Warm and wet. We’re in the “t-storm and rain” zone today and tomorrow, so we’ll probably get wet at some point. Yesterday ended up being fairly nice. There was a bit of misty drizzle after dark, but only in isolated areas.
Well, after a long nap, I really didn’t get anything much done yesterday outside of auction stuff. I am feeling the beginning of something coming on, and want to short circuit it. D1 is suffering from cough, head and body aches, and general not feeling well. I don’t want that.
Anyway, today will include auction pickups that can’t be put off, and might include more domestic bliss, or office cleanup. Or I might go to the shop and make room for the last of the stuff in the storage unit. I really thought I’d have the room cleared by taking a bunch of stuff to auction by now. And I thought I’d have the last of the stuff sold that I shared with my buddy. Nope.
I’ll get done what I can. That’s the best you can hope for some days.
Stack. It’s easy!
nick
Tuesday. Good morning!
Hum-drum today. Same old, same old. Work plus domestic stuff.
Travel after work to attend a funeral tomorrow. Not my favourite, but better not to be the star of that particular matinée performance.
Stay on this side of the grass where possible.
Erm… that’s “pedantic”.
🙂
I have been to Ulm and Neu Ulm, but not to New Ulm. Sounds like it might be worth a visit. I wonder if their crime statistics are better than their diversity score…?
Haven’t been in the mood to chat in our virtual, online pub lately. Hope everyone is doing well!
My wife is ribbing me: Now that I’m retired, how many part-time jobs do I have? I had to admit: three, which is maybe a bit crazy. That will be dropping to two at the end of the year, after I teach my last-ever course at my former full-time employer. The third is just me messing around the town, clearing hiking trails and such. I do so much that they have started to insist on paying me. Hey, it’s beer money!
Anyway, having a meeting today at the trade school, where they keep asking me to take on more. My bottom line is going to be: I’ll teach as many courses as you want, but I’m only coming two days a week. Whatever they can fit into those two days is fine. I reckon that’s going to be fun for whoever does their schedule planning.
It seems to be the case that they just cannot find teachers. I think I mentioned that the full-time position they advertised last year had zero applications. So they rely on a huge number of part-time folks. Part of that is that, if you only teach a couple of hours a week, you don’t have to have a formal pedagogical qualification. If you do teach more than (I think) 4 hours a week, you are supposed to have a teaching qualification. That’s not a full degree, more like a “minor” that you can easily pick up part-time.
Yes!
Welcome back, Brad. I missed you! No other early riser to chat with except timezone -challenged demigod SteveF, and Chicken Boy was rude to me!!! 😉
In other news, we have been racking up one-liners for T-shirts like nobody’s business. Rich, I will be rich! Right after my nap.
@denis, as long as it isn’t the “dirt nap”…
—
74F and overcast, gusty wind. Not actually raining at the moment though.
D1 will be home sick today. W may just work from home. She slipped off the boat trailer and wrenched a knee this weekend and it’s not magically better. Stubborn woman wouldn’t even put ice on it. Grrr.
—
I better go see about my coffee, and poke D2 again.
n
I spoke too soon. The rain started and there is some thunder growling off in the not too distant too.
n
Not the dirt nap, yet, but thanks for checking!
Trailers are almost as good for slipping off as boats themselves. Hope D1 will recover quickly.
Latest on the body recovery in the Maldives…
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15829961/Dangerous-mission-retrieve-cave-divers-bodies-gets-underway-Maldives-one-rescue-frogman-lost-life-finding-them.html
And this very suspect statement from the husband…
that would be a dive every other day for 26 years…. seems unlikely to me since she was 51 years old. Just as unlikely as “strong currents” pushing them to the depth, where their first thought was “I should go deep into this cave.”
There is a lot of ass covering and really improbable statements from people who will likely be found to be negligent. Like, how did the tour boat end up dropping off the dive party at the cave, without knowing they were diving the cave? And what does the woman who stayed up have to say about their plans? Seems like she’d know better than anyone…
n
Lot’s of people may have been involved, but the final responsibility lies with the divers for choosing to make the dive.
The most troubling thing is loss of life in a body recovery operation. Even forewarned people continue to make bad decisions.
I seem to recall that it was possible to legally teach in California if you had a Master’s and were at least involved – or promised to be involved – in some sort of teaching credential program.
And a lot of the school districts would waive credentials if they couldn’t get anyone any other way (rural math & science classes were desperate).
