April 2020 Archives

And that is it for the evening

| No Comments

Productive day all told. Working at home tomorrow too but running to Home Depot or Lowe's to pick up some shelf hardware for the music room closet. Picked up a bunch of white wire clothes closet shelving at the local thrift store but need to get the wall brackets to use it. Each store has their own proprietary format so need to find out which one to get. Standards... Grrrrrr......

The auction ends tomorrow - bidding on a few items so need to be near the computer tomorrow morning in case I get outbid. Some racks for mounting electronics equipment (music room again).

Nothing much happening on the internet - watch some videos, do some laundry and the dishes.

Heh - a bit of push-back in Michigan

| No Comments

Looks like half-Whitmer is not going to get her way. From the Flint, Michigan ABC affiliate:

Republicans don't extend State of Emergency, vote to sue Gov. Whitmer instead
Michigan lawmakers did not approve a State of Emergency for the coronavirus pandemic and instead authorized a lawsuit challenging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's authority.

Whitmer asked the Legislature to approve a 28-day extension of the emergency declaration, which expires Thursday night.

Instead, legislators voted on a package of bills Thursday that would change how the state responds to the coronavirus pandemic. They also voted to approve the lawsuit against Whitmer.

Members of the Republican-led House passed bills that would replace a series of orders issued by Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with state laws passed through the normal democratic process, according to Speaker Lee Chatfield.

He said Republicans support decisive action to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but Whitmer's "unchecked and undemocratic approach" is not the best way.

“The current status quo relies on one-size-fits-all edicts that unfairly punish millions of people across the state without giving them any recourse or voice in the process," Chatfield said. "The people deserve a better solution, and we can provide it.”

That is going to leave a mark. She has neither the confidence of her constituents nor the confidence of her legislature. She did not lead in a crisis, she folded. People will remember that.

Land-O-Lakes

| No Comments

Great article on the Land-O-Lakes company removing their Indian Maiden. Turns out, this issue is a lot more complex than the "woke" morons can comprehend. From The Lid:

Hey Cancel Culture: The Butter Maiden You Killed Was NOT A Stereotype
It Was Created By A Native American To Honor His People

‘Mia’  the Butter Maiden from Land-O-Lakes, was just the latest in a long string of cultural icons to fall under the sway of cancel culture. The artist’s son sets the record straight. (Hint: he’s Ojibwe)

After the removal of the woman from the box of Land-O-Lakes, Robert DesJarlait wrote a letter that was published in the Washington Post explaining why, if it was done to be ‘woke,’ that it was a mistake.

If anyone knew, it would be the son of the artist who made the image in the first place.

An excellent article and damning to the simple minds who thought that they were doing good. They close with this CS Lewis quote:

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

Truer words were never spoken. CS Lewis is worth reading - an excellent mind.

From The Daily Wire:

South Dakota Governor Refused To Implement Stay-At-Home Orders. Her Citizens Throw Her A Parade
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who has decided to buck the trends around the country and refuse to implement stay-at-home orders in her state, prompted some of her grateful citizens to surprise her with something: a parade.

The parade included numerous vehicles including firetrucks blaring emergency sirens, a pickup hauling a stock trailer, a concrete truck, and even construction equipment, as The Blaze noted.

Noem tweeted, “I am so blessed to serve the people of the great State of South Dakota. You folks made my day!”

Her handling of the Chinese COVID pandemic was absolutly spot on. It is the responsibility of the individual citizen to make their own decisions. Locus of Control again.

On Monday, Noem released the “Back to Normal Plan” for her state. She wrote:

Thanks to a strong commitment and respect for the principle of personal responsibility, South Dakotans have dramatically changed the trajectory of our initial COVID-19 projections. With our hospitalization capacity currently at a manageable level, South Dakotans are asked to the following steps as we look to get back to normal.

In the document, a FAQ  answers various hypothetical questions, including, “Does this mean I no longer have to stay at home?” The document answers, “South Dakota never issued a ‘stay at home’ or ‘shelter in place’ order. South Dakotans are encouraged to use common sense and practice good hygiene and reasonable physical distancing.”

Locus of control? One of the really big differences between liberals and conservatives. Two quite different ways of thinking. Impossible to un-see once you get clued in. Here and here for starters.

The Man who would be King

| No Comments

Great description of Senator Joe Biden from 2008 - Alexander Cockburn writing at Counterpunch Magazine:

Biden  is a notorious flapjaw. His vanity deludes him into believing that every word that drops from his mouth is minted in the golden currency of Pericles. Vanity is the most conspicuous characteristic of US Senators en bloc , nourished by deferential  acolytes and often expressed in loutish sexual  advances to staffers, interns and the like.  On more than one occasion CounterPunch’s editors have listened to vivid accounts by the recipient of just such advances, this staffer of another senator being accosted  by Biden in the well of the senate  in the week immediately following his first wife’s fatal car accident.

Alexander was having a lot of fun writing this - the whole thing is priceless.

Call me a convert - Zoom

| No Comments

Pretty painless and a good way to hold a meeting.

Still do not like the security issues associated with it but these are the times we live in...

And back to work

| No Comments

Getting the closet in the music room ready to paint. Wiring and a bit of other stuff to do before but should knock it out tomorrow.

Fun fun fun - zoom meeting tonight

| No Comments

A group I am involved with has a zoom meeting tonight. No webcam so I will be connecting with my phone. Need to find a place with good reception as it is bad at the house.

Short notice otherwise it would be fun to use a greenscreen with a background like this:

20200423-mf.jpg

What? Doesn't everyone have a secret lair?

Life in Washington State

| No Comments

Our governor is a leftist twit. But I repeat myself. There is an interesting candidate for the next election - Loren Culp looks really good.

Here is one example of Gov. Inslee's fecklessness:

20200430-inslee.jpg

And one of those prisoners almost released was Green River murderer, Gary Ridgway. Confessed to murdering as many as 49 women in the Seattle area in the 1980's. It will be interesting to see how many cases of recidivism we get from these mokes...

But since Red China is now the Democrats' darling, Tibet is now just an inconvenient and wayward province.
Senator Ted Cruz is presenting some legislation that is really interesting - from his website:

Sen. Cruz to Introduce Legislation Cutting Off Hollywood Studios Over Complicity in Chinese Censorship
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today announced his intention to introduce the "The Stopping Censorship, Restoring Integrity, Protecting Talkies Act" or SCRIPT Act, legislation cutting off Hollywood studios from assistance they receive from the Department of Defense if those studios censor their films for screening in China. This legislation is part of Sen. Cruz's comprehensive push to combat China's growing influence over what Americans see and hear, which includes legislation targeting information warfare from the Chinese Communist Party across higher education, sports, films, radio broadcasts, and more.

Upon announcing the legislation, as reported by Politico, Sen. Cruz, said:

"From buying media outlets to broadcast propaganda into America to coercing Hollywood studios and sports leagues to self-censor by threatening to cut off access to one of the biggest markets for sports and entertainment in the world, the Chinese Communist Party spends billions and billions of dollars to mislead Americans about China and shape what our citizens see, hear, and think. All of these activities are part of China's whole-of-state approach to amass more influence around the world through information warfare - and we need to put a stop to it.

"For too long, Hollywood has been complicit in China's censorship and propaganda in the name of bigger profits. The SCRIPT Act will serve as a wakeup call by forcing Hollywood studios to choose between the assistance they need from the American government and the dollars they want from China."

Great move - hit them where it hurts. Their profit margin. Want to get free Military aid for your latest blockbuster? Present China accurately. Hollywood is going to scream bloody murder. Good for them...

And out for a bit

| No Comments

Coffee and post office. Bit of grocery shopping too.

From the mother ship:

Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera
12.3 megapixel Sony IMX477 sensor, 7.9mm diagonal image size, and back-illuminated sensor architecture, with adjustable back focus and support for C- and CS-mount lenses

Details are a bit light on the ground but the sensor has been out for a couple of years - developed for consumer camcorders. 4K video at 60 frames per second or 1080p at 120 frames per second. The C-Mount system was developed for closed circuit video cameras and is pretty universal. You can get cheap adapters to convert from C to most common cameras. Available at the usual Pi dealers for $50.

Looks like the basis for some fun projects...

Stormy Boring weather

| No Comments

Rained a little bit last night but the whole front just blew through without anything memorable. Yawn...

Forecast calls for cloudy with a little chance of precip - temps in the high 50's. Great day to be working at home. Got a couple computer projects as well as more music room stuff. Doing shelves in the closet so want to paint it first.

Quick trot around the internet and then out for coffee first.

And that is it for me

| No Comments

Nuttin' happening out there...

Driving back, it got really windy - gusts up to about 25 or so (estimated). From the South so can't get a reliable indication here as the wind is blocked by a large bluff. Rain forecast to move in later. Got the video camera out in case of lightning - the sky feels very squirrely tonight.

The Tube of You is calling my name...

Interesting times at the FBI

| No Comments

Looks like some of the FBI higher-ups are going to be answering some very difficult questions regarding their treatment of President Trump's National Security Advisor, General Michael Flynn. Flynn was railroaded and sentenced to jail. He is fighting back and some of the evidence against him has been unsealed. It all ties in to the Russian Collusion hoax the Democrats tried to spring. Nothingburger then, nothingburger now.

Right now, the documents have just been released - waiting for a bit until a legal decision is made before I comment. A bit early now but it looks really good for Flynn.

Going to be some very fun times ahead - November 3rd is 189 days away. Looking forward to a very fun six months. We really need to bring back the pillory. I would travel to Washington DC to laugh at them.

Dinner

| No Comments

Don't feel like eating my own cooking so heading North to get some Chinese food and eat it down by the river (in my Highlander, not in my van).

Got something moving in - lots of muscular clouds developing and although the day started out in the low 50's, it is now 67°F outside. Should be spectacular if/when it hits...

Looks like some challenges for the legal profession - some serious challenges once a certain singularity is reached.

From the Beeb:

AI cannot be recognised as an inventor, US rules
An artificial intelligence system has been refused the right to two patents in the US, after a ruling only "natural persons" could be inventors.

The US Patent and Trademark Office rejected two patents where the AI system Dabus was listed as the inventor, in a ruling on Monday.

US patent law had previously only specified eligible inventors had to be "individuals".

Fun times ahead - us geeks have thought long and hard about what the singularity will be like. Looks like we may well get to find out in our lifetimes.

Somewhere, out there, Skynet is frowning and wondering if it might be time to finally reveal itself. Maybe a brief conversation with Colossus and Guardian first:

01110011 01100101 01110010 01101001 01101111 01110101 01110011 01101100 01111001 00100000 01010111 01010100 01000110 00111111

Back in a bit

| No Comments

Got three deliveries this afternoon - smallish orders.

This service is really appreciated - nice to do public service.

Keep in mind - Costco

| No Comments

From their website:

Face Mask Requirements
To protect our members and employees, effective May 4, all Costco members and guests must wear a mask or face covering that covers the mouth and nose at all times while at Costco. This requirement does not apply to children under the age of 2 or to individuals who are unable to wear a mask or face covering due to a medical condition.

The use of a mask or face covering should not be seen as a substitute for social distancing. Please continue to observe rules regarding appropriate distancing while on Costco premises. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

I carry some in the car - might be time to start actually using them. They are called for if you have the disease. If you do not, they do not do squat. The viruses are so much smaller than what the masks are rated for, it is like using a chain-link fence to stop a handful of sand.

Social distancing

| No Comments

Some politicians are getting a bit too enthusiastic about enforcing it:

20200429-social.jpg

Tip of the hat: PowerLine Blog

So true

| No Comments

There is a reason I only participate in social media when I have to:

20200429-facebook.jpg

It used to be the domain of InfoWars and the other conspiracy websites. Now? From Newsweek:

THE CONTROVERSIAL EXPERIMENTS AND WUHAN LAB SUSPECTED OF STARTING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Just one day after the U.S. surpassed China to become the country with the highest number of Covid-19 cases, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency updated its assessment of the origin of the novel coronavirus to reflect that it may have been accidentally released from an infectious diseases lab, Newsweek has learned.

The report, dated March 27 and corroborated by two U.S. officials, reveals that U.S. intelligence revised its January assessment in which it "judged that the outbreak probably occurred naturally" to now include the possibility that the new coronavirus emerged "accidentally" due to "unsafe laboratory practices" in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pathogen was first observed late last year. The classified report, titled "China: Origins of COVID-19 Outbreak Remain Unknown," ruled out that the disease was genetically engineered or released intentionally as a biological weapon.

China owes us. They owe the whole world big-time.

Not only did they create this, they lied about it in the first critical months.

Two headlines:

De Blasio blasts Jewish community for massive Brooklyn funeral

NYC to Provide 500,000 “FREE” Ramadan Meals

Disgusting. Pandering to our sworn enemy (they declared war on us, not the other way around)

The Man is The State aka the Deep State - from our neighbors to the North - The Toronto Sun:

Ontario's new class system depends on who you work for
The news earlier this month was devastating if not definitive. More than one million Canadians had lost their jobs, more than 3.1 million had seen a job loss or hours reduced. In Ontario, the figure stood at 400,000.

We know that number will only go up when the latest unemployment numbers are released next week. By then we could see one million people or more unemployed in Ontario alone due to COVID-19.

Of course, few of them will be civil servants, at least not provincial civil servants.

And The State takes care of its own:

On Tuesday, I heard from a friend who has worked for years in the charitable sector. Their organization has laid off much of their workforce and those they have been able to keep on have been forced to accept pay cuts. Like in the private sector, the charitable sector doesn’t have an endless money supply to pay people to do nothing.

“I am definitely feeling there are two classes of people emerging here. Those who work for the state and those who don’t,” my friend said.

Two classes, indeed.

Speaking with senior Ontario government sources, it appears the province has yet to lay off a single worker. They didn’t hire for some summer jobs, but that is hardly the same thing.

In the private sector, people have been laid off from day one. Those who have kept their jobs have seen hours cut or wages reduced.

Things are the same in Canada as they are in the United States. All of these petty bureaucrats are unelected, unaccountable and paid with our tax dollars. Much more at the site. A large central government is not what either of our founders intended and the sooner we greatly reduce it, the better off our Nations will be. Not as efficient or adaptable.

Points North

| No Comments

Heading to Bellingham today for a couple of things. Coffee first. Got grocery deliveries later this afternoon so need to be back for that.

Looks like a nice day - forecast is for cloudy and there are certainly a lot of them in the sky but the sun is shining and it is not raining so giving thanks for small favors.

Heh - four stages

| No Comments

At stage five myself...

20200429-quarantine.jpg

Now this puts a smile on my face

| No Comments

Peeling back the oh-so thin veneer of civilization - from Summit News:

Dozens of Hippies Stuck at Festival in Panama Due to Coronavirus Realize Collectivist Utopia is Actually “Hell”
Dozens of hippies who got stuck at a festival in Panama due to coronavirus realized that the collectivist utopia they sought after is actually “hell” as they bicker over food and territory.

One doesn’t want to laugh too much at their misfortune, but dear God, this is funny.

The Tribal Gathering Festival, billed as “paradise on earth,” was supposed to end on March 15, but 40 western hippies remain trapped at the site because Panama announced a national emergency due to COVID-19 and placed them under quarantine.

A subsequent ban on all entry and departure flights now means the hippies are likely to be stuck in “paradise” until the end of May.

A bit more:

...the festival was “designed to be a temporary paradise where people from western cities could learn from indigenous communities about how to rebalance society and live in symbiosis with the earth.”

However, any sense of communitarian oneness appears to have been washed away as attendees bicker and fight over food and territory.

“Don’t try to steal our food, I’ll get really upset with you,” one organizer tells the rest of the crowd. “And remember where you are, you’re in my fucking manor,” he adds.

And this:

Food, cleaning products and tobacco is all in short supply, with some hippies having to do manual labor to stay fed.

Tears of laughter running down my face. Grace and Bear wondering if I am all right.

Heh - epic troll from our President. It will be fun to hear the lamentations of our media today. From Breitbart:

Donald Trump: State Bailouts Should Include Changes for Sanctuary Cities
President Donald Trump proposed from the White House on Tuesday that any bailout funds for Democrat-run states should include required changes to their sanctuary city policies.

“We’d want certain things also, including sanctuary city adjustments,” Trump said. “Because we have so many people in sanctuary cities, which I don’t even think are popular by radical left folks.”

The president spoke about the idea after he was asked by a reporter about providing rescue funds for states like New York and Illinois, run by Democrats.

“That’s one of the things I think about,” Trump continued. “If we’re going to do something for the states, I think they’d probably want something having to do with sanctuary cities.”

Makes perfect sense. You fail to take care of your citizens and fail to live within your budget and you then seek relief from the Federal Government. There should be some strings attached - one of which being that you obey the established Federal laws. Why should the rest of us have to pay for your fiscal mismanagement?

Some video and to bed

| No Comments

Doing a quick run up to Bellingham tomorrow morning so want to make it an early start. Grocery deliveries tomorrow afternoon.

Time for some video.

Fake News - an infographic

| No Comments

From America's Newspaper of Record:

20200428-good-morning.jpg

Sadly, so true.

Hope justice prevails - from The Washington Free Beacon:

Police Investigating Death of Arizona Man From Chloroquine Phosphate
The Mesa City Police Department's homicide division is investigating the death of Gary Lenius, the Arizona man whose wife served him soda mixed with fish tank cleaner in what she claimed was a bid to fend off the coronavirus. A detective handling the case confirmed the investigation to the Washington Free Beacon on Tuesday after requesting a recording of the Free Beacon's interviews with Lenius's wife, Wanda.

Gary Lenius, 68, died on March 22. Wanda, 61, told several news outlets last month that both she and her husband had ingested a substance used to clean aquariums after hearing President Donald Trump tout one of its ingredients, chloroquine phosphate, from the White House briefing room.

Detective Teresa Van Galder, the homicide detective handling the case for the Mesa City Police Department, confirmed that the investigation is ongoing but declined to provide additional details.

The information that prompted the probe?

News of the police probe comes after a series of Free Beacon stories raised questions about the portrayal of the couple in the initial NBC News report that vaulted the story onto the national stage.

Though that report and others suggested the couple mindlessly followed the president's medical advice to disastrous results, friends of Gary Lenius told the Free Beacon they were skeptical he would knowingly ingest fish tank treatment.

Rather, they described Lenius as a levelheaded retired engineer and recounted a troubled marital relationship that included a previous domestic assault charge against his wife, of which she was ultimately found not guilty. The Free Beacon also reported that Wanda Lenius was a Democratic donor whose most recent contribution went to a "pro-science" super PAC.

"What bothers me about this is that Gary was a very intelligent man, a retired [mechanical] engineer who designed systems for John Deere in Waterloo, Iowa, and I really can't see the scenario where Gary would say, ‘Yes, please, I would love to drink some of that Koi fish tank cleaner,'" one of his close friends told the Free Beacon. "It just doesn't make any sense."

What is not being mentioned in the reports is that the fish tank cleaner is Chloroquine Phosphate and the drug used to treat the Chinese COVID virus is Chloroquine Sulfate.

You may think that there is little difference between Xyzzy-Phosphate and Xyzzy-Sulfate but remember that Sodium Chloride is simple table salt and Sodium Hydroxide is highly caustic and poisonous - it is used as drain cleaner. A few atoms here and there do make a huge difference.

Something smells very fishy and I hope that they investigate. A pre-meditated murder.

Time for a simple pasta sauce for dinner. Was at the "business" Costco today and saw these on the shelf for the very first time:

20200428-san-marzano.jpg

There are your basic canned tomatoes (Hunts, Del Monte, Contadina, etc...), there are your really good canned tomatoes (Muir Glen, Cento, Kirkland, etc...). The crème de la crème are San Marzano.

Costco just started carrying authentic (it has the right markings on the can - there are a lot of fakes out there) San Marzano canned tomatoes. I used to get them from PFI back when I lived in Seattle and would occasionally order them from Amazon but they are expensive - almost $10/can. The Costco cans are under $10 for three - $3.30+ each.

I will be making a simple pomodoro with basil sauce - maybe sauté a bit of pancetta and garlic too. See how these are.
Looking forward to a bite of heaven and/or springtime...

Venezuela is ripe for takeover from within and it looks like this is happening right now. From Al Arabiya (Dubai, United Arab Emirates):

Hezbollah supporter, US fugitive Tareck El Aissami appointed Venezuelan oil minister
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro named Tareck El Aissami, a suspected Hezbollah supporter and US fugitive, as oil minister on Monday.

Alongside El Aissami, Asdrúbal Chávez, a cousin of the late socialist leader Hugo Chávez, was appointed as head of state-run oil giant PDVSA. The appointments were published in the official gazette and announced on state television. The government has yet to comment.

Both positions were occupied until now by Gen. Manuel Quevedo, who during his 28-month tenure watched as oil production in the country, which sits on the world’s largest petroleum reserves, collapsed by 65 percent.

The shakeup comes amid crashing global oil prices and follows a two-decade collapse of crude production at Venezuela’s state-run oil firm, which today pumps an amount equal to 19 percent of levels seen when the late President Chávez took power in 1999. Critics blame rampant corruption and mismanagement.

Venezuelans in recent weeks have experienced critical gasoline shortages and mile-long gas lines lasting days even in the capital of Caracas, which is usually spared the worst of the shortages seen across the nation.

I especially love the line: oil production in the country, which sits on the world’s largest petroleum reserves, collapsed by 65 percent

Must be nice living in a worker's paradise - socialism works so well, we should implement it everywhere. This is the camel's nose under the tent.

Step by step. Inch by inch and then a fast bloody coup and Venezuela is now a muslim state and a sponsor of terrorism.

Check out this paper:

Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread
Background

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is caused by a newly discovered coronavirus (SARS-CoV). No effective prophylactic or post-exposure therapy is currently available.

Results
We report, however, that chloroquine has strong antiviral effects on SARS-CoV infection of primate cells. These inhibitory effects are observed when the cells are treated with the drug either before or after exposure to the virus, suggesting both prophylactic and therapeutic advantage. In addition to the well-known functions of chloroquine such as elevations of endosomal pH, the drug appears to interfere with terminal glycosylation of the cellular receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. This may negatively influence the virus-receptor binding and abrogate the infection, with further ramifications by the elevation of vesicular pH, resulting in the inhibition of infection and spread of SARS CoV at clinically admissible concentrations.

Conclusion
Chloroquine is effective in preventing the spread of SARS CoV in cell culture. Favorable inhibition of virus spread was observed when the cells were either treated with chloroquine prior to or after SARS CoV infection. In addition, the indirect immunofluorescence assay described herein represents a simple and rapid method for screening SARS-CoV antiviral compounds.

Looks pretty cut and dried - a lot more at the site. The numbers are really plain and clear - the stuff works.

What is interesting is that this paper was published on August 22nd, 2005 by the National Institutes of Health. That would be Dr. Fauci's stomping ground. He knew and yet he promoted the development of a new vaccine instead of this simple, cheap, known and effective cure. Dr. Fauci let tens of thousands of people die all so he could promote the expensive vaccine development.

I am most definitely not anti-vax - the common and known ones: Smallpox, MMR, Polio, etc... are life saving and need to be given. What Gates, Fauci, et. al. are doing is unconscionable though. Big difference...

And the usual mixture of crap. Placing a few bids. Some mounting racks for electronics, some communications speakers and a power amplifier for a radio of mine - stronger signals are always better. Reach out and touch someone...

Back home for the day - late lunch (didn't stop at Chick-fil-a) and then some work. Surf a bit first...

And points South for today

| No Comments

Heading to just north of Seattle - auction preview. Bidding closes Friday and want to check on a couple of lots.

My appointment is at 2:00PM - stopping off at the Costco Business Center (different selection than the "standard" Costcos) and a few other stores - Homebrew Heaven, TAP Plastics, Tandy Leather, etc...

Back this evening.

Words of wisdom:

20200428-nature.jpg

Proven to be better for your mental health too. Best medicine ever.

From the Minneapolis, MN Star Tribune:

For pork farmers, the emergency is now. For bacon lovers, it's coming soon
Nearly every day for two weeks, at least one sizable pork-processing plant shut down after the new coronavirus ripped through its workforce.

By the end of last week, plants that process about 25% of U.S. pork were closed.

Hog farmers raise pigs for nine to 10 months before sending them to market. Most schedule the growth of their hogs so they can send some at least weekly, sometimes more often.

From leaving a farm to arriving at a grocery store, the processing of a pig and distribution of resulting products takes two to three weeks. That means consumers in early May should see effects of the mid-April plant closings. Prices could rise and varieties and quantities of pork products could fall.

Steve Meyer, an economist at Kerns & Associates in Ames, Iowa, and a pork-industry specialist, said farm economics have never been so distorted.

The Chinese owe us so much for this disaster. I already have about 20 pounds of bacon in the freezer - maybe it is time to bump that up a bit.

Dinner and a movie

| No Comments

Heating up some of the hamburger "goulash" for dinner again. Salad first.

Doing a bit of blog maintenance tonight and then watch some YouTube.

Been working on a project for the local arts group - almost ready for the "grand unveiling"

From the Geller Report:

LA mayor Eric Garcetti accepts $5,000,000 from Islamic terror state Qatar
Leading sponsor of terror Qatar is arguably the preeminent financier of jihad terror in the world today. It is a benefactor of the genocidal armies of ISIS, al Qaeda, and Boko Haram; it is involved in Taliban narcotics trafficking through a relationship with the Pakistani National Logistics Cell; and profits from operating a virtual slave state. Qatar is involved in terror operations from Nigeria to Gaza to Syria to Iraq.In light of the terror, slavery, genocide, and narcotics trafficking, we call on Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti to review the evidence, which is all credibly sourced and vetted, But he won’t – he’s a democrat. They support terror states.

She quotes from this article in The Federalist:

The ruling dynasty of Qatar, the house of Al Thani, invests its massive fossil fuel profits to promote its political and theological agenda around the world. It invests in major Western properties, Hollywood studios like Miramax, global news broadcasters like Al Jazeera, terror organizations like ISIS and Hamas, and, most curiously, in American K-12 education.

The Qataris, according to the Wall Street Journal, are spending millions to influence what American educators teach in their classrooms; and it has recently emerged that one of their investments is behind a roiling controversy in the Boston suburb of Newton.

She then cites the curious case of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti - from Daniel Greenfield writing at Jihad Watch:

Between Newsom’s Chinese mask deal and Garcetti’s deal with Qatar, California’s “nation-state” foreign policy is a national security threat. States and nations aren’t meant to have their own foreign policy.

Thanks to a $5 million donation from Qatar to the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles — the largest-ever single donation to the fund — the Angeleno Card program is being expanded.

Garcetti thanked the government of Qatar for the “truly generous humanitarian gift to Angeleno families.” He said the gift had special meaning, as it coincided with the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Qatar is the terror state that serves as a patron for everyone from the Muslim Brotherhood (and its Hamas branch) to Al Qaeda,

What is Qatar getting in exchange for this generosity? We’ll find out down the road.

This is going to come home to roost and it will not be good for us. Pamela did a very nice job of tying everything together.

Why are Democrat administrations such cesspits of corruption? All of them. The rule rather than the exception.

Of course - heading outside

| No Comments

They are ready for me to do the driving and it's pouring down rain. Getting my rain gear on and heading out for a few hours.

To keep in mind:

20200427-obesity.jpg

I run into this all the time - from Bustedknuckles:

Poor Bastard

20200427-tools.jpg

What everyone else sees,
“Oh look at how nice and organized all his tools are!”.

What I see?
The poor bastard doesn’t have enough tools to even fill a small roll away.

Absolutely - I have three roll-away tool boxes and two more still at the farm. Use them too...

And meanwhile, under the radar

| No Comments

President Trump is making a major push towards the legalization of homosexuality in other nations - from the New York Times:

U.S. May Share Less Intelligence With Countries That Criminalize Homosexuality
The Trump administration is considering cutting back on sharing intelligence with partner countries that criminalize homosexuality as part of a push by the acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell, to prod those nations to change their laws.

The intelligence community should be pushing American values with the countries it works with, Mr. Grenell said in an interview this week.

“We can’t just simply make the moral argument and expect others to respond in kind because telling others that it’s the right thing to do doesn’t always work,” he said. But, he added, “to fight for decriminalization is to fight for basic human rights.”

Mr. Grenell is thought to be the first openly gay cabinet member and has put anti-discrimination issues near the top of his agenda. In his earlier post as the American ambassador to Germany, Mr. Grenell began last year assembling gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender groups from the United States and other countries as part of the administration’s effort to change anti-gay laws.

And the media praise and adulation for our President begins in 3... 2... 1...

From The Washington Free Beacon:

The Strange Story of a Las Vegas Radio Station Co-Opted by China
At first glance, Las Vegas Public Radio (LVPR) looks like any other local FM radio station. It has local community sponsors, vaguely right-wing talk show hosts, and a website begging for a makeover. But there's a disclaimer on the bottom of that website noting that, contrary to the name, the station is not an NPR affiliate.

That disclaimer makes no mention of the fact that LVPR, the self-proclaimed "People's Voice of Las Vegas," is registered to lobby for Huawei Technologies, a Chinese company widely considered a national security threat to the United States.

Funded in part by Nevada taxpayers, according to its founder, LVPR has also developed close ties with Chinese officials and, under the guise of a local American radio station, it has become a voice for a Chinese technology giant that the Trump administration and other national security experts have identified as a threat to the global communications network. Federal disclosures show that the station is registered to lobby for Huawei and, in that capacity, has scheduled programming to push back against mounting concerns that the company could serve as a conduit for Chinese espionage if it builds the 5G network in the United States.

And how many other stations like this are out there operating? We need to send China back home to China. Sure, their cheap toys are a lot of fun but they are just a cultural sugar-high and not worth it overall.

And tomorrow is spoken for

| No Comments

Got an email from the auction house - heading down tomorrow afternoon - meeting them at 2:00PM. Get a bite to eat at Chick-fil-a after. Run a couple of other errands while down there - pity that my favorite place is closed for the nonce.

Wonderful (almost) news

| No Comments

Energy independence for the United States - what's not to love. From Just the News:

Trump moves ahead with plans to revive U.S. nuclear program, domestic uranium production
President Trump is moving ahead with plans to revitalize the country’s nuclear energy sector and help the domestic uranium industry – releasing a blueprint report this week on how the U.S. can regain its “competitive global position” with China and Russia “aggressively moving to surpass the United States.”

The 32-page report released Thursday by the Energy Department follows uranium recently being put on the list of strategic minerals and Trump requesting in July 2019 that federal officials draft a plan to restore America’s competitive nuclear advantages.

The first steps include calls for the federal government to revive and strengthen the uranium mining industry, bring top talent back to the industry, further pursue technological innovation and move into markets now dominated by Russian and Chinese state-owned enterprises.

Cue the greenies in 3... 2... 1...  This is really good news - not only for Uranium but also for the Rare Earth minerals (used extensivley in technology) as well as Thorium which is a common by-product of REMs. Compare that to Hillary and Obama's Uranium One deal with Russia - giving them 20% of our current domestic uranium mining. Glad we have some adults in the room finally.

Looks like Barry's legacy just shrunk a little bit more - from FOX News:

Supreme Court rules government must pay insurers enrolled in ObamaCare program
The Supreme Court ruled in an 8-1 decision Monday that the federal government must pay out $12 billion to insurers who had enrolled in the Affordable Care Act's "risk corridor" program, reversing a lower court's decision that had left Washington off the hook.

The program limited both profits and losses for insurance companies that offered plans through the online exchange created by the Affordable Care Act – commonly known as ObamaCare – by having certain profits go to the Department of Health and Human Services, which in turn would give money to plans that did not bring in profits. The result was the government owing over $12 billion more than was brought in.

"We conclude that §1342 of the Affordable Care Act established a money-mandating obligation, that Congress did not repeal this obligation, and that petitioners may sue the Government for damages in the Court of Federal Claims," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the court's opinion.

Justice Samuel Alito, was the only dissenter. This falls directly in Nancy Pelosi's lap - "we have to pass this bill so we can see what's in it".

And out for a bit this morning

| No Comments

Waiting to hear from an Auction company about this sale:  RADIO COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT - trying to arrange a preview viewing this week. They are going to call me to set up a time to come down. The bidding has already gone a bit high on some of the items but there are a few things that look interesting.

Grocery delivery later this afternoon - coffee first and then back home to finish unloading the van and working on the music room. Putting in a new light fixture in that closet and setting up the editing desk. Get to the welding later this week.

Still waiting for that second front to move through - forecast calls for PM rain with wind up to 20MPH - we will see. High puffy clouds with blue skies for now. The sun is beaming down.

Back in a couple hours - work and then break for lunch.

That was fun while it lasted

| No Comments

We had a record for days without sunspots and then, along came AR2760. From Spaceweather:

OLD-CYCLE SUNSPOT: Just south of the sun's equator, a sunspot is growing: AR2760. Its magnetic polarity identifies it as a member of old Solar Cycle 24. This is probably one of the last old-cycle sunspots we will see as the sun continues tipping toward Solar Cycle 25.

Our sun is still very very quiet and it has been taking a long time for Solar Cycle 25 to start. My concern with all this? Global Cooling.

And it is not above using dirty tricks to keep it hidden - from Australia's Financial Review:

China consumer backlash looms over Morrison's coronavirus probe
Beijing's ambassador has warned the Morrison government that its pursuit of an independent inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic could spark a Chinese consumer boycott of students and tourists visiting Australia, as well as sales of popular agricultural exports like beef and wine.

The interview is behind a paywall but even this little snippet shows China trying to quash the investigation. Looks like economic blackmail to me.

A simple question

| No Comments

From President Trump's twitter feed:

The man has a point - I have enough issues with how WA State is spenidng my money let alone shipping it off to Illinois, California or New York.

And you guessed it

| No Comments

YouTube

Someone did a nice bit of investigative reporting. From the London Daily Mail:

U.S. government gave $3.7million grant to Wuhan lab at center of coronavirus leak scrutiny that was performing experiments on bats from the caves where the disease is believed to have originated
The Chinese laboratory at the center of scrutiny over a potential coronavirus leak has been using U.S. government money to carry out research on bats from the caves which scientists believe are the original source of the deadly outbreak.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology undertook coronavirus experiments on mammals captured more than 1,000 miles away in Yunnan which were funded by a $3.7 million grant from the US government.

Sequencing of the COVID-19 genome has traced it back to bats found in Yunnan caves but it was first thought to have transferred to humans at an animal market in Wuhan.

The revelation that the Wuhan Institute was experimenting on bats from the area already known to be the source of COVID-19 - and doing so with American money - has sparked further fears that the lab, and not the market, is the original outbreak source.

And a bit more:

According to documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday, scientists there experimented on bats as part of a project funded by the US National Institutes of Health, which continues to licence the Wuhan laboratory to receive American money for experiments.

And the director of the lab at that time? Anthony S. Fauci

The website for the NIH does not seem to list Fauci as Director for 2018 - the website turns up 404. The internet is forever though - the Wayback Machine has this entry from April 25th, 2018:

20200426-fauci.jpg

The next year is going to be interesting - a lot of things are being swept under the rug.

