Saturday, April 12, 2014
Laugh or cry?
Laugh or cry? You decide. Jay Carney – That One's press secretary – found it necessary to photoshop a publicity photo of he and his wife. It wasn't even a good photoshopping effort. This man is the PR for the President, and this is the kind of work he does? Ace has all the details at the preceding link...
Is Estonia worth a war?
Is Estonia worth a war? Justin Logan is with the Cato Institute, a generally libertarian think tank. In this essay he takes a typically libertarian stance with respect to foreign entanglements: generally libertarians are against them (especially military action) unless they are specifically and directly in the immediate interests of the U.S. In the case of defending Estonia if they invoke Article 5 of the NATO charter, he thinks the answer is “no.”
I've no doubt that my Estonian friends would be made very uncomfortable simply by hearing that question raised. America essentially is NATO, as it supplies the vast majority of NATO's warriors, war machines, and logistics. If America decided not to respond to an Article 5 invocation, the remainder of NATO probably could not muster an effective defense of the Baltic states.
Libertarians are not exactly mainstream in American political thought, though their influence is on the rise. However, Logan's evaluation of America's NATO obligations isn't just libertarian. A large fraction, perhaps even a majority, of Democrats feel the same way – as do a significant minority of Republicans.
There are two entirely separate arguments that persuade me that we should help defend Estonia (and any other NATO members).
First, an invocation of Article 5 by any NATO member obligates America to come to their defense. If we don't agree with that, we should exit NATO. If we didn't agree that we should defend Eastern Europe (including the Baltics), we shouldn't have agreed to allow any of those states to join NATO. We did, and now we're obligated to defend them.
Second, defending Eastern Europe (including the Baltics) against Russian incursions is directly in America's interest – in precisely the same way that it would have been in our interest to defend the first victims of Hitler's aggression. The cost of not defending them was very high – and even if the result of letting Russia run over Eastern Europe was “just” another Cold War, that cost would be very high as well.
Unfortunately, I am afraid the current administration is more inclined toward non-intervention – and that eventually we will pay a high price for that...
I've no doubt that my Estonian friends would be made very uncomfortable simply by hearing that question raised. America essentially is NATO, as it supplies the vast majority of NATO's warriors, war machines, and logistics. If America decided not to respond to an Article 5 invocation, the remainder of NATO probably could not muster an effective defense of the Baltic states.
Libertarians are not exactly mainstream in American political thought, though their influence is on the rise. However, Logan's evaluation of America's NATO obligations isn't just libertarian. A large fraction, perhaps even a majority, of Democrats feel the same way – as do a significant minority of Republicans.
There are two entirely separate arguments that persuade me that we should help defend Estonia (and any other NATO members).
First, an invocation of Article 5 by any NATO member obligates America to come to their defense. If we don't agree with that, we should exit NATO. If we didn't agree that we should defend Eastern Europe (including the Baltics), we shouldn't have agreed to allow any of those states to join NATO. We did, and now we're obligated to defend them.
Second, defending Eastern Europe (including the Baltics) against Russian incursions is directly in America's interest – in precisely the same way that it would have been in our interest to defend the first victims of Hitler's aggression. The cost of not defending them was very high – and even if the result of letting Russia run over Eastern Europe was “just” another Cold War, that cost would be very high as well.
Unfortunately, I am afraid the current administration is more inclined toward non-intervention – and that eventually we will pay a high price for that...
Retort of the week...
Retort of the week... This is allegedly an actual interview between a woman reporter and an Australian army general. Snopes says it's a hoax, but I don't care – it's all-too-plausible for the reporter to behave this way, and the general's retort is too good to pass up!
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Cosgrove, what things are you going to to teach these young boys when they visit your base?
GENERAL COSGROVE: We’re going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery, and shooting.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Shooting! That’s a bit irresponsible, isn’t it?
GENERAL COSGROVE: I don’t see why, they’ll be properly supervised on the rifle range.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Don’t you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?
GENERAL COSGROVE: I don’t see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: But you’re equipping them to become violent killers!
GENERAL COSGROVE: Well, Ma’am, you’re equipped to be a prostitute, but you’re not one, are you?
Go suck on a pickle!
Septic tank pumped!
Septic tank pumped! The work was done Kim Johnson out of Richmond, and he did a good job, in a friendly fashion, and at a very fair price. That's him and his truck at right...
The ObamaCare disaster in 16 slides...
The ObamaCare disaster in 16 slides... Good summary from the Heritage Foundation...
ObamaCare: Lies or Crap?
The answer, of course, is that ObamaCare is lies and crap!
Spring morning in Paradise...
Spring morning in Paradise... Looking out the window of the second-floor office in our new home, just north of Paradise, Utah. The camera was pointed to the northwest, looking across the farms of southern Cache Valley.
The birds just woke up as the sun peeked over the mountains to our east; their chirping is the main thing I hear. The willow (at left in the phot0) leaves are about 3/8" long now, and growing crazy fast. Red-winged blackbirds are perched in that shrub on the right of the photo. Chickadees, robins, magpies, house finches, and juncos are all about. Just before I snapped this, a pair of pheasants strolled across our back yard, toward the willow. The temperature outside is 48°F.
I could get used to this :)
The birds just woke up as the sun peeked over the mountains to our east; their chirping is the main thing I hear. The willow (at left in the phot0) leaves are about 3/8" long now, and growing crazy fast. Red-winged blackbirds are perched in that shrub on the right of the photo. Chickadees, robins, magpies, house finches, and juncos are all about. Just before I snapped this, a pair of pheasants strolled across our back yard, toward the willow. The temperature outside is 48°F.
I could get used to this :)
Friday, April 11, 2014
Tech quote of the day...
Tech quote of the day... By Craig Trader, the first commenter on Eric S. Raymond's post Does the Heartbleed bug refute Linus' law?:
Open Source is like Democracy — it’s the worst way to build software except for all those others that have been tried.Awesome.
Can anybody figure out what this even means?
Can anybody figure out what this even means? A tweet from That One yesterday:
No matter how I squint at that, it's still nonsense. I can't see any way a typo could have caused it. I think it's really just nonsense!
President Obama: "We are here today because we know we cannot be complacent. History travels not only forwards, but backwards and sideways."That's not something I made up – it was tweeted from the White House account. Click the link to see it for yourself.
No matter how I squint at that, it's still nonsense. I can't see any way a typo could have caused it. I think it's really just nonsense!
Someday, I will once again be proud of my national government...
Someday, I will once again be proud of my national government ... but today is not that day.
Greta has some fun...
Note: this candidate happens to be a Democrat, but I don't think the Republican field is notably different. There are some standouts on both sides, but they're as scarce as bacon in a mosque...
On the “Drop Dropbox” campaign...
On the “Drop Dropbox” campaign... I'm with Charles Cooke on this one...
An amazing survival story...
