Fri. Mar. 21, 2025 – and yes, I have been around the sun 59 times now…

By on March 21st, 2025 in culture, decline and fall

Cool and windy, but still clear and moderate. Yesterday was pretty nice, between wind gusts. I’ve got a bit of chapped lips, despite drinking water and not being in the wind all that much.

I finished the tasks I’d set for myself at D2’s school. I moved some stuff, set up the light we provided, talked with the kid doing sound, and searched the theater for some missing gear… and I found some plug parts and fixed the followspot electrical plug. The strain relief had gone missing and someone had just wrapped it with e-tape. Better than NOT wrapping it, but not as good as replacing the missing part. At some point some sound gear went missing. I found the manual in a closet, so I know it was probably delivered when the district did the ‘tech refresh’ but it vanished after that. As a tax payer, I get upset by their poor stewardship of my funds.

Then it was off to make some smoke and noise, then lunch, and kid taxi duties.

Slightly more productive than most of my recent days…

—————-
And I’ll say that sometime in the last three weeks I had the 59th anniversary of my birth. Never thought I’d get here, now I don’t want to leave… not that that is imminent. Or at least no more likely than random chance. This will also be my 20th wedding anniversary in a month or so. THAT is astounding too.

Anyway, today I’ve got pickups to do. Two down south of me, then several fairly close together north and northwest. Some preps, some hobby stuff, some household items.

Stuff to add to the stacks.

Pile it up!

nick

84 Comments and discussion on "Fri. Mar. 21, 2025 – and yes, I have been around the sun 59 times now…"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    “FUAC filed a motion last month seeking to restart the bidding process. It submitted a new $8 million cash offer to the trustee overseeing Jones’ bankruptcy in December, doubling its previous bid.”

    It looks to me like the bankruptcy judge has conspired with the so-called victims to limit Alex Jones free speech.

    Don’t move to Austin if you’re going to challenge the Progs power.

  2. Nick Flandrey says:

    Don’t move to Austin.

    – FIFY… 

    Need some coffee……..

    n

  3. brad says:

    Nope, I just had other things to do first.

    Excuses, excuses…

    Anyone taking remedial algebra in college, Harvard or wherever, should not be eligible for student loans and the college should be investigated for fraudulent admission.

    If someone doesn’t have basic algebra – and I don’t care what their major is – they don’t need to be in a university. They can take some remedial courses at some local school.

    Why do I suspect that there are exactly zero white males taking remedial algebra at Harvard?

    Also no Asians.

    Harvard clearly hasn’t yet gotten the memo that DEI is no longer trendy.

    “I am sorry but the illegals need to go home and petition for visa to come back.”

    Why would anyone be sorry? Illegal is illegal. Go home, and don’t come back.

    Meanwhile, the EU continues to fly in planeloads of young Islamic men. The airlines they use are considering refusing service, because the planes keep getting trashed. Why these young men are being flown in? No one seems to know. How are they selected? It turns out that their documents are almost always obvious forgeries. Who authorizes the flights? Who knows…

    The EU Commission seems determined to destroy the EU.

    On the morning of our last day I got punched in the left eye by a stranger on the train in Auckland. I’m fine, she couldn’t punch with any skill, I’ll tell that story later.

    @Jenny: now you’ve got us curious…

  4. Greg Norton says:

    On the morning of our last day I got punched in the left eye by a stranger on the train in Auckland. I’m fine, she couldn’t punch with any skill, I’ll tell that story later. I made several fails that I’ll humiliate myself with sharing. Later. 

    Was the stranger Chinese? Female?

    I’ve head an increasing number of stories here in Texas about ethnic Chinese women getting physically aggressive in crowds for no apparent reason other than to demonstrate that they can.

    I know from experience with the Chinese (Taiwanese) in-laws that they have a superiority complex, and the Number One Sons talk a good game about “taking out” Caucasians on occasion. However, I’ve not heard of any of the family acting on the impulses. 

    Go watch clips of Khan from “King of the Hill” on YouTube. That’s the thought process and possibly the most shrewd collection of observational humor in Mike Judge’s entire career.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyJ9nJHKpMM

    Khan was never violent, however.

  5. Nick Flandrey says:

    Ahhhh…. that’s better.  Delicious.

    Forgot to look at the thermometer…

    Looks clear out on the cams though.

    And not windy yet.

    n

  6. Greg Norton says:

    Why do I suspect that there are exactly zero white males taking remedial algebra at Harvard?

    Also no Asians.

    Harvard clearly hasn’t yet gotten the memo that DEI is no longer trendy.

    Sometimes I wonder if DEI wasn’t a variation on the old CalTech gag that got out of control.

    “Don’t worry. They’ll never actually buy this.”

    Watch “Real Genius” and pay attention.

  7. Greg Norton says:

    Khan was never violent, however.

    Deliberately violent. In one episode, he got off of his ADHD meds and went a little bonkers.

  8. Greg Norton says:

    Meanwhile, the EU continues to fly in planeloads of young Islamic men. The airlines they use are considering refusing service, because the planes keep getting trashed. Why these young men are being flown in? No one seems to know. How are they selected? It turns out that their documents are almost always obvious forgeries. Who authorizes the flights? Who knows…

    Guess who your new replacement resort security -er- cops will be if your quaint theme park countries don’t get their heads straight about taking on the Russians and things get sporty but somehow manage to stop short of a nuclear war.

