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New retronym
Headline from the Ankler: My chat with Gabe Spitzer, Netflix’s head of nonfiction sports, at the Netflix Slam tennis event reveals the streamer’s sports ambitions keep growing. Nonfiction sports? I guess fiction sports encompasses “scripted events” like this: One can easily envision this becoming an annual event, one that’s clearly meant to build on the…
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Adverse possession wins
The Supremes have decided 9-0 that states can’t kick Trump off the ballot. In practical terms I’d rather have the opposite result. It would be “unjust”, but none of the fake “trials” are getting anywhere close to real “justice”. If “justice” existed, Trump and all other Federal officials and most governors and all mayors and…
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Prophecy about prophets
Bumped into this when looking for something else I’d written about the null hypothesis. It’s an observation about prophets, and turned out to be prophetic. = = = = = REPRINT FROM 2012: Found an interesting snippet from a speech by George Romney in 1959, showing that his prophetic vision was larger than just the…
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CathGPT
I’m working up a tech history piece on the 1611 telescopes of Christoph Scheiner, who bridged the gap between alidades and lenses. I felt the need to reconnect with the beacons of the universe lately, and Maragha is where the beacons are found. Ran across this piece in a 1902 history of astronomy by Agnes…
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Reserved for the master
These charts from Wolf show why the Gaians are banning US consumption of natural gas. Since 2008, the start of the QE era, we have drastically increased our PRODUCTION and EXPORTS of natural gas. The Gaians aren’t opposed to petroleum. If they were, we’d be PRODUCING drastically less. Instead, we’re PRODUCING more than ever before.…
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The one piece
It’s sort of reassuring when one of the Smartest Dudes In The World turns out to be dumb and lucky. Do Kwon, one of the Bitcoin SDITW, was arrested and jailed a year ago. Via Protos, some details about his arrest have popped out now. = = = = = START PROTOS: Attempting to leave…
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Common factor
Politicians refuse to solve problems because a solved problem means no budget and no talking points for campaigns. Every single problem must grow and grow and grow to provide more budget and more campaign funds. The sole purpose and goal of politics is endless pointless argument. If an argument might conceivably lead toward cleaning up…
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This is what happens
Here’s a good example of the switched OCD tendency. As I’ve noted before, this tendency used to be mostly “right”-flavored, then in the 70s the hippies took it over. Until March 2020, OCD fussiness was mainly found in the ex-hippie strongholds like Seattle and San Francisco. Anti-vax was ALWAYS an integral part of this OCD…
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How do these myths start?
Compact has a good article on Trudeau’s absolute tyranny, which was aided AS ALWAYS by the media. Compact’s writers grasp HARDASS REALITY better than most, which is why I pay for a subscription. I won’t pay anyone who can’t see beyond the standard myths. In this article one of the standard myths creeps in, perhaps…
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It was weirder than von or de
Truth is stranger than logic! I’ve always been fascinated by the name Daniel of St Thomas Jenifer, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. I always ass-u-me-d that the of was an indicator of nobility, like French de or German von or Irish o or Scottish mac. I further ass-u-me-d there was a…
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Kirn reaches the same
I stopped following Kirn regularly after he seemed to be drifting toward the convergence that comes with fame. He’s always an astute observer when his paycheck doesn’t interfere. He’s been reading up on UFOs lately and reached the same conclusion that I did: = = = = = START KIRN: I’ve reached a tentative but…
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When do we get our post-colonial?
Most African countries were colonies of France or England for 200 years. They started to break loose after WW2 when both of the master countries were too busy cleaning up their own Kraut damage. By 1960 all of them were post-colonial. Some managed to set up competent governments, some didn’t. Now many of the British…
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Starving the demons
There’s no way to kill or depose demons who own everything, but Nature has a way of starving overgrown monsters who trample and gobble up all the plants. Pointed via the Pillar substack, a list of the Vatican’s budget problems. This is good news for the real church, which is in Africa along with Snowbird…
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Forgot about this…
Scare headlines note that “CLIMATE EMERGENCY” is “forcing” insurance companies to cancel coverage in “emergencied” areas. Remembered an old fact that I’d forgotten. The reinsurance companies, who provide the wholesale end of the business while State Farm etc provide the retail, have been playing the “climate” game for fun and profit since 1973, BEFORE the…
Polistra's Mill
Be your own beacon.
