Cool and crisp. Clear and warming somewhat later. I could see my breath yesterday morning, but was happy in a t shirt and shorts later. I should probably start getting the garden ready.
Did some errands yesterday. Did some personal maintenance. Did a bunch of relationship maintenance. It was The Feast of St. Valentine, and Ash Wednesday. (As an aside, a LOT more Catholics in my area than I thought. Refreshing to see young adults wearing the ashes.)
Some of that stuff involved a visit to my local HEB for a card, so I figured I’d check the meat aisle too. Prime sirloin, $6/ pound. Yes Please! I’ll take all you have left. I got three picanha roasts (the cap removed from the sirloin before slicing into steaks), and two packs of two sirloin steaks. I’d have gotten more if I could.
Coincidentally, I was making a picanha roast for dinner. I’d already defrosted one, so it was nice to replace it with more. At roughly 3 pounds, they are the perfect size for my family, and they cook in under an hour. Plus, they are delicious and look good on the table.
Dinner turned out well. Beef roast; asparagus sauteed with butter, garlic, and red onion with a splash of soy sauce; fresh bread (supposedly a french baguette, but that was a lie. LOOKED like a baguette. Wasn’t.); and garlic clusters baked in chicken stock with gorganzola cheese crumbles. Strawberry tres leches cake for dessert. Really a pretty simple meal, but dressed up a bit to LOOK and TASTE like a fancy restaurant. Garlic was to smear on the sliced baguette…
As a bonus, the whole house smells great while everything is cooking.
These are the good old days. Enjoy them while you can.
Today will involve more of the same. Nothing specific or out of the ordinary, just trying to keep the list under control. Some small progress is being made. Every day is a gift.
Stack the gifts.
nick
Assuming that the universe hates you is the only safe way to get through life.
To be clear, I don’t think that the universe is a sapient entity with malice specifically toward me. (Though that would explain a lot…) (But “Steve made some stupid choices” would also explain a lot…) However, acting as though it were is a pragmatic approach. People tend to make plans and assume that every aspect will go correctly. This shows up most commonly in the Planning Fallacy. Assuming that the universe hates you is a good way to force you to check each step and figure the effect of it failing. “What happens if Sarah is late with the stuff she’s supposed to bring?” “What happens if this tie-down strap comes loose?” “What happens if I lose my job tomorrow?” Most people gradually learn this as they get older. Some people are explicitly taught it. I know that I got it both in engineering school and in Army officers’ training. Aside from forcing you to be more deliberate in your planning, not a bad thing in itself, there’s no reason for you not to adopt this habit. Yes, yes, thinking is hard. Suck it up, buttercup.
Bah. I’ve been writing a book of advice for teens and young adults and wrote the above as if I were talking to them. Noticed the mistake just too late to edit it. Eh, it’s not all bad. I can paste that into the appropriate place with little to no change.
The Prime is Hecho en China. Build quality is ok, but the ‘7’ key feels loose.
I carry the Prime in my work bag because all of the other HP calculators I own are now “EBay Gold” and would be tough to replace if lost/stolen/broken.
HP no longer produces any calculators directly. Any model you see at the retail level now is licensed to someone, and I forget the corporate chain of ownership offhand.
I was carrying a TI 84 with Python until that model became “EBay Gold” even though TI still manufactures the calculator in theory.
MBBS.
The groundwork is already being laid for onshore schools with the usual visa arrangement, but the foreign graduates with money are getting inserted into the system now as a kind of test.
Some states even allow them to hang out shingles as MDs if the situation is desperate enough.
The domestic healthcare workforce is too expensive now, and Congress is not really going to do anything about the indentured servitude in the system due to the student loan payments because the loan paper pays for … the healthcare system! … and anything else the politicians dream up to p*ss away money on like Ukraine.
Climate Freaks Douse Constitution’s Case With Red Powder
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2024/02/14/im-done-with-these-children-and-their-tantrums-climate-freaks-douse-constitutions-case-with-red-powder-n3782963
What kind of woke commie pos rules of engagement do these capital
policeparasites have that does not result in the attackers of our nations heritage on the ground in handcuffs in seconds?And what kind of spineless citizens do we have that they were not dragged out and beaten to a thin red paste in the street?
Big companies can negotiate lower fees, but 401(k) plans are still a lot of DIY, which has produced a poor result in my generation (X-er), the first who entered the ranks of Corporate America without defined benefit pension backup and got greedy during the bubbles, especially on ESOPs which are not 401(k) plans.
The later generations are worse off.
I expect the Feds will seize the 401(k) plans and private pensions in the interest of “fairness” with the election of the next Jesus President and Congressional supermajority, but, until that happens, I manage my accounts like status quo will continue.
Ironically, I also have two defined benefit pensions.
The current job provides very good cash matching and a decent selection of funds but we are still selling something the marketplace wants — the possibility of firing what’s left of the domestic white collar workforce.
Passed a lot of those in thift stores for $3.
h/t to AoSHQ
Surely that is not a serious question. Surely you’ve seen the reports and the video clips of police arresting those who stopped a crime, including even defending themselves from violent attack, in preference to those committing the crime.
@Greg Norton
My all-time favorite is still the HP15C, as the best representation of Bill’s vision of a shirt-pocket scientific calculator.
HP has brought it back twice, now, with some improvements in speed and functions. Looks like the $120 release last year is going out of stock in the U.S., with NIB sales up to $189 on eBay.
If the hypocritical miscreants (oh, they didn’t walk or ride their bicycles?) and their support structure that spent days or weeks planning this federal crime are going to walk, then I’m happy to have my day in court. My attorney will demand cameras in the courtroom.
Alec Baldwin Spent Time Texting and FaceTiming During Firearms Training for ‘Rust,’ Armorer Testifies
https://radaronline.com/p/alec-baldwin-spent-time-texting-face-timing-firearms-training-rust/
Mr. Baldwin, being an actor, is of a superior class not bound by rules of the universe, law, or common sense.
It’s a mystery why he should have to waste time in safety training–he just follows orders.
