Wed. June 18, 2025 – gah, it’s already Wednesday… and I’m still not done with stuff

By on June 18th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

And it’s still hot and humid. I will say it was a bit less of both yesterday, at least for a while. Other than H&H, I can’t really say what today will be. Might get rain, might not. I do think it is generally cooler than 4 of the last 5 years. And that’s nice.

Did a lot of my things yesterday. Didn’t get the one that I needed the minivan for done. That one slipped into today. I did get a couple of pickups, some lead remover wipes from Hoppes, and some other useful things.

I’ll be taking the kid to her volunteer thing this morning so I can do my other thing later with the minivan. That is the only thing I have to do though. Everything else is just normal list stuff.

Other child and wife are safely at their destinations.

It’s weird coming home to an empty house that won’t fill back up later in the day. Foretaste I guess, but I don’t really like it.

Change is the only constant. Stack what you can.

nick

42 Comments and discussion on "Wed. June 18, 2025 – gah, it’s already Wednesday… and I’m still not done with stuff"

  1. Nick Flandrey says:

    77F and light overcast.   Coffee is started, and I’m moving into my day.

    n

  2. ITGuy1998 says:

    It’s weird coming home to an empty house that won’t fill back up later in the day. 

    You already know this, but enjoy the time while the kids are still there. Once they are off to college, it’s not the same. It’s not bad, just different. 

  3. Alan says:

    >>“In the text, Republican Senators have removed Short Barreled Rifles, Short Barreled Shotguns and “Any Other Weapons” (a catch-all term used to restrict other types of firearms not originally covered by the NFA) from the taxation, and therefore the entire tax scheme of the National Firearms Act (NFA).”

    Similarly for suppressors? 

  4. Alan says:

    But also check out Amazon Pharmacy. They seem to have similar pricing as Canada mail order, but with much faster shipping times. Last order of Eliquis (Apixaban) via Canada took 4 weeks to deliver. Amazon says 3-5 days. 

    Also check Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs: https://www.costplusdrugs.com/

  5. Alan says:

    After another “reminder” from W2 that her Zoom calls in her shed still keep dropping I tried a range extender but that didn’t provide any  noticeable improvement. 

    Returned to the ‘Zon and tried a mesh network setup which is working much better. 

    TP-Link Deco Mesh AC1900 WiFi… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084GTH5LL?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share&tag=ttgnet-20

    HW, HL. 

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  6. EdH says:

    After another “reminder” from W2 that her Zoom calls in her shed still keep dropping I tried a range extender but that didn’t provide any  noticeable improvement. 

    My “office” in the old house was a dead zone, naturally.  I tried various things but eventually I just ran a hardline to multi-port switch, so much faster and so many fewer problems.

  7. drwilliams says:

    @Alan

    Suppressors were already removed in the bill. 

  8. MrAtoz says:

    If there any of those bunker busters left after Iran, could we spare one for Congress. Maybe a couple for that giant Mooslim Mosque community in Texas.

  9. Greg Norton says:

    If there any of those bunker busters left after Iran, could we spare one for Congress. Maybe a couple for that giant Mooslim Mosque community in Texas.
     

    Which Muslim community centered around a mosque? Texas has many.

    The Colonists have been busy.

  10. Ken Mitchell says:

    Maybe a couple for that giant Mooslim Mosque community in Texas.

    The “EPIC City” plan would be better hit with a MOAB than a deep penetrator. 

    https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2025/06/17/explainer-theres-just-this-one-way-to-make-the-biggest-badda-boom-n4940880

  11. nick flandrey says:

    Golf cart prices are nuts.

    n

  12. ITGuy1998 says:

    Golf cart prices are nuts.

    They are the new status symbols in my area. Parents buy them for their kids to drive around the neighborhoods. On public roads. Most aren’t road legal. None of them that I have observed even slow down for stop signs, or look for oncoming traffic.

  13. MrAtoz says:

    We looked at some Tomberlin GCs for around the ‘hood since the speed limit is 35 around the new house. Start at $20K and go up. 

  14. Lynn says:

    “International sports star feasts on brisket at iconic Texas barbecue spot”

        https://www.chron.com/culture/article/oscar-piastri-formula-one-texas-barbecue-20383045.php

    That has got to be 3,000 or 4,000 calories of food.  No freaking way that a normal person could eat all of that at one sitting.

