If this adds a useful perspective
Click here to send this page to a friend

Monday Happy-Talk, Reality Stalks, plus How to Read the Weather

“Give me a Monday Special, news guy.”

Strange call, there, mister or missus. This ain’t a news bar.  More like a safe house for rational people.  But, if you insist, there is data and there is woe lurking.  How-some-ever, if you like Happy-Talk, this’ll put a smile on your face on the way to financial first-aid…

Empire State Manufacturing

Too cynical for you?  How about we move on to this morning’s NY Fed manufacturing report.  And skip the general New York downers like, then?  See if this works, Smiley:

“The general business conditions index fell seven points to -0.2, with just over 30 percent of firms reporting an increase in activity and the same percentage reporting a decrease. The new orders index was little changed at 6.4, pointing to a small increase in orders, while the shipments index fell six points to -6.9, indicating that shipments declined. The unfilled orders index rose two points to 10.8.”

I can’t tell if this is a labor quality issue, a reporting quirk, or what?  Orders unchanged, shipments dropped and the unfilled backlog was up.

Not grinning?  A day or two from snow and what could go wrong? After the data, Dow futures popped +320, techs +266.  Let me roll up a twenty and pass me that…

Future and Futures

Since we post early (sometimes I think so I have room to find a bunker before the open and the outbreak of “open stupidities), we have 45-minutes of rosary bead time before the Fed Industrial Production numbers.  Think China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea….gads.

In the early slog: futures were green.  Not bigly and hugely.  After all, War’s on, Brent Crude was still pushing $105.  Though, in fairness, with nary a flicker of the A.C. Mains (yet) the BTC had spikes up to almost $74,000 in the “electro-money cult.”

Their pitch is more of a siren’s song today: Gold and Silver were down a bit.  OK, if you actually own some gold and need to sell, being down $41 earlier is more than a “bit.” What can I say?  Monday’s happen.

The War More Score

What kind of a day is Fearless Leader having?

To open, Iran hits Gulf neighbors as concerns of energy crisis rise | AP News.  Which might set him in a foul mood and we wonder if that could tie to Trump Rages At Reporter When Confronted Over Troop Coffin Email — Stands By It.

This kind of behavior may not do much for national unity.  But that could already be careening toward the ditch as Controversial billboard near Naval Base San Diego divides military community.

Meanwhile, some of our “ops” sources tell us a troop ship is en route with eyes on taking the oil terminal (because Iranian leaders may be hiding there).  Which leads to us listening for “whistling in the graveyard” stories: India hopeful Iran talks will ease Hormuz route for its ships.  They want fertilizer or that global food/famine picture lights up more than just Ukraine wheat falling could cause…

Keeping War Real?  We noted the story (while we’re on the topic of war) that in that Other war, General Staff: Russia has lost 1,279,930 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022.  Well, except Russia had more than a million under arms back then.  As of August 25, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the Russian armed forces’ total personnel to approximately 2.04 million, including over 1.15 million active-duty military personnel. Latest numbers put Russia military at 1.1 to 1.3 million, which means (without the graduate level forensic accounting) that the figures are likely suspect. BUT the key takeaway is in war, everyone is running PsyOps.

OH, and there’s now Tucker Carlson on X: “When you discover the CIA has been reading your texts in order to frame you for a crime. As we have been noticing a lot lately, free speech (and even being a reporter) ain’t protected same anymore here in Worker’s Paradise 2.0.

Which then segues into Planet Palantir: The Brave New War Machine – The Washington Standard. Don’t forget your paranoia meds today, right?

Get the best data you can find, do math, see what makes sense.  Usually, not much. But, you’re not supposed to think – just believe Fearless Leader.  End of GOSUB. Now hit RETURN, rerun from main, and read the articles again. We haven’t found the debug for world yet.

(Maybe we can .c about .py?)

Potpourri

You mean this isn’t Dairy Queen?  Hell, that’s where we go to get blizzards… Not in northern tier Yankee Land today: Evers declares state of emergency for Blizzard Elsa. Wait…is Elsa gender-specific, or do storms come with official pronouns yet?

As the Constitution sets: Racist Deep State controlled Virginia strikes again – the bill passed – immoral. Why highlight this story? America begins with a premise: all are created equal under the law. The minute government starts sorting people by race again — even in the name of fairness, repair, or balance — it is stepping away from the promise and back toward classification. And once race becomes something to be counted, managed, and politically allocated forever, then Morgan Freeman’s old point comes roaring back: if you keep counting race, you keep racism alive.

Patron Saint of Engineers Day Tomorrow

You can always tell when St. Patrick’s Day is near.  Also known as “green liver day”: South Boston parade among nation’s largest Irish celebrations.

