Red Flags

Just emailed the Rhode Island governor informing her of the Providence police failure when the Navy Yard shooter waved a Red Flag in 2013 and suggested the legislature should focus on mental health.

Rhode Island Governor's Executive Order

Essentially tells the police to do their jobs with people exhibiting danger signs.  Had Rhode Island police been following this order in 2013, the Navy Yard shooting would not have happened.  Providence, Rhode Island police interviewed the Navy Yard shooter who was complaining that guests in adjacent hotel rooms were trying to control him with microwaves.  They did not take him in for observation.

The Annual Service on the Jaguar Does Not Seem Extravagant. ..

When you see the loaner.  A Range Rover.  Ok, the Discovery is the bare bones version,  if anything Range Rover can be called bare bones.  It is a 4 cylinder but turbocharged and very quick.

My wife pointed out that it is noisier and harsher rising than the Jeep.  Because it is on all-season tires instead of ice tires it had less traction than her Jeep, and at twice the price is really no deal.  I think she is right.   The replacement for her Jeep Renegade is likely to be something like a Grand Cherokee. 

Trump Pushing Improved Mental Health Care for the Poor

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/trump-administration-weighs-mental-health-coverage-option-53374849

This involves a quirk of Medicaid funding that was unknown to me, and makes no sense.  Democrats ate of course upset.

Clever Strategy

Time to Go Ask Your Local Progressive Bakery to Bake an NRA Cake

Effective way to get the left to reconsider their fascist insistence of Christians doing gay wedding cakes.

Avoiding Panic

2/26/18 New York Post:

Florida lawmakers shot down an amendment on Monday that would have banned semi-automatic “assault” weapons like the AR-15 used in the Parkland school massacre.

They did, however, agree to raise the legal age for purchasing a firearm to 21 — and approved legislation that would give teachers the right to carry guns in school, NBC-2 reports.

Not sure raising the purchase age makes much sense.  It won't fit on a bumper sticker: "Old enough to drive a two-ton vehicle with 400 horsepower, old enough to shoot."  Letting teachers return fire, especially when local police won't, is a good idea.

The fact that teachers could soon be allowed to carry firearms inside schools wasn’t sitting well with gun-control supporters, either.

“It bothers me to think as a father of two young boys to tell them to not be aggressive to your teacher,” said Sen. Oscar Branynon (D-Miami Gardens).

The lawmaker told the Sun Sentinel that he and other black fathers across Florida will now have to include teachers when talking to their children about how to act around armed authority figures.

How about telling them not be aggressive towards anyone?

DSM

You are doubtless aware that the DSM is the American Psychiatric Association's manual for defining mental illness.  LGBTs make a big point of reminding everyone that homosexuality was removed from the DSM some years back; it is clearly not a problem.  But the DSM is a highly culturally biased piece of work.   Homosexuality was not added to DSM until 1952.  And of course there was science to back this up as a mental disorder.  It also appears that DSM-II was adapted from a World War II military standard.

When Even the New York Times Admits This...

2/23/18 New York Times:

“I know he’s going to explode,” a woman who knew Mr. Cruz said on the F.B.I.’s tip line on Jan. 5. Her big worry was that he might resort to slipping “into a school and just shooting the place up.” Forty days later, Mr. Cruz is accused of doing just that, barging into his former high school in Parkland, Fla., and shooting 17 people to death.

Three months before the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a family friend dialed 911 to tell the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office about Mr. Cruz’s personal arsenal. “I need someone here because I’m afraid he comes back and he has a lot of weapons,” the friend said....

In Ms. Deschamps’s 911 call, she told the dispatcher that Mr. Cruz already had about eight guns that he kept at a friend’s house and that he had just been thrown out of the house after the tantrum in which he punched the walls, hurled things around her home and got into a fight with Rock, her 22-year-old son....

“He got pissed off and then he came in the house and started banging all the doors and banging in the walls and hitting the walls and throwing everything in the room,” she said. “And then my son got in there and he said, ‘Stop it,’ and he didn’t want to stop.”

She added: “It’s not the first time he put a gun on somebody’s head.” Ms. Deschamps made it clear that her new houseguest was obsessed with firearms and had threatened both his mother and his brother. “That’s all he wants is his gun,” she said. “And that’s all he cares about is his gun. He bought tons of bullets and stuff and I took it away from him.”...

Mr. Cruz progressed to more distressing behavior, including possibly shooting a neighbor’s chicken with a BB gun, collecting hate symbols, cutting himself, and possibly swallowing gasoline in a failed suicide attempt, according to complaints to the local authorities. 

So the failure of FBI and local police to do their jobs is my fault?

Moving Assets to Higher Return Places

I refinanced my daughter's student loan debt a couple of years ago for a better interest rate.  Rapidly rising house prices (which may reach current California levels by end of century) enabled her to refinance and pay me back.  So I went hunting for a high return equity mutual fund to put it into.  I found LGILX which had a 1 year growth of 40%, not bad as we were just leaving that kangaroo market (up, down, up, down).  So I put that money in.  Two weeks later it is up 1.44%.

How Crazy Has the Democratic Party Become?

2/25/18 San Jose Mercury-News:

California Democratic Party declines to endorse Dianne Feinstein in re-election bid

Now, I know some of it is age.  She's 85.  (She still doesn't exhibit the signs of semility that Rep, Pelosi or Waters show.)  But amazingly enough, she is not hard enough left.

Ever Replaced Laptop Screen?

I was able to replace my Compaq NC6000 that I use for the CNC mill quite cheaply.  I still have the one whose display appears only briefly in red.  These instructions seem way too easy for a part available on eBay for $25.