But that was all 20 years ago, I can’t imagine the
cartelsunions would allow it today.IDK about anymore but 25 years ago my girlfriend was teaching dance in LA high schools. She had the Masters in Dance but since Dance is in the PE department, she needed the PE credential, and a teaching cert. The pay wasn’t good enough to bother with when they finally pushed the issue.
————-
The Cy-Fair ISD has a bunch of jobs listed currently and describes the requirements for various classroom positions. There are plenty of jobs for non-teacher teachers.
————-
Rain stopped. It’s 85F and moist with the sun out. Lunch time.
n
I did a double brake job on The Child’s car this morning. (Technically, half of it in the morning and half in the afternoon.) Inspector said last week that the front rotors, pads, and calipers on both sides needed to be replaced. Looking things over after I got it all apart, I think he was being aggressive there. It wasn’t because he was trying to drum up work for his shop, as he knows I do almost all of my car work myself. Regardless, a couple hours (including getting the parts) and close to $500 and it’s all new. One rotor definitely was bad and the other kind of questionable, and the rotors were most of the expense because I paid extra to avoid garbage Chinese metal. Should be fine to pass when she takes it to the shop this afternoon.
And while I was out I picked up close to 300# of chicken feed, wild bird seed, diatomaceous earth (for dust bath, to kill fleas and such), and other supplies. Between tools, car parts, and bird stuff, even my van was getting pretty full. Good thing I don’t drive a “sensible”, “efficient” car like our Lords and Masters want us to. Rather, they don’t want us driving at all. Stay in your 15-minute zone, peon!
Follow-up to the above: Yep, passed inspection. The guy didn’t even pull the tires off. Just looking, he could see the all-new brake parts and that was the only problem he found previously. The Child didn’t even have time to settle into one of the waiting room chairs and get engrossed in whatever Reddit channel she was looking at – and you know how fast a teen can do that – when it was done and the car was out and waiting for her.
In other news, the chickens were awwwwwking strenuously at me when I went by with bag after bag of food. I doubt that they recognized the feed bags but they might have smelled the grains or pellets. Or more likely they were yelling at me to let them out of their tiny, unconscionable 200 sq ft prison. (I could have taken everything in two trips in the cart-wagon-thing. In theory. In practice, the cart is about worthless with anything resembling a load on anything resembling uneven ground. The wheel base is too narrow so it’s prone to tipping with even one 50# bag of grain. Easier to just carry them two at a time.)
Speaking of brakes. I just ordered pads and rotors for my son’s car. Front pads are at 3mm and backs at 4mm, so definitely time. I will teach/supervise while he performs the work.
The Child is not uninterested in doing at least some car work, but there’s the issue of muscle. To use the technical term, she’s pathetically weak, even for a 110-something pound teenage girl who exercises only when shamed into it. She’s not strong enough to lift her car’s tire off the ground and position it to place on the studs, to say nothing of breaking free a crudded bolt when you can’t get air tools in. I suffered second-hand embarrassment, watching her struggle with the tire, and I’m wondering if this is sufficient reason to disown her.
The chickens are doubly annoyed at me. I walked by with the intent to let them out and stay out myself to keep an eye on them … and the rain started. Sorry, guys, today just isn’t your day.
I watched it several times and it looks to me that the upper aircraft was overtaking at relatively low speed and drove a stabilator into the back of the lower aircraft’s rudder. The low closing rate is the only reason there was no aircraft-shattering kaboom! during the impact. There were parts visible falling off immediately after impact, suggesting structures tangled together at that point, preventing separation. The lower aircrew is alive only because the fuselage was offset from the upper bird.
Four out of four, especially in a single incident is first class. Ejection was about 5 seconds after collision, and about 6 seconds prior to ground impact. That’s a tiny window and they managed it.
So much for two $60 ??? million each electronic warfare planes. I wonder if they had removed the electronic warfare equipment for the show ? That stuff is highly classified and very expensive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_EA-18G_Growler
I just got an email from a guy in Saudi Arabia with his pronouns he, him listed at the bottom of the email. I am fairly sure that Saudi Arabia does not put up with that nonsense.
Kind of a melange of tasks this morning.
Started some wash, pulled three carts worth of weeds & tumbleweeds, moved metal shelving to under cover from where I tossed it over the fence months ago, replaced a pony wall of dry stacked pavers with dry stacked ‘antique’ brick, added a non-load-bearing vertical post to the front porch.
It is amazing how much time & effort goes into just keeping things looking clean and ‘normal’, let alone doing improvements.
