Tag: defensible times
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Cursed weight, sacred weight, part 2 of 2
= = = = = MEDIEVAL METROLOGY PART 4 = = = = = Why has gold been a standard** for so many centuries? Partly because it’s a suitable standard in a metrology sense. It doesn’t mix easily with other elements, it doesn’t degrade with time, and it can be purified and verified. But metrology…
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What good is writing?
If you aren’t writing you aren’t thinking. Variations on this theme, allegedly quoted from the usual suspects, are common in substack and other literary places. It doesn’t make a lick of sense. Humans were thinking in constructive ways LONG before writing was established. They were thinking well enough to selectively breed plants and livestock, to…
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Red and black in daily life
The oldest principle in the ceremonial side of life is Say the black, do the red. Poets, politicians, priests, and publicists followed this rule. Churches formalized it with a series of actions (red) to be performed by the priest and the people, with standard TUNES (black) accompanying each action. Mainline churches and megachurches have abandoned…
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They’re mostly right
The wokies are correct when they complain that ‘Western Civ’ courses are irrelevant and false. Some of the wokies want to replace the falseness with a different brand of falseness, some don’t. Nevertheless the complaint itself is correct. Western Civ classes, including all the “history” and “civics” we memorized in high school, are blatant propaganda…
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Elon = Jim Farley
Listening to old and new podcasts on the Post Office, I’m somewhat immersed in postal lore. The immersion led to a connection. Elon’s role as chief campaigner for Trump is NOT new. More broadly, the Tech Tyrants have replaced the Postmaster General, formerly a ‘patronage’ office. Presidents appointed their chief campaigner as Postmaster. The most…
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The Foy Rebellion HAS ARRIVED.
Headline: Art majors beat computer majors. = = = = = START QUOTE: For computer science and computer engineering, the unemployment rate in those fields was 6.1% and 7.5%, respectively — notably higher than the national average. Finance majors were 3.7%. By comparison, the unemployment rate for art history majors was 3%, and for nutritional…
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Frustration
Just venting frustration. In a cold uncivilized world ruled by demonic billionaires, it’s difficult to do the right thing. In other places and times it was easier because friendliness and kindness were often reciprocated. Nevertheless I’m going to keep it up. This year I vowed to follow the KSTP rule: Laugh at your ills, pay…
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Black Rod
The king’s presence in parliament was announced by Black Rod. Many years ago I was tickled by the ancient offices with strange names like Portcullis Pursuivant. Each officer and ceremony continues to represent a tradition or an incident. Human memory was meant to be a continuum, not a digital sequence. The old world maintains this…
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Implausible but true
Those old 1950s films about the Post Office mentioned that mail carriers were still using horses in some places. Seemed unlikely to me, but horses were common on urban routes, both milk and mail, until 1950. One of the new PO podcasts describes an even more improbable kind of mail service, which is still fully…
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First answer, second answer
Continuing from previous item. The tech tyrants assure us that reshoring is impossible because an iphone would have to cost three times as much if we made it here. First answer: Well, houses already cost three times as much as they should, and you’re not arguing with house prices. You didn’t prevent Larry Fink from…
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Who invented the long-d ditto?
Earlier I named and described the long-d ditto, a common practice in pen and ink business records. The standard computer keyboard, and the conventions of digital writing, have brought several punctuation marks into common use. @ and # are most obvious. Oddly, both were essentially obsolete, a vestige of quaint business usage along with pr,…
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Blog rule
One of my firm blog rules: When I see a Crosley or a Bantam I have to post it! From Billboard mag in 1948, Tower Records was using a pretty girl in a Crosley as a sales ambassador. Leads to another random thought. GM is always considered the Styling Leader. In fact it was the…
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Daily random pissoff
Random pissoff about “cybersecurity”. In the computer world, because of “cybersecurity”, you have to keep turning on your password every time the computer decides to clear its history. You can’t access a PAID subscription without going through security measures like TSA scanning at the airport or courthouse. In the real world a subscription keeps going…
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I’m not shocked
Bloomberg is shocked by China’s tech progress. I’m not shocked. I saw how it happened. China thinks about its own people and serves its own country. China has long-term plans. China owns its corporations, so the corporations work for China. In the 80s China was sending thousands of students to OUR universities and research facilities,…
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Math pope
Prevost is a Villanova grad with a major in math. This could make him a somewhat more significant figure for nerd types. A math pope would prescribe csc as the cure for sin. When sin goes to zero, csc ascends to heaven. He would give absolution as the cure for negative feelings. An inner product…
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