All those questionaires that want you to classify yourself as white, black, Asian-American, hispanic, purple with polka dots, are offensive to me. I want to check off an "American" box. All those other categories are just fodder to fuel divisive identity politics. I don't want to be classified as one or another identity group. I am an American, and my sympathies lie with my country, not my narrow identity group.
And, while the Democrats are busy finding new identity groups, and talking them up, they don't actually promise these identity groups anything while campaigning. No promises of special treatment, special tax breaks, extra funding for pet projects, nothing. I don't see any reason for the identity groups to vote for the Dems, there is nothing in it for them.
Trump on the other hand has lowered black unemployment to the lowest level on record. That oughta be good for something.
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Friday, March 30, 2018
Vermont wants to regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Sounds cool. But what the newsies call "AI" is really just well programmed computers. In the programming world, "AI" is a flexible sort of programming, where decisions (if-then branching) can be done with less than 100% positivity of the evidence. And "AI" can be written to find it's goals by looking at data, which is more flexible than having the programs goals written into it by the programmers.
But when you get right down to it, what they are calling "AI" is really just programs running in microprocessors. Modern programming is more flexible than the early FORTRAN programs that handled well understood problems like printing up the payroll checks.
Long talk on Vermont public radio about the wonders of a Vermont state program to regulate "AI". They don't have it yet, but this program was pushing the idea. Since "AI" is really any programming, we are talking about regulating every product with a microprocessor in it. Which is just about everything these days. Your microwave, your automobile, your cell phone, your TV, your FM radio, just about everything that uses electricity. Do you really want to give a state commission the power to regulate just about everything? I don't.
The free market is perfectly capable of controlling computer programs on the market. Look at what's happening to Facebook over some data breaches. Same thing will happen to any product or company that offends the broader market place.
But when you get right down to it, what they are calling "AI" is really just programs running in microprocessors. Modern programming is more flexible than the early FORTRAN programs that handled well understood problems like printing up the payroll checks.
Long talk on Vermont public radio about the wonders of a Vermont state program to regulate "AI". They don't have it yet, but this program was pushing the idea. Since "AI" is really any programming, we are talking about regulating every product with a microprocessor in it. Which is just about everything these days. Your microwave, your automobile, your cell phone, your TV, your FM radio, just about everything that uses electricity. Do you really want to give a state commission the power to regulate just about everything? I don't.
The free market is perfectly capable of controlling computer programs on the market. Look at what's happening to Facebook over some data breaches. Same thing will happen to any product or company that offends the broader market place.
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Pacific Rim, (a movie)
Youngest Son was up for the weekend. He wanted to see it. I had never heard of it before. This was the opening weekend. So after skiing on Saturday, we went to the matinee in the mighty metropolis of Lincoln NH. It was playing, but by the time the end was reached and the credits rolled, we were the only two people in the theater. It must have done better somewhere, the Wall St Journal mentioned it in their weekend movie box office piece.
It's a giant robot movie. Same general idea as the Godzilla movies, except it's robots stamping on the high rises in down town Tokyo instead of Godzilla. The robots, who got much of the screen time, looked like CGI, rather than modelwork, and they were pretty good, they moved smoothly, they even had facial expressions (on robots no less). The robots were big enough to have two man control rooms inside them. The crew made the robot move by moving their arms and legs. When the human crew ran inplace in the control room, the robot would run down a Tokyo street. What was left unsaid is how the two man crew coordinated between them selves. Like what happens if one crew member swerves left and the other swerves right? The movie opens with a lot of robot on robot violence. The robots are all painted the same color, and don't have national insignia painted on their chests, so it's hard to tell the good robot from the bad robot. About the best I could do was assume the robot that walked away after the fight was the good robot and the one that lay broken on the ground was the bad robot. Later a bunch of sea monsters surfaced in the harbor and all the robots fought against them.
None of the cast was anyone I had ever heard of before. There was a little love interest, a very young chick, assigned as co pilot to the leading man's robot. I never did catch any of their names. What little dialog ensued between young chick and leading man was of the "Keep a stiff upper lip" sort. What ever sort of relationship they might or might not have enjoyed, it wasn't a lovey dovey one. Two good points, the camera man kept the camera on the tripod, no shake the camera shots, and he put the lights on, no pure black scenes. And the soundman did a decent job, most of the dialog was audible and understandable.
According to Youngest Son, this was a sequel to a previous version that had been wildly successful in China. So that made a sequel, hoping to rake in a bit more money. Far as I can see, it was aimed at 12-14 year old boys.
If this is the future of Hollywood movies, it's gonna be a tough year at the box office.
It's a giant robot movie. Same general idea as the Godzilla movies, except it's robots stamping on the high rises in down town Tokyo instead of Godzilla. The robots, who got much of the screen time, looked like CGI, rather than modelwork, and they were pretty good, they moved smoothly, they even had facial expressions (on robots no less). The robots were big enough to have two man control rooms inside them. The crew made the robot move by moving their arms and legs. When the human crew ran inplace in the control room, the robot would run down a Tokyo street. What was left unsaid is how the two man crew coordinated between them selves. Like what happens if one crew member swerves left and the other swerves right? The movie opens with a lot of robot on robot violence. The robots are all painted the same color, and don't have national insignia painted on their chests, so it's hard to tell the good robot from the bad robot. About the best I could do was assume the robot that walked away after the fight was the good robot and the one that lay broken on the ground was the bad robot. Later a bunch of sea monsters surfaced in the harbor and all the robots fought against them.