“Trump unleashes bombshell endorsement of Ken Paxton in Texas Senate race”
https://www.chron.com/politics/article/trump-endorsement-texas-paxton-cornyn-22266523.php
“He is a fighter.”
Looks like Paxton and Trump made a deal. Good, Paxton will be a good Senator for Texas.
My wife is ribbing me: Now that I’m retired, how many part-time jobs do I have? I had to admit: three, which is maybe a bit crazy. That will be dropping to two at the end of the year, after I teach my last-ever course at my former full-time employer. The third is just me messing around the town, clearing hiking trails and such. I do so much that they have started to insist on paying me. Hey, it’s beer money!
So you are the old guy in the hills cleaning the trails and the streams, keeping the water clean for everybody. There is an old fable about that job. The town stopped paying the guy, he quit, and the fresh water to the town cut to a muddy trickle.
“Cybertruck driver takes vehicle into Texas lake, again”
https://www.chron.com/texas/article/tesla-cybertruck-wade-mode-22266836.php
“A Cybertruck driver thought it was a good idea to drive into a Texas lake, and lost the vehicle.”
Words fail me.
I saw another cybertruck while out today. I wasn’t able to see the driver because of sun glinting off the window. So far, every cybertruck where I was able to see the driver was being driven by an Indian man.
D1 will be home sick today. W may just work from home. She slipped off the boat trailer and wrenched a knee this weekend and it’s not magically better. Stubborn woman wouldn’t even put ice on it. Grrr.
My 68 year old wife fell in the bathroom Sunday morning. She landed on her hip and outstretched left arm. The hip survived but her left hand bottom and top carpals are cracked. No surgery required thank goodness but she gets a cast next week when the triple sized hand swelling goes down. Her left hand is immobilized from the finger tips and thumb tip to the elbow.
Latest on the body recovery in the Maldives…
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15829961/Dangerous-mission-retrieve-cave-divers-bodies-gets-underway-Maldives-one-rescue-frogman-lost-life-finding-them.html
Divemedic has been going nuts on this. He is screaming about the dive depth of 160 feet requiring special air mix and lots of experience.
https://areaocho.com/dive-accident/
https://areaocho.com/compounding-tragedy/
https://areaocho.com/risks/
https://areaocho.com/the-next-chapter/
The Child is not uninterested in doing at least some car work, but there’s the issue of muscle. To use the technical term, she’s pathetically weak, even for a 110-something pound teenage girl who exercises only when shamed into it. She’s not strong enough to lift her car’s tire off the ground and position it to place on the studs, to say nothing of breaking free a crudded bolt when you can’t get air tools in. I suffered second-hand embarrassment, watching her struggle with the tire, and I’m wondering if this is sufficient reason to disown her.
Nope. Her weight seems very light. Has she been skipping meals at college? Teenage girls are incredibly vicious towards each other about weight.
If you can just get her to keep the interior clean would be good. Just experience talking here
““US federal government targets Texas Chick-fil-A operator in EEOC lawsuit”
https://www.chron.com/food/article/feds-sue-texas-chick-fil-a-22260913.php
“A Texas Chick-fil-A franchisee is facing a federal lawsuit for religious discrimination. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas against Hatch Trick, Inc., which operates several Chick-fil-A locations in Austin.”
“Hatch Trick violated federal law by refusing to accommodate an employee’s request to not work Saturdays in observance of her Sabbath and then fired her, the EEOC said. Prior to the lawsuit, the EEOC attempted to reach a pre-litigation settlement with the Chick-fil-A operator through its administrative conciliation process.”
“The employee managed delivery drivers and requested to never work Saturdays. In her job interview, she said she was a practicing member of the United Church of God, a Christian denomination that observes the Sabbath and other rules as dictated in the Old Testament. But after a few months, the EEOC alleged Hatch Trick demanded that she work on Saturdays.”
I wonder what the real story is?
“Microsoft Is Ditching SMS 2FA Login Codes, Prioritizing Passkeys Instead”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-is-ditching-sms-2fa-login-codes-prioritizing-passkeys-instead
“SMS-based authentication is now a leading source of fraud, Microsoft says.”
“Microsoft is looking to move away from SMS-based two-factor authentication for local account logins, citing its vulnerability to exploitation and fraud, according to Windows Latest. Instead, Microsoft wants everyone to start using passkeys (and eventually, ditch passwords altogether).”
“Although text messages have proved a useful way to add an extra layer of security to account logins, they were never designed for this purpose. SMS messages are sent in plaintext, making them a vulnerable vector for man-in-the-middle and number spoofing attacks.”
