Maybe a little cooler, still rain in the forecast though. Yesterday was a mixed bag of rain, sun, overcast, and sticky heat. Today probably will be too.
Spent part of yesterday doing an auction pickup. This was entirely books about my non-prepping hobby, so a pure waste of time :-p Took youngest, and stopped for a lesson in what I do for a living. Got her a nice piece of fabric in a cheetah print, which she loves, and we’ll use in a craft project. FWIW, thrift stores are a great place to get fabric very cheaply. Every one I frequent has draperies, linens, and other fabric, perfect for small projects, or big.
Then home to puppy love, yard care, cleaning, shopping for groceries, and cooking dinner.
I went to the HEB store near my house or what we call the “little” HEB. It doesn’t have the selection or the quality of the “big” HEB store in the better neighborhood, but it’s been getting better since we moved here. Some stuff I don’t want to get better. Corporate sends prime grade meat there, and it doesn’t sell, so when I’m lucky I get to buy it cheap!
I have some observations.
There were still gaps on the shelves. The staff was blitzing the aisles, facing product and cleaning up stock, but there were still gaps. Many products had reduced shelf space, or they were only one unit deep on the shelf. Some stuff is still in limited varieties, where there would have been more choices before- canned veg is the best ongoing example. Staples are there, but some of the tasty combinations aren’t. Ice cream flavors are reduced. Charmin red was on the shelf, but no blue, and not much red for that matter. No frozen chicken in the ready to eat section. I haven’t seen anything but wings in months.
Eggs were the weirdest thing. They normally have a whole cooler full of one dozen cartons, all different “special” kinds of eggs, one cooler with plain HEB branded eggs in different cartons, and one cooler of bulk cartons. The “special” eggs were half the normal display, and the HEB eggs were only available in 36 egg cartons. Two full coolers of 36 egg packaging, and severely reduced choices for the rest.
Soda was still hit or miss, with more flavors in stock but open shelves too. Diet ginger ale was back and several flavors of Dr Pepper. On the other side of the store, the apple display was 1/3 or less what it normally is. Avocados were crazy money. Potatoes and onions were there, but with reduced choices. Green beans and asparagus were horrible quality. Locally grown corn on the cob was only 6/$1 though.
On the other hand, HEB shelf coupons for in-store deals were back. Rice and potato box sides were on sale this month. I bought some of both. Pasta was BOGO, so I got another 10 pounds. They had a loss leader deal on meat- half off some cuts if you bought $10 of other stuff, limit two packages. I bought select grade ribeye steaks for <$6/pound. (We ate half of them for dinner, and they were delicious, far better than select usually is. The rest got vac sealed and frozen.) Milk, cream, fresh veg, and fruit rounded out my cart. For the first time ever they had marked down milk (for short time) in the cooler. It was the pricey organic gallons, 2 days left on 'sell by' and a dollar a gallon cheaper than regular whole milk. I've never seen that before. Through some luck and smart shopping I spent $250 but saved $68 on the cart. That's better than I used to do, when I averaged a 12-15% savings on the cart. The meat and pasta were the biggest contributors to the savings. It was nice to see discounts again. Prices for some things are definitely up. Lays potato chips used to be $2.50 a bag, they were $2.85 and the bags seem smaller. Canned veg was up slightly, meat has been way up in general, although I still paid the 24c/oz I've been paying for house brand thick sliced bacon. It's the best deal in the meat section. The breakfast sausages the kids like are up about 10%, and they never go on sale anymore. I didn't see any spiral sliced hams in the cooler, just like I didn't see them at costco last visit. Turkey was still the $1.28/lb it's been for 3 years (for their house brand whole frozen birds.) It's nice that coupons and deals are back, because prices are higher in general. This article is worth the read.
America stockpiles: Supermarkets buy up to 25% more supplies as they predict inflation will soar and cost of essentials like bacon and milk rising by up to 14%Supermarkets are trying to protect their profits amid higher costs
Shoppers are buying more with grocery sales up 15% in June compared to last year, leaving shelves depleted
Food prices are surging as inflation rises to its highest level in 13 years
Associated Wholesale Grocers is buying 15 to 20% more goods while SpartanNash up to 25% more stock including frozen meat
Consumer price index for grocery store and supermarket food purchases was up 0.7 percent in May compared to May of last year
Food is pretty important. In general, I’m seeing higher prices, limited choices, unusual brands and suppliers, and I’ve been either skipping purchasing an item, or buying something that wasn’t my preference. I expect this to continue and worsen.
Save money where you can, you’ll need it elsewhere. If you see something you need or want, buy it now because it might not be available later. Get used to the idea you might not get your first choice, or be able to just buy something whenever you want to. Prepping and stacking will help with all of that.
Stack it up. Keep it secret, keep it safe.
nick
Up to now, grocery stores try to keep as little perishable merchandise on hand at any given time. Even a can of DelMonte Green beans has an expiration date. Six months supply would push that expiration date to the limit, and like most people who shop in grocery stores know, there is someone always reaching to the back of the shelf for the newest can, package, etc., checking the dates and harassing store personnel for a “fresher one from the back”. I fail to understand their reasoning unless they have a strong suspicion of some kind of supply chain disruption, which may involve trucks, drivers, gasoline, spare truck parts, etc., and not just the hope of the value of the goods appreciating a few percent in the few weeks or months they have to move the product.
I am glad to see somebody has their priorities right!
There are hundreds of those type rides all over the world. If people stay seated, don’t all pile onto one side, and don’t intentionally try to tip the raft, there is no way those rafts will tip on their own. The center of gravity is so far inside the perimeter that tipping one is very difficult. There is nothing during the ride to malfunction, no moving parts, just flowing water. Even the raft cannot fully deflate as there is a second internal air bladder. Both would have to fail, highly unlikely.
