http://www.progressivesuspension.com/
Readers of this Blog may believe that I'm biased against "Progressives", but only in the concept of history, definitely NOT in suspension!
I put the Progressive fork setup on the Wing June of 2013 and loved it. I had ordered the rear spring that went with it winter of '14, but it got back ordered so it missed the rear tire replace for the big spring trip last year and I didn't get it installed until after we got back from our Ireland trip this spring. I had really only rode it a short distance since, so didn't have much to say until now.
A progressive spring is more compliant (soft) than stock at the top of it's range, but is constructed/treated in such a way that the more it is compressed, the former it gets. It is like the Incredible Hulk -- the greater the force applied against him, the stronger he gets! (which is why a battle between the Hulk and Superman would be such a cataclysmic event, but I digress).
In the real world, this means that you have an overall better ride, and as the bike is pushed in corners the suspension is firmer. Much like a stainless steel prop on a boat (better hole shot, better top end), the result is a rare engineering WIN WIN!
Anyone that has done any form of engineering knows how rare this is -- the typical situation is TRADE-OFF. You add power but it increases weight and reduces mileage, add speed to a chip but have more heat to dissipate, etc. etc.
Indeed, in both the stainless prop and the progressive spring, the trade-off is still there, it is COST. My opinion on motorcycle suspension is that the cost is FAR outweighed by the benefit, but as in everything in the real world, THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH! Which is one reason why "progressive" politics fail, but this isn't about politics!
My verdict is that the front suspension change made a far bigger change than the rear in handling, but the rear is maybe of greater import on long rides / rough roads. It REALLY makes the bike ride nice. It perhaps adds another 3-5 MPH of confidence speed in curves as well. Which means that overall it is an upgrade that does tend to put a smile on your face!
My guess on the cornering aspects are that more aggressive riders would see more benefit because of the progressive aspect of the springs -- they push them harder, so they are firmer yet in their perception. Besides, I'm most often limited on my speed in corners primarily by either the speed limit on looser ones, or by how far ahead I can see on tighter ones -- in the moose brain, there is ALWAYS a big piece of farm equipment just beyond my line of sight!
No question I'm on the conservative side of the bell shaped curve of conservative to aggressive cornering, but based on the "catching up with riders vs being passed" sample, probably very close to the middle. As always! I'm generally the exact center of all bell shaped curves, although unlike the kids in Lake Woebegone, I'm VERY slightly BELOW average!
It was a superb day to be out for a ride. The roads seem to have all been cleared of remaining winter sand on the route from Rochester up to Barron and back. My Dad was in a talkative mood, enjoying the "Last Lion: Defender of the Realm" book that I passed on to him and remembering that WWII history that he observed as a young man. His blood pressure kept him from going over, but his two brothers served. I had a nice visit and lunch that lasted a bit over 4 hours, made it back in time for the gun club meeting and still a little fire-pit time with Marla to end the day.
Spring AND "springs" are very nice.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
Progressives vs Country Folk
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/416830/skewed-view-america-inside-progressive-bubble-jim-geraghty
Reading the linked article reminded me of a journey to drop off a car for repair in far Southern MN about 35 years ago. A girl that happened to be a friend (she had already decided Mooses were only appropriate as friends) decided (or maybe he decided) to bring along her new somewhat smallish ( < 6', maybe 150 lbs ... I'm a bad judge of size) boyfriend for the journey. He may have not believed the "just friends thing" -- who knows.
Anyway, he was a raging liberal, back to nature sort who always thought it would be easy to "prove" one point or another to an obviously less intelligent nasty corporate type. He hated corporations, "loved the land" (he thought) -- he tended to be unemployed a lot and pretty much lived off the aforementioned girl, but he was very sure of his superior intelligence and had a very solid vision of "what people that lived on the land were like" -- in his vision, they were something like a cross between Thoreau, Jefferson and a modern hippie.
Needless to say, he often got so mad around me that his head would come close to exploding. The friend was concerned he might take a swing at me sometime, but I assured her I wouldn't hurt him in the unlikely event his brain attempted to override physics. The trip went about like usual until on the way back the girl needed a restroom, so we pulled into an out in the country tavern.
Naturally, I felt it was a good opportunity for a libation, so the crew headed in. Nice place -- jukebox, some sporting event on, pool table, lots of light beers, good crowd of folks in John Deere, Harley, NASCAR, etc caps, shirts. I struck up some "how are the crops doing around here" sort of conversation with a couple folks, had a brew -- and was by the estimation of "boyfriend" was WAY late for the door. Can't have been over 30 min, I'm pretty sure I held it to one beer.
When we were in the car and moving the admirer of "those that work the land" EXPLODED --- "I can't stand those kind of IGNORANT HICKS!! They are so stupid and uneducated it makes me sick!!! etc, etc."
I let him unreel for a bit before informing him that he had just met the folks that he thought he admired -- and I'd been in similar places in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, New Hampshire, Texas, etc, and he had just hit a superb sample of what Americans that work the land are like. I advised him that he needed to come up with a new imaginary group of people to admire -- cuz he had just met his old dream team and found them wanting.
Short bit of half hearted attempted rebuttal followed by uncomfortable silence on his part -- the young lady did have the good sense to ignore prince oblivious poutings and chat amiably the rest of the way back I recall.
Fox news, Talk Radio and the Red State / Blue State divide came well after that night -- "progressives" are at this point pretty much agreed that they hate people like those in the country bar with a passion -- "bitter clingers" was BO's label for them. They know whom they hate now -- they may have some imaginary reasons like the false reporting on the NRA, but as the article points out, they are certain of their hatred.
