Mon. Mar. 10, 2025 – Spring Break week for us…

By on March 10th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall

The national weather forecast looks clear for this part of the country today, and most of the country for the next couple of days. I’m betting our temps stay in the 60s and 70s for a couple days at least. I hope so anyway. It was chilly Sunday, but hot Saturday. Cool would be nice today.

Sunday I slept late, got a leisurely start to my day, and ached everywhere. It took some serious stretching to be my back in any kind of order. Loading and unloading for Hamfest, 2x each, takes more of a toll every year. I’ll keep doing it for a while though.

After breakfast/lunch, I took the trailer back and unloaded some stuff at my secondary location. Spent some time piddling around there, making room and moving some stuff. Came home and piddled around with some stuff with the idea I’d be able to move it along afterwards. Didn’t really work out though.

W made dinner, and we ate it. She make several pounds of chicken chunks with a sou vide accessory for the Instant Pot, and froze the result. We’ve had it in a couple of meals now, and it’s been good. I’m not sure there is any real benefit to cooking chicken that way, but having some ready to heat and eat has been handy.

Today is the start of Spring Break, so both kids are home. We’re thinking about heading to the BOL for most of the week. There are some conflicts on the schedule, so I’m not sure what days we can actually go. I can stay all week if I need to, but there are kid things that overlap…

I’ll be doing a couple of pickups today, and doing stuff around the house. Getting out the Hamfest stuff sort of broke a logjam for a whole series of tasks in the driveway and garage, so I’d like to make some progress on them while I have even the tiniest bit of momentum.

THEN I’ll go work on the list at the BOL.

It’s a blessing to have stuff to do and a place to do it. It does wear on me sometimes though.

Keep stacking. Keep improving.

nick

71 Comments and discussion on "Mon. Mar. 10, 2025 – Spring Break week for us…"

  1. drwilliams says:

    Cutbacks at NOAA have apparently produced some “ talking points” .    Local weather this moetning included discussion slong the lines of “don’t know what the impact will be on forecasting, bad weather event prediction, etc”. Cost is only $4 and change per capita, etc. 

    The amount of calculated infill of missing data in our “high quality” temperature record is frightening and subject to manipulation with no transparency. Past time to correct deficiencies in the vital functions and leave the global warmening doin out of it. 

  2. drwilliams says:

    Doom. 

  3. Greg Norton says:

    Elon Musk Hit the Mother Lode of the Deep State. Now He Believes He’s an Assassination Target.

    There are lots of assassination targets.

    Elon’s threatening a lot of soup bowls, which is bad enough, but what really gets people entertaining thoughts of homicide is when you put their tenbaggers in jeopardy, especially when the tenbagger involves seven figure dollar amounts.

    My wife’s already heard VA patients talking about Elon’s assassination.

    The VA budget has a huge bullseye on it at $350 billion. Can you imagine what kind of mischief is hiding in there?

  4. drwilliams says:

    Yeah, I can imagine. Something like half of all the fedgov tax collections ate either stolen or sandbagged.

    Killing Musk at this point might start a bloodbath. 

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  5. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    ”Some somalis have already been charged and prosecuted, iirc.”

    I think the count is 36  

    The ringleader—no alleged needed, based on what I’ve read—is not.  Her trial ends this week and the swiftness of the verdict will depend on time of day and jury’s desire to have lunch  

  6. Nick Flandrey says:

    Up and moving.   Coffee is brewing.

    Back feels ok for just standing around.   Stretched lightly before getting out of bed.

    ——

    Elon has already been targeted, and had guys locked up.   It’s just a matter of degree at some point, and the quality of the guys sent, which probably increases with the involvement of current and former .gov and .mil crooks.    Getting him out of spacex would make a lot of people from the old school very happy.