Passed a lot of those in thift stores for $3.
– that would have been a good ‘pickup’. As long as the schools require students to have them, they are worth 60-90 on ebay, which is cheaper than the schools will charge… I have made hundreds flipping 83s and 84s.
————
cool and damp, a bit more low cloud and overcast than I expected. Sleep was interrupted last night so I’ll probably fall asleep again this am.
————
Looks like it wasn’t just the usual suspects shooting each other up…
Chiefs parade gunman was carrying an assault rifle when he was tackled by hero dad after nine CHILDREN and 12 adults were wounded and one killed in victory day shooting
n
added– or maybe it is.
Could a Tattoo Determine Fani’s Fate?
https://hotair.com/headlines/2024/02/14/could-a-tattoo-determine-fanis-fate-n3782973
Fani Willis Could Be Saved by Her Father
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/miacathell/2024/02/15/fani-willis-father-n2635237
Who has the tattoo and where?
And what could Fani’s Daddy say? “I never saw him schtupping my daughter?”
Judge has two days set aside for testimony. Wade and Willis will be testifying, but not first. It’s hard to see how they would avoid doing so, given the claims by defense that they have multiple credible witnesses that will present evidence to impugn their sworn statements.
Ed Morrissey thinks that they will recuse themselves to avoid further perjury. Hard to see how a “How dare you! I am an empowered woc and can do no wrong!” pose will help. Getting the witness testimony on the record is going to make a referral to the Georgia Bar Association the least of their worries.
I hope Wade’s ex-wife got her settlement paid and deposited. By all accounts Wade is not wealthy and will be hard-pressed to find the proverbial pot if he has to mount a criminal defense while trying to keep his law license. What will save his bacon is the necessity of the PLT puppetmasters to defend him to keep the story of the illegal coordination with the White House from being dragged into the full light before the election.
OTOH, Fani’s Dayy has had over fifty years of the Black Panther grift to line his pockets, and can probably get some help from even better race grifters. Her involvement in the illegal coordination is certain so she probably gets to same cover as Wade, and can smokescreen with the “attack on the strong soc” schtick.
And you know that the MSM are going to cast this as an evil Trumpian plot, nevermind that the evil plot is sitting in the White House.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgDbE6WOyws
Heads up!
HotAir has a story on Rachel Dolezal on their front page.
Seems she changed her name, got a teaching job, and posted an inappropriate link on her school webpage–to her OnlyFans account.
The photo over the story is a screenshot. It’s G-rated, but trust me, if you see it you will wish you could unsee it.
I’m heading down to Urgent Care for some eyeball bleach.
– he’s acting on his beliefs which is more than 99% of the world can say. And didn’t he become a US citizen?
n
In other reporting, he’s moved his company’s state of incorporation to Texas after Delaware struck down his pay package. Funny how many people and companies are coming to Texas…
added- the tone of the lunar mission article is pretty negative https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13086909/Elon-Musk-vows-colonize-Mars-SpaceX.html
Well, it’s a fair assumption. That said, normally things seem to “just work out” in my experience. Not always, of course, but more often than not.
Speaking of which: it turns out that Greg was right. The new installation where I couldn’t reproduce the problem? I realized that I hadn’t changed to the proprietary Nvidia video driver. As soon as I did, the problem was reproducible. Hurrah!
It’s still a strange problem, though. The videos don’t even load a preview pic, and they aren’t autoplay, so it doesn’t seem like the video driver should even come into play.
Anyway, with luck, this will give the Vivaldi folks something to work with.
In France, they are throwing soup at pictures in the Louvre. Makes just as much sense…
The final season of ST:Discovery showed up on my TV show tracking site. April, with 10 episodes.
TI 84 with Python, clearly stating such on the front of the device.
EBay Gold, especially new in box
TI 84 with Python,
– ah, haven’t seen that one.
n
That will probably be it for Kurtzman Trek series until the Paramount sale is final.
Frakes repaired the Kurtzman Trek canon damage in the ”Those Old Scientists” episode of “Strange New Worlds”. Highly recommended even if you gave up on that show.
Pay attention while watching. Every moment is important in that episode. Frakes was brought in to direct for a reason.
Star Trek will get another rest, at least on TV.
Last I checked nobody is forced to spend anything at the ‘Zon. Do TPTB force @nick to shop at HEB? Plenty of sites that explain how to get the best deals while shopping on-line or at B&M. Is it HEB’s fault if you buy the brand name can of peas from the eye-level shelf instead of the on-sale store brand that’s on the bottom shelf?
Just more blood-sucking lawyers running out of Camp Lejeune clients.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/02/amazons-algorithm-deliberately-hides-the-best-deals-lawsuit-claims/
Be a sheeple or be educated.
@alan, had to check that it was really you…
n
@Greg Norton
“TI 84 with Python, clearly stating such on the front of the device.
EBay Gold, especially new in box”
I missed the distinction of the separate model with Python. Like @Nick I don’t recall ever seeing one. Now I know to look.
Anything NIB that is out of production is eBay Gold, even if the seller has to apply the gold wash in the kitchen sink (aka “barnumize”).
The collector market has widely varying levels of respect for truly new condition items.
Dust jackets were put on hardcover books for advertising and temporary protection, and were often tossed by the buyer, yet some vintage books with fragile (cheap paper) dust jackets have 90% of their value in the dust jackets. This has led to a secondary market in reproduction dust jackets, careless printers facilitating fraud by not properly marketing them as such, and investors getting suckered. I can put together a nice looking bookshelf of apparently mint Hardy Boys with facsimile dust jackets and a couple hours cutting stacks of cardboard to make fake books.
Amazon will use the “our search engine sucks dead bunnies through a straw” defense.
I’ve searched for out-of-print books and other items on Amazon and their search engine won’t show the listing page at all, but Bing or Google can find it. Note that it’s not a case of being way down in the search results–it’s not on the list at all.
I do use my HP-15C periodically for balancing my paper checkbook. I assume that it was given to me as a retirement present.
