Cool with more rain.
Rained all day yesterday, and all night. I don’t know how many inches we got here at the house but it was a bunch.
I was stuck in the house all day and not at all productive. Eyes have been aching a bit. Glasses were covered in a light film but I didn’t notice. And I spent a lot of time in front of the computer.
Mostly I messed around with sketchup and the lake house, and watched auctions close. Did help daughter 1 with some math problems. The whole school was virtual due to the rain and flooding, and some people were not prepared, having left their stuff at school. That’s why it’s a laptop folks, so you can take it with you.
Today both children will be going to the school to take a test. There were online versions available, but we were told that the proctoring requirement was very onerous. So the kids will be masking up and going in. Assuming the rain doesn’t cancel school again. Writing this in advance and going to bed.
I’ve been crazy tired lately, due to short night’s sleep. I’m falling asleep in my office chair several times a day. I’m trying to get to bed early, but it never seems to work out.
Other people have been full of energy- Bloomburg is buying votes in FLA, handing out $20M to clear the debts of convicted felons so they can have their voting rights restored. Don’t worry, we’ll be able to use the ballot box in November… and the election will be completely honest and above board.
Anything short of a Trump landslide and I see the right picking up arms. Anything short of a Biden Presidency, and the left will. The great middle will try to keep their heads down, but will be forced to choose. Add a stock market crash and there will be shooting and riots in the streets.
I’m hoping to stay home and keep my head down. So I’m continuing to stack. And continuing to beat the drum for you to do so too. Even if I sound like a broken record, broken record, broken record.
n
While ill advised by my adviser, I will be moving all my mutual funds into fixed assets the middle of October. I may miss some gains. So be it. I am more concerned about protecting what I have rather than making more. Realistically I have enough money at my current lifestyle, barring a major health issue not covered by my insurance.
The 2016 election I did that for one account. Dow dropped several percentage points election night. The Dow recovered and I lost some gains. But this election is different. A lot of angry groups.
If Trump wins BLM, antifa and others will riot, burn, loot. If Biden wins Trump will file charges in court for recounts. All will adversely affect the markets as the markets do not like uncertainty.
I will risk the loss of gains to keep what I have.
While ill advised by my adviser, I will be moving all my mutual funds into fixed assets the middle of October. I may miss some gains. So be it. I am more concerned about protecting what I have rather than making more. Realistically I have enough money at my current lifestyle, barring a major health issue not covered by my insurance.
Plugs has big plans for 401(k) accounts, but I think it goes far beyond what they’re currently admitting publicly. Right now, Harris/Biden has to be palatable to the suburban women living outside DC and in the suburbs of the tech hubs who may generally vote Dem but hold the point of view, “Well, WE worked hard for our lifestyle and Tonymobile Model X and/or German money pit grocery getter.”
The biggest con of the Dem campaign is the snow job being perpetrated on that voting bloc. They won’t realize it until Jan. 21, of course.
If you are looking at GLD, I stopped treating that as anything but a short term hedge starting about five years ago, converted my holdings to physical metal, and took everything fishing — so shiny at the edge of the boat … oops …drat!
I’ll try to get a picture or two to post. I’ve long stated here that the hottest/most desirable real estate for Progs in Austin is, ironically, the area around the Mormon church in my neighborhood. The Plugs and “Doors” campaign signs went up at the houses immediately adjacent to the church this week.
Cue Sting, fittingly a song about a vampire.
“How could I be this way when I pray to god above
I must love what I destroy and destroy the thing I love”
(35 years of “Blue Turtles” this summer)
Up very early today because wife’s dialysis chair time was moved to 6:30 today. That means I am up at 4:30 to get her breakfast and help her get ready then out the door at 5:30 to drive to the clinic. When (if) our storage facility sells we are thinking of buying a small house near the clinic so I will have someplace to spend the 4 and a half hours till she gets out and as a place to stay if she’s too sick to make it all the way home. Happens sometimes.
It’s a grey and drizzly morning here. Supposedly will clear up and be sunny the rest of the week. I’m hoping to have some time and decent weather to play some more with my drone. Growing up in Oklahoma I remember it being much more windy than I’ve seen this year. Many weeks of almost calm winds.
@harold, is home dialysis an option for you?
n
Same here. Putting my extra funds into real estate and growing my ATM business. I’m covered by my excellent tribal health system so retirement is not a problem.