I’m no James Beard, but St. Paddy’s gets me looking at corned beef.  Corned beef and cabbage became strongly associated with “Irish” in the U.S., but in Ireland the older traditional pairing was more often bacon with cabbage, not corned beef. Irish immigrants in America, especially in places like New York, often bought corned beef from Jewish butchers because it was cheaper and available, and that became the St. Patrick’s Day meal people came to think of as Irish. So the dish is really kind of an Irish immigrant adaptation filtered through Jewish deli culture.

In today’s world, are we going to be able to safely attack a Reuben with fries tomorrow night?  OH the things we try to get right…

Oh, and what’s with “the patron saint of engineers,” you’re wondering. Because he’s traditionally associated with church-building and improved construction methods in early Ireland. The usual explanation is that Patrick oversaw the building of churches and is credited in later tradition with introducing or encouraging lime-mortar arches and more advanced masonry, which is why some Christian and engineering circles came to regard him as a patron of engineers.

At the Ranch: How to Read the Weather

Even at 77, we’re still learning new ways to beat the Grim Reaper – and his sidekick, Unproductive Thinking.

What we focus on today is White Mailboxes.

This story has more curves than California 1 – if you’ve ever driven it.  So, hang on as I organize my thinking.  (This oughta be amusing, right?)

#1 We used to have a black mailbox.  But then, as crop yields fell (which drove Elaine to lose interest) it took me several months of progressive analysis to finally nail down the likely suspect.  The black mailbox!

See, here in Texas, even this time of year, we can hit 90F.  Put a black mailbox in that kind of heat for five hours direct? You have yourself a Sun Oven – but without the baked bread or “sun stew” you might have been hoping for.

#2 Heat kills seed vitality, plain and simple.  On a sunny day, I have seen 140F in the mailbox. Research says 160F is not uncommon. Since you may be a “slicker” (defined as “one who doesn’t plant anything more than plastic in a chip reader”), vegetable seeds die quickly over 90F. There’s a roll-off coming above 70F for many varieties.  Placed in a USPS Postmaster Approved black mailbox sun oven, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

#3 Sure, sure, a late snow will impact part of the country today – and it will move along eastward.  But listen to the Old Man, sport: this is a golden window to order vegetable seeds!

I was up ungodly early and decided (based on ultra-long range climate predictions) that I’d start to lay in our fall garden seeds now.  When the low tonight will be in the upper 20s and the Tuesday high (when the mail shows up noonish) is likely to run about 63F.

Since I bought a few other items over the weekend, that should land tomorrow from the Zon, there will be no “baking time.” Storage? The seeds can safely displace my stash of Van Holten dills (best bar pickles ever, without the bar) and the Genoa dried salami.  Between the two of them, it makes keto light survivable. I can live without Dijon…but can Elaine?

#4  If – though looking more like when – Great Depression 2.0 kicks off -with the pending Drought – you may need a place to put seeds.

BTW: If you play commodities, stories like Florida’s extreme drought continues: Tips on how to protect your plants might get you to eyeing orange juice contracts six-months out… If you don’t play commodities, the buffets are better at casinos, anyway.

Where was I? Oh, yeah… The seed cooling answer is to dig in – somewhere on the north side of your house, a hole in the ground that is in the shade – especially in the hot afternoon sun.  See, farmers in days of yore (whatever as “yore” is) used to have root cellars.  Depending on climate, seeds could go into a jar.  Salt was an early times desiccant.  Today we have advanced as a species and we can buy dry packets on the Zon, too.

#5 This is an Extensible View. Extensibility example: Elaine and I periodically order fresh frozen fish flown in from Alaska. Sounds extravagant and high rollerish. But, in fact, the price per pound works out to only a buck higher than local and the difference is like between a big Steak and Chop House and Mickey D’s.

#6 Thus, dear reader, concludes our “How to Read Weather” lecture.  We are diligent out here in the woods for many other reasons:

  • This is a tree farm.  At least for tax purposes.  When the wind pipes up like it did Sunday with 40+ mile per hour winds, deadfall – dying hunks and often big limbs – earn their monikers as “widow-makers.”
  • Some things ship best when the daytime highs don’t bust 70 and even a clown (I bow) can figure out the highest germination rates come from the seeds stored at or below 70.  In fact, 40 – 50F is ideal.  So, while that may displace bar pickles and beer in the fridge, maintaining adiposity trumps ongoing liver irritation.
  • If you have a friend far away, now might be the time to mail sourdough starter.
  • Opening a white mailbox in deep summer heat won’t burn your fingers. Black mailboxes can almost melt low temperature solder.
  • I kept the black mailbox thinking I could turn it into a PCB reflow oven with a couple of mirrors to help the heat along.  In case you’re not prototyping AI boards this week,  solder metal ratios n42%/Bi58% make “low-temp solder.” Melts at 281°F.  Sure, safe from melting at 160°F.  However, Field’s metal / 144°F stuff ? not safe from my reflow oven crazies. Anything near 158°F melt point? That gets borderline and a bad idea in a black mailbox, Scorching hot summer may not be the time to mailorder delicate electronics.

