Thursday, June 22, 2017

Georgia election today

Regardless of the outcome, I consider it a defeat for the GOP.  Yeah, even if Ossof loses.  I would only change my mind if the defeat of Ossof is really big.  But indications are that he may win, or if he doesn't, it will be close.  It shouldn't be.

Now for the meat of the issue.  If the GOP candidate wins, there will be celebration in the ranks.  But why?  Only because the GOP didn't lose?  What I am getting at is that the GOP is deficient somehow.  They are dropping the ball, and I think they are dropping it big time.

There has been a lot of talk about this on the talk shows.  What's with the GOP anyway?  Well, let me advance an idea.  The idea is that the GOP is institutionally nonassertive.  Yeah, that is the word--- nonassertive.  They remind me a lot of the type of person you sometimes see that gets pushed around pretty easily.  You might ask them why they don't stick up for themselves, but the answer is that they really don't know.  You don't know about what you don't know about.  If you don't know how to act assertively, then why should anybody expect you to?  A nonassertive person lives a nonassertive life.  People have their way with them.  They are habitual pushovers.  On the institutional level, the GOP for some reason, has never learned the value of assertiveness.  They are like the individual pushover.  The Dems have their way with them as a matter of course.

The solution is assertiveness training for the individual.  But for a national political party?  How do you manage that?  You may not be able to, but it may have to come from the grassroots.  If the grassroots gets more assertive, they may signal to the party that they better get a backbone and quick.

This may be hard to do.  You really have to get sensitive to it, and respond quickly.  For example, I see a lot of GOP types starting to rationalize away failure.  They say that Congress is really getting a lot done.  Or like Rush says, that Trump is winning.  Trump winning?  You coulda fooled me!  He doesn't look like he's winning.  The Dems don't look like they are about to slink into a hole.  They are fighting pretty hard, and they seem to be getting their way a lot of the time.  This doesn't look like the GOP is winning.  If Ossof wins, it will only embolden them.  Even if he loses, they won't give up.  Especially if it is close.

You have to keenly sensitive ears in order to pick up the rationalization for the continued failures.  Once you begin spotting them, perhaps you can challenge them in the premises.  Certainly, you may hear that it doesn't really matter if Georgia election is lost.  That is rationalization.  What would matter if there is a big win on either side.  If it is close, it is really a loss for the GOP.  It is a GOP seat.  There is no way to rationalize that loss.  A big win should be the goal.  Not just winning, but creaming them.  Don't let 'em kid you that it doesn't matter.  If the GOP creamed them, the Dems would have to admit to themselves that they are doing something wrong.  That would be a big plus even if it made them more competitive.  Who needs the Dems pushing around the GOP anyway, unless you are Dems?

An unrepentant bully is not good for anybody.  The GOP needs to get a backbone for the good of us all.


22:15  :

Handel wins by five.  If that margin holds up, that is.  It has been called, and it will probably be a victory.  Not impressive, but not an embarrassment either.

I still say they should try to win big.

6.22.17, 20:30 :


Liberals claim that so-called right-wingers are just as guilty of violence as the left.  Ann Coulter says no, that's not so.  She is right, of course.

My point is not necessarily to advocate violence, but preparation for when it might happen.  Don't just let them intimidate you.  If they succeed in doing so, they win.

Also, that so called conservatives act guilty and scared, and thus will be perceived as being so, even if they are not.



World's largest plane gets ready for its debut:

World's largest plane gets ready for its debut
Seattle-based Stratolaunch Systems invited reporters to get their first look at 'Stratolaunch' (pictured), which once completed, which has a wingspan of 385 feet (117 m) and six engine

Read the full story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3649882/Paul-Allens-space-company-nears-debut-worlds-biggest-plane.html
20 June 2016

Nearly five years in the making, and this bird may actually fly.  It won't be fully reusable, though.

If SpaceX had stayed in, it might have been quite interesting.  Right now though, it is merely a curiosity.

original post, 6.20.16, updated 6.22.17 :  

Can Stratolaunch compete with SpaceX ?  There seem to be some advantages to launching from the air.  But no rocket exists yet that can take advantage of these.

Perhaps it can be mated with an air breather / rocket combo like Skylon?


By golly, we need a special prosecutor for this

Wasserman-Shultz contradicts Jeh Johnson's testimony on DNC hack ( non-hack).  Then you've got Trey Gowdy saying that DNC didn't want anybody to know what was on that server that was hacked ( but not hacked ).    Yeah, but Wasserman-Shultz's brother blocked the investigation into Seth Rich's case, so her word is unimpeachable!