The group that managed such items signed it out me as a loaned item in 1984. When I transferred to another company in 2003, that group had been disbanded so I just hung on to it as I could not turn it in. Similarly, upon retirement in 2007, I could not do that, so I just hung on to it.
WRT the bad baldwin…
Keep in mind she is the one that bears ultimate responsibility under law and custom in the workplace.
– she made the statement in her defense for her charges.
Baldwin is a douche but she had the responsibility to ensure that the “guns” the actors on that set handled were not and could not be real guns and that the ammunition present on set could never be actual live rounds. That’s the armorer’s job. Actors are idiots. On set most of them are and should be regarded as dangerous and incredibly strong toddlers, which is why you never give them responsibilities beyond saying their lines and moving as they are told to move. The whole industry knows this and the work rules are designed to compensate and protect everyone.
Hall, the Assistant Director has supervisory responsibility for safety on set. The UPM, Unit Production Manager, and the Line Producer have control and responsibility for safety, hiring, training, schedule and budget.
Hall took a plea deal immediately because he knows he f’d up. Even though the actual charge was complete BS, he knew he’d be found guilty of something if someone competent got involved. (Santa Fe has no one competent involved so far, except maybe at their OSHA office, but I wouldn’t bet money on it.)
The UPM and Line Producer have never been mentioned, so presumably not investigated, because the D-K effect is real, and the DA’s office doesn’t know anything about the film industry. (and probably no other industries. Would they be involved in a mining death, no matter how stupidly the employee acted?)
This prosecution of baldwin is politically and ideologically motivated. The state of NM is full on commie/socialist, HATES wealth, guns, and self sufficiency.
The tiny part of the state that isn’t federal land, state land, or indian land has the same dependency mindset as the rest.
n
(the production was in NM so the production company (already found guilty of safety violations and fined the max) could play fast and loose with industry standards of responsibility, safety, and working conditions. those decisions set the stage, so to speak, for the tragedy. )
Mr. Bean Was Right – and So Was Toyota
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/02/15/mr-bean-was-right-and-so-was-toyota/
The press will feature the opinions of actresses whose only expertise is shopping for lip injections, and have no educational standards for “science” writers, but someone who might have some relevant background is vilified if they have the wrong opinion.
The numbers are interesting. Ford threw away more than half the profits–all squeezed out of ICE buyers–in chasing the EV mirage. What did they think, that they would make it up on volume? Where were the bean counters that I’ve cursed when some plastic piece that should have been better plastic of even metal broke off?
And why do I suspect that the real conclusion is that Ford and the rest of the U.S. automakers have doomed their existence by caving in to the PLT-run UAW?
The UAW and it’s ‘associated trades’ have been squeezing the golden goose for so long, they’ve forgotten that when you squeeze too hard, the goose dies.
Lots of folks forget that lesson, including local taxing authorities.
—–
Rowan A is a very sharp guy, which I knew, but I’m still a bit surprised by his actual education. He should know better than to speak truth to power though. He must have been feeling financially secure that day.
n
so it was the usual suspects shooting each other.
If by “depressingly American” you mean typical of American blacks gang violence, enshrined and immortalized in their culture…
vs the mentally ill individual who attacked Parkland, which was exacerbated by cowardice on the part of the SRO present…
The two events have nothing in common except that there is a body count.
n
@Nick
“Keep in mind she is the one that bears ultimate responsibility under law and custom in the workplace.”
We’ve disagreed before on that topic. There is a difference between “ultimate responsibility” and “only responsibility”. I have yet to see any law that has an “except if the shooter is an actor” clause that absolves the holder of the firearm of responsibility for the results. Same applies to OSHA regulations.
In this instance, the case is being made for a gross misconduct exception that will pierce that illusion. What is the safety training for if Baldwin has no responsibility? There is a multifaceted argument that if the safety training is a requirement, neither Baldwin or Gutierrez-Reed fulfilled their contractual responsibilities.
I’d be interested in how far the claim of immunity extends. A 22LR round can travel a mile with deadly effect, and shots fired into the air can return to earth and kill. What’s the range on the unspecified Colt 45 round fatally fired on the set of Rust? The round certainly has the potential to punch through the thin walls of the church and kill someone outside. Could it travel far outside the movie set and kill? @SteveF’s comments on Planning Fallacy above are timely.
A minor nitpick, what do you mean by “real guns”? In previous discussions, you said anything called a “prop” was just “property” no matter what it was/is being used by the production. Do you mean Gutierrez-Reed had to do more than make sure the gub had inert rounds in it? Barrel block, no firing pin, etc.
What drwilliams said above.
“GAME OVER” for Fulton County DA Fani Willis, declares MSNBC legal analyst:
“This is epic. This is monumental. She will be disqualified. This is a huge deal.”
https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1758188601777549779
Former friend and colleague of Fani Willis testifies that Willis’ relationship with Wade began in 2019 at a conference, long before Wade was hired as a Special Prosecutor in 2022, and much earlier than Wade and Willis have sworn to the court.
Can Willis save anything by recusal? At this point Judge McAfee has evidence of perjury and might not be inclined to consider the question mooted by a recusal. The perjury issue is not directly before him but the potential witnesses are, and he might be within his remit to develop the evidence for referral.
ADDED:
Or McAfee might just be sufficiently ticked off to pursue it.
A minor nitpick, what do you mean by “real guns”? In previous discussions, you said anything called a “prop” was just “property” no matter what it was/is being used by the production. Do you mean Gutierrez-Reed had to do more than make sure the gub had inert rounds in it? Barrel block, no firing pin, etc.
– yes. Exactly that. The “guns” on set are supposed to be gun shaped objects, not capable of firing real rounds. Real rounds are NEVER to be on set. The rental company (who was investigated but then mysteriously the investigation stopped without further charges) and the armorer are supposed to ensure that this exact scenario can’t occur. There may be times when a particular historic gun is to be used, either by preference or needs of the script, with versions of said gun being too valuable to modify, which would then trigger the use of extraordinary care and supervision, both for safety and cost means. Likely that real gun would only be used as a “hero” gun, and only in scenes where a replica couldn’t be used, and EVERYONE on set would be aware of the special needs and circumstances.
