Fri. Dec. 15, 2023 – soon this year will be over… but not soon enough.

By on December 15th, 2023 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse, march to war

Cool again. Overcast again. National forecast says rain and thunderstorms are possible. The morning overcast cleared yesterday to leave a very nice sunny day, until evening when the overcast moved back in. Saturday is supposed to be nice.

I did some pickups all the way across town and far to the south. The most notable thing is the amount of new construction that I saw. They’ve been throwing up new mega-apartment complexes in Houston and surrounds, but this was the first one I saw so far south. It is right in the path of almost any hurricane, and built in an area that floods. New residents from Cali and NYFC won’t know that, so I guess it will work…

Today I have some more auction stuff to pick up, and some other stuff to do around the house. I might head to the BOL tonight, but more likely is tomorrow, so I can grab some auction pickups on the way. There is one that isn’t on the way that I will call and see if I can get them today. Most auctioneers don’t want late pickups, but maybe he’ll go for an early one.

In other news, Elon must have gotten a few more sats in space, because Starlink is available at the BOL again. Now I’m faced with making the decision. It’s pricey, but will let my wife work from home if we are up there, and will let me get some cams in for monitoring the place. I’m going to talk to our friends up there and see if they want to share. I think they are already splitting their new service, as he asked me for advice on sharing network between a couple of houses…so it might just be us. The guy who was initially interested in sharing backed out.

Shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone here that the internet has become so important that I’m seriously thinking about paying double what we pay for fiber here to get it at a place we use one weekend out of the month. I kind of like being out of touch when I’m up there, but my wife would like to be able to spend more time there when the kids are off school but she’s still working. Hmmm. Something to think about, since it won’t be an issue until summer, or possibly spring break.

I vac sealed and froze some more meat yesterday, and added it to the stacks. I’ve been adding other stuff, and getting stuff for the BOL, rather than food, for the most part this year. I’m hoping that doesn’t come back to bite my behind, but other than meat, there isn’t a lot I can add that I’ll use before the cans explode, if the worst case situation doesn’t happen. That’s a good place to be, and I’m glad for it, but now I need to balance between here and there. Might be time to rotate a couple of buckets of flour for example, rather than just add one, same with some seasoning packets, and other things. Or not, as even less that perfect food is still food when it’s all gone pear shaped. I think organizing and swapping my storage around is probably a better use of my time.

Time. Ask me for anything but time. Well, I better get started on the list, because they aren’t making any more time… everyone gets the same amount every day, you can’t ‘save’ it, and you don’t ‘waste’ it. It just is.

So do something. And stack. Or stack. But stack.

nick

62 Comments and discussion on "Fri. Dec. 15, 2023 – soon this year will be over… but not soon enough."

  1. brad says:

    I’m seriously thinking about paying double what we pay for fiber here to get it at a place we use one weekend out of the month

    I don’t know how prices are in the US, or what you would use Internet for at that location. Could you just use a mobile hotspot? Either using your existing mobile contract, or else a dedicated, data-only SIM?

    Sharing with neighbors makes a lot of sense, but only as long as you trust them not to do dirty deeds on your contract. Copyright strikes against you, because they weren’t careful with torrents. Or, worst case, the police knocking on your door, because they downloaded [fill in the blank].

  2. SteveF says:

    It’s the new apartheid and they are welcome to it.   In fact, they could all move to the same neighborhoods, go to their own schools, shop in their own stores

    Something I’ve been saying for a while: If we White people are so awful, why do you keep moving to our neighborhoods?

  3. Greg Norton says:

    “A24’s chilling ‘Civil War’ trailer sees America tearing itself apart”

    Coming to a screen near you on April 26, 2024.

    By then, Trump will have secured the nomination or the Dems will be taking bids on the contract for building the gallows on the steps of the Capitol. Maybe literally.

    A24 has the hot hand in Hollywood right now because they produced “Everything Everywhere All At Once”. Someone lent them money to make that flick.

    I’ve seen film geeks who lean right on some issues decry “Civil War” as being unrealistic because it shows Texas and California in an alliance, but I don’t think that’s far fetched at all. Wait about four years, after income tax passes on the 2027 state-wide Texas ballot.

  4. Greg Norton says:

    Something I’ve been saying for a while: If we White people are so awful, why do you keep moving to our neighborhoods?

    The hottest real estate in my neighborhood is still next to the LDS church. The signs don’t even go up on those houses.