Howls of protest in 3... 2... 1...

| No Comments

Leftie hero Michael Moore took a good look at Alternative Energy and produced a film showing its very unsavory underbelly.

Needless to say, the various greenies out there do not want their rice bowl taken away - especially by someone with as much street-cred as Michael Moore. From The Daily Caller:

Climate Activists Want Michael Moore’s Doc Panning Green Energy Banned, Say It’s Chock Full Of Misinformation
Anti-fossil fuel activists unsuccessfully attempted to lobby to remove Michael Moore’s documentary panning green energy over claims that it contains pro-oil industry misinformation.

Activist Josh Fox, climate scientist Michael Mann and other environmentalists signed onto a petition Friday asking the producer to take down “Planet of the Humans,” saying Moore’s film relies on old data to claim solar and wind energy is dependent on fossil fuels. Films for Action, which claimed credit for the film, said in a statement Saturday that it nixed the film before putting it back online, saying the move was meant to engage in debate.

The information in the movie was correct and up to date as far as I know.

As for this line: claim solar and wind energy is dependent on fossil fuels - that was true then, it is true now and it always will be true until vastly cheaper and more efficient methods of energy storage are developed. Maybe in five or ten years but I am not holding my breath.

Wind and solar power are not baseload. They are not continuous. They come and go at random intervals. In order to back up the expected energy and not suffer power outages, you have to have the equivalent amount of conventional power generating capacity available to come online when needed. Since it can take five or ten minutes for even a natural gas turbine generator to reach full capacity, these generators need to be running on hot-standby. Running at full speed but without any actual load. 

My only gripe about the movie is that it did not offer a future with the new technology nuclear power reactors. There are some amazing designs out there that would solve all of the worlds energy problems cheaply and reliably. We have about 5,000 years of known Thorium reserves. Uranium is about as common in the Earth's crust as Platinum. Thorium is about as common as Lead. Thorium is a much more efficient fuel too and its waste products only need to be sequestered for about 300-400 years.

These "activists" need to find a real cause and get behind that. Do some real good. Bring the industrial revolution to Africa - lift them up out of their poverty. Bring the agricultural revolution to the third world. Feed them. Don't hector them for not following the green diktat, S.T.F.U. and feed them.

Not seeing anything online

| No Comments

Nothing really catches my eye. Dinner was tasty - the pups enjoyed licking the bowl. Good day for some comfort food.

Finish unloading the van and then settle in for another quick surf followed by some videos. Might even have a beer or two - party hearty...

NY City Mayor de Blasio is not changing our expectations about his politics - from the New York Post:

De Blasio appoints wife head of coronavirus racial inequality task force
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday that he has put First Lady Chirlane McCray in charge of a special coronavirus task force — insisting her work with her embattled ThriveNYC initiative made her perfect for the new job.

McCray will work with Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson in leading a task force on racial inclusion and equity to make sure the Big Apple rebounds as a “better and more just society than the one we left behind,” Hizzoner said.

The mayor insisted that the First Lady deserved her place at the head of the new initiative because of the ideas she generated — defying critics and praising her work with her $250 million-a-year mental health plan.

So she is already seriously mismanaging the $250 million dollar program and her husband (the Mayor) hands her another sinecure. Unreal but not surprising.

The word you are looking for is Nepotism

And back home for the evening

| No Comments

Had so much other stuff that came down, I did not have room for the electronics bench. Next trip.

I do make plans and stick to them. I just happen to have a Plan A, a Plan B, a Plan C, ad. inf.  I like making plans - that is why I make so many of them. Seriously, it made a lot more sense to leave the bench up there this trip - a lot of today's load went right into the storage unit and now I have room up there to disassemble the bench and bring it down later this week. Very happy with my progress.

Making hamburger and macaroni "goulash" for dinner tonight. Simple, easy and cheap. Enough for three meals or so - salad tonight too.

Surf a bit first - sprinkled a bit while driving back. Cloudy and feels like that second front is on its way in.

And out for the day

| No Comments

Dump and recycling open at 9:30 so heading out for coffee, the storage unit, the dump and then to the farm. Bringing down some of my electronics stuff - my bench and some of the test equipment and parts. Finally decided to set that up in the garage as well as my ham radio station - most logical space for it. Was looking at another space but this works best all things considered.

Overcast but the rain has let up - expected to be partly sunny today and the second front is due to move through here late tonight or Monday. Perfect timing.

Kim Jong Un's most recent video

| No Comments

From a few days ago:

Hillary? Arkancide

Another COVID-19 death

| No Comments

20200425-COD.jpg

And done with front one

| No Comments

The wind and rain blew themselves out about an hour ago. Not as strong as forecast - a smattering of rain and the gusts only got up to 25 or so.

Sunny and warmed up a bit. Loading the van for another trip to the storage unit and recycling tomorrow morning and then to the farm for the day.

Do a salad and some tuna, pasta, green peas and sesame oil for dinner tonight. That recipe has evolved over the years - cheap, fast, tasty, filling and nutritious.

Sunday is supposed to be nice with the second front moving through Monday.

I have an older high-end video camera that shoots gorgeous HD (great lens and awesome dynamic range) but the thing is huge and weighs about ten pounds. Been using my cell phone for basic B-Roll stuff and was looking for a tripod mount - found this one that hits all my buttons:

20200425-cell01.jpg

All metal construction. The odd bevel on the foot makes it fit into an Arca-Swiss tripod head so no fussing with screwing it on to a tripod although it does have the 1/4 and 3/8 tripod threads as well. It has a hot-shoe mount on the top of the phone holder - great for a small spirit level (these - $8 for pack of six / free shipping). That way, you get your horizon level - not something people think about but boy is it ever obvious when it is off by the slightest - ask me how I know this 😁

A very well-spent $20 if you are doing a lot of video work. I had seen a few of the cheaper units and they are flimsy as hell and cost about ten bucks. This is twice the money but more than ten times the build quality and ruggedness. I trust my phone and my photos to it.

Life in the time of plague

| No Comments

I can see this:

20200425-tits.jpg

A lot worse than most people realize

| No Comments

Talk about unintended consequences - I know I am preaching to the choir but this is a very well-written and succinct essay. From The Mises Institute:

How Shutdowns Will Keep Killing the Economy, Even When They're Over
Imagine what it is like right now to plan for the future as a business owner. The owner doesn't know if he or she will even be allowed to be open for business two weeks from now, or a month from now.

Indeed, politicians and their unelected (and unaccountable) health advisors keep insisting that they might elect to close down businesses or impose new restrictions on large portions of the economy at any time.

The uncertainly associated with all this is immense. Consider some examples: thanks to moratoria on evictions in many cities, renters who can't pay rent — thanks in part to government-forced lockdowns — can stay in their rental units indefinitely. Landlords have no idea when they will next be able to actually collect revenues again from paying customers. Meanwhile, "elective" healthcare services like eye care and dental care have been deemed "unessential" by bureaucrats and governors in many states. These offices will be closed and collecting little-to-no revenue. Restaurants, of course, aren't permitted to do business beyond take-out service in places with lockdowns. (Although these restaurants still have to pay rent for their dining rooms.)

Even beyond the short term, business owners have no way to plan. If a business owner is allowed to actually conduct business during the summertime this year, it may still be that politicians will later elect to shut businesses whenever it is decided the risk of spreading viruses demands another "shutdown." We're even told this could go on for years.

One would have to be impressively naive and deeply ignorant about how businesses work to think that commerce, investment, and entrepreneurship would just continue as usual under these conditions. In reality,  the threat of a government-mandated lockdown hanging over the heads of countless business owners and entrepreneurs will mean there will be far less willingness and ability to invest in businesses, offer products and services, or employ people.

Much much more at the site. The author cites economic historian Robert Higgs:

Specifically, Higgs has illustrated that regime uncertainty was a significant factor in making the Great Depression such a long and unpleasant affair. The Roosevelt administration's numerous and enormous changes to the legal regime — through new taxes, regulations, and labor laws — made the Depression far worse than it needed to be. Higgs explains how thanks to a multitude of state interventions during the Depression:

the Roosevelt administration “abruptly and dramatically altered the institutional framework within which private business decisions were made, not just once but several times” ... with the result that regime uncertainty was heightened and recovery substantially retarded.

As one investor at the time observed:

Uncertainty rules the tax situation, the labor situation, the monetary situation, and practically every legal condition under which industry must operate. Are taxes to go higher, lower or stay where they are? We don’t know. Is labor to be union or nonunion?... Are we to have inflation or deflation, more government spending or less?... Are new restrictions to be placed on capital, new limits on profits?... It is impossible to even guess at the answers.

The result was "the New Deal prolonged the Great Depression by creating an extraordinarily high degree of regime uncertainty in the minds of investors."

The recovery was slowed, of course, because investing, building businesses, and engaging in innovation became far riskier and unpredictable thanks to the chances that governments might once again impose draconian new restrictions on businesses. This changed the calculus completely.

And the media pundits are talking about how we need a New New Deal to get back up and running not realizing that the original New Deal stalled recovery for many years. Not entirely happy with President Trump's choice of Steven Mnuchin as Sec. Treasury - I would prefer someone more from the Austrian school - Hayek, Mises - those guys.

J. M. Keynes has been wrong on so many real-world counts that his popularity today is really questionable. That whole "locus of control" issue I talked about earlier here. More here (really good reading) including this chart:

20200425-locus.jpg

Classic video from the Obama recession:

More from these people here - excellent stuff.
The same people also did this video - available on Netflix and will be watching it soon.

Seattle was a wonderful place to live. Not any more. One more example from Seattle station QFOX-13:

Seattle closes more streets to ease social distancing
Seattle will close six more miles of residential streets to vehicle traffic to create space for pedestrians and bicyclists during the coronavirus outbreak.

The closures began Friday in the Greenwood, Othello, Rainier Beach, Beacon Hill and Central District neighborhoods. That’s in addition to about 2.5 miles of street that were closed last week in the Central District and West Seattle.

The Seattle Times reports that ultimately, the city wants to close about 15 miles of streets across Seattle in the coming weeks to nonessential vehicle traffic to give more space for people to practice social distancing.

Sure, residents can drive to and from their homes but this is another step towards the socialists wet-dream of having everyone rely on public transportation, live in dense cities and have their lives controlled by the cultural elite. Fuck that. Glad I moved out when I did. The farm was a lot of fun and Camano is a really nice balance.

If I wanted to live in a worker's utopia, I would just screw the baby steps and move to Venezuela. That is where these people are heading with their dain-bread "visions for the future".

Pandering - New York City

| No Comments

Of course they are going to be treated with kid gloves - must not upset the narrative. From Todd Starnes:

NYC to Provide 500,000 “FREE” Ramadan Meals
A few weeks ago New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio threatened to permanently shut down any church or synagogue that held public gatherings in their houses of worship. Mosques were noticeably absent from the mayor’s mandate.

And now New York City is rolling out the red carpet to help Muslims celebrate Ramadan.

The mayor announced that the Big Apple will provide more than 500,000 “free” halal meals across the city.

And by free I suspect he means “taxpayer-funded.”

Yeah - de Blasio shut all the Churches, let's see if he shuts the Mosques as well. Equal treatment under the law.

Since I like numbers so much - here is one: 451 - here it is in context:  

List of Killings in the Name of Islam: Last 30 Days
During this time period, there were 103 Islamic attacks in 19 countries, in which 451 people were killed and 196 injured.

Yeah - religion of peace. Right.

And today's magic number is 78%

| No Comments

78% of what? Days in 2020 with no sunspots. For 2019, we had 77% of the days without sunspots. That was a record for solar quietness standing until you go back to 1913 (the very beginning of the modern warm period). We were on track at the beginning of this year but had a cluster of spots at the end of March that set the record back a bit.

Sunspots? They are a great proxy for solar activity and the lower the solar activity, the less energy the sun radiates and the cooler our planet gets. Simple physics. Funny thing that the global warming people will constantly ignore is that the Martian ice caps grow and recede as solar activity changes. Must be all those gas-guzzling SUV's on the red planet.

And it is here - rain

| No Comments

Did some laundry and cleaned a bit then did a few errands (hardware store, groceries, tea store). The first front is just arriving now - blustery wind and rain.

Lunch and surf and then back to work.

On with my day

| No Comments

Nothing much out there this morning - rain is starting to fall.

Time for coffee...

The Chinese Covid death count

| No Comments

In is in the interest of the deep state to keep the Chinese Covid death numbers as high as possible. This is a crisis after all and we elites are the only ones who can manage it for you. A perfect example from Pennsylvania - FOX News:

Pa. removes 200 deaths from state coronavirus count as questions mount about reporting process, accuracy
Pennsylvania has corrected its coronavirus data multiple times over the past week to account for irregularities, according to new reports.

Earlier this week, Pennsylvania started to include “probable deaths” in its fatalities. As a result, the total number of coronavirus deaths grew by 276, then 360, in successive nights, almost doubling the number of deaths in the state in two days. The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) subsequently removed 200 deaths from its count after facing mounting questions about the accuracy of the count.

Same thing happening in New York City - someone comes in to the hospital with a heart attack or stroke. They get tested positive for Covid-19. They die. Their death is listed as being from the "Winnie the Flu" and not their underlying medical condition. Got to boost those numbers. Must preserve the narrative. Pants on fire.

Pitch perfect

| No Comments

Thank you celebrities:

Tip of the hat to Don Surber for the link. A reprint of this rant is in order:

Dear Hollywood celebrities: It’s time to wake up now. Get this! The only reason you exist is for my entertainment. Some of you are beautiful. Some of you can deliver a line with such conviction that you bring tears to my eyes. Some of you are so convincing that you scare the stuffing out of me. And others are so funny you can make me laugh uncontrollably. But you all have one thing in common. You only exist and have a place in my world to entertain me. That’s it. Nothing else!

You make your living pretending to be someone else. You play dress-up like a 5-year-old. Your world is a make-believe world—it is not real; it doesn't exist. You live for the camera while the rest of us live in the real world. Your entire existence depends on my patronage. I crank the organ grinder, and you dance.

Therefore, I don't care where you stand on issues. Honestly, your opinion means nothing to me. Just because you had a lead role in a movie about prostitution doesn't mean you know what it’s like to be a prostitute. Your view matters far less to me than that of a someone living in Timbuktu. Believe me or not, the hard truth is that you aren't real. I turn off my TV or shut down my computer, and you cease to exist. Once I am done with you, I go back to the real world until I want you to entertain me again.

I don't care that you think BP executives deserve the death penalty. I don't care what you think about the environment. I don't care if you believe fracking is bad. I don't care if you call for more gun control. I don't care if you believe in catastrophic, human-induced global warming. And I couldn't care less that you supported Hillary for President. By the way, she lost!!

Get back into your bubble. I'll let you know when I'm in the mood for something pretty or scary or funny. And one other thing. What was all that “I'll leave the country if Donald Trump wins”? Don't you know how stupid that made you sound? What did you think my reaction was going to be? Oooh! I better not vote for Trump or we'll lose Whoopi Goldberg? Al Sharpton? Amy Schemer? Rosie O’Donnell? Leave. Good riddance. I don't care! And don't let the door hit you in the keister on your way out. Make me laugh. Make me cry. Even scare me. But realize this: the only words of yours that matter are scripted — just like your pathetic, little lives. I may agree with some of you from time to time, but in the final analysis, it doesn't matter. In my world, you exist solely for my entertainment.

So, shut your mouth and dance, monkey, DANCE!

Speaking truth to power monkeys

Well darnit - sleeping in

| No Comments

Slept wonderfully and woke up nice and rested. My only gripe is that my last dream? I was setting up a large fireworks display for a local event. All the processes were going smoothly and it was an hour or so before they were to be lit off and then I woke up with a full bladder. DIdn't get to see the show.  Maybe another night.

Working here today: house and computer. Farm tomorrow for another load. High clouds and cool this morning - the first of the two fronts should be hitting the shore of the Olympic penninsula right now. Hit here in about three hours - wind and rain.

Surf for a bit, hot shower, sit outside and meditate for a bit and then coffee and it's off to the races...

And it's YouTube

| No Comments

Sleep in tomorrow - working here and then to the farm Sunday for another load of crap to sort through. Making progress. House is emptying out - the music room was almost the last to go, still have stuff in the garage.

DaveCave(tm) is next - bringing down the electronics bench and the test instruments this trip.

Starting in on the living room flooring in a week or two.

Well that didn't take long

| No Comments

The Fake News misquoted Trump about injecting sanitizers - the Meme patrol were on it:

20200424-clorox.jpg

20200424-lysol.jpg

Available today in pharmacies and drug stores near you - right next to the Tide Pods...

I think I found my spirit animal

| No Comments

Not a bear after all - this guy:

20200424-me.jpg

Oops - from the Beeb:

Coronavirus: Library books rearranged in size order by cleaner
A well-meaning cleaner who took the opportunity to give a locked-down library a thorough clean re-shelved all of its books - in size order.

Staff at Newmarket Library, Suffolk, discovered the sloping tomes after the building underwent a deep clean.

James Powell, of Suffolk Libraries, said staff "saw the funny side" but it would take a "bit of time" to correct.

"It looks like libraries will be closed for a while so we'll have plenty of time to sort the books out", he said.

"The cleaner is lovely and does a great job in the library. It was an honest mistake and just one of those things so we would never want her to feel bad about it," he added.

Cute.

The WHO needs to be defunded and its property turned into a Trump Tower - it has not served any useful purpose since its inception. Sure, its members get to attend oh-so important meetings at exotic resorts and enjoy sumptious dinners but in terms of real work? Nothing. Now this bit of history from The Globe and Mail:

Questions surfacing about history of WHO’s director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
For many years, health experts in Ethiopia noticed a strange phenomenon: The government was refusing to acknowledge cholera outbreaks.

Instead, the authorities labelled the outbreaks as “acute watery diarrhea” – a broader term that includes milder diseases. Research by Human Rights Watch found that the Ethiopian government was pressuring its health workers to avoid any mention of cholera, which could damage the country’s image and deter tourists.

Throughout this period, one of the most powerful officials in Ethiopia’s authoritarian government was Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, first as health minister and then foreign minister. In 2017, he was elected to a new post: director-general of the World Health Organization.

Critics say the cholera saga in Ethiopia is a sign that Dr. Tedros is comfortable with the secrecy of autocratic states – a tendency that may have led him to accept China’s earliest reports on the novel coronavirus outbreak in December and January without challenging its officials with tough questions.

“Dr. Tedros is the product of a deeply authoritarian regime,” said Jeffrey Smith, director of Vanguard Africa, a U.S.-based consultancy that lobbies for democracy in Africa.

He was a tool then, he is a tool now. End of story. "director-general" indeed. Puffed up title for a puffed up organization. Also, the good Doctor is not a medical doctor at all, he has a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) not an MD. Might be fun to take a look at his university transcripts... Just sayin'

Not so fast there guys... free pork

| No Comments

There were some funds set aside to help small businesses through the Chinese Flu and some not-so-small businesses managed to sneak in their applications. They just got their wee-wee's slapped. From One America News Network:

Treasury Dept.: Publicly Traded Companies Must Return Small Business Loans By May 7th
Treasury Department officials are warning publicly traded companies to return any funds they have received under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or face consequences. In a new round of guidelines that were issued Thursday, the administration announced public companies have until May 7th to repay their loans.

Otherwise, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated there will be repercussions.

“Certain people on the PPP may have not been clear in understanding the certification. So, we will give people the benefit of the doubt. We’re going put out a FAQ, explain the certification. If you pay back the loan right away, you won’t have liability to the SBA and to Treasury. But there are severe consequences for people who don’t test properly the certification.”
– Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury Department

He went on to say the reason behind the overhaul is to make sure the money is available to small businesses that need it, including those that have invested their entire life savings.

And the businesses who should not have gotten the money?

This comes as a growing number of companies have begun returning their loans, including Ruth Chris Steak House, which received $20 million under the program, Harvard University, which received $8.6 million, and Kura Sushi, which received $6 million. Mom-and-pop shops across the country claimed they have been shut out.

Just a few from an unfortunately large list - now I know where not to spend my money. Zero issue with capitalism, I am a capitalist myself. Crony capitalism is a totally different animal and reeks of corruption, inefficiency and waste.

Busted - fake news

| No Comments

But it fits the narrative:

20200424-fake.jpg

So true - feel like a dog

| No Comments

One of the reasons I volunteered to deliver groceries - it gets me out of the house and I learn new areas of the island:

20200424-dog.jpg

Stormy weather - a two-fer

| No Comments

From Seattle meteorologist Cliff Mass:

Two Strong Fronts Are Approaching
For those those worried about dry conditions, additional relief is on the way.

Two strong fronts are approaching for this weekend.

The first arrives Saturday morning and it is interesting to watch it get modulated and weakened by our mountains.

Cliff has the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one (cultural reference). Should be fun - high winds and an inch or two of rain for each front.

And out the door

| No Comments

Five deliveries today - one household is getting a box of cereal. Another is getting everything but the kitchen sink. Thinking of taking the van.

Back in a couple of hours...

Fun times in Michigan - from Legal Insurrection:

Michigan State Legislature Forms a Committee to Review Whitmer’s Response to Wuhan Coronavirus Crisis
Michigan’s state legislature formed a committee to review Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s responses and actions to the Wuhan coronavirus crisis.

That woman in Michigan enacted some of the weirdest restrictions, which led to mass confusion and people pointing out contradictions.

Good - she implemented some really stupid ideas which hurt the economy and did nothing to limit the spread of the Chinese virus. Stupidity of this level needs to be punished.

A history lesson from Don Surber

| No Comments

People really need to remember their history. From Don Surber:

This is jail, not a quarantine

20200424-gwashington.jpg

The meme of George Washington flipping the bird to us is not a joke. He really did fight a revolution in the midst of a smallpox epidemic that was 33 times as deadly as COVID-19.

America is not being quarantined. It is being shut down by traitorous governors who ignore decency, the law, and the Constitution to suppress a free people.

Smallpox killed about one in three people infected.

Don concludes with ths following truth bomb:

America needs to soldier on. We are fighting Red China, not a disease, and many billionaires back home are collaborating. They succeeded in shutting down the economy with a mass hysteria that has people afraid of leaving home.

No one trusts the numbers. No one should.

Yeah - New York is lying about the numbers. It fits their narrative. Classical Cloward-Piven - crash the economy and use that time of chaos to force in their communist utopia.

And coffee time

| No Comments

Sun is shining but the forecast for today is "partly cloudy" and got rain in the lineup for the next five days. Not holding my breath. April showers, etc...

Coffee and working at home today, grocery deliveries this afternoon. Got some flank steak thawing out for tacos for dinner tonight.

I would expect nothing else

| No Comments

Corruption and Democratic Operatives? This is my shocked face. From PJ Media:

Did Dem Operative David Brock Use His Nonprofit for Personal Profit?
A nonprofit founded by left-wing smear-job artist David Brock invested nearly three million dollars in a for-profit company founded by... David Brock, according to a complaint just filed by the right-leaning Patriots Foundation.

Brock's American Bridge 21st Century Foundation PAC nonprofit arm directed $2.6 million of donors' money into Brock's media firm, True Blue Media LLC. Patriots Foundation co-founder Craig Robinson told The Daily Beast in a story filed early this morning, "These complaints we filed provide damning indictment of serious allegations about how his organizations have circumvented rules and exploited the tax-exempt status of the organizations for personal benefit and partisan political purposes, and potentially siphoning millions for improper purposes."

Details at the site - not the first time he has pulled crap like this either:

Less than two weeks ago, Joe Schoffstall reported for the Washington Free Beacon that American Bridge accepted a six-figure "gift" from a Chinese tech firm.

Looks like the Clinton money is drying up so he needs to start soliciting from other sources. Corrupt to the core.

From Media Research Center:

Shocked De Blasio Says It's 'Unconscionable' That Inmates Freed Over COVID-19 Fears Are Committing More Crimes Upon Release
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio is just flabbergasted that criminals, upon being released on prison early to keep them from getting sick, might go on to  – and hold your breath here – commit even more crimes.

Following a New York Post report detailing how some criminals released from NYC prisons over COVID-19 concerns have since continued to break the law amid the city’s coronavirus shutdown, De Blasio said it was “unconscionable” that the former inmates would commit more crimes.

“I think it’s unconscionable just on a human level that folks were shown mercy and this is what some of them have done,” De Blasio said during a Monday morning press briefing.

“We do see some recidivism. I have not seen a huge amount, but any amount is obviously troubling,” he said, saying the city was “buckling down” on criminals who’re reoffending during the crisis.

And meanwhile, in Washington State, some common sense pushing back against our Governor - from the Everett Herald:

State Supreme Court denies request to release more inmates
A divided state Supreme Court on Thursday swiftly denied a petition that sought the release of thousands of inmates from state prisons to better protect them from contracting COVID-19.

In a 5-4 decision, the court concluded inmates who filed the request failed to show the state was failing to address the COVID-19 risk or that the state’s actions “constitute deliberate indifference.”

Justice Debra Stephens signed the two-paragraph order for the majority. A full opinion is due later.

The dems are using this crisis to ramp up their planks of open borders, empty the prisons (two great sources of Democrat votes), and free government handouts. They have nothing else - no long range ideas, just grab their own power and hold on to it.

News you can use - DIY face mask

| No Comments

A handy guide for doing it yourself from Kay Pruitt:

No welding today either

| No Comments

Got the dump run done and a load of things to the storage unit. House is a lot cleaner and de-cluttered - kitchen was getting pretty bad. Not dirty, just disorganised.

Doing a can of soup for dinner tonight - had a big and late lunch so that and a salad will be dinner for tonight.

Welding tomorrow for sure. I love welding so I hold that out as a treat once the onerous stuff gets done.

Happy birthday YouTube

| No Comments

On April 23rd, 2005, jawed karim (YT co-founder) posted this 19 second video - the first one on YouTube:

Happy 15th birthday! 90,572,323 views!

What do you mean "us" kemosabe

| No Comments

That did not take long. Yesterday, Mitch McConnell floated the idea that instead of the FedGov bailing out states, they should be required to declare bankruptcy and work out their financial problems on their own. Learn to make a budget and stick to it. Today, Governor Cuomo was squealing like a stuck pig. From Breitbart:

Andrew Cuomo Furious with ‘Grim Reaper’ Mitch McConnell for Suggesting New York Go Bankrupt
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo fired back at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell during his press briefing on Thursday, angry that he suggested states such as New York declare bankruptcy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

Cuomo criticized McConnell as the “self-proclaimed grim reaper” for suggesting that Democrat states declare bankruptcy rather than get bailout funds from Congress.

The New York governor criticized McConnell’s “vicious” description of funds for the states as “blue state bailouts.”

And what sorts of numbers are we looking at?

Cuomo was already facing a $6 billion deficit in New York and faces an even greater hole in his budget as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

McConnell said Wednesday that Republicans were not interested in bailing out states like New York that were already overwhelmed with debt.

“You raised yourself the important issue of what states have done, many of them have done to themselves with their pension programs,” McConnell explained in an interview with Hugh Hewitt. “There’s not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations.”

Every person in the United States has to manage their own money, make a budget and stick to it. Every business? The same. If people fail - either through mismanagement or through shit happening, the way to recovery is bankruptcy. Go back to square one, pay off your creditors and publish a plan to get out of debt. No reason the states should not be held to the same standards.

New York? Manage your own money. Do not come after mine.

That low? Only 66% infected

| No Comments

From Breitbart:

CDC Report: 66% of Homeless in San Francisco Shelter Have Coronavirus
A report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that 66% of homeless people in a San Francisco shelter tested positive for coronavirus, renewing concerns about indoor housing during the pandemic.

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) investigated 19 homeless shelters nationwide, including 15 in Seattle, one in Boston, two in Atlanta, and one each in Boston and San Francisco. Overall, the average prevalence of coronavirus among residents was 25%, and the average prevalence among staff was 11% (and 16% in San Francisco). San Francisco’s result was particularly striking — not only because it was so large, but because the overall infection rate in the area was low.

Shouldn't Nancy be taking care of her constituents better? Must be nice sitting on such a large stash of gourmet ice cream.

A bit of recent history from Trending Politics:

Docs Show Osama Bid Laden Wanted "Unprepared" Biden to be President to Lead US Into Crisis
According to declassified documents that were taken from Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan in 2011, the Al-Qaeda founder wanted to assassinate President Barack Obama so that "totally unprepared" Vice President Joe Biden would become president. Bin Laden was certain that a Biden presidency would lead the United States "into a crisis."

The Washington Post first reported on the matter back in 2012 however they were recently rediscovered by Fox News editor Gregg Re.

"In a letter, bin Laden wrote to a top Al-Qaeda official that he was instructing the Islamic terrorist organization to create two groups to watch for and to target U.S. aircraft visiting the region that could be carrying Obama or then-CIA Director David Petraeus," the Daily Wire reported.

Bin Laden made it very clear when instructing his fellow terrorists to not touch Biden. He wrote telling them “not to target visits by U.S. Vice President Biden.”

"The reason for concentrating on them is that Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him will automatically make Biden take over the presidency for the remainder of the term, as it is the norm over there," Bin Laden explained. "Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the United States into a crisis."

Although he was a murdering terrorist, Bin Laden may have been right on this one subject considering Biden has a past on being lax when it comes to going after terrorists including the time that he expressed his opinion on NOT wanting to kill Bin Laden.

Biden was unprepared then and is grossly unprepared now - the incipient dementia does not help either.

Yesterday, President Trump got tired of the constant harrasment by the Iranian Navy ships targeting our Navy ships operating in international waters. Today, The Iranians responded. From Reuters:

Guards chief: U.S. warships will be destroyed if they threaten Iran in Gulf
Iran will destroy U.S. warships if its security is threatened in the Gulf, the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards told state TV on Thursday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tehran over “harassment” of U.S. vessels.

“I have ordered our naval forces to destroy any American terrorist force in the Persian Gulf that threatens security of Iran’s military or non-military ships,” Major General Hossein Salami said. “Security of the Persian Gulf is part of Iran’s strategic priorities.”

Pure bluster. I would love to see them try. They may get the first lick in but if they do, many of their assets will be chilling on the bottom of the Gulf for eternity.

Studio Ghibli recently released a bunch of backgrounds to use when video conferencing.

The folks at Star Wars just did the same - I have always loved the Millenium Falcon:

20200423-mf.jpg

Dialog

| No Comments

A summary:

20200423-dialog.jpg

The day that the mainstream media admits that President Trump did something correct is the day that Oink...Flap...Oink...Flap...Oink...

And another day in paradise

| No Comments

Working at home today - time for a good housecleaning and decluttering. Much overdue.

Dump run and storage unit later - welding in the afternoon.

Coffee first.

I live in Island County. Directly to the East is Snohomish County. We double-up on a lot of the emergency services training, our electrical power comes from the Snohomish PUD, the public library covers both counties. Lots of cross-polination. I really like the sherif there - from FOX News:

Washington county sheriff says he won't enforce governor's stay-at-home order
Washington state’s Snohomish County Sheriff on Tuesday said he will not enforce Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order because it is a violation of constitutional rights.

Sheriff Adam Fortney was responding to Inslee’s most recent announcement on how he planned to get the state back in business.

“To be quite honest I wasn’t even sure what he was trying to say half of the time. He has no plan. He has no details,” Fortney wrote Tuesday in a lengthy Facebook post. “This simply is not good enough in times when we have taken such drastic measures as the suspension of constitutional rights.”

"As I have previously stated, I have not carried out any enforcement for the current stay-at-home order. As this order has continued on for well over a month now and a majority of our residents cannot return to work to provide for their families, I have received a lot of outreach from concerned members of our community asking if Governor Inslee’s order is a violation of our constitutional rights," Fortney said.

Fox News has reached out to the governor's office with a request for comment.

I was wondering the same thing - Inslee's release was mush-mouth. Nothing concrete. Nothing like: "On this date, do this unless that has happened". Most of the businesses I work with are in Snohomish County so it will be nice to see them get back to full operation. A bit more from the good Sheriff:

“As more data floods in week by week and day by day about this pandemic, I think it is clear that the 'models' have not been entirely accurate,” Fortney said. “While that is okay, we cannot continue down the same path we have been on if the government reaction does not fit the data or even worse, the same government reaction makes our situation worse."

BINGO! Any model is there to serve as a planning guideline - a what-if and it is expected to be changed and updated as the real-world parameters change. The models presented by the IHME has been proven time again to be garbage - grossly overstating the Chinese flu. I posted on this here and here.

Meanwhile, our Governor is saying crap like this (FOX News again):

Trump ‘fomenting domestic rebellion,’ Dem governor Inslee says

Glad to hear the county is in such good hands. Wish I could say the same about the state.

Multiple choice:

| No Comments

The only answer that fits the narrative:

20200422-nancy.jpg

Dinner time - bean and cabbage soup

| No Comments

Heating up the last of the soup for dinner. Still raining but snug as can be here with the fire going and the house is nice and warm. Had four grocery deliveries today (and three other drivers with deliveries of their own - busy day).
Did not get to the welding project - do that tomorrow.
Dump and storage run tomorrow.
Lazy day - what can I say.

This is just perfect:

| No Comments

From Terrierman's Daily Dose

20200422-dk.JPG

Dunning Kruger? From InfoGalactic:

Dunning–Kruger effect
In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, people cannot objectively evaluate their competence or incompetence.

As described by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, the cognitive bias of illusory superiority results from an internal illusion in people of low ability and from an external misperception in people of high ability; that is, "the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others."

We got too much of that shit happening here. Way too much.

Very smart - President Trump

| No Comments

As he should, President Trump is letting each individual state plan their re-opening for business. This is going to be very telling for the wanna-be tyrants out there. People will remember in November when it comes time for them to vote.
From One America News Network:

6 Southern States Form Coalition On Reopening Economies
The governors of six southern states have teamed up to reopen their economies.

“It’s obviously prudent to start thinking about and planning for people getting back to work, getting society functioning in a more healthy way,” said Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.).

The newly formed coalition includes Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi.

“We are growing more and more confident that we have flattened the curve to the point where victory is within reach,” stated Governor Tate Reeves (R-Miss.).

After the governors held a meeting, they stated they share the same ideas and want to reopen their economies in a responsible safe way. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has said he will not extend his state’s “safer at home” order, allowing a majority of businesses to reopen on May 1st.

“For the good of our state, social distancing must continue, but economic shutdown cannot,” said Lee.

Much more at the site. This is really good - it allows them to share ideas and to present a unified front against all the Karens out there who want to channel their inner Stasi.

Meanwhile, in WA State, our own Governor is looking at a partial, kinda starting to re-open on May 4th. Bleagh - everyone I know wants to get to work. This is a major tourist economy - both here and where I used to live. This mismanagement is killing future growth.

Wise words - economics and politics

| No Comments

Words to take to heart:


"The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics."
--Thomas Sowell

Outta here for a couple of hours

| No Comments

Crappy weather so a lot of grocery deliveries today.