Hillary nor 90% of the Democrat party have any interest in those voters -- "fly over country". Hillary needs to scrounge up enough votes to "win" the IA primary against somebody nobody ever heard of if current trends continue. Perhaps she might lose to "anyone else"?
Mostly the divide is so big that the government itself (all union workers), media, education and Democrat party simply loathes the tiny number of people that produce their food, and the now less than 50% that work for a private living rather than be paid off, work for, or in some way are significantly supported by the government.
From their POV, the trash that works the ground, drives the trucks, attends church most Sundays, has guns, listens to Country Music, etc are beneath contempt -- and probably dangerous. The "Red Staters" clearly "haven't gotten their minds right"! And the "progressives" really want to change that -- SOMEHOW. They have tried to be "reasonable" ... maybe it will take force.
Which means the guns can't be given up under any circumstance. The situation is pretty much exactly like the old MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) of the nuclear age. As much as the left would love to round up all the guns, the bulk of gun owners MUST make sure the "progressives" believe that it would be a bloodbath that would exceed the Civil War by at least 10x if not 100x ( 6 million or 60 million casualties).
Those numbers may be too small if the left believes they can win. The combination of Nazi Germany, the USSR and China ran up over 100 million in the 20th century. Statism has no qualms about mass murder -- it is a fact written in the blood of the greatest slaughter in history by far. The big wild card would come down to law enforcement and the military -- the left makes it abundantly clear that they hate those institutions as well. Will the police and soldiers serve the master that hates them to destroy their own families and communities? The last thread of liberty may well hang on that question.
The sad state of affairs is that the most law abiding, God fearing, generous, decent people in the country need to also be 100% clear that they WILL stand their ground on the 2nd Amendment. The Constitution, Separation of Powers, States Rights and Equal Protection are all gone -- the Right to Bear Arms is the last right that still stands. We are no longer a nation of laws -- only the guns are keeping the BOs and Hillarys from completing their progrom now.
Reading the linked article reminded me of a journey to drop off a car for repair in far Southern MN about 35 years ago. A girl that happened to be a friend (she had already decided Mooses were only appropriate as friends) decided (or maybe he decided) to bring along her new somewhat smallish ( < 6', maybe 150 lbs ... I'm a bad judge of size) boyfriend for the journey. He may have not believed the "just friends thing" -- who knows.
Anyway, he was a raging liberal, back to nature sort who always thought it would be easy to "prove" one point or another to an obviously less intelligent nasty corporate type. He hated corporations, "loved the land" (he thought) -- he tended to be unemployed a lot and pretty much lived off the aforementioned girl, but he was very sure of his superior intelligence and had a very solid vision of "what people that lived on the land were like" -- in his vision, they were something like a cross between Thoreau, Jefferson and a modern hippie.
Needless to say, he often got so mad around me that his head would come close to exploding. The friend was concerned he might take a swing at me sometime, but I assured her I wouldn't hurt him in the unlikely event his brain attempted to override physics. The trip went about like usual until on the way back the girl needed a restroom, so we pulled into an out in the country tavern.
Naturally, I felt it was a good opportunity for a libation, so the crew headed in. Nice place -- jukebox, some sporting event on, pool table, lots of light beers, good crowd of folks in John Deere, Harley, NASCAR, etc caps, shirts. I struck up some "how are the crops doing around here" sort of conversation with a couple folks, had a brew -- and was by the estimation of "boyfriend" was WAY late for the door. Can't have been over 30 min, I'm pretty sure I held it to one beer.
When we were in the car and moving the admirer of "those that work the land" EXPLODED --- "I can't stand those kind of IGNORANT HICKS!! They are so stupid and uneducated it makes me sick!!! etc, etc."
I let him unreel for a bit before informing him that he had just met the folks that he thought he admired -- and I'd been in similar places in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, New Hampshire, Texas, etc, and he had just hit a superb sample of what Americans that work the land are like. I advised him that he needed to come up with a new imaginary group of people to admire -- cuz he had just met his old dream team and found them wanting.
Short bit of half hearted attempted rebuttal followed by uncomfortable silence on his part -- the young lady did have the good sense to ignore prince oblivious poutings and chat amiably the rest of the way back I recall.
Fox news, Talk Radio and the Red State / Blue State divide came well after that night -- "progressives" are at this point pretty much agreed that they hate people like those in the country bar with a passion -- "bitter clingers" was BO's label for them. They know whom they hate now -- they may have some imaginary reasons like the false reporting on the NRA, but as the article points out, they are certain of their hatred.
Hillary nor 90% of the Democrat party have any interest in those voters -- "fly over country". Hillary needs to scrounge up enough votes to "win" the IA primary against somebody nobody ever heard of if current trends continue. Perhaps she might lose to "anyone else"?
Mostly the divide is so big that the government itself (all union workers), media, education and Democrat party simply loathes the tiny number of people that produce their food, and the now less than 50% that work for a private living rather than be paid off, work for, or in some way are significantly supported by the government.
From their POV, the trash that works the ground, drives the trucks, attends church most Sundays, has guns, listens to Country Music, etc are beneath contempt -- and probably dangerous. The "Red Staters" clearly "haven't gotten their minds right"! And the "progressives" really want to change that -- SOMEHOW. They have tried to be "reasonable" ... maybe it will take force.