  5. Greg Norton says:

    Shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone here that the internet has become so important that I’m seriously thinking about paying double what we pay for fiber here to get it at a place we use one weekend out of the month. I kind of like being out of touch when I’m up there, but my wife would like to be able to spend more time there when the kids are off school but she’s still working. Hmmm. Something to think about, since it won’t be an issue until summer, or possibly spring break.

    The C-suites let the “back to the office” efforts slide this year because they still haven’t figured out a legal way to make the White and Asian males comply while giving everyone else a pass.

    Where I currently work, the buzz is that a big announcement is coming after the holidays for a mandate start in February, most likely after the week spanning Chinese New Year (2/10) and Presidents Day (2/19 observed) weekends.

  6. Greg Norton says:

    Sharing with neighbors makes a lot of sense, but only as long as you trust them not to do dirty deeds on your contract. Copyright strikes against you, because they weren’t careful with torrents. Or, worst case, the police knocking on your door, because they downloaded [fill in the blank].

    Even if the neighbors aren’t into anything illegal, their legal kinks might be disturbing, and anything going through that external IP address is going to be correlated with the household paying the bill by the Facecracks and the Googles.

    As for the possibility of illegal activity, IP header information used to be protected by a court order the same way a list of telephone numbers dialed by a phone required a judge’s signature to obtain, but I’ve seen a lot of hairs split over what is “maintenance data” as of late, and I don’t make any assumptions about the IP header since it contains a checksum to validate the header as it traverses the wire between routers.

  7. Greg Norton says:

    A24 has the hot hand in Hollywood right now because they produced “Everything Everywhere All At Once”. Someone lent them money to make that flick.

    Brie Larson’s Oscar came from an A24 flick.

    I still believe Nissan funded the release of “The Marvels” with the intention of running a hard push into EVs as “empowerment” this Fall featuring Larson front and center, but then interest rates went to the moon.

    As of late, the new Nissans I see rolling around here are mostly the 3-cylinder turbo Rogue.

    Brie’s waistline isn’t shilling the Rogue right now.

    And the dirty secret about “The Marvels” demo is that 60%+ of the audience for that bomb was male.

  8. Greg Norton says:

    Even if the neighbors aren’t into anything illegal, their legal kinks might be disturbing, and anything going through that external IP address is going to be correlated with the household paying the bill by the Facecracks and the Googles.

    I have no doubt that Starlink is data mining every packet header traversing their network and selling the information, all done under the terms of service.

    If any software gets installed on one or more of your machines with admin rights under Windows to configure Starlink, assume that Tony has introspection into the encrypted web traffic generated by Edge from those machines as well.

    I don’t know about Firefox or Chrome, but that wouldn’t be hard.

  9. MrAtoz says:

    Anyway, leaders staying nice and safe while sending kids off to die? That’s pretty much most of human history. Leading from the front is, historically, pretty rare. Imagine Putin anywhere within artillery distance of the Ukrainian front line. Imagine the Shrub carrying a rifle in Iraq. Or “Peace Prize Obama” in Afghanistan. Just not gonna happen, they are much too important to actually put their own skin in the game.

    Ditto for “Climate Change!!!” “My message is so important, I DESERVE to fly on a private jet. Besides, I have minions who plant a tree for carbon offset.” There is nothing important coming out of Gore’s, Kerry’s, or DiCaprio’s gob.

  10. MrAtoz says:

    You can have a plastic barrel but it will be permanently deformed by the first shot.

    I only need one shot.

    Now, about that prime swampland I have…

  11. drwilliams says:

    Spiral wound aramid fiber around a cermet liner. 

    Until we have phasers, that don’t need barrels. 

  12. Nick Flandrey says:

    “A24’s chilling ‘Civil War’ trailer sees America tearing itself apart”  

    – it’s not just the unlikeliness of Cali forming alliance with Texas, it’s the idea of JOURNALISTS as heroes.

    There’s a line about getting shot on sight in DC– well that’s going on now.  Chicago too.  Killedelphia.  Just right now it’s blacks wearing the wrong colors.   The idea of whites defending DC is ludicrous.

    n

  13. Nick Flandrey says:

    Barrels aren’t hard.   Rifling is hard.   At least for handguns and short barrel rifles or machine guns.   But they’re getting better at it. 

    n

  14. Nick Flandrey says:

    Somewhere around 60F this morning with light overcast.   Looks like a blustery day.

