After Months of Either Clouds or Dangerous Cold

Tonight was too hot and muggy to be outside under a very clear sky.  Tomorrow should be in the 70s.

Pilgrim Problems

 I am creating a spreadsheet of battery convictions and punishments, currently for Plymouth Colony (for which Court Orders are online) and I found this saucy suit:

Att this Court, Elizabeth, the wife of John Williams, appeered with 

complaint against her husband, the said John Williams , for his great abusive

and vnaturall carryages towards her , both in word and deed, in defaming her

in rendering her to bee a whore, and by persisting in his refusing to performe

marriage duty unto her according to what both the law of God and man

requireth, which more at large appeereth by a writing under her hand.

He was no longer feeding her, either.  The court gave her permission to go to the home of friends until 

he shall apply himself unto her in such a way as she may be better satisfyed to return to him again,

RECORDS OF PLYMOUTH COLONY: COURT ORDERS VOL. III 1651-1661 125

Bread Slicer

Cutting consistent width slices is not so easy free-hand, so I just ordered a North Carolina made bread slicer.  Not automatic, you still have to cut each slice by hand.

The price is a bit higher than the probably Chinese made ones which had pretty poor reviews.  I cannot figure out how to create a link to the product using my sponsor code from my phone, but if you click the Amazon link in the right column the maker is A Happy Place.

When Will "Follow the Science" Mean Anything?

6/26/23 Fox News:

"St. Philip's College in San Antonio, Texas reportedly fired one of its biology professors for teaching his students that sex was determined by X and Y chromosomes."

I am guessing that St. Philip's is a Catholic college which explains the pandering to LGBTWTF. (Apparently not; a public college.)

If you want to pretend that sexual identity or gender (whatever that means outside of linguistics where it has a specific meaning) is different from sex, fine.  But the XX vs. XY thing is well-established science.  

I am expecting F equals ma to be declared cisnormative next.  F, of course, is an abbreviation for Force, as patriarchal an idea as ever existed.  And F is also as an abbreviation for cisFemale of course.

Are universities going to ever return to institutions of science?

Second Opinion

My insurer is willing to pay for second opinions.  My PCP did my annual physical today and told me that having two surgeons in the same office give two radically different solutions (open-heart vs. a procedure done through a catheter) means get a second opinion from a teaching hospital so I just paid UCSF $700 to give me a second opinion.  Now I need to figure out how to get a bill to submit to Blue Cross.

Why Are There Very Slightly Used Corvettes for Sale?

As many of you know, I really want a Corvette convertible, 2020 or later.  What amazes me is how many are available with 300 miles or so on them.  Did that many people buy them and lose their jobs?  Why would you buy a car like that if you were even slightly unsure of your future employment?  

Why would you take a loan on a Corvette?  I would think most buyers would just write a check.

One reader threw out a very plausible explanation: speculating on future price rises.  This would explain year-old Corvettes with 300 miles.

This One Just Perfect

Just the right amount of salt.  It rose beautifully and while a critic might say it is a little spongy, the extra egg that causes this also gives the bread the strength that holds up to being raised by the yeast.

Gluten Free too for my wife.  And when my daughter and grandson return from Europe.  European wheat has less gluten than North American wheat.  My daughter has been enjoying glutentastic bread and pizza without getting sick.  Apparently European wheat is not the hard red wheat we grow in North America.  Another explanation that I have found is that soils weak in sulfur (North American plains) produce more gluten.

Emperor Constantine, Where Are You?

Sing that to the tune from "Car 54, Where Are You?" If you are antique enough to remember that show.

In hoc signo Vinces: In this sign conquer.  Your obscure history lesson for the day.

Or it is a dagger cloud?

"If You Strike a King, You Must Kill Him"

I do not know from where this aphorism comes, but it is very true.  Wagner Group must kill Putin, or turn him over to the West for war crimes trial.  The screeching heads on Russian state media must be having a heck of time figuring out how to spin last month's heroes coming to get Putin.

Fiction Needs to be Believable

This makes the following news story fact.  6/24/23 Reuters:

"ROSTOV-ON-DON/VORONEZH, Russia, June 24 (Reuters) - Mutinous Russian mercenary fighters barrelled towards Moscow on Saturday after seizing a southern city overnight, with Russia's military firing on them from the air but seemingly incapable of slowing their lightning advance."

This was the best soldiers Russia had and they are on the way to Moscow.  Now, Russian soldiers fighting Ukraine will have to pull back to fight Wagner Group.  And Wagner Group was the only real resistance the Ukrainians had.