Movie prop guns still have to fire, and be safe to operate. You can’t always remove a firing pin, or insert a barrel block, even blanks expel wadding. Which is why you have safety training. Even props can be dangerous. The last prop gun related death involved an actor shooting himself in the head with a prop gun. “Stuff” still comes out the end of the barrel, even if it’s just gasses and unburnt powder, and you don’t want that in your face or pushing a dime sized piece of your skull through your brain…
Lots of industries have employees do dangerous, or hazardous stuff as a routine or extraordinary part of their job. They have rules to follow, safety officers, people who meet the LEGAL REQUIREMENTS of a “competent person” to supervise, and yes, safety training.
The movie industry is an industry. A movie set is a workplace. The people involved are workers, even actors, who work under agreed sets of rules and contract requirements, just like miners, or office workers, or electricians in a bakery. The worker bees are not experts in their fields or safety specialists, those jobs are filled by “competent persons” who are, and who bear the legal responsibility.
The UPM, LP, AD, Prop Master (and the Armorer working under the Prop Master) are supposed to be experts and “competent persons” for the purposes of law.
Had baldwin brought a personal weapon onto the set, or brought his own ammo, or taken his prop gun to the hotel there might be a criminal case. Had he pointed it at anyone without direction, and outside of his role as “actor” there might be some sort of case. But no matter how much I dislike the guy’s politics and personal beliefs, this isn’t a criminal matter. And if it was Joe from Peoria, third cowboy from the back, who’d had the accident, it wouldn’t be prosecuted, and wouldn’t be news.
n
n
Probably not all Catholics. Lutherans do ashes on Ash Wednesday and I imagine a few other Protestant denominations probably do as well.
>> When I was working for the bigcorp, our fidelity 401 funds were all dogs. ALL of them underperformed their benchmarks. The sales dude must have seen our Dunning–Kruger HR staff coming from a mile away and dumped all their crap on her.
One advantage I found working for a Fortune 50 company is that they took management of the 401(k) plans (somewhat) more seriously. Smart investing of that money keeps us from eating raman.
People running companies do not realize that they have serious fiduciary responsibilities to the participants in the retirement fund. To avoid that responsibility, I put the money in a separate Fidelity IRA for each person and tell them to go for it. I do a match dollar for dollar up to three percent (the max allowed by Law for a Simple IRA).
““Stuff” still comes out the end of the barrel, even if it’s just gasses and unburnt powder, and you don’t want that in your face or pushing a dime sized piece of your skull through your brain…”
One of the memorable safety instruction from dad was that the shotgun wad has enough force to kill even without the shot.
I really dislike the movie/tv portrayal of gun violence. It’s one thing to have Elmer Fudd blow himself up, but it’s another to have real actors doing shiite that no sane person would do–unless they were misled by Hollywood.
Back in the 90’s I enjoyed the PLT’s cavorting in “Picket Fences” making themselves look like idiots, but the firearm malpractice by the sheriff’s department was too much.
Seeing police in a firefight taking cover behind car doors, is only second in video stupidity to the instantaneous recovery from being knocked unconscious.
Yeah, and I wouldn’t want a shoulder GSW either but that seems to be where the bullets always go, when the hero gets shot.
And taking off the vest after getting shot. WTF? Ok, it’s written in the scene to tell the audience WHY our hero didn’t die, but it still makes no sense.
n
I was told years ago (when I was a lad in Law Enforcement Explorers) that the engine block and, to a lesser extent, the wheels are the only parts of a vehicle one should be taking cover behind. Though, I suppose some law enforcement vehicles may have armor plates in the door.
There is certainly a disconnect between Hollywood and ballistics. The number of things in films and movies that are bulletproof is comical. I don’t think people fully appreciate what a bullet is capable of penetrating through.
I have yet to see any law that has an “except if the shooter is an actor”
– because he’s not a “shooter”. He’s an actor, playing let’s pretend, with what is supposed to be an inert piece of metal. A “cold gun”. “Gun” is used because people are lazy, time is expensive, and everyone would quickly get tired of saying “something that looks like a firearm, but isn’t, can’t be, and should never be” every time.
Even if baldwin is mistaken or a liar, and he did pull the trigger or otherwise release the hammer, he had every right to believe that what he was doing was safe and ‘doable’ because the people on set to ENSURE that it IS safe told him so. And if Pinky had done her job, the AD had done his job, the rental house had done their job, baldwin doing his job (which includes manipulating that piece of metal in any and every way) wouldn’t have resulted in tragedy. If he didn’t bring the real round to set, and load it in the gun, his involvement is accidental. As for the others, not so much.
n
Catching up from yesterday…
>> It used to be range anxiety that was quoted as the reason EVs didn’t sell.
Adoption (so far) by almost every auto manufacturer of Tony’s NACS fast-charging connector as the go-forward standard is lessening range anxiety.
>> Gen-Zers are struggling to meet dating candidates of the opposite sex who accept their political views – so they’re masking their true thoughts.
Probably using ChatGPT to generate their on-line dating site responses.
>> Two lessons of what and where (let’s say the entire state) to stay away from in this sad article.
FIFY
>> Multiple people were shot at Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade
When they win next year, will the players be riding behind bullet-proof glass?
>> The entire length of I-80 in Wyoming is an environmental weenie’s nightmare, but rare earth processing is an order of magnitude worse than anything I saw making that drive twice.
BTW, Wyoming is the state with the smallest population. On “Yellowstone” they used to drive up into a deserted stretch of highway to dispose of the bodies.
>> Last month US just sold off a big chunk of it’s Helium reserve to a German company:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/us-just-sold-helium-stockpile-s-medical-world-worried-rcna134785
This is not the act of a responsible, worried, government.
What? Me worry? MRIs more important than party balloons?? Medical care rationing will help correct that situation.
baldwin is being charged with a crime, despite there being no evidence or even assertion of intent.