Which means the guns can't be given up under any circumstance. The situation is pretty much exactly like the old MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) of the nuclear age. As much as the left would love to round up all the guns, the bulk of gun owners MUST make sure the "progressives" believe that it would be a bloodbath that would exceed the Civil War by at least 10x if not 100x ( 6 million or 60 million casualties).
Those numbers may be too small if the left believes they can win. The combination of Nazi Germany, the USSR and China ran up over 100 million in the 20th century. Statism has no qualms about mass murder -- it is a fact written in the blood of the greatest slaughter in history by far. The big wild card would come down to law enforcement and the military -- the left makes it abundantly clear that they hate those institutions as well. Will the police and soldiers serve the master that hates them to destroy their own families and communities? The last thread of liberty may well hang on that question.
The sad state of affairs is that the most law abiding, God fearing, generous, decent people in the country need to also be 100% clear that they WILL stand their ground on the 2nd Amendment. The Constitution, Separation of Powers, States Rights and Equal Protection are all gone -- the Right to Bear Arms is the last right that still stands. We are no longer a nation of laws -- only the guns are keeping the BOs and Hillarys from completing their progrom now.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Let's Just Get This Over With
I saw this one and decided that it completely captured the essence of the Hillary campaign -- inevitability, boredom and condescending entitlement.
The Masters was on today and thankfully Jordan Spieth displayed very little of the pain that you sometimes see from leaders that are dying under the stress -- they want to just get it over with so they can be champions and enjoy the memory.
I will confess to WAY too much of that in my life. CERTAINLY High School and College, pushing to "get this over with" so I could get a real job and MAKE SOME MONEY! Certainly the same relative to some steps up the career ladder and the carrot of retirement hanging out there. Being prone to some significant levels of worry and anxiety, there are also elements of this prior to trips -- I tend to enjoy the memories more than the the anticipation for sure. Too many "what if ...." thoughts intrude.
Although I was somewhat smart enough to see in advance that "let's just get this over with" a poor strategy post-retirement, it still crosses my mind just how wired at least the current American culture seems to be to this forever living in the future. Our Pastor goes a bit nuts on it -- mentioning today that Memorial Day stuff is now out in the stores, followed by the 4th the day after Memorial Day, then Back to School, then Halloween, then Christmas WELL before Halloween in some stores (Fleet Farm toys come to mind).
Keeping our minds in the present and ENJOYING the moment is obviously the right answer. It is one of the things I like about Rodgers playing QB and always liked about Favre -- he looked like he was having fun out there! Perhaps Spieth might have made 19 under and held the all time Masters record alone rather than sharing it with Tiger had he not started to relax and enjoy his walk up to the 18th green this afternoon. Even if that is true -- which I don't really believe, he still made the right choice.
NRA Bans Concealed Carry at Convention
http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/04/11/media-fabricated-evidence-to-smear-gop-three-times-in-one-day/
And other lies ....
You can go read the linked article, but the short scoop is:
-- NYTs reported that NRA baned carry and "loaded guns" at convention.
-- Rand Paul walked off an interview in tiff and shut off the lights on the reporters.
-- Nancy Reagan endorsed Hillary Clinton
I've seen and heard versions of these reported as "truth" around the the Internet, Facebook, etc the last few days, naturally all are false -- and the linked articles covers the origins, etc.
The point is that the conservative POV needs a vast amount of extra money to even come close to countering this kind of continuing bias -- the biased reporting of things that have some basis in fact is bad enough, but sometimes complete fabrications stick harder in the minds of the low -- or "standard MSM information only" voter more than just slanted reporting on actual issues.
If somebody is anti-gun, it is very easy to see how the level of hypocrisy that would be involved in the NRA banning carry holders from it's convention would leave a mental mark.
If any liberal wanted to have a SLIGHT bit of understanding on how the "other side" feels, they could consider how completely bent out of shape they get over "Faux News" and "Rush Limbaugh" who generally barely cover the news with as much slant as the standard left media does from the others side, let alone typically report completely fabrication as fact. (you can go here to get a perspective on that claim if you like)
And other lies ....
You can go read the linked article, but the short scoop is:
-- NYTs reported that NRA baned carry and "loaded guns" at convention.
-- Rand Paul walked off an interview in tiff and shut off the lights on the reporters.
-- Nancy Reagan endorsed Hillary Clinton
I've seen and heard versions of these reported as "truth" around the the Internet, Facebook, etc the last few days, naturally all are false -- and the linked articles covers the origins, etc.
The point is that the conservative POV needs a vast amount of extra money to even come close to countering this kind of continuing bias -- the biased reporting of things that have some basis in fact is bad enough, but sometimes complete fabrications stick harder in the minds of the low -- or "standard MSM information only" voter more than just slanted reporting on actual issues.
If somebody is anti-gun, it is very easy to see how the level of hypocrisy that would be involved in the NRA banning carry holders from it's convention would leave a mental mark.
If any liberal wanted to have a SLIGHT bit of understanding on how the "other side" feels, they could consider how completely bent out of shape they get over "Faux News" and "Rush Limbaugh" who generally barely cover the news with as much slant as the standard left media does from the others side, let alone typically report completely fabrication as fact. (you can go here to get a perspective on that claim if you like)
Thursday, April 09, 2015
Two Fakes and a Monument
Believe it or not, that was one of the official Easter pictures released on the WH stream.
Does it strike anyone else as a BIT bizarre?
It got no MSM coverage -- I suspect they have no idea what is supposed to be for either.
I'm left with the idea that "the real is blurred and the imaginary is sharp".
Who knows.
