Leveling

My driveway has two substantial slopes that Joomla to drain water away.  This means getting Big Bertha level for tracking is hard.  I just ordered two linear levels to make sure that standing thwart the meeting point gets me level. 

Victory in 3rd Circuit

Lara v. Com. Of State Police (3rd Cir. 2025):

"CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, we will reverse the decisionof the District Court and remand with instructions to enter an
injunction forbidding the Commissioner from arresting law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds who openly carry firearms during a
state of emergency declared by the Commonwealth."

The decision ruled that 18-20-year-olds are people within the meaning of the Second Amendment. 

NOAA Admits They Are Adjusting Historical Temperatures Data

2/25/25 ABC News admits that the temperature data from the Historicsl Climate Network gets changed in the past but with good ressons; today's instruments are different,  urban heat islands make cities hotter than their 20th century versions.  But it is all done very carefully and scientifically so there is no manipulation.  "Trust us! We're from the Government!"

Clear and Above Freezing

I have had a couple occasions when I have started the clock drive on Big Bertha and instead of tracking correctly, it seemed to be going off at 90 degrees.  The answer is that my driveway is oddly shaped to drain water away so I have to position Big Bertha to be level.  This explains the 90 degree misdirection.   Tracking speed is also not quite right.  The voltage at the motor needs to be 5.11 volts.  I will check and adjust rheostat in the morning.   Also, the altitude bearings need waxing.  Somewhere,  I have some paraffin candles that I use for this.  It gets the motion smoother and better controlled. 

Nonetheless,  a nice evening.   I bought a 2" Moon filter for my 2" OD eyepieces.   Not for the Moon, but Venus.   It is so bright that you cannot easily make out the crescent right now.  M42 was nice.  Jupiter at 222x was crisp and lots of cloud band contrast. 

UPDATE:  As I suspected,  the voltage at the drive motor was low: 5.08V not 5.11V.  I suspect tracking will be correct now.  I waxed the altitude bearings and it moves much more smoothly now.

Decline of Christianity in America Hits Brakes

2/26/25 Pew Research Center:

"Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off...

"After many years of steady decline, the share of Americans who identify as Christians shows signs of leveling off – at least temporarily – at slightly above six-in-ten, according to a massive new Pew Research Center survey of 36,908 U.S. adults."

I wonder if the nihilism that the leftist religious experience creates has finally had an impact.  For me, money, mindless sex (and not even enough of that), and food eventually led me to looking for something deeper.

I Guess Buying from Amazon is No Longer Something of Which to be Ashamed

 Bezos owns the Washington Post.  This X posting from him has me absolutely shocked.

I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning: I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages. We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others. There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job. I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity.

How is Trump Doing?

 Harvard CAPS Harris Poll Feb. 19-20 shows:

48% of Americans say we are on ther right track.  

38% say economy on the right track.

ALMOST 1 IN 2 NOW SAY THE U.S. ECONOMY IS STRONG TODAY, THE HIGHEST IT HAS BEEN SINCE 2021

IN HIS FIRST MONTH AS PRESIDENT, TRUMP ENJOYS MAJORITY APPROVAL AT 52%

TRUMP IS OUTPERFORMING BIDEN IN PERCEPTIONS OF HANDLING KEY ISSUES, AND HAS MAJORITY APPROVAL ON IMMIGRATION, REDUCING GOVERNMENT COSTS AND RETURNING AMERICA TO ITS VALUES

RFK JR., TRUMP, VANCE AND GABBARD ALL ENJOY NET FAVORABILITY, WHILE PERCEPTIONS OF KEY DEMS ARE UNDERWATER

INFLATION AND IMMIGRATION REMAIN THE TOP ISSUES TO VOTERS, WITH PRICE INCREASES AND CORRUPTION MORE SALIENT THIS MONTH

BESIDES RENAMING THE GULF OF MEXICO, EACH OF TRUMP’S POLICIES TESTED RECEIVED STRONG MAJORITY SUPPORT, ESPECIALLY BORDER SECURITY AND REDUCING GOVERNMENT WASTE 

Funding Terrorism

The Mali government says US AID funded Boko Haram.  Remember them?

Some people need heads removed. Can we subcontract it to Boko Haram? :-)

My Research into Antebellum Handgun Carry Often Finds Entertaining Tangents

 Colt’s Revolvers.—By a late law of Congress the Secretary of War is directed to purchase Colt's Revolvers to the amount of $50,000, to be supplied to California emigrants at cost.[1]

---

[1] [Van Buren, Ark.] Arkansas Intelligencer, Mar. 31, 1849, 2.  https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016488/1849-03-31/ed-1/seq-2/, last accessed February 26, 2025.

You Thought "Moon Unit" Was An Unforgivable Name

2/25/25 New York Times:

"Nebraska Man Struggles to Change Daughter’s Name From ‘Unakite Thirteen Hotel’

"The name, which appeared to be generated by a computer, was meant to be temporary after the mother surrendered the child. But two years later, the nonsensical name remains."

It has to have been generated by a computer.   Imagine if AI had been involved!

2/26/25 NBC News reports she now has a Social Security number. It looks like all the bad press helped!

Headed to Europe in a Few Weeks

I have mentioned in the past a desire for something more compact than my Pentax K-S1 and with more resolution and optical zoom than a Canon compact 12MP camera (whose model number I have forgotten).  Some of the bridge cameras (those in between small point-and-shoots and DSLRs) were very attractive such as the Panasonic Lumix FZ80D with 4K video/photo recording and 20-1200 mm optical zoom) but some of the compact point-and-shoots are astonishing bargains. 

This one, a brand I do not recognize (so probably PRC) is 16x zoom and 44MP.  It is 2.2" x 3.8".  It weighs about half a pound. It is also cheap enough that if lost or stolen,  it is nor a tragedy.

The one that I ordered was $54.  It takes microSD cards but did not include one.  Hence the price.  The manual was Chinglish and unclear about formatting requirements for the not included microSD card.

H1B Visa Abuse

2/25/25 Forbes:

"Chris Thomas thinks employers of highly skilled visa holders could now face legal peril. “It’s clear that any form of misrepresentation will be referred for further investigation,” he said. “And with FDNS [Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate] conducting onsite visits, they will certainly take a more expansive approach to such visits. The days of cases being referred for mere revocation will be in the past. In addition to referring cases for revocation, FDNS will most certainly refer such matters to Homeland Security Investigations and other entities for potential criminal investigations.”

H1B is corporate welfare.  H1B holders are subject to serious abuse.  You cannot change jobs like a permanent resident or citizen. You have to go home and try again.  An acquaintance was working for Micron on an H1B and they laid him off.  He sold his house at a loss.  (Yes, he probably should not have bought a house in that status.)  He called it his $100K American vacation.

