Cool to start, then warmer, and damp throughout. That has been most of the week, including yesterday. I expect the same today, and for the next couple of days. We did get some threatening clouds for a while, but no rain.
Wednesday felt weird now that I think about it. I got stuff done, but it felt like a Friday. I did a pickup and got stuff from 4 auctions. I got stuff done around the house, although nothing of great import. Took down some of the yard decor. Put some stuff in the attic, and removed the dead rat. Treated the area under the trap. Spent some time managing the dog. Between the cleaning company indoors, and the neighbor replacing the back yard fence, the dog couldn’t stay in or out like he usually does. I ended up with him in his crate for a while, then on a lead in the back yard. It’s nice to have a new fence, and we only paid half. Nice to have a clean house too.
Today I might go to the morning performance at D2’s school. Or I might let the kid have a bit of freedom to mess up. We’re officially going to see the show tonight. Since I’ve got all the usual stuff to do, IDK if I can really afford the time in the morning.
I complain I don’t have time for stuff, but then I do other stuff in its place. Not exactly smart…
Oh well. Maybe I’ll get stuff done today, and maybe I won’t. I will try to do stuff.
And I’ll stack something. Because that’s a good habit to keep.
nick
Spring semester is normally my “light” semester, so I signed up for this and that, figuring it’s all no problem. Plus a couple of potential things that I didn’t really expect to happen. Plus I agreed to take over a course for someone on maternity leave. Going through the rough planning now – oof – it’s going to be busy, starting straight away in January.
My wife has also decided to start working part-time again, teaching a course at the local trade school (where I also have a course). She taught a long time ago, adults and later college students. We’ll see how she likes the teenagers. Personally, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The teenagers in trade school seem to have fewer motivation problems than my usual college students.
Our Congresscritter.
https://www.semafor.com/article/11/13/2024/house-foreign-affairs-chief-detained-by-airport-police
Buc-ee is everywhere.
https://x.com/antiwarmisfit/status/1855431622763389279
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2024/11/14/a-republican-congressmans-bold-response-regarding-whether-matt-gaetz-is-confirmable-n2647759
The RINO’s in the Senate need to be reminded that their track record of Garland, Mayorkas, Blinken, Bootyjuice, and the rest of Biden’s gang of incompetent thugs ain’t exactly stellar.
They should also consider that one of the effects of this appointment is to flush them out early.
Home network is down. Posting from my phone.
I guess I know what task jumped to the front of the queue today….
n
Gaetz has been running a stealth campaign for FL Governor. If DeSantis appoints Gaetz to the Senate, they could run for each other’s job in two years and likely win.
Attorney General will be tough. The RINOs usually prefer to have one of their own like Barr.
Gaetz’ father wanted to run for Governor, and there are unfulfilled parent ambitions there.
How many times can someone use the word “stuff” in a single post? Ten I count. Well played I think.
Two weeks after the incident it makes the news. Enough time for the congressvermin to make up an excuse and put a spin on the story that favors him. Rather than a combination of Ambien and alcohol, I think he just got wasted on alcohol, charged to his expense account.
I guess I know what stuff jumped to the front of the queue today….
In keeping with the theme of today…
Who the fcuk mixes Ambien and booze then gets on an airplane? I think you are right. He’s probably a functioning alcoholic who overdid it.
Online via wifi.
My 48 port PoE gigabit switch appears to be locked up. It was fine at 130am, but not fine at 630. All the port activity lights are solid yellow. Power cycled three times with no change.
I am going to have to swap it out I think. There is a reset button on it somewhere that I’ll try when I’m ready to really start my day. That would be easiest if it works, and I can swap it out at leisure. Fortunately I have a stack of enterprise class switches at my secondary location. I think I have one here, somewhere, but can’t put my hands on it….
I guess I get a chance to do some of the network reorg that I’ve been putting off, after all.
56F this morning, but it is a bright clear day. We are definitely in the part of the year where we heat and cool in the same day.
