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.