    Got coffee, got breakfast, even got showered and out of the house once already.   

    Now to really get moving.

    n

  15. Nick Flandrey says:

    Let the retconning begin!

    Pentagon BLOCKED from sending taxpayer dollars to Wuhan lab: Congress takes action in defense bill after $47 million was funneled into grants for ‘reprehensible’ animal experimentation – including at China’s COVID lab-leak site

    • Federal data reveals the Pentagon gave $47 million to EcoHealth Alliance, which funded animal experiments at a lab in Wuhan, China
    • The Wuhan Institute of Virology is accused of being the source of COVID-19
    • The NDAA makes it illegal for the Pentagon to give money to EcoHealth’s China research in fiscal year 2024 
    • READ MORE: Bombshell report says NIH failed to keep tabs on Wuhan lab  

    note the matter of fact reference to “lab leak site” and the link to the report right there in the headline…   

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12868651/pentagon-taxpayer-dollars-china-wuhan-lab-covid.html

    Guess it’s not a crazy conspiracy theory any more… /sarc

    n

  16. Ray Thompson says:

    The medicine is helping, a little. Two different antibiotics twice a day. A cough suppressant in some pill form. I only woke up once last night with a massive coughing fit. Almost blacked out and puked my guts. This affliction really sucks. I may have slept last night from just exhaustion. My ribs hurt and my throat is sore from the coughing. And I ready for a nap, again.

    10
  17. Greg Norton says:

    – it’s not just the unlikeliness of Cali forming alliance with Texas, it’s the idea of JOURNALISTS as heroes.

    My wife’s nephew still thinks he is going to turn his J-school degree into a tech manager job by filling the veteran quota and not being “on the spectrum”.

    The last time we saw him, he was talking admiringly about Tesla busing ex-military employees between Killeen and Del Valle every day. He doesn’t make the connection that the buses most likely have WiFi, maybe even a VPN to the Tesla corp. network, and the employees are a captive audience for four additional hours a day beyond their regular shift.

    No word on whether the buses are electric. I’m guessing not.

  18. MrAtoz says:

    Guess it’s not a crazy conspiracy theory any more… /sarc

    Deny! Deny! Deny!

    What more do the sheeple need?

  19. dkreck says:

    Hydrogen buses. Thet’re bomb.

  20. brad says:

    If any software gets installed on one or more of your machines with admin rights under Windows

    Well, yes, that’s always a problem. And lots and lots of software gets installed with admin rights, whether it needs them or not. Which means, in theory, that it can do and see anything. See your inputs before they get encrypted, for example.

    So much of what we do in life depends on trust, even trust of complete strangers.

    The medicine is helping, a little. Two different antibiotics twice a day.

    Glad you’re recovering. Pneumonia sucks, ask me how I know…

    – – – – –

    In other news, the semester ends next week (with exams in January). Students are thinning out, because we’re just reviewing, not doing anything new. They have lots of projects due in other classes, and are spending time there rather than in the classroom.

    We see the wheat and chaff separating. Some students coming up with urgent questions about exercises from the first couple of weeks. On the other hand, the last batch of projects I graded was (with one exception) really astoundingly good.

  21. brad says:

    So, there’s an article on Gateway Pundit about releasing wolves into a national park. The comments are universally outraged. I found that odd – I mean, some folks must surely support having predators in nature? They did it in Yellowstone, for example, and the results have been excellent.

    So I put up such a comment. It was “waiting for approval” for about a minute, and then – gone. Zapped.

    Apparently, any sort of discussion is absolutely not desired. Great site, I’ll be sure to avoid it in the future…

  22. Greg Norton says:

    Well, yes, that’s always a problem. And lots and lots of software gets installed with admin rights, whether it needs them or not. Which means, in theory, that it can do and see anything. See your inputs before they get encrypted, for example.

    Admin rights also allow the installation of device drivers and crypto certificates.

    Since Windows 7 64 bit, device drivers have to be blessed (signed) by Microsoft under WHQL, but crypto certificates – useful for SSL Bumping – do not.

  23. Denis says:

    The medicine is helping, a little. Two different antibiotics twice a day.

    Mind yourself, Ray!

    That unfortunately all sounds eerily familiar. I couldn’t get a doctor’s appointment before Monday morning, so I broke out my emergency box of antibiotics (I get my GP to prescribe a small strategic reserve). I figure they are unlikely to do harm, and ought to do some good until I can see the medic.

