Cold today? Yesterday morning caught me off guard with how cold it was. It did end up very comfortable in the afternoon, and it was sunny which was nice. Today will hopefully be a little warmer to start, but still sunny. It really helps to dry things out, and we need to dry.
I had my non-prepping hobby yesterday, and it was a good meeting. I sold some stuff and made a couple of guys happy. I will continue as webmaster, but fortunately I won’t be taking on any additional duties. Every organization has the 80/20 rule for member involvement, or even 90/10, with a core group doing most of the work to keep the group together. Ours is no exception. I would like to say I’m not in the 20% but a bit further down. I contribute, but I’m trying to limit my commitment at the same time. There are a couple of other people with similar levels of involvement.
I came home and napped, then did auction stuff for most of the day and evening.
Which means that today I feel like I should be working EXTRA hard. We’ll see how that turns out…
Don’t let my slackitude keep you from stacking though…
nick
Another first post with nothing to say. Except Xfinity sucks.
45 F and there is fog on the moors this morning.
The dog got sick in our bathroom last night. I cleaned it up at 630am but it smells bad in there.
One of my 20+ year old ethernet over power line units died last night. The women put black tape over the lights to kill the lights and blocked the air vents. They do not understand electronics and heat. Bummer.
I ordered four new units ($160) and will get them tomorrow. The new units claim to be much faster but the old units were fast enough.
Yes. The reveal is part of the character’s arc.
Hollywood simultaneously wants Sean Baker to succeed and fail.
Well, except Disney — I think they mostly want him to fail after “The Florida Project”.
lol, the DNC elected David Hogg as Vice Chair.
Winning!
When I freeze hamburger patties, I separate them using pre-cut squares of parchment paper. Same idea as the wax paper but I think it works better. We buy the packages of square parchment in a box and don’t have to cut them ourselves.
I freeze them in a gallon ziploc bag, 8 patties in stacks of 2, so it’s basically 2x2x2. When I”m highly motivated, I use the vacuum sealer instead, but I’m seldom that motivated. They thaw fairly quickly, and I only have to separate 2 burgers at a time.
HEB used to have sale prices on ⅓ pound premade ground chuck patties in a 12-pack. I’d freeze 8 and cook 4.
Florida Dems are out of power for at least a generation if not longer.
Hogg was already poster boy for the problems for the party in the state.
W1 buys those often when we’re doing grilled burgers for a group (like summer pool party thing.). they say to cook direct from frozen on the package. My problem is too much water added and they shrink too much. Probably caused by adding crushed ice, a trick used by butchers to make them hold shape with lots of fat in the mix. I’d much rather use 80/20 (need that much fat for flavor and juiciness not water) plus season the mix not just the outside. Yeah, more work,
Also usually cook dogs and half the peeps say no but they disappear fast. Learned to cook about half of them first, then burgers then more dogs.
@Nick
True regarding manufacturing, but you outsourced a ton of manufacturing to China as well. Mexico gave American companies (and investors) a closer source of cheap labour while not funding a probable aggressor. What is happening with the tariffs will have manufacturing move back to the USA over time. Don’t expect any of those products to be less expensive and the trade for more jobs (assuming it is not just highly automated manufacturing) may not make the average American any better off. Time will tell.
As for dairy products, that was part of the NAFTA negotiation, and you can be certain Canada had to trade-away other rights within the treaty to keep Canada’s dairy supply-management system. Keeping supply management may not be the best idea for Canada, but if the USA wants Canada to make that large a change, then the USA has to give something in exchange. Treaty negotiations, not treaty abrogation.
Canada has always based it’s economy on natural resources, because that is the easiest thing for us to do as we have the gift of them in abundance and a ready market (the USA) just to the south. I am not sure either country wins if it comes down to comparing which causes more environmental degradation/devastation. Would I like it if Canada did less resource extraction and more manufacturing, etc…? Sure I would, and there has been an decades-long crisis of reduced productivity in Canada that has yet to be addressed by our politicians. The tariff war now begun has underlined this problem so I am hoping (expecting is going too far) it will be now get the appropriate amount of attention.
Well, you can finally get over all that revolutionary nonsense if you swear that you: “… will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles the Third, King of Canada, His Heirs and Successors. So help me God.” Welcome to Canada, have some maple syrup and a hockey stick.
Managing 50 tiny little provinces (ok, California, Texas and Alaska are almost Canadian sized) would be problematic. Maybe instead you just sell us Alaska and Manhattan Island. Keep the Louisiana Purchase. We will give you double what you paid. Who could resist such a deal?