Does Anyone Have a List of Rental Companies That Have Not Joined the SJW Movement Against NRA?

Preparing for a flight to Southern Illinois University for a symposium in April,  and I do not want to encourage the SJW Controlled rental companies.

Enterprise national Alamo hertz avis budget

Just canceled my Hertz reservation and picked Dollar instead.

Someone should put together a site for " Not doing business with you again" signatures,  just to show these folks the costs of politicized business.

Here's a list.

Planning to Buy an "Assault Weapon"?

I would do it soon.  I fear we are going to lose this fight and in the courts.  The courage to point out the utter failure of the FBI ands local police,  and the underlying mental illness issue,  just is not there, and the lamestream media are pulling out all stops.  Please write your Congresscritters, but I have little confidence.

ICYMI: Cowards With Guns and Badges Stood By

2/23/18 CNN:

Information about ways the Broward County Sheriff's Office didn't sufficiently handle the shooter both before and during the incident started coming out in full force on Thursday, when Broward County Sheriff Israel announced that video showed Deputy Peterson outside the building where students were being shot for "upwards of four minutes."

"What I saw was a deputy arrive ... take up a position and he never went in," Israel said at a news conference. Israel said Peterson should have "went in. Addressed the killer. Killed the killer." Peterson was suspended without pay, after which he resigned.

County Superintendent Robert Runcie said, "I'm in shock and I'm outraged to no end that he could have made a difference in all this. It's really disturbing that we had a law enforcement individual there specifically for this reason, and he did not engage. He did not do his job. It's one of the most unbelievable things I've ever heard."

To both these cowards, go watch 15:17 to Paris and see how decent men deal with evil.

15:17 to Paris

Awesome.  See it.  Maybe send the cowardly deputy sheriffs and "school resource officer," to see it, so they can see what heroes do when confronted by evil.

The Time Is Now

Took my wife to see 15:17 to Paris.  It may not be obvious until you've seen it, and maybe only obvious to me. 

Enjoy being young or even middle-aged.  Enjoy your young children, as exhausting as they can be.  Both will be gone before you can imagine it.  I have a powerfully bittersweet memory.  My wife and I were walking across the University of Idaho campus in Moscow, and our son, 5, and daughter, 9, were running across the lawns, "like two spring lambs, kicking up their heels," as my wife said at the time.  I am crying as I write this because those were wonderful days, and they won't be coming back.

The Madness Never Ends in Courts of Appeal

New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. City of New York (2d Cir. 2018)   If you have a premises license for a handgun in New York City, you are permitted to transport it to a range (unloaded of course) in NYC.  But you may not transport it outside the city, even to your home upstate or to other states for competition.  Our enemies keep talking about "common senses gun laws."  What makes it common sense that you cannot take your licensed handgun out of the city for lawful activities?  I would think removing the serpent of steel from a place that it might go on a rampage would be encouraged, not prohibited.

50% Approval Rating

http://m.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration/prez_track_feb23

I wonder how much is deplorables happy to see him resisting the CNN ginned up gun control fever.

Sanctuary State (Two Can Play That Game!)

If the Republicans in Congress manage to pass an assault weapons ban (as many would like, to embarrass Trump), perhaps Idaho can declare itself a sanctuary state for assault weapons, refusing to help in enforcement of federal laws, and threatening fines against anyone who helps BATF.  This could rapidly lead to [horrors] federalism.  But the progressive tears might wash California into the sea.

A Sign of Historical Illiteracy

Or what do you call this?  2/23/18 Seattle Times reports that a Norwegian flag (flown because of their victories at the Winter Olympics) was mistaken for a Confederate flag, and other papers are reporting similar claims.

Confederate (flag of treason)

Norway (an ally)

Mow the Grass as Substitute for a Wall

Victory Girls pointed me to this video of Rep. Pelosi (D-Babylon) saying the immigration problem can be solved with a fence (already there) or mowing the grass.

The CNN Town Hall Where the Crowd is Shouting "Burn Her" at NRA Rep Dana Loesch

"What do we do with witches?" Long stupid pause. "We burn them!"

Why Does Anyone Stay There?

I was having my annual dental appointment yesterday, and the hygienist was a recently arrived transplant from Norwalk, California.  She loves how friendly everyone is here.  I asked if she has been to the Snake River Gorge.  She said that she still has not gotten used to the idea of being able to safely travel  alone.

Another Article That Sounds Like Parody

2/21/18 Daily Mail:

Jeff Bezos reveals construction of a massive clock inside a Texas mountain that will chime every day for 10,000 years as a ‘symbol for long-term thinking’

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who has invested $42 million (£30 million) in the project, revealed the clip on social media.

It shows workmen installing the mechanism inside a hollowed out chamber in a West Texas mountain.

The clock, powered by Earth's thermal cycles, will continue to keep time over the millennia, marking time with a chime once a day rather than each hour. 

Its creators hope that this will encourage humanity to consider about their impact on the planet and act as a 'symbol for long-term thinking'.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5416495/Jeff-Bezos-reveals-footage-10-000-year-clock.html#ixzz57mKGumwP Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

I guess he's not as clever as I thought.  Will it chime loud enough for the whole world to hear?  Funniest of many hysterical comments at Instapundit:

Bezos is just a monocle and a fluffy white cat away from being a Bond supervillain. He's already bald and super wealthy, and is already at work on his lair built inside a mountain.

And the Lamestream Media Wonder We Do Not Take Them Seriously?

2/21/18 NBC News (or whatever it is):

T

he patriarchal race to colonize Mars is just another example of male entitlement

The presumed right to use and abuse something and then walk away to conquer something new is a hallmark of colonialism.

