Hot and humid, maybe some rain today, somewhere in the area. We never got any yesterday but it sure was damp. I was sweating through my t-shirt standing still in the shade. I’m pretty sure I saw 97F in the sun late in the day. It was down to 77F when I went to bed though.
I spent too much time on tattoo grrl and The Bad Baldwin yesterday and don’t intend to do it again today. The fish don’t see the water, and can’t be convinced it’s there. The ‘four rules’ are a CULTURAL artifact of the gun culture in the US. They are not laws, or laws of nature, or even universally revered. Freaking afgans probably think we’re p#ssies for our fear of firearms and ‘rules’. An American shooter’s insistence on the ‘four rules’ is very modern and FAR from universal and is CULTURAL. The cultural traditions of the actors on a movie set are different. They’ve got no knowledge of or worship of the ‘four rules.’ They believe that every gun they encounter at work is going to be made safe by the people whose job it is to do so, and that they can and should point guns where they’re told to, and pull the trigger if they’re told to do so- SAFELY. The results of following the rules speak for themselves, as do the results of NOT following the rules. Different culture, different rules. Different churches, different gods. So unless something new comes to light (like that tatgrrl was barred from properly doing her job by covid restrictions) I’ll be responding to any questions or comments about TBB, or Tatgrrl at my leisure and in my spare time.
That is a conscious departure from my normal mode of trying for a timely and helpful comment or response to any exchange here.
Yesterday I felt unwell all day, slightly dizzy, slightly nauseous. I think it was because I smashed and scratched up my cheater glasses, and I was doing a ton of staring at screens with them on. I noticed that if I wear them while moving around, I’ll get ‘swirly’ when I move my head and everything in my field of view moves. So it makes sense to me that if they were scratched up and no longer centered on my face it would mess with my brain. Or it could be I’m just feeling poorly. In any case, I was content to be sitting down in front of the computer and not busting @ss moving pallets at my secondary location. It didn’t help with my list of stuff to do though. Fortunately I’m a prepper, so I got another pair out of the cabinet, and Lo! one of the auctions has Costco overstock reading glasses in it. I won a set of three in 1.25 and another in 1.50 strengths. $7 for 6 pairs of glasses works for me.
I did get my bookshelf projects painted. I’ve got an old VHS tape storage tower to use for displaying small lego models, and the bigger unit to use for books in D2’s room. At least we started the project together…
I got some of my Halloween decor set up over the weekend. I need to get more of it out. I like doing it. It’s a creative outlet and a social thing… and I would miss it if I didn’t. So I make time for it despite all the other things on the list. Meatspace baby!
Speaking of meatspace, I met the new owner of the house next door. Seems nice. Married, no kids yet, intends to live in the house. I did ask him what was holding up the chimney. He was a bit shocked when he realized what I meant. I had to point out that they took the chimney and fireplace out from the bottom up…but left everything above the roof just hanging there. Surprise! It’s a pretty big oversight and would destroy any confidence I had in the GC. I guess that’s just me though.
He’s making extensive structural changes to the roof system, and from what I can see, I’m surprised there is an engineer on the permit. Eh, what do I know? Taking out all the rafter ties (ie ceiling joists) PROBABLY won’t cause the weight of the roof to push the tops of the walls apart and let the roof slowly sink down while the walls spread out. Probably there is some magic I don’t know about to replace that bottom part of the triangle that makes the roof a truss. Hope they don’t wait too long to install the magic. It’s been my direct and hands on experience that those walls start to push out pretty quickly… and I’m not sure how they intend to close the slot they cut in the NEW roof to install a big beam, when the beam still sticks out through that slot, and if they cut down the height of the beam they reduce its strength… I’m sure the low bidder illegals will figure out how to cash the checks before it falls apart. In any case it’s only my problem peripherally in that I don’t want a failed project next door and I hate to see anyone get taken advantage of.
It does make my life marginally more interesting.
As if I needed another hobby.
Plan for today, do some work. Pick up D2. Do some daddy daughter stuff, like maybe rearranging her room to accommodate the new bookcases. Maybe I can convince her to put the resin printer and the filament printer in HER room…. hey that’s an idea!
I’ve also got a 3 year old dell pc to check out. Bought it for $8 so no big deal if it is a parts machine. Should be a Core i5 with win10. We’ll see. There is a bunch of ebay stuff to prep too, and stuff to pull for the local auctions. There’s always more to do. I did get 7 loads of laundry washed and dried and mostly folded this weekend. So there is that bit of domestic bliss to feel good about.
Life goes on, even during the decline. Plan for the worst, hope for the best, don’t do anything irrevocable. Get yourself centered and ready to move in whatever direction is best.
And stack it high.
nick
Full studies require money, the effects were marginal in terms of statistical significance, and it was boys not girls who were affected.
It was near the end of Edell's run, and he upset powerful people going after Airborne, which we've touched on here before.
