From what I've been reading, it appears that Kavanaugh really blew it. Whether or not he is indeed guilty as charged, he has made a fool of himself on live TV, which can't have done him any good in his quest for confirmation. Then again, Trump is always making a fool of himself in public, and he managed to get himself elected, so anything's possible. I don't know how the FBI or anybody will be able to get to the bottom of this case in one week with all the hysteria that has been generated by both sides.
Speaking of cows, that bovine creature in the video is probably a steer, since it doesn't appear to be carrying either cow or bull equipment. It looks to be of the Charolais breed, which tends to be on the large side, so it's probably pretty young, which might explain its playful nature. The only reason I know what a Charolais looks like is that I used to work with some guys who raised cattle on the side, but I have always known more about agriculture than the average Chicago kid. I had some exposure during my hunting trips with my father and I used to want to be a farmer when I grew up. Too bad I never grew up.
When I was about 16, we were deer hunting on a dairy farm in Carrol County, Illinois. The farmer let us camp near the house, and he would come by in the evenings and hang out with us. One time he was complaining about how his neighbor's cattle were always grazing for free on his property because the fence was in a bad state of repair. The next day, I spotted the trespassers, shooed them back across the line, and patched the fence the best I could with available materials. When I told the farmer about it, he almost had a cow himself, worrying that the cattle I had shooed might have been his own. I said I was certain that wasn't the case, since his cows were all Holsteins and the interlopers were all Guernseys. The man was impressed that a city kid would know the difference, and said we were welcome to hunt and camp on his property anytime. We did come back the next year, and my cobbled up fence patch was still intact. Apparently it was as good as the rest of the fence because the farmer hadn't found it necessary to improve on my handiwork.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Not much
Maybe that guy with the flute is, indeed, able to charm wild raccoons but I'm beginning to doubt it and Mr. Beagles was correct in his initial assessment that food is the motivating factor. I went back to the article, read the many comments, and the consensus is that the whole thing was staged and the raccoons were trained to some degree. Some folks mentioned how fat those critters were and others stated that wild raccoons should not be messed with because of the diseases they can carry. It's too bad; I like to think that such a thing would be possible. Oh, well.
To make up for submitting that fake news, here's a cow having fun with a big ball. I thought a cow's vocabulary was limited to "moo" but her grunts of joy are charming. I did not expect that.
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Kavanaugh's emotional and weepy responses to some of the questions makes me think he lacks the temperament to be a Supreme Court Justice. I didn't like the way he threw the questions back at the senators, a very Trumpian tactic. The guy is an evasive weasel, oozing with a sense of entitlement, which is fine for a lot of things but the Supreme Court is not one of them. Sober as a judge? I think not. Oh, wait...he's already a judge. Damn.
To make up for submitting that fake news, here's a cow having fun with a big ball. I thought a cow's vocabulary was limited to "moo" but her grunts of joy are charming. I did not expect that.
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Kavanaugh's emotional and weepy responses to some of the questions makes me think he lacks the temperament to be a Supreme Court Justice. I didn't like the way he threw the questions back at the senators, a very Trumpian tactic. The guy is an evasive weasel, oozing with a sense of entitlement, which is fine for a lot of things but the Supreme Court is not one of them. Sober as a judge? I think not. Oh, wait...he's already a judge. Damn.
Friday, September 28, 2018
He Said - She Said
After "the tumult and the shouting dies and the captains and the kings depart" will we ever know if Kavanaugh really did it or not? (Out of context quote from the poem "Recessional", by Rudyard Kipling I believe.)
The more I think about that racoon video, the more I think there must have been an unnatural food source nearby. Not just what the flautist may have scattered, but something permanent like a garbage dump. Raccoons are not normally social animals, and there were way more of them in the video than should have been gathered together in one place at one time. On the other hand, if food was their primary motivation, why wasn't there any sign of competitive aggression? Maybe there is magic in the man's music after all.
Back in the 1970s, when we were living in Indian River, I saw a young woman on a public beach, probably Burt Lake State Park. She was sitting on the ground in the classic Buddhist Lotus Position with a look of calm serenity on her face, and dozens of baby duckies were literally swarming all over her. Several mother ducks hovered near by, patiently waiting for their babies to finish their play date with the nice lady. The babies were not more than a week or two old, too young to have been trained for this unusual behavior by the lady in question. My only guess is that their mothers deliberately brought them to meet the woman, with whom they must have been previously acquainted. I didn't get to ask the lady about it. I was momentarily distracted and, when I looked back, the woman and the ducks were all gone.
The more I think about that racoon video, the more I think there must have been an unnatural food source nearby. Not just what the flautist may have scattered, but something permanent like a garbage dump. Raccoons are not normally social animals, and there were way more of them in the video than should have been gathered together in one place at one time. On the other hand, if food was their primary motivation, why wasn't there any sign of competitive aggression? Maybe there is magic in the man's music after all.
Back in the 1970s, when we were living in Indian River, I saw a young woman on a public beach, probably Burt Lake State Park. She was sitting on the ground in the classic Buddhist Lotus Position with a look of calm serenity on her face, and dozens of baby duckies were literally swarming all over her. Several mother ducks hovered near by, patiently waiting for their babies to finish their play date with the nice lady. The babies were not more than a week or two old, too young to have been trained for this unusual behavior by the lady in question. My only guess is that their mothers deliberately brought them to meet the woman, with whom they must have been previously acquainted. I didn't get to ask the lady about it. I was momentarily distracted and, when I looked back, the woman and the ducks were all gone.
watching the hearings
Well sure you can watch the highlights and hear some analysis of the hearings later on, but you are just getting a version that someone else has edited, and it's like not watching the ballgame because you can always see the highlights and read the box score the next day. Oh it's great to see the replay of Javy Baez diving at the hard grounder, plucking it up and hurling it, as he rolls to his feet, into the outstretched glove of Rizzo nanoseconds before the runner's toe meets the bag, But it's so much greater when you have been sweating maintaining a one run lead and the ball looks like it is headed into the outfield with the tying run on third and your heart drops but then Javy snags it and your heart soars like a hawk. Can't get that out of a replay.
But if you aren't a political junkie it can be a slog, five minutes of questioning by a dem, five minutes by a rep, and depending on the person being questioned one side is all nicey nicey and the other side is like you dirty rotten scoundrel, and even though they are all fine public servants trying to do what is best for the country, you can't help but think that they are thinking about getting a nice clip of themselves to run in their next campaign.
But this would be a little different, Christine Ford was an unknown, I think this was the first time I had seen her. As a partisan dem I was on her side of course, but I was worried that she might be a flake. And she didn't look good at the outset, little girl voice, trembly, weepy. But as the questioning went on she became stronger, smarter. Since the reps didn't want to look like a bunch of men picking on a woman they gave their time up to this woman prosecutor, but this meant that her time was five minutes on, five minutes off, so she really couldn't make much of a case that way, and on top of that she didn't seem to know what she was doing, and she never laid a glove on Christine who came across very well. The dems of course just praised her to the high heavens. I read a magazine during their questioning. At the end CNN was calling it a win for the dems and the Foxies were saying well maybe it was a tie, but they were looking pretty glum.
Then up came Kavenaugh and his opening speech went on for like fifteen minutes, he ranted, he raved, he wept and blubbered, he did not act like you would expect a judge to act. I had a house guest from Champaign who had left that morning for some grueling interview and examination at Northwestern Hospital about a serious illness, and he came back before Kavenaugh finished his speech. I really wanted to hear the questioning of Kavenaugh, but it didn't seem right to tell my friend (who by the way is a raging Trumpist) to sit down and shut up. I had to listen to his story and I did not hear the Kavenaugh questioning, I guess I have seen some replays last night and this morning but it's not the same.
When the ballgame is over the score is up on the scoreboard and there is closure, but with the hearings the result is in the reactions. What does CNN say? Well we know what FOX will say, so I guess it is more are they happy or a little glum. Most importantly in this case is what effect did it have on Murkowski and Collins and the blue dogs? Right now it looks like the reps think they won that because they are going on with the vote today. But another result is what did the voters think. I guess we will have to wait for that.
That Kavenaugh is like a mini Trump, fighting his questioners red-faced and blaming Hilary on his problems, and you could tell, when he was making his speech that he had one eye on the camera and behind it, the eye of the Donald, And afterwards Trump gave him a big thumbs up.
If Avenatti has an ace up his sleeve he'd better, slip it onto the table right now.
But if you aren't a political junkie it can be a slog, five minutes of questioning by a dem, five minutes by a rep, and depending on the person being questioned one side is all nicey nicey and the other side is like you dirty rotten scoundrel, and even though they are all fine public servants trying to do what is best for the country, you can't help but think that they are thinking about getting a nice clip of themselves to run in their next campaign.
But this would be a little different, Christine Ford was an unknown, I think this was the first time I had seen her. As a partisan dem I was on her side of course, but I was worried that she might be a flake. And she didn't look good at the outset, little girl voice, trembly, weepy. But as the questioning went on she became stronger, smarter. Since the reps didn't want to look like a bunch of men picking on a woman they gave their time up to this woman prosecutor, but this meant that her time was five minutes on, five minutes off, so she really couldn't make much of a case that way, and on top of that she didn't seem to know what she was doing, and she never laid a glove on Christine who came across very well. The dems of course just praised her to the high heavens. I read a magazine during their questioning. At the end CNN was calling it a win for the dems and the Foxies were saying well maybe it was a tie, but they were looking pretty glum.
Then up came Kavenaugh and his opening speech went on for like fifteen minutes, he ranted, he raved, he wept and blubbered, he did not act like you would expect a judge to act. I had a house guest from Champaign who had left that morning for some grueling interview and examination at Northwestern Hospital about a serious illness, and he came back before Kavenaugh finished his speech. I really wanted to hear the questioning of Kavenaugh, but it didn't seem right to tell my friend (who by the way is a raging Trumpist) to sit down and shut up. I had to listen to his story and I did not hear the Kavenaugh questioning, I guess I have seen some replays last night and this morning but it's not the same.
When the ballgame is over the score is up on the scoreboard and there is closure, but with the hearings the result is in the reactions. What does CNN say? Well we know what FOX will say, so I guess it is more are they happy or a little glum. Most importantly in this case is what effect did it have on Murkowski and Collins and the blue dogs? Right now it looks like the reps think they won that because they are going on with the vote today. But another result is what did the voters think. I guess we will have to wait for that.
That Kavenaugh is like a mini Trump, fighting his questioners red-faced and blaming Hilary on his problems, and you could tell, when he was making his speech that he had one eye on the camera and behind it, the eye of the Donald, And afterwards Trump gave him a big thumbs up.
If Avenatti has an ace up his sleeve he'd better, slip it onto the table right now.
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Let the Raccoons Come Unto Me
Raccoons that live near camping or picnic grounds will boldly come forth in broad daylight because people feed them. The practice is not recommended because the raccoons, while they look cute and cuddly and appear to be tame, are still wild animals. A kid trying to pet one of them would likely get bitten or scratched for his trouble. Nevertheless, people still feed them and the raccoons quickly come to expect it. Some of the raccoons in the video appear to be eating something off the ground. My guess is that the flautist scatters some corn on the ground before he starts playing, and the raccoons have learned to associate the music with food. They might have originally just tolerated the music, but by now they have come to like it.