It’s always something.
n
Who the fcuk mixes Ambien and booze then gets on an airplane?
– someone who mixes Ambien and booze every day and doesn’t think it’s unusual.
n
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-11-14/onion-purchases-infowars-bankruptcy
Alex Jones had an absolute right to be a jerk but this keeps getting more and more weird.
I have experience with Ambien. I do not have experience with mixing Ambien with alcohol. I have mixed it with low-dose Xanax and antidepressants, though.
My experience says you don’t take the drug until literally minutes before you expect to sleep. It’s fast acting, and will knock you out.
Taking it while away from your bedroom tells me you’re looking for the thrill of fighting the drug for consciousness, and is probably a symptom of druggie thrill-seeking. Ditto for mixing with alcohol.
Just having a prescription for Ambien indicates some serious problem. In my case, it was severe traumatic depression caused by the sudden unexpected end of my marriage. I had insomnia, depression, and anxiety all at once, including panic attacks, leading to cardiac problems. Ambien could get me to sleep, but not keep me there more than 3 hours. Xanax extended the sleep to about 6 hours.
Doc monitored my drug usage, and got me off Ambien ASAP. Xanax was always low-dosage, and I was told to keep a few pills around for court dates and so forth. Avoiding panic attacks is a good thing; I never want to go through that again.
I spent a year with little or no alcohol because of those other drugs.
The real crime is a justice system that awards a $ billion for feels. This has to stop. Tort reform across the board. tRump fined $100’s millions because a woman says he molested her decades ago based on her word. That needs to get overturned. That is not justice.
Geez:
Every Dollar at Biden WH’s Disposal Being ‘Pushed Out the Door’ to Ukraine Before Trump Takes Office
tRump is the President-Elect. He should simply call Der Fùhrer and say “take one dime and you’ll never get another. Nor supplies of any kind.” The LSM keeps repeating how Ukraine is crushing Russia. I don’t believe it for a minute. It is time to stop using the excuse “democracy is at stake” funding this war. We can’t afford it. We’ve depleted our own munitions. Let the European countries handle it if they think it is a threat.
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2024/11/14/euro-democracy-update-banning-afd-before-snap-elections-and-declaring-le-pen-ineligible-n3796981
I don’t see any reason we should be exporting any kind of fossil fuels to a fascist government.
Maybe Trump should observe that there is a whole lot of winter after Jan 20.
Nothing says free and open elections like banning political parties, especially popular ones.
n
I know I’m being lied to. I just don’t know who to believe.
The pro-Russia contingent tells me Ukraine is a bloodbath, and every Ukrainian soldier is cannon fodder, and all gains are temporary, and that they’re lying about their successes. People like Vox Day and Slimpicious.
The Pro-Ukraine contingent points out how Russia had to get cold war tanks out of storage due to their huge loss of armor on the battlefield, and ever Russian soldier is cannon fodder, and how thay have to reach out to North Korea for troops due to the huge casualty count. People like Ryan McBeth.
I’m sticking with my original thought. Why can’t they both lose?
Bonus points for dragging N. Korea down with them.
I do feel sad for the Ukrainian people, and to a lesser extent, the Russian people. Imagine how much better off both would be with good government.
Tubi. Rupert has nothing to lose.
Plus Apple, but they want to move hardware so they can p*ss away money on things like “For All Mankind”.
Running a streaming service is incredibly expensive. First you have to pay the owner of the media their rent. Then you have to pay for internet access. Nobody is going to let you on the backbone for free. And you need at least three accesses to the backbone because of idiots on backhoes.
IDK why anyone cares what this spoiled and pampered child thinks. There are far better reasons to boycott the film than her NPC programming spilling out of her pie hole.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14082775/disney-fire-snow-white-rachel-zegler-comments-trump-voters.html
– and the abuse of language continues unabated. She’s not a “Snow White star.” The film hasn’t even been released yet. At best she could be called a star for some other movie. She “plays the title role” or “stars in” but SHE herself isn’t a “star”.
