Time again for a look at the book(s). What has your Glibs Staff been reading?
Swiss Servator
I ordered that Anderson Gentry fella’s book, Nova Roma 1: De Iteinere in Occasum.
The story is plausible, the technological implications well thought out. I had to squint a little at Cato being so…flexible, but again. Plausible. The best part was the cultural interactions…very well thought out. A quite convincing look at the area and its people, well pre-Columbian in time. Give it a go, you’ll get through it in no time! (That means it is a ‘page turner’).
Tonio
I just finished reading The Other: Encounters With The Cthulhu Mythos, Book One by Troy Young, ebook. Solid, page-turning Summer reading. Six self-contained short stories forming a narrative, and an epilogue prequel. Pulpy, yet modern. Will probably read the sequels, eventually.
SP
Sales contracts, restaurant order guides and invoices, business tax documents, reams of mortgage documents, payroll documents, inventory spreadsheets, health insurance plans information, daily and weekly sales reports and double entry books. I know, right? Exciting stuff!
mexican sharpshooter
…I got nothing.
SugarFree
Psycho by Robert Bloch (1959)
Short and punchy, Hitchcock mostly used it as a shooting script. The only major difference is that the literary Norman Bates is hugely fat.
Mort(e) Robert Repino (2014)
Book One of the War with No Name series (the third and final book doesn’t come out until August.) The ants rise up and begin a genocidal war with mankind, eventually uplifting domesticated livestock, wild animals, and pets to fight against their former owners. Mort(e) follows Sebastian, a house cat, who shakes off his slave name and becomes Mort(e), lieutenant in a band of murderous commando felines.
Of course, he was based on a Sconnie.
United States v. Members of the Armed Forces By Ozy.
I just finished Matthew McConaughey’s book. He might as well be from Mars the way his life was so different from mine. Which is what made it interesting to me.
Now I’m reading “Skip the Line” by James Altucher. It’s meant for people who are feeling stuck or unsatisfied with life. Which is what makes it interesting to me.
I used to read Altucher’s blog religiously. That was a long time ago.
I used to listen to his podcast, but I’ve been work from home for over a year now so I just don’t have the idle time to listen. But I am on his email list, and event though he does include links to “sponsored content” (guy’s gotta eat), they include his latest blog posts.
a band of murderous commando felines.
So… just a cat?
Sounds like somebody read Planet Of The Apes and is a proponent of the new “equity” push.
But bipedal, smart, and carrying machine guns.
I read The Themis Files, based on SugarFree’s recommendation. First two were good, 3rd one, not so much – I ended up just skimming that, which is rare with fiction.
I read the first 3 Murderbot books & in line for the others at the library. Entertaining, but no chance I’m paying $10+ for a novella.
Now deep into the Agent Cormac series – damn good stuff. Happy to pay for these, unlike the aforementioned Murderbot books. Oddly, I am fairly certain I started(?) to read The Brass Man many, many years ago, not realizing it was 3rd in a series. I remember being very confused – don’t think I finished it.
Now I’m actually reading that, having gobbled down the first two books. I’m planning on reading things in publication order. A SugarFree recommendation I’ll wholeheartedly endorse.
Oh, I also randomly picked up this:
There Is No Antimemetics Division – a collection of stories set in the SCP Foundation universe.
I really enjoyed it – not normally a big reader of horror but this was very well done, very creepy. Fans of SugarFree’s writing will enjoy it.
Looks interesting. I’ll check it out.
Aside from RFP repsonses longer than a doorstopper each, I’ve been reading… not a whole lot 🙁
Not counting work reading, I’m partway through The Righteous (Articles of Faith, Book 2) by David Wragg. Interesting enough, I suppose, but the endless bickering amongst our mercenary “heroes” is wearing pretty thin. Unlikely to pick up Book 3.
I read India Gate by Lacey Fosburgh. I liked it.
Currently reading Joe DiMaggio The Hero’s Life by Richard Ben Cramer. Just started.
Finished Ambrose’s Citizen Soldiers. Very well done and very sobering.
I’ve about given up on the Voyages extraordinaires at about halfway through. The 19th Century racism gets to be too much, sometimes.
At the suggestion of folks here I started Guards!, Guards! by Pratchett. Very fun read, looking for more.
Then Men-At-Arms would be the next in the Watch series.
Thanks!
Oh buddy, you’re in for a treat. The Watch series just keeps getting better.