    ——

    It’s sunny out but my furnace is running so I’m going with cool to chilly until I can look at the thermometer…

    n

  7. Nick Flandrey says:

    It’s currently 55F, so chilly it is…

    n

  8. drwilliams says:

    Peer Review and Costs of Building Electrification for Commercial Users 

    This is an article primarily by Richard Ellenbogen that estimates projected annual operating costs and emission reductions for New York commercial facilities when the new building codes are implemented.  It is also an example of how peer review should be done.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/03/09/peer-review-and-costs-of-building-electrification-for-commercial-users/

    The article presents 20 years of data meticulously gleaned from a very large home heat pump system (installed in 2004 with features that make it more efficient than anything that can be built today) and compared to turning the system off and using the backup gas furnace this winter. He then takes the data and applies it to his 55,000 ft2 manufacturing facility to project the cost of new regulations in New York State.

    Highly recommended.

  9. Greg Norton says:

    Elon has already been targeted, and had guys locked up.   It’s just a matter of degree at some point, and the quality of the guys sent, which probably increases with the involvement of current and former .gov and .mil crooks.    Getting him out of spacex would make a lot of people from the old school very happy
     

    The Falcon/Dragon side of SpaceX would continue. The distraction factory at Boca Chica would be shut down,

  10. Lynn says:

    Where it does make sense: Solar on the roof, usually home during the day (home office, house wife, retired, etc.). Trips longer than the usual EV range of 200-250 miles? Not actually all that common. For those, one might want a second car, or you could rent, but the EV can be the daily driver.

    Clearly, that’s not everyone, but it is more than a niche case.

    Almost every trip I make is more than 200 to 250 miles, at least monthly.  But, that is Texas.

    My annual trip to Normal Oklahoma that I made two weeks ago was almost a thousand miles.  That was 1.5 tank of regular guzzoline for my 2019 F-150 4×4.

  11. Lynn says:

    Yesterday’s Daylight Savings Time kicked my butt.  I am getting old and little changes are hard to adapt to.  I could not get to sleep until about 3 am Saturday night and the 645 am alarm was horrible so I paused it.  It went off again at 650 am and I turned it off.  My wife was not going to church anyway due to her broken foot so I joined her at watching our church on youtube at noon.  We had a guest preacher from Dallas, a very literate guy.

         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DpK-AqBtHE

  12. drwilliams says:

    Is the Pardon Attorney’s Dismissal Sign of an Investigation Into Biden’s Last-Minute Pardons?

    https://redstate.com/shipwreckedcrew/2025/03/10/pardon-attorneys-n2186488

    Dismissed and escorted from the building, so, yes it is.

  13. JimB says:

    Yesterday’s Daylight Savings Time kicked my butt.

    Sorry to hear that. I never notice going ON DST, but sure notice going OFF. I really hate the early sunsets. I wish we could change from Pacific time to Mountain time.

    Oh wait, I could do that. In fact, I used to keep my watch on Eastern time when I lived in the Central time zone. It just seemed better. Yeah, I’m wierd.

    I don’t wear my watch around the house, but I do have clocks In most places I hang out. I usually ignore them.

    I had a friend who said the most ridiculous retirement gift was a watch. I can still hear him say, “Hell, I don’t even need a calendar!”

  14. drwilliams says:

    Trump’s Executive Order Barring Two Democrat Law Firms From Federal Business Rattles ‘Big Law’

    https://redstate.com/streiff/2025/03/10/trumps-executive-order-barring-two-democrat-law-firms-from-federal-business-rattles-big-law-n2186492

    “Perkins Coie is a certified bad actor. As far as I’m concerned, it deserved to be shut down and its partners imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay over its involvement in the Russia Hoax.”

    “if they want to be combatants, they have no reason to complain when they become targets.”