Not going to happen. Chuckles III is even more of an inbred nitwit than II, who inspired the revolution.
“Ma” Windsor knew this and delayed his ascension as much as possible in order to keep the 100 year plan on track to put a descendant of the crime family in the White House.
The plan is still on schedule.
The shark is still working.
Well, we have a pretty negative opinion about the grifter now occupying the oval office. At least it is not hereditary so he is gone in 4 years.
Dang it. 62F and sunny.
I wrote a whole mini essay in response to Tv, and then accidentally shut off my pc before finishing. All economies start with resource extraction, but eventually need to shift to something else. This seems to happen when the citizens start to view the resources as “theirs” and “scarce”. IDK if the citizens of Canada will ever do so, given their tepid or hostile feelings for nationalism, and the worship of diversity and immigration. Bringing in non-westerners from low trust societies pretty much guarantees they will continue to see resources as “someone else’s stuff” to be exploited for their short term benefit.
—-
We lost power around 830am and it messed up the computers. I’m replacing UPS batteries, but didn’t do my office yet. The linux NVR gets really confused when it automatically restarts after power loss. I finally got that fixed, but instead of hitting the power button for the linux box, I hit the power for my main machine… duh.
——
And a hard restart of my win8 main machine installs stuff that’s been waiting a while… I have 1 Gb of windows updates to apply and they all are for win8 versions of stuff. I don’t use edge or the other one, but I’ll update them so that some exploit aimed at them won’t work.
something always seems to pop up and derail my plans…
n
Nick, thanks for checking on Rick and DadCooks.
Ah. Why are European-Americans suddenly so inferior at math since like 1998? Why are the people of Newton, Einstein, Dirac, Crick, Feynman, Heisenberg etc suddenly no longer able to do first rate science?
@drwilliams
Well, as for lying: all politicians are liars, principally to their constituents. We vote for whoever tells the best lies or the stories we want to believe. Hence, Trump. (Hence Trudeau). As well, no politician is wrong about everything. Trump may do wonderful things for the USA, but this is not my concern. He is screwing with Canada. Just like a hockey player delivering a body-check, you need to accept some pain to deliver that hit. Trump is throwing that check on Canada and there will be some pain involved as Canada will respond. Such a waste as this does not move the puck forward.
(One correction. US population(estimate) in 2024: 336 million. Canada: 42 million. So 8 times that of Canada.)
As for free transit across Canada, who crosses into Canada is the responsibility of Canada (and we are far more gentle at the US border). Who crosses into the USA is the responsibility of the USA. Does the USA stop and interview anyone leaving the USA for Canada, some of whom are smuggling guns that are illegal in Canada and for sale to criminals? No you don’t. Nor do we interview people leaving Canada. (I can imagine your glee at being asked where you are going, with what, and why by federal employees at the US border if you take a foreign vacation.) Neither country is interested in turning into North Korea or the now extinct Soviet Union regarding border controls. As much as we all hate it, smuggling happens. The USA has not been able to control it across your southern border for decades, be it weed, or cocaine, or fentanyl, or illegals. Somehow, Canada has a magic wand to stop this? We don’t, your president for as low an opinion as I have of him, is not stupid. He knows that is not possible so his request is intentionally a nonsense. The tariffs on Canada have nothing to do with fentanyl and illegal aliens.
As for fentanyl, the USA is not the only country with a fentanyl problem. Since 2016 over 30,000 Canadians have died from this scourge, so we too are not happy with Chinese imports/smuggling of fentanyl or precursor chemicals, or with Mexican gangs producing fentanyl. For that matter, we are not happy with the American drug company that reintroduced opioids (Oxy) as “a safe pain relief option”, opening the door to widespread acceptance of legal opioids and thereby creating addicted individuals running to fentanyl.
I am sorry to hear about the young man and hope he was able to recover and fix his substance abuse problems. For my part, my wife’s niece was murdered by a drug gang, so the evil in this trade has a way of touching too many of us.
Finally, what cold air? Last night it was a balmy 12F in Toronto (before wind-chill). We are just trying to toughen-up you lazy southerners by occasionally freezing your water for a couple of days. Character building – that’s all it is (with a nod to Calvin’s Dad).
Cheers.
Calculators capable of symbolic derivation and integration, albeit limited, deserve some of the blame. HP started the mess with the 28C, but TI really pushed the 92 series with built-in Derive into colleges and high schools.
The upside of Carly Fiorina putting the knife to the HP calculator division in the late 90s is that the nonsense stopped and academia went back to teaching Calc I, II, and III the old fashioned way.
