The wind machines are certainly a big improvement over the old smudge pots, which were almost out of use when I first moved here. The expense must be huge, though. ----Alan
{listener} What do the wind machines sound like? Is it like a thousand fans going at once? Is it a hushed whirring? Is there a high-pitched component? Can you hear them from inside your house?
If there is a high-pitched component I wouldn't be able to hear it. I hear a rumble sort of like a freight train, but louder, steadier, and more distributed. How many there are I can't say, but probably hundreds. The temperature is near freezing when they are turned on, so the sound carries well. -----Alan
Well, Alan, I gotta say, it beats what we hear here, occasionally, from the firing range a few miles distant...the sound of the Gatling Gun or other such device...basically, the sound of war. These days they report in advance when to expect it to occur. I'm just glad it wasn't when my children were little and napping! It's not horribly loud, but you do take notice, and it's random, not constant. But it's a sound of war, not of protecting growing things.
We used to hear firearms practice form the Sheriff's firing range a couple of miles downriver, but I haven't noticed it lately. I wonder if they use an indoor firing range, of which there are a few in the area. ----Alan
We seem to be coming into a new round of thinking like Quoheleth in Ecclesiastes. If you think life is futile, you might as well gamble and drink, eh? Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die.
The author of Ecclesiastes was either King Quoheleth or King Solomon. And after trying all the things that were foolhardy, the author came to the perspective that faith in God was wiser. Interesting.
In the 1920s, the idea that the government should be run as a business eclipsed Roosevelt’s progressive government, but after the Great Crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression, Democrats under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s offered a “new deal for the American people.” That New Deal meant that the government would no longer work simply to promote business, but would also regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, and promote infrastructure. World War II accelerated the construction of that active government, and by the time it was over, Americans quite liked the new system. ... But those who objected to the liberal consensus rejected the idea that the government had any role to play in the economy or in social welfare and made no distinction between the liberal consensus and international communism. They insisted that the country was made up of “liberals,” who were pushing the nation toward socialism, and “conservatives” like themselves, who were standing alone against the Democrats and Republicans who made up a majority of the country and liked the new business regulations, safety net, infrastructure, and protection of civil rights. ... That reactionary mindset came to dominate the Republican Party after Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980. Republicans began to insist that anyone who embraced the liberal consensus of the past several decades was un-American and had no right to govern, no matter how many Americans supported that ideology. And now, forty-five years later, we are watching as a group of reactionaries dismantle the government that serves the needs of ordinary Americans and work, once again, to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of an elite.
The billionaire technology entrepreneur, who himself was appointed and not elected, described federal workers as an "unelected, fourth, unconstitutional branch of government" that he said has "more power than any elected representative".
U.S. Begins Forging Rare Earth Supply Chain [Click]
ReplyDelete——Alan
Reported temperature here 33F; opening the patio door, I could clearly hear the wind machines in the citrus groves on the other side of the river.
ReplyDeleteThe wind machines are certainly a big improvement over the old smudge pots, which were almost out of use when I first moved here. The expense must be huge, though.
Delete----Alan
{listener}
DeleteWhat do the wind machines sound like? Is it like a thousand fans going at once? Is it a hushed whirring? Is there a high-pitched component? Can you hear them from inside your house?
If there is a high-pitched component I wouldn't be able to hear it. I hear a rumble sort of like a freight train, but louder, steadier, and more distributed. How many there are I can't say, but probably hundreds. The temperature is near freezing when they are turned on, so the sound carries well.
Delete-----Alan
To answer your question which I overlooked--- at times the sound can be perceptible inside the house, but it is much more obvious outside.
Delete-----Alan
Well, Alan, I gotta say, it beats what we hear here, occasionally, from the firing range a few miles distant...the sound of the Gatling Gun or other such device...basically, the sound of war. These days they report in advance when to expect it to occur. I'm just glad it wasn't when my children were little and napping! It's not horribly loud, but you do take notice, and it's random, not constant. But it's a sound of war, not of protecting growing things.
DeleteWe used to hear firearms practice form the Sheriff's firing range a couple of miles downriver, but I haven't noticed it lately. I wonder if they use an indoor firing range, of which there are a few in the area.
Delete----Alan
A few? I'm not sure. A couple, certainly.
Delete----Alan
Why Speculators are Running Wild Again [Click] Some interesting observations on Americans’ increased engagement in all sorts of gambling.
ReplyDelete——Alan
We seem to be coming into a new round of thinking like Quoheleth in Ecclesiastes. If you think life is futile, you might as well gamble and drink, eh? Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die.
DeleteThere's a certain degree of logic to such a view.
DeleteThe author of Ecclesiastes was either King Quoheleth or King Solomon. And after trying all the things that were foolhardy, the author came to the perspective that faith in God was wiser. Interesting.
DeleteIn the 1920s, the idea that the government should be run as a business eclipsed Roosevelt’s progressive government, but after the Great Crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression, Democrats under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s offered a “new deal for the American people.” That New Deal meant that the government would no longer work simply to promote business, but would also regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, and promote infrastructure. World War II accelerated the construction of that active government, and by the time it was over, Americans quite liked the new system.
ReplyDelete...
But those who objected to the liberal consensus rejected the idea that the government had any role to play in the economy or in social welfare and made no distinction between the liberal consensus and international communism. They insisted that the country was made up of “liberals,” who were pushing the nation toward socialism, and “conservatives” like themselves, who were standing alone against the Democrats and Republicans who made up a majority of the country and liked the new business regulations, safety net, infrastructure, and protection of civil rights.
...
That reactionary mindset came to dominate the Republican Party after Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980. Republicans began to insist that anyone who embraced the liberal consensus of the past several decades was un-American and had no right to govern, no matter how many Americans supported that ideology. And now, forty-five years later, we are watching as a group of reactionaries dismantle the government that serves the needs of ordinary Americans and work, once again, to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of an elite.
HCR's Full letter
NPR: Trump ally Steve Bannon pleads guilty and avoids jail time in border wall fraud case
ReplyDeleteBBC: Trump insists US will take Gaza as he meets Jordan's King Abdullah Being an American is sooo embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteKing Abdullah: "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."
DeleteThe billionaire technology entrepreneur, who himself was appointed and not elected, described federal workers as an "unelected, fourth, unconstitutional branch of government" that he said has "more power than any elected representative".
ReplyDeleteMusk denies 'hostile takeover' of government in White House debut
^ (Note; Hold nose before clicking)
DeleteHey! This month's social security payments arrived okay. So that's one month.
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good. Thanks for the heads-up.
Delete----Alan