Intro
This is another of the W.O.O.D. series of semi-regular
Weekly Occasional Open Discussions.
(i.e. if I forget and skip one, no big)
Immediate prior one here:
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2021/12/31/new-years-w-o-o-d-1-january-2022/
and remains open for threads running there (at least until the ‘several month’ auto-close of comments on stale threads).
Canonical list of old ones here:
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/category/w-o-o-d/
FYI …
The Weekly Memes
I really really like these guy’s “top 10 memes”. They watch what is going on on Gab and Patriot.win and select the ones that they like best. A nice filtering service if nothing else; but the way they match music to the theme is also good. Unfortunately, can’t do an embed that works with my free WordPress plan (it does do free EwTube embeds… but only them, so you get to ‘Hit the link’!
Ashli Babbit Day:
https://rumble.com/vsb3nc-top-10-memes-ashli-babbitt-day.html
10. GOP RINOs sleep while Marjorie Taylor Green takes aim at DNC Corruption. (You know she’s on target as Twitter banned her. Wear that badge proudly MTG!)
9. Orange Is The New Black: Take an orange to school day in your future! I think it’s time to paint the whole world orange… Oh, and Twitter stock, in a rising market, is down 42% in 6 months… Dear Twitter Board: How’s that “Get woke go broke” working out for you?…
8. But does she have an Actors Guild Card? Inquiring Minds want to know! Can’t have scabs impersonating M.D.s and patients… Plus “Open Wide!” and the Omicron Specter… White Hat lab, or Nature Wins? (Go Israel & Truth!)
7. So the “UnVexxinated” are the ones with ONLY the shot, the booster, the second booster, and the third booster? Oh, wait, the fourth you say?…. the moving target of the “Pandemic Of The Unvaccinated” (and totally unrelated to us Purebloods).
6. I love Candace Owens. What can I say. A beautiful Milk Chocolate with a brain on “turbo”. What’s not to like? “Coercion, bribery, propaganda, and censorship are not the tools used by good guys.” Oh to be 30 years younger and have a few $Million…
5. The Supremes: Go Gorsuch! ( Had I known you could be as brain dead and mal-informed as Sotomayor and end up a Supreme… I’d have gone to law school and hung out with Idiot Dimocrats…)
4. Tucker pwns Cruz…
3. Fear Porn as tool of war…
2. Antifa “mostly peaceful protest” vs 6 Jan “Insurrection”… BTW, I’m in that sea of Red White & Blue, 3rd shot with big flag center, to the center left just out of frame… Note that in images of the “Insurrection” on the capitol steps, it is NOT a sea of Red White & Blue. Color alone shows the lie… The folks listening to Trump did NOT go to the capitol steps nor into the building. It was a “done deal” before we would walk the 1.8 miles to get there after Trump finished speaking… Oh, and Sam Adams is my new Go To beer…
1. Kazakhstan Schools American “Insurrectionists”…
Jan 9, 2022. Whatfinger’s Seven, Just an illusion.
https://rumble.com/vs8e7j-whatfingers-seven-just-an-illusion.html
Sunday. Australian 94 year old dies… must be Covid.
Monday. Tim Pool points out people leaving Dimocrat Crap States for Freedom States. (Go figure ;-)
Tuesday. Joe Rogan does a Truth Bomb on DNC related murders (has F-bombs so NSFW).
Wednesday. Folks committing “insurrection” by staying respectfully inside the velvet ropes… The Horrors!!! /snark;
Thursday. Again with Tucker and Cruz on the skillet… but presented clean and cold.
Friday. Gutfeld on a 6 Jan rant. “Screw them, they are lying” ;-)
Saturday. Trump comments to OAN that the Arizona findings who election fraud (well duh…). BTW, OAN was removed from DirectTV – owned by AT&T who also just changed the terms on breaking into your phone on a variety of (formerly) burner phone companies owned by Tracfone – including Walmart Phone and Tracfone among several others. Gee, the Phone Company in bed with Big Government… who knew? (Shades of mediocre ’70s movies…)
https://m.tracfonewirelessinc.com/en/brands/
Net10
Simple Mobile
PagePlus
SafeLink
TotalWireless
Tracfone
StraightTalk Wireless
Walmart Family Mobile
GO Smart MobileJust Say NO!… (FWIW, my next phone will likely be a Patriot Mobile that runs on T-Mobile ( I think…). Yes, the Germans are more trustworthy than AT&T… go figure….)
Jan 3, 2022. Mass Formation Psychosis
https://rumble.com/vrv7ja-top-10-memes-mass-formation-psychosis.html
10. Biden “issue” for the new year… and a view of some fairy tales from the year long gone…
9. Sex Trafficking? For God’s Sake, don’t out the Very Rich Men who are listed on the flight manifests of the Lolita Express to Jill Again’s Island…
8. Me too. Wanted a bit of data on the Vexxine. What I found was very much double plus non-good.
7. Canada Police going full on Nazi. Guess we know where morality ends and pension begins… The Turdough ‘splains hisself to my satisfaction but I’m with George…
6. I’m incredibly happy to be in the group that dumps the mask at every opportunity, AND to have done so in a half dozen cross country treks so far. I’ve been a Free Pure Blood in The Free State Of Florida several times in the last 2 year. More in the next year as we finally get the center of operations moved there. Freedom, it’s a wonderful thing. Bailing on Kalifornia as fast as physically possible. “Just say no!” and be happy. I have, and I am. I find myself accidentally an ally of Robert Kennedy Jr. (Then again, I supported JFK and his economic policies are still the correct ones, so there’s that from the center of the bird…) You Go RKJr!
5. Comrad Cast has a lark!
4. Obey! your way to liberty and freedom! Not…
3. Myocarditis. Oh, and about 1/2 the folks with myocarditis die in the following couple of years. Enjoy them while you’ve got ’em! … Then “The Creep From The Deep” – DNC, are you listening now?
2. 1/3 of the population in Mass Formation Psychosis…about the same percent that supports Biden and watches CNN… Who knew?…
1. Fake News caught via photos recycled… and then there’s that whole “denial of reality” march by Biden & The Media now that it’s him “in charge”… It is like someone turned a light on and the rats & roaches are running for cover…
Jan 2, 2022. Whatfinger’s Seven No.:1
https://rumble.com/vrskcw-whatfingers-seven-no.-1.html
Sunday. Wokeism in the military.
Monday. Cruz recognizes that Manchin is the one voice saving America. Go figure…
Tuesday. Litefoot on the fake holiday of Kwanza! Then President Harris (Hey, Joe said she is! so it must be true!!!) reflects on her childhood memories of Kwanaza before it existed… how sweet ;-) Harris was born in 1964 and Kwanza was invented in 1966, so I suppose it is a theoretical possibility that her parents jumped on the fantasy as soon as it was invented… Or not.
Wednesday. “Karen” who slapped Delta passenger was a Baywatch leftover. That explains a lot…
Thursday. Madam Maxwell found guilty. So please explain to me IF I’m supposed to “believe all women” which of the two I ought to believe? Eh? So about all those rich men boffing the girl children, what might their names be? Hmmm?
Friday. RBC Royal Bank Of Canada does not want money from Conservatives. Adjust your deposit, credit card, and checking relationships accordingly.
Saturday. The HildaBeast Returns!!…
December 27, 2021. Winter of long shadows:
https://rumble.com/vrhgnq-top-10-memes-winter-of-long-shadows.html
10. The Shunning Fraud of Vexxine Shaming. Der Fauxi Spract! (Minor F-bomb in included meme).
9. Omicron! Quick, get the Chicken Soup!… Pocahontas has the couf!
8. Bidetn Spreads The Fear Porn!!!
7. Now is the winter of our dis-contents (and Fear Porn! from the Bidetn White House direct from the PotuSino him self)…
6. Nurses speak the Truth. The Vexxine causes death and damage. A very brave RN on the right side of history.
5. World Council For Health says ~”Stop it. just stop it.” I’m looking forward to my own “nobody said anything” moment in Florida (a Shall Issue State) and yes, I was “born this way”…
4. The Grift goes big… Just say “Hell No!” and get offa my porch! Or maybe a magenta unicorn…
3. “I am grateful for the protection that led to my Covid diagnosis”.
2. Trump believes he has saved the world. It will be hard for him to accept he was played by Big Pharma.
1. Biden says: “Let’s Go Brandon! I agree.” So ok, let’s go Brandon!
Some News Bits
I may add some bits here as time permits. But really, I’m having a bit of a “WT?” why bother moment as all the Lame Stream / Yellow Stream media are outed as partisan hack propagandists and the only real news you can trust if from “on the ground” podcasts.