My Wife Says Our Well Water Tastes Like Bicarb

I can barely tell the difference between it and what comes out the refrigerator filtered water.  (I am not a water aficionado.)  Tests say it is soft. We recently had an ineffective Kinetico water system replaced with an iron filter and carbon post-filter.

Any suggestions?

Ancient Ice

The headline on this 2/25/25 Business Insider article refers to these artifacts as coming from melting glaciers.   The article more accurately describes these as ice patches.  The difference is that glaciers crush down under pressure and little survives undamaged.  Ice fields (or ice patches, as the body of the article labels them) are not mobile; they are very, very old patches of snow and ice still on the surface:

"Norway is at the forefront of this emerging field of research, called glacial archaeology. With about 4,500 artifacts discovered, the country claims more than half of the planet's glacial archaeology findings, according to Espen Finstad, who co-leads the Norwegian program, called Secrets of the Ice.

"Archaeologists there are piecing together clues about ancient industries and trade routes across the glaciers."

While the article had the obligatory reference to global warming,  the bigger question is why were humans up in these frozen areas thousands of years ago?  The answer should be obvious: these areas are just now returning to temperatures that they were at in earlier eras.  We are returning to temperatures that have been typical in the past. 

Tell Bruce Willia He Is Not Needed

2/24/25 Space:

"Asteroid 2024 YR4 has now been reassigned to Torino Scale Level Zero, the level for 'No Hazard' as additional tracking of its orbital path has reduced its possibility of intersecting the Earth to below the 1-in-1000 threshold."

Good.  I was worrying about the value of my 30 year Idaho municipal bonds. 

Cutting Regular Hexagons With gCode

 Thanks for the help.  The following bash script will generate gCode for cutting a regular hexagon.  The parameters should be obvious enough when you read it.

#!/bin/bash
if [[ $# -lt 8 ]];
   then echo "$0 xstart ystart zstart zstep zend xyfeed z feed height"
   exit 2;
fi
cat prolog.nc >hexagon.nc
xstart=$1
ystart=$2
zstart=$3
zstep=$4
zend=$5
xyfeed=$6
zfeed=$7
height=$8
halfheight=`echo "$height/2" | bc -l`
oneandonehalfheight=`echo "$height*1.5" | bc -l`
doubleheight=`echo "$height*2" | bc -l`
sqrt3div2=`echo "$height * .866" | bc -l`
sqrt3=`echo "$sqrt3div2*2" | bc -l`
cat prolog.nc >hexagon.nc
echo "g1 z1 f25" >>hexagon.nc
for z in $(seq $zstart $zstep $zend)
do
    echo "g1 x$xstart y$ystart f$xyfeed" >>hexagon.nc
    echo "g1 z$z f$zfeed" >>hexagon.nc
    # First vertex
    echo "g1 x$halfheight y$sqrt3div2 f$xyfeed" >>hexagon.nc
    # second vertice
    echo "g1 x$oneandonehalfheight y$sqrt3div2 f$xyfeed" >>hexagon.nc
    # far (third) vertex
    echo "g1 x$doubleheight y$ystart f$xyfeed" >>hexagon.nc
    # fourth vertex
    echo "g1 x$oneandonehalfheight y-$sqrt3div2 f$xyfeed" >>hexagon.nc
    # fifth vertex
    echo "g1 x$halfheight y-$sqrt3div2 f$xyfeed" >>hexagon.nc
    # back to start of hexagon
done
echo "g1 z0 f25" >>hexagon.nc
cat epilog.nc >>hexagon.nc

The prolog amd epilog files are just to have consistent gCode files.

prolog.nc

%
g17 g20 g54

epilog.nc

m2
%

"Foreign Aid"

Our government was doing so much to help the poor in the Third World.  The 2/23/25 Times of London:

""Trump aid freeze ‘may force Stonewall to cut up to half of staff’

"Employees at the LGBTQ+ charity are left ‘shellshocked’ after being told only roles with dedicated funding are safe after the US president’s decision"

Whatever the merits of Stonewall might be, this does nothing to help the poor anywhere. 

So That's The Goal!

There has been a lot of screeching about Musk telling all federal employees to respond with a bullet list of five things they accomplished in the last week.  Failure to respond indicates resignation.  This seems harsh.  After all, can anyone claim they accomplished anything the last week?

2/23/25 The Hill explains why:

"“The reason this matters is that a significant number of people who are supposed to be working for the government are doing so little work that they are not checking their email at all!” Musk wrote on his social platform X, responding to a post about the email.

“In some cases, we believe non-existent people or the identities of dead people are being used to collect paychecks,” Musk continued. “In other words, there is outright fraud.”

I would like to think that if you are just collecting a paycheck that you would put the effort into at least checking your email.  This at least separates the dead from the living and the hopelessly lazy from those motivated enough to scam the government.  You can see why the federal employees union is hopping mad.

I Am Generally Skeptical of Tariffs

As a punitive tool for nstions not doing our bidding, when those requests are reasonable, it is hard to argue against them.   When used against nations with whom we are likely to go to war, such as the PRC, they are essential. 

Generally,  the arguments against raising tariffs are:

1. They discourage the most efficient producers from international trade.  Canada is never going to be real good at pineapple growing.  They are very good at growing wheat.

2. Tariffs hurt consumers by raising prices for imports which also reduces price competition by domestic producers.

3. Foreign competition forces better products from domestic makers.  Look at how low quality American cars were until primarily Japanese competition almost drove U.S. car producers into bankruptcy. 

The case for higher tariffs:

1. It can encourage self-sufficiency.   The collapse in 1177 BC is a reminder that globalization can make you too dependent on other nations.

2. It can be a source of revenue.  Until 1913, tariffs were a major source of federal government income.  Creation of the federal income tax made tariffs relatively minor.

3. It can create jobs domestically.  2/24/25 CNN Business:

"New YorkCNN — Apple said Monday it will invest $500 billion on expanding US facilities over the next four years, a move that could help it avoid new tariffs on goods imported from China.

"Apple said the investment will create 20,000 jobs.

"Earlier this month, President Donald Trump announced tariffs of 10% on all imports from China, from which Apple imports many products, including most of its iPhones. Trump signaled Friday that Apple was planning to make this investment following a meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday. Trump attributed the investment to his tariffs."

Having a manufacturing base in America creates jobs and jobs that are generally better paid than, "Would you like fries with that, sir?" 

This process is not without its risks, of course.  Tariffs need to be carefully considered.  I have read that New Zealand has very high tariffs on cars,  even though it has no makers of cars.  Tariffs can create industries, as Hamilton's tariffs did to make America a great manufacturing nation.   But if no industry develops,  those tariffs will just be destructive to consumers. 

