That was in the comments section... Don't know if that's accurate or not. The dates were given in the comment, so it could be checked, but moi didn't.
The song is like a prayer, but an irreverent one. Be careful what you pray for, I suppose....
Al Fin: "Cowboy Commentary", aka "Eat your veggies" The Flag banner is posted in order to defy those who would make patriotic symbols illegal or disreputable.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
What a ripoff
2/10/26:
One thing I don't have is the Midas Touch. This one went south big time. Instead of getting out with a small loss, I took it on the chin. The ripoff was complete.
The brokerage sold off, and forced me into a sale to pay for holding fees. Like I said, a rip-off.
The update was intended to let ya'll know what happened with this stock. It was the last thing I had on that account, and so the account was closed. When? Man, it wasn't that long ago, but it could've been around 2019 or so.
2/4/16:
Starting on my taxes recently. As I have written before, I've got an ETF "short" position in stocks. That is to say, the stock is a derivative that gets its value from the stock market. It is supposed to go up when stocks go down, and vice versa.
On a trade like this in 2007-2009, I made a good profit on such a trade, but not this time. I figured that the market would go down back in 2013, but it didn't. It kept going up, but by not all that much. However, since it magnifies the movement, the slight movement up exaggerated the fall of my ETF, so that it lost a lot of value.
I sort of forgot about it. It so happens that a few changes have occurred since that time to this, and now the stock has reversed split. Because of that event, it required that I make an adjustment in my holding so as to allow the stock to split evenly, because without that adjustment, I'd have a partial share. Can't allow that. Since I didn't attend to it, it resulted in a forced sale. I have to now account for it in my taxes. It is a loss, but since I didn't buy much, it didn't lose that much.
But while doing this, I noticed how the price action has gone on the dow since I bought it and now. Instead of being near break-even, as I think it should be, I'm still way down.
I've probably written about this before. I don't know how they figure that I'm down, since I bought the ETF when the dow was just about 15k. Now it is around 16k, which isn't that big of a rise, yet I am still way down. I guess it is the "new math". Or maybe it is "democrat math". Heads I win, tails you lose type of math. Donald Trump math. Let's do it over type of math, cuz I've been schlonged.
I figure that the thing might make a profit if stocks fall below 10k, which is quite a bit below where I bought it. Good work if you can find it. /sarc
Let's see how that all works out. Right now, it looks like a big ripoff. Or maybe not that big. I didn't bet the ranch on it. I figured small risk, big potential gain. It now looks like big risk, small potential gain. Just the opposite.
One thing I don't have is the Midas Touch. This one went south big time. Instead of getting out with a small loss, I took it on the chin. The ripoff was complete.
The brokerage sold off, and forced me into a sale to pay for holding fees. Like I said, a rip-off.
The update was intended to let ya'll know what happened with this stock. It was the last thing I had on that account, and so the account was closed. When? Man, it wasn't that long ago, but it could've been around 2019 or so.
2/4/16:
Starting on my taxes recently. As I have written before, I've got an ETF "short" position in stocks. That is to say, the stock is a derivative that gets its value from the stock market. It is supposed to go up when stocks go down, and vice versa.
On a trade like this in 2007-2009, I made a good profit on such a trade, but not this time. I figured that the market would go down back in 2013, but it didn't. It kept going up, but by not all that much. However, since it magnifies the movement, the slight movement up exaggerated the fall of my ETF, so that it lost a lot of value.
I sort of forgot about it. It so happens that a few changes have occurred since that time to this, and now the stock has reversed split. Because of that event, it required that I make an adjustment in my holding so as to allow the stock to split evenly, because without that adjustment, I'd have a partial share. Can't allow that. Since I didn't attend to it, it resulted in a forced sale. I have to now account for it in my taxes. It is a loss, but since I didn't buy much, it didn't lose that much.
But while doing this, I noticed how the price action has gone on the dow since I bought it and now. Instead of being near break-even, as I think it should be, I'm still way down.
I've probably written about this before. I don't know how they figure that I'm down, since I bought the ETF when the dow was just about 15k. Now it is around 16k, which isn't that big of a rise, yet I am still way down. I guess it is the "new math". Or maybe it is "democrat math". Heads I win, tails you lose type of math. Donald Trump math. Let's do it over type of math, cuz I've been schlonged.