An amazing survival story... I read about this years ago in a book. For some random reason I recalled it this morning, and within just a few minutes located the story on the web. The short version:
A passenger aircraft en route from Lima to Pucallpa (both in Peru) on Christmas eve in 1971 was struck by lightning. The aircraft was flying at 10,000 feet, and it disintegrated in mid-air. The 93 passengers and crew were all killed – except for one 17 year old girl who suffered no injury other than a broken collarbone. She fell out of the sky still strapped into her seat, then struck the rainforest canopy below – many miles from any civilization. Over a week later she found some lumbermen, who cared for her until rescuers arrived.
That young girl was Juliane Koepcke, who is now named Juliane Diller (I presume because she married) and is the librarian of the Bavarian State Zoological Collection in Munich, Germany. She published an autobiography a few years ago which has been translated into English: When I Fell from the Sky. I've just purchased it for my Kindle...
A passenger aircraft en route from Lima to Pucallpa (both in Peru) on Christmas eve in 1971 was struck by lightning. The aircraft was flying at 10,000 feet, and it disintegrated in mid-air. The 93 passengers and crew were all killed – except for one 17 year old girl who suffered no injury other than a broken collarbone. She fell out of the sky still strapped into her seat, then struck the rainforest canopy below – many miles from any civilization. Over a week later she found some lumbermen, who cared for her until rescuers arrived.
That young girl was Juliane Koepcke, who is now named Juliane Diller (I presume because she married) and is the librarian of the Bavarian State Zoological Collection in Munich, Germany. She published an autobiography a few years ago which has been translated into English: When I Fell from the Sky. I've just purchased it for my Kindle...
I'm really not sure what to say about this...
Seeing sound...
Many years ago – in the late '60s – I briefly worked for a company that made electric coffee makers for passenger aircraft. These were quite innovative at the time because they heated water on demand for brewing (today such systems are the standard, but back then it was bleeding-edge stuff).
One of the design challenges was making sure that no heat (in the form of hot air or water vapor) escaped the wrong parts of the coffee brewing machine. To analyze this, the company I worked for built a fairly large (14" mirrors) home-made Schlieren flow visualization system, and part of my job was to keep it in alignment. This was quite a tedious task, as the system wasn't very well built and parts kept moving with respect to each other – the slightest accidental touch of any component could throw the entire gadget out of whack.
When the Schlieren flow visualization system was working, though, it was almost magical. Our system had a viewing screen under a hood, much like a rear projection camera lucida. It also had an ordinary film camera for making permanent records. When I was aligning the system, I'd put a cup of hot water in its field of view, and I never tired of watching the resulting patterns – a bit like watching the water flowing in a fast stream...
First time in an automatic car wash...
History can be quite inconvenient...
History can be quite inconvenient... Researchers continually uncover new facts about human history, usually in the form of writings of one sort or another. Most of the time these are simply interesting, and lead to a more complete understanding of past events. The further back in history one goes, the more dramatic the revisions tend to be – simply because our knowledge of the past gets murkier the further back we look.
Sometimes, however, these revisions have implications or reverberations in current times. That's the case with a recently translated Coptic script, which says in part:
There's a lot of debate – both technical and theological – about this script. The web is full of the back-and-forth about it, and I doubt it will subside anytime soon. All of which made me wonder what the ancient scribe would have thought if he could somehow have known what a flap his writing caused a dozen centuries later...
Sometimes, however, these revisions have implications or reverberations in current times. That's the case with a recently translated Coptic script, which says in part:
Jesus said to them, “My wife...”The idea of Jesus having a wife is counter to the teachings of every Christian sect that I'm aware of. It raises the possibility that there exist descendants of Jesus – an uncomfortable thought for most Christians. It also directly contradicts the Christian orthodoxy that Jesus devoted himself entirely to his mission of inaugurating the Kingdom of God in every element of his life: his teachings, his death, and his resurrection. A married Jesus isn't compatible with that notion.
There's a lot of debate – both technical and theological – about this script. The web is full of the back-and-forth about it, and I doubt it will subside anytime soon. All of which made me wonder what the ancient scribe would have thought if he could somehow have known what a flap his writing caused a dozen centuries later...
Potato history...
Potato history... Did you know that starving Europeans refused to eat potatoes, believing them to be either poisonous or the source of leprosy? And that the French citizenry was convinced to eat potatoes by a con that leveraged the universally-hated French salt tax? The most historical fun I've had in weeks :)
Quote of the day...
Quote of the day... By the editors at NRO, writing about Lois Lerner and the shenanigans at the IRS:
The doom is strong this morning...
Rope (a whole bunch).
Tree (a big forest will do).
Federal elected and appointed officials (almost every one of them).
Some assembly required (actually, quite a bit of assembly)...
That a not inconsiderable portion of the moral credibility of the United States government now rests in the hands of Eric Holder is not a comforting thought.Quite. The way the IRS was used for political purposes in the last election cycle is awful – but even worse is the way the benefiting party is actively blocking the investigation and tolerating this un-American behavior. Toleration, in this case, is synonymous with encouragement. The benefiting party in this case is the Democratic party, but I'm not at all sure the behavior would be any different were it the Republicans. The whole damned system is corrupt, and voters keep voting in more corrupt politicians.
The doom is strong this morning...
Rope (a whole bunch).
Tree (a big forest will do).
Federal elected and appointed officials (almost every one of them).
Some assembly required (actually, quite a bit of assembly)...
See that stupid-looking guy?
See that stupid-looking guy? He probably really is stupid!
Most politicians look pretty stupid to me...
Most politicians look pretty stupid to me...
Nothing is what it seems to be!
I think it must be photoshopped – watch how Emma Watson's hair disappears when the “mask” comes off...
Thursday, April 10, 2014
How I spent my afternoon...
How I spent my afternoon... Well, part of it, anyway.
It all began when I learned that the house we were buying was on a septic tank system (we're far enough out in the boonies that there is no city water or sewage). I asked the seller when it had last been cleaned out, and he had no idea what I was talking about. He'd lived here for 15 years, and didn't know that septic tanks needed to be cleaned out once in a while. Oh, my.
It's a big septic tank – 1,000 gallons – and there were just the couple and the wife's mother living here. Still ... 15 years is a long time. Furthermore, the septic tank wasn't cleaned when he bought the place – so it's entirely possible that the septic tank has never been cleaned (the house was built in 1992). So I figured that I better get that taken care of, sooner rather than later – before something really awful happened :)
So I made a call to a local fellow who pumps septic tanks, and I discovered that here, unlike in San Diego, the tank pumpers don't normally dig out the tank's lid. That little problem was mine, all mine.
Now a real manly man, the kind with actual muscles and such, might well see this as a trivial digging problem. Me? Not trivial at all. Doable, but it's not the kind of thing I do very often. Dang.
So I found the septic system inspection map (the county health department made me a copy of it for free), and measured out where the septic tank's lid was supposed to be. I knew it might be as much as two feet under, but that's really all I knew. I wasn't sure the map was all that accurate, either, so I wouldn't have been surprised if the lid was several feet away from where the map said it was – which would, of course, mean much more digging.
