Intel's Ronler Acres Plant

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Sunday, October 20, 2024

Ukraine

Emergency workers stand amidst the rubble after a Russian attack that hit a residential building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 24, 2024. AP Photo/Andrii Marienko

Better than average story about the war in Ukraine:

What It Will Take to End the War in Ukraine by Conrad Black

Conrad gives us some history of Ukraine and speculates on the outcome of the current war. One item that surprised me:

Ironclad guarantees of Ukraine’s revised borders would represent three quarters of a loaf for that country and one quarter of a loaf for Russia, for whom the war is a terrible strain—Russia has taken over 600,000 casualties, and Ukraine approximately 250,000, about a quarter dead in each case, and Russia’s GDP is smaller than Canada’s.

I expected casualties to be about equal, and they may be. Estimates of casualties are big fat guesses. Western guesses are going to be slanted one way and Russian estimates are going to be slanted the other way. The Wall Street Journal [paywall] puts the total number of casualties at one million, which is in the same ball park.

I don't know about this business regarding the GDP. I think he's picking nits. The GDP of Russia and Canada are each around two trillion dollars which is less than one-tenth of USA's.

 

Saturday, October 19, 2024

Inflation

Average New Car Monthly Payment History

Funny how new car prices started jumping up three years ago just about the same time Biden became President. How dare the automakers make him look bad. 

What kind of vehicles is America buying? Car & Driver has a list of the 25 most popular vehicles so far this year. Trucks rule. Ford F Series pickup trucks topped the list at 500,000. Chevrolet Siverado came in second at 400,000. But aren't GMC pickups just rebadged Chevy's?  If you add the GMC Sierra with 230,000 to the Chevys you get a total of 630,000 for GM.

Adding up the numbers I found we bought 
  • 1.7 million pickup trucks, 
  • 2.2 million SUVs and 
  • 1.2 million cars for a total of 
  • 5 million motor vehicles.


Esoteric Trumpism

Found this on RT. It's like nothing else I have read about Trump. It seems philosophical. I've included the first few paragraphs so you can get a taste of it.

Trump

Why Donald Trump is a mystical figure of historic proportions by Constantin von Hoffmeister

For his supporters, Donald Trump is a bulwark of traditionalism and a champion of ‘America First’. For his detractors, he is a disruptive, deceitful agent of chaos. But a more philosophical approach frames him as a key figure in an eldritch struggle with deep-seated forces of decay.

Esoteric Trumpism is a profound, almost mystical interpretation of Donald Trump’s political journey, situating him not merely within the framework of contemporary politics but as a figure of cosmic and world-historical significance. This interpretation posits that Trump’s rise and continued influence reflect deeper metaphysical catalysts at play in the twilight of Western civilization, as predicted by the historiographer Oswald Spengler in the 1920s and 1930s.

According to Spengler’s cyclical theory of history, every great culture passes through stages of growth, flowering, and decline, ultimately transforming into a civilization. A civilization, in Spengler’s view, is the final, ossified stage of a culture – marked by materialism, a dystopian government apparatus, and stagnation – where the original creative spirit has faded. In this phase, democratic institutions begin to decay, leading to the rise of autocratic leaders, or Caesars, who assert their will as the last defenders of the civilization’s final flickers of vitality. Trump, in this narrative, appears as a Caesar of the West, struggling against the forces of chaos and entropy that threaten to engulf the remnants of the culture’s achievements. 

The Swamp, in the context of Esoteric Trumpism, eclipses its conventional political metaphor as a term for entrenched, secretive, and subversive agencies. Instead, it takes on a life of its own, representing a primordial, chthonic entity whose tentacles have reached into the heart of American power. This is no mere political quagmire – it is an ancient force, predating the Republic itself, fueled by what can only be described as eldritch energies. Trump’s wrestle against this dark presence is painted in Lovecraftian tones, where the stakes are not just electoral victories or policy changes but the very soul of the nation. His presidency becomes a metaphysical battle, with Trump cast as a modern hero who, like Spengler’s envisioned Caesars, refuses to capitulate to the rot that envelops his civilization. Each executive order, every political maneuver, is understood as an audacious attempt to dismantle this machinery of the Great Old Ones that has operated unseen for centuries. Trump’s defiance is portrayed as a courageous, almost tragic stand against the inevitable. He fights not for personal gain but to stave off the encroaching darkness that looms over the West.

 

Friday, October 18, 2024

1981 Tu-104 Crash


When the Soviet Navy Lost 16 Admirals in a Single Accident: The Tu-104 Crash at Pushkin
Paper Skies

A fine example of what happens you have blockheads in charge. The more powerful they are, the more dangerous they become. The crash happened at Pushkin Airfield in Leningrad, known today as St. Petersburg.

Cargo shifting also caused the crash of a 747 in Afghanistan back in 2013. I vaguely remember hearing about this. This one only killed the crew, there were no passengers, and it seems to have been due to a human error or mechanical failure, not slavish obedience to drunken fools.


Pop Tarts for the win pal


Pop Tarts for the win pal
therealsamalkhatib

This guy has been popping up on my feed recently and I find him very funny. Can't explain why, he's not telling any jokes. Maybe it's because stupidity and comedy are blood brothers.

Thursday, October 17, 2024

New Things


I'm Nervous About This One - Massey Clutch Rebuild - Instant Reverse Part 2
Watch Wes Work

I'm posting this because of the comments Wes makes in the first minute. He likes doing new things, not doing the same thing over and over again. Looking back I have to say I am very similar. As to whether other people enjoy doing the same thing over and over again, I can't say. It's an alien concept. Oh, I can do repetitive work, but only if there is a goal in sight. It might be months away, but as long as there is an end point I can apply myself. Or maybe I just never found a repetitive job that engaged me enough to keep after it. Trouble shooting computer systems kept me engaged for ten years or so, but it was hardly repetitive. Every problem was new. I would have kept on but I was never able to connect with anyone who wanted my particular skills.

I enjoy watching his videos, not sure why. Maybe because they are comforting. I used to do mechanical work before I got into computers. I'm certainly not going to try and tackle any of the projects he takes on.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Caterpillar Wine Mixer


Bump Starting Old Iron with @ziptiesnbiasplies
DEBOSS GARAGE

Much of this equipment is left over from the Canadian Trans Mountain Pipeline. The pipeline was built in 1952. Note that is entirely within the year, not started in one year and finished umpteen years later. It was completed in less than a year. It is 700 miles long and runs from Edmonton, Alberta, across the Rocky Mountains to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Trans Mountain Pipeline

The last section of pipeline is assembled on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, near Laidlaw, British Columbia, Canada, February 18, 2024. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

A second pipeline was recently laid alongside the original. The new line has almost double the capacity of the first one.

Pipe