Speaking of Electronics (Ham radio note):  I finally got around to feeding the K4TR special order, double-sized 40 meter version of the W5GI Mystery Antennas. It’s a flavor of collinear array. (Ezxcept it’s nearly 210 feet long.) Using one of the KW Johnson Matchboxes, I got it to feed the ladder line well on 20 meters.  A promptly made contact with a fellow named Billy running a vineyard 35-miles east of Capt Town.  Long path on 20 makes it about 16,000 miles on 100 watts and some “educated wire.”

Now we’re off!  I have coffee to drink, and adventures to have – and so do you.

Write when you get rich, our way of keeping the community Comment section alive,

George@Ure.net

AI reminds: You still have workshop debris in the War section:

  • “(Maybe we can .c about .py?)”  Strip that geek wink and fix the ham-note burrs, and this edges up another notch.

  • “AI chimed in…”

  • “No Boss!…”

  • “Shh…go read Tucker’s emails…”
    That whole sequence still drags the score down hard.

Apparently, I didn’t agree.

54 thoughts on “Monday Happy-Talk, Reality Stalks, plus How to Read the Weather”

Comments are reviewed by a human because the web is crawling with spammers. Submissions after 4 PM Central usually appear the following morning. After you click Post Comment, you’ll jump back to the top of this article, but your comment is queued up here. We’ve got a robust community and your participation is invited. Some commenters are brilliant. Read a few and judge for yourself. Imagine. You could be one.

  1. What’s with Trump’s send 1 bitcoin, get 2 back? Is that a backdoor way of getting info on the holders of coin? I can’t double my money cause I ain’t got no coin, just saying.

    • Thats ai faked. wow that scams so old its crazy to think people fall for that however I still see the prince in Africa in money problem emails so I guess theres still plenty out there

    • Unless it’s the sheriff pounding at the door with uniforms, badges , guns and dogs, don’t voluntarily give anyone squat. And if it is the sheriff, tell’em you want your Ure lawyer, and otherwise, if they don’t have an active warrant for the real you, politely ask them to get off the property until you ask them to come back.

      • pfew, not sure I’d cite Cathy Woods matey, what a flash in the pan …

        I remain curious, not about crypto, about your motivation to always mention it. In my working world it was known as front running, to own something then encourage others to jump in after.

        Hopefully it’s a genuine hope for your fellows and not some ploy to enrich yourself. That, surfing for greater fools, is all around us in the clear where of old it was backroom hidden chats.

        I only drink dark beer. Got Stout?
        Not advice do your own homework.
        Egor ~ /)/) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        • Welp Egor,
          What I can say is :
          The Predatory second mortgage is gone. And I have the ability to wipe the primary off my books now. I have no complaints about the HODL, trying to time Bitcoin will break you fast. It’s a macro strategy.

          On the Cathy Woods angle, it’s a nice anchor point on a time line. Truth be told, I was buying GBTC off the pink sheets as soon as fidelity sponsored it for “qualified investors” along with 6 other brokerages that were early.

          Regardless, I am always one who measures success by the empirical. So as noted above. Success! Your results may vary dramatically especially if you try and time entrys and exits into and out of the asset. It’s macro investment play, many don’t have the patience for accumulating and HOLDing a position. Not advice home gamers. Get your own comfort level.

  2. Hmm. Mailboxes? Hard NO! I refuse to have anything delivered to the house – package thieves, weather, etc. Besides, why should I need to deal with that stuff every day? I let the mail and USPS stuff go to a PO box and let Amazon stuff go to a locker. If It’s UPS or FedEx, I’ll pick it up personally from their offices. Those places are air conditioned. I get mail twice a month from the Post Office unless I have a dire need for something in a package. It’s not as though I’m in dire need of bills. I pretty much know what they will be anyway.

    • I have a rural mailbox where I expect things to be delivered, but the Shreveport Mail Distribution and Package Sorting Centers conspire to keep all packages in eternal rotation between them (except when they ship out to Houston, Little Rock, or Kalamazoo).

  3. re: A French Toast in Paris
    feat: Guinness

    The President of the Ukraine gave an audience last Friday in Paris to the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, known affectionately as “BHL” in the Republic. Mr. Lévy is Algerian-born of expat Jewish-French parents, and founder of the ‘New Philosophers’ school. He is pro: Israeli, IDF, and Ukraine, but anti: Palestine, Gaza, and Russia. Muslims would not get in the whey of Kurds around Erbil, Iraq in his ideal world.