Those people did something, intentional, that caused the raft to flip. All piled on one side, grabbed something on the shore, jumped out and stood in the water, stabbed the bags, or some other such abysmal behavior. A Darwin stunt.
I certainly hope the ride has video of what actually happened and prove the family caused the incident. Otherwise they family will have won the insurance scam lottery. Along with enriching the pockets of some scumbag lawyer who deserves nothing.
Took youngest, and stopped for a lesson in what I do for a living.
Sanford and Daughter!
Couldn’t resist, some images are hard to ignore or forget. No disrespect, I always enjoyed Redd Foxx’s offbeat humor in that show.
Reminds me. I once paid what I thought was a compliment when I said my SIL’s infant looked like Winston Churchill. She and my wife didn’t like that. I explained that I had the highest regard for Churchill. Didn’t help. After that, I just nod when someone says a baby looks just like uncle Fred. I can’t see it, but still nod approvingly.
Oh, where is the wit of Mark Twain when we need it.
Jeebus. It *is* Obola’s third term:
GOOFY JOE: Biden Kneels Before Israeli President In White House, Pledges ‘Unquestionable Commitment’ To Israel
ProgLibTurd pandering for any vote he can get. The way plugs shuffles around, checking his notes, mumbling incoherently means The Kamel is in the bullpen.
This is totally me. Though, I’ve never done it with canned goods. However, I do it with bread, meat, dairy, and dry goods. It’s not so much to prevent it from expiring as we typically use it before then, but the more distant the expiration date the fresher the product. I suppose 9 times out of 10 there’s no real taste or quality difference, but why buy something packaged 4 months ago when I can reach in the back and get one packaged last week?
Also, I figure the ones in the front are the ones everyone else has picked up to look at, so it’s been touched and manhandled by far too many people. It triggers my latent mysophobia. Of course, this I do with EVERYTHING. I’ll even grab batteries and ballpoint pens from the back because I figure fewer people have touched them. lol I’m weird.
I buy the newest because it might sit for years on my shelf. I get the longest dates possible. I even have that as a note on all my instacart items.
If I eat it right away, it’s the freshest it could be. If I let it sit, I get the longest possible time.
I don’t think the stores are trying to ‘protect their profits’ or arbitrage and neither assertion is actually supported by the article, iirc, they are editorial comments inserted by someone. Stores don’t want to run out- you don’t make any money if you don’t have stock to sell. And they believe in inflation. Their buying goes farther today than it will next week. The big chains have forecasters, futures hedges, all kinds of people looking to keep the store in business and out perform their rivals. If they are carrying higher stock levels, and warehousing product on their own, they are concerned about pricing and availability. AS THEY SHOULD BE based on the experiences of the last year.
n
78F and 85%RH. Mostly overcast.
n
Welcome back to the 1970s. Inflation, unemployment, and assassination of political figures…
–coming off racial unrest, with a massive change in auto regulations…crazy increases in crime… hmm history sure does rhyme.
n
TS Elsa looks like it missed Tampa/St Pete/Sarasota
https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/florida-braces-tropical-storm-elsa-landfall-expected-late-morning
my sibling’s house is in sunshine with birds chirping…
n
Summer of ‘68 redux?
Interesting.
https://www.cdc.gov/nssp/overview.html
— the real reason for the push to electronic health records.
n
(at least one of several)
TS Elsa looks like it missed Tampa/St Pete/Sarasota
my sibling’s house is in sunshine with birds chirping…
Tampa dodged another bullet. Time will catch up.
Huh, I thought Lady Gaga was a drag act.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9763701/Lady-Gaga-poses-topless-makeup-free-backyard-selfie-soaks-sun-Malibu-mansion.html
Guess not.
n
Couple more assassinations, attempts anyway.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9762371/One-Hollands-best-known-underworld-crime-reporters-shot-badly-injured-Amsterdam.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9763665/Rising-college-football-star-18-killed-50-bullets-fired-car-Florida.html
n
but but but, software as a service! let the pros handle your IT, it’s what they do!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9763349/Kaseya-tech-firm-hit-REvil-ransomware-attack-NOT-able-bring-service-online.html
n
One thing to consider if choosing an MVNO is if their network partner also provides the same roaming coverage to the MVNO customers that their network customers have access to.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/haitian-president-shot-dead-home-overnight-pm-2021-07-07/
Here’s a film to watch, while enjoying a wee dram. I am laid low with my sinuses, and this cheered me up no end… Tractors, machining, beekeeping and Aberdeen, one of my favourite places.
https://youtu.be/Evi7AjUBl-4
Nick, on Win 10, if there are updates waiting to be installed, my shutdown menu gives me the option to (I think) shut down with or without updates. I know it allows me to Hibernate without updates. I don’t know if that is some setting I did or just built-in. I have also had an optional update in the cue for days, and haven’t had time to install it. It awaits my permission.
I only restart Windows when it is mandated by some update. The rest of the time I just use Hibernate. I think it is one of the best features ever invented. On my wife’s notebook, she just uses Sleep, which is activated by closing the lid. I have no evidence that it has awakened from that state. I was paranoid in the beginning.
I have to reboot my Windows 7 Pro x64 PC every week. I do it when I come in on Monday, there will be 6 to 10 GB of ram in usage with nothing running but my seven CMD windows. I blame my software development tools, some of which date back to the middle 1990s. Plus Microsoft’s antivirus tool leaks ram on my pc when it does the full weekly scan over the weekend.
