Cool and clear, should be a nice day. Yesterday warmed up well into the 70s F. It would be nice to get another nice day.
Did computer and auction stuff all day. Skipped the household stuff until it was time to cook dinner. I’d defrosted a pork roast from 2018 and needed to cook it soon. I’d also brought home a free bag of apples from a “meal deal” and they were starting to get a bit beat up. I figured I’d make some stewed apples to go with the pork roast, and kill two birds with one stone… which is a good way to get more from your food budget money.
If you have something that is aging out, build a meal around it. Nothing like making french toast in a week when you have a lot more bread left than normal… The more active version of this is building meals around what is on sale, or what you got at the farmer’s market, or what your neighbor with the green thumb gave you. Or what the food bank was giving out on Tuesday.
Times being what they are, and likely to get worse, building good habits, being thrifty, making good use of available resources, and reducing waste are essential to living your ‘best life’. Good habits now will pay off later, and they help out now too.
Take a look at other areas of your life for opportunities to save. You are probably using too much of products you use frequently. Toothpaste, soap, shampoo, shaving cream- all are effective in much smaller quantities than suggested by the manufacturer. The huge curl of toothpaste, longer than the brush head, looks good on the box, but you really only need a pea sized squeeze. That picture on the box of “how to use the product” encourages you to waste it, and then you’ll buy more. Their motivations are not your motivations…
My motivation is to get the most-est with the least-est. And to make it through whatever bad times are coming. Stretching my stacks will help with that.
Stacking more helps too…
nick
Morning Ray!
n
In the US, the left owns the “news” thanks to Vanguard/Blackrock/State Street ownership of 20% of the mainstream media companies. That point of view is consistently presented as something held by “smart” people.
It was only a matter of time before someone tried it. Every year, every event, they show more and more…
What REALLY happened after Bianca Censori’s shock Grammy’s stunt as producers rushed to eject risqué pair and prevent live broadcast of full frontal nudity – amid calls for arrest over indecent exposure
n
62F and coffee is in the mug. Sweet sweet coffee…
n
Early in my USAF career I was flying in a “tail dragger” from Nellis AFB to George AFB. The tarmac on Nellis is really hot in the summer. On a plane with no A/C. Canvas seats along each side. There were the four of us heading to install a computer system at George AFB. There were four pilots along for the ride. After the plane became airborne those pilots went to the back of the plane and started playing cards. I asked what they were even doing on the plane. I was told they were getting “flight hours”. I guess then that did mean actually at the controls.
We never made it to George AFB. Something was wrong with the plane. Apparently minor. We were just a few miles from George AFB but returned all the way to Nellis as those pilots did not want to “RON” (Remain OverNight) at George AFB. Instead, my group had to return to Nellis and take an Air Force bus to George, a most uncomfortable experience.
Indeed. Fourth Post.
Heavy overcast this morning. Can’t see my shadow.
n
Shock? I think not. Dismay? Certainly if one cares about culture. Titillation? Sweet jebus no.
n
For comparison purposes-
The market cap of these companies exceeds the total annual trade between the US and Canada…
(not combined, each) https://companiesmarketcap.com/
Apple
Microsoft
Nvidia
Alphabet
Amazon
n
Canada taxes discretionary items. US taxes (for now) energy. I wonder if 10% is enough to make tar sands too expensive? Gotta free up some production in the US to compensate. What was the mantra? Drill baby, drill? Energy independence is achievable.
n
Shock? I think not. Dismay? Certainly if one cares about culture. Titillation? Sweet jebus no.
Indifference.
correction: I guess then that did NOT mean actually at the controls
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/02/fight-campus-antisemitism-by-fighting-anti-western-indoctrination/
Good article, and I commend your attention to the 1989 NYT article by Barringer.
The campuses have been rotting for a long time—college and high school.
Major rock turned over here:
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/02/03/just-like-that-usaid-is-dead-n3799424
Twice as much money coming out of our own pockets to destroy us with Soros-funded prosecutors than Soros himself was spending.