"Invented by a teacher" was a powerful meme.
November 2020. That coincides with the sequence of events at my last job that led to me getting fired.
Not my problem anymore, but my former employer may have blown an important opportunity since they were the only vendor with Open Road Tolling that worked.
Because we need to have enough human beings remaining to kill all of you zombies next year.
Let's tweak your comment just a bit and see how it plays out: "If you don't want a movie role, fine. Otherwise, pick a hole and take Harvey's jab."
76F with 96%RH. Damp and cool at the moment. Won't stay that way. I'm betting on damp and hot.
n
The Yucs delivered a beatdown on the Bears and Tom Brady hit a historic milestone, but the good story pile continues to grow.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/tom-brady-s-historic-day-took-a-backseat-to-his-encounter-with-a-9-year-old-cancer-survivor/ar-AAPVYUj
Stories win Super Bowls.
Yeah, in this era, where what’s left of the economy even requires outsourcing the opening of the shipping containers, that ball would have been someone’s EBay gold. The problem would have been getting it certified as being *THE* ball without the assistance of One Yuc Place.
Nothing is a fun souvenir anymore. Even popcorn buckets from Disney World are reseller fodder.
@Geoff
Mentioning Bach and Oldfield at the same time sent shivers down my spine. Most people think of _Tubular Bells_ but the album that gets to me is _Ommadawn_. Give me that and Glenn Gould's '55 version of The Goldberg Variations and I can kiss the world goodbye.
EDIT: Woot! WTI just hit $85/barrel
Can't afford the vacation, but want some small consolation prize….
If you make the stuff collectible, it will be collected.
It's why hotels stopped putting branding on the "I'll just take this home with me as a cheap souvenir" stuff.
n
The Hecho en China soaps and shampoos at Disney properties and major chain hotels are really only usable as souvenirs.
I had to laugh this weekend when my wife came home from rounds at the psych ward with a story about one mental patient complaining about the soap the hospital supplied — Hecho en China, probably from the same supplier as the one who stocks Disney’s hotels.
The mental patient can’t run out to a store like we do when we realize that we forgot to pack soap for a trip.
Of course, the hospital probably billed the insurance $20 for the tiny bar.
When the replacement systems for FastPass were announced, I joked about The Mouse making a day at the parks $300+, but that number isn't far off from reality based on what I've heard from friends who are AP holders and went to the property recently.
Add single day admission, a few Lightning Lane reservations, and Park Hopper for Mom and Dad to get liquored up in Epcot at the end of the day, and $300 is very possible.
Your sources of information need updating.
The mRNA and J&J use different mechanisms to hijack your own cells to manufacture the dangerous spike proteins. It's a matter of how to insert the alteration into the cells that's different between the shots. Pfizer and Moderna use lipid nanoparticles to carry mRNA, J&J infects you with a "tame" virus to insert DNA into your cells. In all cases, your cells then begin producing toxic substances in the hopes that your immune system will correctly identify the spike proteins being manufactured within your body as "bad" and respond appropriately.
None of that is "traditional" for vaccine development.
The biggest selling point for J&J was that it's one shot and done, so less risk. That's no longer in effect.
J&J uses an adenovirus mechanism which is traditional for the rabies vaccine in animals IIRC, but yet another technology which would have been at least a decade from approval for use in humans absent the Covid "emergency".
Several companies are working on traditional vaccines overseas, but results so far have been disappointing.
From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal:
"You Don't Say"
"Overheard in the crockpot cooking class:
Woman – "Every time I think of the 1980s, I think of boom boxes."
Male companion: "Well, that's just a stereo type."."
RNA not DNA.
There are two adenovirus vaccines approved for Ebola in humans, one has been in use since 2016.
Ebola is terrifying. Covid-19 is not anymore.
n
Yesterday's fun with inflation experience was paying $11.50 for slightly less than three gallons of propane at the UHaul store near my house.
I need to have that canister checked. I thought they held 4.5 gallons, but it is a Blue Rhino.
Gasoline here is up 54% since the senile pedo sleezed his way into office.
Various, and confusing, gaps in the shelves at three different grocery stores. Sometimes one store will have an item that the others don't, sometimes not.
IRS is being tooled up to be weaponized against political opponents or against the American people, if there's a difference.
But no mean tweets, so the world is a brighter place.
You might try Tractor Supply for propane. The MF location has a sign saying $x.xx per gallon. I forget the price. I don't know if they have a minimum charge.
The local Propane and Propane Accessories joint charges per tank. Half a tank for the same price as an empty. I think I paid $13 a tank last year, I forget and I'm too lazy to walk out to the truck for the receipt. They do check dates which is a bother… but tank exchange at Walgreens or HEB is easy enough. Baggers at HEB are not trained to check dates on tanks.
Current price at Tractor Supply is $3.95/gal according to their website. That's about what I paid at UHaul.
I get mine refilled at a mechanic's shop that has a big tank. They do a steady business in propane. I've rarely filled up and been alone in the line.
They have charged between $10 and $14 for a standard bbq sized tank. Last month it was $12. Haven't had any filled this month.
One time they refused to fill a tank with the old valve, but suggested I do a tank exchange, and once they rejected a tank for rust. They aren't as fly by night as they look…
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8484505,-95.3944655,3a,75y,83.77h,102.06t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1ssGWDtB8ffptWs61FQmc5JQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DsGWDtB8ffptWs61FQmc5JQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D141.49211%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192
n
Ebola also has a therapeutic — Zmapp, derived from the evil tobacco plant — which Covid does not. Development and testing of a vaccine was not "Operation Warp Speed" in Europe or the US.
Plus, no one is going to pretend that they are asymptomatic with Ebola.
I looked. Tractor Supply says $3.95 a gallon. The site knows Marble Falls is the nearest store.
The site also says "Not Available at this store". Yet I saw the big tank with my lying eyes just a few days ago.
I have a couple of empties. Maybe I'll remember on my next trip to the big city.
The UHaul site occasionally has problems with leaks which forces them to shut down the pump.
I tried to fill the tank two weeks ago but had to go back yesterday. I have three in rotation now, and I’ll add at least one more. We didn’t have a gas grill for over a decade after we left a POS Ducane in Florida, and only just got back to maintaining one shortly after Father’s Day.
BTW, Ducane may have invented the gas grill — the “Dallas” house has the one featured on the show from the 70s — but they’ve fallen a long way since then.
Also, since I had a fresh tank of gas, I fired up the side burner for the PoongNyun pressure cooker rice pot yesterday. That batch ended up being slightly under cooked, but I will get the hang of the pot. The cooking process is *fast* and can use practially any heat source.
RIP. Another Boomer celebrity passing at 60-something.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/22/entertainment/peter-scolari-obit/index.html
A handful of *righty* celebrities are negatively commenting on the Baldwin killing. Expected, but what caught my eye was a comment from Ray Liotta. I wouldn't consider him a *righty* (who knows). He basically said he has never been on a set with gubs where the gub wasn't shown to the user open and unloaded before loading. More and more details are leaking out on this accident. I guess it will be up to the local DA to charge whoever.
Fun with new phone continues. It arrived with the latest updates. I tweaked it a bit. Added a couple of things. Hid/disabled several things. The NFL.com app is of no interest. Nor Hangouts and IMBD and Kindle Reader and Slacker.
Exporting the contacts from the Blackberry Z10 was a pain. Nothing on the web actually works as advertised. The BB software on the PC acts like it's making a back-up but I don't know where it went after 20 minutes.
So it's bluetooth time. Press a contact, Share with bluetooth. Press OK on the new phone. Then on new phone, load contact. Once that was done, I saved all contacts as a single file. Then deleted a couple hundred individual files. Beats typing everything.
He went to Verizon to activate it this morning. "You've been a customer for a long time! Here's a better plan for you!" From 5gb data that rolls over for a couple of months, he now has 25gb a month. Better, the bill went from $45 to $25. Plus taxes. $20 a month is a nice rate cut.
None of the included ring tones are good. I have one called Antique Phone so I sort of sneaker netted it to his phone. My USB ports are suddenly not working for data. I hope it's just dust. Drop onto another PC's Desktop on the LAN and connect the phone there. 🙂
I'm smarter than a Paklet. Hopefully.
There are differences between the two phones. His screen color is a little warmer. His phone arrived with the OS up to the latest. 8.0. I started with 6.x or 7.x and upgraded. Some of menus are a little different. How much is differences between OS versions and how much is my poking and messing for a couple of years is unknown.
Fun times.
Fun with grills: Get a brush. I forget the exact name but it's a handle with about 15 inches of flexible spring sort of and a brass brush at the end. Think "chimney sweep" and you are close.
Great tool for cleaning out the spider webs. What is that about? Stupid spiders.
I have seven or eight tanks. Buy a grill, get a tank. Repeat a few times. Buy an old pop-up camper. There's two more tanks.
Work at HEB and folks come in trying to sell their tank back because they are moving and some other HEB said whatever…. nah Man, HEB doesn't do that but "I'll" give you $20 for your tank out of my pocket and let's go put it in the back of my truck.
I get a tank for cheap and the customer seems happy.
The Paklet episode just ran last night on H&I!
That is a relatively important episode for two other references in “new” “Trek”:
– The story of the captain's artificial heart, acknowledged recently on the new "Picard" series in the episode with the visit to the Rikers’ house.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG8Osli77wY
(If you are a fan and haven’t seen the episode, it is a must watch nostalgia trip)
– Ensign Gomez, now a regular on "Lower Decks" as Captain Gomez. She even talks about spilling the hot chocolate on a “senior” officer.
I thought it was Pakled.
@paul:
It does – in an obscure place. And in a proprietary, encrypted format. I had this problem when my wife moved from a Q5 to an iPhone, at d2's insistence. I seem to recall from that saga that there is 3rd-party software that may – let me stress that: may allow you to open that backup – if you can find it.
In that regard, TreeSize Free may be your friend. It will certainly show you where Windows deems it correct to actually save your files, rather than where it claims to put them. This is, very definitely, not the same place – see "Windows Virtual Store".
Unfortunately, it didn't work for me, so I had to do the "BlueTooth each contact separately" dance. Luckily, there were only a few.
On second thought, maybe OutLook can do it. After all, Blackberry always prided themselves on their business software integration. This would have been useless for me – I absolutely refuse to install OutLook, even though I quite happily use Office (2007, because d2 got a 3-install licence, and media, free when she was at Uni.).
G.
Even the children know that really he's not kidding…
"Biden jokes to school children his job is to 'avoid' answering the media's questions"
https://www.foxnews.com/media/biden-jokes-job-avoid-answering-the-medias-questions
WRT Propane Tanks: I don't use them. I have a Weber Natural Gas Grill connected into my household gas plumbing.
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/outdoor-living/grills-and-smokers/gas-grills/8863482
Our rental in Vantucky had a tap for the household gas on the back porch, but the landlord never brought by the connection in four years as promised so we didn't think about another gas grill until recently.
I can't help but wonder if a 24yo male would have been given the job with only one other film as experience. Or if a 23yo male would have been given a second chance after handing a gun to an 11yo without checking it….
I'm thinking no.
n
…
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/10/legal-analysis-alec-baldwin-situation-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-manslaughter/
Worth reading from the beginning.
@Greg Norton
"Nothing is a fun souvenir anymore. "
The Pokemon I have stashed to finance the debauchery of my old age includes the bags that the Burger King Kid's Meals came in.
@lpdbw
"None of that is "traditional" for vaccine development."
Watch out for @ech's Mott the Hoople
"The Dead Of Night (The Tomorrow Series #2)" by John Marsden
https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Night-Tomorrow-2/dp/0439829119/br?tag=ttgnet-20 />
Book number two of a seven book young adult action adventure fiction series. I read the well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Scholastic Paperbacks in 2006 that I bought on Amazon. The first book in the series was actually published in 1993, this book was first published in 1996. I have ordered books #3, and #4 in the series for future reading. Books #3 and #4 are out of print so I had to order used copies.
At the middle of their high school senior year in Australia, a group of seven 17 and 18 year old teenagers decide to go camping in the bush for a week before school restarts. They gather up their sleeping bags and supplies and go way out into the bush, actually at the edge of the desert in a place known as Hell. After a difficult trip by Land Rover and a long walk, they camp next to a spring fed stream. When they return to Ellie's farm after a week, her family is missing and the farm dogs are dead on their chains. They find out that Australia has been invaded by an Asian nation and that their families are being held captive at the town fairgrounds. The Asian forces have taken the airports first and then the cargo shipping ports. The justification of the invasion is that the Asian nation needs the extensive natural resources of Australia.
Ellie and her friends venture out into town and destroy a bridge leading into town from the seaport. Ellie and her friends venture back out again and destroy a convoy heading into town. They continue to cause general mayhem for the invading forces.
The first book in the series was made into a film of the same name in 2010.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow,_When_the_War_Began_(film)
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (221 reviews)
Biology, as our late host would point out from time to time.
In 30 years, repeatedly, in my experience it has been Asian women or skinny white girls who smoked. Of course, in my line of work, with the possible exception of the last job, lives weren't at stake if mistakes got made.
Visible tattoos are a relatively new thing in the workplace.
"Taxing Billionaires to Pay for Biden’s Agenda: What to Know About the Democrats’ Plan"
https://finance.yahoo.com/m/8d5d95bc-364f-301f-b0bd-6df6e2ee7aa5/taxing-billionaires-to-pay.html
"Democrats are racing to finish writing a new tax on billionaires’ unrealized capital gains"
Yup, this is a federal property tax. Just a variant of the normal property tax.
And the billionaires will quickly avoid paying the taxes so the tax will move down to the millionaires and then to the thousandaires.
"Elon Musk’s Fortune Soars $36 Billion in a Day on Hertz Order"
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-fortune-surges-29-181243850.html
"(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk’s personal fortune jumped by $36.2 billion Monday after Hertz Global Holdings Inc. placed an order for 100,000 Teslas and filings showed a fresh tranche of options in his moonshot pay package vested."
Wow. That is a big order. I wonder if the devil is in the details.
"Millionare" in terms of unrealized capital gains touches many households in the DC suburbs that will decide things in Virginia next week.
The Dems have a narrowing window, now the period between the Virginia elections and Thanksgiving to get anything done, before fundraising starts for 2022.
2022 starts in Texas on December 13 with the registration deadline for the March open* primary.
* Open in that you declare your party allegiance for the year by which ballot you pick for the election, not by registration.
Like how Hertz is only four months out of Bankruptcy.
I chalk it up to too many mojitos at Doc Ford's out on Fort Myers Beach.
Here in Texas, Hertz was absorbing a lot of the junk out of GM Arlington.
Fauci Says Attacking Puppy Torture Is An Attack On Science
https://babylonbee.com/news/fauci-says-attacking-puppy-torture-is-an-attack-on-science
"Canada oil producers grapple with Trudeau's demand for faster emissions cuts"
https://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/news/2021/10/canada-oil-producers-grapple-with-trudeaus-demand-for-faster-emissions-cuts
"Canada's oil producers face new pressure from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reduce emissions in just three years, a sudden acceleration of their plans that at least one major company said looks unrealistic.
Suncor Energy, the second-largest Canadian crude producer, says it remains focused on cutting emissions by 2030, not 2025 as the Canadian government will require.
"Honestly, 2025 is going to be tough," Martha Hall Findlay, Suncor's Chief Sustainability Officer, told Reuters. "That's not a number we've used, it's a number the feds have used."
Trudeau's advanced timetable for cuts to the oil sector's total emissions by 2025, announced last month, comes as the oil sector has focused on longer-term targets, and on reducing emissions on a per-barrel basis."
You know, when you demand the impossible, you just bring ridicule upon your name.
Branca continues in his fundamental misaprehension of the situation because he knows nothing about film production.
that he handled it … without due caution and circumspection
The actor is an employee using a tool provided by his employer, in a manner that the EMPLOYER SPECIFIED. The statements are clear that he was REHEARSING his draw for the shot, which is as he was DIRECTED TO DO. Due caution and circumspection don't enter into it. He WAS acting with caution, he was using a tool he'd been assured by experts was inert in the performance of his duties as an employee, exactly as directed. The inference for that is that the Director and Cinematographer didn't object, or find anything at all wrong with the situation they were in until after the accident.
Branca's reasoning works if TBB's just showboating, or 'messing around'. It doesn't work if he's conducting his normal work in the normal way. WHICH ACCORDING TO THE GUY WHO GOT SHOT, he was. TBB was following his employer's RULES for safety in the situation he was in. Opening the weapon and digging around in the cylinders himself is the EXACT OPPOSITE of acting with caution and circumspection.
If Branca took that into the court as a prosecutor the defense would rip him a new one. "So you think that the studio's employee, TBB, should violate the safety protocols developed by all the industry partners, that have worked for 40 years, by taking it upon himself to alter the condition of his pistol? Are you insane sir?"
And Branca's theories turn to nothing but flatulent noise if it turns out that he banged the gun on a pew and it fired without him "pressing the trigger" or that there is a mechanical issue with the gun, as suggested by the previous on set ADs.
I'm losing respect for Branca by the minute.
TBB is not some guy in an apartment playing quick draw. He's an employee in the workplace doing his normal work in the normal way, having observed industry standard safety protocols by NOT FUCKING WITH THE GUN after the expert made it ready and safe.
This is a really REALLY critical difference and if it becomes precedent it will impact EVERY SINGLE INDUSTRY where someone with the knowledge and experience to do their job signs off on their work, and then hands it to someone else.
THE FUCKING FOUR RULES ARE NOT LAWS, not of man, or of nature or of GOD HIMSELF. Gun guys need to quit insisting that they are.
n
@Lynn
The Canadian oil industry needs to respond by showing the oil production reductions necessary to meet 2030 emissions targets in 2025 using the technology that is scheduled to be deployed according to the current timetable.
Then estimate the resources available to improve that timetable, based on the current state of the supply chain.
And finally, the cost.
My guess is that the industry can accelerate the time table by using every available dollar of profit, which would zero their tax payments.
Of course, trying to do so would crater the stock price, creating deductible portfolio losses.
But they just have to ask the government for help.
And the first-pass static analysis should be followed by a second pass after equipment suppliers submit their own timetables and cost increase projections…
And do I dare ask whether the Trump-hating Trudeau Jr. (vote cuz you remember my daddy and get me!) has received the updated timetable based on the zero-squat shipment levels through the Keystone Pipeline?
Maybe it's time to fund the separatists in Quebec and then pick up the Western Provinces for the USA.
@Nick
Branca doesn't need to know about film production, because as he pointed out and you admitted yesterday there is no statutory exception for actors.
And to reiterate, there is ample evidence that the situation was not "conducting his normal work in the normal way", so the argument is Motted.
If Liotta is correct, the proper procedure to safely hand-off a weapon has already been used for years, so doing otherwise has the heavy aroma of negligence for bux.
There is, of course, a faster and simpler method:
Anytime a COLD GUN is handed to an actor, he inserts it in his mouth or other available orifice and pulls the trigger 7-8 times.