I was also at my local grocery store yesterday. There were some shelves that were emptier than usual. Bread and soda mostly.
But I ascribe that to the first day after a three-day holiday, so re-stocking not quite done yet.
There were still gaps on the shelves. The staff was blitzing the aisles, facing product and cleaning up stock, but there were still gaps. Many products had reduced shelf space, or they were only one unit deep on the shelf. Some stuff is still in limited varieties, where there would have been more choices before- canned veg is the best ongoing example. Staples are there, but some of the tasty combinations aren’t. Ice cream flavors are reduced. Charmin red was on the shelf, but no blue, and not much red for that matter. No frozen chicken in the ready to eat section. I haven’t seen anything but wings in months.
I go to our medium sized HEB store in Sugar Land Riverpark twice a week. It always has Charmin Red and Yellow (Basic) but the Charmin Blue is spotty. And my Green Giant Yellow and White canned corn is spotty also, when I see it I grab the entire case (12 pack).
One thing to consider if choosing an MVNO is if their network partner also provides the same roaming coverage to the MVNO customers that their network customers have access to.
Thanks, I had to look up MVNO. As I mentioned, my wife and I have always had top tier providers (Verizon before “Verizon Wireless” and AT&T.) My only familiarity with the MVNOs is through a few friends who primarily want low prices and feature phones. When I ask them any questions, they are clueless. I only have one tech savvy friend who has some alternative service. His voice mail doesn’t work, and he doesn’t do email on his phone. Well, that’s no help. I do have another friend who is looking into alternatives to AT&T, and will thoroughly wring them out, but he is as slow as I am, so no idea when he will have anything relevant to share very soon. We both have AT&T.
My fallback is to just stay with AT&T. I am actually happy with them, except for their prices. One strategy, suggested by AT&T, is to call them and review my account. I will ask them where to save money. The obvious start is to drop unlimited data.
I remind folks here that I am in a remote area, and don’t have the options some of you do. For instance, Ray’s deal with his cable company is not available to me because there is no cable company that will serve me. The next town 20 miles east only got cellular service about five years ago.
@JimB
If you look at coverage maps for the big guys, you can determine which might be better for you. And all of them usually have some great ‘new subscriber’ deals that often include a new phone (or a discount on phones).
Deals that include unlimited text/data/calls are often available for $25-40/month per line.
I, on the other hand, attribute that to the EBT cards being refilled. Around here I avoid the grocery store the first six or seven days of the month.
Be careful on special prices from other providers. It may just be for a few months or a year, then back to normal high rates.
If you are happy with AT&T that is a good reason to stay. Calling to negotiate a better is a good starting point. If the first line reps cannot get you something ask to be transferred to the account termination department. Where magically better rates will appear, or at least used to appear.
Bummer. Many of the cable internet providers are now getting into phone service. Fairly cheap. If I wanted unlimited data I would go with T-Mobile as they would be cheaper than xfinity. But I don’t. Barely use 1GB a month. I could cut down on my rate if I only got 1GB a month, would drop me to about $17.00 a month with tax. But the extra data amount gets some extra breathing room. Helps when we travel.
With the xfinity plan if I were to opt out of the 3GB for $30.00, and I use less than 100MB of data in a billing period, there is no charge. Thus I am only paying for data, not phone service or texting.
My basic feeling is that if a person is happy with the service, stick with it. The minor difference in cost for comparable plans is not worth switching. To keep costs under control find a plan that suits the use needed. Data seems to be the most expensive part of a plan.
Some have problems with service in their homes because of the frequencies used by the providers. Lower frequencies propagate through walls easier, higher frequencies not so much. There are people in my area for which Verizon does not work well at all whereas AT&T works great, or maybe it is T-Mobile that works great.
@Ray, all good points, and I will use them with AT&T. If something breaks loose, I will just go with AT&T and forget the complication of changing.
I looked up the T-Mobile’s web site, and it said there was 5G coverage here, in spite of the city council not allowing it. Long story. A few towers are outside the city limits, so they can probably make the claim. They have a way to try it out, but I don’t want to take the time.
AT&T also says 5G is available, possibly the same story. I read that 6G has some bottom tier modes that really don’t add much other than bragging rights. They are probably designed to replace 4G or LTE economically.
I will probably get a 5G capable phone because it is available in places we travel to, and I don’t want to get shut out in the future. I know it has more privacy issues, and of course causes cancer. 😛
I once surveyed the two majors here, AT&T and Verizon Wireless. I wanted fixed base cell ISP for my volunteer work, which is across the valley. One (forgot which) said not enough signal strength, so no. The other said, go ahead, sign up and try it. Yeah, make their day. In the end, we kept our cable account, and worked with the techs to clear up some persistent problems. Also upgraded to a business account, which our HQ said wasn’t necessary. The local techs said otherwise. It has worked fine since. Even later upgraded the modem with no issues. We have our own router for the VPN; HQ wants control over that. They know what they are doing. Note, I wrote as if I were still a volunteer. Old habit. Anyway, another confirmation to stay and work with the service.
Mint Mobile will also send you a trial SIM. It’s good for seven days. If it sucks dead bunnies, it costs you nada.
I do not get a kickback from Mint Mobile, but they do have a referral service. I set my phone up, then did the wife and kids and basically got 3 free months of service.
I’ve had ATT since they bought my provider, and that small provider went back to 1991 or 92. Same number, similar plan. USED to be in their system as an employee but when they switched to GSM (or away from TDMA) my phone and plan had to change, and my account status changed too for some reason.