  15. drwilliams says:

    The Crisis of Unreliable Science: A Pharmacologist’s Call for Radical Reform

    Szabo’s findings are jaw-dropping. After sifting through the global scientific literature—not just the polished papers on PubMed, but everything published anywhere—he estimates that 90% of it fails the reproducibility test. Even worse, he believes 20-30% is entirely fabricated. “I didn’t expect the numbers to be that high going in,” he admits. “It’s just absurd.” The financial toll is staggering. Paper mills—fraudulent outfits that churn out fake research for profit—rake in billions annually. This isn’t a cottage industry; it’s a industrial-scale scam.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/03/09/the-crisis-of-unreliable-science-a-pharmacologists-call-for-radical-reform/

    The scam is fueled by U.S. tax dollars.

    Anything that fails the reproducibility test is not science

    .

    (yes, that’s a period)

    We need to pare back new funding by 80% for a couple of years, and invest the money in two kinds of “prizes”:

    First, we award prizes for revealing fabricated research results. Open contract–anyone can play, and specifically, need not be a university that has ever received funds, and industrial labs and individuals are welcome. Amount of the prize is equal to the funding of the fraudulent paper, the publisher is required to publish the awarded analysis and retract the original paper, the author’s institution(s) pay back the grant money, and the authors never get to do research again (or code) and get prosecuted. If the research involved a thesis and degree, the degree gets rescinded.

    Second,  we award prizes for reproducing results, or showing that they can’t be reproduced. Pretty much as above, except the authors get the benefit of a doubt the first time.

    Part and parcel of all this is strict enforcement of existing rules about disclosure of methods and data. And a reform of the peer-review process to include pay for review and publication of reviewers names.

  16. drwilliams says:

    I took a break from editorializing and pulled up a link from the right-hand sidebar: “lab days”.

    I miss Robert’s stories and his “voice”, as well as others who have left us.

    It reminds me to wish all of you well and to express my appreciation for your own stories, voices, and online camaraderie. 

  17. Lynn says:

    @Nick

    ”Some somalis have already been charged and prosecuted, iirc.”

    I think the count is 36  

    The ringleader—no alleged needed, based on what I’ve read—is not.  Her trial ends this week and the swiftness of the verdict will depend on time of day and jury’s desire to have lunch  

    You are putting way more faith in the local jury than I have.  I have been watching too many “Law and Order” reruns where the New York City juries throw horribly guilty people back on the streets for the slightest prosecutorial errors.

    Cha Chung !

  18. Lynn says:

    Yesterday’s Daylight Savings Time kicked my butt.

    Sorry to hear that. I never notice going ON DST, but sure notice going OFF. I really hate the early sunsets. I wish we could change from Pacific time to Mountain time.

    Oh wait, I could do that. In fact, I used to keep my watch on Eastern time when I lived in the Central time zone. It just seemed better. Yeah, I’m wierd.

    The weirdest little things cause me to have a panic attack nowadays.  Most of the panic attacks are time related.  Yes, I am weird and getting weirder.

  19. Lynn says:

    “Hewlett Packard Enterprise announces plan to cut workforce by 2,500”

        https://www.chron.com/business/article/hewlett-packard-layoffs-houston-20212940.php

    The company has locations in Spring, where its City Place headquarters campus is located, and Houston, according to its 2024 annual report. In 2020, the company moved its headquarters from San Jose, California to Spring.  Hewlett Packard employs more than 60,000 people around the world.”

    This is the old Compaq workforce that is probably going to get hammered.  What is left of them.

  20. Lynn says:

    “Supermajority of Texas voters oppose school vouchers in latest poll”

         https://www.chron.com/politics/article/supermajority-of-texas-voters-out-on-school-choice-20212919.php

    “A recent poll found two-thirds of Texas midterm voters oppose sending taxpayer dollars to cover the costs of private and parochial schooling.”

    I don’t trust polls that are not voting for people and bonds, etc by registered voters.

    Everyone I know wants to get their kids out of the public schools.  Even out here in the so-called paradise of public schools (Lamar Consolidated) that never lose a student, every kid is above average, etc.