That should never be a problem because his BELIEF is that he has a harmless cold gun, and if he doesn't, well…
Looks like a solution with no downside to me. YMMV.
And the smug, supercilious sureness that there aren't special 'carve outs' for actors reveals more about him than he may realize.
OF COURSE THERE ARE. There are all kinds of exemptions for actors because they are employees. This is EMPLOYMENT law, not self defense. The employee followed his employer's safety protocols to the best of his ability. He was given a faulty tool to use in his work, the intricate details of which he is not required to know or understand in order to use the tool. He is by definition not a "competent person" as it applies to safety standards, nor is he a "competent person" when it comes to inspecting 19th century handgun, having neither the training, knowledge or responsibility for such. He's not writing the standard, he's FOLLOWING IT.
If a worker is given a hammer by the company, and told to go pound nails, and he does so, observing all the safety policies of his employer, but the head flies off the hammer during use, and strikes and kills another worker, it is NOT the first employee's fault. He is not a metalurgist, nor a mechanical engineer, or any other such thing. If it later is discovered that the tool crib supervisor had the hammer at his own house where he was using it to break rocks, causing the head to come unfastened, and he returned it to the tool crib after making a repair that reattached the head so as to LOOK like it was secure, the death is solely the fault of the tool crib supervisor.
All the discussion of the "four rules" is beside the point. The FIRST f'ing rule exists BECAUSE it's difficult to be sure a weapon IS unloaded. And we teach that to people about their OWN weapons, that they handle every freaking day. It just doesn't apply to the dancing monkeys. They are gun culture 'rules' applied to guns that by default are SET UP to be deadly weapons. The default on set is that any gun present IS NOT a deadly weapon, it is SET UP to be NOT DEADLY or it wouldn't be there. And if it is, the whole production is going to know about it ahead of time. DANGEROUS, yes. DEADLY no.
And jebus, talk about hypocrisy, the guys squawking loudest are from the same pool of people that tear movies apart for things like not being able to see bullets in the cylinder of a revolver when it's pointed at the camera, or slides not moving when CG muzzle flash is added in post.
n
Sorry Drwiliams, cross post. The "he" was branca.
If you want to argue that TBB should have known that there might be extra reasons to be careful, and to demand more checking, because the handoff wasn't done normally, that is a completely different argument and a completely different path to the end state.
I'd think it would be very difficult to go down that path of "should have suspected" or "should have done".
If there is more info that he wasn't rehearsing exactly as directed, I didn't see it yet. Last I read was the statement from the director that everything was going normally with TBB practicing his draw while they set up the shot on the camera.
n
@Lynn
The Canadian oil industry needs to respond by showing the oil production reductions necessary to meet 2030 emissions targets in 2025 using the technology that is scheduled to be deployed according to the current timetable.
Then estimate the resources available to improve that timetable, based on the current state of the supply chain.
And finally, the cost.
My guess is that the industry can accelerate the time table by using every available dollar of profit, which would zero their tax payments.
Of course, trying to do so would crater the stock price, creating deductible portfolio losses.
But they just have to ask the government for help.
And the first-pass static analysis should be followed by a second pass after equipment suppliers submit their own timetables and cost increase projections…
And do I dare ask whether the Trump-hating Trudeau Jr. (vote cuz you remember my daddy and get me!) has received the updated timetable based on the zero-squat shipment levels through the Keystone Pipeline?
Maybe it's time to fund the separatists in Quebec and then pick up the Western Provinces for the USA.
The problem is that the technology to reach the 2025 targets is not available yet. That technology will probably not be available in 2030. The technology is massive battery systems so that the tar sands refinery can convert from natural gas heating to electric heating using solar energy that only shines for six ? hours per day in the winter time.
Of course, they could convert from natural gas heating to green hydrogen heating but that technology has yet to be scaled up to the level of heating required in the refinery.
The problem is not just money, it is also available, off the shelf technology.
@Nick
It's already established that there were so many problems on this particular movie set that the fence posts would have a hard time arguing they were too dumb to know. Any claim by Alec Baldwin that he wasn't aware would have to be supported by testimony under oath from virtually every other person on the set. He was not just an actor called in for a couple hours, he was the star of the movie on set for days, as well as the producer with all that entails in terms of additional discussions on set that are outside the actor's purview.
(note: I have not seen any one else put themselves forth as “Producer”. Is it confirmed that he was the only one, at least on-site?)
“DEADLY no.”
Events proved otherwise.
“He is by definition not a “competent person”… ”
The short general answer to that one is that if he’s not competent, he shouldn’t be handed a firearm.
The specific answer in this case is that Alec Baldwin is a person who has held himself out in public as a firearms expert. For years he has been telling people that we need more laws about firearms safety, laws to restrict people’s constitutional rights, and yet now he is going to claim he is not a “competent person”.
I can see two good things coming from this:
The first is that a conviction would result in improvements in handling firearms on movie sets.
The second is that it will set gun control back a few years.