They will not proactively help you reduce your rate, but if you call they will be happy to tell you they’ve been overcharging you for months, and switch you to a lower cost plan.
They got rid of restrictions on using your phone as a hotspot. They got rid of onerous contract terms. They are reasonably priced considering their network and tech savvy. Everyone else buys colo with ATT for emergencies. The coverage is better than just about anyone except in some very niche places.
I had and carried a sprint phone for a while as a back up while working. There were convention centers where sprint was more aggressive putting in microcells back in the day, but I think all the majors are about equal these days.
the differences are not worth switching for, if your phone service is important to you.
n
@jim, why would a mayor not allow 5G? And by what authority?
n
I remember when a single serve bag of Lays was 25 cents at the corner deli or soda fountain. Now it’s I think a $1.09 at the local Kwik-e-Mart.
Really sound determined to leave, and try not to jump on the first offer, they usually do want to keep you as a customer.
Uhh, maybe because he’s a spineless politician who wants to get reelected and the citizenry shout NIMBY at him when the cell networks want to install more ‘cancer-causing’ towers. Of course, it’s the same people who see the latest 5G TV commercial and are baffled when they check the 5G coverage map and discover their town is not shaded in red/blue/magenta.
Still busy, so short shrift.
I am not too concerned about price, just dependable service wherever I go. Home is nearly the most remote place I go, but we used to go out of country, and still might. AT&T was good for that over the years, although I just used data, no calls. I am leaning toward staying with them.
As for a mayor not allowing 5G, I said it was a long story, but simply put, the city council drank the health risk kool aid put forth by some very vocal opponents of 5G. There might also be some conflicts of interest. The city council, like many other city councils, has some corrupt members. Best politicians money can buy. They have fought better Internet service, such as fiber, in the past. I am outside the city limits, but they still have influence. They control many important easements. Just one reason I have been a fan of WISP in spite of its failure to catch on in other places.
@Alan, I agree 99%, except that the mayor is a she, and a real piece of work. I don’t get to vote in city matters, but do have to live with the influences. Still pretty good compared to other places I know. No place is perfect.
Not enough kickbacks to the mayor’s personal account or the city coffers.
In my small town Comcast/xfinity are king. No other options unless satellite. Turns out the city will not allow any other provider into the city limits. Another provider cannot use the power poles or allowed to trench cable anywhere within the city. The city gets a sizable chunk of money each month from Comcast for that exclusivity deal.
Thus with no, or very limited, competition Comcast has no problems with charging rates that are about 40% higher than in Knoxville where there is competition from other providers. Negotiating better individual deals is difficult. Threatening to leave and the Comcast response is “leave for who?”. My threat to Comcast is just drop cable entirely. Sometimes works.
I remind folks here that I am in a remote area, and don’t have the options some of you do. For instance, Ray’s deal with his cable company is not available to me because there is no cable company that will serve me. The next town 20 miles east only got cellular service about five years ago.
A future Starlinker ! Elon Musk says hi.
I have been carrying a Verizon cell phone all these years because they did have the best coverage way back when. Not sure about now.
The problem now with electronic health records is every vendor has their own “best” format and an associated proprietary portal, most of which don’t talk to each other. The medical care industry helps keep fax machines from becoming extinct.
Over The Hedge: UFOs Are Real
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2021/07/07
Dave’s not here man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACfNSqsi_mE
“Judge: Air Force mostly at fault in 2017 Texas church attack”
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/judge-says-air-force-at-fault-Texas-church-attack-16298763.php?IPID=Chron-HP-Trending
“AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Air Force is mostly responsible for a former serviceman killing more than two dozen people at a Texas church in 2017 because it failed to submit his criminal history into a database, which should have prevented him from purchasing firearms.
U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez in San Antonio wrote in a ruling signed Wednesday that the Air Force was “60% responsible” for the massacre at First Baptist Church in the small town of Sutherland Springs, where Devin Kelley opened fire during a Sunday service. Authorities put the official death toll at 26 because one of the 25 people killed was pregnant.”
The judge is not wrong. I am not sure about the 60% thing, that is just stupid.
“Why Is NASA Working So Hard To Learn How To Defend The Earth From Giant Asteroids?”
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/why-nasa-working-so-hard-learn-how-defend-earth-giant-asteroids
“Did you know that NASA is going to send a spacecraft on a suicide mission in an attempt to change the trajectory of a massive space rock? The good news is that the space rock that NASA will be crashing this spacecraft into is not on a collision course with Earth. It is only a test. But why has NASA suddenly become so concerned with figuring out how to defend the Earth from giant asteroids? Could it be possible that there is something heading toward Earth in the future that they haven’t told us about yet?”
Because it is their job ?
A few months ago at Wal-Mart I had the itch for a bag of Doritos. The little bags at the checkstand was $1.59. Or walk to the back of the store and get 5x as much for $3.50.
I didn’t buy Doritos that day.
from comp.lang.fortran on usenet:
> On April last, it was reported that Fortran had returned to the top 20 languages, according to the TIOBE index.
> Now, the July report shows that Fortran climbed to the 14th. position: https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/
> and still going up; possibly to the 13th. or 12th. position in the next report.
> I think this is auspicious news.
> What do you think were the causes of this renewed raise on the interest of Fortran?
Lots of very old programs out there are written in F66 or F77 and their mainframes are going away. Time to port to Windows, Linux, or Unix !
I wonder how many of the programmers even know Fortran and understand nuances such as automatic zero initialization ?
Happy RAH day !
Robert A. Heinlein would have been 114 today.
