Now that Pluto is No Longer A Planet, it seems obvious to me we ought to rename element 94 from Plutonium to something more appropriate. We currently have: 92: Uranium <= Uranus (a planet) 03: Neptunium <= Neptune (a planet) 94: Plutonium <= Mickey Mouse’s dog
I propose: 94: Saganium <= after Professor Carl Sagan, noted planetary astronomer Symbol: Sa is available, and should be used.
Symbol Pu sounds like something smelly, whereas Sa sounds vaguely like sagacious, which has a much more positive connotation. Of course, element 94 is still a highly poisonous, as well as radioactive, substance, and there is nothing which can be done about that. Oh, well.
The sex of an embryo is determined at conception. That is called biology, which is a science. It is not “assigned” at birth by a Doctor God who sorts “gender neutral” infants into two or more categories at his whim. That counter factual dogma is properly called propaganda, and it is evil.
These are the All Blacks:
These are the Black Ferns:
Any questions?
Note: The All Blacks haka depicted features the great Richie McCaw
the most capped player in history, at open side flanker (#7).
I played #7 during my college days, but at 175 lbs would have had no chance of making a world class rugby side such as New Zealand or Argentina.
We do not see women athletes who wish they were men trying out for men’s athletic teams, because, quite clearly, they would be physically annihilated were they foolish enough to do so.
However, the “transgender” propaganda has allowed substandard male athletes to pretend they are women and to compete on women’s teams, thereby unfairly displacing talented women athletes.
I am very much in favor of women’s athletics, but attempts to mix the sexes are doomed to failure, and serve the best interests of neither sex.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Sex, not “Gender”
When we have evolved to grow a sixth finger on each hand:
we will probably be using base 12, which is divisible by 2,3,4 and 6, but not 5. Using sexagesimal (base 60) eliminates that problem, since 60 = 5*12, but requires way too many symbols to memorize. The French, of course, sell eggs in packages of 10. Paris being the center of the universe (as evidenced by the Eiffel tower), that must make the “French dozen” (two eggs short of an actual dozen, which is sort of like two sandwiches short of a picnic) an S.I. unit. Quartering it (divide by 2 twice) presents a bit of a challenge. But then, you always have to break eggs to make an omelet, so why the fuss?
The French even tried to get people to use “decimal time.”
That would make midday “high five” instead of “high noon,” which would have required Tex Ritter to change the lyrics to his famous. song. Never quite caught on in the U.S. But according to Wackypedia, the Chinese have also been known to use decimal time, so you never know…
American civil engineers use the foot as their standard of length, but go all French by dividing the foot into hundredths. Whereas, American architects and builders also use the foot (same foot, thankfully) but divide the foot into twelve parts, known as inches, before commencing to divide by two, this ending up with 96ths of a foot. 1/8″ = 1/96th of a foot.
American construction documents show elevations in hundredths of a foot on civil drawings, and feet and inches (accurate to 1/8″) on the architectural drawings. Four parts per 100 may be negligible for some purposes, but not for others. A feet-inch calculator is an essential tool for anyone who needs to use both civil and architectural drawings. Let’s hear it for Calculated Industries.
1. Welcome the Arabs of Gaza, both Christian and Muslim, to the U.S. as the refugees they certainly are. “Walk the talk” embodied in the famous poem by Emma Lazarus (The New Colossus). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Colossus 2. Allow the refugees to tell their personal stories, to inform the American public as to why the refugees are here. 3. Create an actual “iron dome” over at least a portion of the so-called Holy Land. Only Jews will be allowed in, and no one will be allowed out. All Jews who wish to do so will be allowed to move to “Jewish paradise,” which contains no non-Jews.
We will be free of “whiners” who are unable to live in peace among Gentiles, and they will be guaranteed freedom from “anti-Semitic” prejudice or violence. Any prejudice or violence which they might experience will be done to them only by their own kind.
Why my proposal will not work: Because Victims In Perpetuity (V.I.P.s) require Perpetual Bogeymen as adversaries, in order to perpetuate their Tale of Eternal Victimhood.
“Jewish Paradise” would contain no Gentiles, meaning that all Bogeymen in Jewish Paradise would necessarily be Jewish. Superman, the Jewish superhero, would have to be fighting Jews. Clearly, this would not work.
Note that my proposal does not require Jews to emigrate to “Jewish Paradise,” only allows them to do so. The rules are simple. Once you go in, you don’t come out. Caveat: Be careful what you wish for.
Posted inPolitics, Uncategorized|Comments Off on A Proposal for Peace in the Middle East
Israeli (Jews only) claim to have a “Land Title From (their) God,” which can never be sold. And besides that, there is all that offshore gas which has not yet been developed.