(Hopefully) Helpful Hints

If you are climbing stairs and even slightly concerned about a fall try to lean forward going up and slightly back going down.  If you take a tumble, take the smallest distance to a hard surface.

Most Amazing Use of AI

Sort of a 1950s imagining of now.  The women are alluring without being overtly sexual  

If You Got a Better Grade Than I Did in Geometry

I think a regular hexagon is six adjacent equilateral triangles.   I need to machine a hexagon and this means calculating the vertices. 

Idaho School Choice

From KTVB:

"On Wednesday the Senate narrowly approved House Bill 93 — which provides $50 million for a tax credit that may go toward private school tuition, "microschools," and some other educational expenses. On Thursday, the main phone number for Little's office, 208-334-2100, included an option to submit feedback on whether he should veto the bill. "

Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)

My wife going through classes at Northwest Nazarene University towards ordination.  Because one of her current classes is church history,  we are watching a bit more church history documentaries at the moment.  Tonight we watched Franco Zefferelli's 1972 film about St. Francis of Assisi.

The 1970s, along with disco, was the Zefferelli decade.  Romeo & Juliet, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and the Jesus of Nazareth miniseries.   

Every one of them is visually stunning and musically fascinating.  The theme from Jesus of Nazareth is incredibly powerful.  Donovan (remember him?) wrote and sang many of the songs.   I still have yet to see a version of Jesus' life than Jesus of Nazareth more emotionally and spiritually affecting.   If you were too young to have watched it, do so now.   I was not a Christian at the time but it hit hard.

These films were all lavishly produced.  The scene where St. Francis seeks Pope Innocent III's blessing caused my wife to say. "3/4 of the budget must have been costumes."

If a Suspect Keeps Changing His Story...

It usually means he is guilty.  What does it mean when the police account of the crime keeps changing?  2/21/25 NBC Washington:

D.C. police confirm they are investigating an alleged assault of a 27-year-old woman by U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, a Republican representing a district northeast of Orlando, calling it an active criminal investigation.

The Metropolitan Police Department also is investigating its own handling of the incident, which did not result in an arrest....

D.C. police confirm they are investigating an alleged assault of a 27-year-old woman by U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, a Republican representing a district northeast of Orlando, calling it an active criminal investigation.

The Metropolitan Police Department also is investigating its own handling of the incident, which did not result in an arrest.

Police reports obtained by News4 show the alleged incident started at a penthouse in a luxury apartment building in The Wharf area of Southwest at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Mills’ office told NBC News: “This week, law enforcement was asked to resolve a private matter at Congressman Mills’ residence. Congressman Mills vehemently denies any wrongdoing whatsoever, and is confident any investigation will clear this matter quickly.”

The I-Team also reached out Thursday afternoon to the alleged victim, who we’re not naming, but who is not the congressman’s wife. In text messages she said: “Yesterday, I contacted law enforcement to address a personal matter… Although the argument was emotionally charged, there was no physical abuse involved.”

"he said bruises were from medical conditions and activities from a recent overseas trip.

But that’s likely not the end of the investigation.

News4 obtained multiple copies of the police report, showing varying levels of detail about what allegedly happened inside the apartment and when police arrived.

The first police report, provided to News4 by a source and confirmed by a second source familiar with the investigation, said: “(Her significant other for over a year) grabbed her, shoved her, and pushed her out of the door.” The report says she showed the officer “bruises on her arm which appeared fresh.”

The first report goes on to note that during a phone call between the significant other and alleged victim, she “let officers hear Subject 1 [now identified by MPD as Mills] instruct her to lie about the origin of her bruises … Eventually, Subject 1 made contact with police and admitted that the situation escalated from verbal to physical, but it was severe enough to create bruising.”

When police arrived, the woman was in the lobby of the Salamander hotel next door. The report says an officer was “able to immediately identify [the alleged victim] out of all other patrons in the lobby by her demeanor: physically shaking and scared.”

According to the report, the responding police officer told the subject he would be placed under arrest. But then the woman approached police and recanted the details, including where the bruises came from. News4 reached out to the responding officer but has not heard back. . .

"A second version of the police report obtained by News4 a day after the alleged incident says only that officers responded for a family disturbance and there was no probable cause for an arrest.

When News4 reached out to D.C. police for comment, they provided a third version of the report Thursday night, which had changed once again, saying officers responded for a report of an assault and that the assault is being investigated.

D.C. police told News4 the focus of the internal investigation is why officers made no arrest and why the incident was reclassified as a family disturbance and not an assault."

I do not know if Rep. Mills (R-FL) did something wrong or not.  It appears that the police are unsure as well.  Or perhaps they are just CUBAR (confused beyond all repair a variant of FUBAR).

This Will Not Help Her DEI Goals

2/21/25 Los Angeles Times:

"Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has fired Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley over the chief’s handling of the Palisades fire.

“Acting in the best interests of Los Angeles’ public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I have removed Kristin Crowley as Fire Chief,” Bass said in a statement Friday. “We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch.”

“Furthermore, a necessary step to an investigation was the President of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after action report on the fires. The Chief refused. These require her removal,” Bass continued. “The heroism of our firefighters — during the Palisades fire and every single day — is without question. Bringing new leadership to the Fire Department is what our city needs.”

Yes, not having enough firefighters and trucks available during Santa Anas is gross incompetence.   No matter how cool it makes Los Angeles appear.

Clear, Only Freezing, Night

I was a bit tired but it will some days before I get another clear night...

I have not looked at the Pleiades through any of my scopes in a couple years.  It was nice to see it again.   I might have benefited from doing a collimation first but while a bit low in contrast,  the bands were visible on Jupiter in my 35mm eyepiece (57x), the 25mm (80x), and the 18mm 2" eyepiece (111x).  Slight averted vision seemed to help on Jupiter's detail. 

I have toyed with the idea of putting an observatory at the north end of my property.   It is a bit farther from my neighbors to the south.   So I walked up there in the comparative dark.  The improvement was either minor or non-existent.  Beta canis majoris (the star just west of Sirius; magnitude 2) was visible from both locations.   M42 (Orion Nebula; magnitude 4) was visible in both locations.   I might have been able to barely see magnitude 5 stars if I had been looking carefully.  For being so close to Caldwell,  this is not bad.  The house I had the hill was better (magnitude 6) but the Boise light dome was already beginning to degrade it when we moved.

I only spent a few minutes in the north area, so I may not have my eyes enough time to do rhodopsin regeneration.   This gets worse as you age with 30 minutes sometimes required.  Thirty minutes there in the dark sounds pretty boring. 

Life, Death, or Los Angeles

2/20/25 KTLA:

"Are regular rideshare apps not thrilling enough for you? Need some excitement, or is it your fantasy to ride in a dark window-tinted SUV with an armed bodyguard like a scene out of “Succession?”

'Well, now you’re in luck.