    One of the disturbing aspects of the new Wallace & Grommit movie is that the younger police officer character, viewed as the future, is female and some variation of South Asian ethnicity. The implications of her going to bust the white male Wallace who is obviously being framed in the story are frightening.

    I know, cartoon, but I believe politics lives downstream of culture.

    Jennifer Saunders took care of Aardman and may have cost them the Oscar this time around, but they have a lot of clay at that studio.

  9. Nick Flandrey says:

    44F this morning.  Chilly willy!

    n

  10. brad says:

    44F this morning.  Chilly willy!

    Chilly here, too. And windy. Spring is taking it’s time, seeing as it’s supposed to get colder again next week. I can hardly wait for the articles about how March was the warmest ever, we’re all gonna melt…

    On the good side, having a continuously cold March means that plants aren’t blooming early. Last year, we had a warm couple of weeks, followed by hard frosts that killed the fruit crops.

  11. Denis says:

    Many happy returns, Nick!

    I occasionally am asked to cover for an absent colleague, and I generally acquiesce gracefully. Doing that today cost me a half-day’s work, and the only reason it was not more onerous is that I keep good archives of past tasks. Perhaps I will be less gracious next time.

    I might be a wee bit grumpy today. The cherry plum in front of my window is in blossom (it is beautiful), as is diverse other local vegetation. Various neighbours have birch trees and hazels. My eyes are itchy, throat is scratchy, and breathing is becoming laboured and wheezy. I think I will take an antihistamine tablet before bed tonight.

    A replacement satellite octo-LNB arrived from Big River yesterday. I suppose I should get out and install it. Joy – fiddling with coax. At least I had the presence of mind to install the dish on the ground and not up high. I hope I can find my special F-connector wrench – much handier than an 11mm spanner.

  12. lynn says:

    Happy Birthday Nick !

    It was 44 F last night when I left the office at 1 am.  I had the truck heat on high all the way home. This global warming is going to be the death of us all.

  13. lynn says:

    A replacement satellite octo-LNB arrived from Big River yesterday. I suppose I should get out and install it. Joy – fiddling with coax. At least I had the presence of mind to install the dish on the ground and not up high. I hope I can find my] special F-connector wrench – much handier than an 11mm spanner.

    I had the office Starlink antenna on the ground for over a year.  The fire ants built a mound into it and fried the internals.  I hope that you do not have fire ants.

  14. lynn says:

    It is 69 F at almost noon.  The cat just rushed (a fast limping walk at 16 years of age for him is a rush) to go outside now that the lawn mower has left.

  15. lynn says:

    “BREAKING: Trump, Hegseth announce next generation F-47 fighter jets”

        https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-trump-hegseth-announce-next-generation-f-47-fighter-jets

    “”I’m thrilled to announce that, at my direction, the United States Air Force is moving forward with the world’s first sixth-generation fighter jet,” Trump said, adding that “nothing in the world comes even close it, and it’ll be known as F-47.””

    Sounds expensive.  And the cluster $$$$ known as Boeing is in a shambles.

    Hat tip to:
    https://thelibertydaily.com/

  16. drwilliams says:

    After four upsets in the first round–teams seeded 5, 6, 7, 8–999/1000 brackets for the Men’s NCAA Basketball are reportedly out.

  17. mediumwave says:

    Meanwhile, the EU continues to fly in planeloads of young Islamic men. The airlines they use are considering refusing service, because the planes keep getting trashed. Why these young men are being flown in? No one seems to know. How are they selected? It turns out that their documents are almost always obvious forgeries. Who authorizes the flights? Who knows…

    THIS DOES SEEM TO BE THE PLATFORM. Weirdly, it’s exactly what you’d inculcate if you were trying to program a society for self-destruction.

  18. lynn says:

    I can tell Spring is here, I just had to take a Claritin.

  19. Greg Norton says:

    After four upsets in the first round–teams seeded 5, 6, 7, 8–999/1000 brackets for the Men’s NCAA Basketball are reportedly out
     

    UT Austin never should have been there, but the NCAA didn’t want to face the problem of the alumni firing Rodney Terry in March.

  20. drwilliams says:

    Now This Is Funny: ‘The Bidens Want Back In’

    Former President Joe Biden has told some Democratic leaders he’ll raise funds, campaign and do anything else necessary for Democrats to recover lost ground as the Trump administration rolls back programs the party helped design, according to people close to him.

    Biden privately met last month with the new Democratic National Committee chairman, Ken Martin, and offered to help as the party struggles to regain its viability amid polling that shows its popularity has been sinking, the people said.

    https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2025/03/21/now-this-is-funny-the-bidens-want-back-in-n2186932

    That “sssplatt!!” is the argument that Biden is too gone to testify whether he signed pardons falling flat on its ass.

  21. Denis says:

    I hope that you do not have fire ants.

    Fortunately, we don’t. We do have some harmless little black ants that have a habit of trying to set up nests in the ventilation blocks of our cavity walls, necessitating a clean out with a stiff wire every now and then.

    Mostly the ants just nest in holes in the ground. They attract European Green Woodpeckers, which love to eat ants. We have had breeding pair(s) in the garden for years. They are extremely shy, but remarkably vocal, birds.  If one is indoors and remains still, one can observe them from right up close while they poke around the edge of the patio and garden paths.