  21. Lynn says:

    “What We Know and What We Don’t About January 6” by John Daniel Davidson

       https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-about-january-6/

    “Just hours after his inauguration on January 20, President Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people convicted of offenses related to the events of January 6, 2021. He commuted the sentences of fourteen additional people whose cases for a full pardon are still under review.”

    “Earlier that morning, to less fanfare, President Biden had issued “preemptive pardons”—a type of presidential pardon with no historical precedent­—to all the members and staff of the House Select Committee on January 6 and to all the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before that committee.”

    This is exactly what I believe about January 6, 2021.  This was not an insurrection.  For insurrections, people bring guns and cannons.

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  22. Lynn says:

    The song for today is “Coolio – Gangsta’s Paradise (feat. L.V.) [Official Music Video]”

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPO76Jlnz6c

  23. Lynn says:

    Questionable Content: Robots Have Warranty Problems Too

       https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5520

    Actually, a three year warranty is not bad.  If, you can get the manufacturer to agree with you that the part is covered.

  24. Greg Norton says:

    This is the old Compaq workforce that is probably going to get hammered.  What is left of them.
     

    iCarly took care of that lot a long time ago. One of the people in my Masters program was a key design engineer on Compaq’s laptops.

  25. drwilliams says:

    Made it to 1:39.

    Rap is still crap missing a “c”.

    Wearing the cap backwards does not make you look like Johnny Bench. 

    Wearing the pants pulumber’s crack low just confirms you YUDS*

    *no, not Young Urban Dip Sticks

  26. lpdbw says:

    “Hewlett Packard Enterprise announces plan to cut workforce by 2,500”

    I hope my Digital Equipment Corporation I mean Compaq I mean HP pension isn’t in any danger.

  27. Greg Norton says:

    I hope my Digital Equipment Corporation I mean Compaq I mean HP pension isn’t in any danger.
     

    HPE is separate from HP Inc.

  28. Greg Norton says:

    This is exactly what I believe about January 6, 2021.  This was not an insurrection.  For insurrections, people bring guns and cannons.
     

    Occupying the Capitol means about as much as occupying a Burger King in Des Moines.

  29. Lynn says:

    Wife:  Michael, why am I always the one cooking dinner ?

    Husband:  According to the law, all prisoners must be fed.

    https://www.facebook.com/reel/1622323695344862

    Warning: Youtube shorts are very addictive. You have been warned.

  30. Lynn says:

    Swan Eaters: Baba Yaga’s Li’l Hut Is Indestructible

       https://www.gocomics.com/swan-eaters/2025/03/10

    So those chicken legs are not edible ?

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    1
  31. MrAtoz says:

    This is exactly what I believe about January 6, 2021.  This was not an insurrection.  For insurrections, people bring guns and cannons.

    tRump has to get “preemptive pardons” declared unConstitiutional. I don’t know how to do it, but I believe it is wrong and unConstitutional.

    If this is accepted as precedent, a President can pardon every Citizen from birth to his leaving office for any crime that was commited whether know now or discovered later. That is crazy.

    11
  32. Lynn says:

    “Gun Leather”

       https://areaocho.com/gun-leather/

    “I seem to go through this every time I buy a pistol that doesn’t fit any of my current holsters. I am very particular when it comes to holsters. Like most people who carry a firearm, I have dozens of holsters. Over the years, I have had:”

    My EDC (everyday carry) is a S&W PD 340.

        https://www.smith-wesson.com/product/model-340-pd

    I use the Sticky Holster MD-5 with it.  I like being able to shove the holster and gun into my pocket no matter whether I am in shorts, workout shorts, jeans, or dress pants.  The holster does print and the butt of my S&W PD 340 does stick out of short pockets.  Texas is a Open Carry state and I have a LTC (License To Carry) so I don’t care.

       https://stickyholsters.com/product/md-5-medium-sticky-holster/

    My other carry gun is a Ruger GP100 7 shot 2.5 inch barrel.  

       https://ruger.com/products/gp100/specSheets/1774.html

    I have a Sticky Holster MD-6 for my Ruger GP100.

       https://stickyholsters.com/product/md-6-medium-sticky-holster/

  33. Ken Mitchell says:

    tRump has to get “preemptive pardons” declared unConstitiutional. 

