Friday, June 09, 2023

Total brilliance....

Somehow I am not surprised that the new Miss San Francisco is transgender, but one thing that I wonder about is how the contestant gets around the old rules that you couldn't have plastic surgery and compete.

Just sayin'.  

It used to be that beauty pageants would set boys' hearts a-fluttering, dreaming of what they might some day wake up next to.  These days, they're going to need to wonder, per Meghan Trainor's All About the Bass, whether that <redacted> is real.

Well said, Elon

I'm not a huge fan of his cars, but Elon Musk gets it exactly right regarding the indictment of Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents.  When it's Hilliary Clinton or Joe Biden, there are no grand juries convened, no searches, no subpoenas, or any such thing.  When it's Trump, no holds are barred.

I don't excuse Trump for what he did, as apparently he more or less admitted that he was retaining documents and daring the DOJ/etc., to obtain them.  But the simple fact is that, by storing documents on an unsecured server and behind a Corvette, Hilliary and Slow Joe posed the risk of much more damage to national security than Trump did by having secured documents in Mar-a-Lago.  If the DOJ can't equitably enforce the law, maybe they need to be replaced by someone who will.

Thursday, June 08, 2023

Well, yes

I have to wonder if it's not some kind of setup, but Fox tells us about a progressive woman who wants a man to pay for the first date, open doors, and the like, and is willing to care for and provide for his wife, and is somehow surprised that most men she meets that meets that description are politically conservative.

Yes, it's generally a package deal, and perhaps we ought to ask ourselves why progressive men too often do not want to show these courtesies.  Maybe....for all their progressive virtue-signaling, these men are all about taking advantage of the women they "date" or "hook up" with.

And pray for this woman, as her praise of AA suggests that she's had a rough go of it in life.  Perhaps....at the hands, in part, of some of those "progressive" men.

Wednesday, June 07, 2023

Paging Sir Walter Scott

Cambridge's department of Anglo-Saxon history decides there is no such thing.  Somehow I'm betting that they're not giving up their tenured positions and ivory tower offices after having confessed to academic fraud for the duration of their academic careers.

Real efficiency of electric trucks

The all-electric F150 has an overall realistic range of 278 miles, which decreases to 210 miles with a 1400 lb load.  Given that it has a 170kW-H battery that most likely weighs in over a ton of weight, what we're saying is that the vehicle is really, really badly designed.

To draw a picture, burning a kG of coal releases about 22MJ of energy, sufficient with 35% efficiency to generate about two kW-H of energy.  It's about 60% carbon, so what we've got is about 1.2kG of carbon dioxide emitted per kW-H, or about 200kG of carbon dioxide emitted per charge.

In contrast, my 1997 GMC (5.7 l V-8, 5 speed manual) has gotten 15mpg with about the same load, which means in that same 210 miles, I'd burn 14 gallons of gasoline and produce 120kG of carbon dioxide.  Even a one ton pickup will, at ~10mpg, burn only 21 gallons and produce only 180kG of carbon dioxide.

Yes, you read it here.  My 26 year old truck with 265,000 miles is more efficient than an electric F150 in terms of carbon emissions as the truck will typically be charged--with coal.  The numbers are better with natural gas generation--about 100kG of carbon dioxide per charge--but even that ignores the ~60,000 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions to make the battery (my estimate).  

Put the electric F150 against a gas powered F150 from today, and the numbers are not even close.  Or, for that matter, against my 2014 GMC Acadia under the same load.  And so I've got to wonder; is the EPA even working these numbers to figure out how bad of an environmental disaster we have on our hands with electric vehicles?

Tuesday, June 06, 2023

Too true

From the newspaper of record, apparently some Lululemon staffers have been fired for refusing to help criminals loot their store, and executives note that all their products are overpriced crap, nothing worth dying for.

OK, apparently the real reason is that store staffers actually confronted the thieves, and executives are taking the stance that they don't want to be sued because their workers are being killed, so I actually somewhat understand.  But that said, it's a sad world where management fires people because they object to the store being looted.