Feet of Clay is the definitive libertarian novel. It’s everything that Atlas Shrugged should have been but wasn’t.
I really should learn to read.
I’m sure we could recommend some books to help.
I foud a 19th C printing of How to Read a Book in the stacks at college.
You don’t need to learn to read, you just need to know how to write well enough to sign this little contract. Just once.
But then you would know that Jezzabel and Everydayfeminism exist. Sounds like a fair trade.
*I wish I didn’t know how to read.
The signs at this restaurant!
Well, Mr. Newsom, in a few weeks we’ll see how exhausted the people of California are with your ideological prism.
Hey Gavin, we left exhausted in the rear view mirror years ago. Now we’re just simmering mad.
“Stop politicizing this issue!” === “Stop disagreeing with me!”
I’m not being political. I’m just giving good, sound leadership based on Science and guided by experts.
How would one prove that?
Say “taxation is theft” out load without flinching or fainting.
Haven’t been reading as much. I think I mentioned Little Slaughterhouse on the Prairie last time.
I’m working through The Pursuit of God by AW Tozer. Y’all know that I’m highly critical of the western church, I’ve written a few articles on the topic. Tozer hit the nail on the head in this book, exposing the cultural trends that, frankly, were only beginning to pop their heads up when he wrote the book in 1948. The characteristics he maligned back then are now caricatures of themselves in the current day. It’s very convicting on the personal level as well. Knowledge alone does not breed a genuine relationship. However, lack of knowledge breeds heresy.
The Silmarillion day 7,336.
::organizes candlelight vigil for RBS::
So, you are 1/3rd through then?
If you thought that Dr. Fauci was the most hated Doctor in the world, you would be mistaken. That title belongs to Jodie Whittaker and her portrayal of the thirteenth incarnation of Doctor Who.
Burn.
She was never the Doctor.
It ended when JNT (no longer the worst) put the show into a nosedive directly into terrain.
My two favorite characters were Donna and Me.
Also
1. Eccleston
2. Capaldi
…
xx. Tennant
…
…
…
…
…
xxx. Smith
I don’t understand you.
Likewise! ?
Shouldn’t you have some of the actors that played The Doctor on your list?
We’ve been over this.
1) Baker
2) Tennant
3) Eccleston
And Ive often thought that Hugh Laurie (with solid, un-woke writing unlike now) would make a decent Doctor.
Still would.
Wait, now the Russians are telling me I must hate that shit turd, which means I must like that shit turd. I haz confuze! Donald tell me what to think!
JFC. So glad I punched out years ago.
Holy crap. It make Happiness Patrol a neutral story written by Shakespeare by comparison.
Dammit, now I’ve got some song about a Candy Man stuck in my head.
Well that’s retarded.
Larry Correia’s “Target Rich Environment”. He writes some thoroughly enjoyable short stories.
Ian Rankin Knots and Crosses***½ First John Rebus book, Scotland police procedural. Comes off a bit trope-ish, but a good read, only real problem (mild spoilers ahead) was the final confrontation between the killer and Rebus. I mean what kind of genius loses his gun in a fight with a cop, runs away and then a few minutes later when the copper catches up to him doesn’t think that maybe the copper picked up the gun? And why does Rebus wait until the killer possibly kills (it’s not all together clear) his partner and is about to kill him before he remembers that he has the gun?
Joe R Lansdale Moon Lake **½ A rare disappointment from the “Hap and Leonard” author, had it’s moments, some witty dialog, and a few memorable secondary characters but the plot and the protagonist fell flat.
Ian Rankin Hide and Seek **** Second John Rebus, better than the first, same good writing, perhaps benefits from the story not revolving personally around Rebus’s past. Another page turner. I’ve been meaning to read this series for years I’m glad I finally got to it (thanks to Tundra), looking forwards to the next ones.
I’m glad you like them. The first few are my least favorite in the series, so you’ve got an enjoyable run to look forward to. I really loved the series.
I also drank scotch at the real-life Oxford Bar. It’s just as he describes it in the book.
Is it wider than a mile?
The Nature of Things by Lucretius – Interesting work if you’ve ever heard of it. It’s a long-form didactic poem written by an ancient Roman Epicurean to help common people overcome the superstition and fear of nature through reason. I can’t say it’s very marvelous verse (translated poems can never really have the essence of the original, and I don’t speak Latin) but it’s interesting that such a thing was written. Historical significance is a big motivating factor in the books I read.
