Sunny and hot, humid, possible rain, and maybe all three. Didn’t get any rain here at the house yesterday but someone must have. It was actually a bit cooler, but very humid, so the breeze in the shade took some of the heat away from baking in the sun…
After spending most of the morning working on my client’s upgrade plans, I walked to my mechanic to pick up my Ranger. It’s only a few blocks, maybe a mile. I didn’t do too bad, kept up my pace and wasn’t breathing hard at the end. It was HOT in the sun, but a lot of my route was shaded.
Truck needed a bunch of stuff along with the brakes and suspension. I’ve still got the accident damage to repair, and the windshield to replace. That will have to wait though as I get some of this auction stuff out of the way. Having the funds ready to pay for the work made it all a lot easier.
Had an interesting conversation with the guys at my mechanic’s shop. They are all Persian immigrants and all hustle to make successful lives for themselves and their families. They are all around my age, a couple a few years older, so they were there and saw it happen. I’ve mentioned talking with them before. They were surprised that I knew some of the history of the area and the period of the Shaw’s overthrow and the rise of the extremists. Anyway they see a balkanization of the US as inevitable. Bosnia/Herzegovina etc writ large on this continent. The timeline is the only real question in their minds and they are hoping for 8-10 years. I agree with them about the direction we’re heading, but while it might take 10 years, it won’t be that long before it starts.
I think we’d naturally end up with something like the Nine Nations of North America, but it won’t happen ‘naturally’. As many have pointed out, it’s not red state vs blue states, it’s blue cities vs everyone else. The geography that our natural dissimilarities would support won’t be allowed to happen because of the blue hives in the middle. There won’t be any clearly different territories because each of the sections has blue in it and the fighting will be blue city vs red country.
One thing I’m pretty sure of is that it won’t happen without a ton of bloodshed. And the disruption to the country, economy, and the world will be biblical. A while back I opined that in 10 years I’d have a Republic of Texas passport. Time is ticking, and I still think so.
My goal now is to get through the disruption and out the other side. I think prepping can do that. There isn’t a Roman Empire anymore but there are still people living in Rome.
Stack it high. Learn it well. Practice what you preach. Pass it on.
nick
Ah, such neutral journalism. That title would have been more truthful as “Vaccines still up to 80% effective after 3 months”. For comparison, the flu shot is typically only about 40% effective. The mRNA vaccines are pretty amazing stuff.
Once a booster is out that accounts for the recent mutations, effectiveness will rise. Note: that’s what the flu vaccinations do every year, and they are *still* only 40% effective.
Apples and oranges, but I’ve got to feed the kids.
Flu vax isn’t less effective against the strains included after 4 or 6 months, it’s just not effective against any BUT the strains included. They pick and choose the strains long before the season, and don’t adjust anything.
The ‘booster’ is exactly the same as current shots, no ‘tuning’ involved according to the articles I didn’t link…
If I read other articles correctly, the vax effectiveness fades with time, even for the strains it was designed for. Completely different from the flu shot.
n
One thing I’m pretty sure of is that it won’t happen without a ton of bloodshed. And the disruption to the country, economy, and the world will be biblical. A while back I opined that in 10 years I’d have a Republic of Texas passport. Time is ticking, and I still think so.
I’ve written before about the Republic of Texas bill prototypes I saw in the gift shop at the money printing plant in Fort Worth. They might still be there.
The tour is worth the trip if you are in the area. The best part is no phones/cameras are allowed in the main building so it is a bit like stepping back in time 40 years even though the facility is fairly new.
Had an interesting conversation with the guys at my mechanic’s shop. They are all Persian immigrants and all hustle to make successful lives for themselves and their families. They are all around my age, a couple a few years older, so they were there and saw it happen. I’ve mentioned talking with them before. They were surprised that I knew some of the history of the area and the period of the Shaw’s overthrow and the rise of the extremists.
As Dr. Pournelle often pointed out, Iranians are Persians, and Persians are not Arabs, with a seemingly genetic desire to live in the 9th century.
The extremists will eventually fall and be replaced with a more moderate but still authoritarian anti-Western government ala Syria, but the key question is whether the crazies will get their hands on nuclear weapons before that happens.
