Author: polistra
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One variable
For some reason I was thinking back to public school. Which years were tolerable and which years were hell? Exactly one variable. Gym class. In elementary school we had recess, which was only partial hell. The team leaders never chose me, and the teacher had to force them to take me on pain of detention.…
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So close yet so far
Brownstone continues to diagnose the problem perfectly, but misses badly on the prescription side. I appreciate the full Machiavellian diagnosis, focusing HEAVILY on the lockdowns and ballgags, less on the needles. As I’ve been tiresomely and pointlessly repeating, the needles were only a few moments of pain. The rest of it was two full years…
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Good news for nukes
Seen at ZeroHedge. Finland has just completed a new nuclear plant, which will help toward REAL energy independence. Poland secured $4 billion in loans from AMERICAN BANKS to help build 20 small modular reactors across the country by 2029. That’s the best and weirdest news. Best: Modular reactors are FINALLY achieving real production after 20…
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British losing θ?
θ is a weak sound, and weak sounds tend to slide down a gradient into silence or into stronger sounds. θ goes to f in many British dialects. Lately I’ve been noticing θ going toward t in some proper London types. This might be an old tendency but I haven’t noticed it before. It’s constantly…
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Better argument
I haven’t bothered to notice the moon-landing theories until now. I saw no convincing reasons to doubt the conventional story. Now the former head of Russia’s space agency asks several questions based on his own experience and knowledge. 1. He was thoroughly familiar with the condition of cosmonauts. When they returned from a long trip…
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1890 2.0
The SS admin has released the most popular baby names from last year. For males: Liam, Noah, Oliver, James, Elijah, William, Henry, Lucas, Benjamin and Theodore. For females: Olivia, Emma, Charlotte, Amelia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava, Mia, Evelyn and Luna. Except for Liam and Luna, these are 1890 names. Both of my grandfathers, William and Henry,…
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Brits don’t grok the Dry Line
DailyMail bemoans the number of counties without a grocery store. Most of them are in Texas and the Dry Line parts of the plains states. Most of them are nearly unpopulated. Texas is especially peculiar because it has something like 250 LITTLE counties, the same size as counties in Ohio or Virginia. Several of the…
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Can’t leave a cult
Ever since the 1980s days of BBS and Compuserve, the web has been a team sport. Every forum on every subject has Team A and Team B, and woe betide the unfortunate novice who tries to walk in the DMZ. After you figure out the gradients, you either slide quickly onto one team, or you…
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Good bad example
When making illustrations and animations for anatomy, I should be sure to avoid comparisons like this. EDITING is the most important part of creating. Later thought: The above ‘bad example’ is French. There’s a long French tradition of inserting sly double entendres and plain old silliness in technical illustrations. Maybe the example is continuing the…
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For clarity
After mentioning homeopathy in previous item, a footnote for clarity. I don’t know for sure if homeopathy is better or worse than establishment medicine. I know for DAMN SURE that homeopaths are better than establishment doctors. Re-re-repeating an old couplet: How do you know which side of a “debate” is good? “Scientists” jail you for…
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Underground, undermud
I’ve been illustrating and animating the hair cells of the cochlea for work and for fun. The outer hair cells, which are also found in the semicircular canals, are designed to communicate and physically vibrate up to about 40 KC, possibly up to 100 KC. Steinheil’s ground telegraphy was DC, much like Morse except that…
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What would be familiar 2
In previous item I noted that a 1950’s writer would find today’s Hollywood landscape mostly familiar. How about a 1950’s Teamster? Even more familiar. The head of Teamsters in LA is Lindsay Dougherty, who literally wears Jimmy Hoffa on her sleeve. She declares absolute Teamster support for the writers strike in language that Jimmy would…
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What would be familiar?
Listening to continuing coverage of the writers strike. They’re mentioning all the companies that make movies and how the companies are handling the strike. What would a 1950s movie writer think if she tuned into this broadcast through an ionospheric timewarp? How would the Martian visitor explain it? Martian: Well, they’re striking against Paramount, NBC/Universal,…
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Vivek the magsman
This Vivek character is playing a weird game. First he claimed that Lincoln’s Genocide was about applying the 2nd amendment to blacks, which is loony. Now he proposes raising the “voting” age to 25, and requiring a literacy and citizenship test for “voting”. After two examples, a pattern emerges. He’s parodying everything Repooflicans say, as…
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Almost aptronym
Elon has appointed a full-fledged WEFoid to head Twitter. Yaccarino was in charge of the publicity campaign for ballgags and vaxes. (Her name should be Vaccarino for a perfect aptronym.) Now regular WEF programs can resume on Twitter, and the usual suspects can safely return. Not that they ever REALLY departed. The folks who foolishly…
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