"Protector is now available on the iOS and Mac App Store, offering rideshare services like we know with Uber and Lyft, but with a twist. Your ride comes with a personal “protector” in the form of former military and law enforcement professionals who are, of course, armed with guns."

Where is PETA?

2/6/25 House Oversight Committee:

"WASHINGTON—The Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation held a hearing titled, “Transgender Lab Rats and Poisoned Puppies: Oversight of Taxpayer Funded Animal Cruelty.” Subcommittee members discussed how the federal government wastes millions of dollars on cruel and unnecessary animal research."

Yes.  Gender reassignment on animals to study the effects.  The horror never ends from craziness.   $241 million a year at least:

"Rep. Crane: “Wow…Mr. Goodman did you also say that it was your estimation that $241 million dollars has been spent on transgender animal testing?”

"Mr. Goodman: “Yes and I would say that is the floor, not the ceiling because the information on federal databases is pretty incomplete.”"

They are not just wasting money.   They are torturing animals.   They could just look at humans, I think. 

The Joys of Old (or Fraud?) (Fraud!)

Dental appointment today.  The dentist said periodontal disease has reached the deep cleaning stage, where they numb one side of your mouth while they dig deep below the gum line to remove plaque.   I did not sign up for dental coverage this year and I wish I had: $1200.

Bad, but both of my parents were wearing dentures much younger than I am.  My mother was completely toothless by 50 and my father only had some lower teeth left. 

And three 20th century fillings need replacement. 

I now suspect insurance fraud and unethical behavior.  My previous dentist saw no periodontal disease last May. I hear from readers about similar suspicious claims from a new dentist. 

I have a second opinion dental appointment scheduled for Monday.   If he confirms what my previous dentist said, I will be informing my insurer of probable insurance fraud and the dentist licensing board of unethical behavior.

This is more than just $1200.  It is also unnecessary infliction of pain.

Second opinion today: no peridontal disease.  No reason for root scaling and planing.  Next steps: contact insurance company as this is insurance fraud reporting something as needed when it is not with three month cleanings thereafter; contact dental licensing agency here to try and get his license revoked.  

Putting someone through this agony because of greed is unethical.  If you cannot trust medical professionals, you are in a world of trouble: people are easily spooked by fear from a man in a white coat.

A Morbid Tool

Asteroid launcher let's you toy with Asteroid size, speed, and impact point.

0.500" is Too Small, 0.505" is Too Large

The carbon fiber axis is .494" OD.  So I asked the mills to cut a .497" hole in the center of the bearing block.  Still too tight.  .500" still too tight.  .505" slides on to easily.  .502" needed a little polish with 320 sandpaper to press fit.  The final step was .5025".  This presses on just fine. (And yes, a CNC mill can make a hole .0005" larger with great precision.)

I suspect after a few hundred rotations, the axis will polish a nice smooth bearing in the acetal.

I have now started the easy part; putting four 6-32 holes in each of what were going to be bearing blocks, but are now bearings as well.  I just position the .1065" drill bit above the right face and drill both sides in one cut. 

Drilled and tapped.

I Anxiously Await the Pious Reaction

 

Homosexuality, Transidentity, and Islam

A Study of Scripture Confronting the Politics of Gender and Sexuality

From Amsterdam University Press.

One More Thing That I Am Gaga Over

The radar/weather display. 

Fountain of Youth

Musk has posted a age bucket distribution of those who have Social Security Numbers and are still listed as alive.  The 448 above 190 are suspicious. 

This may just be bad data.  My first job at Idsho Corrections was auditing the Date of Birth fields in our prisoner data base.  Many were clearly invalid.  

Some were fields swapped.  Month 30, day 11, year 1955.  Some were default values 1/1/1900.  A few were incomprehensible: 155/255/1867.  Yes, the data entry form was undemanding.

By the time I was done,  I had used a regular expression approach to fix most of the 15,000 DOBs that had a plausible value.   A few hundred were flagged for human intervention. 

I do wonder how many dead people are still collecting Social Security.   They was a serial killer in Sacramento some years ago who was killing and burying her elderly tenants and cashing their checks.

You can see why Democrats are so upset with Musk.

I Have the Weirdest Dreams

The dream involved talking to a recent college graduate and somehow we started taking about our junior high and high school teachers.   The ones that I had,  Brophy, Emch,  and a few others were still teaching.   A a very sad song starts playing.   All that I can remember is this refrain:

"Let's face it.

The time has come, 

Your job is done."

This applies in multiple sad ways:

1. You are obsolete in your work.

2. There are younger people who expect lower pay to do your job. 

3. All we are is dust in the wind.

4. Empty nest.

None are happy.  All are inevitable. 

I Think the Cartels Are in Trouble

Why this is not bigger news has to do, I suspect,  fear that it makes Trump look effective:

"A handful of U.S. Army Green Berets are in Mexico, helping to train the country’s Naval Infantry Marines. The U.S. Special Forces soldiers are there at the request of Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum. The action was also unanimously approved by a Senate commission in Mexico, according to Border Report."

Breaking the Cartels is in our interests and Mexico's.  I suspect they were overjoyed to get top notch Spanish-speaking SOCOM help.

Bearings

A piece of 1/2" black acetal arrived today.   (It is amazing how reasonably priced leftover blocks j is acetal are k on eBay.   Everyone has a chunk leftover from a project.   I have sold some myself there.)  It is about the same density as carbon fiber composite and because these blocks are also the bearings,  I do not need the steel needle bearings inside them.   It is not a stiff or strong as carbon fiber,  but these are not high load or high rpm uses, so it does not matter. 

Acetal cuts with much less effort than carbon fiber.   I cut two blocks with little drama.  I also increased feed rate for the second two blocks.   

When these are done,  I will cut a .494" hole in the center for the polar axis.   I want a press fit,  because the axis over time should grind a bearing into the2 2 acetal,  which is nowhere near as hard a acetal.

Then drill and tap 6-32 holes on each side.   Unlike carbon fiber,  acetal taps nicely and is very strong.  Again,  the load is not much.   The .13" long 6-32 screws should perfectly hold them in the axis housings.  I could go longer but there is no need. 

Remember How Making Pot Legal Would Raise Revenue?

2/17/25 San Francisco Chronicle:

"California’s legal cannabis market has hit another grim milestone: There are now 10,828 inactive and surrendered pot licenses in the state and only 8,514 active ones, meaning dead pot licenses now outnumber active ones, according to the Department of Cannabis Control’s data dashboard. 

"This inversion comes seven years after the legal cannabis market opened. While it’s not clear exactly when the threshold was crossed, because the state does not release historical licensing information, California’s legal market has been struggling for years, with thousands of companies going out of business."