“outright falsehoods” or LIES.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9909135/President-falsely-stated-does-not-troops-Syria-900.html
n
We now know why plugs called a “lid” and took off for another long weekend. It was announced he would, again, address the Nation on Monday. He’s practicing crying right now at home. Anything less will make him look worse. And crying will make him look like the sponge-brained weakling he is. A lose-lose situation for him. The Kamel is warming up in the bullpen.
More like trembling in the bullpen.
–how exactly can you raise more money by ‘taxing the rich’ when they already pay most of the tax collected?
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9909645/Two-thirds-households-owed-NO-income-tax-year.html
I think the reason Hidin’ Biden is spending so much time with the family on weekends is because he wants to hang out with the grandkids while he can still remember their names. I’m guessing he has his dementia diagnosis, doesn’t think it’s progressed enough to resign (yet), but doesn’t want to sacrifice what little lucid time he has left by working 7 days/week in the Oval Office.
All too likely.
Somewhere in the past few days (here, maybe?), I read a comment that said: most people retire at 65, or earlier. One of the reasons is that older folks just aren’t as capable any more, neither physically nor mentally. So why is it that we elect 70+ year old people to office, when we really need our best and brightest?
It’s refreshing to see the current Chancellor of Austria. He’s in his mid-30s, and by all reports he’s doing an excellent job.
Welcome to Texas gentlemen…
Tracking the Bitcoin bros seeking cheap power, lax regulation, and Austin’s best brisket.
Poolin’s team went to Texas. The cowboy hats, target practice, and barbecue brisket were just a bonus. They were really there for the deregulated electrical grid.
Still, miners need some way to guarantee that the basic mechanics of the existing financial and political system function as intended. They need to be able to trust that Texas will remain a business-friendly state and that they can continue to pay for power from the grid.
https://restofworld.org/2021/bitcoin-miners-china-texas/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email
Because politics, special interests, which translate to money and power.
Ages of America’s Founding Fathers on July 4th, 1776:
Marquis de Lafayette, 18
James Monroe, 18
Aaron Burr, 20
Alexander Hamilton, 21
James Madison, 25
Thomas Jefferson, 33
John Adams, 40
George Washington, 44
Benjamin Franklin, 70
My PCP opines that part of the problem with the lower efficacy of the flu shots is, one, people getting them too early, l already see Walgreens advertising them when flu season hasn’t really started (I get mine at the end of October), and two, those over 65 not insuring that they get the higher dosage vaccine.
What are they afraid of having photographed?
“So why is it that we elect 70+ year old people to office, when we really need our best and brightest?”
Because politics, special interests, which translate to money and power.
People age at different rates, both physically and mentally, but the problem in the US is that the early Boomer generation politicians, particularly Dems, now past 70 and pushing 80, collectively decided to hang on to their power beyond the point where it is reasonable without being considered on a case-by-case basis.
Most of my generation, X-er, the early Boomers’ children, have been relegated to mop duty, and not many of us will hold significant political office before the Millennials come up behind us. DeSantis in Florida is arguably Gen-Y at 42 (?), another age group that got stiffed on political power but not as severely.
The US will probably see one more Presidential election with an early Boomer at the top of one of the party’s tickets. I thought 2020 would be the last, but it looks like Trump will try again unless the Republicans currently fighting 2024 in Florida and Texas prevail to a degree that the party will have to acknowledge the accomplishments.
Security, building layout, entrances, exits, guards and locations.
Most places that have tours no longer allow photographs. People were taking pictures, modifying to make a bad impression. Mayfield dairy had someone place a couple rats on a picture taken inside the ice cream processing plant.
Jack Daniels Distillery used to allow pictures inside, I have some. Last tour, no photographs inside buildings. Security and brand protection.
“The tour is worth the trip if you are in the area. The best part is no phones/cameras are allowed in the main building so it is a bit like stepping back in time 40 years even though the facility is fairly new.”
What are they afraid of having photographed?
Maybe the Republic of Texas sample currency featuring pictures of the Bush family. 🙂
Seriously, I’m guessing handling of the paper and exact machine models of the presses, imported from Italy (!).
It was refreshing not to deal with selfie stupidity or overhearing phone conversations like where the eldest daughter, Karen, is trying to figure out where everyone can go for dinner so Aunt Margie can be included in the party, already at more than a dozen.
You see, Aunt Margie is in a home in Denton, but she has a lot of cash stashed which everyone is counting on getting a piece of when she passes. Karen wants the jade index finger ring as well, however, even if she has to “pluck it off the corpse”.
