Saturday, April 30, 2016

The news of Ted Cruz's political death may be greatly exaggerated

As I have written several times, when Ted Cruz started to approach the Establishment, it was all over for his credibility.  He was supposed to be an anti-Establishment guy.  Why would he join with  them?  He can't run against them and for them at the same time.

He had to join them though, once he started to tangle with Trump.  If he had stayed out of the wife's war, he could have spared himself the personal war with Trump.  Trump tends to win his fights.  It would have been better for Cruz to have avoided a fight with Trump in the first place.   He did that initially, and profited from it.  He might have rode that strategy all the way to the nomination.  Whether or not it was the wife's war that caused him to change, there was a definite change in strategy from hands off Trump to personal warfare with him.  That was a critical mistake that he might have avoided.

A better way to campaign for Senator Cruz would have been to run against the Establishment and as an alternative to Trump without tangling with Trump in any direct sense.  Once he did fight with Trump, he was cooked as far as this campaign is concerned.

Cruz is still young.  Yet he behaves like this is his last campaign.   Unless he knows something we don't, that prospect seems quite premature.  He could be around for a long time.


Having their cake, and eating it too

The left loves to accuse conservatives of being "for the rich".  A brief reminder that this isn't necessarily the case.  In fact, an argument can be made to the contrary.

It might be well for the GOP to reconsider low tax rates for corporations.  Also needing consideration are anti-trust exemptions for professional sports teams that blackmail states into accepting leftist agendas, such as trans-sexuals in the ladies room.

The left generally gets what it wants out of corporations and the well-to-do.  But these same people get low tax rate policies out of the GOP.   Something looks cockeyed to me.


Solar oven demonstration

LDS Prepper

This is an intriguing, small device which appears to be just good enough for cooking.  Its virtue is in its simplicity and compactness, in my  humble opinion.  However, it does not appear to be quite what I had in mind.




He cooked some muffins and swirls.  After that last post about my high glucose, I regret that this particular dish is off limits for moi.

Update:

This is more like it.  $5 per oven.  All right!





Update:

Yet another DIY project of this type.  He manages to get some glass of the right size.  That may not be so simple.  Perhaps a little research to find the kind of glass needed?  He cooked an egg, he says.  It was demonstrated after the fact.  Not sure if I should believe it.  One egg is not that much to cook, however.





Update:

In order to use this oven to distill water, will need a container that can hold the water, and then make a hole into lid, so as to insert a tube that will allow steam to escape it.


Breakfast repast

This is a long delayed post.  I've been meaning to write this up for awhile.  With the light posting recently, I figured might as well.

Just now, I finished eating breakfast.  It was a repast, a feast, if you will.  The thing about it is, it won't likely lead to weight gain.  Perhaps it will lead to weight loss.  How? 

By switching to a high fat / low carb diet, I am hoping it will help me with a physical problem the doctor mentioned to me about three months ago.  It seems my blood glucose has gotten too high.   This is particularly worrisome to me as my father died due to complications resulting from his diabetes condition.  I haven't been diagnosed yet, but high glucose is not good.

One concoction that I am using to combat the problem is this repast.  It is egg whites with onions, a bit of sausage, cheese, and tomatoes.  I'd say that I'm eating about four eggs worth of egg whites.  The whole egg will be avoided until I get my cholesterol numbers back.  Even the fat needs to be monitored as well.  Only one little sausage, not three little Jimmy Dean sausages.  They are good, and add a lot of flavor to the rather bland egg whites.  Tomatoes add bulk to aid digestion.  They taste good too.  yum, yum

But that is not all.  I add a serving of instant oatmeal ( unsweetened of course), with non-sugar sweetener, a dab of butter, and a few strawberries.  This has a bit more carbs than I would prefer, but the beauty of this meal is that it keeps me full for a long time.  I may eat only one more big meal all day long.  Yay, me.

I have lost about 10 pounds so far.  Maybe this repast is a part of it, I dunno.  That's because I have cut out all of my sweets plus my cokes.  Yep.  That is hard because I really loved that stuff.  It is hard to give up old habits that die hard.  Better to die hard than to die fast.  Diabetes killed off my dad pretty fast.  He had more bad habits than I have, and he never did shake them all.



Friday, April 29, 2016

Trump cannot be stopped by the outcome of primaries

According to this Gateway Pundit piece, Trump could lose 8 out of 10 remaining primaries, and still get to the majority of delegates needed for nomination.