The series of bad decisions that turned Putin's personal badass into a traitor is going to go down in history as the dumbest ever 

In Spite of the Hand Controller That Does Not Bounce Well

 

These were all shot on video at ISO 3200 with my recently improved 8" f/7 reflector with a 25mm eyepiece projection.

Tonight's Disappontment

The control computer for the Losmandy mount started acting screwy last night.  There is a CR2405 battery that was down to 1V and when replaced all worked beautifully this even.  Goto Moon and boom.  There it is.

I took some video and stills and everything was going great... Then.

Of course the hand controller is on a coiled cord (RJ12 connector) and I was high enough above ground level that it did not stay where I put it on the ladder and it hit the ground. My bad.  I wish that I knew that many people use an RJ12 extension cord for exactly this reason.  The screen moved a bit and it no longer starts.  I disassembled and it appears that the screen moved enough for me to guess the ribbon cable to the PCB to pull loose.  

A replacement hand controller is $300. I am waiting to hear back from Losmandy if they have a repair manual for it.  If not, I will put my limited knowledge of electronics to work and see if it as simple as plugging the ribbon cable back in place and reassembling.

DigiKey sells a 14' extension cable for this for about $18 delivered.  I wish I had known about this a few weeks ago.

"Queering nuclear weapons: How LGBTQ+ inclusion strengthens security and reshapes disarmament"

 No, it is not a Babylon Bee satire.  It is from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a long time left-wing group:

When the stakes of making best-informed decisions are as high as they are with nuclear weapons, governments cannot afford to lose out on the human capital and innovation potential of queer people. Informed by their life experiences, queer people have specific skills to offer that are valuable in a policy and diplomacy context. LGBTQ+ people often must navigate being different from those around them; develop the ability to listen and empathize; and mobilize the skill and perseverance to make themselves heard.

Diversity and inclusion are especially important for the policy community dealing with arsenal development and nuclear posture. Women familiar with this “nuclear priesthood” describe it as “male-dominated and unwelcoming.” Homogenous groups like this are prone to groupthink and hostile to critical examination of baseline assumptions about how adversaries construct and identify nuclear threats and risks. For nuclear weapons policy, this has meant the perpetuation of theories like deterrence and crisis stability, which have contributed to increasing nuclear arsenals and a growing risk of nuclear use.

School Board Decides Removing Bible From Schools Was an Error

6/21/23 CNN:

"CNN — A Utah school district that pulled the Bible off elementary and middle school library shelves this month, citing concerns over the text’s age appropriateness, unanimously reversed that decision Tuesday following appeals from the community."

That a Utah school board removed it in the first place says something sad about the dominance of woke thinking.

On a Ford F-150: "I Identify as a F-250"

This tops that.  6/20/23 Telegraph:

"A teacher at Rye College, a state secondary in East Sussex, was recorded telling a pupil who refused to accept her classmate was a cat that she was despicable. ...

"The Telegraph has revealed that at other schools teachers are allowing children to identify as horses, dinosaurs and even moons."

Moon-sized restrooms are going to be a problem.

Wow! What a Great Idea It Was to Isolate the Group at Almost No Risk

6/21/23 Axios:

"American students' test scores in math and reading got significantly worse last year — continuing a decade-long freefall.

"Driving the news: The decline in math scores last year was the biggest in the past 50 years, according to newly released federal data."

This was not just COVID.  Perhaps a bit more time teaching instead of focusing on Pride and victimology would have helped?  

Parents, get your kids off social media, or at least set time limits!  If they get bored enough, they might even open up the dead trees-based sources of pleasure.

Americans Are More Rational Than Our Masters

6/19/23 Some local ABC station, channel 6. The headline is confusing, but 69 percent of Americans think trans athletes should compete with the sex in which they were born.

Avoiding Pride While Decrying Sin

 It is very easy in the current struggle against depravity, some of it so weird that it would have confused the pagan world, to let pride take over.  

Sin is Satan's playground.  He invites you in with promises of fulfillment, happiness and your every expectation being met.  He lures you in deeper to those things that are so promising!  It is only after a while you notice the barbwire fence around the playground. 

Pride, too, is the position we stake in defending God's law, but has Satan's fingerprints on our hearts.    We are saying, in essence, we have arrived spiritually and now can look at others with a discerning eye. We can see their behavior and know Scripture well enough to load our Bible 45's and shoot with accuracy. 

Paranoia Strikes Deep, Into Your Life It Will Creep

Michael Yon is claiming the Chinese military is moving north from Panama to invade the U.S.  with active U.S. military cooperation.  He provides no evidence for this claim.  Of course, if the PLA was doing so, they would not be in uniform or identifying themselves as such.