    Especially pardons signed by auto-pen, when the pResident is severely cognitively impaired.

    10
  34. EdH says:

    tRump has to get “preemptive pardons” declared unConstitiutional. I don’t know how to do it, but I believe it is wrong and unConstitutional.

    If this is accepted as precedent, a President can pardon every Citizen from birth to his leaving office for any crime that was commited whether know now or discovered later. That is crazy.

    Yes.

    The problem is that limited pardons are susceptible to different, later, charges for the same crime.

    Or, as Trump experienced, something like a misdemeanor past the statute of limitations being revived and used as a pretext for an unspecified felony.

    Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.  – John Adams.

  35. Nick Flandrey says:

    Gangsta’s Paradise is an iconic song.   As far as rap goes, it’s about as straightforward as possible, telling an actual story and not relying on rhythmic grunting or obscenity.

    It’s featured in the Michelle Phiffer movie, where she has a serious case of ‘white knight’ syndrome…

    Probably one of the best rap songs ever recorded.

    ———–

    home from my pickups.   Traffic was horrible, and for no apparent reason.   Just Monday I guess.

    Still haven’t decided about heading to the BOL today or tomorrow.

    n

  36. Lynn says:

    “Monster Hunter Memoirs: Fever (4)” by Larry Correia and Jason Cordova
       https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-Memoirs-Fever-4/dp/1982193654?tag=ttgnet-20/

    Book number four of a four book urban fantasy series, part of the Monster Hunter universe of almost twenty books. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB that I bought new on Amazon. I hope that there will be more books in this universe. The book is dedicated to “Dedicated to Toni, for being an amazing editor.” which I find to be very nice.

    Chloe Mendoza is a nagualii, a half-demon fathered by the gods of Central and South America, a daughter of the Court of Feathers, a group of demigods who ruled Mesoamerica before the Spanish arrived. Chloe has a human appearance with a wicked changer ability. Chloe is PUFF exempt from her service in World War II and Vietnam to the USA and was working for the Israeli monster hunting team before the “incident”.

    Now, Chloe is a member of Monster Hunter International’s latest team, based in the Los Angeles in the 1970s. Business is good in the City of Angels, but soon Chloe gets a message from the Court of Feathers, warning her of a Dark Master who is building up its power in the region. Whatever it is, it brings death and carnage with it.

    Larry Correia has a blog. Bring your flame retardant underwear, he does not suffer fools whatsoever.
       https://monsterhunternation.com/

    My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    Amazon rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (1,219 reviews)

    Lynn

  37. Lynn says:

    “We Are Deeply Saddened To Inform You That InfoWars Reporter Jamie White Was Brutally Murdered Around Midnight Sunday Night”

       https://www.infowars.com/posts/we-are-deeply-saddened-to-inform-you-that-infowars-reporter-jamie-white-was-brutally-murdered-around-midnight-sunday-night

    Coincidence ?

  38. Lynn says:

    Gangsta’s Paradise is an iconic song.   As far as rap goes, it’s about as straightforward as possible, telling an actual story and not relying on rhythmic grunting or obscenity.

    It’s featured in the Michelle Phiffer movie, where she has a serious case of ‘white knight’ syndrome…

    Probably one of the best rap songs ever recorded.

    Yes, yes, and yes.

    FM 95.7 played it today around noon when I was taking a shower.  I hate rap, this song is awesome.  Especially since it has zero obscenities in it.