(Just a conversation amalgem of things I’ve overheard from phone conversations in tourist attractions)
As of late, I’ve also encountered really obnoxious “vloggers” with Gorilla Pods and high end DSLRs trying to get pro quality shots for their YouTube channel. They’re increasingly hard to avoid at pop culture conventions and theme parks.
More like trembling in the basement hiding behind the furnace thinking ‘what have I gotten myself into??’
He just reads what they put up on the Teleprompter, or in this case, whisper in his ear via an earpiece.
It is really telling, when CNN used to think SpongeBrain could do no wrong, is starting to come down on Squinting Man. Maybe CNN is seeing the error in their ways, realizes they have been pawned, the emperor has no clothes.
It is really telling, when CNN used to think SpongeBrain could do no wrong, is starting to come down on Squinting Man. Maybe CNN is seeing the error in their ways, realizes they have been pawned, the emperor has no clothes.
No one ever really liked Biden being in that position. The editors and senior “reporters” at CNN cut their journalism teeth 30+ years ago sending Biden and Gary Hart to the political showers.
In the last few years, I’ve seen pieces from that crowd expressing regret for what they did to Hart, especially in light of what was tolerated from Bubba Clinton, but never “Scranton Joe”.
Not an image I wanted in my head. Thanks.
Though I can one-up it: imagine Humpy Harris all naked, dealing with important affairs of state.
I already make it a point to see how many of the South American teenage tourists I can send flying with a hip check at Disney. They have no concept of right of way. Or just don’t care. I don’t go out of my way to do it, but I never yield my path. Either way, it’s entertaining. Now I have additional targets….
Almost as much fun is yelling “LOOKOUT!” right before an oblivious teenager on their phone runs into you. The surprise and desperate evasive maneuver is great.
I already make it a point to see how many of the South American teenage tourists I can send flying with a hip check at Disney. They have no concept of right of way. Or just don’t care. I don’t go out of my way to do it, but I never yield my path. Either way, it’s entertaining. Now I have additional targets….
I’m always floored by the look of boredom on the faces of the overseas tourists at Disney in Orlando, particularly the older folks from South America.
They encourage the Mouse’s greed by paying what is heading towards $200/day to be in the parks with line jumping privileges, but they don’t seem to have a very good time unless they’re at one of the “liquored up” pavilions at Epcot, Germany being a particular favorite for some reason.
It’s the denominator fallacy, with 70% of the population fully vaccinated, and around 75% of the population eligible to get vaccinated, most of the COVID cases will be vaccinated people.
https://gidmk.medium.com/why-are-vaccinated-people-getting-covid-19-951f49d77215
A good summary of why politics in the US is screwed up.
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/assault-empiricism-wilfred-reilly
As long as there are no crotch shots I could probably handle. They say it looks like Willy Nelson but I will leave that to the experts.
Nick, that is a valuable statement. You’re right. Hopefulness is not only essential for quality of life, but for survival. The ultimate prepper’s need.
Unemployment payments are taxable income. These days, they do withholdng from them so people don’t get surprised with a big tax bill. The temporary thing only excludes the first $10,200 per person. Given that extra $600 a week, almost everyone who drew unemployment owed tax on much if not most of it.
This article is counting those stimulus payments as “tax credits” and claiming that nullified what people did owe:
Maybe that’s true in theory, but those did not affect the bottom line of the actual 1040 to the IRS. People who got stimulus checks still owed. The Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Credit, and Child Care Tax Credit, may have eliminated a lot or all of their tax debt, but it wasn’t the Unemployment income that caused them not to owe any tax.
I get tired of explaining the difference between total income taxes paid and the difference between that and withholding plus other payments. We all know some people who only care about what they owe or are refunded when filing. Nothing wrong with that as long as they understand the difference.
OFD and many others have said all of us should be paid the gross amount of our pay, and then have to pay back taxes and our employer’s share of things like Social Security monthly. It would be a big wakeup call. Withholding is the most insidious thing invented by the tax authorities. I also try to explain that to some people. It is more than convenience.
OFD and many others have said all of us should be paid the gross amount of our pay, and then have to pay back taxes and our employer’s share of things like Social Security monthly. It would be a big wakeup call. Withholding is the most insidious thing invented by the tax authorities. I also try to explain that to some people. It is more than convenience.