I dug. Down I went, through about 6 inches of beautiful black loam, very easy to dig in. Then I hit something else altogether – a layer of gray clay, wet and dense, with the consistency of a flour and glue mixture. That wasn't quite so easy to dig through!
At just over 18 inches, I hit the rebar handle of the lid – within an inch of the point I'd measured. At 20 inches, I hit the top of the concrete lid. At 22 inches, I hit the top of the concrete pipe the lid is sitting on. An hour and a half after starting, I had the lid fully exposed.
Now my arms are burning from the exertion, and after sitting for 15 minutes, I've caught my breath again. That was probably good for me (or at least, people will tell me that), but it sure doesn't feel like it right now :)
It all began when I learned that the house we were buying was on a septic tank system (we're far enough out in the boonies that there is no city water or sewage). I asked the seller when it had last been cleaned out, and he had no idea what I was talking about. He'd lived here for 15 years, and didn't know that septic tanks needed to be cleaned out once in a while. Oh, my.
It's a big septic tank – 1,000 gallons – and there were just the couple and the wife's mother living here. Still ... 15 years is a long time. Furthermore, the septic tank wasn't cleaned when he bought the place – so it's entirely possible that the septic tank has never been cleaned (the house was built in 1992). So I figured that I better get that taken care of, sooner rather than later – before something really awful happened :)
So I made a call to a local fellow who pumps septic tanks, and I discovered that here, unlike in San Diego, the tank pumpers don't normally dig out the tank's lid. That little problem was mine, all mine.
Now a real manly man, the kind with actual muscles and such, might well see this as a trivial digging problem. Me? Not trivial at all. Doable, but it's not the kind of thing I do very often. Dang.
So I found the septic system inspection map (the county health department made me a copy of it for free), and measured out where the septic tank's lid was supposed to be. I knew it might be as much as two feet under, but that's really all I knew. I wasn't sure the map was all that accurate, either, so I wouldn't have been surprised if the lid was several feet away from where the map said it was – which would, of course, mean much more digging.
I dug. Down I went, through about 6 inches of beautiful black loam, very easy to dig in. Then I hit something else altogether – a layer of gray clay, wet and dense, with the consistency of a flour and glue mixture. That wasn't quite so easy to dig through!
At just over 18 inches, I hit the rebar handle of the lid – within an inch of the point I'd measured. At 20 inches, I hit the top of the concrete lid. At 22 inches, I hit the top of the concrete pipe the lid is sitting on. An hour and a half after starting, I had the lid fully exposed.
Now my arms are burning from the exertion, and after sitting for 15 minutes, I've caught my breath again. That was probably good for me (or at least, people will tell me that), but it sure doesn't feel like it right now :)
I'm with Norman Podhoretz on this one...
I'm with Norman Podhoretz on this one... I have zero sympathy for the Palestinians...
I'm not sure which is stranger...
I'm not sure which is stranger... The results of this study are very odd indeed, and interesting in an eccentric sort of way. However, it may be stranger still that anyone decided to investigate this in the first place!
Another classy response...
Another classy response ... from the team at Tesla. If I were ever to buy an electric car, it would be one of theirs...
The day of reckoning approaches...
The day of reckoning approaches ... for Lois Lerner and the rest of the IRS involved in targeting conservative non-profits. And now it looks like a Democratic congresscritter may also have been involved. Color me unsurprised...
Rope.
Tree.
Bureaucrats.
Some assembly required.
Rope.
Tree.
Bureaucrats.
Some assembly required.
More morning Steyn...
More morning Steyn... Just go read.
Mark Steyn has been on a roll in his writings now for several weeks. I've never met him, and certainly I have no inside knowledge of him – but to this outsider looking in, it certainly appears that Mann v. Steyn has energized him in a way we haven't seen for years...
Mark Steyn has been on a roll in his writings now for several weeks. I've never met him, and certainly I have no inside knowledge of him – but to this outsider looking in, it certainly appears that Mann v. Steyn has energized him in a way we haven't seen for years...
Quote of the day...
Quote of the day... The inimitable Mark Steyn:
All that was required of President Lawrence & Co was that they not be total craven, jelly-spined squishes who fold like a cheap Bedouin tent at the first hint of pressure.Do read the whole lovely thing...
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Water from air...
Water from air... Now this is very clever! If it works half as well as claimed, this could change – and save – a lot of lives...
Rings around an asteroid...
Red and blue states...
Red and blue states... I stumbled across this map (click to embiggen) in my morning reading. It's worth studying, as it shows just how polarized American politics are becoming. Forty of the fifty states have voted for presidents from the same party in the last four presidential elections.
Analyzing this sort of thing is complicated, as the Wikipedia article linked above describes (well worth a read). Nevertheless, the map at right is describing something quite real.
It's perceptible on the ground, too – I am surprised on almost a daily basis by the unobtrusiveness of government here in northern Utah as compared with southern California. I'm absorbing something else, too: the residents of southern California, generally speaking, would think the idea of an armed revolution in the U.S. is crazy and highly unlikely. Here in northern Utah, the idea of another armed revolution is mainstream – and seriously discussed as a solution to the problem of America's slide toward socialism...
There are two Americas, though not quite in John Edward's sense...
Analyzing this sort of thing is complicated, as the Wikipedia article linked above describes (well worth a read). Nevertheless, the map at right is describing something quite real.
It's perceptible on the ground, too – I am surprised on almost a daily basis by the unobtrusiveness of government here in northern Utah as compared with southern California. I'm absorbing something else, too: the residents of southern California, generally speaking, would think the idea of an armed revolution in the U.S. is crazy and highly unlikely. Here in northern Utah, the idea of another armed revolution is mainstream – and seriously discussed as a solution to the problem of America's slide toward socialism...
There are two Americas, though not quite in John Edward's sense...
“…a more lawless and violent place.”
“…a more lawless and violent place.” David Rivkin and Lee Casey are a couple of cold warriors from the Reagan and H. W. Bush era. They're not happy with That One's handling of foreign affairs, most especially with respect to Putin. They've got an opinion piece in today's Wall Street Journal laying out the argument for a more robust, less milquetoast response by the West. Their conclusion:
I'm afraid this isn't likely to change so long as That One is in the Oval Office...
More than arcane legal principles are at stake. Western failure to champion a narrative of international rights and wrongs, rooted in the language of law and legitimacy, would be tragic. Meeting Russia's aggression with passivity undermines already weakened domestic support for a robust and engaged foreign policy in the U.S. and other Western countries, and it promises to make the world a more lawless and violent place.A companion piece from the editorial board explores the issue further.
I'm afraid this isn't likely to change so long as That One is in the Oval Office...
Gasoline from seawater?