She’s also limiting her career every time she opens her mouth [to speak 😉 ] which is just stupid. Someone in the background has just thrown up their hands wrt her.
WokeDisney– turning Snow White into Snow Shite.
n
Danica Patrick Reveals Trump Campaign Didn’t Pay Her for Support, Appearances
Supports Trump without payment.
What a concept.
Michigan Woman Fired For Refusing Covid Vaccine Wins $12 Million Judgement
She was working remotely.
Should have been a lot more punitive.
@nick:
<yoda> Do. Or do not. There is no try.</yoda>
G.
>>Buc-ee is everywhere.
https://x.com/antiwarmisfit/status/1855431622763389279
BOO-YA
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-11-14/onion-purchases-infowars-bankruptcy
Alex Jones had an absolute right to be a jerk but this keeps getting more and more weird.
Amen.
There is a lot of stuff that is happening to conservatives that is cruel and unusual.
Me too.
Your lips to God’s ears. My case is still alive.
Regardless of the merits of the case, that is a stupid judgement. The US courts don’t provide a justice system, they are running a lottery. Sign up for the chance to win today!
Sign up for the chance to win today!
Exactly. I’m glad she got justice, but $13 million? I wonder how that was calculated. Did she also get lawyer’s fees? Most people will make $2-3 million over a career. SWAG. What will the other 100 or so get, because BCBS can’t afford that. I would also make sure every penny awarded her comes from C suite salaries.
“MAGA, Meet MAHA: RFK Jr. Tapped to Overhaul Healthcare, Fitness, and Big Pharma as Trump’s HHS Secretary”
https://thelibertydaily.com/maga-meets-maha-rfk-jr-tapped-overhaul-healthcare/
“I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health. The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
I approve this.
“‘Rare’ mountain lion sightings on repeat in North Texas”
https://www.chron.com/life/wildlife/article/texas-mountain-lions-19916231.php
“Since the end of October, three mountain lions have been sighted in the region.”
I saw a mountain lion on my office property about ten years ago here in South Texas. The body was almost four feet long and the tail was three feet long. It was looking at a deer fawn and I came around the bend of my road about 10 pm or so, spotlighting it with my truck headlights. The mountain lion took off down my road and jumped from the middle of my main cross road over the neighbor’s barb wire fence, about 30 feet or more in the air. I followed him in my truck the entire way. I wish that I had enough time to take a picture.
A billion dollar award against a lunatic with a big voice is ridiculous.
Several hundred million for, at worst, paperwork errors with no victim is itself criminal.
Millions for a he-said-she-said sexual abuse accusation, long after the statute of limitations has expired? Lunacy itself.
Having said that, a million or two for forcing someone to take an unproven drug or lose their job and career, and then being slandered is only fair.
The ten million punative damages is barely enough to persuade the offenders not to do it again. It should be larger, to make other people think twice before abusing employees.
It is my hope that Houston Methodist is forced to pay millions to each of the over a hundred employees they fired.
“Exactly. I’m glad she got justice, but $13 million? I wonder how that was calculated. Did she also get lawyer’s fees? Most people will make $2-3 million over a career. SWAG. What will the other 100 or so get, because BCBS can’t afford that. I would also make sure every penny awarded her comes from C suite salaries.”
Some mistakes are existential.
from the article linked above:
Lisa Domski spent four years in court when she could have been working. Her employer didn’t give a one-eyed tinker’s curse for a 37+ year employee, and the MI branch didn’t learn anything from the TN decision. To some extent it’s a lottery, but an interesting question is: How many employee’s have lost? Maybe it’s time for the slicky boy lawyers making $500-1000 an hour (what, 20-50 times what Ms. Domski was making?) to re-evaluate?
One last question: When Ms. Domski got her COBRA offer to extend her health insurance (do you get that when you get fired?), was that a lottery win, too?