“Passkeys are a cleaner, more secure way to authenticate, leveraging the local security of a secondary device or your biometric information to confirm your identity. When setting one up, you can use your face, fingerprint, or a local password/PIN. That information never leaves that particular device, making it all but impossible for a third party to spoof it.”
Nothing that goes over a phone or the internet is going to be secure.
Forgot to mention, above: I’m “lucky” that I know how to do car work and can save money.
The Child does a good job of keeping her car uncluttered. Much less so than my van, though in my defense the van is used to transport clutter and has tools and a lot of emergency gear in permanent residence. The Child’s neatness comes in part from her own neuroses but mostly from the way her mother trashes every car in an amazingly short time.
Rain, rain, went away, so I let the precious poultry out. They ran straight to the garden to feast on sprouts but were defeated by the closed gate. Curses! So they wandered around a bit before running up to burrow into the mulch around the front bushes and sun themselves. You would think that they’d avoid the sun because half of them are panting even in the shade, but you would be wrong.
And you can believe just as much of that as you want to.
Court precedent says a jerk cop can make you unlock it if you use biometrics. I switched to a pin, which is a pain in the keister, but slightly more secure. Not that the cops can’t guess a 4 digit pin, but it’s technically a federal crime to do so.
Tuesday bedtime. I just had a particularly unpleasant drive in pouring rain. Fortunately, the traffic was light.
SteveF, it sounds like the Child needs to go to USMC camp for some beefing up so she can change her own tyres.
#FollowMeForParentingAdvice
Wishing Mrs Lynn a speedy recovery.
The world is sometimes a very small place. The hotel bar has spirits from a tiny distillery that I visited last week. I took that as an omen and ordered a tot as a nightcap. Goodnight!
“Train like you fight”, so better lose $120 million in equipment than 4 experienced pilots. The basis for successful material warfare (deep pockets needed.).
Much more secure if the code/passkey is not sent to the device that will apply it to the app or website. I have 2 phones for just that reason.
Yes, true dat.
How many times do you see the authorities on a TV show do a ‘face unlock’? Even when the phone’s owner is dead? Or use a fingerprint unlock.
A pin/passcode is better. And, you cannot be forced to give up a pin code; that is not allowed by court cases (in the US; don’t know about other locations).
Although there are probably forensics techniques that can be used to get to the data of a pin-locked phone. But a good 4+ digit PIN code is more secure than a face or fingerprint unlock.
“I wonder what the real story is?”
Good question.
She hired on knowing she would have every Sunday off. So then she says whatever about her church and tries to get the entire weekend off? Self entitled witch. (change the w to b)
Why did she apply for the job? Why is her lawyer not decorating a lamppost?
Hearsay!!! She’s making it up. She’s lying. “In her job interview, she said she was a practicing member of the United Church of God, a Christian denomination that observes the Sabbath and other rules as dictated in the Old Testament.”
Well, disc space is cheap. I reckon future hiring interviews will be recorded from now on and saved in the employee’s employment records.
She was offered a move to a non-managerial delivery driver position with lower pay, benefits and hours. She did not accept the demotion and was later fired.
I’ll guess she was fired for not coming to work. As in, you are on the schedule and you get X numbers of “calling in sick days” in a year. Just like HEB.
She was managing delivery drivers. That’s probably more of monkey wrench in the gears when she doesn’t show for her job than some bubba cooking french fries.
Deliveries on Saturdays is probably a lot of business.
The video won’t play for me. But if that’s her lawyer, I think I can guess the race of the ex-employee.
I’m sure there are.
How else do so many folks are discovered to have kiddy smut on their PCs after arrest? I think I know a way. Pull the drive, connect to another PC with the date set back a few years. Maybe re-boot. Then dump a folder of smut into user/documents. System shows when the files were created.
Oh, yeah. PaintShopPro let you deleted the details from pictures. Like location and camera speed. I ver though to see if it let me edit the details. I’m sure the Feds or whoever have a way to change the details….. like from a DOS prompt with a simple .bat file.
Proper digital forensics techniques, especially if the ‘evidence’ is to be used in court cases, are very specific in how you access data on a hard disk. There are hardware devices that are certified as ‘read only’ so there can’t be any changes to the data. And software (some open source) that is used to extract data from hard disk files is very clever. Such as software that can identify image files and look at the metadata, even if the metadata has been changed or altered. There’s even metadata about the metadata.