It's an even sadder world when the guys robbing Lulemon are....male, and apparently were intimidated by a woman in pink tights telling them to get out.  Perhaps part of the sentence for them (they've been caught) is to show the video to the whole prison when they're incarcerated?

And maybe they can wear some of the the tights they stole as their prison uniform--odds are some of them were orange or striped, no?  Hopefully these are from a batch that didn't have such thin fabric that everything underneath is visible.

Monday, June 05, 2023

Happy Pride Month!

You might be surprised that I wrote that, but I am just figuring that in our society today, we ought to do a better job celebrating the seven deadly sins.  So OK, June is Pride Month, so obviously February will be Lust Month, December will be Greed Month, January will be Envy Month (at the envy for other people's Christmas presents), November will be Gluttony Month, July will be Sloth Month, and April (home of Tax Day) will be wrath month.

Not quite sure why everybody would want to celebrate the seven deadly sins, but somehow it seems appropriate in our culture today.

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

OK, good start....

....but I would dare suggest that a professor who vandalizes student displays and then threatens reporters with a machete ought to be not simply fired, but also prosecuted.  Or is threatening someone with a deadly weapon not a crime in Gotham City anymore?

Kudos to the reporter, by the way, for how he kept his cool.  I don't know that I could have done the same in that situation, and I have to admit that I wondered "does this kind of thing happen so often in New York City that he's gotten used to it?".  I must also note that, as a possible juror, I'd not be willing to convict someone who beat the living snot out of someone who waved a machete at his neck.

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

What this blog really is

According to Google Bard, this humble blog is a nonexistent bakery with a nonexistent owner and nonexistent, but enthusiastic, reviews from presumably nonexistent customers.

 Bike Bubba's Boulangerie is a bakery in San Francisco, California that specializes in sourdough bread. The bakery was founded in 2012 by Bubba Baker, a former professional cyclist. Baker's passion for cycling and baking led him to open the bakery, which is located in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Bike Bubba's Boulangerie uses traditional methods to make its sourdough bread. The bread is fermented for 24 hours, which gives it its signature sour flavor. The bakery also uses locally-sourced ingredients, whenever possible.

In addition to sourdough bread, Bike Bubba's Boulangerie also offers a variety of other baked goods, including pastries, cookies, and cakes. The bakery also has a coffee bar, where customers can enjoy a cup of coffee with their pastries.

Bike Bubba's Boulangerie is a popular spot for both locals and tourists. The bakery is known for its delicious bread and friendly service. If you're looking for a great place to get a cup of coffee and a pastry, Bike Bubba's Boulangerie is the perfect spot.

Here are some reviews from Google Maps:

  • "This place is amazing! The bread is so fresh and delicious, and the service is always friendly. I highly recommend it!" - Sarah J.
  • "I love Bike Bubba's! The sourdough bread is my favorite, and the pastries are always so good. I also love that they use locally-sourced ingredients." - John D.
  • "This is my new favorite bakery! The bread is incredible, and the coffee is great too. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a delicious and affordable breakfast or lunch option." - Jessica S.

OK, I enjoy making sourdough bread, and I do slow rise in the fridge, and I even paid for my vegetables one summer by selling it at the local farmer's market, but suffice it to say that I think AI needs a little bit of work.

Thursday, May 18, 2023

A look at the FBI

....and let's just say the old lady needs a serious makeover.  The news is that two whistleblowers had their security clearances revoked after revealing  politicization of FBI investigations, and the FBI's response is....more or less that their security clearances were revoked not because they talked to Congress (an act protected by law), but rather because one "refused to participate in the execution of a court authorized, search and arrest of a criminal subject", and because another "espoused alternative theories" about the January 6 investigations.

In other words, the FBI's defense of their actions....corroborates the testimony of the whistleblowers.  More or less, they weren't going along with the preferred narrative, so the FBI shunted them off to the side.

Tuesday, May 09, 2023

One indication...

.....of how the war in Ukraine is going for Russia is the massive show of armaments in the Moscow Victory Day parade; a single WWII era T-34 was the representative of Russian armored forces. 