  39. drwilliams says:

    leeeeeavin’, on a jet plane…

    it appears the Trump administration may have outfoxed the judge in this case. According to reports, Khalil was moved to an ICE detention center in Louisiana. Why is that important? Because while Furman issued his order based on Khalil’s New York petition for habeas corpus (i.e., that he be released pending further litigation), the law requires that the petition be filed in the federal court district the subject is being held in. If Khalil isn’t in New York anymore, and it seems fairly certain he isn’t, then Furman has no jurisdiction over the case.

    https://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/03/10/judge-blocks-deportation-of-pro-hamas-leader-but-the-trump-administration-may-have-outfoxed-him-n2186506

  40. Greg Norton says:

    it appears the Trump administration may have outfoxed the judge in this case. According to reports, Khalil was moved to an ICE detention center in Louisiana. Why is that important? Because while Furman issued his order based on Khalil’s New York petition for habeas corpus (i.e., that he be released pending further litigation), the law requires that the petition be filed in the federal court district the subject is being held in. If Khalil isn’t in New York anymore, and it seems fairly certain he isn’t, then Furman has no jurisdiction over the case.

    https://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/03/10/judge-blocks-deportation-of-pro-hamas-leader-but-the-trump-administration-may-have-outfoxed-him-n2186506

    Alito has reponsibility for hearing emergency petitions from Louisiana while The Wise Latina covers the district which includes New York.

  41. drwilliams says:

    ActBlue Funding Terrorist Campaign Against Tesla

    https://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/03/10/actblue-funding-terrorist-campaign-against-tesla-n3800597

    Management resignations are not going to prevent RICO charges.

    Many of the terrorists who provide boots on the ground for the PLT are non-local pros. As I have previously pointed out, it’s likely that they are using air travel and can be tracked. Since many are the brain-damaged fruits of rich libtard parents, it’s also likely that some are flying privately, which opens the possibility of the Trump administration biding a bit of time before a weekend where they confiscate a large number of planes used to facilitate terrorism and stock a very large used private jet lot. 

    And with a bit of forward prep Musk and other victims will file civil suits and craft the damages to be immune from any legal maneuvers. Indeed, if some of the silver spooners still live at home we could skip the wait and sue their parents up front.

  42. MrAtoz says:

    leeeeeavin’, on a jet plane…

    It will be four years of these nutjob activist judges. They did this when tRump stopped terrorist countries from immigrating. POTUS should be able to deport ANYBODY for anything. These turds are guests in this country and don’t have Constitutional rights. IMHO.

  43. drwilliams says:

    “Alito has reponsibility for hearing emergency petitions from Louisiana while The Wise Latina covers the district which includes New York.”

    Recent events have indicated that Alito is about fed up with his peers dodging important questions. It may temper his consideration of any “emergency”.

    I would love to have ICE coordinate the next tranche of arrests with a plane warming on the tarmac and a flight plan filed for N’Awlins.

    And that b.s. about being on the phone with the ashhole’s shyster during the arrest? Screw that. Let the pukes call from jail.

  44. MrAtoz says:

    ActBlue Funding Terrorist Campaign Against Tesla

    After tRump fires those 87,000 IRS hires, he should hire 87,000 lawyers for the DOJ and start suing activists, Blue States, and anybody who gets in the way of deportations. Crimmigrants have no rights and should be airdropped without parachutes. Visa holders and Green Cards should be sent to Gitmo while they await their deportation. See how they like how the World works.

  45. drwilliams says:

    Gitmo is small and valuable.

    Make a deal with Haiti.

  46. Greg Norton says:

    Gitmo is small and valuable.

    Make a deal with Haiti.

    They might find their way back from Haiti.

    Gitmo is surrounded by land mines and, beyond that Cubans.

    Cubans know what to do with Islamic types … and spoiled, whiny Venezuelans.

  47. Nick Flandrey says:

    I  thought we were committed to letting haiti starve?   Don’t send them food…

    n

  48. Lynn says:

    leeeeeavin’, on a jet plane…

    “Shirley Q Liquor Pre Flight Checklist”

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pMHkVxmxYw

    “The smoke detectors in the bathrooms have been disabled for your convenience”

    “Today’s aircraft is a MacDonald MD4040 aircraft, it is a double deck twister”

  49. Lynn says:

    “Report: Texas Has Five ‘Sinkhole Cities’”

        https://texasscorecard.com/state/report-texas-has-five-sinkhole-cities/

    “Public servants use accounting tricks and outdated information to hide the true state of city finances.”