There is another problem with this claim.  If you wanted to put a bunch of heavily armed Chinese soldiers in the U.S. to do maximum damage would it not be faster to fill several airliners with Chinese soldiers and luggage compartments filled with machine guns, ammunition, antitank and ManPADs?  Airport security is outward facing.  We have nothing facing the arrival gates.  Even if TSA tried to fight back, they would be rapidly outnumbered and outgunned.  A couple flights arriving at SFO, OAK, SAC, LAX, SEA, and PDX would be far more devastating than even ten thousand Chinese soldiers moving slowly north from Panama.

A Chinese cargo container ship could carry 1000 soldiers and cargo containers of small armored vehicles, maybe even tanks in nonstandard size containers.  A few IRBMs as well.  No port security would survive even a couple minutes of fire from such an arrival.  It would be an hour or so to utterly disrupt an American city from port invasion.  City police would be rapidly defeated and such an unexpected attack would never receive either Regular Army or National Guard troops in time to do any good.

The Chinese are not stupid.  Panama north by stealth is a stupid way to invade the U.S.

.

While I could easily believe that many of our woke generals might go along with a Biden scheme this monstrous, there are enough whistleblowers in the FBI to reveal the Biden Bribery.  Is it likely that no U S. troops would blow the whistle on something this monstrous?

By the way, the first two paragraphs are the opening chapter of a Red Dawn novel.

Another Victory

Atkinson v. Garland (7th Cir. 2023) directs the district court to rehear Atkinson's conviction for felon in possession of a gun.  Atkinson pled guilty to felony mail fraud in 1998 and has kept his nose (or at least his criminal record) cleans since then.  The Court of Appeals did a vacate and remand and pretty clearly told the district court that Bruen changed everything.

I have no idea what color Atkinson is but I know that 25 percent of blacks have felony convictions. I suspect many are non-violent offenses dating back manyvyears.  Lots of people do stupid things when young and learn from the mistakes.

Why We Need Gun Control

Teenagers attempted to set of dynamite in a Philadelphia grocery store.  Thank goodness they did not have guns 

Old Habits Die Hard

I started cutting the acetal inserts that go into the aluminum sleeves which will go on the Losmandy Lightweight tripod legs.

This involves cutting a 30 degree angle so the bottom of the tripod legs rests on a flat surface and non-square end of the insert is parallel to the ground where I drill and tap a hole for the caster.  The insert only needs to be long enough to allow a 1" stem to not penetrate to the bottom of the tripod leg.  As short as possible in this application to reduce the added height.

The process is simple enough.  I put the piece of acetal on the fence at 2" from the end and clamp it down, then turn the miter to 30 degrees and cut.  Then I turn it over out the sharp end at 2", put the miter at 0 degrees and cut.

I only need three of these inserts but because I was so used to doing four or five sets at a time, I did not stop until I had cut five.  There are slight discrepancies in the lengths because a chop saw is not a precision tool.  I can take the three closest in length and use the mill to get them within .01", which is adequate for this purpose.

The 2" x 3" x 0.25" wall tube is supposed to arrive tomorrow.  The same process will give me three leg envelopes.  I will then machine the inserts to be .01" smaller than needed so they are if not a true press fit, close enough to require some pressure to push in position.

Then drill through the aluminum tube with a .201" drill to make the pilot hole in the acetal to tap for 1/4"-20.  Then enlarge the holes in the aluminum to .265".  Any slight variation in position of the insert in the sleeve will get pulled into position as the screw turns into the acetal. 

I will use the Tapmatic to tap the inserts.  I use four screws on each insert, so the Tapmatic greatly speeds up the process.

Historically, I have used hex head 1/4"-20 screws to lock the sleeves in place but I think the knurled thumbscrews work well enough and look closer to the Losmandy esthetics.  I still would love to find some 1/4" diameter rubber tips to glue on the thumbscrews.  I might find something in the Ace Hardware odds and end fastener drawers.

This is a Very Troubling Report

Multiple news organizations have reported the murder of four people apparently by a neighbor in Kellogg, Idaho.  All except this one are careful to report that the nature of the relationship between victims and alleged murder will be revealed in charging documents.

This 6/18/23 Idaho Tribune report claims the son in the murdered family had exposed himself to the alleged murderers' 11-year-old daughter and had a history of masturbation in class.  The claim is that neither school nor Kellogg Police took serious action on these reports.