None of the cast was anyone I had ever heard of before. There was a little love interest, a very young chick, assigned as co pilot to the leading man's robot. I never did catch any of their names. What little dialog ensued between young chick and leading man was of the "Keep a stiff upper lip" sort. What ever sort of relationship they might or might not have enjoyed, it wasn't a lovey dovey one. Two good points, the camera man kept the camera on the tripod, no shake the camera shots, and he put the lights on, no pure black scenes. And the soundman did a decent job, most of the dialog was audible and understandable.
According to Youngest Son, this was a sequel to a previous version that had been wildly successful in China. So that made a sequel, hoping to rake in a bit more money. Far as I can see, it was aimed at 12-14 year old boys.
If this is the future of Hollywood movies, it's gonna be a tough year at the box office.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Personna Non Grata (PNG)
The US and its allies are getting some press coverage by kicking Russian "diplomats" (intelligence agents actually) out of the country over the poisoning of a retired Russian spy and his daughter in England last week. We used to do this pretty often during the cold war. I assume the Russians will retaliate shortly, probably by kicking a bunch of allied diplomats out of Russia. And, after the shouting dies down, both sides will replace the expelled diplomats/intelligence agents with new people.
Back before electrical communications (telegraph, telephone, radio, and such) the whole system of diplomacy, ambassadors, diplomatic immunity, extraterritoriality of embassies, the diplomatic pouch, and so on was developed. A country's ambassador, knowing that communication with his national capital takes weeks, acted on his own say-so in matters such as declaring support or opposition to host country's military moves, (invading or being invaded), hiking tariffs, arresting your nationals, fitting out warships for use by a rebel movement, anything. Nowadays, the ambassador doesn't do anything until his home government sends him a cable. We keep the diplomatic system up partly from habit and largely for the intelligence it can gather. There is a lot of very valuable legal intelligence that can be gathered simply be reading the local press, and buying maps and books.
Back before electrical communications (telegraph, telephone, radio, and such) the whole system of diplomacy, ambassadors, diplomatic immunity, extraterritoriality of embassies, the diplomatic pouch, and so on was developed. A country's ambassador, knowing that communication with his national capital takes weeks, acted on his own say-so in matters such as declaring support or opposition to host country's military moves, (invading or being invaded), hiking tariffs, arresting your nationals, fitting out warships for use by a rebel movement, anything. Nowadays, the ambassador doesn't do anything until his home government sends him a cable. We keep the diplomatic system up partly from habit and largely for the intelligence it can gather. There is a lot of very valuable legal intelligence that can be gathered simply be reading the local press, and buying maps and books.
Monday, March 26, 2018
The Facebook API interface
Face book has a lot of data, gathered over the years, on its computers. According to youngest son, there was an undocumented, but not secret, interface to the public internet. He say he used it himself to conduct searches for stuff that interested him (space travel, fusion power). He tells me this is the interface Cambridge Analytics used to access those fifty million Facebook user's data. He says that Facebook wised up and closed that interface quite recently. As well they might, Facebook's business model is built around selling their data, not giving it away free to savvy hackers.
There has been talk about regulating Facebook and its ilk. I frankly cannot think of any simple enforceable regulations that would do anything useful. Far as I am concerned, the free enterprise system is perfectly capable of shaping up Facebook. If Facebook offends enough users, who then leave Facebook, Facebook will loose money. They won't be able to charge as much for ads and data. That oughta be enough incentive to shape 'em up.
I use Facebook, but only to exchange chit chat with old school friends, family, and the neighbors, and to post photo's of my children, grandchildren, the scenery, the weather, my model railroad, and my cat. I expect that only my Facebook friends can see my posts, but it doesn't bother me much that anybody can see them. They are all fairly good photos, they are lovable children, and its a very nice cat.
There has been talk about regulating Facebook and its ilk. I frankly cannot think of any simple enforceable regulations that would do anything useful. Far as I am concerned, the free enterprise system is perfectly capable of shaping up Facebook. If Facebook offends enough users, who then leave Facebook, Facebook will loose money. They won't be able to charge as much for ads and data. That oughta be enough incentive to shape 'em up.
I use Facebook, but only to exchange chit chat with old school friends, family, and the neighbors, and to post photo's of my children, grandchildren, the scenery, the weather, my model railroad, and my cat. I expect that only my Facebook friends can see my posts, but it doesn't bother me much that anybody can see them. They are all fairly good photos, they are lovable children, and its a very nice cat.
California Pot Growers
Saturday's Wall St Journal had an editorial headlined "Marijuana Supply-Siders". They stated that there are 68150 pot growers in California. They say the number comes from the California Growers Association. I wonder how many growers decided not to register with the Growers Association for fear that the narcs or the DEA or the cops would get on their case. I know if I was growing weed in California I'd try to keep it secret.
And, that's a lot of pot farmers. About one pot farmer for every 587 citizens of California. Take a guess that only 10% of Californians smoke weed. That's one pot farmer for every 58 smokers. The article did mention that a lot of California pot is exported from California.