Nothing Stays The Same -- Economic Edition
On Secular Stagnation, Ben Bernanke’s Theory Meets Larry Summers’s Evidence - Real Time Economics - WSJ:
I wrote a little on the genesis of this here, but the controversy seems to have been joined.
You maybe should read the whole main link column, I'm sure there is a lot of good stuff in there more than I likely fully comprehend -- I'm just a dumb old country boy.
None of the experts really seem to point out the simple fact that NOTHING stays static -- certainly not on a ball of rock with a molten core spinning on it's axis every 24hrs, going around it's sun ever 365 and 1/4 days, as it's star travels in it's spiral arm around the center of the Milky Way galaxy -- oh I could go on and on, but I don't want make you suspect that I've forgotten that marijuana isn't legal in Minnesota!
For something with 100's of millions of people linked to billions around the globe like an economy, it REALLY doesn't stay static.
So the economy has two modes, growing or contracting -- and then it has rate of growth or retraction.
I find the core of the article to be this:
If you are dumb enough to try to take some risks in hopes of cashing in on some growing item, most all the governments of the world are on high alert to take a huge percentage of your profits to attempt to provide for those aging unmotivated people that already got the "sustain" message of the current times.
And these guys don't realize why economies are shrinking rather than growing? The value of high level degrees in economics really HAS shrunk!
'via Blog this'
I wrote a little on the genesis of this here, but the controversy seems to have been joined.
You maybe should read the whole main link column, I'm sure there is a lot of good stuff in there more than I likely fully comprehend -- I'm just a dumb old country boy.
None of the experts really seem to point out the simple fact that NOTHING stays static -- certainly not on a ball of rock with a molten core spinning on it's axis every 24hrs, going around it's sun ever 365 and 1/4 days, as it's star travels in it's spiral arm around the center of the Milky Way galaxy -- oh I could go on and on, but I don't want make you suspect that I've forgotten that marijuana isn't legal in Minnesota!
For something with 100's of millions of people linked to billions around the globe like an economy, it REALLY doesn't stay static.
So the economy has two modes, growing or contracting -- and then it has rate of growth or retraction.
I find the core of the article to be this:
There is little dispute that population growth has slowed in both rich and emerging economies. This depresses growth directly by reducing the supply of workers and, indirectly, by depressing investment because a smaller workforce needs less machinery and other equipment. It also depresses demand insofar as retirees consume fewer durable goods, and aging workers save more for retirement. (I suppose one could call this a demand, not supply, side effect.)
Productivity growth has also slowed in most countries. This is partly the dampening effects of the financial crisis on capital spending. Those will eventually fade. But part of it also reflects less innovation. Firms may be investing less because they see fewer payoffs to new technology. These, and other factors such as education attainment no longer increasing, are advanced by Robert Gordon to explain why growth is so slow now, and likely to remain that way.So it is either going to grow or shrink and there are TONS of reasons for it to shrink as listed above, and very few for it to grow -- everyone is at least giving lip service to "sustainable growth" which is really another term for "contraction", the populations of a lot of countries are shrinking, they are all getting older, they are mostly trying to work less and get more benefits from the people still working, we are to use LESS ... energy, water, land, ...
If you are dumb enough to try to take some risks in hopes of cashing in on some growing item, most all the governments of the world are on high alert to take a huge percentage of your profits to attempt to provide for those aging unmotivated people that already got the "sustain" message of the current times.
And these guys don't realize why economies are shrinking rather than growing? The value of high level degrees in economics really HAS shrunk!
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, April 08, 2015
Let Them Eat Cake, WI Chief Justice Style
Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson sues over amendment approved by voters : Wsj:
They may call themselves "liberals" and "progressives" and claim to be ALL about "the people", but let the people vote in something they don't like and the royal dander comes up.
I'm not a great fan of "majority rule" or what it turns into -- the tyranny of the mob, so I'm all for Constitutions that are both hard to change and followed to the letter, as well as things like two Senators from each state, separation of powers and the Electoral College to try to put some brakes on the whims of the masses.
But of course "progressives" claim they are ALL about MAJORITY RULE -- until majority rule affects them negatively, in which case they sue.
I may well like to see the WI Constitution be harder to change, but it isn't . When you hear a "progressive" tell you how great majority rule is, remember, they are most likely lying as they usually are -- or as they prefer to call it " being situationally ethical".
They are in favor of things that suit them -- you can trust them to be consistently in favor of things that benefit them, otherwise, assume they are untrustworthy.
'via Blog this'
They may call themselves "liberals" and "progressives" and claim to be ALL about "the people", but let the people vote in something they don't like and the royal dander comes up.
I'm not a great fan of "majority rule" or what it turns into -- the tyranny of the mob, so I'm all for Constitutions that are both hard to change and followed to the letter, as well as things like two Senators from each state, separation of powers and the Electoral College to try to put some brakes on the whims of the masses.
But of course "progressives" claim they are ALL about MAJORITY RULE -- until majority rule affects them negatively, in which case they sue.
I may well like to see the WI Constitution be harder to change, but it isn't . When you hear a "progressive" tell you how great majority rule is, remember, they are most likely lying as they usually are -- or as they prefer to call it " being situationally ethical".
They are in favor of things that suit them -- you can trust them to be consistently in favor of things that benefit them, otherwise, assume they are untrustworthy.