Part of why we have a criminal justice system is to prevent vigilantism: to make sure we have the right criminal.  When that system breaks down, vigilantism and just outright mass murder is inevitable.

A couple weeks back, I linked to an Idaho Tribune article about a mental health professional who wanted to shoot at a range as he told the range master to prepare to "execute transphobes."

According to the article, Couer d'Alene police talked to him and he admitted the threat but did not take him into custody because he was not an imminent threat to public safety.  The guy had an criminal record.

It is beginning to seem as though the criminal justice system is breaking down.  In a place like Idaho, this is worrisome.  In a big city, it will lead to widespread killing.  Our society is dying?

6/18/23 Newsbreak is telling the same story.  Police took a report of the exposure but it was only a misdemeanor and he was not charged:

Although no arrests were made for the initial call, prosecutors were recommended to charge Smith with indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, although no record of Smith being charged was filed as of Tuesday, meaning either Smith wasn’t served papers before his death, or the case wasn’t made public for a different reason.

I always thought this was a serious crime.

Time to Default on Treasuries Held by the Bank of China?

As damages for hiding the extent of the pandemic when they knew about it and at least by negligence caused it?

Read the 6/17/23 New York Post editorial linked above.  Lots of American news media participated in the coverup but most Americans will never hear about it.

Lots of nations that owe China money should default on those debts for the same reason.

1/4" Rubber Discs?

I was having trouble finding 6 rubber tipped knurled or lobular thumbscrews.  Thread not important; I will tap for what I find.  I found six beautiful knurled 1/4"-20 thumbscrews. (I had to buy minimum 10.)  Does anyone know where to find 1/4" diameter rubber discs.

I am going to clamp these onto the legs with thumbscrews pressing on acetal.  This should protect the legs adequately.  Thanks to all.

Even the Best Commercial Gluten Free Bread Does Not Measure Up

I added another egg and another tablespoon of yeast to the recipe that came with the Zourushi bread maker and the results are awesome.  The previous loaf was a little too salty so I cut the salt in half this time.  That was just too much of a reduction.

Machining New Legs For the Losmandy Mount

I mentioned a couple days ago my need to make ScopeRollers to fit over the outer legs of the Losmandy Lightweight tripod.  I am still waiting for the 2x3x.25 aluminum tubing.  The acetal inserts that hold the casters are way to start making because I have a lot of scrap acetal big enough to cut down to size.  If I had a cutting tool that could be used without endangering my fingers, I would cut the .75" excess off this one block and mill the remaining .0277" off.  But the only cutting tool that I have left is a chop saw not easy to use for cutting small fractions off a workpiece.

So I have the mill slicing off .01" at a pass at 5 inches per minute.  This is slow but trying to cut too fast can push the mill vise out of position.

One slight problem with a surprisingly pleasant consequence: I had thought that I had at least 0.77" of workpiece above the jaws of the vise.  No.  The end mill hit the vise and moved it out of position on the table.  

To my surprise and pleasure, this wonderful mill vise about which I have previously rhapsodized, escaped without even serious cosmetic damage.  I just needed to reposition it parallel to the back of the mill table, insert some parallels under the workpiece, rezero Z, adjust the Makefile for the amount already removed, run make, load the new gcode file and restart.

A Very Idaho Moment

Contrary to what the Coasties think of as bloodthirsty savages my wife was an intersection with traffic stopped all directions.  As looked more carefully she saw a man chasing a duckling around the intersection, scooping it up, and handing it to the young lady in the passenger's seat.

Someone Could Make Some Money

I am trying to find a cordless electric mini chainsaw not made in China.  Taiwantrade.com shows you manufacturers that clearly want to sell for export.  I know many companies have moved manufacturing from China to India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam.  I have been pleased to buy tools made in Poland, Taiwan, and India, telescope parts made in Taiwan and Japan, clothes made in Ethiopia, Mexico, and Vietnam, office chairs made in Vietnam.  

There are websites that appear if you search for "mini chainsaw made in USA" but they are best, US importers of Chinese products.  Even trying to find country of assembly for particular brands seems to be intentionally hard, probably to hide PRC origin.  My only reason to shop at a retail store is to look at the package for "made in".

Build a website notmadeinchina.com with links to sellers of those products (some of which are even on Amazon) and collect referral fees.

Notochina.org run by a Chinese -American.

Are There Any Democrats Embarrassed By Their Vote in 2020?

6/16/23 U K. Independent:

" President Joe Biden is facing criticism for slipping up when outlining a new railroad project, mistakenly saying it would be built across the Indian Ocean."

I feel sorry for him.  I feel sorrier for America.

