Former Secret Service Man says: "There’s absolutely ZERO chance anyone other than a family member brought that cocaine inside the White House complex."

There’s absolutely ZERO chance anyone other than a family member brought that cocaine inside the White House complex. No chance that would make it past the mag/security checkpoints. Family bypasses those.

— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) July 5, 2023

Starship update, 7/8/23: More detailed pics of OLM construction

 

Got to get into the rhythm of these updates. Seemed like there weren't many yesterday, but there are today. I suppose there is a schedule for some of these folks who post videos, and they keep to it.

These videos show a bit more detail than the ones previous. So, I'll put it up here on the blog.

Looks like SpaceX has it all choreographed perfectly. Or it seems that way. There even was a rehearsal of sorts. They did a dry run of placing the big pancake steel plate into place before actually doing it for real.

The rest of the pieces are being set into position, and then they'll be all welded together. This appears to be going pretty fast. Maybe by next week at this time, they'll be done with this, and moving on to the next steps in the prep for the next flight.



So here it is, so check it out.

The Most Misunderstood Concept in Physics ( video )

It's called entropy. It seems to be a difficult subject. At least to me. Not that I haven't heard of it before. I'd say anyone who took a science class may well have come across it at some point. What the video is trying to say is that it may be one of those things that may be difficult to fully grasp.

I did remember it from my formal education. Yet, I find it a confusing to think about. When I hear this guy talking about it, my mind starts to reel a bit. How is it for anyone else? I think the same, but many might say the opposite. That's because people have a tendency to fib.

The reason I'm posting this is that the video's narrator poses the question: "What do we get from the sun?" The answer is not so obvious. Hence, I suspect that's how the liars confuse everyone with their bravo sierra. I'm referring to man-made climate change.

I'd like to prove that man-made climate change is bunk. I'm sure that to do it, one way or the other, is to involve the concept of entropy.

What is entropy? In a word, it is be thought of as order. More accurately put, it is disorder. The universe is becoming more disordered over time. That's related to the two laws of thermodynamics---1) The energy of the universe is constant, and 2) the entropy of the universe tends towards a maximum.

That seems simple enough, but watch the video and see if your head starts to spin a bit.



With that, I leave you with the video...

"There's no time"

Update to Jul 5, 2023 post, with respect to becoming an expert

It looks like becoming an expert is time-consuming. So what do you do when you don't have the time? You don't try to become an expert at anything new. The reason is that there's no time for that.

The video says you need 4 things to become an expert. Maybe there should have been a fifth thing, and maybe even a sixth thing. The fifth thing is time, and the sixth thing is the natural aptitude. Can you really expect to become an expert if you aren't willing to put in the time? Likewise, if you have no natural talent for it? How many people can play basketball the way Michael Jordan could?

If you live long enough, you might learn enough to be an expert on time management. That's because you can look back through your experiences and see where you might have spent your time better. Just saying.

The original post follows...

Indeed, there isn't.

What you spend your time on is precious, and cannot be mis-spent. How to know what to spend your time on? It isn't always clear, and that's the rub.

The 4 things it takes to be an expert

 

More bravo sierra---it's getting pretty deep. Bring out the shovels

 

More bravo sierra-- "Adp jobs numbers soar"

Divergence between Household data and Establishment data

The BS meter has gone into the red zone again. These numbers are not credible because the Household data, which counts actual people who have jobs, is not growing nearly as fast as the Establishment numbers. Just to clarify things a bit, the Establishment numbers are the ones that the Establishment puts out. Therefore, it can be fudged. In fact, I think they have been fudged for some time now, because the two numbers should coincide, not diverge.

It makes sense. The Establishment takes care of itself. Brandon is in the Establishment, so they produce the phony numbers to make Brandon look good.

If the numbers were real, it would mean a boom. Not likely to be a boom, if the GDP actually went down two quarters straight in 2022. Growth is sluggish. Other numbers are flashing recession. Why would these numbers be so good when the others aren't? They are numbers that can be fudged, that's why.

Gotta to put this one up

Quintessential sixties.

SpaceX Starship update 7-6-23: Steel plate positioned on top on concrete poured last week

Comment:

The first part of this video shows them doing that. The steel plate if frickin' HUGE. It must be unimaginably heavy. How could that crane lift it?

Evidently the final securing it to the concrete has yet to completed. Other pieces have to be placed into position. The video shows some of the plumbing that has to be connected up to this gargantuan piece of steel.

The last part of the video shows a few other things that may be of interest, but the steel plate is my main interest at this point. So for your information, or whatever, here's the video...

Bravo sierra

Brandon's approval numbers not credible

Comment:

Is this a totally bravo sierra poll, or are people lying to pollsters? There's simply no way this guy has a 46% approval rate, or this country is totally screwed.

Yeah, and he sure as hell didn't get 81 million votes. There's a frickin' HUGE credibility gap everywhere the eye can see.

Advanced Nuclear Power Advocacy For Humanity

Eric G Meyer is the Founder and Director of Generation Atomic.