While pondering Uncle Ken's questions about God, I concluded that he's right, we don't really need Him, although I would spin it differently. God has already provided us with everything we need to survive and prosper, all we've got to do is figure out how to make it work for us. If we get it right, we get the gain and, if we screw it up, we get the pain. I'm speaking collectively here because some people get away with murder, while other people just get murdered. Mother Nature is not concerned with the welfare of individuals, just with the progress of the species, and maybe God is too. People practice religion, or don't, for the same reason they do most other things, because it makes them feel good. I suppose there's no harm in that, as long as they don't try to coerce others to accept their way of thinking. They do, of course, which is one more problem for us to solve.
As for Moses, Uncle Ken asked me where the Ten Commandments came from, and Moses was most certainly involved. I find it strange that he would require me to stick to the Book when describing Moses, since he neither believes in the Book, nor Moses, nor God. I don't tell him how to be an Atheist, he shouldn't tell me how to be a Deist. Well, he can if he wants to, I'm just saying.
While pondering Uncle Ken's questions about God, I concluded that he's right, we don't really need Him, although I would spin it differently. God has already provided us with everything we need to survive and prosper, all we've got to do is figure out how to make it work for us. If we get it right, we get the gain and, if we screw it up, we get the pain. I'm speaking collectively here because some people get away with murder, while other people just get murdered. Mother Nature is not concerned with the welfare of individuals, just with the progress of the species, and maybe God is too. People practice religion, or don't, for the same reason they do most other things, because it makes them feel good. I suppose there's no harm in that, as long as they don't try to coerce others to accept their way of thinking. They do, of course, which is one more problem for us to solve.
As for Moses, Uncle Ken asked me where the Ten Commandments came from, and Moses was most certainly involved. I find it strange that he would require me to stick to the Book when describing Moses, since he neither believes in the Book, nor Moses, nor God. I don't tell him how to be an Atheist, he shouldn't tell me how to be a Deist. Well, he can if he wants to, I'm just saying.
Music hath charms
But again I expect it is a matter of pride and principle.
No, and I may have said it before, it's a matter of indifference. All the other factors are just some gravy on the top. And I don't understand joining Facebook just so that I have the opportunity to mock them with a "sneer of derision." What's the point of that? That's a level of snobbery and cruelty I do not wish to attain.
In anticipation of putting this issue to bed here's another bit of analysis from the owner of the Los Angles Times, who probably knows a thing or three about the role of media in society.
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I don't know if you guys are familiar with "life hacks," those tips that make your life a little bit easier. There are a lot of them online, some good, some not so good, but I found one that works. Like many folks I sometimes enjoy a snack while I'm web surfing or typing away, usually something like Fritos or Cheetos. But they always leave my fingertips gunked up so I'm constantly wiping or licking my fingers. The solution? Chopsticks. I'll be damned, but they work like a charm and no more residue on the keyboard. No crumbs, your fingers aren't orange, and after a while you get real good at using chopsticks, something to impress your friends with at the next sit down in a Chinese restaurant.
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The Kavanaugh hearings continue today and I've been able to avoid them; I'll listen to the pundits hash out the proceedings later this evening, maybe after tonight's season premiere of The Good Place. But it got me thinking about previous discussions regarding the vagaries of the "permanent record." Kavanaugh's accusations happened decades ago, well before the online age and yet, the stuff still surfaced. What about the high school and college students of today, with all of their online pics, Tweets, emails, and god knows what else? It's already too late for some of them; they'll never get through an FBI investigation. Their most embarrassing and incriminating moments are only a click away.
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A frequent trope in Disney cartoons is when a character is in a forest and begins to sing or play some kind of music and the critters gather round in rapt attention. There are some YouTube videos showing this, sometimes cows in a field who really like accordion music. There was one video where a guy was playing a piano for a blind elephant; kind of heartwarming. But this one takes the cake, a guy playing a handmade flute attracting dozens of raccoons. This is something Mr. Beagles ought to try but maybe he'd end up attracting some other kind of critter. Skunks would not be good.
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I know I've talked about making ice cream beyond anyone's interest but here's an historical example of the creativity of The Greatest Generation during wartime in the tropics. First, you need some ammo boxes...
No, and I may have said it before, it's a matter of indifference. All the other factors are just some gravy on the top. And I don't understand joining Facebook just so that I have the opportunity to mock them with a "sneer of derision." What's the point of that? That's a level of snobbery and cruelty I do not wish to attain.
In anticipation of putting this issue to bed here's another bit of analysis from the owner of the Los Angles Times, who probably knows a thing or three about the role of media in society.
-----
I don't know if you guys are familiar with "life hacks," those tips that make your life a little bit easier. There are a lot of them online, some good, some not so good, but I found one that works. Like many folks I sometimes enjoy a snack while I'm web surfing or typing away, usually something like Fritos or Cheetos. But they always leave my fingertips gunked up so I'm constantly wiping or licking my fingers. The solution? Chopsticks. I'll be damned, but they work like a charm and no more residue on the keyboard. No crumbs, your fingers aren't orange, and after a while you get real good at using chopsticks, something to impress your friends with at the next sit down in a Chinese restaurant.
-----
The Kavanaugh hearings continue today and I've been able to avoid them; I'll listen to the pundits hash out the proceedings later this evening, maybe after tonight's season premiere of The Good Place. But it got me thinking about previous discussions regarding the vagaries of the "permanent record." Kavanaugh's accusations happened decades ago, well before the online age and yet, the stuff still surfaced. What about the high school and college students of today, with all of their online pics, Tweets, emails, and god knows what else? It's already too late for some of them; they'll never get through an FBI investigation. Their most embarrassing and incriminating moments are only a click away.
-----
A frequent trope in Disney cartoons is when a character is in a forest and begins to sing or play some kind of music and the critters gather round in rapt attention. There are some YouTube videos showing this, sometimes cows in a field who really like accordion music. There was one video where a guy was playing a piano for a blind elephant; kind of heartwarming. But this one takes the cake, a guy playing a handmade flute attracting dozens of raccoons. This is something Mr. Beagles ought to try but maybe he'd end up attracting some other kind of critter. Skunks would not be good.
-----
I know I've talked about making ice cream beyond anyone's interest but here's an historical example of the creativity of The Greatest Generation during wartime in the tropics. First, you need some ammo boxes...
fighters
I'm no bible scholar but I'll go out on a limb here and guess that the Ten Commandments didn't go down the way Beagles describes it in the bible. And if you are not going to take the word of the bible, then you really can't talk about Moses because outside of the good book he never really existed.
The reason a person would not care what God wants is because it doesn't make a difference in their life. The Deist god, I think, doesn't meddle in men's affairs so who cares what He wants or doesn't want? And maybe if He happens to be the Jehovah of the old testament, one would think this Guy is a jerk, smiting people left and right because He is on the side of His chosen people and fuck everybody else. And He doesn't hesitate to smite His own people either when they piss Him off. Just because He is all powerful doesn't necessarily mean that He is a good Guy.
I am having a house guest this week, one of my Champaign beer drinking buddies who happens to be a Trumpist. I avoided the subject because I know I will not convert him so why go through the muss and fuss? But he has brought it up a few times. It has been my experience that Trumpists always bring it up first, because they are fighters, and that is why they like Trump, he is a fighter too. He can't brag about his economy without adding something nasty about Hilary, or Obama, or his own man, Sessions, or whoever. If he doesn't have an enemy his jaws aren't worth flapping.
Avenatti is a fighter too. He is constantly baiting Trump. Outside of calling him a lawyer to porn stars which is kind of a weak arrow in Trump's arsenal, kind of like his way of saying hello, he has refused to take the bait because he can see that Avenatti is a hard knuckle brawler and like most bullies Trump doesn't want to get into a battle where his nose might get bloodied.
Well I go on about Avenatti don't I? He is like the hired gun who drifts into the town dominated by the corrupt sheriff and the townsfolk want him to knock off the sheriff. But they are a little leery, because they worry about what he will do once the sheriff is knocked off. Which is why his quest for the nomination is not really going anywhere.
The Kavenaugh hearings are about to begin, Nobody really knows where it is going to go which makes it great theater, another circus for us partisans.
The reason a person would not care what God wants is because it doesn't make a difference in their life. The Deist god, I think, doesn't meddle in men's affairs so who cares what He wants or doesn't want? And maybe if He happens to be the Jehovah of the old testament, one would think this Guy is a jerk, smiting people left and right because He is on the side of His chosen people and fuck everybody else. And He doesn't hesitate to smite His own people either when they piss Him off. Just because He is all powerful doesn't necessarily mean that He is a good Guy.
I am having a house guest this week, one of my Champaign beer drinking buddies who happens to be a Trumpist. I avoided the subject because I know I will not convert him so why go through the muss and fuss? But he has brought it up a few times. It has been my experience that Trumpists always bring it up first, because they are fighters, and that is why they like Trump, he is a fighter too. He can't brag about his economy without adding something nasty about Hilary, or Obama, or his own man, Sessions, or whoever. If he doesn't have an enemy his jaws aren't worth flapping.
Avenatti is a fighter too. He is constantly baiting Trump. Outside of calling him a lawyer to porn stars which is kind of a weak arrow in Trump's arsenal, kind of like his way of saying hello, he has refused to take the bait because he can see that Avenatti is a hard knuckle brawler and like most bullies Trump doesn't want to get into a battle where his nose might get bloodied.
Well I go on about Avenatti don't I? He is like the hired gun who drifts into the town dominated by the corrupt sheriff and the townsfolk want him to knock off the sheriff. But they are a little leery, because they worry about what he will do once the sheriff is knocked off. Which is why his quest for the nomination is not really going anywhere.
The Kavenaugh hearings are about to begin, Nobody really knows where it is going to go which makes it great theater, another circus for us partisans.
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
From a Deist Perpective
"If God does not speak to people where did the ten commandments come from. If we can only speculate about what He wants, we might as well speculate without Him, who needs Him? If He refuses to talk who cares what He wants?" - Uncle Ken
In a manner of speaking, the Ten Commandments came from God, but not in the way most people think. Moses was trying to forge a mighty nation out of a raggedy bunch of tribal nomads. He went up on the mountain to think about how this might be accomplished. Some time later, he came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments. He may have prayed to God about it, and then an idea formed in his mind, the mind that God had given him. Moses might have believed that his inspiration came from God and, in a manner of speaking, it did, but it is unlikely that God dictated the Ten Commandments to Moses the way that a corporate executive would dictate a letter to his secretary.
I don't know for a fact that God has never spoken directly to people like it says in the Bible. All I know is that God has never spoken to me like that, so I view those claims with suspicion. Logically, if God wanted to tell me something, He certainly could do it without relying on a third party to relay the message. When a third party claims to have a message from God for me, he is asking me to accept it on faith, but not faith in God, faith in the third party messenger. An agnostic is somebody who isn't sure whether or not he believes in God. I believe in God alright, it's my fellow man that I'm not so sure about.
The rest of Uncle Ken's quote raises an interesting question. At this point I'm not sure how to answer it, but I may come up with something by tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'll cop out by answering the question with another question: Why would anybody not care what God wants?
Last I heard, the Jews were still waiting for the First Coming, but the Hindus believe that Vishnu has been here a bunch of times, and that Jesus was only one of Vishnu's many incarnations, so it's not just the Christians who believe in a Second Coming. I think the Muslims believe in some kind of apocalyptic event, but I don't know if it involves Jesus. As I understand it, they believe that Jesus was a prophet, but not the Son of God.
Face Book is like huge, I suppose you could find any kind of content you want there. It all depends on who you follow, and you don't have to follow somebody just because they are on your friends list. Also, if you "like" a post, or respond to it in any way, that type of post gains priority in your news feed and you will see more of it in the future.