    “In their Financial State of the Cities 2025 report, Truth in Accounting studied eight Texas cities and found their cumulative debt is a steep $37.45 billion. Austin had the highest share with $9.8 billion in debt, while Plano had the least at $467.9 million.”

    Wow.

  50. drwilliams says:

    Researching a title by Astragal Press, I found 

    “Astragal Press was founded in 1983 to publish books at affordable prices for those interested in antique tools, metalworking, carriage building, and early trades and technologies. Astragal was acquired by The Globe Pequot Publishing Group in April of 2019.”

    This led me to:

    https://www.globepequot.com/categories/

    and their Technology and Engineering page:

    https://www.globepequot.com/search-results/?category=TEC

    which has 175 titles on old machine tools, woodworking tools, hand planes and a variety of related topics. Note that there are at least three titles on slide rules, and if you visit start by changing the view to 100 titles per page (a feature that does not seem to work on many of their pages and joins other annoyances such as missing book photos).

    Stackpole and Prometheus are among their imprints. If you go to the imprints list page, you can access a list by imprint.

    Two hours later I had compiled a list, run it through my favorite online bookseller (sadly recently acquired and in the process of being absorbed) and now I have three titles ordered. I’m going to try the county library for a title that was just published in Sept.

  51. drwilliams says:

    Gitmo is surrounded by land mines and, beyond that Cubans.”

    Haiti has cannibals.

    Pay bounty on clean bones.

  52. drwilliams says:

    “Report: Texas Has Five ‘Sinkhole Cities’”

       https://texasscorecard.com/state/report-texas-has-five-sinkhole-cities/

    “Public servants use accounting tricks and outdated information to hide the true state of city finances.”

    “In their Financial State of the Cities 2025 report, Truth in Accounting studied eight Texas cities and found their cumulative debt is a steep $37.45 billion. Austin had the highest share with $9.8 billion in debt, while Plano had the least at $467.9 million.”

    Wow.

    Now do the states.

    One of the many reasons that PLT’s are desperate is that their shiitehole (I didn’t know it was pronounced “sinkhole”) cities and shiitehole states have a short road left to financial ruin and have little prospect of getting bailed out for four years of Trump and a possible eight years of Vance.

  53. nick flandrey says:

    Chicago keeps spending despite being MASSIVELY overdrawn and overcommitted.

    n

  54. EdH says:

    “Astragal Press was founded in 1983 to publish books at affordable prices for those interested in antique tools, metalworking, carriage building, and early trades and technologies. Astragal was acquired by The Globe Pequot Publishing Group in April of 2019.”

    Reminds me of the old Lindsay Publications, now defunct.

    https://makezine.com/article/workshop/lindsays-technical-books-ships-last-catalog/

  55. drwilliams says:

    The only relief I’d offer Chicago is drawing a ring around it and severing the rest of Illinois so that they have the swiftest trip to hell.

  56. Greg Norton says:

    The only relief I’d offer Chicago is drawing a ring around it and severing the rest of Illinois so that they have the swiftest trip to hell.

    All of Illinois is in serious fiscal trouble.

  57. EdH says:

    The only relief I’d offer Chicago is drawing a ring around it and severing the rest of Illinois so that they have the swiftest trip to hell.

    There needs to be some way to separate metropoli from dominating their rural  surroundings politically.  The old proportionate house/senate rules don’t work anymore, as seen with upstate NY and downstate Illinois

  58. EdH says:

    Vandenberg launch for tonight scrubbed.

    SPHEREx seems pretty interesting.

  59. drwilliams says:

    Reminds me of the old Lindsay Publications, now defunct

    Yup. There is a Dave Gingery Book Store here:

    https://gingerybookstore.com/

    that has the most famous series, although some of the individual print volumes are out of print. 

    But a lot of the old reprints are republished and available elsewhere, as they are well out of copyright.

  60. drwilliams says:

    Fallout from jerking $400 million away from the anti-Semites at Columbia:

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/03/harvard-freezes.php

    I suggested pulling $1 billion each from three or five more. 60 of them got a letter. Why wait? Now would be good.

  61. EdH says:

    Ah, Dave Gingery.

    Building all the stuff has been on my list for … well … decades.

    I suppose I now have the time (to start, anyways) & resources.

  62. nick flandrey says:

    @drwilliams, those are interesting publishers.

    Poke around on vintagemachinery.org   they have manuals and catalogs galore…

    n

  63. drwilliams says:

    There needs to be some way to separate metropoli from dominating their rural  surroundings politically.  The old proportionate house/senate rules don’t work anymore, as seen with upstate NY and downstate Illinois

    Something along the lines of suspending representation of entities that do not have a balanced budget.

    uh-oh…

    How about something that makes it impossible for governments to commit future cash flow to unfunded pensions, and makes future government pensions like 401k with a government match limited to 25% of the first 6% of salary?

  64. drwilliams says:

    “Poke around on vintagemachinery.org   they have manuals and catalogs galore…”

    Poking around lost me an evening tonight and added three more books to the Cheops Pyramid of Books Project next to my bed. 

  65. nick flandrey says:

    I have a couple of the Gingery books, and at least one of the pequot.

    Spent some time poking around in the manufacturers magazine…  I love the old technical drawings.   Those guys really knew their craft.

    https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000547678 

    n

  66. Nick Flandrey says:

    I got the results from my testing last week, so I guess I should mention that my echocardiogram was good.  Everything seems to be within normal variation and acceptable for my age.   I still have  a followup with the  Dr. to go over the stress test and echo results.   He might want some more imaging, but I think we should talk first.

    ——————-

    I’m going to bed.  I like the ‘spring forward’ change.  My brain wants to go to sleep by the clock, even if I know it’s not really that late.  I’m usually trying to get to bed earlier than normal anyway, and this change plays right into that.

    Going the other way kills me.

    n

  67. Lynn says:

    Going the other way kills me.

    Either way kills me because I stress out about the change.  All while I am asking myself why I stress about something that I cannot control.

  68. brad says:

    Almost every trip I make is more than 200 to 250 miles, at least monthly.  But, that is Texas.

    Well, you did say “monthly”, which isn’t “every trip”. But I do hear you. Last time I visited a cousin in Texas, her regular shopping trip was a 45 minute drive, one way. Which is, even for Texas, kind of crazy.

    Yesterday’s Daylight Savings Time kicked my butt.

    Still coming up here, end of the month. Bleah. I wish they’d just stick to DST.

    Anything that fails the reproducibility test is not science

    Replicating research would be ideal training for grad students! However, showing up famous, well-funded researchers would upset a lot of soup bowls.

    The costs aren’t just in the fraudulent publishing. Drugs and medical treatments get based on fake research, with real costs in human lives.

  69. Alan says:

    >>Cubans know what to do with Islamic types … and spoiled, whiny Venezuelans.

    Apple in the mouth and spit-roasted?

  70. Alan says:

    >>Yesterday’s Daylight Savings Time kicked my butt.

    Still coming up here, end of the month. Bleah. I wish they’d just stick to DST.

    Arizona and Hawaii aren’t so bad…

  71. Alan says:

    >>“Poke around on vintagemachinery.org   they have manuals and catalogs galore…”

    Poking around lost me an evening tonight and added three more books to the Cheops Pyramid of Books Project next to my bed. 

    Yeah, let me look at those catalogs…I’ll just be five more minutes watching these YouTube shorts…really, just five more minutes…

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