3I/BLAH, EQ Tireds, GovDown’s Auto-Bubble, Priming the Future

TL;DR: Old news nose spotted this one at 10 AUs:  3I/ATLAS is our Lo-Cal Nothing Burger.  However, got whacked with EQ Tireds Thursday. GovDown saunters along, and with limited space and money, what’s the best options for Prime next week?

Outing Chicken Little

Even Elaine and I watched the “half past hysterical” reports on YT last night – how 3I/ATLAS was going to land or drop off a boatload of Annunaki to eat us for lunch.  As of this hour, however?

“Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS passed Mars on October 3, 2025, at its closest approach, about 29-30 million kilometers (18-18.6 million miles) away. Spacecraft from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Express, and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, were positioned to observe the comet during this close flyby. “

Now think about it, people: The Moon is 237,000 miles away.  We assume you remember the astrophysics peeps have two measuring sticks.  The LD = lunar distance, and the AU = astronomical distance.  Which is 93-million miles.

Und zo?  Let’s do the math. Using the low end of the Martian “close pass” (18-million) it was almost 76-times farther away than the Moon.  Earth’s distance is 219-million miles away. Simpleton George mentions “Not even close…”

What about slowing down? Dropping off secret messages?  Well, you know that if you give a cryptographer a sufficiently long book they can find the birth rate of everyone in the world, right?  Which is worth remembering when you see:  3I/ATLAS could have transmitted message to Earth in alien language: Scientist – Dexerto. Uh-huh…

That doesn’t mean something MIGHT not happen SOME DAY.  Just not before we all hit fly ash and worm food.

Can we get back to being our usual insane, over-populated, highly stressed selves and on with the important business of living beyond our means on borrowed money while depleting the Earth of resources while making up whole industries on personal bullshit placed on social?

Thank you, thank you very much…  (I can already visualize readers like Andy and Hank rolling their eyes…yeah, but it’s the rock we’re on, fellers…)

Earthquake Tireds

I had my ass handed to me by “earthquake tireds” Thursday.  Why, I was so tired, I could barely proofread the column.  5-hours of intermittent snoozing – going to bed before 7 PM and sleeping in until 3:30 AM – now all pissy and frisky again.

But, while it had nothing to do with the 3I/MADNESS, earthquake energy changes are real enough to rise to pseudo-science around here.   OK, even above that:

Citation Description – Key Findings on Tiredness/Fatigue

Tributsch, H. (1982). When the Snakes Awake: Animals and Earthquake Prediction. MIT Press. Comprehensive review of animal and human behavioral precursors to earthquakes, drawing on historical data and ion chemistry theories.

Taramelli, T., & Mercalli, G. (1887). Questionnaire on macroscopic effects of the 1887 Riviera earthquake (as documented in historical seismology reports). Early seismological survey distributed to over 1,000 witnesses after the Gulf of Genoa quake, one of the first systematic collections of precursor data.

Allen, C. (1983). “Human Behavior Before Earthquakes.” Alaska Science Forum, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Summary article compiling historical human precursor accounts, citing Tributsch and 19th-century seismologists.

Grant, R. A., et al. (2017). “Can animals predict earthquakes?: Bio-sentinels as seismic sensors – a review.” Progress in Physical Geography, 41(6), 801–826. Review of bio-indicators, including human “sensitives,” with references to Tributsch’s work.

USGS (n.d.). “Can some people sense that an earthquake is about to happen?” Earthquake Hazards Program FAQ. Official summary of claimed human sensitivities based on global reports. Acknowledges reports of “unusual tiredness or irritability” 1–2 days before some quakes but classifies as unproven; no dedicated studies, but cites lack of correlation in monitored cases like the 1989 Loma Prieta event.

This is not to say there WILL be a major quake in the next 48-hours somewhere in the world – when I get this way, typically a 7+ happens).  But it’s odd, that’s all.  Click here to look in now and then on the USGS site.  All eyes on the Pacific rim – no, not the comet passing… (Hmm hangover?)

GovDown’s Auto-Bubble

Just when I get *(expensable) AI lined up to make me the smartest and most on top of it newsguy on Earth?

“No fool, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will not release the September 2025 Employment Situation report today, October 3, despite it being the regularly scheduled date (first Friday of the month at 8:30 AM ET). The ongoing partial federal government shutdown, which began on October 1 after Congress failed to pass a funding measure, has led the Department of Labor to suspend economic data releases, including this key jobs report. Essential operations continue, but statistical reporting like the BLS’s monthly employment data is among the halted activities until funding is resolved. Private-sector previews (e.g., ADP’s report showing a 32,000 job decline in September) are available as alternatives, but the official nonfarm payrolls, unemployment rate, and related metrics from the government will be delayed.”

Which means what?  Let’s line ’em up, bra tender:  (<–was that a typo?)

• With no Federal numbers markets are untethered even MORE.
• Dow futures up 115, S&P +15, and NASDAQ +61  (You go bubble!)
• Gold is an RCH from $3,900  (Um, RCH is a “rationally calculated hedge:” you perv!)  (And yeah, that other thing too…maybe…)
• BTC is $120,520 at press time.

