I would not thought it likely that even a pseudo-conservative male writer could make a 180 degree turn in one paragraph. That kind of unhinged irrationality I've always associated with women.
True enough. That said, I seriously doubt that this guy, and many others like him who claim to be conservatives, are nothing but leftists in sheep's clothing.
Post by Brad Nelson on May 23, 2023 15:25:53 GMT -8
are nothing but leftists in sheep's clothing.
It was such a weird thing. He points out how "nice" is a morally dubious notion as played out in our culture. Great. I concur. And then he is "nice" himself toward some egregious stuff. I don't know if David French or Jonah Goldberg have been this obnoxious in their blatant inconsistencies.
Strike that. It would take a heroic effort to top either one of those two. But Casey is at bat and seems to be trying to do so.
Last Edit: May 23, 2023 18:45:17 GMT -8 by kungfuzu
I found this on the TabletMag site that Artler had linked to for a commencement speech. NHL broadcasts are now littered with ads for gambling. Worse than that, they've fused the gambling ads into the studio broadcasts to make them almost seamless.
This is a disturbing trend. And the writer is correct about this atrophying the sport itself.
It's not just NHL but every sport from hockey, baseball and football to even the most obscure. If it's on TV or can be added to a gambling app. In the old days we had the neighborhood bookie now we get a gambling app and it's legal in almost every state. Don Corelone must be laughing his ass off.
We made our monthly (month-and-a-halfly?) journey to the Buc-ee's in Melissa, Texas. We normally get there a little after 10 pm, but this time we got there a a little past 9 pm. Unlike the other times we visited, the place was very busy this time. School is out so I suppose that might account for the difference.
I did not do a license check, but I would guess most of the people there were from Texas and Oklahoma, the state-boundary line being about 30-35 miles north. I am not sure how best to describe my impression of the people I saw. Shock, depression, disgust, despair? Virtually everyone was fat. Even Mdm. Flu observed that several people literally looked like bowling balls with legs. She doesn't normally make such comments.
I would estimate that a majority were obese, many morbidly obese. Three hundred pounds would not be uncommon. I am not Fred Astaire, but compared to most there I am svelt. And we are not talking about a bunch of old codgers. The majority of those I saw would appear to have been between 20 and 50 years old.
Gluttony is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. There is little doubt that America is a world leader in this. I also suspect it is a leader in sloth as I find it hard to believe that, even given stupendous gluttony, a person could achieve the heights of obesity I saw unless they did little bodily activity. I am convinced this also leads to a lessening of mental acuity as well. Fat, dumb, happy and lazy indeed. Can such a country return to its glory days?
Last Edit: Jun 3, 2023 20:09:25 GMT -8 by kungfuzu
Post by Brad Nelson on Jun 3, 2023 20:33:32 GMT -8
I am not sure how best to describe my impression of the people I saw. Shock, depression, disgust, despair? Virtually everyone was fat. Even Mdm. Flu observed that several people literally looked like bowling balls with legs. She doesn't normally make such comments.
Remind Mrs. Flu that at least bowling balls are not responsible for their shape. Given that they have no feelings, no apology is expected.
Gluttony is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. There is little doubt that America is a world leader in this. I also suspect it is a leader in sloth as I find it hard to believe that, even given stupendous gluttony, a person could achieve the heights of obesity I saw unless they did little bodily activity.
This has to be the truth of it. My older brothers says that any lingering hope for humanity is dashed simply by one visit to the Shelton (hicksville) Walmart. But fat is all over now. It's probably the reason our life expectancy is suddenly going down. It has zero to do with the KFF.
I went hiking/biking today. I don't see too many fat people on the trails...but you do see some. But at least they are moving. I give them that.
One of the funniest (sometimes sexiest) pictures is to see some overweight girl jogging down the road, her boobs practically setting the tectonic plates in motion. But God bless her for putting in the effort (and the show). You got to start somewhere.
Last Edit: Jun 3, 2023 20:34:49 GMT -8 by Brad Nelson
Post by Brad Nelson on Jul 5, 2023 14:29:09 GMT -8
Saw this coming:
Doesn’t this problem with broadly legal online bookmaking seem obvious in retrospect? We have introduced both the opportunity and incentive to compromise the integrity of a given sport.
You may think the comparison a bit overdrawn, bit I see this as just another of the many moral surrenders, which have taken place over the last thirty-or-forty years, in order to enrich a few at the cost of society as a whole. Some examples of what I mean.
1. When I was young, lawyers could not advertise. I recall the first time I saw some ambulance-chasing-scumbag lawyer on TV. It must have been in the late 1980s. I was in a dump-of-a-hotel in Lovelock, Nevada watching TV. On comes a commercial which some shyster from California going on about automobile accidents and such. "Just call Joe (or whatever his name was.)" I found it somewhat shocking and very distasteful. Have you noted a degradation in our legal system over the last thirty-odd years since this type of thing has been allowed?
2. When I was young, physicians and pharmaceutical companies could not advertise. These days, does some schmuck watching TV understand anything being fed him about some new drug? Does he really "need" to suggest his doctor prescribe some drug he saw on TV? Does anyone believe our medical system is more moral today than forty years ago?
3. When I was young, there was no legal gambling on sports. There were no state lotteries. Legal gambling was pretty much limited to Las Vegas and some horse tracks around the county. Is the population better off today?
This is not to say that there have never been athletes who gamble on games, or shyster lawyers, or greedy doctors taking money from drug companies. What I am saying it that the well thought out restrictions have been removed and the resulting corruption has been enormous. Much of the money generated by these things goes to buy crooked lawyers, judges, doctors, politicians, athletes and others who then have a very vested interest in maintaining and promoting the system. Sounds something like a corrupt bureaucracy doesn't it?
Last Edit: Jul 5, 2023 15:07:20 GMT -8 by kungfuzu
This made me laugh my ass off. It would appear that many Americans truly are Fat, Drunk and Stupid. Let me emphasis Stupid in this case. The price of gold was set at $35/oz under FDR. It was allowed to float under Nixon, or Carter. I can't recall which, but I think it was Carter. Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard and I believe Carter allowed free trade in the dollar.
The price of 1 oz of gold on Friday was just under US$2,000.00. There is an extra charge for buying gold in coin form. I don't know what it is for the Canadian Maple Leaf coin. If someone took the coin into the coin shop to sell it, I guess they would get something like US$50-100 less than the price per oz at that moment.
Post by artraveler on Oct 22, 2023 15:03:35 GMT -8
Gold Coin
I guess the first question I would ask, "is this a one ounce .999 pure gold coin?"
If the answer is yes take the coin and consider it profit. If the answer is no, it is then important to discover the percentage of actual gold in the coin. There are unscrupulous vendors who advertise 100% gold clad coins at absurdly low prices. They are actually selling a piece of lead covered with about $5.00 worth of gold for the amazingly low price of $39.95. They avoid arrest by two methods.
1. their business is located offshore in a country with no extradition 2. In the fine print they disclose that it is a collectors item and subject to changes in market price.
There is nothing wrong with owning precious metals as an inflation hedge and as specie when the paper currency collapses. I recommend silver, rather than gold. The high value of gold does make it easier to transport substantial amounts, however, it also make it hard to use for what could be necessary transactions, like purchasing a tank of gas. People's eyes start spinning when they see gold, not so much silver. At current market prices you can trade one .999 pure silver coin for a tank of gas, groceries, or other items. You can feel somewhat assured the exchange is reasonable and fair. Would you feel the same if all you had was a one ounce gold coin?
I guess the first question I would ask, "is this a one ounce .999 pure gold coin?"
My first question would have been, "Is this some kind of a joke?" If he replied, "No" I would have then asked to see the coin. Depending on the thickness, a 1 oz coin would be about the size of a quarter. I have sold a couple of gold coins in the past. One was a Sovereign and the other a Swiss 25 Frank coin. Both were rather small. Neither were .999 pure. Coins generally aren't unless they are for collecting. I also sold a small gold ingot which was tiny, but being .9999 it was as valuable as the coins.
I'm with you on silver vs. gold. One more advantage is that if one is cheated by taking a "silver" coin, the damage is much less than if one is cheated on a "gold" coin.
Last Edit: Oct 22, 2023 15:13:49 GMT -8 by kungfuzu
Post by Brad Nelson on Oct 22, 2023 18:58:40 GMT -8
It would appear that many Americans truly are Fat, Drunk and Stupid. Let me emphasis Stupid in this case.
That's incredible. I have to admit, I thought that an ounce of gold was around $400 or $500. I had no idea it was up to $2000.00.
That video shows not just the stupidity of today's Slobocrat, but perhaps why they are stupid. They are consumers. They are market hedonists. "I can spend this immediately so I'll take the ten dollars."
I would love that guy to say, "Here, you can either have five dollars or this one ounce plutonium coin." And see what they say.
They are consumers. They are market hedonists. "I can spend this immediately so I'll take the ten dollars.
Too true. I also thought "these people are too lazy to take the time to go sell the coin to a jewelry store or coin store." Like you say, "instant gratification" has been bred into these dummies.
Frankly, I don't expect most people to know the present price of gold. I do because I have been in the metals business all my adult life, not precious metals mind you, but metals none the less. This trains one to keep an eye on metal prices in general, and gold is particularly important as an indicator of how people think the economy is going to do and the real value of currency.
That said, I do expect people to have the common sense to know that gold has always been highly valued. Hell, haven't we all heard of the goose that laid the golden egg? A gold medal being the top prize? Or the California Gold Rush? Or gold fever? Furthermore, it's main use in the real economy is jewelry production. Everyone knows that gold is used in jewelry and jewelry is something that is normally a bit expensive. That alone should make people think before taking a $10 bill. Idiots.
Last Edit: Oct 22, 2023 19:53:17 GMT -8 by kungfuzu
Post by Brad Nelson on Oct 22, 2023 21:11:21 GMT -8
That said, I do expect people to have the common sense to know that gold has always been highly valued.
YouTube (or video) fraud is rampant these days. We don't know if this guy offered the coin (assuming he would give it to them, and I don't assume this) to a thousand people and edited down to what we saw. There is no data that I can see attached to this video in this regard, so I take it with a grain of salt.
But not even one person should have turned down the coin. I don't know what planet you are living on where it is not common knowledge that gold is extremely valuable. What we can say at least is that there are a lot of out-of-touch idiots...products of public schools, no doubt.
YouTube (or video) fraud is rampant these days. We don't know if this guy offered the coin (assuming he would give it to them, and I don't assume this) to a thousand people and edited down to what we saw
I agree completely with what you wrote. I have always been skeptical of such gags. I even questioned the veracity of those "Jay Walking" clips on Jay Leno. But I have come to the conclusion that people really are as stupid as they sometimes seem.
Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 18, 2023 15:23:14 GMT -8
Next, Steve warned people about using smart home devices like a Google Home or Alexa - calling them 'a creepy stalker' that lives inside your house.
'Think for a second about the most intimate and private conversations you have and ask yourself, do you really want a stranger listening in?' he asked his followers, listing hackers as a likely threat to these devices.
'Hackers make their livelihood by breaking into devices like your phone, your computer, and even these voice-activated assistants,' he explained.
That is such an excellent point. One commenter writes:
My old Mums equivalent to Alexa was listening to the neighbours through the wall with a glass up against it to her ear.
Last Edit: Dec 18, 2023 15:25:29 GMT -8 by Brad Nelson
Brad Nelson: Yes, Happy Birthday, Mr. Kung. I had forgotten yours was so close to mine. What day was it?