L’il Donnie is just the front man for developing Gaza into the Monaco of the Eastern Mediterranean. He cannot personally own land there, because he is not Jewish, but his son in law, Jared Kushner, can. Donnie will do as he is told, because there is at least one woman who stands ready to accuse him of forcible rape of her when she was a minor, many years ago. Stormy Daniels is only a precursor to the real threats. Donnie is owned.
So who really owns Gaza, and who will finance the casinos? Development requires either a) good marketable title, or b) owner willing to subordinate his interest to a construction loan, in order to obtain construction financing from a bank. “Land Title From God,” a.k.a. “Jewish title insurance,” just won’t cut it. But there are other possible sources of funding…Can you say “Teamsters Union pension fund?”
There are certain interests who are prime candidates to own the Gaza casinos. Adelson, of course, as well as Steve Wynn (né Weinberg), and probably a few of Donnie’s New York RE colleagues of the proper ethnicity.
So, what does the U.S get put of the deal? Well, for starters, the rubble has to be cleared. Enter Brown and Root. Offshore gas wells? Time to call Halliburton.
The filthy Arabs? Kaufman and Broad can build them a whole new city, somewhere out in the stinking desert, at U.S. taxpayer expense. Anything to get them out of the way.
And of course the New Gaza Airport will be Yuge. Bechtel, Parsons and Fluor can fight over that, as well as the adjacent USAF base. The runways will have joint civilian/military usage, just like Albuquerque, home of USAF Special Weapons Center. [“Special” = “Nuclear” as you may realize]
With 600 advanced US nukes under US control, and the aircraft to deliver them parked on a US land base, the US will be in a position to rule the Middle East, which will likely be important when the US dollar collapses due to debt.
I wonder what they will name the air base…
Between the Gaza gambling revenues and the offshore gas proceeds, Israeli Jews will become rich beyond their wildest dreams. Miriam Adelson will have got her $100 million worth. And then some.
Didn’t say I want to see this result, only that I consider it somewhat likely.
Posted inPolitics, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Monaco of the Eastern Mediterranean
For starters, let’s try some (possibly more representative) numbers. California numbers, for example. It happens that I live in California, but so do 39.24 million other Americans, out of 331.9 million U.S residents, or 12% of U.S. population, which makes it the most populated U.S. state. Texas is second at 29.5, Florida third at 21.8, and New York fourth at 19.8 million.
But first, the replacement cost for an IC engine. The video does not specify whether the replacement is a brand new, or a re-manufactured engine. Judging by the $10,000 price, I would guess brand new. I also surmise that a Ford (or any other make) dealer service department would refuse to install a re-manufactured engine (prove me wrong).
The *installed* cost for a NAPA remanufactured 300cid straight six in my ’89 F150 was ~$5,500 five years ago, of which, IIRC, ~$3,500 was the cost of the engine. I do not recall the independent repair shop’s labor rate at that time, but I guarantee it was less then the local Ford dealer’s shop rate.
So, we can, and should, discuss shop labor rates. According to the video, dealer shop rate in Alabama was (205)/(15) = $135/hr. The Ford dealer in Norco, CA (Hemborg Ford) charges $159/hr, last I checked. Independent shop will generally charge less, sometimes quite a bit less, because they want and need your business. But, for now, let’s compare apples to apples. So, dealer labor rates are evidently (159)/(135) = 1.18 the cost of Alabama prices. (20 hr)*($159/hr) = $3180.
Now let’s talk about fuel costs for IC versus battery powered, using California prices, paid by 12% of U.S. population.
First, gasoline costs. California has notoriously high gasoline prices, due in part to high fuel taxes, in part to special anti-pollution fuel formulations, etc. CA prices are significantly above national average, which was used in the video. National average price = $3.93/gallon (presumably 87 octane unleaded) One recent California price = $4.80/gallon (87 octane, Chevron or Mobil, ZIP Code 92882) So, name brand 87 octane in CA costs (4.80)/(3.93) = 1.22 the national average. (maybe more in L.A., maybe less in Stockton, idk)
Next, let’s look at electricity costs in California, versus the rest of the U.S. California is notorious, not only for high gasoline (& diesel) costs, but also high electricity costs. As a customer of Southern California Edison, I am most familiar with SCE rates, so will use those for purposes of this discussion. SCE offer two pricing plans, the first being “tiered” pricing,” the second being “time of use.” Tiered rates are given here: https://www.sce.com/de/residential/rates/Standard-Residential-Rate-Plan whereas a TOU plan designed specifically for electric vehicle owners is given here: https://www.sce.com/de/node/1273
If you choose tiered pricing, you are certain to be paying the Tier 2 price to charge your EV, or $0.42/kwh. If you select TOU-D-PRIME, available only to EV owners, you will pay $0.26/kwh off peak, and a whopping $0.66/kwh for all electricity used between 4PM and 9PM weekdays. You know, the time of day when you get home from work, crank up the A/C to cool down your house, maybe turn on the TV to catch the evening propaganda (excuse me, “news”), and fire up the good ol’ electric cookstove you have been “mandated” to use in order to “save the planet” while cooking your dinner. But wait, your EV is knackered from a hard day’s commute, and you need to juice it up for 30-45 minutes to make a fast grocery run for the “exotic” ingredients in that new Thai recipe you wish to try, plus a bit of liquid refreshment to aid in winding down from the work day’s stress. Ka-ching! $0.66/kwh, comrade. It’s either that, or eat raw worms and drink brake fluid. Well, maybe straight rotgut whiskey, or methanol.