“I am more concerned about protecting what I have rather than making more. ”
—this in spades. I’ve lost half twice now. Not interested in doing that again.
n
As have I. Both surprises for which I could not plan. I got it all back and then some so I’m okay with the result.
This election I can plan. In my uneducated and biased opinion I fell this election is going to be a political and legal mud wrestling contest. Regardless of who wins the markets will suffer until the dust settles. After that I will move back into the markets. Over time the markets have won, beat inflation.
Making factually accurate statements is verboten.
Blacks make up ~13% of the population in the US. Only 60-70% of those participate in the labor force. That’s about 28M blacks. Only a third of those in the labor force, and older than 25 have a Bachelor’s degree or higher. (I don’t have a stat for how many are older than 25 and how many younger, for the sake of argument, let’s say ALL of them are over 25.) Bachelors is table stakes for any white collar job in the US now, outside retail and service. So the pool of black, educated thru college workers in the US is ~8M.
Total US employment in Finance is ~4.7M. Whites make up about 75% (80% in credit unions and investment cos.) Blacks make up about 10% (5% in investments). Asians are over represented by pure population, Hispanics under (not corrected for participation).
So, unless you are talking specifically about investment companies, blacks are only 3% less present in Finance than in the workforce in general. To get that additional 3% or 140K workers, it has to come out of the 8M potentially qualified candidates, most of whom already have jobs. If half the current job holders are satisfied with their job, that reduces the pool even farther. Reduce it again for those that have aptitude. And again for those who have a desire to work in the industry. Reduce it by some additional percentage because of disqualifying criminal or credit history problems.
The pool of available talent is indeed small.
And that is a simple fact.
n
To state the obvious if it slams any group is considered racist. Truth does not matter. That allows the unqualified, and undeserving to get something to which they are not entitled.
False facts about white men are ok however.
“BREAKING: Hunter Biden Received Millions From Wife Of Ex-Moscow Mayor, Paid Suspects Allegedly Tied To Trafficking, Had Contacts With Individuals Linked To Chinese Military, Senate Report Alleges”
https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-hunter-biden-received-millions-from-wife-of-ex-moscow-mayor-paid-suspects-allegedly-tied-to-trafficking-had-contacts-with-chinese-military-senate-report-alleges
Hunter Biden is what the future of the USA looks like when the dumbrocrats take over forever. The children of the dumbrocrats will run rampant around the world making false deals to sell their influence. Oh wait, that already happened during the Obola administration.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
“IT’S A SCAM: After 48,299 COVID-19 Cases at 37 US Universities – Only 2 Hospitalizations and ZERO Deaths — More Likely to Be Killed By a Dog”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/09/scam-48299-covid-19-cases-37-us-universities-2-hospitalizations-zero-deaths-likely-killed-dog/
I know quite a few people who had it, probably including yours truly, all are fine now. In most cases just a bad cold.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
Speaking of riots…
n
The two-minute hate needs a target.
Yes! Let the rioting begin! Especially before Winter sets in.
HARRIS/biden 2020
Speaking of riots…
Yes! Let the rioting begin! Especially before Winter sets in.
HARRIS/biden 2020
NO ! Lets make them riot in the snow and ice !
Sounds like a bunch of fair weather rioters.
Sarah Hoyt spells out what I was saying last time she got quoted here–
n
Jeez, 5 minutes of non-stop sirens outside. They aren’t really moving and they haven’t stopped. now they’re fading. WTF?
n
STill sirens
still sirens and now choppers too
n
_River of Night (8) (Black Tide Rising)_ by John Ringo and Mike Massa
https://www.amazon.com/River-Night-Black-Tide-Rising/dp/1982124792/?tag=ttgnet-20
Book number eight of a nine book zombie fantasy series. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Baen in 2020. I will purchase and read future books in the series as they are released in MMPB. In addition, I will read any book written by John Ringo as I have read all of his 38 ??? books to date.
There are many stories to be told in John Ringo’s fantasy series about a manmade zombie virus that spreads throughout the world like fire. This is the second story about Tom Smith, head of security at Bank of America in New York City, trying to keep the bank alive and then trying to move the survivors to the bug out Site Blue in Tennessee. Nothing goes as planned and not only the zombies are fighting against them.
