Posted on 07/23/2020 7:57:14 AM PDT by Kaslin
There is a scene in the 1979 movie China Syndrome, where Jack Lemmon plays an engineer in the control room of a malfunctioning nuclear power plant. Alarms are blaring, but the engineer is confused because the gauge on the panel shows that there is plenty of water in the reactor to cool the atomic pile. Then he gives the gauge a good hard rap and the indicator suddenly drops to zero. The gauge was stuck, and there is actually no water in the reactor. The glowing core of the reactor is busy melting its way through the earth to China, hence the movie’s name.
The China Syndrome, and the Three Mile Island incident which followed weeks after the movie’s release, effectively killed the nuclear power industry in this country. Or, at least put it on life support. Anti-nuclear activists have been scheming to pull the plug on nuclear power ever since. But the debate on nuclear power is for another time. This article is about indicators and metrics, and how much to trust them.
Before the advent of the electronic display all gauges and meters used to monitor temperatures, levels, and the like depended on a mechanical device to communicate with us humans. Whether a needle spinning on a dial, or a liquid level in a glass tube, or an ink pen drawing a line on a paper strip, a mechanical linkage of some kind was involved. Mechanical contrivances are all subject to a variety of ills. They can stick, or bend, or get rusty, or wear out. This is why you sometimes see people tapping on gauges that fill the instrument panels of airplanes or ships in old movies. They’re making sure the needle isn’t stuck. A rap would often free up a sticky linkage.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Anyone really believe that Biden is 15 points ahead?
Some of these polls are too far out there.
In 2020 nobody picks up the phone unless caller ID shows the call is coming from someone you know.
Telesales people haven’t cracked that nut, and pollsters aren’t going to either.
In 2020 nobody picks up the phone unless caller ID shows the
call is coming from someone you know.
***********
Yep. Even if its someone I know I still may not answer and
let them leave a message if they so desire.
And the people who do pick up are the kind who are easily push-polled into saying whatever the pollster wants to hear.
Polling has gone from sampling a litter of happy, friendly puppies who just love seeing you to trying to sample angry, feral cats. They don't want to be caught and if you somehow catch one it will try to tear your eyes out.
The phone has largely become worthless as a communication tool. Telemarketers have done that, doubly so with the federal "do not call" list which means anyone calling me now will happily break the law to sell me their crap like a street corner drug dealer.
And while I was typing this another phone call from some number I didn't recognize rang my cell phone. I just looked at the caller ID to see if it was a friend. Nope.
The Do Not Call List worked for me until Obama was President, then things went haywire in this regard, along with many others.
The problem with the Do Not Call List was that VOIP technology started allowing the calls to be placed cheaply from overseas.
If a telemarketer from Greenville, South Carolina called and you were on the list the government could take some action. If they are calling from India there is really nothing they can do.
I filed a Do Not Call complaint with the PA Attorney General about eight years ago, and they wrote back saying the calls were coming from outside their jurisdiction (Bulgaria!) and there was nothing they could do.
I have been getting calls on my cell phone all week from people with East Indian accents wanting to sell me medications of all kinds. How in the heck did they locate me?
I know of only 1 person with a landline in their home. Why would you need a landline if you have a cell phone? You are just throwing money away.
It was the rise of easy access to IP phones with little to no regulation that caused that.
When the scammers were using regular phone lines, we could track them down and actually enforce the law. With IP phones, there is no real trail to follow. You’ll just find some google phone number that was purchased with a fraudulent credit card and used for a week before they moved on to the next one.
I have a land line and a cell phone, the land line works even when the power goes out for a week or more.
The cell phone NEVER works until I drive about 30 miles for any reception!
I only use the stupid cell phone when I am going to So Cal.
Yep. Even if its someone I know I still may not answer and
let them leave a message if they so desire.
****************************************************
Way back when, I recorded a message on my “answering machine”
“This is Graybeard, please leave a message and I’ll call you back, if I want to.”
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