There is no question that no one had any intent to cause harm or damage. There was speculation early on, but it turned out to be unsupported by any fact.
n
>> Some of that stuff involved a visit to my local HEB for a card,
FYI – Trader Joe’s carries an assortment of greeting cards, all always $1.00, including the various holidays, and in a pinch, blank cards.
Of course, don’t know if there’s a TJ near casa de nick.
They named it "Trader Joe's" because it's more marketable than naming it "Millennial Grocery" or "Hipster Grocery." 🙂 lol
I do like their products, but it’s their employees and customers I cannot stand. If you want to know where everyone still in a face mask in 2024 is, then just go to Trader Joe's (or Whole Foods).
No Trader Joes.
My wife ended up buying the exact same cards for the girls that I did. She says great minds think alike, I say, “only cards left in the rack in English.” I did ‘customize’ my cards…
————
shoot, time is flying by today. I’m still at my computer and haven’t gotten anything done.
n
@Nick
‘Yeah, and I wouldn’t want a shoulder GSW either but that seems to be where the bullets always go, when the hero gets shot.”
I enjoy “Walker, Texas Ranger” on a lot of levels, But the man got shot in the shoulder so many times that he had tunnels where the light shined through.
@Nick
Some accidents are due to negligence and chargeable as crimess. Negligent homicide is one.
I don’t believe that Baldwin had any intent to harm anyone, just that he was intent on being Alec Baldwin–reckless, irresponsible, full of himself, and exactly the sort of person that would blow off safety training and then claim that he wasn’t responsible.
We’re re-tilling plowed ground here, and I will retire. Last comment to you, sir.
– not just “technically”, but actually, in point of fact, and legally.
The article doesn’t list what the reasoning for the charges consists of, it’s possible to have a statutory rape issue when there is a power disparity, despite being of legal age, but it doesn’t look like that’s the case here.
WTF is with all the female teachers banging students? Teachers too young? Hookup culture? Or too many pheromones in the air at school?
n
@Alan
Dollar Store/Tree/whatever are good sources, too.
A few years ago I bought a table lot of office supplies at an estate sale. Included a bunch of files. Misc greeting cards in one. Bank deposit slips with account numbers in another–straight into the shedder. Cash in an envelope that was within a couple dollars of what I paid for the lot.
“WTF is with all the female teachers banging students?”
It’s always gone on, but idiots have cell phones and social media.
ADDED: Which is exactly what happened here. It allegedly started a month before the student graduated. It’s not clear if he was specifically a student of hers, but it sounds doubtful.
I had a female high school that married a student. He graduated, she quit, they moved and got married. Two people kept a secret, and there was never a rumor that I heard.
Was he “special needs”? Diminished capacity? That might be the reasoning.
It’s just one symptom of Western society’s relentless push to separate women from the consequences of their actions and decisions.
I doubt Rowan Atkison has worried about money since the late 80s. BBC home video in the 90s was “Blackadder” and “Red Dwarf”.
”Blackadder” has never been something which appealed to cancel culture types.
@drwilliams, we’ll see what the court determines, both in pinky’s case where there does appear to be negligence, and the bad baldwin’s.
Keep in mind, the “safety training” isn’t what you likely picture hearing those words. In the quote from the article, the AD does a pretty good job of describing what it likely consisted of, which is how to look like you know what you’re doing with a gun, and how not to get hurt with a prop. Baldwin has been thru that dozens of times. You are still supposed to pay attention, just like when you do the “safety training” at any oil company before you can set a working foot into an office building, even if you’ve heard it a hundred times before. Given Pinky’s almost complete lack of professional experience, you’d have to be pretty new to feel like she was telling you anything you didn’t already know.
Nothing he’s alleged to have done, including cocking the pistol and pulling the trigger while pointing it at the camera, is reckless or irresponsible in the context of rehearsing on a movie set, given the controls that are supposed to be in place. No matter what he did, absent the live round, there wouldn’t have been a tragedy. The chain of command and responsibility I listed above all failed, and that live round ended up in the prop gun. But baldwin didn’t put it there, and it wasn’t his responsibility to verify the condition of the prop before handling it.
Everyone is hung up on the “gun” aspect. If a movie required a squirt bottle of acid as a prop, and the prop master prepared a bottle, and her assistant put the bottle on a cart, ready for a rehearsal, and the AD then exceeded his role and authority, handing the bottle to an actor telling them that DESPITE THE BIG MELTED HAND SYMBOL on the bottle, “it’s not acid, it’s water”, and the actor subsequently rehearsed a scene where he squirts someone in the face, and the bottle turned out to be full of acid, would anyone blame the actor?
And what if on further investigation, it turned out that the AD had a reputation for ignoring safety? And that despite a requirement that he be able to distinguish between water and acid, he didn’t bother to check before handing the bottle to the actor? To compound the issue, what if it turns out that the prop rental house was found to keep bottles of real acid with the prop bottles? And that the person hired SPECIFICALLY to be certain that any props were not harmful and that prop bottles really were safely filled with water was inexperienced, careless in her personal and professional life, and not taken seriously or respected by other staff, and wasn’t allowed to do any final checks she might have done because of covid requirements?
Where would blame fall? Now also add there being two other instances where bottles were found to have acid in them, although no one was hurt in those cases?
Substitute the props in the Rust case as appropriate, the rest is accurate. Investigators found live rounds at the prop house. There were other accidental or negligent discharges on set. There were inappropriate discharges on her only other previous work experience. The AD overstepped his responsibility and authority, and had a history of moving fast and cutting corners.
There is plenty of blame to go around but unless some new information comes out, based on my knowledge and experience in the entertainment industry, and based on my work in safety in other industries, none of it sticks to baldwin.
And I am only putting in the time and effort because I think it’s critical to everyone, but especially to gun owners and gun users, that someone not be punished or railroaded because they are an assh0le or wealthy.
n
Delayed adulthood. In their head, they’re still in middle school or high school. So, they think they’re dating guys their age. Unfortunately for them, psychological age doesn’t count. Only physical age. Have you met a young adult lately? They’re 14 year-olds trapped in 23 year-old bodies. Put them in a middle school or high school setting as a teacher and it doesn’t take long before they identify more with the students than they do with their faculty peers.