Swamp Draining: FBI Fears Mass Firings over J6 Probe
“The questionnaire is contributing to a mounting sense of anxiety inside the bureau, as leaders and agents brace for a potential purge of those deemed disloyal to President Donald Trump and his new administration. It has prompted resistance from leaders of some of the bureau’s nationwide field offices, some of whom have urged subordinates not to fill out the questionnaire and let higher-ranking officials handle the fallout.”
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2025/02/03/nbc-fbi-fears-mass-firings-over-j6-probe-n3799439
Gross insubordination. Firing for cause. Here’s a rake to step on before you exit the screen door.
This is possible, but would be out-and-out criminal. During my time, I worked in aviation operations tracking every pilots hours from platoon to brigade level. There was never a time when there weren’t enough flight hours available for every pilot to make minimums and command influence to make sure they were flown.
Automation would make cheating easier. That would be apparent during pilot evaluations “ you got your minimums but suck at piloting” There are also annual surprise inspections by sister units to check all the paperwork and take a handful of pilots on a flight evaluations.
DEI, tho.
Wow! 10,000 goobermint bureaucrats giving away $ billions of our tax dollars to foreign interests with no safeguards at all. “Press the pay button and let’s head to the bar”. DOGE is just getting started. The more goobers fired the better. The majority probably working from home for years while the buildings they should be at are being maintained for $ millions.
And, Führer Zelenskyy says $100 billion in aid is missing. Well, $90 billion since we know where 10% went. If the Kamel-Humper was elected, she would just pony up another $100 billion grift.
DOGE for the win!
Ha,ha (Muntz Laugh):
THAT Was Fast! Tariffs Put on Hold, Mexico’s President Will Reinforce the Border (Up Next: Canada)
She doesn’t want to FAFO. tRump wrote a book “The Art Of The Deal”. Maybe he sent her a copy.
Remember the Paris Peace Talks and weeks spent negotiating the shape of the table.
Trump would have walked in at 8am the first day with a big slab, handed the commies s chainsaw, fired his own up and said “You do your end, and I’ll do mine. “
>>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.
Have we heard anything from ATC as to the reason for the last-minute change of runways?
>>The cities with the highest “shrimp fraud rate” were Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg, Florida, at 96%, according to SeaD Consulting. Only two of the 44 restaurants sampled were serving authentic shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico, a study found.
But what about shrimp from the Gulf of America??
Winning!
“Trump’s threat to South Africa over land – what’s behind it?”
https://www.reuters.com/world/what-is-behind-trumps-aid-threat-south-africa-over-land-2025-02-03/
“JOHANNESBURG, Feb 3 (Reuters) – President Cyril Ramaphosa defended South Africa’s land policy on Monday after Donald Trump’s threat to cut off funding because of what he said were land confiscations.”
“Trump said the previous day, without citing evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land” and “certain classes of people” were being treated “very badly”. He would cut funding until the matter was investigated, he said.”
I was wondering when this was going to come up. South Africa is pulling a Rhodesia. Murdering the white farmers and taking their land without compensation.
Heavy overcast this morning. Can’t see my shadow.
Feeling groundhoggy today, are we ?
>>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
Too many helmet to helmet hits.
Gee Doc, thanks for the encouraging words. If it were only that simple. Parkinson’s sucks.
I guess FJB is in the 0.01 tranche.
Canada taxes discretionary items. US taxes (for now) energy. I wonder if 10% is enough to make tar sands too expensive? Gotta free up some production in the US to compensate. What was the mantra? Drill baby, drill? Energy independence is achievable.
At $70 per barrel of tar sand crude oil, the Canadian Tar Sand crude oil is probably losing $20 to $30 per barrel. But, that is around 20,000 jobs IIRC. So the Alberta government is subsidizing the Tar Sand crude oil. Maybe the federal government also.
Candadian Tar Sands crude oil requires two stages of processing. First, Canadian Tar Sands are not drilled, they are excavated using a front end loader as they are a solid gel. They are heated to 180 F using natural gas heaters (natural gas from North Dakota) to break the tar sand into crude oil, sand, and water. Then the crude oil is pumped to the heavy oil refineries in the Southern USA. Very expensive since going across the USA Canada border uses about ½ railroad cars (there are two Keystone pipelines in place from way back, the third pipeline was not finished because of the thief Biden).