>>I ordered four new units ($160) and will get them tomorrow. The new units claim to be much faster but the old units were fast enough.
@lynn, what make/model are you using?
One important consideration when comparing current students to past students… the student body is SIGNIFICANTLY different today.
Leave aside the changes in teaching, and teachers, the student body 40 years ago was primarily white middle class students, well fed, from intact families, and well tied to their community.
Today’s student body is primarily non-english speaking, or if not mostly, then at least a significant portion. Limited proficiency in english. Low socio-economic status. Poor nutrition limiting potential. Single parent homes. No ties to community. And a cultural bias against individual excellence.
So yeah, not really a surprise that scores are different and lower.
n
Kids today.
I often hear young people mispronouncing words common in every era before this one.
Latest is a 20 something man doing vintage stereo restoration. He should know better. He keeps saying “fah- no” when he should say “foe-no” for the word “phono” as in “phono connector on a stereo receiver/amp”. The word is shortened from “phonograph” and is very common word in the audio world, especially the world his channel and business are part of.
It’s great he’s doing repair vids on youtube, and you can’t fault his enthusiasm and willingness to try and to learn new things, but jebus wept.
n
Ugg, and he’s using a cnc router to cut new speaker grills but failing. And failing. And failing. He tries the same thing a dozen times, without changing anything or trying to figure out what’s going wrong, or research how to fix it. He burns up a lot of material before getting lucky. (he’s cutting out diamonds and once they come loose, they bind up the router. He never learns the cnc fix which is to leave them attached with little tabs or a very thin layer to be cut loose later, or the obvious and quicker fix which is secure the sheet to the cutting table so the diamonds can’t move after they are cut loose.
Well, we have a pretty negative opinion about the grifter now occupying the oval office. At least it is not hereditary so he is gone in 4 years.
We’ll see. We just may make him El Presidente for Life.
Like Wee Pierre’s real father … if you believe the Cuban expats’ paternity theories.
Now the 27yo “restorer” just used “quad zero” steel wool…
I get that a lot of these younger guys feel like they have no choice but to be self taught, but there are a LOT of old guys out there doing furniture restoration and refinishing.
It’s embarrassing.
n
Went to Joe V’s Smart Shop today. It’s an HEB owned warehouse style discount grocery store, targeted at the immigrant/minority population. Limited brand selection, large packages in the meat department, generally lower prices than HEB stores.
We’ve made it an occasional stop to stock up on certain items like cream, canned sparkling water, and meat, depending mostly on their sales flyer. We bought bone-in pork loin roasts for $1.97/lb.
Parking lot was full almost to overflowing. Inside the store, traffic was bumper to bumper.
If fear of deportation was keeping hispanics hiding at home, there was no sign of that today.
My impression of that store is that best by dates are shorter, the meat is mostly seasoned which can hide freshness issues, and I’m looking for the other money saving shortcuts…
It’s HEB, so I don’t expect any real serious issues, like the local carneceria stores…
n
Really? I don’t shop there, but I always figured their product turnover was so high that freshness wouldn’t be an issue. I’m just a creature of habit with shopping, and only hit a few stores. I seldom think to go to a meat-centric store.
What issues have you seen? What should I be wary of? Other than the language barrier, of course.
Largest drug “super lab” in Canada’s history busted with record amount of fentanyl, chemicals and guns seized
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/canada-drug-super-lab-busted-fentanyl-guns/
Trump’s fentanyl ultimatum puts Canada’s ‘super labs’ under microscope
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/fentanyl-super-labs-canada-trump
Fentanyl super labs in Canada pose new threat for U.S. opioid epidemic
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/12/24/fentanyl-labs-canada-threat-to-us/
Putting a 25% tariff on Canadian goods ought to concentrate their attention wonderfully.
Meanwhile in the U.S., I’d be impressed if they would propose a bill in Congress to make fentanyl possession subject to the death penalty, and make profits from fentanyl equivalent.
And the sooner they nuke the cartels from orbit, the better.
It’s a drive-through store? Or is it really just butt to butt traffic? 😉 🙂 😉
Mainly if you are selling on low cost, vs great value or great quality, you are going to frame all decisions in terms of their cost, and I think focus on things that may not benefit the customer.
My wife suggested I take a look at Joe V again, so I’ll revisit. They do have their fans.
N.B., I don’t see much point in shopping ALDI either. Their prices aren’t different from other stores, selection is limited, and I’d still have to visit other stores to get everything I need.