  15. Lynn says:

    It’s weird coming home to an empty house that won’t fill back up later in the day. 

    You already know this, but enjoy the time while the kids are still there. Once they are off to college, it’s not the same. It’s not bad, just different. 

    You can only hope.  I’ve got a 37 year old kid at home who will never leave us.

    She did go to college for one semester.  And her Lyme disease flared up mid semester so she did not go to class again after that (that was before we knew she had Lyme disease).  And then she started having mini strokes when she came home.

  16. Lynn says:

    We looked at some Tomberlin GCs for around the ‘hood since the speed limit is 35 around the new house. Start at $20K and go up. 

    My buddy two streets over has a six passenger street legal (he has a Texas license plate !) Polaris turbocharged two ? cylinder 4×4 that will go 65 mph.  Scary !

  17. Lynn says:

    Golf cart prices are nuts.

    They are the new status symbols in my area. Parents buy them for their kids to drive around the neighborhoods. On public roads. Most aren’t road legal. None of them that I have observed even slow down for stop signs, or look for oncoming traffic.

    The kids in my neighborhood are riding electric scooters and electric / gasoline motorcycles.  They go anywhere from max of 15 mph to 60+ mph.  They are riding all over the empty lots and streets both.  And our water detention ponds when they are dry.

  18. Lynn says:

    >>“In the text, Republican Senators have removed Short Barreled Rifles, Short Barreled Shotguns and “Any Other Weapons” (a catch-all term used to restrict other types of firearms not originally covered by the NFA) from the taxation, and therefore the entire tax scheme of the National Firearms Act (NFA).”

    Suppressors were already removed in the bill. 

    From what I am reading, all of these items are just removed from taxation.  They still have to be registered / serial numbered and only sold via a background check from an FFL via NICS.

        https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/nics

  19. Lynn says:

    Which Muslim community centered around a mosque? Texas has many.

    The Colonists have been busy.

    That is the long war.

  20. EdH says:

    Speaking of cop imposters & wanna-be’s: Saw an old crown vic in the supermarket parking lot today. Had the little spotlight and pusher bar, wheeels painted black. but California hasn’t used these for years.  Windows all blacked out.

    I think if you were to simply make a list of all of the owners of these old wrecks, from the department of motor vehicle records, you would have a pretty good start on a list of goofballs and crazies.

  21. Lynn says:

    “Court upholds Tennessee’s ban on certain medical treatments for transgender minors”

        https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/06/court-upholds-tennessees-ban-on-certain-medical-treatments-for-transgender-minors/

    “The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender teenagers. By a vote of 6-3, the justices rejected an argument by three transgender teens (along with their parents and a Memphis doctor) that the law violates their constitutional right to equal protection and should be scrutinized using a more stringent standard than the one used by a federal appeals court in Cincinnati.”

    also

       https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/06/18/the-supreme-court-delivers-a-crushing-blow-to-trans-agenda-n4940916

    Future non-members of “The Mutilated” will thank SCOTUS some day.

  22. Lynn says:

    “’Rogue’ Biden judge ignores biological truth, blocks Trump’s common-sense passport policy”

        https://www.theblaze.com/news/rogue-biden-judge-says-trump-cant-refuse-transvestites-reality-denying-passports

    “The Trump administration has been ordered to allow transvestites’ passports to reflect their delusions about their sex.”

    I guess that the rogue judge ignored the SCOTUS decision from yesterday.

  23. Greg Norton says:

    That has got to be 3,000 or 4,000 calories of food.  No freaking way that a normal person could eat all of that at one sitting.
     

    Just one stop in Lockhart?

    Amateur.

  24. Lynn says:

    “JUST IN: Israeli Air Force strikes the studio of Iranian state run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in Tehran while they were on live air. The newscaster was in the middle of a show when the building was hit.”

        https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1934633847171457122

    Tehran Tracey (if you remember Baghdad Bob).

  25. Rolf Grunsky (A Crimson Tory) says:

    That has got to be 3,000 or 4,000 calories of food.  No freaking way that a normal person could eat all of that at one sitting.

    Ever watch the Tour de France cyclists eat?

  26. Lynn says:

    “Iran Prepares To Hit US Regional Bases With Missiles If Trump Joins The War”

        https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/white-house-seeks-meeting-irans-foreign-minister-iran-eases-punishing-strikes-axios

    We know exactly where the so-called “Supreme Leader” is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

    We need to go after Khomeini in his bunker.

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    1
  27. Lynn says:

    I am surprised that the price of crude oil is not up to $100/US bbl.  It has gone from $62 to $75 though.

        https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/CL%3DF/

    Iran produces about 4 to 5% of the world’s crude oil.  Taking that off the market will cause a serious price increase.

  28. drwilliams says:

    “This case carries a simple lesson: In politically contentious debates over matters shrouded in scientific uncertainty, courts should not assume that self-described experts are correct,” Thomas wrote. “

    https://thefederalist.com/2025/06/18/in-landmark-skrmetti-case-justice-thomas-demolishes-the-expert-class/

    see Section II of Justice Thomas concurring opinon, and IIA in particular:

    The views of self-proclaimed experts do not “shed light on
    the meaning of the Constitution.” Dobbs, 597 U. S., at 272–
    273. Thus, whether “major medical organizations” agree
    with the result of Tennessee’s democratic process is irrele-
    vant. Post, at 5, n. 5 (opinion of SOTOMAYOR, J.). To hold
    otherwise would permit elite sentiment to distort and stifle
    democratic debate under the guise of scientific judgment,
    and would reduce judges to mere “spectators . . . in constru-
    ing our Constitution.” 83 F. 4th, at 479.

    Just a few Terms ago, this Court acknowledged the im-
    portance of reserving to the democratic process the right to
    decide controversial medical questions. In Dobbs, the re-
    spondents sought to invoke the authority of “overwhelming
    medical consensus” and “numerous major medical organi-
    zations” to dispatch with Mississippi’s asserted interest in
    minimizing pain for the unborn. Brief for Respondents,
    O. T. 2021, No. 19–1932, pp. 31–32. The Court pointedly
    rejected the notion that a consensus among popular expert
    groups could remove “the mitigation of fetal pain” from the
    “legitimate interests” of the people. 597 U. S., at 301.
    Rational-basis review is critical to safeguarding these le-
    gitimate interests. Under this level of review, courts ask
    only whether a law is “rationally related to a legitimate gov-
    ernmental interest.” Department of Agriculture v. Moreno,
    413 U. S. 528, 533 (1973). That deferential standard is not

    only legally compelled in this case, but is practically essen-
    tial for preserving “the original constitutional proposition
    that courts do not substitute their social and economic be-
    liefs for the judgment of legislative bodies.” Ferguson v.
    Skrupa, 372 U. S. 726, 730 (1963). When legislation does
    not cross constitutional lines, States must have leeway to
    effect the judgment of their citizens—no matter whether ex-
    perts disagree. And, when this Court has nonetheless given
    exalted status to expert opinion, it has been to our detri-
    ment: Past deference to expertise provided the theory of eu-
    genics “added legitimacy and considerable momentum,”
    with “[t]his Court thr[owing] its prestige behind the eugen-
    ics movement in its 1927 decision upholding the constitu-
    tionality of Virginia’s forced-sterilization law.” Box v.
    Planned Parenthood of Ind. and Ky., Inc., 587 U. S. 490,
    499–500 (2019) (T HOMAS, J., concurring) (citing Buck v.
    Bell, 274 U. S. 200 (1927)). Fortunately, we do not repeat
    that mistake today.

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-477_2cp3.pdf

    “Scientific consensus” has been invoked numerous times in recent years when there was no such thing, but instead merely a hijacking of supposed scientific organizations by almost universally leftist political operatives coupled with suppression of dissenting views. See “anthropomorphic global warming”, “green energy”, “COVID origins”, and “RNA vaccines”.  

    My all-time favorite scientific fraud is still the use of a proxy study by the infamous Michael Man who simply turned it upside down to make the trend opposite to that found by the actual investigator doing the research.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/06/22/manns-inverted-tiljander-data-survives-another-round-of-peer-review/

  29. EdH says:

    Iran produces about 4 to 5% of the world’s crude oil.  Taking that off the market will cause a serious price increase.

    It might be balancing out because it isn’t very good oil, and the primary customer was China, whose economy is crashing and probably doesn’t have a high demand currently.

  30. MrAtoz says:

    I guess that the rogue judge ignored the SCOTUS decision from yesterday.

    Yup, another doosh-judge who thinks he is the President. NumbNuts Roberts could end this by quickly smacking down these jerks. Tell them to stay in their lane. They have no control over any other branch of the goobermint. They can’t take one case and decide it applies to the Nation.