So at this point: “What IS news, anyway?”. I know of NO trustworthy sources of global news anymore. I found it painful and a bit startling to realize that Al Jazeera and RT Today were more truthful than anything “From The West”. So yes, my “news” input is having a bit of an existential crisis since veracity has left the building with Elvis…
For more recent events, see:
Trump Social Media site:
Bongino Report:
Or Whatfinger:
https://generaldispatch.whatfinger.com/
I’ve also gotten addicted to the Top Ten Memes of the week from WatchMAGA here:
They have interesting “bite” to them, along with a tendency to highlight the news of the week in memes, so good as a social attitude pointer too. Plus they are “way fun” ;-)
Musings from the Chiefio 
Scott Manley’s summary of the Tonga volcanic explosion:
A bit of fun…. Micro$oft Word now has an assistant to help you not get the woke stuff wrong.
https://www.gbnews.uk/news/microsoft-launches-a-woke-spelling-tool-feature-for-word/205968
@Simon – they should have just brought back Bob.
@Simon:
Oh, just think of how often that will require updates ;-)
Some perspective on GDP. Now think about why there is desire for a Great Reset by globalist pukes.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-the-94-trillion-world-economy-in-one-chart/
Government does not contribute to the growth in wealth of a Nation. They are parasites that consume wealth. To include government expenditures as contributing to GDP is very misleading specially when they resort to money printing, to fund their “growth”, which actually reduces the countries actual wealth creation.
@Ossqss:
Bingo! Now remember that a LOT of the Middle East “economy” is oil & gas sales. Ditto Russia. Brazil has large minerals and agriculture sectors as does Australia.
Without the oil & minerals sectors a lot of the dinky economies get a whole lot dinkier…
I do wonder why they include the Pacific Islands, N.Z. & Australia in the red zone with China? Predicting the future?…
In any case, actual Manufacturing is even more skewed. China, USA, and chunks of Europe + Japan and Korea mostly. Then everything else is “also ran”.
This graph is enlightening:
Manufacturing is a better indicator than GDP. That graphic is 2018 data.
It would be interesting to see years before and after.
The source for that graph: https://howmuch.net/articles/map-worlds-manufacturing-output
(and unstats.un.org, but that is a sinkhole of woke stats)
https://howmuch.net/articles/top-10-visualizations-of-2020
“Top 10 Visualizations of 2020”
Numbers 7 and 8 are interesting.
#7: https://howmuch.net/articles/worlds-biggest-economies-over-time
China, India, Indonesia on the way up.
#8: https://howmuch.net/articles/chinas-exports-imports-trade-balance
Subtracting imports and exports is left to the reader. US loses.
German, S Korea, Taiwan, Australia gain. Taiwan! Who knew?
@YMMV:
IF you want the best semiconductors, you must get them from Taiwan. Think of all the iPhones and Android phones manufactured in China. So Apple says “use Taiwan chip FOO or we get these built in Viet Nam”…
Further down the page is the net trade graph:
Sounds like a start
“‘The days of state-run TV are over’: Nadine Dorries clobbers the BBC with a £2billion funding cut as she freezes the licence fee for two years, with a row over ‘Left-wing bias’ threatening to spill out into all-out war with the Corporation”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10406491/Nadine-Dorries-hits-BBC-2bn-funding-cut-freezes-annual-licence-fee-charge-2024.html
Via SDA
@Another Ian:
Nice idea. Good start. But… 2027 is a long ways off. Plenty of time for a counter coup.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Question: Is the TV Tax required for a computer and monitor? I get all the “TV” I want over the internet. Would I be forced to pay a tax for the BBC if I did that in England?
Silly Thought:
Rename the BBC (since “broadcasting” is just sooo 1950s) to BritFlix Corp. and have it do BBC stuff on a Netflix subscription model. If their stuff is Really all that good, ought to be no problem tapping into the global Empire and Former Colonies wallets… with ZERO tax support…
Re: Zero Tax support.
Yea, there are NO NGOs on the government teat that can do without government support. And the why is simple. Because NO ONE LISTENS/WATCHES them. At least no one that pays taxes and buys things.
“Matt Gurney: Canada’s bid to replace WWII-era pistols a case study in government incompetence”
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/matt-gurney-on-military-sidearms
I don’t know why that article linked by Another Ian makes the Hipower out to be a problem. It’s a good pistol. So good it has just been put back on sale in a slightly modernised form. I carried one in the British army. The bit of the article about the complete failure of the procurement process is of course totally correct. A 9mm pistol is pretty much consumer goods and doesn’t need to take any longer to select than if you were choosing one in a gun store. {I’d go Walther PPQ).
A thread on common rail injection
https://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/topic/145160-common-rail-injection/
A comment elsewhere
” Common rail injection is great as it allows for some tricks that mechanical injection just can’t do. Like a longer duration of fuel injection so the cylinder pressures stay within reason but overall power is increases because the pressure rise lasts longer. Better usage of charge air. Huge downside is that there is highly pressurized fuel at the injector at all times and if the injector start to leak the cylinder will get trashed about right now as the leakage goes on through the entire 720* rotation rather than being limited to the duration of the injection event; it won’t be just a dribble either like a leaky injector in a DD or PT Cummins. More like a cutting torch. My JD mechanic friend told me that if a person were to do high speed strobe photography of these HPCR system lines, you would freak right out because of how much the lines flex from the pressure. “It will look like it is breathing” he said.”
@rhoda klapp: I’ll give you an ‘Amen’ on everything you just wrote except your disagreement that the Hipower is a problem.
What I got from the article was that it’s not the Hipower itself that is the problem so much as it is the Hipower pistols Canada is using are about 77 years old and *ahem* well used, with spare parts increasingly hard to find.
Yup. Browning has off-the-shelf upgraded replacements for the Hipower, but I agree with you on the Walther PPQ. I bought one for my son for a birthday present and I found it to be an excellent firearm.
Oh, and there’s a BB gun manufacturer that makes a CO2 powered exact replica of the PPQ so you can practice everything but the recoil. Hang a blanket for a backstop so you don’t have to dig errant BBs out of the drywall, and you could practice with one in a small apartment.
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Oh snap! Canada could have bought up the UK’s stock of Hipowers when they switched to Glocks. At least Canada would have then had plenty of spare parts to keep theirs working while they wait for off-the-shelf phasers** to become available.
**I can just imagine the fun and games that would ensue in the barracks with phasers set to ‘Stun’.
I think the British HP35s were made by Inglis. In Canada. And probably just as old, although military pistols in peacetime have a pretty easy life. If they fired 100 rounds a year on average I’d be surprised. Stripped and cleaned a million times though.
I didn’t have a phaser, but my personal weapon was an Imperial blaster rifle. Or at least looked like one.
Santa: “You want an
Red Ryder BB gunImperial Blaster for Christmas?Ralphie enthusiastically nods head YES!
Santa: “You’ll put your eye out, kid.”
@H.R. Something like this? :) [If only…]
@Another Ian:
Common Rail also has big fat wires with lots of current in them to make the piezoelectric valve “go”… repair can be expensive. But being able to do a bunch of little pulses of fuel for each injection makes for fine disbursal and good ignition. Heck, my CDI has started a few times from cold (California Cold or about 50 to 60 F) when I forgot to let the glow plugs glow…
Basically a trade off of less fuel cost with more power for much more expensive repair costs and somewhat less reliability.
@Per the Hi-Power:
It was the start of the high capacity 9mm category. An extremely reliable pistol. Also, as Single Action first shot, a good training weapon and simple to learn. For a long time the Israeli military trained to use the same drill, the SA one, on ALL pistols as it would basically always work.
I’d be happy to own and use a Hi-Power. But my preferred gun is now the Sig…
I like the Cz-75 / Cz-85 most, but those have gone to the Son. I’ll likely buy another one when I’m in Florida ;-)
Oddly, it’s a cheap Chinese knockoff of an earlier Browning design (1903?) that I typically grab if something “Goes bump in the night” or on the news that wants 9mm size. It is nominally in .30 Tokarev but has a swappable bbl for 9mm. Has a very crisp trigger, goes “BANG!” ever time, and I’d not give a damn if, post shooting, it were kept in “evidence” for a decade or even if never given back. Disposo-Gun that works. Nice to have one. It is single action, like the Hi-Power, but IIRC only 9 rounds. Still, ought to be enough.
It is very difficult to change the bbls, or even take it down for cleaning, as the release pin under the bbl sticks and needs some pounding to get the thing released. Machined well with good materials on the parts that matter most, cheap weak metals where it was not critical to function and with mediocre fit.
Just not interested in having a $Huge$ expensive Sig in a P.D. evidence locker for the balance of my years… if I had to use it. Saving it for W.W.III ;-)
@EM, don’t overlook the Sig p365. I almost went with the Springfield Hellcat because I like the sights better but ended up with the Sig for a carry. I got the TAC pac that came with 3 clips and holster.
comparison review
https://caagearup.com/sig-p365-vs-springfield-hellcat/
@Ossqss:
Wow! Didn’t know Sig made a gun for under $500… (Found one on line at $499).
Unfortunately, you go to war with the army you have, or go to combat with the weapons you have, and I got one of the first .357 Sig / .40 S&W combos (p226? something like that) at about $1500+ IIRC. Absolutely love the gun, but not exactly a “Daily Driver” or a “Go ahead and take it as evidence” gun… However if you need to stop a Bear (or a Buick ;-) it’ll get ‘er done!