  24. Lynn says:

    xkcd: Label The States

       https://xkcd.com/2868/

    I’ll bet that I could get maybe 40.  Extra points for labeling the extra states.

    Explained at:

       https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2868:_Label_the_States

    Better do it quick before the Civil War in 2024 !  “A24’s chilling ‘Civil War’ trailer sees America tearing itself apart”

       https://mashable.com/article/civil-war-a24-alex-garland-trailer

  25. paul says:

    I called USAA today.  Mixed results.  They had the house’s Dwelling Protection cranked up to $433 grand. Good luck selling the house for that. The county says the house is worth $200 grand.  Up $20 grand in each of the last three years.  I remember when this house was appraised at $80 grand and not so long ago.

    His computer would only let me drop down to $350 grand.  Ok, I don’t think that’s cool.  I should be able to insure for the amount I want.  I raised the deductibles a bit.  Wind and Hail up from $2000 to $5000.  I have a metal roof, the thick metal.  I have some money in the bank. 

    It came out to $2005 for a year instead of $2821.  Which is still almost a grand a year more than I would happily pay. 

    I bumped up the two deductibles for the truck up to $1000 from $500.  I think, I didn’t write it down.  But that dropped the auto bill by $80 every six months.  Why the ‘04 Freestar premium costs almost twice that of the ’19 Frontier is a mystery he couldn’t explain.

    So come January the insurance bill will not be about $120 shy of our total monthly income.  We have talked about it.  If the place is somehow totaled, at our age we are not rebuilding.  Scrape off the destruction and have a short double-wide hauled in.  The septic system and the well will still be here.

    Plans.  I have some.  Might not be good plans but they are  better than sitting around picking my nose while watching the TV. 

  26. Lynn says:

    “‘Deep Remorse’: IDF Accidentally Kills 3 Israeli Hostages During Gaza Ground Assault”

        https://thelibertydaily.com/deep-remorse-idf-accidentally-kills-3-israeli-hostages/

    Sad, very sad.  Never let yourself get taken by a kidnapper.  Way easier said than done.

  27. Lynn says:

    I did some pickups all the way across town and far to the south. The most notable thing is the amount of new construction that I saw. They’ve been throwing up new mega-apartment complexes in Houston and surrounds, but this was the first one I saw so far south. It is right in the path of almost any hurricane, and built in an area that floods. New residents from Cali and NYFC won’t know that, so I guess it will work…

    All new construction in the Houston metropolitan area is suppose to be above the 500 year flood plain.  I suspect that all of the apartments are above the 500 year flood plain.  But, the parking lots, I doubt it.

  28. Lynn says:

    I’m seriously thinking about paying double what we pay for fiber here to get it at a place we use one weekend out of the month

    I don’t know how prices are in the US, or what you would use Internet for at that location. Could you just use a mobile hotspot? Either using your existing mobile contract, or else a dedicated, data-only SIM?

    Starlink is $600 for the antenna and $120/month for residential / small business internet.  If your area is congested then there is an $20/month fee.

        https://www.starlink.com/residential

  29. Lynn says:

    “Mark Zuckerberg Is Reportedly Building $100 Million Survivalist Estate In Hawaii. What Does He Know That We Don’t?”

       https://dailycaller.com/2023/12/15/mark-zuckerberg-100-million-estate-compound-hawaii-bunker/

    “Rumors erupted Thursday that Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg is building a $100 million Hawaii compound fit to survive any apocalypse except one that actually raises sea levels.”

    “The compound, located on Kauai, will apparently be called Koolau Ranch, and is already partially constructed, Wired reported. It looks like it’ll be one of the most expensive properties constructed in modern history. Along with a 5,000-square-foot underground shelter with an alleged escape hatch (via ladder), the property will host at least 30 bedrooms, 30 bathrooms, and a slew of guest homes and treehouses joined together by wooden bridges.”

    “Even though this sounds like a big kid’s dream (ie: everyone’s dream), the survivalist nature of the design is a tad concerning. News of the compound’s alleged construction comes hot on the heels of dystopian Obama-produced apocalypse flick “Leave The World Behind,” Alex Jones’ haunting apocalypse predictions of 2023, and the trailer for upcoming film “Civil War.””

    The Zuck listens to Alex Jones ?  What is the world coming to ?