The patriarchal race to colonize Mars is just another example of male entitlement

The presumed right to use and abuse something and then walk away to conquer something new is a hallmark of colonialism.

I Fear We Are Losing the Debate

So use this chart:

Urban Carry G2 Holster

The ads at the start of YouTube videos are usually a complete waste on me, but I saw an ad for the Urban Carry G2 Holster and I think it is on my last of things to buy.  A number of comments suggest that it is gimmicky.  What other methods are there for deep concealment?  IWBs still need a shirt or coat hiding the butt.  Ankle holsters are generally not comfortable, and are limited to very small pistols.  Pocket holsters are necessary for pocket pistols, but again limited on size of gun.

To My Representative (You Do the Same)

I understand the pressure you must be under from Democrats and many Republicans to pass some sort of gun ban after the recent tragedy in Florida.  It is important to keep the focus on the underlying problem: untreated mental illness.  The shooter displays two symptoms that indicate schizophrenia: depression and hallucinations (the voices telling him to commit this monstrous crime).

These tragedies were rare before the 1970s, when efforts to destroy the state mental hospital systems began to empty out the existing hospitals and make it difficult to involuntarily commit those with serious mental illnesses BEFORE they started murdering people.  Congressional hearings about mass murder should examine what states can do to provide the mental health care that they used to do, but do not do now.

Very Truly Yours,

Clayton E. Cramer

Did Mueller Actually Present a Serious Case?

My friend Dave Hardy, a lawyer with substantial experience as both defense attorney and employee of the Swamp examines the indictment and concludes:

If the Independent Counsel's folks did their research, they must know that Count One is questionable at least, and the remaining counts look utterly invalid. Even if the Russians indicted booked flights back here to appear, and if a DC court were to conclude that it had jurisdiction over acts that occurred in Russia, the indictment would probably go down in flames. Which leaves only one explanation for it.

My guess is that Mueller wanted to show something for all the money and time and show that while Trump's people were at best pawns of Russian attempts to destroy us politically, but will soon close up shop.

No Need for Sweaters?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5404287/Scientists-create-human-sheep-hybrids.html.  Sucess at creating human-sheep hybrids for transplantable organs.  The article admits stem cell therapy is more likely to be useful,  but playing God!

Do Any of You Grow Cotton?

I would like some unginned cotton for the discussion of the cotton gin for my American history class.  Ordered on eBay.

What Are Minnesotans Doing Wrong?

2/15/18 CBS Minnesota:

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — Minnesota set a record last year for the number of gun background checks the FBI conducted in the state.

More people are carrying guns than ever before, but the crime rate remains relatively low. WCCO’s Pat Kessler is looking at the numbers, and giving them a Reality Check.
We took a hard look at the numbers, and found: Minnesota has a high rate of gun ownership, and a relatively low rate of violent crime.

Minnesota’s violent crime rate hit a 50-year low in 2016, according to the FBI.
And in 2017, the state set a new record for firearms background checks.

Do You and the Wife Have a Few Miles on You?

 The video part is stupid. Just listen.

The FBI Had Two Warnings About The Florida Shooter

2/16/18 Washington Post:

FBI investigators ignored a warning that 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz might attack a school, failing to act on a concerned call the bureau received just weeks before Cruz allegedly carried out a shooting rampage at a high school in South Florida on Valentine’s Day, the FBI said Friday.

The disclosure came two days after police say Cruz gunned down 17 people, most of them teenagers, at a high school in Parkland, Fla. The FBI — already facing intense scrutiny for its handling of political matters — described a Jan. 5 tip from “a person close to Nikolas Cruz,” a tip officials acknowledge should have initiated a response. The caller reported concerns about Cruz’s “gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting,” the FBI said in a statement.

Five ugliest planes

On YouTube.  Me 321 Gigant makes the Pregnant  Guppy look okay.

Sowing Distrust

Mueller ' s indictment alleges Russians organized both pro- and anti-Trump rallies to show distrust in our electoral system.   The left just followed along,  it appears.

It was actually brilliant.  Backing Trump into victory was guaranteed to make the Swamp Dwellers so angry that they could not see straight from their rage.  Does anyone remember the Star Trek episode where some of the Enterprise crew are confined with Klingons and both sides have only swords so that a species that lives on hate can feed off of that hate?  What's the title?  Thanks!  "Day of the Dove."

2/16/18 BBC as required by Swamp Creature membership admits the goal was to create hatred but still holds out hope for later indictments of Trump and associates.  And of course, social media is one of the tools.  Burn social media down!

Apple Seems to Have Broken iTunes

I finally persuaded it to show play lists, but it only writes random noise to the CD.  InfraRecorder next.

No Surprise

Florida gunman says 'demon voices' told him how to pull off school shooting 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5398625/Demon-voices-school-gunman-attack-cops-called-39-times.html#ixzz57HLgUOMN Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

How to Cure Autism: Poison The Child

2/15/18 Fox News:

A mother is being accused by her husband of feeding their child bleach to cure her autism.

According to Fox59, the Department of Child Services has removed the child from the home after a father complained to police that his wife put drops of hydrochloric acid and water purifying solution (which contains chlorine) in her child’s drink.

The father said his wife heard about the concoction from a Facebook group that referred to it as a “miracle mineral solution” that supporters claim is a cure-all for anything ranging from cancer to hepatitis, and even AIDS.

Facebook.  Why am I not surprised?  Facebook and Twitter are both strong argumentys against democracy.

Remember When Fluoridating the Water Supply Was a Communist ?Plot?