This is not a slip of the tongue.  Does he know what that word "ocean" means anymore?

The JPMorgan Suit is Getting Weirder

6/16/23 The Hill:

"JPMorgan Chase is accusing the former first lady of the U.S. Virgin Islands of aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.

"In a filing submitted Wednesday in the ongoing lawsuit between the bank and the territory, the company alleged that former Virgin Islands first lady Cecile de Jongh, who managed Epstein’s companies based in the U.S. territory, helped facilitate visas and employment for several of his victims and, more generally, served as his “primary conduit for spreading money and influence” in the Virgin Islands."

The claim is that the Virgin Islands governor asked Epstein for advice on a sex trafficking law.  Ultimate fox in charge of the henhouse.  

Cosmic Pizza may have been a fevered dream, but Epstein seems to have enjoyed considerable government protection and assistance.

What is the World's Most Forgivable Crime?

 6/15/23 Toronto Sun:

A 28-year-old woman is accused of posing as a 17-year-old student to enroll at a Louisiana high school to learn English, authorities said.

Martha Jessenia Gutierrez-Serrano and her mother, Marta Elizeth Serrano-Alvarado, 46, were each charged this week with one count of injuring public records, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

“She was in school, she minded her own business, she did her schoolwork, she caused no trouble,” Sheriff Greg Champagne said, reports ABC News. “She wanted to learn English.”

The mother is accused of using a fake Honduran passport and birth certificate to enroll her daughter in Hahnville High School in Boutte, 40 km west of New Orleans, during the 2022-23 school year.

There seems to be no accusation of being here unlawfully.

I am still trying to get my head around "injuring public records."  Do they scream?  Do they go to the ER? 

Finally, Dark Sky and Reasonable Temperatures

Astronomy has taken a back seat for many months because we have been having atypically cloudy weather, at least at night, for pretty much all of spring.  After the 911 call last Halloween, I have refused to go out in freezing or below weather.  My wife was teaching and I would rise with her at 6:00 AM to make her breakfast. Late nights were not practical.

Tonight was in the 60s so a light jacket was enough.  The evening started out with the 0x Telrad refusing to stay in position after I adjusted its point of aim to match the telescope.  One of the screws that holds the mounting base in place was loose.  Why?  I looked in and saw that one of the screws had no nut holding it in place.  The other screw had two nuts on the screw.  How did I screw that up?  (Or is that nut that up?)

The goto Losmandy mount that I have struggled with since 2021 was confused by not being terribly precisely aimed at north and with the wrong time zone.  Tonight, I aligned it on Vega* and told it to take me to M57, the Ring Nebula, and it got me to at least the correct spot a few degrees away.  You really need more than one star to get accurate pointing so I am not whining. 

.* I needed binoculars to verify that it was Vega.  At the old house this was never required.

In the past, I have used a Meade 9x60mm finderscope to get myself on M57.  M57 is not visible through it but it is enough light to get the two stars in Lyra (beta and gamma?) that you use to position on M57.  M57 is about 40 percent of the distance between beta and gamma, closer to beta, I think.  

The Telrad has no light gain over the naked eye and in these increasingly light polluted skies, beta and gamma are pretty much invisible until it gets much later than I have the energy to stay awake.

I am also pondering a way to get the eyepiece closer to the ground.  I climb a very nice ladder to the eyepiece but in the darkness, descending is a bit scary.  The steps are a bit farther apart than I expect and it always feels like I am going to fall.

The casters on which the Losmandy mount rolls put the mount higher than it should be.  The original Losmandy tripod had hollow square legs 1.00" inside.  The Scoperollers I made for the early tripods just slid inside (0.95" was the dimension of the insert) adding only about the diameter of the casters to the height.  Losmandy changed the design a while back that certainly makes the inner legs stiffer but there is no longer a nice square tube into which to slide.  The inner legs are 1.25" square on the outside.

For the later tripods, I built an assembly that slides on the outside of the inner legs.  To get a good grip on the inner legs requires extending the inner legs several inches.  This puts the mount about a foot higher in the air and thus the eyepiece.  I wish that I could figure out a solution that adds less height.  Perhaps making a sleeve that locks onto the outer leg assembly so I do not need to extend the inner legs.

That would get the eyepiece only about 6" above my eye standing at ground level.  Less steps is less scary.  I guess I need to measure the exterior dimensions of the outer legs.  The American in Poland who bought ScopeRoller might want to consider a similar change.