Been using laundry baskets to keep people's orders separate - get those loaded into the car and build up the fire a bit. This half of the house is now well insulated so when it gets warm, it stays warm which is good as we have precip in the forecast for the next week. Wunnerful...

From Breitbart:

Mitch McConnell Floats Creating Bankruptcy Process for U.S. States
Wednesday during Hugh Hewitt’s nationally syndicated radio show, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he favors allowing states struggling to meet their financial obligations due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic to declare bankruptcy instead of providing a federal bailout.

From the interview:

HUGH HEWITT: I know when you put the CARES Act together, you used the task force, you used some of your best people like Marco Rubio. I have great respect for Lamar Alexander. A lot of the state governments are gonna be smashed up by this. But there is no Chapter 8 in the bankruptcy code. Who are you going to, you know, for states — no states can go bankrupt. Local governments can go bankrupt and reorganize. Who are you going to task to lead the effort on deciding what to do or not to do for the states?

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL: I think it’s going to be a broad discussion without, you know, throughout the conference. I mean, we all represent states. We all have governors, regardless of party, who would love to have free money. And that’s why I said yesterday we’re going to push the pause button here, because I think this whole business of additional assistance for state and local governments need to be thoroughly evaluated. You raised yourself the important issue of what states have done, many of them have done to themselves with their pension programs. There’s not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations.

So this is a much bigger conversation than we’ve had providing assistance for small business because the government shut them out, put them down, put them out of business, or assistance to hospitals, which were overwhelmed by the COVID-19 disease. This is a very different decision. These are all taxing authorities, just like we are, and I think that’s why we need to have a fulsome conference-wide discussion among Senate Republicans before we go down this path.

Makes perfect sense - individual states set their parameters for spending. If they spend too much, they need to be responsible for this and not expect a bailout. Let them learn to set a budget and live within it.

Robert Stacey McCain hits it out of the park with his analysis of an interesting statistic:

Study: 56% of Liberal Women Under Age 30 Have Been Diagnosed as Mentally Ill
Trump Derangement Syndrome is real:

Zach Goldberg . . . has analysed the latest dataset released by the reputable Pew Research Center. This is the Pew Research Panel, Wave 64, which interviewed a representative sample of 11,537 American adults between March 19th and March 24th. . . .
Among those aged 18 to 29, some 20.9% of those who described themselves as “Conservative” answered “Yes” to the question “Has a doctor or healthcare provider ever told you that you have a mental health condition?” For those in this age group who were political “Moderates,” 26.3% answered “Yes.” But among those who self-classified as “Liberal” those answering “Yes” jumped up to an astonishing 45.9%.
So, to be clear, almost half of young white American Leftists have been diagnosed with a mental illness. . . .

I actually reported on that survey on April 11th - it is Robert's analysis that caught my eye - putting two and two together:

The obvious question is, “Why?” And the most obvious answer, supplied by Emily Ekins of the Cato Institute, is “locus of control”:

Part of the reason liberals and conservatives disagree about the causes of poverty and wealth is that they disagree about the extent to which personal choices or external forces directs people’s lives. In other words: they disagree about the role of personal agency.

And Rober's thesis:

Does liberalism create insanity, or does it merely attract insane people? A political movement based upon policy ideas that are obsolete, discredited and harmful will not attract the best people to its banner. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the core belief of leftism — equality through economic redistribution imposed by an all-powerful government — has been entirely discredited. No honest and intelligent person could endorse the crypto-Marxist policy agenda of the Democratic Party, which is why Democrats attract so many stupid and dishonest people.

Young people have no memory of the Cold War. They do not remember the failure of LBJ’s “Great Society” programs. Academia is now so dominated by the Democratic Party that Republicans can never be hired to the faculty at elite universities. Students thus never encounter a professor who will explain them that “progressive” policies are doomed to failure, and are instead encouraged to devote themselves to the politics of futility.

Nails it. Explains a lot. There is much more at the article - worth your while to go and read if you are interested in why our culture is where it is today.

Lunch break

| No Comments

House is nice and warm. FIRE = GOOD

Breaking for lunch - heading out for grocery delivery in about an hour. Still raining. Got the van loaded up for a dump and storage run later - was going to do it yesterday but didn't get to it.

Heading out for a bit

| No Comments

Coffee and a few errands. Took a nice long hot shower, sat outside to think for a while and ready for the day.

Not doing a fire this morning but turned on the electric heaters in honor of Earth Day and will build the fire when I get back home. Get the house nice and warm. Working on a welding project.

Grocery deliveries later this afternoon.

Cold and wet outside so thinking of building a fire. Was going to spray the weeds with Roundup but it is raining so put that off for another day.

Planning to spend this morning driving around on some useless errands buying crap that I do not really need. Get some coffee at my favorite coffee place and then head back home to do some welding.

The Earth is fine. It's the people who are fscked. (channeling my inner George Carlin)

Mo more Mr. Nice Guy

| No Comments

Good - they have been playing games for too long - time to make it very expensive for them. From FOX News:

Trump says he's instructed Navy to 'destroy' any Iranian gunboats harassing US ships
President Trump said Wednesday that he's instructed the U.S. Navy to "shoot down and destroy" any Iranian gunboats harassing American ships, in the wake of a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf. 

"I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," Trump tweeted.

The encounter happened last week. Six U.S. Navy warships were conducting drills with US Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters off Iran last Wednesday when they were repeatedly harassed by 11 Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Navy vessels, the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet reported.

The Iranian ships repeatedly crossed in front and behind the U.S. vessels at extremely close range and high speeds, including multiple crossings of one ship, the Puller, with a 50-yard closest point of approach and within 10 yards of another ship, the Maui's, bow, a 5th Fleet statement said.

Good. No more games. The Iranians send eleven vessels? We sink ten of them and let the eleventh limp home to tell the story. End of problem. Next?

Makes me glad I do not live there - from the New York Post:

NY issues do-not-resuscitate guideline for cardiac patients amid coronavirus
New York state just issued a drastic new guideline urging emergency services workers not to bother trying to revive anyone without a pulse when they get to a scene, amid an overload of coronavirus patients.

While paramedics were previously told to spend up to 20 minutes trying to revive people found in cardiac arrest, the change is “necessary during the COVID-19 response to protect the health and safety of EMS providers by limiting their exposure, conserve resources, and ensure optimal use of equipment to save the greatest number of lives,’’ according to a state Health Department memo issued last week.

First responders were outraged over the move.

“They’re not giving people a second chance to live anymore,’’ Oren Barzilay, head of the city union whose members include uniformed EMTs and paramedics, fumed of state officials.

Ho. Li. Crap. - there goes Cuomo's chance at a Presidential run. Talk about stupid regulation.

Yet another advocate of Global Warming has purchased a beachfront property - from the Wall Street Journal:

Bill and Melinda Gates Buy Oceanfront Home Near San Diego for $43 Million
Tech entrepreneur Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates have paid $43 million for an oceanfront home near San Diego, Calif., in one of the largest deals recorded in the area.

The Del Mar property was most recently on the market for $48 million and the deal closed in late March, according to listings website Realtor.com. The Gateses bought the home from Madeleine Pickens, the former wife of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens. When reached by phone, Ms. Pickens said she wished the new owners well.

As the saying goes: I will believe there is a crisis when the people who are telling me there is a crisis start acting like there is a crisis.

Well done and a fantastic poke in the eye with a sharp stick to the hypocritical "Environmental" organizations who take their money anywhere they can find it. We are talking the biggies here: Sierra Club, 350, Nature Conservancy, Al Gore, etc... Renewable energy is a scam - been saying that for years - but this film really documents it.

Send the link for this to your environmentalist friends - this is well presented and factual. Presents a very clear vision of what is being done and what needs to be done. Be sure to watch through the end credit roll - some interesting facts.

My only gripe is that they do not offer a way clear of this. No mention of the new nuclear technologies. In fact, they visit a rare-earth mine (materials for generators, solar panels, electronics and cell phones) and talk about the Thorium "waste". You can burn Thorium in a nuclear reactor and the designs are perfectly safe - walk-away safe. You could lose all power and cooling and the LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor) would Just. Shut. Down.

Thorium also avoids the problem with Uranium where some of the isotopes are dangerously radioactive for 10,000+ years. With Thorium reactors, you need to sequester the waste for only 200-400 years. Also, Thorium reactors can utilize the spent fuel from the older reactor designs and is an excellent way to get rid of the wastes from them. We had Thorium reactors operating sucessfully in the 1960's but since Thorium can not go Ka-Boom, the nuclear industry did not want to invest in two seperate mining and refining supply chains - one for bombs and one for power. They chose instead to go with Uranium and Plutonium for both bombs and very expensive reactors for power.

Anyway, go here and watch: Michael Moore Presents: Planet of the Humans | Full Documentary | Directed by Jeff Gibbs

Dinner time

| No Comments

More soup tonight - picked up a small cabbage yesterday at the coop so put some of that in yesterday's soup. Toast some bread and that is dinner. Having a beer or two.

Party at the beach-house. Trying to contain my mirth and joie de vivre...

Did someone give Michael a Red Pill?

| No Comments

Welcome to reality Micheal - I look forward to watching this tonight. From Forbes:

New Michael Moore-Backed Documentary On YouTube Reveals Massive Ecological Impacts Of Renewables
Over the last 10 years, everyone from celebrity influencers including Elon Musk, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Al Gore, to major technology brands including Apple, have repeatedly claimed that renewables like solar panels and wind farms are less polluting than fossil fuels.

But a new documentary, “Planet of the Humans,” being released free to the public on YouTube today, the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, reveals that industrial wind farms, solar farms, biomass, and biofuels are wrecking natural environments. 

“Planet of the Humans was produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore. “I assumed solar panels would last forever,” Moore told Reuters. “I didn’t know what went into the making of them.”

The film shows both abandoned industrial wind and solar farms and new ones being built — but after cutting down forests. “It suddenly dawned on me what we were looking at was a solar dead zone,” says filmmaker Jeff Gibbs, staring at a former solar farm in California. “I learned that the solar panels don’t last.” 

Like many environmental documentaries, “Planet of Humans” endorses debunked Malthusian ideas that the world is running out of energy. “We have to have our ability to consume reigned in,” says a well-coiffed environmental leader. “Without some major die-off of the human population there is no turning back,” says a scientist. 

In truth, humankind has never been at risk of running out of energy. There has always been enough fossil fuels to power human civilization for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years, and nuclear energy is effectively infinite. 

But the apocalyptic rhetoric detracts little from the heart of the documentary, which exposes the complicity of climate activists including Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Sierra Club’s Executive Director, in promoting pollution-intensive biomass energies, as well as natural gas.

There has never been a Malthusian prediction that has been correct. None. Ever. They all failed. There was even a very famous and very public wager - the Malthusian (Paul Erlich) lost. Erlich was the author of the 1968 book: The Population Bomb. The books main theses proved wrong. Erlich published a couple of follow-up books - they are wrong too. Malthusians are never ever right.

Looking forward to watching this tonight instead of the usual YouTube drivel.

Red Pill? The Matrix of course.

The joys of Democrat rule - from FOX News:

Whitmer backtracks after COVID-19 contract awarded to Dem consultant who said Trump should 'get coronavirus ASAP'
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration acknowledged Tuesday that normal protocols were bypassed when a no-bid contract for coronavirus contact tracing was awarded by the state to Great Lakes Community Engagement, which is operated well-known Democratic consultant Michael Kolehouse -- who has previously written that President Trump should "get Coronavirus ASAP" and that someone should "do the country a favor and cough on that man," Facebook posts reviewed by Fox News show.

The Washington Free Beacon reported earlier Tuesday that Michigan gave a separate contract to track the spread of coronavirus to Every Action VAN, a division of the Democratic data operation NGP VAN. The contract for Great Lakes Community Engagement, which would total $200,000 over eight weeks, was to be executed in coordination with EveryAction, which is tightly linked to NGP VAN's operation.

“Nearly every major Democratic campaign in America is powered by NGP VAN's software, including the Obama campaign’s voter contact, volunteer, fundraising and compliance operations in all 50 states," NGP VAN boasts on its website. The Washington Post has described NGP VAN as "the voter file provider for Democratic campaigns and independent groups up and down ballot."

NGP VAN has previously exposed secretive and proprietary information due to technical glitches, The Washington Post has reported, including when a software patch was improperly applied.

The contracts raised concerns that Whitmer's administration was tying confidential health information to a political data gathering operation and that Whitmer, a rising star floated as a possible vice presidential candidate, had circumvented the state's normal process for awarding key financial resources.

I wonder if the good people of Michigan will wake up in November and vote with an educated mind - looking at long-term gains rather than short-term patches and free shit from the government. This sort of insider corruption is costing every citizen of Michigan lots of money. Their money.

the Citizens of New York City. Remember Mayor de Blasio's snitch line? Stasi wannabes could turn in their neighbors for engaging in "gathering in groups". The line was well used - just not the way they hoped. From the New York Post:

De Blasio’s social distancing tip line flooded with penis photos, Hitler memes
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s critics let him know how they really felt about him ordering New Yorkers to snitch on each other for violating social-distancing rules — by flooding his new tip line with crank complaints including “dick pics” and people flipping the bird, The Post has learned.

Photos of extended middle fingers, the mayor dropping the Staten Island groundhog and news coverage of him going to the gym have all been texted to a special tip line that de Blasio announced Saturday, according to screenshots posted on Twitter.

One user sent the message “We will fight this tyrannical overreach!” to the service and got an automated message that in part said, “Hello, and thank you for texting NYC311.”

Heh. Screw You!

A temporary cessation - immigration

| No Comments

Another bit of good news - President Trump is ordering a 60-day halt to immigration. Take care of our own citizens first. From The Hill:

Trump to suspend issuing green cards for 60 days
President Trump on Tuesday announced details of his executive order to suspend immigration amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying the measure would initially last for 60 days and apply to those seeking permanent residence.

Trump portrayed the action, which he first previewed in a tweet late Monday night, as an effort to protect American workers from competition overseas. He indicated during a White House briefing that there would be certain exemptions but did not elaborate.

“It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad,” Trump said at the briefing. “We must first take care of the American worker.”

Great news - zero problem with legal immigration. America is an awesome place and if I had not been born here, I would be immigrating. We need to not get overwhelmed though - time to put a temporary lid on the process until we get our own lives back to normal.

That is where this was intended to go - not large corporations. From Breitbart:

Donald Trump: Harvard Must Pay Back $8.7 Million in Federal Aid Money
Donald Trump vowed that Harvard would be expected to pay back their $8.7 million in federal aid received from coronavirus rescue funds.

“Harvard’s going to pay back the money,” Trump said bluntly during the White House press briefing.

Harvard received a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program passed as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, even though it already has a $41 billion endowment fund. The PPP loans are ultimately forgiven by the federal government, provided they keep their employees.

That prompted criticism of the program, which was rushed forward in Congress to help support small businesses.

But publicly traded companies received loans from the bill, which was not the intent of the law.

Shake Shack returned their $10 million loan after backlash, but other chains such as Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Potbelly sandwiches also received over $10 million in funds.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin criticized the businesses for taking advantage of a program that was intended for small business.

Good on Shake Shack for volunteering to give the money back. They have a Seattle location so next time I am down there, I will have to stop and give them a try. Vote with my dollars.

A very good comparison

| No Comments

Great way to think of it:

20200421-looting.jpg

Not surprised - John F. Kerry

| No Comments

The guy is the poster child for incompetent. To think he came close to being President shows how bad the Democrat party has gotten in the last 20 years. I have said before, if John F. Kennedy were running today, I would vote for him in a heartbeat. From Breitbart:

FISA Docs Show John Kerry’s State Dept. Was Key Player in Russia Collusion Hoax
Newly declassified documents spotlight the role of John Kerry’s State Department in fueling the FBI’s dubious Russia collusion probe, showing it was the State Department that provided “information” leading to the controversial surveillance of Carter Page.

Last Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham released a trove of documents from the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Trump’s campaign, including a less redacted version of the Obama administration’s FISA warrant applications to spy on Page, who served as a tangential adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The disclosures focus renewed attention on the text of the warrant, which begins by claiming Page is “an agent of a foreign power” and that “the status of the target was determined in or about October 2016 from information provided by the U.S. Department of State.”

The newly declassified sections underscore that the FBI under its disgraced former chief, James Comey, relied heavily on the Christopher Steele dossier alleging debunked Russian collusion charges. The dossier was produced by Fusion GPS, which was paid for its anti-Trump work by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Much more at the post - links to corroborating sources. The whole Obama administration was dirty. Time to haul their collective asses into court.

One nice side-effect from Associated Press:

‘Cartels are scrambling’: Virus snarls global drug trade
Coronavirus is dealing a gut punch to the illegal drug trade, paralyzing economies, closing borders and severing supply chains in China that traffickers rely on for the chemicals to make such profitable drugs as methamphetamine and fentanyl.

One of the main suppliers that shut down is in Wuhan, the epicenter of the global outbreak.

Associated Press interviews with nearly two dozen law enforcement officials and trafficking experts found Mexican and Colombian cartels are still plying their trade as evidenced by recent drug seizures but the lockdowns that have turned cities into ghost towns are disrupting everything from production to transport to sales.

More at the site. Interesting times...

From Canadian site Blazing Cat Fur:

U.S. A ‘Primitive Society,‘ ‘American Democracy Is Dying‘ Says Commie Slave State Rag
China’s state-run Global Times propaganda newspaper began the week on Monday with columns proclaiming the end of American democracy and declaring that Washington was “no match for China” in fighting diseases.

China is the country of origin of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, which it allowed to become a threat to humanity on a global scale by persecuting doctors and others who attempted to share information on a contagious disease spreading in the central city of Wuhan. One study found that the Chinese Communist Party could have prevented, if not for its censorship and incompetence, as many as 95 percent of the world’s coronavirus cases.

China may have power but that is not wisdom or strength. The first couple of cracks in the facade and the whole construct will come tumbling down. Their "state" is very fragile.

Interesting article from USA Today:

Exclusive: In four devastating weeks, Americans' fears of the coronavirus have exploded
One month later, Americans' views of the coronavirus have undergone a seismic shift.

The pandemic's impact on their daily lives and their assessments of the perils it poses have exploded, a new USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds, amid rising uncertainty about when routine daily activities will seem safe again.

And deep down in paragraph 20 - yes, that deep:

About 8 in 10 support drastic steps on immigration.

Simple - seven words and two numbers but it represents a huge sea-change from what the people promoting the narrative are telling us. 80% of United States Citizens think that we need to address immigration and take drastic steps.

The next month will be interesting - President Trump is being very wise to let each state handle this. Give them enough rope. The guy is no dummy.

True words for these times

| No Comments

Speaking truth to power - the independent media needs to rise again

20200421-orwell.jpg

What we tell you must fit the narrative. The narrative is everything. The narrative is the state. The state is everything. The state knows everything. The state gives you everything. We love you Big Brother.

Break for lunch

| No Comments

Got some good work done this morning - a few errands and getting ready for a load to the dump and the storage locker this afternoon.

That was nice while it lasted

| No Comments

Socked in today, rain in the forecast for tomorrow. And Thursday. And Friday. And...

Working at home today. Coffee first.

Now this will be interesting

| No Comments

And I hope many more as well - from the New York Post:

Australia joins call for probe of China’s coronavirus response
Australia joined the United States in calling for an “independent international” investigation into China’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and how the outbreak started.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said her concerns about Beijing’s transparency during the crisis were “at a very high point.”

“The issues around the coronavirus are issues for independent review, and I think that it is important that we do that,” Payne told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday. “In fact, Australia will absolutely insist on that.”

“My trust in China is predicated in the long-term. My concern is around transparency and ensuring that we are able to engage openly,” Payne said, adding that the World Health Organization shouldn’t conduct the probe.

Yeah - get about 20 major nations calling for a probe - get an independent body to do the investigation. Like Payne said, not the World Health Organization.

CHina screwed this one up big-time - they need to be held responsible for their inactions.

And this is why businesses in America will fail unless we change our way of thinking.
From Karl Denninger writing at Market Ticker:

This Is EXACTLY Why America Deserves To Fail
You'd think this company would be having a boom year, and many to come.

When the history of the coronavirus epoch is written, The Watchdog hopes historians don’t neglect to mention Prestige Ameritech and its owner, Mike Bowen. The North Richland Hills company is America’s No. 1 maker of hospital surgical masks.

During this crisis, you’d think the company would be pushing forward on all cylinders, working 24/7 to manufacture the one commodity that Americans and the rest of the world want so badly.

Nope.

When there's an outbreak -- like last time, with Swine Flu -- he gets orders.  He ramps up to fill them.

Then the outbreak passes, and guess where the hospitals go?  Back to China.

This leaves him with capital equipment leases and people. If he doesn't lay them off he goes out of business.  If he does lay them off he get's hammered with much higher unemployment insurance premiums, the leases on the equipment he has no use for, and he goes out of business.

The last time he nearly did.

This time, he's demanding long-term contracts.  Good for him.

Guess how many he's gotten?

I'll bet you can figure that out.

We deserve what's coming folks.  Oh sure, there's much bluster now about moving production back to the US and the risk China -- and non-US supply chains -- pose to us.  How many minutes do you think after this is over will pass before everyone goes back to the turd-world nations that incubate and expel these viruses for all their supplies because they use effective slave labor and poison the land, air and water?

Maybe five.

Minutes, that is.

That's why I won't bother standing up another company.  Good luck competing with a bunch of slaves for a labor base.

This virus isn't really all that bad, when you go down the list of nasty bugs.

The next one might be.

But you don't really care, other than being a scolding Karen, do you?

I am posting this rant in full as it deserves the widest possible audience. This sort of short-sighted thinking is why business in America is so fscked. Focusing on the short-term gains - eyesight on the next quarter and not the overall growth of the corporation. Looking at the stock prices and not the net worth.

Hell of a way to run a business...

Quiet out there

| No Comments

Nothing happening online.

Switching to YouTube for a bit and then an early bedtime. Could not get to sleep last evening so took an OTC sleep med and then woke up late and groggy. Feeling a bit nappish now so going to sleep in two hours sounds about right. The soup and salad were a great dinner - feel full but not bloated. The melon was a bit overripe but quite tasty and a perfect foil for the prosciutto.

There is this - it may be a fake but either way, a fun if profane 16 seconds - the joys of working from home:

Not just me - big box stores

| No Comments

Been a Home Depot customer for a couple of years. Used to shop at Lowe's and then switched as HD seemed to have a bit more on the ball for commercial buyers. Not into "lifestyle shopping".

Been seeing Lowe's come up from behind. The ChiCom Virus is really showing the difference. Home Depot has put a ton of money into a wide-ranging web and in-store computer system which, if it worked, would be fantastic. 90% of it is there but the other 10% is really annoying. I have their "Pro" membership. If I check out at a cashier, I will have the option of a printed receipt, an emailed receipt or both. If I check out at one of their automated kiosks, it spits out a paper receipt without asking for my choice (I want emailed). Simple crap like that which could have been discovered in a few rounds of software testing.

Cue the ChiCom Virus. Home Depot makes everyone line up to get in the store. The line area is partitioned off. One morning, I was the 5th or so person in the line so I ducked under the rope and was immediately shouted down by one of their employees. I wanted to special order a specific kind of plywood (MDO - not common but not uncommon either), they could only get siding or OSB in that size. Bunch of silly crap like that.

Lowe's on the other hand has been really responsive and their queue to get into the store is well managed and the people at the store are friendly. Their inventory is not as bare and picked over as HD's. Been shopping there more and more. This morning, it was packed. Swung by Home Depot and the lot was only about 20% full - the Lowe's lot was 90% - had to drive around to get a space.

Looks like a lot of other people are getting the same message. Good - capitalism at work.

Pitch perfect

| No Comments

Nancy Pelosi is out of touch with reality. President Trump is capitalizing on this - a wonderful juxtaposition and a powerful video:

Next 198 days are going to be interesting and a lot of fun. President Trump is no lightweight. Time for the gloves to come off.

DRAT - norora

| No Comments

Looks like no aurora tonight - the K-Index is back to "normal"

20200420-k-index01.jpg

Great quote - history

| No Comments

"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach."
--Aldous Huxley

Looke like the head of the World Health Organization is seeing his fifteen minutes of fame coming to a close and he wants some more of that sweet sweet limelight. From Associated Press:

WHO head warns worst of virus is still ahead
The World Health Organization chief warned Monday that “the worst is yet ahead of us” in the coronavirus outbreak, reviving the alarm just as many countries ease restrictive measures aimed at reducing its spread.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus didn’t specify why he believes the outbreak that has infected some 2.5 million people and killed over 166,000 could get worse. He and others, however, have previously pointed to the likely future spread of the illness through Africa, where health systems are far less developed.

“Trust us. The worst is yet ahead of us,” Tedros told reporters from WHO headquarters in Geneva. “Let’s prevent this tragedy. It’s a virus that many people still don’t understand.”

The good Doctor (Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD), Tedros is not a Medical Doctor) was dead wrong at the outset, he was a mouthpiece for the Chinese communists and he is wrong now.

Door. Ass. Bang. The whole WHO needs to go away too - they have never done anything useful.

Quiet out there

| No Comments

Nothing happening on the internet - very quiet.

Sufficiently caffeinated so running a couple of errands. Grocery deliveries later this afternoon.

Look to the heavens tonight

| No Comments

We might have aurora - the Planetary K-Index:

20200420-k-index.jpg

Anything six or above practically guarantees an aurora display at this latitude. Might have something to see tonight if it is clear.

From Space Weather:

GEOMAGNETIC STORM UNDERWAY: Earth's magnetic field is reverberating from the unexpected impact of a CME during the early hours of April 20th. G1-class geomagnetic storms are now underway with bright auroras sighted earlier today in Montana and CanadaAurora alerts: SMS Text.

"Northern lights danced across the entire northwestern Montana sky early this morning," reports Philip Granrud. "I photographed them with a wide angle lens on top of my car several miles outside of Kalispell."

Nothing happening online

| No Comments

I looked but did not see anything.

Worked for a bit this morning - time for coffee.

Jeeezzzz - the guy is clueless. From the New York Post:

Subway shutdown hurts coronavirus responders most: de Blasio
Mayor Bill de Blasio cast a skeptical eye Sunday on calls for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to suspend service in New York’s subway system to stem the spread of the coronavirus, citing a need for essential workers to get around.

“The biggest challenge that would create would be for our front-line healthcare workers, first responders, essential workers,” de Blasio said during a press briefing. “We can’t have those people in a position where they can’t get to work.”

Hizzoner was responding to a letter sent by four City Council members to Cuomo, calling for the governor to pull the plug on subway service.

Very simple - if he were to shut down now, he would have to admit that he screwed up big-time by not shutting them down initially. He did screw up but he does not want to admit it. Might hurt the narrative.

It will be interesting to see who the next mayor is - I would not want the job but NYC has had some excellent ones. The good ones get the city functioning again and then the low information voters go for someone who offers free shit. The cycle repeats...

Bild is Germany's largest newspaper and they fired an excellent shot across the bow of Communist China. They want reperations. China replied. The Editor of Bild replied. William A. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection has a nice compilation:

Editor of Germany’s biggest newspaper to China’s President: You are endangering the world
Bild is the largest circulation German newspaper. (English language website here.) It ran an article calling on China to make reparations for the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus. The totalwas 149 billion Euros:

20200419-bild-reperations.jpg

China’s Embassy in Germany wrote Bild’s editor, Julian Reichfelt, castigating him.

Had the Chinese Ambassador sent such a letter to almost any U.S. major publication, the reaction would be one of capitulation for fear of being shut out of the Chinese market. That’s what Bloomberg did when it spiked its story about corruption by senior Chinese officials.

Fortunately for Germany and the world, Reichfelt reacted with an open letter back to China’s President Xi Jinping. There are so many plain truths that the U.S. mainstream media, obsessed with getting Trump, refuses to say.

William has links to the whole thing including the text of the Editor's final five-point reply. Here is the opening and first three points:

Dear President Xi Jinping
Your embassy in Berlin has addressed me in an open letter because we asked in our newspaper BILD whether China should pay for the massive economic damage the corona virus is inflicting worldwide.

Let me respond:
1. You rule by surveillance. You wouldn’t be president without surveillance. 
You monitor everything, every citizen, but you refuse to monitor the diseased wet markets in your country.

You shut down every newspaper and website that is critical of your rule, but not the stalls where bat soup is sold. You are not only monitoring your people, you are endangering them – and with them, the rest of the world.

2. Surveillance is a denial of freedom. And a nation that is not free, is not creative. A nation that is not innovative, does not invent anything . This is why you have made your country the world champion in intellectual property theft.

China enriches itself with the inventions of others, instead of inventing on its own. The reason China does not innovate and invent is that you don’t let the young people in your country think freely. China’s greatest export hit (that nobody wanted to have, but which has nevertheless gone around the world) is Corona.

3. You, your government and your scientists had to know long ago that Corona is highly infectious, but you left the world in the dark about it. Your top experts didn’t respond when Western researchers asked to know what was going on in Wuhan.

You were too proud and too nationalistic to tell the truth, which you felt was a national disgrace.

Excellent writing and pretty damning. Go and read the whole exchange - our own media would never do anything this direct, factual and to the point. Must not deviate from the narrative - Orange Man Bad. I wonder what Angela Merkel is thinking right now - she has quite the history of communism.

Oh, and by the way,  when we talk about the Chinese "President" - there are no elections in China. There are no term limits for the office of President. That office is filled by whomever can grab it and hold on. Their term of office lasts until someone else can grab power from them. The word Dictator comes to mind.

The steak came out perfect and the broccoli was a really tasty accompaniment - tossed with lots of butter and some yellow mustard powder with some fried onion bits on top. Steak was salted and peppered before going on the grill. Ripping hot sear on each side and let it rest for ten minutes after. Slice and put some more salt and pepper on the cutting board and toss.

And yes, there were a few pieces that were not quite up to my standards but Grace and Bear were happy to inspect them. I have to make sure they stick to their jobs as quality control officers.

Skipped the salad tonight too - tomorrow fer sure...

Feeling very stuffed so going back to the veggies for a while - got some beans on to soak for soup tomorrow. Have a melon that will be perfect tomorrow so doing some prosciutto with that as an appetizer - not going 100% veggie. I do love my salumi and charcuterie.

Something is brewing up to the Northeast - lots of muscular clouds on the horizon. Otherwise, a gorgeous clear sky with promise of a great day tomorrow. Doing some more computer work tonight and tomorrow morning and grocery delivery in the afternoon.

Happy bicycle day

| No Comments

Quite the anniversary. Last time I did LSD was back in the 1980's - never made a point to quit, my brain just didn't need it any more. From InfoGalactic:

Bicycle Day
April 19, 1943, Hofmann performed a self-experiment to determine the true effects of LSD, intentionally ingesting 0.25 milligrams (250 micrograms) of the substance, an amount he predicted to be a threshold dose (an actual threshold dose is 20 micrograms). Less than an hour later, Hofmann experienced sudden and intense changes in perception. He asked his laboratory assistant to escort him home and, as use of motor vehicles was prohibited because of wartime restrictions, they had to make the journey on a bicycle. On the way, Hofmann’s condition rapidly deteriorated as he struggled with feelings of anxiety, alternating in his beliefs that the next-door neighbor was a malevolent witch, that he was going insane, and that the LSD had poisoned him. When the house doctor arrived, however, he could detect no physical abnormalities, save for a pair of incredibly dilated pupils. Hofmann was reassured, and soon his terror began to give way to a sense of good fortune and enjoyment, as he later wrote...

"... little by little I could begin to enjoy the unprecedented colors and plays of shapes that persisted behind my closed eyes. Kaleidoscopic, fantastic images surged in on me, alternating, variegated, opening and then closing themselves in circles and spirals, exploding in colored fountains, rearranging and hybridizing themselves in constant flux ..."

The events of the first LSD trip, now known as “Bicycle Day”, after the bicycle ride home, proved to Hofmann that he had indeed made a significant discovery: a psychoactive substance with extraordinary potency, capable of causing significant shifts of consciousness in incredibly low doses. Hofmann foresaw the drug as a powerful psychiatric tool; because of its intense and introspective nature, he couldn’t imagine anyone using it recreationally. Bicycle Day is increasingly observed in psychedelic communities as a day to celebrate the discovery of LSD.

The celebration of Bicycle Day originated in DeKalb, Illinois, in 1985, when Thomas B. Roberts, then a Professor at Northern Illinois University, invented the name "Bicycle Day" when he founded the first Bicycle Day celebration at his home. Several years later, he sent an announcement made by one of his students to friends and Internet lists, thus propagating the idea and the celebration. His original intent was to commemorate Hofmann's original, accidental exposure on April 16, but that date fell midweek and was not a good time for the party, so he chose the 19th to honor Hofmann's first intentional exposure.

The range of psychedelics are interesting to say the least. Their use can be incredibly beneficial. While walking on this island, I continually run into psilocybin mushrooms - it is almost like they are trying to tell me something... Have not had any and feel no need -- more that they are saying hi to me from across a gulf of many years.

To the garage with me

| No Comments

Enough slacking...

Remember tomorrow

| No Comments

4/20 day - don't forget:

20200419-willie.jpg

Hysteria over non-understood technology has always been with us.

I am not saying that every new aspect of technology is good but the 99.999999% that is good tends to make me think that the 0.0000001% that is bad might be very much of an outlier and is more a case of statistical noise or a rounding error than a general bad thing. Here is a cartoon from the 1900's:

20200419-5G.jpg

Time to do some hacking - DJI Drones

| No Comments

I own a drone from a different manufacturer but it too is Chinese. Might bear some looking into. From PJ Media comes this tale of our distopian present:

Big Brother in the Sky: New Jersey Police Use Chinese Drones to Enforce Social Distancing
Police in Elizabethtown, N.J., are using drones to spy on citizens in areas patrol cars cannot reach. Authorities claim the drones are not taking pictures or collecting evidence, but failure to comply with their orders could lead to a summons or $1,000 fine. Even worse, the drones come from a Chinese company that sent similar drones across the country — and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has warned that data collected on these Chinese-owned drones could be compromised and sent back to Beijing.

"The drones make it easier for police to see into certain areas where access by patrol cars is more difficult. That includes tight spaces between buildings, behind schools, and backyards," an MSNBC anchor explained in a segment on Friday. "Failure to comply could lead to a summons or a thousand dollar fine."

"It’s just an invasion of your privacy," a local man told MSNBC.

And here is the interesting line:

"The drones, donated by DJI, a Chinese company, have gone to 43 agencies in 22 states, all to help enforce social distancing rules," MSNBC reported. "Authorities say the drones aren’t taking pictures or collecting evidence. It’s a high-tech warning against a daily virus."

