Cool and damp, followed by warm and damp, but the radio said no rain for a few more days. Back to watering the lawn I guess. It’s still very nice in the afternoon.
I did some small things, including trying a new way to cook dinner. I tried a pork roast in the crock pot without all the liquid, going for a slow bake. It worked out better than I expected, although I chickened out and added 1/2 cup water so the new potatoes and onion wedges would have something to cook in. I think it’s a good choice when I have to leave the house and won’t be home when a roast would have to go into the oven. It was well past 150F in 3 1/2 hours on the crock pot’s high setting. I would normally put it in the oven at 320F for about an hour for the 3 pounds. It might take an extra 20 minutes after that.
Packet gravy, and heat and eat bread rounded out the meal.
Today I don’t have any pickups so I can work my list. That’s my plan anyway. Nose to the grindstone, feet to the fire, once more into the breech…
And some sort of stacking is always appropriate.
n
Friday. Finally.
I have the day off work. Good to have a break.
Today would have been my late mother’s 99th birthday. I miss her.
She liked going to symphony concerts. This evening, I will go and listen to Brückner’s 9th symphony. Not sure it would have been to Mama’s taste, but perhaps she would have enjoyed the choral finale. She and Anton can have a chat about it, one of these eternities.
Wishing you all a good day!
Happy Friday everyone!
Unlike Denis, I have to work. The joys of being (supposedly) retired… Not my favorite class: second semester Java programming. That would be fine, but…
The school is changing programming languages from Java to Python, so this is the absolute last time this course will be offered. It’s a required course, but some students who suck at programming have put it off. Which, of course, means that they don’t remember anything from the first semester course. And also means that they are now desperate to pass the course. Six more weeks to go…then the exam…then the official protests about how the exam was scored wrong, then the tears…
-shrug- Who benefits from that information? How can it be monitized? Maybe something to do with optimizing streaming resolution to match what most people watch in, or it might be a licensing issue for the codecs. I can only speculate. But it’s not a concern for me as I live my luxuriously Windows-free existence.
Yah, except that an awful lot of people in and around government actively despise Western culture even as they deny it exists. I cannot fathom such self-loathing. Why they don’t simply kill themselves is a mystery to me, though I suspect the answer involves cowardice.
@mediumwave
Yes, this whole incident moved my urgency to look at Brave up a couple notches.
We saw this debut at the Grand Ole Opry in September. The Opry is pretty strict about style for members, but Moriah mixed it up as her set proceeded, introducing more Latin influence along with “Woke” banter about her immigrant grandfather having to set aside his trumpet to wash dishes.
https://musicrow.com/2025/09/moriah-makes-grand-ole-opry-debut/
Elvis only played the Opry once, early in his career. The legend is that the decision makers told The Colonel to not try to book a repeat appearance.
Ringo Starr had his debut in February.
The Colonist culture is a tradition of lying. Plus, for the most part, the H1B visa holders are mostly from extremely wealthy backgrounds so they are just another variant of Upper Class Twit of the Year, if you remember your Monty Python sketches.
Whenever I see one Colonist co-worker, I think of the line from the sketch, “He’s in the Guards, and his father sometimes uses him as a waste paper basket.”
Right now, The Colonists have a serious hard on to live in Austin so they will do or say just about anything to get a visa to work here and keep the job, most likely under orders from families back home to establish a beach head in Central Texas, preferably with a large new house paid for with the wife’s dowry.
Houston is ok, but Austin makes their nipples hard
And those of you not in tech who think it is “live and let live”, just wait. The AMA, working with all levels of government,has a plan to replace your healthcare providers, particularly GPs, within 20 years, give or take.
Your MBBS will see you now.
How can an AI be “black”?
Beyond “cultural appropriation”?
If an AI is black does that count as a diversity hire?
Next Up: Sexual Orientation in Silicon
Elon’s sex robots will cater to all kinks.