Please note that John Ringo has a website at:
http://johnringo.net/
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 45 out of 5 stars (310 reviews)
Sam’s Club run today while avoiding work.
Dried beans have totally vanished, to the point that there isn’t even an empty spot where the store will restock. I’m not sure what that indicates since the bulk bags didn’t seem to sell much.
Have you looked at the CDC Excess deaths chart lately ? The USA death rate is now 10% below average.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm
Sounds like a bunch of fair weather rioters.
Weather is still tolerable in Portland. Rain and 50s are late this year, hence the wildfires burning until last week.
@nick – Home dialysis isn’t an option for my wife but thanks for bringing it up.
“Joe Biden Snaps When Asked About Hunter Biden Conflict of Interest in Ukraine”
https://www.infowars.com/joe-biden-snaps-when-asked-about-hunter-biden-conflict-of-interest-in-ukraine/
“Comes as bombshell Senate report accuses Hunter of potentially criminal activity while his father was vice president”
“Among its findings, it alleges Burisma paid a $7 million bribe to Ukraine officials to shut down an investigation into Hunter Biden, who was getting paid $50,000 a month to sit on its board.”
“The report also alleges that Hunter paid thousands of dollars to foreign nationals linked to “organized prostitution or human trafficking.””
The truth hurts don’t it Joe. Your son is crooked and so are you. Any other USA citizen would be in jail.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
Sam’s Club run today while avoiding work.
Dried beans have totally vanished, to the point that there isn’t even an empty spot where the store will restock. I’m not sure what that indicates since the bulk bags didn’t seem to sell much.
They are cooking the beans that are available into cans. This winter in the USA is going to be … interesting. Food riots are the worst of all riots. It ain’t gonna be the farmers starving, the cities will starve.
Buy what you can now, the inventory is dropping rapidly. I am seeing canned goods from Mexico in our HEB that I have never seen before. And their beans suck, unless you are starving, I am spoiled by the Bush brand.
https://bushbeans.com/en_US/product/refried-black-beans
Sarah Hoyt spells out what I was saying last time she got quoted here–
And no, it doesn’t mean I think everything is lost. I did at this time in 2016. You might not realize it, since I often post my most hopeful articles here when I’m most hopeless. Not exactly lying to you, honest. More lying to myself. Call it “Sarah’s depression management.”
n
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2020/09/23/nekulturny/
Interesting article. I wish that she would go back to writing space opera or shapeshifter fantasy, she is good at them.
“The night between Monday and Tuesday my profile disappeared from Facebook, and yesterday I had to log on to FB TWICE and change my password twice. Apparently this happened to a lot of people on what I’ll broadly call “our side.””
“Sure, it might have been a technical glitch, but wait: I also had to log onto WordPress TWICE. The chances of having a glitch hit both companies the same day is….. uh. lower. Though I’ll give you that tech in general is capable of a lot of that.”
Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and thrice is enemy action. And I don’t believe in coincidence.
Buy what you can now, the inventory is dropping rapidly. I am seeing canned goods from Mexico in our HEB that I have never seen before. And their beans suck, unless you are starving, I am spoiled by the Bush brand.
Sam’s had a big empty space where they usually stock Bush’s in the local store. The price tag above the space was marked “Clearance”.
The one item we haven’t seen in six months in the warehouse stores is tomato soup cans in 12 packs.
@Lynn wrote:
Ignore all data less than 6 weeks old. It can take that long for death data to get reported from place of death to county to state to CDC. A friend that is an actuary tracks this for work and that is what she has seen.
A footnote on that page says:
There will be sore losers after the election. Some of them will protest**. Where I live is pretty quiet. What I have to worry about is possible spill over from the big city 50 miles north or the big city 30 miles south but that it is out of my control. People have a tendency to drive right through my town and never even notice. I’m several miles away from all the looting targets (malls and such). My plan is to stay gray. The gray man in a gray town.
**Protest, ya know, like when the Vikings protested in England 8th and 9th century.
The left’s answer to #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter is to put forward another old white guy. Great job, libtards.
Buy what you can now, the inventory is dropping rapidly. I am seeing canned goods from Mexico in our HEB that I have never seen before. And their beans suck, unless you are starving, I am spoiled by the Bush brand.
Sam’s had a big empty space where they usually stock Bush’s in the local store. The price tag above the space was marked “Clearance”.