Here's somebody who's young and enthusiastic. Not that I agree with everything he says, but he's onboard. More like him, please...

The modern pied pipers

The legend of the Pied Piper involves the kidnapping of the young people of a town.

Once the Pied Piper had done his thing, the children were never seen again.  It seems like today has the real thing going on, but this time, it involves all children everywhere. But especially so in the so-called advanced countries.

The modern Pied Pipers are going after the kids too.  They are succeeding. Without the new generation to replace the old, what will the future hold?  Perhaps no future at all. It all depends upon how well they do in getting the kids.  Once the kids are gone, the future will go with it.  One wonders if an enemy has planned this and is executing it to perfection.

The effects of this was in evidence as John Kutsch noted that there weren't many young folks at the TEAC meeting they held.  It was a rather small meeting of gray hairs.  Kutsch was showing his age, too.  It is a reminder of what faces us, which is our mortality.

The modern Pied Pipers are selling some false ideas, and perhaps that is why the young folks cannot be interested in a technology that will improve their lives.  At least those who survive this Holocaust of insanity.

How could this have happened? Better find some solutions quickly, because time is doesn't stand still for anyone, even the young.

A song from the sixties, where it seems to have begun in earnest. The young tend to rebel against the older generation only to find out when they're old that the fun and games had a price.

TEAC is still around

Here are more oldies, but goodies. TEAC is the Thorium Energy Alliance. They are big boosters of the use of Thorium for nuclear energy. Not sure if Kirk Sorensen was in that group, but there's a video out there with Sorensen in it as well that's about 2 years old. Perhaps he's still going too?

If memory serves, it was Kirk Sorensen who kept the Oak Ridge research from being destroyed for all time. Rather than doing that, the Obama Administration decided to give it away to China. While that was better than destroying it, it could have been done here in the USA which is where the technology originated.

Now China has developed the technology and is deploying it. /Homer Simpson "doh!" moment

While it is good that the USA and Western Europe are getting off their duffs and doing something, it could have been sooner and more forcefully done. Better late than never, the guy in this here says. Not familiar with Eric Meyer, though. Looking for John Kutsch, and there he is. I'll include another video embed below.









And now the video of John Kutsch. As I wrote above, this guy and Kirk Sorensen are the reasons this tech survived.

It's a shame that he couldn't do more, but he did a LOT. By the way, only 1k people have watched the video. What a shame.







Here's what John Kutsch is doing today... Sure hopes he succeeds.

NASA Reveals Plan To Capture An Asteroid

Comment:

Interesting video. It is also an interesting channel. It's called "The Space Race".

Lest I forget, it's July 4th

 

Starship update, 7-4-23

 

Starship update, 7-4-23

Good job. It shows the work being done on the launch mount. This is intended to stop any new "rock tornadoes" from happening during launches.

It isn't mentioned here, but elsewhere that the pressure from the water deluge will be greater than the pressure from the rocket. If that's true, they need to be careful not to knock the rocket off its perch before it can lift off. So many things to think about.

The processes enabling in situ resourcing on Mars

It appears that three or four types of chemical reactions will be employed in order to conduct a Mars mission. They are 1) the electrolysis of water, 2) the Sabatier reaction, which produces methane, 3) the electrolysis of carbon dioxide, yielding carbon monoxide and oxygen, and 4) the Bosch reaction to recover water, and consume the carbon monoxide produced by the third reaction. Each reaction has its strengths and weaknesses, which can be turned to advantage for an in situ resourcing strategy for keeping the crew alive on a Mars mission.

Let's examine these reactions in more detail. The first reaction is employed to obtain hydrogen and oxygen from the water. It is expected that there's plenty of water on Mars, so that's one way of obtaining resources from the red planet. If this isn't done, everything has to be brought from Earth, which would make missions much more challenging. The oxygen will be used to make the oxidizer part of rocket fuel. Oddly enough, it isn't going to be much good for production of oxygen for breathing. There will be a need to produce lots and lots of fuel for the trip back to Earth.  The Sabatier reaction will efficiently utilize the Martian resources. The two resources are the water mentioned, and the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The burning of the rocket fuel will return the carbon dioxide and water to the environment. The reaction is the favored one to produce rocket fuel. The rocket fuel would be the methane and the oxygen produced from the Sabatier reaction.

The preferred reaction to obtain oxygen for breathing would come from the moxie device. It will electrolyze the carbon dioxide, thus obtaining some oxygen. A waste product would be the carbon monoxide. What to do with that? It could be used to obtain water and elemental carbon through the Bosch reaction. Perhaps the carbon can be used for making other things. The Bosch reaction is slow, but it doesn't have to produce a whole lot of water. In fact, it will simply get back the water from the electrolysis of water that is needed to sustain the reaction. Thus, a small amount of water will be needed for this purpose. Since it is a slower reaction than the Sabatier reaction, it is not preferred for making rocket fuel. Oxygen can always be used for breathing. So the water can help get the most from the carbon dioxide being used in the electrolysis of carbon dioxide. The oxygen can be obtained from that water, which was obtained to get hydrogen so as to grab that single oxygen atom from the carbon monoxide waste product. Why waste the carbon monoxide? The amount of oxygen from each carbon dioxide molecule could be doubled. Such can be used for breathing.