  30. Jenny says:

    Kind of an odd one For you guys. 

    My daughter misplaced her iPod (locked down to music, camera, and sending myself or father messages) at church on 12/06. Possibly while playing in the snowbanks, as device was in a coat pocket that lacked a zipper.
    She told us 12/10.

    When I used Find My on 12/10, the iPod showed offline with last location 12/5 at her music lesson.
    Between 12/10 and now, the ‘last location’ has advanced, for the most part showing a ‘last location’ time about 4.8 days earlier.

    When I looked at Find My on 12/11 about 3 PM, the ‘last location’ showed as at church 12/06 about 7;30 PM. That coincided with the outside. That status remained for a couple days.
    We tried one more time to find it, searching the snow banks with a metal detector. No joy.

    Gave it up as an expensive lesson in responsibility.

    Here’s were it gets more odd.

    On 12/13 about 5 PM, I opened Find My and the iPod had updated it’s last known location as still the church but with a last seen time of 12/7 about 7:30 PM.
    Very odd, because had the device been in the snow bank it would have been out of range of wifi, unlikely to have picked up bluetooth from anyone else, and anyway the battery would have been dead from 10 F temps.

    The location and last seen time have been growing closer to real time.

    I checked again a few minutes ago and now the device shows last known location still at the church with a last seen time of 12/10 5:21 PM. this is several hours after our daughter confessed the loss and several hours after I marked the device lost.

    My expectations of Find My on a non-cellular device would be that it piggy back off compatible blue tooth devices, or catch a free ride off local wifi networks to ping Apple with it’s approximate location and a time stamp.
    Once the battery has died I would not expect the last time seen to change.

    Additionally, I expect Find My to actually show the most recent Last Known location and time stamp.

    So what would cause the device to show progressively more recent location / last seen times that are all consistently in the past?

    Today Find My reports the iPods last location as the church with a last seen time stamp of 12/10 5:21 PM.
    Why didn’t the device show me that information on 12/10 when I first started checking Find My?

    The behavior doesn’t make sense.

    My theory is the iPod offers its last known location information to a nearby compatible bluetooth / wifi device and that device in turn eventually gets around to telling Apple. Maybe there’s a two way communication where Apple says ‘sorry – what was that?’ which triggers the intermediary device to sent the info again. That would sort of fit with the 4.8 days lag between last seen time stamp and when that information got displayed in Find My.

    I doubt the device is going to show up. But – if it is inside the building maybe the last known / last seen times are accurate although late in reporting.

    Weird.
     

  31. Nick Flandrey says:

    Doesn’t take a genius to see that there is trouble on the horizon.  Takes a bit of balls to actually do something about it,  as several people here have done.

    Zuck can get very good intel,  probably state level, given his wealth.    His china doll might feed him info or not.  

    He sees the inflation.  His money isn’t helping him sitting in a bank.   And hey, if he’s wrong?  He’s still got a nice crib in Hawaii…

    n

  32. Nick Flandrey says:

    Grey sky has turned into light misty drizzle.   I got several pickups done, so that’s good.   Everything tomorrow is in the same direction, and on the way to the BOL. 

    n

  33. Bob Sprowl says:

    If you or a loved are kidnapped by terrorist’s you (or your loved one) should considered yourself dead.  If you come back alive it will be a miracle. 

    Negation with terrorists is stupid; it only encourages them to kidnap again.  The correct respond is a slow and painful death to the kidnappers.  

    Unfortunately the goody two shoes folks don’t, and won’t, understand this.  I am considered heartless.  Suck it up buttercup if only telling the truth.

  34. Nick Flandrey says:

    and according to what I’ve read on the subject the best time to (try to) escape is immediately.    The longer you wait, the harder it is.

    n

  35. Greg Norton says:

    “Even though this sounds like a big kid’s dream (ie: everyone’s dream), the survivalist nature of the design is a tad concerning. News of the compound’s alleged construction comes hot on the heels of dystopian Obama-produced apocalypse flick “Leave The World Behind,” Alex Jones’ haunting apocalypse predictions of 2023, and the trailer for upcoming film “Civil War.””

    If you go look at recent satellite images on Google Maps, Obama razed the Robin’s Nest estate from “Magnum PI” in order to build something new on the property.

    Of course, the tidal pool will still be there for Barry and Moochelle to re-create the opening credits scene in the water. Now try to get that image out of your head.