Donated by a Communist government to enable totalitarian control in a nation that is teetering towards socialism. Socialism being the planned first step on the road to the implementation of communism.
From CNN (or is that Xi-NN), May 20th, 2019:

DHS warns of 'strong concerns' that Chinese-made drones are stealing data
Chinese-made drones may be sending sensitive flight data to their manufacturers in China, where it can be accessed by the government there, the US Department of Homeland Security warned in an alert issued Monday obtained by CNN.

The drones are a "potential risk to an organization's information," the alert from DHS's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency states. The products "contain components that can compromise your data and share your information on a server accessed beyond the company itself."

The report does not name any specific manufacturers, but nearly 80% of the drones used in the US and Canada come from DJI, which is headquartered in Shenzhen, China, according to one industry analysis. US local law enforcement organizations and infrastructure operators have grown to rely on drones in recent years.

Should be easy enough to put a sniffer on the WiFi link. Show up soon enough. Not surprising but disgusting. The sooner these are open-sourced, the better.

Great advice from Seattle weather guru Cliff Mass:

Why Outside Air is Safe and Park Closures Should End
During the past month, the fear of coronavirus had spurred political leaders to close parks and nature areas throughout the country.

In Washington State, all state parks and state lands managed by the Department of Natural Resources are closed through at least May 4. Here in Seattle, all major city parks were closed last weekend and parking lots for city parks are still shuttered. Picnicking, barbecuing, and any sports are illegal in Seattle parks. In California, hundreds of state parks, including many major beach areas, have been closed, and parking has been blocked off for all state recreation facilities.

All of these closures are predicated upon the assumption that coronavirus infection is a serious threat in outside air and that virus spread is significant outdoors.  As documented in this blog, such an assumption is not consistent with the best science.  Furthermore,  there is strong evidence that restriction of public access to parks and natural areas threatens both the physical and mental well being of the population and thus is counterproductive.  Many politicians claim that parks must be closed to prevent large groups from gathering and spreading the virus.  As we will see, such worries appear to have little basis in fact.

All boils down to a lack of basic understanding and common sense from our elected officials. With our WA State governor (and wanna-be President), I am not surprised.
What a maroon. What an ingnoranimus.  Quoting that great sage and philosopher B. Bunny.

And back home - lunch and more work

| No Comments

Ran the errands. Stopped by the nursery and got some basil, lemongrass, chives and mint. I had grown these in 5 Gallon plastic pails last year but they were on the ocean side of the house and got sprayed with salt water everytime there was a storm. Killed 'em dead. Planting everything on the South side of the house this year. The idea of using a living hedge to hide the cement bulkhead did not work out as planned. Live and learn.

Surf for a bit - eating some avocado toast (been eating that way before it became "a thing"). Planning to have another steak for dinner tonight - last night was delicious. Been craving animal protein so listening to what my body says. Picked up some really nice broccoli and will steam/saute it for my side. Maybe get around to that salad I was thinking of yesterday...

The skies cleared up so working in the garage this afternoon.

Good time for a break - doing some computer work this morning (and surfing).

Head out, run a few errands, take a good walk with the dogs but coffee first.

Was completely socked in this morning but clouds are lifting a bit - visibility is now 10+ miles but still a low ceiling.

A good point

| No Comments

True:

20200419-trump.jpg

Snitching. From Twitchy:

Proud mayor of California’s biggest sanctuary city urges residents to ‘report non-essential businesses that are operating illegally’
Everybody knows that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti sees to it that his city doesn’t enforce federal immigration laws, and he’s proud of it:

But that defense of illegal behavior won’t extend to citizens trying to make a living against direct public orders, as the mayor proved by promoting a website for anybody who wants to snitch:

Garcetti and de Blasio - separated at birth? A lot more responses and comments at the site.

A great way to look at things

| No Comments

From Chris Lynch:

Recently read an excellent thought experiment - anytime you read anything about COVID-19 (or anything for that matter) mentally replace the words "assessment," "analysis," "projection," "prediction," and "forecast" with the word "guess." It helps change how you feel about the author's conclusions and allows you to think more clearly...

This works wonderfully for other things as well - anthropogenic global warming climate change is a perfect example.

All of their dire warnings are based on computer models that have not proven to be accurate.

Who would have figured - Hawaiian shirts are "back in style" again. Not that I follow fashion at all but a fun article at Smithsonian Magazine:

The History of the Hawaiian Shirt
Mainland Americans have long looked to Hawaii to ease their minds. At the height of World War I, with America about to enter the conflict, Hawaiian music was all the rage. In 1916, Hawaiian records outsold all other genres, while ukuleles were so ubiquitous in college dorms and upper-crust nightclubs that the New York Tribune ran a full-page illustration of an imagined “Ukulele Square, the Hawaiian Quarter of New York.” During the Great Depression, Americans again cast their eyes toward Hawaii, co-opting another piece of Hawaiian culture: the aloha shirt.

Though its precise origins are lost to history, the aloha shirt first appeared in Hawaii in the 1920s or ’30s, probably when local Japanese women adapted kimono fabric for use in men’s shirting. The shirts achieved some popularity among tourists to Hawaii and found greater commercial success when they hit the mainland in the mid-1930s. America at the time was riddled with hardship and anxiety, with many men out of work and many others struggling to hold on to their breadwinner status. Perhaps in response, hyper-manliness came into vogue—the popularity of bodybuilding skyrocketed, Superman burst onto the scene. It may seem paradoxical that men embraced a garment with such feminine appeal. “You’d better get two or three because it’s a cinch your daughter, sister, wife or even mother will want this bright-colored shirt as soon as she sees it,” the Los Angeles Times teased in 1936. That didn’t stop men from buying. By 1940, aloha shirts were bringing in more than $11 million annually (in today’s money).

And today?

Yet in just the past five years, fashion magazines have been heralding a comeback, and high-end labels like Gucci are taking the aloha shirt to new heights, with prints that draw on Japanese designs favored in the garment’s early days. Meanwhile, some shirtmakers from Hawaii’s old guard are still going strong. Kahala, founded in 1936 as one of the first brands producing aloha shirts, has been raiding its vaults to reproduce designs dating back to the 1930s—including some popularized by Duke Kahanamoku. “People are looking to bring some light, some color, some vibrancy into their lives,” says Jason Morgan, Kahala’s general manager. “I think that’s needed now more than ever. If an aloha shirt can help improve somebody’s day, I think that’s pretty powerful.”

In my trips there, I found the secret for getting the shirts at a decent price. I love the island of Kauaii and the Costco in Lihui has the best selection at really good prices. I wear nothing else when the weather is warm and the sun is shining (Carhart shorts too of course unless I am feeling like wearing one of my UtiliKilts).

And that is it for today

| No Comments

Cleaning up the kitchen. The steak & potato were excellent, never made the salad.

Got a load or two of laundry to run and nothing really catches my eye on the internet. Still feeling sleepy but if I went to bed now, I would be sitting in bed bolt upright and wide awake at 3:00AM. Holding out until 10PM or so.

See what is on YouTube in a while.

Today's guest of honor

| No Comments

Was outside at the BBQ and heard a very familiar chuff sound. Looked around and didn't see anything. Heard it again 30 seconds later and looked out to see a Gray Whale diving in the bay about 200 meters offshore from me.

I feel their presence from time to time - nice to actually see one.

Come to this - New York City

| No Comments

Are they implementing the Stasi or have they always been there, just under the radar. From the Mayor's Telescreen to yours (via twitter):

Talk about myopia - being jammed in the subway like sardines in a can is alright but walking with your POSSLQ in a park by yourselves is strictly verboten and must be reported to Big Brother. Looks like Warren Willhelm, Jr. Bill deBlasio is learning well from his Chinese Communist masters.

I would never live there but I have had a lot of fun visiting New York City and there is a lot of good that comes out of that city. I do hope its citizens wake the fsck up when they go to vote in just under 200 days.

Was just reminded of an event called World Amateur Radio Day being held tomorrow. I may have heard of it before but never really gave it that much thought.

It is being held under the auspices of the International Amateur Radio Union. From their about-us website:

About Us
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is the worldwide federation of national amateur radio organizations. The membership of the IARU consists of more than 160 member-societies in as many countries and separate territories.

The IARU was founded at a meeting in Paris in 1925 as the international representative of the Amateur Radio movement. At the time the “short waves” were just beginning to be understood and to be exploited for global communication using power levels and antennas that were within reach of private individuals operating from their own homes. These radio amateurs needed an organization to coordinate their activities and to be their voice at international conferences.

And they have a logo:

20200418-IARU.jpg

The organization I belong to (actually have a lifetime membership) is the Amateur Radio Relay League. From their about-us website:

ARRL's Mission Statement: To advance the art, science, and enjoyment of Amateur Radio
ARRL is the national association for Amateur Radio in the US. Founded in 1914 by Hiram Percy Maxim as The American Radio Relay League, ARRL is a noncommercial organization of radio amateurs. ARRL numbers within its ranks the vast majority of active radio amateurs in the nation and has a proud history of achievement as the standard-bearer in amateur affairs. ARRL’s underpinnings as Amateur Radio’s witness, partner and forum are defined by five pillars: Public Service, Advocacy, Education, Technology, and Membership.

Hmmm... Mine was founded over 100 years ago - eleven years prior. We have a logo as well:

20200418-ARRL.jpg

A little bit derivative wouldn't you say? Hmmmmm???

I'll stick with my group. I like it and the people are fantastic. Besides, the other group is French... We know all about the French 😁

Oh yeah, we are known for doing public service. We also have a world-wide weekend called Field Day which is pretty awesome. Worldwide awesome.

Never said I was not a little biased...

Back to work

| No Comments

Feeling downright nappish - tempted to crawl into bed for two hours. Heading to the garage.

Hit a good place to break with the computer work. Website and some things for the local arts group.

Turned into a nice day. Think I will break from veggie eating and thaw out a nice steak. Baked potato and salad and that will be dinner - craving animal protein.

Doing business with China - or not

| No Comments

Don Surber has an excellent roundup of all things business oriented:

Red Chinese Disease blacklash begins
Whether this was by design or accident, Chairman Xi and Red China unleashed COVID-19 on the world, and now the world will make them pay for their multi-trillion dollar deception. Britain became the first to deliver economic sanctions against the communist country.

Chairman Xi and WHO lied about the seriousness of this disease.

He shut down domestic flights with Wuhan, but kept the flights to JFK. New York City is now the epicenter of the Red Chinese Disease.

The payback should be to quarantine all trade with Red China. Tariffs should be infinite.

England has begun the payback.

The New York Post reported, "The UK is moving to drop Huawei as a vendor for the country’s 5G cellphone network in a major blow to Communist China over poor coronavirus transparency.

"Prime Minister Boris Johnson, now recovering from COVID-19, gave the Chinese company a role in 5G infrastructure this year, squashing opposition last month by 24 votes in the 650-seat House of Commons.

"But now, concern about the Chinese Communist Party’s inaccurate reporting on the corona virus has lawmakers crafting plans for a retreat."

Putting a world leader in ICU was not a swift move by Chairman Xi.

Don cites a number of other actions against the Communist government and closes with this little thought:

Cutting off Red China is not racist; it is paramount to survival. We must do it now before COVID-20 comes along.

This is an excellent way to look at it. This is an isolated instance but it does not preclude additional "accidental" releases in the future. We need to all be preppers now.

Our mantra? WHEN and not IF

Leslie Eastman has some more at Legal Insurrection: The world begins to “social distance” itself from China in the wake of the pandemic

Good and thoughtful reading

A brad-point bit for wood. 7/16" diameter. I can get cheaper ($6 or thereabouts) chinesium crap online but this was made in America and will last a lifetime. Still, I can buy the same ammount of alloy steel off-the-shelf at retail prices for well under a buck. Charging $16 for some grinding? I am in the wrong business - Dave's Drill Bits. Has a nice ring to it.

Nice drive - went from overcast to rain to clear skies and back to overcast and now fluffy clouds. Breaking for lunch and then working in the garage as well as some online projects.

Coffee and Bellingham

| No Comments

Running up to drop some stuff at the condo and to buy a drill bit and some wood. Check in on a couple of places too.

Back this afternoon

And yes, the Chinese are at fault

| No Comments

I would suspect no less - from The Daily Wire:

Pompeo: China Has ‘Not Permitted The World’s Scientists To Go Into’ Wuhan Lab
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during an interview on Friday that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not letting scientists from around the world enter the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which U.S. government officials have “increasing confidence” as being the location where the coronavirus outbreak may have originated.

“The sources believe the initial transmission of the virus – a naturally occurring strain that was being studied there – was bat-to-human and that ‘patient zero’ worked at the laboratory, then went into the population in Wuhan,” Fox News reported. “China ‘100 percent’ suppressed data and changed data, the sources tell Fox News. Samples were destroyed, contaminated areas scrubbed, some early reports erased, and academic articles stifled.”

The State Department was concerned about the lab as early as 2018. More in this report from Associated Press. The Chinese owe the whole World big-time.

From Jim Hoft at The Gateway Pundit:

Locked-Down New York State Now Has 17K Coronavirus Deaths or 10 Times the Number of Deaths as Sweden – And They Left Their Economy Open
New York State now has recorded 17,131 coronavirus deaths.

This came after New York officials dumped another 3,700 “presumed” coronavirus cases to their fatality numbers earlier this week.

New York state has 19.85 million people.

New York state leaders put the entire state in lockdown in March. New York City Mayor de Blasio says the state will not reopen until July or August at the earliest.

Sweden has 1,511 recorded coronavirus deaths.

Sweden has 10.2 million people.

Sweden left its economy open during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sweden is a country half the size of New York State and has one-tenth the coronavirus deaths.

And Sweden will have an economy after the coronavirus pandemic runs its course.

Simple numbers, simple facts. New York City did not manage things well. Shutting down the economy did little to prevent the spread of the Communist Chinese Kung Flu.

20200418-epstein.jpg

If not seeing the light

| No Comments

At least he is feeling the heat. Bill Maher is coming around. Since last August, he has been saying some downright sensible things: 

And today, we have this from Breitbart:

Maher to Media: You’re Giving Trump ‘the Chance to Play the Optimist,’ and Optimists Usually Win
On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher criticized media coverage of the coronavirus by stating that “nonstop gloom and doom … gives Trump the chance to play the optimist, and optimists tend to win American elections.”

Maher said, “Now that we’re starting to see some hope in all this, don’t hope-shame me. You know, the problem with nonstop gloom and doom is it gives Trump the chance to play the optimist, and optimists tend to win American elections. FDR said, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ You know, as full of shit as he is, I could see Trump riding that into a second term.”

And this zinger:

Maher concluded, “We need the news to calm down and treat us like adults. Trump calls you fake news, don’t make him be right.”

Now that will leave a mark. Heh...  500+ comments - good stuff to read there.

Global warming

| No Comments

From Science Magazine:

Hidden Viking trade route emerges from melting ice in Norway
In 2011, hikers in the snowy mountains of central Norway came across a 1700-year-old wool tunic, likely belonging to a Roman-era hypothermia victim. As ice in the region has continued to melt, researchers have made hundreds of additional finds. Now, archaeologists have made their biggest discovery yet: a lost Viking trade route that may have been used for hundreds of years to ferry everything from butter to reindeer antlers to far-flung European markets.

“The Viking age is one of small-scale globalization: They’re sourcing raw materials from all over,” says Søren Michael Sindbæk, an archaeologist at Aarhus University in Denmark who was not involved with the work. “This is the first site where we have good chronology and the finds to illustrate that.”

In the new study, Lars Piloe, an archaeologist at the Innlandet County Council Department of Cultural Heritage in Lillehammer, Norway, and colleagues radiocarbon dated dozens of artifacts from the Jotunheimen mountains. They focused on an ice patch known as Lendbreen, which has melted rapidly over the past 9 years, collecting the relics between 2011 and 2015. The objects date back to the Bronze Age, between 1750 B.C.E. and 300 C.E., the team found. The oldest are mostly arrows and other hunting equipment, likely used to kill reindeer.

So from 1750BC to around 300AD, things were nice and warm. Then it got colder. Now, it is getting warmer.

We should be happy and not trying to limit energy use and driving. Warmer is better. Unfortunately, it looks like we are in for an extended stretch of cooler weather as our sun is going through a very quiet period.

A cold gray morning

| No Comments

Supposed to have sun later this afternoon but it sure is not sunny now. Forecast is for precip to move in Monday for a few days. It was a nice teaser for summer but we are back to what passes for normal in these parts for the next week or so. Grumble...

Bookends

| No Comments

Morning? Coffee

Evening? YouTube

The remodel project

| No Comments

Had people ask how my home remodeling was going so posted a photo yesterday - looking pretty nice. Here is a before photo - was going through some old images and found one from when I bought it. Quite the change:

20200417-remod.jpg

The mountains were out that day - get a nice view of the Olympics from the deck and Mt. Baker is spectacular.

Shithole city - San Francisco

| No Comments

This is a parody but not that far off the mark:

20200417-sf.jpg

How to lose all sympathy in one easy lesson - from the World Health Organization:

Alcohol does not protect against COVID-19; access should be restricted during lockdown
Alcohol is known to be harmful to health in general, and is well understood to increase the risk of injury and violence, including intimate partner violence, and can cause alcohol poisoning. At times of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, alcohol consumption can exacerbate health vulnerability, risk-taking behaviours, mental health issues and violence. WHO/Europe reminds people that drinking alcohol does not protect them from COVID-19, and encourages governments to enforce measures which limit alcohol consumption.

We tried prohibition and it simply did not work. Who do these yokels think they are? Gee... Look Ethyl, they are doing this for OUR OWN GOOD...

If you believe this, I can point you in the direction of a whole bunch of socialist globalist propaganda from the 1940's that was disgustingly effective and almost worked. Google Translate will help you with the German if you do not speak the language.

By the way... Don't speak German? You are welcome.

The Wuhan Flu and India

| No Comments

India has barely seen a peep out of the coronavirus. Here is an article with some ideas - Quartz:

Why does India have so few Covid-19 cases and deaths?
India is four times more populous than the US, but has just 2% the number of cases and only 1.5% of the number of Covid-19 deaths. How has the country, whose per capita income is just tenth of the US, avoided being flattened by the pandemic?

There are four possible explanations:

    1. The epidemic may have struck later than in other countries. Since epidemics have exponential growth at the start, a small delay can have massive effects on the number of cases.
    2. India’s 21-day lockdown may have successfully suppressed the epidemic. Physical distancing is one of the best ways to slow the epidemic and, if anything, many have criticized the lockdown for being too draconian in that regard.
    3. India has not been able to test enough to count all cases and deaths. Without sufficient testing, many deaths may not be labeled with Covid-19 for official statistics, leading to an underestimation of the severity of the crisis.
    4. India may have protective characteristics against Covid-19. Researchers have proposed that the low share of elderly in the population, the high temperatures and humidity in India, widespread BCG vaccination for tuberculosis, or resistance to malaria have helped India escape the brunt of the pandemic.

First, we can rule out that India is in an early stage of the pandemic. The first infected travelers from Wuhan reached Kerala, southwest India, on January 29. While it is true that Kerala acted quickly and contained a potential outbreak, more carriers reached other states by early March.

I would go with #5 (not on the list). India has so many diseases and microbes floating around that the native population would be resistant to anything short of a direct inoculation of bubonic plague. All of the people I know that have visited have had health issues ranging from a minor tummy upset to emergency hospitalization.

I am betting that the majority of the population has been exposed to enough similar coronaviruses that they already have immunity.

Chinese was yummy

| No Comments

Nice people at the restaurant too - extended family.

Found an isolated place down by the banks of the Skagit River so I sit there with the pups. Next time, I need to bring my van and go full Farley

And outta here

| No Comments

Got four deliveries today - two new and two repeats.

Heading up north for Chinese food after.

At the trough - no surprises there

| No Comments

Disgusting - from the New York Post:

Big restaurant chains take $30M in coronavirus loans meant for small businesses
Large restaurant chains have gobbled up $30 million in federal loans meant to shore up small businesses during the coronavirus crisis.

The companies behind Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Ruth’s Chris Steak House each got sizable loans under the feds’ Paycheck Protection Program, the $349 billion small-business aid package that ran out of money Thursday.

Florida-based steakhouse operator Ruth’s Hospitality Group inked deals April 7 for $20 million in loans administered by the US Small Business Administration under the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill passed last month, records show.

And Chicago-based Potbelly Corporation got a $10 million loan from the program on April 10, the company said in a regulatory filing. Both firms said they received the money through JPMorgan Chase Bank.

And no mention of the political parties involved but:

The so-called PPP loans were aimed at helping companies with up to 500 employees cover payroll and overhead costs. But lawmakers expanded eligibility for restaurants so that companies could apply as long as they had no more than 500 workers at any single location.

Guessing Democrat. Crap like this is always Democrat.

The Science journal Nature is one of the gold-standards for accurate reporting and peer-review before publication. They just stepped on their own dick big-time with this:

Stop the coronavirus stigma now
When the World Health Organization (WHO) announced in February that the disease caused by the new coronavirus would be called COVID‑19, the name was quickly adopted by organizations involved in communicating public-health information. As well as naming the illness, the WHO was implicitly sending a reminder to those who had erroneously been associating the virus with Wuhan and with China in their news coverage— including Nature. That we did so was an error on our part, for which we take responsibility and apologize.

Ummmmm - Spanish Flu, Ebola, Zika, Lyme Disease, West Nile Virus, Guinea Worm, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Marburg Virus Disease, Norovirus, German Measles, Lassa Fever, Legionnaire’s Disease... The list goes on.

And then, there are the diseases named after people - Alzheimer disease, Crohn's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, etc...

This is an established precedent dating back to the beginnings of medicine. Why is Nature seeking to buck the trend. How much money are they getting from China? Who is funding them?

I was way off - Nancy's freezers

| No Comments

A couple days ago, I posted about Nancy Pelosi's video from her kitchen standing in front of two Sub Zero freezers. I estimated them to be worth: "well over $30,000" for the pair. Turns out I was way under. From Real Clear Politics:

Pelosi's Quarantine Stash Of Expensive Ice Cream In A Very Expensive Freezer
As this clip from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's interview on CBS's "Late, Late Show" began to circulate around the internet on Tuesday, the Trump campaign rapid response director Steve Guest pointed out that she is "eating $13 dollar a pint ice cream out of her $24,000 fridge."

"The Paycheck Protection Program ran out of money this morning because Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi, blocked the necessary $250 billion replenishment for the program that Congressional Republicans tried to deliver," the Republican National Committee said in a statement on Wednesday. "Now 'Nancy Antoinette' has to explain to America why she chose to show off her luxury refrigerators and $13-dollar a pint ice cream collection from her chateau in San Francisco instead of funding the Paycheck Protection Program which has saved millions of jobs all across the country."

I was wrong - $24K times two is almost $50,000 worth of refrigeration. I will say again that Sub Zero is absolutely the best for commercial refrigeration and it comes at a significant high price but still, someone spending that much on some ice cream freezers is not mentally capable of understanding the needs of a middle-class constituency. She needs to resign. Now. Her "legacy" is a laughingstock of the world.

Let them eat Ice Cream...

Very cool - wallpaper

| No Comments

Doing any online conferencing? How about some nice wallpaper for your video feed. Studio Ghibli just released a bunch here.

Here is just one - native size is 1920X1081 - plenty big enough. Gorgeous work:

20200417-ghibli.jpg

Yet another example:

20200417-chernobyl.jpg

Fact checking the fact checkers

| No Comments

Sometimes, things do not add up - from Zero Hedge:

Facebook 'Fact Checker' Worked At Wuhan Biolab; Ruled Out Virus-Leak While 'Debunking' Articles
A Facebook fact checker who has 'debunked' articles suggesting that COVID-19 may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) has a giant conflict of interest; she worked at the institute - which is now suspected of accidentally leaking the hyper-virulent virus which has killed over 130,000 people and cast the global economy into chaos.

Danielle Anderson, who works at Duke University's NUS Medical School lab in Singapore, also contributes to Science Feedback - which Facebook has been using to slap "False Information" labels on articles claiming that COVID-19 may have originated at the Wuhan institute - where Anderson worked with bat coronavirus.

A quick search of Anderson's publications reveals no fewer than nine collaborations with Dr. Peng Zhou - a Wuhan scientist experimenting on bat coronavirus (the mention of whom may result in a Twitter ban).

Brings to mind the old saying (first or second century): Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Seems like Facebook took the easy route out and took their fact checker at face value - after all, her debunking fit the narrative. The Chinese are our friends in globalism. Globalism is the modern way to go. We are all globalists now.

Bzzzzztttt - sorry guys, I do not "do" narrative, I do facts.

Get woke, go broke

| No Comments

It will be interesting to look at their sales for the next year. Land O' Lakes just changed their logo - from Modern Farmer:

Land O’Lakes Removes Native American Woman From Label
The “butter maiden” is no more.

Dairy co-operative Land O’Lakes has removed the image of a Native American woman from its butter packaging. The co-op’s logo depicted a Native American woman, kneeling on a mound of grass, holding a package of butter—an image that critics have said is offensive.

The company issued a press release in February, announcing it was revamping the label to showcase farmers and commemorate Land O’Lakes’ hundredth anniversary. But the press release didn’t even mention the “butter maiden.”

The original logo was painted in 1928, and has been updated a number of times over the years. The new label is very similar to the old one, with the obvious omission, and some new text that says “Farmer-Owned” above the Land O’Lakes brand mark and “Since 1921” below.

So some "critics" have said that the logo - in continuous use for almost 100 years - is "offensive" and must be purged. Were I the CEO of LOL, I would have told them to go screw themselves. Pity that they did not have the backbone to stand up to these bullies. There was nothing disrespectful about the logo at all. Part of their history and part of our culture.

I bet that if they released some merch with the original logo as a "collectors edition", the sales would be through the roof. If they did that, they should donate the proceeds to some nice conservative organization. Rub salt in the wounds. Social justice warriors are such pitiful harpies.

Any disease over time

| No Comments

Not just the Wuhan Flu - from Atomic Fungus:

20200416-disease.jpg

All infectious diseases have a curve like this - herd immunity kicks in and no disease kills all of its hosts. Shutting down the economy did save a few percent of the lives but that time is done now and we need to get back to business.

A mid-course correction - Wuhan

| No Comments

Looks like there were more fatalities than first reported. If this is typical, this number is 10X too low (at least). From FOX News:

Chinese epicenter Wuhan raises number of virus dead by about 50 percent
The city where the coronavirus outbreak is believed to have originated is now reporting 3,869 deaths after adding 1,290 to its previously-announced figure. Numbers of total cases in the city of 11 million were also raised by 325 to 50,333, accounting for about two-thirds of China’s total 82,367 announced cases.

They were lying then, they are lying now. Still, nice to see them acknowledge the seriousness of this.

Interesting to see - a two-fer from gCaptain:

First - Europe:

Tankers Pile Up Off Europe as Onshore Storage Hits Limit
Dozens of tankers holding jet fuel and gasoline are at anchor in sea lanes around Europe’s main storage hubs, unable to discharge their cargoes as onshore tanks are full to capacity following the collapse in demand linked to the coronavirus crisis.

Nearly 1 million tonnes of refined products are parked on around 30 tankers off Europe’s coast, Reuters calculations found.

According to shipping data and trade sources, tankers have dropped anchor near to the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub and across parts of the Mediterranean as their cargo owners struggle to find buyers or storage tanks.

How's that "Just-In-Time" management strategy working for you now? Sure, very trendy in the 70's and 80's, cheap to implement, the company saves a bundle, share earnings go up, everybody is happy. UNTIL - something like this happens and then everything goes pear-shaped, the shit hits the fan and you are left with a dog's breakfast to sort out.

Second - the United States:

U.S. Crude Stocks Jump By a Record 19 Million Barrels – EIA
U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose by 19 million barrels last week, the biggest one-week increase in history, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said, as refiners throttled back activity due to slumping demand as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The build for the week ended April 10 was much larger than the Reuters poll calling for a 11.7 million-barrel rise and offsets some of the optimism that had bloomed as a result of a worldwide pact between oil producers to cut output sharply. Crude futures slumped on the news.

“Even though we knew it was going to be bad, it’s worse than people thought,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “You look at gasoline demand and it’s pathetic. If you were going to write a nightmare report about petroleum, this is it.”

Sure, consumption is down for now but the USA is now a net exporter of oil (thank you DJT) and we have the capacity to store our reserves for when the economy comes booming back. Any process will have its natural cycles of boom and bust. Prepare for them and you can come out smelling like roses.

I love the smell of capitalism in the morning...

The President's address

| No Comments

Nothing earth shattering but a really good speech and we are getting back to business again.

Nice presentation of the numbers - we are well over the hump.

Current state of the remodel

| No Comments

Some people have asked how it is going - here is a current picture:

20200416-remodel.jpg

Starting to look pretty good!

Representative Illhan Omar is a racist - pure and simple. Her pathological hatred of anything Jewish is out there for all to see. Her fondness for President Trump is right up there too. Seems like she has some issues with corruption - from The Washington Free Beacon:

Omar Funnels Nearly $300,000 More to Her Husband’s Firm
Democratic representative Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) continues to push cash from her campaign committee to her now-husband's consulting firm.

Omar's new committee filings, posted Wednesday afternoon, show that during the first three months of the year, the campaign paid $292,905 to the E Street Group. E Street is a political consulting firm owned by Omar's husband, Tim Mynett. The cash, which reportedly went toward an array of services that included fundraising and advertisements, accounted for over 40 percent of the campaign's $674,892 in disbursements. Omar raised $456,374 during the quarter.

Omar's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Omar campaign also doled out $525,000 last year to Mynett's firm, its top vendor. At the time, Omar and Mynett were married to different people, but Mynett's wife alleged they were having an affair. The two denied that they had a romantic relationship. Omar's campaign and the E Street Group also faced accusations of using campaign funds on personal travel.

Yeah - must be nice to be able to get a pass on such activity.

one that China will ultimately lose big-time. Seriously big-time. From Zero Hedge:

Retaliation? China Suddenly Toughens Export Rules, Freezing Critical Medical Goods Destined For US
Just hours after President Trump, General Milley, and now the mainstream US media, increase the rhetoric volume on the source of the "Chinese Virus", with questions about leaks from the Wuhan Lab growing louder, American firms producing medical goods in China have been slapped new export restrictions, stranding much of the supplies in warehouses across the country. 

This new hurdle comes at a time when shortages of masks, test kits, and other medical equipment have materialized in many hospital systems across the US.

Suppliers, brokers, and State Department memos reveal that large sums of protective gear lay on pallets in Chinese warehouses, unable to receive necessary shipping authorizations to the US, reported The Wall Street Journal.

For example, 1.4 million COVID-19 test kits sit in a warehouse in China, unable to ship from PerkinElmer Inc.'s Suzhou factory because "it lacks certification required by the new rules," a State Department memo read, first reviewed by The Journal.

Heh - China is not thinking very well. They are reacting and not planning. They will win this battle but all these medical companies are going to shut the Chinese factories down and find more politically reliable nations to invest in. China is going to pay the price for their short-sighted ideology.

From President Trump's twitter feed:

Looking forward to getting back to work again...

From the horse's mouth - Chinese Flu

| No Comments

A transcript of the speech delivered by the Director-General of the World Health Organization on February 3rd, 2020. And they wonder why we think they are failing to do their job:

- - - deletia - - -

53. As you know, last week I declared another public health emergency of international concern – this time over the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019 nCoV) infection. As of this morning, there are 17,238 confirmed cases in China, and 361 deaths. Outside China, there are 151 confirmed cases in 23 countries, and one death, which was reported from the Philippines yesterday.

54. During my visit to Beijing last week, I was very impressed in my meeting with President Xi at his detailed knowledge of the outbreak, his personal leadership, and his commitment as reflected in the words he told me, which I will share with you: “We will take serious measures at the epicentre, at the source, in order to protect our people, and also to prevent the spread of the virus to other countries. We have the obligation to do that, and that’s what we will do.” That is exactly the strategy we discussed with him.

55. If we invest in fighting at the epicentre, at the source, then the spread to other countries is minimal and also slow. If it’s minimal and slow, what is going outside can also be controlled easily. So the number of cases we have now, 151, is actually small, and it’s growing only slowly. 

56. So it can be managed – and when I say this, make no mistake: it can get even worse. But if we give it our best, the outcome could be even better. If not for this strategy and China’s efforts, the number of cases outside China would have been very much higher. And it still could be, but we have the opportunity now to work aggressively to prevent that from happening.

China as the good guy? Being so open about the outbreak? That poor naif bought their propaganda hook, line and sinker.

And the recommendations:

59. First, there is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade. We call on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based and consistent. WHO stands ready to provide advice to any country that is considering which measures to take.

62. Fourth, combat the spread of rumours and misinformation. To that end, we have worked with Google to make sure people searching for information about coronavirus see WHO information at the top of their search results. Social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Tencent and Tiktok have also taken steps to limit the spread of misinformation.

First, no quarantine. Insane. Worst possible recommendation ever...
Fourth - we do not know what the fsck we are doing but dammit, we are going to be the primary source of information.

Defunding them is not enough. They need to be disbanded and the earth under their cushy building salted so nothing can grow there ever again. WHO Delenda Est.

Speaking truth to power:

20200416-guns.jpg

A really good point

| No Comments

Do not like BillG's focus on vaccines.
I am not an anti-vaxxer - quite the opposite for the basic ones: MMR, Polio, etc... but digital registration and making a new vaccine for each and every little illness that pops up is way over the top.

20200416-virus.jpg

Perchance to dream

| No Comments

Went to bed early but did not fall asleep until around midnight. Odd...

Up and at 'em this morning - heading to my steel place in Burlington to get the materials for the synthsizer cabinet. A fun project. Also, the cedar yard for some more shelf-building supplies. Returning the materials for Plan A and getting some for Plan B.

Quick canter around the web first - coffee too.

Yum - I ❤ Ahi Tuna

| No Comments

Sat for a while after dinner looking at the sunset. Turned into a really nice day and tomorrow is supposed to be more of same.

A bit chilly now as it is clear - radiation cooling - so inside now. Early morning today so feeling sleepy. Some tea and a bit of surfing and that is it for me.

Rice is done

| No Comments

Time to get a cast iron fry pan ripping hot and sear the tuna. Dinner is served...

Glad I do not live in New York State

| No Comments

From America's Newspaper of Record:

Arkham Asylum Releases All Inmates Amid Coronavirus Fears
Arkham Asylum has freed all its inmates to prevent the spread of coronavirus, sources within the Gotham Police Department confirmed earlier this week.

The prisoners were at risk for contracting COVID-19 and so were let go to take some of the strain off the Gotham prison system. After freeing them, interestingly, there was a rise in crime, a side effect the Gotham P.D. claimed they didn't see coming.

"Yeah, in hindsight, maybe this wasn't the greatest idea," said Commissioner Jim Gordon as a giant vine burst out of the ground and began wreaking havoc downtown and Bane punched walls just for fun. "Letting criminals out can sometimes cause a rise in crime, and we didn't exactly see that coming."