Yes! Catch up now if you haven’t seen the prior seasons…
In Succession season 3 trailer, the epic father-son battle ratchets up
“Do you want to be on the side of good or evil?”
https://www.cnet.com/news/in-succession-season-3-trailer-the-epic-father-son-battle-ratchets-up/
And we trust NASA that the new trajectory doesn’t put the asteroid ON a collision course with Earth?
This bears repeating when comparing the Terms and Conditions of their plans online. I went for a $55/mo unlimited plan sans hotspot instead of $65/mo plan w/only 10Gb hotspot data but lo & behold, I’ve hotspotted probably 50 Gb by now after checking just “to see if it would work”.
What the hell is Trump thinking by sueing Facebook et al.? Does he really want the law to compel the press to print opinions contrary to their editorial policies?
Hmmm, COBOL not even in the Top 20 (#26). I learned Fortran in high school but would need a refresher before diving back in.
What the hell is Trump thinking by sueing Facebook et al.? Does he really want the law to compel the press to print opinions contrary to their editorial policies?
–I haven’t looked at the suit, but the issue is Facebook and the others CLAIMING they are common carriers and NOT being subject to certain laws, but then ACTING as publishers, by editing and restricting what they allow on their platform. USED to be you couldn’t have it both ways but someone got an exemption stuck into one of the recent laws, patriot act, dmca, something.
If, as you think, they are press and publisher, then they should be subject to the same laws that the press and publishers are subject to- and yes one of them IS to publish views contrary to theirs, PARTICULARLY as it relates to political advocacy.
They’ve been getting their cake and eating it too, and it’s time for that to stop.
n
The demonization and ghetto-ization continues.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/07/exclusive-capital-one-cancels-proud-boys-leader-enrique-tarrios-credit-card-adverse-past-present-legal-action/
n
For anyone that has been dithering, palmetto state armory has assembled pistols, rifles, and ammo on sale this week and they look like they actually have stock….
Prices are pretty good in the current environment.
n
I see the current labor shortage has created a flood of “we love our employees” crap from employers. It’s so sickeningly phony that anyone believing it needs their head examined. Your employer doesn’t love you. They never have. You’re a number to them. You always have been just a number and always will be just a number. Right now their numbers say they have to suck up to current and potential employees to keep those numbers looking good. When the reverse is true they will happily slash pay, benefits, and show you the door. Saccharine bullshit from corporate recruiters isn’t going to change that.
but but but, software as a service! let the pros handle your IT, it’s what they do!
AWS is a Hot Skillz which everyone wants on their resume.
The new job just closed a couple of acquisitions which put us firmly on a cloud based trajectory.
@chad:
Probably more true in the FUSA, but applies everywhere.
@greg:
It’s still Somebody Else’s Computer™
G.
Sometimes people just go too far…
Marjorie Taylor Greene makes Nazi-era comparison about vaccination efforts
https://www.axios.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-nazi-comparison-vaccination-5c7c26b4-cb55-4696-acda-c7e58c6bd5de.html
Guess she didn’t pay too much attention when she recently visited the Holocaust Museum.
And already apologized for a Covid-related Nazi comment. Guess she was just reading from the paper somebody handed her – just like Uncle Joe frequently does. A pox on all these spineless politicians.
@alan:
I think you mean spineless, because politicians do nothing but “spin”, especially when they’re trying to support something that might be unpopular with their base, or cost them “campaign contributions”. The which, by the way, are, to a large extent, illegal in UK, and certainly highly monitored.
I wish there were spinless politicians, but that’s an extinct species.
G.
My first SmartyPants Phone (TM OFD) was a Galaxy SII. Nice phone, nice camera, got it on sale at Wally World for about $250. Marked down from $375. On Straight Talk. $55 a month plus sales tax. On AT&T’s network. I rooted it, just because, and had CyanogenMod running. Ma Bell’s cell service is 2nd class in my area but that was the option when I bought the SII
I had to screw it up. Right after I bought an new battery, of course. Tried to update CM and bricked the phone.
Back to Wally World. Ok…. hey, this LG looks nice and it’s Straight Talk on Verizon. $120 later and everything is cool.
Then Straight Talk decreed that one needed a new phone because making calls over wi-fi is going to be a thing. Oh? But if there is no wi-fi the phone still works? Oh, and I get a mystery brand phone for only $100 plus shipping and tax? So, if there is no wi-fi around I still have to replace an 18 month old phone? Really? Seriously? Yeah… no.
Straight Talk crowed a lot about “25 GB data” but that was worthless since you can’t tether or hotspot your phone.
I went to eBay. Found a nice open box LG V20 for the princely sum of $109. Not bad for what was the brand’s flagship model a couple of years prior. I’m cool with waiting a couple of year to save $600. I took it to the local Verizon joint and I have a month to month deal with unlimited calls and texting and 6 GB data AND I can tether the phone to my PC when my wISP goes down. It has a great camera, better than I know to use. Snapping a picture in a pitch dark room and the flash making it look like daytime is pretty cool. $36 a month with taxes.
Fun stuff.
@alan, did you read the tweet?
https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1412515350244114433
Nothing in there objectionable to me. Just history. Are we now unable to draw comparisons to history? A government willing to send people door to door to harass citizens for the choices they make (my body, my choice, when it’s killing fetuses) is only ONE step from rounding them up. Admittedly it’s a BIG step, but that is next.
Can you imagine the outrage if it was a Christian administration sending people out to ‘council’ women that have had abortions? The nazzi comparisons wouldn’t be just an allusion to the brown shirts.
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Or your own computer when the latest Hot Skillz is to let someone else manage your datacenter.
