ECONOMICS: Maybe I have to start looking at price per ounce?

Monday, January 2, 2023

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/whats-your-line-sand-25-burger

What’s Your Line In The Sand? The $25 Burger?
by Tyler Durden
Thursday, Dec 22, 2022 – 09:22 AM

  • Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
  • The gag reflex kicks in at some point and we walk away because it is no longer worth the price.

*** begin quote ***

Everyone has a line in the sand when it comes to inflated prices they refuse to pay. For one Walmart shopper I observed, it was a carton of eggs for close to $10. She announced her line in the sand verbally, with great force and sincerity.

What’s your line in the sand, the point at which you simply refuse to pay the asking price? Is it the $25 burger? Or is it the $50 for two burritos and two beverages?

Each person’s line in the sand reflects their income, wealth, budget, social status and value system–what’s important to them. For some higher income folks, it might be the ridiculous “resort fee” that’s tacked onto the already overpriced resort room, hotel tax, excise tax, parking fees and the extra-special charge for Internet service.

For others, it might be the outrageous estimate for repairing a system failure in a nearly-new vehicle that is (surprise!) no longer covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. Hundreds of dollars for what?

*** end quote ***

Hmmm, now that’s an interesting pot question.

For me, it has to be the $9 “craft beer”.  I switched at my local bar from draft to bottles when the price was 7$ for a draft and 3$ for a bottle.  Maybe I have to start looking at price per ounce?  Or, milliliter!

Dining out has become a $100 proposition.  Isn’t that far beyond the average working stiff?  It certainly is getting there for the senior citizens and people with rug rats.

Sad. 

And it’s all caused by the politicians and bureaucrats “printing” money.

Where does the merry-go-round stop?

Soon I think.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | ECONOMICS | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

TECHNOLOGY: Important New Year’s breakthru in important foodstuff by Iran

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Some day soon we might be making popcorn with infrared poppers (3 minute read)

Scientists from Iran have figured out how to make popcorn with infrared cooking. Popcorn pops when it is heated above 180 degrees Celsius due to trapped water within the kernel’s endosperm. When it is heated, the pressure from the superheated steam ruptures the kernel, and the starch within is released in a foam. The Iranian team found that heating up kernels using 700 W IR power at a distance of 10 cm produced the highest yield and highest rated popcorn.

# – # – # – # – # 

Hey I’d prefer they work on this rather than atomic bombs!

HNY

—30—

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

RANT: Repeal REALID and reduce Gooferment powers; the politicians and bureaucrats abuse them!

Saturday, December 31, 2022

https://jeffjacoby.com/26644/real-id-was-a-real-mistake-and-congress-should

Real ID was a real mistake and Congress should scrap it at last
by Jeff Jacoby
The Boston Globe
December 28, 2022

*** begin quote ***

“If fully implemented, the law would facilitate the tracking of data on individuals and bring government into the very center of every citizen’s life,” warns the American Civil Liberties Union. Real ID would make Americans’ personal information available to a vast network of federal, state, and local officials — an irresistible lure to overreaching government snoops, to say nothing of a mother lode for identity thieves. Even worse, the requirement that all driver’s licenses and ID cards have an unencrypted barcode puts that personal information within the grasp of anyone with an electronic scanner.

In authoritarian countries, it is taken for granted that citizens must always have their identification forms with them and that governments have a presumptive right to demand information about any individual at any time. That is not the American way. Here, the presumption is that the national government does not have an automatic claim to personal information and may not track individuals at will without probable cause to suspect wrongdoing.

*** end quote ***

“Where are your papers!” 

Every Nazi-involved movie always had this trope in it.  And, it should be a warning of the slippery slope.

Americans don’t need Gooferment “papers” to exist.

And, after we have seen how respectful the Deep State is to the First Amendment, why would we give them anything that could be misused.

#repealrealid #endthefed #endthefbi #endthecia

And on … and on … and on!

“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand? . . .”
— Alexander Solzhenitsyn

—30—

Leave a Comment » | Ranting | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

POLITICAL: “Constitiutional Issue” hide that the Constitution is a joke; the Taxpayers are the butt of the joke

Friday, December 30, 2022

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3789863-free-and-fair-voting-or-rigging-elections-supreme-court-will-decide/

Free and fair voting — or ‘rigging’ elections? Supreme Court will decide
by Michael J. Dell, opinion contributor – 12/27/22 4:30 PM ET

*** begin quote ***

If there is one lesson all of us (including the Supreme Court) should have learned over the last few years, and particularly on Jan. 6, 2021, it is that we cannot be complacent about our democracy. The Supreme Court made an enormous mistake in Rucho when it said it would not prevent blatant partisan gerrymandering — a practice retired Justice Anthony Kennedy aptly noted has been described as “rigging elections.” The court should take this opportunity to reverse Rucho. The court has no task or responsibility that is more important than protecting our democracy and the fundamental right of all Americans to participate equally.