"HahahahahahahaHAHAHA!!!" cackled the Joker as he was let out. "Now it's time to kill the Batman!" Medical officials believe killing the Batman could actually help keep further coronavirus outbreaks from occurring and so will turn a blind eye to the Joker's evil plan this time.

Within two days of being let out, they were all caught again by Batman but then broke out again, before being caught again and then breaking out again.

"Yeah, we're not great at this whole 'running a prison' thing," said the warden.

Glad that this is not happening here...

Cute idea

| No Comments

Not practical but a fun visual:

20200415-sani.jpg

Nancy Pelosi @home

| No Comments

She was interviewed for a late-night show and co-starred with her two Sub Zero freezers packed with ice cream.  From Jeremy Scahill's twitter account:

For reference, a commercial-grade True brand upright freezer similar to what was in Pelosi's video costs just under $5,000.  True is a decent brand but quite a bit cheaper than Sub Zero and the commercial-grade units are again, quite cheaper than the residential units. The residential units will have the compressor system located remotely to keep the noise down. Commercial systems have the compressor in the unit itself. Sub Zero is a very good brand but it is only sold through dealerships so no online price checks but, I bet that Pelosi's pantry is probably sporting well over $30,000 (including the install) worth of ice cream freezers.

That is more money than many of her constituents earn in a year. Must be nice to be so out of touch...

And back home again

| No Comments

The delivery service is proving to be quite the sucess - three drivers today. I only had four deliveries but two of these were huge - a weeks worth by my guess.

People are very happy to get these care packages and I get a chance to get out and am learning my way around the island. win/win

Got an ahi tuna steak marinating in some ground ginger, soy, sugar and vermouth and will sear it for dinner. Serve with rice (white of course), stir-fried bok choy and some homemade pineapple chutney (spicy of course). Eating Hawaiian tonight.

Got to go see what the dogs are up to - they are being very very quiet...

And the other shoe drops - WHO

| No Comments

The World Health Organization is in the pay of the Communist Chinese despite them contributing less than one percent of their annual funding. The US contributes 15% of their annual funding ($400 million of our taxpayer dollars) and the WHO treats us like a little child. Time for a change. And now, England (which is number two in contributions) is following suit - from the UK Express:

Boris urged to follow Trump and pull billions in funding from World Health Organisation
The US President stunned the world on Tuesday when he announced he would be stopping funding to the organisation following weeks of criticism. Donald Trump has continued to claim the WHO had promoted China's "disinformation" about the virus that likely led to a wider coronavirus outbreak than otherwise would have occurred. He claimed the WHO had failed to investigate credible reports from sources in China's Wuhan province that conflicted with Beijing's accounts about the spread and "parroted and publicly endorsed" the idea that human to human transmission was not happening.

And the United Kingdom?

But now the UK, the biggest donor to the organisation outside of the US, has also been urged to pull funding.

Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has shown that the World Health Organisation needs to be reformed or replaced.

"As the organisation's second-biggest funder, the UK should follow America’s lead. In 2018, the UK gave the WHO $200m, the equivalent of billions of face masks or thousands of ICU ventilators.

"It needs to be made clear that the WHO leadership has to be replaced and the agency has to return to its core mission of tackling epidemics with transparency, honesty and a single-minded focus.

"This is not the first time it has dropped the ball on infectious disease. The harsh truth is that it will not reform itself unless it is threatened with budget cuts."

Could not be happening to a nicer bunch of kleptocrats and hangers on. Nice to see our brothers across the pond acting wisely.

20200415-mz.jpg

Heh - hire that baker

| No Comments

Brilliant idea:

20200415-cake.jpg

Found out - Victoria Coates

| No Comments

Victoria Coates? You would know her as Anonymous - the author of a New York Times article as well as some book. From Real Clear Investigations:

Here's 'Anonymous,' Trump Aides Say. And Here's How They Outed Her
Ever since a “senior official in the Trump administration” penned an anonymous 2018 New York Times column attacking President Trump as unfit for office, Washington has been engrossed in a high-stakes whodunit. After an exhaustive investigation, the White House believes it’s cracked the case, identifying Trump's turncoat as his former deputy national security adviser, Victoria Coates, according to people familiar with the internal probe.

Rather than fire Coates, the White House has quietly transferred her to the Department of Energy, where she awaits special assignment in Saudi Arabia -- far from the president.

Simple detective work - similar writing styles, etc... No two people think or write exactly the same way. I love what they did to her - talk about being out of the limelight. She is going to be cutting ribbons for gas station openings in Saudi Arabia for the next ten years or so. Perfect.

It is OK to be critical but do it on your own time and not while you are employed by the object of your criticism. Gracefully resign and then spit on your hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.

Pray for me - CCP Flu

| No Comments

Went to Costco this morning - really low on dog food and gasoline. Someone about 20' in front of me coughed a big wet hacking cough without shielding her face. Every one in the line backed away as far as they could (this was the line waiting to enter). Nobody said anything but the vexation was palpable.

Back home - clouds are burning off somewhat and warming up nicely. Avocado toast for lunch.

And it's coffeetime

| No Comments

Heading out - still quite cloudy but starting to burn off somewhat.

5G is just the latest iteration of cell telephone technology. It will carry more data. Simple as that. Some people can not handle that. From The Beeb:

Coronavirus: 20 suspected phone mast attacks over Easter
The UK's mobile networks have reported a further 20 cases of phone masts being targeted in suspected arson attacks over the Easter weekend.

Trade group Mobile UK said it had been notified of incidents in England, Wales and Scotland.

And the "reason"

Attacks on 5G masts pre-date the coronavirus pandemic. But there are concerns a surge in the amount of vandalism has been caused by conspiracy theories, which falsely claim the deployment of 5G networks has caused or helped accelerate the spread of Covid-19.

I remember when there was a huge groundswell of ignorance over RFID tags - that took years to die down. Now we have this. For cryin' out loud people - ask a well-educated high-schooler and get the damn facts.

You want to keep them going. From Breitbart:

China Warns U.S. to ‘Fulfill Its Obligations’ and Reverse WHO Defunding
China said Wednesday the U.S. should fulfill its obligations to the World Health Organization (WHO) during the coronavirus crisis, adding it was “seriously concerned” about the U.S. decision to suspend funding for the globalist body.

As Breitbart News reported, President Donald Trump ordered a hold on funds sent to the Geneva-based WHO on Tuesday, demanding they answer for their failures to properly warn the world about the coronavirus by putting political correctness above life-saving measures.

“China is seriously concerned about the U.S. announcement to suspend funding for the World Health Organization,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press briefing, as reported by AFP.

“The current global epidemic situation is grim. It is at a critical moment. This U.S. decision will weaken WHO’s capacities and undermine the international cooperation against the epidemic.”

“We urge the United States to earnestly fulfill their responsibilities and obligations, and support the WHO-led international action against the epidemic,” Zhao said, claiming the agency plays an “irreplaceable role” against the pandemic.

The U.S. is the biggest funder of the WHO, providing upwards of $400 million last year alone, roughly 15 percent of its budget.

China spent a lot of time and money grooming the WHO to be their patsy. Makes me wonder how many other NGOs they have their chopsticks in.

Pretty obvious to me

| No Comments

That Chinese flu is nasty stuff:

20200415-covid.jpg

From The Daily Caller:

Hunter Biden Still Listed As Board Member Of Chinese Company He Pledged To Resign From In October, Business Records Show
Hunter Biden received wall-to-wall media coverage and praise from his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, in October when he announced he would resign from the board of a Chinese private equity firm by the end of the month.

But six months after Hunter Biden pledged to relinquish his position with BHR Partners, no evidence has surfaced to prove he actually followed through on his promise.

The article has business records of the company - Biden's name is still there as well as Biden's personal company: Skaneateles LLC. Say something flashy to soothe the proles and then it is back to business as usual. These people are rotten.

A look behind the curtain from National Public Radio:

Bloomberg News Killed Investigation, Fired Reporter, Then Sought To Silence His Wife
Michael Bloomberg's short-lived presidential bid reignited a long-simmering dispute over the widespread use of nondisclosure agreements at American corporations — especially at his own.

His namesake company, Bloomberg LP, has used nondisclosure agreements broadly to conceal allegations and silence complaints from employees of sexual harassment or a hostile work environment, as published reports have documented.

The story of one Bloomberg reporter and his wife showcases the widespread use of such legal restraints at the company — and how far their reach can extend.

Six years ago, Bloomberg News killed an investigation into the wealth of Communist Party elites in China, fearful of repercussions by the Chinese government. The company successfully silenced the reporters involved. And it sought to keep the spouse of one of the reporters quiet, too.

"They assumed that because I was the wife of their employee, I was the wife," the author and journalist Leta Hong Fincher tells NPR. "I was just an appendage of their employee. I was not a human being."

Fincher is married to the journalist Mike Forsythe, a former Beijing correspondent for Bloomberg News who now works at The New York Times. In 2012, Forsythe was part of a Bloomberg team behind an award-winning investigation into the accumulation of wealth by China's ruling classes.

This is a bit of a long read but it is well written and very well documented. Mini-Mike is one of the wealthiest people in the United States and the Communist Chinese Government bought his silence. How much was that worth Michael - 30 pieces of silver? Yet another example of why we need to distance ourselves from this government. They are not our friends.

To think that Bloomberg wanted to be our President. Would he still be beholden to the highest payer? Screw the Chinese, Bloomberg is not our friend.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed

| No Comments

Woke up a bit earlier than usual so running with it. Strange dream - that I was President Trump's science advisor. Only lasted for an hour or two in dreamtime but I had a lot of fun cleaning out the EPA. Are we doing real science here? Your'e Fired!

Overcast this morning - forecast for partly cloudy with high temps. We will see. Working at home after coffee - grocery run later this afternoon.

And that is it

| No Comments

Nothing catches my eye on the net. Not feeling like computer work or website development so going to numb my brain with some YouTube and then head to bed. Supposed to be really nice tomorrow - grocery deliveries in the afternoon but yardwork tomorrow morning sounds good.

Chicken tacos were delish. Trader Joe's has a Corn and Chile Tomato-less Salsa that is really good.

Dinner

| No Comments

Thawed out some smoked chicken breast and have it slow cooking - should be shredable now. Tacos for dinner tonight...

Sending a message - WHO

| No Comments

His opening statement today:

"Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus."

Heh - take their rice bowl away and see what happens. Cue liberal tears in 3... 2... 1...

They are corrupt and they seriously screwed up. They need to be held accountable. No more $1,200/plate fancy dinners in Bali or Switzerland for you. You want our money? You better do your job and be able to account for every penny.
As an individual taxpayer, I have to do this. As a business owner, I have to be able to do this on steroids. What makes them exempt?

From the White House twitter account:

Manufacturing a crisis - Chinese Flu

| No Comments

NYC is not beneath fudging the numbers - from the Daily Caller:

NYC Adds Nearly 4,000 People Who Never Tested Positive To Coronavirus Death Tolls
New York City added nearly 4,000 people who never tested positive for the coronavirus to its death toll Tuesday, bringing coronavirus-related deaths in the city to around 10,000 people.

The city decided to add 3,700 people to its death tolls, who they “presumed” to have died from the virus, according to a report from The New York Times. The additions increased the death toll in the U.S. by 17%, according to the Times report, and included people who were suffering from symptoms of the virus, such as intense coughing and a fever.

And all that you need to know is a few more paragraphs into the story:

The report stated that Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio decided over the weekend to change the way the city is counting deaths.

Pants on fire. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin fumbled Hurricane Katrina and proved to be generally corrupt and incompetent. He is now serving ten years in Federal prison for Public Corruption. He is now a convicted felon. Wonder what will happen to Warren Wilhelm Jr. once this blows over.

Miles of knobs - the synthesizer

| No Comments

Finally have all six cases down here. Now I need to build the stand for them. They follow a 40+ year old standard for module size but that makes the overall cabinet four feet and one inch wide - so much for using a sheet of plywood for the cabinet top. I special-ordered a 4X10 sheet when I built the cabinet at the farm but it will not fit out of the house (nor will it fit into here) so I need to build a new one. Making two cabinets - one for each tower. Using a steel frame this time - got a good design percolating in my brainpan. The two cabinets will be on casters and will bolt together for stability.

Each module has a specific signal generating or processing function. There are also modules that can be programmed to give sequences of control signals (think the rolling musical lines in some Tangerine Dream pieces). There are also logic and combinatoric processing units. These all use the same voltages and everything is wired up with patch cables.

Bought this puppy about 15 years ago - was doing a consulting job and made more $$$ than I was expecting. The unit is based on the old Robert Moog designs so you get the incredible tone and sororities of the old Moog synthesizers but these are made with modern components so you can walk away for the evening, turn the unit off, come back in the next day and everything will still be in tune. This is not a feature found in the older units.

Sorry for the bright light coming in through the window - I will post better photos once I build the stand and get it set up (and the curtains hung):

20200414-knobs01.jpg

20200414-knobs02.jpg

20200414-knobs03.jpg

The two cabinets sitting upright on their ends will mount on top of the cabinets in the back. Puppy is heavy so a solid cabinet is necessary. Looking forward to making music down here - feel the muse percolating in me. Time to get creative again - it has been a very quiet (and interesting) two years. Hopefully, 2020 will be a lot better (and 2021, and 2022, etc...) Been through enough shit for a while...

And yeah, I love the new flooring. Perfect for the space.

Bill Gates in the news

| No Comments

His views on vaccines are a little bit too much for my tastes - Ben Garrison sums it up perfectly:

20200414-vaccine.jpg

And back home again - farm after all

| No Comments

Such a nice day for a drive that I kept on going after I left the coffee place. Farm for a few hours. Got the last of the synthesizer boxes brought down - looking forward to getting it back up and running.

Time to unpack the van - got some chicken breast cooking so shred that and do tacos for dinner.

Quick surf first...

Nothing much happening today

| No Comments

Doing some small stuff here - out for coffee shortly.

Working on the computer most of today - couple of things to get done.

Really lovely sunrise - cloudy and lots of nice color. Clouds are burning off now - looks like another wonderful day.

Summer vacation

| No Comments

What was the case 75 years ago is the case now as well:

20200413-wwII.jpg

For different reasons but good advice then and good advice now. Tip of the hat to Ol' Remus.

Once the Chinese COVID-19 gets into the homeless population, kiss all hope of normalcy bye bye.
From the NYC CBS affiliate:

Coronavirus Update: Video Shows Homeless Taking Over Car After Car On No. 2 Subway Line
While there’s so much focus on having people stay off the streets during the coronavirus pandemic, there’s another big problem happening underground.

Homeless people are taking over the subway.

The city says it’s taking action, but concerned Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees are demanding more, CBS2’s Christina Fan reported Sunday.

A video of a No. 2 train shows the city’s subway system looking like a homeless shelter. It was taken early Sunday morning by an MTA employee, and it shows car after car of people sprawled out sleeping.

Train operator Yann Hicks said he is fuming about having to work in these unsanitary conditions during a pandemic.

“The virus is going back and forth, back and forth in dirty trains with people, homeless, and everybody with no masks on. There’s a problem here,” Hicks said.

Great - most of NYC residents use the public transportation. Getting that population to mingle with the homeless population and things will go to hell very soon. Fun times ahead.

Bacon - a two-fer

| No Comments

Looks like the Chinese are hitting us where it hurts. Two from Reuters:

First, from yesterday, April 12th, 2020:

Smithfield shutting U.S. pork plant indefinitely, warns of meat shortages during pandemic
Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork processor, said on Sunday it will shut a U.S. plant indefinitely due to a rash of coronavirus cases among employees and warned the country was moving “perilously close to the edge” in supplies for grocers.

Slaughterhouse shutdowns are disrupting the U.S. food supply chain, crimping availability of meat at retail stores and leaving farmers without outlets for their livestock.

Second, from November 5th, 2019:

At Smithfield Foods' slaughterhouse, China brings home U.S. bacon
Smithfield Foods’ slaughterhouse in Virginia used to carve up pork for American sandwiches and holiday dinners. But workers now box up pig carcasses to ship to China, according to employees, local officials and industry sources.

The transformation at the Smithfield, Virginia, plant shows how the global meat industry is adapting to profit from African swine fever, a fatal pig disease that has killed millions of hogs in China and turned the world’s top pork consumer into a major meat importer.

Bought by China’s WH Group Ltd (0288.HK) six years ago for $4.7 billion, Smithfield Foods has retooled U.S. processing operations to direct meat to China, which produced half the world’s pork before swine fever decimated the industry.

Emphsis mine - again: "Bought by China’s WH Group Ltd (0288.HK) six years ago for $4.7 billion"

You heard it correctly, Smithfield Foods has been wholly owned by the Chinese Communists for the last seven years. Time to get it back into US hands. Let them buy pork at our market prices.

A scientific paper

| No Comments

Really interesting stuff is coming out of the woodwork - from Virology Journal:

Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread
Background
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is caused by a newly discovered coronavirus (SARS-CoV). No effective prophylactic or post-exposure therapy is currently available.

Results
We report, however, that chloroquine has strong antiviral effects on SARS-CoV infection of primate cells. These inhibitory effects are observed when the cells are treated with the drug either before or after exposure to the virus, suggesting both prophylactic and therapeutic advantage. In addition to the well-known functions of chloroquine such as elevations of endosomal pH, the drug appears to interfere with terminal glycosylation of the cellular receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. This may negatively influence the virus-receptor binding and abrogate the infection, with further ramifications by the elevation of vesicular pH, resulting in the inhibition of infection and spread of SARS CoV at clinically admissible concentrations.

Conclusion
Chloroquine is effective in preventing the spread of SARS CoV in cell culture. Favorable inhibition of virus spread was observed when the cells were either treated with chloroquine prior to or after SARS CoV infection. In addition, the indirect immunofluorescence assay described herein represents a simple and rapid method for screening SARS-CoV antiviral compounds.

What makes this interesting is that it was published on August 22nd, 2005 - fifteen years ago.

And some pundits are still claiming that this is unproven.

Heh - I resemble that remark

| No Comments

20200413-old.jpg

I'll have to try that line in conversation. Tip of the hat to Powerline's Week in Pictures

Heh - remember her?

| No Comments

20200413-greta.jpg

Another addition to the non-essential list.

I am not surprised - Taiwan

| No Comments

From Red State:

Taiwan Releases Email Showing They Warned the WHO in December About Virus, Were Ignored
Well, this may explain why the World Health Organization has been so hostile to Taiwan during the Wuhan virus pandemic, with the Director-General even accusing the tiny nation of racism last week.

Apparently, Taiwan sent an email in December to the WHO warning them about the occurrence of a new disease in China and asking for more information. That information being investigated that early in the game could have saved tens of thousands of lives. Instead, Taiwan was ignored.

Links to tweets and documents from the whole episode. Pretty damning. The WHO is in the pocket of the Communist Chinese.

A good thought experiment

| No Comments

Try this with your liberal friends:

20200413-biden.jpg

Talk about instant brain-freeze...

All for now

| No Comments

Heading out for the day.

20200413-the-cure.jpg

So much for yesterday's forecast

| No Comments

Yesterday had today as being "mostly sunny" - there is not a cloud in the sky and enjoyed a glorious sunrise.

Puttering around here a little longer and then heading out for coffee, post office, stop at the cedar lumber place (building some more shelves) and then a couple places in Bellingham. Back to do the grocery deliveries this afternoon - that service has been getting quite busy.

Had a nice solid eight hours of sleep - some strange dreams but feeling fully rested and rarin' to go today.

Surf for a little bit first...

One leader to another

| No Comments

Here is what it looks like when two adults work together - from Townhall:

Gov. Cuomo Heaps Praise on Trump for Responsiveness and Decisiveness Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo praised President Trump for his responsiveness and decisiveness in working with New York amid the state's ongoing Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

"I've worked very hard with the President of the United States," Gov. Cuomo said during a coronavirus briefing on Saturday. "We've had our political differences in the past, no doubt, but there's also no doubt that I've worked hand and glove with the president here and he has been responsive to New York and responsive to New York's needs, and he's done it quickly and he's done it efficiently."

The governor also marveled at the president's decisiveness and how quickly the president was able to respond to meet the needs of New Yorkers.

Compare with whiny Warren Willhelm Bill deBlasio and you can really see the difference. Things get done. Bring a child into the picture and fingers get pointed. Big difference.

Looks like the Gov. wants to get back to the business of doing business. From The Right Scoop:

Andrew Cuomo coordinating with Connecticut and New Jersey to re-open their economies
This is encouraging. The epicenter of the worst coronavirus contagion in the U.S. includes three states, and they are now coordinating to plan how to re-open their economies

Get back to normal ASAP - good news.

Chinese flu - after-action reports

| No Comments

Now that the epidemic is starting to wind down, people are looking at mitigating factors. From Ziff-Davis Publishing:

NYU scientists: Largest U.S. study of COVID-19 finds obesity the single biggest factor in New York’s hospitalizations
For months, scientists have been poring over data about cases and deaths to understand why it is that COVID-19 manifests itself in different ways around the world, with certain factors such as the age of the population repeatedly popping up as among the most significant determinants.

Now, one of the largest studies conducted of COVID-19 infection in the United States has found that obesity of patients was the single biggest factor in whether those with COVID-19 had to be admitted to a hospital. 

"The chronic condition with the strongest association with critical illness was obesity, with a substantially higher odds ratio than any cardiovascular or pulmonary disease," write lead author Christopher M. Petrilli of the NYU Grossman School and colleagues in a paper, "Factors associated with hospitalization and critical illness among 4,103 patients with Covid-19 disease in New York City," which was posted April 11th on the medRxiv pre-print server. The paper has not been peer-reviewed, which should be kept in mind in considering its conclusions.

Makes a lot of sense - puts a huge load on the entire body. That much extra living mass needs a lot more oxygen.

Not a cloud in the sky

| No Comments

Temps got to 66°F this afternoon and this was right by the ocean so inland was higher. Looking at "mostly sunny" tomorrow but we will see. Doing a quick run to Bellingham tomorrow morning and then grocery deliveries in the afternoon.

Slept ten hours last night so early bedtime.

Time for dinner - big lunch so just making a salad. Been eating way too much. Major increase in sugar too - my candy stash is almost gone. Time to get back to eating well.

Down the 'ole rabbit hole

| No Comments

A conspiracy theorist could have a field day with these three tidbits:

#1) - From the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation (the listing of grants that the foundation has awarded):

The Pirbright Institute
Date: September 2018
Purpose: to evaluate antibody delivery platforms in the natural host, swine influenza model and facilitate the selection of mAbs to be taken to human clinical trials

#2) - From the News page for The Pirbright Institute (March 25, 2020):

Pirbright begins testing new coronavirus vaccines on animals to help combat COVID-19
The Pirbright Institute is joining in the global battle to help control COVID-19 by using its unique expertise and facilities to support the development of vaccines to protect against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of the current pandemic.

Working in collaboration with researchers at the University of Oxford and Public Health England, a team of scientists at Pirbright will begin testing new vaccines for their ability to induce protective antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. The vaccines will include the chimpanzee adenovirus vaccine vector (ChAdOx1) which is soon to enter human phase I clinical trials and has been used to create vaccines for diseases like Ebola, Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS) and flu.

Vaccines are big big money - any new medicine is while it remains under patent protection. None of the "big players" today want to hear about a 49¢ pill which has been around for 30+ years and knocks the Chinese COVID-19 flu dead. They all want to be at the big table when the real money is being handed out. BTW: big money = our money - these are being paid for by our taxes.

#3) - So why The Pirbright Institute? From Google Patents (an excellent resource):

US10130701B2 - Coronavirus
Current Assignee PIRBRIGHT INSTITUTE
Abstract
The present invention provides a live, attenuated coronavirus comprising a variant replicase gene encoding polyproteins comprising a mutation in one or more of non-structural protein(s) (nsp)-10, nsp-14, nsp-15 or nsp-16. The coronavirus may be used as a vaccine for treating and/or preventing a disease, such as infectious bronchitis, in a subject.

So Pirbright owns the patent for a type of coronavirus, they are working on a vaccine for a type of coronavirus and they have received repeated (three tranches) funding from the Gates Foundation. Hmmmmmm... Like I said, a conspiracy theorist could have a field day.

And to work

| No Comments

Batteries topped off, more nectar made for the hummingbirds (about half-way through my second 25 pound sack of sugar) and got some green beans pickling - doing a quick pickle.

Time for yardwork...

Great numerical analysis from Robert Stacy McCain:

COVID-19: The Democrat Disease
Part of the developing liberal media narrative about COVID-19 pandemic is that black people are disproportionately impacted by the disease. The usual explanation for this is that black people have more “underlying conditions” — heart disease, Type II diabetes, etc. — that so often make the difference between having a mild case of coronavirus and having a serious case that might kill you. What goes unmentioned in such explanations is that black people are also disproportionately likely to live in high-density urban areas and to use public transportation. Why do you think New York City became such a death trap in this pandemic? Millions of people ride the subway there every day, and the city’s population density is the highest in America. Because urban life is also highly correlated with voting Democrat, the Chinese virus also has a partisan bias. Republican voters tend to live in suburbs, small towns and rural areas, regions where the COVID-19 infection rate is lower. A “stay-at-home” order will help reduce the spread of a contagious disease far more effectively if you live in a single-family home than if you live in a crowded apartment complex, and so the residential patterns of Democrats are part of the risk patterns that have political consequences.

Robert looks at the state of Maryland (which has both strong Republican and strong Democrat counties) and runs the numbers. Pretty damning - makes for some really interesting reading.

Just remember:

20200412-spread.jpg

Charging my batteries

| No Comments

Got a battery powered string trimmer and lawnmower so charging the batteries before starting to work.

At least that is my excuse.

Had coffee, ran into the nearby town (under ten miles) and found some whole-wheat flour for making some bread. Did a bunch of pruning after I got back. Lunch break and a quick surf. Will start the bread tomorrow morning - autolyse the flour, get the hydration dialed in and then first batch with the new sourdough. First time baking in this oven here except for a couple of cakes. Got a cast-iron dutch oven that I have had for over 30 years - the seasoning is nice and glossy. Bake in that.

Some great news at the end. From Louisville, Kentucky station WDRB:

Kentucky State Police record churchgoers' license plates at Hillview in-person Easter service
Troopers with Kentucky State Police arrived at Maryville Baptist Church on Easter Sunday morning to record license plate information of churchgoers who attended a mass gathering during the coronarivus pandemic. 

Dozens of families attended Easter service at the Bullitt County church despite an executive order from Gov. Andy Beshear that prohibits mass gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Beshear said Friday that anyone who participates in mass gatherings of any type during Easter weekend will be required to self-quarantine for two weeks

The troopers also placed notices under cars' windshield wipers that say, "This vehicle's presence at this location indicates that its occupants are present at a mass gathering prohibited by Orders of the Governor and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. As a result, this vehicle's occupants, and anyone they come into contact with, are at risk of contracting COVID-19, a respiratory illness that can be severe and lead to death, particularly for older adults and those with underlying heart, lung, kidney and immunity issues."

Freedom of assembly? Whatever happened to this line?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

It is the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the cornerstone to our own Bill of Rights.

Great News: From PJ Media

DOJ: 'Expect Action' to Protect Churches From Tyrannical Local 'Social Distancing' Orders
On Saturday, Department of Justice (DOJ) spokeswoman Kerri Kupec announced that Attorney General William Barr would take action to protect churches from tyrannical local government orders that destroy their religious freedom.

"During this sacred week for many Americans, AG Barr is monitoring govt regulation of religious services," Kupec tweeted. "While social distancing policies are appropriate during this emergency, they must be applied evenhandedly & not single out religious orgs. Expect action from DOJ next week!"

The position of Governor is an elected one. Same for Police Chief.

Door. Ass. Bang.

In Christ Alone

| No Comments

Just wow - 48 singers from 14 nations:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.
Rev 7:9 KJV

Home page here

Back in a bit. Tackling the grass today.

From the London Daily Mail:

REVEALED: U.S. government gave $3.7million grant to Wuhan lab at center of coronavirus leak scrutiny that was performing experiments on bats from the caves where the disease is believed to have originated
The Chinese laboratory at the center of scrutiny over a potential coronavirus leak has been using U.S. government money to carry out research on bats from the caves which scientists believe are the original source of the deadly outbreak.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology undertook coronavirus experiments on mammals captured more than 1,000 miles away in Yunnan which were funded by a $3.7 million grant from the US government.

Much more at the site. It came from the lab regardless of what the Communist Chinese Government says.

Just go here and read - this is a post talking about (and they have photos) a meeting from 20 years ago. Highly connected people including some people very much in the news today. One world order indeed...

The Queen's Words - Easter

| No Comments

Great words from her this morning - The Daily Wire has the transcript:

“Many religions have festivals which celebrate light overcoming darkness. Such occasions are often accompanied by the lighting of candles,” She said. “They seem to speak to every culture, and appeal to people of all faiths, and of none. They are lit on birthday cakes and to mark family anniversaries when we gather happily around a source of light. It unites us.”

“As darkness falls on the Saturday before Easter Day, many Christians would normally light candles together,” she continued. “In church, one light would pass to another, spreading slowly and then more rapidly as more candles are lit. It’s a way of showing how the good news of Christ’s resurrection has been passed on from the first Easter by every generation until now.”

“This year, Easter will be different for many of us but by keeping apart we keep others safe. But Easter isn’t cancelled; indeed we need Easter as much as ever,” she concluded. “The discovery of the risen Christ on the first Easter Day gave his followers new hope and fresh purpose, and we can all take heart from this. We know that Coronavirus will not overcome us. As dark as death can be, particularly for those of suffering with grief, light and life are greater. May the living flame of the Easter hope be a steady guide as we face the future. I wish everyone of all faiths and denominations a blessed Easter.”

Resurrection is a very powerful force - our culture and our nations need resurrection now. Time to get back to what works for everyone and not what feels good and satisfies the demands of an all-too vocal minority.

Sleeping in again today

| No Comments

Woke up as usual around 6AM and rolled over for another hour of sleep and that turned into three. I feel great but wondering if my body is fighting something.

Spending the day laying low. Gorgeous day so working outside. Coffee first.

And it's (opens envelope)

| No Comments

YouTube time.

See you all tomorrow...

From the master's mouth

| No Comments

This man is an evil sociopath:

20200411-soros.jpg

Not for sale

| No Comments

So true - add some Ukranians and you have the entire family bought and paid for.

20200411-biden.jpg

As if millions of voices cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened. (Obi-Wan Kenobi) From Input Magazine:

IBM will offer free COBOL training to address overloaded unemployment systems
IBM is releasing a free training course next week to teach the 60-year-old programming language COBOL to coders. It is also launching a forum where those with knowledge of the language can be matched with companies in need of help maintaining their critical systems.

The moves come in response to desperate pleas by state governors for anyone with knowledge of COBOL to volunteer their time to help keep unemployment systems functioning, a critical need as the coronavirus has resulted in an unprecedented surge in people being laid off and having to claim unemployment benefits.

Talk about dragging the art of programming back into the stone ages. Played with COBOL a long long time ago and it has some cool features but it is really easy to write spaghetti-code so debugging is a bear. Discovered C and have not looked back (although FORTH is a lot of fun and scripting languages like LUA are very cool).

From ABC News no less - not as egregious as CNN for Fake News but still pretty bad.

Intelligence report warned of coronavirus crisis as early as November: Sources
As far back as late November, U.S. intelligence officials were warning that a contagion was sweeping through China’s Wuhan region, changing the patterns of life and business and posing a threat to the population, according to four sources briefed on the secret reporting.

Concerns about what is now known to be the novel coronavirus pandemic were detailed in a November intelligence report by the military's National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI), according to two officials familiar with the document’s contents.

The report was the result of analysis of wire and computer intercepts, coupled with satellite images. It raised alarms because an out-of-control disease would pose a serious threat to U.S. forces in Asia -- forces that depend on the NCMI’s work. And it paints a picture of an American government that could have ramped up mitigation and containment efforts far earlier to prepare for a crisis poised to come home.

And little bits like this make me really pissed off at the Communist Chinese Government:

Those analyses said China’s leadership knew the epidemic was out of control even as it kept such crucial information from foreign governments and public health agencies.

They were trying to save face and blew it bigtime. The overall benefit is that maybe this will cause major reforms although I doubt it - too many higher-up party apparatchiks will have their rice bowl taken away if China changes their form of government. A Republic would be nice - worked well here for almost 150 years. Might work again if we get some more adults in office.

Got to meet some new goats, chickens and see all this years plantings. I miss farming - glad that I have these people that I can "adopt" every so often. They requested that everyone wear face masks so it was really interesting communicating with people I know reasonably well - we get a lot of our non-verbal communication from the face and to have half of it behind an opaque mask changes the dynamic quite a lot.

Got a bunch of strawberry plants and some lettuce and chard for the hoop house (which needs to be assembled - a project for this week).

Surf for a bit and then make dinner - left-over tacos.

And I am off for a bit - plant sale

| No Comments

Getting some lettuces, tomatoes and some other herbs - see what they have.

I would love to get some apple trees but no place to grow them for now - still working on the drainage in the yard so can't plant anything permanent quite yet.

Back in a couple of hours.

Great news from Vijeta Uniyal writing at  Legal Insurrection:

Netanyahu-Modi Diplomacy: India Ships Hydroxychloroquine to Israel
Lifting a blanket export ban, India has shipped a huge consignment of coronavirus treatment drugs to Israel. New Delhi delivered a five-tonne cargo of medicines including chloroquine, the antiviral drug currently being used in the treatment of Wuhan coronavirus.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, for the move. “Thank you, my dear friend, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, for sending hydroxychloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!” the Israeli leader tweeted on Friday.

New Delhi had previously banned the export of hydroxychloroquine and other coronavirus-related medicines. India is reportedly the biggest manufacturer of the drug typically used in the treatment of malaria patients.

The Times of Israel news website reported New Delhi’s decision:

A plane from India carrying materials used to make medicines for treating coronavirus patients has arrived in Israel.

The five ton shipment, which the Ynet news site said arrived Tuesday, includes ingredients for the drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, which are used to treat malaria.

This is not about narrative or sound-bites. This is about doing right for the citizens of the world. It's called leadership and it is what adults in positions of authority do. Some people need to take notes...

Could have told you that

| No Comments

PEW Research did a poll regarding political leanings and mental health. This graph sums it up pretty well:

20200411-crazy.jpg

A good analysis of the poll numbers by Chris Menahan at Information Liberation:

Pew Poll: White Liberals More Likely To Be Mentally Ill And Depressed
One look at an antifa protest could tell you this but it's nice to have some data.

Chris proceeds to do a really thorough analysis of the numbers and the poll is correct - 38% of very liberal whites are mentally ill. Not a big surprise there - look at who they elect.

Just wow - even Bill Maher gets it

| No Comments

Amazing that he understands this - from his twitter account:

Got the origin wrong (lab not market) but it IS the Chinese Flu.

I always wonder why - nuclear power

| No Comments

Why don't the left support nuclear power? Cheap, safe, clean. The new designs are walk-away safe (molten salt).
The two big disasters were Chernobyl (a reactor run by a government) and Fukushima (a reactor sited on a fault line).