“Intruder Breaks Into Your Home: When Can You Legally Shoot?”
https://www.deltadefense.com/offers/66579d02ac98f/join-the-uscca-today
Just ignore all the advertising.
I think in most of Texas, if an intruder is in my house, any shoot is good. But bullets in the back will look bad and if you are in a blue county (like Fort Bend or Harris), you will probably get arrested and filed on by the County DA.
“Fetterman Calls Gaetz Appointment as AG ‘God-Tier Level Trolling’”
https://rumble.com/v5p8hbe-fetterman-calls-gaetz-appointment-as-ag-god-tier-level-trolling.html?e9s=src_v1_upp
He is correct. Trump trusts Matt Gaetz to not knife him in the back like Barr did.
Does he wear a hoodie all the Senate now ? God bless him.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
Looks like the Science Fiction Book Club is almost history. They do “very much appreciate your many years of loyalty, patronage, and support.” so that’s nice.
I haven’t bought anything since 9/2008. I paid the bill and then they wanted $1.35 more but never explained why. So, pfttt.
I put the electric blanket on the bed yesterday. It’s more of a “throw” but it fits well across a king size bed from foot to mid-waist. I slept like a rock last night. I wasn’t cold.
I haven’t plugged it in. I just have more blanket.
It was 39F this morning.
re: SFBC
Science Fiction Book Club editions are easy to overlook when thrifting or garage sailing, but there is sometimes more than meets the eye:
Collecting the Science Fiction Book Club
by Timothy Doyle
#5, 3 November 2003
https://www.bookthink.com/0005/05sfb.htm
Tim Doyle’s excellent article dwells mainly with dating, but does not mention two areas of interest:
An example of the latter is Gerrold’s “The War Against the Chtorr: Invasion”
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?123021
which, because it is an omnibus, is both a “True First Hardover” and a “First Thus”.
Over the years one of the most successful SFBC publications was Zelazny’s 2-volume “The Chronicles of Amber”, collecting all the first series novels. All were previously published in hardcover, but the first omnibus edition is a “First Thus”.
I slept under an electric blanket on the farm. We had no heat upstairs. A water glass beside the bed would freeze on some cold nights. Blankets wrapped around my face with just the nose sticking out. I would sleep well. As did my cat under the covers.
“THE PUBLIC MURDER OF MATT GAETZ BEGINS – House ‘Ethics’ Committee Leaks Details of Matt Gaetz Investigation into Sex Trafficking – Charges that Were Dropped by Merrick Garland Years Ago”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/11/breaking-public-murder-matt-gaetz-begins-deep-state/
“It should be noted that the corrupt Biden DOJ would have happily pressed charges against Gaetz if they could. Gaetz was a huge target of the political left and a close ally of President Trump.”
“Suddenly, in July 2023, the House reopened the investigation after Gaetz challenged Speaker McCarthy for giving in to Democrats on the latest uniparty spending bill. And the committee leaked to liberal CNN for maximum effect.”
Over the years one of the most successful SFBC publications was Zelazny’s 2-volume “The Chronicles of Amber”, collecting all the first series novels. All were previously published in hardcover, but the first omnibus edition is a “First Thus”.
I still have my SFBC hardback version of Dune with the paper cover. It got wet during the great flood of 1989 but I rescued it and fanned the pages several times. Now it looks like it had smallpox.
Ask any legacy GTE employee, customer, or shareholder how that Verizon merger worked out for them.
Hurrah ! They added the Break on the nth Call to the Simply Fortran IDE (interactive development environment) for me !
“A breakpoint condition was added using the ignore keyword to pass a breakpoint a specified number of times before stopping, a user-requested feature.”
https://simplyfortran.com/news/164/
I gave up on Intel Fortran a couple of months ago when it updated and told me that it was being obsoleted and that Intel wanted me to use their new buggy CLang based Fortran compiler. I added the word buggy.
Ask any legacy GTE employee, customer, or shareholder how that Verizon merger worked out for them.