On the other hand, I’m an advocate of trying new things, and breaking up routines, just to be sure you’re not missing stuff, so I guess I’ll be going to Joes this week…
n
re: Aldi
I shop there regularly, at least once a month. There is a limited set of products you can only get there.
Their chocolate candy bars are superior to Lindt, and cheaper.
They have a dried steak/biltong product that is pricy, but near perfection.
I like their butter, and if you time it right, you can get a really good price. We stock up for holiday baking. I also like their full-fat greek yogurt, a couple bucks cheaper than Fage and just as good.
And, finally, they have stroopwaffel ice cream treats in the freezer section. Fortunately, it’s only occasional, or I’d be fatter than I am.
>>I ordered four new units ($160) and will get them tomorrow. The new units claim to be much faster but the old units were fast enough.
@lynn, what make/model are you using?
I was using this model:
https://www.amazon.com/Netgear-85Mbps-Powerline-Network-Adapter/dp/B001AZUTCS?tag=ttgnet-20/
I ordered two packages of 2 each of:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H74VKZU?tag=ttgnet-20
If interested, I will report if they work fine.
@tv
“As for free transit across Canada, who crosses into Canada is the responsibility of Canada”
Exactly.
Canada–and Mexico to a much larger extent–allows people to enter whose purpose is to violate the immigration laws of the U.S. In Mexico that traffic is encouraged by a leftist government and blended with their own citizens who are trafficked by the cartels for reportedly $2,000 to 20,000 per head and the Mexican government’s motivation is the $60+ billion that is sent home to stave off the next revolution.
What motivates the Canadian government? Well, it is leftist and headed by a leftist with a history that includes attacking Christian churches, trashing your constitution when it suits him, and using governmental authority to shut down people speaking inconvenient truths. I’ll pass on the “health” care comments. It’s not a stretch to believe that they also willfully facilitated alien invaders of the U.S. Even though our previous bag of semi-ambulatory potted meat product occupying the White House could be said to have exhibited much of the same history, the current POTUS did not inherit that mantle and is going to right the ship of state. If it rolls a bit too far and applies too much pressure to our northern neighbor, I will regret.
I note that Canadians have an opportunity approaching to similarly change course. I hope the left does not succeed in ginning up resentment against the tariffs to distract from the real issues.
“Musk Reveals Treasury Has Been Auto-Paying Everyone, ‘Even Known Terrorist Groups’”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/treasury-depts-highest-ranking-career-official-rage-quits-after-musks-doge-team-probes
I am going to send a billion dollar invoice to the USA treasury tomorrow. Oh wait, it may be too late.
“I am going to send a billion dollar invoice to the USA treasury tomorrow. Oh wait, it may be too late.”
Mine is for only $100 million and is already in the mail, along with another fifty or so. Best not to ask for real money in one chunk.
@tv
Forgot to ask. Canada does have one thing I want, or rather, Ford Canada:
The tooling for the Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis
It’s outdated and probably valued for scrap, so if I have to pay 25% tariff on the scrap value, I’m in.
Visit the McDonalds just off the main freeway exit in North Platte, NE on a Monday night after football practice. I doubt the demographics have changed much in the last 50 years.
Or the SAT scores.
The Panther platform is long gone as is Mercury.
The Crown Vic prototype I saw on the street in Chicago in 2019 was probably based on the current rear wheel drive Explorer platform, which is assembled in the city.
That car disappeared as soon as the House started debating Impeachment.
The previous Explorer came from the last generation front wheel drive Taurus/Sable so reversing the modification, from crossover to sedan wouldn’t be difficult.
Even if the Crown Vic came back, the Explorer platform when used by cops has issues, particularly with carbon monoxide in the vehicles after the customization shops get done with them.
Also, the Panther was a platform which could be serviced by compete idiots at city maintenance depots doing nothing but oil changes and still run for 400,000 miles.
Heh, since I have no self control with respect to sweets I will sometimes buy non-cookie cookies, i.e. cookies good enough to eat with lunch but not good enough that I don’t want to eat the entire package at a sitting.
Unfortunately the Aldi’s fig newtons are too good…
The store brand spaetzle is very good, but not every Aldi has it.
“Also, the Panther was a platform which could be serviced by compete idiots at city maintenance depots doing nothing but oil changes and still run for 400,000 miles.”
Add alternator, water pump, oil pump, coils, etc., to the list, but all readily accessible.
72F out and sunny, here in the Ca. high desert.
My sister just sent me a video of it snowing from her place in Tacoma.
