Sunday, April 15, 2018

Chocolate all gone...



39 comments:

  1. Here’s what a jungle primary looks like.[Click] Newsom (D) ahead in polls at 26%, Cox (R) 15%, Villaraigosa (D) 13%. Can’t say as I care for any of them, but interesting that Villaraigosa has gone from neck-and-neck with Newsom to about half as much. I will probably vote for Delaine Eastin (D), but note with interest that Gloria la Riva (P&F) is in the running. Locally, Devin Nunes has banner signs and yard signs out; Andrew Janz signs are being stolen. Nobody seems to do bumper stickers anymore. How else are you going to find your car in a crowded parking lot?

    —Alan
    Found Footage Offers a New Glimpse at 1906 San Francisco Earthquake[Click] The post-earthquake movie isn’t public yet, just a few frames; but they have a link to the matching movie made just before the earthquake, which is fascinating in its own right. The most striking things for me were the remarkable freedom with which all the traffic not confined to rails moved and that all the automobiles I could clearly see were right-hand drive.

    For Flint[Click] A 'Poisoned' City's Spirit of Resilience

    Alexa Is a Revelation for the Blind[Click] Very interesting, with insights on changes in how we communicate.

    —Alan

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    1. If they're stealing Andrew Janz signs they see him as a real threat, and that's a good thing. Republicans always do dirty stuff like that. And I don't put bumper stickers on my car at present because with all the revived rednecks and racists thriving in Ohio I'd probably come back to find my car windows broken out.

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    2. No yard signs at our house--I figure they could make my wife a target. And much as I think it would be humorous, I will not be putting a Socialist Rifle Association decal in the back window of my car. We live in a right-wing neighborhood.

      --Alan

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    3. I don't think I knew that the first cars in America were right-hand driving. Wow, makes you wonder what the roads were like when the first Model-T's came out and there was some of each kind out there. I've heard that the first two cars in Connecticut ran into each other. Hmmmm.

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    4. Wow. I didn't know that either. Always learn something on this blog.

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    5. The roads were pretty bad; farmers would fill chuck holes with straw, which was OK for wagons, but not bicycles, motorcycles or automobiles. The "good roads" movement was driven in the first place by bicyclists. The front suspension and steering of the Model T was very different from that of a modern automobile, and intended for the very poor roads of the day. Our standard arrangement of controls (clutch, brake, accelerator L-->R) come from the Austin 6, which didn't sell many cars in the US, but overall sold more than the Model T.

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    6. As you might expect, read the article about Alexa. I didn't relate, though. TThe big difference is that the person being described became legally blind at 18 and I did at 62. I had already been using computers for more than a dozen years, and assistive computer technology was available by then as it would not have been a decade earlier. So I continued almost without a hitch.

      I don't use these voice assistants because I don't trust them (the article doesn't mention Windows' Cortana). If I want to look up something, I'll use Goodsearch. And I don't yet have a smartphone, although I will probably get one before too long. The Lyft app might be useful and a smartphone lets you dictate text messages, a plus for someone who has problems with phone-sized keyboards.

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    7. The author of the Alexa article is, pardon my French, an utter and complete arsshole! What a condescending bastard! IMO his father is better off not bothering to communicate with him.

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    8. Hey, Springfield!

      In March 1896, Charles and Frank Duryea of Springfield, Mass., offer the first commercial automobile: the Duryea motor wagon. Two months later, New York City motorist Henry Wells hits a bicyclist with his new Duryea. The rider suffers a broken leg, Wells spends a night in jail and the nation's first traffic accident is recorded."

      I knew Indian motorcycles were made here starting in 1901. Must check when the plant closed, though IIRC it wasn't too long before we moved here in 1987. Also knew Rolls Royces were built here for a ten-year period, '26-36 if memory serves. But I never knew the manufacturers of the first commercially viable automobile came from here.

      I've said it before and I'll say it again: I always learn new and fascinating things reading this blog. Thanks for this one, Puddle.

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    1. Lionel Richie performs at Mara Lago??? Oh, no! I mean, Ted Nugent and Kid Rock I can handle, but Lionel Richie being a friend of or even performing for Trump? How disappointing!

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  3. Cat, we have freezing rain today atop about an inch of icy snow pellets. We are also under a High Wind Warning. How long our power will last with the icy landscape being battered with 2--40mpg sustained winds with gusts to 60mph and some to 75mph, is anyone's guess. Keeping our devices charged.

    Tomorrow's Boston Marathon is shaping up to be a misery. Freezing rain there today, 1-2" of rain tomorrow along with 25-35mph wins sustained with gusts higher than 50mph, and a high of 49F, more likely 41-44 during the first three hours. The course runs from west to east and it's a going to be with a constant headwind from the east. Can you imagine running up heartbreak hill in such conditions?