  22. Greg Norton says:

    I can tell Spring is here, I just had to take a Claritin
     

    The first squirts of Afrin for the season happened last night.

    The new cardiologist wants a sleep study, but I’m going to wait until the oak pollen slows down.

  23. mediumwave says:

    WTF is the Left Even Doing?

    TL;DR: The left is looking for an excuse to start a civil war. 

  24. drwilliams says:

    Put them both in J6 cells:

    In March 2023, Bush was hit with two FEC complaints over security payments she made to her new husband.

    One complaint comes from the Committee to Defeat the President, an anti-Biden super PAC, which alleges Bush has “flouted” federal campaign finance laws by paying Merritts $60,000 for security in 2022. Merritts does not have a license to perform security functions in the congresswoman’s district.

    Bush’s campaign filed its committee report late in July but admitted her husband Merritt took $17,500 for security and expenses between April and June.

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/03/doj-indicts-former-rep-cori-bushs-husband-for-covid-fraud/

    Stole Covid funds for small businesses, and conspired to steal (and did steal) campaign funds

  25. Denis says:

    What a nice start to the weekend. Fresh crusty baguette with salty butter and vintage Appenzeller cheese for tea. One of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg concertos on the radio – today would have been his 340th birthday, and it is world early music day. Lots of interesting and unusual recordings being aired today. 

  26. drwilliams says:

    I have Saturday evening time set aside to watch American Masters “Twyla Moves”, S35 Ep3, 1:22

    https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/twyla-tharp-documentary/16724/

    with crackers, aged cheddar, and a nice cellared beer.

    I saw part of this broadcast one afternoon this week. Modern dance is not a big interest of mine, but her accomplishments are unequalled and I was pulled into this produiction and blown away by many stories and archival footage, including Gregory Hines and Mikhail Barishnakov working together under her direction. I was not able to give it my exclusive attention, and there are several parts that have an interest outside of modern dance, including her reflections on a life totally focused on running multiple projects with a common direction, and also those of her son.

    It also reminded me that even though Public Television is a total PLT bag job when it comes to slanting the news, they have produced many shows that would probably not get done otherwise.

  27. Lynn says:

    And I’ll say that sometime in the last three weeks I had the 59th anniversary of my birth. Never thought I’d get here, now I don’t want to leave… not that that is imminent. Or at least no more likely than random chance. This will also be my 20th wedding anniversary in a month or so. THAT is astounding too.

    One more year and your body will start deteriorating beyond your wildest nightmares.

    Congrats to your wife on the 20th anniversary.  They are the tolerant ones.  We men are wild at heart and it is tricky to break us to meet their needs without breaking our spirit.

  28. Lynn says:

    “Trump Takes Bold Action to Strengthen US Mineral Production Amid China Trade Wars”

        https://resistthemainstream.com/trump-invokes-emergency-powers-after-hostile-nation-blocks-critical-resource/

    “The executive order, issued under Cold War-era legislation, directs federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, to prioritize mining projects essential to the nation’s security and economic stability, according to the BBC.”

    “The action comes as tensions between the U.S. and China continue to escalate, especially over control of key mineral supply chains. China, which holds a dominant position in the production and distribution of many critical minerals, has already imposed restrictions on the sale of certain materials to the U.S.”

    Trump is a real President !  MAGA all the way !

  29. Greg Norton says:

    It also reminded me that even though Public Television is a total PLT bag job when it comes to slanting the news, they have produced many shows that would probably not get done otherwise
     

    Taliesin was deteriorating into the landscape as Frank Lloyd Wright intended until the Ken Burns PBS documentary motivated the state and various private groups to act to save the estate in the early 90s.

  30. Lynn says:

    “Trump Reveals Powerful Figure Trying to ‘Usurp’ His Presidency, Demands SCOTUS Step Into ‘Unprecedented Situation’ to Ensure America’s Safety ‘Before it is too Late’”
           https://resistthemainstream.com/trump-reveals-powerful-figure-trying-to-usurp-his-presidency-demands-scotus-act-before-it-is-too-late/

    “President Donald Trump has launched a blistering attack on District Court Judge James Boasberg, accusing him of attempting to “usurp the power of the presidency” after the judge temporarily halted mass deportations of migrants.”

    Trump is very close to ordering the arrest and jailing of this judge.  Maybe others too.

  31. drwilliams says:

    SCOTUS needs to forcibly remind judges that there is something called recusal that is ethically required when there is a conflict of interest. 

    That includes Boasberg:

    ‘Rumor Has It’ Judge Boasberg ‘Requested’ Rmvl of Wife’s Pro-Abortion, Trump Trashing Podcast Video

    https://hotair.com/headlines/2025/03/21/rumor-has-it-judge-boasberg-requested-rmvl-of-wifes-pro-abortion-trump-trashing-podcast-video-n3800998

    and also Chutkan and Merchan.

    Federal judges have a choice: They can either restrict their activities to avoid the appearance of impropriety and conflict of interest, or they can recuse themselves to maintain the public trust in the impartiality of the process. We’ve had too many act irresponsibly, and too many times SCOTUS has done nothing to reign them in. Roberts has a short window to pull his head out before the impeachments start. Yes, the impeachments are unlikely to succeed, but there the steps beyond get more and more drastic.