The one item we haven’t seen in six months in the warehouse stores is tomato soup cans in 12 packs.
I noticed the lack of Bush products and Campbell’s tomato soup (first in 20 ??? years of going to Sam’s Club). That is a sign of the storm clouds on the horizon.
Like I said, parroting @nick, “keep on stacking”. If things work out ok in a year or two then you can donate the excess cans to your local food pantry. If not, you can feed your family through the hard times and tell your great-grandchildren how we made it through the “Greater Depression”.
I am hearing tales of woe in the oil patch that you just will not believe. And we have not hit the peak layoffs yet. That is reserved for 2021 as the walking dead oil companies fall over and disgorge their remaining employees to the four winds. Exxon is the gold standard among the oil companies and is reputedly having secret layoffs through performance reviews.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2020/07/24/exxonmobil-reportedly-changed-its-employee-review-process-to-increase-performance-related-job-cuts/#7531c1285942
There will be sore losers after the election. Some of them will protest**. Where I live is pretty quiet. What I have to worry about is possible spill over from the big city 50 miles north or the big city 30 miles south but that it is out of my control. People have a tendency to drive right through my town and never even notice. I’m several miles away from all the looting targets (malls and such). My plan is to stay gray. The gray man in a gray town.
**Protest, ya know, like when the Vikings protested in England 8th and 9th century.
I believe that Trump will deploying the National Guard and US Marines Corps to problem areas directly after the election. I suspect he has them on alert now.
https://www.wearethemighty.com/history/marines-la-riots
“Calif. Gov. Newsom orders ban on sales of gas-powered cars by 2035”
https://www.chron.com/bayarea/article/Newsom-ban-gas-powered-cars-15-years-15591505.php
Getting some street cred for the 2024 presidential election.
Exxon is the gold standard among the oil companies and is reputedly having secret layoffs through performance reviews.
I’ve seen Exxon IT resumes for two years due to a *BIG* offshoring push combined with new H1B visa labor. Even some of their old H1B labor got shown the door. I wonder who is cheaper than Subcontinent.
Sadly, Exxon hires a lot of chuckleheads, including the biggest doofus undergrad in the CS program the year I graduated with my Masters. He looked good in the suit, I guess.
That cannot happen without the approval of the state governor. To do violates the sovereignty of the states. The states can deploy their own national guard but using the marines is strictly off limits.
Does not mean it won’t happen with the trumpster. If he loses he will be filing multiple legal challenges and demanding recounts of the ballots in all the states he loses. He will claim millions of fraudulent ballots, stuffed ballot boxes, etc.
If the dumbocrats lose there will be rioting, looting, and all manner of protests in the cities. Multiple legal challenges and demands to eliminate the electoral college. Recounts. Found ballots. Republican ballots ruled invalid.
If the pervert wins I suspect he will only be in office for less than two years before his brain farts, permanently and Harris realizes her life long goal of trampling people in her way to obtain the objective, first black/indian/(whatever) female (questionable) president of the U.S.
Seriously, who ever knows if their vote is counted and counted accurately. There is no audit. Just some numbers in a machine security holes configured by clueless IT clods on the low end of the food chain as hired by the counties and state. Poll workers that are basically above the IQ level of a sponge. (Found that out when I used my VA card and my passport card).
November 2020 is not going to be a fun month regardless of who wins.
“Pence Suggests Unnamed Trump SCOTUS Nominee Should Skip Committee and Just Be Confirmed Before ‘Election Issues’ Arise”
https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2020/09/pence-suggests-unnamed-trump-scotus-nominee-should-skip-committee-and-just-be-confirmed-before-election-issues-arise/
YES !
Rush Limbaugh has been talking about skipping the Senate committee for the new SCOTUS appointee since Monday.
Grill is fixed after a bit of swearing. Yeah, remove the old auger motor and then remove the mounting bracket. Easy. Auger assembly mounts to bracket with two screws that hold on the back plate that keeps the gears in…. for lack of better words. It’s all like TinkerToys to me. Wooden TinkerToys, not that plastic stuff.
First screw, easy. Second screw, same screwdriver, same dummy in charge, and it stripped. WTF.
And the screws are all rounded off to be pretty. No vise grips for me.
Hacksaw time to make a slot for a flat screwdriver. Dang, that screw was in extra tight.