2/13/18 San Francisco Chronicle:

A ballot initiative that would ban fluoride, chlorine, genetically modified organisms and some vaccine ingredients was approved to begin collecting signatures last week, the California Secretary of State's office announced.

Dubbed the "California Clean Environment Initiative" by its creator Cheriel Jensen, the initiative would also eliminate vaccination requirements at schools and daycares, ban more than 300 chemicals it claims are linked to cancer, autism and Parkinson's disease, and prohibit the use of smart meters to monitor energy consumption.

The Pacific Ocean, which is 3.5% sodium chloride, had no comment about being ordered to leave.  And yes, vaccination is bad for Mother Earth.  It allows children to reach reproductive age.  This sounds like a sure win in California.

Why Mental Illness Matters

03/09/16 Washington Post:

According to Coeur d’Alene police, Odom has a history of mental illness. In his manifesto, he outlined his path to Sunday’s shooting in clear but increasingly paranoid prose.

He admitted to plotting to shoot Remington. He also claimed that the pastor was part of a vast alien conspiracy to enslave the human race — a conspiracy that Odom believed extended to Congress.

“My last resort was to take actions to bring this to the public’s attention,” Odom wrote in the manifesto. “I hope that something good comes of it. Just realize that I’m a good person, and I’m completely innocent. Also realize that the ‘people’ I killed are not what you think.”

Then his disturbing drawing of the Martian.

“Everything started while I was at University of Idaho,” Odom wrote. “Spring 2014 was my final semester and was taking a heavy course load. I was very stressed due to the intensity of my schedule, so I searched for a way to cope. I discovered meditation, which seemed to help, so it became part of my daily routine. As I learned more about meditation, I became interested in consciousness and our ability to affect it. I kept working on my meditation techniques and began achieving extreme states of consciousness.”

One night in February 2014, Odom was meditating when he said he had an out-of-body experience.

“I entered a space that was completely dark and had no awareness of my physical boundaries/orientation,” he wrote. “I felt very peaceful there until a blue light began to approach me. As the blue light got closer, I realized that it was another being.”
When Odom awoke, he had tears in his eyes, according to his manifesto.

At first, the alleged alien encounter seemed like a blessing for Odom. “The remainder of the semester became exceedingly easy for me,” he wrote. “It felt like I had tapped into some kind of power. I was exerting no mental effort even though the classes had been extremely difficult before.”

But Odom’s close encounter would prove to be the beginning of his nightmare.
Odom accepted an offer from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, to work on a PhD in human genetics, but he quickly dropped out because the work was too easy, thanks to his alien awakening, he wrote.

“The day after I decided to leave, my life became a living hell,” Odom wrote. He couldn’t sleep. After a few days, aliens posing as classmates tried to provoke him to become “the next school shooter,” he wrote, so he left Texas and returned to his home town of Coeur d’Alene.

Trying Not to Laugh

Science Alert reports:

Obviously travelling at warp speed isn't a natural state of existence for most terrestrial organisms, but we never knew just how harmful the effects of maximum warp velocities could be on human beings – until now.

A new study published – yes, published – in an 'American' science journal (and accepted by three others) details how an experimental attempt to cross the transwarp barrier and achieve Warp 10 can have devastating and unforeseen consequences on human physiology. Wait… what?

Okay, if you've gotten the sense that something might be amiss with this purported science experiment, congratulations: you're already doing better than the editors of the American Research Journal of Biosciences.

They just published this hokum without realising the 'research' is actually a thinly disguised storyline of Star Trek: Voyager, Episode 31, "Threshold".

It gets worse.

Why I Try Not to Discard Stuff

My wife's PC has been using an old USB 1.1 hub and has recently started complaining that USB 2.0 would be faster.  Each time it does so, it disconnects the hub, then reconnects it.  For several seconds, keyboard and mouse are dead.  I dug through the PC bone pile and found a USB 2.0 hub missing only the power cord which at $8.36 seems expensive, but it was here in two days and her problem is solved.

It's wonderful when something just works

The SkyCommander* on Big Bertha uses a 9V battery or a 12VDC input.  Recommended below 10 degrees, and improved accuracy when moving across the sky.  So I ordered this cigarette lighter to 2.1mm adapter.  Plugged right into the battery pack and SkyCommander and everything works.

* This is a digital setting circle device, not an inferior officer to Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Like Everything Else Apple, iTunes is Inscrutable

I would use Windows Media Player to burn copies of a CD (not under copyright), but it coughs on one track.  iTunes can import all tracks, but while I can add tracks to a playlist, I can't see or select the playlist to burn it to CD.  I found instructions that said to click in Edit->Preferences on display playlists, but that window has no such checkbox.

How Do You Know a University is Roman Catholic?

2/14/18 Campus Reform:

A page on the University of Dayton’s website recommends that students avoid using gendered language, including “husband” and “wife.”...

"As a Christian and educational community, we recognize that every person has innate dignity because all people are made in the image and likeness of God and we seek to create an environment where all persons feel respected, safe, and valued," the website explains.

University of Dayton:

The College of Arts and Sciences offers more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs across the arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. Each program is rooted in our Catholic traditions and Marianist heritage to promote lifelong intellectual, personal and professional growth. 

I have my theological differences with the Roman Catholic Church, but they are minor compared to the Roman Catholic Church's disagreements with the Roman Catholic Church.