Kaseya says the attack only affected “on-premise” customers, organizations running their own data centers, as opposed to its cloud-based services that run software for customers. It also shut down those servers as a precaution, however.
Kaseya, which called on customers Friday to shut down their VSA servers immediately, said Sunday it hoped to have a patch in the next few days.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ransomware-attack-revil-hackers-demand-70-million/
Hopefully nothing too critical that can’t be down for “the next few days.” A lot of CIOs sweating through their Right Guard and experiencing some delayed indigestion from all those steak dinners.
If true, this is just one more piece of evidence that the USA is done for.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/i-have-message-you-nsa-leaks-tucker-carlson-emails-journalists-fox-host-claims-update
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I think mine was a Palm Treo 700W in like 2006 or 2007. I actually went back to a flip phone after it. The technology just wasn’t there yet and I mostly found its smart features useless. When I did go back to smartphones I got a Motorola Droid 2 in probably 2012. I switched to iPhone in 2012 and have been using those ever since.
@Geoff, fixed, thanks.
Hmmm, COBOL not even in the Top 20 (#26). I learned Fortran in high school but would need a refresher before diving back in.
I learned Fortran in 1975 working with my Dad. One of his programmer engineers would write logic on the back of a computer printout, I would keypunch the subroutine in, get it to compile, and give him the compiling card deck. You learn a lot when somebody is saying “your code sucks” in Mandarin.
Don’t you have that backwards? A common carrier is obligated to give equal time to political candidates/viewpoints, but the press is (or supposed to be) free from restraint or infringement.
Back in December last year, I went to the local MetroPCS store to upgrade my phone. Wanted a 64bit OS phone – specifically required that and told the sales dweebs. They came up with a Samsung Galaxy A32-5G that they said was 64bit. So, not knowing about the AIDA64 app that would dig into the phone technical details, I got it.
Got it home, and it didn’t work with the Alexa app on the 2019 Highlander. Alexa app requires a 64bit OS. The Galaxy, although a 64 bit processor, was running 32-bit emulator OS. Verified that with the AIDA64 app.
So, went back to the MetroPCS store to return it. They refused the return, as it was an ‘upgrade’, and policy said no exchanges. I disagreed, insisting on a return. They didn’t budge. I took the phone home with me.
I disputed the credit card charge with the CC company. Sent a written letter to the store alerting them, and offered to return the phone in exchange for a refund. No response. It took a 5-6 weeks, but the CC company upheld the dispute in my favor.Full credit on the purchase when I disputed, and the charge removed when the CC company ruled in my favor.
The store never asked for the phone back. So, I still have it, in the box, factory reset, all the parts. Not sure what to do with it. I suppose it could be unlocked by someone that wanted it. Not clear on the unlocking part, and how/if it would work and make/accept calls if unlocked.
So…it sits in a box. Waiting for a new home. Anyone here want to give it a home?
@nick, yes I read her tweet. Sorry, but I have friends whose relatives didn’t come home from the camps so I object to the reference. And of course defend her 1A right to say it. Just makes her prior apology and museum visit hollow gestures just done to quiet her critics. Spineless once again.
“medical white coats” instead of “medical brown shirts” would have made the same point…but of course wouldn’t have gotten her the same level of attention. Maybe eventually people will tire of her ‘crying wolf’ and will vote her out of office.
And not sure going door to door to ‘encourage’ people to get vaccinated is one step from rounding them up. For better or worse we’re still a country of laws. At least until CWII gets going.
Also don’t really care all that much that too many people are not yet vaccinated. Maybe thin the herd a bit. I am, my wife is, my kids and her kids are, but neither’s grandkids are old enough yet. And while they’re relatively safe I don’t ever want them to be the 1 in 100,000 exception because they got it from some unvaccinated schmo from Missouri who’s decided the pandemic is over and as such he no longer needs to wear a mask even though he just got the Delta variant and is contagious.
They have been back for quite a while. The local HEB here is pretty well stocked. There is, however, a nationwide shortage of chicken wings. HEB had purchase limits and last week Sam’s had none. I got two bags at Costco, though. I like the new wings at Costco. The sauce is in separate pouches, so they crisp up well.
Don’t you have that backwards? A common carrier is obligated to give equal time to political candidates/viewpoints, but the press is (or supposed to be) free from restraint or infringement.
-nope. ATT is a common carrier. Your local internet provider is a common carrier. They are protected from liability for the content they “carry” from one place to another. There was a compromise that let websites (publishers) be treated as common carriers so they couldn’t be held liable for the comments others wrote on the sites. The websites demanded the protection, so they were treated as common carriers (term of art, btw.) Publishers are held liable for everything they publish. Watch the film Absence of Malice (great film) for a very good look at that. No slander, no libel, no making sh!t up. Free speech is protected from the government interfering, you are not protected from the CONSEQUENCES.
Now the big online media companies want the protections afforded the common carriers, but they ALSO want to take responsibility for choosing which content they publish. You can’t have it both ways. You are responsible for ALL the content you publish, or your publish it all WITHOUT making editorial choices, like a common carrier has to carry any freight that pays…
Some sites, run by ‘traditional’ publishers have specific disclaimers about their comments sections, and specific rules about allowed content. The rules are not supposed to be editorial in nature.
There are lots of rules and restraints on ‘publishers’.
See also “must carry” and “equal time rule” for typical restraints on media publishers. Note that the local affiliates changed their mind about must carry, and now want to be paid for providing content to the cable companies!
FWIW, a lot of really bad laws came out in 1934 restricting constitutionally protected rights.