Compliance would fall off a cliff. The IRS can’t go after everybody simultaneously, and people would figure that out quickly.
I remember reading somewhere, maybe it was David Stockman, that the sum total of the stimulus sent out last year was roughly equivalent to the cash collected by withholding. Borrowed money paid for the rest of the Federal government’s activities, including Social Security.
This. This again. People have zero idea what they pay in taxes if it is quietly withheld. When I worked in Germany, they withheld around 50% for taxes, social security, etc. – people take it for granted, and then pay another 20% VAT with what they have left.
Here, your taxes are not normally withheld. It *hurts* when you pay your tax bill each year. Funny, how taxes are lower, and a balanced budget is part of the constitution…
Got my notice from the TWC tribunal regarding my appeal of the original denial of my unemployment.
They reversed my denial, and will bill Houston Methodist. I feel vindicated.
It was 8 days from the hearing to the decision, and 2 more days for USPS.
It looks like I’ll get paid a bit.
Also, one of my job applications got accepted and they want to schedule 2 interviews. It might mean moving back to Illinois. I’ll have to think about that.
Got my notice from the TWC tribunal regarding my appeal of the original denial of my unemployment.
They reversed my denial, and will bill Houston Methodist. I feel vindicated.
Congratulations.
I was surprised when they simply just didn’t show up at the hearing. The system works in the employers’ favor here in Texas, and they can play all kinds of games with postponement until you give up. Not showing is a huge error, and communication probably broke down between HR and the legal team.
Reversal also reinstates your eligibility for Texas unemployment coverage at your next job in the state from the first day.
I refiled my appeal from October and am once again waiting for a hearing date. At least this time, something clicked in their system where my appeal is on the list. It isn’t about the money for me at this point as much as seeing how far my employer went with suborning perjury with regard to my termination filing stating the reason being “threatening the work” at the company — quite a laugh since it took them almost three weeks after the incident to terminate me.
Word also reached me in the last month that they may have also botched dates in the filing which would make for a fun hearing. They have all the emails, Teams chats, and call transcripts with times accurate down to the second. All I have is my notebook.
Landmark Study Proves COVID Vaccines Much Less Effective Than Advertised
Ah, such neutral journalism. That title would have been more truthful as “Vaccines still up to 80% effective after 3 months”. For comparison, the flu shot is typically only about 40% effective. The mRNA vaccines are pretty amazing stuff.
Once a booster is out that accounts for the recent mutations, effectiveness will rise. Note: that’s what the flu vaccinations do every year, and they are *still* only 40% effective.
Have you got a URL for the flu shot effectiveness ?
Welcome to Texas gentlemen…
Tracking the Bitcoin bros seeking cheap power, lax regulation, and Austin’s best brisket.
Poolin’s team went to Texas. The cowboy hats, target practice, and barbecue brisket were just a bonus. They were really there for the deregulated electrical grid.
Still, miners need some way to guarantee that the basic mechanics of the existing financial and political system function as intended. They need to be able to trust that Texas will remain a business-friendly state and that they can continue to pay for power from the grid.
https://restofworld.org/2021/bitcoin-miners-china-texas/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email
I worked at the Alcoa aluminum plant in Rockdale, Texas for three months back in 1985. We called it Dachau, yes, that Dachau. The day after we left for a weekend, three electricians were killed at the plant working on a 1,000 hp electric motor in the lake in a aluminum boat. Yes, a aluminum boat. I have many more stories about that plant, none of them good.
There are two 550 MW coal power plants that have been shut down at that facility. We called the first one Mikey because it would eat anything.
I’m going to say I have no idea what this pop culture reference is, because I’ve been feeling particularly old lately. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it. For Life.
I worked at the Alcoa aluminum plant in Rockdale, Texas for three months back in 1985. We called it Dachau, yes, that Dachau. The day after we left for a weekend, three electricians were killed at the plant working on a 1,000 hp electric motor in the lake in a aluminum boat. Yes, a aluminum boat. I have many more stories about that plant, none of them good.
I’ve never lived anywhere that so many entities, particularly public utility companies, were “swimming naked” as Warren Buffett describes the situation.
The cell tower near our house only just got its first backup generator, installed post-freeze.
“We called the first one Mikey because it would eat anything.”
I’m going to say I have no idea what this pop culture reference is, because I’ve been feeling particularly old lately. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it. For Life.
