One year ago today: January 31, 2019, and she scowls.
Five years ago today: January 31, 2015, I don’t like Lego.
Nine years ago today: January 31, 2011, most famous blog cat, sigh.
Random years ago today: January 31, 2014, that seismometer sucked.
I have a reason to live another twenty years, its those drastically overdue missions to Mars. The one I tend to watch is the return of soil samples slated for 2031. Nothing to report today, my Friday day off went as planned. I’m not one to sit around doing nothing and say that’s relaxing, but I stayed put. I worked on some bass lines and noted the country rhythm player who quit returning my calls is again advertising for something that isn’t there—a ready-made Polk County band. There are more ads these days specifying no startups, projects, collaborations, or soon-to-be efforts. It’s the growing extinction of the traditional band structure.
That’s it, otherwise I spent the day reading. I thought of a movie but in the end watched a DVD, another time-tested tale of everybody double-crossing everybody else. The only true representation was the corrupt cops these days, I’m not saying they are all on the take. I’m saying in your own self-interest, it is wisest to consider that they all are. And I priced out a set of white DR neon bass strings. Thirty bucks. The picture? That’s my keyboard array when I’m multi-tasking. Some folks have real trouble with more than one, but other than the odd time reaching for the wrong mouse, I’m okay with this arrangement.
I was thinking, isn’t 2020 the year Bush promised we’d have humans back on the Moon? Then Obama cancelled the project in 2010, saying the money could be better spent fixing things. Yep, the money was spent, but it was other things that got fixed. As I said that same year, I am convinced it is better for us to move forward into new environments than to waste money trying to make old places work right. Every human settlement attracts freeloaders and they can never be changed, only left behind.
The problem of western society is that liberalism supports freeloading to a greater extent than the rest of the world. Leftists see the group as “unfortunate” rather than a consequence. It reminds me of how the French tried to eradicate rats in Indochina by offering a bounty for the tails. The result was widespread rat farming. While I totally agree there is a lack of fairness and equality when it comes to opportunities to get ahead, there is never any excuse for laziness. I tend to view laziness as a condition where people aren’t allowed to suffer their own consequences.
The inherent unfairness of western society is a corruption of capitalism that allows those with money to gain more than the virtues of owning it. That’s tricky to follow, but the way society is structured, once you get money, you are forced to protect it. I mentioned how rich people are different in that they don’t have to protect themselves from each other—but they do have to protect themselves from those who would confiscate their wealth in the name of equality. That would mean defense against the likes of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and their ilk. The best defense is a good offense and a good offense in this country spells political corruption.
Down the line, the result is a society structured to protect wealth, with the wealthy constantly aware or at least suspicious that one day the hammer will fall. They begin to concentrate and accumulate as much as they can in the theory that they will still have enough left to start over in the aftermath. We’ve seen the rapid accumulation of most American wealth in the hands of the 1% because of this. They are not free to “create jobs” as the propaganda suggests, but increasingly forced to horde. This is accomplished largely by preventing others from getting a share. Even at the top, there is not, so to speak, enough to go around in the sense of having confidence it won’t be confiscated. In America, most confiscation takes the form of taxes.
That’s your essay for the day.
[Author’s note: TMOR, if you were to read American articles related to my economic theories, you will find many differences. My opinions are those expressed by my contemporaries and my own experiences. The difference is I have studied advanced economics and seen both sides of the picture. I have slept at the Torrey Pines and I have slept in a cardboard box. While the ivory-towered elite will say I’m talking through my hat, I can reply that they are the ones who have lost touch with reality. Neither side is entirely correct, but few of the others have personally been, like myself, on both sides of the economic fence. ]
Cedar shingle options.
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In the course of keeping squirrels out of my birdfeeders, I moved two seed dispensers under the kitchen window awning. The plan was to get the birdies tame enough to ignore movement inside. The unexpected result was the awning giving shade in the sun and shelter in the rain. These birdfeeders far out-perform the others, dispensing nearly twice the product. Taming the birds has not succeeded. They are very skittish near the window and are also camera shy. When they see the camera inside, flight is instant. The best I’ve got is a few seconds before they spot the device.
But nice guy that I am, I got some of that for you. This is why my readers say kind words about me, and my detractors say different kinds of words. You can see it swinging so forlornly in the dripping rain. C’mon, enjoy the video. It took me three minutes to create it.
Tomorrow, I’ve got it penciled in. We get that bathroom floor done. It will include a removable trapdoor to get at the “guts” of the system, which is now centralized. The existing tank takes two minutes and ten gallons of water to get a hot shower happening. The new system is practically instant, which is nice when you’re on the move. I’ve also roughed in the plumbing for the ambient or tempering tank which should give an unlimited supply of hot water for half the current system uses. The bills are not bad, but I’m usually the only one here. I use less than a fifth of the minimum water service I pay for each month. Then again, I don’t have my dishwasher, garden, and front lawn yet.
In other news, JZ calls to say he’ll shoot up this way next Wednesday. I say not. He also says I’m wrong about there being nothing to do in Miami. But he’s short on examples. Other than touristing, name me five things to do in Miami. Don’t include walking in the parks and such because they stink from the homeless and the few good locations will have the police run you off after an hour. I asked him for a list of five things. If he comes up with any, I can make the list even shorter by asking which ones he uses on a regular basis. Read my lips, Miami is third world and its culture has fallen to that level.
ADDENDUM
Club memberships in the news again, placing clubs in more danger of being accused of violating discrimination laws. That is outrageous for the simple reason the very concept of a club with membership is the exclusion of undesirables. Of course the rejects are going to scream it is some bias on the federal hit list when it is the simple fact they are not welcome. I point out again that there is nothing stopping others from forming their own clubs with their own standards. But saying existing clubs cannot restrict membership is abrogating their rights of the club. Some people you don’t want in your house, your car, or your club. Those whiners should not be able to turn it into a personal rights issue. Now you get ass-clowns who don’t even want to join the club protesting on the pavements. Hypocrites.
Yes folks, it’s time to thin the herd.
