Chaos Manor View, Saturday, May 7, 2016
“This is the most transparent administration in history.”
Barrack Obama
Liberalism is a philosophy of consolation for Western Civilization as it commits suicide.
Under Capitalism, the rich become powerful. Under Socialism, the powerful become rich.
Under Socialism, government employees become powerful.
I have been having computer adventures and they are not over. The D drive died on Alien Artifact, my aging main system that used to be Windows 7 but one morning woke up as Windows 10 whether I liked it or not. I have been making do, and actually the forced conversion to Windows 10 wasn’t all that bad – until I had a problem. Alien Artifact was due to be rebuilt anyway. One reason I kept him at Windows 7 was that he had a rather peculiar design, entirely due to the high price of SSD drives when he was built. He was to be a reasonably priced machine, so we put in a rather small SSD C drive, and a big spinning metal D drive for big data files. Alas, Outlook produces big .pst files, and we put the Outlook data files on the D drive. This didn’t work so well with Windows 10, which really likes things in the default places, and gets soggy and hard to light when you do things your way. I was learning a lot about that when I was involuntarily converted to 10, and then the D drive died.
Dead. Won’t spin. Vanished from the computer’s knowledge. And when a computer expects data on a drive it can’t find, it will spend a long time – minutes, sometimes much longer – looking for it. Meanwhile I was getting ready to convert to a new, very fast, big SSD C drive so the D drive is more for archives than anything else, when suddenly I had no choice. Worse, while I do a lot of backups and nothing has been lost, getting Outlook configured right has proven to be a pain; but I am getting there.
Trump’s still the designated nominee, and I see no valid argument for preferring either Hillary of Sanders. I know many don’t like him, or trust him to do what he says he will do. Irrelevant, in my judgment. I don’t want what Hillary says she will do, I don’t want what Sanders says he will do, and even if Trump doesn’t build his wall and cut taxes and the size of government, he is unlikely appoint Justices who think the Constitution is a scrap of paper, or to get us into a foreign war on principle and passion, and if wants a war he’s got to deal with ISIS; they’ve already declared war on us.
I could name people whom I’d prefer, but they weren’t in that crowd of seventeen we started with – you remember, back when Trump was the clown who couldn’t possibly win the nomination?
Give us the House and we’ll cut taxes and government spending. We gave them the House. Spending went up. Government grew. We need the Senate, we can’t do anything with no more than the power of the purse strings. We gave them the Senate. Taxes went up, the debt got bigger, government grew. We ran Romney for President. Taxes went up. The debt got bigger. Government grew. The foreign situation worsened.
But Trump can’t do it, some say. Obama and his successors don’t want to do it.
If the subject still interests you, you should read http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=3872bad904308135ca41de823&id=8ba23fa171&e=2692b32928
Free trade
Hi Jerry,
We probably need to separate the free trade discussion into two parts: first world countries like the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. We all have similar costs of labor (due in large part to regulatory overhead). That means that trade is likely to augment both economies by expanding peer markets.
Mexico and China are a different story. One major reason that they are have cheap labor is a lack of first world regulations. So trade in those cases, is likely to be unfair and export jobs. After all, there aren’t many US goods that second and third world countries need to buy.
So I’m all for free trade, if it’s fair. In particular I’m hoping for the UK to exit the Eurozone, and establish a US/UK free trade pact. But I’d like to see a regulatory tariff with Mexico, China, India and so forth. They can either enact similar labor and environmental laws as us, or we’ll add a compensating tariff at the border.
Cheers,
Doug
Agreed. It’s not all or none. Importing Japanese cars improved American cars. But eventually we lost Detroit. Somewhere in there is a lesson. We didn’t like the Insolent Chariots but did we have to lose Detroit?
‘Even while Erdogan’s government has done everything it could to demonstrate why it has no place in the EU, Cameron has insisted on extending the borders of Europe to Syria and Iraq.’
<http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/05/how-recep-tayyip-erdogan-brought-the-eu-to-heel/>
—————————————
Roland Dobbins
The world remains a dangerous place; more so after Obama.
Starship time
DEAR JERRY,
AN ORION TYPE NUCLEAR PULSE SPACECRAFT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED TO BE CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING .0 7C.
I AM NOT ENOUGH OF AN ECONOMIST TO MAKE EVEN A LOW PROBABILITY GUESS AS TO THE COST OF SUCH A CRAFT.
I AM NOT ENOUGH OF AN ENGINEER TO KNOW WHAT IMPROVEMENTS COULD BE MADE ON THE HALF-CENTURY OLD WORK OF PROJECT ORION WHICH MIGHT LEAD TO HIGHER SPEEDS THAN 7% OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT.
However, I am just enough of an Mathematician to know That 7% speed of light gives us the star’s.
A CRAFT DESIGNED HALF A CENTURY AGO LITERALLY PUTS EVERY STAR WITHIN 10 LIGHT YEARS WITHIN OUR REACH.
IN THE LAST DECADE THERE HAS BEEN A SURGE OF INTEREST IN INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL. SEVERAL GROUPS, SUCH AS KEVIN LONG’S PROJECT ICARUS, ARE STUDYING IT.
SO WHY THE RECENT INCREASE OF INTEREST?