    A French charmer of thrice marriage, the third spouse is French-American by way of Mexican Mme. Lévy who played the pious Mercy Chant in Roman Polansky’s 1979 film “Tess”. Her acting character also tried to seduce Sonny with a drug deal in the “Definitely Miami” episode of “Miami Vice” in 1986.

    A “Harper’s Bazaar” February 11, 2011 issue formally introduced a socialite descendant of the Anglo-Irish Guinness brewing family as a leg of the Mr. Lévy ménage à trois. She is a great niece of the Mitford Sisters and also of a Baronet of Ancoats, leader of the British Union of Fascists. The latter served in the honorary role of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1929. The Duchy funds the Monarch, presently King Charles III.

    The English socialite is a direct descendent of the original Guinness brewing heir, the 1st Earl of Iveagh. The current 4th Earl remains resident in the family home of Elveden Hall which appears in Stanley Kubrick’s last movie “Eyes Wide Shut”. Here is a Youtube link to a 2012 sci-fi cloning movie “Shakki” written by a French philosopher Lévy and starring his socialite girlfriend:

    https://youtu.be/TaqS1JTytG4

    According to ChatGPT, the film name “Shakki” derives from Persian meaning “doubtful, skeptical, suspicious” and Finnish meaning “chess”. Similarly, the Persian sh?h (“king”) gives us ‘check’ and sh?h met (“the king is defeated”) ‘checkmate.’

    • re: “One Battle After Another”, Penn, 2025
      feat: French 75

      Although a famous American jockey (horse not dj) Tod Sloan from Bunker Hill, In. opened a Parisien bar in 1911 between Opera and Peace Streets, “Harry’s New York Bar” bears the name of its Scottish bartender Harry MacElhone. The following 2011 “BBC” credits the venue with Bloody Mary drinks, but it is also understood to be the origin of the French 75 named after a WW1 French munition.

      https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-15887142

      It turns out Sean Penn “snubbed” The Oscars last night to feature in a social media post from Kyiv by the Ukrainian President. His Oscar-winning performance in “One Battle After Another” has a ‘French 75’ as a left-wing guerilla group. Spoiler alert: if the present timeline foretells the future, a sequel may pick up the plot in Oakland, Ca.?

      President Zelensky welcomed Mr. Penn as “Shane”, and appeared unperturbed with his guest’s attire which included a “Black ‘Truent’ ” t-shirt. Truent is a death metal band from Vancouver, Canada seemingly without a big-label recording deal. The band’s 2022 album is titled “Through the Vale of Earthly Torment”.

      Mind-shaping operations appear to be going full tilt. Shields up!

    • re: “The Return of the Archons” (gr:judges), S1E21, Star Trek, Feb. 9, 1967
      feat: “Monsieur Verdoux” (fr: of the green place), Chaplin, April 11, 1947

      The weekend before this one just past saw News Corp.’s Mr. Murdoch (gaelic: sea battle warrior/mariner) celebrate his birthday party at The Grill restaurant at the Seagram Building in New York’s Turtle (dutch:’Crooked’) Bay neighborhood. Separately the “Shakki” film noted earlier today featured a Flagship production company.

      The town of Gambais (aketon/belly armour undergarment?), France is situated a short distance from Paris and dates to Druid pre-Roman times. After the French Revolution, it came under jurisdiction of the Marquis de Labriffe (an ancient French word for ‘food and eating’) whose coat of arms includes a red lion. Villa Tric on Church Street stands in macabre memory of at least 12 people who perished in the abode’s oven between 1915 and 1919 by convicted serial killer Mr. Henri Landru. Following the perp’s dispatch via death penalty, the villa received refurbishment to welcome restaurant diners during the interwar years as Au Grillons du Foyer (~crickets by the fireside). It is now a private residence. As an aside, according to “Reminisces of Lenin by His Relatives”, published in 1956, Comrade Ilyich walked out midway through a 1922 stage adaptation of Dickens’ 1845 work “The Cricket on the Hearth”.

      Star Date 3156.2
      In “The Return of the Archons”, Starship Enterprise crew members tackle a planetary leader named Landru. It turns out to be a computer communicating to its carbon subjects via recorded messages.

      We interrupt the DJ George Evening Show to bring you a public service announcement. Here’s the alleged PM of Israel at a bistro located somewhere as can be seen at the following “Reuters” channel Youtube link:

      https://youtu.be/g9H1zdzZGMA

      As the PM says – “Keep following the instructions…”. Thank you for your attention in this matter.

  4. “a safe house for rational people”

    Well shiver me f-ing timbers Cleopatra, going deeeeep in the kimchi with that one liner..wheres the rim shot, the laugh track?

    Heads up Cleo – quick field note (s) from 3 months out da evil empire, in Central American Caribbean – Bayleaze.

    Because I live in an area with heavy tourist ‘traffic”, we get early indications of coming economic downturns mostly from US & Canada, wit about 20% UreOpeeings’.