Now, let’s put it all together. For the battery powered model, Using the (installed) EV battery prices from the video, and assuming 200,000 mile battery life: “Standard” EV battery = $32,000/200,000 mi = $0.16/mi. battery cost “Extended Range” = $40,230/200,000 mi = $0.20/mi. battery cost Electricity consumption is given as 48 kwh/100 mi, or 0.48 kwh/mi. Charging only off-peak on a TOU rate plan yields an energy cost of
(0.48 kwh/mi)*($0.26/kwh) =$0.12/mi Using Tier 1, the energy cost would be (0.48)*($0.32) = $0.15/mi Using Tier 2 (more likely) (0.48)*($0.42) = $0.20/mi Lowest total cost (standard battery + off peak TOU electricity): $0.16 + $0.12 = $0.28/mi Highest cost (extended range battery + Tier 2 electricity): $0.20 + $0.20 = $0.40/mi
And for the IC model, Ass-u-ming a remanufactured V8 can be purchased for 75% of the cost of a new engine (actually, this is a guess, as I have not priced a remanufactured V8) Estimated engine cost = (0.75)*($10,000) = $7,500. Sales tax @ 8.75% = $656. Installation by independent shop which charges $150/hr. shop rate (actual current shop rate of a reputable shop in ZIP Code 92882) 20 hr. @ $150 = $3000. Installed cost (estimated) = $7,500 + $656. + $3000. = $11,156. Assuming an engine life of 230,000 mi (my actual experience with the factory 300cid straight six in my 1989 F150) gives engine replacement cost of $11,156/230,000 = $0.05/mi.
The fuel consumption estimate is 19mi/gal, which at $4.80/gal gives: ($4.8)/(19) = $0.25/mi
Now, the above figure *does* *not* *equal* the total operating cost of an IC engine, because it omits normal IC engine maintenance and repairs, which are *NOT* negligible. To list just a few: — scheduled oil changes — spark plugs, plug wires, coil, distributor cap (typical “electrical tune up”) — replacement starter battery (12V) — belts and hoses
Nor have I considered power transmission to the wheels. An IC engine which uses a manual transmission also requires a clutch, and the clutch disk, at east, *will* need replacement, at some point, which is expensive, due to labor involved. Also likely candidates for replacement will be clutch release bearing, clutch slave cylinder and/or slave cylinder hydraulic hose, clutch master cylinder, and the actual clutch assembly. All this shit is expensive to replace, so you should not ignore the cost when estimating total cost of propulsion.
My experience with manual transmissions is they last a long time, provided they are not abused, such as by attempting to transmit more power than they were designed for (i.e., “hot rodding” the engine). The Borg-Warner T18 in my 1989 F150 is just as installed at the factory. Some day, of course, it will inevitably break, if operated long enough, but “someday,” knock wood, is not yet here. About automatic transmissions I know very little, so will say nothing.
What components are likely to break when transmitting power from an electric motor to the drive wheels of a vehicle? I think *no* one* knows the answer to that question, because these devices have not been around long enough for anyone to know.
And that’s myUS$0.02
Posted inTransportation|Comments Off on How Much Does it Really Cost?
>The agency is working on a study analyzing three potential locations for pilot projects: on roads and freeways into downtown; on Interstate 10 between downtown and Santa Monica; and on freeways and canyon roads that cross the Santa Monica Mountains between the San Fernando Valley and the L.A. Basin.
Time for a new map. Here there be dragons? Nope. Here there be thieves.
First, destroy the pipelines which provided abundant, low cost natural gas to Western Europe.
Next, remove natural gas from the U.S. market, liquify it, and ship it to Europe to replace the supply which was previously destroyed, at higher cost to the end users. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/sempra-energy-strikes-20-year-lng-supply-deal-with-polands-pkn-orlen-2023-01-25/
Now, watch the cost of natural gas in the U.S double or even triple, as the country experiences one of the coldest winters in recent history.
Some say it was the U.S. government which sabotaged Nord Stream 2. https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream?r=5mz1&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
If that is true, it implies that the military might of the U.S. government was used to benefit commercial enterprise (a.k.a. “business interests”), which is pretty much the textbook definition of fascism, although personally, I might prefer the term thugocracy, or, the “Washington Mafia.”
Posted inPolitics|Comments Off on Actions Have Consequences