I figure that the thing might make a profit if stocks fall below 10k, which is quite a bit below where I bought it. Good work if you can find it. /sarc
Let's see how that all works out. Right now, it looks like a big ripoff. Or maybe not that big. I didn't bet the ranch on it. I figured small risk, big potential gain. It now looks like big risk, small potential gain. Just the opposite.
OAN joins YouTube tv --- Rumble video
This reminds me that I have a Rumble Channel
Incidentally, OAN means One American Network ( I think ).
CTH: "Ilhan Omar Catches a Big Break - Republican Oversight Committee Drops Financial Review, Hands off to Ethics"
"Lucy pulls away the football yet again."
Yep, looks that way.
Comment:
Charlie just keeps letting Lucy fool him. Will Charlie Brown ever learn? Maybe not.
Instead of doing the same thing, the thing that is expected; Charlie should change his tactics. Don't stay home, and don't vote for somebody unless something changes. Even if it means that the lies have to become even more elaborate. One way or another, something has to change.
The point being, if you cannot change them; try changing yourself. Charlie doesn't HAVE to kick that football, you see.
Yep, looks that way.
Comment:
Charlie just keeps letting Lucy fool him. Will Charlie Brown ever learn? Maybe not.
Instead of doing the same thing, the thing that is expected; Charlie should change his tactics. Don't stay home, and don't vote for somebody unless something changes. Even if it means that the lies have to become even more elaborate. One way or another, something has to change.
The point being, if you cannot change them; try changing yourself. Charlie doesn't HAVE to kick that football, you see.
Monday, February 9, 2026
Thoughts on a would be Moon base
Update, 2/9/26:
Now he's talking. That is, IF he's talking about doing this. It is reported that SpaceX is moving towards establishing a moonbase, in order to support his Mars ambitions.
The idea is even more credible given that Musk has found a way to make money in space. While he is making money in space, he can mine the moon for resources, like oxygen. All of this infrastructure has to be paid for, and an idea like the one Musk has for supporting AI datacenters in space; will go a long way in funding his Mars ambitions.
The tweet is is included in the update, and begins directly below this scrollbox.
Elon Musk just announced a major strategic pivot for @SpaceX: the company is officially shifting its primary focus to building a "self-growing city" on the Moon.
— Mark Kretschmann (@mark_k) February 9, 2026
The logic is centered on speed. While Mars missions are restricted by orbital alignments every 26 months, SpaceX can… pic.twitter.com/FVY4qBBKpH
10/30/10:
I got an idea for this post this morning. I was wondering if there's a way to quickly build a moon shelter and permanent base on the moon. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I started to search for what was already out there on the web. I came across this: a pdf file on some proposed designs of a moon base. It has occurred to me that NASA must have plans like these out the wazoo. So, why haven't these plans ever been implemented?
A further search brought me to this a link about Gregg Easterbrook, who is a critic of manned space flight. It would be wrong to blame him for the plans not being implemented. I don't want to slam Easterbrook here. Only to point out that the criticisms are too harsh. It has to be balanced by something. The manned space program needs a champion, like in the early days. These days, the critics, like Easterbrook, have the upper hand. To offset the critics, a there must be a champion of manned space flight.
Here's the article he wrote about the shuttle in 1980 ; it is fairly critical article and its tone turns out to be wrong in most respects, but it proved him to be prophetic in predicting failure as two shuttles were lost. With the loss of two shuttles, his point of view gained ground. But why did the Shuttles fail? Was it design failure, or did some other explanation account for this? To answer this question, it would take an extensive study the reports that came out of each disaster. Basing it solely on memory, I suspect that a change in specifications led to both disasters. If these specs weren't changed, perhaps both Shuttles could have survived. The Shuttle wasn't an inherently unsafe design, if that is true. To confirm that opinion would be out of the scope of this post.
In Easterbrook's 1980 article, he mentions that a permanent moon base was considered before deciding upon the shuttle program. He says that a base would have been useless. But the moon base would not be useless if it can solve the launch problem. If men and materials can be launch into space at a reasonable cost and be done relatively safely, we can open up the solar system for business. At one sixth the gravitational field of the Earth, getting to the near Earth asteroids would entail much less energy and consequently, much reduced cost for fuel. Having a moon base that is self sufficient in terms of life support could mean multiple missions from the moon, before having to return to Earth- giving further savings. And mining asteroids for fuel and metal ores could defray the costs of manned space flight. They may even be able to turn a profit.