And, that's a lot of pot farmers. About one pot farmer for every 587 citizens of California. Take a guess that only 10% of Californians smoke weed. That's one pot farmer for every 58 smokers. The article did mention that a lot of California pot is exported from California.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Beat the Press
They were on, Channel 10, just this morning. For the week's Trump bashing they talked about hiring and firing at the White House, presumably the lawyer who quit, the firing of the secretary of state, and his replacement with John Bolton. All the talking heads agreed that this was termoil at the White House and all sorts of bad.
They did not talk about Trump's tax bill, his proposed and nearly in effect tariffs, foreign policy vs the NORKS, 3% GNP growth, 4% unemployment, squeezing ISIS, cutting federal regulations, DACA, that omnibus budget blowout bill, in short anything of substance. Must mean that the MSM (democrats all) see nothing in all Trump's actions to bash him with. Must mean they like what Trump does, but despise him personally. Good mature attitude there.
They did not talk about Trump's tax bill, his proposed and nearly in effect tariffs, foreign policy vs the NORKS, 3% GNP growth, 4% unemployment, squeezing ISIS, cutting federal regulations, DACA, that omnibus budget blowout bill, in short anything of substance. Must mean that the MSM (democrats all) see nothing in all Trump's actions to bash him with. Must mean they like what Trump does, but despise him personally. Good mature attitude there.
Words of the Weasel Part 50
The MSM and the gun control people have been using "gun violence" rather than the older and truer word, murder. It's a disgraceful attempt to be non judgemental, to blame a tool for the sins of an evil person. Murder has been a crime ever since Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Mt Sinai. Gun violence only made the TV since the Portland school shooting.
Friday, March 23, 2018
Bimbo Hush Money is now illegal campaign contribution???
That's what NPR was telling me this morning. That $130,000 hush money that Trump's lawyer[s] paid "Stormy Daniels" is an illegal campaign contribution and the special prosecutor should investigate. Somehow this does not compute. Campaign contributions are money given to a candidate. Hush money given to a bimbo is distasteful, and a PR disaster, but I don't think it is a campaign contribution. But good old NPR can find lawyers to say anything they want said. NPR is part of the deep state trying to push Trump out of the presidency. I am so glad my tax money goes to subsidize NPR.
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Congress does it again. 2300 Page Omnibus Spending Bill
No Congressman, except for maybe Paul Ryan, has any idea of what all is in it. At best they know that their pet spending got in, along with every one else's pet spending. Which is why the Federal deficit is so bad. Nobody can read 23,000 pages of Congressional gobble-de-gook, even if given a year to do it. Probably a few congressional staffers, like the one's who wrote this thing, have a general idea, and that's about it.
This disgrace is caused by the Senate. The House wrote, debated and passed 12 spending bills, one for each major Federal department. The Senate failed to even bring them up for debate, let alone pass them. Let's hear it for Senate Rules. Bulwark of democracy they are.
So the end result, a few anonymous congressional staffers control all the spending of the Federal government.
Senators let this happen because it allows them to avoid voting on anything that their constituents might object to. And who might write them nasty letters, or threaten to vote against them. So they allow staffers to pack all the spending decisions into one vast unreadable swamp. Since nobody, constituents, political opponents, the MSM, bloggers know what's in there, they cannot got on Senator Phogbound's case about what he voted for.
This disgrace is caused by the Senate. The House wrote, debated and passed 12 spending bills, one for each major Federal department. The Senate failed to even bring them up for debate, let alone pass them. Let's hear it for Senate Rules. Bulwark of democracy they are.
So the end result, a few anonymous congressional staffers control all the spending of the Federal government.
Senators let this happen because it allows them to avoid voting on anything that their constituents might object to. And who might write them nasty letters, or threaten to vote against them. So they allow staffers to pack all the spending decisions into one vast unreadable swamp. Since nobody, constituents, political opponents, the MSM, bloggers know what's in there, they cannot got on Senator Phogbound's case about what he voted for.
Safe guard the voters lists from hackers
Been a lotta talk on the 'Net and on the tube about Russians hacking the 2016 election, and what we oughta do about it. Step one is to dump the voting machines and go back to paper ballots. A voting machine is just a desktop computer running a special ballot program. It is subject to all the hacks that ordinary computers are subject to, which is too damn many.
Step two is safeguarding the voter lists. You know those lists they have at the polls and upon which they check off your name as you vote. And if your name isn't on the list you either have to do some extra paperwork, or you don't get to vote. Suppose the other side had used a program to go thru the voter's list and erase 10% of your party's voters? Or I can think of worse.
Best security would be to go back to keeping the voter's list with pen and ink. Barring that, if you just gotta have the list on computer, best would be not to use Windows. Windows is totally and irredeemably security compromised. It's Swiss cheese, fulla holes. Use a Mac, use Linux, use anything except Windows. Only allow one computer for updating the list, printing it out, and making backups. Keep that machine in a locked room to which only a very few have a key. DO NOT allow that machine to connect to any other machine, the public internet, the telephone network, anything. Do not allow anyone to insert flash drives, floppy disks, CD's or other media into the machine. Periodically do a backup of the voter list to CD-ROM. Store one copy of the backup CD-ROM off site so it will be available in the event of fire or flood at Town Hall. Periodically compare the master voter's list on the computer to the most recent backup and decide if the changes, and the amount of change is reasonable.