>>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.
The Legend of Allen Barklage
Candadian Tar Sands crude oil requires two stages of processing. First, Canadian Tar Sands are not drilled, they are excavated using a front end loader as they are a solid gel. They are heated to 180 F using natural gas heaters (natural gas from North Dakota) to break the tar sand into crude oil, sand, and water. Then the crude oil is pumped to the heavy oil refineries in the Southern USA. Very expensive since going across the USA Canada border uses about ½ railroad cars (there are two Keystone pipelines in place from way back, the third pipeline was not finished because of the thief Biden).
I forgot about the hydrotreating phase where the tar sand crude oil is vaporized and desulfurized using alumina catalysts and hydrogen. The treating facility way north of Alberta produces 2,000 tons of elemental sulfur per DAY which is landfilled back into the excavation pit. Expensive, very expensive.
Ha,ha (Muntz Laugh):
THAT Was Fast! Tariffs Put on Hold, Mexico’s President Will Reinforce the Border (Up Next: Canada)
She doesn’t want to FAFO. tRump wrote a book “The Art Of The Deal”. Maybe he sent her a copy.
One of her people read the book and started screaming “do what he says because he will do what he says”.
I have yet to read his book but it should be required reading for MBA schools. My son has read it and highly recommends it.
“Every day brings more and more good news”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/02/every-day-brings-more-and-more-good-news.html
OH MY GOODNESS THAT IS THE PERFECT MEME !
I am filled with joy after seeing that.
The Medal of Honor Museum Cruelly Dishonors MoH Recipient Before It Opens Its Doors
https://redstate.com/jimthompson/2025/02/03/the-medal-of-honor-museum-cruelly-dishonors-moh-recipient-before-it-opens-its-doors-n2185098
Enough to gag a maggot.
“SpaceX’s Starship junk sells for thousands after rocket explodes”
https://www.chron.com/culture/article/spacex-starship-explosion-pieces-texas-20100269.php
“People are buying up heat tiles and other Starship memorabilia.”
People collect the weirdest stuff.
re: South Africa
The United States needs farmers. Zero the foreign aid to South Africa immediately and put the money toward enabling the farmers to immigrate. Tell the inheritors of Willie Mandela that each murder of a white farmer is going to result in one billion U.S. dollars in arms sales to whoever is opposing the current regime.
Carry a big stick. Use it when necessary.
WIRED Doxxed DOGE Engineers; Now They Are Being Hunted
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/02/03/wired-doxxed-doge-engineers-now-they-are-being-hunted-n3799444
Dear Wired Editorial Staff and Writers,
Whatever happens to people you have doxxed might just happen to you.
No one needs to dox you–you’re already out there. See attached Google Street View.
The legend is that the expats have the Afrikaner government’s nuclear weapons.
A revelation of a surprise member of the nuclear club would be very destabilizing right now.
USAID was a CIA front filling a lot of soup bowls at a bunch of consulting firms in the DC area. They’re going to start fighting back.
“Solar Report”
https://areaocho.com/solar-report/
“It’s been a bit since I updated the news on our Solar system. December went well. We generated 1121 kWh, and consumed 912 kWh, meaning that we sent an excess of 204 kWh back to the grid for credit. Our lowest power generated was December 6, with 12.6 kWh. Our best day was 54.1 kWh on December 2. That makes December the month where we generated the least amount of power of any month so far. Not surprising, since December has less daylight than any other month.”
I must admit, I am tempted to throw some solar panels on top of the 1,200 ft2 garage with a Tesla Powercell. The cost is probably around $40K.
I suspect that the Texas will move to Time Of Day rates in the future, maybe the near future. Not to the total extreme but enough to force people to install solar or air conditioning freezer systems (make ice all night long in a chest freezer then vaporize during the day).
EBay Gold.
BTW, the picture in the linked article shows how close the public can get to the launch pad.
The legend is that the expats have the Afrikaner government’s nuclear weapons.