Just a hair under .357 Magnum power (about 25 ft-lbs IIRC or maybe fps…) with a lot of rounds and flexibility to use the .40 S&W if you can’t find the design point ammo.
I bought it when California had an effective ban on clips over 10 rounds, so went “up caliber” inside that magazine limit. Don’t know the current magazine “rules” so waiting until I’m in The Free State Of Florida to buy a high capacity 9…
Like the size on that one. As Florida is a Shall Issue State, I’ll likely get a CCW too. All across The South they have reciprocal recognition, so I could legally carry from Florida to Arizona (last I looked) and some unknown distance north (N. Carolina?) Don’t know that I’d actually do it often, more interested in the legal complications it removes if you are transporting a gun in a car without a trunk.
On the boat, the law says you can carry a gun on your way to or from fishing, so just have a fishing pole and some lures aboard ;-) and avoid other States or Nations waters…
“Study, Fourth Shot of COVID Vaccine Ineffective at Preventing Omicron Infection
January 17, 2022 | sundance | 140 Comments
A study out of Israel is showing the fourth shot, second booster of COVID vaccine, provides no benefit in the prevention of the Omicron variant.”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/01/17/study-fourth-shot-of-covid-vaccine-ineffective-at-preventing-omicron-infection/
And the cartoon!
“Was the Terrorist Attack in Colleyville a Replay of the Terrorist Attack in Garland in 2015?
January 17, 2022 | sundance | 203 Comments
I have intentionally not written about the terrorist attack in Colleyville, Texas, because my initial review saw significant parallels to the first ISIS attack on U.S. soil which took place in 2015 at Garland Texas, carried out by Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi.”
Much more at
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/01/17/was-the-terrorist-attack-in-colleyville-a-replay-of-the-terrorist-attack-in-garland-in-2015/
State of Fla. fishing regs. allow exemptions for residents without any State of Fla. fishing license to fish under certain conditions [⚖]:
The condition likely most advantageous for you:
That’s because unlike other conditions, this one does not limit you to fishing within your county of residence.
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Note ⚖ : https://myfwc.com/license/recreational/do-i-need-one/.
Note ⌂ : https://myfwc.com/license/recreational/florida-residency/.
Note × : The struck-thro’ word “or” should almost certainly be “and”. It makes no sense to grant free access to our fish resources to snowbirds just because they can prove that they’re 65 or older. I mean nothin’ personal by that, ‘H.R.’
@Compu Gator – Yeah, I looked that up when I turned 65.
I gladly pay my $47 bucks for a Florida annual, non-resident license. As I understand it, Florida’s license fees do not go into general revenue, so those who pay get the benefits. Florida’s facilities are numerous and require a lot of maintenance. They need all the money.
In other States, where the fish and game license fees go into general revenue, the hunters and fishers who pay in just get crumbs back from their money.
In my home State, it’s age 70 for no license requirements and it applies to all, resident or not.
In other news….
I got a text message a few days ago from my cell provider. As of July 2022, there will be no more using my 3G flip phone. They are turning out the lights on 3G.
Bummer.
(Felt the same way when they ditched all the rotary dial pay phones 😜)
@H.R.:
Verizon has been telling me for 3 or 4 years now that 3G is going away. My phone still works… Don’t be in hurry…
“This time we really, really mean it. We’re cereal. No kidding. Reeeeeel soon now.”
🤣🤣
I’ll probably forget all about it by July and just keep not using my phone until the spam calls stop. Then I’ll know… it’s all over. 😜
@HR, it’s happening for sure, per the Gov. I would say your intermittent connectivity is a clue.
I would get in front of it, as it will happen, and you could end up disconnected sooner than you think.
Good golly, you might actually be able to text with an upgrade :-)
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/plan-ahead-phase-out-3g-cellular-networks-and-service
I wonder if they make 5G flip phones?
There are these lunatics out there that just want to make a phone call on rare occasions. I should know. I are one.
Here ya go! And only about a grand>
I saw those. They are amazing! You can do anything with those phones. Anything!
…Except make a phone call.
@H.R. If your flip-phone (and carrier) supports LTE (4G) you probably have a number of years left before you have to bow down to the 5G zealots… Here’s a site with infos (we’re facing the same shutdowns over here in Germany, so it looks like my candy-bar Nokia 6210 is about to get “eaten”)…
https://www.digi.com/blog/post/2g-3g-4g-lte-network-shutdown-updates
Thanks for the link, Jeff.
That also backs up what Ossqss warned of above; sporadic instances where I get no service.
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We have a couple of ‘smart’ phones in a drawer at home. But I’m going to go online and see if there’s something suitable for my needs (makes phone calls and… well, that’s it).
FWIW, remember that your phone can “roam”… So if ONE carrier in your area continues to support 3G and your carrier shuts it down, you will “roam” onto that last carrier standing… Phone will still work. Depending on your plan, you might get “roaming charges”, or not.
Also:
When last in Florida I realized I’d not packed my cell phone for the flight… Stopped at Walmart and for something like $60 I was out the door with a “burner phone” and one month of full service unlimited text & talk time. ($25 / month). About an hour later the phone was activated (started to do it ‘online’ but just ‘via the phone itself’ was easier) and I was talking with the spouse.
“Sudden” service outage can be fairly easily handled, and it won’t be that sudden for 3G shutdown.
Some History:
A few years ago, Verizon told me 3G would die in a few months, get a new phone. Nothing happened. About a year later, local service became a bit more sporadic ( I think they were installing 4G antennas or something). Stayed that way about a year, where I had to be in the “right spot” for the phone to work. Then it got “all better”. I got a couple of more nags that 3G would evaporate Real Soon Now.
About a year after that, I found that in part of Cupertino (upscale, near the mountains next to Saratoga) there were places where I had zero service. But text messages would still go (it would ask me “Resend in digital?”, I’d say yes, and off it went).
That was about a year ago, maybe more. Phone still works. Still has Cupertino dead spot (home of Apple Computer and full of upscale folks with oodles of money where NOBODY would have an out of date iPhone…) but anywhere middle-class to lower seems to have coverage. Also, crossing the nation out in the boonies seemed fine near the I-10.
So given that experience, I think they tried to kill off 3G, had either a raft of complaints OR found a lot less revenue as folks “roamed” onto other networks, and “put it back” to some extent especially in poorer areas. The “removal” happens “tower by tower” as equipment is replaced, so you start to get more “dead spots”, not just “instantly gone”. You get warning. Plus, the digital text messages still work when it complains about 3G text not going.
My solution?
I’m going to keep using my 3G flip phone until it finally dies. (A race condition at present between a battery that’s now good for about 1/2 hour of talk or 1/2 day of standby, and the 3G demise) I carry with me a “burner phone” that is normally active, but where I can always activate it pronto if for some reason it’s run out of minutes. In an emergency, even an inactive phone can call 911. But the “refill minutes” card doesn’t look to have an expiration date on it (though I’ve never had one unused more than a few months) so you can carry one and activate when needed (or activate via credit card if you don’t care about “burner” experiments ;-)
Cost? Low end flip-like phones are about $19 and the “Walmart” family plan activation is $25 for a full month of whatever you want. They use Tracfone that is now owned by AT&T. The Tracfone brand activation / minutes cards come in many sizes, one is $20 for one or two months of a fixed number of minutes (IIRC about 400?). There are other carriers and plans. Do note that Tracfone is the carrier for a whole bunch of them. A higher end Samsung Android phone runs about $60 to $80 depending on carrier buydown and service plan.
FWIW, if I’m going to a dead zone for 3G, I just forward my 3G phone to the “burner phone” while I’m in a place that still has 3G service. Ditto when the battery is about to expire ;-) Why bother? The Verizon plan is unlimited everything bundle, so I want to use that first if I can, only rolling over to the Tracfone “buy minutes” plan if necessary. (I have 2 “burner phones” now, having the Tracfone and then having bought a Walmart phone when arriving in Florida sans phone… and my primary one is straight Tracfone).
I know that’s a bit OTT, but hey, I’m a phone guy. Been “phone freaking” since college era and wiring my own phone into the house system when I was still in high school… Besides, it’s less than the cost of ONE tank of gas to get a “burner phone” and activate it. Cheap play ;-)
Going Forward:
I despise AT&T (for a long list of very good reasons, mostly their “bait and switch” marketing and promoting “upgrades” that lock you into a new 1 or 2 year plan with penalties). They have recently changed their phone privacy policy for Tracfone, and I expect more abusive changes “going forward”, so at some point I’ll transition to a different carrier. T-Mobile / Sprint is the biggest alternative and I think they are the carrier for Patriot Mobile, so I’ll likely get one of their phones.
FWIW, thanks to a court case, if you have a Tracfone that has been active for 1 year of use and is still active, you can get an “unlock code” that lets you move it to a different carrier. One of my phones is in that class, so all I’ll need to swap carriers is the unlock code and a uSD card from the new carrier.
But as an “emergency phone”, the Tracfone has worked fine. It’s GSM so doesn’t use the legacy network of AT&T (at one point, thanks to “rollup” buying of companies, AT&T had 4 signalling methods in use: Analog, TDMA, CDMA, GSM so in some places, like Texas, an out of State AT&T phone didn’t work on the AT&T network…) but uses GSM networks such as Sprint (and those parts of AT&T that have GSM). Coverage for GSM is now quite good.
Bottom Line:
Having a “burner phone” for standby use is fairly cheap and a bit of fun too. Patriot Mobile looks like a non-AT&T carrier (IIRC) and also advertises itself as good folks, so likely in my future. I’m going to run 3G until it dies, just to see how long that really is ;-) Since I can stop into a Verizon store and get an upgrade about an hour after service finally fails…
@H.R:
Stop in a Walmart and look at the “no service contract” phone options. While frequently sold out (as they are the preferred burner phone for folks looking to pull the uSD card and toss them in the trash after the drug deal is done…) they have a low end “flip phone” for all of $19.
Oh, and “refill cards” for the “no contract” phones are all over the place. Walmart, Drug Stores, even grocery stores. Target has them. Etc. Once you start looking, you see them everywhere. Pretty much any time I’m awake and on the phone, somebody is open selling the refill cards. It has been relatively painless when the phone “runs out of minutes” or “runs out of time” to get a card and re-fill it.
I don’t remember if you said who your “carrier” is, but most of the big ones have a low end phone option.
FWIW, in my (fairly extensive – I ran the phone systems for a couple of companies…) experience: Verizon is best. T-Mobile just behind them. AT&T a distant third mostly from PITA policies and a legacy network.
“No Contract” phones have traditionally run on Sprint / T-Mobile network, so have similar performance / coverage; but have the advantage of ZERO Administrative crap. I expect Tracfone to gather much more “Administrative Crap” now that AT&T has bought them from Carlos Slim (who made several $billion by providing secure telephony to the Drug Trade in Mexico and the USA and has now cashed out ;-) So at this point you can figure the TLAs (who are firmly inside AT&T) will be inside the Tracfone network. Go Sprint instead if want a bit more separation between phone company & State (though only a bit more…)
Some useful info:
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2018/11/20/f-droid-tracfone-sip-anonymity/
So it was 4 years ago I was having service reduction / dropout, and 2-3 years ago Verizon had set as EOL for 3G…
Then a list of “Tracfone Brands” so you know who is now really AT&T in disguise:
https://m.tracfonewirelessinc.com/en/brands/
Net10 Wireless
Simple Mobile
PagePlus
SafeLink
Total Wireless
Tracfone
Straight Talk Wireless
Walmart Family Wireless Plan
Go Smart Mobile
For wide refill card availability, the Tracfone brand is good. Walmart brand only in Walmart. The others availability more random in out of the way small stores. Since AT&T bought them, there’s been a BIG push to live on the phone credit card minute adding. Yes it is a convenience, but it just (accidentally I’m sure) happens to finger exactly who you are and where you are. Odd, that, in a “burner phone”…
Each of these pseudo-carriers has a different “service plan” with different basic costs and per minute prices, all for the same functional service network. For example: The Tracfone proper has both an activation duration cost and a number of minutes cost and they sell cards with different combinations depending on your “needs”. 90 days of activation but fewer minutes per month or 30 days activation and a load of minutes; and other combinations. The Walmart Family Plan seems to like “unlimited talk and text” but at a fixed monthly rate ($25 for the one month I bought). There’s other combinations from the various folks.
I have a T-Mobile legacy ‘no-contract’ phone. They hate me. They want monthly payments.
The newer plans generally don’t roll minutes over without stricter caveats and hoops to jump through. Mine roll over
I started with Virgin Mobile. Their minutes rolled over. You had to buy at least $20 of minutes (10 cents per minute) per quarter. When I was switched over to, I think Verizon, then T-Mobile, I had about 3,500 minutes.
The only change was that I now have to pay $100 for minutes at least once per year to have my minutes roll over.
Mrs. H.R. is looking to switch us over to the 55+ plan. I’ll have to look it up.
I don’t want anything to do with data. I’m not going to worry about my location being nailed down. I’m either at home or in Florida. Long ago, they have deduced that I’m a snowbird.
It’s the data that paints the real picture. For now, ‘they’ know where I am and that’s just about it. Yeah, they can piece together more about me from that, but nothing like if I used a phone to surf the net or share images.
All the images on my phone are of fish, BTW. 😁
FWIW, I have been taking a hard look at Spectrum wireless to move my 4 phones over to. They have an all-in out the door (taxes and fees included) price of $29.99 a month with unlimited everything on any phone. I have spectrum internet service, and I think that is a prerequisite, however. That is right at $50 less than I currently pay for my Verizon service all-in. $600/yr. savings pays for a lot of Busch Light! :-)
Oh… the last thing you want as you get up in years is a long-term contract. When you keel over dead, you don’t want your heirs being dunned for the balance. 😜😜
This link: https://www.reviews.org/mobile/best-t-mobile-mvno/ says these folks are on T-Mobile / legacy name Sprint network:
Mint Mobile
Red Pocket
Metro by T-Mobile
Consumer Cellular
But I know there are more…
https://www.reviews.org/mobile/best-att-mvno/
Says that Red Pocket is also on AT&T, so perhaps you can get a choice?
Also it says on AT&T (their actual legacy network) are:
Cricket
FreeUp Mobile
H20 Wireless
I suspect those two reviews are a bit out of date… No mention of PureTalk or Patriot Mobile or other MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators, IIRC, folks who repackage major carrier networks under their own brand and marketing / pricing).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators_of_the_Americas#United_States
says that Boost Mobile is owned by Dish Network, but runs on T-Mobile system (T-Mobile being the fastest network but 2nd in size).
Also says U.S.Cellular is owned by Telephone & Data Systems, Inc.; runs on LTE & 5G. (A Chicago based company)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile_US#Prepaid_mobile_phone_&_data
Says the “Go Smart Mobile” brand was sold by T-Mobile to Tracfone in 2016. So I guess you need to watch out for your MVNO being sold to AT&T…
Ah, I think this may be a better approach. Searching on “List of MVNO carriers” found an interesting list of who runs on what network (but not necessarily who owns them):
https://www.moneysavingpro.com/carriers/mvno-list/
I note that they do not list all the folks who are under Tracfone as distinct brands. Note that various Tracfones can run on any of the major networks as available.
I think the Verizon list may be a bit confused as some of them look like pure AT&T properties. So, OK, you would need to look up actual brand ownership along with what network they use to fully avoid AT&T… Got it. But at least it’s a good list of names “out there” to explore.
@HR, just in case, there is no contract with Spectrum at all on any of their services.
@H.R.:
https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/News/virgin-mobile-transfer-to-boost
https://coveragecritic.com/flanker-brands-in-the-wireless-industry/
And links to Virgin now connect to the Boost Mobile web page.
So you are on a Dish Network owned system that uses mostly T-Mobile network but some AT&T (perhaps depending on your particular phone tech, or what’s on the tower in your area).
@Ossqss:
Just discovered that if you scroll over to the far right, this page lists owners:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_mobile_virtual_network_operators
and for Spectrum, it notes:
and it runs over the Verizon network. (“Host network” on the web page).
Looks like I can get an Alcatel 4G flip phone from T-Mobile for $94. Now all I have to do is see if all my current terms are grandfathered into that phone. Rats! I closed the tab, but I think the phone is 4G/5G, so that should get me by until I find out all about the afterlife.***
Keep my no contract, keep my $100/yr and all minutes roll over, and keep my number (not hard to do, generally).
There’s a talk/text only plan from another carrier for $6/month. That’s less than I pay now. But I don’t want to pay anything monthly. I want cheap and one and done.
The T-Mobile 55+ plan is definitely a no go.
***It’s gotta be better than the current maladministration of the Brandon pResidency.
@H.R.:
Make sure the phone is “Unlocked” or guaranteed to work on the Virgin/Boost network (your current plan provider). Most carriers sell phones locked to their service brand…, not just the “host network”.
Boost has a $30 “flip phone” that will be set up for the network you are already on. Unfortunately, “Out of stock” ATM. But if you have time to wait and can pounce on it when back in stock…
https://www.boostmobile.com/phones/coolpad-belleza.html
Pretty basic… But who puts a teaser $30 or 1/2 price mark down on an out of stock phone?…
@E.M. – That’s what I did with my current 3G phone. I paid $19 for it and then about $35 to unlock it. It was about a week of PITA fussing, but it all worked in the end.
This Alcatel flipper is from T-Mobile, which is my provider. I’ll be paying a little more – better phone, though – to walk in and walk out all good to go.
So, the only question is, does my original deal get grandfathered in? I’ll be dropping into a T-Mobile shop sometime this week to find out.
Plan B: If my log-time terms aren’t grandfathered, then I’ll be looking at one of the other pre-paid options.
Best to find out now, eh?
Got ya covered HR. Redbarn Flea market phones is where you need to go :-)
I hope it works>
Re your views on the Internet of Things
tallbloke.wordpress.com/2022/01/18/internet-of-nothings-how-my-ev-cant-charge-without-my-wifi with the usual stuff in front.
