- When you’re a bazillionaire, your April Fools jokes may be lame, but they can be pretty elaborate. (H/T MJR)
- Let me see if I understand this. It’s okay for the government to blackmail, extort, threaten violence, and steal all the assets from Silk Road. But it’s wrong if individual government agents do it. No, no matter how I try, I can’t wrap my head around whatever principle they’re going by.
- Showering with the fedgov.
- I always love these articles on how being a
grumpycurmudgeonlydoom-bearingsky-is-fallingworrywort can actually be good for your work.While I disagree with some of the contentions in this article (e.g. that it takes no skill to wield a knife!), it does offer some food for thought on why it just might be okey-dokey after all to bring a knife to a gun fight. (Tip o’ hat to MJR)
Oooh! Ooooh! I want this job! (H/T jed)
Re the knife verses gun debate, this is one of the training videos that I had to sit through when I took defensive tactics a loooooong time ago. While it is a little long it is a bit of an eye opener.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-lDtCHFmvg
RE: Showering with the fedgov
Why aren’t we trying to improve the desalination process to increase the efficiency and decrease the cost of producing potable water instead of focusing on monitoring showers, low-flow shower heads and toilets?
See “Desalinization Will Quench U.S.”
http://www.newsmax.com/BradleyBlakeman/University-of-CalifDavis-U-SDesalinization/2015/01/05/id/616523/
4/1: I kinda liked the heliport gag, considering his past history.
There’s a cute Groupon 4/1 video introducing their new GroUber cat-car taxi service so you take your groupns shopping. Laser-guided cat cars.
When you shower alone, you shower with ______.
During my travels I picked up a piece of advice about bringing a knife to a gunfight. The person with the gun should not know you have a knife until you are using it on them. It also included the note that if possible you should keep the muzze of their weapon away from you. Training to use a knife is better than not being trained, but an untrained person can still cause fatal damage especially if you are caught off guard. The last time I had to deal with the possiblity of a knife attack, I didn’t draw a weapon, I left the area rapidly.
Silk Road investigation: Claire, think of it as an ordinary Mafia thug skimming cash from his capo’s operation. Of course the capo is going to get mad when this happens. But yeah, it’s a bit silly for the author to get panties in a bind over it.
Showering/toilets: Jeff Tucker’s article is a bit overblown. Of all the evil things government does, this surely must be (on net anyway) one of the least evil. There are water shortages after all (granted, largely government-caused via distortions of the market). BTW I have a house full of 5 gallon toilets, and they are far from wonderful. I will probably start replacing them with something more modern (and actually engineered!) shortly.
Would I prefer free-market water? Of course.
Knife: I think that is a good article. However deploying a reasonably serious knife in defense is probably no faster than deploying a gun. OC might be a little easier though. Anyway, even if knives are deadlier than pistols in close quarters, that is surely not the perception of most people, and that might make a gun better at deterring an attack – provided you can get it out in time.
The stupid part is the government focusing on how much water I “use.” The answer is I don’t use any water, I borrow it. Approximately all the water delivered to my house either gets flushed into the sewer or evaporates.
If it evaporates it falls as rain somewhere.
If it goes down the sewer it gets purified and returned to the river for the next town to use. That’s where we can make a difference.
Of all the evil things government does, this surely must be (on net anyway) one of the least evil.
True! There’s the compact florescent lamp nonsense, for instance.
Artistry on a budget:
Sears is known for his comedic vids, but he is a legit therapist. Athough I have already come to understand much of these truths, it was a nice confirmation. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nddTLsTMKPI
“Of all the evil things government does, this surely must be (on net anyway) one of the least evil.
True! There’s the compact florescent lamp nonsense, for instance.”
🙂 🙂 🙂
But don’t forget all the good things they’ve done. Like sugar subsidies. And funding studies about duck penises.
Nice one here: Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet now on Display.
Some fun here: Watch the videos that TED uses to reset your brain
In re. low-flow, everyone remembers this: San Fran to bleach sewers for toilet stink, right?
The sewer systems were designed decades ago, with particular flow rates in mind. Reduce the flow rate, and you’ll have troubles. Well, California’s water problems are getting worse. I guess making the desert bloom seemed like a good idea at the time, and it’s hard to argue with the crop output when there’s enough water for it.
Did Claire just use “principle” in the same sentence as “government”?
The first thing I do with a new shower head is remove the flow limiter. I take navy showers, meaning I get wet, turn off the water, lather up, then quickly rinse, but I want lots of flow during those short water-on times.
I always remember the suggestion that if two attackers are withing seven yards, one with a knife and one with a gun, you should shoot the knife-wielder first. He can get to you before your second shot, whereas the gun-wielder may well miss.
I have always been amazed, when trying to shoot a close target fast, how difficult it is to hit anything.
You guys, if we didn’t have water regulations, then what would those poor toilet regulators do?
At one point those California politicians were looking at the huge Columbia River with lust in their eyes. They have so many House members – but still only two Senators, a good thing too. All those government water projects in California really put the hurt on local Oregon farmers, who used to supply Portland with fruit and such. You can still find remains of old plum orchards in the hills if you know where to look. The book “Cadillac Desert” was one of the things that first started chipping away the “government is wonderful” indoctrination I got as a kid; I recommend it to all.
The fundamental problem is – too many people.
Showering with fedgov – one reason to measure and regulate EVERYTHING is to make it impossible to not be a criminal – which makes government theft of property really easy. It’s already nearly impossible to be ‘clean’. Per a video called ‘Don’t Talk To Police’, there are 20,000 laws you could break. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc
Bring a knife – I think it’s true that even a monkey can kill you with a knife. But I still carry one everywhere, and have since I was 8 years old. I’d feel naked without one. And no, I’ve never needed it for fighting. Not my gun either. Lucky me!
About the job – good idea, now how do we take the concept and manage to sell the idea of working drunk to some other kind of business? Or can we find jobs getting stoned and testing websites? Who would pay us to get blitzed and blow things up? I think that would be fun….