Another 2c on the helo/jet crash:
0. Who: I think it is clear the helo is at fault.
1. Why: The NTSB and Army Safety Center will release the reasons. The helo was above altitude and off the flight path. I read the helo altimeter was set at the wrong pressure altitude which could throw them off. Flying low level over water at night is misorienting and the radar altimeter can be wonky. If you’ve flown that path before, you would realize you were too high. I’m sure both those pilots have flown that route, so there are more contributing factors as to why they were misoriented.
2. Them: As in arm-chair pilots, civilian jet pilots, military jet pilots, and military helo pilots. What I find wrong:
a. Jet-only pilots should only comment on general air work. I recognize the experience. The handling and capabilities of a helo are significantly different and the safety investigation will talk about crew coordination and aircraft handling. Jet pilots tend to accumulate many more hours than helo pilots. The female pilot had 500 hours as a Captain and that is about average depending on how long she’s been a Captain. Those 5,000+ jet hours are a lot of sitting on your arse using autopilot. I graduated from Army Flight School with less than 200 hours. Two weeks after reporting to the Big Red One, my first assignment, I was signed off as Pilot In Command (PIC) as a Second Looey. Not that I’m that good, but the training is focused and intense. And if you can’t make PIC, you are going to be a groundpounder.
b. “OMG the helo only had one crew chief on board, they should have had two in that area and three is the minimum.” I can’t count on my fingers and toes how many UH-60 flights I took with NO crew chief because there are only so many. The UH-60 requires two pilots due to certain emergency procedures. When I retired in 1999 that was still true (I saw UH-60s flown single pilot in Korea to evacuate aircraft from a flooding airfield.) A crew chief may now be required, but I doubt it. Combat missions, sling load training, and other training most definitely require a crew chief. How many airlines do you think require more than two pilots (no crew chiefs on board these days)? Also, a crew chief is not a pilot. Maybe he contributed to the accident by being wrong.
c. “The female helo pilot was sitting in the left seat and was the PIC since she was the ranking officer.” Undoubtedly, she was being evaluated and the PIC was the Warrant Officer who would also be an Instructor Pilot (IP). PIC is not based on rank. The PIC, in this case, the Warrant, and the Instructor Pilot (IP), sits in the left seat since Army helos designate the right seat as the main operating seat. All the instruments are oriented that way and that is normally where the PIC sits. Unless he/she is an IP. They teach and evaluate from the left seat to train up PICs (unless the IP/PIC is evaluating another IP, then they would sit in the right seat to properly train another IP). The PIC is responsible for the safe operation of the helo and to complete the mission. The ranking officer can modify the mission, and I did that several times as the ranking officer. As long as the change can safely be done, the PIC of lower rank/more experience, even an IP, follows orders. I mention all this to emphasize the Captain wasn’t in charge of the aircraft even if she was at the controls when the collision happened.
3. ATC: It is reported the control tower was undermanned. No mention of the qualifications and experience of the controller. The last-minute runway change probably threw a monkey wrench into things, but it doesn’t sound unusual. All the flight routes being used are documented, and I’m sure the helo pilots had their flight charts available and were studied before the training.
4. LOL: A tranny pilot was wrongly identified as the person being trained. No, it wasn’t on board, so the Rainbow Alphabet People are off the hook. Some misogynists are trying to blame the Captain because fffeeeeemmmmaaaallle. Nope. The UH-60 is fly-by-wire so not a lot of body strength is required. She made it through flight school and had 500 hours, so completely qualified.
5. Crybabies: Commercial Aviation is safe.
The Mexican President is giving tRump the middle finger on tariffs. I wouldn’t do that. She should have been on a flight to DC to negotiate, but a cartel probably owns her. This so-called trade war won’t end nicely. For Mexico, that is. We can live with pricey avocado toast. Can Mexicans survive without the $$ sent their way? I think it is only a matter of time before tRump tells her “handle the cartels, or we will.”
Extend the tariff to remittances to Mexico as withholding taxes for all transfers not providing proof of taxes paid.
But make it 50%.
And start doing traffic stops for registration and insurance on all vehicles leaving certain parking lots on certain days where those remittances spike.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/01/28/shrimp-fraud-gulf-coast-restaurants/77993551007/
Pith ‘em like frogs and hang ’em from the barbie.
Mexican Cartels Intensify Fight Against Trump’s Border Policies
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2025/02/02/mexican-cartels-ramp-up-their-fight-against-trumps-border-policies-n2651527
Brett Favre Shares Latest On Parkinson’s Battle With Michelle Tafoya
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/salem-news-channel/2025/02/02/brett-favre-shares-latest-on-parkinsons-battle-with-michelle-tafoya-n2651525
Sigh. Again, the tariffs have nothing to do with the trickle of fentanyl and illegal aliens crossing into the USA which, I will note again, is the responsibility of the USA to detect and halt. It is economic warfare, plain and simple. To which we have responded.