JEP was wrong in predicting that commercial exploitation of space would produce the first trillionare. The first Quattro Commas will be about human fulfillment. Take it from Tom Cruise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxxTPRf3GBg
I’ve listened to a couple of AI generated songs, done as experiments by musicians whose channels I watch. They are decent pop songs. Most songs that make it to somewhere you can hear them are ‘decent’. Very few are remarkable. Those become hits. People that can consistently make hits (like Benny Blanco) make money.
I’m not so concerned about AI songs, but like everything that is suddenly easier to do, there will be a flood of crap. Remember desktop publishing? Every flyer had 15 fonts, 4 colors and was an affront to the senses? Or website building tools? Geocities and blink tag for example?
Took a long time for the crap to settle out and people who could really use the tools eventually emerged.
—–
If you are mediocre or crap at what you do, you are always at risk of replacement, by imported labor, some up and comer, or AI.
The problem for society is that not everyone can be a ‘rockstar’. Most people are in the big fat middle of the bell curve. They are the majority that must find some fulfilling way to spend their lives, or society suffers. JEP used to worry about the right end of the curve, with the idea that all improvement comes from there so that was a really good place to focus effort. The left end, the nasty brutish and short end, as long as it doesn’t impact most people is usually ignored anyway.
If AI comes for the middle, the same way imported labor came for the tradesmen that made up the bulk of the industrial middle class, then we have a serious problem.
n
BTW, nitpickers – Quattro is deliberate.
How would Russ Hanneman spell it?
Russ probably had an Audi TT back in the day, when he was just Dos Comas.
I don’t need to be corrected or clarified with another AI generated post. That is getting old … fast.
Probably not the men who prefer under-aged. Which is too bad, because getting it on with a four-foot-tall robot might help some control their urges toward real kids.
Most of the tech industry labor pool is mediocre now. Once RSU grants replaced options at many companies, the incentive went away.
My employer’s stock has retraced the same path for nearly three years despite being the vendor of choice for the Monkey Trick.
Only a bullet to the base of the skull will control those urges when that is the kink.
Sheriff Grady Judd never seems to have a problem luring Pedos to his sting operations, including a disturbing number of Disney employees.
I just realized: Friday the 13th falls on the 14th this month! Doooooom!
Probably not the men who prefer under-aged
– that market is filled by humans who have a long history of catering to it. Unless the robots are cheaper than grabbing or buying kids out of poverty, no one will bother making the robots.
The flip side is that someone will advocate for PROVIDING the robots as therapy or the lesser of two evils.
n
What could possibly go wrong?
The “Monkey” Trick Gone Wild!
https://www.the-sun.com/news/15492399/escaped-chimp-terrorizes-zoo-attacks-guest-school-children-trapped/
“What could possibly go wrong?”
Well, do you suppose the Israelis who loaded the PLO’s phones would consult?
Chimps are dangerous, enormous grip & arm strength. 10x is apparently an old wives tail, but 2x at least.
Chimps fight to the death and rip the loser apart before eating the body.
n
People will buy the robots.
We sacrificed American car manufacturing so a very small percentage of the population could cruise to work at Ludicrous Speed.
Sex robots will require further debasing the currency, but, at this point, whats another $5 Trillion?
Maybe $10 Trillion. Gotta have financing.
I currently have Hogan’s Heroes on in the background. Streaming on Pluto TV.
The older Apple TV box started glitching yesterday with many buffers. I ran Speedtest on the ATV and iPad. ipad 500+/150 and ATV 2/15. Ordered a new ATV and it was couriered in this morning. All is back with the ATV hitting 500+/150.
Pluto, Tubi, and YT are a better price (free) than cable except for sports, which I don’t watch.
It is yet another argument for restricting immigration. Too much immigration means importing foreign cultural values that we do not want. Western culture has a value, and our governments ought to have an interest in protecting it.