'via Blog this'
Monday, April 06, 2015
Malevolence, I Recognize Your Existence
Special Editorial: Kill the Deal | The Weekly Standard:
The linked article covers a number of aspects that congress ought to consider making prerequisites of any "deal" with Iran. Sure, it would be nice to have the refrain from regularly and publicly calling us the "Great Satan" since we are supposed to be on on some sort of diplomatic and respectful terms. Not directly sponsoring terrorism around the world might also seem like a reasonable gesture of good will for someone we are supposed to trust. But the one that really gives on pause is their refusal to RECOGNIZE Israel.
I may very strongly disagree with some of you reading this -- you may have completely different world views, as in being an atheist, or a proponent of vast expansion of coercive state power. You may hold a lot of hatred in your heart for Christians, business people, personal responsibility, gun rights, the Constitution in general, the unborn, etc. You may hate America, anything remotely "conservative" -- the list could go on and on.
But I'm willing to recognize your existence. I don't even consider that to be a matter of any question whatsoever -- to do otherwise seems to be somewhere between extreme malevolence and insanity !
Yet, Iran (and most of the other Arab nations) refuse to recognize the EXISTENCE of Israel -- and they are generally all sworn to annihilate Israel if they have the chance. I find them to be malevolent rather than insane.
Iran of course ALSO has no gay "marriage" issue because they have no gays. Seriously, they don't -- if you are identified in Iran as being gay you are put to death, so they have no gays. They don't recognize gays or Israel -- they deal with gays in the same way they want to deal with Israel, but so far they have not had the means to achieve a "final solution to Israel -- but they have stated that they WILL achieve such a solution.
So there is a very strong desire in "The Party" -- TP, Democrat, for sanctions against Indiana and an equally strong desire to DROP sanctions against Iran.
The only way this makes sense is if CHRISTIANS and JEWS are who TP really hates, and if gays, blacks, and others are mere pawns to be used to battle the true enemies, Christians and Jews.
The only other explanation that would work is that TP is INSANE ... and I don't buy that one ... malevolence works just fine.
'via Blog this'
The linked article covers a number of aspects that congress ought to consider making prerequisites of any "deal" with Iran. Sure, it would be nice to have the refrain from regularly and publicly calling us the "Great Satan" since we are supposed to be on on some sort of diplomatic and respectful terms. Not directly sponsoring terrorism around the world might also seem like a reasonable gesture of good will for someone we are supposed to trust. But the one that really gives on pause is their refusal to RECOGNIZE Israel.
I may very strongly disagree with some of you reading this -- you may have completely different world views, as in being an atheist, or a proponent of vast expansion of coercive state power. You may hold a lot of hatred in your heart for Christians, business people, personal responsibility, gun rights, the Constitution in general, the unborn, etc. You may hate America, anything remotely "conservative" -- the list could go on and on.
But I'm willing to recognize your existence. I don't even consider that to be a matter of any question whatsoever -- to do otherwise seems to be somewhere between extreme malevolence and insanity !
Yet, Iran (and most of the other Arab nations) refuse to recognize the EXISTENCE of Israel -- and they are generally all sworn to annihilate Israel if they have the chance. I find them to be malevolent rather than insane.
Iran of course ALSO has no gay "marriage" issue because they have no gays. Seriously, they don't -- if you are identified in Iran as being gay you are put to death, so they have no gays. They don't recognize gays or Israel -- they deal with gays in the same way they want to deal with Israel, but so far they have not had the means to achieve a "final solution to Israel -- but they have stated that they WILL achieve such a solution.
So there is a very strong desire in "The Party" -- TP, Democrat, for sanctions against Indiana and an equally strong desire to DROP sanctions against Iran.
The only way this makes sense is if CHRISTIANS and JEWS are who TP really hates, and if gays, blacks, and others are mere pawns to be used to battle the true enemies, Christians and Jews.
The only other explanation that would work is that TP is INSANE ... and I don't buy that one ... malevolence works just fine.
'via Blog this'
Irish Fairies, Ulysses and Jonathan Swift
When we booked a round trip from Dublin to Holyhead Wales on a car ferry I never realized that we would be on somewhat famous ships.
Outbound we were on the Jonathan Swift, a fast catamaran ferry that I clocked on my GPS as making 45MPH ... we made the 75mi trip in under 2 hours.
On the return we were on the Ulysses, the worlds largest ferry at the time she was launched and the subject of an hour long visit on the National Geographic Channel show "Superships".
Both trips were on time, very comfortable, and very clean accommodations/No need to spring for the "Club Class" as we did on the 3 hr Ulysses crossing -- the normal accommodations are very comfortable and the wifi is just as slow (satellite connections have lots of latency ... bad for surfing!) ... I suspect that any of them are pretty good, but we were happy with Irish Ferries
Outbound we were on the Jonathan Swift, a fast catamaran ferry that I clocked on my GPS as making 45MPH ... we made the 75mi trip in under 2 hours.
On the return we were on the Ulysses, the worlds largest ferry at the time she was launched and the subject of an hour long visit on the National Geographic Channel show "Superships".
Both trips were on time, very comfortable, and very clean accommodations/No need to spring for the "Club Class" as we did on the 3 hr Ulysses crossing -- the normal accommodations are very comfortable and the wifi is just as slow (satellite connections have lots of latency ... bad for surfing!) ... I suspect that any of them are pretty good, but we were happy with Irish Ferries
The Fool, Three Years and Counting
http://bilber99.blogspot.com/2014/04/roswell-to-pagosa-springs-memories-and.html
I missed writing April 1 on the actual 3rd anniversary of my exit from IBM. I did ride motorcycle a bit that day -- over to the health club to work out, then to church to pick up the communion kit, and then to give communion to a shut-in. Much shorter than my 100 mi on the Wing the day I left IBM, and MUCH shorter than my ride from Roswell NM to Taos to Pagosa Springs via scenic 64 and 84 plus a few other nice roads. My ride Wednesday was around town was the Harley -- chilly Wing today, it varies.