  36. lpdbw says:

    My ex-wife once watched one of those afternoon women’s shows, with a security consultant on it.  Former homicide detective.  He was discussing plain-old kidnapping.

    He said do everything in your power to stop the kidnapping from happening, including fighting to the death.  You’re more likely to get help, or to get away, right then. In his line of work, they refer to the kidnap spot as the primary crime scene, and where they find your body as the secondary crime scene.  Often after a  lot of suffering and abuse.

    The poor unarmed Israeli victims really didn’t have that option, thanks to gun control and an organinzed attack.

  37. Greg Norton says:

    My theory is the iPod offers its last known location information to a nearby compatible bluetooth / wifi device and that device in turn eventually gets around to telling Apple. Maybe there’s a two way communication where Apple says ‘sorry – what was that?’ which triggers the intermediary device to sent the info again. That would sort of fit with the 4.8 days lag between last seen time stamp and when that information got displayed in Find My.

    The other Apple devices which “saw” the iPod probably didn’t “call home” until they were connected to chargers and the power management software told the hardware that a chat with the mothership would be fine based on the users’ charging history.

    Mysterious are the ways of Cupertino, and several class action lawsuits have shaped the charging algorithms on the iDevices.

    My guess is that the iPod went into low power mode at less than 10% charge and only responded on Bluetooth.

    I know “Find My” uses Bluetooth because I keep that turned off on my iPod Touch, and I get the admonishment from the device everytime I upgrade and notice that the new firmware reactivated the feature.

    I only use my iPod Touch as a camera at cons, where, most of the time, cell service makes taking a phone into the main hall useless and WiFi is non-existent. The touch also has a wrist strap, important if I don’t have pockets that day. Yeah, don’t ask.

    Unfortunately for your daughter, the iPod Touch was discontinued, and even if you could get one, the last generation is now more than two iOS versions behind, “deprecated”.

    You could look at a current iPhone SE as a replacement and simply never plug a SIM into the device, but I’d wait until the lesson sinks in.

    Unfortunately, an iPhone SE will be $400.

  38. Greg Norton says:

    Unfortunately, an iPhone SE will be $400.

    “Renewed” iPod Touch devices are almost as expensive as an iPhone looking quickly on Big River.

    Someone must be using those for POS at high end retail or a restaurant chain.

    Even an iPod Touch is a serious piece of computing power in a palm-sized device.

  39. Ray Thompson says:

    @Jenny: I have an iPod Nano that I will send you. It has a flaw of a vertical line in the display. It does work.

  40. Ken Mitchell says:

    Lynn says:

    xkcd: Label The States

       https://xkcd.com/2868/

    I’ll bet that I could get maybe 40.  Extra points for labeling the extra states.

    Some of them are obvious. The extra extra state between California and Oregon is “Jefferson”; that’s been in the works for 100 years.  And there’s certainly no excuse for another desert state between Arizona and New Mexico.

  41. Greg Norton says:

    Some of them are obvious. The extra extra state between California and Oregon is “Jefferson”; that’s been in the works for 100 years.  And there’s certainly no excuse for another desert state between Arizona and New Mexico.

    Is another Arkansas really necessary? Isn’t one enough?

    Same goes for South South Carolina. Maybe they’ll have their Walkin’ ‘Round Money Distribution/Primary in December instead of waiting until January.

    Of course, South South Carolina probably voted *against* the amendment covering direct election of Senators like its neighbors.

  42. Greg Norton says:

    Some of them are obvious. The extra extra state between California and Oregon is “Jefferson”; that’s been in the works for 100 years.  And there’s certainly no excuse for another desert state between Arizona and New Mexico.

    And South Tennessee? I’m sure Ray has a joke about the two states maybe having a full mouth of teeth among the population but many have their doubts.

    Okay, Clarksville was nice. Lots of teeth, but the place is obvious that it is heavily subsidized by the Feds.

    Ray, if you ever get out that way, try The Mailroom, a restaurant built into what was the main Post Office.

    Just don’t mention “the song” when visiting.

  43. Jenny says:

    @Greg

    That makes sense. I figured a delay, couldn’t put my finger on a logical explanation for why.

    @Ray

    Thats a gracious offer, thank you. But no. She has learning to do. She’s as obstinate as I ever was and sometimes things gotta hurt to effect change. 
     