Huh ?
Republicans should never be fooled.
Incitatus can whinny all he wants. One wrong vote, and he will be hauled off to the glue factory.
After Barr’s first stint as Attorney General under Poppy Bush, he went to work for GTE as General Consul and helped mastermind navigating the regulatory process to fool -er- convince the various Federal and state regulatory agencies that approving the “merger of equals” with Bell Atlantic to form Verizon was in everyone’s best interest.
After Barr’s first stint as Attorney General under Poppy Bush, he went to work for GTE as General Consul and helped mastermind navigating the regulatory process to fool -er- convince the various Federal and state regulatory agencies that approving the “merger of equals” with Bell Atlantic to form Verizon was in everyone’s best interest.
Mergers are never good for anyone over 40 except the first and maybe second level of dudes in charge.
I was at TESCo (Texas Electric Service Company, Fort Worth to Odessa, Texas) when we were merged with five other electric companies (DP&L (Dallas Power & Light), TP&L (Texas Power & Light), TUGCo (Texas Utilities Generating Company) in 1984 to form three new companies with two million electric meters and 125 generating power plants from 22 MW to 800 MW scattered over 200,000 square miles of Texas. The two nuclear power plants were under construction at that time and did not come online until 1990 and 1991.
The new companies were TU Electric, TUMCo (Texas Utilities Mining Company), and TUFCo (Texas Utilities Fuel Company). They split the fuel companies out at the request of the Texas PUC so that the accounting would be easier to handle since that was 60% of our expenses and a direct passthru to the customers per Texas state law at the time until 2004.
We ended up with 24,000 people and the Texas PUC told us to drop to 16,000 people within 12 months which we did. Basically, anyone over 55 got retired. I got a promotion to Engineer in 1985 and then to Senior Engineer in 1988.
LLVM-based languages are an evolutionary dead end.
That said, I regret not taking Compilers during my first pass at grad school, where the professor taught how to build on top of LLVM. That would be a useful skill to have in the toolbox.
Zelazny’s 2-volume “The Chronicles of Amber”,
– in a bit of synchronicity I was bidding on that exact set tonight. I already own it, but I figured I’d pick up a backup if it was cheap. Someone outbid me, sadly. I’m perilously close to having to re-read them… having listened to the audio book of the first one not that long ago, and then this nudge…
———————-
performance went well. Kid kept the volume down, maybe even a bit TOO low, which has to be a first in that school. The audience was paying attention, sitting still, LISTENING. Which made it better for everyone. You could hear lines, and lyrics. People laughed at the jokes. I feel vindicated, and happy that my approach worked out. Sonically it needs more work, but there won’t be time.
The best (and worst) part about live performance is that there is always next time.
———————
wow, those are some low numbers. I watch a guy trimming cow feet that pulls bigger numbers than those…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14084247/cnn-worst-ratings-quarter-century-layoffs.html
n
@nick
The opening of Nine Princes in Amber is textbook good writing.
Tonight’s feature was a first pass at a new cookie recipe. I was gifted with a dozen molasses cookies and a recipe that came from a family friend’s mother
I generally do not monkey with ingredients on the first try, but Crisco was not an option–I’m a butter cookie guy. I doubled the batch and used convection, and after 4 dozen I have a starting point for next time.
Molasses cookies go well with milk or beer. Tonight was beer. A medium to dry Gerwurz would probably pair well, too.
This cookie will always be tagged with a bad memory. I was going to make them last weekend, and told a friend that I would bring him cookies Monday morning. He died two hours later in a car accident.
The opening of Nine Princes in Amber is textbook good writing.
I read this book over 50 years ago. I do not remember anything of it. Man, I am getting old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Princes_in_Amber
https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/11/after-trumps-victory-dei-is-on-life-support-pull-the-plug/
Beg to differ. DEI is a a discriminatory abomination birthed in communism, and as such is not only antithetical to our country’s principles, it is a violation of our constitution and needs to be treated as such. Any university, state, country, city, or recipient of federal money more than an uninflated five cents should be under investigation for any whiff of DEI and and upon finding stripped of any federal monies since the inception of the rot. And then provide the full finding to any private attorney who represents individuals filing torts for damages.