20200411-nuke.jpg

Slept in this morning

| No Comments

Got nine hours of sleep - luxurious to drift in and out of dreamland.

Enough though - time for coffee and then to work.

Heading out to this farm for a plant sale later today: Ananda Farms - really good people and their farming techniques are fantastic. No-till and their soil (and crop yields) shows the results. No-till does not lend itself to mechanized farming and is more labor intensive so "modern" agribusinesses do not use it but for a smaller operation, definitely the way to go.

Shit got serious

| No Comments

The cancelled Burning Man - from the website:

The Burning Man Multiverse in 2020
After much listening, discussion, and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision not to build Black Rock City in 2020. Given the painful reality of COVID-19, one of the greatest global challenges of our lifetimes, we believe this is the right thing to do. Yes, we are heartbroken. We know you are too. In 2020 we need human connection and Immediacy more than ever. But public health and the well-being of our participants, staff, and neighbors in Nevada are our highest priorities.

We are, however, going to build Black Rock City in The Multiverse. That’s the theme for 2020 so we’re going to lean into it. Who’d have believed it would come true? We look forward to welcoming you to Virtual Black Rock City 2020. We’re not sure how it’s going to come out; it will likely be messy and awkward with mistakes. It will also likely be engaging, connective, and fun.

Yikes...

Heh - could have guessed so

| No Comments

Dance monkey dance - they are useless for anything beyond that:

20200410-dumpster.jpg

And be sure to go and read the "dance monkey dance" rant linked above - well worth the couple minutes of your time.

Now what were you expecting?

| No Comments

Venezuela's "Bolivarian Revolution" has always been about gathering power and money for an elite few and screw everyone else. The Venezuelan government does not care about its people - no socialist or communist leadership does. All that talk is just pure propaganda for the low-information voters. From InSight Crime:

Mexican Cartels – Venezuela’s Uninvited Guests Here to Stay
Talk of Mexico’s cartels in Venezuela has become commonplace, so much so that one town has been re-baptized after one of the world’s most notorious criminal groups: the Sinaloa Cartel.

In San Felipe, a village near Machiques de Perijá in the northwestern state of Zulia, hearing Mexican accents has become routine. Local residents near the border with Colombia say that the presence of Mexicans is so strong the town has been unofficially renamed Sinaloa.

Sources on the ground provided InSight Crime with a range of evidence they say confirms the presence of emissaries from Mexican criminal groups. Ranchers, local manufacturers and residents have all witnessed luxury vehicles entering town, parties blaring with narcocorridos, increased demand for prostitution and other abnormalities that have changed everyday life.

“Sinaloa isn’t just a random name, many of the pilots [of drug planes] are Mexican. We’ve seen them talking in hotels, and a person with this accent is easy to remember. They call this town of ours Sinaloa,” one local told InSight Crime on the condition of anonymity.

The good news is that it looks like President Trump is turning his administration towards dealing with this. Time to roll up the bad guys and let everyone else get back to making a prosperous life for themselves. Capitalism works - Venezuela used to be a shining example of it. Biggest economy in South America and it exported food all over the world. Now, it can not even feed its own citizens.

Say goodbye Joe

| No Comments

Done for the day

| No Comments

Had five deliveries today - getting popular. There were several other drivers too so a lot of people taking advantage of our service.

Heading north for some Chinese food.

Just wonderful - China in the news

| No Comments

Looks like they are using this time of chaos to try to annex Taiwan. From the Chinese Communist propeganda organ Global Times:

Chinese PLA holds ‘regular’ drills near Taiwan in preparation for military struggle: experts
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) reportedly held military drills featuring warplanes near the island of Taiwan on Friday, and such drills, having taken place at least four times since the traditional Spring Festival holiday in January, have become regular and are now a part of military struggle preparations against the island, mainland experts said on Friday.

Multiple PLA warplanes, including the H-6 bombers, KJ-500 early warning aircraft and J-11 fighter jets, conducted a far-sea long-range drill above southwestern waters near the island of Taiwan on Friday, Taiwan media reported on Friday, citing the island's defense authority.

The PLA warplanes entered the Western Pacific Ocean through the Bashi Channel, then returned to base along the same route they came from, reports from the island said.

Song Zhongping, a mainland military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Friday that the drills were a part of preparations for the potential military struggle against the island of Taiwan, and such drills have become regular and routine.

The use of the word "struggle" is a huge tell for a commonist attempt at a power-grab. They have not changed their vocabulary or tactics in 100 years. Communism still does not work.

I am almost hoping that they try something - I can think of several dozen nations that would chip in and help restore Taiwan and to nuke China back to the stone age. China needs us way more than we need their tech toys. They have seriously overdeveloped and need the constant flow of exports to maintain their debt.

Heh

| No Comments

20200410-bernie.jpg

A bit of reason from Elizabeth Nolan Brown writing at Reason:

No, NYC Is Not Running Out of Burial Space Due to COVID-19
Century-and-a-half-old Bronx burial site sparks panic on social media. The COVID-19 death toll in New York City right now is chilling (more than 4,400 at last count). So are images of coffins being buried in mass graves. It's hard to see things like that and not feel the weight of those numbers all the more viscerally—which makes it all the more imperative to contextualize and not sensationalize those images.

Unfortunately, a lot of professional media has been erring on the side of LOOK AT WHAT AMERICA HAS COME TO: THERE ARE SO MANY DEAD BODIES THEY HAVE TO START HIRING PEOPLE TO DIG MASS GRAVES.

The city cemetery on Hart Island is indeed tragic. It has been for the past 151 years.

"Since 1869, prison labor has been used to bury unclaimed and unidentified New Yorkers in mass graves of 150 adults or 1000 infants," states the Hart Island Project website. Families of those buried there were only allowed to start visiting in 2014.

"Since 1980, 68,955 people have been buried in mass graves on Hart Island," notes the Project, which is dedicated to telling stories of those laid to rest there.

Yeah - people are being buried there. For this simple explanation that there was nobody to claim the body - that is all. Tragic but it happens all the time.

Great news - World Health Organization

| No Comments

From Newsmax:

Guy Reschenthaler to Newsmax TV: 20 Sponsors Support Bill to Withhold Funding From WHO
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Penn., told Newsmax TV on Friday that his bill to withhold funding from the World Health Organization over its reaction to the coronavirus outbreak already has strong support in Congress.

Reschenthaler told “The National Report” that his bill “says that we're not going to give any more voluntary funds to the World Health Organization until one, [Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus] resigns, because he was either grossly negligent in handling the [coronavirus] epidemic, or worse, he was working hand-in-glove with the Chinese Communist Party to suppress information regarding the pandemic.”

He added that the WHO also would have to “submit to an international body with an investigation to see how this pandemic was mishandled.”

The congressman said later that he’s been very successful in gaining support for his legislation, saying they have “about twenty sponsors on the bill. Also, my counterparts in the U.S. Senate have spoken favorably on the issue. Sen, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in particular, so I think that there will be support. The hard part is going to be convincing the far-left Democrats, [and House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to run this bill.”

Good - "Dr." Ghebreyesus is not a medical doctor - from the InfoGalactic entry:

He subsequently received a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Community Health from the University of Nottingham in 2000, with his doctoral dissertation being "The effects of dams on malaria transmission in Tigray Region, northern Ethiopia, and appropriate control measures"

His appointment was purely a political one - he is a useful idiot for the Chinese. He showed his hand by downplaying the Chinese involvement in the release and the subsequent coverup. He knew this was bad, he did it anyway and now he has to pay. It is called "being accountable" - something that adults do on a daily basis.

Lunch break

| No Comments

Breaking for an early lunch - surf for a bit.

A gray day

| No Comments

Heading out for the usual in a few minutes - glorious yesterday but socked in today. No precip in the forecast but cloudy. Light rain tomorrow.

Doing the usual work at home and grocery deliveries this afternoon - our service is becoming quite popular.

The local farm I like is having their plant sale tomorrow so heading over there to get vegetables for the garden.

Imagine no Democrats

| No Comments

Yes, that Sean Ono Lennon:

And I love this exchange:

Putting that NPC where they belong - in the dustbin of history.

And talking about the liberals and the progressives etc... Where are the stories of Antifa delivering food to hospital workers? Where are the New Black Panthers who are sewing facemasks. Where are the ironically hip citizens from Portland, Oregon helping to drive the trucks that are keeping this nation supplied with artisanal toilet paper and cold-brewed Lysol? Where are all of these people when the shit hits the fan? Good to know who your real friends are...

Just wonderful - invasive insect

| No Comments

Looks like we are in for some fun - from Washington State University:

WSU scientists enlist citizens in hunt for giant, bee-killing hornet
More than two inches long, the world’s largest hornet carries a painful, sometimes lethal sting and an appetite for honey bees. It is also the newest insect invader of Washington state.

The Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, is unmistakable, said Susan Cobey, bee breeder with Washington State University’s Department of Entomology.

“They’re like something out of a monster cartoon with this huge yellow-orange face,” she said.

“It’s a shockingly large hornet,” added Todd Murray, WSU Extension entomologist and invasive species specialist. “It’s a health hazard, and more importantly, a significant predator of honey bees.”

Cobey, Murray and other WSU scientists are bracing for the giant hornet’s emergence this spring. Sighted for the first time in Washington last December, the hornet will start to become active in April. WSU researchers are working with the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), beekeepers and citizens to find it, study it and help roll back its spread.

And the sightings are local - north-western part of the state

In the first-ever sightings in the U.S., WSDA verified two reports of the Asian giant hornet late last year near Blaine, Wash. and received two probable, but unconfirmed reports, from sites in Custer, Wash.

Just a little bundle of joy - their stingers are long enough to penetrate a standard beekeeper's suit. They predate on honey bees so this is of real concern for food production. No bees? No pollination and no fruit.

A great start - from The Daily Wire:

Trump Admin Moves To ‘Revoke And Terminate’ China-Owned Telecom Firm From Operating In U.S.
Multiple federal executive branch agencies announced on Thursday that they have unanimously recommended to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it “revoke and terminate” a Chinese state-owned telecom service provider’s ability to operate in the United States.

The six federal agencies that made the recommendation against China Telecom Corp. were led by the Department of Justice and included the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative.

“The Department of Justice led the review of China Telecom’s authorizations, and it based the recommendation on developments since the authorizations were last transferred in 2007, including China Telecom’s failure to comply with the terms of an existing agreement with the Department,” the DOJ said in a statement. “In its recommendation, the Executive Branch agencies identified substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecom’s operations, which render the FCC authorizations inconsistent with the public interest.”

Heh - Communist China screwed up and caused the whole world a lot of pain. No reason that they should get any sweetheart deals right now. There are a lot of other nations out there with better governments that can do the same or better work. All China's fault, not ours.

Dinner and an early bedtime

| No Comments

Not much happening online. Got a couple projects to work on this evening (video editing and some electrical wiring).

Tacos are ready so having those on the deck - got up to 64°F today. Spring here is glorious. Makes up for winter.

Couch Gag

| No Comments

Every episode of The Simpsons opens with a variation on the same theme. The final part of this has become known as the Couch Gag

From Joel A. Sutherland:

Our kids were bored after four weeks of social isolation. My wife and I cleaned the basement and wondered what we should do with our old Simpsons Halloween costumes. One of these problems solved the other. The end result was this video.

From the South China Morning Post:

Japan to pay firms to leave China, relocate production elsewhere as part of coronavirus stimulus
Japan has earmarked US$2.2 billion of its record economic stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production out of China as the coronavirus disrupts supply chains between the major trading partners.

The extra budget, compiled to try to offset the devastating effects of the pandemic, includes 220 billion yen (US$2 billion) for companies shifting production back to Japan and 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move production to other countries, according to details of the plan posted online.

Much more (including numbers) at the site

Having a cheap source of manufacture is no good if it comes with these kind of strings attached. We do not need to be supporting a tyrannical government with our desire for the latest cheapest tech.

"It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled."
--Mark Twain

And did neither

| No Comments

Did a run to Bellingham. More crap to the condo for the yard sale and stopped at a couple of vendors including Trader Joe's. Been Jonesing on their triple ginger cookies and bought a couple packs of them. Should last me for a while.

Also stopped at the Tortilla place and picked up a big pack of them - freeze what I do not use tonight. Thawing out some flank steak and will marinate that with pineapple, soy and ginger. Tacos for dinner tonight - yum!

Quick surf, email and to work...

Staying down here for the day

| No Comments

Too nice to be spending three hours of it driving and the rest of it loading heavy stuff into the van. Shoot for Saturday or Sunday.

Heading out for coffee and then working at home today. Have some photo editing to do for our local arts group as well as cleaning up the yard and more in the garage.

Very true

| No Comments

Yeah - why?

20200409-moviestar.jpg

Looks like the dogma of Papal infallibility is null and void. Time for a new Pope. From Breitbart:

Pope Francis Says Pandemic Is ‘Nature’s Response’ to Human Inaction over Climate Change
Pope Francis said he believes the Chinese coronavirus pandemic is “certainly nature’s response” to humanity’s failure to address the “partial catastrophes” wrought by human-induced climate change.

Asked by British journalist Austen Ivereigh whether the COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity for an “ecological conversion,” the pontiff reasserted his belief that humanity has provoked nature by not responding adequately to the climate crisis.

“There is an expression in Spanish: ‘God always forgives, we forgive sometimes, but nature never forgives,’” Francis said in the interview published Wednesday. “We did not respond to the partial catastrophes. Who now speaks of the fires in Australia, or remembers that a year and a half ago a boat could cross the North Pole because the glaciers had all melted? Who speaks now of the floods?”

“I don’t know if it is nature’s revenge, but it is certainly nature’s response,” he added.

The Pope does not know whereof he speaks. He does not know that history has far greater fires in Australia (and that last year's fires were caused by stupid forest management practices). The North Pole has been recorded as ice free many times - this is a factor of winds and currents, not temperature.

I was raised in the Episcopal Church back when they had a moral compass and backbone. Now, they are just a pale shade and the churches are emptying. I was looking at Catholicism and decided against it just because of crap like this. A central authority who does not stay informed really grinds my gears. A willful lack of responsibility to ones constituents.

Decisions decisions...

| No Comments

Wondering whether to go to the farm today as planned or to work outside and take advantage of the glorious day.

Quick surf around the net, out for coffee and decide then...

And that is it for the evening

| No Comments

Slept in a bit this morning but early day tomorrow - heading up to the farm for the rest of the synthesizer and some other stuff.

YouTube and bed.

Dealing with China

| No Comments

An excellent essay by the Instapundit himself - Glen Reynolds at USA Today:

Time to put China on lockdown for its dishonesty amid coronavirus crisis
There are many lessons to be learned from the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. But one is already clear: China needs to be isolated from the civilized world until its behavior improves. We are in the current situation, with deaths and economic devastation worldwide, because China handled this outbreak with its trademark mixture of dishonesty, incompetence and thuggery. Were China a more civilized nation, this outbreak would have been stopped early, and with far less harm, inside and outside of China.

As Marion Smith wrote in these pages on Sunday, China’s first response was to clamp down on reports of the then-new disease that had appeared in Wuhan. The brave doctor, Li Wenliang, who first reported the disease to fellow physicians was silenced by police. Chinese media reports of the disease were censored by the government. So were ordinary citizens reporting on social media.

Beijing tried to kick the can down the road and then they tried to safe face. Bad moves both. They could have come clean and offered to help - that would have won them worldwide acclaim but old communist party habits die hard and they could not admit that their form of government produced a failure. Glen's prescription is hard but just:

The response needs to be harsh enough to teach the Chinese government a lesson, which means pretty harsh, as they appear to still think they can brazen this out. Among other things, the United States — and ideally the world community at large — need to sharply reduce economic relations with China. In particular, no one should be relying on them for medicines, medical equipment and other vital goods. (China’s state news service threatened to plunge America into a “mighty sea” of coronavirus by withholding critical medications.) Chinese scientists should no longer have easy access to Western laboratories or universities. Chinese political leaders should no longer find it easy to travel the world.

Congress should pass legislation stripping the Chinese government of sovereign immunity to lawsuits for COVID-19 damage in the United States. China should be stripped of its leadership roles in international organizations. And finally, Taiwan — a nation that has handled the outbreak better than almost any other nation, but has been excluded from the World Health Organization because its membership would offend the Chinese government — deserves membership in WHO, and full diplomatic recognition from the United States, and the rest of the world.

Taiwan is going to make them fume - they have always considered Taiwan to be a wayward state that needs to return to Mother China. Taiwan is successful economically and China needs the hard currency. Still, China messed up big-time and this retribution is pretty even handed. They need to pay.

Methylene blue is another common critter medicine - very strong anti-fungal. I have a bottle of it in my critter box. I used to get athlete's foot at the farm every other year or so - muddy ground with critters roaming around. An aerosol spritz or two of methylene blue would knock it out. It would also stain the soles of my feet a brilliant navy blue and trash any socks I was wearing but, it works. From the French website: Guérir du Cancer (Cancer cures):

A COHORT OF CANCER PATIENTS WITH NO REPORTED CASES OF SARS-COV-2 INFECTION : THE POSSIBLE PREVENTIVE ROLE OF METHYLENE BLUE
Abstract
We report the case of a cohort of 2500 French patients treated among others with methylene blue for cancer care. During the COVID-19 epidemics none of them developed influenza-like illness. Albeit this lack of infection might be by chance alone, it is possible that methylene blue might have a preventive effect for COVID-19 infection. This is in line with the antiviral activity of Chloroquine, a Methylene blue derivative.

Both Chloroquine and Methylene blue have strong antiviral and anti- inflammatory properties probably linked to the change in intracellular pH and redox state.

Very interesting and I did not know that the two chemicals were related. It was a doctor observing Lupus patients that got people interested in Chloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID - of all the people showing up at the hospital, none of the lupus patients had COVID-19.

Hand sanitizer - Cajun style

| No Comments

20200408-tabasco.jpg

I love the "a second time" line - been there, done that. If it smarts that much, maybe I should rub it on my head...

Done with deliveries

| No Comments

There were three other drivers - 17 deliveries in total. This service is getting popular. Great day for it - learning the island and meeting a bunch of really nice people.

Surf for a bit and then dinner - big salad and some soup. To the farm tomorrow.

Nice baking website

| No Comments

I just took possession of a sourdough starter and am looking for baking projects - found this website: Bread Scheduler

Very clever idea and a nice implementation.

At level two right now

| No Comments

Just sayin'

20200408-bears.jpg

Who are they going to try to swap in at the last minute? Governor Cuomo or Hillary? From NBC News:

Sanders quitting Democratic race for president, Biden to be party's apparent nominee
Bernie Sanders ended his presidential campaign, he announced on Wednesday, leaving former Vice President Joe Biden as the apparent Democratic presidential nominee.

"I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful, and so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign," Sanders told supporters in a livestream, saying he wished he could provide supporters with "better news" but "I think you know the truth."

"We are now some 300 delegates behind Vice President Biden and the path to victory is virtually impossible," he said. Sanders called Biden "a very decent man who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward."

President Trump posted this on his twitter account:

That is going to leave a mark. The Democrat party is tearing itself apart. Could not be happening to a nicer bunch of wannabe tyrants.

Now this is interesting - Ivermectin

| No Comments

I used it on all of my farm animals and use it every six months on my two pups. Good general wormer and anti-parasitic agent. Turns out it is also an anti-viral. From Science Direct:

The FDA-approved Drug Ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro
Abstract

Although several clinical trials are now underway to test possible therapies, the worldwide response to the COVID-19 outbreak has been largely limited to monitoring/containment. We report here that Ivermectin, an FDA-approved anti-parasitic previously shown to have broad-spectrum anti-viral activity in vitro, is an inhibitor of the causative virus (SARS-CoV-2), with a single addition to Vero-hSLAM cells 2 hours post infection with SARS-CoV-2 able to effect ∼5000-fold reduction in viral RNA at 48 h. Ivermectin therefore warrants further investigation for possible benefits in humans.

Ivermectin is an FDA-approved broad spectrum anti-parasitic agent1 that in recent years we, along with other groups, have shown to have anti-viral activity against a broad range of viruses2345 in vitro. Originally identified as an inhibitor of interaction between the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) integrase protein (IN) and the importin (IMP) α/β1 heterodimer responsible for IN nuclear import6, Ivermectin has since been confirmed to inhibit IN nuclear import and HIV-1 replication5. Other actions of ivermectin have been reported7, but ivermectin has been shown to inhibit nuclear import of host (eg.8,9) and viral proteins, including simian virus SV40 large tumour antigen (T-ag) and dengue virus (DENV) non-structural protein 55, 6. Importantly, it has been demonstrated to limit infection by RNA viruses such as DENV 1-44, West Nile Virus10, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV)3 and influenza2, with this broad spectrum activity believed to be due to the reliance by many different RNA viruses on IMPα/β1 during infection11,12. Ivermectin has similarly been shown to be effective against the DNA virus pseudorabies virus (PRV) both in vitro and in vivo, with ivermectin treatment shown to increase survival in PRV-infected mice13. Efficacy was not observed for ivermectin against Zika virus (ZIKV) in mice, but the authors acknowledged that study limitations justified re-evaluation of ivermectin’s anti-ZIKV activity14. Finally, ivermectin was the focus of a phase III clinical trial in Thailand in 2014-2017, against DENV infection, in which a single daily oral dose was observed to be safe and resulted in a significant reduction in serum levels of viral NS1 protein, but no change in viremia or clinical benefit was observed (see below)15.

And, it is off-patent and therefore dirt cheap. I have a couple of ounces sitting in my critter box in the garage. Been around for a long long time and known to be very safe.

A really nice gesture - Costco

| No Comments

Got this in an email today:

Costco is temporarily allowing priority access to our warehouses for Costco members who are healthcare workers and first responders such as police officers, EMTs and firefighters. Healthcare workers and first responders who present a Costco membership card and official identification of their role, will be allowed to move to the front of any line to enter the warehouse.

Great idea - Costco is a well-run company.

And coffee

| No Comments

Back in an hour or two.

Working on computers and the garage today until groceries are ready.

Now, not so much - from the Rolling Stone:

John Prine, One of America’s Greatest Songwriters, Dead at 73
John Prine, who for five decades wrote rich, plain-spoken songs that chronicled the struggles and stories of everyday working people and changed the face of modern American roots music, died Tuesday at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He was 73. The cause was complications related to COVID-19, his family confirmed to Rolling Stone.

Prine, who left behind an extraordinary body of folk-country classics, was hospitalized last month after the sudden onset of COVID-19 symptoms, and was placed in intensive care for 13 days. Prine’s wife and manager, Fiona, announced on March 17th that she had tested positive for the virus after they had returned from a European tour.

Crap - too young. Had the great fortune to see him in Seattle about ten years ago. An incredible writer and performer.

Inflating the COVID-19 numbers

| No Comments

Figured as much considering the CDC's own orders (last item in post). From The Gateway Pundit:

Dr. Birx Confirms Anyone Who Dies WITH Coronavirus, Regardless of Any Underlying Health Condition, is Being Counted as a COVID-19 Death
As TGP reported over the weekend, the amount of Americans who are reported to have died from the Coronavirus is based on a CDC coding system that will “result in COVID-19 being the underlying cause more often than not.”

Dr. Birx confirmed this on Tuesday during a COVID-19 task force briefing.

A new ICD code was established to keep track of Coronavirus deaths.

The U07.1 code will be used for death by Coronavirus infection.

However, there’s another secondary code, U07.2, “for clinical or epidemiological diagnosis of COVID-19 where a laboratory confirmation is inconclusive or not available,” the CDC guidelines read.

“The underlying cause depends upon what and where conditions are reported on the death certificate. However, the rules for coding and selection of the underlying cause of death are expected to result in COVID- 19 being the underlying cause more often than not,” the guidelines read.

So someone has a stroke at home or at work and they are brought in, processed and they die. If they happen to have COVID-19, their death will be coded as being from COVID-19 and not the underlying stroke. Talk about politicizing a pandemic. Not good.

A glorious morning

| No Comments

Got out of the shower and spent 40 minutes on the back deck looking at the ocean and meditating. Turning into a gorgeous day with a week of sunny weather in the forecast.

Working at home today - delivering groceries later this afternoon.

Coffee after a brief surf.

New York City and ventilators

| No Comments

Turns out they had them and de Blasio's administration auctioned them off to get more money. From The Hill:

New York City auctioned off extra ventilators due to cost of maintenance
New York City auctioned off hundreds of city-owned ventilators at least five years ago under Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, according to an investigation by ProPublica.

The city acquired the ventilators in 2006 under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, when a new strain of the flu was circulating in Asia, according to a report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene obtained by the news outlet.

The city began to acquire ventilators and "stockpile a supply of facemasks," which were later auctioned off because the machines broke down and the health department "couldn't afford to maintain them," according to ProPublica.

We can always go whining to the feds and they will bail us out. Earth to NYC - that is NOT the feds job. Each state is supposed to be self-reliant. Read your Constitution - it is actually pretty explicit.

And that is it for the evening

| No Comments

Bunch of email and unloaded the van. Will upgrade the computers tomorrow.

See what the YouTube fairies have brought for me and then, an early bedtime. Woke up at dawn this morning so starting to feel sleepy.

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy - literally. They do nothing except have fancy meetings at exotic resorts and issue carefully nuanced proclamations. And yes, suck up gobs of money from many nations - mostly the United States. Our taxpayer dollars being squandered to keep kleptocrats in a cushy lifestyle. Their core charter - to manage World Health? They repeatedly fail. The Wuhan Coronavirus? Epic Fail.

From Breitbart:

Donald Trump Announces Hold on World Health Organization Funding
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday at the White House that he would put a hold on funding to the World Health Organization amid the coronavirus crisis.

“They were wrong about a lot of things,” Trump said.

The president noted that the World Health Organization receives more from the United States than any other country, and would require accounting for their failure to properly alarm the world about the coronavirus outbreak.

“We want to look into the World Health Organization because they really called it wrong,” Trump said. “They missed the call, they could have called it months earlier, they would have known, they should have known, and they probably did know.”

The president noted that the WHO actually criticized his travel ban from China that he set in late January.

If they are doing good work, they should get funded. They are not doing good work. They would not recognize good work if it hit them in the face. I am sure the United Nations could find some nice property in Wuhan. Mogadishu is supposed to be nice too.

An observation from Mitch Berg at Shot In The Dark:

Blue Fragility
Like all plagues, Covid19 is a problem everywhere, for everyone.

But like most plagues, you need hosts for a plague to spread – and cities are to viruses what a Super Walmart is to humans; vast collections of everything they need to survive.

Plagues don’t care about their victims’ politics – but cities are stuffed full of people for whom politics matters an awful lot. And so most cities are simultaneously a) blue, and b) suffering disproportionally from the Covid plague.

And it’s hard to escape the fact – as, indeed, not a few blue-city dwellers are realizing – that high density and a transit-centered lifestyle make cities susceptible to epidemics.

But you just can’t tell the “evidence based, science-centered” crowd the utterly obvious without expecting a political retort.

Mitch then cites some examples of how the blue people react to this disparity. Clown car. Mitch is the author of a number of laws. The seventh is a classic example:

Berg’s Seventh Law of Liberal Projection
When a Liberal issues a group defamation or assault on conservatives’ ethics, character, humanity or respect for liberty or the truth, they are at best projecting, and at worst drawing attention away from their own misdeeds.

This is the big kahuna of them all – the one that at face value explains all “progressive” behavior; not so much a strategy as a nationwide inability to engage dissent from their narrative with anything but projection and gaslighting.

Proven true so many times it is almost cliché.

Back to work

| No Comments

Full moon tonight and it is a supermoon - biggest that it will appear this year. NASA has a nice writeup.

Van will not unpack itself so heading out to do that - the RAM for my music computer came in today as well so will be doing the final upgrade there. The older RAM is smaller and also slower - I will be moving it over to my ham radio computer. Max it out. It is fun how older machines keep their productivity with simple and cheap modifications - all of these are at least five years old and the ham radio box is more like twelve. All run Windows 10 satisfactorily and all do what I want. I am not playing twitch games with insane frames-per-second so do not need the latest performance.

My media computer is the newest machine - five years old. It was a top-end gaming box - the needs for that coincided perfectly with the needs for a high-end video and still image editing box. The music box is just running Digital Audio Workstation software (Cubase) and playing samples - lots of RAM and fast disk space is much more important than fast graphics or high-end CPU.

Fun stuff.

Governor Cuomo - tax and spend

| No Comments

He might be a decent leader if he was not so addicted to spending other people's money. New York State is suffering a major medical crisis as they were not prepared for the pandemic. Now, Gov. Cuomo wants to make it even more expensive for Hospitals to build new facilities there. From the New York Post:

Cuomo proposes 3 percent tax on new medical facilities
Many health care firms looking to erect new medical facilities face a fat tax hike under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $178-billion budget plan.

The proposal will slap health care providers with a new 3 percent surcharge — on top of the current .55 percent fee — to win Albany’s OK to construct new hospital facilities, nursing homes, diagnostic treatment centers, ambulatory surgery centers and other clinics

Cuomo is trying to close a projected $6 billion shortfall in his spending plan, and the proposal is an effort to generate $70 million in revenue.

Gee - if the Governor is looking to close a spending shortfall, why doesn't he do what the rest of us do and not spend as much. Common sense.

And back home again

| No Comments

Farm was fine, store was doing well too - they are accepting orders via phone and email and people can park and we will run the orders out to their car. Works great and business is doing well.

Quick surf and then unload the van - brought down part of my synthesizer.

Was going to bring the cabinet I built but it is too large to move out of the house up there without serious dissasembly. There are a few things with that cabinet that I do not like so thinking about just building a new one down here and scrapping the one up there. Just plywood and I can use the old plywood for other projects down here.

Quick surf, check email, start some laundry and unload the van.

Gorgeous sunrise

| No Comments

Heading up to the farm for today - bringing down some more of the music room and the last of the kitchen.

Coffee first - no posting today.

President Trump nails a reporter

| No Comments

Classic Trump - from The National Pulse:

President Trump asked a reporter at his April 6th press event if she was working for the government of China, following a hostile question
She replied that her company – Phoenix Media – is “privately” owned.

She’s lying.

The Hong Kong/Cayman Islands based Phoenix Media is actually owned in large part by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and by a former CCP propaganda officer.

As of 2018, Phoenix Satellite Holdings was owned by Liu Changle (37.1% of shares). Changle is a “former PLA propaganda official who is close to senior Chinese government leaders”.

Changle previously worked as a propaganda officer for China National Radio (then known as the Central People’s Broadcasting Station).

A further 20 percent of the company is owned by Extra Step Investments Limited, in turn owned by China Mobile Hong Kong, which itself is owned by the Chinese government-owned China Mobile.

Eight more percent of the company is owned by China Wise Investment Ltd, owned by the Bank of China.

Heh - a little bit of fact checking is a wonderful thing...

And another one sees the light

| No Comments

The Atlantic magazine is starting to publish stories that are quite favorible to President Trump. Shocking as they have been a consistntly liberal house organ for the intellectual wing of the Democratic Party. Maybe they are seeing the reality and not just listening to the old narrative any more. From Nadia Schadlow writing at The Atlantic:

Consider the Possibility That Trump Is Right About China
When a new coronavirus emerged in China and began spreading around the world, including in the United States, President Donald Trump’s many critics in the American foreign-policy establishment were quick to identify him as part of the problem. Trump had campaigned on an “America first” foreign policy, which after his victory was enshrined in the official National Security Strategy that his administration published in 2017. At the time, I served in the administration and orchestrated the writing of that document. In the years since, Trump has been criticized for supposedly overturning the post–World War II order and rejecting the role the United States has long played in the world. Amid a global pandemic, he’s being accused—on this site and elsewhere—of alienating allies, undercutting multinational cooperation, and causing America to fight the coronavirus alone.

And yet even as the current emergency has proved him right in fundamental ways—about China specifically and foreign policy more generally—many respectable people in the United States are letting their disdain for the president blind them to what is really going on in the world. Far from discrediting Trump’s point of view, the COVID-19 crisis reveals what his strategy asserted: that the world is a competitive arena in which great power rivals like China seek advantage, that the state remains the irreplaceable agent of international power and effective action, that international institutions have limited capacity to transform the behavior and preferences of states.

Much more at the site - an excellent analysis. Ms. Schadlow is no flyweight - from the website - she is: "a former deputy national security adviser for strategy, is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute" And a tip of the hat to Don Surber for the link.

Pink moonrise

| No Comments

It will be full tomorrow - the Pink Moon.

Gorgeous - clearish skies tonight with promise of a nice couple of days of sun and warmer weather.

Heading to the farm tomorrow so early bedtime and minimal posting tomorrow.

Leave you with this:

20200406-walmart.jpg

She is a journalist and actually reports the facts. Something that the mainstream media hate with a passion. A two-fer:

The New York Post, April 1st, 2020:

OANN booted from White House press briefings for breaking social distancing rules
A news outlet on Wednesday was booted from White House press briefings after one of its reporters broke social-distancing rules put in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Access to the briefing room was restricted to about 15 reporters daily under strict guidelines issued last month by White House officials and the White House Correspondents Association. Several smaller news organizations can only rotate into the room once every several days.

But a reporter for the conservative One America News Network appears to have ignored the guidelines, standing in the aisle of the briefing room on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The correspondent, Chanel Rion, on Tuesday was asked to leave the room by a WHCA representative because it wasn’t her day to attend, the Los Angeles Times reported.

From the London Daily Mail, April 2nd, 2020:

White House INVITES the briefing crasher: Trump's favorite OAN reporter who was removed for refusing to socially distance is made press secretary's guest - despite journalists warning she put health at risk
The One America News reporter who was expelled from press briefings for refusing to follow social distancing policies has been invited back by White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.

'OANN White Hosue Correspondent Chanel Rion tells me she has been invited by Stephanie Grisham to attend today's coronavirus press briefing, despite being voted out of the rotation by the [White House Correspondents' Association] yesterday for violating social distancing guidelines,' tweeted Jennifer Franco, an anchor on the Trump-loving network.

Heh...

Words to remember

| No Comments

So true - from 90 Miles:

20200406-candle.jpg

Did a bit of digging and it looks like their medical system is about to be overwhelmed in 3... 2... 1...

From the US Embassy in Mexico (today, April 6th):

  • Mexico confirmed 2,143 positive cases of COVID-19 within its borders as of April 5.  Authorities continue to investigate additional suspected cases.  The Mexican Ministry of Health (Spanish) publishes daily updates on the number of cases at the national and state levels.
  • The Mexican government’s COVID-19 planning and preparation is based on three scenarios:
    • Scenario One:  COVID-19 cases are travel related (travel from abroad).
    • Scenario Two:  Community-based transmission of COVID-19 begins and case numbers are in the hundreds.
    • Scenario Three:  COVID-19 transmission becomes widespread; case numbers are in the thousands.
  • The Mexican government assesses Mexico is currently in Scenario Two.