The third year brought the purchase of the lake property in IA, the marriage of our eldest son, the completion of the water feature, the purchase of the Harley Ultra, a nice motorcycle trip to Indianola IA to see the balloons, the loss of our nieces husband, and the trip to Ireland and England just over. There were other things -- the Packers loss to Seattle would be nice to forget along with the month of flu / pneumonia from Thanksgiving to New Years.
The winter was the first time I had A FEW feelings of wanting more to do -- that resulted in a little more activity on the book, but I find the self discipline to break away from the routine of writing the blog, working out at the RAC and reading extensively (Churchill was a major push this past year) to be rather easy to fall into. I even watched a BIT more TV for a change -- making it through a season of "Mad Men", and staying almost current with "Better Call Saul" to give into a bit of peer pressure from friends that like to discuss a bit of TV -- MAYBE I'll catch up, but the task seems daunting, TV is not very easy for me.
The expected birth of our first grandchild -- a girl, dominates thoughts of this year. Next on the list is the impending construction of our livable shed on the lake property in IA. High hopes for a lot more entertaining around the water feature and hopefully some memorable rides on the motorcycles.
It remains a great blessing to have been able to have a period of "retired time" while still able to be active. I completely bypassed the idea of finding something to work at that I felt was "a calling" in my youth -- I certainly liked computers and to some degree still do, but that old "what is your bliss" question is not an easy one for me. MAYBE it is writing -- the blog entries are certainly "pure fun" without any need to "buckle down" and write. I'm now approaching 3K entries over the decade that I've been writing -- but focusing on a book is so far a good deal harder.
Perhaps this will be the year when the muse strikes harder and real book progress is made -- or perhaps self discipline is the only muse that will ever "strike" and what I need is a "gumption adjustment". I can certainly tell that there is a good deal of the old friend "fear of failure" -- it has often been nice to dream of writing a book that at least some set of people read and appreciate. Far more likely to to never produce a book, or to produce something that some very small set of people politely read and try to make the best of ...
It is fitting that my personal year cycle now tends to start on April Fools given the point at my exit from IBM. I imagine the Master Planner getting in a wink and a chuckle at that!
I missed writing April 1 on the actual 3rd anniversary of my exit from IBM. I did ride motorcycle a bit that day -- over to the health club to work out, then to church to pick up the communion kit, and then to give communion to a shut-in. Much shorter than my 100 mi on the Wing the day I left IBM, and MUCH shorter than my ride from Roswell NM to Taos to Pagosa Springs via scenic 64 and 84 plus a few other nice roads. My ride Wednesday was around town was the Harley -- chilly Wing today, it varies.
The third year brought the purchase of the lake property in IA, the marriage of our eldest son, the completion of the water feature, the purchase of the Harley Ultra, a nice motorcycle trip to Indianola IA to see the balloons, the loss of our nieces husband, and the trip to Ireland and England just over. There were other things -- the Packers loss to Seattle would be nice to forget along with the month of flu / pneumonia from Thanksgiving to New Years.
The winter was the first time I had A FEW feelings of wanting more to do -- that resulted in a little more activity on the book, but I find the self discipline to break away from the routine of writing the blog, working out at the RAC and reading extensively (Churchill was a major push this past year) to be rather easy to fall into. I even watched a BIT more TV for a change -- making it through a season of "Mad Men", and staying almost current with "Better Call Saul" to give into a bit of peer pressure from friends that like to discuss a bit of TV -- MAYBE I'll catch up, but the task seems daunting, TV is not very easy for me.
The expected birth of our first grandchild -- a girl, dominates thoughts of this year. Next on the list is the impending construction of our livable shed on the lake property in IA. High hopes for a lot more entertaining around the water feature and hopefully some memorable rides on the motorcycles.
It remains a great blessing to have been able to have a period of "retired time" while still able to be active. I completely bypassed the idea of finding something to work at that I felt was "a calling" in my youth -- I certainly liked computers and to some degree still do, but that old "what is your bliss" question is not an easy one for me. MAYBE it is writing -- the blog entries are certainly "pure fun" without any need to "buckle down" and write. I'm now approaching 3K entries over the decade that I've been writing -- but focusing on a book is so far a good deal harder.
Perhaps this will be the year when the muse strikes harder and real book progress is made -- or perhaps self discipline is the only muse that will ever "strike" and what I need is a "gumption adjustment". I can certainly tell that there is a good deal of the old friend "fear of failure" -- it has often been nice to dream of writing a book that at least some set of people read and appreciate. Far more likely to to never produce a book, or to produce something that some very small set of people politely read and try to make the best of ...
It is fitting that my personal year cycle now tends to start on April Fools given the point at my exit from IBM. I imagine the Master Planner getting in a wink and a chuckle at that!
Thursday, April 02, 2015
Apple vs WalMart
Mises Wire | Mises Institute:
A good little article covering something we all know. Progressives hate WalMart and they love Apple.
Why? WalMart is about poor, often rural hicks and Apple is about cool, upscale techie coasties. What part of that don't you get?
Progressives hate blacks, poor, hispanics, country hicks, the religious -- the "uncool". Sure, they will say things in favor of at least the black, poor and the hispanic, but that just means they want their votes and they want to feel good about throwing them some bones. They don't actually CARE about them -- if they did, then 6K young black youths being shot dead on the streets by other black youths would be a bad thing -- but as it is, they could care less.
