick Flandrey says:

    MSM lost even the normies when they went with “mostly peaceful protests” while flames rose and glass broke.

    ———-

    The bigger risk with juice jacking is when you later connect your phone back to your home network and the malware jumps over.   Watched one of the famous hackers talking about it with Joe Rogan.

    ———-

    I don’t like to use bluetooth to play stuff in my truck as there is noticeable lag, which means youtube isn’t watchable.   Not that I’m watching videos, but most of the new music I listen to is thru youtube.

    ———–

    I’ve gotten in rental cars with peoples’ contacts available.

    ———–

    Eye round roast turned out delicious.   They are very lean and easy to dry out, so I let it come to room temp, then baked at 250F for 90minutes.  Sat for half hour or 45 minutes while the potatoes cooked.  Came out nice pinkish red, with some juice.  Family ate three pounds.

    Sliced white potatoes with butter and garlic salt, baked in foil; and canned corn; with a couple of frozen naan breads, rounded out the meal. 

    Simple, straight forward, and delicious.

    n

  43. drwilliams says:

    Did a rental with Enterprise a couple months ago.

    When I turned it back in the manager asked if I had cleared my iPhone info. We cleared mine and a couple previous renters. All had full contact lists. I have no doubt that everything was downloaded to the car manufacturer. I need to put a honeytrap number in there.

  44. drwilliams says:

    @Lynn 

    The cigarette lighter link you posted above has a two-pack for $8.99: Fire Missiles and Eject. Cheap stocking stuffer. But I want to know where I can get a few dozen blanks so I can print custom messages.

  45. drwilliams says:

    Mark Halperin: The Re-Election of Trump Would Result in “the Greatest Mental Health Crisis in the History of the Country,” As Leftists Literally Have Breakdowns and Pick Fistfights at Work and Even Divorce Their Spouses

    https://x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1846317509592399901

    Note to self: Order popcorn and new refrigerator to store butter.

    My grandmother used to make popcorn for my grandfather. He used a medium-sized blue enamel roasting pan as a serving dish. 

  46. Greg Norton says:

    Mark Halperin: The Re-Election of Trump Would Result in “the Greatest Mental Health Crisis in the History of the Country,” As Leftists Literally Have Breakdowns and Pick Fistfights at Work and Even Divorce Their Spouses

    My friend’s ex-wife tried using his having voted for Trump and gun ownership as grounds for her getting 100% of the house in the division of assets due to the mental anguish, but that still doesn’t fly in Tampa courts … for now.

  47. JimB says:

    AI will be my new “friend”:

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

    I don’t want a new friend, especially one as nosey as this, but it looks as if I have no choice.

    I like Rob Braxman. His videos contain several times as much useful information per hour as I find on other similar sites. Sure, he has products to sell, but IMO that is a minor conflict of interest. At least he claims to have some solutions, although I have yet to try any. I might.

    I was already facing buying new desktop computers in about a year, before Windows 10 sunsets. I am going to be watching carefully.

    Maybe I will have to go back to desktop Linux, but I am really enjoying Windows, and how functional it has been in the last couple of weeks while I prepared my taxes for the CPA, which were totally paperless for the second year. It isn’t perfect, but I remember how clueless Linux was during tax time.

    I have been back to Windows for almost four years, after running Linux exclusively for a little over six years. Time sure flies. I learned a lot, but I also spent a lot of time. Moving to and attempting to master a new OS took dedication, and multiple distro trials. I was open minded, and tried to accept Linux for what it was, not just as a Windows equivalent. Although I tried, I never found satisfactory solutions for many things that were easy on Windows. I will admit to having spent a fair amount of time learning Windows over the years, and being frustrated that it was going in directions I didn’t like, but it was always functional.

    I guess I will also need a replacement for Android, although that might not be as hard. My phone needs are simpler.