Please try to keep your insinuations about Canada and motivations for actions within the bounds of reason. You clearly don’t like left wing politicians. Fine, don’t vote for them in the USA. I don’t care for them in Canada either nor do I vote for them, but we each have national leaders elected that the other doesn’t care for (and I am further gifted by a national leader of my own that I don’t care for) . Where you get the accusations puzzles me, as I pay for more attention to Canadian politics than I think it likely you do. There are enough real scandals under the current government that need addressing (unable to control spending, productivity crashing due to over-regulation, losing control over what was a splendid immigration system, not addressing shortages of doctors and housing all exacerbated by too many immigrants, and several financial scandals). The woke stuff is just an echo of his Dad, who also ignored finances in favour of repatriating the constitution (a worthwhile effort by his Dad, but you can and should keep one eye the nation’s finances).
As for the coming election, Trudeau waited unconsciously long before bailing out and calling an election. He will be reviled forever for that self-serving act. As a result, it is unlikely his party will come out of the election with more than a handful of seats, perhaps a few more depending on who is the next leader of the Liberal party. The likely winner has to date shown no ability to do anything but fling slogans (verbal poo really). But, there are a few glimmers of thoughtfulness leaking out, and I will likely hold my nose and vote for him as the current set of bums need to be evicted (and in about 8 years the new set of bums will require eviction as well). No election until roughly June however.
And again, the tariffs are the only real issue and all of the national party leaders are in agreement on this, including the leader of the likely winning right-wing party. Tariffs are not a left or right issue, this is a national issue. If you think there is any serious dissension amongst the Canadian public on this, you are kidding yourself. The only one not in lock-step is the premier of Alberta (and not necessarily the Alberta public), since she is trying to protect the Alberta oil industry. If this goes on for very long, that will fail.
@MrAtoZ
If reports are accurate that there were two aborted landings by airplanes coming into Reagan due to helos in the flight path in the week previous to the tragedy, that would seem to indicate a fault in the larger military helicopter operations, rather than a single helicopter.
And if those reports are accurate and there were not people on both the commercial and military sides that noticed and raised multiple red flags, then the fault rises to negligence if not worse.
@tv
If the first is true then actions resulting in reduction of both would not be rewarded by reduction in tariffs. I’d suggest that there are two options, the first of which is standing firm in that belief and enjoying the new tariff levels.
But it’s not a two-body system. cutting down the flow from the southern border is going to increase the pressure of illict flows on the northern border.
As to the second, I would note that cutting legal trade to zero is certainly going to increase the ability to detect and halt illegal trade.
I am not sure what you consider outside the bounds of reason.
We’ve lived with NAFTA and the accompanying trade deficits long enough to recognize a failed experiment. Maybe it’s time to throw it in the toilet and return to a time-tested truity:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44266/mending-wall
To a larger extent, we may be about done with trade deficits:
https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2025/02/02/trump-unloads-on-uk-eu-over-unfair-trade-practices-an-atrocity-n2185124
It’s problematic whether there will be a German automotive industry five years from now, so that column may be self-correcting.
The eurocrats love them some tariffs. Remember the last time Trump raised the idea of tariffs?? Full court blitz by the MSM and the euro talking heads against the idea.
So Trump says “you are right, I hate tariffs, let’s get rid of them all.” Much indignant protesting that they couldn’t give up THEIR tariffs, and suddenly it’s a complete non-story in the news…
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we blocked tariffs on chinese steel and they destroyed the US steel industry. The worldwide industry was then bought for pennies and consolidated under one company. Not a good result, because once that company owned something like 80% of the world’s production, they raised prices and steel was profitable again.
I’m pretty sure every nation in the world uses tariffs to distort markets and protect indigenous producers.
It’s time for a change. “We” waited too long, and now it will be brutal and painful.
n
Tonight’s dinner was standing rib pork roast. That’s one of my favorite seasonal things at Costco.
This one went to freezer camp in 2018.
Garlic salt on the outside, bacon strips on top, and into the oven it goes. Sides were instant mashed potatoes, packet pork gravy, and saute’d apples with brown sugar and bacon crumbles… and naan bread from the freezer.
Totally delicious. Kids and wife both complemented dinner.
Now for some ice cream
n
@Nick
I’m sure it was a principled stand.