Michael J. Dell is a New York lawyer who litigates and writes about constitutional issues.

*** end quote ***

I keep getting annoyed by the word “democracy”.  The USA is no a “democracy”.  In fact, “democracy” means mob rule.

Is “blatant partisan gerrymandering” any different than all the recent Election Day frauds which appeared in the last few elections?  And, how about the Deep State (i.e., CIA, FBI, DOJ, DHS) violating the First Amendment to swing the election?

So let’s stop kidding ourselves about what type of environment we suffer under.

It’s imho a tyrannical oligarchy in which different “gangs” have a kabuki dance to decide who gets to screw the Taxpayer.

Maybe I’ve become a real “get off my lawn” senior citizen, but I don’t see anything changing anytime soon.  When the “suckers” stop the “parasites” from feeding off them, then maybe we will have a “revolution”.  Til then, don’t make me laugh or annoy me with these pretend “Constitutional issue”.  

The Constitution died when Washington put down the whisky rebellion, or when Lincoln fought the War of Northern Aggression, or when the “peace candidate” Wilson put us in the WW1, or when FDR confiscated gold as money, or… or … or … … …

“Inasmuch as the Constitution was never signed, nor agreed to, by anybody, as a contract, and therefore never bound anybody, and is now binding upon nobody; and is, moreover, such an one as no people can ever hereafter be expected to consent to, except as they may be forced to do so at the point of the bayonet, it is perhaps of no importance what its true legal meaning, as a contract, is. Nevertheless, the writer thinks it proper to say that, in his opinion, the Constitution is no such instrument as it has generally been assumed to be; but that by false interpretations, and naked usurpations, the government has been made in practice a very widely, and almost wholly, different thing from what the Constitution itself purports to authorize. He has heretofore written much, and could write much more, to prove that such is the truth. But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain – that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.” Lysander Spooner (1808-1887), No Treason (1870) http://praxeology.net/LS-NT-6.htm#no.6 

So let’s get real!

End the FED and downsize the Federal Gooferment.  And, let each State make its own heaven or hell for its population.

—30— 

Leave a Comment » | Political | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

SURVIVAL: People have to take responsibility for their own safety

Thursday, December 29, 2022

https://nypost.com/2022/12/27/we-need-answers-to-why-so-many-died-in-the-buffalo-storm/

Opinion editorial
We need answers to why so many died in the Buffalo storm
By Post Editorial Board 
December 27, 2022 7:49pm

*** begin quote ***

The death toll from the blizzard in Buffalo keeps rising and is now at least 33 — begging the question of how a city known for its fierce winters couldn’t protect its residents.

Part of the issue is that exact fact: Buffalo natives are accustomed to the weather. Far too many took to the roads even after being warned, likely thinking it was just another winter storm.

As Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said Tuesday, “when we heard terms such as bomb cyclone, this is something that we’re used to in Western New York.”

“But,” he added, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

It’s obvious that officials, from Gov. Hochul down, should have been more forceful with their warnings. While businesses were urged to close, a travel ban wasn’t announced until shortly before 9 a.m. Friday, a mere 41 minutes before it took effect and as the storm was beginning to bear down on the region.

And though more equipment was called up, zero visibility meant it was difficult for responders to reach people trapped in their cars, leaving some to die.

*** end quote ***

Anyone, who expects the Gooferment to save them from their own mistakes, will soon find out that they are often on their own.

The blizzard is a known hazard in Buffalo.  So when one is predicted, it would seem obvious that one prepares and takes shelter at home or where ever necessary.  

If you have to drive, and that list of reasons should be extremely short  — medical emergency is the only thing I can imagine, then you should have a “winter survival” kit in the car’s back seat.  Sleeping bag, candles, water, and food are essential. 

Seems like some people feel immune to the cold cruel world that we live in.

Requiescat In Pacem

—30—

 

Leave a Comment » | SURVIVAL | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

CORRUPTION: Are Universities Doomed? Yes, along witht he American Dream and civilization

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/12/26/are-universities-doomed/?utm_source=TDS_Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningBell&mkt_tok=ODI0LU1IVC0zMDQAAAGI92Jkvz8ic-hh88D-TTp2iJNfWv_tBJW9595fsbms6uXueK257divxPJ31T-JtYw3zeXjpx1gh6L-oMMAxKkNSAO1HON–VaQU_HGWji7iJmMJBCi

Education
Commentary
Are Universities Doomed?
Victor Davis Hanson / @VDHanson / December 26, 2022 

*** begin quote ***

Since 2020, the old proportional-representation admissions quotas have expanded into weird “reparatory” admissions. Purported “marginalized populations” have often been admitted at levels greater than percentages in the general population.

Consequently, “problematic” standardized tests are damned as biased and antithetical to “diversity.”

To accommodate radical diversity reengineering, the only demographic deemed expendable are white males. Their plunging numbers on campus, especially from the working class, are now much less than their percentages in the general population—regardless of grades or test scores.

