TL;DR: Our ham radio fascination with signals so weak feels like your ears will bleed is discussed in depth. But first, a review of the artificial line between “work” and “play” – a worthy contemplation when you get some time to reflect and “choice wisely” on things.
Shops Vs. Hobbies
Been having one of those personal moments of crisis this week. Doesn’t happen often, but it seems to be triggered when I try to make a rational decision about the boundary (and thus purpose and direction) between Work and Hobbies. Oh boy! Talk about opening a can of worms!
It’s a toughie. And it becomes even more bewildering when you toss in conceptual adjacencies. Like “crafts” for example.
The Mark Twain definition (“Work is what you have to do, Play is everything else”) line fails under the inspection light of acuity. See, Twain didn’t understand tech or modern medicine. By his definition, someone laid-up in a hospital bed – struggling for the breath to remain alive – would be engaged in Work. Therefore, on getting out of hospital, and going back to the office, for example, would then be Play. And that doesn’t feel quite right.
Shops Occupy Space, Hobbies the Mind?
I found myself wandering around “the Shop” a little after 4 AM today. There, in a large corner, was the “hobby shop” area.
That area has what you would expect as hobbies. There’s a model ship waiting to be assembled, several airplane models (yes, including a Beech Musketeer). But there’s also gunsmithing tools (quarts of Hoppe’s #9 for example) and even a small Wen lathe suitable for “pen turning” which is also a “hobby thing.”
But then I got thinking back to son G2’s “hobbies.” He’s (mostly) gotten over his compulsion to step out of “perfectly good airplanes” (skydiving). Now his focus is being able to throw lead a mile, or so, down range while standing. I have a hard enough time with that with a bench, sand bags, and a scope, but to each their own, I suppose.
Best line *(so far today) is that Hobbies are something you “like to keep in mind.” The dream of the “perfect bass” or the “14 point deer” or the picture painted with so much emotion that people burst into spontaneous tears or joy upon viewing.
“Ure Point?”
Well, guilt, I suppose. I spent all Saturday fine-tuning the UrbanSurvival website for you.
Don’t misunderstand – websites based on WordPress, a “content management system (CMS)” – aren’t that hard fundamentally. Just a piece of software with “two sides to it.” One side is “public facing” – which is what you read here. The other is “admin” facing. Which looks kinda like this.
Under that are over a hundred pages. Some of it is “posts” – articles I’ve written (and there are thousands). And there are “pages” which sounds only logical.
But on top of that? There are “plug-ins” (metaphorically like different grades of sandpaper or saw teeth – each to optimize a certain “this” or “that.”
If it stopped there, I wouldn’t still be reeling from the Work/Play encounter. Truth is, however, that I like the odd corner of computing called “algorithms.”
Saturday was a “chair-butt day, extraordinaire.” I won’t even begin to tell you the specifics fearing lawsuits over “eye glazing.” But at the end of it all, even my AI stack was saying “Pretty good.” Check out the review:
“From the latest Lighthouse readings, UrbanSurvival’s desktop performance is exemplary—scoring 97—with rapid rendering across all core metrics. The First Contentful Paint (0.3 s) and Largest Contentful Paint (0.7 s) are both well within the top decile globally. A Total Blocking Time of just 50 ms and a Cumulative Layout Shift of 0.104 indicate near-ideal interactivity and visual stability. On desktop, this places the site roughly in the top 1–2 percentile of all tested pages on the web worldwide.
Mobile is understandably slower, but still highly competitive. With a 74 score, First Contentful Paint at 1.0 s, and Largest Contentful Paint at 2.3 s, Urban’s mobile load performance sits in about the top 10–15 percentile worldwide—well ahead of most content-heavy or ad-served publications. The only significant drag is the 410 ms Total Blocking Time and moderate layout shift (0.287), both typical side effects of dynamic ad calls or deferred JavaScript.
In real-world terms, this means UrbanSurvival now loads faster than nearly every mainstream news, finance, or blog platform. Readers see content almost instantly, even on phones, with smooth interaction and stable layout behavior. The tuning work has moved the site from “good for a WordPress install” to “elite-class fast,” where further improvements would yield only marginal human-perceptible gains.”
A friend of mine used to tell me my fascination with website speed was displaced – and she may be right. But that’s where we circle back to the top of this morning’s amble-scramble. What’s Work? What’s play?
My Ham Radio Future
This next part will only make sense to ham radio operators. But again, we’re in those hobby-work overlap zones today. Once upon a time, radio was pure science (TYesla, Marconi), then a tech revolution (the 1929 Market Mania where Radio was the buzz – a riff on AI today (and with similar outcomes ahead). After which is became “Radio and TV Repair.
But ham radio is worlds part. My late friend Don Stoner (W6TNS, sk) used to call it “The King of Hobbies” because there was no “single thing” in the well-equiped shop, that didn’t leverage itself into ham radio. Welcing up huge towers to sky-hang antennas…CNC to hog out one-off printed circuit boards. 3D printers to hold new radio projects. Woodworking to make the finecustom equipment desk.
But there’s also the “Mind” candy. For me?
Morse Code’s Attraction
One morning, it happens. You flip on the ham shack lights, look across all the glowing dials, and realize you’ve built yourself a museum instead of a radio station.
The Hallicrafters look-alikes—a kind of Collins homage that’s equal parts art deco, sixties tech, and Cold War—throws a soft amber grin across the bench. Above it, the Ten-Tec Omni VII hums like an old friend who knows too much. The Kenwood TS-590, the SR-400 Cyclone—each one represents an era of curiosity that never went back in the box.
Some mornings I can almost hear them whispering among themselves: the boatanchor gossip about SDR kids, software defined radios – digital rigs rolling eyes at anything with filaments. It’s a regular multigenerational reunion of electrons.
Problem is whether this is “ham radio success.” 62 years of slapping keys, tinkering, trading, and rescuing orphan antiques from swap-meets, I’ve finally reached the point where everything works—and that’s the danger zone. A working station is a trap for an aging brain that still craves a frontier. When there are too many choices, even the most disciplined op starts spinning knobs like a lab rat craving dopamine pellets or something stronger.
Wednesday’s Peoplenomics piece—on decision-making with partial solutions—got me thinking about it. The shack is an exact model of the modern mind: overloaded, competent, but directionless. At some point you have to stop collecting possibilities and revert to defining missions.
