About current events

The news media has gotten so bad in this country that it is hard to tell what is really going on. As a consequence, there has been a big drop off here in writing about current events. If I don't have confidence in what I'm writing, maybe it is better to not write at all.

Not that I have greater confidence now. There are alternative avenues for different takes on current events. The commercial media is a joke. The rest of these might be reliable, but it is hard to know for sure. Everything here can be said to be speculation...

After all that, here's what I think about a few things....

On the financial front, much is being said about the "market crash". The "crash" doesn't look like much of one to me. It looks more like it could be a topping pattern, as it is rounded in appearance, and it can't seem to advance to much higher highs. But the lows aren't going into new territory, or least not yet. Therefore, to me, it is definitely not a crash... yet. There OUGHT to be a crash, but something is holding up this hot mess. What that could be is the petrodollar. A topic beyond the scope of this little ditty.

The War in Ukraine is even more difficult to assess. If you follow the media, it may seem like Ukraine is winning. A look at the map would seem to indicate otherwise. Couple that with some alternative news, and the idea of a Ukrainian victory melts away. The significant thing here is that Ukraine is not negotiating. Any talk of victory from the Ukrainians seems delusional. As long as Russia is holding vast swaths of territory, and they can't get their goods in or out, then they are in rough shape. Sending money to them is like throwing "good money after bad". That assumes that there is any such thing as good money in the USA these days. As far as the USA is concerned, it could be backing the losing side yet again. Another notch in the globalist losing streak. Yay, team.../sarc

Politically, the GOP should be cashing in. But the GOP never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Given how badly the Dems are running the country, the GOP should be winning BIG TIME. Also, if you listen to the GOP fanboys, they ARE winning big time. But wait a minute... There is much talk about Biden's polls, yet Biden is fairly steady in the Rasmussen Poll. Count me skeptical about all the disaster talk for the Dems. I'm not on their side, but there is no side that is worth supporting at this juncture. The GOP is acting in their typical stupid fashion. Going along with Biden on Ukraine only shields Biden from another debacle, which appears to be a real possibility. That's so dumb that it amazes me. Maybe not that amazed though. These guys are so bad that it is hard to be truly surprised anymore at their legendary stupidity and incomptence.

If things really go into the tank, the GOP might cash in. But since they won't separate themselves all that much from the Democrats, it could be just more business as usual after the election. That's why there's no real choice here, only the pretension of one. The "political divide" is just more kabuki theater for the suckers who believe their nonsense. A smart operator would position himself as someone who differs from those who are sending us into the pit of catastrophe. If nobody separates themselves from those who are fouling our nest, then who can you turn to fix things up? Right now, that list of folks seems mighty short.

After the election, things could get "interesting"-- but not in a good way.

The dots that might get connected

When something happens that leaves you scratching your head, the common thing that might get said is that "nobody connected the dots". At least, that is what was said in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 2001. There were people who were claiming that Bush "let it happen". This didn't seem plausible, because people rallied around him. If the public really thought that he just sat there and let it happen, would his popularity have soared like it did? Otherwise, people would have wanted to see him removed and convicted of a crime. Nobody connected THAT particular dot.

Fast forward to today. There are all kinds of things happening, but nothing seems to be getting done about any of it. Indeed, there are some rumblings out there that the people in high places "are letting it happen". In fact, they may be doing more than just standing around and letting it happen. They may be actively working in that direction. Those are the dots that people in charge should not wish to see connected. That's because the worm may not turn the way it did with Bush. Instead of 90% popularity, you just might get to the point that the people in charge will be universally hated and despised. You don't want to be seen as fiddling while Rome was burning.

It happened in Imperial Rome of antiquity. Once an Emperor lost everybody, he was going to be sent packing. In those days, they didn't bother with impeachments. They just killed the dude off. When they sent him packing, they did it permanent style. Nero wasn't killed, but only because he killed himself first.

What makes these people so sure that something like this couldn't happen in modern times? Maybe people are more civilized now. Or are they?

But once people can't eat, the base impulses will take over. There's this shortage of baby formula going on right now. What are the people in charge doing about it? Or, do they prefer that the young die? Do they prefer also that the young people not get educated? Do they prefer also that young people drop in their tracks because of a bad "vaccine"? If the same pattern continues often enough, people may connect some dots.

Do you begin to see the possible dots that may get connected? There ought to be some folks that are worrying about how all of this could shake out. The fact that they aren't is not a good sign for them. They should be a lot more concerned about it than they appear to be.

Off-grid post, 5-14-22

Since the last time I wrote about the solar panel system, I haven't done much with it. Instead of that, I've built a wall on the southwest end of the trailer. It really wasn't that big of a project, but it takes me a long time to get things done anymore.

It's still not done, but I could stop here. One thing I noticed about it was that it doesn't stop all the sun. In order to remedy that, I'll have to put a top on it. The sun gets so high in the sky, it still shines on it even though the wall is nearly as tall as the trailer. Just a small amount of material on top will close it all in. It's 18 inches from the trailer, so you wouldn't think that the sun can get around that, but yes it can. Just that much can subject half the wall to sunshine. Sunshine means heat, and that means more power to keep things in the comfort zone.

As for the solar panel, the thing is still quitting on me in the hottest part of the day. I think it might be the inverter. Or, oddly enough, it might be the BMS. However, I don't recall having the temperature monitoring feature on this BMS. Nothing obvious that I can think of that could be causing this.

There's still the possiblility of getting a bigger battery, but I haven't decided yet.

At the rate I'm going, it might be winter before I finish this solar project.

Somewhat out of character type of post

It's not completely out of character, but it is somewhat out of character. On the other hand, it is completely IN character in one respect. The thing that I'm getting at is this question: What do you do about people who pretend to be on your side, but aren't really?