Cruz is mathematically eliminated, and he cannot stop Trump even if he wins almost all of the remaining primaries.  Why continue this madness?  Is he delusional?




Thursday, April 28, 2016

Another reason to doubt AGW

Science is held in high esteem, but is that justified?  There are many reasons to doubt that which may seem beyond reproach.

There's nothing in this article about AGW at all, but since the authority of science is invoked in supporting the AGW hypothesis, it becomes harder to argue against it.  This way is to argue against the science establishment itself.

But care must be taken.  Although science is a good thing after all, it is not infallible.  Science can be self-correcting, but the correction is filed away long afterwards when nobody is looking.

One can also see from this article how some new thing is always being shot down in favor of the established way.

As my science teacher once said, "a scientist is a seeker of truth", to which I say, but "the truth is a slippery thing".

There are plenty of reasons to doubt AGW.  Just open your eyes and see for yourself.  Don't let someone else do your thinking for you.



Something strange is happening

I get this feeling that the anti-Trumpsters are going to attempt to deny Trump the nomination, and failing that, the presidency.

I get the feeling that it won't matter if Trump gets the majority of delegates.  If at all possible, they intend to deny it to him at all costs.

When Dana Milbank said that he would eat his words if Trump was the nominee, he may well have been referring to this.  Under no circumstances will they accept Trump.  "Never Trump" means exactly that.

Regardless of what Rush is saying, or the rest, I think these guys really are cheating.  They are using elections as a screen for what they are doing, and the public has caught on.  Now that they have lost the public, they are going to bull right ahead and do what they want to do anyway.

If they can't win, they will steal it.  If they can't win it, nor steal it, then will they try to pull down the temple?

Their behavior is really strange.  Whatever the case for their reasoning, they are attempting to do so without accountability to the public.

Hillary is already unaccountable.  This is what they are claiming for themselves.

In other words, the elections mean nothing.   But if it is useful to have them, then they will use them in order to appear legitimate.

Update:

I am back on Rush Limbaugh's case again.  He is pretending to be even-handed with Trump.  I now wonder if he would be good at this word and support Trump if he is the nominee.  This garbage with Cruz needs to stop.

If Cruz wins Indiana?  I think it will make little difference to these guys.  They will bull ahead with their plans even if Cruz loses.   A Cruz win will only give them a slight appearance of legitimacy.  A fig leaf.


Larry Kudlow pleas for peace in GOP

It seems good until you reach the end.  When I read this, I was incredulous.  It struck me as an aggrieved statement from someone who has been wronged.  Did I read this right?  That said, I am reading it again, in order to confirm that or deny it.

I suppose this is what bothered me:

Sen. Cruz, Gov. Kasich, whoever it is. Why not help them? Make them better. At least in my way of thinking, is use conservative principles and apply them to the current situation. Help them, don't trash them. Be civil. Keep the friendships. In the long run, let me tell you. I've been through a lot of wars, politics and elsewhere, relationships are so important.
Why not mention Trump in that sentence?  He only has to win 40 per cent of the remaining delegates in order to gain the majority.  Seems like a real possibility to me.  Maybe even a foregone conclusion.

On the other hand, Cruz and Kasich are mathematically eliminated from winning on the first ballot.  The only reason to stay on for either of these two men is to force a contested nomination.

Trump has gotten this far because he keeps winning the votes.  But that doesn't seem to matter any more.  One thing is certain, Trump doesn't owe them any apologies.  If anything, it is the other way around.  Not that Trump is even asking for any.  It is almost as if Trump will owe these guys an apology for winning. 

Even if Trump apologizes to them for beating them, I am not all that certain that they will accept.

If those who lose want to be sore losers, then go ahead and be sore losers.  Don't expect to be forgiven for it.  You've already lost the votes, you might as well try to keep some of the people's respect.  That is to say, if any remains.


Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Solar oven as energy source for distillation

Prev  Next


Another water subseries post in the main series of off-grid posts.


The previous post gave some ideas to consider.  Which to use?  After thinking it over a bit, I think the one with the stainless steel canister, (with the copper tubing), looks like a winner.  Why?

It is rugged.  It won't melt in excessive heat.  It won't rust out ( hopefully ).

In addition, I decided to actually boil the water.  To do that, use a simple solar oven.  Put the canister in the oven, and it should reach boiling point.  The steam can be condensed back into water.

