Cool and clear, warming with sun. Like yesterday, and possibly tomorrow.
Really nice day yesterday, so I was too busy to enjoy it.
My storage unit was in fact broken into. A tenant cut the lock on several units and poked around inside. That was my industrial stuff unit, so nothing was missing that I noticed. Met the manager and had an interesting chat. He got red-pilled by the Trump campaign and presidency, moved here from NYFC because he felt like ‘all my freedoms were being taken away.’ Yup.
Eventually made it out to my client’s house and did a couple of hours work there. Wife eventually returned from her training. Got home, made dinner…. normal domestic bliss. These are the good old days.
Today, my wife is taking the dog to be neutered. He’ll be wearing the cone of shame for a few days. I’ll be back out at my client’s house, trying to make a bunch of progress.
————————————————————————————–
I’m definitely getting the feeling that I’m barely keeping the lights on here lately. It’s hard though, as I don’t want to keep repeating myself. We’ve beaten the beginning prepping to death, we can’t do anything about 95% of the B.S. we’re constantly being bombarded with, and just talking about it increasingly feels like ‘bread and circuses’. It’s a distraction from the ongoing collapse. On the flip side, we also have to continue living our lives as if there will be a tomorrow, because that is the smart way to bet, for all of recorded history. SOMETIMES it ends up being snake eyes, but most of the time, the future is like the past only moreso.
On the gripping hand, we know that ‘what can’t continue, won’t’ and that the center can not hold. So we prep.
The holy-days are coming, or if you are like me, and you just practice the secular aspects, the Holidays! Make plans to enjoy them in whatever way best suits you. Find your joy where you can.
Stack it high, especially the joy.
n
53F and saturated this morning. Pretty sure it will burn off later…
n
Take it easy for a while. Put in just a stub for the daily post, or your daily status updates, and let people put in comments as normal.
Michigan high school gunman Ethan Crumbley, 15, is arraigned as an adult terrorist as police reveal he had meeting with his parents and teachers to 'discuss his behavior' three hours before he opened fire in hallways and killed four classmates
Michigan sheriff reveals that video of 'shooter pretending to be a cop to lure students out of locked classroom' was actually a GENUINE OFFICER
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said on Wednesday that Oxford High School shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley, 15, never knocked on a classroom door during Tuesday's rampage.
Wow, white male after all.
n
@~jim:
Philosopher.
"Sorcerer's stone" is a Merkin bastardisation. ISTR that it was thought an American audience would not understand the "Philosopher" reference.
G.
The headline, while true, obscures the truth of the matter.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10266221/Father-admits-FAKED-photos-daughter-7-accusing-school-abuse-Syndrome.html
She DID have the mask tied to her despite her parent's wishes. They did have a mask exemption, that seems to have not been followed. Old boy did LATER "recreate" the situation. So yeah, the photo that went viral wasn't a photo of the actual situation, but the situation still existed.
No need to exaggerate people. The freaking facts are enough. And it will undermine your case.
n
We have been told by our school district management that in the case of a lock down we are to not unlock or open any doors. Only school administration or someone with a key will unlock the door. No exceptions. Regardless of what anyone says or attempts.
Subbing again today, and Friday. Scheduled some time back. First period is freshmen, annoying little creatures. Still children, no where close to being grown up, coming from elementary school where they "ruled the roost" and still think they are smarter than the teacher.
And in other news. The person in charge of the school yearbook asks me to invoice him each semester for the yearbook pictures that I take. It was his idea. Last couple of years I have been paid $750.00 per semester. Now the rules have changed. Anyone that gets paid over $600.00 by the school must be issued a 1099. Of course that triggers self-employment taxes and SS taxes when filing taxes. Many of the sports officials earn more than that from the same school district.
This requires a different scheme. I have reduced my billed amount to $500.00 per semester with one of those semesters being billed under my wife's name. Thus together we both stay below $600.00 for the year. A little loss of money for me which I am OK with the loss. I have been taking the pictures for 15 years with only the last three getting paid.
The money I get paid gets put back into the system as a scholarship in the amount of $1,000.00 each year. Vocational school only, no college, awarded to the student the staff feels will benefit the most. A small amount that effectively costs me nothing which goes a long way to helping a student.
I call it the "Purple Ping Pong Ball Scholarship". Why? I have no idea. I just want to hear that said by the school principal at graduation. I also provide a little trophy which costs about $6.00. I am not seeking anonymity but do not want my name attached to the scholarship.
I pay the money directly to the school chosen by the student. Everyone thus far has chosen Tennessee College of Applied Technology. The money comes very close to covering the tuition for the vocational classes.
Scholastic published the books in the US. The audience was projected to be school kids buying at book fairs.
There is an obscure standard deduction that applies if you pay self employment taxes, which I used to knock down the tax bill on money my wife received in 2019 from two insurance companies for coding her charts in a way that saved them a lot of headaches in Federal audits. The insurance companies filed 1099-Misc on the payments.
The IRS and I have gone back and forth on it for a couple of years, but, in the end, what was a nearly $2000 tax bill on almost that much income was reduced to me paying them $120.
Fine. Paid. All of the correspondence will be kept forever, however.
I bought a Blu-Ray set of all of the Harry Potter films from Amazon UK years ago. When my daughter was into Harry Potter and I was buying her the books I also bought them from Amazon UK. So, there’s no Sorcerer’s Stone crap in our Yankee home. It’s all Philosopher’s Stone.
I am not as enlightened as you. I use Turbotax and just follow the bouncing ball.
And in other news, the little shirtheads(-r) never learn. I tell them when class starts I am taking their phone if I see it. Caught someone with their phone out and they tried to hide it behind their Chromebook.
I took the phone and told the kid his parents can pick it up at the office. He slammed his Chromebook shut then slammed it on the table. I told him to go to the office. He refused. I told him again to get out of my classroom. He just sat. I got on the radio and asked the principal to remove him from the classroom. At that point he left.
I have had issues with this student before. I was not surprised of his response.
He is one of the kids that is going to be waste of oxygen. He has an attitude, demeanor if you will, of not caring and not wanting to follow the rules. It's his way or no way. He will drop out when he turns 18.
I have seen another kid with that same attitude. That kid refused to leave the class even when the vice principal, principal and school resource officer where in the room. The classroom was cleared during the confrontation. Eventually the school day was over and they could not detain him. He did not return to the school for a couple of weeks. When he did something had changed and he was now doing OK.
I have no such hope for the kid I just sent to the office.
Word will spread quickly in the school that I took the phone and sent the student to the office. One student remarked that everyone should know based on past experiences that I don't tolerate cell phones or disrespectful students.
Enlightened? Me? Nah. I use HR Block's "Tax Cut" … or whatever they call it now.
At one point in Vantucky, the education decision was 30 hours and sit for the CPA or CS grad school.
In retrospect, I think I would have been better off with the CPA path.
The current job wants an exit interview today with a pair of yoga pants whose email signature includes a C-suite title in Finance. Gotta wonder what that’s about.
After tomorrow, I’ll post the names of some of the people involved with the company. Some of you will freak. Eh. I needed the gig.
I am 100%, totally, P.C.; therefore, I had my dog "degendered".
I have argued with the IRS over taxes. Especially with investment transactions. All filed correctly. Somewhere, somehow, what was reported to the IRS, or the IRS software is incompetent, or the agent doing the review is incompetent, and the numbers did not match. Everything had been reported.
Multiple rounds with the IRS, me refusing a phone conversation, demanding a full in-person audit, and suddenly the IRS owes me money. I still think the IRS is wrong but I have documentation that says the IRS is correct and will avoid penalties and interest if the IRS changes their mind. Which the IRS says they can do in the letter.
I expect an audit this year, probably a simple audit. My wife and I charitable donations are substantial this year. Enough to be able to itemize. 10% of the MIL inheritance to several units within the church. I have copies of the cancelled checks in the tax folder to support the donations.
>> I missed the opportunity to play with the date! 12/1/21
You can make up for it soon on 2/22/22
@alan:
Lucky for you that 'Murika uses a non-ISO8601 date format, otherwise both of those would not apply.
But this is a battle I have attempted to fight before. And lost.
G.
Added: But at least you get the chance to do palindromes.
@chad:
Good for you.
G.
Today is 12022021. Just sayin'
I think Alan means 2022-02-22.
Also 22:22 or 10.22 PM.
Today is 20211202, you heretic! It's still palindromic but my version sorts correctly.
>> I think Alan means 2022-02-22.
Next you'll be wantin' to bring up that damn metric system again…
I start filenames like this. Sometimes just to piss my kids off.
Kilocycles per furlong
Filenames… my current job wants file revisions to have a revision number like "Rev0.1" at the end. I rebel and put "20211202" which annoys some but works much better.
Windows does sort Rev0.1, Rev0.2, Rev0.11 properly now but didn't always.
Some put a colon in military time. That was never done in my world. My phone forces this, but Windows let's me format many numbers any way I wish.
12/11/21
12/22/21
I approve!
When pushed on something like this, I name documents "New Document(2)(1) New do not overwrite(1)-Rev0.1(1).docx" and such.
WRT to metric system: I was involved with another technical forum (not RBT's) with a lot of stupidos, who disagreed with my technical descriptions. Finally one chided my for using in, ft, lb, and deg F instead of the metric system.
I responded: "I will switch when I think that I am smarter than the Dayton, Oh bicycle mechanics that invented the first airplane and made the first flight at Kitty Hawk".
They let it go and never argued with me again.
There are two kinds of nations: Those which use the metric system and those which have put a man on the moon.
02DEC2021 Very little confusion. But I admit to using 20211202 in file names
I forgot to mention the fun at my house earlier in the week — Greenpiece knocked on the door soliciting donations.
Twice in the same afternoon.
I was polite because I didn't want my house besieged by soy boys … and their dogs … late one night.
Soy boys always have a dog.
Some put a colon in military time. That was never done in my world. My phone forces this, but Windows let's me format many numbers any way I wish.
Argh! I posted that from my phone using what passes for spell check. It turned “lets” into “let’s”, and I didn’t catch it.
Reminds me of RBT (I think) when he said he didn’t bother to correct minor errors where the meaning was clear. Good policy here, but I spent a lot of years in an environment where final copy had to be error free and according to a style manual. Old habits die hard. We also did manual proof reading.
The auto spell check on my current phone seems a lot better than on the old phone. The old one annoyed me enough that I turned spell check off. I am still on the fence on the new one.
I am also still getting used to the Word spell and grammar checkers in Word 365, after a year of use. Most of it is very good, and configurable. I never liked Libre Office Writer’s spelling dictionary. It is an international product and has to deal with many dialects. It probably does that very well, but its American English is not so good.
Word also automagically applies itself to Outlook email composition. Writer and Thunderbird didn’t do that. To be fair, in the early days Word’s integration with Outlook left a lot to be desired. Some days, it’s the little things that satisfy… or annoy.
@Nick
Put in just a stub for the daily post
I echo this. We are a chatty bunch and even our much missed RBT was known to go skinny on the blogging from time to time.
@SteveF
sorts correctly
+1,000
I loathe mmddyyyy in file names. An early IT job scanning docs and minding a jukebox drove home the special frustration that comes from mmddyyyy in naming data you want to find efficiently by date. Took twice as long to respond to disk requests because of the retard that set up the naming standard. On the other hand, at least there was a standard.
We are above 20f for the third day with enough snow to be pretty and slick. Back to zero this weekend. A shame, as if the warm temps had fallen on the weekend I could have -finally- built my automated watering system. I don’t want to risk unknowingly cracking a PVC pipe building in zero temps, then have the system fail. And spray the rabbits with water. That would be fatal.
I have a die due this weekend, another the weekend after that, and one more weekend after that. The young buck was enthusiastic in performing his duties. I am learning to palpate the does but honestly can’t tell if they’re pregnant or fat. Crossing fingers for pregnant and hoping for healthy rabbit kits.
I have two meat bunnies ready to slaughter. Holding off to see whether current does will produce. If not we will mix up the slaughter plan. This has been a long learning process and the year long move in the middle didn’t help the rabbitry productivity.
My husband bought me a Lenovo i5 idea pad with 16gb ram so I would have an Oracle test box. I’ll use it with XE and work my way through the Oracle documentation. I’ll be able to blow it away at will. He knew I wanted one and likewise observed my inaction. Fixed it for me. Good husband.
Much typing of scott/tiger is in your future.
Oracle. SAP. Two companies worth avoiding…
I learned it as furlongs per fortnight from my physics teacher.
SAP is easier to avoid than Oracle, at least in the US.
Oracle's consulting arm was thoroughly discredited in the Cover Oregon Obamacare fiasco, where the system failed so completely that the state had to print paper forms which applicants completed. The company still sells lots of database systems, however.
The last job was poking at PostgreSQL to replace Oracle, but the customer base wasn't about to ditch the commercial product.
UPDATE: Sadly, the Cover Oregon commercials the state ran without a hint of shame have disappeared from YouTube. However, John Oliver’s commisioned Lisa Loeb spoof endures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh9munYYoqQ
No, I was wrong — the horror of the Cover Oregon commercial endures on YouTube, just not under the state's official channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6HMDFXA50o
The state ran these nightly with a straight face.
The interesting thing is that, not long after the fiasco of the system's failure, Laura Gibson was nearly killed by a gas explosion in her apartment in New York City.
When I was in the USAF in the late 1990s the 02-DEC-2021 or 02DEC2021 format was the standard on most everything military related. (You were also supposed to sign everything with full first, full middle, and last name which they called your "payroll signature" but that wasn’t enforced much.) As a programmer, I've always used YYYYMMDD because it is superior in all ways. 🙂 It’s ISO 8601, IIRC.
When pushed on something like this, I name documents "New Document(2)(1) New do not overwrite(1)-Rev0.1(1).docx" and such.
Oh, please. Reminds me that I need to teach my wife a few things about file naming convention and folder structure. I set that aside when things got busy, and the busy-ness has only gotten worse. At least I am amused that even the pros have such issues.
UPenn trans swimmer, 22, sparks outrage by SMASHING women's competition records after competing as a man for three seasons
🙁
(Is any further comment really necessary?)
Yes, I remember it well. Of course to be complete, we must include the time 02DEC2021Z1932
I believe yours is a speed and mine is a wavelength. I may be wrong. Today is all about project management at work and it sucks.
OTOH SI units are easier, but as has been mentioned, have not yet put a man on the moon. EM will change that soon.
As a VAX/VMS system programmer, my favorite documented unit of measure was the time interval known as microfortnight.
Scholastic published the books in the US. The audience was projected to be school kids buying at book fairs.
Scholastic publishes a lot of books in the USA and worldwide. In fact, the "Tomorrow, When the War Began" series that I just read was published by Scholastic.
https://www.amazon.com/Tomorrow-When-War-Began/dp/0439829100//p?tag=ttgnet-20
I am 100%, totally, P.C.; therefore, I had my dog "degendered".
Sounds like what Ellen XXXXXX Elliot Page just did to herself XXXXX himself.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10252341/Elliot-Page-posts-thinly-veiled-thirst-trap-posing-shirtless-new-phone-works.html
Some serious mental illness there.
And I think that is SFW but am not sure.
Today is 12022021. Just sayin'
I use the opposite to label my backups. 20211202. I get a much better sort by Winders that way.
Most of those books are ones that have significant breakout beyond the SF community and/or have been around for a long time. I've read all, btw.
Kilocycles per furlong
Or barleycorn per minute.
Assigned female at birth? Darn, I had no idea you could assign sex at birth. Maybe it should share how its parents, or birth delivery vehicle, or satanic vessel managed that.
It's not that obscure of a deduction, Turbo Tax handles it well. You don't pay income tax on half of your SE tax because half of SS/Medicare tax for employees is "paid" by the employer and doesn't show up on your gross taxable income. It gets semi-tricky to figure out yourself when you have income above the limit for SS tax and only pay the Medicare tax on the income above the limit. Turbo Tax always handled it well for us.
The Zvi weekly post on where we are with COVID is up. Well worth reading each week.
https://thezvi.substack.com/p/covid-122-but-aside-from-that
At the beginning he has 3 posts linked to about Omicron and a link to the FDA limited approval of Molnupiravir. Also worth reading.
The TL;DR on Omicron is that we don't know how bad it will be. It's got a chance to be more contagious but not as virulent as Delta and other variants. Very preliminary data from S. Africa has vaccination being a pretty good defense against hospitalization and death, but it's early. (There is some good explanation of why the vaccines may be less effective against severe illness, even against variants.)
My key takeaways:
– we need more antigen tests
– we need Paxlovid approved ASAP. Like as of last week.
– combo therapy with monoclonals, Molnupiravir , and Paxlovid is probably the best treatment early, but we need more antigen tests.
Most of those books are ones that have significant breakout beyond the SF community and/or have been around for a long time. I've read all, btw.
SF (speculative fiction encompassing science fiction and fantasy) is a fairly narrow niche. If your SF book can jump into the romance category, your interested potential readership just jumped 100X. There is a huge difference between the two.
We are above 20f for the third day with enough snow to be pretty and slick. Back to zero this weekend. A shame, as if the warm temps had fallen on the weekend I could have -finally- built my automated watering system. I don’t want to risk unknowingly cracking a PVC pipe building in zero temps, then have the system fail. And spray the rabbits with water. That would be fatal.
I would use PEX piping for all of your outdoor plumbing. PEX can go through freeze cycles hundreds of times. My plumber buddy says that Uponor PEX is the best.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Uponor-1-2-in-x-100-ft-Aqua-PEX-Coil-in-White-F1040500/314861204
Page's biggest roles were playing very female characters in "Juno" and "X Men: Days of Future Past".
He's even expressed interest in wearing the Kitty Pride costume again, presenting as a woman, if the opportunity presents itself.
The planned Joan Rivers biography series on Netflix was cancelled because the planned lead, Kathryn Hahn (Agatha in "WandaVision"), would have been a gentile woman doing "Jewface" for the role.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8u8md-NiHM
Isn’t Jamie Gertz (Hahn’s character at the 0:27 mark) Jewish?
Geez, plugs at it again:
It’s not a lie if he believes it! Joe Biden describes the time he went to Israel and met with Golda Meir during the Six Day War, even though he didn’t [video]
Will the LameStreamMedia call him out, or wait for Psaki to spin it to…how can you spin a bald faced lie.
The same way you can say you had sex with Julia Roberts, and almost believe it, when it was really only a wet dream. Biden has those sorts of dreams about many adventures.
He/she/it also has a main role on The Umbrella Academy as Vanya Hargreeves. They will continue to let he/she/it to play the role even though the character is female.
I binged out Tales from the Loop. A quirky sci-fi/fantasy series. I liked it enough to hope for some kind of second season. Not for everybody.
We are also watching Invasion on Apple TV. Scifi with a multi-character view from different parts of the World. I wish it would get on with more of the *invasion* and aliens instead of dramatic soliloquies.
Um, booster anyone?
Court Orders FDA To Comply With FOIA and Release Information On Pfizer Vaccine – First Batch of Documents Shows Over 1,200 Vaccine Deaths WITHIN FIRST 90 DAYS
Now I know why the FDA wanted 55 years to release documents.
Social Security is going up 5.9% starting in January.
Due to increases in Medicare premiums and prescription coverage my wife's SS payment actually went down $4.40 a month. Wonderful system, increase the benefit, increase everything else, actual money in pocket gets reduced.
My SS will go up $132.00. My VA benefits will rise $41.64 a month and with the increased prices at Applebee's, about enough for one evening meal.
My supplemental premiums are going up about $100.00 a month. Wife’s heart attack, my kidney stones are not helping the rates. I think the insurance company also knows about the knee replacement even though they did not pay a dime for the procedure.
@lynn
Agreed, Pex is good stuff. It’s significantly more expensive than PVC up here. My application doesn’t justify the increased cost fr the benefits.
My system has lukewarm water running thru it, if power fails and it freezes I’ve got bigger problems.
Ive been procrastinating because of our recent warming winters. I need to get a block heater installed on my vehicle. Between reduced usage and no block heater, the wear and tear on the engine snd battery is not optimum.
SAP / Oracle. We’ve got them both in my workplace. I like working with Oracle. Glad I don’t pay the bill. I’ve been able to avoid SAP.
That implies it can change. Gender? Maybe. Sex? Nope. One could make an argument that gender is a social construct and so you were "assigned" boy or girl at birth by your parents/society without your mature input. However, you're never going to be able to intelligently argue that you're XY when really you're XX (or vice-versa).
That's why I try and make it a point to refer to sex and not to gender in certain crowds. The former being an unchangeable scientific classification and the latter open to all sorts of debate. Start labeling restrooms male/female instead of men/women. Start putting XX and XY on the signs instead of stick figures in pants or skirts. Don't leave it open to an interpretation.
Agreed. Their career is built on playing nerdy/geeky/angsty girls. I’m not sure the masses are interested in them doing
much else. E. Page may have a tiny fanbase of trans people who will now make it a point to watch and rave about everything they’re in, but it’s not a big enough demographic to move Hollywood’s financial needle much.