There is a problem with insincerity, and I know all about it. I've had to work on it, and get it out of my system. It's been a life-long process I tell you. So when I see liberals talking their usual crap, I see something that I might have done once myself. I'd like to think I've gotten over that. Well, I have this theory about a leopard not being able to shed his spots. Something that reaches deep inside is pretty hard to fetch out. This insincerity thing is pretty damned hard to get rid of. You can't bleach out the spots, you know what I mean Vern?

The thing today is the falsity that surrounds us all. It all comes down to insincerity. So you get the likes of Nancy Pelosi saying that she supports the Constitution while she walks all over it, and runs it through the shredder. It isn't just Pelosi and her gang, it's just about everybody in DC. The rot runs pretty deep, and it is all about not being who you claim to be. Pelosi and her gang is just but one example. It is some commonplace that it is EVERYWHERE. I think Pelosi knows it too. She is said to be sauced up a lot of the time. Anybody who needs refuge in mind altering substances like alcohol and drugs has something to escape from. It is usually their own horrible selves.

Another example is those who laud Ronald Reagan, but call themselves right-wing. Well, as I understand it, "right-wing" and conservatism don't go together. If they liked Reagan so much, they'd know that. But this isn't about just people at the top. It is also about people EVERYWHERE.

The insincerity can morph directly into flat out dishonesty. There are people who think being dishonest is SMART. Their whole lives seem to revolve around how they can screw somebody out of something. They think that makes them smart, and an honest person is just DUMB. I've come to think of that as an antisocial attitude. We have a whole bureaucracy and political class who do nothing but lie their way through their days. Everything is a freaking scam for these people. So they justify themselves by their constant jive ass ways. It's how they define themselves. But I want to set myself apart from such people. Yet, for all too many, that's DUMB.

We have way too many people like that in this culture now, and it is killing us. If you want to see something DUMB, then look at THAT. It's really dumb to swallow the Kool Aid that will kill you.

Our culture has sunk to the bottom, and yet there are people who think that is ENLIGHTENED.

I see that and it seems like it is everywhere. Sometimes there are good things, though. I try to think of only those things. Those are the good things. The rest is for the birds.

The truth will out, but how long will it take, and will it matter when it does?

 

What the Media isn't telling you about RussiaGate

The above is a link to a Zero Hedge article that tells the story that the Establishment Media won't tell.

It's about the Crowdstrike claim that the Hillary emails were hacked. But they weren't, and all of the Establishment Media knew it. They hid the story that Adam Schiff had hid the testimony that establishes the fact that the story of Russian hacking was false.

As for me, it should have been evident from the very start that this was a set up. As linked to above, Crowdstrike was just a DNC operative entity. Why take their word for it? They cannot be considered objective, honest, nor fair.

If there's anyone deceived by this story, and that is even from the get-go, then they wanted it to be true. It had nothing to do with the truth.

Now there is a war that threatens to get bigger. Are people going to wake up in time, or even at all?

Can anthing make a difference?

 

The collapse of the Roman Empire in the West has fascinated me. Especially lately, as I've found a YouTube channel that covers the entirety of Roman history.

There was something on that channel that I found today that fits in with what I think about a particular historical event. Not everything that this guy does follows what I think, but this does. It was about the sack of Rome in 410 AD. It was completely unnecessary and avoidable.

Basically, as the story goes, if Emperor Honorius would have just given the barbarians what they wanted, it would have been a good deal for the Empire. Instead of doing that, he had his best, most loyal commander assassinated. At the same time, the barbarian king Alaric was negotiating to get a place within the Empire for himself and his people. If Honorius had granted that, instead of having Alaric sacking Rome, he would have had an ally in the North. He killed off his right hand man, Stilicho, and it was all so unnecessary.

Would this have staved off collapse? Probably not, but it sure didn't help. In this case, it was Alaric who sacked Rome; and if he was far away, in the North as requested, he couldn't have done that.

There were plenty of problems, and this wasn't the key thing. Even at this point, there could have been a recovery. Rome had crises before. But the fundamental problems remained, and this failure to address them was one reason the Empire in the West collapsed.

There are those who look at this and think that it was all inevitable. But this one thing might have been avoided. If one thing could have been avoided, then perhaps a lot more could have been avoided as well.

History can turn on the decisions of leaders at critical times. I guess that is what I'm theorizing here. A good decision at the right time can make all the difference. The fate of nations always seems to rely upon just a few of those that are in the positions of power.

I think about our modern times, and ask what can be done to affect the course of history? Maybe there's nothing. Things will follow their due course, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it. Some jerk in a high position may do something really stupid, and it will ruin everything for everybody. What can you do? Maybe nothing.

Spaceflight news

A couple of news items came to my attention, and so I thought I'd pass it along. By the way, the title may not be the best one for this post. It's the best I could come up with on short notice. I'll dash this one off in a few minutes, cuz I'm always busy doing things that don't pay me anything. Like this blog...

Firstly, there's a  Space station concept , in which someone proposes to build as if on an assembly line in space. It involves constructing a torus-shaped structure, which is great, because it can simulate gravity. He believes he can build things FAST, and also a LOT of them. Attach a rocket to it, and you can go places in style. Battlestar Galactica, here we come. If you spin it up between 2 and 3 rpm, it can simulate Earth gravity. How 'bout them apples?

The second item that caught my eye was : Starship 2.0

It's not really news, though. Musk has been talking about this all along. The Starship CAN be scaled up further. Imagine getting a million pounds or more into orbit. You could supply the materials needed to build that humonguous Space Station with an equally humonguous rocket.

Since Musk wants to make many such rockets, then it is possible to supply materials for many such space stations.

Maybe they can build one of these some day:

It is something of a joke to mention the Death Star. But something like that might be feasible.   Maybe.