Free Republic

This is further confirmation that this is NOT about somehow stopping Israel in Gaza. That is just the cover story. This last sinking has virtually nothing to do with Europe or the USA.

What these attacks are really about is destabilizing or at least weakening Egypt / El-Sisi. As an added bonus, if next winter is a cold one, Europe could see LNG shortages that definitely would drive inflation and instability in some countries. Never forget that the mullah’s enemies, or people to be used or enslaved however it is done, are the infidels. Any of them. And the Houthis are just a tool to that end...

Uh, Ukraine has seen a lot of the same thing (large and sometimes crippling delays in weapons shipments.) Winter-Spring-Summer 2023 in particular.

I’m seeing “quilting pins” no more than 2” long. I would need something 5” to 6” long and at least partially hollow (like tubing) so I can pass the “string”* up into it), then crimp the “tube” onto the “string”.

*Usually the “string” 1/8” to 3/16” diameter, so, it is more like “cord” or light rope.

???

It sort of seems like my Mom had something almost like this for making Afghans, but IIRC (questionable) they were plastic and solid. But I may be thinking of something else.

Thanks.

Things called “Nova” that shine brightly briefly, and then pretty much fade away:

Standard Nova.

Super Nova.

Aldo Nova.

I really wish someone of some repute would demand drug screenings of both President Biden and President Trump immediately before and after the debate. Trump can quickly say, sure, no problem. Biden...

Does anyone know of a good source for pins (needles) for making up stringers for fishing? I have several old stringers that are actually fine except the pins are bad.

This would be useful for making up custom lengths, too. Somehow, most of my stringers are too long or too short for typical circumstances.

I suppose if worse came to worse, one could buy some stout 1/8” or 3/16”(?) brass or stainless steel tubing and go from there.

I spotted a nice size skink, at least 8” long I’d guess, in my main garden area a couple days ago. Still has his(?) original tail, too. That may be why I’ve had no slug damage this year.

However, I’ve now a problem with a raccoon or raccoons. It / they already got one of our 2 Maran hens last week. (Damn!) The rooster will often roost high in a tree, and occasionally a hen will follow suit, but much lower, instead of going in the hen house. I checked the tree, no hen or rooster, but evidently the rooster went in the henhouse and the hen stayed in a different tree / lower branch, and I missed it.

The coon didn’t.

Then last night, three of my tomato plants got dug up. They have an egg buried deep below them (almost a foot), from weeks ago, but, evidently there is still enough odor...

Said coon also dragged a milk jug full of layer pellets that got left out, about 15 ft. from the metal trash can it’s normally in, and under a bush, and then proceeded to TWIST OFF THE CAP (yes, it was tight!) and make a big mess. There are no bite marks on the jug or cap. (I found the cap on the ground another 10 ft. away.)

So... I have to set a couple traps tonight. I almost hope the coon doesn’t go in the “cage” type trap, as the last time that happened with a sizeable coon, it destroyed the entire “trip” mechanism, trying to get out. Better that the coon get in a foot trap, I shoot it, partially “dress” it, put it in a big pot and boil it, pull it apart a bit and give it to the chickens...

Until I get the coon(s), Mr. Skink best beware the coon(s)!

It’s ironic as we rescued some very weak abandoned coon kits almost a month ago, and went to a lot of trouble to get them to a rescue / rehab gal. The little kits are just adorable once they trust you, and more than a little “crazy”, but, good God, are the adults trouble in the wrong setting...

...And traffic has been light recently. Late fall through early spring are usually “slow” anyway, unlike FR, where our “masters” in DC and elsewhere come up with new outrages daily, regardless of season.

A couple of the senior / premier members on FT have died off, and I don’t think the management has put much effort into keeping the site hopping, so to speak. In hindsight, I’d say someone should have put some effort into seeing what kept other sites busy, and tried to emulate that. Ditto for looking at what posts / vids on media like You Tube get lots of activity. And so on. But, that said, if all 60 sites are going down, then there are obviously “wider” problems.

FT is one of something like 60 sites “the company” runs, and apparently they are shutting all of them down.