My chicken cobb salad lunch at Chik-fil-a went up another 50 cents when I went by there today. An increase of 6%. I believe that this is their second increase this year. I told the kid taking my order that he would be paying $1,000 for lunch when he hits my age. He agreed with me. I did not have the heart to tell him that lunches may cost that much in less than ten years with all this excessive federal spending.
"Woke ASU Students Protest Kyle Rittenhouse Holding “DEATH 2 AMERICA” Signs — While Patriot Counter-Protesters Chant “LET’S GO BRANDON” (VIDEO)"
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/12/must-read-exclusive-woke-asu-students-protest-kyle-rittenhouse-holding-death-2-america-signs-patriot-counter-protesters-chant-go-brandon-video/
You have got to be kidding me. Oh wait, just another liberal university full of illegals. We need to shut down the students loans that most will never be repaid.
Now it was a "misfire"…
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2021/12/02/rust-assistant-director-david-halls-says-alec-baldwin-did-not-pull-that-trigger-attorney-says/
"The Longest SFF Novels & Series of All Time (2021 update)" by Adam Whitehead
https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-longest-sff-novels-series-of-all.html
"1. Varney the Vampire by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest 667,000 words • 1845-47"
"2. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand 645,000 words • 1957"
"3. Jerusalem by Alan Moore 615,000 words • 2016"
"4. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace 545,000 words • 1996"
"5. To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams 520,000 words • 1993"
"6. The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon 502,000 words • 2001"
"7. A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon 501,000 words • 2005"
"8. Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle 500,000 words • 2000"
"9. The Stand by Stephen King 472,376 words • 1978"
Had to get to nine books before he mentioned a book that I had read, "The Stand".
All of these are pikers. I have slogged partially through "Worm the web serial by Wildbow". 1.68 million words. And there is a sequel.
https://parahumans.wordpress.com/
Sure.
"Death 2 America" is free speech.
Hold up a "Wetbacks go Home" sign and see how free speech is.
oh, oh, oh, omicron…
https://hotair.com/allahpundit/2021/12/02/community-spread-minnesota-man-had-case-of-omicron-before-south-africa-identified-it-n432804
OTOH, did I miss the announcement of the closure of the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Germ Warfare? I don't suppose they had supply-chain problems and retrained all their CBW staff to make Chia Pets?
I read the whole thing, about six years ago. The beginning is, ah, not great, but overall it's good. Could stand to be edited down to, say, 1,340,000 words.
Alec Baldwin just slipped out of contention for the 2021 Stupidest Flocker with a Pistol award.
The handgun used in the Michigan school shooting was purchased by the murderer's father 4 days prior. Michigan law requires guns to be locked up, and the parents were well-aware that their child was disturbed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxXeq_dAyr0
Kilograms vs. pounds conversion failure leads to airliner out of gas halfway to destination. Oops.
Thanks to plugs, we get to wear masks on commercial airlines for another four months, then another, then another…
We have a gig in Atlanta next week. MrsAtoz is springing for 1st class seats. That will ease the maskage some by not having to smash in like sardines.
How long before vaccine record and COVID test before we can board domestic? plugs is trying it out for citizens returning from overseas. Except if you are a crimmigrant. Golden under plugs.
Psaki for the spin win:
Psaki blames COVID for surge in smash-and-grab raids: Pandemic is 'root cause of lawlessness' and Biden's plans will get more cops 'on the beat', she says
COVID? Really? She also says the root cause of crime in communities is guns and gun violence. Can't prove it, of course, What happened to "defund the police."
>> Psaki for the spin win:
Psaki blames COVID for surge in smash-and-grab raids: Pandemic is 'root cause of lawlessness' and Biden's plans will get more cops 'on the beat', she says
So the smash and grab robberies before the pandemic we can blame on what? COVID-18? The common cold? Bunions?
"Tim Cook and 50+ CEOs urge Congress to pass chip subsidies"
https://www.protocol.com/executives-urge-chip-subsidies
"More than 50 executives sent a letter to Congressional leadership Wednesday urging the passage of billions worth of subsidies for the semiconductor industry."
"The letter addressed to Democratic and Republican leadership asks Congress to pass at least $52 billion in incentives tied to a stalled bill that would offer subsidies for chip manufacturing, design, and research, among other things. The billions of incentives are aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on foreign sources and could help avoid future disruptions to the supply of chips used in goods ranging from weapons systems to home appliances."
Hmm, I wonder what could go wrong with this ?