At Yale, the class of 2026 is listed as 50% white and 55% female. Fourteen percent were admitted as “legacies.” In sum, qualified but poor white males without privilege or connections seem mostly excluded.

*** end quote ***

Unless you want to be a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, I don’t see ANY value in the oddball degrees being offered today.  History and English have been perverted and are hence useless.  At least in the old days, you’d learn how to write effective literate essays.

So to society, is also on a downward spiral into crass crude disguting cultural rot.

I won’t be around to see the crash at the bottom, but it’s going to be nasty brutish for all left behind,

—30—

Leave a Comment » | CORRUPTION | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

CRYPTO: How. pump and dump works

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

https://www.swanbitcoin.com/bitcoin-vs-altcoins/?_kx=IWOpEJ3MdJD5dZLIsudeBZ-NlMo_qMksrwV7e5nO7_M%3D.KzLKES

Coinbase and the Insider Exchange Dump
Bitcoin is very different from all other cryptocurrencies. In fact, it shouldn’t even be considered the same asset class.
Sam Callahan
May 18, 2022

Crypto

# – # – # – # – # 

ALTCOINS = <synonym for excrement> COINS!

—30—

Leave a Comment » | CRYPTO | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

GUNS: Gun-free zones are just magical thinking

Monday, December 26, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/12/5_freedombased_solutions_to_mass_shootings.html

5 Freedom-Based Solutions to Mass Shootings
By D. Parker

*** begin quote ***

1. Get rid of gun-free zones.

Gun control and gun-free zones are based on the absurd idea from the left that if no one has a gun, no one needs a gun.  Except that when these inevitably fail because criminals don’t obey the law, the excuse is offered that this happened because guns came in from the surrounding areas.

Innocent people are thus being deprived of their commonsense civil rights under a false pretense: that you will be safe and won’t need a gun because no one else will have one.  

The problem is that the gun-grabbing ghouls contradict themselves with this “logic” because there will always be a surrounding area that can be a source for firearms.  (They can’t seem to explain this with island nations like Australia, New Zealand, or the U.K. — are dolphins smuggling AR-15s?)  Thus, the only solution is to simply stop depriving people of their rights and let them deter crime themselves.

*** end quote ***

Any politicians and bureaucrats proposing such stupidity are guilty of “magical thinking”!

“We, The Sheeple” need to hold them accountable.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | GUNS | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INSPIRATIONAL: IS the Star of Bethlehem a sign?

Sunday, December 25, 2022

https://bigthink.com/13-8/star-of-bethlehem/

13.8 — December 21, 2022
What was the Star of Bethlehem?
Never stop looking at the skies in wonder.
Marcelo Gleiser

*** begin quote ***

On the nature of the astronomical phenomenon that took place (or not), there were three disparate reactions: Complete agreement with Molnar, qualified agreement, and radical disagreement. On the chronology of the events, most agreed that Jesus’s birth took place between 7-5 BCE. On the relation between astronomy and astrology, there was mostly disagreement on the intentions and the interpretations of astrologers from different regions in the Middle East. One major difficulty was to justify the visit of only three men, given the alleged power of the celestial portent. Why not a multitude of the devout? As for the “why,” Matthew was the one evangelist who considered celestial portents seriously, using them plentifully in his narrative.

*** end quote ***

It seems that the Biblical story is just that, a story.

The “stories” of all the various religions seem to be the “fake news” of ill-remembered past events.

When you try to recount relatively recent events without written records, it’s impossible to make sense or even sort “fact” from the fiction of “false memories”.

In short, everything is suspect the further back you go in time.

Nice “stories”, but not “historical certainty”.

—30—

 

Leave a Comment » | INSPIRATIONAL | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Where does it all begin?

Saturday, December 24, 2022

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/4-meanings-nothing/

Starts With A Bang — December 22, 2022
The 4 fundamental meanings of “nothing” in science

  • All the things that surround and compose us didn’t always exist. But describing their origin depends on what ‘nothing’ means.
  • Most of us, when we talk about nothing, refer to a state where the thing we’re referring to doesn’t yet exist.
  • But absolute nothingness, where space, time, and/or the laws of physics don’t exist, is only a philosophical construct, without physical meaning. Does the Universe truly create something from nothing?
  • That depends on what your definition of nothing is, and which of the four definitions you’re using. 

Ethan Siegel

*** begin quote ***

In the context of physics, this creates a problem: we cannot make any sense of this sort of nothingness. We’d be compelled to assume that there is such a thing as a state that can exist outside of space and time, and that spacetime itself, as well as the rules that govern all of the physical entities we know of, can then emerge from this hypothesized, idealized state.

*** end quote ***

Here’s a head scratcher.  If it doesn’t give you pause, then I guess I am just going down the rabbit hole.

Four different definitions of “nothingness” are puzzling.

At best, we’ll never know “the answer”.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »