Thur. Jan. 30, 2025 – youtube shorts are the devil…

By on January 30th, 2025 in cooking/baking, culture, march to war

Cool and damp, but warmer overall. That’s the trend and I don’t need to bet against the trend. I think it made it to 70F yesterday despite the overcast. And it never really rained, although the dew point was making everything wet with condensation. I think we’ll get more of that today.

So I did my pickups for the day, got gas, went to Costco… did some other auction stuff. Moved some stuff around the house to make room for Girl Scout cookies. Yup, it’s cookie season again. Get ready to support your local troop.

The threat of rain did limit some of what I wanted to do. I had some stuff I should have moved to storage, but I didn’t want to get it wet in the back of the truck… or that’s the excuse I’m going with anyway…

Today, after helping to stack cases of cookies, I’ll be moving and cleaning up more stuff. Can’t have all my crep stacked around the house if people are coming to get their cookies. I should have gotten it all taken care of before now, but didn’t. I really need deadlines.

The problem with that as it relates to prepping is that you never know the date of the thing you are prepping for (Y2K being an exception). Most bad things happen suddenly, and while there may have been plenty of warning, the actual event doesn’t usually kick off on a schedule. Some people try to maintain that top level of readiness for any disaster, but I mostly end up trying to maintain a baseline of readiness that meets most needs most of the time, but might leave me short in some specific areas and some specific scenarios. It’s easier my way, and I’m generally comfortable with it, but it may not be good enough for anyone else.

Find a level you are comfortable with, aim to achieve that. Then work to build on that incrementally. Always be working, just maybe not always at a fever pitch.

And stack of course.

nick

72 Comments and discussion on "Thur. Jan. 30, 2025 – youtube shorts are the devil…"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    My sibling bought a house where every room had very expensive, and very well installed wall paper-  in at least 2 and usually 3 patterns per room.   Ceilings were papered.    The massive two story foyer with oak paneling and mouldings was papered…

    Every outlet and switch cover, every A/C register- covered.

    It took a year to strip it all.

    Boomer women and wallpaper.

    In Florida, it is a serious mold playground if the house is late 80s vintage like our old place.

  2. Greg Norton says:

    But the truth is, the worst criticism I can imagine is still nothing compared to what undocumented immigrants face every day,’ she explained at the time.

    That would be the things they VOLUNTARILY undertook to face… that they went to great lengths to face. .. That had an astonishingly huge payout with a grand kid worth 1.3 BILLION dollars.

    Paper wealth based on a cosmetics line where Gomez selects the colors.

    A lot of older prominent men want to have sex with Gomez, which is the real foundation of her career, both onscreen and off. If you look carefully at her adult acting roles, they are all in fairly creepy projects, most notably “Emilia Perez” and whatever Worldwide Pants (Letterman’s production company) currently calls their failed flick based on “The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving” book.

    “Only Murders In The Building” is a project from two of Letterman’s closest friends.

    Starting to see the connection? Go watch the last Gomez interview on “The Late Show”, available via YouTube.

    It is Pedos all the way down.

    Ironically, “Emilia Perez” is taking a lot of heat down south for the French (!) director’s portrayal of Mexico, the culture, and the people.

  3. Nick Flandrey says:

    68F and still drippy.  Ground and street are wet.   Should be coffee in my pot now, which helps.

    —–

    Don’t jump to any conclusions about the air crash.   Think how hard it would be to do on purpose, even knowing the glide path, etc.   Miss the timing by 1/10s of a second and you’d miss the crash.    Open mind, but skeptical.

    —–

    Lots going on out there, keep your awareness up…   crazy people are on EDGE.

    n

  4. Ray Thompson says:

    I have a bad feeling about this.  I am wondering who was on that flight.

    Me thinks you may need to loosen the straps on your tinfoil hat. Although to be honest that thought did cross my mind.

    Think how hard it would be to do on purpose, even knowing the glide path, etc.   Miss the timing by 1/10s of a second and you’d miss the crash

    True. But something still makes no sense.

    But with the collision avoidance systems on aircraft, the warnings, it should not happen.

    An active flight path for the military should not be crossing the approach path for civilian airlines.

    The military helicopter should have had excellent night vision equipment, either on a display or systems worn by the pilots. The helicopter should not be operating without some sort of identification system active in such an active, and multiple no fly zones, in that area.

    Factor in the sophistication of the ground control systems where an impending conflict is shown on the ground control consoles.

    Looking at the flight paths of the aircraft, the helicopter turned right, the plane turned left. That does not happen with collision avoidance systems. Both should have turned right.

    As with most aircraft accidents several things had to happen for the crash to occur. Several contributing factors. One event is generally not enough to cause such a significant crash.

    As Mr. Lynn suggested, my tinfoil hat is close by, just not on top of my head, yet.

    What is also surprising this is the first major crash in the U.S. since 2009. That is an amazing safety record for the airlines and the traffic controls systems. I have a better chance of dying from hemorrhoids than I do from traveling by air.