A revelation of a surprise member of the nuclear club would be very destabilizing right now.
Those are Pakistani built nuclear weapons. Ten+ tons each and very dirty, no tritium. Would fit in a box truck easily.
USAID was a CIA front filling a lot of soup bowls at a bunch of consulting firms in the DC area. They’re going to start fighting back.
Trump has four years to clean the outhouse known as The Swamp. It is not going to be easy.
The CIA, DOJ, and FBI need to be rebooted from the bottom up.
So how to I attach these cheap night vision goggles ($130) to my BAR .308 ? It does not have accessory rack on top.
https://www.amazon.com/HEXEUM-Night-Vision-Goggles-Binoculars/dp/B0CYYVBXTV?tag=ttgnet-20?
My BAR .308 is from 1960. No shoulder pad and a five round mag. Makes an eight inch hole coming out of deer. Hurts like a you know what to shoot.
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/browning-bar-mark-iii-semi-auto-rifle
“Technocratic Nanny State: Washington Wants Speed-Limiting Devices to “Assist” Habitual Speeders”
https://thelibertydaily.com/technocratic-nanny-state-washington-wants-speed-limiting-devices/
“In an effort to curb the rising number of fatal accidents due to speeding, Washington state lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require certain drivers to equip their vehicles with speed-limiting devices. House Bill 1596, heard in the House Transportation Committee, aims to impose “intelligent speed assistance devices” on cars of drivers with a history of speeding.”
No.
More winning:
Canada’s Justin Trudeau caves to Trump’s tariff threat and strikes billion-dollar border agreement
The Art Of The Deal.
“Exclusive: Trump’s FBI Has Given Alex Jones Previously Secret DOJ Documents Detailing A Major Government Operation Dating From 2013 to 2025 Listing Jones and His Organization InfoWars As A “National Security Terror Threat” To Be “Investigated”, “Targeted”, And “Dismantled””
https://www.infowars.com/posts/exclusive-trumps-fbi-has-given-alex-jones-previously-secret-doj-documents-detailing-a-major-government-operation-dating-from-2013-to-2025-listing-jones-and-his-organization-infowars-as-a-national/
Some former employee of the FBI needs to targeted and prosecuted. Probably James Comey and Merrick Garland.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
And that is what Trump does. He asks for $100.00, gets slammed, people complain, his detractors get him down to $50.00. What Trump really wanted in the first place was $49.00 and he instead got $50.00. Everybody is happy and thinks they won.
– anyone who has been paying attention has already seen the evidence, read the accounts from the farmers, and read the text of the proclamations.
Hey baby duck, just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean other people don’t know it. That is 4 year old behavior if I remember my Piaget correctly.
n
The global markets didn’t think Canada was going to thrive …
n
WATCH: Press Hounds Karoline Leavitt About USAID, and She Comes Off the Top Rope With the Receipts
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/02/03/press-hound-karoline-levitt-about-usaid-n2185162
Yeah, the names of the expenditures alone are enough to make reasonable people agree that they aren’t legitimate.
BUT, let’s get a few pipe-hitting auditors with 9mm sidearms to run down where the money actually went. And if any was diverted, the people doing the diverting and the recipients thereof should be indicted, tried, found guilty, and tied to piers during low tide.
Has everyone viewed the video where Schumer holds up the tall boy of Corona and claims that we get most of our beer from Mexico.
Is he trying to go non compos mentis before he gets tried for his insurrection-y behavior in threatening Supreme Court justices?
https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1886429817949876289
Mess with the bull, get the horns, get tossed in the air, broke up on impact and trampled…
or in this case…
taken out to the quarry are shot like a dog.
“Zelensky Admits He Doesn’t Know Where $200 Billion in US Aid Went as X Alleges ‘Money Laundering’”
https://resistthemainstream.com/zelensky-drops-explosive-bombshell-that-left-x-users-uttering-the-same-two-word-phrase/?utm_source=newsletter4
““Perhaps it’s true on paper with hundreds of different programs – I won’t argue, and we’re immensely grateful for everything,” he said. “But in reality, we received about $76 billion.””
““It’s significant aid, but it’s not $200 billion.””
