Debt Rattle March 17 2023

 

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Viewing 34 posts - 41 through 74 (of 74 total)
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  • #131484
    ezlxa1949
    Participant

    Lyrebirds are totally amazing. How and where the photographer got that video I don’t know; the birds keep to themselves. In that clip I heard an old-fashioned motor-driven camera, a kookaburra and a whipbird. There were more but I can’t identify them.

    And magnificant creatures like this are of no interest to the growth machine. If their destruction brings economic growth, then so be it.

    #131485
    ezlxa1949
    Participant

    It’s common in my parts for businesses to have a sign near the till that cash is not accepted. The Englishman’s strategy would fail here.

    On the other hand, it is still a legal requirement for businesses to accept cash in payment for goods and services. The public are happy to use cards, and so do I although not for all transactions. It is convenient and does save me carrying around wads of cash for large purchases, and almost no-one uses cheques any more.

    But the trend will not stop until the payments system falters or even stops.

    #131486
    ezlxa1949
    Participant

    The AUKUS sub deal is controversial in the Great Southern Land. To repeat: a better acronym is USUKA, pron. you sucker. I can’t help feeling that we have been commanded to join the program. Why we’re taking up arms against China is a mystery: they already as good as own us anyway.

    I was going to write that Australia has gone into captivity, but on reflection we’ve been in captivity since the beginning, first to Great Britain (I remember then tail end of that period quite clearly), and now to the USA. We are basically very insecure and need a big brother to protect us.

    #131487
    Mr. House
    Participant

    “diagnosed mental illness”

    Wasn’t being gay considered such even two decades or so ago? People don’t care about principles and providing justice and fairness. They just want power. Recently was talking with a friend who is gay and we’ve had some conversations on whats going on recently. He’s freaking out about an amount of states that are passing or considering laws against gay marriage and the don’t say gay disney crap. I asked him why he cares so much about marriage, he didn’t respond at first. I then asked is it because of the tax breaks, did he really want to marry those juicy benjamins. To his credit he admitted this. Woke is bullshit.

    #131488
    John Day
    Participant

    @DBS: Thank you for your kind assessment of my design ethic and work results. I sort of think like an engineer. I was in Electrical Engineering for my first 2 years of college. I attended 10th-12th grades in Yokohama, Japan. I like the elegance of simplicity, as long as it does what it needs to. I have to know where my tools are, so they are either out where I can see them, or organized.
    I try to compose photographs before taking them, so disorder is more real than apparent in my self representations. We are pretty similar, but I do make a lot of drawings before starting.

    #131489
    ezlxa1949
    Participant

    I learnt yesterday that Australia has an equivalent of the USA’s FDIC, the Financial Claims Agency, It wasn’t set up until the crisis of 2008.

    Numerically it has the same deposit upper limit of $250,000 (AUD of course). So I’m well covered! The ABC had a soothing article yesterday about how safe our banks are with little exposure to overseas risks. OK then, no worries.

    #131490
    ezlxa1949
    Participant

    So the Monticello plant leaked radioactive water and kept quite about it. I have in-laws living not too far from Monty. They have instructions in their house for what to do if some big emergency erupts. Nothing about a little emergency.

    According to the Health Physics Society fact sheet, tritium has a half-life of 12.3 years. The decay product is low-energy beta particles which can travel about 6mm in air but are stopped by skin. Its summary reads,

    Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen that is produced by both natural and man-made processes. It mostly exists in the form of tritiated water and generally behaves as such in both the environment and the body. For this reason, tritium is widely dispersed in the environment, a very small addition to other radiation background levels. Due to its chemical properties and weak radioactive emissions, tritium is considered one of the least harmful radionuclides. Despite this fact, it is important to be aware that tritium is used in some common devices, such as tritium exit signs, that can release tritium if they are improperly disposed of or damaged.