Matt Dillon got shot more times than Walker.
Sounds like one of my (wet) dreams while in high school.
BBC home video in the 90s was “Blackadder” and “Red Dwarf”.
– it would depend on his contract terms, and I don’t think BBC was famous for giving away money… certainly the Mr Bean features, and his other movie appearances should be decently compensated, but the Blackadder stuff was a lot more like other typical BBC shows.
I got some mail accidentally when I lived in LA and opened it without thinking. It was someones residual check and was about 89c if I recall correctly. It was less than it cost to prepare and send the check, I clearly remember figuring that out. Granted that this person wasn’t the lead on a multi-season syndicated show, but I’d bet there was less money in it than you’d expect.
n
>> What kind of woke commie pos rules of engagement do these capital
policeparasites have that does not result in the attackers of our nations heritage on the ground in handcuffs in seconds?From the video, most (all?) appear to be Amish and seem to employ pointing / waving around their walkie-talkie antennas as their primary means of dealing with disruption.
Seems though that the documents are well sealed from outside intrusion from red powder.
There’s a guy (actually, there’s probably several of them) that opens his and his wife’s residual checks on his social media channel and talks about them after he opens them and see what they’re for and how much they are. He’s a screenwriter and she’s an actress (minor roles). The checks range from cents to few hundred dollars if it’s a popular show and it’s in syndication. Multiply by every episode of TV she had a small role in and every script he ever contributed to and they get dozens of residual checks every week. It’s kind of absurd to witness.
>> Even if baldwin is mistaken or a liar, and he did pull the trigger or otherwise release the hammer, he had every right to believe that what he was doing was safe and ‘doable’ because the people on set to ENSURE that it IS safe told him so. And if Pinky had done her job, the AD had done his job, the rental house had done their job, baldwin doing his job (which includes manipulating that piece of metal in any and every way) wouldn’t have resulted in tragedy. If he didn’t bring the real round to set, and load it in the gun, his involvement is accidental. As for the others, not so much.
Maybe Bad Baldwin’s defense team should be hiring @nick on as a trial consultant. 🙂
>> Sounds like one of my (wet) dreams while in high school.
Crack open your HS yearbook and compare those young ladies with today’s 17 year-olds.
Maybe Bad Baldwin’s defense team should be hiring @nick on as a trial consultant.
– they better hire someone who knows how things work. Clearly his PLT creds aren’t going to be enough.
Notice that with the exception of the AD Hall, none of the people in the actual chain of command and responsibility are volunteering or pointing out that their roles have been skipped. And he took a no punishment deal on a really dubious charge. Maybe he’s knowingly acting as a ‘cutout’ for the others, but it’s more likely that he knew he’d go down for something.
And it’s expensive, and no one would hire him until it was all settled.
n
I have a former girlfriend who was in Conan the Barbarian. I think she was hired as a day player, no residual payments. If she ever got any, she never mentioned it to me.
JerryP paid for Chaos Manor with an options check for one of his stories to be made into a film iirc.
Hollywood exists to make money for the big guys, not the “talent”. ←-scare quotes intentional.
n
(someone said “Calling them ‘talent’ is more indicative of what they seek, than what they have.”)
“Matt Dillon got shot more times than Walker.”
The Marshall was a foot taller.
I grew up thinking Chester was a little guy.
“Crack open your HS yearbook and compare those young ladies with today’s 17 year-olds.”
No thanks. I can think of more than one in my class that would still be worth a tumble.
Ever since “Blackadder Back and Forth” in 1999, the BBC execs wet themselves if any of the principals even breathe a word about “Blackadder 5″ concepts. They probably passed out when … Richard Curtis ? … floated the idea of a modern day Blackadder bastard son of Queen Elizabeth II fronting a rock band in his 60s ala The Rolling Stones.
Atkison isn’t on JK Rowling level financially, but I think he’s close as far as being immune to cancellation.
The creative people at “Blackadder” invented Hagrid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfYx_013UuY
Same as the male teachers banging students; Western culture has worked very hard to sexualize infants and children, and to infantalize young adults and adults. The inevitable overlap is where this is happening.
Ok, here comes the part where I ask for advice.
non-prepping hobby asked me (tasked me) with taking over the club website.
I can do pretty much whatever I have to do as the current guy has been doing it for far too long and is D. O. N. E.
My thought is—
– wordpress as a CMS (because that’s what we use here, and I’m vaguely familiar, at least as a user.)
Duplicate some of the existing static HTML, most notably the photo galleries as new pages in WP.
There are no tools to import the existing site, built using ‘sitebuilder’ on “Homestead.com” and hosted there. I can’t even move it into their new in-house site building tool.
Move to a different host. We’re paying $52/month and get a bunch of stuff we don’t use, and pay extra for some we do-
–Package Features
$28.24 / month
Add-ons
$ 23.19 / month
–We’re clearly getting ripped off for the extra storage space, dunno if it means they own the domain or we do, but they appear to be the host. The plan bills monthly and it renews on Mar 3. I REALLY don’t want to renew.
$50+ a month seems like a lot for a minimal website, with little traffic.
——————
There isn’t any way to export the site, although I can D/L or scrape all the content.
I’m thinking a few pages of WordPress for the static stuff, put all the photo galleries in one place, and use a blog as the home page and easily updated main page.
The ecommerce would be nice to let people pay dues, sign up and pay for classes, and pay for the annual convention/swapmeet. Maybe a couple dozen SKUs really.
———————–
What is the difference between a MANAGED wordpress host and some other choice? Does that mean they do all the wp updating and securing?
————————
The site is for a 501.c tax exempt organization, local chapter of a larger org. Site will have historical photo galleries, short recaps of meetings, and exists mainly as somewhere to point people if they want more info about us, and with info about where and when we meet.
Someone could probably mock the whole thing up in an hour it’s that simple, but the current mess looks like geocities puked on a compuserve users group, and had ugly babies.