The core issue is that taxing it made the illegal growers competitive on price and California has shown little enthusiasm for going after the unlicensed growers.   I am reminded of how the American Association Against the Prohibition Amendment sold repeal on the dramatic revenue that taxing alcohol again would raise,  based on the illegal price. 

I Do Not Want to Gloat

2/16/25 DailyMaul:

"Home prices in Washington, DC, have plummeted since the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency began discussing layoffs.

'Since Donald Trump took office, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has fired thousands of federal workers in a push to reduce spending.

"In the wake of those layoffs, droves of former federal employees have packed up their bags and put their homes on the market, causing the average listing price to sink, The Kobeissi Letter (TKL) reported.

"In November, the median home in the nation's capital was worth $699,000, according to Redfin. 

"By February, the median home value dropped 20 percent, bringing the price down to $560,000."

I had a backup mortgage of $720K while getting my old house sold, so I know that making house payments of this size without at least one extraordinary paycheck (and likely two) would really hurt. Still, how well are these people paid to make a $4000/month mortgage payment?

Perhaps more interesting:

"There has also been a surge in new listings of homes over $1 million. According to TKL, there are 525 listings worth $1 million and 44 listings worth $5 million, suggesting DOGE layoffs could affect people in high-profile jobs."

Who are these people?  Government employees or NGO employees who realize the game is over?

Amazingly Fair NY Times Article

2/16/25 New York Times article about the dramatic change in new gun owners: black, Hispanic,  Asian, Jewish, leftist, transgender and how what started as a perceived need has become fun.

Teflon Does Not Machine Well

It melts too easily instead of cutting.   Holding it the lathe chuck requires sandpaper around the workpiece.   I will use acetal instead. 

Why Do I Not Buy an Electric Car

Most are fast.  But articles like this from Ars Technica are persuasive:

"In November 2019, I was overjoyed to drive a new Jaguar I-Pace off the dealer's lot. Five years later, I'm waiting for Jaguar to drive the car away.

"After two recalls for software updates, the car's range is now permanently restricted to 80 percent of what it was new. And along with owners of over 2,700 2019 I-Paces, I'm waiting for Jaguar to buy the car back. That's because the company has decided that purchasing the cars is cheaper—and likely easier—than identifying and replacing defective battery packs. It's a frustrating situation to be in, and not just because I can no longer drive a car I have grown to like."

This guy remains an EVhead.

So Bay Area

 2/13/25 San Francisco Chronicle:

A sprawling web of violence across America, which has left at least six dead, has been linked to a fringe group of radical Berkeley pseudo-intellectuals known as the Zizians. Investigators across the country are piecing together connections between the double homicide of a wealthy married couple in Pennsylvania, a deadly shootout in Vermont and two brutal knife attacks on a landlord in Vallejo. Four people who are allegedly Zizian cult members are in custody facing homicide charges, despite multiple escape attempts. Three members of the fringe group are missing and wanted, including the leader, Jack “Ziz” LaSota, who faked their death in the San Francisco Bay.

Around a dozen individuals appear to have in-person links to Ziz, some of whom worked at NASA and Google before the arrests began. Many of them advocate for veganism and identify as transgender. Some met through the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, a Berkeley nonprofit buoyed by Peter Thiel and Sam Bankman-Fried and associated with the rationalist movement; MIRI warns about the dangers of AI and studies the “mathematical underpinnings of intelligent behavior.”

I guess they are only psedo because they murder people individually instead of using a government.  Of course, the article uses their preferred pronouns. 

Weapopnization of Government

The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government is the website although it is labeled Fox News:

The panel is touting its work, saying its oversight has "had a real effect in expanding the First Amendment." 

"In a Supreme Court dissent, three justices noted how the Select Subcommittee’s investigation revealed that ‘valuable speech was suppressed,’" the report states. 

And in a letter to the subcommittee, Facebook and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden-Harris administration "pressured" Facebook to censor Americans. ...

The committee also celebrated a "big win" in October after it prevented the creation of a new "GARM," an advertising association that engaged in censorship and boycotts of conservative media companies. The committee revealed, before it was disbanded, that GARM had been discussing ways to ensure conservative news outlets and platforms could not receive advertising dollars and were engaged in boycotts of conservative voices and Twitter once it became "X" under the ownership of Elon Musk. 

Meanwhile, the subcommittee also investigated the alleged weaponization of federal law enforcement resources. 

In speaking with a number of whistleblowers, the subcommittee learned of waste, fraud and abuse at the FBI. 

"When these whistleblowers came forward, the bureau brutally retaliated against many of them for breaking ranks—suspending them without pay, preventing them from seeking outside employment, and even purging suspected disloyal employees," the report states, noting that the subcommittee revealed that the FBI "abused its security clearance adjudication process to target whistleblowers." 

The report references the FBI’s response, in which the bureau admitted its "error" and reinstated the security clearance of one decorated FBI employee. 

They kept yelling "fascist" and "Hitler" while standing in front of a mirror and thought it was a window. 

When Democrats Lose Their Minds

This is something even Puritans did not attempt to regulate.  2/10/25 Newsweek:

"Abill proposed to the Ohio statehouse will make male ejaculation without intent to have a baby, a fineable offense of up to $10,000.

"The bill has been proposed by State Representatives Anita Somani and Tristan Rader, who wrote it to point out what they see as the absurdity of rules that control women's bodies but do not control men's. It has not been formally introduced to the House Floor yet.

"Per Somani and Rader, men would face a $1,000 first offense, $5,000 second offense, and $10,000 subsequent offense fine to "discharge semen or genetic material without intent to fertilize an embryo.""

Unless Democrats think semen are capable of birth,  the analogy to abortion is insane.   How will they enforce this?  Cameras in every room?  

Democrats are just insane.

News Stories That Make You Laugh -- And Not for the Right Reasons

2/14/25 New York Post:

"On Monday, Disney shut down its “Reimagine Tomorrow” program, which was used to highlight stories and talent from underrepresented communities. The initiative promised 50% of regular and recurring characters across the Disney universe would come from “underrepresented groups.”

"It also quietly rolled back other DEI programs this week.

"The Reimagine Tomorrow program sparked outrage in 2022 when a company-wide Zoom call was leaked on social media.

"At the time, one Disney executive touted her “not at all secret gay agenda,” while another boasted that the company was scrubbing the words “ladies, gentlemen, boys, and girls” at its theme parks to avoid alienating transgender children."

But alienating the 99%+ of people who are not trans makes business sense.   Even Americans who think genital mutilation is cool is not going to dramatically change the equation.   Even many ordinary Democrats think this is at least silly.

How about picking stories that are interesting or at least fit into the Disney story model.  Person with disadvantages rises up against impossible odds to become successful.   