Amazon Droppins

I looked to see if any of these unordered, unpaid for droppings had produced any reviews supposedly by me.  No, but I did find a review that I wrote of an unordered Wireless Endoscope:

I neither ordered nor paid for this, and I would prefer it had not even arrived. I discovered that it lacked the adapter to connect it to my Samsung S4. When I tried to download the drivers into my Samsung from the specified URL, there was one of those popups that warns you to install a program within 24 hours or your phone will be hopelessly infected. These are usually either viruses themselves or identity theft programs. No thanks! But it had an adapter to USB, so I plugged it into my PC. Much bigger mistake. Whatever drivers it installed, made my PC no longer start Windows. When I unplugged this device, at least I could get to the Windows safe mode startup and restore a previous date's working setup. It appears that their USB drivers are defective. A good hour wasted with this trash. Do not touch it except with a hammer.

Who buys an endoscope from Amazon?

Disconnected Children

From a social worker (my daughter):

As a social worker, I have been working with teenagers for 12 years, and over that time, I’ve seen a disturbing increase in rageful teenagers. Ones whose anger has caused them to completely disconnect from those around them. These are not simply frustrated or angry kids who don’t know how to express themselves. These are children with a chilling combination: they are furious at the adults around them and they are completely disconnected emotionally from their families....

However, I’m starting to see an increase in kids who no longer view adults that way. Ones who are so incredibly angry at the world, that their fury overrides their ability to see others are human beings. I’ve worked with 9, 10 and 11-year-old boys (and sometimes girls) who have assaulted teachers, headbutted school counselors, beat up school nurses, and attacked their parents. I’ve had young children who have bitten, kicked and left bruises and scratches all over their siblings and parents and have no remorse about it. Their anger at the world consumes them.

I don’t believe these are sociopathic children who can’t feel remorse. These are normal children who in better circumstances, those who had a more involved, stable set of caregivers would probably do well. Many are intelligent and have the capacity to love, but their disappointment and resentment has suppressed their remorse to the point that they no longer care about others.

I’ve started calling these the “disconnected children.” The ones who are caught in the middle of highly contentious divorces, with parents who call child protection and the cops on each other constantly. The nine-year-old children who make statements like, “My stupid mother owes my dad $841 a month in child support, and she doesn’t pay him so she doesn’t love me” or “My mom says my dad doesn’t even want me, because if he did, he’d show up for things.”  The children, who starting at a young age, have learned to lie about the opposite parent to teachers, police and social workers to assist their parents in custody cases.

I encourage you to read the whole article so you can help prevent more tragedies.

Yet Another School Mass Murder

And once again, protectors of public safety knew in advance.  The FBI was warned and gathered information on the threat, but did nothing.  Of course, why would they?  They don't work for us, but for the Swamp Creatures.

When Will Californians Stop Electing Idiots?

When the billionaires run out of serfs, I think.  12/26/17 Daily Mail article about the homeless middle class workers of California.

The rising cost of rent and housing in California is forcing residents into alternative accommodation with middle class workers taking up residence in their cars and RVs by the side of the road to make ends meet.
Hundreds of people, including nurses and chefs, are sleeping in parking lots in affluent areas like Santa Barbara as they make the most of the only homes they can afford.
Marva Ericson, who works as a nursing assistant, has been sleeping in her Kia for the past three months. She wakes up before dawn each day, showers at the local YMCA and dresses in her hospital scrubs to head to work.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5212977/Californias-middle-class-homeless-living-parking-lots.html#ixzz57BrB1N00 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Why do they stay?

If You Wonder Why the Soviet Union Confined Political Dissidents to Mental Hospitals

2/15/18 Campus Reform:

History professor Nancy MacLean gave a February 7 public lecture on her controversial book Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America, during which she discussed the life and work of Nobel Prize-winning economist James Buchanan in light of the American libertarian and conservative movements.

One hour into the lecture, an audience member asked her whether she thinks Buchanan’s libertarian philosophy was motivated by “personal greed” or “malevolence,” to which she responded by speculating that support for individual liberty might actually be the result of a mental disorder.

“It’s striking to me how many of the architects of this cause seem to be on the autism spectrum—you know, people who don’t feel solidarity or empathy with others, and who have difficult human relationships sometimes,” she answered.”

The only reason you could disagree with the left is a mental problem.

You Learn Something New Every Day

I got into a food fight with a progressive over at The Hill and found out. that Americans are overwhelmingly progressive and that's why they voted for Trump:

1. Most voted for the most progressive candidate in the general election and many voted for Trump because they believed his lies about staying out of foreign conflicts, draining the swamp, etc.
2. Realclearpolitics, which averages polls to wash out bias, reported that in a general matchup of the most progressive candidate, Sanders, a democratic socialist, Trump would have lost by about 25%, a historic landslide. https://www.realclearpoliti...The polls also found Sanders beating Clinton by a large margin in a general matchup.
The other proof is that a majority of Americans support a progressive agenda, including
single payer healthcare
path to citizenship for undoc immigrants
universal background checks
free college for the needy
protecting and expanding the social safety net
repealing Heller and Citizen's United
repealing the Electoral College, which gave us Bush and Trump
Here is further proof:
A poll from Dec 2011 found that the most approved political label was conservative, with 67% approval
A recent poll of national leaders found only one with positive/majority support: Bernie Sanders
Another recent poll found that of all Sentators, Sanders was the most approved at 72%.
In addition, the majority of Americans now support legalization of pot and marriage equality.

I decided that if he wants to believe that almost half the country supports single payer healthcare, illegal alien citizenship, free college, more gun control, repealing Heller and thus voted for Trump over the Empress: let him stay in his bubble and keep losing.

Interesting What You Find At OpenSecrets.org

Who funds Democratic campaigns? Clinton's 2016 campaign had 4587 donors who gave $5400 or above, and 25,434 who gave $2700 and above. Trump received $5400+ contributions from 336 donors. Above $2700, 1288. But industry is also interesting. Clinton received $87,965,257 from workers in the securities & investment industry. Trump received $20,842,631from that same industry. The larger industry was Retired: $37,412,862. Who is giving $5400+ to a campaign? People like you (or even me)? No, Wall Street. They know which candidate will do their bidding.