Confession of an English Opium Eater by Thomas de Quincey – The memoirs of a man who got addicted to opium in the early 1800s. I’m about halfway through, and I can’t say it’s very exciting so far. I just started a chapter called “The Pains of Opium”, so hopefully it picks up a bit.
(audiobook) Food: A Cultural Culinary History from The Great Courses – I’m loving this one. It’s a world history of how food has shaped culture, politics, war, business, and also vice versa. It goes into a lot of detail about culinary trends from prehistoric times all the way up to the present. Some of the habits are downright bizarre (from the 1500s in Italy – fish cooked with fruit, nuts, and sugar??) But I love to try my hand at cooking very exotic things, and this course gave me some new ideas. I’m going to finish this one in record time. It’s 18 hours long and I only started it last week, but I have 4 hours left and will probably finish it today.
so hopefully it picks up a bit.
It doesn’t, but at least it’s mercifully short.
I watched the Great Courses one on Prime. Amazing how a guy just standing there talking can be riveting.
Started reading Mark Levin’s Liberty and Tyranny. Got a handful of pages into it and stalled. Maybe it’s the mainline old Conservative bent or things like pushing the moronic no withholding of taxes will get people to wake up. Just isn’t drawing me in.
But when you’re done, you can yell out, ” THERE! I READ IT!!!”
If you hear his voice in your head as you read it, that might be the problem.
Nova Roma goes into the queue.
The description reminded me how mad I was when the Terra Nova tv show was cancelled. I’ve been rewatching on Prime.
I just finished No Shred of Evidence, book 18 in the Ian Rutledge series. 19 is downloaded.
Thanks, SP!
I’ve been to busy to read anything serious.
Pillow fight!
Google Cloud documentation. Snowflake (Database, not wokesters) documentation. Apache Beam documentation, Looker documentation.
Continuing education for big data pipelines, I will soon forget everything I’ve been working with for the last 3.5 years. Imma revisit the retirement thread….
Stocking up on Kindles to read while on vacation (starting in a week). Hitchhiker’s Guide already downloaded, some obscure stuff by someone named Moriah Jovan soon to come. Should be a solid week of beach relaxation.
“Big Data Pipeline” is my middle name.
“We specialize in laying big pipe”
I still haven’t read the morning links, I’m looking for all this retirement time I’m supposed to have. I’m backed up on books and somehow accumulate more.
“Here, Dad, try this one, I think you’ll like it”
“Grandpa, I just finished, “”The Trail Drivers of Texas””, the print is a little small but it’s full of great very short stories about the cowboys that were on cattle drives, I thought of you as I was reading it”.
There is no end. I’d like to thank that mean Miss Brown, my first grade teacher, that kept me in at recess and made me read while the other kids were outside having fun. By second grade I was ready to go, bring it on !
When cleaning out my great grandparents’ estate, the full magnitude of their reading obsession was laid bare. I had always known that their sunroom and their living room were each 4 walls of bookshelves crammed to the hilt, but I never had a chance to go upstairs (they didn’t use the upstairs in their old age) or into their bedroom.
Stacks and stacks of books, thousands of them. Not quite “hoarders”, but close enough. You had to squeeze between piles of books to get into certain corners of the rooms. One of my biggest regrets was burning them all. It was just so much and they lived far enough from civilization that it didn’t make sense to haul 4 or 5 trailers full of books 40 miles to find them new homes, but it felt like an ignoble end to a lifelong passion.
Did you at least do a cursory check for valuable first editions and what not?
And dress the part?
-1 Mysterious Flame of Queen Laona
No, I wanted to but it wasn’t my place to stop the process. I saved one book.
Also, despite my vow to give up on Clive Cussler, I found 3 of his books at a yard sale for $0.75 each so I burned through them. Then I was given 20 Cussler hardbound books from my uncle’s library. So I’m back deep into NUMA.
On the bright side, Cussler is dead now so you don’t have to worry about new stuff of his to read.
What faiths can be readily argued to have an objection to mandated vax?
Gab sent a bunch of documentation that’s useful from the Orthodox Christian perspective. Primary focus was the use of aborted fetal material in developing these vaccines.
It could be very easily converted for Catholic or most Protestant denominations.
Do you have a link? Because that already sounds like it fits with my existing beliefs and I won’t have to claim to have converted.