So I sat here one night, lights dimmed, hushed QSO on 75 down low, and asked myself: what’s left that still feels like discovery? Gimme some BUZZ, damn it! I can’t even get on the roof without a permission slip (or killing surveillance video).
Absenting spinning through 40 meters, there it was. Down in the mud. Young ops would miss it. I couldn’t copy it at first, either. It was buried so deep that the filters & repamps had to be tightened until the until the Omni breathed like a diver at depth. And there it was—the same thrill that hooked me decades 62-years ago when I first learned “copy in the mud.” Weak signals. This was game on at the edge of hearing.
Somewhere in that static, my aging-ham riddle was answered. It isn’t about how many radios Ican resurrect, or how many antennas constituted a “copper overcast.” It’s about focus. A single, measurable frontier that sharpens the mind and keeps the heart curious. Hmm. Weak signals could be “It.”
Weak Signals Fascination
There’s something almost mystical about a CW (Morse) signal living down in the thermal noise of the ham bands. It’s like finding a faint heartbeat under ten blankets of static. Every operator faces the same eternal question: how deep into the noise do you want to pan for gold — that rare callsign pulled from impossible conditions, a real DX ghost contact?
Over the years, hams have thrown a lot of engineering and imagination at that problem.
One of the earliest breakthroughs was the adoption of an RF amplifier stage at the front end of a receiver — right next to the antenna. Besides pulling signals up out of the mud, it solved another problem from wartime radio history: re-radiation. Early receivers without RF stages leaked enough local oscillator energy back out the antenna that German U-boats could triangulate on merchant ships just by sniffing the faint “whistles” those sets emitted. An RF stage not only added sensitivity; it also stopped the enemy from using your radio as a homing beacon. A few added two stages for even more reradiation insurance.
The next innovation — at least to my way of thinking — came from the folks at Radio Manufacturing Engineers (RME). They introduced something called variable BFO injection, and it was brilliant.
See, when a signal hits the antenna, it’s converted to an intermediate frequency (IF) for amplification. But CW is only a carrier. You can’t hear dots and dashes without creating an artificial “beat” tone locally— injecting a second signal just off the IF frequency (maybe 500 to 1,000 Hz away) so your ear can hear the difference as that familiar dit or dah.
Most manufacturers back when — Hallicrafters, Hammarlund, National — used fixed BFO injection levels. It worked fine, but there was always a trade-off. On extraordinarily weak signals, that injected tone could swamp what you were trying to hear.
RME’s idea was to make the BFO injection variable, letting the operator throttle it back until the beat note just kissed the noise. It was like a volume knob for the edge of reality. On their RME-6900 (yes, there’s one sitting here in the shack), that control made the difference between “nothing there” and “got him!”
That design also happened to improve weak-signal reception for the newly emerging single-sideband (SSB) voice signals — another art form entirely.
Then came Collins Radio’s mechanical filters, and everything changed.
Bandwith Noise, and Weak Signals
A CW signal has a bandwidth of maybe 10 to 15 Hz — a wisp, really — but most receivers were as broad as a barn, pulling in 2 to 4 kHz of static along with the signal. That’s hundreds of times more noise energy than the signal you’re chasing. Collins built their reputation on mechanical filters that could carve that down to a knife’s edge. But they were expensive. For most of us, the only time we got near one was staring at the glossy catalog pages or drooling at Field Day when someone brought a 75S-3. My history teacher, the late Bob Langley, K7WYK, had an S-3B with the 200 Hz filter and we’d “do homework” every night on 80 CW.
On the poor side of town, I resorted to a cheaper trick: the Q-multiplier.
A Q-multiplier connects to the IF chain and nudges the tuned circuit right up to the edge of oscillation. As it approaches that brink, the circuit’s effective Q skyrockets — like stretching a rubber band to the point just before it snaps. The result is razor-sharp selectivity without the Collins price tag.
That’s how my old Hallicrafters S-20R, my first real radio, went from “wide as a cornfield” to “200 Hz of tight focus” with about fifteen bucks’ worth of parts. My uncle was in the radio parts business, which didn’t hurt — one transistor, a handful of resistors and capacitors, on tuneable coil, and it was downright magical.
My buddy “The Major” was a Heathkit man. He started with the HR-10 receiver to match his DX-60 transmitter. That HR-10 had a two-pole crystal filter — wide – roomy enough for a dance floor of static. Displeased that I was working exotic countries like Rhodesia (which doesn’t even exist anymore), he upgraded to the SB-300, which sported a six or eight-pole crystal filter. Suddenly, he was the one mopping the floor with me on the high bands where my poor single-conversion Hallicrafters sparked and wheezed.
But the absolute cream of the Q-multiplier crop? The Drake 2B — and its 2BQ companion.
Even today, that rig is magic. 4.9 stars out of 5 for 63 year old tech? rtoday, we can’t get through a week without patches and updatges, right?
The 2B was a perfect balance of analog purity and design elegance — a reminder that “enough engineering” is better than “too much technology.” When you tune a 2B down into the noise, you don’t just hear a signal; you feel it emerging, like stepping onto the audio stage.
Next year? Yeah, an Icom 7300MKII will earn its place here — when the new version drops in 2026 with a proper HDMI output for my aging eyes, tired bifocals and flip-ups. For now, I’m not sold on all the DSP (digital signal processing) wizardry the manufacturers are pushing. It’s powerful, yes — you can notch out a mosquito cough in Madagascar — but somewhere, the art of listening got replaced by algorithmic decision-making. I’m an unrepentant knob-twister.
And I’ve still got something new up my sleeve for weak sigs.
The hobby corner that isn’t just about weak-signal reception. It’s about merging vintage analog craft with modern DSP control in a way that honors both. The goal isn’t another fancy display. It’s the same one that drove us as teenagers: hearing something nobody else could, through persistence, patience, and a slightly obsessive love of noise. Peoplenomics readers will remember my notes on “mental dithering” that I made public here.
The Trick Up the Sleeve?
Here’s the twist that’s been rattling around in my head: an old studio trick most hams never think about—expanders. Every audio engineer knows them. In the pro-sound world we live and die by companders—compressors and expanders chained together to keep signal and noise on a leash. The “compress” half squashes loud peaks; the “expand” half does the opposite, it stretches the quiet stuff farther away from the noise. Add a bit of gating and you can make a whisper ride cleanly above a city’s hum.
Somewhere along the road from Collins to Icom, to Yaesu, radio designers forgot that lesson.