@Lynn
So the short answer is
"Flippin' A! We don't have the technology to meet the target in 2030, much less 2025"
but we can just dial back production by 40%. And employment.
And, lemme guess…
The usual shell game about not counting the GHG costs of building those super-batteries? Or do we just buy a few offsets from Chinese windpower? I hear they have some only been sold 7, mebbe 8 time.
"First there is the lead-acid kind of battery like you have here, which is crap.
Then there is alkaline, which is better until something goes wrong, and something always goes wrong.
Then there is lithium, which is the best, and the only battery that I use.
Of course, you need to buy the Chinese offsets…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1slibJ52yoc
Consistency has it's place.
In the case of one writer, it's consistently writing a column not worthy of wiping a pig's bottom:
https://hotair.com/allahpundit/2021/10/25/new-youngkin-ad-highlights-virginia-mom-whose-school-made-her-son-read-an-explicit-book-but-which-book-n424760
I did get some yux seeing the headlines from HuffPuke and TheNil springing into action mischaracterizing the event. Reminds me of that time they leaped into action to help Alec Baldwin…
@Lynn
So the short answer is
"Flippin' A! We don't have the technology to meet the target in 2030, much less 2025"
but we can just dial back production by 40%. And employment.
And, lemme guess…
The usual shell game about not counting the GHG costs of building those super-batteries? Or do we just buy a few offsets from Chinese windpower? I hear they have some only been sold 7, mebbe 8 time.
I believe that the Alberta Tar Sands is one of the largest employers in Alberta, Canada with 24,000 employees. It is a massive operation that employs surface mining to remove tar sands from the ground and convert it into around a million barrels per day of a very thick crude oil that only the more advanced refineries along the Gulf Coast can handle. It is transported to the Gulf Coast using the Keystone XL pipelines through the Cushing, Oklahoma hub to Houston or New Orleans. Except that portion of the Keystone XL pipeline through the Dakotas has been canceled by Biden earlier this year. The Canadian and Nebraska to Cushing portions have been long since completed and are in daily use.
So, Canada will need to decide if they want the tar sands jobs or to shut the project down.
in other news today, the government of Canada announced new prohibitions on the hoarding of candles…
@drwilliams,
“competent person”… as I'm using it, along with "responsible person" are terms of art in workplace safety. They have very specific legal and statutory definitions. You can be competent at your job and life but still not meet the definition of a "competent person" under the law. Has nothing to do with proficiency or mental state. Ditto for "responsible person". I'm using them specifically because this is an issue of safety procedure, and where legal responsibility falls for a workplace accident. It's similar to the difference between being an "American citizen" and an "American person" in the context of national security.
This is a workplace safety issue at heart, an industrial accident in the workplace. NM OSHA is investigating. PLENTY of people will get various amounts of blame attached but the more I look at it, the more I am forced to defend a guy whose stated beliefs are antithetical to mine. That used to be the canonical definition right? "I hate what you're saying but I'll defend your right to say it"…
FWIW, I don't mind if Baldwin the Producer fries for cutting corners, if he did. He may have the title but no actual authority. Baldwin the actor, unless he acted outside the normal activities of his role as an actor, ie showing off, goofing off, showboating… or if he wanted to take the gun home, or wear it when he wasn't working a scene… isn't responsible for gun safety beyond the requirements in the Safety Bulletins. When he's working, he has to follow the rules and they don't involve him poking at the gun in any way shape or form.
n
added- this is a critical distinction because as I stated up thread, it has implications for EVERY industry and every job that involves trusting the work of others, and statutory limits on liability and responsibility.
Hang Massive filmed part of this video at Diskit Monastery, Ladakh, India:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvmOoSFhhJ4
The statue of the Buddha is quite recent.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10130125/Shooting-Idaho-mall-leaves-two-dead-five-injured.html
–I'm getting too jaded when my first reaction is "wait what? There were people at the MALL?"
n
Yeah, I know it's messed up.
@Nick
Yes, legal and statutory definitions:
1926.32(f)
"Competent person" means one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.
https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.32
and as I said above (quoting you):
quoting Branca:
Explain how Alec Baldwin, even absent his director hat, is going to claim he is "not competent".
Poor Justin. He has all of his father's arrogance but none of his brains.
>> "Trudeau's advanced timetable for cuts to the oil sector's total emissions by 2025, announced last month, comes as the oil sector has focused on longer-term targets, and on reducing emissions on a per-barrel basis."
You know, when you demand the impossible, you just bring ridicule upon your name.
"…bring ridicule…"? These are politicians you are talking about, remember?
>> –I'm getting too jaded when my first reaction is "wait what? There were people at the MALL?
What's a MALL??
quoting Branca:
So it's a requirement to sit on the board of a gun-control organization that you are intimately familiar with the mechanical operation of every type of firearm from a derringer through an Uzi? Is there a quiz?