Link
Thank you, sir.
I have to read it at home, because of the forward proxy rules.
Funny, they let twitter through…
I might be a born and raised atheist. But I was baptized as an Orthodox Christian when I was 16. I didn’t expect that these would be the circumstances to embrace the religion.
Possibly JW. They don’t allow blood transusion. I don’t know about other blood products.
Last night I downloaded a supposedly air-tight religious objection form from Gab. I haven’t read it yet.
Christian Scientists, but they are a bit strict WRT medications. Otherwise, is the Church of Monday Night Football still around?
I object to having to pretend to religious belief to be allowed to exercise my rights.
This. And while I get that you don’t have to like the rules to use them and don’t fault anyone who does so, I do feel it legitimizes the bullshit and it would be better if more people said “fuck you, I won’t comply.”
Complying also legitimizes the bullshit.
Any side effects yet?
I can suddenly detect when people are making specious arguments.
“Oh God! It broke him!”
The Church of F-U
The odds are that this will have to go in writing (because the union advocates against the membership), and I’m not ready to just walk out flipping them all the bird.
On a more serious note, your most obvious, easiest choice is going to be the Christian Scientists.
The biggest complicating factors are A: I know nothing about them B: work knows I just had gallbladder surgery and I’m not sure what that group’s opinion of that is.
Your simplest option may be finding a doctor who is willing to write you a medical exemption for a fee.
Nor is Christian Science strictly opposed to vaccines or vaccine mandates (or even healthcare mandates)
They do strive to have carve outs (exceptions or having CS practitioners added to qualifying medical expenses for instance) but ultimately, render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.
https://www.christianscience.com/press-room/a-christian-science-perspective-on-vaccination-and-public-health
Nor is their position one of rights above all
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/web-originals/2021/exercising-our-right-to-think-spiritually
It’s been amusing to me how a more CS position on disease has been embraced to some degree here and elsewhere, at least in regard to covid.
(Not a CS, my wife is so I’ve spent a little time around it. It’s quite different for someone who was raised as a cultural Catholic)
Now there’s a church I might belong to. Is there some sort of initiation ritual? I am willing to learn; would I be sent someplace special?
I’m reading Chaos Monkeys by the guy who got fired from Apple because the book made some of the ladies unsafe. I was curious to see what the fuss was about. They guy comes across as an arrogant jackass. I think he even describes himself as such in the book. But then Apple was founded by an arrogant jackass. I suspect the ladies felt unsafe because they were worried that he’d write another book about his time at Apple and they wouldn’t come out well.
Rereading “The Prestige” by Christopher Priest. Partway through the first Aristillus book by Travis Corcoran on kindle.
I am sure our woke military will do just fine with leadership such as this.
A MajGen getting into a Twiiter spat. That’s really someone to inspire confidence and loyalty.
And, does Austin realize how stupid, frightened and weak he looks in his Full Cleveland Covid Costume?
Don Jr. said to people questioning his art selling scheme, “other than f*** ’em?” during his appearance on the podcast “Nota Bene: This Week in the Art World,” with Nate Freeman & Benjamin Godsill on 7/29/2021.
Just kidding. But could you imagine if it was him instead of Hunter?
It’s been a stressful and unpleasant month, not a lot to report on the reading front.
James Alan Gardner, All Those Explosions Were Someone Else’s Fault. Fun, light read. Then now all-but-obligatory ‘non-binary’ main/viewpoint character, but it’s mostly not annoying.
Second book in the series, They Promised Me The Gun Wasn’t Loaded. One of the secondary characters from the first book is the narrator/protagonist of this one. The non-binary stuff/wokeism got a bit more out of hand, but I enjoyed both books. Gardner’s one of my favorite authors; his League of People’s series is fun.
Re-read Simon R. Green’s Moonbreaker, part of his ‘secret histories’ (Eddie Drood) series. By this point he’s pretty much phoning it in. It didn’t stand up well to a re-read.
Re-read Neal Asher’s Owner trilogy: The Departure, Zero Point, The Jupiter War. Near future dystopia with Asher’s usual panache. He’s very nearly one of us. This set did stand up to a re-read. Frighteningly prescient in some ways.
Hope things are getting better! ?
Thanks! Hopefully soon, or soon-ish.
I’ve been reading bad addresses on what seemed to be hundreds of pieces of returned mail from statements, etc. for last quarter BUT I’VE READ THEM ALL NOW, DAMMIT!