In a manner of speaking, the Ten Commandments came from God, but not in the way most people think. Moses was trying to forge a mighty nation out of a raggedy bunch of tribal nomads. He went up on the mountain to think about how this might be accomplished. Some time later, he came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments. He may have prayed to God about it, and then an idea formed in his mind, the mind that God had given him. Moses might have believed that his inspiration came from God and, in a manner of speaking, it did, but it is unlikely that God dictated the Ten Commandments to Moses the way that a corporate executive would dictate a letter to his secretary.
I don't know for a fact that God has never spoken directly to people like it says in the Bible. All I know is that God has never spoken to me like that, so I view those claims with suspicion. Logically, if God wanted to tell me something, He certainly could do it without relying on a third party to relay the message. When a third party claims to have a message from God for me, he is asking me to accept it on faith, but not faith in God, faith in the third party messenger. An agnostic is somebody who isn't sure whether or not he believes in God. I believe in God alright, it's my fellow man that I'm not so sure about.
The rest of Uncle Ken's quote raises an interesting question. At this point I'm not sure how to answer it, but I may come up with something by tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'll cop out by answering the question with another question: Why would anybody not care what God wants?
Last I heard, the Jews were still waiting for the First Coming, but the Hindus believe that Vishnu has been here a bunch of times, and that Jesus was only one of Vishnu's many incarnations, so it's not just the Christians who believe in a Second Coming. I think the Muslims believe in some kind of apocalyptic event, but I don't know if it involves Jesus. As I understand it, they believe that Jesus was a prophet, but not the Son of God.
Face Book is like huge, I suppose you could find any kind of content you want there. It all depends on who you follow, and you don't have to follow somebody just because they are on your friends list. Also, if you "like" a post, or respond to it in any way, that type of post gains priority in your news feed and you will see more of it in the future.
it's the principle of the thing
Ah so it is, as I expected, the principle that keeps Old Dog from strolling the cheap and gaudy halls of fb. I'm not asking Old Dog to cavort with the denizens or to drink down the Kool-Aid, merely to walk the halls with a sneer of derision and to thunk the ever smiling pitcher of Kool-Aid.
I don't know what a dedicated email means as opposed to just a regular email, and lots of people use fake names on fb. If the penalty is being kicked out of something you never wanted to be a part of that does not seem so dire. I had a friend who had been kicked off of fb for reasons he claimed not to know and I got him a new email address and signed him in to fb, and it wasn't that much trouble.
But again I expect it is a matter of pride and principle. I have never seen an episode of Game of Thrones and when I say that there is a gleam in my eye and a curl in my lip, much, I suspect, as graces Old Dog's countenance when he tells people he is not a fber.
When writing the last post I did enough internet research to discover that it was a story by Damon Knight, but not enough to find the story. If Old Dog found it there would be a rare link that I would like to follow. I remember the name from when I used to subscribe to Galaxy and Amazing Stories and Astounding. Oh what a joy to find one of those mags in the mailbox with its lurid cover.
It's only Christians who believe in a second coming, the others are waiting for the first and only, but in popular culture I believe it means a really big change. I'm surprised that the ad agencies haven't been using it, A Second Coming in Cheeto flavor, something like that.
The first suggestion for drinking beer all day was to mix it with lemonade. I didn't read any further. What I get for following Old Dog's links. You know that is the trouble with the internet, if you're reading the paper, or something on paper, you can scan the first few lines to ascertain if you want to read the rest of it, but with the internet you have to go to a whole new place.
There used to be a term, commie symp, which meant that you claimed not to be a commie, but you were sympathetic to their aims, There ought to be a term like religio symp or spiritual symp. I hate the spirituals more than the religios because at least the religios believe in something even if it is wrong, while the spirituals are like whoo whoo, you know what I mean.
If God does not speak to people where did the ten commandments come from. If we can only speculate about what He wants, we might as well speculate without Him, who needs Him? If He refuses to talk who cares what He wants?
I don't know what a dedicated email means as opposed to just a regular email, and lots of people use fake names on fb. If the penalty is being kicked out of something you never wanted to be a part of that does not seem so dire. I had a friend who had been kicked off of fb for reasons he claimed not to know and I got him a new email address and signed him in to fb, and it wasn't that much trouble.
But again I expect it is a matter of pride and principle. I have never seen an episode of Game of Thrones and when I say that there is a gleam in my eye and a curl in my lip, much, I suspect, as graces Old Dog's countenance when he tells people he is not a fber.
When writing the last post I did enough internet research to discover that it was a story by Damon Knight, but not enough to find the story. If Old Dog found it there would be a rare link that I would like to follow. I remember the name from when I used to subscribe to Galaxy and Amazing Stories and Astounding. Oh what a joy to find one of those mags in the mailbox with its lurid cover.
It's only Christians who believe in a second coming, the others are waiting for the first and only, but in popular culture I believe it means a really big change. I'm surprised that the ad agencies haven't been using it, A Second Coming in Cheeto flavor, something like that.
The first suggestion for drinking beer all day was to mix it with lemonade. I didn't read any further. What I get for following Old Dog's links. You know that is the trouble with the internet, if you're reading the paper, or something on paper, you can scan the first few lines to ascertain if you want to read the rest of it, but with the internet you have to go to a whole new place.
There used to be a term, commie symp, which meant that you claimed not to be a commie, but you were sympathetic to their aims, There ought to be a term like religio symp or spiritual symp. I hate the spirituals more than the religios because at least the religios believe in something even if it is wrong, while the spirituals are like whoo whoo, you know what I mean.
If God does not speak to people where did the ten commandments come from. If we can only speculate about what He wants, we might as well speculate without Him, who needs Him? If He refuses to talk who cares what He wants?
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Can - Don't Want To
God can do anything that he wants to do, but He doesn't have to do anything that He doesn't want to do. Therefore, if God gave us an imperfect world, He must have wanted to do that. Since we do not believe that God speaks directly to people, we can only speculate about His motives for doing or not doing anything. One theory is that we are a species in training. If God did everything for us, we would never learn how to do anything for ourselves.
I agree with Old Dog about people's historical fascination with Doomsday scenarios. This might be attributed to the way children's parents always bail them out when they get in over their heads. I suppose they never quite outgrow the idea that, when all else fails, somebody bigger and stronger than them will come to their rescue.
Speaking of the Second Coming, it seems to me that it would be more accurate to call it the "Third Coming". The First Coming was when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The Second Coming was when He rose from the grave, hung around with His friends for awhile, and then ascended into Heaven. Ipso facto, if He ever visits us again, it will be the Third Coming.
Yup, those are the pencil boxes that we had in our first few grades of school. I seem to remember the ones with the sliders but, by the time I figured out what they were for, I had already memorized the multiplication tables. I doubt that our teachers would have allowed us to use them during a test anyway.
I agree with Old Dog about people's historical fascination with Doomsday scenarios. This might be attributed to the way children's parents always bail them out when they get in over their heads. I suppose they never quite outgrow the idea that, when all else fails, somebody bigger and stronger than them will come to their rescue.
Speaking of the Second Coming, it seems to me that it would be more accurate to call it the "Third Coming". The First Coming was when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The Second Coming was when He rose from the grave, hung around with His friends for awhile, and then ascended into Heaven. Ipso facto, if He ever visits us again, it will be the Third Coming.
Yup, those are the pencil boxes that we had in our first few grades of school. I seem to remember the ones with the sliders but, by the time I figured out what they were for, I had already memorized the multiplication tables. I doubt that our teachers would have allowed us to use them during a test anyway.
You'll get to Bethlehem faster if you don't slouch
As far as I can tell there was just one company that made those pencil boxes, mostly as an advertising and promotional item. Since they've been out of production for many years they are now collectibles, fetching up to twenty dollars or so on Ebay. What is cool is the version with the sliding scale that lets you do multiplication, kind of like a rudimentary slide rule. I never saw that type before; it would have come in handy in the first or second grade. Why memorize those times tables when you have a spiffy gadget at hand?
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So, Uncle Ken likes Facebook and so do a lot of other people. I get that; the Kool-Aid must be mighty tasty but it's not for me. Facebook exists solely as an instrument to suck your data and sell it to advertisers. But in all fairness, I did look into setting up an anonymous account but it would be more trouble than it's worth, requiring a new dedicated email account. And since Facebook requires that you use your real name the use of a phony name is a violation of its terms of service, resulting in a permanent ban. I don't think I'm missing much by not signing up. Perhaps Uncle Ken can share some of the great insights he has gained. I've read that pictures of kitty cats are quite popular.
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Damon Knight wrote a short story back in the fifties titled "What Rough Beast." I'll have to dig and see if I can find it online to compare it to Yeats. And I'll have to ponder the notion of a Second Coming (or some other kind of cataclysmic change). Seems to me that the idea gets more popular when folks are fed up, at the end of their rope, and decide WTF! Time to blow everything up and start over, kind of what Steve Bannon has in mind. Where's an asteroid when you need it?
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Did you ever wonder what you had to do in order to drink beer all day and still function? I have, and found some good info from the experts. Enjoy.
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For a final word on Facebook, John Oliver had an amusing rant on his latest program. It pretty much mirrors my sentiments.
poetry 101
I don't think we ever read this in Gage Park. One nice thing about college, though I didn't think so at the time, is that there were courses you had to take, and therefore you learned stuff you never would have learned on your own. Coming out of high school I had a dim view of poetry, but I had to take English courses and that meant poetry, and I had to read and even memorize some and I got to like some.
But the poem is around, there are pieces of it in popular culture. Actually I read a science fiction story titled What Rough Beast before I ever went to college, and then was surprised when I came across the actual poem. The phrase The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity is quoted all the time.
As it was explained to me almost sixty years ago (whenever I remember school days it is a lovely spring day on the other side of the dusty fly-specked window and the smell of chalk dust is heavy in the air) Yeats had a wife who had visions and he wrote them down as she spoke, and one of her visions was that every two thousand years some cataclysmic event which changes the course of humanity occurs, thus approximately two thousand years after the birth of our savior the world was stumbling into WW I, so yes Beagles, you do have it right.
My problem with those Zoroastrian and Deist, and hell, almost all religions that contain one all-powerful god, is that if He has something He wants done, why doesn't He do it Himself? He is God after all, isn't He?
Good will always win is what The Liberal Agenda believed. The shining sword of reason cannot fail to bring about the good life. Folks conquered by the sword of might (where are all these damn swords coming from?) can forge their own swords and.free themselves, but those shone the clear bright light of reason will never return to their old bad ways.
We are still fighting the good fight, but it is by no means certain that we will win as it once was.
You know these pithy little sentences which you come across all over and especially in the banner bedecked halls of fb can easily be rebuked by two words: Sez who? .
But the poem is around, there are pieces of it in popular culture. Actually I read a science fiction story titled What Rough Beast before I ever went to college, and then was surprised when I came across the actual poem. The phrase The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity is quoted all the time.
As it was explained to me almost sixty years ago (whenever I remember school days it is a lovely spring day on the other side of the dusty fly-specked window and the smell of chalk dust is heavy in the air) Yeats had a wife who had visions and he wrote them down as she spoke, and one of her visions was that every two thousand years some cataclysmic event which changes the course of humanity occurs, thus approximately two thousand years after the birth of our savior the world was stumbling into WW I, so yes Beagles, you do have it right.
My problem with those Zoroastrian and Deist, and hell, almost all religions that contain one all-powerful god, is that if He has something He wants done, why doesn't He do it Himself? He is God after all, isn't He?
Good will always win is what The Liberal Agenda believed. The shining sword of reason cannot fail to bring about the good life. Folks conquered by the sword of might (where are all these damn swords coming from?) can forge their own swords and.free themselves, but those shone the clear bright light of reason will never return to their old bad ways.
We are still fighting the good fight, but it is by no means certain that we will win as it once was.
You know these pithy little sentences which you come across all over and especially in the banner bedecked halls of fb can easily be rebuked by two words: Sez who? .
Monday, September 24, 2018
I Think I Get it Now
That Yeats poem sounds familiar. I must have come across it in school or someplace, but I seem to remember that I didn't get it at the time. I didn't get it this time either at first but, thanks to Uncle Ken's comments and a brief sabbatical in my smoking lounge, I think I got it now. Correct me if I'm wrong: The world is going to hell in a hand basket and we're all doomed. The Sphinx "slouching its way to Bethlehem" symbolically states that our benevolent Christian God has been replaced with one of those fearsome beasts out of the Biblical Book of Revelation.
If Yeats had read the whole book, he would have learned that all those fearsome beasts will ultimately be cast into the fiery pit and the good guys will win in the end. Of course that was supposed to happen in one generation and we're still waiting for it 2000 years later. I prefer the Zoroastrian and Deist version myself. God gave us an imperfect world and He expects us to work the bugs out of it. Once we've done that, He has another job lined up for us, but there's no use explaining that to us now because, at our present stage of development, we couldn't possibly understand it. I read a quotable quote in our local paper the other day, but I don't remember who said it. I really need to start writing this stuff down. "Good will always win in the end because, if good hasn't won, it's not the end yet."
If Yeats had read the whole book, he would have learned that all those fearsome beasts will ultimately be cast into the fiery pit and the good guys will win in the end. Of course that was supposed to happen in one generation and we're still waiting for it 2000 years later. I prefer the Zoroastrian and Deist version myself. God gave us an imperfect world and He expects us to work the bugs out of it. Once we've done that, He has another job lined up for us, but there's no use explaining that to us now because, at our present stage of development, we couldn't possibly understand it. I read a quotable quote in our local paper the other day, but I don't remember who said it. I really need to start writing this stuff down. "Good will always win in the end because, if good hasn't won, it's not the end yet."
the second coming
I believe King George and the merciless savages worked together during the war of independence. Britain didn't want the colonists to expand too far into the interior and away from imperial control and certainly the savages felt the same way about that, so they had some kind of alliance. And the British had abolished slavery on English soil in 1772, and didn't approve of our peculiar institution. They would abolish slavery in all their colonies in 1833, so if we had lost the war, blacks would have been freed thirty years earlier, and maybe without so much muss and fuss. Not a very politically correct birth of a nation.
I just finished reading an article on Zuckerberg in the New Yorker. Since stuff flows into fb so quickly (I really wonder why Old Dog refuses to see The Wonder, he could sign in under a bogus name and never post, but just look around to see what is going on so as to know what is up with half the people in the country. I expect there is some principle behind his refusal, but I wonder what it is) that they have to use elaborate algorithms to tag questionable posts to observers who then have to read complicated regulations that are continually being updated.
Well why not let a thousand flowers bloom? This is a part of the liberal agenda. Let all beliefs be presented to the court of popular opinion, discussion will ensue and opinions that are faulty will fall into the dustbin and the truer opinions will ascend and lead us to a better world.
But that discussion part seems to be the fly in the ointment. In science the proponents of say the steady state, confront the proponents of the expanding universe, and there is a logical argument, facts are presented, and the steady state falls into the dustbin. Not the same when lefties and righties get together. There is no logical discussion, the left ignores the evidence of the right and the right ignores the evidence of the left, there is a lot of namecalling and the two sides go home and get their guns and the election begins.
Seems to me that the liberal agenda mechanism might have worked back in the day of the ink stained wretches, but in the day of the internet when every crackpot is king, not so much. So if our means (logical discussion) aren't going to get us to our ends, maybe we should just go get our guns and adopt might makes right as it certainly appears that our opponents, under the orangeman, have done.
And so it appears to me that we are doing in the Kavenaugh battle, hanging onto the metoo tiger whose ends of eliminating sexual harassment are fine, but whose means are slay all the accused.
Old Dog speaks of the socialist and justice branches of the Democratic party, which to me are kind of idealistic, prissy, offshoots. I say look out for the Avenattis, the fighting Democrats who will toss all means and go after the reps by any means necessary, the rough beast, its hour come about at last slouching towards DC to be born.
In case either of the dawgs has missed Yeats in their liberal educations, the poem follows:
I just finished reading an article on Zuckerberg in the New Yorker. Since stuff flows into fb so quickly (I really wonder why Old Dog refuses to see The Wonder, he could sign in under a bogus name and never post, but just look around to see what is going on so as to know what is up with half the people in the country. I expect there is some principle behind his refusal, but I wonder what it is) that they have to use elaborate algorithms to tag questionable posts to observers who then have to read complicated regulations that are continually being updated.
Well why not let a thousand flowers bloom? This is a part of the liberal agenda. Let all beliefs be presented to the court of popular opinion, discussion will ensue and opinions that are faulty will fall into the dustbin and the truer opinions will ascend and lead us to a better world.
But that discussion part seems to be the fly in the ointment. In science the proponents of say the steady state, confront the proponents of the expanding universe, and there is a logical argument, facts are presented, and the steady state falls into the dustbin. Not the same when lefties and righties get together. There is no logical discussion, the left ignores the evidence of the right and the right ignores the evidence of the left, there is a lot of namecalling and the two sides go home and get their guns and the election begins.
Seems to me that the liberal agenda mechanism might have worked back in the day of the ink stained wretches, but in the day of the internet when every crackpot is king, not so much. So if our means (logical discussion) aren't going to get us to our ends, maybe we should just go get our guns and adopt might makes right as it certainly appears that our opponents, under the orangeman, have done.
And so it appears to me that we are doing in the Kavenaugh battle, hanging onto the metoo tiger whose ends of eliminating sexual harassment are fine, but whose means are slay all the accused.
Old Dog speaks of the socialist and justice branches of the Democratic party, which to me are kind of idealistic, prissy, offshoots. I say look out for the Avenattis, the fighting Democrats who will toss all means and go after the reps by any means necessary, the rough beast, its hour come about at last slouching towards DC to be born.
In case either of the dawgs has missed Yeats in their liberal educations, the poem follows:
The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Why Face Book Blocked the Declaration
Awhile back I reported that the Face Book machine blocked the Declaration of Independence as "hate speech", although human intervention quickly unblocked it. After thinking about it for awhile, I seemed to remember that there was something in there about "savages", which likely was the word that triggered the machine's alarm system. I looked it up the other day and, sure enough, it was in there, the last item in a long list of grievances against King George. Of course political correctness hadn't been invented yet in those days, a fact that somebody neglected to program into the machine.
"He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction of all Ages, Sexes, and Conditions."
Speaking of political correctness, I don't suppose those poor coolies in Red China can do anything about their government's Social Credit scheme, but the foreign businesses and nations that are affected by it could easily evade its consequences by refusing to do business with Red China. Of course they didn't listen to me 50 years ago and are unlikely to listen to me now, so they are bringing it on themselves.
"He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction of all Ages, Sexes, and Conditions."
Speaking of political correctness, I don't suppose those poor coolies in Red China can do anything about their government's Social Credit scheme, but the foreign businesses and nations that are affected by it could easily evade its consequences by refusing to do business with Red China. Of course they didn't listen to me 50 years ago and are unlikely to listen to me now, so they are bringing it on themselves.
After the equinox
Some time ago I mentioned an offshoot of the Democratic party called the Democratic Socialists and I recently learned there is another offshoot, the Justice Democrats. These guys have a lot in common with the DS group in that they are liberal even if they call themselves "progressive." Their big distinction is that they don't accept any corporate funding or money from PACs. Maybe it's working for them; a few of their candidates have won some recent elections, although not many. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
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My plunging experience differs from yours, Mr. Beagles. Rather than pack clogs more tightly I've found that plunging sucks a lot of crap, like globs of hair and those damn Q-Tips, back out of the drain. I neglected to mention that I also use a drain cleaner when I notice the draining slowing down a little. Instead of liquid cleaners I prefer the classic and dangerous stuff, 100% lye (sodium hydroxide). Ever wonder why strong alkali solutions feel so slippery on your fingers? It's dissolving the fat from beneath your skin, or so I've read. A little goes a long way and if I ever feel a compelling need to whip up some lutefisk I am well prepared.
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The Chinese social credit system keeps rolling along and now I've read that it may even affect foreign sovereignty. I don't think this train is going to stop any time soon.
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I can't tell which way the Kavanaugh business is going to turn but I expect some lurid details in the upcoming testimony. For a while I thought maybe he could squeeze out of this jam but now I'm not so sure. His fraternity at Yale was known for its shabby treatment of women; I wonder why he chose to join that one. And then there are the piscine aspects of his finances and how he resolved his personal debt so quickly. His background is getting murkier and murkier by the day. Finally, the state of Maryland has no statute of limitations on sexual assault; he could get arrested at any time if the woman in question decides to make a criminal complaint. What then? The best script writers in Hollywood can't come up with stuff like this.
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Here's a bit of useless knowledge...if you're like me you thought that Reince Priebus had a very unusual first name. Turns out, Reince isn't his real name after all. He got a head start on his alias in case the coppers come asking his associates about this guy Reinhold Priebus. Never heard of him.
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My plunging experience differs from yours, Mr. Beagles. Rather than pack clogs more tightly I've found that plunging sucks a lot of crap, like globs of hair and those damn Q-Tips, back out of the drain. I neglected to mention that I also use a drain cleaner when I notice the draining slowing down a little. Instead of liquid cleaners I prefer the classic and dangerous stuff, 100% lye (sodium hydroxide). Ever wonder why strong alkali solutions feel so slippery on your fingers? It's dissolving the fat from beneath your skin, or so I've read. A little goes a long way and if I ever feel a compelling need to whip up some lutefisk I am well prepared.
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The Chinese social credit system keeps rolling along and now I've read that it may even affect foreign sovereignty. I don't think this train is going to stop any time soon.
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I can't tell which way the Kavanaugh business is going to turn but I expect some lurid details in the upcoming testimony. For a while I thought maybe he could squeeze out of this jam but now I'm not so sure. His fraternity at Yale was known for its shabby treatment of women; I wonder why he chose to join that one. And then there are the piscine aspects of his finances and how he resolved his personal debt so quickly. His background is getting murkier and murkier by the day. Finally, the state of Maryland has no statute of limitations on sexual assault; he could get arrested at any time if the woman in question decides to make a criminal complaint. What then? The best script writers in Hollywood can't come up with stuff like this.
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Here's a bit of useless knowledge...if you're like me you thought that Reince Priebus had a very unusual first name. Turns out, Reince isn't his real name after all. He got a head start on his alias in case the coppers come asking his associates about this guy Reinhold Priebus. Never heard of him.
Friday, September 21, 2018
Innocent Until Proven Guilty
That's the way it's supposed to be, but many people seem to believe the opposite. If an accused person is subsequently judged "not guilty" in a court of law, people say "he got off". I'm sure that some guilty people do manage to get away with their crimes, but that's better than having innocent people convicted. Of course that happens too, but that shouldn't be the intent of the legal system. I remember, back in the days of the Cold War, that Russia seemed to have a lower crime rate than the US, but they also had a reputation for sending a lot of innocent people to Siberia. Somebody conducted a poll of some Russian people, asking them if it was better that some innocent people go to prison or that some guilty people go scot free. The consensus was - Duh! everybody knows that it's better if some innocent people go to prison. I wonder what the results would be if a pollster asked the same question in the US.