    #131492
    Doc Robinson
    Participant

    @ mpsk

    Why you should get a shotgun. (Bill Burr)

    https://youtu.be/7_L7mK9XaeA

    #131493
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    For a bit of a chuckle. Below is a youtube comment on Awaken with JP’s video “Banking Collapse Explained for Dummies”:

    “Banking is safe and effective. Banks just need a booster every now and again.”

    Didn’t list the user name as that’s not mine to share. But ya gotta admit – THAT is funny. 🙂

    #131494
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    Thank you, Doc. Now I know what to purchase. lol

    #131495
    John Day
    Participant

    @MPSK: I tried to post some reviews of cheap 22 rifles, which can be had for under $200, and 22 pistols, which you can get a 22 revolver for that, but others are more expensive.
    I have not used a handgun or rifle since my early 20s, but shot targets with a 22 rifle every Tuesday night at the rifle range as a kid, hunted on my grandfather’s ranch as a teen, etc.

    22 ammo is cheap, and the recoil is minimal. It allows you to shoot 1000 rounds to get a feel for how the whole thing grabs you. You need to go to a range. That costs money. Are you practicing to be able to quickly and effectively kill peope? Is that a practical goal? Does it outweigh makng yourself an immediate target by showing a gun?
    Target shooting with a rifle is pretty abstract.
    Shooting pop-ups with a handgun is practicing to kill a person reflexively at close range.
    You will really need to see how you feel after 1000 rounds.

    #131496
    WES
    Participant

    MPSK: Don’t let the Ukrainians know of your high skill level or they will give you a frontline view!

    Dr. John Day: After firing 1000 rounds, I would feel very broke!

    #131497
    cloudhidden
    Participant

    Shotgun……also safe and effective. usually no need for a booster.
    Seriously, what are your requirements?
    Want to get something to eat, or keep something from eating you?
    Different tools.

    #131498
    Oroboros
    Participant

    I concur with John Day. Don’t try a 12 gauge shotgun or even a 9mm handgun until you feel at ease using a 22, just for your headspace.

    Like everything, practice rules. Larger gun cost a lot more to practice with.

    First rule I was taught is to never point a gun at anything or anyone you are not fully prepared to pull the trigger on. Like never I was also told that pointing a gun at many people will make them very angry and some will come at you very quickly and beat you stupid if not worse.

    .

    #131499
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    There’s a dark joke about buying guns, which is that there’s no need to buy one. 5 minutes after the big one starts there will be free guns laying around all over the place in “like new” condition, fully loaded, never fired, and only dropped once.

    #131500
    John Day
    Participant

    Spartacus asked the new, massively upgraded ChatGPT some technical questions, and some more general and aesthetic questions.
    https://iceni.substack.com/p/another-talk-with-chatgpt

    My comment:
    Chat GPT has gotten much better, but has some specific roadblocks installed, which are counterfactual, such as the claims here of prior safety-testing, leading to approval. The actual raw data shows a lot of mechanisms of injury, some leading to deaths. Installing this kind of blockade around certain topics must be difficult and expensive.

    “In the context of COVID-19 vaccine development, for example, some vaccines utilize harmless viral vectors or mRNA to instruct human cells to produce a modified version of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which then triggers an immune response. These vaccines have undergone rigorous testing, including preclinical studies and clinical trials, to evaluate their safety and efficacy. The vaccines that have received emergency use authorization or full approval from regulatory agencies have demonstrated a favorable safety profile, and there is no significant evidence linking them to the development of amyloidosis or amyloid fibrin clot formation in humans.”

    I also notice a lack of time-perspective in discussing COVID as one entity, but different iterations have been very different. Alpha to Delta were very similar, though Delta was probably already adapting to a “vaccinated” population with ADE mutations. Omicron and later were suddenly much safer than the “vaccine products” in any time window or age bracket one might study.

    Chat GPT completely misses that.

    I’ll sort of accept the response to Vitamin-D as guarded, but how is that obtained?