Somebody is lying and somebody got $124 billion in US Dollars. I’ll bet the USAID records know, if they were not destroyed. Zelensky has no reason to lie that I know of.
“Toxic RINO Mitch McConnell Still ‘Very Upset’ With Trump Over J6 ‘Insurrection’ — ‘We Haven’t Spoken in Quite a While’ (VIDEO)”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/toxic-rino-mitch-mcconnell-still-very-upset-trump/
Old man yells at another old man who owns the rest of the houses on the block about him walking down the sidewalk.
McConnell needs to retire and go home.
MITCH is upset? FFS
n
“I’ll bet the USAID records know, if they were not destroyed.”
I’m hoping and praying that Trump’s lieutenants moved so much more quickly and decisively than expected that there are piles of smoking guns.
It’s also evident that there have been some people in position who have not agreed with agendas but have kept their profile low, their mouths shut, and made copies that won’t disappear.
In response to several confusing and apparently contradictory descriptions in news articles, the wiki entry is probably reliable enough:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Agency_for_International_Development
Thus it would seem that revising the agency and making it part of the State Department is within the purview of the Executive.
If Trump gets much pushback from Congress I expect to see endless repetitions of the video from Gaza showing USAID’s $15 million condom grant being inflated with helium, explosives attached, and sent aloft to be wafted to Israel.
I fervently hope that the present discussion erases the traditional reticence of the Israeli government and encourages their complaints, and I further hope that some enterprising Congressman or Senator introduces a bill enabling private citizens to file suit in U.S. courts for damages associated with USAID expenditures that were illegally diverted to weapons.
BTW, II was writing the lyrics to “Trojan in the Sky” (apologies to Norman Greenbaum) but they are just not compatible with even the cutting edge of posts here on a “family friendly” discussion board.
I did segue into a pretty good start of a sketch with Garrett Morris on the old SNL…
Well, actually… (pun intended), much of the extraction is shifted over to SAG-D (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) or similar technologies to minimize ground disturbance. The difference in cost is not significant, since the spending is on drilling the array and building the steam and pumping stations rather than purchasing and operating excavation equipment. More significantly, there is significantly less ground disturbance, which is a huge economic win for the oil companies, as most (all?) permits now require greenfield conditions after the project is completed.
Well, air conditioning season has started a little early this year. We have had both of the air conditioner systems at home running since Sunday afternoon, set on 72 F. At night time, the wife moves our bedroom to 71 F so I can sleep under two blankets.
The office a/c has running today and yesterday also. The north side heat pump automatically keeps the north side of the office between 70 F and 73 F. The south side is rarely turned to heating, mostly on a/c at 74 F.
It was in the 80s when I left the house this afternoon to do my pickups. The overcast burned off eventually too, and it was clear and blue sky by dusk.
n
It was in the 80s when I left the house this afternoon to do my pickups. The overcast burned off eventually too, and it was clear and blue sky by dusk.
It was awesome two mile walking weather at 5pm with the wife. Nice breeze, nice sunset.
Where’s Brandon when you need him…
https://www.chron.com/food/article/trump-burger-expands-galveston-bay-20136191.php
Because…Texas…
https://www.chron.com/culture/article/bucees-texas-san-marcos-opening-20045336.php
Interesting pop culture thing. Watching all these youtube shorts while doing auction stuff. I’m getting fewer of the clearly AI generated ones with just a voice reading reddit threads over some stolen “satisfying” content.
I’ve noticed though that there is censorship going on, and IDK if it’s automated by youtube or the creator AI.
Things you can’t say.
Taliban
Isis
suicide
kill
and most profanity.
Things you can’t show.
Guns. The guns in stolen movie action sequences get blur boxes.
Some work arounds have become part of the culture. If real human creators are making the video, they will say “unalived himself” or “self deleted” instead of killed, or suicided. You’d think the algorithm would just block the new phrase, but apparently it doesn’t.
This is stacking on top of PC culture, wokeness, and other corruptions to language that younger people today are dealing with.
The inability to speak plainly, the constant self censorship, is antithetical to American traditional values.
n