  32. Lynn says:

    And another refinery gets turned into a tank farm with all kinds of weird plans for it that will never happen since they are not economical.  “Scottish, UK governments release plan for post-refining Grangemouth site”

         https://www.ogj.com/home/article/55276596/scottish-uk-governments-release-plan-for-post-refining-grangemouth-site

    “The UK and Scottish governments have unveiled options to secure an industrial future for Petroineos’ soon-to-be-shuttered 150,000-b/d Grangemouth refinery complex on the Firth of Forth in Scotland.”

  33. Lynn says:

    xkcd: Cosmic Distance Calibration

        https://www.xkcd.com/3066/

    Cute but a lie !

    Explained at:

      https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/3066:_Cosmic_Distance_Calibration

  34. drwilliams says:

    “with all kinds of weird plans”

    Freezing in the dark is not weird and not a plan.

  35. Greg Norton says:

    And another refinery gets turned into a tank farm with all kinds of weird plans for it that will never happen since they are not economical.  “Scottish, UK governments release plan for post-refining Grangemouth site”
     

    Theme parks don’t need refineries.

  36. drwilliams says:

    “This comic was released the same week as cosmologists revealed news that dark energy appears to be weakening, a result based on measurements of distances to many galaxies across the universe. No mention of distance labels was made in the announcement.”

    There is no dark energy or dark matter.

    String theory is the preferred choice of unsuccessful masturbators.

    The laws of thermodynamics are local phenomena, and the fundamental constants are not constant. (This is the Minusth Law)

    Just lay back and enjoy it.

  37. drwilliams says:

    “Theme parks don’t need refineries.”

    Rickshaw power has limitations.

  38. drwilliams says:

    “Go ahead and play that video over again. Is it me, or did his friend come up from behind and take a picture of her while she was down? Simply brutal. Public humiliation, all because of her own ignorance.”

    https://redstate.com/rusty-weiss/2025/03/21/angry-karen-tries-to-steal-mans-racist-maga-hat-is-promptly-introduced-to-a-little-thing-called-karma-n2186942

    Too bad she didn’t land on the tracks.

  39. Lynn says:

    ““Theme parks don’t need refineries.”

    Rickshaw power has limitations.

    So does windup power.

    The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi 

    In a future powered by springs, a corrupt and short-sighted 
    businessman plots to make the world even worse than it is. 

    https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/some-get-by 
     

    “Do Gravity Batteries Scale to Household Size?” 
      
    https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/do-gravity-batteries-scale-to-household-size 

    “Even with a 2,078-kilogram weight, they ultimately found that the cost of the materials used to build the prototype did not make sense for how little energy the battery was able to store.” 

    ““We found that the energy storage capacity diminishes significantly with decreasing size,” Jarausch said. “The weight of the moving mass, a crucial factor, scales cubically, making it impractical for individual homes. This technology is more suitable for larger-scale applications like powering a city block or a small community.”” 

    Gravity batteries are just another form of spring batteries.  Both technologies are difficult to work with and have corrosion problems.

  40. Lynn says:

    “What Could Go Wrong?”

        https://areaocho.com/what-could-go-wrong-2/

    “Take 6 black men, a Muslim, a Black woman, and Asian woman, and a white woman. Put them in an isolated research station on Antarctica. What could go wrong?”

    Oh my.

  41. Lynn says:

    “Why does this not surprise me?”

       https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/03/why-does-this-not-surprise-me.html

    “It looks like fraudsters and con artists are out in full force in Los Angeles after the fires there a couple of months ago.”

    “The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has received 270,000 applications from purported homeowners in the recent L.A. fires — though only abut 13,000 homes were destroyed.”

    “A FEMA official gave the staggering figure — more than twenty times the number of eligible applicants — as concerns about fraudulent applications continue to plague the agency, more than two months after the fire.”

    I am not surprised either but I wish that I was.

  42. Lynn says:

    “BREAKING: Trump, Hegseth announce next generation F-47 fighter jets”

        https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-trump-hegseth-announce-next-generation-f-47-fighter-jets

    “”I’m thrilled to announce that, at my direction, the United States Air Force is moving forward with the world’s first sixth-generation fighter jet,” Trump said, adding that “nothing in the world comes even close it, and it’ll be known as F-47.””

    Sounds expensive.  And the cluster $$$$ known as Boeing is in a shambles.

    Hat tip to:
    https://thelibertydaily.com/

    “What is the F-47 replacing?”

    “Hegseth stated the F-47 represents a significant advancement over the F-22, which is currently the U.S. Air Force’s primary air superiority fighter.”

       https://www.af.mil/news/article-display/article/4131345/air-force-awards-contract-for-next-generation-air-dominance-ngad-platform-f-47/

    I have seen the video of the F-22 flying on its tail, just a hundred feet off the ground. I cannot even imagine what a sixth generation fighter would look like.

    The F-22 has killed at least a half dozen pilots with the liquid oxygen system alone (it is tough to breathe liquid oxygen when the vaporizer fails).  One hopes that the F-47 will be more forgiving.

  43. Lynn says:

    Garfield: It Is Spring

       https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2025/03/21

    The flies are thawing, are you kidding me ?