MTG has heard you. “MTG Announces New Bill to END H-1B Visa Program for Good!”
https://rumble.com/v71on8k-mtg-announces-new-bill-to-end-h-1b-visa-program-for-good.html
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
That isn’t going to happen. The tech industry has become reliant on slave labor,
Ask “MTG” about the $6 billion Rivian received from the Biden Thing on his way out the door.
From what I saw driving from Atlanta to Chattanooga in late September, a lot of the money ended up in her district, converting the old carpet and furniture mills into EV compontent factories.
Gotta get them jerbs.
Rivian’s last Hail Mary is a factory in GA to the tune of about $4 billion. The rest of the money will disappear before the boondoggle goes as splody as an EV battery.
Mars colonies will be built by life sentence indentured servants.
“US Postal Service seeks reforms as it reports $9 billion yearly loss”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-postal-seeks-reforms-reports-153638197.html?guccounter=1
“USPS, which lost $9.5 billion in the prior year, has lost more than $100 billion since 2007 despite significant restructuring and legislative reforms. The U.S. Congress in 2022 provided the Postal Service with about $50 billion in financial relief over a decade.”
Is there anything that the federales cannot ruin ?
MeTV has two episodes of “Hogan’s Heroes” in HD every night.
GA-14 also includes the GA Chattanooga suburbs which struck me as heavily dependent on DoD spending.
“Rubio instructs US diplomats to consider obesity as a cause for rejecting visas”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/13/rubios-diplomats-to-consider-obesity-as-cause-for-rejecting-visas-00650810
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio has instructed U.S. diplomats to consider obesity alongside various chronic medical conditions as among the reasons to reject foreigners seeking U.S. visas, according to excerpts of a cable viewed by POLITICO.”
“Rubio’s guidance is a relatively strict interpretation of the federal government’s “public charge” rule. That rule bars prospective immigrants from entering the country if they are deemed likely to later require public assistance, such as Supplemental Security Income and funding from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.”
No Fat Chicks.
“Texas Congressman Proposes Immigration ‘Freeze’”
https://texasscorecard.com/federal/texas-congressman-proposes-immigration-freeze/
“Roy noted that more than 50 million people in the U.S. are foreign born, a higher percentage of the population than it’s ever been.”
“U.S. Rep. Chip Roy’s “Pause Act” would freeze all immigration until Congress fixes the broken system.”
Do it !
So no more orange fingers from these new Cheetos?
“Umarex Hammer Carbine .50 Caliber Pellet Gun PCP Air Rifle”
https://www.amazon.com/Umarex-Hammer-Carbine-Caliber-Pellet/dp/B0C4G5NFZG?tag=ttgnet-20
.50 caliber at 1,000 ft/sec. Can take down an elk or moose. 2 shot magazine. 4 shot air tank.
Legal in all 50 states, buyable on Amazon.
Youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRikFgD2TyY
There have been some weird things in the returns auctions lately.
For a while there were several styles of “marital aids” that needed batteries and were unlike anything I’d ever seen. Tech marches on I guess.
Then it was anatomically
correctexaggerated silicon torsos for men and women. Furniture specifically for sex. Glory hole kits for turning a standard doorway into a gloryhole.now it’s vulva balm, and skin bleach for your nethers. I’d be extremely nervous about applying powerful chemicals to my most sensitive areas…
How is it that enough demand exists that china will make and import freaking glory hole kits?
n
“Chinese Astronauts Stranded in Tiangong Space Station Return to Earth After a Week’s Delay Caused by Space Junk Damaging Their Reentry Capsule (VIDEOS)”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/11/chinese-astronauts-stranded-tiangong-space-station-return-earth/
Well, they were not the second set of hitchhikers in space. But they left their replacements without a working capsule. I wonder if anyone has any duct tape up there ?
How is it that enough demand exists that china will make and import freaking glory hole kits?
Dude, people are weird. That said, …
And you can buy those on Big River too.
https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Portable-Temporary-Partition-Set-Provide/dp/B0F4P59Z5Q
And after billions in losses, the plugs Admin got them those ugly EVs.