Ironically, the reference is to commercials which ran for Life cereal over the better part of two decades. I think there were a couple of “Mikey” kid actors.
Withholding is the most insidious thing invented by the tax authorities.
It was invented by a team that included Milton Friedman.
Despair in the Empire of Graveyards:
…a balanced budget is part of the constitution…
I have always been opposed to balanced budget rules. I think it would give cover to those who want to raise taxes, “It’s for the balll-anced budget.” Just like, “It’s for the chilll-dren.”
Truck is out of the hospital. $2085.00. Ouch. Will rescue tomorrow.
Something in the parking brake assembly broke causing the parking brake to be partially applied. This caused the rotors to grind and groove. Entire parking brake assembly had to be replaced, cables, axle mechanism and including the pedal in the cab. None of it is adjustable. New rotors on the back, new pads, new axle seals, entire system flushed with new fluid.
Only indication of the problem was something felt odd when stopping and accelerating. Truck did not move like it used to when releasing the brake at a stop light. Stopping while backing made an odd sound. But not all the time. Also it seemed like braking took a little more pressure, sometimes, indicating the rear brakes were destroyed. All happened within two months.
Started in on one of those books I’ve been meaning to read for ages. _The Crowd_, by Gustave Le Bon. 1895
Hoo-boy, it’s downright spooky in light of the effect of the internet and in relation to what we’ve seen vis a vis Trump and Covid. And I haven’t even finished the introduction!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crowd:_A_Study_of_the_Popular_Mind
Might want to check out his biography at the same time. An interesting man, a polymath you might say.
Truck is out of the hospital. $2085.00. Ouch.
Ouch indeed. Reminds me that our 1997 Chrysler Town & Country, with just a few hundred miles short of 200k, has its original rear brake shoes and drums. Linings are a bit thin, but at this rate will last until the car goes to that great parking lot in the sky.
More remarkably, it still has its original front rotors. I was careful to use pads that wore more than the rotors. I bought the car with 37k miles, and the pads looked like they were original. When they wore thin, I installed some lifetime pads, and never again paid for replacements. I am using my sixth set of pads. The original pads were bonded, and some of the replacements were riveted; these didn’t last as long because of the rivet thickness.
Neither rotors nor drums have ever been machined for lumpiness. Impressively good cast iron. I am pretty easy on brakes, but this car has seen lots of short trip city miles, which are hard on brakes.
That car isn’t unusual. I had a 1969 Chrysler New Yorker that still had the original Blanchard grind marks on the rotors at 100k. The original asbestos pads lasted that long. The replacements, purchased from a dealer for $7 (inflation, anyone?), lasted the rest of the car’s life, over 200k miles. I still have it as a parts car.
And some friends wonder why I stick with my old cars. We recently looked at a 2009 Toyota Camry with about 90k miles. My wife thought she might want it as a local car to replace our aging T&C. It was owned by friends who bought it new, but it was nothing special in options. Supposedly well maintained. Its front brakes pulsated at highway speeds, and there were several other maintenance issues that put me off. I also looked at the maintenance receipts, and they only changed the oil at more miles than I would have. Fortunately, she didn’t like it. Narrow miss, and would have been hard explain my reservations to the owners, who have been friends for decades. We owned one other Toyota, and my wife liked it. I didn’t.
Oh, lest anyone think I am so lucky with cars, I have taken my lumps, although no big financial disasters. Most of my problems were decades ago, with a couple cars that required lots of fussy tinkering to keep in top shape.
I will say that a couple of cars I dearly loved needed more maintenance than I would have liked, but I did enjoy them. There is no explaining love.
@lpdbw
congrats on the win, but…
Illinois?
fiscally insolvent and about to shut their last nukes so they can shiver in the dark?
“Einstein’s Fridge: Who knew the history of thermodynamics was so much like high school?”
https://www.cringely.com/2021/08/20/einsteins-fridge-who-knew-the-history-of-thermodynamics-was-so-much-like-high-school/
“Einstein’s Fridge by Paul Sen is the thermodynamics book I never knew I needed to read. It’s an exciting story of how the three laws of thermodynamics haltingly came to be and what they mean for our modern life, which comes down to pretty much everything. Thermodynamics turns out to rule both the beginning and the end of the universe. Who knew?”
https://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Fridge-Difference-Explains-Universe/dp/1501181300/
“You need better hearing aids… “
-ones with a mute function…
Great hearing aids commercial…
“Condor”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwSqSITCLCk
That is freaking hilarious.