Every time I think of chip problems, I think of the Russian cosmonaut in the movie Armageddon: “THIS IS HOW WE FIX PROBLEMS ON RUSSIAN SPACE STATION!!!!!!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEkOT3IngMQ
Yeah, as soon as the goobermint is involved, it's backdoor city from the three letter agencies.
Maybe in the future, your car will call the police on you.
Oracle databases are solid tech but pricey.
We probably could have got away with MySQL. The database group at the last job was looking at PostgreSQL because it is a Hot Skillz and "free" as in beer and speech.
Tim didn't get enough subsidies for the new Austin campus?
Chip design will probably get a bunch of that space.
Apple poaches engineers from Qualcomm just down the expressway. Of course, it isn't hard — I've heard that their building is a dump, and at one point this summer, I drove by the Qualcomm offices to see a very interesting jury-rigged portable air conditioning system in the parking lot, with ducts connected to openings on every floor.
I got sucked into one of those lists:
Famous Movies That Would Never Get Made Today
https://www.moneypail.com/famous-movies-that-would-never-get-made-today/
which I edited and used to make my own list:
Movies to Pick Up in Hard Copy
Blazing Saddles
Animal House
Airplane
Sixteen Candles
Caddyshack
Aladdin (1992)
Big
Die Hard
Forest Gump
True Lies
Pocohantas (1995)
Gremlins
Slap Shot
Back to the Future
48 Hours
Stripes
Teen Wolf
Crocodile Dundee
Short Circuit
Trading Places
Dogma
The Last Samurai
Me, Myself, and Irene
Manhattan
White Chicks
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Revenge of the Nerds
Silver Streak
Dressed to Kill
Porky's
Partners
The Toy
Tootsie
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The Bad News Bears
Police Academy
Weird Science
Three Men and a Baby
Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves
The Crying Game
Some of these are classics that should be resistant to any attempts at censorship. Some could end up on the forbidden list for one reason or another. Some made it to my list simply because I don't have a copy and should.
Additions would include any martial arts movie from the 1970's that uses Chinese bad guys.
This list expands a project to acquire classic movies on dvd before they disappear, rip them to digital storage, and store the originals in inert gas to extend their lifetime.
I recently lucked into the unfamiliar 1942 film Bette Davis "The Man Who Can to Dinner" when avoiding weekend football, and was reminded that I need a better reference than the voluminous Roger Ebert's Great Movies or Leo Maltin's Classic Movie Guide to cure my extensive ignorance of old films. As with cd's, one criteria that I've started to use is the "what have we here?" test when I come across something I don't recognize. At a buck or two for digital media, I've had enough happy successes that it's become a useful filter.
I've been looking for a place to stream "The Man Who Came To Dinner". Where did you find it?
Thinking it may be the kind of quirky Christmas movie I like.
Add Casablanca. If you don’t know why, you need to watch it again.
I saw the recent German remake of "Tootsie", "Rubbeldiekatz", starring Matthias Schweighofer. German chick flicks are … interesting. The flick never saw US distribution because it is arguably more non-PC than the American original — Imagine!
If the name sounds familiar, that's because Schweighofer is the locksmith in the "Army of the Dead" series and directed the first prequel/sequel, "Army of Thieves".
Basically any move without a 50% black cast or 100% black cast, 12 lesbians, three transvestites, 18 cross dressers, mixed marriage or two, and two bald females.
The entire Kevin Smith catalog through "Clerks II' should be on your list if you are a fan.
When I saw him in Austin at the beginning of the month, he was doing the standard "woke"-era comedian thing and semi-apologizing for what made him rich and famous when addressing one fan's question about whether he regrets some of the things he wrote.
For instance:
“What’s a Nubian? B*tch, you almost made me laugh.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHLJfxfXHBg
Smith was almost the first director to get an NC-17 for dialogue alone in “Clerks”.
–the nerve of these putzs never ceases to amaze me. "Excess". "Hoard". MY MONEY B!%CHS.
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10269475/COVID-19-turned-Americans-super-savers-hoard-cash-despite-inflation-threatening-value.html
There isn't a decent place to put money right now. This smells like a planted story to get people to spend.
Go back to Fall 2019, and the banks were in serious trouble, requiring life support infusions from the Feds.
Movies to Pick Up in Hard Copy
Blazing Saddle
–there is a nice boxed set of Mel Brooks films that you should definitely have.