Gasoline from seawater? That's the gist of the announcement by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and it's not an April Fool's joke. However, it's also not at all like the urban legend about the magic pill that turns a gallon of water into a gallon of gas. What the NRL has come up with is a process that scavenges almost a pound of carbon dioxide from each gallon of seawater. The process also extracts hydrogen, which when combined catalytically with carbon dioxide yields carbohydrate fuels such as gasoline.
Right now it's a lab demonstration. If the NRL can reduce this to something practical on board a ship (and they have a surprisingly good track record of doing that sort of thing), it raises the possibility of ships that refuel themselves from stuff found in ordinary seawater. Moreover, this would be “carbon-neutral”, making the greenies very happy. I'm sure they'll find some reason to hate it, but by their current standards they really should love it...
Right now it's a lab demonstration. If the NRL can reduce this to something practical on board a ship (and they have a surprisingly good track record of doing that sort of thing), it raises the possibility of ships that refuel themselves from stuff found in ordinary seawater. Moreover, this would be “carbon-neutral”, making the greenies very happy. I'm sure they'll find some reason to hate it, but by their current standards they really should love it...
Big day at the new house today!
Big day at the new house today! Our washer and dryer are arriving, and just in the nick of time: my dirty clothes pile is alarmingly large :)
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
This seems like a really good idea...
This seems like a really good idea... Nobody – especially the Iranian leadership – really believes that Obama would ever use our military to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Everybody – especially the Iranian leadership – believes that Israel would use their military.
The fly in the ointment is that Israel has very limited means to project its military power in Iran. Not zero means, but far less than the U.S. has – mainly because it lacks long-range bombers.
So here's the idea: sell or lend Israel some B-52 bombers that we have mothballed. Israel + B-52s = military deterrent that the Iranian leadership would believe.
Oh, yes. Let's do it now!
The fly in the ointment is that Israel has very limited means to project its military power in Iran. Not zero means, but far less than the U.S. has – mainly because it lacks long-range bombers.
So here's the idea: sell or lend Israel some B-52 bombers that we have mothballed. Israel + B-52s = military deterrent that the Iranian leadership would believe.
Oh, yes. Let's do it now!
If I were Vladimir Putin...
If I were Vladimir Putin... Bret Stephens writing at The Wall Street Journal. Here's his lede:
Here's some background...
Some of my Estonian friends are quite worried...
If I were Vladimir Putin I'd invade eastern Ukraine this week. Strike while the iron is hot.Go read the whole thing!
Never again will the taking be so easy. Never again will the government in Kiev be so helpless. Never again will the administration in Washington be so inept, its threats so hollow. Never again will the powers in Europe be so feeble and dependent. Never again will Western monetary policy do so much to prop up energy prices.
While Mr. Putin is at it, he might consider invading one of the Baltic states. Barack Obama isn't about to ask Americans to die for Estonia, where a quarter of the population is ethnically Russian. The U.S. president wants "nation-building at home," after all. Let him have at it.
Here's some background...
Some of my Estonian friends are quite worried...
This is very hard for me to imagine...
This is very hard for me to imagine... Someone asks you what gender you are, and you say: “I don’t know.” Really.
If they do something well...
If they do something well ... it was probably an accident. And most likely someone will be punished for it...
This item circulated in the run-up to the 2012 elections, but I can't remember if I posted it back then. The numbers below are at least approximately correct. Clearly it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, though: the existential threat posed to the U.S. by Nazi Germany and Tojo's Japan was a very different challenge than the healthcare problems that ObamaCare seeks to solve. However, the point about the Obama administration's competence is right on target...
This item circulated in the run-up to the 2012 elections, but I can't remember if I posted it back then. The numbers below are at least approximately correct. Clearly it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, though: the existential threat posed to the U.S. by Nazi Germany and Tojo's Japan was a very different challenge than the healthcare problems that ObamaCare seeks to solve. However, the point about the Obama administration's competence is right on target...
During the 3-1/2 years of World War 2 that started with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and ended with the Surrender of Germany and Japan in 1945, the United States produced 22 aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, 48 cruisers, 349 destroyers, 420 destroyer escorts, 203 submarines, 34 million tons of merchant ships, 100,000 fighter aircraft, 98,000 bombers, 24,000 transport aircraft, 58,000 training aircraft, 93,000 tanks, 257,000 artillery pieces, 105,000 mortars, 3,000,000 machine guns, and 2,500,000 military trucks.Via Doug S., friend, former colleague, and Idaho-mogul-of-everything. And he's not so very far from our new home!
We put 16.1 million men in uniform in the various armed services, invaded Africa, invaded Sicily and Italy, won the battle for the Atlantic, planned and executed D-Day, marched across the Pacific and Europe, developed the atomic bomb and ultimately conquered Japan and Germany.
It's worth noting, that during the almost exact same amount of time, the Obama administration couldn't build a functioning web site.
Another great optical illusion...
Another great optical illusion... But at least I can understand this one...
“A good man.”
“A good man.” A tribute to my father from fellow horticulturist, nurseryman, and plantsman Mike Johnson, of Connecticut. This is from a newsletter he publishes a few times a year. He sent a copy to my mom, who scanned it and emailed it out. Click to embiggen.
This is the time of year my dad and I would usually plan our summer trip. That thought has occurred to me many times in the past few weeks. There are many good memories that triggers, but also the pain of loss. Still.
Another frequent thought this past week: I would have loved to just walk around our new place with my dad, and get the benefit of his knowledge and ideas for the trees and shrubs on the property...
I'll bet you've missed the most surprising thing in this post! My mother scanned that newsletter and emailed it. By herself. Right at the moment the only way I can explain this is by extraordinary divine intervention...
This is the time of year my dad and I would usually plan our summer trip. That thought has occurred to me many times in the past few weeks. There are many good memories that triggers, but also the pain of loss. Still.
Another frequent thought this past week: I would have loved to just walk around our new place with my dad, and get the benefit of his knowledge and ideas for the trees and shrubs on the property...
I'll bet you've missed the most surprising thing in this post! My mother scanned that newsletter and emailed it. By herself. Right at the moment the only way I can explain this is by extraordinary divine intervention...
Labels:
Pater
Babies, lemons, awesome...
Monday, April 7, 2014
10 of the Greatest Myths in Psychology...
10 of the Greatest Myths in Psychology... An interesting list. I know people who believe many of these. The site is slightly annoying, as you have to click through to see each myth. The first one is “Subliminal advertising works”; and the rest all work the same way...
Don't mess with old people!
Don't mess with old people! Via my mom (a card-carrying ancient-American), this oldie but goodie. It's been slightly tweaked from the last time I saw it:
The IRS decides to audit Grandpa, and summons him to the IRS office.
The IRS auditor was not surprised when Grandpa showed up with his attorney. The auditor said, 'Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I'm not sure the IRS finds that believable.'
I'm a great gambler, and I can prove it,' says Grandpa. 'How about a demonstration?'
The auditor thinks for a moment and said, 'Okay. Go ahead.'