Anyway. I won. Grill works like it did a year ago as far as temp control goes. It sounds different but what can I say? It didn’t bolt back together exactly like it was.
Oh, the pellet stove in the house had a noise that a popcicle stick shoved in the right place would stop. I finally pulled the blower, it looked fine, totally sealed so nothing to oil, re-installed 1/3 from original position and no noise, other than fan noise.
Fun times. for me, anyway. 🙂
I believe that Trump will deploying the National Guard and US Marines Corps to problem areas directly after the election
That cannot happen without the approval of the state governor. To do violates the sovereignty of the states. The states can deploy their own national guard but using the marines is strictly off limits.
We have been down this road many times. The President can declare an insurrection, jump through a few hoops, and release the dogs of war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_Act_of_1807
In 1861 (note the year !), the Insurrection Act was amended to say that the President can call out the National Guard Units against the will of the State Governor.
And “Watch: Trump Threatens to ‘Put Down Very Quickly’ Democrats Who Take to the Streets in Protest if He Wins Re-Election”
https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2020/09/watch-trump-threatens-to-put-down-very-quickly-democrats-who-take-to-the-streets-in-protest-if-he-wins-re-election/?fbclid=IwAR0lfeG7K60F5g6gt4zm6gKQWgfHpvD1olL7bNiWHL-M3fjP5afyC3qQEsY
Yeah. No. He seems to lack the skills to run California….
But yeah, keep stacking everything. Canned goods keep for years. Ammo for almost ever.
My feeling is that the coming depression is going to make the stories my Dad told of picking up coal along the railroad track when he was eight look like a weekend at the beach where you ran out of ice and the beer got warmish.
But yeah, keep stacking everything. Canned goods keep for years. Ammo for almost ever.
My feeling is that the coming depression is going to make the stories my Dad told of picking up coal along the railroad track when he was eight look like a weekend at the beach where you ran out of ice and the beer got warmish.
My son says that we will call it “The Greater Depression”.
I think it will be worse.
Lots of folks on the dole now a days.
Oh, what? An extra 200 million population?
Who gardens any more?
Yep. Bad times coming.
But…. this time around we have electricity and running water. As opposed to candles and dipping a bucket in a well.
But…. this time around we have electricity and running water. As opposed to candles and dipping a bucket in a well.
Back in 2018, Austin had a serious contamination problem in the city water system during the month leading up to the election. Mayor Adler got reelected anyway.
Adler couldn’t manage the problem pre-virus. Imagine what would happen now … or in a worse civil situation.
“But…. this time around we have electricity and running water. As opposed to candles and dipping a bucket in a well.”
–this time around we’re dependent on distant strangers, and a high trust society for almost everything in our lives that is touched by electricity. Read about the rural electrification push as a move to control farmers and free spirits. They were doing fine with wind and fuel powered engines.
–This time around we’re dependent on distant strangers, electricity, and a high trust society for WATER. The “First need.” Make sure you can get access to clean water.
n
That clip is classic Plugs.
“C’mon, man! Orange Man Bad!
Somehow, someway, Plugs will have a receiver implanted for the debates. Or, Ole Sponge Brain might just stand there drooling, and, finally wet his pants.
More likely some excuse will come up to not attend the debate. Like tRump is a fat COVID carrier.
Somehow, someway, Plugs will have a receiver implanted for the debates. Or, Ole Sponge Brain might just stand there drooling, and, finally wet his pants.
More likely some excuse will come up to not attend the debate. Like tRump is a fat COVID carrier.
I’m more concerned that expectations are so low for Biden that simply showing up and not appearing like a poster child for Alzheimers research will give him the debate win and, thus, the election. Simply looking chuckleheaded will be written off as the same schtick he’s delivered for 50 years.
Mittens arguably won the first debate in 2012 thanks to low expectations.
“Tesla: Our Next-Gen Battery Tech Will Help Create a $25,000 Electric Car”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/tesla-our-next-gen-battery-tech-will-help-create-a-25000-electric-car
“Tesla plans on incorporating the new battery tech and manufacturing methods in 12 to 18 months with full utilization in three years.”
Very impressive battery technology.
When will they release a truck like mine that can travel 600+ miles on a single tank of gas ? And tow up to 13,000 lbs ? And cost $40K ?