  44. nick flandrey says:

    Gregory Hines and Mikhail Barishnakov working together under her direction.  

    – as part of a very brief stint as a graduate student, in 1990 I was fortunate enough to see a rehearsal of M. Barishnakov dancing in The White Oak Dance Project.   Although his knees were shot, and he never left the ground,  it was beautiful to see.  Mark Morris was in front of me going into the theater and was wearing a T shirt that said in bold letters “Fuck You, We’re From Texas”, which I thought was pretty shocking at the time.  I later found out it was the name of a band…  still quite provocative.

    I also have White Nights on my “ re-watch with the kids” list.   Crazy good dance captured in that film.

    And Cotton Club.   More Gregory Hines… and performances captured for posterity.    

    N

  45. nick flandrey says:

    It’s been my observation that money doesn’t change you, it simply amplifies what you already are.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14523887/woman-lottery-downsides-rich-millionaire.html 

    In one of her videos, she admitted that when she first won, she bought ‘so much stuff’ as a bid to ‘fulfill’ a ‘childhood wound.’

    However, she said she soon found that once the ‘quick high’ wore off, she wasn’t actually happy. 

    ‘The more stuff that I bought, the quicker the high would last and I realized in that moment that buying stuff and having things doesn’t make you happy,’ she said.

    ‘I’d go out and buy more bags and clothes and shoes every day, but I still wasn’t happy.

    ‘The more that I bought, the less happy I was.’ 

    the conventional wisdom is that most people that come into a sudden windfall will end up broke.

    n

  46. EdH says:

    I have seen the video of the F-22 flying on its tail, just a hundred feet off the ground. I cannot even imagine what a sixth generation fighter would look like.

    The F-22 has killed at least a half dozen pilots with the liquid oxygen system alone (it is tough to breathe liquid oxygen when the vaporizer fails).  One hopes that the F-47 will be more forgiving.

    O2 problems have been cropping up for years, F-22s to trainers.

    That said, a new fighter is just a distraction now.

    The USAF, the USN, and everyone else needs to be 100% focused on being so intimidating in the West Pacific that China doesn’t even think of starting WW3 in (probably) 2027.

    Deterrence is so much much better than fighting.

    Stop Aircraft Loss, nothing gets retired.

    Find every F-111 carcass in existence, boneyards, scrapyards, gate-guards and stand up wings of 1500nm unrefueled combat range aircraft.   Do the same for the A3J Vigilantes. Buy enough missiles that there are 20 refills for every a/c in the fleet, even in “beast” mode.

    Build and place enough cruise and IRBMs to utterly saturate defences.   All exsting designs, no “research” or study.

  47. Greg Norton says:

    And Cotton Club.   More Gregory Hines… and performances captured for posterity.    

    A Gregory Hines list isn’t complete without “Running Scared”.

  48. nick flandrey says:

    A Gregory Hines list isn’t complete without “Running Scared”.  

    – yeah, but Billy Crystal, and no dancing

    n

  49. nick flandrey says:

    He’s in History of the World, part 1  also…

    n

  50. Lynn says:

    the conventional wisdom is that most people that come into a sudden windfall will end up broke.

    Yup, the wife is very concerned about this.  We have more net worth than I can believe and she is very concerned that we will run out of money after 10 or 20 years.  Which, is a valid concern, she is a saver and I am a spender.  

    My concern is that all of our investments are tax infested and that we are going to get IRMAAd to death.  It is a given that we will pay taxes on our Social Security.  However, this is a nice problem to have.  Having no investments would take away the retirement option which is the average condition from my understanding.

    So as a result, I have agreed to work until I am 67 (2.2 years away) and then we will think about me retiring at that point.  That is, if my primary business makes it that far.  I am still thinking about selling the office complex though, it depends on the selling price.   I am not not willing to sell the office complex without making a serious profit on it, my goal is 4X what I paid for it 14 years ago.

    So the move to Abilene is off until I am at least 67.  And, we do not want to move away from our son so we need to figure that out.  Maybe we will move to Temple (200 miles away) or Waco (230 miles away) instead.

  51. Lynn says:

    “ Trump Admin Yanks Visa From Cornell Protest Leader Who Said He Takes His ‘Cue From the Armed Resistance in Palestine’”

        https://freebeacon.com/campus/trump-admin-yanks-visa-from-cornell-protest-leader-who-said-he-takes-his-cue-from-the-armed-resistance-in-palestine/

    “Momodou Taal received a student visa as he called for the destruction of the United States”

    “Momodou Taal, a British and Gambian dual national, began studying at Cornell in 2022 on an F-1 student visa, which he no longer holds, according to a State Department official.”

    “Taal’s lawyers confirmed in a court filing that the administration asked Taal to surrender to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at a facility in Syracuse, N.Y., for deportation proceedings. The request came in an early-morning email from the Department of Justice on Friday, the filing shows.”

    Deport his butt.

  52. Lynn says:

    O2 problems have been cropping up for years, F-22s to trainers.

    That said, a new fighter is just a distraction now.

    The USAF, the USN, and everyone else needs to be 100% focused on being so intimidating in the West Pacific that China doesn’t even think of starting WW3 in (probably) 2027.

    Deterrence is so much much better than fighting.

    Stop Aircraft Loss, nothing gets retired.