So, it’s not as simple as changing the system time and using a batch file. Much more involved than that. And a digital forensics person has to be very careful in gathering that information from the disk drive in order to have the data legally admissable in a court case. Any competent defense attorney will be looking for improper techniques used to gather digital evidence.
And, although it has been some years since I looked at the tools, I suspect that the available digital forensic tools are quite enhanced to be able to get potential evidence from any electronic device.
If it is a white guy – it is always a guy – he’s driving Door Dash/Uber Eats/Flavor/etc.
Colonists love their Tonymobiles and money really isn’t an issue for those you see here.
Jesus Truck sales are way off. SpaceX has been buying them for fleet use lately.
It’s warm today. I have windows open. Not much breeze, the wind chimes are being very lazy. Thermometer says 94f outside. T-stat says 85f.
Walking around with bare feet is interesting. Where the floor was spray insulated, it’s warm compared to the un-insulated or poorly insulated parts.
Just like Winter time. I didn’t quite expect this. I don’t know the temp under the house.
FWIW, the attic probe says it’s 95f up there. I have a heck of a roof.
“US industrial natural gas consumption to continue climbing to record levels”
https://www.ogj.com/general-interest/economics-markets/news/55378637/us-industrial-natural-gas-consumption-to-continue-climbing-to-record-levels
“The US Energy Information Administration projects industrial natural gas consumption will hit new records through 2027, driven by manufacturing growth. The chemicals subsector remains the largest industrial consumer of natural gas.”
“US industrial natural gas consumption is expected to continue reaching record levels through 2027, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest forecast. Industrial natural gas consumption averaged a record 23.6 bcfd in 2025, exceeding the previous record of 23.4 bcfd set in 2023.”
Good. We are swimming in natural gas despite Jimmy Carter’s best efforts to muck it up. Each thousand cubic foot of natural gas we use is a gallon of diesel that we can sell for hard cash money. And not much else sells from the USA for hard cash money other than hydrocarbons and war materials.
Of course. I know that. But I figure if I were in the business, I’d have the tools to change the metadata.
Change the system time and then copy over files with an older date. So the file appears to be Modified in 2010 but the system says Created a couple of years ago because “the criminal” got a new PC.
Yeah, I understand “the rules” but if they want to frame someone, they can do so easily. Some lawyer is going be smarter than a computer geek that breathes this kind of stuff? Sure….
I went to vote today and then to HEB. I saw two cybertrucks. Here, in podunk Burnet. Ugly things. One was covered with swirly blue lines. The other would be chrome if it wasn’t filthy with pollen.
Didn’t notice the drivers.
re strict chain of custody and audit of procedures for seized electronics, the standard is very rigid and leaves little room for any but the most sophisticated bad actors to contaminate the evidence.
Verifying that the proper procedures were followed, that any hardware connected to the suspected device is of an approved model and that its tamper seals are intact, that custody records are unimpeachable and have no realistic chance of having been back-dated or other fraudulently filled out, is a very time-consuming process requiring specialized expertise. That is to say, a defendant would have to spend a great deal of his own money to show that his hard drive was out of sight for four hours.
Police, lab techs, prosecutors, and judges know this.
You’ll note that multimillionaires seldom face CP charges based on information “found” on their computers. Accusations, yes, not infrequently. Charges which lead to a conviction in court, seldom. This doesn’t include Epstein and Maxwell, whose computers were no more than additional evidence to the mountain already accumulated.
Prosecutors love to go after defendants who do not have the means to mount a meaningful defense. Especially a defense against police and prosecutor dirty (read: illegal) tricks. (Side note: One of the reasons for excessively high bail or bond is to deny the defendant the resources to mount a defense. A bond set at ten times the defendant’s annual salary has nothing to do with flight risk.)
Unless something changes soon, someone in this country will have to start making routers.
https://tech.yahoo.com/cybersecurity/articles/fcc-extends-key-wi-fi-220200890.html
Unless something changes soon, someone in this country will have to start making routers.
https://tech.yahoo.com/cybersecurity/articles/fcc-extends-key-wi-fi-220200890.html
I highly doubt that China is going to allow anyone to move manufacturing equipment out of China. So any new router manufacturing will have to be built from scratch.
“Watch – Trump Details 6-Story Deep Underground Ballroom Construction: Military Hospital, Advanced Research Facilities, Secret Military Rooms & More”
https://www.alexjoneslive.com/2026/05/19/watch-trump-details-6-story-deep-underground-ballroom-construction-military-hospital-advanced-research-facilities-secret-military-rooms-more/
So much for secrecy.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
“Report: Iran Sends U.S. Revamped ‘Peace Proposal’ Demanding Reparations, No Nuclear Limits”
https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2026/05/19/report-iran-sends-u-s-revamped-peace-proposal-demanding-reparations-no-nuclear-limits/
Yeah, that ain’t gonna fly.
My newish ASUS router is Hecho en Vietnam. My Thinkpad is as well.
The build quality on my Thinkpad isn’t stellar, but the router seems up to ASUS usual standards.
The problem with manufacturing something like that in this country is that a lot of the circuit board facilities were bought up by Tyco ~ 25 years ago and eventually shut down.
Plus, I speak from experience that working on one of those lines is pretty bad, even for the engineers.
I doubt it for two reasons. First, he’s shown himself to be untrustworthy as a public servant and a husband. Second, he’s likely underwater against Talarico. Betting markets say so.
The south Texas Hispanics that voted for Trump and Republicans are souring on them due to the ICE raids. Our continued inflation, and the high price of gas are eroding Trump’s support among independents (crucial even in red states) and could lead to a Senate flip if it doesn’t abate. And given the lag in getting Middle Eastern oil to where it is needed, the Strait of Hormuz needs to reopen very soon to get gas prices back down. Groceries may take a bit longer due to the lag there. Another factor is that the need to dump money into the Senate race here in Texas will starve other races in swing districts.
Long term, the redistricting that was done in the red states will narrow (R) majorities in a lot of House districts, meaning that a swing in sentiment could result in a blue wave.
“This is Trump country. It’s time we had a congressman who acts like it.”
–Ed Gallrein, after liberating Thomas Massie
https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2026/05/19/kentucky-primary-results-congressional-district-4-race-between-massie-and-gallrein-n2202494
“untrustworthy as a public
servantU.S. Senator”FIFY. Describes John Cornyn.
Voting for him again would be like watching video of this year’s SuperBowl and betting on a different outcome.
“Second, he’s likely underwater against Talarico. Betting markets say so. ”
The betting market is likely to be inaccurate until there is a Republican primary winner.
“The south Texas Hispanics that voted for Trump and Republicans are souring on them due to the ICE raids. Our continued inflation, and the high price of gas are eroding Trump’s support among independents (crucial even in red states) and could lead to a Senate flip if it doesn’t abate. And given the lag in getting Middle Eastern oil to where it is needed, the Strait of Hormuz needs to reopen very soon to get gas prices back down. Groceries may take a bit longer due to the lag there. Another factor is that the need to dump money into the Senate race here in Texas will starve other races in swing districts.”
Applies to whoever is the Republican candidate.
“Long term, the redistricting that was done in the red states will narrow (R) majorities in a lot of House districts, meaning that a swing in sentiment could result in a blue wave.”
Don’t affect the Senate. If that’s an argument for voting for Cornyn because polling may show him slightly more electable than Paxton, I will pass. If I had a choice between Cornyn on the ballot in November and staying home, I’d spend the day polishing brass.
forgot this:
“Long term, the redistricting that was done in the red states will narrow (R) majorities in a lot of House districts, meaning that a swing in sentiment could result in a blue wave.”
Might be true if that were the only factor to affect party balance, but there are tat least two other factors that are arguably more important:
First is the DOJ going after the states to clean up voter rolls, which means getting rid of the dead people, the illegal aliens, and the cloned registrations that the Democrats have put into the system to steal elections.
Second is the DOJ investigating the Biden-rigged 2020 U.S. Census, which resulted in the highest error rate in history–most mysteriously in favor of inflating count to protect Democrat house seats– using supposedly superior electronic paperless technology.
It’s worthwhile to note again that the 2010 Census was supposed to be paperless but the system was not ready and was scrapped after almost half a billion dollars and years of development, yet the paper forms delivered a much lower error rate.
Civil Liberty Group Sues Illinois Over License Required to Buy Guns, Ammunition
The Trump DOJ needs to come after constitutional scofflaw states like Illinois. Among other things some new ground needs to be broken to allow parties injured by egregious repeat violations of constitutional rights to bring suit for money damages.