Oddly enough, the Horatio Alger stories fit that model, although without magic wands or Fairy Godmothers.  Fortunately,  some of us have lived Horatio Alger stories because in America,  you can go as far and as fast as your wits and ambition can carry you 

I Am Sure This is a Coincidence

2/14/25 New York Post:

"After Trump’s election victory in November, the US Army announced it shattered previous recruiting records when the service said it enlisted nearly 350 soldiers per day in December 2024, the most productive December in 15 years.

"The surge in recruitment comes after two consecutive years of missing recruitment targets."

I am pretty sure that this was because young people respect what Trump ran on with respect to strength and not getting into unnecessary wars.  

Compared to the Wesponization of FBI, This May Seem Trivial

But playing games with the official stats is often a tool of propagandists and I think that is the point.  2/14/25 Federalist:

"The ability to manipulate and distort crime data allows those distorting the data to control the political debate.

"I’ve seen many cases of politicized data. Until January 2021, I worked in the U.S. Department of Justice as the senior advisor for research and statistics in the Office of Justice Programs, and part of my job was to evaluate the FBI’s active shooting reports. During my time with the DOJ, I discovered that the FBI either missed or misidentified many cases of civilians using guns to stop attacks. For instance, the FBI continues to report that armed citizens stopped only 14 of the 350 active shooter cases identified between 2014 to 2023.

"The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), which I run, has found many more missed cases and is keeping an updated list. As such, the CPRC numbers tell a much different story: Out of 515 active shooter incidents from 2014 to 2023, armed citizens stopped 180, saving countless innocent lives. Our numbers even excluded 27 cases where a law-abiding citizen with a gun stopped an attacker before he could fire a shot."

Devastating Analysis of Elite Data

An economist compares the economic data used by Democrats to pat themselves on the back in 2024 and reassure themselves that the people would elect Harris with more realistic measures that explain why Trump won:

"But the CPI also perceives reality through a very rosy looking glass. Those with modest incomes purchase only a fraction of the 80,000 goods the CPI tracks, spending a much greater share of their earnings on basics like groceries, health care and rent. And that, of course, affects the overall figure: If prices for eggs, insurance premiums and studio apartment leases rise at a faster clip than those of luxury goods and second homes, the CPI underestimates the impact of inflation on the bulk of Americans. That, of course, is exactly what has happened.

"My colleagues and I have modeled an alternative indicator, one that excludes many of the items that only the well-off tend to purchase — and tend to have more stable prices over time — and focuses on the measurements of prices charged for basic necessities, the goods and services that lower- and middle-income families typically can’t avoid. Here again, the results reveal how the challenges facing those with more modest incomes are obscured by the numbers. Our alternative indicator reveals that, since 2001, the cost of living for Americans with modest incomes has risen 35 percent faster than the CPI. Put another way: The resources required simply to maintain the same working-class lifestyle over the last two decades have risen much more dramatically than we’ve been led to believe."

And this appeared in the Democrat house organ,  Politico.

People v. Brown (Ill.2d 2025)

Illinois judge ruled that the Illinois law that requires you to have a Firearms Owner ID card (FOID) to possess a firearm in your home violates the Second Amendment. 

The license fee for the FOID is unconstitutional because it requires you to pay a fee to exercise your right to self-defense in your own home.

Doing the Jobs Americans Won't Do

And notice the news source.   2/11/25 NPR:

"The burglars often use sophisticated strategies to overcome security measures so they can pilfer jewelry, watches and luxury goods from mansions. The FBI calls them South American Theft Groups; many of the suspects arrested so far (including in Burrow's case) are from Chile....

""The groups usually consist of foreign nationals from South America who either enter the country illegally or overstay on visas to continue committing their crimes," Bauder wrote. "SATG's often travel using rental vehicles and will carry false identifications and documents," he said, adding that the groups routinely activate and de-activate cellphones, sometimes in less than a month."

Not every illegal alien is a burglar.  This is why finding and deporting illegal aliens matters.   There is enough trash in the crowd that proper vetting is essential. 

In Case You Think Musk is Blowing Smoke

2/10/25 Norwegian Refugee Council:

"The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) regrets to inform that we, for the first time in our history, will have to suspend ongoing and urgent US-funded humanitarian work in nearly 20 countries affected by wars, disasters, and displacement. This will impact hundreds of thousands of people. These dramatic measures come in response to the stop, partial suspension, or lack of reimbursement of United States funding for our global humanitarian operations."

If we are funding this work, why are we not doing this through a U.S. agency?  Norway gets the positive feelz for what Americans are paying.  Norway is not a poor nation.

The Left Has Gone Completely Bonkers

They are no longer comparing him to Hitler.   They are saying he is inferior to Hitler.  2/10/25 American Prospect:

"What Trump Could Learn From Hitler on NIH Funding

"Even the Führer knew to support German science, and not just for war. Why is Trump trying to destroy America’s great research universities?"

The fear is causing them to lose what little of their minds they had left.

Tapping Teflon

As an experiment I tapped a 6-32 hole in Teflon.  I went about 1/2".  When I screwed in a screw, it was pretty well held. I would not rely on to hold much load but 1/2" depth and I could not pull it out. 

At 1/8" I could easily pull it out.  Is that just a cumulative hold of a bunch more threads and did I not get the first few threads exactly square.  These should have been the squares.  I turned the tap in a drill press chuck with the Teflon in a vise.  The rest of the threads I made with the tap in a power screwdriver.   

I am inclined to use acetal instead for places where I need low friction.   Acetal threads are rock solid.  I can also order black acetal,  which will go well with the overall appearance of a black carbon fiber composite mount.

A Very Disturbing Article

All anonymous sources,  but as Musk is finding,  almost anything outrageous seems to be happening in our government, so this is not at all implausible. 

"Veteran law enforcement officials—both active and retired—from the United States and Canada have come forward with explosive allegations suggesting that Canada’s federal government may have systematically obstructed investigations into the highest levels of Asian organized crime. According to these sources, American agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, have grown so alarmed by suspected corruption and legal loopholes in Canada that they have effectively sidelined Canadian law enforcement from sensitive investigations and intelligence-sharing."

Tonight's Uh-Oh

I noticed this Friday night but moreso this evening because the church youth group was over for the SuperBowl and I thought this would be opportunity to sneak some science in there.

The clock drive was not tracking in any consistent way even though I had tested it before reassembly.  

Also, there were odd motions that suggested something was not properly attached.   Then, I remembered. 

The day I completed reassembly, the cord from the garage opener that disconnects the chain from the motor grabbed the top cage of the scope.  (I parked it too close to the door.)  This disconnected the chain and stopped the motor.  But I think it exerted enough upwards force to lift the scope and its base off the slightly convoluted interface to the equatorial platform.  This may something that I can fix without disassembling everything. 

Looking ujder it, I can see what happened.  The garage door hoist picked it up just enough to misplace the upper part of the platform off the various wheels that allow the motor to move it.  This should be a quick fix once a strong person comes over to help me lift it off.  I am wondering if a hoist in the garage might be useful.  Something like you would use to lift a large game animal several feeet in the air for gutting.

This hoist seems especially appropriate.  The demonstration video shows a guy using it in his garage to lift and lower his punching bag.  

I might counterbalance it to reduce lift effort.  A couple houses back, we needed a snow plow to get out in winter, so I used my knowledge of medieval cathedral building to create a 5 pound effort lift.  I put hooks in the ceiling with pullies.  Then I put cans of ammuniition one end of the rope and the blade on the other end.  The net weight duifference was 5 pounds so it was nearly effort free to lift it off the TrailBlazer's carrier and back on again later.

Good

Behind a pay wall, so all I see is Trump is going to cut billions from defense budget.

Good.  Money wasted is not available for defense.  Thus should befuddle the Left good.

Here's  2/9/25 Al-Jazeera coverage of it.

The DOD budget is a trillion dollars.  Even a 5% improvement would be 50 billion dollars.

Teflon as Bearing

I need to make a frame to hold a worm spur gear.   I suspect finding bearings the size that I will need may be difficult.   But what about turning bearings out of Teflon.  This spur gear will turn about 1/12th rpm, so this should not be a demanding application.  I already have a 1" cylinder of Teflon so this will be easy.  Teflon is not a corrosion problem with carbon fiber.  I almost wonder if i should have used these instead of bearings for the axes.   I could have skipped the whole use of threaded inserts.   I could have tapped the blocks instead.   These axes will typically move at 1 rev/day, with higher rates for a few seconds at a time.  It might still be worth doing that.

There are other places where I had considered using bearings which were not strictly necessary.   The ears that hold the polar axis support to the mount base might have used bearings.   Teflon is not only easier but this is a situation where Teflon's tendency of stiction (it turns but only if given some push) is actually an advantage.   That support needs to move in the ears, but not real easily.  

Teflon is 2.2 g/cm3 so at the high end of carbon fiber composite but still lighter then stainless steel bearings. 

Acetal is apparently not much worse on friction and it taps more easily.  Teflon's softness means that it tends to flow back after tapping. 

I Am So Glad Democrats Are Not Part of the Rich

2/8/25 Los Angeles Times reports on Los Angeles recovery:

"Recovery czar Steve Soboroff will be paid $500,000 over three months, with funding coming from charitable groups."

Gee.  $2 million per year.  He must be very good at what he does. 

When Your Drug Problem is Severe

2/6/25 Law & Crime:

"Florida man ‘barking like a dog’ for more than an hour at an auto-parts store is arrested when police find the obvious"

This Does Not Even Make Babylon Bee Level of Sense

 2/7/25 London Times:

A nuclear power station was blocked after officials raised concerns over the impact it would have on the Welsh language.

As Sir Keir Starmer seeks to launch a generation of mini nuclear plants, senior figures in the industry figures vented their frustration at existing barriers to building.

In one case government planning inspectors rejected a multibillion-pound project on Anglesey on grounds including the negative “socio-economic” impact on the local community.

They said it could put pressure on housing, forcing locals to relocate. “In turn, given the number of Welsh-speaking residents, this could adversely affect Welsh language and culture,” the five planning inspectors said in their report, published in 2021.

Time to Nerd Out

 Do you need a small disposable jet engine for your weaponized done if we get POresident Harris in 2028?  This video is just amazing.  He builds a small turbojet engine starting with a Coke can and hand tools.

I douibt it will last very long, but it isd amazing to consider what you could do with a lathe and vertical mill.

What An Absurd Piece of Political Theater

 2/6/25 Fox News:

A Michigan Democratic state lawmaker said Wednesday she sterilized herself to prevent getting pregnant during President Donald Trump’s term in office.

"Just under two weeks ago, I underwent surgery to ensure that I would never have to navigate a pregnancy in Donald Trump’s America," Michigan State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky said.

The lawmaker made the eye-popping remarks outside the Michigan State Capitol to a group of protesters gathered as part of the so-called 50501 movement, which held demonstrations across the country to voice their opposition to the Trump administration. The number 50501 refers to the group’s stated goal of holding 50 protests in 50 states on 1 day. 

There are less permanent and less risky methods.  Does she not have a relationship strong enough with her partner to use any of the many highly effective contraceptive merhods available to her?  She is removing herself from the gene pool.  This is perhaps for the best.

Free Speech Can Be Nasty and Ugly

That is why the First Amendment protects it.   2/5/25 WLWT:

"A group of nearly a dozen people was seen displaying swastika flags on an Interstate 75 overpass near Evendale and Lincoln Heights on Friday....

""Where was the arrests?" Kachara Talbert said. "They just let these people drive off and disrespect us and our heritage.""

To paraphrase Jefferson about religion.  "Nasty ideas neither break my leg,  nor pick my pocket."  If your heritage is so weak that you need to arrest them, you are weak indeed. 

Whatever point these idiots were trying to make eludes me.  If they were trying to provoke a violent reaction by what they doubtless regard as an inferior race, they failed.  Maybe not so inferior as they think.

A Funeral Today

Or as the Salvation Army calls it, "promotion to Glory."

A woman in our church who was 95 died after a short too terribly unpleasant illness.  Much better than agonizing deaths over a period of years...  I have had a few friends in that category. 

She has lived here since the 1950s with enormous social engagement.   Unsurprisingly,  we prepared for 900 attendees.  Snow storm last night and that she lived about 30 miles away knocked attendance down to about 450.  She was a Rodeo Mom and Grandmom, so cowboy hats were everywhere. 

The number of people sharing positive memories was high, and from my limited interactions with her,  I am not surprised.  The number of people that come to your funeral says a lot about the positive impacts you have made on those around you. 

She only stopped working last year and was still driving.   Keep your mind active and senility need not be your last companion. 

Jig

No, not a dance.   I mentioned using 6-32 screws to hold the threaded inserts in the bearing blocks while the glue set.   

I was not happy with how that worked because one ended up a bit askew.  So I machined a jig for that purpose.   I excavated a 1.12" x 1.12" x .25" hole in a piece of acetal, then four .15" x .125" slots corresponding to the screws.  I do not expect to do this setup more than a few times, so I used a piece of scrap acetal. 

Now I can insert the bearing block with the screws and inserts down and the slots hold the inserts about right.  I let the glue start to cure then wiggle them to about square. 

This was before I went back to wiggle them to square.

Major Decision by an Obama Appointee

USA v. Brown (S.D.Miss. 2025).  Brown was indicted for possession of a machine gun.  He was not a felon.  The judge (an Obama appointee) ruled that Bruen pretty destroyed the precedents on which the government made its case.   Machine guns are dangerous but not unusual.  The judge also recognized that the 1986 ban on new manufacture creates a difficult position for the government.  It seems the judge does not like what Bruen requires but recognizes that it does so.