The outer leg is not square.  The sleeve needs to be >1.45" x >2.013" (and that largely because there is fastener that sticks above the surface.  (I suspect it is a stop to prevent the lower leg from sliding completely out).  The lock knob that holds the inner leg in position has to be unscrewed.  Rectangular aluminum tubing is available.  Finding some that is close enough to just barely slide over this will be a slight challenge.

The closest that I can find is 2" x 3" x .25" wall.  That would give interior dimensions of 1.5" x 2.5": a little big.  A solution is to make a .4" shim of acetal held to the wider interior dimension by several screws.  This would give 1.5" x 2.2", which would be a good fit.  Not a press fit, but tight enough for a couple of screws on each side to hold it on.  The acetal would also reduce slide of metal on metal; the screws pressing on the acetal will depress it enough for a mar-free surface on at least one side.  

If You Found "Seattle is Dying" Disturbing...

"Vancouver is Dying" is worse.  They city, provincial, and national government decided that opoid addiction was untreatable so the right solution was buying heroin and fentanyl from pharmaceutical companies and giving it away in vending machines, not enforcing possession laws, defunding Vancouver PD, and allowing tent cities that look similar to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Some of the experts pushing these policies have ownership stakes in the pharmaceutical companies selling drugs to Vancouver to give to addicts.

I Have Blogged This Before

I am hoping it sticks this time.  Collimating a Newtonian reflector is the difference between fuzzy round images of Jupiter and Jupiter with cloud bands; Saturn as an oblong disk and Saturn with distinct rings and (potentially) Cassini's Division in the rings.

Sequence:

1. Aim the telescope into a relatively dark room or area if you are foolishly trying to do it in daylight (like right now). 

2. Put laser collimator in focuser.  Turn on.  

3. Look for red dot on wall in dark area.  If you do not see it, the optical train is either already pretty close or the laser beam is hitting the diagonal so far from square that it is not hitting the primary mirror, or the primary mirror is not square to the tube 

4.  Look in the tube to see if you can see the beam.  If you cannot get the beam (briefly) in your eye, is it hitting the primary and then reflecting on to the inside of the tube?  If so, your diagonal mirror is either far from square to mirror and focuser or the primary mirror is not square to the tube.  Fix each.  

5. The beam should be hitting the primary mirror.  Adjust the diagonal holder screws until the beam hits the little dot or if you have a new or recently recoated mirror in the center of the little white circle.

6. Now go to the primary end of the scope.  Adjust the collimation screws on the mirror cell until the red dot on the dark wall disappears.  This means it is hitting the diagonal.

7. If this is a long focal ratio telescope, you may need to go from primary mirror end and back several times, adjusting the collimation screws until the beam is hitting centrally enough on the collimator to appear on the output display (or whatever you call the place where the beam shows up in the collimator).

8. You should see some red glow somewhere on that screen.  Adjust collimation screws on primary mirror until you get a red dot.

9. Adjust collimation screws until beam hits the center hole of the screen and turns into a large indistinct blob.

10. I have not seen these locking screws on any recent mirror cell.  If you have them, screw them down until they touch the cell inner body. This should reduce need for frequent future collimation.

Pegboard Would Not Stay Up

There were no conveniently placed studs and moly bolts did not hold the pegboard in place.  My wife pointed to the wooden shelves the previous owner put in the garage and we used hooks and closed loop holders to get most of the hand tools hanging where they were visible and not hanging behind another tool which had been a problem with the pegboards before.  Tools not easily hung on hooks, closed loops, or between closed loops are in see through snap bins so you can immediately tell which box has the tool you need or where to return it when done.  It was a lot of work reminding me that I need these two arteries blown out.

A Variant of What Is Wrong With the Internet of Things Concept

A delivery driver wearing headphones thought he heard a racial slur.  The guy who owned the home of the future could no longer get into his house.

Every electronic feature needs a 19th century bypass.

Great story but a bit exaggerated it seems.  Apparently only his electronic devices were locked out, not his house 

The Counter-revolution Has Started

6/12/23 WHDH:

"The incident happened on Friday when Principal Cari Perchase said “some students had independently organized a counter message to Pride Spirit Day.”

“This became evident in the lunchroom, where several groups of students wore red, white, blue, or black, including face paint,” Perchase wrote in a letter to families. 

Perchase said stickers, banners and signs were also torn off walls and crumpled into water fountains. "

The troublemakers also chanted that U.S.A. was their pronoun.  Apparently the oh so progressive school ignored Memorial Day.

I think there may be hope for America yet. The old fogies of course are promising more DIE education.