THIS TIES IN WITH AN IDEA I HAD A FEW YEARS AGO: THAT THE TIME TO START DESIGNING STARSHIPS IS NOW. THAT IT’S LARGELY ENGINEERING, BOTH THE TRADITIONAL TYPE AND HUMAN ENGINEERING, THAT STANDS BETWEEN US AND THE STARS.
I DECIDED THIS WAS THE CASE DUE TO AN INSIGHT, DRAWN FROM A HISTORICAL ANALOGY.
IT IS BELIEVE THE ANCIENT PHOENICIANS HAD THE MARITIME TECHNOLOGY AND SKILLS TO CROSS THE ATLANTIC. WE KNOW THAT THE NORSE HAD THE TECHNOLOGY, AND ACTUALLY DID CROSS THE ATLANTIC. THE TECHNOLOGY THAT COLUMBUS USED IN 1492 HAD BEEN AROUND FOR A COUPLE OF CENTURIES. SO WHY WAS IT ONLY HIS DISCOVERIES LED TO YOU AND I SITTING HERE ON THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA, AS A RESULT OF HALF A MILLENNIUM’S SETTLEMENT?
THE NORSE, AND PERHAPS SOME EARLIER MARITIME EXPLORERS, KEPT THEIR DISCOVERY OF A NEW WORLD CLOSE TO THEIR VESTS.
THE DISCOVERIES OF COLUMBUS, VESPUCCI AND OTHERS WERE WIDELY PUBLICIZED VIA THE NEW TECHNOLOGY OF THE PRINTING PRESS. THE FIRST WIDELY DISTRIBUTED MAPS OF THE NEW WORLD APPEARED IN LITTLE MORE THAN A DECADE AFTER THE FIRST VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS.
THE SECRET WAS OUT: THERE WAS SOMEPLACE TO GO.
IT WAS NO LONGER SPECULATION. IT WAS NO LONGER SAIL OFF INTO THE BLUE AND HOPE YOU MIGHT BUMP INTO SOMETHING.
DEMOGRAPHIC, RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL REASONS PROVIDED A PUSH, BUT THE PULL OF “SOMEPLACE TO GO” WAS VITAL
SEE THE PARALLEL YET?
ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO WE BEGAN TO DETECT EXO-PLANETS. TO LAYMEN, AND I SUSPECT MANY ASTRONOMERS, THIS WAS A BOLT OUT OF THE BLUE. I WELL REMEMBER READING IN THE 1970S THAT THE BEST ESTIMATE AS TO WHEN WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO RELIABLY DETECT EXO-PLANETS WAS SOME TIME IN THE MID-TO LATE 21ST CENTURY, AND WOULD PROBABLY REQUIRE MULTIPLE SPACE TELESCOPES LINKED TOGETHER TO FORM A VIRTUAL MEGA – TELESCOPE.
WE HAVE NOW DETECTED THOUSANDS OF EXO PLANETS, INCLUDING A HANDFUL OF EARTH ANALOGS IN OR NEAR THE ESTIMATED HABITABLE ZONE’S OF THEIR PRIMARIES.
WE NOW HAVE SOMEPLACE TO GO!
THE POLITICAL, DEMOGRAPHIC AND RELIGIOUS PUSHES ARE THERE ALSO. THEY ARE MORE OR LESS CONSTANT, THOUGH THE DEMOGRAPHICS ONE OBVIOUSLY INCREASES OVER TIME.
THE “SOMEPLACE TO GO” POLL WILL INCREASE OVER TIME. WE’RE PROBABLY WITHIN 10 TO 20 YEARS, AND I BELIEVE CLOSER TO 10 THAN 20, OF THAT FIRST IMAGE OF A PALE BLUE DOT CIRCLING ANOTHER STAR. YOU THINK THAT FIRST
1967 IMAGE OF A “BLUE MARBLE” EARTH FLOATING IN THE DARKNESS CHANGED HUMANITY’S VIEW OF ITSELF IN THE UNIVERSE?
YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHIN’ YET! WHEN THAT PALE BLUE DOT APPEARS ON SEVERAL BILLION SMART PHONES, THIS WORLD WILL HAVE Irrevocably CHANGED.
I DON’T THINK ANYONE ELSE, TO MY ADMITTEDLY LIMITED KNOWLEDGE, HAS HIT ON THIS IDEA THAT HAVING “SOMEPLACE TO GO” IS PERHAPS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT MOTIVATING FACTOR FOR GETTING THE HUMAN RACE TO OTHER WORLDS.
AT LEAST, IF THAT SOMEPLACE TO GO LOOKS JUST LIKE HOME.
PETRONIUS
workers onsite
The post paper at Ft Knox once asked the question: What is yellow, has four wheels and sleeps two? The answer, a Directorate of Facilities Engineers work truck. (DFE were the civilians who did the blue collar maintenance and upkeep work). A photo of said beast was also provided with a set of legs and boots sticking out both cab door windows.Truth be told it was likely taken at lunch time when such shenanigans would’ve been okay, but still, optics, people, optics, or should one say oopstics at this point… Needless to say, DFE were not amused and demanded a retraction. Us uniformed sorts, started a scatstorm of our own in support of the author because it was on target.
The paper capitulated and apologized. Never forgave them for that. The Armor School has since moved to Ft Benning, coincidence?
Freedom is not free. Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free.