    Firstly – my builder/contractor/property manager/family friend started selling heavy equipment off 3-4 months ago. He has brothers in the construction business all over’; Texas, Florida and Mexico – I can vouch for size and influence this network, it is extensive. He is downsizing, focus on contracting and property management, no more building Houses and Resorts. Kids are growing up and he no longer enjoys all the pressure of having multiple projects going on same time.
    Secondly – restaurants are reporting down numbers
    Thirdly – most resorts are starting to report the same – numbers are down, cept the 2 at high end of the market.
    Fourthly – small guys and girls (businesses) are already feeling the PAIN at the pump, with Govmint scrambling to justify their extremely high extortion numbers(taxes&fees) on Gas.
    * more than several folks told me it was starting to feel like 2008 again.
    I think Apprehension is the right word to describe the general overall feeling regards economics and whats the coming or next shoe to drop.

    Wonder what the propagandists are gonna do wit $200 bbl OIL ?

    We wonders, as we count the UPTICKS on tbs Oil plays.

    * Current investment thesis – All must be destroyed, so we can usher in the new Block Chain based Financial System or on a more spiritual level – we can call it The Shiva System..the Destroyer(WW3) who brings New Growth (BlockChain).

    * its so STUPID out there anymore, that when my better half and I encounter someone who does their job well and efficiently, we end up giving many thanks and praise, just because they Did Their Job!

    $200 bbl OIL – its a lock.

    Ayn another thing ** Anti BTC is IRRATIONAL .

  5. GOSUB/RETURN

    makes sense to me, seeing the world seems to be being run by undocumented spaghetti code these days…

  7. “: India hopeful Iran talks will ease Hormuz route…”

    What’s the old saying about losing a customer?

    Trump’s 4D.

    “The U.S. Treasury previously issued a 30?day waiver on March 5 specifically for India, allowing New Delhi to ?buy Russian oil stuck at ?sea.”

    “India has asserted it does not require permission from any country to purchase Russian oil, dismissing a {“30-day temporary waiver”} offered by the US amidst West Asia conflict, stating its energy procurement is driven by national interest
    . Officials confirmed India continues buying Russian crude, remaining its top supplier as of February 2026″

  8. Don’t forget today’s date being March 16. Two weeks =/- until the Nostradamus predicted collapse of the West. Get ready.

  10. ??????? ??????: “? ???’? ????????? ??? ???????”

    Miranda Devine was close enough to Tucker Carlson that he asked her to write his biography. She was halfway through it when he left Fox. She was on his show constantly. She knows him.

    And she does not recognize what he has become.

    Her explanation is worth hearing — because it is charitable, honest, and ultimately more damning than any partisan attack could be.

    Tucker started in journalism working for Bill Kristol in the neoconservative world. He was young, charismatic, a gifted writer, great on air. And he believes Kristol used those gifts to prosecute the case for the Iraq War — a war Tucker later concluded was a catastrophic mistake. He had a friend die there. He beats himself up about it constantly.

    That guilt is real. That anti-war conviction that grew from it is genuine. And Devine is right that Tucker is not alone — a whole generation of conservatives, Pete Hegseth among them, came out of the Iraq era deeply skeptical of military intervention and the people who sold it to them. I’ve said as much. The skepticism itself is not the problem.

    ??? ???? ?? ????? ??????’? ??????? ???? ???????????.

    At Fox, Tucker had an exceptional team around him. Executive producer Justin Wells — described as first among equals in Fox behind-the-scenes talent. A retinue of genuinely gifted people who took Tucker’s immense natural ability and turned it into the number one cable news show in America. You do not achieve that without excellent editorial judgment surrounding you, challenging you, sharpening you.

    When Tucker left Fox, he could not keep those people. And now, according to someone who knows him well and has no axe to grind, ?? ?? ????????.

    That word matters. Isolation is how talented people go wrong. It removes the friction that produces good judgment. It removes the trusted voices that say — wait, think about this differently. It removes the editorial check that separates a genuinely great broadcaster from someone platforming whatever confirms his existing worldview.

    The Tucker Carlson who was brilliant on Fox was Tucker Carlson plus a world-class team that made him better. The Tucker Carlson who says he is rooting for Iran to win, who praises communist dictators, who questions whether H-m-s is a terrorist organization, who bought a home in Qatar and whose content is distributed by the Muslim Brotherhood — that Tucker Carlson is isolated, nursing a decades-old wound about Iraq, and apparently surrounded by people who tell him what he wants to hear rather than…

    https://x.com/MichaelARothman/status/2033354096175177804?s=20

    Tucker Carlson was essentially working as an Iranian intel agent. The Administration fed him “intel,” which he passed on to the IRGC (DoJ has the recording of the phone conversation, which is what Tucker is whining about.) After receiving said “intel,” the IRGC cleared the meeting of the Ayatollahs and IRGC Generals which enabled the Israelis (and us) to kill them all.