Out in West Texas, you will need to get out of the wind.  I can build a solarium/greenhouse for that purpose.  Inside the greenhouse, it will receive the sun, and it will boil off the water, which can be condensed  back into distilled water.

From my water experiment calcs, I figure that a 20" square solar oven will only distill about a quart of water per day.  To get 3 gallons, one would need a dozen of these ovens/ bottles. 

Is it worth the expense?

Perhaps it would be well to reconsider the aluminum cans in that other video.  Or find quart sized cans.  Or Mason jars

This would require experimentation to validate, of course.

Update:

Instead of buying an expensive oven, perhaps one can make one with aluminum foil, and a box.

A mason jar can be outfitted with an inlet hose and outlet hose going into and out of the lid.

This set up would not cost much to implement.


Update:

This tin would hold nearly half a gallon.  Fill it half the way, and no need to fill it again.  Twelve of these could produce 3 gallons of distilled water per day.  Provided that it works, of course.


Update:

More details here.  And here.  Some fittings to connect the hoses.


Update:

An alternative to maybe try sometime.


Politics again? Yes, afraid so.

It is the political season, after all.  We have to choose a president.  It is a job, and somebody has got to do it. 

That said, I came across this in the American Spectator.  It criticizes Cruz's movement to the "dark side", meaning the Establishment.  Have any of you heard this before?  Seems familiar.

I am not so generous of Cruz.  The author of the piece calls him a good man with a bad idea.  Once you go to the dark side, so to speak, how can anything good come from you?

I know Cruz is gone bad, and maybe he always was bad.  Trump is not looking as good as one would hope.

If you are inclined to worry, that is indeed something to worry about.

But it is politics, so it is all bad anyway.  Yet, someone has to do it.


Fitness Coach update

Well, as I have reported, I tried the exercises that he recommended.  But these made me sore, and now I am taking off from work in order to allow the soreness to abate.

It is hard to know what to do sometimes.  If I did nothing, I would not know what I know now.  Now that I have, I am almost sorry I tried it.  You can't win sometimes.

Hopefully, this won't cost me too much time.  I need to work.


Confession is said to be good for the soul

... but it is bad for your reputation.  No?

I think it is.   There is this guy that Ann Barnhardt featured at least once.  Voris, I think is his name.  It was no secret amongst those close to him, but it must have been in a larger sense.  He, ahem, "came out" recently.  My reaction was quite negative- at first.  Then I thought... isn't that what the Gospel of John said: to paraphrase, those who do God's will must come to the light; those who do not, hate the light, because they do not want their bad deeds to be shown up.  Voris came to the light, admitted his past sins, and cleaned up his act.  That's what you have to do.

Unfortunately, there are reactions like my first reaction, which I now think is wrong.  The first reaction, within oneself with regard to one's own sin, is fear for one's reputation.  For those who hear this kind of news, there is great disappointment, disillusion, and even anger.  Especially for something like this.  Can you imagine what will get said about this guy behind his back?  He will be laughed at, and made fun of by some.  But those who do this are wrong.  One must look at the other way, in terms of what is right and good.

It is a hard thing to do to come to the light.  It takes courage.  Not everybody has such courage.  For that, he deserves respect.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

More off-grid water distillation ideas

Prev  Next


Another water subseries post in the main series of off-grid posts.



I've got three different videos to study here.  This first one uses a water bottle, and can be carried around with you.  Its virtue appears to be in its compact size.






The next video shows a simple design that anybody can make.  It doesn't make much water, but it has the virtue of being made of discarded materials, so it doesn't cost much.  You can make a lot of them in order to make a lot of water.







The last video is even more radically simple.  It uses a can and a plastic bottle.  The plastic is folded in on itself, and collects the condensed water.  Very clever.  I like this one because it may actually do the job.  The dark colored can will get hot in the sun.  The heat is trapped, so the water will get hot enough to evaporate.  It has no place to go, so it will condense and trickle to the bottom of the bottle, inside the folds.








Monday, April 25, 2016

Living in the USA - Steve Miller Band


Was that Steve Miller doing the vocals?  In live performances, it doesn't sound the same.

Breaking down the lyrics does get to a certain point, now doesn't it? 

On the other hand, it may be seen only as somewhat irreverent of the "Good 'ol USA".





Kasich isn't Presidential, he eats

Yep.  Politics is the art of making something look like it isn't what it is.  And vice versa.

Every man eats.  Every man poops.  Every man pees.  This includes politicians.  This may come as a shock to some of you.  They are just men, not Gods.

The Roman Republic saw leaders as men.  The Empire began seeing men as Gods.  Just saying.

Give me the hog that eats, not the God that never eats, poops, or sleeps. Not saying that I favor Kasich.  Just saying that Presidents should not be seen as Gods.

Update:

It seems a bit strange to me now that Limbaugh exalts those politicians at the Presidential level.  That isn't in keeping with the idea that men are to be humble and those who intend to lead should be servants, not masters.



Trump equal Caesar, or Constantine

In an earlier post, I compared Trump to Constantine, while denying that he's Caesar.  Upon further review, perhaps he is Caesar after all.  Not in the battlefield, but in the rough and tumble of business.

There are his critics, who claim that he isn't a good businessman.  If he isn't, then he is no Caesar in that way either.  If he is as good as his word, then that comparison may be valid.

Caesar won battles he should have lost.  Thus far, Trump is winning his battle for political power.  He wasn't supposed to win.

Caesar ended the Roman Republic.  There are fears that Trump will end the American Republic.

There are those who say the American Republic is already dead.  By the time that Caesar came on the scene in Rome, the Roman Republic was all but dead, too.

Ominous parallels?

The aristocracy of the Roman Republic killed Caesar in order to save the Republic.  Will Trump be assassinated too?

The aristocrats in Rome failed.  The American oligarchs may well try their hand, but what happens next is anybody's guess.  I'm through with guessing.


Sunday, April 24, 2016

This information should be explosive

If it isn't, then what could ever be?

Dick Morris' podcast has some very, very interesting information about Hillary, Barack Hussein Obama, and the Bushes with respect to Saudi Arabia and the 911 bill.  You have to listen and then think about what you are hearing as Morris speaks.

Not to mention a political analysis of the campaign.

Woof!


The night they drove old dixie down

The Black Crowes

Not presented to lament the passing of the slavocracy.  However, what took its place, what can be said of it now?





Fitness Coach

One of my riders yesterday.  One of the more interesting people I've met yet.

He said that people in far eastern cultures don't sit, they squat.  It can be a comfortable position.  Western cultures use chairs, which has some drawbacks.

Sedentary people get weak gluteus muscles ( butt ).  This can cause back troubles.  Ka-ching!  That got my interest.  So, I told him about my own troubles.  He made a suggestion.

Note:

Not to be meant as advice.  Consult with doctor before starting any exercise program. 
Caution as always to follow common sense and don't overdo it. 

Suggestion:

Easy exercise to strengthen the butt:  get a chair with no sides to help get up.  Must use only legs with feet flat on floor in order to get up from chair to standing position.  DO NOT USE ARMS FOR SUPPORT IN GETTING UP.  Repeat a few times and increase repetitions as the muscles get stronger.

I will do this exercise and see how it goes.  If it helps, I will let you know.


Update:

I did the exercise, and I am somewhat sore.  Not bad, but somewhat.  It won't limit me, but it is a reminder of how bad off I am.  I didn't do that many reps.

Update:

Did the exercise again, paying close attention to my body movements.  Yes, I am using my lower back.  No wonder it strains so easily.


Update:

After doing this for two days, I am forced to stop.  My back is hurting a bit too much now.  Wow.  I am a wreck.


Quick post, 4.24.16

The left wing hijacks the human mind.  How?  By redefining words and symbols, they change the meanings.  For example, consider a book is rewritten from a previous work.  Its' meaning is altered to the point in which it no longer resembles the original meaning.  The new book supersedes the old, while claiming the same title as before.  The original book, therefore, has been hijacked.

Other examples are all around.  Limbaugh has discussed it.  Swamps become wetlands.  Jungle becomes rainforest.  Homosexual becomes gay.  The liberals subtly take control of the language, and get people to use the words they want us to use, with the meanings they wish the words to have.

They claim progress while delivering stagnation.  The left's march through the institutions have hijacked our culture, and slammed it against the structure in order to bring it down.

The latest target is the Catholic Church.  To be religious now is to not be religious.  To be patriotic now is to not be patriotic.  To be scientific now is to not be scientific.  To be reasonable and tolerant now is to not be reasonable and tolerant.  Truth is altered.  There is no truth.  My truth is somehow different from your truth, but more valid.

It is truly Orwellian.  We have entered the Orwellian Age.

Update:

A catchy slogan, perhaps?  I just thought of this:  "The Orwellian man, who believes that the truth is nothing, and that nothing is the truth".