Sounds Like Domestic Terrorism to Me

6/13/23 Fox News:

"Target stores in at least five states reportedly received bomb threats last weekend as the big-box retailer continues to face backlash to corporate-level decisions regarding LGBTQ Pride merchandise. Some of the threats reportedly said Target "betrayed the LGBTQ+ community.""

But the FBI will not investigate this as domestic terrorism because it is "mostly peaceful free speech."

Grawl into the sewer with progressives and you cannot get out again without their terrible stench.

Really Funny

The T-Rex Wendy's burger and the hotdog stuffed crust pizza among the highlights.

Does Your A/V Museum Need An Addition?

 I have just listed a VHS recorder on eBay.  It was taking up space and I do not plan to visit 1980 any time soon.  I just testerd it as well.

Conspiracy Theory As Spoiler Alert

 6/11/23 U.K. Telegraph article on Yahoo News:

Scientists in the Chinese city of Wuhan worked alongside the country’s military to combine the world’s most deadly viruses before the Covid pandemic began, it was claimed on Sunday.

According to investigators who examined intercepted communications and scientific research, Chinese scientists were running the secret project at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

An investigation by The Sunday Times claimed that US investigators believe that one of the reasons why there is no published information on the work is because it was done in collaboration with researchers from the Chinese military.

The newspaper said it had examined hundreds of documents, including confidential reports, internal memos, scientific papers and email correspondence and that the institute in Wuhan was engaged in increasingly risky experiments on coronaviruses it gathered from bat caves in southern China.

Let me emphasize that there is no claim that it was intentionally released (although it does appear the Chinese military was attempting to weaponize a naturally occurring virus).  I find the accidental escape model best fits the facts, or it would have only been on a few passengers leaving China for the West. I still think the people who approved the research project (Dr. Fauci) should be stripped of pensions and sued.  China, too.

Funny But There is a Tragedy There That is Not Funny

6/11/23 Babylon Bee:

"Sad: Invitations To Unabomber's Funeral Mailed Out, But No One Wants To Open Them"

Yes, I laughed, but remember that this was a smart guy whose spiral into schizophrenia put him into a world that makes many Twilight Zone episodes seem normal.

Schizophrenia is not a joke.  It is an illness that ruins the lives of lots of very smart people and their extended families.  A disproportionate number become murderers and mass murderers.  Smile but do not forget: the problem is serious 

Gluten Free Success

Does Anyone Have a 35mm Film Canister?

I used to use these as a dust plug for 1.25" eyepiece focusers.  I can buy a pack of 12 on Amazon but I only need one.  Happy to pay for postage.

I Added Too Much Yeast

It expanded until collision with the cover then collapsed like a souffle. It tastes good.

NHS Suspends Hormonal Puberty Blocking

Except for clinical trials, the UK National Health Service is suspending use of puberty-blocking hormones for minors.  

This is big news. The NHS is not run by Christian conservatives. Indeed, if there is even one in a decision-making role I would be shocked.  But "the science.". Perhaps NHS has been following the science.

Antioxidants

I have been reading the published research (well some of it anyway) on the effects of antioxidants on heart disease.  I found a 1996 Lancet article about an RCT that found those with existing problems given a Vitamin E supplement had reduced non-fatal myocardial infarcts (heart attacks in layman's language).  Total fatalities were higher but not significantly.

On the other hand, other articles found that while there are sound reasons to suspect vitamin E should reduce atherosclerosis RCTs have failed to show consistent benefits.  

Another article indicated that while vitamin E in isolation seemed beneficial, in combination with statins, there was no benefit.  Statins seem to do a fine antioxidant job by themselves.  Vitamin E may just be wasted if you are taking statins.  They are also fat-soluble and there are toxicity issues in high doses.

There appear to be mutually beneficial relationships between E and C for antioxidant benefits.  I was taken off citrus to see if was aggravating my acid reflux but I think it is time for a citrus drink experiment to see if it is a problem.

Apples and tomatoes are both strong in bioflavonoids (another antioxidant and anti-inflammatory class).  I have been increasing my apple consumption for fiber anyway. 

In Case You Wonder How We Got to Now

 From my wife and here:

"Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." = We will overcome opposition to our plans by any means necessary, and guess what?  We are succeeding in ways unfathomable even 10 years ago!  We are picking up speed to recreate ourselves and our society in our image. Woe unto to you if you get in our way. 

Welcome to now.

Heart Surgery? Maybe Not

I met with the surgeon today.  He says the scar tissue that prevents stenting the LAD and circumflex arteries can likely be burned out with a laser.  Space Invaders coming to a chest near you!

And yes, the hypertension and aortic stenosis correlation is causal.  The aortic valve puts a strain the left ventricle.