Step two is safeguarding the voter lists. You know those lists they have at the polls and upon which they check off your name as you vote. And if your name isn't on the list you either have to do some extra paperwork, or you don't get to vote. Suppose the other side had used a program to go thru the voter's list and erase 10% of your party's voters? Or I can think of worse.
Best security would be to go back to keeping the voter's list with pen and ink. Barring that, if you just gotta have the list on computer, best would be not to use Windows. Windows is totally and irredeemably security compromised. It's Swiss cheese, fulla holes. Use a Mac, use Linux, use anything except Windows. Only allow one computer for updating the list, printing it out, and making backups. Keep that machine in a locked room to which only a very few have a key. DO NOT allow that machine to connect to any other machine, the public internet, the telephone network, anything. Do not allow anyone to insert flash drives, floppy disks, CD's or other media into the machine. Periodically do a backup of the voter list to CD-ROM. Store one copy of the backup CD-ROM off site so it will be available in the event of fire or flood at Town Hall. Periodically compare the master voter's list on the computer to the most recent backup and decide if the changes, and the amount of change is reasonable.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
You gotta wonder about that FBI
Jeff Sessions just fired the FBI's number two man, Antony McCabe, based upon the FBI inspector general's written recommendation. Just to make it hurt a little more, McCabe was within hours of retirement, with a full pension. Getting fired means no pension, a pretty harsh penalty.
Question, if McCabe was such a crumb bum, how did he rise so far in the FBI? I assume McCabe joined the FBI twenty years ago as a junior agent, or what ever the FBI calls new troops. Since over twenty years, he got himself promoted up to number two at the Bureau, he must have had a lot of supervisors writing good performance reports on him over the years. Is it a case of a good guy turning bad in his later years? Or is it case of a lot of McCabe's supervisors thinking McCabe's way of doing things was good? That in fact a lot of the Bureau's supervision is just like McCabe? And that maybe some more weeding out is in order?
Question, if McCabe was such a crumb bum, how did he rise so far in the FBI? I assume McCabe joined the FBI twenty years ago as a junior agent, or what ever the FBI calls new troops. Since over twenty years, he got himself promoted up to number two at the Bureau, he must have had a lot of supervisors writing good performance reports on him over the years. Is it a case of a good guy turning bad in his later years? Or is it case of a lot of McCabe's supervisors thinking McCabe's way of doing things was good? That in fact a lot of the Bureau's supervision is just like McCabe? And that maybe some more weeding out is in order?
Monday, March 19, 2018
Don't Fire Mueller
The lefties have been drum beating for Trump to fire special prosecutor Robert Mueller. If Trump were so foolish as to do so, it would convince an awful lot of voters that Trump has something to hide. That he is dirty.
I like to think that Trump understands this and that he is smart enough to avoid shooting himself in the foot. Let's hope.
I like to think that Trump understands this and that he is smart enough to avoid shooting himself in the foot. Let's hope.
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Beat the Press
They were at it again this morning. Lotta talk about firing that FBI guy, Tony something-or-other. More talk about Trump's tweets, investigations into Russian collusion, and that Pittsburgh special election that the Democrats won by a hair.
No talk about dealing with the NORKS, Trump's tax bill, the steel and aluminum tariffs, dealing with the Russians. Does this mean that the Democrats think these subjects make Trump look good? So they don't talk about them?
No talk about dealing with the NORKS, Trump's tax bill, the steel and aluminum tariffs, dealing with the Russians. Does this mean that the Democrats think these subjects make Trump look good? So they don't talk about them?
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Puerto Rican bonds are hot on Wall St this year
Cannot understand why. Puerto Rico is broke. They will never have enough revenue to pay off their bonds. In fact they have declared bankruptcy, after getting a special act of Congress allowing them to do so, and a bankruptcy judge will decide how much (how little) the bond holders might get paid, if Puerto Rico ever comes up with some cash. Which they probably cannot do.
So why does a Puerto Rican bond have any value what so ever on the Street? Inquiring minds want to know.
So why does a Puerto Rican bond have any value what so ever on the Street? Inquiring minds want to know.
The New Hampshire Death Penalty
Concord is all hot and bothered about repealing the death penalty. I wonder why. NH hasn't executed anyone since 1939, nearly eighty years ago. We have one cop killer on death row right now. He has been there for ten years, with lawyers billing the state for ten years of appeals and foo for raw.
Could it be that our gallant state reps and senators have found a headline grabbing issue, that doesn't require any funding, and are playing it for publicity?
Could it be that our gallant state reps and senators have found a headline grabbing issue, that doesn't require any funding, and are playing it for publicity?
Friday, March 16, 2018
That Miami bridge collapse
It got a lot of TV coverage yesterday and the TV newsies are still going on about it today. I gather that the bridge was a prefab and newly installed. No mention of the installing contractor's name. Far as I am concerned the guys who installed it are liable if it falls down within a week. Also no mention of the company that made the prefab bridge. When sued, the installer will claim his people did everything right but the prefab bridge was defective in design or manufacture.