@Ossqss – I want one! Think: you can’t butt dial a rotary phone.
How many marriages would have been saved if phones couldn’t be butt dialed while you were in a bar?
“Honest, Honeypie. I’m working late in the office.” [loud boozy voices and billiard balls clicking in the background]
@H.R.:
I think T-Mobile is your “hosting network” but Boost Mobile is your “provider”:
link:https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/w-o-o-d-16-january-2022/#comment-153845
https://coveragecritic.com/flanker-brands-in-the-wireless-industry/
Boost Mobile was sold to DISH to help facilitate a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint.
So DISH network bought Boost to let T-Mobile merge with Sprint. I.e. it is NOT part of the merged T-Mobile, it is DISH. Just runs on the T-Mobile network as an underlying communications hardware layer.
A T-Mobile phone will be locked to T-Mobile service plans, not to Dish/Boost (who absorbed Virgin).
A Virgin, now Boost phone will be locked to Boost service plans, even if it runs on the T-Mobile network.
You MUST assure the phone will work on the Boost Service, regardless of common carrier it uses. Otherwise, IFF you change Service Plan Providers, you will not grandfather anything from Virgin/Boost/Dish…
@Rotary:
I WANT ONE!!!
@ButtDial:
I’m sure somewhere there’s a Bar named “The Office” just so folks can say “Honest, Honey, I’m at The Office!” ;-)
If not, anyone want to open a bar near a business district?…
California prosecutors have filed two counts of vehicular manslaughter against the driver of a Tesla on Autopilot who ran a red light, slammed into another car and killed two people in 2019. The defendant appears to be the first person to be charged with a felony in the United States for a fatal crash involving a motorist who was using a partially automated driving system. Los Angeles County prosecutors filed the charges in October, but they came to light only last week. The driver, Kevin George Aziz Riad, 27, has pleaded not guilty. Riad, a limousine service driver, is free on bail while the case is pending.
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/22/01/18/2212243/felony-charges-are-1st-in-a-fatal-crash-involving-autopilot
“vaccines and boosters associated with faster case growth in UK
especially among the oldest and highest risk. this is a worrying trend.
el gato malo
15 hr ago”
https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/vaccines-and-boosters-associated
Via
https://newcatallaxy.blog/2022/01/19/to-boosters-and-beyond/#comment-125535
And – How good is that!
“Trust the App”
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2022/01/trust-the-app.html
One would think there is just one prerequisite to being a white supremacist: be white. That one SHOULD be non-negotiable. But Michigan’s hard-drinking, commie Attorney General, Dana Nessel, believes the Texas synagogue attacker, Malik Faisal Akram, was a big, white supremacy-oozing boogeyman.
Pssst, he was a Muslim. He took hostages in an effort to have a female Al Qaeda operative freed from prison. Now, I don’t personally know any white supremacists but I can’t see them going to the mat to free a woman known as “Lady al Qaeda.”
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/kevindowneyjr/2022/01/18/white-supremacists-wanted-immediate-openings-applicants-need-not-be-white-n1550520
Re: Kinda an anti-butt dial. “The Excuse Booth”
I actually used one of these in a Coco Beach bar whose name escapes me, back in the 80’s. It really did work well :-)
They flipped some switches today on 5G.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/5g-launch-wednesday-caps-years-of-hype-investment.html
“Clarity of the Bigger Question, WHY This Massive Push for Vaccinations?
January 19, 2022 | Sundance | 303 Comments
A guest on the Tucker Carlson show outlined the answer to this question {Direct Rumble Link} which has been stated in these pages and a multitude of conversations for well over a year. Why has there been this massive disproportionate push for vaccination against a virus which, all things considered, is NOT that deadly?”
More at
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/01/19/clarity-of-the-bigger-question-why-this-massive-push-for-vaccinations/
“Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Ukraine and the Neoconservatives”
https://www.unz.com/article/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-ukraine-and-the-neoconservatives/
Via a comment at SDA
@Ossqss – My sis and brother-in-law in Lakeland have flip phones identical to mine.
Talking to her today, I brought up the 3G issue and she didn’t even know if she had a 3G phone. Well, she is “going to look into it.”
Her outlook is that she’s paying for a service, so they should replace her 3G model with a 4G model. Good luck with that, sis.
“The mass vaccinations must have resulted in mass serious and critical Vitamin D deficiency. The immune process cannot happen without consuming Vitamin D… My interpretation is that the undoubted intense inflammatory immune response to the vaccinations is inevitably consuming Vitamin D. The resulting immune deficiency is driving the increase in cases, which although usually mild will consume even more Vitamin D, and so we can expect infections of all sorts to become more frequent.”
http://www.drdavidgrimes.com/
Dr Grimes is a retired NHS consultant gastroenterologist.
Re the release of Novavax
“This should come up “holders” if not click on it. Its always the same people.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NVAX/holders?p=NVAX ”
From
https://joannenova.com.au/2022/01/thursday-open-thread-85/
@Paul, Somerset
Great link, thanks. In previous years my D level had been above above 85, After the 2 dose vexine in Feb 2021, my D level in later March was at 65. I live in the SW desert, shorts and short sleeve shirts are normal, and temps are rising by Feb from the Dec lows. That link explains a lot. FWIW. I had no reaction to the shots, mot even the render arm.
A link from another ian’s jonova link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVxmAIKjYM4&t=735s
In particular, I am pointing out the graphic at the 12m15s time in the video.
This shows NZ excess deaths align with the NZ vaccination rate for 60+
Since this in NZ data, we can eliminate Covid as the suspect for this crime.
Coincidence?
Going around
“Introducing Trojan Solo – for people who wear a mask alone in the car”
“The Measurement Problem”
Via http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2022/01/19/the-measurement-problem/#comments
YMMV says:
20 January 2022 at 6:20 am
He neglects that it was over the winter when all cause mortality is at it’s highest.
The mortality should have been minus the average all cause mortality to prove anything.
YMMV says:20 January 2022 at 6:20 am
Further to my comment, the weekly average mortality in NZ is 545/week, that chart in the video peaked at around 675.
I have not been able to find the weekly data to get the winter curve.
ps That mortality is for over 60s.
@AC Osborn, for the record, I have no opinion on that video or the study it covers.
That the vaccinations and the all cause deaths peaked in August simultaneously is interesting and deserves further study.
It’s good to point out places where it is weak. For example, what was the expected or average historical death rate over the year?
That overall idea is good — comparing deaths to the expected death rate — it has been done but has not got much publicity. See http://thefatemperor.com, where Ivor Cummins has used EuroMOMO data. Some of the Covid deaths were to people who were going to die anyway.
And, brand new, Dr. John Campbell shows that deaths from Covid have been much lower than we have been told.
And I’ll just throw this in. A great rant from Russell Brand about political expedience and Covid.
The US has stopped getting Covid death numbers from hospitals.
FYI
“The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Covid”
“Where’s Julie Andrews when you need her.
Lets review the goings on in Austria
Mid November, full lockdown
Mid December, vaxxed go free, unvaxxed fully locked down. (click on chart for full screen)”
And then marvel at the graph that follows!
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2022/01/20/the-hills-are-alive-with-the-sound-of-covid/
“One Flu Out Of The Wuhan Nest”
Things “furin cleavage site”
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2022/01/20/one-flu-out-of-the-wuhan-nest-58/
I suspect the graphene oxide in mRNA vaccines is just agitprop, maybe even from groups whose members, and whose members were not Trump supporters, encouraged people to enter the Capitol.
The furin cleavage site was already “out there.” Just not in corona.
Such a polybasic furin cleavage site is found in various proteins from many viruses, including Betacoronavirus Embecoviruses, and the Merbecovirus. However, within the betacoronaviruses of the sarbecovirus lineage B, this type of site is unique to SARS-CoV-2.
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210217/The-origin-of-SARS-CoV-2-furin-cleavage-site-remains-a-mystery.aspx
“Prominent Democrat, Publicly Critical of Joe Biden Border Policy, Gets a Visit from FBI Jackboots
January 20, 2022 | Sundance | 41 Comments
The political motives behind this FBI effort are, yet again, brutally transparent. The FBI are for Joe Biden what the Russian FSB is for Vladimir Putin. That’s what they are. That’s all they are. That’s what they do.”
Heavy reading at
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/01/20/prominent-democrat-publicly-critical-of-joe-biden-border-policy-gets-a-visit-from-fbi-jackboots/
“Serbia revokes Rio Tinto’s licences – $2.4 BILLION investment gone.”
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2022/01/serbia-revokes-rio-tintos-licences-24-billion-investment-gone.html
British Medical Journal calls for immediate release of ALL material on the vaccines.
Editorial here
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2022/01/21/safe-and-effective-38/
A comment
“From the BMJ editorial, this devastating paragraph:
“The BMJ supports vaccination policies based on sound evidence. As the global vaccine rollout continues, it cannot be justifiable or in the best interests of patients and the public that we are left to just trust “in the system,” with the distant hope that the underlying data may become available for independent scrutiny at some point in the future. ”
This is a sea-change in attitude, right? They’re implying without much subtlety that the current policies *are not* based on sound evidence, and that the BMJ no longer supports them.”