Just in time for NEXT month’s statements…and all the legally-required dormant account notices we have to send before shipping unclaimed funds off to the state. ☹️
Hi, I am Bob. Bob State, you can just send them to my P.O. Box…
Things I learn:
If you’re looking for info on gear oil additives to possibly quieten and extend the life of the transmission in your pickup, don’t try to save a few keystrokes and just use “stp trans”.
You’ll get some stuff you’d really prefer not to have in your search history.
Covid: Why Everything You Know is Wrong. By Sebastian Rushworth.
Nothing really new for this crowd, but Rushworth writes well and clearly explains complicated subjects.
If our betters were capable of of this sort of discussion the world would be a better place. One of the few medical types (he’s and MD) that admit that Science (TM) has noting to say about societal values and tradeoffs.
So far the Gym Bro has been 100% accurate with his predictions over a year ago.
https://mobile.twitter.com/NEWS_MAKER/status/1420451060565557260
Is there a way to find out the exact date he gave this speech?
I know it was spring 2020. He was a spring breaker scofflaw when covid hysteria was ramping up.
Rushworth’s blog is worth checking in on.
I object to having to pretend to religious belief to be allowed to exercise my rights.
I’m allergic to superstitious mumbo jumbo. That’s my “health related” response.
I remember reading. I liked doing that.
I am reading Freehold.
The libertarianism is a little too shiny and perfect even for me.
Anything that involves people is going to be messy.
I think was his first novel. Written (and read by me) back when we were younger and far more optimistic.
I bought a ‘My Other Car is a Red Barchetta’ bumper sticker from Mike back when he was working the Indy 1500 gun shows.
“Geologic History of Florida” and “Tides and the Ocean” These are part of starting to seriously plan for retirement on FL’s gulf coast.
SF’s “Mort(e)” and its series is looking fun for road trip audibles.
I should start reading the NY Post.
https://nypost.com/covers/
Manchin has at least a little sense.
“One source described the West Virginian as being ‘jokingly booed’ by the other senators, but another source in the room did not see it that way,” Politico Playbook reported. “Tensions are torquing up among Democrats over the reconciliation bill — or, more precisely, over its proposed $3.5 trillion price tag.”
“Manchin views the growing national debt as a heavy burden that will drag down the economy, threaten national security and impose a heavy burden on future generations — fairly typical budget-hawk beliefs,” Playbook continued. “Does Manchin’s position — and that he was bringing it up at a meeting of his fellow Senate Dems — mean that we’re in store for even more haggling over the price tag of the reconciliation bill? Stay tuned.”
We’ve already established what they are…
Manchin views the growing national debt as a heavy burden that will drag down the economy, threaten national security and impose a heavy burden on future generations
His voting history says otherwise.
Posobiec seems to think blue state lockdowns are coming. I’m left to wonder if Newsom will try and resist as a hail mary for his recall. If we go into lockdown again, he is completely done if he is the one ordering it. He’s gotta know that. Especially after getting busted again with his kid going to mask free camp right after advocating for more mask mandates. I will be so happy if he gets fired.
They are coming most likely. The general dumbass panicky mood and general feeling of dread by the usual suspects reminds me of late February 2020.
Lockdown = mail-in ballots. I think we’re hearing about new lockdowns because they’re trying to help Newsom
Oh, the cheating is well established here, it was going to happen anyway. The “polls” are running 50/50 in favor of recall. That means they don’t feel comfortable claiming the usual 70/30 against they normally would. The polls are just another tool to fortify the results. If they can’t use them, that means it must be bad for Gruesome. There will be some fierce calls for investigations if Newsom survives. I doubt they feel good about using the max cheating they normally would in this environment.
The cheatings will continue until morale improves!
I would laugh, if it weren’t so scary close to the truth.
I expect school is going to be online again.
OT:
In my eternal quest to ignore the derp that infests our corporate slack channel, I almost missed an item of utmost importance.
I did not know that July is National Watermelon Month
But my corporate overlords do! And what better way to celebrate than with a Watermelon Challenge, in which recipes using the juicy green fruit are submitted for our review? Not sure what the prizes are, and who knows what the final vote will be, but I think I know which recipe would be the favorite amongst the gliberati. Ladies and Gentlemen, behold the Melonski:
Cut a hole in the watermelon the size of the circumference of the bottle neck.