    Find every F-111 carcass in existence, boneyards, scrapyards, gate-guards and stand up wings of 1500nm unrefueled combat range aircraft.   Do the same for the A3J Vigilantes. Buy enough missiles that there are 20 refills for every a/c in the fleet, even in “beast” mode.

    Build and place enough cruise and IRBMs to utterly saturate defences.   All exsting designs, no “research” or study.

    Just setting up all of the production lines for replacement engines, missiles, etc is proving to be difficult and very costly.  Most of the previous production was scrapped or exported to China, Vietnam, etc.  It will never come back, good luck in getting the Chinese government to allow machinery to be sent back to the USA.  Will never happen.

    1500nm = nautical miles ?

    a/c in the fleet = aircraft in the fleet ?

    Beast mode ?

    https://pimaair.org/museum-aircraft/north-american-ra-5c/

    That is a big girl.  She has been sitting in the desert since 1979, not much left of her. The same for the F-111, been sitting in the desert since 1996, almost 30 years.

  53. Greg Norton says:

    A Gregory Hines list isn’t complete without “Running Scared”.  

    – yeah, but Billy Crystal, and no dancing

    Billy Crystal from before he became “Billy Crystal”.

    It is Crystal’s “Foul Play”, the Chevy Chase movie which doesn’t star “Chevy Chase”.

    We won’t talk about “The Rabbit Test”.

  54. Greg Norton says:

    That is a big girl.  She has been sitting in the desert since 1979, not much left of her. The same for the F-111, been sitting in the desert since 1996, almost 30 years.

    The F-111s wouldn’t last a day in the modern anti-aircraft environment.

    Assign the Air Force to rebuild a nuclear deterrent and reestablish MAD. The DoD budget needs to be halved at a minimum.

  55. Ken Mitchell says:

    All exsting designs, no “research” or study.

    Just setting up all of the production lines for replacement engines, missiles, etc is proving to be difficult and very costly.

    Yeah. The design schematics were on paper, which has now crumbed to dust. It would all have to be re-designed, and we’d need to rebuild the tools to make the tools. The men who designed and built them are mostly dead. 

  56. Lynn says:

    “A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers, 2)” by Becky Chambers
       https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062569406?tag=ttgnet-20

    The second book of a four book space opera science fiction series. I read the well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Harper Voyager in 2017 that I bought new on Amazon. I have bought the third and fourth books in the series and will read them in the future. Please note that this series won the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Series.

    Life in the not so near future is quite different. Earth was horribly polluted and overcrowded so many people moved to other planets and space ships in the Solar System. And then the aliens showed up using wormhole traveling space ships to cross the great expanses of space much faster. The humans are now junior members of the Galactic Commons, the GC, with all of the rights and responsibilities that come with that.

    The Galactic Commons has many rules and regulations but foremost are the rules against clones and unregulated sentient AIs. This book is two interweaving stories about two individuals, a clone and a AI, who meet one day. Jane 23 is a clone, a genetically modified hairless slave, who grows up in a trash dump salvaging materials. Jane 23 escapes the salvage facility one day when she is ten years old while watching one of the mama robots strangling her best friend, Jane 64.

    Lovelace, nicknamed Lovie by the crew, is a sentient AI running one of the tunneling wormhole space ships, the Wayfarer, when the space ship was suddenly attacked by a Toremi space ship. The resulting damage to the Wayfarer caused Lovelace to go through a total reset, losing its personality and memories with the crew. Pepper, a technician, secures an illegal blank AI body for the renewed Lovelace and moves the AI to it. But, the move from a several thousand ton space ship to a human like body is not an easy transition for the AI. Plus the transition is highly illegal in the GC.

    This series reminds me so much of the “Firefly” and “Star Trek” series due to the people (including space aliens) interactions. There are many space alien races, xenophobia, both mammals and reptiles plus a blob race, AIs, etc. Technology and craziness are rampant throughout the galaxy with people living everywhere that they can set down roots for a while.

    The author has a website at:
       https://www.otherscribbles.com/

    My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (17,267 reviews)

    Lynn

  57. Lynn says:

    “European Leaders Are Drafting a Plan to Replace U.S. in NATO”

       https://thelibertydaily.com/european-leaders-start-drafting-plan-replace-u-s/

    “The proposal would include firm commitments on increasing European defense spending and building up military capabilities, in an effort to convince Trump to agree to a gradual handover that would allow the US to focus more on Asia. The US, which spends more on defense than all other Nato allies combined, is indispensable to European security.”

    “In addition to its nuclear deterrent, which is committed to the defense of Europe with several European air forces carrying US nuclear weapons, it provides military capabilities that continental allies do not possess, runs air, naval and troop bases and has 80,000 troops stationed in Europe.”

    “Recently France’s Macron has floated the possibility of extending France’s nuclear deterrent over the continent. France remains the only EU country that possess nuclear weapons.”

    So replace the USA in NATO with China ?

  58. Lynn says:

    That is a big girl.  She has been sitting in the desert since 1979, not much left of her. The same for the F-111, been sitting in the desert since 1996, almost 30 years.

    The F-111s wouldn’t last a day in the modern anti-aircraft environment.

    Assign the Air Force to rebuild a nuclear deterrent and reestablish MAD. The DoD budget needs to be halved at a minimum.