I hate to be the one to tell you this, Uncle Ken, but not all liberals are as fair, honest, and intelligent as you are. Of course not all conservatives are as fair honest, and intelligent as I am either. We should probably do something about that. Any ideas?
Uncle Ken's link provides a logical and plausible explanation of the reason for the closure of that solar observatory. But what about the post office? 'Splain that one if you can!
I hate to be the one to tell you this, Uncle Ken, but not all liberals are as fair, honest, and intelligent as you are. Of course not all conservatives are as fair honest, and intelligent as I am either. We should probably do something about that. Any ideas?
Uncle Ken's link provides a logical and plausible explanation of the reason for the closure of that solar observatory. But what about the post office? 'Splain that one if you can!
going down the drain and riding the tiger
I have had a problem similar to the one Beagles speaks of . The adjacent condo and mine share the pipe that empties our bathroom sinks. A renovation on the part of my neighbors has resulted in their sink being higher than mine so that when the lower drain gets clogged their water flows into my sink and over the edge and onto my floor. I used to have a slow draining bathtub and would regularly pour draino down it. One day I was at the draino shelf and a woman told me that her husband was a plumber and he had told her that bleach is just as good (and much cheaper), and it turned out to do the job just as well. Later it became completely clogged and the guys cleaned it out, and I have never had to use bleach again.
So now Christine has said she will testify, but not on Monday, and there are some kind of unspecified conditions to make it fair. I don't know. The fact that no other women have come forth and that she doesn't have any real evidence makes me think it didn't happen. The dems will continue to push it though because any delaying tactic is worth it to keep hard right candidates out of the judgeship, and even if it doesn't succeed in that it should boost our turnout in 2018.
Dirty pool I admit. The end of hoping to get a more moderate judge is a good one for me, though Beagles would think otherwise. The means, smearing this guy who is probably innocent leaves a bad taste, and worse is pushing something that is probably untrue which goes against the Liberal Agenda and its Pursuit of Truth. And tactically it is all on the shoulders of this woman and who knows what she will do and the whole thing could backfire badly.
I asked my sister yesterday if, in the face of nobody else coming forward and no real hard evidence, she thought Kavenaugh did it, and she said absolutely and didn't have a doubt. It seems like others in the metoo movement also don't have any doubt. Indeed it seems like the expression of any doubt makes you an enemy of the movement whose words don't have to be considered.
I think doubt is the hallmark of the liberal. I was going to say strength, but it is really not a strength in going against those who have no doubt that they are right, But still it is the Way of Truth.
I think of the days of the true witch hunts, the satanic ritual child abuse movement of the middle eighties, where the article of faith was that a child would never lie about sexual abuse, which was patently untrue on the face of it, and which sent a lot of people to jail for a long time.
We dems are riding this metoo thing to the 2018 elections, but I fear we are riding the tiger.
Oh, and that Roswell conspiracy? https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/407701-new-mexico-solar-observatory-closed-amid-fbi-child-pornography
But why believe that when aliens and covert gov actions are so much more logical?
So now Christine has said she will testify, but not on Monday, and there are some kind of unspecified conditions to make it fair. I don't know. The fact that no other women have come forth and that she doesn't have any real evidence makes me think it didn't happen. The dems will continue to push it though because any delaying tactic is worth it to keep hard right candidates out of the judgeship, and even if it doesn't succeed in that it should boost our turnout in 2018.
Dirty pool I admit. The end of hoping to get a more moderate judge is a good one for me, though Beagles would think otherwise. The means, smearing this guy who is probably innocent leaves a bad taste, and worse is pushing something that is probably untrue which goes against the Liberal Agenda and its Pursuit of Truth. And tactically it is all on the shoulders of this woman and who knows what she will do and the whole thing could backfire badly.
I asked my sister yesterday if, in the face of nobody else coming forward and no real hard evidence, she thought Kavenaugh did it, and she said absolutely and didn't have a doubt. It seems like others in the metoo movement also don't have any doubt. Indeed it seems like the expression of any doubt makes you an enemy of the movement whose words don't have to be considered.
I think doubt is the hallmark of the liberal. I was going to say strength, but it is really not a strength in going against those who have no doubt that they are right, But still it is the Way of Truth.
I think of the days of the true witch hunts, the satanic ritual child abuse movement of the middle eighties, where the article of faith was that a child would never lie about sexual abuse, which was patently untrue on the face of it, and which sent a lot of people to jail for a long time.
We dems are riding this metoo thing to the 2018 elections, but I fear we are riding the tiger.
Oh, and that Roswell conspiracy? https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/407701-new-mexico-solar-observatory-closed-amid-fbi-child-pornography
But why believe that when aliens and covert gov actions are so much more logical?
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Plungers Are For Toilets
In my experience, it is not a good idea to use a toilet plunger on a clogged sink or bathtub drain. Such clogs usually consist of soap residue and/or hair, and a plunger just packs them in tighter. You may experience some temporary relief, but you are likely just blowing a hole in the clog, leaving the remainder to snag more soap and/or hair, and the next clog will likely be more difficult to clear than the last one. The best way to clear such a clogged drain is with a liquid drain cleaner like Drano or Liquid Plummer. Read and follow the instructions, especially the ones pertaining to safety. Keep some on hand and, next time, don't wait until the drain is completely clogged. Give it a treatment anytime the drain slows down considerably. I understand that common household bleach works too, but not as effectively. Both products are caustic (alkaline), but drain cleaner is much stronger than bleach. Whatever you do, don't mix either of them any acid product like ammonia. The interaction can produce hydrogen sulfide gas, which is poisonous. Come to think of it, you should check with your maintenance guy before you do any of this, because it might interfere with whatever system he is using.
Speaking of your maintenance guy, I think I know what he might have down to clear your drain. I'm assuming that you have somebody above you and somebody, or maybe a basement, below you. The Q-Tips likely came from above, and the clog likely formed below. The maintenance guy probably had dealt with this issue before, and he knew where to look for the problem. He probably went downstairs, opened a cleanout trap, and maybe ran a sewer snake through it. Then he came back up just to make sure that everything came out all right.
Okay, I did indeed get my ends and means mixed up last night. What I meant to say is that, if the end is wrong, it will not justify any means. Of course, what one person considers a wrong end, another person might consider a right end. Maybe a better way to say it would be, "Before you consider whether or not the end justifies the means, you should consider whether or not the end itself is justified."
Speaking of your maintenance guy, I think I know what he might have down to clear your drain. I'm assuming that you have somebody above you and somebody, or maybe a basement, below you. The Q-Tips likely came from above, and the clog likely formed below. The maintenance guy probably had dealt with this issue before, and he knew where to look for the problem. He probably went downstairs, opened a cleanout trap, and maybe ran a sewer snake through it. Then he came back up just to make sure that everything came out all right.
Okay, I did indeed get my ends and means mixed up last night. What I meant to say is that, if the end is wrong, it will not justify any means. Of course, what one person considers a wrong end, another person might consider a right end. Maybe a better way to say it would be, "Before you consider whether or not the end justifies the means, you should consider whether or not the end itself is justified."
Down the drain
Today ended up being one of those days. This morning I noticed my bathroom sink was full of water; very strange since I didn't put it there and there was no stopper in the sink. The water was clear but very warm and I'm thinking, Where did it come from? Never mind; I removed most of the water, grabbed the plunger, and proceeded to plunge. I've done this before when the sink was clogged or drained very slowly, not a big deal. This time was different. As I plunged the water became darker and darker until it was almost black. Not a pretty sight, and the sink refused to drain. I put my hand near the drain to see if anything came out and something did: a couple of plastic Q-Tips. What the what? How do Q-Tips end up in a drain? They're not mine, I use the generic ones with the rolled paper sticks. I fell into a routine; plunge for five minutes, wait ten minutes to see if anything changed, and repeat for a few hours. After giving up I marked the water level with a piece of tape to see if any water drained after an hour. Some did, the level dropped maybe an inch. Not good. I'm handy enough to replace the washers in a leaky faucet but this is beyond my skill and tool capabilities so it's time to call the maintenance guy. That's a perk of apartment living; you don't have to fix stuff yourself and it doesn't cost anything extra but it doesn't hurt to remember the maintenance guy come the holidays. So the guy shows up an hour and a half later, looks at the sink and checks the bath tub drain. I explain the situation, show him the Q-Tips and he says nothing except "I'll be back in a few minutes." I figure he's going to get some tools or something, but no. He returns after ten minutes, goes into the bathroom and the next thing I know is that there is the sound of running water. I was in another room and didn't hear anything like tools being used; there were none. It's like he was transported to a mystery place of plumbing magic and pulled a drain plug. I didn't see him do anything, I didn't hear him do anything, and yet the drain is now functioning perfectly. I should have called him first thing and not wasted all that time plunging. Live and learn but I don't think I've seen the end of Q-Tips.
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Did Old Dog's documentary cover Japan eating the rest of Asia before Pearl Harbor?
Why, yes indeed. The documentary begins in early 1937 and explains how political assassinations and attempted coups drove Japan into the hands of military extremists. As the most highly industrialized nation in Asia the Japanese considered it was their divine right to rule all of Asia and they embarked on what they considered a holy war. This plan must have been in the works a long time; the Japanese had a military presence in China since before WWI. There was a fear of western domination and the first step was to get rid of those pesky Brits in places like Hong Kong and Singapore. And US support of the British in China was considered an act of aggression which led the attack on Pearl Harbor. There's a lot of stuff I didn't know in the documentary, like the fact that the same force that hit Pearl Harbor attacked the Royal Australian Navy in Darwin two months later. Some time later that very same force attacked the British Royal Navy in Ceylon.
There's a lot of meat in this documentary, Uncle Ken, and except for an overly loud musical soundtrack in the early section I think you'll like it
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Did Old Dog's documentary cover Japan eating the rest of Asia before Pearl Harbor?
Why, yes indeed. The documentary begins in early 1937 and explains how political assassinations and attempted coups drove Japan into the hands of military extremists. As the most highly industrialized nation in Asia the Japanese considered it was their divine right to rule all of Asia and they embarked on what they considered a holy war. This plan must have been in the works a long time; the Japanese had a military presence in China since before WWI. There was a fear of western domination and the first step was to get rid of those pesky Brits in places like Hong Kong and Singapore. And US support of the British in China was considered an act of aggression which led the attack on Pearl Harbor. There's a lot of stuff I didn't know in the documentary, like the fact that the same force that hit Pearl Harbor attacked the Royal Australian Navy in Darwin two months later. Some time later that very same force attacked the British Royal Navy in Ceylon.
There's a lot of meat in this documentary, Uncle Ken, and except for an overly loud musical soundtrack in the early section I think you'll like it
ends and means vs might makes right
I think we have known for a long time that the polls aren't always right, There are certain ways to make polls more correct, sample size and how the sample is chosen, are a couple variables and I am disappointed that when polls are quoted, the details of how the poll were taken are not included. Nevertheless the polls are usually correct. Nevertheless I am wary of the blue wave polls, which I assume are the ones Beagles is referring to, because, well, because of the recent election,
The thing about the women that come out after the first accusations is that in most cases, outside of the publicity-seekers, coming out does a woman no good. The man is usually much more powerful than they are, and can, and has, ruined the careers of the woman. She has to fight charges that she is a liar and talk openly about something she feels is shameful. So generally the best thing for her is to keep quiet, but then when one woman comes forth, and then another there is strength in numbers. That is why they come out of the woodwork all together 30 years later.
In the Christine Ford case however no other woman has come forth. Since my last posting she has declined to testify before congress, and I have heard that she doesn't recall where the house was or what year the incident took place, which makes me think there is no case here at all.
Absolutely the dems want to delay the confirmation in the hope of the blue wave having an effect on the selection. The argument has been made that since this is an important matter, why not wait until after the next election so that the people can speak. This is the argument that the reps used to deny Obama's choice, but they had power and the dems do not.
I expect the dems to promote this lost cause anyway because they think it will energize women who are seen as the leading edge in the blue wave of 2018.
I think Beagles has the ends vs the means backwards, it is never a question of the means justifying the ends. I guess that would constitute might makes right, which most people think is wrong. The reps didn't think it was wrong when they denied Obama's candidate, or when they back Orangey despite his actions so that they can get their candidate on the supreme court.
The thing about the women that come out after the first accusations is that in most cases, outside of the publicity-seekers, coming out does a woman no good. The man is usually much more powerful than they are, and can, and has, ruined the careers of the woman. She has to fight charges that she is a liar and talk openly about something she feels is shameful. So generally the best thing for her is to keep quiet, but then when one woman comes forth, and then another there is strength in numbers. That is why they come out of the woodwork all together 30 years later.
In the Christine Ford case however no other woman has come forth. Since my last posting she has declined to testify before congress, and I have heard that she doesn't recall where the house was or what year the incident took place, which makes me think there is no case here at all.
Absolutely the dems want to delay the confirmation in the hope of the blue wave having an effect on the selection. The argument has been made that since this is an important matter, why not wait until after the next election so that the people can speak. This is the argument that the reps used to deny Obama's choice, but they had power and the dems do not.
I expect the dems to promote this lost cause anyway because they think it will energize women who are seen as the leading edge in the blue wave of 2018.
I think Beagles has the ends vs the means backwards, it is never a question of the means justifying the ends. I guess that would constitute might makes right, which most people think is wrong. The reps didn't think it was wrong when they denied Obama's candidate, or when they back Orangey despite his actions so that they can get their candidate on the supreme court.
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Counting Unhatched Chickens
If we didn't learn another thing from the last election, we should have learned that the polls aren't always right. People like to predict things, I suppose it gives them a false sense of security. It's like Red Green used to say, the three little words that men find it so hard to say are "I-don't-know".
I'm always suspicious of those me tooers that come out of the woodwork to tell us about some outrage that happened to them 30 years ago. I suppose there are legitimate reasons why someone would keep something like that to themselves for 30 years and then decide to go public with it, but I don't know what they might be. In the Kavanaugh case, it's no secret that the Dems want to delay the confirmation hearings and the Reps want to hurry them along. Of course that doesn't prove that this Ford lady is lying through her teeth, but it kind of makes one wonder. From what I've read, it doesn't sound like a case of rape anyway, more like a drunken adolescent make out session that turned a little ugly. Hey, that can happen to anybody, or so I have been told.
I suppose one could make a case for the ends justifying the means but, if the ends are wrong to start with, no amount of means are going to justify them.
I'm always suspicious of those me tooers that come out of the woodwork to tell us about some outrage that happened to them 30 years ago. I suppose there are legitimate reasons why someone would keep something like that to themselves for 30 years and then decide to go public with it, but I don't know what they might be. In the Kavanaugh case, it's no secret that the Dems want to delay the confirmation hearings and the Reps want to hurry them along. Of course that doesn't prove that this Ford lady is lying through her teeth, but it kind of makes one wonder. From what I've read, it doesn't sound like a case of rape anyway, more like a drunken adolescent make out session that turned a little ugly. Hey, that can happen to anybody, or so I have been told.
I suppose one could make a case for the ends justifying the means but, if the ends are wrong to start with, no amount of means are going to justify them.
tromp, tromp, tromp
Did Old Dog's documentary cover Japan eating the rest of Asia before Pearl Harbor? There was some general who went rogue and conquered a good part of northern/China/Mongolia and claimed it was an independent country, well an independent country aligned closely with Japan. The counterpart of MacArthur on our side but more successful. Clint Eastwood directed a pretty good movie Flags of our Fathers, a counterpoint to Letters from Iwo Jima, but from the Japanese side. I give both movies thumbs up.
At the moment of this writing Christine Ford is refusing to testify unless the FBI investigates first. I don't know, this looks weak. It looks like the reps will just roll on with the nomination. Probably the dems will make a big deal out of it, attempting to sway Collins and Murkowski, and maybe some other senators fearful of the blue wave. Kind of dirty pool I admit, since there is so far no hard evidence of this event, but it's not unheard of to do a little bad to create a greater good.
Here's where an opponent of Uncle Ken would accuse me of believing the ends justify the means, to which I would reply yes I do, everybody does, we do it all the time. This hypocritical indignation of the ends justifying the means is a weak argument, like slippery slope, and so is your mother.
There are all kinds of ways we are planning on punishing Canada for legalizing pot. Trump doesn't like Canada because the prime minister (I had to go to google to get his title right, shame on me) insulted him and that pecky ol' possum, Sessions, hates pot.
The \autumnal equinox is upon us this Saturday. Tragic, but really mostly symbolic, days have been getting shorter since three months ago, the fact that we now cross the line where days are shorter than nights is rather trivial, and still plenty of warm days ahead, the Trib is calling for 91 degrees tomorrow. Somewhere far north of Beaglesonia Old Man Winter is trudging across the terrain in his creaky boots, but thus far we cannot hear his trod.
Monday, November 4th, we will glance out the window towards suppertime, and see, bam, night's black curtain slammed shut on us. There may be some Halloween candy remaining in the bowl, but outside the cheery Jack O Lantern will be crumbling, Thanksgiving crapola will line the shelves of Walgreens, and the trod of Old Man Winter's boots will be like thunder. Hunker down, hunker down, the soft green shoots will not be seen for, well, it will seem like an eternity.
At the moment of this writing Christine Ford is refusing to testify unless the FBI investigates first. I don't know, this looks weak. It looks like the reps will just roll on with the nomination. Probably the dems will make a big deal out of it, attempting to sway Collins and Murkowski, and maybe some other senators fearful of the blue wave. Kind of dirty pool I admit, since there is so far no hard evidence of this event, but it's not unheard of to do a little bad to create a greater good.
Here's where an opponent of Uncle Ken would accuse me of believing the ends justify the means, to which I would reply yes I do, everybody does, we do it all the time. This hypocritical indignation of the ends justifying the means is a weak argument, like slippery slope, and so is your mother.
There are all kinds of ways we are planning on punishing Canada for legalizing pot. Trump doesn't like Canada because the prime minister (I had to go to google to get his title right, shame on me) insulted him and that pecky ol' possum, Sessions, hates pot.
The \autumnal equinox is upon us this Saturday. Tragic, but really mostly symbolic, days have been getting shorter since three months ago, the fact that we now cross the line where days are shorter than nights is rather trivial, and still plenty of warm days ahead, the Trib is calling for 91 degrees tomorrow. Somewhere far north of Beaglesonia Old Man Winter is trudging across the terrain in his creaky boots, but thus far we cannot hear his trod.
Monday, November 4th, we will glance out the window towards suppertime, and see, bam, night's black curtain slammed shut on us. There may be some Halloween candy remaining in the bowl, but outside the cheery Jack O Lantern will be crumbling, Thanksgiving crapola will line the shelves of Walgreens, and the trod of Old Man Winter's boots will be like thunder. Hunker down, hunker down, the soft green shoots will not be seen for, well, it will seem like an eternity.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Chickens and Pears
It sounds like those chickens making a round trip to Red China will be cleaned where they are slaughtered, in the US. All the commies will be doing is cooking and packaging them, which makes more sense than shipping dead uncleaned birds across the ocean. This sounds like the precooked chicken that is already available here. We seldom buy it because it's more expensive and doesn't taste as good as the stuff we cook ourselves.
That was an interesting story about those mutant pear trees gone wild. The "thorn apple" trees we have around here might be a variant. They are not widespread, but they can become a localized problem once the get established. I have heard tell that the thorns are capable of puncturing a tractor tire, so most farmers kill every one they see. There was a thick stand of them next door to where we used to live, but they didn't seem to be spreading off the property. I have chopped down two or three of them in Beaglesonia over the years, and they haven't sprouted back, at least not yet.
That was an interesting story about those mutant pear trees gone wild. The "thorn apple" trees we have around here might be a variant. They are not widespread, but they can become a localized problem once the get established. I have heard tell that the thorns are capable of puncturing a tractor tire, so most farmers kill every one they see. There was a thick stand of them next door to where we used to live, but they didn't seem to be spreading off the property. I have chopped down two or three of them in Beaglesonia over the years, and they haven't sprouted back, at least not yet.
Creepy trees
After digging into the Chinese chicken business I learned a few new things. The deal went down because China agreed to accept US beef, something they haven't done before, so US ranchers must be happy. All of the imported chicken products must be cooked; if you buy raw chicken you won't be getting any Chinese mystery bird. With anything else I'd keep a close eye on the label which could be a problem since the FDA doesn't require country of origin to be specified. This policy is flawed but it might be too late to do anything about it.
What is troubling to me is that I haven't heard of this before; most of the news coverage is from last year. Maybe it slipped through the cracks because of the inordinate amount of news regarding all things Trump.
And speaking of Trump, Stormy Daniels has a book coming out next month and a few items leaked which should hit Trump where it really hurts: his manhood. Among other things she states his penis is "smaller than average" and that "It may have been the least impressive sex I’d ever had..." Well. That's too much information but I'm thinking that porn stars have different standards in the bedroom than average folk.
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I've been watching a lot of history documentaries lately and I found a good one on YouTube, Japan's War In Color. It's a 2004 British production and covers Japan from the mid-thirties to the occupation. It has a little of a Ken Burns feel with narrations from Japanese letters and diaries and gets into the mindset of the Japanese people. Thumbs Up from me.
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I don't know what to think about the Kavanaugh business and his alleged drunken teenage behavior. I don't want to blame the victim but there's a certain piscine quality to the whole thing. Going into a bedroom with two drunken teenage males doesn't sound like a good idea in retrospect. Maybe she was forced or was expecting a romantic make-out session but in either case it appears she escape unscathed except for emotional trauma. But the teenage years are like that, a lot of emotional trauma. Would I have gotten over such an event after all this time? I don't know.
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Since Canada legalized pot we may have fewer visitors from The Great White North. Pot is still a federally proscribed substance in the US and if a border agent asks if you've smoked pot and you admit it you can be turned away. If the border guys find out you've been lying (through social media) you can be banned for life.
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We've discussed invasive species before but they've usually been critters. Here's a new one: invasive trees. There is a variation of the pear tree, originally designed as an ornamental shade tree, that has mutated into a spindly and thorny tree from hell which is spreading rapidly.
Is this another sign of an upcoming apocalypse? If so, you can add this one to the list: Ferrari is developing an SUV. Just what we need, another million dollar toy. What a world we live in.
What is troubling to me is that I haven't heard of this before; most of the news coverage is from last year. Maybe it slipped through the cracks because of the inordinate amount of news regarding all things Trump.
And speaking of Trump, Stormy Daniels has a book coming out next month and a few items leaked which should hit Trump where it really hurts: his manhood. Among other things she states his penis is "smaller than average" and that "It may have been the least impressive sex I’d ever had..." Well. That's too much information but I'm thinking that porn stars have different standards in the bedroom than average folk.
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I've been watching a lot of history documentaries lately and I found a good one on YouTube, Japan's War In Color. It's a 2004 British production and covers Japan from the mid-thirties to the occupation. It has a little of a Ken Burns feel with narrations from Japanese letters and diaries and gets into the mindset of the Japanese people. Thumbs Up from me.
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I don't know what to think about the Kavanaugh business and his alleged drunken teenage behavior. I don't want to blame the victim but there's a certain piscine quality to the whole thing. Going into a bedroom with two drunken teenage males doesn't sound like a good idea in retrospect. Maybe she was forced or was expecting a romantic make-out session but in either case it appears she escape unscathed except for emotional trauma. But the teenage years are like that, a lot of emotional trauma. Would I have gotten over such an event after all this time? I don't know.
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Since Canada legalized pot we may have fewer visitors from The Great White North. Pot is still a federally proscribed substance in the US and if a border agent asks if you've smoked pot and you admit it you can be turned away. If the border guys find out you've been lying (through social media) you can be banned for life.
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We've discussed invasive species before but they've usually been critters. Here's a new one: invasive trees. There is a variation of the pear tree, originally designed as an ornamental shade tree, that has mutated into a spindly and thorny tree from hell which is spreading rapidly.
Is this another sign of an upcoming apocalypse? If so, you can add this one to the list: Ferrari is developing an SUV. Just what we need, another million dollar toy. What a world we live in.
tv channel battles
I had friends in town last weekend, why I missed my Monday morning post. It seemed like a relatively quiet news time, and then Christine Ford came out, Before that Kavenaugh was a lead pipe cinch, anymore, well he will probably still get in, but maybe not. I am surprised that the reos aren't just ramrodding this through, but I guess there was some resistance in their own party. I wonder if some of those guys are uneasy about their poll numbers for 2018, a lot of which is generally ascribed to women. One thing that I don't quite understand is that the white house is on board with this and even leading the way. It doesn't sound like him does it?
She has some collaborative evidence (notes to a psychiatrist I think), he flatly denies it . His buddy who was supposedly in the room with him denies it, I think there were three other people at the party that we haven't heard from. Was it such a big deal? He was drunk, it was a long time ago. I guess it depends on who you ask.
But it is a delay and that makes my ilk happy, anything can happen during a delay, maybe this and that and it gets pushed back until after November when hopefully the blue wave will have washed over Washington. The blue wave is not expected to wash over the senate, but we will have a little hand, maybe something will work out.
I didn't realize that Old Dog watched the Sunday news shows too. They used to be much better. There used to be cynical lefty reporters who would criticize the dems and cynical righties that would criticize the reps, now both sides hew more closely to the party line, and they have way too many actual pols who are just promoting themselves. But I generally try to catch them all, and as Old Dog says it is a dance, dodging between Fox and NBC at nine, and then CBS pops up at nine thirty, so there are three. but the first two are over at ten when ABC pops up and for the last hour it is just ABC. I wonder if I could get this on my phone in order to break the boredom of the gym.
Speaking of the gym from it's inception there was only one channel you could get on the tv there: CNN. It was that or turn the tv off. Last week I went down there and it was on ESPN, Well sports, you think, that is kind of neutral, but ESPN is worse than sports, it is jocks past their time pontificating loudly about, well mostly about themselves.
WTF. Of course I complained in the office. The guy down there said some people had complained. Foxies I assume. I read the election returns and the building is solidly blue, but it only takes a few Foxies to spoil the soup. The battle wages (simmers) on, and at least we have gotten rid of ESPN. We now have the Travel channel, which sounds okay, exotic locales and all, but like the History and Science channels it has long shed content corresponding to its name and last week it was showing ghost stories and this week it is showing bizarre foods.
I thought by the time I got back to posting we would be done with conspiracy theories, but this morning I have learned that there is something fishy about fish.
She has some collaborative evidence (notes to a psychiatrist I think), he flatly denies it . His buddy who was supposedly in the room with him denies it, I think there were three other people at the party that we haven't heard from. Was it such a big deal? He was drunk, it was a long time ago. I guess it depends on who you ask.
But it is a delay and that makes my ilk happy, anything can happen during a delay, maybe this and that and it gets pushed back until after November when hopefully the blue wave will have washed over Washington. The blue wave is not expected to wash over the senate, but we will have a little hand, maybe something will work out.
I didn't realize that Old Dog watched the Sunday news shows too. They used to be much better. There used to be cynical lefty reporters who would criticize the dems and cynical righties that would criticize the reps, now both sides hew more closely to the party line, and they have way too many actual pols who are just promoting themselves. But I generally try to catch them all, and as Old Dog says it is a dance, dodging between Fox and NBC at nine, and then CBS pops up at nine thirty, so there are three. but the first two are over at ten when ABC pops up and for the last hour it is just ABC. I wonder if I could get this on my phone in order to break the boredom of the gym.
Speaking of the gym from it's inception there was only one channel you could get on the tv there: CNN. It was that or turn the tv off. Last week I went down there and it was on ESPN, Well sports, you think, that is kind of neutral, but ESPN is worse than sports, it is jocks past their time pontificating loudly about, well mostly about themselves.
WTF. Of course I complained in the office. The guy down there said some people had complained. Foxies I assume. I read the election returns and the building is solidly blue, but it only takes a few Foxies to spoil the soup. The battle wages (simmers) on, and at least we have gotten rid of ESPN. We now have the Travel channel, which sounds okay, exotic locales and all, but like the History and Science channels it has long shed content corresponding to its name and last week it was showing ghost stories and this week it is showing bizarre foods.
I thought by the time I got back to posting we would be done with conspiracy theories, but this morning I have learned that there is something fishy about fish.
Monday, September 17, 2018
Chicken Too Now?
Some years ago, we noticed the label on some frozen fish we had bought: "Wild caught Canadian whitefish, produced in China". We wondered exactly what that meant until we saw a show on PBS about Greenland. They explained how Cod that was caught off the coast of Greenland was flash frozen, guts and all, shipped to Red China to be filleted and packaged, and then shipped to markets in North America. You can do that with fish, provided that you process and re-freeze it quickly, but I doubt that it would work with poultry or mammals. I know from my experience with hunting and farm butchering that, the quicker you get the guts out and the skin off, the quicker the meat gets to cool down and the better it tastes. Most of the reported "wild taste" of wild game is due to improper and/or untimely cleaning. I don't think you can flash freeze a warm blooded creature with hair or feathers still on it like you can a fish, but I could be wrong about that.
I have posted about this subject before. I believe my original wording was: "I don't care if those coolies work for free, the shipping and handling costs should more than cancel out the savings in labor cost." Don't forget, this stuff would have to be kept frozen all the way to Red China and back. The shipping containers would have to be refrigerated and well insulated. I don't think just packing the stuff in dry ice would cut it. Call me paranoid, but I think this is not just about money, there are some political axes being ground here. I don't know who is doing the grinding, but I doubt that it's Trump, since the fish thing has been going on for a long time. Trump might be on the right track with those tariffs but, if it was me, I would put an embargo on all trade with Red China. I have been saying that since Nixon lifted the old embargo, and nothing that has happened since then has caused me to change my mind.
I have posted about this subject before. I believe my original wording was: "I don't care if those coolies work for free, the shipping and handling costs should more than cancel out the savings in labor cost." Don't forget, this stuff would have to be kept frozen all the way to Red China and back. The shipping containers would have to be refrigerated and well insulated. I don't think just packing the stuff in dry ice would cut it. Call me paranoid, but I think this is not just about money, there are some political axes being ground here. I don't know who is doing the grinding, but I doubt that it's Trump, since the fish thing has been going on for a long time. Trump might be on the right track with those tariffs but, if it was me, I would put an embargo on all trade with Red China. I have been saying that since Nixon lifted the old embargo, and nothing that has happened since then has caused me to change my mind.
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Sweet and sour chicken
There is no experience quite like filling sandbags, especially when the sand is a little wet. Damn things are heavy. During my first week in the Army we had a lot of downtime because of a uniform shortage; those of us with uniforms ended up on work details and one fine morning was spent filling sandbags. There was no pressing need for them, it was something to keep us busy. I suspect that another work detail was tasked with emptying and folding them neatly in the afternoon.
I don't understand the business with plywood either, Mr. Beagles. Folks have been living in the Carolinas since colonial times and big storms shouldn't take them by surprise. Have storm shutters fallen out of fashion?
If folks ignore a mandatory evacuation order shouldn't they have to pay for their rescue, if needed? Makes sense to me.
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I like the Sunday morning array of news programs, like Meet the Press and Face the Nation, but they overlap and I don't like being tied to a specific time frame, glued to the tube. I just stumbled (doing a lot of stumbling lately, must be getting old) on a website that solves that problem. All kinds of news programs, across the political spectrum, are available and you can listen to them at your leisure. The best thing is that you can fast-forward through them, ignoring the parts in which you have no interest.
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Although not more conspiracy noise I found something that is more than a bit disturbing. Do you like eating chicken from China? There is a recent program where chicken from the US is shipped to China for processing and returned to the US for our consumption. Think of all those frozen birds slowly making their way back and forth across the Pacific in shipping containers. Is chicken so cheap that it is cost effective to have them processed in China and returned? This program was initiated in the Bush era but didn't get going until Trump made one of his great trade deals last year. If the US has lost the capability to economically process chicken we are doomed.
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Well, Manafort flipped and Kavanaugh is accused of rape. It should be an interesting week.
I don't understand the business with plywood either, Mr. Beagles. Folks have been living in the Carolinas since colonial times and big storms shouldn't take them by surprise. Have storm shutters fallen out of fashion?
If folks ignore a mandatory evacuation order shouldn't they have to pay for their rescue, if needed? Makes sense to me.
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I like the Sunday morning array of news programs, like Meet the Press and Face the Nation, but they overlap and I don't like being tied to a specific time frame, glued to the tube. I just stumbled (doing a lot of stumbling lately, must be getting old) on a website that solves that problem. All kinds of news programs, across the political spectrum, are available and you can listen to them at your leisure. The best thing is that you can fast-forward through them, ignoring the parts in which you have no interest.
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Although not more conspiracy noise I found something that is more than a bit disturbing. Do you like eating chicken from China? There is a recent program where chicken from the US is shipped to China for processing and returned to the US for our consumption. Think of all those frozen birds slowly making their way back and forth across the Pacific in shipping containers. Is chicken so cheap that it is cost effective to have them processed in China and returned? This program was initiated in the Bush era but didn't get going until Trump made one of his great trade deals last year. If the US has lost the capability to economically process chicken we are doomed.
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Well, Manafort flipped and Kavanaugh is accused of rape. It should be an interesting week.
Saturday, September 15, 2018
The Font Mystery and Other Issues
"By the way Beagles how did you get that nice black font? I always type my posts with the blackest font, but when I Publish it, it turns that awful grey, that I have to squint to see." - Uncle Ken
This has come up before. I use the default font, and it looks the same on my browser as what youse guys post. Then again, I seldom look at the "View Blog" page, I just work from the home page that comes up when we log in. I did look at the "View Blog" page yesterday, and what I think is happening is, when I open with a quote like this, the Google Machine shows the whole post in the same font as the opening quote. I don't use the "Quote" function from the tool bar at the top of the page, I just copy and paste from the home page and add the quotation marks.
Whenever there's a hurricane or other natural disaster, the governor or somebody issues a mandatory evacuation order, which I believe he has the power to do once he declares a state of emergency. Afterwards, we usually hear about some people who didn't evacuate and have to be rescued. I have never heard of anybody being prosecuted for refusing to heed a mandatory evacuation order. So why do they call it "mandatory" if people are allowed to ignore it with impunity? Wouldn't it be more accurate to call it an "evacuation advisory" or something like that?