Animal House -yep (F her, F her t!ts!)
Airplane -yep (ever been in a roman bath?) (I speak jive.)
Sixteen Candles -yep (no more yankie my wankie!)
Caddyshack -yep (squirm for me Mrs Johnson)
Aladdin (1992) -yep, but why? white guy playing brown?
Big – don't have it yet
Die Hard – all of them yep.
Forest Gump -yep
True Lies -yep
Pocohantas (1995) -yep, whites again?
Gremlins -oh hell yep, but been putting it off because D2 gets scared
Slap Shot – nope
Back to the Future – yep
48 Hours – nope
Stripes -yep, several versions (any of you homos touch my stuff, I'll kill you)
Teen Wolf – nope ?
Crocodile Dundee – nope
Short Circuit – yep ? indian (dot) stereotypes?
Trading Places – yep
Dogma – maybe, I thought the left loved anti christian?
The Last Samurai – yep, whites?
Me, Myself, and Irene – don't know it
Manhattan – don't know it
White Chicks – don't know it
Monty Python's Life of Brian – yep, all the pythons
Revenge of the Nerds – yep, and full frontal, date rape, pantie raids, gay stereotypes
Silver Streak – nope
Dressed to Kill – don't know it
Porky's – looking for a copy
Partners – don't know it
The Toy – hadn't thought about it, but maybe
Tootsie – looking for a copy
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom -yep
The Bad News Bears – can't find the original, have two more recent versions
Police Academy looking
Weird Science – yep, so much wrongness, one of my favorites
Three Men and a Baby – ??
Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves – Kostner? Terrible flick, not on my list, but willing to reconsider?
The Crying Game -?
I also grabbed all the Flipper versions as an example of what we've lost. Richard Prior, or any of the LP record comics… because language police.
I have all the yeps and many more.
n
@lpdbw
It was on a broadcast channel: Movies! TV Network
https://moviestvnetwork.com/previews
https://www.moviestvnetwork.com/lists/screwball-spotlight-the-man-who-came-to-dinner
and does not appear to be on the schedule again.
But another old favorite is:
https://moviestvnetwork.com/movies/1579
@Greg Norton
The Humphrey Bogart Essential Collection has been on my shelf for years.
The Big Sleep is still my favorite,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqoxk3SrZRw
absolute perfection.
@Nick
Airplane (ever been in a Turkish prison?)
Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (Alan Rickman, Connery)
Another personal favorite box set is The Complete Thin Man.
William Powell and Myrna Loy were perfectly cast in W.S. Van Dyke's The Thin Man. The very definition of on-screen chemistry, and the repartee is lightning fast, rapier sharp, and sparkling.
Director and actors stayed together through three sequels. Van Dyke was severely ill and died by his own hand before the last two movies were made.
Brandon: I was going to pilot the Columbia home safely but NASA couldn't get me up there in time.
If he wasn't nominally the leader of the free world it would be comical. But it is terrifying.
n
People forget John Hughes wrote "Mr. Mom" for Aaron Spelling, another flick that probably couldn't get made today.
Hughes went from penning schlock like "Class Reunion" to "Vacation" and "Mr. Mom" in the space of a year.
"To fight Omicron, Biden adds travel rules, free at-home COVID tests"
https://news.trust.org/item/20211202202255-46xyj
"The U.S. government will require private health insurers to reimburse their 150 million customers for 100% of the cost of over-the-counter, at-home COVID-19 tests, administration officials said, and make 50 million more tests available free through rural clinics and health centers for the uninsured."
Can he do that ?
What if you do not have health insurance ?
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
People forget John Hughes wrote "Mr. Mom" for Aaron Spelling, another flick that probably couldn't get made today.
Hughes went from penning schlock like "Class Reunion" to "Vacation" and "Mr. Mom" in the space of a year.
I love Weird Science and Mr. Mom.
Finally…what our future EVs will be…
Daily Mail: Tesla launches Cyberquad for KIDS! Four-wheeled ATV inspired by the Cybertruck on sale for $1,900.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10267813/Tesla-launches-Cyberquad-KIDS-Four-wheeled-ATV-inspired-Cybertruck-sale-1-900.html
Add so it begins…
CNN: DeSantis proposes a new civilian military force in Florida that he would control.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/02/politics/florida-state-guard-desantis/index.html
High tech. A linux partition.
Good thing criminals are dumb.
n