Either the TV newsies are so ignorant as not to understand the liability issues here, or they are being paid off to keep it quiet. Trust worthy those newsies are.
Either the TV newsies are so ignorant as not to understand the liability issues here, or they are being paid off to keep it quiet. Trust worthy those newsies are.
The many names of a house cat
Cat came to me from my daughter. It had been her college cat. She graduated, and signed up for a hitch with the Peace Corps. She said something like "Aw Dad, you will take care of the cat. Won't you?" And since I am very fond of daughter, and it was a decent cat, the deal was done. The cat bore the name of Hecate, which seemed like a pretty pretentious name for just a house cat. After a couple of highly amusing goofs on the cat's part, I began to call her Stupid Beast. For a while I could stand out on the deck and call "Stupid Beast" and the cat would actually come home.
In warm weather, cat would sprawl out flat on the floor, spread out to lose as much heat as possible. I began to call her "Flat Beast" This lead to "Fat Beast" and "RAF", short for Round and Flat. Along with Her Flatness, and Fatress. And often I just call her Cat, as in "Hello Cat" when she greets my return from a store run.
In warm weather, cat would sprawl out flat on the floor, spread out to lose as much heat as possible. I began to call her "Flat Beast" This lead to "Fat Beast" and "RAF", short for Round and Flat. Along with Her Flatness, and Fatress. And often I just call her Cat, as in "Hello Cat" when she greets my return from a store run.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Cannon Mt ski weather
Heaviest snow of the winter. Started yesterday at 9:30. This morning I have 13 inches piled up on my deck. And it's still coming down, lightly. Nice light powder. No wind so the snow stays on the trails instead of blowing away into the woods. This is on top of a good eight inches late last week. Mountain is a fantastic shape.
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Trump nominates old CIA hand to run agency
Thie morning's US gov shakeup. Rex Tillerson is out as Secretary of State. Mike Pompano from CIA is nominated as new Secretary of State. Gina Haspel nominated to run CIA.
The newsies are all atwitter about Gina Haspel, first woman CIA director, ever. Cool. But she is an old CIA hand, been working at the agency since the 1980's. CIA has a poisonous corporate culture. Specializing in gross intelligence failures, damaging leaks to the NYT, attempts to destabilize all Republican administrations, disastrously wrong predictions.
Not a promising background.
The newsies are all atwitter about Gina Haspel, first woman CIA director, ever. Cool. But she is an old CIA hand, been working at the agency since the 1980's. CIA has a poisonous corporate culture. Specializing in gross intelligence failures, damaging leaks to the NYT, attempts to destabilize all Republican administrations, disastrously wrong predictions.
Not a promising background.
Monday, March 12, 2018
Win 10 shows phantom files and folders
Back in the real versions of Windows, (95,98,NT,2000,XP), Explorer showed a straight forward picture of your hard drive. Each file of folder showed as a single icon, in it's proper place in the hierarchy. You could move, rename, delete, execute, display and change file properties. This worked.
Micro$oftware weenies couldn't leave stuff that worked alone. For Win10 we get an Explorer that displays a single folder icon or file icon multiple times, at different locations. Some of the icons cause error messages when clicked upon. Some icons can be deleted without deleting the real disk file that the icon stands for.
It's irritating, in fact so irritating that I am thinking about upgrading this laptop to Linux.
Micro$oftware weenies couldn't leave stuff that worked alone. For Win10 we get an Explorer that displays a single folder icon or file icon multiple times, at different locations. Some of the icons cause error messages when clicked upon. Some icons can be deleted without deleting the real disk file that the icon stands for.
It's irritating, in fact so irritating that I am thinking about upgrading this laptop to Linux.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Greenies snooker US Navy
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/03/08/the-us-navy-is-cancelling-a-program-to-turn-gas-guzzling-destroyers-into-hybrids/
US Navy allowed greenies to start up a hybrid propulsion program for destroyers. Musta been a bunch of pure USN desk weenies to fall for this scam. No real sea officer would have fallen for it. Hybrid propulsion sort of works in cars because a car only needs full power for a few seconds to accelerate to speed. Once at speed, the power demand on a car engine drops way way down. Hybrid cars have small engines, just enough to keep the car moving at speed and charge the battery. To accelerate a hybrid car uses battery power. Hybrids get slightly better fuel economy than straight gasoline powered cars, at the expense of carrying essentially twice as much propulsion machinery. And costing $10k more than a straight gasoline powered car. It is doubtful that the small fuel saving of a hybrid will pay off the extra $10K cost over the life of the car.
This doesn't work in ships. The water drag is so high all the time that the engines must produce serious power all the time to keep the ship moving. In fact a ship's top speed occurs when the water drag matches or exceeds engine thrust. The engines never get a break during which they can charge batteries. Since a ship's engines never get a chance to loaf at part throttle, carrying extra electrical equipment, generators and motors, just adds weight, it doesn't save any fuel.
You gotta wonder about the Navy officers who fell for this scam. Were they Annapolis grads? Does not Annapolis teach engineering anymore?