Grandpa says, 'I'll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye.'
The auditor thinks a moment and says, 'It's a bet.' Grandpa removes his glass eye and bites it. The auditor's jaw drops.
Grandpa says, 'Now, I'll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye.'
Now the auditor can tell Grandpa isn't blind, so he takes the bet.
Grandpa removes his dentures and bites his good eye.
The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Grandpa's attorney as a witness. He starts to get nervous.
'Want to go double or nothing?' Grandpa asks 'I'll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between.'
The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there's no way this old guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again.
Grandpa stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can't make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the auditor's desk.
The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win.
But Grandpa's own attorney moans and puts his head in his hands.
'Are you okay?' the auditor asks.
'Not really,' says the attorney. 'This morning, when Grandpa told me he'd been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and piss all over your desk and that you'd be happy about it!'
Hand-colored images of old Japan...
Hand-colored images of old Japan... A collection of beautiful images like the one at right (click to embiggen)...
Curiosity is peering closely at some Martian rocks...
Curiosity is peering closely at some Martian rocks... The very same rocks I posted about a few weeks ago, showing them in the distance. Now Curiosity has focused its hand-lens imaging camera at them. In the image at right (click to embiggen) you can see the gray matrix, some reddish layers, and what appears to be tiny quartz pebbles. To my eye it looks like layered sandstone peppered with very fine gravel. That strongly implies the past presence of water: running water or ocean shore...
Big bureaucracy grabs more power...
Big bureaucracy grabs more power... Not much news there, I suppose. Still, its depressing to see how a bureaucracy's instinctive and all-too-predictable action is to control as much as it can. In this case we're talking about the FAA and its ongoing efforts to regulate the use of drones.
The FAA's main role is to promote safety in the air. Common sense (as opposed to bureaucratic sense) would say that in order to do so, the FAA should regulate those drones which actually pose some sort of risk to air safety. In fact, until quite recently, that's exactly what the FAA did – traditional radio-controlled model aircraft, which are in fact a primitive kind of drone, have long been unregulated by the FAA (their radios are regulated, but for different reasons).
Now that drones exist that could fly into manned air traffic, the FAA decided it's time to regulate drones. All drones, not just the ones that pose a risk to manned aircraft. But in order to keep excluding model aircraft, they've made an arbitrary – and really rather stupid – dividing line. The FAA has declared that it has authority over all commercial drones, but not “recreational” drones. If, just for fun, I want to fly a car-sized drone up to 35,000 feet and circle around – that's ok with the FAA. But if I want to fly a drone 35 feet into the air (where it poses zero risk to manned aircraft) to take wedding pictures for a fee – well, the FAA says that's just plain not allowed. Period. Full stop.
The bureaucrats are grasping, and in their traditional clumsy and overreaching way. Several lawsuits are pending already, more will surely follow. Let's hope a court with some common sense slaps these bureaucrats silly...
The FAA's main role is to promote safety in the air. Common sense (as opposed to bureaucratic sense) would say that in order to do so, the FAA should regulate those drones which actually pose some sort of risk to air safety. In fact, until quite recently, that's exactly what the FAA did – traditional radio-controlled model aircraft, which are in fact a primitive kind of drone, have long been unregulated by the FAA (their radios are regulated, but for different reasons).
Now that drones exist that could fly into manned air traffic, the FAA decided it's time to regulate drones. All drones, not just the ones that pose a risk to manned aircraft. But in order to keep excluding model aircraft, they've made an arbitrary – and really rather stupid – dividing line. The FAA has declared that it has authority over all commercial drones, but not “recreational” drones. If, just for fun, I want to fly a car-sized drone up to 35,000 feet and circle around – that's ok with the FAA. But if I want to fly a drone 35 feet into the air (where it poses zero risk to manned aircraft) to take wedding pictures for a fee – well, the FAA says that's just plain not allowed. Period. Full stop.
The bureaucrats are grasping, and in their traditional clumsy and overreaching way. Several lawsuits are pending already, more will surely follow. Let's hope a court with some common sense slaps these bureaucrats silly...
Well, this was completely predictable...
Well, this was completely predictable... Russia is fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine as its troops are poised on the border...
A different kind of optical illusion...
A different kind of optical illusion... This one is new to me. You stare at the video as it plays, then look around the room – and everything you see appears to be warping and bending. The effect lasted 15 seconds or so for me, and was really interesting to see. Staring at the video again brings the same effect right back, so it's completely repeatable. Definitely on the weird side!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Honey Maid understands the web...
Saturday, April 5, 2014
The far side of the moon...
The far side of the moon... Via APOD and a marvelous piece of robotic space exploration technology called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Full resolution image here...
Learning...
Learning... I'm living now in a two story home with a finished basement, so effectively three stories. For about the last 35 years, I've lived exclusively in single story homes.
I've been surprised here by the temperature differences between the floors – the basement is noticeably cooler than the first floor, and the first floor is noticeably cooler than the second floor. I understand the physics involved (warm air is less dense, and rises in the house), but still I've been surprised by the magnitude of it.
I've discovered that running the heaters' fans without the heater being on helps even the temperature out (though still not perfectly), but at the cost of the noise in the background. But since Debbie and I prefer different temperatures in the house, it occurs to me that these temperature differences might actually be a good thing :)
I've been surprised here by the temperature differences between the floors – the basement is noticeably cooler than the first floor, and the first floor is noticeably cooler than the second floor. I understand the physics involved (warm air is less dense, and rises in the house), but still I've been surprised by the magnitude of it.
I've discovered that running the heaters' fans without the heater being on helps even the temperature out (though still not perfectly), but at the cost of the noise in the background. But since Debbie and I prefer different temperatures in the house, it occurs to me that these temperature differences might actually be a good thing :)
It won't be long now...
It won't be long now ... before someone completely owns the network on their Tesla Model S!
Legislation as political advertising...
Legislation as political advertising... Warren Meyer at CoyoteBlog with a great example. He links to this list of required workplace posters in California – just as ineffective as the bazillion warning posters now on California's grocery store windows, but much better as free advertising for legislators.
I haven't seen these posters on the windows of grocery stores here in Utah...
I haven't seen these posters on the windows of grocery stores here in Utah...
Friday, April 4, 2014
Meteorite just misses skydiver...
Don't fear the IPCC bogeyman...
Don't fear the IPCC bogeyman... James Delingpole explains why you should be climate-fear-free...
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Luscious forest overhead scene...
Luscious forest overhead scene... From British Columbia, via BPOD...
New house update...
New house update... We took possession of our new home today, after doing a final walk-through. I also got a bit of an education from the former owner about how things in the house work, and where they are located. My first impressions are mostly ... that there's an awful lot of work to be done.
I'm “camped” in the house right now, and I'll stay camped for as long as it takes to get some changes made to the house. The biggest things to be done are new flooring (throughout the house, we've decided), new paint (again, throughout the house), and some remodeling in the master bathroom (mainly to make a nice big shower).
The flooring and paint involve lots of choices driven by style, something I am absolutely no good at. Debbie is working with a good friend who just happens to be an interior designer. The goal is to arrive at a design that (a) Debbie loves, (b) isn't completely crazy, and (c) I can stand. It's not clear that there is an intersection of those three sets :) I'm not sure what we'll do in that case!
I spent a lot of today in the local Walmart, buying the bare necessities required to make this house liveable for me over the next 8 weeks or so. The majority of what I got was for the kitchen – it's amazingly hard to cook without basics like oil, salt, knives, measuring cups, etc., etc. When I got to the checkout counter, the clerk said “Oh, you’re moving into a new house!” It was that obvious :)
I also managed to stop by the local Comcast office to pick up a cable modem/router and start our service. Compared with any Internet service we've ever had, it's crazy fast out here. On advice from some technical locals, I opted for the 50Mb plan (for a $10 monthly surcharge over the base 25Mb plan). There's also a 105Mb plan (for a $45 monthly surcharge), but the locals tell me that the 50Mb generally bursts to the same speed. I'll try that for a while, and if I don't like it I can always upgrade. With about an hour's usage, so far I'm just blinded by the speed – I'm not used to seeing videos pop up and immediately run, and that's what's happening. Also, my morning news read (which simultaneously opens 36 tabs) is easily 10x faster than our wireless Internet service back in Jamul. That's not a ding on our Jamul service – it's awesome considering where we live! But here in Utah, we just happen to be living where there is some modern and underutilized cable infrastructure ... and it shows!
I'm “camped” in the house right now, and I'll stay camped for as long as it takes to get some changes made to the house. The biggest things to be done are new flooring (throughout the house, we've decided), new paint (again, throughout the house), and some remodeling in the master bathroom (mainly to make a nice big shower).
The flooring and paint involve lots of choices driven by style, something I am absolutely no good at. Debbie is working with a good friend who just happens to be an interior designer. The goal is to arrive at a design that (a) Debbie loves, (b) isn't completely crazy, and (c) I can stand. It's not clear that there is an intersection of those three sets :) I'm not sure what we'll do in that case!
I spent a lot of today in the local Walmart, buying the bare necessities required to make this house liveable for me over the next 8 weeks or so. The majority of what I got was for the kitchen – it's amazingly hard to cook without basics like oil, salt, knives, measuring cups, etc., etc. When I got to the checkout counter, the clerk said “Oh, you’re moving into a new house!” It was that obvious :)
I also managed to stop by the local Comcast office to pick up a cable modem/router and start our service. Compared with any Internet service we've ever had, it's crazy fast out here. On advice from some technical locals, I opted for the 50Mb plan (for a $10 monthly surcharge over the base 25Mb plan). There's also a 105Mb plan (for a $45 monthly surcharge), but the locals tell me that the 50Mb generally bursts to the same speed. I'll try that for a while, and if I don't like it I can always upgrade. With about an hour's usage, so far I'm just blinded by the speed – I'm not used to seeing videos pop up and immediately run, and that's what's happening. Also, my morning news read (which simultaneously opens 36 tabs) is easily 10x faster than our wireless Internet service back in Jamul. That's not a ding on our Jamul service – it's awesome considering where we live! But here in Utah, we just happen to be living where there is some modern and underutilized cable infrastructure ... and it shows!
The wisdom of crowds...
The wisdom of crowds... Interesting piece on a fascinating topic. In this case, a crowd of ordinary people with no special access to information beat CIA analysts with access to classified intelligence...
Tarsnap gets even cheaper!
Tarsnap gets even cheaper! Secure cloud backup for any UNIX-like machine, with data stored on Amazon's S3 service. The service's web page is here.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Cloud-based circuit assembly...
Cloud-based circuit assembly... I wouldn't have foreseen this would happen. Amazing!
Bootstrapping a compiler...
Bootstrapping a compiler... This story about a modern effort assumes that the reader will think that bootstrapping a compiler is something unusual or odd. But back in the early days of microcomputers (mid '70s to early '80s), I and many others did this as a matter of routine. In those days, the “computer hobbyists” (of which I was one) had ready access to computer hardware, but the software tools that existed were prohibitively expensive. So ... if we wanted a compiler (or assembler, for that matter), we bootstrapped it. My favorite route was to bootstrap a simple assembler, then use that to add a macro package, then use the macro assembler to write a simple compiler (usually for C, sometimes for Pascal), then write the actual target compiler in that. I've lost track of how many times I followed that path, but it was at least a half dozen times...
This is what it feels like to be a geezer geek :)
But being a geezer EE is even more fun, 'cause then I get to talk about vacuum tubes!
This is what it feels like to be a geezer geek :)
But being a geezer EE is even more fun, 'cause then I get to talk about vacuum tubes!
The dissing of the president...
The dissing of the president... Bret Stephens in the Wall Street Journal. Near the end he expresses a thought I've had often these past few months:
Go read the whole excellent piece...
And all so reminiscent of the contempt the world showed for Jimmy Carter in the waning days of his failed presidency. The trouble for us is that the current presidency has more than 1,000 days to go.Exactly.
Go read the whole excellent piece...
Quote of the day...
Quote of the day... From Susan Vass, as seen on PowerLine Blog:
Everybody gets along. Everybody eats at the same three local diners. Everybody is polite. Everybody is smiley and friendly, even teenagers! Why?Much more at the link...
Because everybody is armed to the teeth – cowboys, geezers, Iraqi vets, tattooed Latinos, nuns.
We know which political party you should join...
We know which political party you should join... Apparently Covered California (the California ObamaCare insurance exchange) knows which political party you should join: the Democratic Party, of course!
Rope.
Tree.
California state bureaucrat.
Some assembly required!
Rope.
Tree.
California state bureaucrat.
Some assembly required!
The Internet is a wonderful thing, part 693,283...
The Internet is a wonderful thing, part 693,283... The New York Public Library has released high-resolution images of over 20,000 maps in its collection. Some of these are famous historical maps. These images are freely downloadable. Awesome!
It's enough to make you wonder...
It's enough to make you wonder ... if the nutritionists have any idea at all what they're talking about!
When I was a kid, my dad taught us to suck on a smooth, round pebble to satisfy the thirst we worked up when hiking. That was the best advice he could find in his reading. We carried a couple of small canteens on our hikes.
Then when I was just 9 or 10, he read some new advice: people who were working hard should drink a couple of quarts of water every day. He bought bigger canteens and we started carrying much more water on our hikes, and we stopped sucking on pebbles.
Much later – in the '90s? – I started seeing advice about the minimum amounts of water we should be drinking daily. These were always vastly larger than the amount of water I actually drank, amounts so large that I had trouble imagining choking that much down. I once asked my doctor whether I should drink more water, and he told me not to worry about it – I showed no signs of dehydration :)
Now I read the latest advice, which is basically this: drink when you're thirsty. So we've gone from drink as little as possible, to drink moderately, to drink a whole lot, and now to drink whatever you feel like drinking – all within my lifetime. One could imagine being quite confused :) But I'm not – I decided quite a few years ago that the nutritionists were far more confused than I was, so I just ignore them...
When I was a kid, my dad taught us to suck on a smooth, round pebble to satisfy the thirst we worked up when hiking. That was the best advice he could find in his reading. We carried a couple of small canteens on our hikes.
Then when I was just 9 or 10, he read some new advice: people who were working hard should drink a couple of quarts of water every day. He bought bigger canteens and we started carrying much more water on our hikes, and we stopped sucking on pebbles.
Much later – in the '90s? – I started seeing advice about the minimum amounts of water we should be drinking daily. These were always vastly larger than the amount of water I actually drank, amounts so large that I had trouble imagining choking that much down. I once asked my doctor whether I should drink more water, and he told me not to worry about it – I showed no signs of dehydration :)
Now I read the latest advice, which is basically this: drink when you're thirsty. So we've gone from drink as little as possible, to drink moderately, to drink a whole lot, and now to drink whatever you feel like drinking – all within my lifetime. One could imagine being quite confused :) But I'm not – I decided quite a few years ago that the nutritionists were far more confused than I was, so I just ignore them...
867 miles...
867 miles... That's the distance between our home in Jamul and Logan, Utah. I'm up in Logan, getting ready to close on the home we've purchased up here (this Friday is the big day). But I'm here by myself – Debbie's still back in Jamul, holding down the fort there while I work on getting our new home ready to actually receive us and our menagerie. I'll be up here for a few weeks at least. I miss everybody already...
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Tractor and Attachments for sale!
Tractor and Attachments for sale! We are placing our gently-used Kubota B21 diesel tractor with all the trimmings up for sale. It's not going to Utah with us.
The complete set originally cost me over $44,000 about ten years ago. The first offer over $20,000 takes the whole thing immediately; otherwise the highest offer we receive before June 30 gets it. American cash only, please, unless we already know you. Note: we are not selling individual components from this set!
The main event is the Kubota B21 tractor – 21 horsepower (13.5 HP on the PTO) diesel “construction-grade” frame, hydraulic loader and backhoe, 4WD, standard 3 point hitch, high clearance, and integral ROPS. It has just over 200 hours on it. RitchieSpecs, 4.8/5.0 rating from TractorByNet.
The implements and accessories:
The complete set originally cost me over $44,000 about ten years ago. The first offer over $20,000 takes the whole thing immediately; otherwise the highest offer we receive before June 30 gets it. American cash only, please, unless we already know you. Note: we are not selling individual components from this set!
The main event is the Kubota B21 tractor – 21 horsepower (13.5 HP on the PTO) diesel “construction-grade” frame, hydraulic loader and backhoe, 4WD, standard 3 point hitch, high clearance, and integral ROPS. It has just over 200 hours on it. RitchieSpecs, 4.8/5.0 rating from TractorByNet.
The implements and accessories:
- Mill Creek utility trailer with hydraulic dump
- Gearmore 60" rotary mower (PTO)
- Bearcat chipper/shredder (PTO)
- Farmi winch intended for stump pulling and log skidding (PTO)
- Log splitter, a real beast (hydraulic)
- Small Gearmore cement mixer (PTO)
- Gearmore subsoiler
- Danuser auger post hole drill (PTO)
- Gearmore 1-ton removable loader tines
- Larger backhoe bucket
- Various parts, accessories, and 3 point hitch components
- Hydraulic tilt kit for 3 point hitch
- Gearmore blade scraper
Labels:
For Sale
Io in true color...
Io in true color... Jupiter's strange and sulfurous moon in all it's glory. Via APOD, of course. Full resolution image here...
IT's come to this...
IT's come to this... You thought you only had to worry about security on your computer, tablet, and smart phone? Wrong answer, vulnerability-breath! You also have to worry about your car...
A sure sign of oppression...
A sure sign of oppression... In the age of the Internet, one thing you can count on from every thug-run government: they're going to clamp down on free speech on the Internet. I'm looking at you, Turkey! Here's one of the ways they do it.
Duncan Lou Who goes to the beach...
It's astounding and inspiring; makes you want to stand up and yell for joy. Debbie and I have been amazed many time at the adaptability of animals, including that of our sweet little kitty Maka Lea. But Duncan Lou Who is a standout amongst them...
Software patents being revisited by the Supreme Court...
Software patents being revisited by the Supreme Court... Arguments before the Supreme Court tomorrow in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank. The outcome could be anything from a yawner to industry-shaking. More from SCOTUSblog, Fortune, Wikipedia...
U.S. and Russia: “resolving” Ukraine crisis?
U.S. and Russia: “resolving” Ukraine crisis? This article's headline is US and Russia ‘Closer’ to Resolving Ukraine Crisis, and when you read the content you'll find that's a fair characterization.
What I find remarkable here is that the U.S. is the main party to the negotiations for a resolution. The Ukrainians are almost an afterthought, and the European Union is basically excluded. The superpowers (or superpower wannabes) are dividing up the world again. This kind of meddling in another country's destiny always seems to lead, eventually, to war.
I just saw a tweet from Estonia's president Ilves expressing similar concerns.
Apparently it is impossible for politicians to learn from history...
What I find remarkable here is that the U.S. is the main party to the negotiations for a resolution. The Ukrainians are almost an afterthought, and the European Union is basically excluded. The superpowers (or superpower wannabes) are dividing up the world again. This kind of meddling in another country's destiny always seems to lead, eventually, to war.
I just saw a tweet from Estonia's president Ilves expressing similar concerns.
Apparently it is impossible for politicians to learn from history...
Saturday, March 29, 2014
I only know a few people I'd call “racist” ...
This video shows Juan Williams (a prominent liberal) expressing his support for his son Raffi (a prominent conservative) in the aftermath of an ugly racist incident. Juan does a great job here, speaking out about the racist underbelly of the liberal movement...
In the part of the country where I live (or anywhere I'd want to live), the social stigma of being overtly racist is quite high. I've noted, though, that when some liberals believe they are in a place where only other liberals can hear them, they're rather more willing to express their racist beliefs. The hypocrisy is strong there...
Philae is awake!
Philae is awake! The Philae comet lander was awakened from its long hibernation and was thoroughly checked out this week. It's all good news. The lander is currently attached to the Rosetta comet explorer, but will detach and land on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko later this summer.
It's another robotic space explorer doing real science on a budget. Unlike, say, the manned ISS, which does little useful science while spending huge amounts of tax dollars and risking lives. So, of course, the government says “Let’s do less robotic exploration and more manned space missions!”
Our tax dollars, hard at work. They're just not working for us.
It's another robotic space explorer doing real science on a budget. Unlike, say, the manned ISS, which does little useful science while spending huge amounts of tax dollars and risking lives. So, of course, the government says “Let’s do less robotic exploration and more manned space missions!”