The making of rocket fuel will always use up a lot of water. This is unavoidable. Presumably, Mars has plenty of water, so that loss can be made good. In time, it may be better to use some other method of producing thrust, but that is what is available now.

So the Mars environment will provide the carbon dioxide and water that will be used in in situ resourcing. These reactions will be how these resources can be utilized in producing what would be needed to support life on the red planet. Without these resources on Mars, it would be necessary to bring them from Earth. Therefore, there is a big advantage to using what's available on Mars.

To recap, it is best to use the Sabatier reaction for the production of rocket fuel, and the moxie electrolysis device to obtain the oxygen. The Bosch reaction can get more oxygen for breathing and close the resource loop for water used in that reaction. The waste products will be elemental carbon, but that may be usable for other things. The water produced by the burning of methane in rocket fuel will most likely be lost.

The discussion of energy requirements for these reactions are another thing. To put it simply, a nuclear reactor is the best bet. The energy requirements will be considerable. Solar power won't be reliable enough, nor is the energy density sufficient. Solar panels can work on the ISS, but it's not as intense on Mars in comparison to low Earth orbit. Plus there are dust storms. Mars rovers have died from lack from lack of sunlight because of dust storms getting on the panels.

MOXIE instrument on Perseverance sets new record for oxygen production

Can it scale up?

  Update: Yes it can

more here , and here

Behind the Black blog: "MOXIE instrument on Perseverance sets new record for oxygen production"

Here's a device that produces enough oxygen for a person to breathe. It is currently pretty limited, but the thing can be scaled up, hopefully. It may take quite a bit of energy to run the thing, and also, it is a machine. Machines break down.

Is it true that this machine only runs for short spurts of time? In other words, it cannot even begin to supply a crew with oxygen in its present configuration. The key is to be able to scale up.

The problems with living on Mars are even greater than just getting there. Getting the Starship going is just a start.

History Buffs: Braveheart ( video)

Here's a guy who made a video showing how Hollywood mangled Scottish history with that Mel Gibson movie.

Hollywood also mangled Texas history with the Alamo. Yeah, the John Wayne version. There were others that may have mangled it even more. Maybe I watched a little of the more recent version, before quitting on it.

Henry Ford once said that history was bunk. Maybe it goes a lot further than that. Let's just say you'd be lucky to get even this much of it right, with respect to the movies.

The broad strokes cannot be faked. At least not for now. So, even though Hollywood will make up a lot of the story, they have to remain true to the actual outcomes. I mean, even John Wayne couldn't conjure up a victory of 180 Texans versus thousands of regular Mexican troops. But victory did come at San Jacinto and that's a fact.

What really happened in Scotland back then? Or in Texas in 1836? The true stories may be unpalatable to the average movie goer, or to propagandists who want to push a mythology that favors their point of view.

Truth is the first casualty of war. Indeed, the truth is a rare beast seldom seen. Looking for truth may be a Quixotic notion.

Anyway, here's the video...

Computing shows a dark side

The one technology that has advanced since the late sixties has been computers. It did seem like a good thing, but the dark side of it is really starting to show. The "tech giants" seem to be a modern day Goliath.

There have been a few things happening lately that can be described as unusual computer problems. I'm still dealing with the internet service that I WAS using, but it stopped working for some reason. Then, there are other things. The fact that you have to have security software is particularly annoying to me now. The provider couldn't fix it, and I got a new service. That seems to be going well so far, but...

I caught the Facebook app doing a large download recently, The app isn't supposed to be active. I keep shutting it down, but it keeps re-activating itself. If you try to delete it, the system says it may "misbehave". It is already misbehaving. So I guess it may mean it will misbehave even worse. There's security software, but it is annoying to use, and lately it seems to not do what it says it does. Reminds me of our so-called "leaders".

Windows seems especially nosy. It wants you to go online all of the time, but going online exposes you to outside threats. Ah! So that makes them necessary, so the only solution is to stay online even if it you don't want to be. Windows was once described as being "inherently" insecure. It is a faulty design, and that is a feature- not a bug. It isn't a bug because it gives them opportunities to sell you more security software and so forth. It's a market opportunity that they've created for themselves. How convenient! Sounds corrupt to me. You'd call the cops, but wait... Can you trust the cops?

Computers seem to be a good thing, and they've made a number of things more convenient. But it comes at a price. There's a lesson there somewhere, but I'm not sure that anyone gives a flip. Since it is so much a part of my life now, the idea of disengaging from it comes to mind, but it's quickly ruled out. What happens if it goes away? The dependency upon this tech gives them opportunities to exploit, which they don't seem to mind doing.

I've got a bad feeling about this.