  5. Nick Flandrey says:

    I have a better chance of dying from hemorrhoids than I do from traveling by air. 

    – unless you are aircrew, or a million miler…

    n

  6. Ray Thompson says:

    I have a better chance of dying from hemorrhoids than I do from traveling by air. 

    – unless you are aircrew, or a million miler…

    Nah, I would still put my chances on the hemorrhoids. Since 2009 there has not been a major crash in the U.S. Fifteen years. That is billions and billions (with apologies to Carl Sagan) of passenger miles flown.

    I have flown a few hundred thousand miles over my lifetime. Ten years of travelling in the USAF, traveling every few weeks installing computer systems, helped accumulate those miles. I have traveled over 100,000 miles just traveling to Europe and back. I may be closer to a million miles than I thought.

    Only a couple of close calls. Coming into Langley AFB the two-engine piston powered plane failed to touch down early enough due to wind and was well past the middle of the runway before making contact. The plane was able to stop but was about 10 feet from the arresting cables at the end of the runway. The plane needed a tug tow to get back to base ops. The cables were designed to rip out the landing gear of any aircraft that was unable to stop.

    The other was when flying in a T-29 (a military version of a LearJet). At altitude, I don’t know how high, the door seal on the main cabin door failed. The oxygen masks dropped. The pilot yelled back to not use the masks and immediately went into a steep dive to get below 14K feet of altitude. After we landed the pilot explained to myself and the other passenger that if we had pulled down the masks he would have to remain overnight at Travis AFB while the masks were replaced and he did not want to stay overnight.

  7. drwilliams says:

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2025/01/30/the-liberal-media-reaction-to-the-airplane-crash-at-reagan-national-airport-was-ghoulishly-predictable-n2651383

    https://redstate.com/rusty-weiss/2025/01/30/absolutely-disgusting-cnn-hammered-for-immediately-pointing-the-finger-at-trump-for-dc-plane-crash-n2184987

    CNN has repeatedly shown that they are a classless political attack machine intent on blaming conservatives and President Trump for anything and everything.

    They have a First Amendment right to be as biased as their advertisers will permit, but they don’t have a right to be supported by the new administration.

    Ban them from the White House and tell any judge that has other ideas to pound sand. The entire Trump administration should simply refuse to give them interviews as it serves no useful public purpose.

    6
    1
  8. Nick Flandrey says:

    ¾ million miles of commercial air travel.   I’ve had an engine fire, run out of fuel and had to land short, aborted landing because another plane was on the runway, and other less dramatic mechanical issues.

    Any of those could have been disasters with just a bit more going wrong.

    The rate of near disasters is much higher than people think.

    n

  9. drwilliams says:

    My mileage is about half that.

    Worst I’ve had has been an aborted landing  due to a plane on the wrong taxiway (almost there then pulled up hard) and several epic bouts with rough air.

    I have the utmost respect for the training and professionalism that our pilots demonstrate every day. 

  10. Greg Norton says:

    They have a First Amendment right to be as biased as their advertisers will permit, but they don’t have a right to be supported by the new administration
     

    What advertisers?

    WarnerDiscovery closed the CNN Center and wrote off the value of their cable channels.

    CNN is effectively insolvent, but the transponder time was paid for in advance so they may as well fill it with … something.

    Warner can’t run half a season of “Friends” on CNN nightly like they do with Nickelodeon.

    Well, not yet.

  11. drwilliams says:

    Today in deportation

    President Trump said Wednesday that he plans to send up to 30,000 illegal immigrants to detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of his campaign to mass-deport migrants who have committed crimes.

    Cue the lawyers: “Attorneys for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo said they expect litigation if Trump’s threat comes to fruition — with would-be deportees claiming lack of due process and access to courts, as well as allegedly substandard conditions and potentially the denial of access to asylum processes.”

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/01/today-in-deportation.php

    The first might motivate more than a few to self-deport.

    As to the second, keep crying, the river ain’t full. If the illegal immigration machine doesn’t have a problem with court dates being assigned to the incoming that are a couple years out, they have no complaint when the outgoing go to the back of the line. Maybe we can relocate a Super 3 roach motel from a storm-flooded Florida town to provide appropriate-class housing to the roach attorneys that want to visit their clients. Heck, give them non-changeable transportation vouchers to visit once a month using lowest available fares, but set the max at three layovers ‘cuz we respects their time, even though they ain’t getting paid for travel time.

    And, yeah, speaking of getting paid, bill Catholic Charities and the rest of the NGO illegal alien invader facilitators for the costs of dealing with every one of the criminals that they didn’t vet before assisting.

  12. drwilliams says:

    on AoSHQ today:

    “I prefer Kam Fong as Chin Ho, and Zulu as Kono myself.”

    My favorite Kono quote: “Wikiwiki!”

    Yeah, but Grace Park was a tasty bit.

  13. brad says:

    I used to fly a lot, mostly for business, but also privately. It’s odd, but I haven’t flown for…probably two decades. I’d really have to scrap around in my memory to come up with the last time. The kids were small, and they’re now in their mid-to-late 20s.