It is apparently the same as Peripheral Laser Atherectomy.  The claim is: "Laser energy is pulsed, vaporizing the plaque and breaking it down to carbon dioxide and water.". That make the clot risk zero. I confess that I cannot imagine anything in plaque that would not be carbon dioxide and water.  

Amazing Description of the Superiority of the American System of Manufacturing

 in Parliamentary Papers.  This is here mostly so that I can find it in the future.

There Are a Lot of Courageous Blacks Speaking Truth to Stupidity

This gal pointing out why Wal-Mart is closing four Chicago stores that operate at a loss and why they operate at a loss.  All the whining about "systemic racism" overlooks that black criminals make many inner-city neighborhoods into cesspools that create their own food deserts.  Regardless of the shameful history of racism in America, black criminals are the biggest enemies of the vast majority of blacks who want to raise their children and live their lives in peace.  Enforcement of the laws will do far more good than defunding the police to make guilt-ridden whites feel good about themselves.

Not Made by the Enemy

I needed an HDMI cable to hook my laptop to any motel TV.  I ordered an Amazon Basics which was both cheap and here the next day. Best of all:

Lighting

Several of the flood lamps in the kitchen burned out so I grabbed some LED flood lamps and we changed them out.  They were incandescent bulbs and HOT.  We have replaced all of them now and these are 1100 lumens 7K color vs. 540 lumens and whatever temperature the traditional almost yellow incandescent bulbs are.  What a difference!

Major Victory

Range v. Garland (3rd Cir. 2023)(en banc)  ruled that a conviction for a misdemeanor that could have resulted in a felony sentence (exceeding one year imprisonment) (food stamp application fraud) is not a firearms disqualifier.

The description of what led to the fraudulent application can make almost anyone sympathize.  He was making $9/hour trying to feed his family and understated his income.  In a society that awards enormous subsidies to billionaires and billion dollar corporations, this severe punishment seems a bit severe.

The decision correctly applies Bruen observing that Founding Era felonies were often capital offenses.  With a few odd exceptions (counterfeiting), these were generally violent crimes, or were likely to end up violently (burglary).

Range is hardly in the same category.  He remains one of "the people" whose Second Amendment rights are protected.

Just noticed my book Armed America was cited on p. 15.

Because this is an en banc decision, the government will almost certainly appeal to the Court.  A little more ear slapping (or as my son-in-law calls it "slap-based therapy") is in order 

Suddenly Borders Matter

6/5/23 Business Insider:

"California law enforcement intercepted a second plane in Sacramento carrying relocated migrants, as DeSantis remains mum about his involvement"

Intercepted.  Almost like crossing a state border is a serious matter unlike an international border.

"California Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested on Twitter that investigators were considering kidnapping charges under the state's laws and called DeSantis a "small, pathetic man." 

Yes.  Ask illegal aliens to take a private jet to a state where much of the population speaks Spanish and the government claims it is a sanctuary for illegal aliens.  That sounds like kidnapping to me!

I Guess I Am Not Moving North

 Our kids want us nearby.  We need to find a way to reduce travel in this area.

It Has Been a Wet Year

Throughout northern Nevada and places like Jordan Valley, Oregon everything is unnaturally green.

Without the Sierras...

Reno would be just another sad little monument to human depravity.

I Do Not Remember When I Last Visited Tahoe Without Snow

My, is it beautiful.

Gender Reassignment as a Solution

 

Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden

Results

The overall mortality for sex-reassigned persons was higher during follow-up (aHR 2.8; 95% CI 1.8–4.3) than for controls of the same birth sex, particularly death from suicide (aHR 19.1; 95% CI 5.8–62.9). Sex-reassigned persons also had an increased risk for suicide attempts (aHR 4.9; 95% CI 2.9–8.5) and psychiatric inpatient care (aHR 2.8; 95% CI 2.0–3.9). Comparisons with controls matched on reassigned sex yielded similar results. Female-to-males, but not male-to-females, had a higher risk for criminal convictions than their respective birth sex controls.

Search Engines Are Not to Be Trusted

 I wanted to make reservations at the Days Inn in Winnemuca, specifically ion the first floor.  So I searched for their phone number.  I called that number and ended up with a call center in India where she spoke so fast and unclearly that until I received the confirmation email, I did not realize that I had been connected to Quality Inns.  The Model T in Winnemucca is comparably priced and quality, but I feel that once again, search engine sponsored ranking is deceptive.  

Not comparable.  I also got stuck with a $16 service fee for the service center.

The scamsters are called Reservation Center.