Sure Apple makes way more profit -- why not? They are cool! Just like progressives -- just ask them, they are CERTAIN of it!
It's a short article, worth the short read.
'via Blog this'
A good little article covering something we all know. Progressives hate WalMart and they love Apple.
Why? WalMart is about poor, often rural hicks and Apple is about cool, upscale techie coasties. What part of that don't you get?
Progressives hate blacks, poor, hispanics, country hicks, the religious -- the "uncool". Sure, they will say things in favor of at least the black, poor and the hispanic, but that just means they want their votes and they want to feel good about throwing them some bones. They don't actually CARE about them -- if they did, then 6K young black youths being shot dead on the streets by other black youths would be a bad thing -- but as it is, they could care less.
Sure Apple makes way more profit -- why not? They are cool! Just like progressives -- just ask them, they are CERTAIN of it!
It's a short article, worth the short read.
'via Blog this'
Life Lessons from Germanwings Disaster
Life Lessons from the German Air Disaster - Dennis Prager:
A very well thought out and well written article on the subject.
How true it is that we must all beware those that would "change the world", and be much more interested in changing our own life, and at best the lives of the people we love for the better.
Any Jackass can kick a barn door down, it takes a carpenter to build one ...
One psychopath murdered 149 people -- how difficult it is for any of us to change the lives of 149 people for the better!
'via Blog this'
A very well thought out and well written article on the subject.
How true it is that we must all beware those that would "change the world", and be much more interested in changing our own life, and at best the lives of the people we love for the better.
Any Jackass can kick a barn door down, it takes a carpenter to build one ...
One psychopath murdered 149 people -- how difficult it is for any of us to change the lives of 149 people for the better!
'via Blog this'
Marine Assaults African Immigrant and Steals His Lunch
Conservative biker saves little girl; He NEVER expected what happened next:
Just go and read the link ... how something is reported DOES make a difference!
'via Blog this'
Just go and read the link ... how something is reported DOES make a difference!
'via Blog this'
Forcing Blacks To Celebrate the KKK
The War on the Private Mind:
Tim Cook is gay and not stupid. A gay man running what may well be the most powerful corporation in America goes to battle against little bakers, florists and photographers who might still hold as part of their private religion, morals that were the standard of all of civilization for over two thousand years. REQUIRING at penalty of loss of their pitifully insignificant businesses and livelihoods next to his 700+ BILLION market cap Apple and his personal $400 millon and rapidly rising wealth, that they CELEBRATE a marriage ceremony that is in direct opposition to their religions views and the views of all mankind for all of human history up to the last decade.
The mind boggles. This is compared to Jim Crow in the old south? The comparison is apt only in that Jim Crow was run by the Democrats and this attack on the private religious freedom of the powerless "bitterly clinging" common people is also being run by the party of state power -- the Democrats. Tim Cook is the modern Bull Connor -- only far more powerful and ruthless. Are the masses really so far gone that they can't see who the powerful and who the powerless are in this battle?
Since at least Cook is not stupid, we must assign the motive for this attack to something else. Jim Crow was in some ways benign relative to the modern assault on private thought. Bull Connor and his like did not demand that blacks thoughts align with theirs, only that they stay in their place. That was sufficient, they didn't need to bow on bended knee and swear their fealty to their betters -- only comply in the physical sense -- their minds were still their own.
Leviathan has grown enough that such is no longer sufficient. We are now told to "get our minds right" -- on your knees naive! We are no longer granted the privacy of our thoughts and beliefs, for the all-powerful State has expanded to where it is no longer going to whisper about "bitter clingers" at private campaign events. It has now stepped over the line to where economic warfare will be used to coerce those that fail to worship at the state altar to do so or pay -- first with their livelihoods, then with ??
We know where this goes. Once the path to thought coercion is taken, the drive for that coercion to be 100% successful increases as the set of those that resist gets ever smaller and the level of coercion to reach that absolute gets ever more oppressive until "No one stands against us!!!!!" (they have all been annihalated, and if you decide to get off your knees, so will you)
But then, as in Rome or as in Nazi Germany, the level of the perversion and the blood lust to demand that ALL bow to declare the perversion sacred continues. For the lusts of the human heart are not limited -- in fact, the unrepentant heart of man is exceedingly wicked. There is a good reason that BC and AD are separated by Easter.
Christ is the difference in world history, but unrepentant man can not accept that difference. This is as old as Romans 1:28 "Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done."
As with the rise of the "isms" in the 20th century, the world seems determined to worship the idol of "Secular Humanism". How many millions will die this time before we repent and the Church picks up the shards?
'via Blog this'
“I expect to die in bed,” Francis Eugene Cardinal George famously remarked. “My successor will die in prison, and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history.” Perhaps it will not come to that. But we already are on the precipice of sending men with guns to the homes and businesses of bakers to enforce compliance with dictates undreamt-of the day before yesterday.The linked column is well worth reading. Another good quote from it:
Adlai Stevenson famously offered this definition: “A free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.” We do not live in that society.For the thinking person, the facts of this direct attack on private religious thought stretches the application of "never assert malice when stupidity can provide explanation".
Tim Cook is gay and not stupid. A gay man running what may well be the most powerful corporation in America goes to battle against little bakers, florists and photographers who might still hold as part of their private religion, morals that were the standard of all of civilization for over two thousand years. REQUIRING at penalty of loss of their pitifully insignificant businesses and livelihoods next to his 700+ BILLION market cap Apple and his personal $400 millon and rapidly rising wealth, that they CELEBRATE a marriage ceremony that is in direct opposition to their religions views and the views of all mankind for all of human history up to the last decade.