“Chicago Mayor Asks The UN To Intervene In Trump’s Deportation Efforts”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/chicago-mayor-asks-un-intervene-trumps-deportation-efforts
“Chicago’s Mayor, Brandon Johnson, has been an utter disaster for the Windy City since he took office in 2023. Chicago is facing a $1.1 billion budget shortfall in 2026, a high unemployment rate and they had 44,840 licensed businesses operating in the area in 2024, which is fewer businesses than any year in the past decade.”
“After declaring that his government would do everything in its power to make Trump’s deportation efforts in Chicago impossible, Johnson stated in October that he was “defending humanity”. The sabotage that ensued caused Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to protect ICE agents from violent protesters. “Operation Midway Blitz” has been met with roving gangs of (most likely funded) activists. They have engaged in a series of confrontations, stalking immigration officers, blocking them and attempting to set arrestees free.”
“In some cases they have even tried to murder ICE agents.”
Ain’t gonna be no blue hats in the USA under Trump. Under AOC, sure.
“Key Ocean Current Faltering, Raising Risk Of “Ice Age”-Like Cooling”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/key-ocean-current-faltering-raising-risk-ice-age-cooling
Wait, are we going back to the 1970s claims of a new Ice Age ?
BTW, we never left the Ice Age. Both poles are still frozen and have been frozen for millions of years. Only a single pole has to be frozen for us to be in an Ice Age.
I’ll be going to the theater tonight. That should be said with a snooty and superior air…
Of course it’s the horror show of middleschool theater, and a musical at that. VERY few kids sing well at that age. I’m hoping the sound kid was able to apply the lessons of last year, and resist the pressure to just turn up the volume.
——–
I’m kinda looking forward to t he kid’s involvement in High School theater, as there can be some decent voices there.
In college there was at least one show that I wasn’t working on that I would sneak into every night to hear one of the songs. Sneak is a bit strong, as I was a student and crew for other shows and generally had the run of the place. I have a thing for strong female vocals…
n
WRT ice ages, the glacier came to within a block of where I grew up south of Chicago. It made a ridge where it stopped pushing south, and that “Ridge Road” was the main street through our [local political unit]. Also part of US 6…
n
I briefly considered bidding on this, which looks like “a tidy little motor” if the price was right.
A little google though, and it was in a front end collision, was written off, and has a recon title. Not worth $500.
Note to that the car most recently came from Titlemax a lending company that uses car titles as security for the loan. They seem to have bought it at auction before selling it on. Or maybe they fixed it up after their borrower wrecked it.
No way I’m buying it at any price.
n
They’re already missing Mayor Beetlejuice?
Just say her name three times and … Showtime!
This almost calls for an “Oh, my sweet Summer child…”.
I can picture some purchases being made by people trying to freak out annoying in-laws and induce them to leave and never return.
Greg, take note.
Not exactly. At least one pole being frozen is the definition of “Icehouse world”, contrasted with “Greenhouse world” or “Hothouse world” when neither is iced over.
“Ice Age” means a significant portion of Terra’s surface is covered in ice. I just looked and didn’t see a consensus about what constitutes “significant”. Different official sites gave different numbers, if any.
TL;DR: We are in an icehouse world and have been since before the species evolved but are not currently in an ice age. We’re in the Holocene Epoch, a (probably very brief) period between ice ages.
During the last glaciation, the ice reached well south of where I’m currently sitting, and well-er south of where I grew up. (To the extent that I grew up at all, it should be noted.)
Sounds good. Do it!
Though I would make a very limited exception: new people, whether true refugees or valued scientists, can come here if the Secretary of State hand-writes their name and qualification on a form and signs the form, in front of cameras and witnesses. No autopens.
And be more liberal [sic] in the revocation of visas or refugee status or naturalization for demonstrated parasites and enemies of the American people. Ilhan Brotherhumper, this means you.
