Wonder Why the Tea Party Formed?

Because too many Republicans in Congress are fundamentally owned by the same corporate interests that own the Democrats.any Senator who voted against repeal and replace needs to lose the next primary. Let Obamacare collapse;  our slogan: "Democrats built a defective bridge;  you and the insurers own it. "

Time to let any Republican senators know that a Democrats lost in 2016 because their voters saw little reason to turn out. The same can happen to those unwilling to repeal Obamacare, especially after years of promises to repeal it.

Twilight Zone (Again)

I am still watching and enjoying this series (including episodes I either never saw or have forgotten).  It is a curious and engaging mixture of science fiction, social commentary, and what at first glance seems like fantasy.

In my book My Brother Ron, I describe schizophrenia (depression and hallucinations often leading to delusions) as a Twilight Zone episode that never ends.  The episode that I just watched (The Dummy) is clear: the ventriloquist is suffering hallucinations that his dummy is alive, leading to delusions and drunkenness.  Schizophrenia as a cause of his problems is discussed with his agent.  Even when far removed from the trunk in which the ventriloquist has locked Willie, he can hear Willie's voice, and see his shadow.  Even the ending sequence where the faces of dummy and ventriloquist have switched can be read as reality as seen by the ventriloquist.

The Pain of Rebalancing

Every so often, it is good to examine your portfolio.  In my case, there are a number of stocks that I purchased for their high dividend yield.  Some have risen a bit in value, others, such as SPH and FTR, have dropped a good bit.  So does it make sense to take my losses and reinvest that money in a mutual fund?

Curiously, what made those high-dividend stocks so attractive is often even more the case at the lower stock price.  At SPH's current $24.02 price, the annualized dividend yield remains 14.64%.  FTR now at $14.31 still has a 16.72% yield.  One tragedy of my portfolio, AT, has dropped dramatically because they stopped paying dividends some time back, amid allegations of intentional misrepresentation of their earnings.  The question is whether to shoot this dog and reinvest that money, or hope for the stock price to rise.

Dog shooting is often done at the end of the year, because capital losses offset capital gains (up to a $3000 capital loss for the year; beyond that point, the loss carries over to subsequent year capital gain calculations).

No Aurora Luck Last Night

But being out at 11:00, it was awe-inspiring how bright the Milky Way was.

While Prepping For Western Civ, I Was Suddenly Inspired

Exactly how iron was first smelted has long been a question for paleometallurgists.  Copper smelting is pretty obvious: heat chalcopyrite (CuFeS₂) and the sulfur burns off and sulfur dioxide leaves.  The bonds holding copper and iron break, and the copper melts.

Cassiterite, the Cornwall tin ore, is SnO_2; heat it and the tin oxygen bond breaks, giving molten tin.

 Iron ore requires carbon in the fire because the heat that breaks the iron-oxygen bond can recreate the bond before the oxygen leaves; add carbon and it leaves as carbon dioxide, giving molten iron.  But why would you just happen to make a very hot fire with carbon and iron ore?  It has been speculated that the Egyptians accidentally smelted iron while extracting gold from magnetite sands (the black stuff the magnet picks up in the sandbox).

I have a simpler explanation.  The slag left over from smelting chalcopyrite is mostly iron, some other impurities in the ore and likely some insufficiently melted copper.  If you wanted the last bit of copper goodness out of the slag, what would you do?  Heat up the slag in a very hot fire; maybe throw some charcoal in for extra heat.  Along with copper dripping out, you might well get molten iron.

Another Democrat Official Caught With His Hand in the Cookie Jar

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/mayor-ed-murray-sexually-abused-foster-son-child-welfare-investigator-found-in-1984/

Seattle's mayor described as "prominent gay rights activist" was removed from Oregon's foster parent program in the 1980s because case workers decided allegations of sexual abuse of a foster child had sufficient evidence to believe the child.  Prosecutor decided it would be a hard case to win, not that it did not happen.

Another Obama Pardon Whoops

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/2-iranian-men-charged-with-hacking-vermont-software-company/

7/17/17 Seattle Times reports indictment of two men working with one of Obama's pardons who hacked into a defense contractor to steal software on behalf on Iran.must just have been a bizarre coincidence. Has there ever been a President who has done as much damage as the 0?