It's all a Russian plot, of course.  I don't know why anybody can't see that.  /sarc

There are other tidbits here that would make a reasonable person suspicious.  But we cannot talk about them because that would upset Seth Rich's parents.  Yeah, right.

Obama is said to have salted away records that would show spying on Trump.  ( don't have the source story, basing this on recollection )

Oh, yeah.  There was a story how that murder (that we cannot investigate because it would make Seth Rich's parents unhappy) was a hit job.  Oh, the pain of it all.  The pain, the pain, the pain.





Dick Morris thinks that the Dems can be destroyed.  Ah, yes.  There was this little post by yours truly that decried the giddiness over narrow victories.  It must have been something I ate.



Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Obligatory, 6.21.17

Lite posting, as I am working on the interior of the trailer again.  This is the part of the day that gets hot around here, so working on anything becomes something of a problem.

Progress is rather slow, I would like to do more, but I get slowed down a bit.  However, rather than get bitchy about it, I am very, very glad that I am not in a wheelchair or worse.  I thank God for this blessing, and all blessings that may come our way.

Right now, I am making lunch.  It is spaghetti, and I had better pay attention to it.  Maybe I will update later.




Obligatory, 6.20.17

This could be an off-the-grid post, but it won't be.  Today I decided to work inside this trailer because it is getting too cluttered in here.

Some shelving could be built here in the near future.  That will give me a place to put things.  There just isn't enough shelving in here.

Also, I need to get the water out of the passive water experiment "tank", which is a big water cooler.  The trouble is that the way I have it set up, it is very hard to service.  So, I disconnected all the plumbing and wiring, and consequently, I decided to move it somewhere else.  This means that a lot of other stuff will have to be moved too.  I could spend most of the day on this, so that is why I wrote this post.

Posting will be lite in the interim.

Update (s), 6.20.17, 11 am :

This is very tiring.  My capacity for work is rather limited.  Plus it is very crowded in there.  I have to contort myself a lot, and I really hate that.  Nevertheless, I am making slow progress.

All of this, including shelving, will take more than a day.  I will rest between work periods, and do a little blogging so that I can maximize my time.

13:45  :

This is the hot part of the day.  If you didn't get it done earlier, fuggedaboutit.   The a/c is still running too much.  My experiments for cutting back on that have not been successful.

The bedroom is too hot.  I may need to do something about that, doggone it.

22:00 :

It is not easy to get into and out of the bed as it now configured.  Not to mention that it is more comfortable in the living room.

6.21.17, 14:00 :

Made some slight improvements, and now it is easier to get into and out of bed.  It could be better, but I have to come up with an idea that works.




Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Elon Musk's Vision for Mars Colonization

Wild.  Here's another one in case you are bored, and have nothing else to do.


Al Fin: Even in Gas-Rich USA, Nuclear Energy is the Future

alfin2101 posted: " Nuclear demand is high where air pollution is at its worst and where economic activity is fast and furious — in Asia generally, and in China and India in particular... China and India are building half of the 60 new reactors under construction worldwide"

Monday, June 19, 2017

Mueller’s Firing Squad – Lunch Alert!

Mueller’s Firing Squad – Lunch Alert!





comment:



These appointees have connections to the Clintons.  For Heaven sake, people.  This has to be deep sixed.






Tethering with my phone

Never tried anything like this before.  My cell phone is now connected to my desktop, which I haven't used online for almost a year.  It is giving all kinds of weird responses, but otherwise seems to be okay.

It may not be advisable to do this, but I like sitting in my easy chair, and typing in a post with a reasonably behaving keyboard.    Maybe the rest of this setup in not the best, but at least it can touch type, which is more than what I can say for that little laptop I have got.

I don't know if I will use this setup very much.  I am still checking it out.


Not impressed with so-called conservative columnists

Kurt Schlichter  is supposed to be a conservative.  But this Townhall article presents arguments that do more harm than good.  Conservatives need to be smarter than the Dems, and this doesn't do it.

If we are going to go by the rule of law, why not start with the Constitution itself?  That is about as conservative a source as you can get.  If you stick by that, how can you go wrong?

Article Four of the Bill of Rights prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.  Seems that an investigation of a matter that is not criminal is not probable cause.  Secondly, to the argument that a higher standard must apply to public figures, it cannot mean that these people are not entitled to the same protections as any other citizen.  The power of the unfettered state is frightening, and is precisely why we have a Bill of Rights in the first place.  It must include public figures as well.  Thirdly, an impartial jury is also guaranteed under the Bill of Rights--- see Article Six.  How can anybody not affiliated with the Democrats get a fair trial in the nation's capitol when over ninety percent of the residents there vote Democrat?

Schlichter is right when he says that impeachment is a political act.  Seems like that was mentioned in the Federalist papers.  Absolutely this is where the process must begin and end, unless there is a conviction in the Senate.