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Summit Meeting with the NORKS
This ought to keep the newsies busy for a long long time. Mostly it's a propaganda exercise between Donald Trump and Little Rocket Man. The winner is the one who convinces the world press that he is a reasonable man and the the other guy is a loon. Donald Trump has a lot of experience in this area. And he speaks English, the world wide language. Does Little Rocket Man speak English?
If any agreements are reached, I suspect that the NORKS will violate them, just as they have violated past agreements.
Churchill once said "Jaw, jaw is better than war war." Of course he said this back before nuclear weapons were invented. Starting up the Korean War again is a bad thing. On the other hand leaving the NORKS with nuclear tipped ICBM's is a bad thing too.
Let's hope that gaining a propaganda victory in the summit meeting does not allow the NORKs to continue with their nuclear missile program.
If any agreements are reached, I suspect that the NORKS will violate them, just as they have violated past agreements.
Churchill once said "Jaw, jaw is better than war war." Of course he said this back before nuclear weapons were invented. Starting up the Korean War again is a bad thing. On the other hand leaving the NORKS with nuclear tipped ICBM's is a bad thing too.
Let's hope that gaining a propaganda victory in the summit meeting does not allow the NORKs to continue with their nuclear missile program.
Friday, March 9, 2018
Big Brother Facebook is getting pretty snoopy
So I'm checking Facebook this morning to see what my friends might have posted overnight. And bingo, a message from Facebook itself. Saying something like this. "We have detected a friend request from someone you don't know. If you decide that this request is from a fake personality you can report it to us be clicking here and here."
Wow. They really are checking closely.
So I check my friend requests, and sure enough, there is a new one. A gorgeous woman judging from her photo. No mutual friends. No friends at all. No photos. Looks like a fake personality sure enough.
And thinking I might report this I click back to my "home" only to find the provocative post from Facebook has disappeared. So I let it slide.
Take away. Big Brother Facebook is really watching you. Beware of what you do.
Wow. They really are checking closely.
So I check my friend requests, and sure enough, there is a new one. A gorgeous woman judging from her photo. No mutual friends. No friends at all. No photos. Looks like a fake personality sure enough.
And thinking I might report this I click back to my "home" only to find the provocative post from Facebook has disappeared. So I let it slide.
Take away. Big Brother Facebook is really watching you. Beware of what you do.
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
NPR blathering
Yesterday I had NPR on my car radio. They started out discussing a report that Lyndon Johnson had authorized after riots in Detroit and Newark in the later 1960's. The report picked up the name "Kerner Commission Report" after the name of the commission chairman. The report blamed the riots in Detroit and Newark on "white racism". That was fifty years ago.
NPR ran on talking about the Kerner Report for a good hour. All the speakers said that white racism was terrible. Nobody gave specific examples of said white racism, naming names and dates. Nobody suggested ways to improve the situation, new laws, regulations, prayers, education policies, anything. For an hour of airtime all we learned was the NPR and their on-air guests were against white racism. Groovy, I'm against it myself. But to serve as useful public discourse, rather than just feel-good BS, you have to suggest courses of action, not just a dislike.
I'm so glad my tax money goes to support this kind of broadcasting.
NPR ran on talking about the Kerner Report for a good hour. All the speakers said that white racism was terrible. Nobody gave specific examples of said white racism, naming names and dates. Nobody suggested ways to improve the situation, new laws, regulations, prayers, education policies, anything. For an hour of airtime all we learned was the NPR and their on-air guests were against white racism. Groovy, I'm against it myself. But to serve as useful public discourse, rather than just feel-good BS, you have to suggest courses of action, not just a dislike.
I'm so glad my tax money goes to support this kind of broadcasting.
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Farewell to Radio Shack
I needed a one ohm resistor, fairly high wattage, to use to measure current draw on a DeWalt thickness planer. The planer had been blowing circuit breakers. I was about to set off for the Radio Shack in St Johnsbury until I decided to check it's location on Google Maps, it has been some time since I last visited it. Surprise. Google Maps showed the St Johnsbury Radio Shack as "closed". In fact it showed a whole bunch of New Hampshire Radio Shacks as closed. Closest one still open was all the way up in Colebrook.
Well it was a nice sunny day, the car needed a little exercise anyhow, so I drove up. And they had the needed resistor, and I bought some other hardware too. Poor old Radio Shack stopped selling, or lost, or something, the high value high margin product you need to make enough money to stay alive. Back in the old days, Radio Shack sold stereo equipment under their own Realistic brand name. And ham gear and TV sets, and they pioneered the personal computer business with the TRS-80. Back in the day, the Trash-80 sold as well as Apple II. Somehow all the decent high margin products went away and Radio Sack was left with hardware bits and pieces, batteries, cables. Low value stuff. And now they are closing up. Too bad.
Well it was a nice sunny day, the car needed a little exercise anyhow, so I drove up. And they had the needed resistor, and I bought some other hardware too. Poor old Radio Shack stopped selling, or lost, or something, the high value high margin product you need to make enough money to stay alive. Back in the old days, Radio Shack sold stereo equipment under their own Realistic brand name. And ham gear and TV sets, and they pioneered the personal computer business with the TRS-80. Back in the day, the Trash-80 sold as well as Apple II. Somehow all the decent high margin products went away and Radio Sack was left with hardware bits and pieces, batteries, cables. Low value stuff. And now they are closing up. Too bad.