I don’t suppose you have a monocle and top-hat? Sit in front of some annoying Karen of a middle-school parent (redundancy alert) and refuse to take off the hat.
In other words, permanent. I would not rely on Congress to fix anything. Congress would only make it worse.
I do have a bowler hat, made in England and everything. Unfortunately it’s sized 7 ¼ and I really need 7 3/8.
n
Tech people are the weirdest.
Quattro Commas!
Arachnophobia nightmare:
(link with pictures)
Don’t mess with that web! It’s the tapestry of the moirai and its destruction would kill us all!
Kamala Harris’s book tour is still ongoing:
https://107daysbook.com/
Tip from Michael Berry’s radio show.
But, sadly for all the Tennesseans here, the Nashville show is sold out.
Not all of us are sad. Some of us don’t care, could not care less, and would consider pissing on an electric fence to be a more pleasurable experience than attending any of the Kamel’s events.
Good grief! Those ticket prices are insane.
The $472.92 ticket gets you a one-on-one demonstration of how she got her start in politics. Still not worth it, in my opinion, but different strokes for different folks. IYKWIMAITYD
I regularly wear a stetson. It’s to keep the sun out of my eyes, not to look like a cowboy. The fact that I don’t wear pants, do wear a 20-pocket vest, and am usually barefoot should tell anyone with any sense that I’m not trying to look like a cowboy. People with sense are mighty thin on the ground, though. This may have a causal relationship to the fact that thin people are mighty thin on the ground, at least in the US today.
Try a half pork loin in the crock pot. I prefer to put it on a trivet to keep it drier because I slice most of it to eat on rolls. I don’t do anything with the meat, just take it out of the wrapper, rinse it, and cook it. Seasoning can be added to taste when eaten, though I seldom bother myself. Fresh-cooked meat on a fresh-baked roll. What seasoning would you need?
@steve, how long do you cook it and on high or low?
n
The $472.92 ticket gets you a one-on-one demonstration of how she got her start in politics. Still not worth it, in my opinion, but different strokes for different folks. IYKWIMAITYD
What is Kamala going to do with a frumpy dike in a pair of overalls ? Wait, I don’t want to know.
Well, that wasn’t too bad. The show is short and funny and some of the kids could sing. Sound kid did an excellent job. No screeching feedback, nothing overly loud, you could hear most of the kids, and they even had individual tonality, so he did a bit of EQing for each actor. Can’t ask for more given the constraints.
Time for a tiny little fire and a book. It’s still in the mid 70sF, but damp so I expect I’ll get chilled eventually.
I might head to the BOL tomorrow, we’ll see how I’m feeling.
n
The Ryman. What a waste.
Plenty of places where the Secret Service can pick up refreshments, however.
Wait. Didn’t she lose the Secret Service detail as soon as Trump could pull the agents?
Doug will have to make a run to Publix for those special juice boxes.
Today’s musical performance is “The White Stripes – From the Basement (Official Performance)” from 2005:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5wkTdVjE1s&t=238s
I am trying to decide what genre of Rock and Roll they were. My best guess may be all of them with a base in folk singers.
Here you go. You’re welcome.
Saturday. The concert last night was excellent, as expected. Brahms’ violin concerto, followed by Brückner’s ninth symphony.
The Brahms was a treat, because I wasn’t expecting it. I either had not seen, or had forgotten, the programme.
The Brückner was magnificent. Powerful music, by a composer who was confronted with his mortality. I hadn’t heard it before, but will definitely be looking for a good recording to study on the new Hi-Fi.
Apparently, I misread the programme notes in German. The last movement had chorale-like and organ-like passages, but involved neither a choir nor an organist. They did have four Wagner tubas (eew…) and a proper tuba. Real wall of sound stuff.
Saturday. Places to go and stuff to do. Wishing you all a good day!
Won 28 rifle mags in an auction tonight. Some for sale, some for me. Some things you never seem to have enough.
n