Jul 26, 2019 9:03:45 GMT -8
kungfuzu: Thanks to all for your birthday wishes. Yes, I did have a very happy meal. Not only did I have that wonderful steak and Brunello, but my wife also served up a lobster bisque. I generally eat well, but it is very rare for me to have such a fabulous repast.
Jul 26, 2019 9:41:08 GMT -8
kungfuzu: My birth date, July 25th, is of course a very important day in history. For example, one of the world-changing things to have taken place on this date was.........(crickets chirping) oh yeah, Bleriot was the first to fly across the English Channel
Jul 26, 2019 9:43:58 GMT -8
timothylane: Well, that's more than I can think of for December 12, my birth date. Some people are luckier, and even have some appopriate event -- such as Barack Obama being born on the anniversary of the Borden murders in Fall River, MA.
Jul 26, 2019 10:28:32 GMT -8
timothylane: Lobster bisque --- I've probably had that somewhere. But I'll go for New England clam chowder first. It's my favorite soup. I'll also take shrimp over lobster (or crab), though I like them all (and plenty of mollusks as well).
Jul 26, 2019 10:30:06 GMT -8
lynda: Just in case I'm offline on December 12th, Happy Birthday Timothy! I hope you get shrimp, and clam chowder.
Jul 26, 2019 11:17:29 GMT -8
timothylane: Thank you. I've never had clam chowder here (not even that tomato-based Manhattan version, which I had once), but they have on rare occasion had some sort of shrimp (I think theoretically shrimp scampi). You take what you can get.
Jul 26, 2019 11:58:05 GMT -8
kungfuzu: Tonight at 8:00pm ET, METv is broadcasting "Forbidden Planet" during it's Saturday night "Svengoolee" segment.
Jul 27, 2019 10:17:44 GMT -8
timothylane: They also have the Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy" (war with the Klingons over Organia) at 10 p.m. And some interesting Three Stooges pie fights at 6 p.m., including the "Sword of Damocles" sequence.
Jul 27, 2019 10:45:10 GMT -8
Brad Nelson: I've got the Blu-ray version of Forbidden Planet. It might be time to ogle Anne Francis again. I have monsters in my ID. What can I say?
Jul 27, 2019 20:19:35 GMT -8
*
davegs: I've been in IT for over 40 years - and have been cobbling together systems for family and friends for years. It's not quite 'steam-punk' - but can seem rather close sometimes. Now its about weeding out what's been accumulated over the years.
Jul 30, 2019 6:08:39 GMT -8
Brad Nelson: I love the idea of a steam-punk Rube-Goldbergesque computer made of just stuff sitting around. That's something you can do with a PC that you really can't do with a Mac.
Jul 30, 2019 7:51:49 GMT -8
Brad Nelson: There used to be a PC repair place down the hall from me. I got a good view of how this guy could take parts and make a PC. He made me a couple from spare parts...parts that weren't up to spec but technically still worked.
Aug 1, 2019 9:07:57 GMT -8
kungfuzu: To continue my ongoing history lesson on the low regard in which actors have been held throughout history, I just read that actors could not become citizens in the Byzantine Empire. Apparently, the word actor was used as a synonym for prostitute.
Aug 1, 2019 10:41:31 GMT -8
kungfuzu: MeTV is showing John Wayne in "Chisum" at the moment. They just had "Rio Lobo." I don't know if this is a John Wayne binge, but if it is, I'll be happy.
Nov 13, 2019 14:49:32 GMT -8
kungfuzu: Sorry, it is not MeTV, but the Movies Channel which is showing "Chisum."
Nov 13, 2019 15:05:21 GMT -8
timothylane: I was wondering. MeTV doesn't show movies, though it does show plenty of western TV shows (except on Sundays). I've seen Chisum, about the Lincoln County War. I don't know if I have the Movies Channel, or if so where it is.
Nov 16, 2019 16:45:52 GMT -8
Brad Nelson: Happy Halloween!
Oct 31, 2022 14:52:03 GMT -8
Brad Nelson: Merry Christmas to all!
Dec 20, 2023 13:54:32 GMT -8