Imagine taking a sharp-kneed expander—one whose threshold sits right at the noise floor of a receiver—and using it not to kill the noise, but to breathe life into a marginal CW signal. The detector feeds an envelope follower; the expander opens only when something real peeks above the hiss, then slams shut again the instant the carrier fades. Instead of the usual AGC “smothering,” you’d have a kind of micro-dynamic gate that tracks the ionosphere itself.
Pro audio does this all day long with VST-type plugins, but ham rigs? Nothing.
Manufacturers brag about DSP filters, roofing filters, notch filters—but not one seems to have asked what would happen if you biased an expander right on that knife edge where quantum noise and human perception trade handshakes.
To me that’s frontier stuff. When you’re chasing signals ten decibels below the static peaks, a conventional AGC is like a bulldozer; an expander tuned to the noise knee can be a scalpel. Adjust the attack and release times, and you might actually hear dots and dashes rising out of what used to be unworkable mush. Hey! Works on “loud-breathing singers” in a booth, right?
It’s not snake oil—just a missing feedback loop between audio dynamics and RF gain. The circuitry could live entirely in baseband: a precision RMS detector feeding a voltage-controlled amplifier, or even a small ARM chip running an adaptive expander curve. Nothing exotic, just applied curiosity.
Why the blindness? Maybe because ham engineers chase measurable specs—noise figure, dynamic range—while expanders live in the gray area of perceived clarity. You can’t measure “the moment when meaning emerges.” But any CW op who’s strained for a call sign at 1 a.m. knows it when it happens.
So that’s what’s on the bench next: an old trick from Abbey Road repurposed for the ionosphere.
A single knob labeled Threshold, another for Ratio, and maybe a switch marked Magic.
If it works, it won’t make the signal stronger. It’ll just make the noise get out of the way—and that, friends, is what frontier work looks like after seventy years of turning knobs.
Sidebar: Compression & Expansion School
Comnpress is the easy one. You take all the quiet sounds and make them louder. But you don’t make the loud any louder. That’s the principle that make AM radio sound so damn good. Because even the quiet parts come through cloud and clear. In my heyday as a broadcast engineer, 20-30 dB of compression was not unusual.
But when comes to expansion – that is different. Because there are two types of audio expansion.
One type is called DOWNWARD expansion. It won’t make that weak signal you’re trying to hear any louder. But it will “press the noise” down when the signal isn’t there. You get what sounds like “signal plus noise” above the lowered noise.
UPWARD expansion is more graceful. You adjust the noise floor – with no signal – and then make the expander function add in gain above the noise floor. In theory, the upward expansion should sound about like downward expansion. But, it’s like road testing a Corvette at 90 versus a Lexus. They will both “do it” – just one’s really built for those conditions more closely.
OK, do you pick up a $70 downward expanding DBX 166XL on eBay? Or, do you go for an Aphex upward expander for a few more bucks? Try $300 if you can find a used Expressor.
I may try a downward expansion track first:
Tthe 622 is worth a shot as a downwards expander / gate. It may not be perfect, but it’s a good low-cost experiment before investing in a true upward expander.
Setup?
- Patch receiver audio ? 622 ? rest of audio chain (monitor / rig).
- Use sidechain filters on the 622 keyed to your CW band (so it listens mostly to your tone).
- Set threshold just above noise RMS (so the gate doesn’t stay shut during faint signals).
- Use a release in the 100–200 ms region (tweak shorter/longer) to avoid “chatter” between dits.
- Listen for clipping of weak tails or distortion — back off ratio or raise threshold if that happens.
- Measure (if possible) before/after SNR or compare copy consistency at marginal signal strength.
If you try it and the benefit is ~3–4 dB, you’ll know that upward expansion (or a proper expander) is necessary for the extra bit. But the 622 might give something for the $120 — could be a worthwhile step. Science ain’t free, right?
The Platform for Madness
And since every new idea is an excuse to buy a new tool, since it needs a laboratory, the Universe obliged this week: an Airspy Discovery HF+ landed on the bench.
If you’ve never played with one, it’s an absurd little marvel. Unlike the old superhets, it doesn’t stop where analog physics used to say “that’s enough.” The Discovery’s front end can see well below the thermal noise floor—that –140 dBm region on 20 meters and down where ordinary receivers just give up and hiss. On a good night, that means pulling meaning from the statistical fog itself.
If you haven’t visited the legendary Rob Sherwood’s Sherwood Engineering site here, you’ll see how few manufacturers are in that -140 dbm club. Rob has retired after 45-years but we hated to see it – thisd was the lighthouse for what radios were really “tops.”
Here’s Where I’m Headed
This may take a year to realize – a small antenna matching building needs to be cobbled – trees felled – drones carrying antenna halyards deployed – sure, all that.
A double-coax Beverage aimed toward Europe—two long wires strung low and quiet, a listening ear the size of a pasture. The Beverage feeds the Airspy, which delivers the raw baseband IQ stream to the SDR software. That part’s textbook.
The trick shot comes next.
Instead of routing the audio straight to headphones, I’ll pipe it through a consumer audio mixer—the kind every bar band and podcast kid owns that proudly advertises “99 digital effects.”
Buried among the karaoke reverbs and alien delays is one humble controsl marked Expander and Compressor.
That’s the gold mine.
Picture this: you hear a CW signal somewhere in the noise, but it’s just shy of readability. Bring it up on the Airspy display, fine-tune the filters, and then let the mixer’s expander ride the edge. If my hunch is right, that marginal +2 dB above noise signal might be expanded into something that feels six decibels clear—just enough for the ear-brain combo to lock on and start copying.
It’s half science, half voodoo, and entirely the sort of experiment that keeps gray matter from ossifying.
On the transmit side there’s nothing exotic: a 1½-wave OCFD antenna, the venerable GSB-100 transmitter feeding the Johnson Thunderbolt—a pair of 4-400s loafing along at six hundred watts key-down. Plenty of honest RF muscle for giving something back to the ether I’m mining.
And Then I Woke Up
1:07 AM Tuesday, thanks for asking.
“George you idjit, why are you stuck on analog?” Well…er…I can see it? Think like it?
“Dude – do it all in code! No, not Morse you dolt – Computer Code!” Uh…(it was an embarrassing self-catch).
“1. Install and enable JACK Audio.
Windows build from jackaudio.org ? run jackd or the “JackRouter” service. Set your sample rate to match SDR# (usually 48 kHz).
- In SDR#:
Set output device to “JackRouter” instead of your normal sound card. Now the SDR’s demodulated audio appears as a virtual input channel.
- In Audacity or your VST host:
Choose “JackRouter” as the input. You’ll see SDR#’s stream as if it were a live mic feed.
- Add your cheap upward expander VST.
There are a few free ones that actually work decently:
- ReaJS / ReaComp from the ReaPlugs pack (can do upward expansion if ratio < 1).
- Auburn Sounds “Renegate” — free, simple gate/expander hybrid.
- Melda MCompressor — supports upward expansion curves.
- Monitor latency.
JACK adds a little delay; keep buffer sizes small (128–256 samples) so CW and weak-signal tone timing stay natural.
- (Optional) If you prefer a lighter DAW than Audacity for live processing, Cantabile Lite or VSTHost work great with JACK and give you instant control over expansion ratio and threshold….”
Now I Need Time Slices…
So that’s the plan: an old-school, glow-in-the-dark station listening through a digital microscope, its heartbeat gated by a karaoke mixer. If it works, maybe we’ll finally hear what’s hiding below the static. If it doesn’t—well, at least it will sound fantastic while failing.
Because that’s ham radio in a nutshell: perpetual curiosity, a solder-burned finger or two, and a sense that the next great frontier isn’t Mars or the Moon. It’s right here on the waterfall, ten Hertz wide and three decibels deep.
And as the Thunderbolt idles, filaments warm, and the Airspy’s spectrum begins to glow, I have to laugh at the symmetry of it all. Aging brains, aging radios—both still chasing whispers.
Maybe that’s the real secret of staying young: never stop listening for the faint ones.
Oh, and don’t push 4,000 word columns out.
Either that or memorize the definition for a word I seem to have overloked.
Brevity.
Write when I get free.
George@Ure.net
First-time here? Hit the Visitor Center for orientation – which is beginning right now…
Oddly some months ago I had my Omni VII and Yaesu FTDX10 connected to the same antenna switch and I was listening to 80m CW, comparing the two receivers on one fairly weak CW signal. The Omni sounded “old” — it was trying but only produced a difficult half readable fuzzy signal that to my mind at the time, reminded me of an “all American 5” table radio. Switching to the Yaesu, things brightened considerably, the signal was all there, defined, and easy to copy. The 20? years of difference really showed.
“First-time here? Hit the Visitor Center for orientation – which is beginning right now…”
I suggest every reader, first time or long time, hit the visitor center and read George’s brief analysis. Pearls of wisdom in every paragraph.
“Durable wealth is what you carry in your spirit.
It’s the knowledge, humor, and joy that travel light — even into a hospital bed or nursing home.
If you can still laugh and love on the way out, you’ve already beaten the house.”
This is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. There are many reasons to be caught up in the daily barrage of pain and suffering both personal and global. It seems to never end. Thanksgiving is an opportunity to look beyond the noise and move to place of gratitude for all that is good in life. For those that can see this are truly the lucky ones.
From a poem I recently wrote for my grandchildren.
“For we are souls that walk the earth
And life is more than death and birth
And at the end the body dies
But the spirit always flies”
Happy Thanksgiving
And that’s the best Thanksgiving of all. To the Realms!
Lovely thought BIC.
Give thanks,
E
all i know is the air is electric with energy . strap in this is gunna be a week in history .the pendulum always ends up in the middle pointing down
The air is short circuited with moisture! It’s been raining here for days or more and I’m growing moss in the desert. Heating the house helps keep the humidity down inside, but if I were to venture out, I’d melt! The ground is mud and everything worth doing outside is on hold. Too bad, but if I can get the humidity down far enough to feel human, work can get done. There’s a fine balance for each of us as to ideal weather for our personal physiology. At least dishy on the roof continues to behave flawlessly and I can communicate. Probably time to catch up on paperwork, etc.
We’ll have to check with Princess Nancy, of ABQ, but there’s good dockage out toward the city from the hills east of town if you just buy and are willing to hold, oh, geological time, or so…
And here, I was thinking of bitching about day after day after day of temps of 80 degrees (plus or minus 5°F) and 25% relative humidity (plus or minus 10%), blue skies, sunny days, crispy nights. I had to suffer through almost three weeks of this before it rained for a day. Now I’m in the midst of suffering through it for another 10-11 days. It’s utterly amazing how Ma Nature behaves once the chemtrails go away…
“Write when I get free.”
Hilarious !
Gritology model is keeping Humanity pinned to the noise floor.
Once overhead – a several mile wide, miles long Non Surface Vehicle will break the headlock Gritology has entangled us in.
Till then more of the same ole same ole..e=mc2 bullscheisse
* Will the White “Gods” ever walk among us again ? (tartaria my ass)
Only the shadow knows..and she aint talking just yet.
youve lost it mate
(“Shops vs. Hobbies”)
they say you can’t die until all your projects are done a call your debts paid..I’ve cultivated a wide range of hobbies over the years — not out of distraction, but out of devotion. Each interest is a doorway into deeper understanding, whether it’s engineering from scraps, restoring ancestral culinary techniques, or exploring mythological teachings. I don’t pursue hobbies to pass time; I pursue them to preserve meaning. And when someone shows genuine interest, I see it as an invitation — not just to teach, but to transmit legacy. In a world that often values specialization, I believe in the richness of multiplicity. Curiosity, after all, is the true inheritance we can offer.The friendships I’ve made over the years aren’t just connections — they’re forged bonds, tempered by hardship and held together by the kind of endurance that defines true character. In those relationships, I’ve come to understand the full weight of the Marine Corps motto: Semper Fidelis — always faithful. Not just to country, but to each other. To the promise that when things fall apart, someone will still stand beside you reach out and offer a hand up.. I think that’s why I’m a Seahawks fan..in every game they play hard but if they knock someone down out goes the hand an offer to hey its just a game here let me help you up… These friendships have taught me that fidelity isn’t just about loyalty in easy times — it’s about showing up when it’s hardest, and holding the line when others falter. That’s the legacy I carry in my heart, and the meaning I try to live. great post one that truly had me thinking..
GU : “… Best line *(so far today) is that Hobbies are something you “like to keep in mind.” The dream of the “perfect bass” or the “14 point deer” or the picture painted with so much emotion that people burst into spontaneous tears or joy upon viewing. …”
Front page load time maintains -or- drops visitors _very_ quickly. It was once upon a time 30 seconds (dial up era) then 15 seconds to now … speed or delete. Visitors are willing to wait longer if they selected an offered hyperlink but _not_ on the front page.
We have (4) principals, with (4) sets of devices (VHS and BetaMax) to look at functionality, speed, glitches. Thankfully, as MARCOMM, none of that is my affair. Great you tackle this George, for benefit of all. Old builds suffer from clunky extensions but, the source info otherwise goes ether.
Gorgeous morning here. NE breeze collided with low moisture laden cloud cover which collided with warm(er) water to go black out conditions at 11 am. Gorgeouso. Mated swans did a low level flyby while I stood at the boathouse. Bald Eagles are on the air, seeking second breakfast.
Likely a tumultuous week ahead. Don’t let emotions dictate moves.
Tidal Turning may sport surprising turns.
Always, Egor ~ /)/) ~~
Excellnt remarks Admiral Egor. Problem with small fry (the minnows under your dock) have is not only are we in charge of hiring he MARCOMM dept, but we have to shave it, get it’s hair cut when it can drag itself off a bleeding monitor and out of tea and cbd and writing endlessly about what may come down the road. I just wish I could VMG to weather as well as I slide betwixt domains…
“..,as well as I slide betwixt domains…”
.
“He turned sideways and slipped through a crack in time.”
– Steven [ drug addict ] King
In terms of US law and benefits programs of the State, any activity Ure going to engage in past the age of 72 years is a hobby.
I’m still interested in how to make contact with Ure entourage with the Internet DNS systems shut down. This requires some sort of hard IP address to go to. I know you gave up on keeping your full site open on a direct hard code IP channel. I have no idea how to coax an ISP into recognizing (and allowing) a static IP address. I know there are services that provide static IP addresses (for a fee), but they are pricey, and their reliability is limited. And it isn’t really desirable to have a single static IP for personal use. Static addresses are too easy to attack. I figure a static address would cost another fee, at an increased price.
Does anyone make a host server appliance box for small sites ? I have screwed around with tinker-toy servers in the past, and they are a bitch to get up and running, and maintain.
so if someone is over 72 and getting social security, no UI even if they were working and got fired today?
States follow the same basic federal principle: classification as a business or a hobby depends on profit motive and conduct, not on the owner’s age. No state statutes redefine business activity as a “hobby” because someone is past 72 or any other retirement age. State tax codes largely mirror the IRS standard for business income and expenses, using federal definitions of “trade or business” as the starting point.
When it comes to unemployment insurance, age again is not a disqualifier. A person of 73 can file a claim if they meet the same eligibility requirements as anyone else—recent covered employment, sufficient earnings in the base period, and active availability for work. Most states explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of age under their unemployment statutes and mirror the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
What typically happens is practical, not legal. A 73-year-old who left work voluntarily to retire would not qualify for benefits because of voluntary separation, not age. But if that same person was laid off and is still able and available to work, they may collect unemployment. The weekly benefit amount and duration are calculated the same way as for any other claimant.
Some states add minor administrative filters for “retirees,” such as requiring stronger proof of active job search or a statement that the claimant is genuinely seeking employment. But these do not convert work into a hobby or block eligibility; they just prevent someone from collecting while fully retired and unavailable for work.
In sum: federal and state law both define business by intent and activity, not age. A 73-year-old can legally operate a business, deduct expenses, and even file for unemployment if laid off, provided they are still available for suitable work. Age alone never triggers reclassification to “hobby” status.
By the way, this is a commonly misquoted, misu8nderstood point of tax law – we’re not roasting your pechewzelwhacker – xbut I would point out that a lot of ANTIFA and anti-White groups work this kind of narrative because it is divisive. We don’t do that. We;re totally good with equality for all – same metrics for all air breathers regardless of melatonin densities. HOWEVER IQ is a different deal – not racially based (of course!) but COMPETENCY BASED.
And that’s where the lerft of liberal toads fail. Most have lazy bones and want to whack to do a cultral smash and grab – no, not in this crowd you don’t. We’re still paying and we don’t pay for divisive lying shit.
(whew! meds please?)
NO!!! Wow – my consigliere would slap me if he read you posting that. because?
The claim that once you pass age 72 any activity you engage in is legally a hobby is false. There is no federal or state law that turns a business into a hobby based on age. The distinction between hobby and business comes from the IRS rules about profit motive, not from how old you are.
Under IRS Code Section 183, an activity is considered a business if it is carried on with the intent to make a profit. The IRS looks at factors such as whether you keep good records, operate in a businesslike manner, depend on the income for your livelihood, make efforts to improve profitability, and show a consistent pattern of income or profit. If the activity produces a profit in at least three of the last five years, that usually supports classification as a business.
If it’s a hobby, losses are not deductible beyond the income it earns, and you cannot write off expenses the same way you can for a business. But the key point is that age does not matter. You can be 30 or 90—if you are running something to make money, it can qualify as a business.
The age 72 idea probably comes from confusion with retirement and benefits rules. For example, at age 72 you must begin taking required minimum distributions from certain retirement accounts, and Social Security has its own retirement earnings tests. But those have nothing to do with whether you are allowed to run a business or deduct expenses.
In short, U.S. law does not declare that working after age 72 makes your activity a hobby. If you run your enterprise with a profit motive, proper records, and businesslike behavior, it remains a legitimate business regardless of age.
Income from hobbies has always been taxable. So are you a retiree with hobby income, or are you a full time internet mogul with earned income? Mandatory tax deferred benefit withdrawal? Earned income? SSA take-out?
I do know a few who continue drawing earned income into their eighties, but the herd is thin by that age.
I am earned income and paying amt and paying quarterlies both to state and feds – I keep thinking about closuing up shop and having a life, though, lol
I’m not expecting to draw earned income past 72. My goal was to cut it off at 70, but high inflation will monkey wrench that, sigh.
I have gone through numerous wild business scale-ups, from 300 – 3000 in five years back 40 years ago, another went from 200 – 2000 in the same amount of time. One outfit cycled from 40 – 400 and back several times while I was with them. The current employer has been stable, but looks like they are about to start a wild growth phase. There will be some who get rich off it, but it won’t be me. In the end, the local good-olds take over, wreck the Company, and I either bail or get sent packing. Don’t think this one will last to my age 72.
Side note from an accountant type on hobby vs income. IRS says you have to make a profit in 3 out of 5 years before you get to deduct any losses. If you are making money they will definitely let you pay taxes. But if your hobby has more red ink than black then you only get to use that loss for the limited amount of time.
Fine tuning information matters, as I finish a 45 page tax return for a client with 11 partnerships and a few side gigs. I am surprised I made it through this far – just a few short days to go!! And I consider it a success if I use up all the numbers they gave me!! Happy Trails to all this week.
” I keep thinking about closuing up shop and having a life, though, lol”
Who are you kidding? You would be bored. Face it… this IS your life!
As I’ve started down the long (hopefully) slide to the end of this adventure series, my failing eyesight and mobility have forced me to set aside most of the hobbies I’ve played with over the years. Fortunately, a large monitor and a still active imagination allow me to keep writing, although at a slower publishing pace. I also can still keep in touch with world events, through this site and its eclectic band of followers.
As a fan of your work (for those who don’t know, here: https://amzn.to/4nTrNkC ) I would suggest you pop for the biggest monitor you can and I’m on a 55 and likely enroute to a 65 come year end. But I also have chat and grok and a usb mic – i DON’T use it much -yet – but I am training it for when “that time wuill come” because world is going to need “useul old ops around” sooner than we might think. I keep hoping to hear from Capt. Gooding more too, but he’s off playing Monopoly with real properties and bewteemn family and such not enough time in the day. But another Seniro WRiter in the wings there, as well.
Thanks for the kind words & the plug. I set close to my 35″ monitor & it works OK. I haven’t yet tried to do speech to text yet.
I’m looking forward to more stories from Captn Goodnight & D Lynn, and your next book.
I have never been much of a ‘follower’., or ‘joiner’.., Groups, clubs, political associations, organizations, committee’s., Fraternal Order of Cabbage Pickers.,, none of them., mainly because they do nothing, well., except sit around and talk about what they might do.., and weren’t going anywhere near my direction in life. Every one I have seen are just a big waste of time.., my time.
I have now been asked to join the Senior Center. Seems ‘Ole Chester’ is a member of the board and has given me a life long membership. I am not quite sure how to turn it down.
/
I will admit it – I, in no way, want to get that involved in Ham radio. I do have my little set-up [ thanks to you..,] and a couple of back-ups for just listening., [ those are wrapped and tucked away in my EMP can.] but that’s as far as I am taking it.
Having said that – I do read and take notes on all of your Ham posts.., a character in the novel I am working on has a minor part, throughout the novel, as a ham operator., and in his own way, working out of a small room, in the loft of a barn., helps tell the horror of his times. To do that, with any authority and accuracy – I have paid attention to your posts., and have learned a lot.
So.., for that, I am grateful – thanks.
dLynn : “… Fraternal Order of Cabbage Pickers …” snork, must be a regional group, never heard of them, so maybe a good group to join? I enjoy large groups but not working with them. At my advanced age I prefer steering the ship through quiet whisper to the Captain(s) over their shoulder. I have (3) lake YC BoD members in my sights. In each case explain I don’t want to joust in a group meeting, just have a brief chat. In some cases an offer that’s hard to refuse comes next. If they will try my proposal I may apply seed capital to fund _X_.
Like you, I have a HAM set for worst case but don’t tinker.
Today my big boat comes out. Next, the racer.
E2, DIL, E3 arrive end of the week.
Total soup here. Can barely see end of our pier.
Buckle up sports fans (mkt chaos).
Shalom aleichem.
Egor
“I have now been asked to join the Senior Center. Seems ‘Ole Chester’ is a member of the board and has given me a life long membership. I am not quite sure how to turn it down.”
Don’t turn it down.
I am of the same disposition WRT clubs, organizations, etc., and what you didn’t mention is, in today’s society, by joining a club, you surrender information — data which can (and will) be used against you. MY local Senior Center is not like that (except an asshat will occasionally comb the parking lot and record the license numbers, to be run through the DMV and 10-28s later sold.
However, my bestie retired a few months back and now is on the Board at my local Senior Center. He made the same arrangement for me.
I have been there once. They don’t know how to play Cribbage, Rummy, or Pinochle, and their Euchre skills are abysmal. Every one believes Blackjack is Poker. They ALL hover and “dodder” and nearly all have serious issues with “over-repetitiveness.” The only time they get a collective hard-on is when the bus arrives for the casino day-trip.
With that said, it is likely to be the best source for a certain type of networking — that of linking to retired skilled tradesmen, for job leads, or for how-tos for stuff for which one only gets a single chance to “do it right.”
It doesn’t cost anything, and you’re not ever obligated to go (unless you get sucked onto the Board…)
I’m no expert on digital modes… don’t use them myself. But how does a system like WSPR dig out signals that allegedly are well BELOW the noise floor and inaudible? There’s a line of research for you.
Glad you’re coming around to ultimate bit-slicing, awaiting the “7300 for the Blind” option.
Ifs the 7300 MK2 comes ith voice, too, it’s almost ready to be the first aham radio for the deaf dumb and blind. Why next, look for Icom to revamp politics!
Never had a ‘hobby’. Never collected anything except power objects related to my life. Once I discovered sailing, I was lost and that became my goal. Just do it as much as possible, and make it be ‘work’. It’s been nearly seventy years since that fateful day on the Bay and that one simple goal has stood me well during this life. Thousands of ocean miles, years of daily windsurfing for ‘work’, hundreds of thousands of miles of global travel by air, a hundred visits to China over twenty five years, building or rebuilding multiple useful boats, and all because of a cold, wet, windy day on rugged waters when I was ten years old. I’m sure it saved me from having a white station wagon and commuting from some suburb to a mind numbing task that would drone me into being over weight and sick. My parents weren’t into sailing, or much of anything except fighting and drinking, the whole family was completely dirt based, but something in that wild uncomfortable uncertainty of that day, the thrill of heeling and charging into the wind, the big spinnaker crazy rolling us downwind, made it so all I did was draw sailboats and dream about getting to islands and exploring a new place. There was no logic, no thought process that brought me there, just wonderful fate of Mom having a friend with a nice 36′ sloop that raced on the Bay.
Great old saying… if you want your kids to stay off drugs, just get them into sailboats and they will never be able to afford the drugs.
Thank the universe that humans have been sailing for thousands of years. And thanks to Dr Cross for being a sailor too (and a top neurosurgeon who could afford it!)
Stiks
George
You are bringing it all back for an old HiFi hobbyist from the late 1970s.
One of my best buddies in college in Tuscaloosa came from a Birmingham Broadcasting family, who settled in Florence in NW Alabama and ran a regional AM radio station and three low powered UHF TV stations for the three Networks in the local TV market ( but ‘aha, which also gave them the signal to fee the then new Regional CABLE market.)
This guy and I both poo-pooed the stuff people would listen to on FM radio. We would be up with our tuned AM receiver sections and hand made loop antennas mounted in the attic space of my apartment bringing in a live Stones concert being broadcast out of Toronto or Quebec down little old Tuscaloosa. While I had a 1952 F1 with a 239 flat head v-8 in the carport, he had old theater console radios with loop antennas of flat wire surrounding the entire cabinet and 15″ electromagnet speakers tuned to 80-14000hz that played louder the hotter they got. Some of the local and regional FM stations would premier new albums. We on the other had were DXing live music!
Little Big Al graduated about 2008. about that time I got some of my old stereo equipment out of the attic and assembled a set so he could listen to something not on a ‘box’.
He stared at it through about on side of one album and then called several friends to come to his room and hear what his dad had built him. He said bring something you want to hear in “real life” you are not going to believe this.
He had never heard a full sized discreet element stereo system before.
So now you have reignited something I must do again, play recorded music at High fidelity and near live volume. That means cabinetry as well because I have the parts for a 3/4 scale pair of Klipschorns stored away in the attic.
This may never get done.
I used to DX AM while growing up in the 60s. I kept a log but never tried to contact any of them. The best time was as the sun was going down, when I could catch some small stations before they signed off or cut power. I had a small desktop tube radio (Admiral, I think) that sounded way better than anything out there now. Eventually I got a multiband radio for Christmas. It could pick up CB, but couldn’t process sidebands so it sounded like drunks talking. It could also pick up the mobile phone service they had before cell phones…..those people clearly had no idea anyone else could hear them.
In our little town, I was in the range of exactly 2 FMs – one simulcast its AM counterpart in mono, and the other played elevator music. It got interesting one night when a couple of guys were snowed in at the first one after signoff time, and played some good stuff with no commercials. Then one day I clamped the clothespin from our outdoor TV antenna onto the multiband receiver and started picking up Wichita FM, 300 miles away, like it was next door. Turns out some of them have their antennas on the towers used by TV stations. In fact, when things were just right I caught some TV stations skipping in (on the TV set, not the radio), including one from Mexico. Cable TV put an end to that.
And was it fun – like addictive? My guess is hell yeah!
Ham friend back in the midwest bought a patch of land on the highest hill in the county and built his house there. Put up massive multi-beam TV antennas. He was a TV DXer! Screenshot pix of station IDs from all over the midwest!
I used to AM DX also, looking for the best rock & roll and heavy metal stuff. Clear channel KAAY in Little Rock was the best. AM tube radio had a loopstick antenna. I strung a longwire out to the tree, wrapped a few turns around the loopstick, and grounded the end. Amazing signals from all over the country!
Wow, what a great story, Big Al. I forgot that most young people have not seen, much less heard, albums played on a turntable with good speakers. Nor, do they know what a telephone used to look like. Thank you.
Three years ago I was leaning up against the seat of my Harley in front of the local coffee shop on main street. Legs stretched out, ankles crossed – looking cool. I had just finished my morning ride. It was a little past six thirty. Beautiful warm Summer morning.., and way too early for the hung-over, or still drunk tourists to be out on the roads. Only one car on Main Street. Typical.
I was quietly sipping my double Americano when this guy walks up., five-ten, heavy set., big arms., tennis shoes. He stops, walks up to my bike and kicks the front tire.
“What kind of bike is this old thing?” Rather nastily.
I didn’t like that very much.., I stood, turned towards him and kicked him, really hard in the shin, just below the knee cap with my steel toed cowboy boot. “It’s “MY” old thing ! ”
Well., this muscle bound ass started jumping around on one foot while holding his other shin with both hands and squawking like a baby…, His good foot, the one he was hopping on missed the curb., he lost his balance and did a face plant into the sidewalk. He didn’t move. He just laid there. Still holding his shin.
After a minute he slowly got up and started walking down the street – limping and holding the side of his face. , never looking back. I watched him go quietly., and he disappeared down the sidewalk and around the corner.
* * *
Now.., fast forward to yesterday morning. I had finished my morning ride – it was a little cool., had to wear a heavier jacket.., I was just going through the door of the coffee shop, holding my hot cup of double Americano when a deputy sheriff started to enter.., he saw me, stepped back and held the door open for me.
“Good morning.., and thanks.” and I walked on out. I got about half way across main street, to where my Harley was parked – two cars total on mainstreet and one was his.., and I realized who that deputy was.
He was the one that I kicked in the shin for disrespecting my ride. He did hesitate at the door., but went in. Was he a Deputy back then ? .., damn. I don’t think so.
I looked back and he was at the order-counter. I do not believe he recognized me., or realized who I was. I was wondering if I should prop myself up against the seat of my bike, like I usually do.., and sip my morning refreshment., or get the heck out of there.
I sat back against the seat., stretched my long legs out., crossed my ankles – looking cool – smiled at my freshly polished cowboy boots.., and waited. Roughly five minutes latter he came out carrying two cups of coffee., walked to a waiting, black sheriff’s suv., slid into the passenger’s seat., and left. He never looked around, or he would have seen me.
I held my coffee cup up to my lips, partial cover., and watched them drive by. It was definitely him. I may forget your name – as I usually don’t care., but I never forget a face.
I will now be on the look-out for a short, stocky Italian-looking deputy while on my Harley. In the mean time – once more the Gods-of-Chaos smiled down in my favor.
So I tell my AI stack. Give me some no-shit analysis of my promising (uyoung, sort-of…) writer.
– – –
OK, sure Boss. Quick Craft Notes
Strengths
Voice: Natural, laconic, confident — classic first-person storyteller who’s earned his lines.
Structure: Perfect symmetry: confrontation ? time jump ? karmic twist.
Tone: Balances humor and menace without slipping into bragging.
Imagery: “Legs stretched out, ankles crossed – looking cool.” You see him.
Tightening opportunities
Lose some ellipses (“..,”) — they make reading choppy; use em-dashes or commas.
Slightly compress the “muscle-bound ass” paragraph for impact.
Bring the closing line up one notch — it’s a good kicker, but could hit harder with one clean sentence.
? Lightly Edited Version (keeps voice intact)
Three years ago I was leaning against the seat of my Harley in front of the local coffee shop on Main Street — legs stretched out, ankles crossed, looking cool. Morning ride done, just past six-thirty. Warm summer air, no traffic, just one car on Main. Perfect.
I was sipping my double Americano when this guy walks up — five-ten, heavy set, big arms, tennis shoes. He stops, looks at my bike, and kicks the front tire.
“What kind of bike is this old thing?” he says, nasty-like.
I stood up, turned toward him, and kicked him square in the shin with my steel-toed cowboy boot.
“It’s my old thing.”
He starts hopping around on one leg, holding the other and yelping like a kid. Misses the curb, loses his balance, and does a full face-plant into the sidewalk. Then just lays there — holding his leg, trying to decide what hurt worse.
After a minute he limps off down Main, never looking back.
Fast-forward to yesterday. Cooler morning, heavier jacket. I’m walking out of the coffee shop, hot cup in hand, when a deputy sheriff steps up to come in. He sees me, steps back, and holds the door open.
“Morning,” I say.
“Morning,” he answers.
Halfway across Main, it hits me who he is — same guy I kicked in the shin. Maybe not a deputy back then, but it’s him. I glance back: he’s at the counter, ordering two coffees. I wonder if I should hang around or clear out.
I lean back against the seat again, legs out, ankles crossed — same pose, same boots. Five minutes later he comes out, gets into a black sheriff’s SUV, and rides off. Never looks my way.
I take a sip, smile behind the cup, and watch them roll past. Might forget a name, but I never forget a face.
The gods of chaos must still like me — they let me keep both the Harley and the peace.
?Verdict
You’ve hit that perfect “front-porch yarn” vibe — believable, visual, just dangerous enough to feel real. It’s a keeper. If you want, I can format it in UrbanSurvival house style (H3 headers, compact paragraphs, black-and-white illustration cue) for next weekend’s post. Want me to do that next?
– – –
No…if he wants a graphic he’ll be asking you for one. Just wanted to explain how I got better at writing.
– – –
Don’t worry Boss – Ure not.
I did alot of cute, creative things when I taught handicapped kids/young adults but I always preferred making useful things. I used to work with leather, sew my kids clothes, make quilts, and still make baskets and occasionally paint and bake. I guess painting a Snoopy sitting on his doghouse as requested by my grandson wasn’t very useful but it sure was fun. I recently made an aquarium without water out of rocks painted like fish as a challenge from a friend. Just a silly thing now in my living room.
I think there is a human need to create, to learn, to grow, to stretch your brain and skills. We all benefit from you creating and stretching your mighty brain, George. I think you should continue to buy whatever tickles your fancy.
Here’s how much American taxpayers pay US Congress directly
– Salary $174k per year each
– $7.6 million per year for meal reimbursements
– The House Committees, just to meet, they get $212 million
– Each Congress rep is allotted up to 18 staffers
– Wages for each of the 18 staffers per Congress rep are from $58k-$200k each
– Their MRA, the Members’ Representational Allowance is $810 million
– Majority and Minority leadership, Hakeem Jeffries and Mike Johnson, get $37 million just for them
– MRA broken down is $1.5 million to each Congress Rep
– Actual Budget can range around $2 million per member, though some suggest it might be closer to $5 million when including all expenses
– Operational Costs: $750 million for House expenses and $250 million for Senate expenses
– US Congress is getting 18 weeks of vacation this year
– Congress will only work 133 days in 2025
?
https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1977440114830983299
1 decent sized Neutron Bomb would take care of that nest of dark, soulless EVIL doers.
Hopefully Vladimir will be sending us some of their best , fastest, most formidable Neutron weapons in Russian arsenal in near future..
FED, SC, Congress, Agencies, DOJ, need CLEANSING. Basically entire District of Corruption needs CAUTERIZATION of entire “Farm” operation, including all the lil Piggies living off the pig Farm.
* Lil Piggies populating DC, are to a person, inedible, nasty carrion… as in Soulless, as in lost Connection to Source.
The damning email obtained by John Solomon through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
CONFIRMS:
The Central Intelligence Agency conspired and succeeded in the overthrow of the United States government on November 3, 2020.
In a stunning exchange, CIA Director Mike Morell turns to fellow Director John Brennan and asks if he would join in toppling the United States government during the November 3, 2020 election. Brennan not only agrees—but also expresses his gratitude.
CIA Mike Morell: “Can I add your name to this list? Will be adding Leon Panetta, Sue Gordon, Jeh Johnson, George, Lisa Monaco, and Mike Rogers. And working on adding Dan Coats, Mike Rogers (HPSCI), and Tom Bossert. And lots of other IC career folk.
“Trying to give the incapacitated vegetable, particularly during the debate on Thursday, a talking point to push back on Trump on this issue.”
https://x.com/Real_RobN/status/1977543894918386162
G.A. STEWART: The man leading the counter-coup d’état against President Trump is former CIA Director John Brennan. This was the reason for President Trump removing Brennan’s Security Clearance.
Knowing the former-CIA Director’s background, every individual objecting to President Trump’s pulling of Brennan’s Security Clearance would go on my short-list as a suspected traitor.
The former chief of the CIA’s Counter-Terrorism Center under Brennan was Michael A. D’Andrea; he is a convert to Islam, and his religious beliefs were portrayed in the movie, Zero Dark Thirty.
https://theageofdesolation.com/nostradamus/2018/08/18/the-quiet-coup-q-and-thrasybulus/
Sent ayatollah mike back to the Pit. Darkling didnt quite make it to his destination while flying around trashganastan..whoopsee.
Last thing to go thru d’andreas’ mind prior to crash ?
Hi Feet.
Bwaaahahahahahahah
BREAKING – Democrats are now demanding the removal of Dominion voting machines after a pro-Trump investor bought the company and rebranded them as Liberty Voting machines, with some Democrats even calling for paper ballots.
https://x.com/Rightanglenews/status/1977098860255494580
Titty City?
Portland (Oct. 12) — Portland leftist exhibitionists held a nude gathering outside the ICE facility. The biking groups in Portland are extremely woke, misinformed and supportive of leftist extremism.
https://x.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1977545930917425512