Category: Uncategorized
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Bankruptcy is the solution.
Denyse comments on the latest evidence that “science” has totally abandoned science for politics. SciAm outright endorsed Harris instead of Trump, AFTER FIRMLY SUPPORTING WHAT TRUMP ACTUALLY DID IN 2020. This is the exact opposite of the “independent” activists, who worked hard to oppose WHAT TRUMP ACTUALLY DID, and now are universally working FOR Trump.…
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Just for a bit of beauty
This Fessenden antenna isn’t especially interesting. Mostly I needed to make a little beauty after previous item reminded me of the duty of living things. Value is an increase in order. Value is an increase in life and beauty. This is from patent 793651 in 1905. Here’s the antenna in the Machrahanish scene with Fessenden’s…
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Good work but pointless
A good speech by Lankford of Oklahoma. He runs through all the important issues, details what Congress COULD do about each issue if it had any purpose, then asks why nothing ever happens. If Congress was even slightly functional, this speech would get them off their collective asses. Unfortunately it can’t happen. He says most…
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Inverse question
Who do you trust? is a familiar question. In the current peculiar situation, the inverse question is vastly more important. The inverse is a bit clumsy: Whose trust do you want? Corporations and “journalists” and most politicians have declared openly that they DO NOT WANT to be trusted by customers and readers and voters. They…
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My rule
All “journalists”, whether genuinely orthodox or fakely independent, believe firmly in one rule. If it bleeds, it leads. Always start every story with a shock. This is damaging to the soul. Constant shocks and surprises keep the panic knob turned high, which is the SOLE PURPOSE of “journalism”. My rule: If it bleeds, don’t read.
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Probably won’t last long.
Earlier I bitched about the drab dull visual aspect of Substack. Pictures range from engravings of ancient standard conservative old men like Plato and Marcus Aurelius and Ben Franklin, to black and white photos of semi-ancient conservative old men like CSSSS Lewis, GKKKK Chesterton, and JRRRRR Tolkien. Modern is represented by modern drab old men…
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Reprint on real value
Linked in previous, worth a reprint. = = = = = START 2019 REPRINT: Robert Shiller is arguing that economics pays too much attention to theories and numbers. Perfectly correct. He’s also arguing that real economies run mainly on narratives, feelings and gossip. Half correct and possibly deceptive. We need to separate economics from Dow.…
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Oughta be a word, is a word
I was thinking yet again of the total wrongness of everything we memorized in school. Everything in the schoolbooks was false. Some of it was outright lies, some was distorted, most was omissive. I was proud of making up the word because I’ve never heard it before. Turns out to be a real word with…
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Starker comparison
In previous item I contrasted Hudson’s personal approach to GM’s anonymous bureaucracy. Hudson was a stock company but behaved more like a family-run outfit. Hudson’s founder Chapin continued running the company from 1909 until he died in 1936. Then Abraham Barit, who had been with the company from the founding, took over and continued until…
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Hudson’s brake patent
Here’s the 1935 patent for Hudson’s unique lifesaving failsafe brakes. It’s wonderfully clear in both text and diagrams, explaining the purpose of dual safety. NO OTHER COMPANY EVER COPIED IT, EVEN THE ULTIMATE COPIER GM. When AMC produced Nash-based Hudsons for three years, it kept the system on the Hudsons but NEVER TRANSFERRED IT TO…
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The real cheat
If you really want to talk about illegitimate elections, immigrants are irrelevant, mail-in votes are irrelevant, and cheating on the count is irrelevant. Start with one huge fact. 48 of the states are illegal. Only Maine and Nebraska obey the Constitution. The Electoral College was always a terrible idea, but its original plan was at…
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Auto random
Outside mirrors have a strange position between optional and standard. Left mirrors didn’t start until around 1935. They became standard on the better cars around 1950, but remained optional on cheaper cars until 1967 when they were required by federal law. Despite the supposed optionality, EVERY car had an outside mirror. Driver training films from…
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Truth is lazy
Watching the endless parade of fancy nicknames and fancy memes churned out by the partisans. I remember playing this game in 2004 when I was stuck in the R cult. Making up a new fancy nickname or a new cartoon for Horrible Other Party takes work, but if it’s good enough it will Impress Your…
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Two for the ages
Maybe it’s time to update something I wrote last month. Washington’s farewell address: Make no entangling alliances! Eisenhower’s farewell address: Beware the military-industrial complex! Biden’s farewell address: KU KUX KAN DIDN’T WEAR THEIR HOODS! WOMEN ARE NOT WITHOUT ELECTRICAL! [Adding:] Trump’s farewell address: THEY’RE EATING THE CATS! THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS! The last item isn’t…
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Auto oddities
Vintage.es has pictures of railway inspection cars. Some were fully converted, others have hydraulic guide wheels so they can run on roads then switch to rails when needed. Most are regular sedans or wagons. Two are interesting. The 7th pic is a 1955 Imperial Ghia limo, with a uniformed waitress standing on the gravel beside…
Polistra's Mill 