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Polistra's Mill

Polistra's Mill

Be your own beacon.

  • Normal Spokane

    Spokane has been comparatively quiet for a while, now back to normal…. 24000 East Mission (Liberty Lake), Reported naked male on a balcony threatening to jump. Also reported male is throwing swords off the balcony. I’m curious. How do you organize a sword collection for easy throwing? And how do you store your sword collection…

    polistra

    January 17, 2026
    Uncategorized
    Heimatkunde
  • What would Paul or Amy think?

    Religion is on my mind while reading Ryan Burge’s new book on religious trends. It’s a well-written book and an easy read, including some material and context that isn’t in his columns. This morning I skimmed the daily load of email spam as usual. Skimming is needed because an occasional real message with a no-reply…

    polistra

    January 17, 2026
    Uncategorized
    defensible cases, Nonbark
  • Extremely positive signs from schools!

    1. Enid High has an aviation class. They spent the last three years BUILDING THEIR OWN AIRPLANE! It has been certified as flightworthy by FAA. It’s a beautiful plane and a fantastic achievement. 2. On a much smaller scale, nice to see a school teaching math the RIGHT way! Cheney High, south of Spokane, is…

    polistra

    January 14, 2026
    Uncategorized
    experiential education, Happy Ending, NOT AI point-missing
  • More positive signs from mainstream

    Via Columbia Journalism Review. A few larger TV stations are cutting loose from the networks and becoming truly local. Best of all, it’s not about Trump, it’s about MONEY. The stations decided that networks are charging too much for nothing meaningful except big league sports. Most people get their entertainment elsewhere now. The stations also…

    polistra

    January 13, 2026
    Uncategorized
    Fairness Doctrine
  • Hardass for hardass

    It’s easy to tell when a new stronger batch of fentanyl comes along. The overdose deaths suddenly spike. I’m getting the same spiky feel from the AI addicts. They seem to be smoking a batch that tells them to go hardass, to smash the remaining skeptics and heretics. Altman’s distribution chain is much more instant…

    polistra

    January 13, 2026
    Uncategorized
    Equipoise, Fairness Doctrine, NOT AI point-missing
  • As instructed by a dream

    Last night’s dream told me to think about chordal methods in adapting courseware for blind folks. I’m not sure what it wants, but let’s reprint this tribute to one remarkable woman as a start. = = = = = START 2020 REPRINT: Earlier I had wondered why chordal technology wasn’t more widespread. It seemed especially…

    polistra

    January 12, 2026
    Uncategorized
    LemonADA, patient people
  • More on cursive

    Mentioned in previous item, also worth a reprint. = = = = = START 2016 REPRINT: Wandering through KSHS again, found this collection of documents left over from the founding of Bluemont College, which became K-State after Isaac Goodnow finagled a state purchase. Goodnow was an IPO man in modern terms, picking up capital by…

    polistra

    January 12, 2026
    Uncategorized
    experiential education, Patient things, skill-estate
  • Good question about learning

    Quora sometimes has a question worth thinking about. Do people need to forget old things so they can learn new things (new knowledge)? First impulse: Yes, especially with skills. When you’ve mastered an inefficient process or poor word usage or poor posture, you need to abandon the old movements or shapes to get into the…

    polistra

    January 12, 2026
    Uncategorized
    asked and partly answered, experiential learning, language update
  • Why Hank?

    Thinking as usual about Henry Ford. A few very old friends were allowed to call him Hank. I’ve called him Hank in the Hank vs Frank comparison. Wait. How did Henry shorten to Hank? Harry is the more obvious phonetic elision, and the many King Henrys were often called King Harry in literature and song.…

    polistra

    January 11, 2026
    Uncategorized
    asked and not worth asking, Henry Ford, Henry Wallace, language update
  • No Bud Light in spam

    Big corporations weirdly assume that everyone is “non-binary”. They pitch all their advertising toward the 2%, not the 98%. Spammers are realistic. Most of the spam in my inbox is unrelated to sex because most of life is unrelated to sex. The “offers” range from insurance to roofing to supplements. When the spam is sex-connected,…

    polistra

    January 11, 2026
    Uncategorized
    Constants and Variables, LemonAIde
  • MBS is the answer

    Quick take on Polymarket by Ted Gioia, who knows the biz end of show biz: It’s getting harder to earn money in the entertainment business. But it’s getting easier to earn money gambling on the entertainment business—especially if you own the betting platform. The same is true of all industries. At one time the stock…

    polistra

    January 10, 2026
    Uncategorized
    answered better than asked, Mutual Benefit Societies
  • Book didn’t disappoint 2

    Continuing random observations on the wonderful Field Guide to American Houses. In the 70s when I worked as a typesetter, I noticed two unavoidable typos. These two words, Commerical and Sante Fe, are unambiguous. Unlike us[e]able or Pittsburg[h], these have only one possible spelling, but the incorrect version is irresistible. Even carefully edited history books…

    polistra

    January 9, 2026
    Uncategorized
    Constants and Constants, language update
  • Where did the IDers go?

    In previous item I cited the basic evolution by subtraction rule, true for genomes and languages and human inventions. Reminded me of a nonbark I’ve been noticing. The advocates of Intelligent Design seem to have disappeared from the web. UncommonDescent closed a few years ago when its founder got tired of supporting it. I suspect…

    polistra

    January 8, 2026
    Uncategorized
    asked and partly answered, LemonADA, Nonbark
  • Raking record

    Time to start the roof-raking record for this winter. As always, this should be in my private daily worklog, but I started doing it here, so I’ll continue the tradition. = = = = Last winter started late and needed only one raking. First raking this year Jan 8. Depth was 3″, not necessarily enough…

    polistra

    January 8, 2026
    Uncategorized
    Happy Ending, Heimatkunde, TMI
  • Fusion is real!

    This is interesting! Microsoft is building a new fusion reactor for its own purposes, in central Washington near Wenatchee. It will supposedly be turned on in 2028. I didn’t realize fusion was anywhere near practical or commercial, but Microsoft thinks it is. Every new reliable energy source is worth a few cheers, even if it’s…

    polistra

    January 8, 2026
    Uncategorized
    NOW I SEE
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