    We are seizing this as a painful consequences opportunity. She really loves having music on hand and used the device heavily. She also got increasingly careless despite a couple close calls and some milder consequences. If she would like to save up to replace it, that’s fine. I see them often locally, pawn shops and Craig’s list, for $100. That’s achievable if she’s determined. 
     

    It’s aggravating that she lost it. I am more than half hoping it remains lost, frankly. She will be far more careful in the future. 
     

  44. Lynn says:

    The poor unarmed Israeli victims really didn’t have that option, thanks to gun control and an organinzed attack.

    Even if they were armed, they were still ambushed and overwhelmed.  I still feel sad for and admire the two IDF officers who did have guns AND ammo in their home (not only guns were limited, so was ammo limited to 50 rounds).  They apparently woke up to seven terrorists in their home and began fighting back immediately.  They managed to get their two ten month old twins into the Safe Room and continued fighting, killing all seven of the terrorists.  Unfortunately they both died of their wounds also.  Later, her father found the babies in the Safe Room.

       https://news.yahoo.com/tragic-story-israeli-couple-killed-170311162.html

       https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12611301/Hero-parents-make-ultimate-sacrifice-Israeli-couple-save-ten-month-old-twins-hiding-Hamas-smashed-home-die-trying-fight-terrorists.html

  45. Lynn says:

    Is another Arkansas really necessary? Isn’t one enough?

    Hey, watch it !  My wife’s Texas grandparents were Cherokees from Arkansas.  

    Wait, they both left Arkansas also in the 1910s / 1920s and moved to Texas.

  46. EdH says:

    Some of them are obvious. The extra extra state between California and Oregon is “Jefferson”; that’s been in the works for 100 years.

    I have said for years that we need more states named after the founders slave holders … 

    In unrelated news I haven’t been invited to a Christmas party in years.

  47. drwilliams says:

    Huge Win for Women’s Sports – Appeals Court Says Female High School Athletes Can Sue Over Transgender Athlete Participation

    “On the issue of whether Plaintiffs have plausibly stated an injury in fact, all members of the en banc Court agree unanimously that they have.”

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/12/huge-win-for-womens-sports-appeals-court-says-female-high-school-athletes-can-sue-over-transgender-athlete-participation/

    from the opinion in the last link (pp 6-7):

    First, we hold that Plaintiffs have pled facts sufficient to establish Article III
    standing at this stage in the litigation. Plaintiffs all personally competed in high
    school track in Connecticut, and they all identified instances in which they raced
    against and finished behind one or both Intervenors. Plaintiffs allege—and we
    must assume—that but for Intervenors’ participation in these specific races, they
    would have placed higher. For the purposes of the standing inquiry, we must also
    assume that Plaintiffs are correct that allowing Intervenors to compete in those
    races violated Title IX. With these assumptions in mind, we conclude that
    Plaintiffs adequately pled a concrete, particularized, and actual injury in fact: the
    alleged denial of equal athletic opportunity and concomitant loss of publicly
    recognized titles and placements during track and field competitions in which
    they participated against and finished behind Intervenors. On the issue of
    whether Plaintiffs have plausibly stated an injury in fact, all members of the en
    banc Court agree unanimously that they have.

    from the main article:

    The opinion is stunning in one key aspect: Although there is a dissenting opinion (in part), the summary of the opinion importantly points out that “[o]n the issue of whether Plaintiffs have plausibly stated an injury in fact, all members of the en banc Court agree unanimously that they have.” That is critical because Judge Chatigny (the trial level judge) had ruled that they could not have been injured because the girls had already graduated from high school. That ruling has now been completely rebuked by every active judge on the Second Circuit.

    Note the first passage of the opinion that I made bold. If the requirement for showing injury is the circumstances as listed, then it is effectively impossible for suit to have “standing” because the timeline is effectively the 3-4 year period of high school, which is too short to march a suit through the federal courts. Catch-22 indeed, made even more so by the “Intervenors” logical strategy of drawing out the proceedings to run out the clock.

  48. Ray Thompson says:

    I see them often locally, pawn shops and Craig’s list, for $100.

    @Jenny: would you feel better if I charged $38.37?

  49. Greg Norton says:

    Some of them are obvious. The extra extra state between California and Oregon is “Jefferson”; that’s been in the works for 100 years.

    Go down to Coos Bay, OR or points further south and you’ll see the Jefferson signs.