No word yet on when that tank is going to be sent to the front, or whether it will be hit with a Javelin, or whether Ukraine will request vintage Bazookas to confront this tank in a historically appropriate way.  Either way, it seems that there is something to the Russian casualty numbers being reported by Ukraine.

Putin delenda est!

Thursday, April 27, 2023

How some are using the transfer portal

And this hits home, because I got my master's degree in Boulder.  "Neon Deon" Sanders has pushed 18 players into the transfer portal  because they didn't fit his model for football, and while I understand that to a degree--I was cut from the track team at MSU because I wasn't good enough--it also strikes me that I didn't have to leave Michigan State because I was no longer running, and I didn't have to re-do key classes to get my degree like these guys likely will.

Given the trouble most former college football players have--having learned Cadillac tastes while the degrees they got (if any) gave them a decidedly Chevrolet budget, all while nursing lingering injuries from the game--there is something here that is just appalling.  

It's not the only way it can be used--I've seen a number of players from Michigan use the transfer portal as a way to get graduate degrees at other schools while freeing up roster/scholarship spots at Michigan for more gifted athletes--but I think there's a point where we need to start asking coaches like "Neon Deon" what his team is primarily there for.  

Pro tip; it doesn't happen at Folsom Field.  Go Big Red!

Pure marketing genius?

Not content with Anheuser-Busch hiring "trans model" Dylan Mulvaney to promote their brand of bottled water, Maybelline has hired him to promote makeup, and Nike has hired him to promote sports bras.  One would figure that the marketing gurus at these companies would realize that those buying these product might like to see them on, say, an actual female face, or on an actual woman with real breasts, but apparently the notion of showing the products as they'd actually be used is an idea that doesn't occur to Nike or Maybelline marketing. 

Sunday, April 23, 2023

And the cat is out of the bag

Sometime in the past year, I realized something very interesting about the situation in Ukraine.  Namely, despite avid FSB attempts to kill him, Vlodymyr Zelensky is still alive.  It struck me as odd, somewhat providential, and it got me to thinking.  What if a great portion of the corruption in the former Warsaw Pact countries was because the KGB (now the FSB) never really went away?  That they were, through bribes, threats, and the like, still calling the shots.

Well, it makes a lot of sense in light of the sweetheart deals on productive assets given to oligarchs, the presence of pseudo-private military groups like Wagner, and for that matter the leadership of guys like Vladimir Putin, a former (?) KGB hand.

And now,  the government of China has effectively made the case that the FSB is calling the shots by announcing that in their view, many countries liberated from the Warsaw Pact are not, in fact, independent, sovereign states.  

Now at a certain point, all that needs to be done is to summon the Chinese ambassadors and direct their attention to the treaties that did, in fact, grant independence and sovereignty to the former Soviet and Warsaw Pact nations, but that misses a big point.  China is more or less saying, as I've been suspecting, that the FSB has indeed been a quiet ruler of a lot of these countries for a while.

And it's time to cut the tentacles that they've been using to do this.  Just as freed Germans occupied Stasi headquarters and prevented the records from being destroyed, we need to pray that soon, freed Russians do the same at the FSB.  The tentacles can be cut at Russian borders, yes, but as long as they still control Russia, they'll (like the Hydra) keep regrowing.

Friday, April 21, 2023

Here's some hopeful news

Looks like the makers of Naxalone, a.k.a. Narcan, are aiming to get the over the counter 4mg version to a price point of $50.   Now the down side is certainly that some of the demand is going to be addicts who are using it as a failsafe--take your hit of fentanyl, repeatedly use Narcan to pull yourself from the Pearly Gates, rinse and repeat.  It strikes me that this kind of use--at $25-125 per hit--ironically gets the price of being an addict up to the levels it was at when I was a kid in the 1980s.

To me, it seems like trusting your ballistic vest so you can save a bit on your housing by living in Gary.  Maybe start to make some better life choices?

But for those of us who are not using, but might come into contact with those suffering from an overdose, it strikes me that it could be a good idea to carry some "just in case" in the way that many people carry first aid kits in their cars.