Cut the hole deep enough to hold the neck of the bottle.
Insert the open vodka bottle into the opening,so that the vodka can flow into the melon. Stabilise the watermelon and leave it to stand for 2 days so that the vodka can flow into the melon.
Remove the bottle and cut the watermelon into wedges for serving.
Got my vote!
We’re celebrating out here by banning gaming computers.
Tomorrow is System Administrator Appreciation Day.
It’s been on my calendar pretty much the entire time I’ve been a Sysadmin.
No one celebrates it.
No one celebrates it.
You’re not doing it right. The proper approach is “Tomorrow is System Administrator Appreciation Day. It is also Password Revocation Day (for the unappreciative)” /Former DBA
Even white people don’t have those kind of privileges.
According to #2 son, who is wise in the ways of gaming rigs, the banned machines are not even particularly high-end. He and I were kicking around the possibility (probability?) that home-built rigs will need to be monitored as well. Probably start kicking in doors if household energy consumption exceeds an acceptable threshold, like they once did to flag people using grow lamps to raise hydroponic weed.
A quick vid on this:
https://youtu.be/cUgyyWsJUgw
The long and short is that they aren’t allowed because of regs that were passed years ago and that apply to all kinds of shit. Still not good but gamers and computers aren’t being singled out.
Yeah, they outlawed a bunch of televisions because they expected more efficient ones to be released. I bought an illegal one at the time, technically. Just because I liked the idea. We have also outlawed all internal combustion vehicles, I think starting in 2030 or so.
Thanks for the link, Your Redolence. The dood in the video is saying pretty much what the spawn was saying WRT the power regulations at issue. I need to start paying better attention to my kid, he is 10x smarter than I am.
TL/DW, but anyone who thinks that outlawing various products has no deleterious effects on people and free markets is not paying attention. Sure there’s a way to get your gaming computer, but everything is being designed by government nanny scolds now and that’s why all cars look the same and they all spy on you. There’s no turning the nanny state around. the video guy seems to be asserting that people not paying attention to their power settings are bad and need some regulating. This mentality is killing us all slowly.
There’s no turning the nanny state around.
We will only be free of it when the current government (government, not administration) no longer rules this society.
Current governmente. I find a trailing “e” to be useful for clarification.
Probably just ban high wattage power supplies. No power supply, no working computer.
Huh, I figured that would be celebrated at the same time as Juneteenth.
I’ll see myself out.
I thought it was celebrated along with something else in February.
I, too, will see myself out.
Why? what’s wrong with Groundhog Day?
It just gets repeditive after a while.
Something something political norms…
The U.S. Justice Department on Friday ordered the Internal Revenue Service to hand over former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to a House of Representatives committee, saying the panel has offered “sufficient reasons” for requesting the material.
The department’s Office of Legal Counsel reversed course and declared that the department erred in 2019 when Trump was still in office when it found that the request for his taxes by the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee was based on a “disingenuous” objective aimed at exposing them to the public.
They just can’t quit him.
Naturally, “no reasonable prosecutor” would charge whoever it is that illegally leaks them to the public, either.
Can’t quit her.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PYzPoR9V-wE
Interesting lyric. Probably just about a girl, but could be about trying to kick the big H.
ot but relevant
John Cleese’s Favourite Sketch: The Bookshop | At Last The 1948 Show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYlOV7K-xOU
more complete version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPouuA0KMO4
Mag pouch with magnet from BSG arrived. For some reason, it’s packaged in a resealable stay-fresh envelope, the kind beef jerky comes in.
I thought Krydex gear was a Chinese knockoff of BSG, but the real thing has a drop belt hanger so it won’t be at the same height as the others 🙁
Yeah, that’s adrag!
Special appeal to Tres on this one. Break out the big screen.
She reminds me too much of Winston’s mom. Besides, Im still swooning over Priscilla Block.
Id treat Priscilla like the Harambe exhibit and drop a baby in that.
I did not know that July is National Watermelon Month
Something something hot summer days = global warming
Watermelons agree,
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/29/the-air-conditioning-trap-how-cold-air-is-heating-the-world
“All of these reports note the awful irony of this feedback loop: warmer temperatures lead to more air conditioning; more air conditioning leads to warmer temperatures.”
That is quite a hot take. I see a lot of sweaty dollar bills in my future.
Just dont keep them in your bra or sock if you intend to use them.