Katy Tur Should Read The Declaration Of Independence Before Looking Stupid On TV Talking About It
https://thefederalist.com/2026/05/19/katy-tur-should-read-the-declaration-of-independence-before-looking-stupid-on-tv-talking-about-it/
Leftists who doAnyone who does not understand the origins of our country and the the concept of inalienable rights should not be in public office or in a position to use the public airwaves.the above link includes one of the clearest explanations:
“The mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God.” –Thomas Jefferson (Letter to Roger C. Weightman, 24 June 1826.)
p. 172:
https://www.amazon.com/Jefferson-Political-Writings-Cambridge-History/dp/0521648416?tag=ttgnet-20
Yeah, I understand “the rules” but if they want to frame someone, they can do so easily. Some lawyer is going be smarter than a computer geek that breathes this kind of stuff? Sure….
– they used really sketchy accusations to try to squeeze the brother of the alleged Vegas shooter. Guy was homeless living in an abandoned house squat, but he had a laptop with CP on it…
They got the guy who was the public face and driving force behind Defense Distributed , the tiny milling machine that makes parts for guns company with a honey pot trap. Underage girl in a bar… he cut a deal and gave up his public firearms advocacy.
They want you , they’ll get you.
n
Kreg announces Fall 2026 release for Edge Loose Tenon Joiner to compete with Festool Domino DF500:
https://www.kregtool.com/kreg-edge-loose-tenon-joiner.html
Complete with battery and charger for $499. NB: The DF500 is corded.
This is an addition to the Kreg Ion 20V platform.
The patent for the Festool Domino expires in June 2026. I would expect that Dewalt and Milwaukee at minimum, and probably others will come out with a loose tenon joiner. Whether they will be corded or battery will be interesting.
My 68 year old wife fell in the bathroom Sunday morning. She landed on her hip and outstretched left arm. The hip survived but her left hand bottom and top carpals are cracked. No surgery required thank goodness but she gets a cast next week when the triple sized hand swelling goes down. Her left hand is immobilized from the finger tips and thumb tip to the elbow.
My wife’s description was wrong. She broke the bottom finger carpal in her left hand. And she broke her wrist at the base of her left thumb. The cast in a week or two will be on for 12 weeks, the entire summer. She is very excited about that. Not.
The ortho doctor told her to steal the wet umbrella rain bags at the entrance to the Hospital. They are perfect for shower taking with an arm wrap or cast.
“The south Texas Hispanics that voted for Trump and Republicans are souring on them due to the ICE raids. Our continued inflation, and the high price of gas are eroding Trump’s support among independents (crucial even in red states) and could lead to a Senate flip if it doesn’t abate. And given the lag in getting Middle Eastern oil to where it is needed, the Strait of Hormuz needs to reopen very soon to get gas prices back down. Groceries may take a bit longer due to the lag there. Another factor is that the need to dump money into the Senate race here in Texas will starve other races in swing districts.”
Not the south Texas Hispanics that I have been talking to. The illegals have been a thorn in their side forever. Lots of stuff goes missing, lots of drunk illegals in their neighborhoods. They are ready to vote for Paxton.
I voted for Paxton today at the little Church on the way to my office.
“magic white man fire sticks”
https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2026/05/19/babylon-bee-goes-on-rampage-mocking-anti-gun-media-politicians-n1232574
I doubt it for two reasons. First, he’s shown himself to be untrustworthy as a public servant and a husband. Second, he’s likely underwater against Talarico. Betting markets say so.
First, Paxton is the best Attorney General that Texas has ever had. He has filed more lawsuits against the federal government and scoffaws than any other Attorney General. He has held unconstitutional Travis County (Austin) District Attorney’s feet to the fire several times. If Austin had any real judges, they would have thrown that DA out of office.
Second, the way I hear it is that Paxton’s wife moved out several years ago and he got a girlfriend. He should have divorced his wife but did not do so.
Third, as drwilliams said, the betting markets are no good until the dumbrocrat and repuglican candidates are settled out.
Fourth, Talarico is a KOOK. A Keeper Of Odd Knowledge as Rush used to say. The more that Talarico gets out there with his hand written bible with lots of things taken away and lots of things added, the more Texans are going to run away from him.
“Casimir Effect” Perpetual Energy Machine Raises $12 Million Seed Capital
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/05/18/casimir-effect-perpetual-energy-machine-raises-12-million-seed-capital/
I estimate that it will take only 30 years for Casimir Effect chips to overtake the development of fusion energy.
An alternative is disposable large veterinary gloves. Although you may have to buy those if you don’t have a friendly vet with a large animal practice. Or know a practical rancher.