The mind boggles. This is compared to Jim Crow in the old south? The comparison is apt only in that Jim Crow was run by the Democrats and this attack on the private religious freedom of the powerless "bitterly clinging" common people is also being run by the party of state power -- the Democrats. Tim Cook is the modern Bull Connor -- only far more powerful and ruthless. Are the masses really so far gone that they can't see who the powerful and who the powerless are in this battle?
Since at least Cook is not stupid, we must assign the motive for this attack to something else. Jim Crow was in some ways benign relative to the modern assault on private thought. Bull Connor and his like did not demand that blacks thoughts align with theirs, only that they stay in their place. That was sufficient, they didn't need to bow on bended knee and swear their fealty to their betters -- only comply in the physical sense -- their minds were still their own.
Leviathan has grown enough that such is no longer sufficient. We are now told to "get our minds right" -- on your knees naive! We are no longer granted the privacy of our thoughts and beliefs, for the all-powerful State has expanded to where it is no longer going to whisper about "bitter clingers" at private campaign events. It has now stepped over the line to where economic warfare will be used to coerce those that fail to worship at the state altar to do so or pay -- first with their livelihoods, then with ??
We know where this goes. Once the path to thought coercion is taken, the drive for that coercion to be 100% successful increases as the set of those that resist gets ever smaller and the level of coercion to reach that absolute gets ever more oppressive until "No one stands against us!!!!!" (they have all been annihalated, and if you decide to get off your knees, so will you)
But then, as in Rome or as in Nazi Germany, the level of the perversion and the blood lust to demand that ALL bow to declare the perversion sacred continues. For the lusts of the human heart are not limited -- in fact, the unrepentant heart of man is exceedingly wicked. There is a good reason that BC and AD are separated by Easter.
Christ is the difference in world history, but unrepentant man can not accept that difference. This is as old as Romans 1:28 "Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done."
As with the rise of the "isms" in the 20th century, the world seems determined to worship the idol of "Secular Humanism". How many millions will die this time before we repent and the Church picks up the shards?
'via Blog this'
ZZ Top, Across The Border
We ventured over to La Crosse WI to see the ZZ Top show that was originally scheduled for my birthday, October 5th ... but Dusty Hill broke his hip so it was cancelled and rescheduled for the 31st.
La Crosse is a little over 50K people, 1/2 the size of Rochester -- there were about as many bars / restaurants between the car park 3 blocks from the La Crosse Center where the concert was at than there are in the city of Rochester.
We ate at Buzzard Billy's Flying Carp Cafe ... before dinner we had appetizers and a beer at the Starlight Lounge upstairs. Two excellent local Pearl Street offerings and super chicken wings for $11.50. The meal downstairs, two drinks, two soups, two entrees ... a catfish Po Boy and a Cajun platter, both excellent came in at $36! A 16oz beer at the concert was a mere $4.50 ... up at an event in the twin cities $8 is a good guess.
I have no idea if it is competition, taxes, regulations, German vs Scandinavian culture or "whatever", but those costs would have been at LEAST 30% higher here!
Billy, Dusty and Frank are all 65 years old -- Billy still seems to move like he did a decade ago, but Dusty seems a little less mobile maybe -- although he is a bass man, and they tend to not move much anyway. At the end of the show when Frank walked down front from the drums, I thought he looked like he may have aged the most. The crowd? Well, the crowd looks OLD -- what am I doing in such a crowd!!
I can't really imagine what happened -- I saw them in the early 80's on the "Eliminator" tour, then on our 20th anniversary, then 5 years ago up at Mystic Lake, and again last night -- as Billy G likes to say "40 years, same three guys, same three chords". Harley / Sturgis / ZZ Top -- those were the T-shirts, and pretty much in that order -- they seem to understand their audience pretty well at this point.
A very nice belated B-day present,
La Crosse is a little over 50K people, 1/2 the size of Rochester -- there were about as many bars / restaurants between the car park 3 blocks from the La Crosse Center where the concert was at than there are in the city of Rochester.
We ate at Buzzard Billy's Flying Carp Cafe ... before dinner we had appetizers and a beer at the Starlight Lounge upstairs. Two excellent local Pearl Street offerings and super chicken wings for $11.50. The meal downstairs, two drinks, two soups, two entrees ... a catfish Po Boy and a Cajun platter, both excellent came in at $36! A 16oz beer at the concert was a mere $4.50 ... up at an event in the twin cities $8 is a good guess.
I have no idea if it is competition, taxes, regulations, German vs Scandinavian culture or "whatever", but those costs would have been at LEAST 30% higher here!
Billy, Dusty and Frank are all 65 years old -- Billy still seems to move like he did a decade ago, but Dusty seems a little less mobile maybe -- although he is a bass man, and they tend to not move much anyway. At the end of the show when Frank walked down front from the drums, I thought he looked like he may have aged the most. The crowd? Well, the crowd looks OLD -- what am I doing in such a crowd!!
I can't really imagine what happened -- I saw them in the early 80's on the "Eliminator" tour, then on our 20th anniversary, then 5 years ago up at Mystic Lake, and again last night -- as Billy G likes to say "40 years, same three guys, same three chords". Harley / Sturgis / ZZ Top -- those were the T-shirts, and pretty much in that order -- they seem to understand their audience pretty well at this point.
A very nice belated B-day present,
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