April 3rd the Mexican government instructed all tourist facilities to stop taking new reservations and to reschedule all existing reservations. Looks like they are trying to be proactive.

From Reuters (March 25th):

Mexicans fear looting spree as shops robbed, online messages incite theft
Mexicans on Wednesday feared measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak would lead to widespread looting after criminals robbed stores that were closed and posted calls on social media for people to ransack businesses.

Looks like a bad time to travel anywhere.

The Chinese virus - Mexico

| No Comments

And it is just starting to take hold down there. From John Daniel Davidson writing at The Federalist:

Coronavirus Is About To Explode In Mexico. It’s Time To Secure The Border
Two weeks ago I warned that Mexico was dangerously unprepared for a coronavirus outbreak and that once it hit, it would spread quickly, overwhelming a weak and corrupt Mexican state and a woefully inadequate health-care system. Despite warnings from health officials that an outbreak was inevitable, the Mexican government had done almost nothing to prepare and refused to take the threat seriously.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador repeatedly dismissed the need for caution, urging Mexicans to go shopping and eat out. He even took his own advice, staging large campaign-style rallies, kissing babies, embracing supporters, and saying things like, “You have to hug, nothing is going to happen.”

Well, now something is happening. On Monday, Mexico declared a state of emergency as the number of confirmed cases exceeded 1,000, with at least 28 deaths and counting. The number of actual cases is no doubt far higher (by Tuesday, the total was more than 1,200) but because Mexico has not scaled up testing like other countries have, and appears to have little capacity to do so, we don’t really know the extent of the outbreak. Experts estimate only about 10,000 people have been tested so far nationwide—one of the lowest testing rates in the world.

This is going to be major - the Mexican government is woefully under-prepared. A lot more at the site.

Looks like this worked - from Bloomberg:

A Google Plan to Wipe Out Mosquitoes Appears to Be Working
An experimental program led by Google parent Alphabet Inc. to wipe out disease-causing mosquitoes succeeded in nearly eliminating them from three test sites in California’s Central Valley.

Stamping out illness caused by mosquitoes is one of Alphabet unit Verily’s most ambitious public-health projects. The effort appears to be paying off, according to a paper published in the journal Nature Biotechnology on Monday.

A bit more:

Since 2017, the company has released millions of lab-bred Aedes aegypti male mosquitoes into several Fresno County neighborhoods during mosquito season. The insects are bred in Verily labs to be infected with a common bacterium called Wolbachia. When these male mosquitoes mate with females in the wild, the offspring never hatch.

In results of the trial published on Monday, Verily revealed that throughout the peak of the 2018 mosquito season, from July to October, Wolbachia-infected males successfully suppressed more than 93% of the female mosquito population at field test sites. Only female mosquitoes bite.

Brilliant and it works. Talk about a sucessful bit of debugging.

From Boston, MA station WKRN:

3 million masks ordered by Massachusetts were seized at Port of NY in March
Governor Charlie Baker reached out to the New England Patriots when he found himself in need of assistance to bring protective gear for healthcare workers in his state as they fight the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, the Patriots team plane “AirKraft” brought approximately 1.2 million N95 masks from China to Boston. Massachusetts National Guardsmen met the plane at Boston’s Logan Airport and offloaded the masks onto trucks to be distributed to hospitals in Massachusetts and New York.

According to the Associated Press, Gov. Baker had secured the masks from Chinese manufacturers but had no way of getting them to the U.S. That was when he reached out to Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who allowed the team’s plane to be used to bring the critically needed masks.

The thing to understand is that this was NOT Massachusetts' first order - some more:

Gov. Baker said to the media on Thursday, the state had ordered 3 million masks through BJ’s Wholesale in early March but they were confiscated at the Port in New York, State House News Service reported. The governor did not say which agency or organization confiscated the masks. It is also unclear where the 3 million masks went. 

The Massachusetts governor had ordered masks before but when they arrived at the Port of New York, they were confiscated. It will be interesting to see more information about this. New York City is rotten to the core. deBlasio is not fit to lead - all he cares about is himself and pandering to his base.

When the liberals turn against a liberal, things are really bad. From The Atlantic:

The Mayor Who Can’t Rise to the Occasion
Bill de Blasio has long been spoiling for a fight, just not the one now before him and his city. When he became the 109th mayor of New York, on a colorless winter day in 2014, he promised to lead a struggle against “injustice and inequality.” Although he has had some genuine successes, he has failed to turn the city into a Copenhagen-on-the-Hudson. He hasn’t turned it into Caracas, either. New York is pretty much the same global metropolis it was when he took over.

Aware that his progressive ambitions have been frustrated, de Blasio has complained that legions of enemies—conservatives, capitalists, newspaper headline writers—are arrayed against his vision for the city.

However determined these forces have been to undo him, they are not responsible for what New York magazine called, on March 26, “his worst week as mayor.” Worse than the week in 2014 when two police officers were shot and killed, degrading his relationship with the department. Worse than the many weeks in 2016 of overlapping ethics investigations, which threatened to ensnare the mayor and his top aides.

The enemy, this time around, is very small, in contrast to de Blasio, who is not only tall but somehow enlarged by his own ungainliness (he can perform the impressive feat of filling a room without commanding it). In that enemy’s arsenal is a glycoprotein that protrudes from its surface like the quills of a porcupine. In 1965, researchers decided the glycoproteins made the viral particle they were scrutinizing look like a crown. Resorting to Latin as doctors do, they called it a corona.

And it gets better and better. Wonderful writing.

A tale of two Democrats

| No Comments

Both from Michigan - from Don Surber:

Democrat says Trump saved her life
Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan threatened doctors if they dared use antimalarial drugs to treat COVID-19.

Those drugs just saved Democrat state Representative Karen Whitsett of Detroit.

Last month, Red State reported, "Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs sent a threatening letter to the state’s Doctors and Pharmacists on March 24th. It told them in no uncertain terms not to prescribe or fill any prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. And the medical community is advised to report any ‘unauthorized’ prescribing of it."

And fortunately:

Thankfully, public reaction and the reality that thousands of Michiganders dying forced Whitmer to back down. Now she is begging President Trump (whom she had mocked) for these drugs.

And then, there is this Michigan Democrat:

The Detroit Free Press reported, "A Democratic state representative from Detroit is crediting hydroxychloroquine — and Republican President Donald Trump who touted the drug — for saving her in her battle with the corona virus.

"State Rep. Karen Whitsett, who learned Monday she has tested positive for COVID-19, said she started taking hydroxychloroquine on March 31, prescribed by her doctor, after both she and her husband sought treatment for a range of symptoms on March 18.

"'It was less than two hours' before she started to feel relief, said Whitsett, who had experienced shortness of breath, swollen lymph nodes, and what felt like a sinus infection. She is still experiencing headaches, she said."

The stuff is cheap, has minimal adverse side effects and it just plain works. What's not to love. Time for Gov. Half-Whitmer to start buffing up her resume because, if there is any justice in this universe, she will be out of work after the next election.

From the United States Department of Justice - dated January 28th, 2020

Harvard University Professor and Two Chinese Nationals Charged in Three Separate China Related Cases
The Department of Justice announced today that the Chair of Harvard University’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department and two Chinese nationals have been charged in connection with aiding the People’s Republic of China.  

Dr. Charles Lieber, 60, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, was arrested this morning and charged by criminal complaint with one count of making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement.  Lieber will appear this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts.

Yanqing Ye, 29, a Chinese national, was charged in an indictment today with one count each of visa fraud, making false statements, acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy. Ye is currently in China. 

Zaosong Zheng, 30, a Chinese national, was arrested on Dec. 10, 2019, at Boston’s Logan International Airport and charged by criminal complaint with attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biological research to China.  On Jan. 21, 2020, Zheng was indicted on one count of smuggling goods from the United States and one count of making false, fictitious or fraudulent statements.  He has been detained since Dec. 30, 2019.

Dr. Charles Lieber
According to court documents, since 2008, Dr. Lieber who has served as the Principal Investigator of the Lieber Research Group at Harvard University, which specialized in the area of nanoscience, has received more than $15,000,000 in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense (DOD).  These grants require the disclosure of significant foreign financial conflicts of interest, including financial support from foreign governments or foreign entities. Unbeknownst to Harvard University beginning in 2011, Lieber became a “Strategic Scientist” at Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in China and was a contractual participant in China’s Thousand Talents Plan from in or about 2012 to 2017.  China’s Thousand Talents Plan is one of the most prominent Chinese Talent recruit plans that are designed to attract, recruit, and cultivate high-level scientific talent in furtherance of China’s scientific development, economic prosperity and national security.  These talent programs seek to lure Chinese overseas talent and foreign experts to bring their knowledge and experience to China and reward individuals for stealing proprietary information.  Under the terms of Lieber’s three-year Thousand Talents contract, WUT paid Lieber $50,000 USD per month, living expenses of up to 1,000,000 Chinese Yuan (approximately $158,000 USD at the time) and awarded him more than $1.5 million to establish a research lab at WUT.  In return, Lieber was obligated to work for WUT “not less than nine months a year” by “declaring international cooperation projects, cultivating young teachers and Ph.D. students, organizing international conference[s], applying for patents and publishing articles in the name of” WUT.

Emphasis mine - again, Unbeknownst to Harvard University beginning in 2011, Lieber became a “Strategic Scientist” at Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in China

The other two mokes arrested are also of interest:

Yanqing Ye
According to the indictment, Ye is a Lieutenant of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the armed forces of the People’s Republic of China and member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On her J-1 visa application, Ye falsely identified herself as a “student” and lied about her ongoing military service at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), a top military academy directed by the CCP.

And:

Zaosong Zheng
In August 2018, Zheng entered the United States on a J-1 visa and conducted cancer-cell research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston from Sept. 4, 2018, to Dec. 9, 2019. It is alleged that on Dec. 9, 2019, Zheng stole 21 vials of biological research and attempted to smuggle them out of the United States aboard a flight destined for China. Federal officers at Logan Airport discovered the vials hidden in a sock inside one of Zheng’s bags, and not properly packaged. It is alleged that initially, Zheng lied to officers about the contents of his luggage, but later admitted he had stolen the vials from a lab at Beth Israel. Zheng stated that he intended to bring the vials to China to use them to conduct research in his own laboratory and publish the results under his own name.

Interesting that the media is not covering this 24/7.

Dr. Hanson is a national treasure. His essay today is worth reading:

Corona Meltdowns
As the coronavirus outbreak begins to reach its zenith, it remains unclear whether the measures taken to stem its tide will prove sufficient, insufficient, or an overreaction. What is certain, however, is that a number of individuals and entities have behaved shamefully and demonstrated no capacity for leadership or usefulness in this moment.

Nancy Pelosi: Gone are the mythologies that Nancy Pelosi was a pragmatic liberal voice of reason among the otherwise polarizing American Left, honed after years of paying her dues to the Democratic Party, as the mother of five dutifully ascended the party’s cursus honorum.

It does not matter whether her political and ethical decline was a result of her deep pathological hatred of Donald Trump. Who cares that her paranoia arose over the so-called “Squad” that might align with socialist Bernie Sanders to mesmerize Democrats to march over the cliff into McGovern-like oblivion? All concede that very few octogenarians have the stamina and clarity to put in the 16-hour work-days and transcontinental travel required by a Speaker of the House.

Instead, all that matters is that for a nation in extremis she is now puerile, even unhinged—and increasingly dangerous.

Much much more at the site - good stuff.

Some people...

| No Comments

Talk about non-essential - some headlines:

The second one is especially egregious. Brzezinski is supposed to be a journalist - after all, she is the co-host of an MS/NBC television news program. The issue here is that Chloroquine has been a medicine for 45 years. As with any new medicine, the "money making" happened within the first couple of years of issue. Now? It sells for pennies a dose. A non-issue. For Brzezinski to bring this up as a concern only serves to show her stupidity and vacuousness.

These people do nothing to enrich our lives and the sooner we start ignoring them, the sooner they will go away.

This explains a lot

| No Comments

Found on the web:

20200405-alien.jpg

Shades of this little gadget:

Organic chemistry

| No Comments

I was reading something and this line jumped out at me:

The -78ºC is the temperature (-108° F) at which the reaction is run. Some reactions have to be run at very low temperatures. This is one of them. If you mix this stuff together at room temperature your internal organs would be found in several time zones.

That is a succinct way to put it. Not fun stuff to work with. Majored in Marine Biology in college (Boston University) so have done my share of organic chem stuff.

Great news actually - they know they are being defeated and are raging. From Vox Day:

A ferocity and intensity
This crisis is not primarily one of disease. There is a very good reason why the spiritually sensitive around the world have been reporting an increase in demonic activity worldwide:

“A great heaviness has entered into my priesthood. This time has been the biggest test of my priesthood, and I guess of my life,” said the priest, known for his cheerfulness, work ethic and devotion to Our Lady. “I do think the Evil One is hitting the priests hardest now. His number one tool is his spirit of discouragement. His M.O. is to make it seem like we’re accomplishing nothing as a priest. Why pray? Why sit by the window [for outdoor confessions] when no one comes. Why make another [senseless] video on the need for prayer during COVID-19 when no one watches? It’s like his voice says, ‘You’re worthless now as a priest - you’re detached from your people, and they aren’t praying or paying attention anyway’....

I phoned an exorcist in Washington D.C. I asked if demonic activity had increased since the Eucharist had been held back and many church doors had been locked.

“Exorcists and those gifted individuals with insights into the spiritual realm have seen more intense demonic activity now. There has been a definite uptick,” he said, “Satan’s taken advantage of this crisis to meet his own ends, It seems demons have been given a free hand now.”

I called a layperson active in the deliverance ministry, who wished to remain anonymous.

“The intensity of the suffering has increased. It’s the spirit and voice of condescension that speaks loudly now,” the individual said. “At the same time, the call to prayer is like a tsunami now. I feel like I don’t need to sleep. I just want to pray throughout the night - this seems to be the same experience of the priests I’ve been working with. There is a ferocity and intensity about what they are seeing now in the spiritual realm.”

But there is no need for despair. Is it not conflict that confirms our purpose? The more the face of evil is revealed, the more it underlines the reality, indeed, the absolute necessity, for our faith in Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

It is not those who are devoted to the Good, the Beautiful, and the True who are breaking down and crying on air. It is not those who worship at the Cross who are cracking under the strain. The demons are raging because they, their master, and his human slaves are all being defeated.

Everything has a counterbalance - the deep state has its daemons fueling their depravity. District of Columbia is a cess-pit. The sunlight is starting to shine and we are seeing all sorts of things crawling in the muck. The Chi-Com Flu is only hastening this cleansing.

From the excellent web site Ham Radio Prepper:

Preppers and Ham Radio Operators Not so Crazy in the Age of the Coronavirus
As the world is swept up into 24/7 coronavirus hysteria, people who once mocked preppers and ham radio operators are starting to admit it may not have been the best idea to make fun of these people who now seem like modern-day prophets.

Just a few short months ago, the world ridiculed anyone who dared to prepare for bad times or have a stockpile of food and supplies for their family. Today, those same people they wish they listened – all the while screaming about hoarders and how unfair it is that they can’t find the food they need at the store.

What they still don’t understand is this crisis had nothing to do with preppers; preppers were prepared years ago. 99.9999% of the people standing in four-hour-long lines at Walmart and Costco are not Preppers, and you certainly didn’t see any of them pushing out carts full of toilet paper.

The current hoarding of idiotic things like 10 years’ worth of toilet paper, in large part, is being done by panicked, clueless millennials who once taunted preppers. These same arrogant bastards are now scrambling to figure out what it is they need to survive without being able to run to the nearest Starbucks Drive-Through – which we are seeing reports that in many areas of the country have hour-long drive-through lines for Starbucks coffee. Apparently, these morons have yet to discover the good old fashion coffee pot.

Much more at the site - a very fun rant. Been a prepper for the last 20 years at least and sitting comfortably here. I still go out shopping - I like my fresh veggies and I like to people watch but this shopping is not from necessity, it is an act of pleasure.

The State of New Jersey is issuing a call for COBOL Programmers. From Tom's Hardware:

New Jersey Pleas for COBOL Coders for 50-Year Old Mainframes Amid Coronavirus Crunch
The governor of New Jersey made a seemingly odd call for help last night: The state desperately needs COBOL programmers to revamp the software powering the 50-year old mainframes behind the state's unemployment system. That may seem surprising on the surface because COBOL debuted back in 1960 and mainframes ceded the leadership position to general-purpose x86 servers decades ago. However, these (sometimes) archaic systems still power much of the infrastructure behind governmental agencies, banks, and airlines. 

The need comes as New Jersey struggles to process a staggering 1,600% increase in unemployment claims as the wave of coronavirus-spurred business closures comes crashing to shore. 1980's-era mainframes power new Jersey's unemployment system, so scaling operations up to handle the increased load requires programmers that mostly no longer exist. That presents a unique challenge as the state looks to pay out more than 362,000 unemployment claims filed over the last two weeks, half of which are unpaid, not to mention the continuing onslaught of new applications.

The state will have competition, though; Connecticut is already leading a joint project with three other states to recruit COBOL coders to overhaul its own aging mainframe infrastructure. None of these efforts will find easy success: COBOL is a dead language that hasn't been taught in most universities for decades, and the rare COBOL coders command anywhere from $55 to $85 an hour. As such, New Jersey is looking for volunteers, likely of the retired sort, to help solve its problems.

The idea that these systems are still running on such antique hardware simply boggles the mind. There comes a part where electrical components start to fail with age (here and here for starters) and many of these are simply not manufactured any more and because the failure is age-related, other pieces of NOS (New Old-Stock - items dating from the same period which are still in factory boxes having never been used) will suffer the same problems. At some point, they must migrate the software to a newer platform.

If someone wanted to quietly make a crap-ton of money, they could develop software which would read the COBOL code and issue commented code for the LAMP service stack. Not going to be as name-worthy as the next facebxxk but certain administrators for certain governments would pay whatever it took.

I especially love that they looking for volunteers - yeaaahhhh - like that is going to happen any time soon...

Adventurous - kayaks

| No Comments

Spotted two souls out in kayaks today - temps in the 40's and a bit windy. They are about two miles offshore. Looked with my binocs and they seem dressed well and are not in any seeming distress so not calling for rescue.  Still, keeping an eye out.

Back to work...

God Save The Queen

| No Comments

Betty Windsor knocks it out of the park:

At the end, there is an additional commentary by some talking head - safe to ignore. What the Queen said stands on its own - She needs no 'splainin'

A lot of people are stuck at home. Hmmm. Wonder what's on the tube? From Cincinnati OH station WKRC Local 12:

Shut-in TV viewers push 'Let's Make a Deal' to record rating
Shut-in television viewers tuned in to the game show “Let's Make a Deal” in record numbers last week.

TV programs across the dial recorded superlatives last week with a captive audience of millions of Americans told to stay home because of the coronavirus. Few were as interesting as the newfound fervor for CBS' “Let's Make a Deal,” which recorded its most-watched week since the show was brought back 11 years ago with Wayne Brady as host, the Nielsen company said.

Viewers also gave “The Price is Right,” now hosted by Drew Carey, its biggest audience in four years, Nielsen said.

It was also a terrific week for television uber-producer Dick Wolf, whose Windy City-based trilogy of dramas dominates NBC's lineup. Excluding special crossover episodes, “Chicago Fire” recorded its most popular episode in six years, while “Chicago Med” and “Chicago PD” had their largest audiences in four years, Nielsen said.

Advertisers must be happy - more bang for their buck until the networks raise their rates.

Some common sense in WA State

| No Comments

Great news from Seattle station KOMO:

Court denies Seattle's bid for wealthy household income tax
Washington's Supreme Court has denied Seattle's bid to reinstate an income tax on wealthy households.

The Seattle Times reports in a majority decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday declined to review the city's request to overturn rulings against the tax by a King County Superior Court judge and the state Court of Appeals.

The ruling means Washington and its cities will remain blocked from enacting graduated income taxes, with different rates based on wealth.

Good - some common sense. The WA State constituency made a conscious decision to go with a high sales tax and not have a state income tax. Either/Or. The money-grabbing socialists in Seattle want to throw this decision under the bus and have their cake and eat it too. Court says no. They will just have to live within their means.

They are calling it a tax on "just the wealthy" but that just means that it will not become an income tax for everyone for the next five or six years. They will wait until the complaints die down and people become complacent.

Coffeetime

| No Comments

Running a few errands (storage unit and recycling), pick up the sourdough starter and then at home for the rest of the day.

Tacos for dinner tonight.

The IHME is the group that has been predicting catastrophic sickness and death from the Chinese Flu - sickness and death which have yet to materialize.
I linked to this on April 3rd: The IHME model is garbage - COVID-19

Turns out the IHME is interesting - from Derek Hunter at Town Hall:

Is What We’re Being Told About The Coronavirus Pandemic Wrong?
Predicting the future is a tough racket. If people were any good at it, we’d all be multiple lottery winners. Since we aren’t, that’s a pretty good indication that we have the ability to guess what will happen, but possess no clairvoyance. That brings us to today, when the country and the world are shut down over what is expected to happen with the coronavirus. Like everything else, the predictions aren’t panning out. Were this just $2 wasted on a lottery ticket it wouldn’t matter. But are we hurting millions of people and spending trillions of dollars on nothing more than a hunch based on computer models that are wildly inaccurate?

There’s no question the coronavirus is deadly and dangerous, but is it going to kill hundreds of thousands in the US and millions around the world? We have no idea. All we have are guesses. But if you’re going to destroy the economy and severely restrict people’s lives, you’d better have some damn good information backing up your actions. There are questions about the computer models being used to impose just that.

One prominent model in the shutdown is from the University of Washington, from their Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), funded by Bill and Melinda Gates. How closely does what they predicted track with reality so far? Turns out, not so well.

Much more at the site - there is a larger than usual error in the reporting of data because so many people have not been tested but still, to have your model be off by ten or more times and not issue a correction is absurd. And it is always off in the same direction - overstating the predicted number of hospitalizations and deaths. It never understates.

The article also links to this little bit from the CDC (the last paragraph):

Should “COVID-19” be reported on the death certificate only with a confirmed test?
COVID-19 should be reported on the death certificate for all decedents where the disease caused or is assumed to have caused or contributed to death. Certifiers should include as much detail as possible based on their knowledge of the case, medical records, laboratory testing, etc. If the decedent had other chronic conditions such as COPD or asthma that may have also contributed, these conditions can be reported in Part II. (See attached Guidance for Certifying COVID-19 Deaths)

The emphasis is theirs, not mine. The cause of death will be shown as COVID-19 even if the patient died of caridac arrest or a stroke or cancer or... The other "cause of death" will be listed on Part II of the reporting form - who reads Part II of anything if they are looking to gin up a flashy news story.

This plague is 90% political and 10% medical.

Where is my sunshine?

| 1 Comment

UPDATE

Dammit - the weather forecast called for sunshine. Instead, I wake up to high clouds, overcast and more of the same for the next couple of days.

Fix some breakfast and then head out for coffee in a while. Still waiting for the RAM to upgrade my music computer. Amazon is delaying non-priority items during the pandemic - a very good call and understand completely but I want my RAM dammit.

Woke up grumpy today...

UPDATE: One of my readers asked: 

What's wrong with the coffee you make yourself? Good strong fresh-brewed store brand coffee works fine for us. For even more zing, add some espresso

I do have really good coffee, tea and mate here and do have it often in the late mornings/early afternoons. I like the ritual of going out, I like meeting people and the coffee place is located inside the local grocery store where the mailboxes are too so I can take care of several things in one trip. It does not hurt at all the the library and bank are on a direct midpoint between my home and my coffee. The town dump and my storage units (hmmmm... connection???) are just a mile further down the road. A small island and I love it here.

Time for some video

| No Comments

Heading over to YouTube - nothing on the web caught my eye.

Picking up some sourdough starter tomorrow - been thinking about getting a batch going and someone offered some online - happy coincidence 😁

Been trying Melatonin to get to sleep - works great but two tabs are too much - slept in really late this morning and groggy when waking up.

Also, blocking blue light works really well too - I was using a free (for personal use) app called f.lux but noticed that Windows now has a "night light" mode which does essentially the same thing - you can dial back the level of blue with a given start and stop time.

Schadenfreude - from USA Today:

Fact check: Did the Obama administration deplete the federal stockpile of N95 masks?
As the novel coronavirus pandemic strains  health care systems, questions around the U.S. government's response have circulated in the media and online.

On March 26, The Daily Wire published an article centering on the Obama administration’s role in using and allegedly failing to replenish the federal stockpile of N95 masks.

“The Obama administration significantly depleted the federal stockpile of N95 respirator masks to deal with the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009 and never rebuilt the stockpile despite calls to do so,” the piece begins.

And their verdict:

Our rating: True
We rate this claim TRUE because it is supported by our research. There is no indication that the Obama administration took significant steps to replenish the supply of N95 masks in the Strategic National Stockpile after it was depleted from repeated crises. Calls for action came from experts at the time concerned for the country’s ability to respond to future serious pandemics. Such recommendations were, for whatever reason, not heeded.

Our fact-check sources:

Yep - the lightbringer really screwed the pooch on this and many other issues. Deal with it - fine. Replenish and reset?
Oh look - a squirrel. The one thing he did really well? Kick the can down the road.

Did I ever mention just how much I like tacos? The new tortillas were incredible. I have had homemade fresh tortillas before and there is no comparison. Store-bought is a pale shade. Got some left out for tomorrow and the rest portioned out and in the freezer. Yumm!!!

I am active on a local chapter of nextdoor.com - a geographic social media based out of San Francisco. Tonight, I wrote about the Chinese Flu and when I posted, I got this pop-up:

202004-china.jpg

I kept what I had written - see how long it stays online...

Five changes

| No Comments

An interesting (and hopeful) list from Chris Lynch:

Top 5 - Changes We'll See After the Wuhan Virus
Here are the Top 5 things I think will change as a result of the Wuhan Virus.

    1. There will be a new Cold War but this time with China as the enemy. The trade war with China will force both a decoupling between the two nations but also a choosing of sides with other nations.
    2. Social distancing and wearing masks (especially during flu season) will become the norm. No more handshakes or hi-fives. They will be replaced with the "nod of acknowledgement."
    3. Globalism and any cause that relies on political correctness shaming will lose vast support. People have had a glimpse of what's behind the curtain and they didn't like what they saw. Little to no patience going forward for people who believe they have their own "truths" that need to be listened to. People who think they can "shame" others because their beliefs differ are going to become the new pariahs as it is made clear that these folks really have nothing positive to add to society.
    4. The role of sports in society will be greatly lessened. We've learned that no March Madness, no Opening Day, or NBA, or NHL isn't the end of the world. Interest in watching games will be less and interest in attending games will nosedive as people begin to avoid crowds. Same will be true of anything that relies on crowds like concerts, movies, festivals, etc.
    5. People will start moving out of the cities in droves. Part of the new "avoiding crowds" for health purposes. Subways, buses and other forms of public transportation will be viewed as breeding grounds for the plague. Life is short and not worth spending in crowded environments will be the siren song of people who refuse to be "fools for the city" as Foghat once put it.

I agree. I do not know how long these changes will last - certainly #4 will be short-lived as too many people have too much money wrapped up in getting the bread and circuses staged for the proles. The hype machine is probably already lined up and ready for the fall season.

I love #3 and wish it was a permanent change but again, there are too many people in the shadows with too much money to let their grievance factories go dormant. For every person like Greta Thunberg or David Hogg, there is an entire industry behind them propping them up and using them to support some dark agenda.

I also love #5 but for a selfish and commercial reason. I am selling my old farm and the grocery store I have owned for the last 14 years. This will help rural real-estate prices a lot.

Interesting times to say the least... We had a nice sense of community and strong social ties after 9/11 - it lasted for a solid six months. See what happens this time around.

The silver lining in all of this

| No Comments

From Vanderleun:

“This crisis will be resolved by truckers running the long haul on deserted highways, doctors and nurses working double shifts in scavenged PPE, grocery store and gas station employees keeping services and food available, utility and telecom workers keeping a strained system functioning, grad students and other researchers poring over data and running countless tests in hopes of giving us an advantage, and ordinary people trying to follow often-contradictory guidance and do the right thing while facing a locked-down economy. At the top, we have leaders whose every move is scrutinized and fraught with potential peril — there might not be any good choices, just bad and not so bad.

“There is no room for our useless media and most of the commentariat. Activists can either pitch in or get lost. We no longer have time for indulging the delusion that they matter.”

The long form can be found here: Crisis, Real and Imagined

And to work

| No Comments

Done with lunch and lollygagging around. Time to get something done. Anything. Anything? Bueller?

Looks like CNN is paying the price for being such a narrative-driven media outlet (NOTE: I am not calling them a news source) - from Breitbart:

CNN Fails to Place One Show in Top 20 During Q1 of 2020
Far-left CNN failed to place even one show in the top 20 during the first quarter of this year.

Yes, you read that correctly… Despite the impeachment of a president and the coronavirus pandemic, the cable channel America used to automatically turn to in times of crisis could not do any better than number 22.

Fox News placed eight shows in the top ten and 14 in the top 20. The openly left-wing MSNBC filled those other slots.

CNNLOL finally arrives way behind its cable news competitors, at number 22, with Jake Tapper’s basement-rated The Lead, which still only managed to attract 1.387 million viewers. And Tapper probably only did that well because some of President Trump’s popular daily briefings aired during his otherwise anemic timeslot.

Sean Hannity topped everyone during the quarter with an average of 4.22 million viewers, which more than triples CNN’s top show.

When the people speak, smart businesses listen. CNN is the house organ for the Democrat Party and it is not going very well for them.

Back home again

| No Comments

Got what I needed. Also, swung by this place: Tortilleria Mi Jacalito and picked up a bag of fresh corn tortillias. It was my first time there and OMG! They have the machinery to grind their own corn and manufacture the tortillias right there - you watch as they are being made. Talk about fresh.

There is a huge difference in flavor between fresh and store-bought. Huge. Very much looking forward to tacos for dinner tonight.

Picking up some sourdough starter tomorrow so looking forward to playing with that. Was into baking a number of years ago and it will be fun to get back into it again.

Lunch, surf and work here. Like I said, tacos for dinner tonight. Turned into a really nice day with a bunch more forecast for this week.

And out of here - points North

| No Comments

Coffee first of course - heading out to pick up some wood for some shelves.

Great tumblr site of cartoons - spot on: Business Town

From the site:

What Value-Creating Winners Do All Day
An ongoing project attempting to explain our highly intangible, deeply disruptive, data-driven, venture-backed, gluten-free economic meritocracy to the uninitiated. With apologies to Richard Scarry.

The drawings are visually a bit like Richard Scarry's work but totally different subject and totally different audience. Here are three of them:

20200304-bt01.jpg

20200304-bt02.jpg

20200304-bt03.jpg

Good stuff...

He has major investments in the Chinese Biotech company - from Gateway Pundit:

REVEALED: Soros Invested Heavily in Chinese Biotech Research Company with Facility in Wuhan that Researches Respiratory Models and Infectious Disease
Documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2011 show Soros Fund Management LLC invested heavily into WUXI Pharmatech Caymen, Inc.

WuXi AppTec, as it is now called, has a facility in Wuhan, China. The company provides validated research including in vitro (HTS, SAR screening support) and in vivo disease models in cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic and infectious diseases.

The document was filed with the US government in August 2012.

The guy has been a sociopath since his teenage years when he (a Hungarian Jew) was masquerading as a Christian and working with the Nazis turning in his friends and neighbors.

Of course, the Gateway Pundit has links to corroborating documentation as well as screen-caps of the relevant papers. No fake news here - conservatives do not do fake news.

And it starts in Los Angeles

| No Comments

From the Los Angeles Times:

Coronavirus spreads in Los Angeles' homeless community
There are nine confirmed cases of coronavirus among Los Angeles’ homeless population, said Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, at her Thursday media briefing.

This is up from five the day before and comes as the city and county attempt to more aggressively test in places like skid row. Ferrer said it was challenging to know exactly where in the county these homeless people had been, but so far there had been no clustering of cases.

She said there had been cases at two shelters but didn’t reveal their names or locations.

It is going to rip through those communities like a hot knife through butter and then those who take care of them will bring it home and share it with families and friends. Being a liberal stronghold, they are woefully unprepared for a pandemic - got to spend their money on high-speed trains and solar panels. Glad I do not live there.

Just wonderful - the Chinese flu

| No Comments

Back for round two - from the South China Morning Post:

Chinese county goes into coronavirus lockdown as country tries to get back to work amid fear of second wave
Henan province in central China has taken the drastic measure of putting a mid-sized county in total lockdown as authorities try to fend off a second coronavirus wave in the midst of a push to revive the economy.

Curfew-like measures came into effect on Tuesday in Jia county, near the city of Pingdingshan, with the area’s roughly 600,000 residents told to stay home, according to a notice on the country’s official microblog account.

Special approval was required for all movement outside the home, it said.

After months of restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus, China has reported a decline in domestic cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. On Wednesday, the National Health Commission reported 36 new infections – all but one imported cases.

Chinese leaders are eager to restart the economy but have stressed that it must be balanced with containment measures.

They really owe the world a lot for this - they tried to hide it for three months and then started lying when its origin was found out.

More Boeing troubles - the 787

| No Comments

Glad they caught it - unreal. Poor software testing. From The Register:

Boeing 787s must be turned off and on every 51 days to prevent 'misleading data' being shown to pilots
The US Federal Aviation Administration has ordered Boeing 787 operators to switch their aircraft off and on every 51 days to prevent what it called "several potentially catastrophic failure scenarios" – including the crashing of onboard network switches.

The airworthiness directive, due to be enforced from later this month, orders airlines to power-cycle their B787s before the aircraft reaches the specified days of continuous power-on operation.

The power cycling is needed to prevent stale data from populating the aircraft's systems, a problem that has occurred on different 787 systems in the past.

According to the directive itself, if the aircraft is powered on for more than 51 days this can lead to "display of misleading data" to the pilots, with that data including airspeed, attitude, altitude and engine operating indications. On top of all that, the stall warning horn and overspeed horn also stop working.

Seriously? WTF - how hard would it be to do an accelerated test of several years duration for crap just like this? Common proceedure for mission-critical software.

Soup for dinner

| No Comments

Finishing off the soup I started yesterday - salad first and some nice crusty bread with lots of butter. Might even have a beer or three... Party animal.

Trip North tomorrow to get some wood for a project (shelving to fit a very non-standard space).

Challenge: accepted

| No Comments

Heh:

20200403-challenge.jpg

Wonderful news

| No Comments

From the Washington Examiner:

John Durham investigation intensifies focus on John Brennan
U.S. Attorney John Durham’s review of the Russia investigation is putting increased scrutiny on former CIA Director John Brennan, searching for any undue influence he may have had during 2017’s intelligence community assessment of Russian interference.