Today's Crazy Product Idea Question

I need to prevent rotation or lateral motion of a wooden disc. (Two actually, some inches apart.)  These might be 6"-12" diameter.  The obvious solution is pieces of wood or aluminum with hemicircles that size that are held tight with buckles or screws, but how do you cut circles of hemicircles without forklift size mill or absurdly large drill bit and drill press with a 150 hp motor?

Thanks to all.  I think I figured out a rectangular solution to constraining discs. 

Launch Velocity of Third Stage for Orbital Launch

Multistage rockets are the only practical way to put objects into orbit because the weight of carrying empty tanks limits velocity.  What is the velocity of an orbital insertion rocket when stages 2 and 3 separate?   You would think this would be easy to find.

Supposed to be Clear Tonight

And very cold.   I figured out why the digital setting circles did not work the other  night by reading the manual.  DUH! 

I expect to hunt down the Whirlpool (M51)  tonight.

It turns out M51 was too low in the sky.  Still above the horizon, but my Dobsonian like many Dobsonans does not go all the way to the horizon.  Viewing conditions at or near the horizon are generally awful,  so why compromise the mechanical design for objects that low?

Still not tracking correctly.   Not sure if polar alignment is the issue,  but I realized my best way to get that is to roll out one of the telescopes on a Losmandy equatorial mount,  and do star drift alignment that way.   The Losmandy mounts are easy to polar align.  Once done,  mark the pavement.

I also think part the problem may be that the telescope is not perfectly normal to the Earth.  The recoating job I did last summer is far from perfect.  I plan to add one more coat of the thin surface material,  perhaps thinned a little so gravity flattens the surface to normal

I figured out how to actually find objects with Sky Commander.  You are supposed to align the first two stars at high magnification.   I cheaped  out by aligning using the finder,  which is at best within a degree.   Nor surprisingly, the results were less than perfect,  but demonstrated that it will work.  Just need to find some deep sky objects up at this time of year.

The positive to very cold is I slept very deeply; lots of calories burned.

Where the Democrat Obsession With An Islamic America Will Take Us

2/12/18 Guardian article about how increasing Islamic influence in Malaysia is leading to increasing violence against LGBTs.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/12/malaysian-newspaper-sinar-harian-publishes-how-to-spot-a-gay-lgbt-checklist#img-1

If only LGBTs would recognize where Democratic desire for a large Islamic pulsation here will go.

Incredibly Clear. Below Freezing.

It has been a couple of decades since I observed in below freezing weather.  Last night was awesome.   I collimated the optics in late afternoon,  and had very nearly perfect star images: very close to perfect round dots.   I still do not have tracking perfect because getting true north is hard. 

M42 was breathtaking,  especially at 156x.

Losmandy mounts have vernier controls for moving the polar axis fractions of a degree,  and one of mine has a polar alignment scope in the axis as well.   On an equatorial platform you are trying to get the axis,  which is effectively parallel to the ground,  punted at the North Star.  In retrospect,  putting the platform on a lazy Susan to allow that sort of vernier adjustment would have been a good idea.  Trying to make fine adjustments by moving a platform that weighs 130 pounds or so is not easy.

I also made one great improvement,  though.   The other night when trying to move or back in,  I grabbed the telescope by the rocket box and tried to drag it that way,  but inevitably I ended up losing it slightly which moved the entire assembly up enough to pull the top part of the platform of the base.  This involved holding everything up until my wife returned to help list it off and reinstall it.   So I drilled a couple 1" holes in the edge of the wooden platform that interfaces the casters and the equatorial platform, and tied a rope through both holes.   Now I can pull the entire assembly from below,  which prevents upward motion on the equatorial platorm.  Even with my still somewhat rough surface.  It moves easily and smoothly.

Bargain Browning Hi-Power in Idaho

Here.  Private party seller, wants concealed carry permit to sell.  Do not blame him.  An easy way to exclude people who can't be trusted with a gun (along with many others).

Getting There With The Big Bertha Rebuild

Last night it was not tracking.  I pulled the two AAA batteries and without load both showed 1.39V.  I was beginning to panic,  but I replaced them and measured the voltage across the motor terminals and found 5V.  A transformer somewhere?  I suggested to the maker an LED in the circuit to show dead battery.  He has already shipped his first unit with this addition.  Tonight I rolled Big Bertha out again and it is definitely tracking, but I do not have a good lock on North yet, and I do not have a lot of experience using star drift technique to fix this.  The good news is that even with that issue and a slight finder problem the digital setting circles are working well.  It put me almost exactly on M42.

The finder problem is that the finderscope that I have been using is a straight through finder not easy to use with a reflector (think of getting your neck down low enough to see through it when you are only about five feet from ground level.)   I need to replace it with a right angle one.   I have a Meade right angle scope on the small reflector that I can borrow to verify that it fits these rings before ordering a new one.

The good news is that the finderscope currently on Big Bertha will fit in the rings on the 6" refractor, where straight through works fine because you are at the rear of the telescope for the eyepiece.

The current finderscope on the refractor is something of a Frankenstein; the original 1" focal length reticle eyepiece was not repairable, and the only .965" barrel reticle eyepiece available was 18mm focal length, producing an 11x50mm finder, a bit narrow field.

M42 was pretty awesome.  Still needs some collimation after recent movements of hardware.

Source of the Amazon Droppings?