Monday, March 5, 2018
deer rifles vs assault rifles
There are no objective differences (objective means things you can measure with a ruler, or with fancier instruments). Both deer rifles and assault rifles are chambered for center fire cartridges firing bullets from 0.22 inches up to 0.44 inches at muzzle velocities in the ball park of 2800 foot per second. They have barrels ranging in length from 18 inches out to maybe 28 inches. They can be self loaders, or lever action or bolt action. Neither can be fully automatic (fully automatic is a machine gun). Fully automatic guns were made illegal back in Al Capone's time.
The main differences between deer rifles and assault rifles are matters of styling. Deer rifles are usually fitted with nicely finished walnut stocks and the metal is blued. Assault rifles have black plastic stocks, and the metal is given a variety of military finishes that look black and non reflective in daylight.
Which means the current hue and cry for "an assault weapons ban" is really a call to ban all firearms ownership. The anti gun crowd has taken the Parkland Florida massacre as an excuse to soap box for a ban on all gun ownership.
The Parkland shooter should have been identified as a homicidal maniac long ago and placed in a mental hospital. If we allow guys like that to run around loose, they will find a way to do evil even if they cannot purchase a gun over the counter at a gun store.
The main differences between deer rifles and assault rifles are matters of styling. Deer rifles are usually fitted with nicely finished walnut stocks and the metal is blued. Assault rifles have black plastic stocks, and the metal is given a variety of military finishes that look black and non reflective in daylight.
Which means the current hue and cry for "an assault weapons ban" is really a call to ban all firearms ownership. The anti gun crowd has taken the Parkland Florida massacre as an excuse to soap box for a ban on all gun ownership.
The Parkland shooter should have been identified as a homicidal maniac long ago and placed in a mental hospital. If we allow guys like that to run around loose, they will find a way to do evil even if they cannot purchase a gun over the counter at a gun store.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Why cannot American Steel and Aluminum compete?
President Trump wants to slap a 25% tariff in imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum. He claims that foreign competition is so fierce that we need good stiff tariffs to preserve the American industry. That American steel and aluminum companies will be driven out of business by the foreign competition.
I'd like to know, just why the American industries cannot compete with the foreigners. Is it the worker's wages? cost of raw materials, obsolete plant and equipment, outrageous pollution regulations, high taxes, stock buybacks, overly plump dividend payments, outrageous CEO pay, or what? How plump were the last union contracts? Used to be, American industry was far more efficient than anywhere else on the globe. What happened? Why do the US metals companies "need" tariff protection. Protection that costs us consumers dearly.
Another good question. What gives the president the authority to raise tariffs on just his say-so. I thought US tariffs were acts of Congress, not executive orders.
The Journal and Fox News are running pieces against the tariff, but none of the MSM have investigated the national security ploy being used to justify a really stiff tax hike on everyone except the steel and aluminum industries.
I'd like to know, just why the American industries cannot compete with the foreigners. Is it the worker's wages? cost of raw materials, obsolete plant and equipment, outrageous pollution regulations, high taxes, stock buybacks, overly plump dividend payments, outrageous CEO pay, or what? How plump were the last union contracts? Used to be, American industry was far more efficient than anywhere else on the globe. What happened? Why do the US metals companies "need" tariff protection. Protection that costs us consumers dearly.
Another good question. What gives the president the authority to raise tariffs on just his say-so. I thought US tariffs were acts of Congress, not executive orders.
The Journal and Fox News are running pieces against the tariff, but none of the MSM have investigated the national security ploy being used to justify a really stiff tax hike on everyone except the steel and aluminum industries.
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Thinking about going to college
It's that season, at least for high school seniors. College is expensive as all get out. A four year degree can cost $100,000. Uncle Sam will loan you all that money, but you have to pay it back. Declaring personal bankruptcy won't get you out of your college loan. Most of us go to college to get a degree that leads to a good job. This only works if you graduate. If you don't graduate, you get nothing, except debts.
Time to ask yourself, do I have the stick-to-it-tivness to make it all the way to graduation? How do you feel about schoolwork, really? Does doing a term paper seem like fun? Or a hateful torment? Is reading a good history book fun? Or utterly boring? How is your high school academic record? College work is about like high school work. If you are just scraping by in high school, college will be four more years of the same.
Instead of launching into a doubtful college experience right after high school, think about doing something else after high school and then doing college later. Think about enlisting in the armed services. You will learn a lot of useful stuff, the GI benefits after I left the service paid for my electrical engineering degree, and employers like to hire veterans. Think about getting a job, just about any kind of job. After doing kindergarten followed by grades 1 thru 12 schoolwork can get old. Try a change of pace by working.
For that matter think about skilled jobs, welder, electrician, plumber, CNC operator, electronics tech, machinist, long haul trucker, lineman, heavy equipment operator. They all pay well, as well as most college degree jobs. If working with your hands in appealing to you, give it a try.
Time to ask yourself, do I have the stick-to-it-tivness to make it all the way to graduation? How do you feel about schoolwork, really? Does doing a term paper seem like fun? Or a hateful torment? Is reading a good history book fun? Or utterly boring? How is your high school academic record? College work is about like high school work. If you are just scraping by in high school, college will be four more years of the same.