    My son is running for the fourth time and consecutively. Last year he ran it in less than 3 hours. He figures the headwind will add 5-15minutes to his time. But he says "I've run in every nor'easter so far this year. What's one more?" Ha!

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    1. Chilly and a mite uncomfortable here, Listener, but not as bad as you describe.

      Today: Cloudy with the chance for showers. Sleet/freezing rain possible N & W. Highs: 32-36

      Tonight: Cloudy & breezy with the chance for showers/sleet/freezing rain. Lows: 30-34

      Tomorrow: Rain likely, heavy at times. Breezy. Highs: 48-52

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  4. Our condo association meeting is today and was to be held at a neighbour's house. But her grandmother died last night, and even though she sent out a plea, no one else is stepping up to host. So even though we hosted last year and our sister-in-law died Friday, we are going to host the meeting, because at least we've had a day to catch our breath. But I am really tired of most people in every group I am part of just sitting on their haunches. Wil and I always do our part and more, because that's how anything gets done. Wil is the Treasurer and I am the Secretary, and we decided to get this done today because we need our roof replacement approved, and anyway, our neighbour needs to be with her family and grieve.

    Thoughts on how to motivate others in groups?

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    1. I offer this as a starting point:

      https://robinpowered.com/blog/how-to-get-your-team-to-participate-in-meetings-with-5-tactics-of-buy-in/

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    2. I shouldn't have thought from the looks of it that your place was a condominium, listener. I have no ideas that would pass social muster these days--folks are so squeamish about proven motivational techniques! The old Greek (Athenian?) system of electing a tyrant for a set term has its attractions, too. In the more or less successful organizations in which I have been an officer, there was a self-renewing pool of members, and a well understood progression of offices; then the senior officers shuffled off into the sunset. Usually the most senior member was the immediate past president, who had a vote on the board. But with a small, fixed and rarely changing set of members motivation will be a problem. Hmmmmm...what if officers paid lower fees to the association? Or received salaries? That wouldn't be as motivational as flogging non-officers, but would function in a similar way... I suppose that flogging would require an additional officer to apply the motivation...

      Alan

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    3. And cat-o-nine-tails are so hard to find nowadays.

      *ducks*

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    4. I expect that one could find a local maker of custom leather goods if one looked. And (although I haven't looked) there are probably online stores like flagellant.com and others. Hey, if Amazon doesn't have it, you don't need it! Oh, God--now I have to look that up! Yes, I'm afraid Amazon DOES carry them--in Sports and Fitness, no less. But the web site flagellant.com is available! An older friend of mine, an Hispano from New Mexico, told me of going with another kid (brother?) to secretly watch the local Penitentes, being spotted and having to run like the dickens to avoid being caught by the hooded men.

      Alan

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    5. Ahem. I'm glad you're here to tell us these things.

      Sports and Fitness? Shouldn't they be under either religious equipment or sex paraphernalia?

      LMEO Alan, it's a good thing you're not on Facebook. I can only imagine the kinds of ads that would come your way in the wake of your doing these searches!

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    6. When they are displayed under "Sport and Fitness" there is a note at the top that "Adult" entries are not shown, but can be seen by clicking on the link. I don't find any scourges in religious supplies; probably they are made under contract rather than being available to the general public.

      Alan

      Alan

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    7. We-e-ell, Alan, let me explain.

      We live in half a duplex in Association with three other duplexes. Thus a total of 8 units. Dues are low enough that a salary or lower dues could put us under. And, to tell you the truth, long ago we paid a tiny stipend to our Treasurer because it's a monthly responsibility and the woman who was doing it really needed financial support. When Wil took it over, the stipend continued. It helped. Then, right during the couple of years when he was underemployed, a new condo owner on the scene was elected President of the Association. She decided that Wil must have been stealing money from the Association because he was cutting himself a check for $40 each month. She demanded to have control of the checkbook and that our accounts be audited. Fortunately, cool heads prevailed. She was NOT given control of the checkbook, and two other members offered to do the audit rather than pay an outside firm. Wil is meticulous, so it didn't take them long to confirm that nothing was amiss. But in the course of the months of this woman's angst, it was decided that the Treasurer would not longer be compensated. So I don't think we'd touch that topic with a ten foot pole.

      We seem to have a self-perpetuating group of do-nothing Board members. They keep re-upping when their term is over and there is no rule against that. But, as one wise man once said in a movie, and I do not recall which movie, the best job to accept in an organisation is that of Treasurer, because you don't want other people screwing up your money. Wil has been our Treasurer for 22 years so far. And I'm Secretary, so I essentially keep the communication sane and accurate. We'll be okay. Just wish a few good people would move in and change the thrust of things. We have been here longer than any of the others.

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    8. Pardon my attempt at semi-levity, listener.

      Alan

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  5. ”…because the institutional G.O.P. during [Paul Ryan’s] years was like a bayou airboat with a fire in its propeller and several alligators wrestling midship, an unhappy end for his career was all-but-foreordained.”[Click] Nice analogy, wot?

    Big GOP Donor Now Backing Democrats[Click] News outa Boston…

    Europa-like lakes found beneath Devon Island ice sheet.[Click] And look at the radar survey plane: unless I am losing my mind, that is a DC-3. Super reliable in very cold climates.

    Rolls-Royce and Boeing invest in UK space engine[Click] intended for the Skylon space plane.[Click] Even if Skylon has been rendered impractical by reusable rockets, I have a romantic attachment to it because it looks so much like what spaceships were supposed to look like when I was a kid.

    Non-profit’s $300 hepatitis C cure as effective as $84,000 alternative[Click]

    —Alan

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    1. The turncoat donor: We'll have to wait and see how that works out for him. He may find he doesn't like what his money buys. Of course, there are Democrats and Democrats. If he funds corporate Dems (Clinton Dems), he will probably be satisfied. If he makes the mistake of funding Progressives, well, not so much.

      The sub glacial salt lakes are most interesting.

      The hepatitis treatment: I'm not surprised that a relatively inexpensive alternative works at least as well as an expensive name brand. The question is, will bulk buyers use the less expensive alternative or will the manufacturer of the name brand drug manage to muscle the competitor out? Anyone who charges that much for a lifesaving drug can afford a lot of bully boys.

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    2. Well, most of the space on the political spectrum that was in my youth occupied by Republicans is now Democratic; the GOP occupies what we used to call the Lunatic Fringe. No sense betting on a spavined horse.

      Alan

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    3. True enough. I haven't stirred. The Democratic Party has shifted rightward and moved away from me.

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    4. Leon Panetta was a Republican; as the political spectrum shifted to the right, he found himself in the Democratic part, and changed parties. There were probably others as well.

      Alan

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  6. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/michael-cohen-and-the-end-stage-of-the-trump-presidency

    "The narrative that will become widely understood is that Donald Trump did not sit atop a global empire. He was not an intuitive genius and tough guy who created billions of dollars of wealth through fearlessness. He had a small, sad operation, mostly run by his two oldest children and Michael Cohen, a lousy lawyer who barely keeps up the pretenses of lawyering and who now faces an avalanche of charges, from taxicab-backed bank fraud to money laundering and campaign-finance violations."

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    1. We saw this the other day; Alan must have posted it. It's a fine and encouraging article - encouraging for those who hate Trump, that is.

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  7. Here's one for you, puddle:
    GOP launches secret group to attack West Virginia coal baron [Click] A generically named super PAC targets Republican Senate hopeful Don Blankenship, who recently served a year in prison.

    --Alan

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  8. Anybody watching the Comey interview?


    More Than 20% of Trump Campaign Money Goes to Legal Fees.[Click] I suppose the percentage is increasing as time goes by…

    —Alan

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    1. Saw on one of the news feeds where Comey said in the interview that Trumps "morally unfit to be president."

      The comments I saw were hostile, siting Comey's October Surprise together with his failure to disclose that Trump was under investigation. At the time I thought the Clinton stuff was bullsh!t and politically motivated, and said so loudly and often. It didn't take a Clinton partizan to see that. All the same, truth is truth, even if it comes from a less than sterling source. Also, it is possible for people to grow and change, and to see the error of their ways. Whatever Comey has or hasn't done, he is absolutely correct that Trump is morally unfit for the office he currently holds.

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  9. Oh, pelleeeeeeeez!

    Trump asks judge to block feds from reviewing documents seized in Cohen raid - Click

    Seems to me we saw this yesterday, but I didn't realize it took three lawyers to write the letter.

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    1. “President Trump asked a federal judge Sunday night to allow him to review documents that FBI agents seized from the office of his longtime lawyer before criminal investigators have a chance to see the material,” the Washington Post reports.

      “The request underscores the high stakes in an ongoing legal fight in federal court in New York, where Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer, is also fighting to get a chance to review material seized as part of a criminal investigation of his business dealings.”
      ====================
      Sorry, Charlie--it doesn't work that way. A "taint team" of DOJ attorneys not involved in the investigation will inspect the seized documents and determine which are appropriate for the investigators to see, and which are not. Certainly Trump does not have the ability to distinguish among them, and cannot be allowed to see documents just because his attorney had them--it probably would violate the attorney-client privilege of Cohen's other clients (if he has any). Later on, if the case goes to trial, the prosecution must give the defense copies of anything they intend to introduce as evidence. At this point Trump has no right of discovery.

      --Alan

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  10. Deadly spring storm sweeps central US, killing two
    - Click

    A friend in Ontario just told me they've been enduring a three-day ice storm.

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