Prison wallet it is!
+ Junk in the trunk
Key to living past 100 may hinge on your gut health, study of centenarians shows
Centenarians have unique gut bacteria that enables them to live to a ripe old age, according to new research. Scientists in Japan say this unique gut makeup fuels bile acids that protect against disease.
The discovery could lead to yogurts and other probiotic foods that increase longevity.
“In people over the age of 100, an enrichment in a distinct set of gut microbes generate unique bile acids,” says lead author Professor Kenya Honda of Keio University in a statement per South West News Service. “They might inhibit the growth of pathogens.”
The complex fluids are vital in ridding the body of fat and waste. They also control cholesterol.
I was hoping it was bacon and booze.
I thought it was vaccines. Vaccines which will soon confer immortality.
?
Wealth, Poverty, and Politics by Thomas Sowell
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Kill Chain by some nerd
And all the books on how to research crap for my Master’s thesis.
Sarah Ruden’s new translation of The Gospels, based on, of all things, a recommendation by Tyler Cowen on the Marginal Revolution website.
It’s an interesting translation; I particularly like the way she translates some hoary old phrases such as “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” which she renders as “baptism to change people’s purpose and absolve them from their offenses” (Mark 1:4). There’s lots of stuff like that in this translation, and copious, useful footnotes. Her Foreword is also an illuminating discussion of how un-nervingly different the four gospels were from most literature written during the mid-to-late first century, not just because of their obvious content differences, but also based on stylistic and grammatical issues as well as the likely cultural differences between the writers and their audience(s).
Other than that, it’s been another slow month for reading anything I actually want to read.
So heard on the way back from dropping the kid off at the airport that all this flipping out at the CDC and WH regarding COVID is over a study in Mass of 500 people that were partying it up? SCIENCE!
Well, you know, “a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian jungle, and subsequently a storm ravages half of Europe.” Doesn’t get more IFLS than that.
Apparently even Nate *Fucking* Silver is calling it dubious. It is almost as if they scrambled to just find anything to justify it and really, there is nothing to back it.
But not because he is a constitution-hating, tyrannical psychopath…
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called on the White House Friday to rescind David Chipman’s nomination to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms over allegations that Chipman “made racist statements about the abilities of African American ATF agents.”
Hey, may as well hit them where they can be hurt…
That’s called the China tactic. It worked for them.
Constitution-hating is a prerequisite for hte job.
It’s the smart play. You can talk about individual freedom and the constitution with the right or middle and get traction with those on the fence. Won’t move the needle an inch with those on the left.
Pointing out how gun control is designed to hurt blacks and other minorities actually gets some on the Left to stop and think. That’s a talking point they’ve been well trained to heed and reflexively submit to.
OK, vandalism bad, but I laughed.
Akron is not Cleveland!
Also, left out was that this was right near the school that LeBron went to, and the business owner declined to file a police report.
I bought a 1947 Sonora RBU-176 AM radio today – works except for some hum (ie, needs new power supply capacitors).
These radios are potential killers: “Let’s put AC from the outlet straight into the chassis and rectifiy that into DC, with no power transformer.”
Well at least it looks cool.
https://radioattic.com/soldradios/sold_radios_2011/Guy_Sonora_RBU-176_(1946).jpg
I’ve been reading – a big ol’ thick paperback – called “Alien Trilogy” – essentially three novels in the Alien ™ universe. Not bad, not great. More fodder to just read at night before I hit the hay.
Of more interest is the Alex Verus series, about a mage living in current-world London. Lots of violent battles with magic, guns, death, etc. He can see into the future, so, for example, knows when a bulllet or spell is about to hit him (provided he is concentrating). He’s magically weak but can dodge and weave. Pretty good series – 8 books in so far.
I read the first 5 Alex Verus books – I was enjoying them well enough, I just ran out of books.
Looks like he’s up to 12, so maybe I’ll re-read the first 5 & get back in the swing of things.
After Agent Cormac, I guess.
Yeah, hot chassis tube radios, built like that to reduce parts count (transformers were and are expensive). Does the radio even bother with full rectification, or is it a single diode tube for half-wave?
Ah, nevermind. Just d/l’ed the schematic from radiomuseum.org. It’s half-wave. Stupid of me to ask, since I already ID’ed the important consideration in the design of the radio: “reduce parts count.”