But if you peruse the charts for 2017-2024:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/02/trade-war.php
it appears the Biden administration raked in 80% more revenue from tariffs than the Trump administration.
The graph, BTW, is from Statistica, which I have little confidence in as they are liars. If you attempt to access one of their pages, they give you a choice of “Accept Cookies” or “Adjust Settings”, but the latter takes you to a page that has no such option.
I have watched about 6.378 minutes of the Grammys in 45 second spurts. Those people are just weird. Talented? Maybe. But they are just weird. To blast the record industry, who just made you millions, demanding healthcare and a livable wage. I think your career just ended. Idiots.
Absolutely it was the helo pilot’s fault. The airliner was on final on a published approach. It was exactly where it was supposed to be, and at the correct altitude for that point in the approach.
The helicopter was flying on a training mission, and I’m not aware that the helo’s path was especially constrained, other than “see and avoid”. This, the helicopter pilot manifestly failed to do. From the various videos, the weather was VMC, so it should not have been a factor.
A couple of additional concerns were the female pilot, apparently freshly off a tour as White House liaison officer or some such. When did she leave the White House and return to flight status? How much RECENT flight time had she had, and had she flown this route in the daylight? And why was her identity withheld for long enough for somebody to scrub her social media accounts? That LAST point is VERY troubling. The very young and stupid are often posting to their social media accounts when they SHOULD have been paying attention to their duties. And flying a helicopter allows for ZERO inattention.
Harry Reasoner on Helicopters https://www.southerneaglesquadron.com/harry-reasoner-on-helicopters/
“The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by its nature wants to fly, and if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by a deliberately incompetent pilot, it will fly.
“A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance the helicopter stops flying; immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter.
“That’s why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why in generality airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant, extroverts. And helicopter pilots are brooders, introspective anticipators of trouble.
“They know if something bad has not happened it is about to.”
“Lawsuit Alleges FAA Denied 1,000 People Air Traffic Controller Jobs To Meet Diversity Hiring Targets”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/lawsuit-alleges-faa-denied-1000-people-air-traffic-controller-jobs-meet-diversity-hiring
“Just as multiple air travel related tragedies have taken place, it’s been reported that the FAA is fighting a class action lawsuit alleging it denied 1,000 people air traffic controller jobs based on diversity hiring targets, according to the New York Post.”
“The lawsuit, originally filed in 2015, resurfaced following a fatal midair collision in Washington, DC, that claimed 67 lives—the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in nearly 25 years. Hours later, a small private plane crashed in Northeast Philadelphia, putting emphasis on the role of air traffic control.”
“At the time of the blackhawk helicopter incident, staffing levels were reportedly “not normal.” Andrew Brigida, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, criticized the FAA’s focus on diversity and inclusion, suggesting it contributed to the likelihood of such an accident.”
“The New York Post report says that the lawsuit claims the FAA, under the Obama administration, replaced a skill-based hiring system with a “biographical assessment” to increase minority hires.”
“Andrew Brigida, a white applicant, alleges racial discrimination after being rejected despite scoring 100% on his training exam at Arizona State University’s aviation program in 2013.”
Lovely, just lovely. People died to meet diversity hiring requirements that SCOTUS forbade the USA government to use.
And then there is this take…
n
“Illegal Migrant Protests Ramp Up In US Cities In Response To Trump Deportations”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/illegal-migrant-protests-ramp-us-cities-response-trump-deportations
“Civil actions from the political left are notoriously seasonal and the winter cold usually keeps fragile progressives indoors. However, in southern states where temps are warming up we’re getting an early glimpse of what larger US cities will probably look like with the arrival of spring. Illegal migrants and their leftist “allies” are up in arms this week and they’re feeling bold – Donald Trump’s mass deportation initiatives, which have so far focused on criminal gangs and violent offenders, are unacceptable they say.”
If I was a Border Patrol official, I would just arrest everyone at one of these demonstrations.
For all its posturing, Canada will struggle with Trump’s new tariffs
Excerpts:
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/02/for_all_its_posturing_canada_will_struggle_with_trump_s_new_tariffs.html
Misogynist? Or realist?
Body strength is part of the equation, but even if you remove that, skill levels, reflexes, and judgment are still relevant. As is knowing left from right, apparently.
Hold up all the examples you wnat, but Hultgreen, Duckworth, and Earhart are strong counter arguments. Duckworth didn’t die like the others. She just lost 2 legs and use of an arm, and caused her crew to be injured. By her own decisions and against advice.