More in the link here
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2022/01/20/uk-data-freedom-of-information-revelation/
The theme song he’s using for the moving goal posts?
@another ian: My two brothers and I used to sing the MTA song. Always rousing good fun.
Thanks!
In a local paper
https://cairnsnews.org/2022/01/09/labor-health-minister-dath-warned-by-senior-doctor-to-look-for-another-job/
@another ian – That letter in the local paper by Dr. Stilgoe is awesome.
All of it has been covered here, including some of the Oz political aspects, but that is one fine top to bottom, right to left excoriation of the power-mad political flunkies (paid off, no doubt) who are practicing medicine without a license and without a clue.
My advice to Dr. Stilgoe? Don’t answer the door. It’ll be the jackboots.
H.R.
Well they do have “Daschu on the Downs” ready and staffing
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2022/01/wellcamp.html
Just hope that the “Big O” is travelling faster than they are
They should have hired a fashion model, another ian.
“Bitingly good analysis of The Biden Catastrophe – from CNN”
“Why I Wear My Mask | Welcome to the Masquerade”
I can’t resist:
Found in the margin of the “health minister look for another job” link:
Per the Rio Tinto mine revocation:
So basically it’s pre-melt Pyrex made with lithium replacing some of the Na or Boron… Interesting…
They “committed” to a $2.4 billion ultimate project cost, but…
They have not done the detail work, the land acquisition, construction, etc. etc. yet.
The do have a geologist team drill some holes to explore the extent of the deposit , and have taken $200 Million out of the bank for “the next stage”, a Feasibility Study.
So my read on this is that they are out of pocket somewhere under $300 million and likely down closer to $220 Million. (Drilling cores for a geologist to look at isn’t that expensive, nor are Serbian politicians that expensive to
buyentertain…The Cairns News article by Dr. Stilgoe is a real treat. I especially liked these quotes (bolded by me):
By a couple of my favorite folks…
Per CNN: Ooohhh! That CNN guest nails Biden to the wall just by being exactly right and honest. Anderson Cooper is dumbfounded… speechless even.
Per Masquerade: Very nicely done. What do you think of my response to the mention of TP Shortages? ;-)
E.M. – the “Masquerade” came from here and there are links to other work in the intro and in comments
“I came across her videos a year or so ago. She’s as good as PJW.
She also has another YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC44ogxhq1L_3UTAUnQSlog “
Not enough breakfast
“Here” is
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2022/01/22/january-22-2022-reader-tips/#comments
“New Metal Band “Minor Incursion” ”
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2022/01/22/is-nuclear-war-net-zero/
And
https://michaelsmithnews.typepad.com/.a/6a0177444b0c2e970d02788066c9df200d-800wi
“When You Lose Bill Maher, You’re Done”
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=244914
This takes a different look at that Bill Maher item – more like high reverse gear
“Professional Leftists Begin Trying to Retreat from the Consequences of Their COVID Nonsense
January 22, 2022 | sundance | 233 Comments”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/01/22/professional-leftists-begin-trying-to-retreat-from-the-consequences-of-their-covid-nonsense/
And an unlinked cartoon
“Democrats are now protesting cemetery fences – they claim it restricts their voters from getting out”
And General George Patton is reputed to have said “If everyone is thinking alike, then someone is not thinking.”
Good quote.
“Moderna stocks plunged on Friday during the market selloff this week. The company has lost $130 billion in value this year over the lackluster COVID vaccine results with the new Omicron variant. The stock is down 67% from its all-rime high last year.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/01/moderna-stock-crashes-losses-top-130-billion-stock-67-highs-last-year-following-lackluster-covid-vaccine-results/
mmmm, blockquote does not protect extra spaces. so sorry.
@YMMV:
Fixed it with nested blockquote pairs. To get formatting that is fixed format and no spaces stripped, the “pre” for Pre-Formatted token is used instead of “blockquote”. It, then, will run off the right side of the page unless you do proper spaced line breaks, but you get a scroll bar under the box in some browsers, others you just “grab” the box and slide it:
@Another Ian:
Perhaps it would be of interest to have me post some charts and comments on various PC and Pandemic stocks… Hmmm…. Maybe a bit later…
Bill Maher has a long history of being center-left and calling out the nutty aspects of the Far Left when they start to irk him. I think he’s not “backpedaling” just being him, but others certainly are…
One of the most impactful commercials I have viewed.
My Mom became a welder for landing crafts and tank bodies when she needed to help the family and country. God rest her soul and thank you for doing what you did for all of us Mom!
I just found this inspiring in today’s world.
Pingback: W.O.O.D. – 23 January 2022 | Musings from the Chiefio
@Ossqss:
Nice one! I keep trying to tell folks that every robot needs a programmer and a maintenance tech. For some reason they seem stuck in the notion that all the jobs will be automated and folks put out of work. There is no end to the amount of stuff folks can consume, and the more automation there is just means more stuff at lower prices.
Even if all we did was entertain each other with EwTube Videos and blogs, there’s things to do.
I’ve, frankly, lost track of all the various jobs I’ve done over the years. But what sticks out most to me is that the I.T. industry grew from nearly nothing to all consuming all while we were supposedly being put out of work by machinery. Now, even my Dentist’s Office can’t survive without periodic I.T. support work ( I spent 2 hours trying to get one of his robots to properly talk to the wired network. It was a firmware bug interacting with lousy directions and a picky network card.)
When absolutely every business out there can not function without networks and computers, there will be a never ending demand for folks who can “make it go”.
Albeit, low views, this was quite on target.
Think about it>
“the I.T. industry grew from nearly nothing to all consuming all while we were supposedly being put out of work by machinery.”
And all the cotton pickers moved north and built automobiles. Those who lost jobs during any “transition” may or may not have been able to find other jobs. Usually it’s different jobs different people.
The inspirational message is fine; the truth is a bit harsher. How many coal miners has Biden encouraged to take up IT? Not saying anything bad about coal miners. Not everyone would say that math is easier than coal mining.
More people are waking up to the Vaccine cover up.
https://notrickszone.com/2022/01/21/analysis-by-german-prof-thousands-of-hidden-deaths-daily-may-be-greatest-medical-debacle-in-human-history/
https://metatron.substack.com/p/alberta-just-inadvertently-confessed?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web
Is this a warning of what may come about from it?
Another bit of fun: https://www.gbnews.uk/news/university-puts-trigger-warning-for-explicit-material-on-george-orwells-1984/211223
Seems that George Orwell’s “1984” might frighten students who are cowering in their safe spaces, so they need to be warned before they study it. Otherwise we might be cleaning up the mess after their heads explode….
On Covid, Neil Oliver shows again he’s one of the few journalists who can still apply logic to what’s in the news. https://www.gbnews.uk/gb-views/neil-oliver-there-are-consequences-of-covid-coming-a-great-wave-of-them/211083
So far, I haven’t read anything by Neil Oliver that isn’t thoughtful and intelligent. A sound guy.
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2022/01/saturday-snippet-weimar-hyperinflation.html. Nailed it, in my opinion.
@Ossqss:
Industries come and industries go. How many still make old wired black Bakelite telephones? How many computer operators are running plug boards? (I did that at a hotel and hospital when I was working my way through college). How many people shoe horses now? (Grandpa was a working smith who put shoes on a lot of horses…) What once was the trucking, taxi, tractor and personal transportation industry of thousands of years duration, turned into an entertainment sport of limited size by the internal combustion engine. Thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands or millions) of smiths and farriers put out of business almost over night.
Just look at how common the Smith name (and its equivalent in other languages: Herrera, Novak, Kovak, Ferrari, Schmidt and dozens more) is today. All their ancestors had their industry evaporate over a couple of decades. My Uncles moved into the brand new field of “electricity” and now run a major electrical contractor company in Iowa.
Look at the folks with names of Chandler or Cooper or Farmer. Their industries automated away or replaced. Don’t need a candle maker with the advent of light bulbs. Machines can make barrels faster and better than a hand cooper. We’ve got about 1% of the farmers we had even as late as the middle 1800s. Most replaced by machines.
The simple fact is that we’ve already done 95% or so of the industrial transitions in the Industrial Revolution, and the world did not end. All that happened is we all now have wealth beyond the dreams of avarice of our ancestors and we all work far less than they did just to eat and stay alive.
Huge “industries” of just playing developed. Movies. Skiing. Racing cars & airplanes. Tourism on a global scale that is immense. People don’t just sit around doing nothing.
So, yeah, Polaroid and Blackberry missed the transition. Ferrari made the move from being a person who made horse drawn farm equipment to tractors and then to hot sports cars; as the customer base moved from horses to tractors to free of farming hard work rich players. That’s life.