    The Chinese are building attack satellites in both LEO and GEO.  Conceivably, they might go after an ICBM at the top of its ballistic peak.

  59. Greg Norton says:

    “In addition to its nuclear deterrent, which is committed to the defense of Europe with several European air forces carrying US nuclear weapons, it provides military capabilities that continental allies do not possess, runs air, naval and troop bases and has 80,000 troops stationed in Europe.”

    The other thing I’ve learned about through my wife’s nephew’s Army experience is the grift that is involved in keeping 80,000 troops stationed in places like Germany.

    When I asked the nephew how he bought the designed and Hecho en Mexico Jetta in Germany when the VIN history showed it started as a Miami lease, he talked about the contractors who ship mass quantities of new and used North American cars to Europe for the US troops to purchase and use while stationed on the continent.

  60. Lynn says:

    “You Vote: How should Trump deal with the injunctions coming from District Judges across the country?”

        https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/you-vote-how-should-trump-deal-injunctions-coming-district-judges-across

    I think that Trump should both appeal and ignore them.

  61. Lynn says:

    Today’s music is “Wings – Venus And Mars / Rock Show (Live / 1975)” with the awesome Sir Paul McCartney, his wife Linda McCartney, and former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine on the 6 / 12 string.  Performed 50 years ago !  Oy !

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0FIkmJ79Aw

    My wife and I saw Paul McCartney in Dallas in 2015 or so.  Was a totally awesome three hour performance by the 70+ year old rocker.

    When my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer on Christmas Eve Day in 2004, I immediately thought of Linda McCartney.  If a billionaire could not save his beloved wife in 1998, then what chance did I have ?  But he did not have the world class M. D. Anderson Cancer Center just 30 miles away from our house.  And a friend on the Board of Directors who slipped us in the back door a couple of weeks later, busting the line to get in.

  62. Lynn says:

    BTW, if you ever wondered if Sir Paul can play anything other than a bass guitar, here he is playing lead on a left hand 12 string acoustic with Denny Laine and Linda (her awesome harmony) backing him up.  “Paul McCartney and Wings -Blue Bird – Listen To What The Man Says Live 1976”

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8YqP8xz4uI

  63. Greg Norton says:

    When my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer on Christmas Eve Day in 2004, I immediately thought of Linda McCartney.  If a billionaire could not save his beloved wife in 1998, then what chance did I have ?  But he did not have the world class M. D. Anderson Cancer Center just 30 miles away from our house.  And a friend on the Board of Directors who slipped us in the back door a couple of weeks later, busting the line to get in.

    Linda McCartney was born Linda Eastman and had significant independent family wealth and resources separate from Paul McCartney.

    No, not Eastman as in Eastman-Kodak, as the urban legend tells it. George Eastman, her father, was an entertainment lawyer with big time clients.

    The big money, however, came from the mother who was an heir to one of the big Midwest department store fortunes.

  64. Greg Norton says:

    BTW, if you ever wondered if Sir Paul can play anything other than a bass guitar, here he is playing lead on a left hand 12 string acoustic with Denny Laine and Linda (her awesome harmony) backing him up.  “Paul McCartney and Wings -Blue Bird – Listen To What The Man Says Live 1976”

    I have a CD of that concert somewhere around the house. I tried not to sell or otherwise let music disappear in our various moves across country.

    “Live and Let Die” was the best Bond theme until “Skyfall”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th-K171K3iA

    The Oscar race for that category ended when Sony dropped the single early.

  65. drwilliams says:

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that the University of Maine System (UMS) has agreed to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to keep transgender athletes out of women’s sports. 

    https://hotair.com/generalissimo/2025/03/21/americas-toughest-governor-maines-janet-mills-just-folded-like-a-cheap-lawn-chair-n3801029

    Now damages.

  66. nick flandrey says:

    Regarding Waco,   think long and hard about that.   There is more than a hint of corruption, old school families running things, and lots of shenanigans.   If you  aren’t one of them, you are sheep to be sheared. Boss Hogg runs Waco.

    ———-

    Hit the local Knights of Columbus Friday night fish fry for dinner.   Not cheap, but very good.   8 pieces with fries, hush puppies, green beans, and cole slaw was $36, and we had one piece left over.

    I didn’t have to cook either.

    ———–

    Wife is still coughing, headache-y  and under the weather.  TOLD her to see the doc in the box and get s scrip for some ABX but what do I know?   

    I’m still feeling ok on large doses of D3 and some sleep.   Although I was very clumsy all day.

    ———–

    Did my pickups.  The new auctioneer that I spent some time talking to about the realities of the reselling game just a few weeks ago told me he’s done.   He’ll sell out his existing stock, then “pull down the roll up door.”    He said “there’s not much money in it”.   I agreed.   It’s easy to buy.  Harder to sell.   I was vindicated in a way, but also sad because I want them all to succeed so I have choices for cheap stuff…    at least he’s smart enough not to p!ss away his retirement or mortgage his house and THEN fail.

    There is a fair amount of churn in the auction sellers.

    n

  67. Lynn says:

    BTW, if you ever wondered if Sir Paul can play anything other than a bass guitar, here he is playing lead on a left hand 12 string acoustic with Denny Laine and Linda (her awesome harmony) backing him up.  “Paul McCartney and Wings -Blue Bird – Listen To What The Man Says Live 1976”

    I have a CD of that concert somewhere around the house. I tried not to sell or otherwise let music disappear in our various moves across country.