I got 20 mpg driving from Rosenberg to Abilene, TX in my 2019 F-150 4×4 running 80 mph most of the way. I got 21 mpg coming back. I wonder if the rise in elevation from 80 ft to 1,800 ft made the difference in the mileage coming and going ?
Breonna Taylors death teaches us the valuable lesson, never stand next to a man shooting at the police.
Breonna Taylors death teaches us the valuable lesson, never stand next to a man shooting at the police.
True dat.
“If You Can’t Be a Good Example, Then You’ll Just Have to Serve as a Horrible Warning” comes to mind.
They’re shooting the police in STL
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/lousiville-mayor-announces-curfew-stores-boarded-anticipation-breonna-taylor-riots
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/09/got-one-got-one-louisville-metro-police-release-video-police-officers-shot-blm-protest-video/
n
My neighborhood excitement was some sort of slow speed chase where the driver doubled back. The cops were actually moving, just in the blocks around my house.
n
They’re shooting the police in STL
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/lousiville-mayor-announces-curfew-stores-boarded-anticipation-breonna-taylor-riots
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/09/got-one-got-one-louisville-metro-police-release-video-police-officers-shot-blm-protest-video/
The first commenter on the gateway pundit is correct. Just another Harris / Biden rally.
This is predictable. Why any sane person would be out there marching in all that crazy is just amazing.
Daisy Luther summarizes it all nicely.
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/open-letter-stressed-out-preppers-who-are-tired-apocalypse
n
Daisy Luther summarizes it all nicely.
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/open-letter-stressed-out-preppers-who-are-tired-apocalypse
n
“and not eating all five years’ worth of the good snacks like Oreos in the first 6 months”
Ok, that is funny.
And we eat way too much sugar in the USA (I am very guilty of this).
Took a five gallon bucket of sugar to my secondary today.
It’s wasn’t always easy to get sweets.
n
Took a five gallon bucket of sugar to my secondary today.
It’s wasn’t always easy to get sweets.
The first sugar mill in Texas was built here in what is now Sugar Land in 1838. It used sugar cane which the county was full of when I was a kid back in the 1970s. They moved to Hawaiian sugar beets sometime around 1990 – 2000 which killed off the refinery as too much shipping expense being 50 miles inland from the coast. The packaging plant lived until 2010 or so and then it closed. Imperial Sugar still has a sugar mill in Georgia and in Louisiana.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Sugar
“Report: Biden Supporters Vandalize, Burn Trump Supporters’ Home in Minnesota”
https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2020/09/23/report-biden-supporters-burn-home-minnesota/
“This morning, at 3:48am our house was supposedly targeted by BLM/Antifa. We woke up to a loud explosion, and saw that our camper was on fire, along with both of Dennis ‘s trucks, his garage and our entire back yard. Thank God our main house is safe. We are safe. Our children are safe. Thank you so much to the Brooklyn Center Police Department, Minnesota for helping us get our family out of the house, and a special thanks to officer C. Jordan (I really hope that’s his name cuz I cant remember ) and another officer and firefighters for saving our dogs. He said it was so hot they almost had to leave them. Thank you God we are alive and safe, and pray that justice is served.”
This is terror.
“I’m not sure what that indicates since the bulk bags didn’t seem to sell much.” It might be folks stacking; but it could also be that if it doesn’t turn over often enough it doesn’t get restocked, I’ve seen a lot of products disappear that way, especially from the big box stores. It was that way even in the little Mom and Pop hardware store I worked at many years ago, can’t afford to keep it on the shelf and stay competitive.
Lying nitwits
Um…no, that’s a lie. They made their page deliberately not work, if you don’t open yourself to whatever their ad network wants to throw at you. The very least they could be honest and say “You cannot view our content unless you also let us show you ads”. Second option: If they think their content is actually valuable, they could offer an option to pay for it. I do that with a couple of sites.
But the marketing weasels don’t want to take responsibility for their decisions, so they lie to their readers.
Well…not just any other citizen. Pretty much all of the elite are excluded, especially anyone who been a politician on the federal level. Name the Congresscritter who isn’t on the take – there can’t be many of them.
Sadly, it’s no different here, even in a tiny country. Members of parliament just happen to get all these invitations to sit on corporate boards. Some of them are on literally dozens of boards, collecting nice chunks of change in return for…well, we all know what for.