  31. nick flandrey says:

    Gas at the pump has gone up about 10-15c per gallon in the last week.

    n

  32. Lynn says:

    Gas at the pump has gone up about 10-15c per gallon in the last week.

    The jobbers, the guys who buy gasoline from the refineries and tanker truck it to the gas stations, watch the price of crude oil like a hawk.  They are in the middle and will not let themselves get squeezed.  Consequently, they always make money because they are quick to raise their price and slow to lower their price.

  33. Lynn says:

    Iran produces about 4 to 5% of the world’s crude oil.  Taking that off the market will cause a serious price increase.

    It might be balancing out because it isn’t very good oil, and the primary customer was China, whose economy is crashing and probably doesn’t have a high demand currently.

    Most Iranian oil is Heavy Sour but, crude oil is crude oil.  Heavy and Sour crude oil just requires more processing than Light and Sweet crude oil.  You just can’t drop 5 million barrels per day of crude oil off the 99 million barrels per day market and not expect the market to reflect it.

    Even if the China economy is crashing, they still have a very heavy consumer demand for gasoline.  And they have a heavy consumer demand for electric power.  Those coal power plants use diesel for starting, stabilization, and shutting down.  And most of the factories use diesel for generators to stabilize their electric power.   

    I can see the Chinese demand for crude oil dropping maybe 20% at the absolute most.  Any more than that would cause civil unrest and demonstrations.

  34. drwilliams says:

    Hmmm: Iranian Government Aircraft Make Mysterious Dash To Oman

    https://hotair.com/headlines/2025/06/18/hmmm-iranian-government-aircraft-make-mysterious-dash-to-oman-n3803935

    My guess is that someones in Iran is getting the aircraft out before they get vaporized. They get families and ill-gotten gains together so they are ready to evacuate, then pull some ceasefire hokey-pokey that allows the planes to go back and pick up the evacuees.

    Screw that. About wheels up time declare a violation of the ceasefire agreement, then blow them TAF out of the sky. 

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  35. Ken Mitchell says:

    We need to go after Khomeini in his bunker.

    Israel is doing a fine job on their own; we should let them finish the job. Israel DOES need to be careful, however, to leave ALIVE at least one member of the Iranian government who has the authority to order the military to surrender. If Israel kills them all, which they could easily do, it’ll be more difficult to convince the military to ground arms and quit.

  36. Alan says:

    >>Speaking of cop imposters & wanna-be’s: Saw an old crown vic in the supermarket parking lot today. Had the little spotlight and pusher bar, wheeels painted black. but California hasn’t used these for years.  Windows all blacked out. 

    It was a wild-west free-for-all back in the day in NYFC. And then on 9/11, everything changed. 

  37. Lynn says:

    We need to go after Khomeini in his bunker.

    Israel is doing a fine job on their own; we should let them finish the job. Israel DOES need to be careful, however, to leave ALIVE at least one member of the Iranian government who has the authority to order the military to surrender. If Israel kills them all, which they could easily do, it’ll be more difficult to convince the military to ground arms and quit.

    At a minimum, we should give Israel our really fancy bunker busters.

    When I was a junior engineer in west Texas back in the early 1980s, the C-130s from Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene used our 250 foot tall microwave antenna as a target.  They would hop over the hill in terrain following mode, all four engines smoking and screaming, drop the rear ramp and go vertical on top of our power plant, dropping a simulated MOAB on us.  We could hear and feel them five minutes out and rush outside for our weekly show.  It never got old.

    I wonder if that is how the really fancy bunker busters are dropped ?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-57A/B_MOP

  38. nick flandrey says:

    Someone is vetting the tools under real use conditions.   Like the Uke practice war- the networked irregular warfighter…

    Not a great thing.  I’m not buying it that we’re all safer because israel is taking the iranian threat down a notch, like micro quakes keep the big one from happening.  I see the logic, but the iranians are not a fault line or a natural process.  They are human and crazy.   And nature abhors a vacuum, so what comes next?

    I’m going to bed.  Thought about a tiny little fire, but it got to be too late…

    n

  39. Denis says:

    I wonder if that is how the really fancy bunker busters are dropped ?

    Hmm. Maybe those new Starlink satellites the size of a 737 also have a few “rods from God” on-board?

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