Any and all input appreciated.
nick
Pre “Gunsmoke”, James Arness was the creature in the original “The Thing (From Another World)”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl-Y8ZkUenk
Guess what we found out today? Some species of frogs can change sex. At least, female frogs can change to male. My daughter’s had three African Dwarf Frogs in the fish tank (along with a varying number of guppies and a snail to eat the algae). They were all female. Really! The two youngest have been there for over a year and there’s been no
monkeyfrog business going on. But tonight she went to feed the pets and found the older frog and one of the younger in flagrante delicto. I had her look into whether frogs can change sex (yes, and in particular the ADFs are known to), then I told her to talk to the school’s teachers tomorrow and see if they want frog eggs for science class or for the elementary classes.In chicken news – that is, today’s Thrilling Poultry Status (TPS) Report is that I let the birds run around for nine hours despite the cold. They came in on their own well before dark, probably because they were getting hungry as much as anything. I was eating a head of romaine lettuce when I saw them come in so I tore the leafy part off half of the leaves and handed it out. The brown hen, usually the most cautious and the lowest on the pecking order to judge by who eats first and who bullies whom, was knocking everyone else to the side and even taking leaves out of their mouths. Well. Either she was famished or she really likes romaine lettuce.
Four eggs, thirteen in four days. The average has been coming up, either because the days are getting longer or because I’ve been letting them out instead of keeping them in the “tiny” 200 sq ft run. The average had dropped when I first started letting them out, but maybe that was normal variation or maybe they were laying in the bushes or maybe something else. Speaking of laying eggs, though, it sure would be nice if the knuckleheads could share. The coop has three brooding bays, but only one hen will lay at a time and whoever went into a bay first will chase out anyone else who comes into the coop. My idea of getting a few more hens (because ten would be no more effort than six) might not work if only one can lay at a time. Oh, and as for the coop, it has one roosting rail, big enough for four but not for six. I put another rail in … and no one would use it. They’d hop over it or wriggle under it to get from the door to the brooding bays but they would’t stand on it. -sigh-
At least they’ve mostly gotten over their habit of throwing the new straw out the door when I clean the coop. I don’t know if they’ve given up, they’ve gotten used to the smell of straw, this straw has a different smell than the old straw, or they realize that the straw helps keep their feet and fluffy butts warm in the cold. Yah, that last was a joke. They’re chickens. They’re almost as dumb as the typical teenager.
The wind was strong a couple days ago and blew the run’s door open and even partially pulled it apart. (It’s made of aluminum tubes and clamshell clamps, not the sturdiest design.) The cardboard on the run’s windward side directed most of the wind’s energy onto the run and the door, rather than onto the chickens, and the construction barely held together. Aside from that, having the run under the deck is working out well. If chickens are still here next year I’ll work out something better, if I can. Disassembling and moving and reassembling the thing was more effort than I cared for.
Walker Texas Ranger: 1993-2001, 203 episodes
Gunsmoke: 1955-1975, 635 episodes
The Marshal was a target for 12 more years than the Ranger. With more episodes per season.
re the hobby site, would either of your daughters, or the kids of other members, be interested in doing some of the work? You could teach them basic WP administration and content creation, how to pull content from the other site, and so on. This would be more work for you than doing it yourself but you’d be teaching valuable skills. And who knows, maybe you could con them into doing some of the ongoing work.
re the commerce aspect, last time I did any of that, you had to pay a monthly fee to the service on top of per-use charges. Might be worth having that feature, might not. Would PayPal work as an alternative? You might need to manually spot the payments and extend their memberships, but for a low number of members that might be less work than setting up and integrating a full-up store/payment feature.
I can’t advise on hosting, hosted WP, or domain ownership. The market’s changed completely and I haven’t kept up.
Yes, and that was one of the major plot points for “Jurassic Park”.
Good Germans shop at Trader Joe’s, a subsidiary of Aldi Nord.
Some cannot wait for Ze Old Days to return. Maybe soon.
This is deliberately a quiet week. Lent started yesterday.
Austin will escape a freeze this weekend, but just barely.
@Nick
“the current mess looks like geocities puked on a compuserve users group, and had ugly babies.”
Thanks, I needed that today.
“The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion”
https://www.patreon.com/posts/98498779
The analysis from the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow:
https://glasgow2024.org/chairs-statement-15th-february-2024/
I wish that I could say that I was surprised but, I am not.
Graham Chapman of Monty Python studied medicine and really was the qualified person to deliver a baby in this clip from “The Meaning of Life”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQPIdZvoV4g
Listen to Michael Palin as The Administrator. That bit is *way* ahead of its time.
I doubt that a lot of Python would make it to air today. I heard a line recently from one geek commenter that the modern TV series writing room “smells like cat pee and box wine.”
@lpdbw
“The Marshal was a target for 12 more years than the Ranger. With more episodes per season.”
And William Conrad as Matt Dillon got shot a few more times, but that was on the radio.
Walker probably set a record for dropping from the sky from planes, helicopters, zip lines, and whatever else was handy. The best one by far was in the X-Files riff episode “Case Closed” with Roy Thinnes and Dirk Benedict as guest stars, when he grabs a parachute and jumps out of a plane after an Air Force sergeant (Raymond Cruz) that was tossed out without one. When they land safely the sergeant is ecstatic and wants to go again.
I’ve looked at various reports from the Fani Willis spectacle today, and none of them, including the many attorneys, score it for Wade and Willis.
Turns out Fani’s daddy was brought it to lay the groundwork for a dodgy excuse why she was able to pay Wade her end out of cash. (yes, that was intentional). Hillarity ensued when she further claimed that she replenished a $4,000 payment by taking cash out at Publix, $50 at a time.
I think Ace has the best insight:
If Willis and Wade don’t get booted they may as well shut down criminal prosecutions in Fulton County for a couple years. Otherwise “I paid in cash”, “I don’t have receipts”, “I didn’t know that was the law”, and “It’s proof because I just said so” are going to be established defenses. The last is a howler deliverered by Willis, and I can just see some miscreant throwing the exact phrase in her face in some future prosecution farce.