@YMMV:
Coal Miners were already mostly put out of work by powered machinery and explosives.
https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Navigation/Community/Arcadia-and-THP-Blog/October-2017/%E2%80%8BEvolution-of-the-Coal-Industry-in-America
So 90%+ gone in 2016
https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R44922.html#_Toc491267320
Under 40 k or so underground today.
The point is just that the bulk of all the change is already far in the rear view mirror. And that’s a good thing. Black lung, mine collapse deaths, poverty at the Company Store. Mostly gone. Those families went on to other jobs. Driving trucks, stocking shelves, being Walmart Greeters, selling cars and stereos, whatever.
Was it easy? Nope. But that’s the wrong question. Working in a mine digging coal with a shovel isn’t easy either. My Dad grew up on a working farm son of a working smith shoeing horses. He left the farm for W.W.II, upon return built houses (laborer) then built a restaurant of his own, and eventually sold California Real Estate. I started out working in a cannery stacking cans (well, after leaving the restaurant where I washed dishes by hand…) then worked in hospitals and eventually transitioned to I.T. Everyone ought to expect to change jobs a couple of times in a lifetime.
This major transition of the Industrial Revolution was displayed in The Grapes Of Wrath. My Dad was a bit later than that, but not by much. Arrived in California just post W.W.II with 50 ¢ in his pocket, an old Chevy, and a wife and 2 kids. His smithing skills not very much in demand, but his Combat Engineer skills got him a job building houses.
The next transitions will be easier than those. And no, not everyone will go into I.T.; that was just ONE example out of thousands. It is one where there will be large growth as robotics expands in factories and other venues. “Robot Repair” and “Robot Training” will be ever growing fields. As will “Robot Sales” and “Robot Recycling” and maybe even “Robot Psychologist” for when your A.I. goes off the rails a bit. But there will be lots of other new fields popping up too. By definition, you can’t know what isn’t invented yet, but it will happen.
Space Tourism is just starting. There will be increasing jobs in space as we finally get a significant population off this rock. Asteroid Mining will become a thing. Terraformer will be a job eventually. Rocket Motor Repair and Used Rocket Salesman on the horizon.
Oh, and notice how Industrial Revolution Mega-Brewers displaced all the small scale brewers for a while; but with increased wealth the micro-brewer explosion has resulted in a rapid growth of the number of brewers again. People love to feel “special” and have craft level personal attention. That’s what happens when their wealth rises from all the added production via automation.
So yeah, it will not be all rosy for everyone. It will vary by the person. Those with more talent and ambition always have an easier time with transitions. Those that worked for decades to master one skill then have it evaporate are more screwed. (How many photographic emulsion design chemists do you think survived the digital camera revolution? What do you do with a Ph.D. in photographic silver chemistry? Some retired. Maybe some became craft brewers. Whatever…)
But it will not be the end of the economy nor the destruction of our population.
@A.C.Osborn:
Those are mighty fine links. Does look like some folks are finally, after 2 years, starting to see reality.
@CDQuarles:
Yup. A definite possible, but also still possible to reverse… for a little while…
So yeah, it will not be all rosy for everyone. It will vary by the person. Those with more talent and ambition always have an easier time with transitions.
100%
The next transitions will be easier than those.
Now this is interesting. We can only imagine what the future transitions will be.
The choices range from SciFi to history reruns.
I’m not so optimistic. I think we are at peak history.
There is the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Horseshoeing may make a comeback, along with manual farm labor.
There is the great reset. This transition will result in a few highly taxed workers and hoards of unemployed with full social welfare. The happy utopia. Who needs a job? Jobs are so retro.
The best advice is still “go to school and get your letters”
Although what really counts is talent and ambition.
The continued attack on our way of life. As the Borg say, You will be assimilated.
https://mishtalk.com/economics/new-energy-regulations-will-make-every-room-in-your-house-more-expensive
@YMMV:
You assume that BBBroken , The Great Reset, will in fact happen, I do not. It can not as it is a broken idea.
You assume we will transition off of fossil fuels. I do not, as it isn’t possible. Just not a physical possibility. We would be required to reproduce our entire electrical generation capacity 2 times over using only solar and wind. Not going to happen. Approx equal energy as oil & gas goes into transportation as is presently used in the electrical grid. So 1 you must duplicate the present electrical capacity just for transportation, including transmission, and 2 you must replace all the present coal, gas, oil, etc. electrical generation. All in a decade? Just not possible. Oh, and replace every ship, plane, train, automobile, tractor, road grader, truck, fork lift, etc. etc. etc. Just can’t mine the needed minerals fast enough. Copper in particular. And do note lots of fossil fuels used in refining all those metals you will need…
Sure, the GGEBs will say to do it, and a lot of it might get done making them immense profits off of the “creative destruction” (with emphasis on destruction) involved. But I’m quite comfortable in predicting that 10 years from now we will be using a LOT of fossil fuels still. Probably even a majority.
Just take fertilizers. Essentially natural gas repackaged as nitrates and phosphate rock mined with oil driven machinery. Good luck replacing that with fairy farts and sunshine… Try feeding everyone without Ammonia produced with fossil fuels. Just try. Hungry people DO cause revolutions.
So our basic disagreement is that you are looking at the ends state of the GEBs “guidance” and I’m saying “The impossible just does not happen”.
It’s been over 30 years already and we’ve done nearly nothing to get rid of global fossil fuel use. About all that has been done is coal burning has been moved to dirtier plants in China and increased overall. I figure it also won’t change much in the next 30 years.
FWIW, there’s a very small outside chance that in 20 years we can pave enough of the deserts with solar cells to power a significant percentage of cars off of solar. Maybe even 50%+ But the hard bit is all the ships, trains, planes, trucks, etc. etc. And the harder bit is replacing coal and oil and natural gas as industrial feedstocks and in industrial processes.
So you can do things like the Haber Process with nuclear process heat:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process
but trying to get wind and solar cheap enough to use electric heat is going to be horribly hard and slow. Trying to feed people on $40 hamburger and $20 sodas will cause revolution… Then what reducing agent will replace carbon? Eh?
https://www.fedsteel.com/our-blog/how-does-coke-and-coal-play-into-steel-making/
Yes, we are in the fight of our lives against the GEBs to thwart this stupidity. IF we lose, it will go horribly. However, on our side is the fact that what they set as goals are impossible to reach. Physics, Chemistry, and Economics are all on our side.
What bothers me… at home, I can limp along with mid to late 1800s technology. Not so in the trailer.
But! I can move the trailer to where I can get by with 1800s tech. That’s a good thing.
In all cases, it will be a very rough go. We can learn it, but we weren’t raised with it on a daily basis as those who lived it in the 1800s.
On second thought, unless the GGEBs go scorched Earth and everything goes down, I am more inclined to think ‘Cuba’.
People will raid the junk yards and get ’50s through ’70s vehicles going (so, to E.M.’s point, still needing fossil fuels).
I’m beginning to think if the non-productive, skill-less and clueless fall by the wayside, the remaining doers-with-skills-and-clue will be able to pick up somewhere around the 1950s +/-.
@H.R.:
Speak for yourself!… (I think you do, BTW ;-) Some of use are quite ready to live on 1800s tech. Need I remind you about my “how to make wicks” posting? ;-)
Dad made sure I knew how to dig a well, plant a garden, grow food, raise animals, slaughter and prepare them, and more. How to temper a blade, make a tool from metal and fire. Ride and harness a horse. Fire a gun and hit what you aim at. Fish (and prepare, clean, and cook what you catch). Basically I was raised as a Prepper from birth.
Mum made sure I could turn flour and salt into food. Turn rabbits into a delicacy dinner. Sew a shirt and make a meal out of everything from the garden. Turn scraps of cloth into useful things from wash cloths to bags and covers. Resize a pair of jeans and even knit a sweater. She indulged me as I learned to make candles and wicks and similar such.
I was raised by two survivors of The Great Depression, one with an Amish Mother, the other with a Dad at sea for 6 months at a shot so “on your own” as her Mum was gone from about age 6.
So it was in my blood from the very start to be Self Sufficient “when the day comes”.
I added: Make my own electricity (several ways). Build radios from parts (especially good with old TV parts). Rebuild cars. Make Biodiesel from plant and animal oils & fats. Provide communications when “authorities” try to stop it. Smuggle. Escape. Make ammunition (and zip guns). Take down networks and put them back up again. Oh, and turning clay into useful items (now extending into turning sand and other stuff into geopolymer) including how to make houses out of dirt, straw, and other “useless” stuff found everywhere.
Oh, and I was making my own soap too. Even made detergent once…
Mixed, both Dad & Me: Dad, being a Combat Engineer, taught me about explosives and how to use them. I learned how to make them from “stuff laying around” (and did so, back when that was legal). FWIW, my favorite is an explosive you can make from copper or silver and welding gas. Zero Carbon after all ;-) Close second is Iodine & Ammonia (though touchy as a contact explosive, but useful as an initiator of harder to make go stuff like fertilizer and {any organic liquid like fuel oil}. There’s an incredibly long list of “things that go BOOM” you can make at home from, common ingredients… (I’ve also got a good handle on making a nuclear bomb, but that would require a good lab and machine shop… so not a DIY without some backing).