Instead of launching into a doubtful college experience right after high school, think about doing something else after high school and then doing college later. Think about enlisting in the armed services. You will learn a lot of useful stuff, the GI benefits after I left the service paid for my electrical engineering degree, and employers like to hire veterans. Think about getting a job, just about any kind of job. After doing kindergarten followed by grades 1 thru 12 schoolwork can get old. Try a change of pace by working.
For that matter think about skilled jobs, welder, electrician, plumber, CNC operator, electronics tech, machinist, long haul trucker, lineman, heavy equipment operator. They all pay well, as well as most college degree jobs. If working with your hands in appealing to you, give it a try.
Friday, March 2, 2018
Senior Peacenik leaving the State Dept
The Wall St Journal calls Joseph Yun "Top U.S. Envoy for Pyongyang". Sources are muddled on this story, but the Journal's take is that Joseph Yun is leaving the State Dept because he cannot get any support for negotiations with the NORKs. They say his entire career at State was involved with relations and negotiations with Pyongyang.
Some how this guy manages to believe that the NORKS can be talked out of their nukes. And he is miffed that the Trump Administration doesn't want to play the talks game. As for me, I don't believe anything, talks, bribes, economic pressure, propaganda, even military action will get the NORKs to give up their nukes.
I wonder why we paid this delusional peacenik for so many years. He clearly doesn't understand the situation. But he drew his pay for many years.
Some how this guy manages to believe that the NORKS can be talked out of their nukes. And he is miffed that the Trump Administration doesn't want to play the talks game. As for me, I don't believe anything, talks, bribes, economic pressure, propaganda, even military action will get the NORKs to give up their nukes.
I wonder why we paid this delusional peacenik for so many years. He clearly doesn't understand the situation. But he drew his pay for many years.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Interest rates going up against the Stock Market
Gospel at the Wall St Journal (and probably the other business publications too) is that raising interest rates hurts the stock market and falling interest rates help the stock market. The Journal is the only business publication I read, so I don't really know if the rest of the business press follows the Journal's gospel, but it's a good bet that they do.
Why this link between market performance and interest rates? Could it be that a lot of stock is bought for speculation, and on borrowed money? Margin accounts with brokerages, where the stock broker loans the investor/speculator the money to buy the stock, and the investor/speculator pledges the stock as collateral to back the loan.
Is this a good thing? Margin accounts can really slam the market hard. When the market goes down, like it did this month, the value of the stock pledged as collateral goes down. And the broker calls the investor/speculator and asks for more money to back the loan. A margin call. The only way most investor/speculators have to raise the money is to sell the stock, which drives the market down further.
The social good that the stock market performs is to make stocks into a very liquid asset. I can buy stock with my extra cash, knowing that when I need the money for something, I can sell the stock, quickly. Without the stock market, should I need to turn my stock into cash, it might take months to find someone who wants to buy my stock. And without the market doing deals and publishing the stock price, I would be hard pressed to get a decent price for my stock. I might decide not to put my money into stocks, but rather such economy boosting assets as antiques, artworks, classic cars, coins, stamps, cyber currency, or betting on sports.
The social purpose of the joint stock company is to channel investor money into companies that use the money to build factories, build railroads, buy equipment, and grow the economy. If the investor's money is just a loan, then the investor is sucking up loan money that could just as well be borrowed from banks by the company itself, rather than giving the investor a cut.
The stock market has a lot of gambling built into it. Do margin accounts, and borrowing to buy stock make it easier for companies to raise money, or do they just support the gambling part of the market? If we forbid borrowing to buy stock, would the market be steadier and more predictable?
Why this link between market performance and interest rates? Could it be that a lot of stock is bought for speculation, and on borrowed money? Margin accounts with brokerages, where the stock broker loans the investor/speculator the money to buy the stock, and the investor/speculator pledges the stock as collateral to back the loan.
Is this a good thing? Margin accounts can really slam the market hard. When the market goes down, like it did this month, the value of the stock pledged as collateral goes down. And the broker calls the investor/speculator and asks for more money to back the loan. A margin call. The only way most investor/speculators have to raise the money is to sell the stock, which drives the market down further.
The social good that the stock market performs is to make stocks into a very liquid asset. I can buy stock with my extra cash, knowing that when I need the money for something, I can sell the stock, quickly. Without the stock market, should I need to turn my stock into cash, it might take months to find someone who wants to buy my stock. And without the market doing deals and publishing the stock price, I would be hard pressed to get a decent price for my stock. I might decide not to put my money into stocks, but rather such economy boosting assets as antiques, artworks, classic cars, coins, stamps, cyber currency, or betting on sports.
The social purpose of the joint stock company is to channel investor money into companies that use the money to build factories, build railroads, buy equipment, and grow the economy. If the investor's money is just a loan, then the investor is sucking up loan money that could just as well be borrowed from banks by the company itself, rather than giving the investor a cut.
The stock market has a lot of gambling built into it. Do margin accounts, and borrowing to buy stock make it easier for companies to raise money, or do they just support the gambling part of the market? If we forbid borrowing to buy stock, would the market be steadier and more predictable?
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