Better upsize that drain–Fani is circling and you want plenty of clearance.
I thought I saw a report earlier about a Robin Williams memorial belt being purchased by eBay buyer “Fanny B. Tender” but that may have been a dream leftover from my morning nap.
Well, to be fair, not just the internet.
https://nypost.com/2024/02/14/opinion/white-fragility-author-calls-classic-painting-white-supremacist/
To be fair, it’s not just the RINO’s that are a problem in the Republican Party:
https://redstate.com/mdempsey/2024/02/15/proposed-legislation-in-tennessee-aims-to-prohibit-retailers-from-selling-cold-beer-and-alcohol-n2170172
Add Tennessee to my list of states that would be improved by removing HVAC from the statehouse.
Biden, Activists Immediately Demand Gandbanger Control After Kansas City Shooting
nevermind…
wishful hearing…
That’s dangerous because Publix has very advanced IT. I’m sure Lakeland would be able to provide records, whether officially requested or leaked.
Publix openly leans Republican. They’re not DeSantis fans, however, having backed Shrub immigration chore boy Adam “Opie” Putnam for Florida Governor in 2018, doing their part for the Bush Family Cabal.
Again, with Fani, it isn’t a question of if but when.
“Now, I don’t know about you. But I don’t know anyone in the world whose grandchildren have ever deposited money into a savings account for their elderly grandfather. But now, maybe I’m wrong. But that’s something we’re certainly looking into.” House Committee Chair James Comer
https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2024/02/15/house-investigators-reveal-bank-account-that-may-have-been-used-to-funnel-money-to-biden-from-grandkids-n2170170
I can just see a Biden grandchild under oath:
“ I heard Uncle Hunter was being mean and not giving his 10% to The Big Guy, so I wanted to help PawPaw out and figured it might keep his hands off me. No, it’s true because I said it was so! Ask Billy, he was PawPawed too!”
“That’s dangerous because Publix has very advanced IT. I’m sure they would be able to provide records, whether officially requested or leaked.”
Publix is just the middleman in the electronic transfer. The source of the funds has the records.
What we need is a hundred large laughing men in suits and Orange Man masks greeting Fani when she rolls up to the courthouse tomorrow morning.
Laughing…
and laughing…
another Comer quote from the above link”
“We certainly have a lot of questions about he achieved how he accumulated so much wealth so quickly. The public explanation behind that doesn’t add up with most people’s calculators.”
Really? It’s been known for years that Joe Biden, runner up to stump in the brains contest, had donor help to get his first home loan, where he found a gold mine and Jed Clampett’s missing oil well in the basement.
You guys are such geniuses that you let the IRS hire 50,000 new snoops to audit the new eBay requirement to report $600 in yearly sales.
Here’s a clue: If NYFS can reopen the closed statute of limitations door and claim it’s just a coincidence that Trump is now being prosecuted for an alleged rape where there was no report and the alleged victim can’t even remember the year, might it be appropriate to wonder out loud if it’s time to re-open the SoL door on tax violations by cokehead sons of senile presidents?
I just made up a rumor about a new CSI: New York mini-series where Gary Sinise is on vacation in New Mexico and discovers a clever murder on a movie set in a church. It’s looking bad for the handsome heroic hero (Hunter Bidet) at the end of Episode Four when the prop master (Megan Rapiknow) delivers damning testimony that said hero was a jilted lover of the dead cameraman (George Santimonious). But then, as the credits roll, the prop master exits the courthouse, gets in the back of a waiting limo, and pulls off a latex mask to reveal…
comedy gold:
https://twitter.com/PierPets/status/1757840653155749915
– glad that they got this one, but there are literally millions.
Added- and as for calling her “Illinois woman”, give me a f’ing break.
And the popo are proud they catch a few…
I’m certain that everyone here has a stash house like hers within a 10 mile radius of their home. Unless you don’t have anyone within 10 miles. Then I move the radius to 30 miles.
n
Haha
Once she figured out that Japan was expensive, she decamped for Thailand, where she also had no knowledge of the country or plan… and ran out of money.
IIRC, State Dept will fly you home, once.
n
>> Someone could probably mock the whole thing up in an hour it’s that simple, but the current mess looks like geocities puked on a compuserve users group, and had ugly babies.
Anyone have any experience with Fiverr for fleshing out the basics?
I would also suggest using PayPal separately rather than trying to integrate ecommerce.
I use NameCheap for domains, no issues with them. Best to figure out who owns your domain and if you could change if it suddenly becomes “valuable” to the current host if they own it.
Just some random thoughts. Worth what you paid for them. 🙂
>> Once she figured out that Japan was expensive, she decamped for Thailand, where she also had no knowledge of the country or plan… and ran out of money.
I would have suggested Canggu or Ho Chi Minh…but then W2 watches too much House Hunters International. 🙂
IDK if I mentioned the tablesaw I gave to my buddy was the subject of a recall for “laceration hazards”. He won’t be getting it running. The cord was cut off for a good reason it seems.
———-
@alan, any advice is welcome, Rick handles all the heavy lifting here, so I really don’t know anything about how it all works together. At least I’m familiar with USING some aspects of WP. That is more than anyone else in the club, and I really do feel for the guy who has been doing it. Especially after really looking at it and seeing the tools he had to use.
—————
I’m calling it a night.
n
Website advice: I’m sure you’ll get better specifics from others, but before you go there, make a list of the actual requirements:
– What static content needs to be there? Just a home page? More stuff? How much more?
– Do you need file sharing? A forum? A blog? A wiki?
You can start with a wish list, but whack it down as far as you can to keep things simple. Based on that final list, you can then think about what you need to realize it. WordPress is a possibility, but it is a monster, under continuous attack, and requires regular attention. It may be that you can find a simpler solution.
If you can avoid interactive content (forum, wiki), then honestly I would stay away from WordPress. There are lots of ways to produce static content, and many ISPs have an in-house solution for simple eCommerce stuff.