  48. Lynn says:

    “Why Elon Musk Sees 1 Million People on Mars by the 2040s”

        https://www.inc.com/chloe-aiello/why-elon-musk-sees-1-million-people-on-mars-by-2040s.html

    “The billionaire SpaceX CEO tasked scientists with designing domes and researching procreation with an eye toward colonizing the Red Planet.”

    One should have goals in life.

  49. Ken Mitchell says:

    “Why Elon Musk Sees 1 Million People on Mars by the 2040s”

    THAT isn’t possible by the 2040’s.  By the 2140’s, possible, and by 2240, almost certain.  There isn’t enough steel production capacity in the world to make that many Starships by 2040. 

  50. Lynn says:

    “Border Czar Kamala Loses it While Being Interviewed by Fox News’s Bret Baier”

        https://rumble.com/v5iy9dm-border-czar-kamala-loses-it-while-being-interviewed-by-fox-newss-bret-baier.html?e9s=src_v1_upp

    Harris is a domestic traitor and a liar.  The illegal immigration system was working, Harris and Biden broke it on purpose.

    Hat tip to:

       https://thelibertydaily.com/

  51. Lynn says:

    “Why Elon Musk Sees 1 Million People on Mars by the 2040s”

    THAT isn’t possible by the 2040’s.  By the 2140’s, possible, and by 2240, almost certain.  There isn’t enough steel production capacity in the world to make that many Starships by 2040. 

    Two words: Nuclear Propulsion.   Go from Earth to Mars in eight days. And back in another eight days.

  52. Lynn says:

    “Ted Cruz Annihilates Democrat Colin Allred for Supporting Men in Female Sports/Bathrooms”

        https://rumble.com/v5ix79g-ted-cruz-annihilates-democrat-colin-allred-for-supporting-men-in-female-spo.html?e9s=src_v1_upp

    Why do democrats like Colin Allred want men in women’s bathrooms ?  This is really perplexing me.  Women do not want men in their bathrooms.

    In one of the Kelly Turnbull books, there are a vigilante group of young people called the “Mutilated”.  Their mission in life is to find the advocates and the doctors that disfigured their sex organs and cut off their breasts to kill them.

    https://www.allredfacts.com/

  53. MrAtoz says:

    Why Elon Musk Sees 1 Million People on Mars by the 2040s

    That would be 1 million fewer illegals in the FUSA. They don’t even have to make it to Mars. We’ll hype all the freebies they’ll get on Mars and send the Starships towards the Sun. Sensible people don’t want to go to Mars (unless they are terminal).

  54. Lynn says:

    That would be 1 million fewer illegals in the FUSA. They don’t even have to make it to Mars. We’ll hype all the freebies they’ll get on Mars and send the Starships towards the Sun. Sensible people don’t want to go to Mars (unless they are terminal).

    I have a book for you !  “Red Thunder (A Thunder and Lightning Novel) by John Varley”

        https://www.amazon.com/Red-Thunder-Lightning-Novel/dp/0441011624?tag=ttgnet-20/

    “Seven suburban misfits are constructing a spaceship out of old tanker cars. The plan is to beat the Chinese to Mars–in under four days at three million miles an hour. It would be history in the making if it didn’t sound so insane.”

  55. Ken Mitchell says:

    Two words: Nuclear Propulsion.  

    I’d love to see it done, but like nuclear fusion here on Earth, it’s still 30 years away. And WILL BE 30 years away for quite a while.  The only two theoretical methods would be Freeman Dyson’s Orion Nuclear Pulse Rocket, or the “nuclear teakettle” that Heinlein always envisioned.  And even then, that kind of continuous acceleration isn’t possible without a near-infinite supply of reaction mass.

  56. Lynn says:

    Two words: Nuclear Propulsion.  

    I’d love to see it done, but like nuclear fusion here on Earth, it’s still 30 years away. And WILL BE 30 years away for quite a while.  The only two theoretical methods would be Freeman Dyson’s Orion Nuclear Pulse Rocket, or the “nuclear teakettle” that Heinlein always envisioned.  And even then, that kind of continuous acceleration isn’t possible without a near-infinite supply of reaction mass.