– – – – –
Have y’all followed the Facebook conflict with the EU? Facebook is playing fast and loose with data on European users. Specifically, transferring that data to the US, where they use it in ways that are illegal here. The EU has told them definitely to stop. So Facebook says “take it back, or we’ll leave Europe!”.
So far, the reactions have ranged from ROTFL to “don’t let the door hit you on the way out”. Is Facebook really so deluded? First, no one believes they would willingly drop 400 million accounts. Second, they actually think that anyone would care if they shut down? There are plenty of competitors, just waiting for a bit of oxygen in the room…
– – – – –
On the subject of the pandemic and the various restrictions it has introduced: There is early evidence that death rates due to the flu and other diseases are going to be way down. This raises the question (to which I have no answer): Should we have taken these measures sooner?
It’s like the tens of thousands of traffic deaths: this has been going on so long that we just accept is as a kind of morbid background music to society. Maybe we shouldn’t?
– – – – –
Breonna Taylor: Unless I’m missing something, she should have been the reason for the protests, not George Floyd.
A “no knock” warrant is purest idiocy, except in cases of immediate, life-threatening danger. The police were not in uniform, and had no body cams. Most importantly, there is no excuse for such wild shooting by the police – that’s a basic rule of firearms. Seems to me that every officer who let off a shot should be in jail, along with their bosses and trainers.
Am I missing something on the story?
@brad:
AFAIK, the objection is more “The data is accessible to the USG without European statutory protections.”
But you’re right on everything else. When I heard that FaceCrack were threatening to withdraw from Europe, I thought, “Not above time”, and “Don’t let the door hit you on the arse as you leave.” But, as you say, they’ll whinge and promise to change, and then do nothing. The only thing that will get rid of them is government action, specifically “Lock the Zuckerborg up for X years in some jail like Dartmoor (if it still exists)” for X large and positive.
But remember who is now high in the heirarchy – Nick Clegg, the UK ex-politician (at least I think he’s ex- I may be wrong, he may still have his seat in Parliament)
G.
The problem with US law enforcement, it seems to me, is a “shoot first, and ask questions later,” mentality, combined with undeclared racism, and “qualified immunity”, which leads to an “I can do no wrong” attitude among LEOs.
We have some of this in UK, but by no means as much. Remember, our plods are routinely unarmed, at least with lethal weapons – the bobby’s truncheon is an effective close-quarters weapon.
G.
In some of the States, the courts are blocking thee use of less-lethal force, leaving nothing but — lethal force or retreat. Absurd.
Silly question. Yes, they are.
Intentional in my opinion. Thus no evidence against the police other than witness statements which are unreliable.
For some officers, most are reasonable. The ability of the system to protect other officers, regardless of the charge is what is a real problem. An officer does something wrong and the entire rest of the department will protect that officer. There is no desire to rid themselves of the bad officers. Even to the point of missing video from body cameras, cameras that “malfunction”, and other ways to protect themselves.
There are photos of officers from the raid with at least one body cam visible.
The story has changed dramatically from how it was first presented.
No Knock warrants should be banned.
We got here through a series of decisions, none of which looked like a bad deal-
–lower physical standards to recruit more cops, specifically women
–decide that people getting hit by cops looks too much like fighting, and leads to lawsuits and injured officers
–decide that people getting hit with sticks looks bad, particularly blacks
–listen to the promises of Taser Inc and others about the effectiveness of less than lethal.
What results is cops who no longer get “hands on”. They are trained to stand off, and use a ranged weapon first, whether taser or pistol. The tasers cost about as much as a pistol, an the cartridge is about $250 each time, so they are reluctant to use them. And they don’t always work. This means the cop today is discouraged from ‘fighting’ with suspects, won’t ‘wade in’ and ‘knock heads’ like in the past, doesn’t have experience with or even carry a stick anymore, and has been trained to use the pistol and the threat of shooting as a primary means of asserting control.
The threat alone doesn’t work anymore . Too many offenders see the shot as a badge of honor. Too many survive with minor effects. And too many see it as a payoff for their family and a route to immortality. (like the muslims, martyrdom cleanses all sins)
Add to that the nonstop exposure to blacks as violent criminals (4% of the US population = black males, but they commit 40% of violent crime) and the prevalence of gang violence fueled in part by the drug trade.
You end up where we are today. It’s not quite shoot first, question later, but in many places and cases it’s damned close.
n