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A really, really good essay on the lessons learned in the COVID pandemic. Lots of straight talk about what went right and wrong, what expectations should be, and what needs to be done (and isn’t being done) in the future.
https://www.persuasion.community/p/what-we-got-wrong-and-right-about
For better or worse we’re still a country of laws.
— so was nazzi Germany, and Franco’s Italy. The people hiding Anne Frank were breaking the law, and the people who betrayed her were following it.
What step comes between the door to door ‘encouragement’ and the door to door ‘enforcement’ if they’re not one step apart? Would it be the part where the web hosts delete their blogs, or when Facebook or twitter shadowban them from the public fora? Or when their employers fire them for their actions and beliefs outside of work? Or where the banks cancel their accounts? Seizing their property traditionally comes in there somewhere too.
The law changes with every administration now, just like those places we used to mock. The law will be used to destroy the ones they want destroyed.
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added- in case it’s not clear, ALL my possible intermediate steps have already happened to someone, usually multiple someones. Add ‘howling mob chases off all your lawyers’ to the list.
If, as you think, they are press and publisher, then they should be subject to the same laws that the press and publishers are subject to- and yes one of them IS to publish views contrary to theirs, PARTICULARLY as it relates to political advocacy.
Don’t you have that backwards? A common carrier is obligated to give equal time to political candidates/viewpoints, but the press is (or supposed to be) free from restraint or infringement.
So, is Facebook / Twitter / etc a common carrier or the press ? If they are the press then Trump’s lawsuit does not have a prayer of succeeding.
https://www.toddstarnes.com/politics/trump-lawsuit-twitter-facebook/
That potential outcome hasn’t stopped him before.
It’s all about the ‘win’. And if he doesn’t ‘win’, then everyone else is wrong.
Publishers are held liable for everything they publish. Watch the film Absence of Malice (great film) for a very good look at that. No slander, no libel, no making sh!t up. Free speech is protected from the government interfering, you are not protected from the CONSEQUENCES.
Note to self, free on Amazon Prime:
https://www.amazon.com/Absence-Malice-Paul-Newman/dp/B00190RLWA?tag=ttgnet-20
Trump’s lawsuit does not have a prayer of succeeding
That potential outcome hasn’t stopped him before.
It’s all about the ‘win’. And if he doesn’t ‘win’, then everyone else is wrong.
Maybe Trump will be able to force the courts to decide if Facebook / Twitter / etc are Common Carriers or Press. I’ll bet that the courts do not want to decide this though. And this sounds like a ten year case (see The Pelican Brief).
@lynn they are neither at the moment. IIRC there was something stuck into one of the communications bills to make them the current beast, publishers with common carrier immunity. Someone else will have to find the cite as I’m cooking dinner.
I haven’t seen any text or analysis of the suits, so I can’t say what the approach is, but if they proceed it will likely make new case law, and hopefully resolve the issue.
@ech, thanks for that link. I’m working my way thru it, and for a bunch of radical lefties, they’re being incredibly honest and self-aware, so far.
–I was talking about this with my wife yesterday. There are a number of other factors at play too, from the left’s attack on credibility starting with Woodward and Bernstein, to the deliberate fragmentation of western and American culture that lead us to where we are now. More later, if I’m in high enough dudgeon.
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Just got the 2021-07 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 21H1 for x64-based Systems (KB5004945) on my desktop system, a seemingly major semiannual update, or whatever. It had been sitting in the queue as an optional update for several days, and today it said it was mostly installed and did I want to Restart to finish installing it? I was taking a break, so why not. I never just click the Restart Now button. Rather, I systematically close all running things manually, and then restart from the Windows Update panel on the Settings thingy. I want to see what it is first, as shown above.
Dang, I forgot to check if the “shutdown without update” was on the Power menu, but I’ll bet Hibernate was, because it always has been in the past. I have used that ruse to avoid the optional updates before. I don’t know what settings I applied to invoke this behavior, but it is exactly what I want. BTW, I never postpone Patch Tuesday updates.
Anyway, restarted, and watched the blue update screen for a few minutes, followed by logon to my normal desktop. Opened the Task Manager, and there was the usual startup activity, followed in a few minutes by the usual quiet system. Ahhh, back to normal.
Yeah, I know someday this will flame into a smoking pile of ashes. I used to carefully do all kinds of documentation and backups on Windows 2k in case something ever went wrong. Now, I just back up my files and figure if Windows blows up I will nuke and reinstall. Sure, M$ owns my copy of the OS, but in exchange they maintain it. Fair deal.
It’s a big one. The main thing for me is to fix the print spooler exploit.
“Open-plan office noise increases stress and worsens mood: we’ve measured the effects”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-06/open-plan-office-noise-increase-stress-worse-mood-new-study/100268440
“If you’ve ever felt your noisy open-plan office makes you cranky and sends your heart racing, our new research shows you aren’t imagining it.
Prior to the pandemic 70 per cent of office-based employees worked in open-plan offices. Employee complaints about this design are rife.”
Open office bullpens and cubical farms suck. I don’t see how any one creating things gets any work done in these.
Hat tip to:
https://www.codeproject.com/script/Mailouts/View.aspx?mlid=15901
Are you referring to Section 230 of the CDA?
https://g.co/kgs/LazpVv
I’m mystified.
Pol mentions brown shirts and some people get into a frothing frenzy.
Jews are openly targeted for attack on the street of the largest city in the U.S.A. run by an anti-semitic mayor under an anti-semitic governor, and we hear crickets in the press and mostly the same from Jewish groups too busy writing checks for liberal causes. WITH happened to “never again”?
The brown shirts targeted any group that was not “Aryan”, not exclusively Jews, as well as their political rivals of any sort.