The actor doesn’t have any authority to take corrective action. The “and” in that definition is critical. Therefore the actor does not meet the criteria for being a “competent person” in this context. The actor is a literal puppet. If the actor interferes with the work of the crew in any significant way, he’ll be removed from the set.
He is not expected to evaluate the safety of the conditions he’s working under except in the most general way. The rest of the team has those responsibilities and any corrective measures are supposed to be in place BEFORE the actor is involved. The protocols allow him to witness the checks being made, not make them.
If the actor does identify a cause for concern OTHER people will/should/do evaluate and correct the situation. The actor sits in a chair or a trailer while this happens. Don’t confuse the word ‘competent’ in this usage with the meaning generally associated with that word.
Even by the general meaning of that word actors are assumed to NOT be competent to handle “firearms”, ie deadly weapons. THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE PROTOCOLS.
Someone competent prepares THE PROP- an object that has been prepared in such a way that it isn’t presumed to be a deadly weapon ANY MORE, WHILE IT’S ON THE SET. That competent (in both senses, the common and legal) person maintains control of the PROP until just before the scene, and retrieves it just after. Again, the protocol is written that way to keep the actors from doing stupid things with the PROP. They are NOT competent to handle real deadly weapons. They ARE competent to use a tool, specially prepared by experts, under direct supervision, often with SIGNIFICANT coaching, and for limited amounts of time, in support of their work, which is pretending to be something they are not, which often includes competence with weapons.
———————-
Out in the wild, the world we live in, a gun is a deadly weapon. On a soundstage or a film set, it’s a specialist tool that has been specifically prepare so as NOT to be a deadly weapon. Potentially DANGEROUS, yes, and hence the protocols and safety measures supposedly already in place by the time the actor enters the picture.
That’s why I keep emphasizing the workplace aspect. This isn’t out on the street, in a house, or anywhere ‘in the real world’. It’s on a film set, where nothing is really real. Guns don’t actually shoot anything. People don’t really die. The explosions do limited damage. The rain comes from a tanker truck and pipes. The leading man and lady might actually hate each other, instead of being lovers (although that’s not necessarily an either or in Hollywood). An actor on a set DOESN”T presume a prop gun is a deadly weapon. They presume it’s a tool that has been made safe for their use, and that any safety issues have ALREADY been addressed and mitigated. A cold gun is a banana or a Nerf gun.
I’m not trying to be condescending but the difference it makes that this was an actor on a set is critical. It’s not the world the rest of us spend most of our time in. And Aesop and I are NOT KIDDING when we talk about actors that way. There are exceptions but IN GENERAL, they are like retarded children, you don’t trust them with anything. Hence the protocols in the Bulletins.
Tonight I was talking to my wife (also an entertainment industry vet) and I mentioned my frustration that people didn’t get it about the actors. She laughed out loud that anyone would consider an actor to be capable and competent at anything other than pretending, (until proven otherwise.) This is from people who love the work. Who all recognize that we are ALL there to support what the actors do, on camera, or on stage. Without the actors you have none of it. So we ALL do what it takes to get the take. So the show gets made, and we all get paid.
nick
nb–
The latest article had some confusion about hot vs cold too. COLD means “inert lump of steel.” NOT loaded with blanks or anything else. HOT means loaded with blanks in any case where you would hand it to an actor.
Other than possible cost cutting, this is why the DP and DIR were not behind a shield for the rehearsal of the scene, it’s not needed. They should have been rigging one and getting ready to put on their own PPE if they were going to shoot the scene with a ‘HOT’ gun, and discharge blanks. Since they weren’t rigging safety measures required when they would be in the line of fire, it’s likely the scene didn’t call for a hot gun or any discharges. OR if the scene did, I can imagine Tatgrrl prepping a hot gun and a cold gun. Cold gun for camera rehearsal, then rig up, switch to hot gun, shoot scene. AD grabs wrong gun, completely fails HIS responsibility and exceeding his authority, and the previous F’up that led to a live round in the gun turns into a tragic accident.
NB that visually the hot and cold guns need to be identical. I don’t know how you achieve that with that type of pistol and still expect anyone to visually declare the gun hot or cold.
NB that visually the hot and cold guns need to be identical. I don’t know how you achieve that with that type of pistol and still expect anyone to visually declare the gun hot or cold.
— and that's likely another place Tatgrrl F'd up. Managing the hot vs cold and PROVING it, needed some extra steps that also don't seem to be taken.
n
The film has 12 producers, about half are "executive producers", which probably means they either provided the money or arranged to get it.
Most of the time, the producers aren't on set and many times not even in the same state. The "line producer" is the one that is around each day. They are responsible for HR, budget, and schedule oversight on a day-to-day basis. All the department heads report to the line producer. In effect, the other producers are the "board of directors" and the line producer is the CEO.
My brother worked on a bunch of films that the Weinsteins produced. He saw Harvey once and one of his sons once.