    I believe that Rick Harrison of “Pawn Stars” fame has an off grid compound somewhere close to Coos Bay.

  50. Lynn says:

    “FCC Clears SpaceX to Test Cellular Starlink on Phones”

        https://www.pcmag.com/news/fcc-clears-spacex-to-test-cellular-starlink-on-phones

    “The experimental authorization lets SpaceX test the cellular Starlink system by using 840 satellites to beam the data to unmodified smartphones in over two dozen locations.”

    Interesting.

    “The resulting tests are poised to help both SpaceX and the FCC address whether the cellular Starlink system risks causing radio interference across the US, including with other carriers and satellite providers. Companies including AT&T, Dish Network, and Globalstar have all logged concerns about the cellular Starlink system potentially disrupting their own services.”

    I am shocked that other suppliers would have a problem with this.  Shocked, I tell you.

  51. drwilliams says:

    Global Warming is Reducing Maximum Temperatures in the Himalayas

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/12/15/claim-global-warming-is-reducing-maximum-temperatures-in-the-himalayas/

    global warming powerful is

  52. Greg Norton says:

    Hey, watch it !  My wife’s Texas grandparents were Cherokees from Arkansas.  

    I grew up in the state which is the setting for the new “Grand Theft Auto” game.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdBZY2fkU-0

    An alligator walks into a convenience store …

    My parents’ first house in Clearwater is 50 years old this year. $536k? Arthur Rutenberg designed and built them to last, but … geesh!

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1816-Union-St-Clearwater-FL-33763/47280947_zpid/

    I used to think those houses were indestructible, but friend’s soon-to-be ex-wife did manage to ruin their mid-70s Rutenberg/US Home house in Tampa by pouring half of a truck of concrete into the sunken living room, because she never got the hang of the uneven floor.

  53. Lynn says:

    “The Tucker Carlson Encounter: Kyle Rittenhouse”

        https://tuckercarlson.com/the-tucker-carlson-encounter-kyle-rittenhouse/

    “Kyle Rittenhouse exercised the most basic right of all: the right to self-defense. And he’s still being punished for it.”

    BTW, https://tuckercarlson.com/ is now active.

  54. Lynn says:

    I am going to change the name of my software to “A Patchy Simulator”.  We patch here, we patch there, we patch all day.  And I am uploading a 186 MB patch to my web server for a user in Norway.

  55. Lynn says:

    “Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd Avoid Red Sea Voyages After Attacks on Ships”

        https://www.wsj.com/articles/maersk-hapag-lloyd-rethink-red-sea-voyages-after-attacks-on-ships-f117b471

    “Container ship operators have asked captains, in some cases, to not cross a crucial strait heading to the Suez Canal”

    “Hapag’s Al Jasrah vessel was hit by an unknown object on Friday traveling through the strait, resulting in a fire that was later contained, Haupt said.”

    Yeah, that unknown object was probably a missile of some sort.

    It is getting crazy out there.  Again.

    Hat tip to:

        https://www.drudgereport.com/

  56. MrK says:

    @Jenny,

    If the model of iPod has Bluetooth 4 or above, it can use BT lo power to communicate with other BT devices. So there is still a chance it could be found even at this late stage. There might even be enough power for it to emit a feeble beep or two..   😀 

  57. Nick Flandrey says:

    The airtags are part of that same ecosystem, and they don’t need new batteries for a LONG time.  Wife put them on her keys, purse, and the dog.  

    —-

    D2 just took a tray of brownies out of the oven.   At 1230.   Like a meth addict, baking at midnight.   They sure are tasty though.

    —-

    I’ve been trying an automotive finish buffing compound to put some shine on pipe stems, and it works well, even by hand.   Tried it on a dvd that wasn’t readable and it read fine after buffing.   HUGE bottle for what I’m using, so the cost per application is effectively 0.  It’s a very fine grit suspended in some sort of paste.  Thinking outside the box.

    n

  58. JimB says:

    Nick, care to share the name of the buffing compound? I am always looking for something better. Thanks in advance.

  59. SteveF says:

    Container ship operators have asked captains, in some cases, to not cross a crucial strait heading to the Suez Canal

    In short, asking them not to use the canal. In other words, not make the trip at all because they’d lose money if they went all the way around Africa.

  60. Denis says:

    … care to share the name of the buffing compound?

    This side of the big pond, we have something called T-Cut. It puts the shine back on car paint that has gone dull. 

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