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Related to previous…
Closely related to previous item about Y2K. A couple days ago I received an email about a class-action settlement for authors who have royalty arrangements with the NYC publisher I was using during the relevant years. Not the same as my publisher in 2000, and not the same as my current publisher, though I’m still…
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Happy 25th, Y2K!
Somebody mentioned the 25th anniversary of the Y2K mess. The problem was genuine but somewhat limited. Media panicators and provocateurs turned it into a full nuclear catastrophe. Provocateurs on the fake opposite side insisted it was much ado over nothing. The reality was a LOT of hard work by real programmers to avoid a serious…
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Happy WWV New Year!
Since the 1960s I’ve always tried to mark the new year by catching the actual time on WWV. Shortwave reception in Spokane is poor, so I’ve failed to hear WWV in recent years. Tonight it came in loud and clear on 10 MC! I’ll call this a sign for a BETTER year with BETTER reception…
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Bernie says it all.
Bernie describes the current 4th-world condition of this country precisely and objectively, with very little partisan gaming. He does mention the word ‘democracy’, but he hits both parties equally. He uses ‘democracy’ to mean equal representation by class. We never had it, but before 1980 we were a lot closer to proportionality in income, wealth…
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Constants and Variables, interstate edition
Constantly quoted by the usual quoters: Central planning always fails, THEREFORE we should trust freedom-loving Libertarian anti-centralizers like Larry Fink and Jeff Bezos and Elon. If you think Larry and Elon are the opposite of central, you’re too stupid to breathe. Variable truth: Central planning by government is VITALLY NECESSARY when it helps ordinary people.…
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Year-end shit
Guess I should do the year-end thing since it’s a habit. Mostly I’m just glad this year is over. It was an unusually hard year for internal reasons. External factors were positive: a new and fascinating courseware project and no reprise of 2020 (yet!) from the state and federal monsters. Part of the internal trouble…
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Why “local” media fails
“Local” radio and TV and newspapers are collapsing, while informal online groups like local Facebook pages are trusted. From Spokane News FB page, a serious incident in the Valley area: Headline: E 22nd Ave & S Pines Rd. Stabbing reported. PD on scene requesting medics for a Stabbing. PD searching canvassing the area for the…
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Carter finally died
Jimmy didn’t accomplish anything positive. He started the trend of deregulating and deconstructing the New Deal, which was carried forward by every president since then. In 2008 the destruction was done, and real economics was also done. The good thing: Jimmy was the last normal human in the White House. Normal humans are fairly rare.…
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Math teacher’s joke
Seen on Quora. A math teacher met one of his former students in a parking lot. The student parked his Lamborghini next to the teacher’s old Chevy. The surprised teacher said to him: “How can you own a car like that? You were a lousy student.” The ex-student replied: “You see this office building? I…
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More stupid witch hunting
Media and Deepstate love to persuade smart people to “investigate” completely trivial topics that will blame some mysterious invisible phenomenon for the crimes of media and Deepstate. The method started with Sprenger and Kremer, the chief witch hunters in 1400. Machiavelli wrote up a more refined version. The recent “crisis” of toy drones treated as…
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Reprint on Rockefeller
Previous item reminded me of this. Reprint from 2022. = = = = START REPRINT: Singing used to be universal. Everybody knew how to sing, and performers could count on an audience to sing together accurately if not in complex harmony. When competence starts early, extreme expertise gets a head start. I was discussing this…
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Starting to like Tangle
Tangle News is slow-moving but (so far) solidly objective. They take GREAT pains for maximum transparency. In this case they’re transparent about how they try to create transparency! = = = = = START QUOTE: On Friday, we identified Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) as (R-NC). This error came as the result of our editors testing…
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I shouldn’t try…
I shouldn’t try to get fancy in a language that I don’t know well! I wanted to slip in ecouter les bourgeoisie in the previous item. It didn’t seem right, so I googled. Nothing at all. Finally, after rolling the phrase around in my mind, the right phrase came in. Epater les bourgeoisie. Looking it…
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Not getting the error signal
When Pretty Boy Floyd and Luigi Mangione are universally seen as heroes worthy of emulation, the monsters in charge SHOULD see this as a serious error signal, like steering the ship into a small iceberg. This SHOULD require a serious course correction before the big iceberg sinks the ship. LIFE IS NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. Negative feedback…
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Noticed a comparison
Wolf continues covering the ups and downs of the destructive housing bomb, especially in Frisco. As a Frisco dude, Wolf thinks it’s all wonderful because everything that happens in Frisco is wonderful, and DON’T CALL IT FRISCO! Nevertheless, he does explain how housing responds to tech fraud booms and helps to cause tech fraud busts.…
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