In an era of DEI, you can’t trust that female and minority pilots rose by virtue and merit only. It is only fair to assume the contrary. In an era before affirmative action and DEI, it is more safe to assume a black or female in a position is extra competent.
I haven’t read anywhere whether the prior incidents were military helicopters. Heads should be rolling if they were. Helo traffic in that area is primarily civilian. The rich don’t Uber.
I believe the mission of her unit is primarily “ash & trash”, ie, flying goobermint VIPs around. So, primarily operating in the civilian airspace.
No I’m not.
-pulls snuggy up around face, growling-
I worked with (mostly fixed-wing) pilots for over 20 years. A mix of private, Air Force, and Army guys.
Helicopters being what they are, I was told you don’t ask an experienced rotary wing pilot “have you ever crashed?”
You ask how many times, and what was the worst. So far.
I had a boss once, private pilot, who recounted his talk with a helicopter pilot he hired to do some filming. His name was Allen Barklage, and he was hijacked to land in a prison and extract a prisoner. He ended up disarming and shooting and killing the hijacker, all while flying a helicopter. That’s some skill there.
If she hadn’t flown in a year or more, she would go to Fort Rucker for refresher training and then to the unit for mission training. Refresher is intense, only with IPs, a lot of flying and evaluation.
It is possible she was flying minimums with that unit while working plugs’ pickle at the WH. A staff puke on flight status.
Ya got a point. Obola/plugs pussification. Still, she had 500 hours in UH-60s. My hours are spread out among four different helos. Not including my minor fixed wing time and two hours in a Sikorsky S76 “special assignment”.
BTW, during my twenty years, I never flew an Army helicopter with a “black box”. When there was a crash, you picked up the pieces, loaded the living into ambulances, and the rest into body bags. The Army Aviation Safety investigation has to figure out what happened.
Flight recorders might be standard now or peculiar to this units VIP mission.
My concern would be, was she ACTUALLY GETTING those flight hours, or were some of them gundecked? It wouldn’t be the first time that somebody is on the manifest for flight time, but not actually on the aircraft.
>>I ordered two packages of 2 each of:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H74VKZU?tag=ttgnet-20
If interested, I will report if they work fine.
@lynn, yes, please let me know how they work out for you. If so, one item I can cross off my to-do list. TIA.
>>Flight recorders might be standard now or peculiar to this units VIP mission.
Heard from one of the aviation “experts” on Fox that this copter has the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder combined in one physical box (vs. two boxes on the jet). YMMV
gundecked
– new term for me, easy enough from context… but just to be sure, same as “pencil whipped”?
n
“‘The Purge’: Mass Carnage as Trump and Musk Ruthlessly Gut Corrupt Government Agencies”
https://discernreport.com/the-purge-mass-carnage-as-trump-and-musk-ruthlessly-gut-corrupt-government-agencies/
“(End of the American Dream)—The largest and most bloated bureaucracy in the history of the world has been thrown into a state of complete and utter chaos. I have no idea how all of this is going to end, but it sure is entertaining to watch. President Trump is firing people left and right, and Elon Musk is storming around Washington D.C. like a bull in a china shop. I think that the words “shock and awe” don’t even begin to describe what we are witnessing. Nobody has ever dared to go into these ultra-powerful government agencies and start turning the tables over.”
“When I decided to write this article, I was feeling quite overwhelmed, because there is just so much going on right now. This is going to be a very long article, and I will take it one step at a time. With all that being said, let’s take a look at some of the highlights…”
Looks like Trump is going to fire half of the federal government. Good. But,
“Since 2009, approximately 26 trillion dollars has been added to the national debt. By borrowing and spending trillions upon trillions of dollars that we did not have, that allowed us to live a far higher standard of living than we actually deserved.”
“If we reduce government spending and dramatically slash the size of the federal government, there will be enormous consequences.”
“I hope that you are ready for that.”
Had a nice evening with friends last night. Politics came up only once, which is good, because four are pretty far left, and two of us are more conservative. Why is it that people on the left feel completely comfortable stating their extreme positions, but those of us on the right are worried about saying something that might offend. *Would* offend them, because they cannot imagine anyone holding a different opinion.
Just as an example: one guy tossed out how horrible it would be, to restrict immigration. I went as far as asking him to distinguish between _legal_ and _illegal_ immigration. Shock: someone disagrees with open borders. I just don’t see why it’s hard to understand the word “illegal” and actually enforce the law.
Thankfully, we mostly managed to avoid political topics. Anyway, I’ll have to have a beer with my conservative friend, so we can air our frustrations…