    I have bought “Wings Over America” twice, once in vinyl and once in CD.  My wife sold all my vinyl albums to a record shop for cash when we were strapped buying a house in 1990.  Mine were all black vinyl though.

        https://www.amazon.com/Wings-Over-America-Exclusive-Limited/dp/B09NL8D77H?tag=ttgnet-20

  68. nick flandrey says:

    Some AI is getting scary good.

    Youtube uses AI to generate Closed Captions/subtitles from the audio track on videos.   It can generate translation from the CC too.  One example is a german channel I watch that has english subtitles.

    And then there is this… It’s subbing Jamaican patois from reggae lyrics.

    https://youtu.be/FoJN-njYTlo?si=L1oX7kPIJTu8cYNa 

    And this where it’s generating FRENCH subs from reggae lyrics.

    https://youtu.be/HqI7YI7Fyko?si=tWmS7MI–LeCpWQ3 

    crazy.  A true babbelfish can’t be too far away…

    n

  69. nick flandrey says:

    “Money talks bro.  With enough money, even miracles come with a receipt.”

    https://www.youtube.com/@hydronyc/shorts 

    n

  70. nick flandrey says:

    Boxing legend George Foreman dies aged 76 as family pay tribute to ‘man of unwavering faith and humility’

     

    Legendary boxer George Foreman has died at the age of 76, his family have announced on Instagram. Their statement read: ‘Our hearts are broken.

    a giant of a man.

    n

  71. Lynn says:

    I have a CD of that concert somewhere around the house. I tried not to sell or otherwise let music disappear in our various moves across country.

    I have bought “Wings Over America” twice, once in vinyl and once in CD.  My wife sold all my vinyl albums to a record shop for cash when we were strapped buying a house in 1990.  Mine were all black vinyl though.

        https://www.amazon.com/Wings-Over-America-Exclusive-Limited/dp/B09NL8D77H?tag=ttgnet-20

    BTW, “Wings Over America” is one of the 200+ CD albums that I ripped to my home pc and to a thumb drive in my truck.  I can say “play Wings” to my truck and get 50+ songs.  New technology is very cool sometimes.

  72. Lynn says:

    “Unhinged Biden Judge from Uruguay Yells at DOJ Lawyers During Hearing on Transgender Military Ban Case”

       https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/03/biden-judge-yells-doj-lawyers-during-hearing-transgender/

    And we have our second candidate for Guantanamo.

  73. Lynn says:

    Isn’t living in Maine enough punishment?

    My parents used to spend July through September in Maine in an old lighthouse converted to a B&B.  A very nice summer compared to the Gulf Of America coast.  Then my mother became wheelchair bound so that went away.  Maine is super not wheelchair friendly, few places are.

  74. Greg Norton says:

    “Unhinged Biden Judge from Uruguay Yells at DOJ Lawyers During Hearing on Transgender Military Ban Case”

       https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/03/biden-judge-yells-doj-lawyers-during-hearing-transgender/

    And we have our second candidate for Guantanamo.

    Good luck with that. Williams & Connolly alum.

    Kagan and Kavanaugh both worked for the same firm at some point in their careers.

    When Perkins Coie needed a lawyer after Trump revoked the firm’s clearances, they called Williams & Connolly who got the injunction. Serious Deep State.

  75. Lynn says:

    Another house 4/3.5/3 for sale in my neighborhood for $790,000

    https://www.har.com/homedetail/1403-mulberry-farm-ln-richmond-tx-77469/2401704?lid=9465653

    If I ever put a pool in at a house, this is the pool slide I would have.  But there is no hot tub.

  76. nick flandrey says:

    Isn’t the smaller part of the pool the hot tub?

    n

  77. Lynn says:

    Regarding Waco,   think long and hard about that.   There is more than a hint of corruption, old school families running things, and lots of shenanigans.   If you  aren’t one of them, you are sheep to be sheared. Boss Hogg runs Waco.

    I get weird vibe when I am in Waco.  I would probably prefer Temple even though it is not far from Austin.  In either case, I would live outside the city boundaries.

  78. drwilliams says:

    “But there is no hot tub.”

    The dark plaster–probably pebble–on the interior of that pool will make it feel like a hot tub and likely make it useless for cooling off for two months in summer if not more.

  79. Lynn says:

    Isn’t the smaller part of the pool the hot tub?

    n

    If so, that would be a huge hot tub and take forever to heat up.

  80. MrAtoz says:

    And we have our second candidate for Guantanamo.

    Judge Reyes grilled DOJ lawyers last month and said that Trump’s executive order asserting there are only two genders is “not biologically correct.”

    She’s crazy. More than two genders is crazy. Match two has been lit telling the CinC he can’t command the military.

    What Will Roberts Do?

  81. Lynn says:

    Do people put bars on windows before or after the first robbery ?

        https://www.har.com/homedetail/4348-state-hwy-53-temple-tx-76501/312998?lid=9360904

  82. nick flandrey says:

    If you’re smart, you put them on when your neighbor gets robbed.

    n

  83. Nick Flandrey says:

    I’ll see you guys in the morning.

    n

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