It is pretty cool. If you’re not opposed to resto-mods, replace the innards with a bluetooth speaker.
“Well at least it looks cool.”
[Looks at jpg…]
[Looks back at comment…]
Yep still reads as “at least it looks cool.”
[Looks back at jpg…]
Huh. Different strokes different folks I guess! Who am I to argue with THE warrior of the wasteland, the ayatollah of rock-and-rollah
My Hammarlund HQ-129 is wired similarly.
Yeah, it was pretty common to chain together tubes’ filaments like that in series to approximate the same voltage drop as line voltage at the time. Saves money.
I see a DFW glib has moved:
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/nation-world/national/article253071263.html
I like the sally port with the pistol lockers.
Cell phone and electronics lockers. Data center/equipment building. Dual grid feeds plus backup generator and raised flooring is the giveaway. HVAC setup is unlikely to be your residential heat pump.
Boring. I like my idea better — it’s a SCIF.
One of those is right down the street from me. It’s a little bit more obviously a data center, but still has clearly been sculpted to fit into the suburban NoVa groove.
Reading some old Robert E. Howard.
The Lovecraft influence in some of the older stories is fun. Haven’t read them since I was a wee lad.
I think I had all of the Conan books, long ago. It has also been forever since I read those stories.
I have had the paperback series edited by L. Sprague de Camp stashed away for decades (along with my comic book collection. I can’t believe it didn’t get thrown away). Picked up the first to reacquaint myself with The Elephant in the Tower, and was hooked once again.
Well now. This is interesting.
Interesting indeed. Seems there may be a few cracks in the dam. Would be nice to see a flood.
I don’t know if it is a break in the dam or a controlled release.
“Controlled release”
Are we still doong euphemisms?
“doong euphemisms”….you tell me
Why I love autocorrect. Screws up royally, but nowhere to be found when needed.
Yes it is. Very.
Also interesting
Is there a link somewhere to that Pfizer study? The one I’m seeing does not have those numbers.
Found it if anyone is interested.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.28.21261159v1.full-text
2 people out of the 22,000 in the Placebo group died from Covid. 2 out of 15 deaths.
If those two deaths are significant in any way, consider that 4 people in the vax group died from cardiac arrest compared with 1 in the placebo group. A much greater difference than deaths from Covid.
Thanks, d00d!
Mighty fine police work Lou.
Insightful!
But did the victim have silicone implants? That would certainly contribute to a misidentification. I hate when the media leaves out important details.
When I was in school, we used silicone oil specifically because it didn’t burn.
You’d think a person burning would smell more meaty.
“person burning would smell more meaty” is a great album name.
Or a prank fortune to put in someone’s cookie @ a chinese place
“meaty”
Long pig “pork-like,” I’m thinking.
Am I understanding that our Heroes In Blue actually thought a burned corpse was a burned RealDoll?
Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, Do you think that the police who couldn’t tell the difference between a real person and a RealDoll be expected to find the real killer? You must find my client innocent due to the stupidity of the police.
Reading the new James ellroy book, Widespread Panic. It’s okay and his verbal tics work well with the main character.
Then there is this cunte.
The federal government may not try to force people to get the Covid vaccine.
And it may not have to.
Your employer, the restaurant where you want to eat, the concert venue you want to visit or the country where you want to travel may do it for them. …
“You get the FDA to say, ‘It’s final, it’s approved,’ and I can guarantee you all the places I’m involved in, if you don’t get vaccinated you will get fired,” Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone told CNBC on Wednesday. He sits on the board of trustees of the NYU Langone Medical Center. “You have an obligation to your fellow man to protect him as well as yourself.”
“You have an obligation to your fellow man to protect him as well as yourself.”
I am not even sure this is in the ‘social contract’. I have an obligation only to myself only. My immediate family and by extension, everyone else around me, gain benefit from my obligation.
I would think that employers would be wary of trying to force someone to take a medical treatment which, five years down the road, might have a number of interesting health sequelae that said employers could be sued for. Big Pharma may have been given a pass on liability by Big Gov, but I don’t think that extends to employers.
I am sure protections have been laid out unless it is an icky business they need to make an example of.
So you’ve been through the desert?
It felt good to get out of the yellow rain.
yellow rain
You’re reading that one too? I.P. Daily is one of my favorite authors!
/ I’m outta here
Thanks Daaaaad!
Good for bathroom reading.
It lost something in the translation from the original German.