Of course, we are watching to see how the Trumperians will swap out the perfectly good rotten (debt logged) US Dollars for emptier, but less tainted Cryptos and call that “progress.”

While scanning the story Melania Trump pushes creepy AI video to remind you she’s a crypto grifter, we had to laugh at our simple-minded strategy:  Turn paper into durable assets (paid off home, farm equipment, and put in that well) while the paper goes where it’s going to go.

We also advise people not to walk into raging battles or dog fights.  Step aside and run your own plan.

Friday In the Shorts

The next Global Speed Bump in our data comes next Wednesday as a dart toss at when Israel will pop Iran.   The longer they wait, the better Iran’s air defenses will be.  And did you see which weapons are planned (likely against Iran and Venezuela)?  Tomahawk Missiles Unlikely for Ukraine as Stocks Are ‘Committed to Other Uses’

Think California Energy Prices were high before today?  Massive fire erupts in jet fuel unit at Chevron’s Los Angeles refinery.  Even going into this round of “putting wet stuff on the red stuff” the Newsom and Sack-o-dementos was stupidly over-taxing fuel:  Gasoline in Southern California is averaging about $4.65 a gallon, while in Texas it’s closer to $2.75, making California prices more than 60 percent higher.  Can’t all be transportation costs, right?  Woke BS ain’t free, bubba.  You get what you vote for, eh?

Trump Buying Carrots?  In a switch, Trump White House seeks to reward colleges for abiding by its ideological terms -speaking of half past woke.

Now Let’s Serious Up

Maybe I’m in the wrong head space today. But when I read how Trump Declares Military Conflict Between the USA and Drug Cartels, something clicked.

Instead of starting a new war, why don’t we just legalize (and tax the hell out of ) drugs?  That would take the money out of it for cartels – give the FDA something they might actually be able to handle, since they seem challenged with more difficult problems (and are change-proof as RFK Jr is finding)  and it would be a net moneymaker.

OK, so you lose the shipyards and aircraft factories of war – but how about government pimps and drug peddlers? We kind of have them in office already…

Oh, sure, drug overdoses would kill some Americans.  But doesn’t war already?  Maybe we’re just not running the numbers out far enough on some of this policy stuff.

It’s kind of like gay rights: Policies that aren’t artificially promoted tend to be self-limiting, follow? Meanwhile, the neocons are mass-marketing war for all, and everyone is a potential Hitler — so to the barricades and ships!!!

Unfortunately, there’s no “Rational Party” in America, but the thought has crossed our minds.

Around the Ranch: Priming the Future

In mid “quake snooze” Thursday, I woke long enough to realize that I am still engaged in a long-term battle with the future and most of it is my own doing.  (I’m losing, but slowly.)

See, we EXPECT the future will be tougher than the past.  So, all the focus around here has been on health and prepping – which works.  But then you bump into intractable problems.

Here’s one:  Part of me wants to upgrade the TV in the living room to an 85 inch UHD QLED.  We have a 65″ now and while the (sunsetting) eyes can still squint OK, over time an 85-inch would be easier.  Thing is, even with the Amazon Fall Prime whizzy next week (some preview deals here), it’s likely to eat up One After-Tax Kilobuck.

Thing is, if the shit ever hits the fan (big-time) then  an electric trike to ride to town for the odd this or that might make sense.  Amazon has a lot of them (sampling) and an e-trike works for us because we have tons of solar capacity (all bolted on with theft proof hardware).

Honestly, coming up on 77 with more ham radio gear than imaginable, lots of land for rough-riding and farming and shooting and… well, what’s a feller to buy?

Not that we need to buy a damn thing, but the money will depreciate so what’s the point of rotting paper (or pre-hollow crypto?).  Plus, I am further limited by having written my book on Downsizing.  Though, I guess a crematorium will settle that.  (Or a Tsar Bomb.)

All makes me look forward to my next Annual Wellness Check.  “Do you feel safe at home?”

Well…  now that you bring it up…   With the TV on???

One for the Road: Comet Tailings

The passing of Comet Do Nothing reminds me that, as a writer, a lot of my formative years were shaped by the big sci-fi adventures. Those books weren’t just about rockets and ray guns; they were about thinking bigger, wider, and stranger than the moment allowed — and then dragging a little of that vision back into the here and now.

A few quotes always echo when I look back:

• Isaac Asimov: “Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not.”
• Arthur C. Clarke: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
• Ray Bradbury: “We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.”
• Philip K. Dick: “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”

That’s the sweet spot. Sci-fi at its best was never about escaping reality — it was about confronting it with new eyes.

And that’s the difference between this site and a lot of the noise out there on the web: while we range wide in our thinking — the way the old sci-fi masters taught us to — we also keep it real, for planning purposes. And we’re huge fans of mass indexing knowledge in all extensible directions.

Now, if you will, please excuse our lapse into seriousness.  Sure, Life is serious.  But this is Friday, for God’s sake!

Back with ShopTalk Sunday plus adventuring in the tall weeds of markets on the Peoplenomics side of the house tomorrow.  Go tell a few million of your friends to drop by.  Soon as they’re back from hiding from the comet…

George@Ure.net