But what is to stop Mueller from prosecuting Trump even though that is not in accordance with precedent?  If Mueller can bring an indictment in a highly partisan district, then what is to stop Mueller from putting Trump on a show trial?  It is already a questionable investigation with no evidence of a crime having been committed.  What is to prevent a politically motivated trial, except an adherence to the Constitution?  But if Mueller insists upon continuing in the absence of evidence, what stops him from cooking up some pretended offense?  Practices like this is why the colonies broke from the King of England, and set up the United States in the first place.  Have we lost track of our history?

Not everybody has forgotten our history.  But many in Washington DC seem to have forgotten it, or want to disregard it.

But don't let the conservatives be the ones to forget.  Conservatives need to remember and defend our culture and our history.  Otherwise they are no better than the Democrats, who seem to favor a lynch mob mentality, without respect for the rights of the accused, nor the rights of those who disagree with authority---see the First Amendment.


 

Crazy idea ... updated, originally posted 6.11.17

Not too much to write about right now.  The news is insane, as usual.  Not worth commenting upon.

I did my screen, but I'd like to improve upon it, if possible.  An idea struck me to glue aluminum foil to the boards so as to keep the sun off the things that are keeping the sun off the trailer.  Why?  Maybe it will help, and not cost very much.

What the heck?  Nothing much to do right now, so go for it.

Update:

I bought some gorilla glue, and I am using it to attach the foil to the remaining board I didn't use for the screen.  This is an experiment to see how well the foil will hold onto the board, and how well the foil will hold up to conditions outside.

If all goes well, I may integrate this idea into my next section of screen.

The first section seems to be working out okay, but it is still using too much a/c.

20:40 :  



It should be noted that this is really a power and electricity lab, so it is now converted into an off the grid post.

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This post will go into the Power and electricity sub-series of the off-the-grid main series of posts.  These posts can be accessed from a table of contents and watched individually or in series from beginning to end.


The glue seems to stick well enough, but after some thought, it doesn't appear to be worth it to me to go through all that trouble for what will likely not be a very useful exercise.

The reason is that the boards do not get all that hot.  I checked during the hot part of the day.  Although the board was warm on the sunny side, it wasn't hot.  Also, it was noticeably cooler on the dark side.  Therefore, I think the boards are doing a very good job at blocking the heat from the sun.

So, the heat is likely coming from the parts of the trailer not covered.  However, I do not want to cover them all.  Instead, I would like to try something different for those.

I looked into some misting systems that I think may work off my bilge pump that I was using for my passive heater system, which isn't being using at present.  The thing that might screw this up is the lack of pressure.  The misting system probably requires a decent amount of water pressure.

Also, I would like to use the rainwater for the misting system on the exterior as I am using on the interior with the swamp cooler.

But the water isn't really clean, and I worry about the dirt clogging up the misting thingies.

What I wanted to do was to get a sand filter, which could cost a couple hundred.  That's a lot for just cleaning up some water.  However, it might include a stronger pump, so there's that.

Finally, lest there be any confusion on why this is in the power and electricity subseries, note that if these experiments succeed, it will significantly decrease the amount of power needed to operate a household out there off the grid.

BTW, I spent some time looking at a Chevy Volt as a possible source of electricity.  But that idea doesn't appear to be a good one.  I was hoping that the significant amount of power in those batteries could be used somehow without having to do very much in the way of modifications.  Looks like that isn't the case.

Update 6.13.17, 7:10 :

The misting kit is on the way.  It will be used on the south end of the trailer, which is not covered.

I will try to use the bilge pump to make the misting apparatus work.


6.18.17, 9:30 :

I have had the misting kit for several days now.  One thing is certain, there is not enough pressure in the bilge pump in order to work it.  I am going to uninstall it, and reinstall it on the north end of the trailer where the bathroom is.  There is a water outlet there in which I can connect to a stronger source of pressure.  The mister should work better off of that.

As for the south end of the trailer, I will use a garden hose and sprayer with the bilge pump.  I tested it with a sprayer and an old garden hose.  The pressure isn't great, but it's significant enough to get a lot of the side wet.  This will aid in cooling it down.  Or we will see.  Such can be done at small cost, but a significant amount of work ahead.

19:27 :

Purchased a hose and a splitter type valve, which will facilitate use of the sprayer.  I will be able to connect an extra hose to the well water source, and control it separately from the other hose.  Each hose will have its own valve.

The procedure will be to shut off water to trailer, and turn on water to sprayer.  When spraying is done, reverse the procedure.

A pain in the butt, but will have to suffice for now.

6.19.17, 9 am :

Installed the new configuration.  The mister doesn't do what I anticipated, but it may be useful as an area climate control device.  This may well be set aside for some future day.  At present, it seems most likely to be the sprayer, since it directs more water where you want it.


Sunday, June 18, 2017

Bluff

Gotta be a bluff.  Some Democrats are warning that they will begin impeachment if Trump fires Rosenstein and Mueller.

It is a bluff because they cannot sell it to the GOP voter.  Never mind the GOP hacks in Congress.  The GOP hacks may not care what the GOP voter thinks, but have to care at least some of the time.  This is one of those times.

Therefore, fire both of them.  Rosenstein says Comey should be fired, then hires a special prosecutor to go after Trump for accusations without merit.  Good enough cause.  If Rosenstein doesn't think so, then he should be fired.

If the Dems can pull this off with GOP help, then these GOP office holders can kiss their jobs goodbye.

Update (s) 18:30 :

It appears that there must be an underlying crime before there can be a special counsel.  If that information is correct, then Rosenstein should be fired for cause on that alone.  Hell, he broke the law himself.

The appointment of Mueller under the special counsel statute is illegitimate. That's because the special counsel statute can only be triggered if there's an underlying criminal probe. News to the world: There ain't no underlying crime.

The fourth amendment to the US Constitution prohibits unreasonable search and seizures, and all warrants have to be based upon probable cause.  There is no probable cause here.


22.15  :

But then again, if this is a gangster type effort, then the gangsters won't care about legalities.  Remember that there is a dead man that nobody seems interested in.   If the gangsters go all out, they may even try an assassination.

What I am saying is that we may be on the verge of a coup.  Not a fake coup, but a real one.  As long as this goes on, they may strike in the middle of chaos, and then blame it on something else.  They have the media.  They can spin it any way they like, and get people to accept it.

Original post 6.17.17, updated 6.18.17 , 14:25 :

After reading a piece this morning, on Atlantic I think, I think these bozos really intend to take down Trump.  Funny thing, even they don't think he's guilty of a crime.  Nope.  This is political, and they really think they can do it.

How might they do it?  If Mueller decides to prosecute the sitting POTUS, there will be a situation here in which they may claim something to  the effect that a criminal is in the White House, and demand his resignation.

A kangaroo court can get an indictment and conviction.  See Scooter Libbey.

The GOP and POTUS must take this seriously, or they may force a crisis, and then a lot of bad things may start happening.



How does a Navy ship get hit like this?

There's questions being asked, but there ought to be some heads rolling after this one.

In the movie, the Cain Mutiny, it was a big deal just to cut the cable of a target being towed.  This expensive ship in real life was nearly sunk.

How did the ship manage to get itself T-boned?  Aren't Navy ships more agile than big container ships?  Hope this is not another case of incompetence.  If it isn't incompetence, it is malfeasance these days.

What the hell is going on?


"Moonshot" feasibility continued...

This post will fit into my off-the-grid "subseries" of posts.  It will be classified under the general subcategory.  It can read end to end by following the links, or the entire series can be accessed through the table of contents post.

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In my last post, I expressed some doubt about continuing with my plans.  Not too long ago, I decided to continue for the time being.

So, I continue making my preparations, with an eye towards making the move out there.  I want to be sure that my health is really okay before I get too serious about it.  At the moment, the move is on hold, with everything else I do as a sort of laboratory to continue to study it as a feasible goal to pursue.

The idea of buying a fuel cell to make water is out of reach financially.  I would need to be able to absorb a disappointment if it didn't work out.  Therefore, it is way too risky to go that route for now.

Lately, I have been considering the purchase of a Chevy Volt, for the purpose of using its considerable battery and charging power to power my trailer while I am not driving.  This is also expensive.  A used Chevy Volt is well over ten grand, and I don't really have that kind of money to spend on cars at this time.  But I do have two vehicles, each of which could be sold for the money necessary to get this kind of car.  But it wouldn't pay for all of it.

The car wouldn't be useful to the extent that I would like.  It does have 12 volt cigarette lighter receptacles that could connect to my battery powered systems, and that in turn could provide plenty of help to power my systems.  It is not what I would like, in the fuel cell mode, but would at least be useful for transportation.  Something to consider going forward.

I do have a trailer still in my van.  It needs to be assembled.  Number One doesn't like this trailer, because it would need a lot of work to firm it up.  Mainly welding.  Well, I have a lot of time.  Maybe I could learn to weld, and do it myself.

Okay, that's all for now.

original post, 6.15.17, updated on 6.18.17 :

No Chevy Volt.  It is a bit absurd to consider spending that kind of money when I simply do not have it.  I can get a simple propane generator for less than a grand.  That will be sufficient.