LLVM-based languages are an evolutionary dead end.
That said, I regret not taking Compilers during my first pass at grad school, where the professor taught how to build on top of LLVM. That would be a useful skill to have in the toolbox.
I cannot even keep track of all of this Clang and LLVM stuff. Much less to pretend that I know what they are.
https://clang.llvm.org/
I regret the dead languages I learned more than the dead languages I did not.
Pascal, anyone?
>> The real crime is a justice system that awards a $ billion for feels. This has to stop. Tort reform across the board. tRump fined $100’s millions because a woman says he molested her decades ago based on her word. That needs to get overturned. That is not justice.
“Tort reform” My sweet summer child!! First you need to get rid of the politicians, the lawyers and the lobbyists.
Work with Elon and let me know when you have a draft plan 😉
I regret the dead languages I learned more than the dead languages I did not.
Pascal, anyone?
IBM 370 assembly. Gotta make your own stack. That is all I remember from that class I took in 1979.
>> This is bad news for a slew of other employers, as Lisa Domski’s lawyer has 170 similar legal cases teed-up and ready to go.
Good news though for the lawyers…and I’d guess this will be stayed until we see a ruling from SCOTUS. True?
Helmuth out at Scientific American:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientific-american-editor-steps-down-after-election-comments-draw-backlash/ar-AA1u6KOZ
Too bad we didn’t have time to build a screen door out of razor wire to hit her on the way out.
>> “I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health.
I really hope stopping all TV drug ads is part of his first 100 days list.
My wife thinks RFK is a kook with his food and health beliefs. I don’t know, because I haven’t looked.
What I do know is that after learning about the way the FDA works, and how the food pyramid was developed and adopted, and going on the Atkins diet, I’m a lot more open to alternative viewpoints, and willing to at least consider big changes to things I grew up with.
You don’t know what you don’t know until you start looking.
n
and I’m off to bed. I’m beat.
>> “I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health.
I really hope stopping all TV drug ads is part of his first 100 days list.
The drug ads are on streaming too.
I think that RFK’s biggest thing is to remove the lawsuit protection from the covid socalled vaccine drug manufacturers. That will require an act of Congress.
I’m part of a nationwide consortium funding these cases. Not necessarily these specific cases, but cases like them.
We’ve predictably lost in every circuit court, mostly due to really bad judgment by judges. Like “ignoring prior Supreme Court decisions” bad. Like “ignoring and failing to address complaints” level of bad. We’ve appealed in at least 3 circuit appeals courts.
There are various paths to success. The appeals courts can rule based on black-letter law, and we win. If that happens in more than 2 courts, the other circuits will likely fall in line.
If there are split decisions, or they all rule against us, we can go to the Supremes. We have pretty good arguments, including CDC and FDA testimony on-the-record. We are prepared to go there if necessary.
The judges in the appeals courts in the various circuits are playing a delaying game; none want to be first to go against the hospitals and the Branch Covidians.
But they can’t delay forever, and the cases keep piling up.
Recess Appointment for Gaetz? Or does the Trumpster have another plan? Even with arm-twisting, does he have 51 Yea votes?
https://newrepublic.com/post/188443/republicans-trump-bypass-congress-matt-gaetz
Recess Appointment for Gaetz? Or does the Trumpster have another plan? Even with arm-twisting, does he have 51 Yea votes?
https://newrepublic.com/post/188443/republicans-trump-bypass-congress-matt-gaetz
50 + VP Vance.
But do secretary / AG votes go outside of the filibuster like SCOTUS justice votes ?
BTW, the rumor on the streets is that if Gaetz does not get AG then DeSantis will appoint him to Marco Rubio’s Senate seat.