    Water from the Moon from Earth to Mars as the propellant.  Millions of liters.  May need enough water to go both ways and for landings / takeoff on Mars.

  57. drwilliams says:

    Star Trek “ion drive”

  58. Nick Flandrey says:

    Alien tech.

    n

  59. drwilliams says:

    “illegal alien” drive

  60. drwilliams says:

    I did not know:

    In New Zealand they call them “4×2’s”

  61. Nick Flandrey says:

    Dang it, just saw a rat on the attic cam.   On the plus side, I am pretty sure he went into the bait box and ate some poison.  Something moves the bait box around, and at the moment,it’s behind the live trap, so I can’t be positive.  Pretty sure though.

    I watched him pop up on the other end of the house, where the other camera is.   He did  a circuit of the space and left again.  Time to refresh the traps and the poison bait.

    n

  62. drwilliams says:

    Desantis had the guy that abandoned his dog to the flood tracked down:

    DeSantis promised to hunt down the miscreants who left a pet to die, and he did just that, to the applause of Floridians. I don’t know if the dog was chipped or wearing a license tag, but law enforcement found some way to track down the owners and take them into custody. 

    https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/10/16/desantis-fulfills-another-promise-and-it-made-me-smile-n3795872

    “It is about preserving civilization. We track down and shoot looters in a crisis not because we value THINGS above lives but because we need civilization in crises. When civilizations face crises, the civilized are those who put things back together. People descending into barbarians in times of crisis are even more dangerous than the uncivilized when things are going well. ”

    –David Strom

    Probably true if the looters are emptying a retail store. Probably also true if the looters are trying to take my personal property, BUT the fact is that in a crisis my personal property represents the safety and security of my family, which is definitely more important than the life of a looter.

  63. Lynn says:

    Two words: Nuclear Propulsion.  

    I’d love to see it done, but like nuclear fusion here on Earth, it’s still 30 years away. And WILL BE 30 years away for quite a while.  The only two theoretical methods would be Freeman Dyson’s Orion Nuclear Pulse Rocket, or the “nuclear teakettle” that Heinlein always envisioned.  And even then, that kind of continuous acceleration isn’t possible without a near-infinite supply of reaction mass.

    Water from the Moon from Earth to Mars as the propellant.  Millions of liters.  May need enough water to go both ways and for landings / takeoff on Mars.

    If somebody would invent the electric impeller drive, we could just put a couple of fission submarine reactors on board a Starship and propel ourselves at ½ gravity.  Instead, we will put a pair of high temperature fission reactors on board and a incredible amount of water and shoot out the water as high pressure steam.  All using current technology.

    4
    1
  64. Ken Mitchell says:

    Water as a reaction mass?  That works.  LUNAR water as reaction mass?  Expensive and foolish; we’ll need lunar water to supply our lunar colony. Ditto for Martian water; too valuable where it is!

    There was an SF story about Earth politicians who tried to ban using water from Earth as a reaction mass, so Martian colonists moved an ice moon fragment from Saturn’s rings to bring it to Mars. That would probably work.

  65. Nick Flandrey says:

    Won’t get any of that without routine and relatively cheap access to space.  In our timeline/slice of the multiverse, that means Elon Musk.  SpaceX has done 100 launches so far this year…   how many has NASA done in the last 10 years?

     NASA seems to be designed to KEEP us from space.

    n

    10
  66. Brad says:

    NASA seems to be designed to KEEP us from space.

    All of “old space”, including NASA and the FAA, has not yet understood what SpaceX has done. Even with Falcon launches being routine, they haven’t gotten the hint.

    Another couple of years, with Starship launches becoming routine, a lot of things will have to change. I wondered why Musk wants a role in a Trump administration. Now, I know why…

Comments are closed.