    I strongly suspect Tucker will be locked away for treason – if he lives long enough to stand trial. I have heard nothing (yet), but can almost guarantee the Shia leadership (what’s left of it) have issued a fatwa on his life…

    • Tucker Carlson became 100 times better after he left FOX … he got away from the constant looking through the Neocon Glasses that FOX FORCED him to look through, and report through, with his reporting.

      Tucker is not longer FORCED to hew to the New York media OWNERS line who are 95% of the time merely mouthpieces for the “Official Views” coming out of Jerusalem, Langly, and the White House.

      I don’t agree with all of Tucker’s his viewpoints … but that is OK with me since I know he is reporting as he really sees it versus having to color his reporting to match what the Deep State in DC and Jersulem want.

      Want to read what the CIA wants written? Read David Sanger at the NY Times., nobody is keeping you from reading him.

      Want to hear what the government in Jerusalem wants you to know? Listen to Glenn Beck, he will give you the daily update right from the “Goebble’s Office” in Jerusalem, nobody is keeping you from listening to him.

      Want to know what the White House wants you to know? Just listen to Trump’s daily talks or read his daily posts to Truth Social, nobody is keeping you from doing both of those things.

      Tucker Carlson SHOULD be ashamed of his repeating Dick Cheney’s and GW Bush’s pack of lies back in 2003. Carlson was part of the PROBLEM and avoided being a true reporter back then. I can’t blame him for being skeptical TODAY about the “Party Line” of bullshit that the US Government puts out daily, and that the White House puts out hourly after going through carrying water for those LIARS

      Note Trump’s own statements (paraphrased) and how quickly the “Party Line of BS the White House put out has changed in just the last 3 weeks:

      1st week of War …. WE WON!
      2nd week of WAR … WE ARE WINNING
      3rd week of WAR (current week) … WE NEED HELP (Trump went on a real rant about this one today)

      OH … The White House’s publicly claimed time line for the War:

      the White House’s 4 days morphed into 2 weeks
      then 2 weeks morphed into 4 weeks
      now 4 weeks is morphing into another few weeks
      AFTER another “few weeks” what will the time frame that the White House claims for this War morph into?

      Trump has already put Carr (head of the FCC) on the job of threatening to take away broadcast licenses of media companies UNLESS they ONLY report the slant of the news that the White House wants to put on the news AND ONLY the news that the White House thinks should be reported.

      SHADES OF NAZI GERMANY and the SOVIET UNION!

      Tucker Carlson is carrying a heavy load by going against the desires of Jerusalem, the White House, the NY Media Owners, and the CIA/Deep State. Though I don’t agree with everything he says I am GLAD he is willing to at least TRY to report stuff that the establishment media won’t dare touch because they are OWNED by certain interests.

      • I have no problem with Tucker, or anybody else in the profession, reporting, as long as their reporting is accurate, based on the information available. Tucker Carlson is not an investigative journalist or even a news anchor. He is a pundit. He is many years removed from the time when he did actual journalism. The stuff he talks about is wholly dependent upon the information he’s fed. He does not have a top-flight IJ like John Stoessel or Lara Logan on his staff. Therefore, there is no guarantee that anything he says isn’t pure bullshit, and there isn’t any assurance that, when he conducts an interview, he either asks the right questions, or receives true or accurate answers. He is like Sean Hannity, with a less-boring patter but a worse laugh, and a much less adept personal information staff (If you’ve read me at all, you know I believe I could be good friends with Hannity, but I absolutely cannot STAND to listen to him…)

        If you’re a Tucker fan, that’s fine. I like him too. I’m not calling him out because I don’t like him; I’m doing it because he’s wrong. But understand, it is not just the Trumpettes who’re howling about his apparent transformation to a Mohammedan idealogue. Every pro-Iranian (anti “Islamic Republic”) journalist and hardcore “America first” journalist (like Logan and DML), even those who are not Trump supporters, believe Tucker is in the wrong, and has gone off the deep end, on this one. His assertions aren’t supported by the facts, and he DID make the phone call that got the Ayatollah killed…

    • here is a 45 sec video parady of trump , tucker, and the iranians,,,
      https://x.com/RealFletch17/status/2033524526667948394?s=20

      baiting the hook,, setting the trap,, as the hunted becomes the hunter
      Trump sets traps and sets the snakes up on stage for all to see, remembering dr fauci and the scarf lady being put up front , center stage ,, I wonder about mark levin being set up, time will tell
      I don’t know what is going on with tucker and kelly,, are they flip flopping for real? as megan has flopped before and tucker’s dad was cia,,, apple tree
      droppings?
      https://www.facebook.com/shawnryanshow/videos/why-did-tucker-carlson-want-to-be-in-the-cia/1957559571327577/
      remember the fake feud between trump and elon, got a bunch of leftards to listen to elon as they were ‘keying’ teslas, to stop and listen

      sheeple, but they don’t like being refered to as ‘sheeple’,,, truth hurts their feelers,,, for me, I will wait and see what the tucker shit is in a few weeks, no hurry to jump to CONclusions