2/7/18 Fox News:

A Massachusetts couple who keep receiving mystery packages from Amazon fear they are the next victims in what is believed to be an elaborate fake reviews scam that is impacting the e-commerce giant.
Mike and Kelly Gallivan, of Acton, told The Boston Globe the first package arrived in October. They have continued to arrive at a rate of one or two a week, about 25 in all. The cheap items inside the boxes range from USB-powered humidifiers to rechargeable dog collars.

Our dog isn't rechargeable nor does she ever need it.

Electrical Circuit Question

If a switch is on, will the resistance be less than off?  Logic tells me resistance in off should be ∞, and something less in on.

Big Bertha is Remounted

The edges of the steel sheet where the casters sat were bending enough to prevent smooth motion, sometimes any motion.  My wife and I removed all the layers of stuff and replaced it with a wood laminate at least as stiff (probably stiffer) with only blood (from cuts).  No sweat (too cold), no tears and no screaming either.

Certain Forms of Criticism Not Acceptable

A gal criticized "Try a Hijab" booth and efforts were made to have her expelled from college.

Great Modern Art

Here.

Most Nasty and True Comment Yet!

2/5/18 Associated Press:

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Candidates would be required to be at least 18 to run for statewide offices in Kansas under legislation drafted in response to six teenagers entering the race for governor.

Comment:

Quick turn the state over to the teenagers while they still know everything!

Tater and Rosie Almost Getting Along

But look at Tater's eyes as he looks at me and begs for the dog to go away--permanently.

Beyond Nerdy

Making you own telescope from scratch (starting with broken glass):

DO NOT PANIC!

I saw some left wing idiot on Fox making a big point of how Trump tweeted about the rising market for months and had not done so today.

Two days of falling stock market caused by too much good economic news, driving up interest rates. Friday bloodbath did very little harm to my IRA, probably because my mutual finds sold stocks in preparation for buying bonds.

The only downside is that I increase how much I take out of my IRA every $100,000 it goes up.  I thought this was going to be twice in one year.   I guess not.

I have some money from a personal loan coming back to me shortly, so this is a good time to buy more stock mutual funds.

Today, DJIA up >100 points.

What if Philly Had Lost?

Rioting, destruction of property, violence against emergency responders.  To the left this is a sign of hypocrisy.  To me, more evidence that alcohol is a bad idea and we have lost so much in 40 years.  This 2/4/18 New York Post story suggests to me no more Superbowls until the fans learn to act like adults.  And eating horse excrement:  I thought only my dog was that stupid.

So Why Haven't They Cured Cancer Yet?

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel:

It just so happens that almost every talk show host is a liberal and that’s because it requires a level of intelligence” -

Deserves No Help in 40 Years

A SuperBowl fan:

“401 (k) emptied out to come here,” says Eagles fan entering #SuperBowl52 stadium.

Let's hope it only paid for a hotel room.

Just Committing a Robbery; Why Would Anyone Shoot Him?

A couple years old, but a reminder of how grief makes people crazy.  11/3/16 WNCN:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) — It’s been a difficult week for parents Temia Hairston and Michael Grace Sr. Their son, Michael Grace Jr., was shot and killed during an attempted robbery early Sunday morning.

Police said Grace Jr. and two other people tried to rob a Pizza Hut in the 3200 block of Freedom Drive. During the incident, an employee fired his own handgun and killed Grace Jr....

Hairston and Grace Sr. acknowledged that their son was breaking the law by robbing the business, and said they definitely don’t condone what he did.
“It was an act of desperation, but I do not believe that Michael would have hurt anyone,” said Hairston.

They said Grace Jr. had fallen on hard times and resorted to crime to provide for his own child. They also said their son used to work at the same Pizza Hut restaurant where the robbery happened. They maintain he never would have physically hurt anyone during the robbery.

What?  "Give me the money or I will rap at you again."

There Should Be Laws About This!

1/31/18 WBAL:

A total of 38 grenades -- nine of them live -- were found along Bobtown Road in Hurlock, Maryland on Monday, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal. 

A citizen collecting recyclables discovered the grenades. Maryland State Police, Dorchester County Police and the Hurlock Volunteer Fire Department assisted on the scene. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also assisted in the investigation.

Safe procedures were conducted immediately at the scene and three live grenades were detonated. The other six were counter charged at a local landfill.

My Emotional Support Peacock

1/31/18 Fox News:

Birds of a feather may flock together, but United Airlines recently shot down one traveler’s request to bring her emotional support peacock on a flight departing Newark Liberty International Airport.

Live and Let Fly reported earlier this week that even though the unidentified woman claimed that she had a second ticket for the peacock, the airline denied her request.

The video over there of her carrying this creature into the airport alone will show the problem.  What about my emotional support Chilean condor?  As a commenter complained:

Damn. Now I can't bring my therapy cobra on the next flight.

SJWs, Eh?

This Standards of Scrutiny Thing is a Game

Standards of scrutiny are a series of tests used by the courts to strike down laws they don't like and leave intact the laws they do like.  Strict scrutiny requires compelling governmental interest and neither overinclusive or underinclusive in its application; intermediate scrutiny apparently exists to strike down some laws that distinguish based on sex but not others.  Rational scrutiny says law makers are either crazy (or gays say that they are as in Romer v. Evans).  People v,. Chairez (Ill. 2018) struck down a ban on firearms possession with 1000 feet of a park based on D.C. v. Heller (2008):

All of this suggests that elevated intermediate scrutiny should apply. 