    What is the study-weighting and filtration function to get this answer?

    Here is a link to all of the studies of all of the early COVID-19 treatments, with graphs of tendency to benefit vs harm. It is quite exhaustive and frequently updated: https://c19early.org/

    Chat GPT does not look at all of this, or the responses would be different.

    Again, how are the filters set to get such tailored responses?

    There are a few big blocks installed, such as “Vaccines have been tested and are safe”.

    Who chooses them? How are they installed?

    #131501
    John Day
    Participant

    @WES: 22LR ammunition is 7-0 cents per round, cheap. 1000 rounds for under $100, but range fees and purchase price of a firearm, if you can’t borrow one. Regular cleaning and oiling is necessary and you must buy those supplies, also.
    There really is a culture of proper manners and ritual in gun handling, inspection and cleaning, and it miight save your life, or that of somebody in the room with you Even my dad (Major USMC) slipped-up and put a hole in the dining room wall when inspecting an “empty” handgun, with a round in the chamber.
    My grandparents walked in on me as a 5 y/o and my 3 y/o brother when I was pointing a revolver at him in play, when we had been in the room for maybe 10 minutes after Dad left us there. “But I would NEVER shoot Robert!” I protested, “I didn’t even have my finger on the trigger”.
    Somehow, Grandmother was much angrier with Dad than she was with me, let alone Robert.

    #131502
    John Day
    Participant

    Weak key on 1.
    7- 10 cents per round for 22 LR ammo.

    #131503

    Doc R- My mate favors the shotgun (because it’s got “a big spread” -thanks for the comic clip!) because everyone recognizes the sound of cocking it. A guy I know has a repeating shotgun that cost a gazillion dollars (he was happy to tell me).
    DBS- when I was younger, they said the gun- your gun- almost always ends up in the hands of the bad guy. If I NEED a gun, I am probably going to be acting like a “bad guy”. The joke’s premise is what I am currently running on.
    But first, I have to learn how to handle one. A nearby range is booked til the end of the world, so I’m looking at friends or family who know about handling them. A family member hunts deer with a 45 magnum.(!) A friend suggests a a handgun that shoots paintball sized plastic orbs. A 22 rifle sounds elegant and almost fun, but noisy.
    I’m pretty good with a BB gun. If I had to defend myself with it, I could “shoot an eye out” with a stern warning that if the victim gets to the doctor STAT, he can save his eye.
    Of course, the big question is “can I actually kill somebody?”
    That’s probably the first question I need to answer.

    #131505
    WES
    Participant

    Things Ukraine is good at:

    1. Building pre-fabricated metal bunkers and then quickly burying them deep enough, with an excavator, to withstand a 152mm high explosive round.

    2. Getting Finland to donate 1525mm (5 ft) wide diesel locomotives that fit Ukrainian/Russian gauge railways.

    3. Suddenly canceling military exemptions previously sold for up to $10,000 USDs each.

    4. Bribing foreign government officials to donate taxpayer money to the Ukraine. In 2021 it only cost them $1 – $2 billion but in 2022 the cost of bribing foreign government officials increased greatly to $5 – $6 billion. Wonder how much the cost of bribery has risen in 2023, now that the Ukrainians are more desparate?

    5. Efficiently washing “dirty” taxpayer money and returning “clean” money to foreign government officials.

    6. Killing Ukrainians.

    #131506
    aspnaz
    Participant

    If only I had known that they were paying nickel prices for bags of stones … the great theft continues … https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-17/lme-finds-irregularities-in-nickel-underlying-nine-contracts.

    #131507
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @MyParentsSaidKnow

    Of course, the big question is “can I actually kill somebody?”
    That’s probably the first question I need to answer.”

    Let’s hope you’ll never have to answer that question, but having a gun makes discovering the answer at least possible. You will find out if you can do it or not if and when the time comes. If you don’t have one then it leaves your answer entirely up to someone who has already decided that they can.