I think we have to keep a couple things in mind here:

1) There are strong pro-Hamas / anti-Israel elements in the Democratic Party, and surely some of those in the Biden Administration. Parts of the bureaucracy behind getting weapons sent may be getting seemingly subtle but actually significant hindrances and delays deliberately effected.

2) The Biden Administration proved utterly incompetent in getting weapons Ukraine needed for what was supposed to be its 2023 summer offensive to Ukraine on time. That was NOT a matter of lack of funding at the time, nor was it opposition anywhere in the Administration, so far as I can tell, to sending weapons we actually said we were going to send.

Either or both of these may be in play. I would guess both. Biden’s mixed messages and lack of real leadership surely do not help.

Yes, the MIC is presently at near historical lows since WW2, for moneys from the US govt. The only time it was lower was a couple years during Clinton’s “peace dividend”. That worked out so well. /s

A valid question. Or maybe just pass a thumb drive around to all the interested members so they have copies of the archived info.

Some members have suggested something like a Facebook group, but some, myself included, don’t “do” that form of social media.

Hard foul, yes, “flagrant 1” call - probably appropriate, but, this stuff happens all the time: Reese took a swipe at the ball, probably trying for a spectacular block, and missed, with the follow through whacking Clark in the head.

The article title is a flat out lie: THREE of Clark’s teammates, two of them black, ran over to her immediately.

That all said, if Reese knew what sportsmanship was, SHE would have gone over to Clark and helped Clark up. Do that, and I don’t even think Reese should have / would have received a “flagrant 1”.

If we’re gonna go back to the 70’s:

Jimmy Castor Bunch - Troglodyte

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCV6paTXyCU

Or who can swim but jump in with clothes (more than trunks or a bathing suit) on.

(I once got PUSHED (kind of a joke) in with heavy work clothes on and had to be pulled out, and I was a pretty good swimmer.)

I started downloading the site, and after successfully downloading a dozen or so pages, the server blocked my access with a “Code 401 (forbidden).”

The server admin / webmaster would have to tweak the server’s security settings to allow the site to be downloaded by something like SiteSucker. Well, darn.

I guess I can try asking about that...

The Admin seems concerned about copyright issues / possible challenges from forum members, but all the members who have commented so far seem only concerned with keeping access to all the info. It'd all just be for personal use anyway, but, I may not get anywhere with the Admin... I can certainly poll the forum to see if anyone objects to downloading of their content.

Thanks for the info., in any event!

Pollard, your take? (Thanks!)

Oh, give me a break. I can GUARANTEE you Bill Gates spends MANY times more on consumption than I do, or even what my wealthiest friends do.

Elon Musk, not so drastically, perhaps, but he seems to be able to put his money to good use.

I do agree there should not be a VAT tax. So... Make it a retail only sales tax, so people really realize what the government costs!

Then, why not give everyone what would essentially be a debit card good for a year. It can only be used to pay retail sales tax. No information except the amount deducted from your "tax" card leaves the seller's register to be sent to the gov't. If you use up your card, the card is rejected and you get charged for sales tax, but, no moneys sent in are connected to information about individuals (much as sales taxes work now.) So basically you swipe that AND then your regular credit / debit card (or pay cash for items themselves) at the time of payment. Maybe the "tax card" is good for, oh, $20k? Or maybe less, but make some essentials tax free or low tax. In KY, the sales tax on most food is 0. In IL it is 1%. Etc.

There are surely details and kinks to be worked out, but there is no reason a consumption tax must be regressive.

Almost anything would be better than an income tax, partially because income tax returns also get used for so much social engineering / means testing.

The essential problem here is that between Federal, state, and local government, over 40% of our GDP gets sucked up by government spending. More taxation, wherever it occurs, just exacerbates the problem.

On that last, the problem is that they’ll get nukes fast, and Iran for one can send them fairly long distances already. Israel has substantial missile defenses. We do not, and establishing them to protect all our cities competently would likely double the US defense budget.

Besides, the savings you tout are minimal compared to the domestic crap.

I guess the explanation of the supposed “Tetragonal” layer of ice below the thick ocean is that under pressure, ice can form that is denser than salt water? But other analysis proposes that the mantle would heat water immediately above it. (I can imagine a liquid ocean above the mantle could be quite irregular and dynamic. Mountains of ice bumping about?)