    I’m finally digging my way out of all the work I said “yes” to for this semester. Usually, Spring is light work, but not this year. Still one course not entirely prepped for the Spring semester, and two exams left to grade, but getting there…

    I read both X and reddit fairly regularly. You wouldn’t know they were on the same planet. What I see on X is about 70% conservative and 30% woke – that’s across a mix of Swiss, German and US stuff.

    Reddit, meantime, is still a giant lib/prog bubble. I have twice dared to post a conservative opinion, and I was promptly banned from the subreddit both times. Alternate views are completely unwelcome.

  14. drwilliams says:

    Mexico—Friend, Enemy, Neutral, or Something Else?

    Victor Davis Hansen, January 30, 2025

    https://amgreatness.com/2025/01/30/mexico-friend-enemy-neutral-or-something-else/

    A very good summary.

    There’s a saying with regard to U.S. interventions in foreign countries: You break it, you fix it.

    Mexico is already broken, and thoroughly corrupt.

    The other saying that comes to mind is: Mess with the bull and get the horns.

    Mexico seems to have little concern that some 75,000 Americans on average die from mostly Mexican-imported fentanyl each year—more deaths in just the last decade than all the Americans killed in action during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined. Who then is our friend, and who is our enemy?

     The left-wing communist front organization that publishes the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is famous for their “doomsday clock”, which now has less time remaining than ever before, and may have to revise from seconds to milliseconds to try to stay relevant.

    Where is the tote-board for cumulative deaths from Sino-Mexican drugs? No one interested in how close it’s getting to a million? Hell, maybe it’s already there.

    The U.S ambassador to Mexico should show the Mexican president the plans for the fentanyl repatriation drone fleet.

  15. drwilliams says:

    ATC message to Army helo:

    “PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight?” he asked a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, requesting it keep a lookout for an American Airlines Bombardier jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members from Wichita, Kan. The helicopter was on a training mission, officials would later say.

    “PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,” the controller then said as American Airlines flight 5342 descended over the Potomac River just moments before landing. “CRJ” is aviation shorthand for Canadair Regional Jet.

    https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2025/01/30/no-survivors-fatal-mid-air-collision-kills-67-n3799308

    From the helo perspective, the CRJ was moving left to right. Pass behind would have had the helo turning left–it turned right.

  16. MrAtoz says:

    ATC message to Army helo:

    My 2c: I have flown that exact path several times in a UH-1.  You don’t cross that approach path without ATC permission. I t is clear ATC knew about both aircraft. I’m not sure if anything was going on with the Blackhawk’s transponder, but they should have been pinging, but probably not on radar on that path. I’ve even been in a similar situation multiple times of deferring to an airliner on approach.

    When ATC told the UH-60 to pass behind the jet, I would have immediately done a slow 360 to let the jet pass and its wake to disperse. We’ll have to wait for the investigation, but pilot error is probably a significant factor. The jet was on a published approach. The route the UH-60 was on is also published. There is a lot of chopper activity in that area so they have to follow the published low-level routes. Why the Blackhawk kept going and turned into the approach, we may never know, but the pilot was responsible to follow ATC’s instruction. Maybe the pilot was attempting to turn right in a 360, but got too close to the approach path.

    I’m in the 100,000+ air miles club. I’ve been in several “you’re gonna die” situations riding on AF jets and piloting helicopters. You never forget the feeling of your arsehole riding up into your mouth. And I was never in combat (thank you, Jesus).

    10
  17. Greg Norton says:

    “I prefer Kam Fong as Chin Ho, and Zulu as Kono myself.”

    My favorite Kono quote: “Wikiwiki!”

    Yeah, but Grace Park was a tasty bit.

    Bang Bang!

    Hollywood legend about “Hawaii 5-0” is that a pilot for an original series continuation on CBS was shot in 1996 by Stephen Cannell with Gary Busey (!) as the new occupant of the corner office at Illani Palace, Dan-O as the Governor, and other original characters hanging around as guest stars, including Chin Ho.

    Great, right? Except no one told Stephen Cannell that the Chin Ho character had been killed off in the last season of the original show until after the filming had wrapped.

    Oops.

    Even the actor was surprised, but he figured that the TV legend Cannell made a deliberate choice and just decided to show up when he got the call from his agent.

    The pilot was buried,

    Kam Fong was a real Honolulu cop BTW.

  18. Ray Thompson says:

    Any of those could have been disasters with just a bit more going wrong.

    As has been explained by crash investigation experts, it generally more than one thing to go wrong, or mistakes, to cause a fatal crash. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

  19. MrAtoz says:

    Man, the armchair pilots are out in force on the air crash. It’s clear most of them know nothing about aviation. The question that is popping up a lot  is “night vision goggles” are a contributing factor. I would guess they weren’t wearing NVGs. At least one pilot should have been unaided since they were in controlled  airspace. Plus a significant amount of night training is unaided. You have to be qualified to operate unaided, especially when operating in controlled airspace. NVGs are used in tactical training. I think this flight was standard unaided night training all pilots must accomplish. IMO.

  20. Greg Norton says:

    Yeah, but Grace Park was a tasty bit.

    Bang Bang!
     

    BTW, my father-in-law’s tasty Bang Bang literally killed him *in my opinion*.

    Stangulation.

    I’ve brought it up before but it merits repeating as a warning.

  21. lynn says:

    I have a bad feeling about this.  I am wondering who was on that flight.

    Me thinks you may need to loosen the straps on your tinfoil hat. Although to be honest that thought did cross my mind.

    Hey, my tinfoil hat is huge and well tied down.

  22. Ray Thompson says:

    the armchair pilots are out in force on the air crash

    I am indeed. Big ol’ chair. Reclined. I would have thought that using some sort of night vision aid by one of the crew members would have been standard procedure on a military attack aircraft at night. That using such would be part of the pilots night training. I stand corrected.

  23. Ray Thompson says:

    Hey, my tinfoil hat is huge and well tied down.

    Well, then, that begs the question of how thick is that tinfoil?

  24. drwilliams says:

    “Except no one told Stephen Cannell that the Chin Ho character had been killed off in the last season of the original show until after the filming had wrapped.”

    Such a small detail wouldn’t even cause a blip nowadays.

    I remember Barry Longyear telling about his short story getting picked up for Hollywood, and the “professional” scriptwriter making the setting for “Enemy Mine” a literal mine.

  25. nick flandrey says:

    I haven’t used current generation night vision, but  I wouldn’t want to use even the previous gen in that environment.   You have too many bright lights, including INSIDE the cockpit.   A really huge amount of effort had to go into upgrading cockpits to work well with night vision.  It’s not trivial.    One older aircraft had a dedicated team and multi year project dedicated to it that was running at a defense contractor along side a program I was involved with.

    Before I left my Bigcorp employer, we were moving into stuff that worked with/around night vision.  Current gen and next gen NVG was so tightly restricted that “visitors” in flight suits would show up, look around, pull something out of a zippered bag that was fully in their control, and take a peek, then put it away.    The company was under all kinds of restrictions, and most of the employees couldn’t even be in the room during times when “stuff got real” with potential customers.

    All kinda beside the point, but NVG wouldn’t be all powerful like people seem to think.

    n

  26. MrAtoz says:

    The crew chief could have had goggles. Once you wear goggles you realize how restrictive they are trying to track/ID aircraft. The “head on a swivel” doesn’t work so good under goggles where there are a lot of lights and aircraft.

    The FAA and Army investigation will reveal the NVG situation. tRump should reveal the results ASAP instead of two years from now To stifle conspiracies.

    Also, fcuk American Airlines for blaming the Army before an investigation even takes place.

  27. nick flandrey says:

    Well, then, that begs the question of how thick is that tinfoil? 

    – the obvious (funny) answer is “Thicker than his skull!”

    n

  28. drwilliams says:

    More death credited to the accounts of Biden, the Democrats, the NGO’s, and all the PLT’s with their central organ clusters in their ventral orifices.

    Someone should give these animals a case of machetes and an economic map of Chicago showing where the wealthiest live.

  29. MrAtoz says:

    I haven’t used current generation night vision, but  I wouldn’t want to use even the previous gen in that environment.   You have too many bright lights, including INSIDE the cockpit.

    The UH-60 cockpit was designed for NVG use. I can attest first-hand that the cockpit lights are not a problem. Everything else is true. I would not be flying solely under goggles in that environment.

    During my first tour in Korea, two Blackhawks were under goggles leaving our airfield and taxied into each other. No injuries, but two $6 million dollar aircraft were totaled.  After that, Army wide policy changed to all NVG flights would fly unaided to a field site and then gear-up. There is just too much activity on an airfield for safe operations under goggles

  30. drwilliams says:

    You know those forensic reconstructions where they start with a naked skull, put little bits of clay on it to mark their best guess as to the thickness of flesh over bone at specific points, then apply clay to the rest to product their best guess of how the individual looked when alive?

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/jeff-charles/2025/01/30/sidney-blumenthal-tries-and-fails-to-catch-kash-patel-in-a-gotcha-n2651407

    Amateur, rookie, or pro? 

  31. Lynn says:

    Stangulation.

    He was killed by a man named Stan ?

    Oh wait, strangulation !

  32. drwilliams says:

    RFK:

    As one of the handful of elected representatives that is qualified to talk about science, I have great admiration for Senator Rand Paul’s no-nonsense approach to explanation:

    https://twitchy.com/samj/2025/01/30/rand-paul-rfk-jr-n2407587

    Tulsi:

    “Democrats have accused me of being Trump’s puppet, Putin’s puppet, Assad’s puppet, a guru’s puppet, Modi’s puppet — but what truly unsettles them is I refuse to be THEIR puppet.”

    https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2025/01/30/tulsi-lights-up-dems-in-brutal-breakdown-of-misuse-of-intel-community-n2184998

    Put what’s left of the Dems in the cat box and let the cats cover it up.

  33. Lynn says:

    BTW, my father-in-law’s tasty Bang Bang literally killed him *in my opinion*.

    Stangulation.

    I’ve brought it up before but it merits repeating as a warning.

    The only item in common for my two heart attacks was the inability to breathe deeply or even normally for hours on end.  I could only breathe shallowly, not getting enough air at any time.  Serious panic as I really, really, really like to breathe.  The last thing I want to do after that horror nightmare is strangle myself.  I cannot even imagine somebody doing that voluntarily or doing it to somebody else.

    Ah yes, one of the Carradine brothers strangled himself.

       https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=7989893&page=1

    “Thai authorities had suggested the 72-year-old actor could have died from accidental autoerotic asphyxiation. In response to a question on that topic, Baden did not rule out that possibility, but he also did not say autoerotic asphyxiation was the cause.”

    Gross.

  34. Greg Norton says:

    Oh wait, strangulation !
     

    Doh!

    I was killing time waiting for a build to finish at work.

    My BP meds make me sleepy in the afternoon so it is either goof off on social media or risk nodding off and snoring.

    The world is on fire right now at the company so someone hearing me snore would not be good.

    My cube is strategically located so I hear things. Of course that works both ways.

  35. Greg Norton says:

    Such a small detail wouldn’t even cause a blip nowadays
     

    Jack Lord was still alive at the time, and his sign off would have been necessary to move the pilot to series.

    Lord’s family never acknowledged the Alzheimer’s until after he passed. It may have been the wife signing off in reality.

    I believe the estate still holds the rights to the show

  36. Greg Norton says:

    “Thai authorities had suggested the 72-year-old actor could have died from accidental autoerotic asphyxiation. In response to a question on that topic, Baden did not rule out that possibility, but he also did not say autoerotic asphyxiation was the cause.”

    Gross.

    No one in medicine or law enforcement likes to talk about AA. Those deaths are a lot more common than you would think.

    The rumor in Tampa is that Tony Dungy’s son died that way. The family maintains it was suicide.

    I’ll never forget the day it happened. Driving to the Post Office at Tampa Airport, I saw the Colts owners jet parked at the private aviation pavilion and looked over to see all of the players and coaches at One Buc Place lined up at the rear field fence looking at the plane from just across the tarmac.

    The old One Buc Place was always a bad location for a practice field. On that day it was really awful.

  37. Lynn says:

    “New asteroid has a chance of impacting Earth in 2032”

        https://www.chron.com/news/space/article/asteroid-hit-earth-20063120.php

    “The odds of a recently discovered massive asteroid hitting Earth within the next seven years are shockingly not zero. Dubbed 2024 YR4, the approximately 150-foot-wide asteroid was first spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on Dec. 27, 2024. Based on preliminary data, the near-Earth object (NEO) has a 1.2 percent chance of crashing into our planet when it makes a very close approach on Dec. 22, 2032, landing it at the top of NASA’s Sentry Risk Table and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) NEO Impact Risk List.

    Don’t look up !

  38. Lynn says:

    “UPS scales back on Amazon deliveries: It ‘just doesn’t make sense for us'”

       https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ups-scales-back-on-amazon-deliveries-it-just-doesnt-make-sense-for-us-192401077.html

    Somebody signed a delivery contract with Amazon and they are not happy.

  39. Lynn says:

    What is also surprising this is the first major crash in the U.S. since 2009. That is an amazing safety record for the airlines and the traffic controls systems. I have a better chance of dying from hemorrhoids than I do from traveling by air.

    True dat. Especially considering that the FAA is still running on their old 1950s system. Unless they finally finished the new ADA based system and are deploying it now.

  40. Lynn says:

    Paper wealth based on a cosmetics line where Gomez selects the colors.

    All money is paper.  Except for really big money that is on a spreadsheet at the Fed.

  41. Lynn says:

    Hey, my tinfoil hat is huge and well tied down.

    Well, then, that begs the question of how thick is that tinfoil?

    I used the variant from the “Signs” movie as a first pass.

  42. Lynn says:

    “Hegseth Reveals Stunning Details About Tragic Crash Near DC Airport”

        https://resistthemainstream.com/hegseth-reveals-stunning-details-about-tragic-crash-near-dc-airport/?utm_source=newsletter3

    “In a video statement obtained exclusively by Fox News, Hegseth provided insight into the military helicopter’s mission at the time of the crash. He explained that the Black Hawk was performing a required annual proficiency training flight, which included a standard night evaluation.”

    ““We do know on our side who was involved. It was a fairly experienced crew, and that was doing a required annual night evaluation,” said Hegseth.”

    Somebody screwed up.

  43. Ray Thompson says:

    Somebody screwed up.

    Since it was a crash, the aircrafts went down, shouldn’t it be someone screwed down?

    I will let myself out.

  44. Lynn says:

    I read both X and reddit fairly regularly. You wouldn’t know they were on the same planet. What I see on X is about 70% conservative and 30% woke – that’s across a mix of Swiss, German and US stuff.

    Reddit, meantime, is still a giant lib/prog bubble. I have twice dared to post a conservative opinion, and I was promptly banned from the subreddit both times. Alternate views are completely unwelcome.

    Yup.   I had to be sponsored by one of the moderators on  https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/  to keep one of the other moderators from banning me as an AI.  Now I am a 1% top commentor on several reddits like /fortran and /Cplusplus.

  45. Lynn says:

    “Caves of the Druufs (Perry Rhodan #72)” by Kurt Mahr
       https://www.amazon.com/Caves-Druufs-Perry-Rhodan-72/dp/3441660560?tag=ttgnet-20/

    Book number seventy-two of a series of one hundred and thirty-six space opera books in English. The original German books, actually pamphlets, number in the thousands. The English books started with two translated German stories per book translated by Wendayne Ackerman and transitioned to one story per book with the sixth book. And then they transition back to two stories in book #109/110. The Ace publisher dropped out at #118, so Forrest and Wendayne Ackerman published books #119 to #136 in pamphlets before stopping in 1978. The German books were written from 1961 to present time, having sold two billion copies and even recently been rebooted again. I read the well printed and well bound book published by Ace in 1975 that I had to be very careful with due to age. I bought an almost complete box of Perry Rhodans a decade or two ago on ebay that I am finally getting to since I lost my original Perry Rhodans in The Great Flood of 1989. In fact, I now own book #1 to book #106, plus the Atlan books, and some of the Lemuria books.
       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan

    BTW, this is actually book number 80 of the German pamphlets written in 1963. There is a very good explanation of the plot in German on the Perrypedia German website of all of the PR books. There is automatic Google translation available for English, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, French, and Portuguese.
       https://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/In_den_H%C3%B6hlen_der_Druuf

    In this alternate universe, USSF Major Perry Rhodan and his three fellow astronauts blasted off in a three stage rocket to the Moon in their 1971. The first stage of the rocket was chemical, the second and third stages were nuclear. After crashing on the Moon due to a strange radio interference, they discover a massive crashed alien spaceship with an aged male scientist (Khrest), a female commander (Thora), and a crew of 500. It has been over seventy years since then and the Solar Empire has flourished with tens of millions of people and many spaceships headquartered in the Gobi desert, the city of Terrania. Perry Rhodan has been elected by the people of Earth to be the World Administrator and keep them from being taken over by the robot administrator of Arkon.

    Perry Rhodan is missing and presumed dead on Earth ! The Earthers are rioting and his son demands to take over the one world government that Perry Rhodan installed and led for several decades now. But in reality, he was captured by the Arkonides and then captured by the Druufs. General Deringhouse has brought the light cruiser California to the Druuf Universe and is investigating some very strange gravity signals.

    Two observations:
    1. Forrest Ackerman should have put two or three of the translated stories in each book. Having two stories in the first five books worked out well. Just having one story in the book is too short and would never allow the translated books to catch up to the German originals.
    2. Anyone liking Perry Rhodan and wanting a more up to date story should read the totally awesome “Mutineer’s Moon” Dahak series of three books by David Weber.
        https://www.amazon.com/Mutineers-Moon-Dahak-David-Weber/dp/0671720856?tag=ttgnet-20/

    My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    Amazon rating: 5 out of 5 stars (2 reviews)

    Lynn

  46. Ray Thompson says:

    Also, fcuk American Airlines for blaming the Army before an investigation even takes place.

    Lawyers being preemptive. If the military is at fault the victim’s families cannot sue the airlines. if the military is found at fault I expect a full coverup and denial of fault with the military disputing the results. There will be a lot of finger pointing. The controllers at the time should be seeking legal representation as they will be prime targets of the military.

  47. Lynn says:

    The controllers at the time should be seeking legal representation as they will be prime targets of the military.

    Apparently there was only one Air Traffic Controller at the time, handling both airplanes and helicopters.

       https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-faa-report-reveals-staffing-at-reagan-national-was-not-normal-at-time-of-crash

  48. Lynn says:

    “Elon Musk: Tesla Robotaxis Are Coming to Austin in June”

        https://www.pcmag.com/news/elon-musk-tesla-robotaxis-are-coming-to-austin-in-june

    “While the initial testing will use Tesla’s own fleet of cars, regular customers may be able to add their cars to the ride-hailing fleet next year, Musk says.”

    Look out !

  49. Lynn says:

    “An Iron Dome for America?”

        https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/01/an-iron-dome-for-america.html

    “I see President Trump has signed an executive order requiring that an “Iron Dome“-type anti-aircraft and anti-missile system be installed in the United States.  Given the sheer surface area of this country, it obviously won’t be cost-effective to build a system to cover every square foot of our land;  but that’s also not necessary.  Major cities, critical infrastructure and essential facilities can be covered much more easily and cheaply.”

    I approve of this.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Beam

    Me like ! Star Wars ! Jerry Pournelle would be so happy !

  50. Ray Thompson says:

    Given the sheer surface area of this country, it obviously won’t be cost-effective to build a system to cover every square foot of our land

    Indeed. Who cares about Barstow.

  51. Lynn says:

    “Whistleblower: Multiple FBI Agents Called In Sick With ‘Blue Flu’ To Avoid Helping ICE Round-Up Criminal Illegals In Chicago”

       https://www.zerohedge.com/political/whistleblower-multiple-fbi-agents-called-sick-blue-flu-avoid-helping-ice-round-criminal

    “On January 22, Acting Attorney General James McHenry ordered the FBI; U.S. Marshal’s Service; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF);  and Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to assist ICE with deportations.”

    Why am I not surprised ?

  52. Lynn says:

    “Hamas frees eight hostages in Gaza, Israel puts prisoner release on hold”

        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/hamas-frees-eight-hostages-in-gaza-as-part-of-ceasefire-deal-with-israel/ar-AA1y6pRk

    “Three Israelis and five Thai nationals were freed amid chaotic scenes in Gaza on Thursday in the third exchange of its kind since a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took hold earlier this month.”

    What the crap is going on here ?  Hamas think that they can deal piecemeal with human people.

  53. Greg Norton says:

    “While the initial testing will use Tesla’s own fleet of cars, regular customers may be able to add their cars to the ride-hailing fleet next year, Musk says.”

    Look out !

    Trademarked by Hertz.

    Not that anyone is home in Estero (Hertz HQ).

    If you go back and watch the presentation from Gotham City -er- the Warner backlot, Musk talks about customers being able to tend a “flock” (his word) of Tesla taxis.

  54. Ken Mitchell says:

    As has been explained by crash investigation experts, it generally more than one thing to go wrong, or mistakes, to cause a fatal crash. 

    Absolutely true. Dig into most accident inspections, and you’re going to find SEVERAL things that, if they had been done correctly, it would have prevented the accident. In accidents involving midair collisions like this one, though, generally only a couple of things need to have gone wrong. 

    1. Both aircraft were at the same altitude.

    2. Somebody didn’t maintain visual contact with the other plane.

    It’s highly likely that the helo pilot was at fault.

  55. Ken Mitchell says:

    Who cares about Barstow.

    Barstow’s missile defense system is that nobody would bother to aim a missile at Barstow.

  56. EdH says:

    Indeed. Who cares about Barstow.

    Well,  right nearby is Edwards AFB, then also NAS Ridgecrest, the Lockheed Skunkworks, Plant 42 in Palmdale, and … ahem … me.

  57. Geoff Powell says:

    @lynn:

    Hamas think that they can deal piecemeal with human people.

    But they don’t think we non-Muslims are human. So they’re quite willing to take advantage of the, to them, weakness that we in the West have repeatedly (so far) shown, by caving in to demands by hostage-takers, in order to free the hostages.

    Hopefully (but I have my doubts) the new regime in Mordor-on-the-Potomac will adopt a “any hostages are dead” attitude, and avenge them. It’s the only way to convince such animals that hostage-taking doesn’t work.

    G.

  58. Ray Thompson says:

    It’s highly likely that the helo pilot was at fault.

    The news, ABC, is reporting the helicopter pilots were using night vision goggles. The news said this use is unusual in crowded airspace and really limits perception. The news is also saying the military pilots were at too high an altitude and should have been flying at 200 feet.

    In other words, ABC news is jumping to conclusions. Attempting to blame the military.

    nobody would bother to aim a missile at Barstow

    You forgot about the people living in Victorville.

    6
    1
  59. dcp says:

    A good presentation about the DCA crash:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3gD_lnBNu0

  60. Greg Norton says:

    The Buc-ee’s in Temple is 98 miles north, but the New Braunfels location is only ~ 20 miles in the opposite direction.

    I interpret it as another sign that NFL expansion is coming to San Marcos. The new location will put a Buc-ee’s on either side of the most likely stadium site just off I35.

    https://www.fox7austin.com/news/buc-ees-break-ground-new-travel-center-san-marcos

  61. drwilliams says:

    Nailed It: JD Vance Steps in During DC Crash Presser and Puts Finer Point on Trump’s DEI Concerns

    links to past articles including:

    DIVERSITY: FAA Is Actively Recruiting People With ‘Severe Intellectual’ and Psychiatric Disabilities 

    Pete Buttigieg’s Priorities Created the Air Traffic Nightmare Today and Joe Biden Is Letting Him Skate

    https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2025/01/30/nailed-it-jd-vance-steps-in-during-dc-crash-presser-and-puts-finer-point-on-trumps-dei-concerns-n2185018

    It Almost Happened the Night Before—Flight Had to Abort Landing at Reagan When Helicopter Got Too Close

    https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2025/01/30/it-almost-happened-the-night-beforeflight-had-to-abort-landing-at-reagan-when-helicopter-got-too-close-n2185023

    It looks like the NYT and WaPo are desperate to claim that Trump somehow caused the crash days after taking office when they know that the real problem is the once and future Dems.

  62. drwilliams says:

    and this one:

    Here’s Why a CNN Reporter Melted Down After Trump’s Reagan Airport Presser

    Did you know that 3,000 top-performing applicants for air traffic controllers were REJECTED by FAA for being white?

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2025/01/30/why-a-cnn-reporter-melted-down-after-trumps-reagan-airport-presser-n2651415

    If that is true a sane world would demand BootyJuice be impeached (yeah, after being in office). In this world he will probably skate, go to Michaigan, and get elected by the Hamass lovers.

  63. nick flandrey says:

    Set up the Buffalo linkstation I got at an estate sale.   Needed to replace a drive, format, and set up raid.  It’s only 1Tb on a two drive raid 1, but I’ll use it as a media server for music.  I’m starting that copy now, approximately 2500 albums.    Tool says, 2 ½ hrs.

    When I updated the external drive for the BOL videos, I couldn’t fit them all on a 1 Tb drive.  I’ll have to find another solution, probably putting a new 2 or 4 Tb drive in a server for up there.  Meanwhile we have most of the ripped movies on that 1Tb drive.  I’m not done ripping my collection, and I haven’t even begun ripping blueray.

    n

  64. nick flandrey says:

    I hit the HEB on the way home.  Had a Rx to pickup and needed to get cream and eggs… so I did that and also grabbed some stuff that was on sale.   

    Ran into a guy at checkout.  It’s been 5 months since I last saw him.   He’s the guy I thought fell of the wagon and reached out to me for help, but I was so proud of my own progress that I didn’t recognize it.   And when I went back a couple of days later, he was gone.   Turns out he had fallen off the wagon, and got picked up at work for an open warrant.   He’s out of county, and 5 months sober again.   We had a good conversation, and he told me not to beat myself up- he wouldn’t have/ couldn’t have listened anyway.

    That was generous of him.   Hopefully he’ll get back to work soon and will stay with the program.

    n

    (It’s been 16 years and 24 days since I quit drinking. I do the math when I want to know, I don’t keep a running count anymore. He thinks I’m a good example, I just do it the same way everyone else does, one day at a time.)

    11
  65. Lynn says:

    “Trump threatens 100 percent tariffs on BRICS counties”

       https://www.wnd.com/2025/01/trump-threatens-100-percent-tariffs-on-brics-counties/

    “BRICS nations include Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt and the UAE. They want to create their own currency and attempt to oust The United States from its economic mountain top. Trump has taken to his Truth Social account (reposting on his X account) regarding how he intends to handle said ambition.”

    “Speak softly and carry a big stick” ???

  66. Lynn says:

    “Trump Plans 25% Tariffs on Canada & Mexico on Saturday”

        https://www.independentsentinel.com/trump-plans-25-tariffs-on-canada-mexico-on-saturday/

    “Weeks after his election victory last November, Trump announced on his own social network that upon his return to office, he would “sign all necessary documents” to impose a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada. Mexico must stop “illegal aliens” from crossing its border with the US, he said, and Canada must halt the flow of drugs like fentanyl. “Until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!””

    I did not know that the fentanyl was coming from Canada  also.   Not good.

  67. Ken Mitchell says:

    nobody would bother to aim a missile at Barstow

    You forgot about the people living in Victorville.

    Edwards AFB is 60 miles away from Barstow, while Victorville is 32 miles away. Unless the bombs are QUITE large, that’s outside the destructive range from either target. So unless the missiles have a very large CEP for their intended targets, Barstow would seem to be outside the blast radius.

    Of course, fallout is generally west-to-east, so Barstow could expect some of that.

  68. Lynn says:

    “RFK Jr. Triggers Breadline Bernie After Being Called Out for Taking Millions in Big Pharma Cash”

        https://rumble.com/v6f57q7-rfk-jr.-triggers-breadline-bernie-after-being-called-out-for-taking-million.html?e9s=src_v1_upp

    Bernie, Bernie, Bernie.  I am shocked, shocked I tell you.

  69. Greg Norton says:

    “RFK Jr. Triggers Breadline Bernie After Being Called Out for Taking Millions in Big Pharma Cash”

    Bernie, Bernie, Bernie.  I am shocked, shocked I tell you.

    What about Bernie’s lake house?

  70. Nick Flandrey says:

    I tried to get to bed early.   Really I did.   Failed.

    n

  71. Nick Flandrey says:

    I’m going to bed now.   as a reference point, the file transfer is still running, is 82% complete, 31 GB remaining, and is showing “about 45 minutes” to complete.  The transfer rate is showing as 12-13 MB/s.

    Win8, even with teracopy installed was always a dog for file ops.

    n

  72. Lynn says:

    “RFK Jr. Triggers Breadline Bernie After Being Called Out for Taking Millions in Big Pharma Cash”

    Bernie, Bernie, Bernie.  I am shocked, shocked I tell you.

    What about Bernie’s lake house?

    Which one ?  He has four of them.

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