So just FYI: I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to “get by”… I’ve got about 60 years of intensive polymath prepper orientation behind me ;-)
That Said:
My intent is to buy a couple of acres with a lake access in Florida, put an RV Pad on it, and have available fish and wood there. Then, in an AwShit, just relocate the trailer to it and “good to go”. Have a “working garden” on property so it isn’t starting from scratch, and learn all the local “Gotchas!” on gardens in a new climate zone. (From bugs to plant diseases to seasons et. al.; it changes and you must learn…)
So yeah, we’ll live “In Town” 99% of the time. But, if the ball goes up, have a bug out spot that is good to go with: well, septic, pad, practice, etc. for that whole 1800s “living off the land” experience; while preserving some 20th Century tech…
You might consider that as a hobby ;-)
FWIW, at about 8 years old I was pushing a “Hand Plough” through the garden in our back yard. We had a gasoline “tiller”, but my Dad wanted me to understand hand ploughing a field. Little one. 20 foot by 50 foot, but man do I still remember the corn on the cob, tomatoes, green beans, etc. etc…. And “I did that!” experience… (About 2 years later I got to run the gas tiller…)
Between 8 and 12 I learned how to run a restaurant, build a fence, pour concrete (fence posts and floors / foundations), hang drywall, install paneling, paint (outside whole house, inside rooms), install a tile ceiling, install and repair plumbing, do electrical installations (including “wiring hot”…), do framing and carpets / flooring, roofing, and a few other things…
Maybe some day I ought to catalog all the things I was shown how to do to be self reliant… Might be amusing ;-0
Basically, I don’t remember my Mum & Dad ever being dependent on an outside provider for services or repairs. Everything household or vehicle or even food prep & gardening was DIY. Heck, we even had a fair amount of DIY Medical Care. Only when it looked like death and damnation was a possible did anyone go to the doctor or hospital. ( Learned how to stitch up animals hurt in a fight, dose medicines for various ills, human and animal, stick a bloated cow so the Vet had time to arrive, etc. etc.)
Oh, and I was running 2 of my own “businesses”. Mowing lawns around town. (We had a mower and Dad let me use the capitol stock ;-) Making costume jewelry and selling it door to door.
I think that kind of background was foundational to my “When in doubt, just DIY!” attitude. Some “service” fails, well, I’m qualified and empowered to just DIY whatever I need. From plumbing and electrical to making ammo and doing telecom. I love nothing more than “collecting” another competency at doing or making something.
“You assume that” …
Actually not, I agree with you. It won’t happen because it is not possible. However…
That does not mean that they won’t die trying, and we end up dying in their trying.
Some looney bunch gets control of a country, it’s really hard to get control back.
Measured in centuries unless they really screw up.
Eventually it will get better. The trick is living that long.
https://unherd.com/2022/01/how-long-can-humans-survive/
This Unherd article is based on this book:
I have not seen this book myself. From one of the few reviews of it that I have found:
The gist of it is that there’s a cabal of elite capitalists working to turn the world’s governments into socialist states in order to better control the planet.
That review was from a lefty, so I am inclined to take a peek at this book.
@YMMV:
OK… I can see that. I don’t have a Time Axis on my beliefs and you do.
Yes, there’s a very significant issue based on those 4 things in particular and the lifetime of Fossil Fuels. But we have 400 years of coal left, and Nuclear Thermal process heat can fill in after that.
So basically I’m not worried about the ability to make ammonia, plastics & cement without carbon based fuels. (For steel, it is a chemical agent so hard to figure a replacement, but farming carbon does work, though at a price).
For cement, geopolymers give the same kind of product minus the fuel demand (or fuel demand reduced a few orders of magnitude). This is a current known and used technology.
Then polymers can easily be made from various plants. (See: Rayon for example). There’s a few companies have already commercialized “trash to plastics” and “trash to fuels” tech. A couple of decades ago. It’s a cost thing that prevents it dominating, natural gas being incredibly cheap. Basically: ANY Carbon source can become feedstock for polymers.
In the end, in about 400 years (maybe 250 for steel anthracite) we have a problem with steel.
Does anyone really think the world and its ills will not be entirely different from our current perception of things in 2122? How about 2222? Think back to 1822… and the horse poop catastrophe…
Even then, you can farm trees (poplar is one of the best) and make coke from them. It was how steel was made prior to discovering coal was great for it (and why Europe is mostly denuded of trees now…)
So I see no Grand Calamity lurking just over the Fossil Fuel Horizon. There’s ways to fix it all that are not all that much more expensive. But yes, I do see a huge “Evil Idiots In Charge” problem and IFF we let them run things into the ground, that will be bad.
OTOH, I’m comfortable in my ability to disconnect from them and just “defend my acres” to the extent needed at the time needed. I’m also pretty sure that the 30% to 50% of Americans who are competent and “Get ‘er done!” types, will be my friends and neighbors then…
Do I not give a damn about the drug addict living in a tent in Downtown San Francisco and living on handouts and EBT cards? Well, no, I don’t. I do feel some pangs of my desire to “Fix Everything”, but I also know I can’t fix everything. In the current climate, I can’t fix much more than what my own family and friends need. So that’s where I put my “Concern Horizon”. I “Worry no worry before its time. -E.M.S.” and I’d add that I do not worry worries I can not fix. Maybe “Worry no worry you can not fix. -E.M.S.” and Lord Knows I can’t fix San Francisco or the problem writ large as Cities Are Crap Dead Zones globally.
So I’m just working on:
1) Arrange that I & spouse live OK through whatever crap happens by being independent enough and by getting to good governmental zones. In about 2 months we will know if I succeeded.
2) Influence family and close friends to do the same. Mediocre results so far.
3) Everyone outside the circle of Family & Friends? Sorry, read what I have to say, learn what you can from it, but I’m already over committed and can not help you. Just be ready to DIY, guy.
I know my limits, and that’s where they sit today.
Epilogue:
Just realize that greater civilizations than ours have faced much worse “issues” and humanity survived.
Best (or maybe worst?) example I can think of right now is the collapse of 536 A.D. A volcano blew up and we had a few YEARS of crop failures. Rome fell into ruin. Famine, disease and death ruled humanity. A Dark Ages came. The Egyptian Empire of 2000+ plus years collapsed. We lost our actual history of about 30k years. Black Plague swept the world due to the shifted temperatures (infected flea guts clog up in cold so you get them biting everything and spreading plague when colder than normal…) and Islam rose to oppress large numbers of Infidels. The entire world has still not recovered.
Yet all of our ancestors lived though that, had kids, made a life.
Compared to that, a few dozen GGEBs being assholes is light weight… IMHO, of course.
@YMMV – if the “great reset” does occur, you are correct. The old trades will return, and the noblese oblige will live in Elysium.
That is their end goal
@YMMV
To that I say (the bold part), let us help them in getting their faster! Because people are going to die. The only question is – who? The innocents? Or the perpetrators?
Time for the perps to pay the price.
Tee Hee:
https://rumble.com/vu2o42-biden-admits-life-under-his-presidency-sucks.html
I’m really liking Rumble! While EwTube has become an intellectual wasteland without much other than chewing gum for the mind, Rumble has been accumulating all the folks with whit, a satire gift, and loads of clue. This lady has more clue per minute than anything I’ve seen in years:
https://rumble.com/vsmgzi-klaus-schwabs-great-reset.html
And humor too! Just OMG goodness ;-)
Antifa bites the bullet when it harasses the wrong people. Too bad the biker or bikers were such poor marksmen.
Armed Portland Antifa Pick Fight With Violent Biker Gang Then Blame POLICE When Things Get Violent
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/victoria-taft/2022/02/20/armed-portland-antifa-pick-fight-with-violent-biker-gang-then-blame-police-when-things-get-violent-n1560735
Ottawa Police say “nobody was trampled”…
Except for those that were:
https://rumble.com/vvie6t-interview-candice-sero-aboriginal-protester-trampled-by-rcmp-horse-unit-in-.html
(I saw here trampled on live-stream, BTW)
Well, this is special.
@EM – Damn that gal is good! And she looks a quarter my age! Such wisdom at such a young age! I am subscribing to her channel!
@Jim2 – and they are crying that the police are not protecting them when they are the ones demanding the defunding of the police???? Do they have any self awareness?
They are lucky that LT did not say “Sorry, we are defunded” when that snowflake grabbed the Mic!
@Jim2:
No, they don’t have enough total awareness to be both aware of Time and Place and to be aware of themselves, too. They are hardly able to be aware of Others, so can only apply a pre-supplied stereotype to the people they see. They have been spoon fed a World View in which they are Special, and that’s the end of it.
@PhilJourdan:
I got the distinct impression that there was a very small smirk trying to form on the officers face. Just a bit of “Oh Boy” in the eyes. Here they were giving him the perfect opportunity to NOT do a press briefing he was dreading anyway. Like he was thinking of all the better things he could do with his time than deal with this bunch of Useful Idiots, and realizing he could now blame the drop of the press conference on them…