    #131508
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Russian 30mm Works On UA Sniper Nest

    30mm is a mighty big automatic gun, especially with explosive tipped rounds

    #131509
    Oroboros
    Participant

    FOR SALE!

    Used unmanned aircraft MQ-9 Reaper

    Salvage, for parts, water damage, soaked in kerosene

    Make an offer!

    Hahahahahahahaha!

    #131510
    Doc Robinson
    Participant

    @ mpsk

    If I could have only one firearm, I’d choose a shotgun, especially if I wasn’t interested in target shooting as a hobby, or long-range accuracy (hundreds of yards), or concealed carry. A shotgun is versatile, can be used to take down flying pheasants, running rabbits, deer, moose and bears (with slug ammo).

    #131512

    A thoughtful answer, DBS. I have been able to put down beloved pets. But I have been taught not to kill, even if my life is forfeit. I find- from “covid” that I will preserve my life “at the expense of others.” I am chewing on that.
    It did make me feel good to want to stay alive.
    If there is one publication that I am recognizing as core to the ways of thinking I am abandoning, it is “My Weekly Reader”.

    #131513
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Regarding the firearm issue: There are a lot of cowboys out there who are ignorant of gun safety.
    I agree with the recommendation to buy a shotgun. A 12 gauge pump-action with a short barrel (18″ – 20″inches) for ease of use indoors.
    Most importantly; find a certified instructor of rifle, pistol, and shotgun; of which I am one.
    The next most important item is to use/practise with it until you are confident in your ability.
    In an emergency one does not have the time to consider how to function; it should be auto-matic and that only comes with experience…

    #131514
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    I have known for a long time that the contested regions are hilly but also charactarised by considerable areas of swampy flat land. However, it is only after watching the video below that I fully appreciate that many of the battles are battles to gain control of hills which the UkoNazis hold; they can look down on the lower ground and can see much of what is happening whereas the Russians have to use drones to see who is where and what they are doing in such terrain.

    Despite the advantage of occupying the high ground, the Uko Nazis are powerless to halt the meatgrinder in the long run.

    #131515
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    Oh what fun. Please don’t wear a mask because criminals wear masks.

    #131516

    WES- maybe the Russians could use “super soakers” filled with vodka at the front lines. The Ukrainians might welcome the refreshment.
    VA, I understand the gravity of the use of firearms. What does certification offer?
    On a different note- Truman Capote hated the casting of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. I think he wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly. Instead, someone ignored the author – they had deviated from the plot already- and made a nearly perfect movie, perfectly cast. They were also going to dub in a better voice when Holly sings the song on the balcony, but thank heavens they didn’t.
    Mancini- Oh, please bring back the masters of melody!

    #131517
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    VA, I understand the gravity of the use of firearms. What does certification offer?

    Certification assures the qualifications of the instructor; and to teach safety and best practices of firearm usage.
    Many firearms users would also benefit from a combat course teaching tactical applications for handguns and long guns as well.

    #131518
    SeaBirds
    Participant

    MPSK
    Mancini. Here here! Iconic theme and maybe his best loved.
    Favourite is Two for the Road, also with fabulous Hepburn leading.


    @ezlxa1949

    Here in NZ there is no deposit protection scheme whatsoever. It was abolished around a decade ago. There was some hue and cry at the time, but it was quickly brushed under the carpet.

    #131532
    aspnaz
    Participant

    V. Arnold said

    Certification assures the qualifications of the instructor; and to teach safety and best practices of firearm usage.

    Why? Because the law says it should? Who follows the law these days, you will probably find your firearm instructor is a gay transexual with purple hair who hates guns and donates to the Democrats.

    #131539
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    gay transexual with purple hair who hates guns and donates to the Democrats.”

    Good work! Those 13 words check every box and might be the best summarized portrait of the pathetic enemy minions that we’ve seen so far.

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