The USAID Payments to News Media

We're they bribes to get leftist reporting?  Or rewards for literary tongue bathing?

The first suggests that they really are presstitutes.  The second is not much better.  It gave economic advantages to those who shared Democrat values.  Could they have survived in competition with media not specially rewarded?

When the CIA Did Its Job...

The results could make us proud.   A YouTube video How the CIA Stole a Soviet Spacecraft describes how they grabbed and thoroughly examined a traveling exhibition spacecraft with the Soviets never knowing.  The official report "The Kidnapping of the Lunik" is here.

Good Guy Gets Rewarded

Daniel Penny,  who was prosecuted for restraining a scary mentally ill guy in a New York subway, was found innocent but as the saying goes,  "The process is the punishment."  After all the crap the N.Y. DA out him through, someone is rewarding him.   2/5/25 Fortune:

"Famed Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has a new deal partner: Daniel Penny, the former Marine who was acquitted on a charge of criminally negligent homicide in December after fatally choking another passenger on a New York City subway.

"The a16z team Penny was hired to join is called “American Dynamism,” which, per the company website, invests in those that support American interests: aerospace, defense, public safety, education, housing, supply chain, industrials, and manufacturing. A photo of Penny appears in its “Team” gallery."

To be honest,  it sounds more like a sinecure than a job, but he may do something with this opportunity.  At least he will have a good job for a year or two.   Saving up his money from a likely six-figure job for a year or two should take some of the pain away from being a victim of Bragg’s absurd prosecution. 

Use a Bigger Hammer

My repaired clock drive arrived yesterday.  Part way through reinstalling it, it stopped supplying voltage to the motor.  The power switch and rheostat assembly is one of the chunkier aspects of a very nice piece of work.  When putting it into a barely wide enough window into the aluminum frame I must have knocked something loose.   So I took it out,  tested every contact to contact connection for continuit, checked everywhere that should have 5.11V.  Everything worked.   This time I slid it back in very carefully,  verified voltage at every connector before the motor.  The motor terminals showed 5.11V and the motor started purring.  Once I get all the screws back in, I will start it running without the telescope on it.   Putting it back on the platform and then taking it off again is a lot of work!

The motor spur gear that was being recalcitrant was not close enough to the driving spur gear to engage.  Easy to fix everything works well now.

I Thought Mass Murders Were Because of the NRA

2/5/25 Reuters :

"OREBRO, Sweden (Reuters) -Survivors of Sweden's worst mass shooting on Wednesday recalled trying to save the lives of their comrades at a school for adults in Orebro, a day after a gunman killed 11 people on what the prime minister called a "dark day" in the country's history."

It Is Always Good to Question Sources With Which You Agree

The inability to check those,  leads to ask sorts of errors.   The Federalist refers to New Jersey Billl 1669.  Their version of what it does:

"America, is having trouble reading and doing math. Your state offers a corrective. See if you can guess which: 

"Option No. 1: The state will hire teachers who excel in language arts and math.

"Option No. 2: The state will hire teachers who underachieve in language arts and math.

"If you’re in New Jersey, your political leaders just chose Option No. 2."

The link goes to a missing MSN story.  So I looked up the bill on the New Jersey website:

"Notwithstanding P.L.2021, c.420 (C.18A:26-34), or any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the State Board of Education shall not require a candidate seeking any instructional certificate, except in the case of a limited certificate of eligibility or a limited certificate of eligibility with advanced standing established pursuant to P.L. 2021, c. 224 (C.18A:26-2b et seq.), to complete a Commissioner of Education-approved test of basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills including, but not limited to, the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators test, in order to obtain an instructional certificate." [Emphasis added]

Yes,  "basic reading,  writing,  and mathematics skills..."  Any guesses why?  Like that LA assistant fire chief,  poorly performing students probably need teachers just as weak as they are at these subjects,  as long as they look like them. 

DEI: Didn't Earn It 

I Never Knew Godzilla Could Go Into Swamps

Musk and his team (Godzilla to Democrats) are digging deep through Agency for International Development and the results are startling.   Musk thinks we can balance the budget by stopping corrupt grants and spending.   See here for a few details.

"$1.2bn to undisclosed recipients "

The dividends from pushing one of Musk's children to go trans are likely to be enormous.   Tragedy for his son, however. 

I look forward to Godzilla examining the Department of Defense budget.  It is HUGE.  It is likely that there is similar questionable spending over there, blowing up the budget and reducing money for genuine defense.

Breitbart quotes the New York Times:

The Biden administration wasted $236 billion in improper payments throughout 71 federal programs in 2023, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The improper payments underscore President Donald Trump’s vow to clean up the administrative state and his support of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and of Elon Musk’s audit of the federal government to cut waste, fraud, and abuse.

The massive sum — three-quarters of which was reportedly overpayments – was just a portion of the federal deficit ($1.8 trillion) under the Biden administration.

The New York Times reported the Government Accountability Office’s analysis:

Mr. Musk has told administration officials that he thinks they could balance the budget if they eliminate the fraudulent payments leaving the system, according to an official who discussed the matter with him. It is unclear what he is basing that statement on. The federal deficit for 2024 was $1.8 trillion. The Government Accountability Office estimated in a report that the government made $236 billion in improper payments — three-quarters of which were overpayments — across 71 federal programs during the 2023 fiscal year.

The massive waste will likely encourage the Trump administration to clamp down on government outflows.

The New York Times article is behind a paywall.  If you are a subscriber to what is at times a real home of journalists, can you verify the accuracy of the quote? 

When Set Screws Go Bad

I am reinstalling the clock drive on Big Bertha.  While disassembling it for shipping,  I went one step more then I needed,  and removed a spur gear from the motor.   Like most such schemes,  the spur gear is held by a set screw to a flat part of the motor shaft.   The problem is that the gap between bottom of gear and flat part of shaft is very small.  The set screw will not fully engage in the threads in the gear while still allowing the gear to slide on to the shaft.  This was not enough flat shaft.

My immediate plan is to put the motor in the freezer at -8 and the gear at 200 so the contraction and expansion give a bit more play to slide the gear on the shaft while the set screw is still engaged, then tighten it down. 

Cold and heat did not do the job.  I put the motor in the mill and applied almost no pressure to hold it in place and milled of a few thousandths of an inch on the flat.  The set screw was now able to engage threads while still sliding into the shaft,  then I could tighten it down hard enough.

Now I see why I removed the set screw; to remove a motor mounting plate.   I took the gear off again and overtightened the set screw which is steel stripping the threads in the brass gear.   Now I need to find a replacement gear.  Maybe a brass set screw as well.  No, I tried again and it is tight.