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Missing the Parkinson point
Most commentators are still starting with the assumption that political parties want to WIN. They’ve been puzzled by the long retention of Biden, who obviously can’t WIN. Wrong assumptions. Political parties don’t even know millions of “voters” exist. We are utterly irrelevant Negative Externalities. Political parties want to please the REAL voters, the dozen billionaires.…
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Cute
Several folks on twitter and substack had the same cute idea independently: Hello everyone! I’ve been on a month-long sailing trip with no connections to media. Anything important happen while I was away?
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Still more Magic Lanterns
Gradually continuing the theme of Magic Lanterns. Previous item is here. An 1897 book on induction coils and related devices includes several weird Magic Lantern displays. I’m going to show them from the front, since Poser doesn’t project properly. The devices are fairly accurate but my animations are crude. This week is too hot for…
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Will we learn?
Crowdstrike’s failure is part of a series this year. Companies that “offer” globalized services take down their customers when they fail in a very slight way. Similar outfits “serving” real estate and car dealers failed earlier this year. None of these companies are necessary. Before such companies developed, some industries had their own private networks;…
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Old saying doesn’t work
Previous item about curing psychopaths led to a slightly new thought. In earlier eras psychopaths were mostly kept in prisons or asylums. Now they’re in charge of everything. New thought: The old saying about inmates running the asylum doesn’t work. Now the inmates are running everything EXCEPT the asylums, and the asylums are closed because…
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Aged well
Indirectly linked in previous. Back in May 2020 I made a prediction that turned out pretty nearly correct. Most of my predictions and assumptions are atrocious, so this one is a worthy exception. May 2020 was after Bush and Trump’s lockdown monstrosity started but before the full horror of Bush and Trump’s waterboarding got underway.…
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Critical Thinking
The people who urge Critical Thinking rarely mean it. (There are some genuine exceptions.) Good example today. Jordan Schachtel worked HARD against what Trump did. He filed lawsuits and led movements. A year ago he decided to work hard FOR Trump. Today he posts that we need more Critical Thinking. Admittedly the subject of this…
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SNOP
I’ve been bitching for years about Congress making rules to prevent itself from doing its job. The process started with Marbury vs Madison in 1803, when the Supremes stole the process of amending the constitution and Congress didn’t bother to take it back. The filibuster is another self-made “law” to block action. In the 70s…
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The only decider
Vance’s speech is great. Hits all the points correctly. I’ve learned to ignore words and listen to what HAPPENS when one man or party is in power. Trump also gave great speeches in 2016. When he got power he joined the Bush regime, enriched the rich INFINITELY, and imprisoned and killed and gagged the poor,…
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It’s just transfer functions
In hot weather I’m not trying to do any tech history items or serious items. Will make do with occasional stupid takes. Today’s stupid take: Somebody posted a pic of a kid drinking a Coke. Wrote “Poor kid probably got diabetes in 2nd grade.” Nope, it didn’t work that way. We consumed HUGE amounts of…
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Mong
Cute note seen on Substack. Five things you can mong: Cheese, war, fish, hate, iron Got me thinking about the root. Previously active suffixes tell a story. How did they lose their activeness? Etymonline says: = = = = = START QUOTE: Old English mangere “merchant, trader, broker,” agent noun from mangian “to traffic, trade,”…
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Picture worth a million deaths
SpokaneNews repeats a press release from a nearby county. They arrested a fentanyl salesman. Do fentanyl salesmen know what they’re doing? The picture answers the question. Along with the usual bundles of cash and pills, one pill container has a jolly psychedelic deaths-head as its cover. Open the skull and dispense death. They know what…
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Grilled?
Grilled? Jesus. These clowns let the secret service agent get by with all sorts of nonsense. He said the roof of the sniper’s building was “sloped”, which requires “rappelling skills”. None of the agents were trained for rappelling, so nobody could possibly manage the steep roof. SLOPED? Jesus again. I’m old and unsteady, and I’d…
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Trouble with dialects
Speech recognition sometimes has trouble with dialects. Comment at Spokane News on the usual arson: Saw a guy today trying to sit for her to a field nearby… Bet she’s from East Texas.
Polistra's Mill
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Polistra's Mill 