“Tesla is actually going to make a ‘Tesla Bot’ humanoid robot for general purpose use”
https://electrek.co/2021/08/19/tesla-bot-humanoid-robot/
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the prototype for the first Terminator.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the prototype for the first Terminator.
That robot would have been right at home in a revamped pre-show area for Terminator 2 3D stunt show/film if Universal hadn’t decided to replace the attraction.
Ever the showman, Tony.
“Einstein’s Fridge by Paul Sen is the thermodynamics book I never knew I needed to read. It’s an exciting story of how the three laws of thermodynamics haltingly came to be and what they mean for our modern life, which comes down to pretty much everything. Thermodynamics turns out to rule both the beginning and the end of the universe. Who knew?”
Cringely owes Paul Sen in a *huge* way. Sen had the only surviving copy of the complete “lost” interview with Steve Jobs when Jobs passed in 2011 and the media outlets wanted that footage for their obit “packages”.
Jobs didn’t give many interviews, especially not like that one.
The money quote at 1:40:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSg3fU9XWow
Steve was still in exile at NeXT, hanging with Ross Perot, and the “Cringely” who writes the columns and worked for PBS was an early Apple employee. A year later, and I doubt Sen/Cringely would have landed that quote.
@Lynn
Einstein and Leo Szilárd are on the patents.
If his name were easier to pronounce he’d be a household name and acknowledged as the most brilliant inventor of his generation.
Nice to see Gibbs get some ink.
I’m not one for popular science books, but Cringley’s review and my own ignorance sounded good enough to put it in my cart.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1501181300/?tag=ttgnet-20
Thanks!
To what? I’m lost, as usual.
I pronounce Szilard as anyone familiar with Hungarian or Polish pronunciation, don’t you?
@Greg
Thanks for your adumbrations.
@~jim
Einstein and Szilárd patented a refrigerator.
Szilárd is often left out when it gets mentioned.
No moving parts and safer working fluids than were used pre-Freon. [ADDED: Yes ammonia, but not under pressure]
Someone gets interested every 10-20 years, then it drops back into obscurity.
“I pronounce Szilard as anyone familiar with Hungarian or Polish pronunciation, don’t you?”
Most people in the USA can’t speak English properly or pronounce it, much less a Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Chinese or other proper name.
That’s too fun! I didn’t know that. Hee-hee, I’ll have to look it up sometime.
Einstein’s Fridge by Paul Sen is the thermodynamics book I never knew I needed to read.
I’m not one for popular science books, but Cringley’s review and my own ignorance sounded good enough to put it in my cart.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1501181300/?tag=ttgnet-20
Thanks!
Given that my dad is a Chemical Engineer and my son is a Chemist, I am buying two copies for Christmas.
We live and breathe thermodynamics around here. I have been fighting a nasty thermo problem for weeks now, just gave up and wrote my own four phase (vapor, hydrocarbon liquid, aqueous liquid, and solid) liquid fraction flash. It actually worked and clued me into a very nasty solid flash problem with bubble points using a 60/40 mix of cryogenic nitrogen / methane with a skinch of ethane, propane, butanes, and pentanes (modeling a nitrogen rejection system for natural gas).
@~jim
Einstein and Szilárd patented a refrigerator.
Szilárd is often left out when it gets mentioned.
No moving parts and safer working fluids than were used pre-Freon. [ADDED: Yes ammonia, but not under pressure]
Someone gets interested every 10-20 years, then it drops back into obscurity.
“I pronounce Szilard as anyone familiar with Hungarian or Polish pronunciation, don’t you?”
Most people in the USA can’t speak English properly or pronounce it, much less a Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Chinese or other proper name.
No heat ? No compression ?
Gotta be a moving part in there somewhere, if not just a valve.
Some background on why we really really need to care if China makes a play for Taiwan.
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2021/08/about-taiwans-microchip-production.html
n
That Einstein Szilárd refrigerator looks similar to but more complicated than the Servel design. I wonder which is more economical to operate.
I remember when gas air conditioning was somewhat popular for commercial applications. It was claimed to be lower operating cost than the more common types. Sometimes it used waste heat from other processes.