Another thing that bothers me is the way they show people boarding up their windows with what looks like brand new construction grade plywood. I once saw somebody buying OSB, which is cheaper, but I believe that was because the local lumber yard had run out of the good stuff. I always wondered what they did with the plywood after the storm, since they always seem to be buying new stuff before the next storm. Some years ago, after Hurricane Ike hit Texas, a guy who lives there told me that his neighbors piled it all up and burned it. He went around with his pickup truck a couple days after the storm offering to take any unwanted plywood off their hands, but most of it had already been burned up. What, are those people nuts?
Then there's the sandbags. Nowadays they are made of some kind of synthetic material, which I'm sure would be good for more than one usage, yet all the ones you see them filling on TV appear to be brand new. Do they dump the sand out and throw the bags away after each storm? Even if they don't care about the expense, what kind of people deliberately make more work for themselves like that?
Friday, September 14, 2018
Blowin' in the wind, again
That Woodward name sounded familiar, but I don't believe I've ever seen a picture or film of him.
Bob Woodward has been making the rounds on a lot of talk shows, news programs, and the like. You may have seen him but not known it. He was the guy that was portrayed by Robert Redford in the film All The President's Men. Fun fact: he grew up in the Chicagoland area and attended Wheaton-Warrenville High School. Another local boy makes good.
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Big storms, hurricanes, and other natural disasters get a lot of news coverage because they are the kinds of events where puny human beings are at the mercy of the unleashed fury of Mother Nature and we can't do a damn thing about it. All we can do is observe and hope that our preparations are good enough to ride it out. As Hurricane Florence approached, a lot was made of the swine production in that area; there are ponds of pig manure everywhere and storm surges are not a good thing for their health and welfare. They are truly in deep shit.
I learned a little bit about tropical storms from one of the newscasts I stumbled upon recently. If the storm is in the Atlantic or east of the international date line in the Pacific it's called a hurricane. West of the date line it's called a typhoon and south of the equator it's called a cyclone regardless of where it sits relative to the date line. Kind of cool, you can get an idea where the storm is just by the name.
But Hurricane Florence is small potatoes. On the other side of the world a bigger storm is bearing down on the Philippines. For your weather watching enjoyment I give you Mangkhut, a Category 5 Super Typhoon:
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It's funny that Uncle Ken should mention the Kennedy assassination. There is a theory from a few years back that I just learned of and it makes a bit of sense. Ballistics test indicate that JFK was hit by two types of bullets, one fired by Oswald and the other an accidental discharge by a Secret Service agent in the following car from a newly issued AR-15. And the real target was John Connally and not Kennedy, but that's a theory from a different crackpot. But with the passing of so many years we may never know for sure; nearly all the principals are dead.
Another fresh conspiracy theory is developing from the little hole in the International Space Station, the one that was originally thought to have been caused by a micro-meteorite. Well, that hole was drilled by a person or persons unknown and they found another one. Based on photographic evidence of the module before launch it appears that the hole didn't happen down here but up there. Both the Russians and NASA are keeping their mouths shut about this, for now. There could be a crazy person up there.
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Since low pressure areas draw wind from high pressure areas the wind doesn't blow. It sucks.
Bob Woodward has been making the rounds on a lot of talk shows, news programs, and the like. You may have seen him but not known it. He was the guy that was portrayed by Robert Redford in the film All The President's Men. Fun fact: he grew up in the Chicagoland area and attended Wheaton-Warrenville High School. Another local boy makes good.
-----
Big storms, hurricanes, and other natural disasters get a lot of news coverage because they are the kinds of events where puny human beings are at the mercy of the unleashed fury of Mother Nature and we can't do a damn thing about it. All we can do is observe and hope that our preparations are good enough to ride it out. As Hurricane Florence approached, a lot was made of the swine production in that area; there are ponds of pig manure everywhere and storm surges are not a good thing for their health and welfare. They are truly in deep shit.
I learned a little bit about tropical storms from one of the newscasts I stumbled upon recently. If the storm is in the Atlantic or east of the international date line in the Pacific it's called a hurricane. West of the date line it's called a typhoon and south of the equator it's called a cyclone regardless of where it sits relative to the date line. Kind of cool, you can get an idea where the storm is just by the name.
But Hurricane Florence is small potatoes. On the other side of the world a bigger storm is bearing down on the Philippines. For your weather watching enjoyment I give you Mangkhut, a Category 5 Super Typhoon:
It's funny that Uncle Ken should mention the Kennedy assassination. There is a theory from a few years back that I just learned of and it makes a bit of sense. Ballistics test indicate that JFK was hit by two types of bullets, one fired by Oswald and the other an accidental discharge by a Secret Service agent in the following car from a newly issued AR-15. And the real target was John Connally and not Kennedy, but that's a theory from a different crackpot. But with the passing of so many years we may never know for sure; nearly all the principals are dead.
Another fresh conspiracy theory is developing from the little hole in the International Space Station, the one that was originally thought to have been caused by a micro-meteorite. Well, that hole was drilled by a person or persons unknown and they found another one. Based on photographic evidence of the module before launch it appears that the hole didn't happen down here but up there. Both the Russians and NASA are keeping their mouths shut about this, for now. There could be a crazy person up there.
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Since low pressure areas draw wind from high pressure areas the wind doesn't blow. It sucks.
investigate that fox
We just had a fox run across the beach, I've never seen that before. CNN correspondent in the Carolinas just now. This hurricane coverage has them grasping for something, anything, to say, to fill in all that dead air. How would I know? I just tuned in at 3:30 because I couldn't sleep, just to see what is going on with Florence. What is going on? It's raining and blowing. Couldn't they have just said that and moved on?
No. Because people just tune in from time to time to see what is going on with the hurricane and if they see some other story they will click onto one of the other networks. These networks watch each other and as long as one network has the hurricane so will all of them even if they have nothing to say but that they just saw a fox run across the beach.
Perhaps I did jump to conclusions (who me?) about what Beagles was complaining about. It was the mention of political investigations and Woodward whose book just came out, and the fact that he has complained before about the collusion investigation that made me think he was talking about that, but I see now that he never did actually said anything about that.
By the way Beagles how did you get that nice black font? I always type my posts with the blackest font, but when I Publish it, it turns that awful grey, that I have to squint to see.
I brought up the Benghazi investigation because I was assuming (wrongly in retrospect) that Beagles was complaining about the length of the collusion (it's not really collusion, it's about Russian influence in our elections, but these investigations tend to swerve, ask Bill Clinton). Benghazi is the example that my ilk uses to counter the complaints of Beagles's ilk about the length of the collusion investigation.
The state department clearly fucked up in Benghazi, but it does that from time to time. And it does the right thing a lot too, just like the Cubs win some and lose some. I guess if somebody (Hilary) had done something specifically illegal or wrong that would make it worthy of an investigation. But in the course of this long and expensive investigation they came up with zilch, no convictions, no nothing.
Something fishy huh? That's how all these conspiracy things get started, no Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick is something you can prove right or wrong, but just doesn't the Colonel's mustache look unkempt today, maybe he didn't trim it this morning, why didn't he trim it? Something fishy going on here. Let a thousand crackpot theories bloom.
Maybe the dawgs were bored with Watergate, but I watched it raptly all along, and it did get us rid of a rotten prez. Likewise the current one, and yes, I hope that it will do in the current prez.
And now you guys want to investigate Roswell New Mexico, and reopen the Kennedy assassination, and why not look into Lincoln's as well?
Well I declare, maybe you guys ought to be investigated.
No. Because people just tune in from time to time to see what is going on with the hurricane and if they see some other story they will click onto one of the other networks. These networks watch each other and as long as one network has the hurricane so will all of them even if they have nothing to say but that they just saw a fox run across the beach.
Perhaps I did jump to conclusions (who me?) about what Beagles was complaining about. It was the mention of political investigations and Woodward whose book just came out, and the fact that he has complained before about the collusion investigation that made me think he was talking about that, but I see now that he never did actually said anything about that.
By the way Beagles how did you get that nice black font? I always type my posts with the blackest font, but when I Publish it, it turns that awful grey, that I have to squint to see.
I brought up the Benghazi investigation because I was assuming (wrongly in retrospect) that Beagles was complaining about the length of the collusion (it's not really collusion, it's about Russian influence in our elections, but these investigations tend to swerve, ask Bill Clinton). Benghazi is the example that my ilk uses to counter the complaints of Beagles's ilk about the length of the collusion investigation.
The state department clearly fucked up in Benghazi, but it does that from time to time. And it does the right thing a lot too, just like the Cubs win some and lose some. I guess if somebody (Hilary) had done something specifically illegal or wrong that would make it worthy of an investigation. But in the course of this long and expensive investigation they came up with zilch, no convictions, no nothing.
Something fishy huh? That's how all these conspiracy things get started, no Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick is something you can prove right or wrong, but just doesn't the Colonel's mustache look unkempt today, maybe he didn't trim it this morning, why didn't he trim it? Something fishy going on here. Let a thousand crackpot theories bloom.
Maybe the dawgs were bored with Watergate, but I watched it raptly all along, and it did get us rid of a rotten prez. Likewise the current one, and yes, I hope that it will do in the current prez.
And now you guys want to investigate Roswell New Mexico, and reopen the Kennedy assassination, and why not look into Lincoln's as well?
Well I declare, maybe you guys ought to be investigated.
Thursday, September 13, 2018
What Old Dog Said
"Some pundits have stated that current events and the news have made us desensitized to all the weirdness, and I agree. Perhaps that is what Mr. Beagles is experiencing. That's the thing about news, if it is repetitive with no additional information it is old, and not news. Shouldn't news be new?"...….That pretty well sums it up.
I wasn't talking about any particular investigation, just all of them, well most of them. I threw in the reference to Watergate to establish that it's been like that for a long time. Of course Nixon shouldn't have gotten off scot free, but why did it have to take so long to get rid of him? One of my Bircher friends said it best at the time: "Investigating Nixon for Watergate is like investigating John Dillinger for stealing chickens."
I don't remember the Benghazi investigation going on for such a long time, but maybe it did and I just stopped paying attention. I do remember the investigation about Hillary's emails going on for a way longer time than it needed to. She admitted early on that she had exercised poor judgement, but no laws were broken. I understand that they did pass a law after the fact, but it wasn't illegal when Hillary did it, so ipso facto, case closed. I think what bothers me about the hurricane coverage is that it starts a week or more before the hurricane makes landfall. Okay the residents need to be warned, but they don't need to hear the same warning over and over again day after day. It would be different if the hurricane changed course or something but, like Old Dog said, a repetitive report with no additional information is not really news.
Ironically, some of the things that really deserve a lengthy investigation, like presidential assassinations, get swept under the rug. I know that Uncle Ken doesn't believe it, but I still think there was a reasonable chance that Lee Harvey Ostwald did not act alone. I read somewhere, probably Wikipedia, that a similar thing happened with the Abraham Lincoln assassination. John Wilkes Booth was allegedly killed in a capture attempt, but the body was quickly buried and no autopsy was performed. Years later, somebody claiming to be the real John Wilkes Booth was reportedly overheard bragging about how he had gotten away with the crime. Maybe he was lying through his teeth, but we'll never know now.
Interesting story about closing that observatory in New Mexico. I suppose the most logical explanation is that they were about to conduct some secret government project and didn't want to be observed doing it. But the post office, what's up with that?
That Woodward name sounded familiar, but I don't believe I've ever seen a picture or film of him.
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