  12. GU : “… Sure, sure, a late snow will impact part of the country today …”

    This isn’t really a “late” snow in the north there Tex. We often continue to receive more through mid-April. It’s just dropping a trifle here, begun in earnest at first light. Most fear system snow. We shudder after passing of the low and watch lake effect snow spin off Great Lake Michigan in plumes.

    The worst spring snow in my memory was 10+ years back when about 14 associates and I rented the biggest grandest venue to have a (5) breakout set of sessions on advance tax planning. After weeks of work, and the 15 of us inviting (20) clients each, we were ready to rock on April 14th.

    The night of the 13th we received more than a trifle. Read : 7-8″ of heavy wet snow and it didn’t let up on the day. Probably 25 clients showed up anyway. What to do with a luncheon for (300) though? Call the shelter. Hey Father, any chance you’d like a huge in-kind food donation? Yep.

    What’s a trifle? Less than 4″ in my book. Warm(er) ground melts a trifle.

    As opposed truffles. There are never enough.
    C’mon Springtime!
    Egor

    ~ /)/) ~~~

    • “What’s a trifle? Less than 4? in my book. Warm(er) ground melts a trifle.”

      My temperature was 74°F at 1700; 64° at midnight. The ground has been clear for a week. The snow started sticking to grass at about 1000 and bare ground at 1300. By 1530 I was in a full blizzard with 40mph winds and visibility of about 80 feet. I’ve got temps in the teens the next two days, with temps back in the 70s by the end of the week.

      Ma Nature is showing her sense of humor, this year…

      • Ray : no kidding. But, is it funny? Wobbly remaining rotation brought slight light snow at nautical twilight. The (10) day suggests it will be 70F here this weekend while today, we are pegged in the high “teens” so … as the Germans say, it’s fresh here. Lots of damage as we reel in the next wave and next. Hopefully the wind machine is blown out for a bit. Stay well Sir! ~E~

  14. “US allies in EU and NATO refuse Trump’s demands to assist in reopening Strait of Hormuz”

    Little Bush had the insight to create a coalition before attacking Iraq. Perhaps Trump can tariff allies. Demand tribute and threaten to end NATO if they don’t sacrifice a few peeps.

    • OowS : though it seems right enough for naval powers to keep freedom of navigation. In that vein, also right to expect allies who actually use oil routed through the Straights should front up with a naval show of force. Meanwhile, there are plenty of alt. target sets. Bless our troops that they return from harms way. Egor

      • IMO this ^ was an own goal by the Brits. Some who could help have Navy minesweepers which would be very handy. We need everyone to contribute when advantaged by our Wins. Buncha freeloaders.

        What we don’t need is oil from the Gulf through the Straits.
        But, we do this for ingrates?
        Riles me up.

        E

        • Apparently China, India, and Pakistan are getting their oil … so they have no incentive to get involved.

          We all also know that with the HEAVY Islamic immigration into Western Europe that for any of those countries getting involved in a Middle East conflict could be very problematic from an Internal Security point of view. (remember the Red Brigade? The Belgium Separatists? the German Communist kidnappings? the IRA? etc. etc.. The governments in those countries certainly do)

          Already there are NO GO ZONES for the police in Sweden, France, the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany … with Italy not too far behind in some locations.

          Fear of an internal Civil War can easily paralize the government of any country, yep even the US, so when looking at that potential countries tend to tread lightly wrt events that could start that kind of cascading avalanche.

          Surprising to some Europe will still get much of it’s Persian Gulf oil since much of what it got was already coming out of the Saudi’s Red Sea port, which is upping it’s pumping from about 2.5 mbpd to 5 mbpd with a reworking of the pipeline that will take it to about 7 mbpd in about a month (so far Iran has NOT attacked that cross Saudi Arabia pipeline fwiw)

          No surprise to me that Europe does NOT want to get involved in a War started by Israel with the goals of that War being set by a minority religious fringe of that already small country.

        • When the shooting is done, WE will control the flow and distribution of Iranian oil. Everyone who’s buying it now is doing so at a huge discount, relative to the prevailing market prices (as were the countries who were purchasing Venezuelan crude.) WE will sell at par (Brent?) and if the EU wants any of it, they’ll zero their side of all tariffs or buy Iranian oil at a premium. The U.S. won’t make any money from our arrangements with Venezuela or Iran. Their profits will all go back to them. However, we will be in a position to cost the purchasers of this petro-energy a frickin’ fortune, and fill the Iranian coffers faster, should the EU or Commonwealth nations deserve a spanking. They’ve been spoiled children for too long…

  15. For what its worth…

    Having been through several droughts , my food plants made it through just fine.

    I use a five gallon bucket at the sink and one in the shower under the faucet. Used all cooking water and shower water , to keep the plants happy and healthy.

    If you have larger gardens you can save on laundry. No more big bath towels here. Used wash cloths to dry off after showering. This dramatically cut down on the number of loads we ran. I cheated , so to say , by using some of that “saved” water to hit areas needed.

    Also , youre local water treatment plant probably has a deal where you can get grey water from them. You need a device to put the water in and another way to get it out once youre home.

    Like I said , for what its worth.

  16. Another message from the new Supreme Leader – and once again it was read by a news anchor., and did not show the Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader .
    Current rumor is that he has been flown out of Iran., to Moscow, at Putin’s invitation., for major surgery. ., and that he does not know he is the new Supreme Leader, or that there is war currently going on.
    The rumors are really flying, but the only thing for certain is that he has not been seen since elected and has not posted a video of himself addressing his people, or reading his own statements.
    One Iranian commander stated simply: “We do not know.”

    The questions now – Who is leading the country and the Army? .., and., would you want to be the next Supreme Leader ? [ Israel has vowed to kill / assassinate any and all who take up the mantle of the Islamic Supreme Leader. No matter where they are., where they live., or where they hide.]

    “Stay Frosty !” [ This isn’t going to be over for a long time.]

  17. I’m a little surprised you didn’t figure out the mailbox thing sooner, G. Reflective white vs absorbitive black is a no-brainer. Might I suggest you have some tiny holes for airflow in the mailbox, as well?
    Years ago, when we had to replace roofing at our previous home, we chose white shingles. North facing would need the occasional mold killing treatment, but otherwise it was very nice. I’m guessing that our current location will need reroofed in the next few years. When it does, it’ll be white. Still juggling metal vs shingles. Guess that’ll be decide then, probably on cost factor.
    It’s looking like Wednesday will be back to spring conditions, and I’m hoping the ankle can take ladder climbing, again. It’s still swollen, and by my lucky charms, every color of the rainbow! Lol!

    • If you put an unpainted, galvanized cap on the peak of your white roof, it will help to reduce/eliminate the mold.

    • I’m not sure where you are, but properly done metal is one and done! I never regretted doing my metal roofs, and I’ll probably never install a shingle again! It’s night and day – shingles are repair and check every year, and metal is just there. The color might fade in the intense sun, but that’s it. easy to repair if it gets hit by a tree or you want to add another penetration, and animals have no hope of getting through it. Sure, it costs more and labor needs to know what it’s doing, but IMHO, it’s still a no brainer. Insulation under it makes sense too, in most cases.

      • Agreed, to a point. As the metal roof ages, heat/cool cycles cause the steel to expand and contract, and the wood stringers beneath the metal gradually shrink from moisture loss. This causes the screws holding the metal to the roof to become elevated above the metal surface, creating small leaks. Most are insignificant, but once the water finds a way through a nail hole, it causes problems inside the house. Screws need to be checked annually for tightness to prevent these leaks.

        • knew a guy with an old tin roof, he unscrewed every screw and applied RTV silicone and reinstalled them
          RTV acts as a anti vibration, holding screws or bolts that come loose on their own and sealed the fastener from being a leak source

  18. Something is happening here… what it is ain’t exactly clear. Echoes and rumbles of the past that bring fear. The true enemy of humanity. The first step to oppression. We deserve what we will tolerate. This dirt life is a thousand times more challenging than the float. Myriad complications and expense, and for what? We just want to be able to live in proximity, not in the quicksand. Thank the Dude we are not boatless, for that is a state that would possibly put this poor elder soul into a final depression, having spent the years after the last shipwreck just trying to escape the dirt again.
    Propane, H2O, all in good repair, readiness for Mad Max. Friends with a fuel powered yet sailing boat are readying to head North soon. They fear no fuel, even with a good rig and sails. He lived in Vanuatu for several years working and said it is a good place, shy friendly people, only about 200000 scattered over many tiny islands, and food everywhere. Ten days or less under general conditions. That thought relaxes my mind.
    No tension afloat. Tired? Just stop and float. Never a hurry, ever. Just whatever is out there at the time. Hove to. All things pass.
    Tough to heave to on dirt. Even a bunker will still fail to protect from an aftermath.
    The Shift requires exposure. Sol will decide who gets through.
    Stiks

    • “… Something is happening here… what it is ain’t exactly clear …”

      For those wondering, that’s Buffalo Springfield

      E

Comments are closed.