Our tax dollars, hard at work. They're just not working for us.
Things I didn't know...
Things I didn't know... I do know about the secret “no-fly” list, which keeps over 20,000 people from flying in the U.S. It seems obvious that (a) there aren't really 20,000 people in the world who are trying to hijack or blow up an airliner, and (b) that many of the people on that list are there in error.
What I didn't know is this: in the entire history of this secret list, only one person has ever succeeded in getting his name removed.
That is the kind of statistic you might expect to come out of the old Soviet Union, or North Korea, or Bangladesh. Not out of the United States.
Reading this story made me think, for the umpteenth time, that the 9/11 terrorists really have won. If there's an afterlife, Bin Laden and his buddies are laughing – at us. The America they hated – that land of freedom and opportunity – is being eaten away by a burgeoning security apparatus and by a progressive-pushed journey toward socialism.
Is 10 AM too early for a drink? Ah, well, it's the right time for a drink somewhere...
What I didn't know is this: in the entire history of this secret list, only one person has ever succeeded in getting his name removed.
That is the kind of statistic you might expect to come out of the old Soviet Union, or North Korea, or Bangladesh. Not out of the United States.
Reading this story made me think, for the umpteenth time, that the 9/11 terrorists really have won. If there's an afterlife, Bin Laden and his buddies are laughing – at us. The America they hated – that land of freedom and opportunity – is being eaten away by a burgeoning security apparatus and by a progressive-pushed journey toward socialism.
Is 10 AM too early for a drink? Ah, well, it's the right time for a drink somewhere...
The progressive narrative, part 34,813...
The progressive narrative, part 34,813... Do you know about Oculus being acquired by Facebook? Click on that link for a detailed story. Here are the basics:
Oculus was a startup company whose goal was to develop a new and better virtual reality (VR) headset, named Rift. VR headsets present a 3D image to your eyes, tricking your brain into believing that you are in a different world – one that is completely generated in the computer, and can be anything at all. The main use today for VR headsets is with 3D games, but there are all sorts of other possible uses as well.
Oculus chose to fund its startup through a Kickstarter campaign. They were massively over-funded, meaning that they succeeded in raising far more money than they were asking for. People contributing small amounts of money got nothing but a sincere “thank you” for their money. If you contributed more, you might get a T-shirt, an early version of the Rift, or (for lots of money contributed) various other perks. What you didn't get was any stock in the company – so you weren't investing in the usual sense. The only rewards you got were the pleasure of funding something successful, and possibly (depending on how much you contributed) a copy of the product – if the development was successful.
As it happened, the Rift development every was successful – very much so. Facebook, last week, acquired Oculus in a $2B deal, making the founders fabulously wealthy. The people who funded Oculus – those Kickstarter contributors – make nothing at all on the deal.
The progressives were quick to respond to this. This article, on Bloomberg View, is entirely typical. It takes the view that those Kickstarter contributors are blooming idiots, and they were screwed by Obama's unwise decision to deregulate crowdsourcing – thus allowing the “sheep” (stupid Kickstarter contributors) to be “shorn” (cheated of the investment returns they should have received). The culprit is that perpetual Progressive punching bag: deregulation.
But, as usual, the Progressives have got it all wrong – exactly backwards, actually. This wasn't deregulation at all. Kickstarter (and the similar crowdfunding sites) would like nothing better than to sell stock shares to funding contributors – but existing investment regulations forbid it. Those regulations are the direct result of Progressives meddling with capitalism. The “screwing” that the Progressives are screaming about happened not because of deregulation, but because there wasn't any deregulation. The Progressive regulations that prohibit ordinary Americans (those with a net worth less than a million dollars) from making speculative investments is what “screwed” the Kickstarter funders.
Progressives: destroying freedom and opportunity everywhere they go...
Oculus was a startup company whose goal was to develop a new and better virtual reality (VR) headset, named Rift. VR headsets present a 3D image to your eyes, tricking your brain into believing that you are in a different world – one that is completely generated in the computer, and can be anything at all. The main use today for VR headsets is with 3D games, but there are all sorts of other possible uses as well.
Oculus chose to fund its startup through a Kickstarter campaign. They were massively over-funded, meaning that they succeeded in raising far more money than they were asking for. People contributing small amounts of money got nothing but a sincere “thank you” for their money. If you contributed more, you might get a T-shirt, an early version of the Rift, or (for lots of money contributed) various other perks. What you didn't get was any stock in the company – so you weren't investing in the usual sense. The only rewards you got were the pleasure of funding something successful, and possibly (depending on how much you contributed) a copy of the product – if the development was successful.
As it happened, the Rift development every was successful – very much so. Facebook, last week, acquired Oculus in a $2B deal, making the founders fabulously wealthy. The people who funded Oculus – those Kickstarter contributors – make nothing at all on the deal.
The progressives were quick to respond to this. This article, on Bloomberg View, is entirely typical. It takes the view that those Kickstarter contributors are blooming idiots, and they were screwed by Obama's unwise decision to deregulate crowdsourcing – thus allowing the “sheep” (stupid Kickstarter contributors) to be “shorn” (cheated of the investment returns they should have received). The culprit is that perpetual Progressive punching bag: deregulation.
But, as usual, the Progressives have got it all wrong – exactly backwards, actually. This wasn't deregulation at all. Kickstarter (and the similar crowdfunding sites) would like nothing better than to sell stock shares to funding contributors – but existing investment regulations forbid it. Those regulations are the direct result of Progressives meddling with capitalism. The “screwing” that the Progressives are screaming about happened not because of deregulation, but because there wasn't any deregulation. The Progressive regulations that prohibit ordinary Americans (those with a net worth less than a million dollars) from making speculative investments is what “screwed” the Kickstarter funders.
Progressives: destroying freedom and opportunity everywhere they go...
California leads the way!
California leads the way! Few other states would keep paying state politicians accused of gun-running...
I guess I should be grateful that they even suspended him...
Justice is for the little people!
I guess I should be grateful that they even suspended him...
Justice is for the little people!
The EU provoked the Ukraine crisis?
The EU provoked the Ukraine crisis? Interesting alternative narrative by two people I admire: Delingpole quoting Nigel Farage. Hmmm...
We never felt a thing!
We never felt a thing! But then again, we were sound asleep...
Last night at 9:09:42 PM, there was a magnitude 5.1 earthquake whose epicenter was near La Hambra, California (21 miles ESE of Los Angeles). About 28 seconds later, at 9:10:10 PM, the shock waves reached our seismometer, which recorded the results shown at right (click to embiggen). Here's the shakemap...
Last night at 9:09:42 PM, there was a magnitude 5.1 earthquake whose epicenter was near La Hambra, California (21 miles ESE of Los Angeles). About 28 seconds later, at 9:10:10 PM, the shock waves reached our seismometer, which recorded the results shown at right (click to embiggen). Here's the shakemap...
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