A Moon base needs a champion. If the critics win, it may never be done. At least, not by the USA. Someone else could and probably will. If that happens, American leadership in this field will go by the wayside. Like many other things. Isn't it time that this trend be turned around?
Update: So, how much M type asteroid worth? This question is answered in Mining the Sky:
"As an example of the magnitude and economic value of space resources, we shall assay
the smallest known M asteroid and account for its market value. That distinction
belongs to the NEA known as 3554 Amun. Amun is only 2 kilometers in diameter, the
size of a typical open-pit mine on Earth, with a mass of ... thirty billion tons.
... the total market value of Amun ... $20.000. billion" -John S. Lewis
Mining the Sky, pp. 111-112
more info here
According to this: the feasibility of mining asteroids is close with present day technology.
Here is a site that I just found with plenty of info. It is called spacefuture.com
Those are late nineties numbers, as the book was written then. Prices have gone up.
I ran the numbers and each ton of the asteroid would be worth $667 at that time.
This would not seem worth the time orthe expense to bring all back. I suppose you
would need to pre-process the ore before you brought it back. Platinum at todays
prices would be about fifty million per ton. The Altair lunar lander which was to
land men on the moon was supposed to be able to handle (in unmanned versions)
up to 15 tons of cargo.
This would not seem worth the time orthe expense to bring all back. I suppose you
would need to pre-process the ore before you brought it back. Platinum at todays
prices would be about fifty million per ton. The Altair lunar lander which was to
land men on the moon was supposed to be able to handle (in unmanned versions)
up to 15 tons of cargo.
The Democrats' Insanity Defense
Updated on 2/9/26:
Tempting thing to say: "Life is nuts."
And: "Try to make any sense of it will make you nuts, too."
To counter those thoughts, I'd say: "If you didn't try to make sense of it, then you'll just join the rest of the looney tunes."
One philosophy that I've held for a long time, and it doesn't seem to have helped me much: "I try to be rational. It doesn't seem to work too well in this crazy world."
Maybe it is my own brand of crazy to keep insisting upon it.
Whatever.
I return you to your regularly scheduled nuttiness.
11/2/24:
The Democrats are so crazy, that GOP activists have to tone it down, or they won't be believed.
Tabletmag dot com
If the Democrats are crazy, and people are in denial about that, then does that make a lot of people crazy? It's got to be some type of dysfunction of a massive scale. If Kamala Harris somehow ends up in the White House, this may be a big reason why.
It is a scary thing to consider that there may not be enough sane people around to do what is clearly indicated. This group of people need to go, but will that happen?
Turn a page indeed. These people are nuts, and this isn't the first time I've written that. Here's a campaign slogan --- Make America Sane Again.
Quick take on the news, 2/9/26
This will be a bunch of Instapundit posts. Insty has a lot of 'red meat' type posts. Call it whatever you want, but words don't win this game. Messaging doesn't hurt, mind you. The thing that goes wrong in the midterms is that the Democrats put Trump on the ballot in their usual BS way; and the MAGA base doesn't give a flip about the GOP.
Yep, and I'm with ya, dear MAGA folks. If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times on this here blog; that the GOP refuses to be an actual opposition party. They'd rather run against the base than to run against the Dems. Anyway, if you don't acknowledge that the Democrats are going to run against Trump regardless of his being on the ballot or not; then it behooves you to go out there and vote in order to support Trump.
But messaging is fine. Insty's doing it here, and I appreciate it. All the same though, there needs to be a strongly ramped up GOTV effort, or the Dems are going to walk away with the prizes in November. If that happens, the GOP will probably lose in 2028 as well. So get out there and vote, dammit.
Now for the Insty links:
Pass the SAVE act. Get on their Congress-critter butts, and move this legislation forward. Some RINOS in the Senate are holding it up.
Moon first. Yep, and I've said it here before. Evidently, Musk sees the value of going to the Moon in order to support his efforts regarding Mars.
Filth media. Once again, couldn't have said it better myself.
Scraping the Marianas Trench. Ditto!
Good stuff at Insty today. A smorgasbord of red meat. Maybe the Swedish Chef can fix you up.
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