Back-of-the-envelope:
“5mm × 5mm and is designed to produce 1.5 volts at 25 microamps” scales to 12V at 25A in a compact cubic meter. Enough to run the average house and use the waste heat to run a heat pump for HVAC.
Even better, during off-peak times the underused capacity could run one of those humid-air-to-gasoline units to keep the ICE land yacht tanked up for commuting.
“Auf dem Raumhafen.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axmDhWsaBfc
SO COOL ! It is an artist’s video depiction of a spaceport on Earth in the Perry Rhodan books.
And this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7DCPfXj1MA
“An alternative is disposable large veterinary gloves. Although you may have to buy those if you don’t have a friendly vet with a large animal practice. Or know a practical rancher.”
Make sure you get new ones.
How big would the unit have to be to provide 1.2 gigawatts of power…..and would it fit in the back of a DeLorian?
Plastic bags of various sizes are inexpensive on Amazon, an example (w/o knowing exactly what size you need):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GLBQRRD/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?pd_rd_i=B08GLBQRRD&pd_rd_w=jGYnM&content-id=amzn1.sym.ba551d99-4e0a-4399-a42d-45620f752b90&pf_rd_p=ba551d99-4e0a-4399-a42d-45620f752b90&pf_rd_r=GKHQ9A733078CR676JCW&pd_rd_wg=hupa5&pd_rd_r=0614149f-38b6-426f-8988-ace5e33bc46c&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1&tag=ttgnet-20
Massie tosses a little joohate as he slithers out the door:
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/05/19/live-primary-results-massiedammerung-in-ky-plus-georgia-alabama-oregon-n3815075
Hmm, neighbor’s Suburban was stolen out of her driveway last night. It’s around the corner from my street, so my cam can see the cross street her driveway is on, but not the driveway as it’s behind her house. Cops say they got a hit on it from a nearby Flock camera about 1130pm. I’m scrubbing thru my video as I have a 4k cam pointed at the intersection and her house.
LOTS of traffic and people moving around at 11pm. But I don’t see her big SUV leaving.
n
“Casimir Effect” Perpetual Energy Machine Raises $12 Million Seed Capital
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/05/18/casimir-effect-perpetual-energy-machine-raises-12-million-seed-capital/
I estimate that it will take only 30 years for Casimir Effect chips to overtake the development of fusion energy.
Heinlein’s Shipstones !!!!!!!
Rain and windy now. I’m going to bed early.
n
BTW, Starlink is reputedly offering people 20% off for a year if you cancel and come back.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/1tger8k/ok_fine_ill_come_back/
Plastic bags of various sizes are inexpensive on Amazon, an example (w/o knowing exactly what size you need):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GLBQRRD/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?pd_rd_i=B08GLBQRRD&pd_rd_w=jGYnM&content-id=amzn1.sym.ba551d99-4e0a-4399-a42d-45620f752b90&pf_rd_p=ba551d99-4e0a-4399-a42d-45620f752b90&pf_rd_r=GKHQ9A733078CR676JCW&pd_rd_wg=hupa5&pd_rd_r=0614149f-38b6-426f-8988-ace5e33bc46c&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1&tag=ttgnet-20
Yeah, I was going to order some. But we went for a 1.5 mile walk today at 86 F and she took a shower afterwards. Did I mention I married a tough wife? Wait, she married me so that proves she is tough. Wait, I am so confused.
“Another Trump Foe Falls: Brad Raffensperger Ousted in Georgia GOP Governor Primary”
https://jdrucker.com/another-trump-foe-falls-brad-raffensperger-ousted-in-georgia-gop-governor-primary/
Yes ! Mr. “I don’t see no illegal balloting in Georgia” is gone.
Did I mention it’s Ebola season again?
yup.
n
@lynn: Tough indeed, Hah!
I started buying them online because here in the People’s Republic of California we can’t actually get plastic bags when shopping anymore. (There is a sort of a pseudo plastic bag that you can get in the vegetable sections of your market, but it’s flimsy and biodegradable and unusable for anything else after the first use.)
Already?!? I still have my Hantavirus decorations up!
“How big would the unit have to be to provide 1.2 gigawatts of power…..and would it fit in the back of a DeLorian?”
1 cubic meter is 300W.
Can you fit 4 million in the back of a Delorean? Not unless you take out the Great Pyramid.
“How big would the unit have to be to provide 1.2 gigawatts of power…..and would it fit in the back of a DeLorian?”
1 cubic meter is 300W.
Can you fit 4 million in the back of a Delorean? Not unless you take out the Great Pyramid.
Gonna need a big trailer.