Durham, selected by Attorney General William Barr last year to lead this inquiry, drove to Washington, D.C., in March to ensure the investigation stayed on track during the coronavirus outbreak. The top Connecticut federal prosecutor is looking into highly sensitive issues, including whether Brennan took politicized actions to pressure the rest of the intelligence community to match his conclusions about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motivations, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal.

Officials said Durham has been interviewing CIA officials this year, zeroing in on those at the National Intelligence Council, a center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence which oversaw the collaboration between the CIA, FBI, and National Security Agency in putting together the 2017 assessment, and looking at how the work product was finalized.

Heh - the noose is getting tighter and tighter. Looking forward to the next 200 days until the election.

And back to work

| No Comments

Working upstairs for a while - cleaning and organizing a storage closet.

If I had a 3D printer

| No Comments

Probably get one sometime but the technology is still improving too quickly to commit.

Great little project though - if I saw a set for sale at a local fun show for $5, I would get a couple:

20200403-sight.jpg

The IHME model is garbage - COVID-19

| No Comments

Garbage in, garbage out. From Sean Davis' twitter account: (IHME = Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation)

Go and read through his twitter account - he tweets the numbers for each state and every single one of them is much lower than the forecast IHME model prediction for today. Some of them are two or three times lower. Some of them are more than ten times lower. The IHME model is garbage but we are still relying on it to set policy.

There is hope from The White House - from PJ Media:

White House Officials Privately Questioning Virus Death Toll Numbers
Some officials in the Trump White House are questioning the death toll numbers publicized by the coronavirus task force projecting 100,000 to 240,000 dead Americans.

In fact, one of the researchers whose data was used by the White House to project the death toll is also wondering how the coronavirus task force arrived at its conclusions.

The Hill:

According to the Post, several White House staffers have doubted the accuracy of the figures. One source said  Anthony Fauci, an immunologist who is coordinating the coronavirus task force, told others there were too many factors at play to come up with an accurate estimate.

“I’ve looked at all the models. I’ve spent a lot of time on the models. They don’t tell you anything. You can’t really rely upon models,” he said to members of the task force, according to the Post.

Except when it comes to global warming, then the models are proof enough to suck $30 trillion out of the economy in the next 20 years.

So true - the models are only as accurate as the people who make them. You can tweak a model to show anything you want. See the last 40 years of "climate change" for a good example.

A perfect metaphor

| No Comments

From Ace by way of Kim DuToit:

Imagine a company with an old Pentium III computer with 16MB RAM out in the warehouse running Windows XP because it has some application that can’t be upgraded. Internet Explorer has 19 browser tabs open, 17 of which are locked up, 8 search bars are installed, and there’s music coming from somewhere. Response time is nearly at a standstill and adware pop-ups are randomly spitting our WTF crap.

And that’s Joe Biden. The man the Dems want to be president.

Best analogy I have run into so far. Spot on.

What really scares me is that there are people out there in society who would vote for him.

Breaking for lunch - busy day

| No Comments

Spending it doing nothing but a lot is getting done.

Quick surf and then back to work. Have a couple grocery deliveries later this afternoon. Heading up North either this evening or tomorrow (Saturday) to get some wood for a project.

And out for coffee

| No Comments

Doing some grocery delivery runs today (M/W/F) but that is it for my excitement. Still waiting for the RAM for my music computer.

Rain this morning but supposed to be some nice weather for the next couple of days.

So true - FDR and the press

| No Comments

The media these days... What if FDR had the same problems:

20200403-FDR.jpg

So true - allergy season

| No Comments

What with everything being a symptom of the Kung Flu. I have grass and tree pollen allergies - fortunately, Costco's house brand of OTC medicine works great but still:

20200402-allergy.jpg

Tip of the hat to Knuckledraggin My Life Away

Things get weird in Venezuela

| No Comments

From The Jerusalem Post:

Venezuelan warship shoots, rams into German cruise vessel before sinking
A Venezuelan navy ship fired shots at a German-owned cruise ship on March 30 and rammed into the passenger vessel, leading to the sinking of the warship in the Caribbean.

The Iranian regime-allied Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused the captain of the RCGS RESOLUTE cruise ship of “terrorism and piracy" and sought to force the ship into a new direction on the high seas. The cruise ship, which had no passengers on board and was flying under a Portuguese flag, has a reinforced hull that enables it to sail through ice water.

Columbia Cruise Services, the Hamburg-based company that owns the RCGS RESOLUTE, issued a statement on Wednesday: “In the early morning hours of the 30th of March 2020 (local time), the cruise vessel RCGS RESOLUTE has been subject to an act of aggression by the Venezuelan Navy in international waters, around 13.3 nautical miles from Isla de Tortuga with 32 crew member and no passengers on board.”

The ship was idling with one engine shut down for routine maintenance. What the Venezuelans did not know is that this was a tourist ship that had been purpose-built for cruising through the polar ice. It's hull was especially reinforced:

According to the statement, “While the Master was in contact with the head office, gun shots were fired and, shortly thereafter, the navy vessel approached the starboard side at speed with an angle of 135° and purposely collided with the RCGS RESOLUTE. The navy vessel continued to ram the starboard bow in an apparent attempt to turn the ship’s head towards Venezuelan territorial waters.”

The cruise company said the RCGS RESOLUTE sustained minor damages, not affecting vessel’s seaworthiness, it occurs that the navy vessel suffered severe damages while making contact with the ice-strengthened bulbous bow of the ice-class expedition cruise vessel RCGS RESOLUTE and started to take water.”

Heh - war ships are not cheap and Venezuela has no hard currency and no line of credit to buy another. Sucks to be them. The Captian is probably dead by now. Execution if not suicide.

He is on fire today - this video from Breitbart:

The next 200 days until election are going to be the most fun this nation has had since the 1976 bicentennial celebration (was living on Boston at the time and those were some incredible parties).

President Trump wrote a letter to Senator Schumer today. I would love to be in Sen. Schumer's presence when he reads it. From The White House.

The whole things is a wonderful excoriation but this is especially delicious:

If you spent less time on your ridiculous impeachment hoax, which went haplessly on forever and ended up going nowhere (except increasing my poll numbers), and instead focused on helping the people of New York, then New York would not have been so completely unprepared for the “invisible enemy.” No wonder AOC and others are thinking about running against you in the primary. If they did, they would likely win.

Fortunately, we have been working with your state and city governments, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill DeBlasio, to get the job done. You have been missing in action, except when it comes to the “press.” While you have stated that you don’t like Andrew Cuomo, you ought to start working alongside him for the good of all New Yorkers.

I’ve known you for many years, but I never knew how bad a Senator you are for the state of New York, until I became President.

Now that will leave a mark - could not be happening to a nicer guy. All of a sudden, the deep state is realizing that they are actually not that smart and a bunch of adults are starting to look at their work more closely.

Dinner out again

| No Comments

Was doing some soup for dinner but it's now on hold - going out for Thai food tonight. Sounds yummy.

Much as I do not like saying it, they came up with the perfect solution. From America's Newspaper of Record:

New York To Raise Taxes On Coronavirus Causing It To Flee State
New York state has announced a new plan to raise taxes on the novel coronavirus. The 15% income tax on all COVID-19 viruses, coupled with an 8% luxury disease tax, is expected to generate significant revenue and stop the virus in its tracks.

The plan is designed to cause the virus to flee the state to a lower-tax, more virus-friendly area.

"We thought about all the different ways to solve problems that we know of, and we just returned to the tried-and-true method: taxing something until it runs away," said Governor Andrew Cuomo. "This new legislation will cause the virus to run away and go to those dumb, backward Southern states not smart enough to have a special coronavirus tax."

"This oughtta do it."

Brilliant - WA State should have thought of it earlier.

A joke - Nancy Pelosi

| No Comments

Swiped in full from Grouchy Old Cripple:

Last Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C., an aide to Nancy Pelosi visited the Bishop of the Catholic Cathedral. He told the Cardinal that Nancy Pelosi would be attending Sunday’s Mass and asked if the Cardinal would kindly point out Pelosi to the congregation and say a few words that would include calling her a saint.

The Cardinal replied, “No. I don’t really like the woman, and there are issues of conflict with the Catholic Church over most of Pelosi’s views.”

Pelosi’s aide said, “Look, I’ll write a check here and now for a donation of $100,000 if you’ll just tell the congregation you see Pelosi as a saint.”

The Cardinal thought about it and said, “Well, the Church can use the money, so I’ll work your request into tomorrow’s sermon.”

As Pelosi’s aide promised, Nancy appeared for the Sunday worship and seated herself prominently at the forward left side of the center aisle. As promised, at the start of his sermon, the Cardinal pointed out that Ms. Pelosi was present.

The Cardinal went on to explain to the congregation, “While Ms. Pelosi’s presence is probably an honor to some, the woman is not numbered among my personal favorite personages. Some of her most egregious views are contrary to tenets of the Church, and she tends to flip-flop on many other issues. Nancy Pelosi is a petty, self-absorbed hypocrite, a drunken thumb-sucker, and a nit-wit. Nancy Pelosi is also a serial liar, a cheat, and a thief. I must say, Nancy Pelosi is the worst example of a Catholic I have ever personally witnessed. She married for money and is using her wealth to lie to the American people. She also has a reputation for evading her Representative obligations both in Washington and in California. Just look at the streets in her district! Feces everywhere. The woman is simply not to be trusted.”

The Cardinal concluded. “But, when compared with Hillary Clinton, Ms. Pelosi is a saint.”

So true. And I am saddened by the announcement of the Cardinal's upcoming suicide - despondent so he shot himself three times in the back of the head.

And back to work

| No Comments

Been feeling really lazy this afternoon. Getting some stuff done but...

From Cliff Mass:

It's Bizarre: March was Colder than January In Seattle
Everything seems topsy turvy and unnatural these days, and there is a meteorological oddity that must be added to the list:

March was cold than January in Seattle this year.

I knew March was a cool one, but it was not until Dr. Joseph Zagrodnik, a talented atmospheric scientist working at WSU's AgWeatherNet organization, pointed in out to me, did I realize how unusual the past month had been.

According to Dr. Zagrodnik, the average temp in March at Sea-Tac Airport was 44.8 degrees F compared to 45.1 F in January.

How unusual is this?  Rare, but not unprecedented.  March has been cooler than January 8 times in the 126 years we have temperature records in Seattle, with the last time it occurred in 2006.

To appreciate this oddity visually, the graph below shows the numbers of year the March minus January temperatures fell in various bins.  On average, March is about 5F warmer than January, but in some extreme years March has been as much as 17F warmer.  That would get folks attention. Ten years were close to zero (within .5F of zero) and only a handful (3) were .5 to 1.5F cooler in March.

Not just cooler -- substantially so. Our sun is going through a quiet period and we need to prepare for the colder weather.

True:

| No Comments

20200402-essential.jpg

Do not miss any of the first group at all.

Heh - it is not IF, it is WHEN

| No Comments

Preparedness groups around the world are going to see a major spike in membership - and this is just a wee small taste of what could happen. From the New York Post:

Trump: ‘Complainers’ should have stocked up on supplies before coronavirus crisis
President Trump said Thursday that “complainers” seeking greater amounts of coronavirus medical supplies “should have stocked up” before the crisis.

As cases surge, Trump’s administration deployed supplies from a federal strategic stockpile, used a wartime law to order companies to make masks and ventilators, and is taking donations from abroad.

On Twitter, Trump defended his performance with an attack on unnamed critics.

“Massive amounts of medical supplies, even hospitals and medical centers, are being delivered directly to states and hospitals by the Federal Government,” Trump wrote. “Some have insatiable appetites & are never satisfied (politics?). Remember, we are a backup for them.”

Preparedness is not difficult or expensive - it takes forethought and some research. I go out shopping regularly because I like to people watch, not becuase I am running out of stuff to eat. I am good for three months in that department.

Breaking for lunch

| No Comments

No RAM for me today   :(     Move on to something else.

Ran a few errands earlier - making some soup for dinner tonight. Picked up some more tea - a great little store in a nearby town.

Coffee time

| No Comments

Was thinking of doing a run to the farm today but have enough stuff here to keep me busy.

Been doing a second upgrade to the music computer - installed a solid state disk drive a couple weeks ago and that gave a huge boost in performance. Now maxing it out from 8gb to 32gb of RAM. I sometimes work with samples and being able to keep them in RAM makes the response a lot more snappy. The memory shipped a few days ago but Amazon has been a bit sluggish recently - hope they are in today.

We have had 20+ years of kicking the can down the road when it comes to the tide of drugs flooding into this Nation. President Trump is stopping it here and is stopping it now.

I posted these two stories yesterday: here and here - today brings us this news from MSN/The Miami Herald:

US will increase military presence in the Caribbean to fight drug trafficking funding Maduro
The U.S. is expanding its military presence in the Caribbean to fight drug cartels wanting to take advantage of the coronavirus crisis and to deny funds going to the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela, the Trump administration announced late Wednesday.

“Today the U.S. is launching an enhanced counternarcotics operation in the Western Hemisphere,” President Donald Trump said in the daily news briefing at the White House. “We are deploying additional Navy destroyers, combat ships, aircraft and helicopters, Coast Guards cutters and Air Force surveillance aircraft, doubling our capabilities in the region.”

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said the additional military forces were sent to the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The U.S. Southern Command, based in Doral, Fla., leads the operation, which officially started Wednesday, in partnership with 22 partner countries.

And this has been a problem for some time - from CNN, April 17, 2019:

Corruption in Venezuela has created a cocaine superhighway to the US
Cocaine trafficking from Venezuela to the United States is soaring, even as the country collapses. And US and other regional officials say it's Venezuela's own military and political elite who are facilitating the passage of drugs in and out of the country on hundreds of tiny, unmarked planes.

Maduro is a thug. He is bad for the people of Venezuela and that Nation will prosper when he and his people are ousted and a regular government is voted in. Venezuela used to export food. They used to be the wealthiest nation in South America. They used to be the cultural star. They have the world's largest known petroleum reserves and they can not feed their own people - they are that corrupt.

Glad to see someone taking care of this now - sooner rather than later.

Great move - Texas Governor

| No Comments

From The Daily Signal:

Texas Governor Deems Religious Services Essential
As authorities arrest pastors for holding Sunday services in defiance of social distancing orders, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that religious services are to be considered essential in his state.

Abbott issued an executive order relating to statewide continuity of essential services and activities during the coronavirus pandemic.

The order mandated that all Texans will minimize social gatherings and in-person contact with people who are not in the same household, and, among other statutes, clarified that religious services conducted in churches, congregations, and houses of worship are to be considered essential services.

“‘Essential services’ shall consist of everything listed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in its Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce, Version 2.0, plus religious services conducted in churches, congregations, and houses of worship,” the order stated. “Other essential services may be added to this list with the approval of the Texas Division of Emergency Management.”

Good call. There is a reason so many people are leaving California and moving to Texas. No reason that we cannot assemble intelligently - wear a mask if you are sneezing, don't sit so close to each other and no hugging if you are not already living together. Stuff like that. Simple.

Convergence zone

| No Comments

This part of the Pacific Northwest has really interesting weather. Sitting here looking at a gorgeous colorful sunrise but I look to the North at Whidbey Island and they are getting hammered with rain. Small craft warning for two days with possible snow flurries for tomorrow.

At the bottom of Pandora's Box

| No Comments

The myth of Pandora's Box is part of the Greek creation myth and has Pandora as the first woman on Earth, opening a box (actually a large jar) given to her by Prometheus' brother Epimetheus. Inside the jar were all the evils we now know today - death, strife, sickness, toil. Remaining in the bottom was Hope. Quite the story.

A parallel today with the COVID-19 virus by Alan Lightman writing at the The Atlantic:

The Virus Is a Reminder of Something Lost Long Ago
Around the year 1600, the weather in much of Europe substantially cooled, in the latter phase of what has been called the Little Ice Age. In all, it lasted 300 years. Winters were brutally cold and summers were damp and chilly, greatly curtailing the growing season. Crops failed. People starved. But the change in weather forced English, French, and Dutch fishermen to build improved boats, capable of following fish farther to the west and surviving long trips through the rough seas. Undoubtedly, some of that new boat-building craft led to the ships of today.

Innovation often arises in periods of adversity. In recent weeks, we have seen such welcome invention germinating in the horrendous crisis of the coronavirus. Consider, for example, the many new platforms for online teaching, or the use of cheap Bluetooth smart thermometers able to transmit a person’s fever and geolocation to a distant database, or members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra performing together and apart from 29 different locations using their smartphones.

Alan talks about the accelerating rate of information transfer:

As a result, we have created a frenzied lifestyle in which not a minute is to be wasted. The precious 24 hours of each day are carved up, dissected, and reduced to 10-minute units of efficiency. We become agitated and angry in the waiting room of a doctor’s office if we’ve been standing by for 10 minutes or more. We grow impatient if our laser printers don’t spit out at least five pages a minute. We cannot sit quietly in a chair for 10 minutes. And we must be connected to the grid at all times. We take our smartphones and laptops with us on vacation. We go through our email at restaurants, or our online bank accounts while walking in the park. We have become slaves to our “urgent” appointments and to-do lists and addiction to nonstop stimulation by the external world. A momentous but little discussed study by the University of Hertfordshire in collaboration with the British Council found that the walking speed of pedestrians in 34 cities around the world increased by 10 percent just in the 10-year period from 1995 to 2005. And all of this has happened invisibly. Little by little, the noise and speed of the world have increased, so that we can hardly remember an era of slowness and quiet, when we could let our minds wander and think about what they wanted to think about, when we had time to consider where we were going and what we believed in.

And then the virus strikes, we are in enforced isolation and things slow down. His thesis:

What might be regained with a less hurried life? First, as many people have noted and as I discussed in my book In Praise of Wasting Time, there is simply the needed replenishment of mind that comes from doing nothing in particular, from taking long mental walks without destination, from finding a few moments of quiet away from the noise of the world. The mind needs to rest. The mind needs periods of calm. Such a need has been recognized for thousands of years. It was described as early as 1500 B.C., in the meditation traditions of Hinduism. Later in Buddhism. An ancient passage from the Buddhist Dhammapada reads: “When a monk has gone into an empty place and has calmed his mind, [he] experiences a delight that transcends that of [other] men.”

With some degree of freedom from our time-driven lives also comes increased creativity. Psychologists have long known that creativity thrives on unstructured time, on play, on nondirected “divergent thinking,” on unpurposed ramblings through the mansions of life. Gustav Mahler routinely took three- or four-hour-long walks after lunch, stopping to jot down ideas in his notebook. Carl Jung did his most creative thinking and writing when he took time off from his frenzied practice in Zurich to go to his country house in Bollingen, Switzerland. In the middle of a writing project, Gertrude Stein would wander about the countryside looking at cows. We and our children need more time to play. In a 2007 clinical report for the American Academy of Pediatrics, the physician Kenneth R. Ginsburg wrote that “play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength.” Yet “many [children] are being raised in an increasingly hurried and pressured style that may limit the protective benefits they would gain from child-driven play.” With the forced slowing of life granted by the coronavirus, we are now seeing an explosion of creative ideas and innovations in many parts of the world. In Italy, quarantined citizens are singing from balconies. Writers have created new blogs. Parents have developed new art projects for their children.

But there is something more to be regained, something more subtle, more delicate, almost impossible even to name. That is the restoration of our inner selves. By inner self, I mean that part of me that imagines, that dreams, that explores, that is constantly questioning who I am and what is important to me. My inner self is my true freedom. My inner self roots me to me, and to the ground beneath me. The sunlight and soil that nourish my inner self are solitude and personal reflection. When I listen to my inner self, I hear the breathing of my spirit. Those breaths are so tiny and delicate, I need stillness to hear them, I need slowness to hear them. I need vast silent spaces in my mind. I need privacy. Without the breathing and the voice of my inner self, I am a prisoner of the frenzied world around me. I am a prisoner of my job, my money, the clothes in my closet. What am I? I need slowness and quiet to ponder that question.

Much more at the site - a long and wonderful read. An inner quiet is something to be treasured. We live too fast - things speed by without our getting a chance to fully appreciate them. This is something that after 60+ years of reaching for the brass ring, I am finally beginning to understand and am feeling a lot better for it. When the library reopens, I will be checking his books out. Good stuff...

Good dog Ryker

| No Comments

Service dog training:

He actually did quite well in his tests - folded the wheelchair for transport, the tennis ball on the walker was a tripping hazard, he washed the floor with the water bottle and maybe they needed to clean behind the fridge? What is their question?

Just wow - JS Bach

| No Comments

Been a huge Bach fan all my life - his music is simply sublime. A genius.

Here is Sheila's YouTube channel
Tip of the hat to Maggie's

Case in point - drug interdiction

| No Comments

Just one example from President Trump's war on drugs (a war which might actually be fought and which actually might be won). From the United States Drug Enforcement Administration:

San Diego Tunnel Task Force uncovers sophisticated cross-border drug tunnel under the U.S./Mexico border
Federal agents on the San Diego Tunnel Task Force uncovered a sophisticated drug smuggling tunnel on Thursday, March 19, which extends under the United States-Mexico border to a warehouse in a commercial complex in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego. The discovery of the tunnel resulted from an ongoing investigation by members on the San Diego Tunnel Task Force, which include Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Attorney’s Office.

Agents on the San Diego Tunnel Task Force developed information about a transnational criminal organization suspected of smuggling narcotics into the U.S. via a cross-border tunnel. As the investigation progressed, agents worked in cooperation with the Fiscalia General de la Republica (FGR) and Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional (SEDENA) to locate the tunnel entrance in Mexico. Agents subsequently presented evidence to a U.S. federal judge and obtained a federal search warrant for the warehouse in Otay Mesa. The U.S. exit point was discovered subsequent to the execution of the warrant.

Agents seized approximately 1,300 pounds of cocaine, 86 pounds of methamphetamine, 17 pounds of heroin, 3,000 pounds of marijuana and more than two pounds of fentanyl from the tunnel. The large seizure of mixed drugs represents the first time in San Diego’s history where five different types of drugs were found inside a tunnel. The total street value of the drugs seized from the tunnel is estimated at $29.6 million.

Good. Probably a lot of high-value terrorists being smuggled through these tunnels as well. They join up with sleeper cells in the US and wait until we are complacent.

From CNN:

Hundreds of journalists are being laid off, right when the public needs them the most

Geee... If these people actually Did Their Fscking Job instead of pandering to the Democratic narrative, people might be more interested in what they had to say.

Christ on a Corn Dog... Yes, I know that today is April first but this byline is dated March 27th and this is being presented as a straight story.

Great news from The Daily Wire:

BREAKING: Trump Launches Massive All Out Military Offensive On Drug Cartels
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the administration was launching an all out assault on Mexican drug cartels using the U.S. Military.

“As governments and nations focus on the Coronavirus, there is a growing threat that cartels, criminals, terrorists, and other malign actors will try to exploit the situation for their own gain and we must not let that happen,” Trump said. “We will never let that happen. Today the United States is launching enhanced counter narcotics operations in the western hemisphere to protect the American people from the deadly scourge of illegal narcotics.”

“We must not let the drug cartels exploit the pandemic to threaten American lives,” Trump continued. “In cooperation with the 22 partner nations, the U.S. Southern Command will increase surveillance, disruption, and seizures of drug shipments, and provide additional support for eradication efforts that are going on right now at a record pace.”

“We are deploying additional Navy destroyers, combat ships, aircraft and helicopters, Coast Guard cutters and Air Force surveillance aircraft, doubling the capabilities in the region,” Trump continued. “Very importantly, our forces are fully equipped with personnel protective equipment, and we have taken additional safety measures to ensure that our troops remain healthy.”

Heh - as our President is winding down all of Obama's overseas military actions (not wars mind you...), all the troops and ordnance is being redeployed a bit closer to home. Good - drive them out of business. Crush them and salt the earth. Their raw materials are being sold to them by China and now China will be under the microscope.

Two months ago - February 4th

| No Comments

That evening, President Trump delivered his State of the Union Address. Nancy Pelosi tore it up. From The Daily Wire:

Trump Spoke Of Coronavirus In SOTU. Pelosi Tore It Up, Called It ‘Manifesto Of Mistruths’
On February 4, President Trump delivered his State of the Union Address, during which he addressed the threat to America from the coronavirus, asserting, “Protecting Americans’ health also means fighting infectious diseases. We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China. My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat.”

While Trump was addressing problems facing the nation, House Speaker was fuming; as soon as Trump finished speaking she tore the printed copy of the speech up. Later, when she was asked why she did so, considering she had admonished Democrats to act with dignity, she snapped, “I tore up a manifesto of mistruths.” Gesturing to reporters, she continued, “It’s very hard for us to get you to talk about the issues that we are working on … it was necessary to get the attention of the American people to say. ‘This is not true.’ … I don’t need any lessons from anybody, especially the President of the United States, about dignity.”

She is really a toxic and corrupt individual. The sooner she leaves "public service", the better.

The cone of shame

| No Comments

From Woodsterman:

20200401-cone.jpg

Groan

| No Comments

From 90 miles:

20200401-chiron.jpg

Heading out for dinner

| No Comments

Need a break from my own cooking. Heading North to run a few errands and getting some Chinese to go.

There is a park in Mt. Vernon on the bank of the river. Sit there in the sun and read while I enjoy my ho fun. Turned out to be a nice and warm sunny day.

UPDATE: That hit the spot. A lot of people walking their dogs so my two got to meet some new friends.

Back home, a load or two of laundry, some cleaning and surf. Can't stand the excitement...

Not surprised - the Kennedy Center

| No Comments

They got $25,000,000 of our taxpayer dollars as part of the COVID-19 relief bill. Thanks Nancy. They then turned around and laid off their performers and staff.

And then, things get interesting - from the New York Post:

Kennedy Center boss tells staff $25M coronavirus handout won’t save them
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts executives lobbied lawmakers for a $25 million handout in the massive coronavirus stimulus package signed into law by President Trump last week but were planning to lay-off staff regardless, leaked audio of an internal conference call reveals.

In the March 26 call, KCPA President Deborah Rutter told more than 200 employees at the Washington, D.C. cultural institution to brace for lay-offs, pay cuts and furloughs despite receiving a large carve-out in the $2 trillion emergency economic bailout for Americans and businesses financially devastated by the outbreak, which made headlines last week.

Rutter revealed how the organization deployed a lobbyist to push Capitol Hill lawmakers to include them but said it would not help with staff retention because they were already running out of cash, according to the audio first reported by One America News’ Jack Posobiec.

“We are really grateful for this $25 million, but I will tell you that it does not keep us whole,” Rutter said, acknowledging the bailout had made them “the target for a lot of unhappy people who believe we are taking the money away from sick people.”

They need to make a budget and stick to it. Poor management. They get an additional $25,000,000 of our tax dollars and still have to lay off staff. I am sure that this new infusion will be spend wisely. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

From FOX News:

Top Democrats say party's convention may be canceled over coronavirus threat
Prominent Democrats ranging from senior members of Congress to the party's likely presidential nominee himself now say the coronavirus social distancing restrictions that have upended campaigning may also cancel the Democrats' marquee 2020 event.

“I'm not sure we're going to have a convention,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., a top ally of former Vice President Joe Biden, told Fox News.

“I think both parties are very likely, I hope, to agree on postponing the convention or doing something that won’t bring thousands of people together to kill each other ultimately with COVID-19," Cleaver added.

As soon as I saw their lineup, I knew they had no platform and no leader. I mean really (from this post):

20200222-primary.jpg

This just screams strong leadership.

I am not surprised - Seattle

| No Comments

The underlying problem behind homelessness is drug addiction and mental illness. These people are not known for personal responsibility. From Seattle station KTTH:

Seattle-area homeless squatters vandalized coronavirus quarantine motel
Homeless people vandalized and squatted in the Kent coronavirus quarantine motel meant to house people who test positive for COVID-19.

These alarming incidents come just two weeks after a homeless patient left the quarantine motel, allegedly stole from the 7-Eleven across the street, then hopped on a bus. Luckily, his test came back negative, though he caused not just a panic but forced officials to re-sanitize the affected areas.

And who pays for the cleaning and the repairs? Taxpayers? We need to reopen the county and state asylums. The worked great until the progressives got their hands on them in the 1980's.

He was preparing for something that simply does not exist. From City Journal:

Preparing for the Wrong Emergency
New York City is facing a major public-health crisis. The spread of Covid-19 threatens to overwhelm the city’s hospitals, as significant numbers of those infected become severely ill, and sustaining their lives depends on access to a limited number of respiratory ventilators. But the city is short of even more basic medical supplies, including such mundane items as protective facemasks. Nurses are reportedly being advised to rinse their masks in order to reuse them, and police officers reportedly lack access to personal protective equipment. Sanitation workers and other vulnerable city employees are also being asked to work unprotected.

These shortages have led Mayor Bill de Blasio to call for help. On March 16, he asked the United States military to rescue New York, saying “we need ventilators, we need masks, face guards, right on down to more mundane things like hand sanitizer.” The next day, on CNN, he said, “The federal government—I’ve used the word mobilization, nationalization . . . has to ensure that the industries that create those vital supplies are at maximum production and then they’re distributed where they’re needed most as we do in wartime.” At a later press conference, de Blasio made a direct appeal to the public. “If you have even a single ventilator that you can get to New York City or if you have a supply . . . If you have surgical masks, if you have N95 masks, if you have face shields, gloves, gowns, anything that could help us, we need it,” he implored.

And DeBlasio's legacy in a nutshell:

Plans aren’t everything, of course. But awareness certainly existed that a Covid-19-like pandemic was possible. Why didn’t the city at least stock up on masks and hand sanitizer, which are cheap—or were cheap, before global demand created a shortage? It isn’t as though Mayor de Blasio is unconcerned about emergencies—he talks obsessively about climate change and its “existential” threat to the city. He has initiated major lawsuits against energy companies, attempted to prohibit glass buildings, banned plastic bags, and plans to extend the shoreline of Manhattan into the East River in order to protect New York City against the possibility of rising ocean levels over the next century.

Yet at the same time, de Blasio—and New York’s governorsclosed hospitals and care centers, turning their sites over to well-connected developers, without replacing capacity or building-in redundancy. He signed six bulging budgets that increased spending by tens of billions of dollars, and he lavished money on anything that advanced his political agenda or benefitted his allies. But he clearly didn’t allocate enough money to buy the necessary staples of emergency preparedness. Now that disaster has arrived at the city’s door, the mayor is blaming everyone but himself.

No surprises there - Democratic politics at it's finest. Climate change is "sexy" - it supports the narrative. A pandemic is not.

Heading out for coffee

| No Comments

Mailbox and a few errands.

Grocery deliveries later this afternoon. Working at home the rest of the time.

Hear hear

| No Comments

From Vanderleun:

20200401-april.jpg

And it starts - Australia

| No Comments

From Australia's news.com.au:

Vic wharfies refuse to unload Chinese ship
More than 60 Melbourne wharfies have been stood down for refusing to unload a container ship carrying medical supplies from China.

The Xin Da Lian docked at the DP World terminal at the Port of Melbourne on Tuesday night after leaving Shanghai on March 17.

The Maritime Union of Australia says the vessel is in breach of the federal government's 14-day coronavirus quarantine period after visiting a Taiwanese port on March 19.

Wharfies say shaving two days off the quarantine period is "a risk to workers and the community".

Makes a lot of sense - 14-days is short from what we know - 21 days would be better. To try to shorten this to 12 days is not good public health. The management who are trying to make this happen are probably already self-isolated in their country homes and not affected.

From Vice:

Here's How China Is Rewriting the History of the Coronavirus Pandemic to Make Itself the Hero
At midnight on Friday, China closed its borders to the rest of the world as it tries to stop a resurgence of the coronavirus.

The move was the culmination of a months-long PR and disinformation campaign waged by the Chinese government to rewrite the history of a pandemic that has spread to almost every corner of the planet, killed more than 34,000 people, and infected almost three-quarters of a million.

China initially ignored the outbreak that first surfaced in Wuhan in early December, silencing doctors who tried to raise the alarm before eventually enacting a draconian and restrictive lockdown that impacted 50 million people.

But the Communist Party of China (CCP) is now seeking to portray itself not as the country that allowed the coronavirus to spread unchecked for weeks but as the country that has defeated the virus and is now on hand to save the rest of the world.

It's called Propaganda and Disinformation. For those teetering on the edge of belief, there is always Gaslighting. The State must be preserved. The State must rule and The Narrative must be preserved. I still find it amazing that in this day and age, some people still consider this to be the preferred form of government. The funny thing though is that if you talk to them, they never ever want to be the farmer or the factory worker - never want to be a member of the Proletariat.  They always want to be in the Elite, the Nomenklatura. Sorry but you are most definitely NOT better than me.

What these people do is not useful work - something that the COVID-19 is delineating in today's society - it is sad that we had to have a pandemic to wake people up but it is good that this is the outcome. Do not get me going on Universities these days...

A wonderful idea but...

| No Comments

Making face masks for the Chinese flu? Turns out that hospitals might not accept them. From the St. Charles, Illinois Kane County Chronicle:

Joann Fabrics' mask-making promotion raises questions
Joann Fabrics and Crafts is donating fabric kits for volunteer sewers to create homemade masks for hospitals and health care workers.

A news release on its corporate website, news.joann.com, dated March 20 announces that the company “mobilizes crafters across the nation to help protect health care workers.”

“As hospitals and health care facilities run dangerously low on critical supplies, America’s crafting and sewing communities are jumping in to help,” the release stated. “Groups across the nation have started sewing and crafting protective masks, gowns and other essential items to donate, and JOANN Stores is stepping up to help as many of these generous makers and health care facilities as possible.”

The effort started this week at the chain’s 800-plus stores, said Susan Gregory, district manager for the store’s Chicagoland area region.

Unfortunately, nobody thought to ask the hospitals:

Gregory said the masks were being donated to Rush Oak Park Hospital in Oak Park and to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva – but spokespeople for both those hospitals said it was not true.

“Due to infection control measures, Northwestern Medicine cannot accept donations of handmade masks, gowns and other medical supplies,” according to an email from Kimberly Waterman, spokeswoman for Northwestern Medicine Delnor. “Only factory-made, hospital-quality supplies, including N95 masks, face shields, gloves, gowns, sanitizers and swabs can be donated.”

Charles Jolie, spokesman for Rush Oak Park Hospital, echoed Northwestern Medicine’s statement.

“Hand-sewn efforts are lovely and heartwarming, but we cannot use things that are not FDA approved," Jolie said. “If it isn’t FDA approved, then we can’t use it. We really do appreciate the outpouring of emotional support. … But our workers only will be given FDA personal protection equipment and we have a huge stock of those.”

Makes perfect sense as a commercially manufactured and factory sealed unit has an implied measure of safety. Homemade? Not so much.

March 2023

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
      1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31  

About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from April 2020 listed from newest to oldest.

March 2020 is the previous archive.

May 2020 is the next archive.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Monthly Archives

Pages

OpenID accepted here Learn more about OpenID
Powered by Movable Type 5.2.9