Well, that’s what I think but if he’s sueing based some piebald, albeit ‘legal’ interpretation of press + common carrier as Nick says I can only hope it ends up in the Supreme Court as soon as possible.
& Thanks for the link to _Absence of Malice_.
yup, that was the section of the CDA.
Note that I can’t find a date for when the EFF wrote that summary, wherein they treat it as an unalloyed good. I’d be surprised if they STILL think it’s unilaterally good with the revelations from twitter and facebook about political activism and speech suppression.
— kinda ironic, given that that is exactly what they are engaged in, but not to protect themselves, but to suppress speech and “protect USERS”. IIRC the law generally assumes people are capable of protecting themselves.
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Finished the link ech provided, and it is well worth the read. I wish it was 2x as long and that they’d followed some of the ideas they’d mentioned a bit further.
Note that none of them apologized for participating in the responses they are now starting to recognize were wrong. Nor do they address the root causes.
Like the ‘noble lie’ idea. I’ve written before that anyone who has gone thru a serious illness or injury could recognize what the ‘medical professionals’ were doing. They NEVER give you the straight story, always setting a goal, and then moving the goalposts. “In six weeks you’ll get the cast off” (and start 6 weeks of PT). “in six weeks you’ll finish with the therapist” (and start 4 weeks of PT at home). “in four weeks you’ll be back at work” (but on reduced duty for 3 months), etc, rinse and repeat. They’ll tell you they don’t want to ‘discourage’ you. But the other patients I’ve talked to, and my own experience tell me the opposite- that not knowing the whole plan, the amount of work to mentally budget for, and the constant moving goalposts is INCREDIBLY frustrating and disheartening.
Another screwed up idea was trying to simplify complex situations down to a soundbite. The internet has trained a whole bunch of people to argue with any simple statement, looking for the ‘gotcha’ and then discounting the rest of the idea. Every time they simplified too much and somebody went “But what about …” and when that case failed the test, the whole idea was discounted and the proponent discredited.
Oh, and the outright self serving lying didn’t help either.
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“Joe Biden to Divert $860 Million in Covid Relief Funds to House Illegal Alien Children”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/07/joe-biden-divert-860-million-covid-relief-funds-house-illegal-alien-children/
Here come the PRCs (public residential complexes). I’ll bet that they get registered to vote too.
Liar in one thing, liar in everything.
An awful lot of people get awful bent out of shape when I ignore what they’re saying, on account of them having been caught lying before. Not only direct lies but deceitful lies of omission and dishonest techniques of disputation.
For real hard-core criticism of public health ninnies, follow Greg Cochran. He’s been warning about them for years, e.g.:
https://westhunt.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/disaster-in-the-south-pacific/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9765651/Undercover-Chicago-cop-two-ATF-agents-shot-driving-expressway.html
–day-am….
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What’s $860 Million to a spineless politician who’s more comfortable handing out billions or trillions. All Monopoly money to them anyway. And they play without the “Go Directly To Jail” cards.
Blue Ford Crown Vic with black steelies, vinyl seats and a radio antenna in the middle of the trunk.
“unmarked”…right…just a lucky coincidence for these shooters.
You can’t really play a good game of Hide and Go Seek or Cops and Robbers unless the Hider or the Robber tips his hand. In this case the Cops and Robbers just switched sides.
Dang, rain started back up. Maybe I won’t be getting anything done tomorrow after all.
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I’m generally not too fussed about expiration dates. On most products, they are very conservative; on some products, they are ridiculous. Just as an example: I have had one bad egg in the last – no idea – 20 or 30 years? Yet we let eggs sit around unrefrigerated, sometimes for weeks (n.B. European eggs are process differently from US eggs). Hard cheese doesn’t go bad, unless it’s one of those horrible industrial products – it just quietly ages. Salt or sugar – why would they even have an expiry date?
Obviously, something like milk or fresh meat is different. But there aren’t many products like that.
The health risks are nonsense, of course. That said, I really don’t see the point of 5G. The frequencies used penetrate basically nothing, and have a fairly limited range, so 5G will be useless in a lot of situations. Where you do have it, you will need a lot higher density of antennas.
About the only convincing use-cases I’ve heard are large open areas with a high concentration of people. A sports stadium. The big halls in airports. Those seem like pretty limited reasons to push a whole new technology, and in many cases would be adequately served by public WiFi.
Oh, man, that’s an ongoing disaster here as well. The need is obvious enough. For example, I had to change doctors when I moved, and the records don’t transfer – every piece of software has it’s own format.
They’ve been working on a European standard for e-records for ages. The standard even (more or less) exists. The problems are manifold. First, almost no software vendor will support the format natively – they all only do import/export, with the expected problems. Perhaps even more problematic is the sheer variety of information that can potentially be stored. Things like x-rays or MRIs wind up just being weird binary blobs.
A common carrier is not allowed to interfere with communications, except where those are known to be illegal. The key word being illegal: so no taking down stupid conspiracy theories, false information, or undesired political opinions.
There used to be a requirement (in the US) for TV and radio to provide equal time to different political parties. Afaik that rule is no longer in effect. In any case, no one is claiming that Facebook & Twitter are the equivalent of TV and radio.
I can’t say if Trump’s suit has a chance of success, but perhaps it will clarify the issues. Unfortunately, I find his motivations for the suit suspect – for him, it’s more about staying in the news that anything else.
I honestly don’t get this. These “children” are (afaik) generally male teens around 15-17. Functionally adults, they got to the border, they can be put back across it. Same as with any other illegal immigrant: return to sender.
@brad:
Cattle class.
G.