I like the result, but to quote Indiana Jones:

An Utter Creep, But What a Showman

I am not sure that I ever saw the Michael Jackson Thriller video before.  The use of Vincent Price for the disturbing rap in the middle of the song was profoundly inspired.   I know younger people have no idea who Vincent Price was: a very skilled actor in a huge number of often badly made horror films of the 1950s and 1960s, including Last Man on Earth,  the first movie of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend.

Remember How Effective California Gun Laws Are

2/1/18 Los Angeles Times:

School shooting that injured four students now believed unintentional, police say; 12-year-old girl is booked

In a morning news conference, Los Angeles School Police Chief Steve Zipperman said he did not know how a young person got access to a gun and brought it to campus, but warned gun owners to keep their weapons secure and away from children.

"Los Angeles has a law about the safe storage of weapons," L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer added. "Every responsible gun owner needs to take heed."

The irresponsible ones don't obey laws anyway.

Another Reminder of Why Only Police Should Be Allowed Guns

From the ongoing Gun Trace Task Force trial.  2/2/18 Baltimore Sun:

A Baltimore County bail bondsman testified Thursday that he partnered for years with the sergeant of the Baltimore Police Gun Trace Task Force to resell drugs the officer had taken off the street....

In one incident, police took a man’s house keys, ran his name through databases to find his address, went into the home without a warrant and found drugs and a safe. The officers cracked open the safe, which had about $200,000 inside. They took $100,000 out, closed the safe back up, then filmed themselves pretending to open it for the first time. “Nobody touch anything,” Jenkins can be heard saying on the video, which was played for jurors.

» After the man’s arrest, Jenkins listened to the man’s calls made from jail. He was discussing the officers taking his money, and said he wanted to hire a good lawyer to go after them. Ward said Jenkins determined the man’s wife was arranging his legal matters, and wanted to cut her out. They wrote a note purporting to be from another woman, saying the man had gotten her pregnant, and left it in the man’s door, Ward said....

Shawn Whiting testified that he had large stacks of cash, totaling $22,000, spread throughout his bedroom when Baltimore police came crashing in one morning in January 2014. When Whiting received a letter after his arrest outlining how much had been seized, it showed just $7,650.

» Detective Maurice Ward — a Gun Trace Task Force member who has pleaded guilty in the case — testified that Det. Marcus Taylor found the money in Whiting’s closet, and asked Ward to “look out for him” and they split $3,000.

Drop Guns

2/2/18 Baltimore Sun:

Ward said the officers kept BB guns in their vehicles “in case we accidentally hit somebody or got into a shootout, so we could plant them.” He did not say whether the officers ever planted a BB gun on anyone.

This is the Maryland Gun Trace Task Force.

So Glad Puerto Rico Has Such Strict Gun Control

2/1/18 AP:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — One of Puerto Rico's deadliest months in recent years has closed, with 78 killings reported in January as the U.S. territory struggles with a surge in violent crime and growing discontent among thousands of police officers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Puerto_Rico

SWAT Team at Burger King

Gunshot, arrests, post video later

That Walther PPK Question I Asked

It does appear that the PPK does lock open on empty magazine.  My PX-22 with the mags that came with it does not.  However,  a new magazine I bought after dropping the pistol and broke the fingerrest extension almost locks it open.

I do not see anything that the magazine follower can push up to lock it open on either frame or slide. .

Amazing! Santa Monica House I Grew Up In Still There

1541 Berkeley Street.  The address seems to have been moved to the cottage behind the house we rented.  The bedroom above the garage has been somewhat remodeled but still there.  And the lemon tree I picked from for lemonade is still there.

It's a Disaster....Victory

1/31/18 Newsweek:

President Donald Trump just slapped a whopping 30 percent tariff on solar panel imports.

This policy is bad for our country, moving us further away from, not closer to, global leadership in renewable energy.

This tariff, which significantly ratchets up the price of renewable energy in America, is a clear threat to our economy and environment.

1/31/18 GreenTechMedia:

JinkoSolar announced this week that it is finalizing plans to build an advanced solar manufacturing facility in the U.S., as the company continues to monitor the implementation of new tariffs on imported solar cells and modules. 

The company's board of directors authorized JinkoSolar to move forward with the construction process, as the Shanghai-based firm reported that it has signed a master solar module supply agreement with a U.S. counterparty to provide around 1.75 gigawatts of high-efficiency solar modules over three years.

JinkoSolar's management team recently told investors that it is targeting to build the U.S. facility for around $120 million, GTM learned. That amount is well below the total projected cost of a $410 million facility under consideration in Jacksonville, Florida -- dubbed "Project Volt." The Jacksonville City Council has already approved $24.2 million in incentives to attract the unknown foreign manufacturer involved in those negotiations.
 

The Progressive Autophagy

1/30/18 U.K. Independent:

White Americans who practice yoga are perpetuating the “continuation of white supremacy and colonialism”, a Michigan State University professor has claimed. 

Religious studies professor Shreena Gandhi argued yoga has “flourished” in the US from the “cultural void of white society, intimately mixed with white supremacy, capitalism, and globalisation”.

She said the “misappropriation” of yoga did not constitute “life-threatening racism”, but urged “white people who practice yoga” to consider the history of the practice in the US and its supposed links with “larger forces of white supremacy”. 

While not every yoga practitioner is left,  the National Association of Trump Yoga Class Attenders requested a large phone booth for their next meeting.

Awesome YouTube Video

DEW Line 1957.  An amazing engineering project.  Think of Alaska as the easy part.  A USAF film with the very outdated background music. I doubt that a project this vast would be allowed today,  especially for such a vital purpose.

I knew someone many years ago who was assigned to a DEW Line site where the boredom led to an attempt to pick up a car,  leading to a permanent back injury.

A hybrid vehicle!