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Thurs: Datafication, OverTheHorizon, “Lala” Hank on Prepping IRL

Datafy

U.S. futures pricing pointed to a down day ahead for markets. Europe was down, Japan’s Nikkei bounced, and we think this centers on Russia using ballistic missiles on Ukraine; intending to harden-up their game.  So, oil prices and “the big question” (Where can AI find another planet worth of $20/month subscribers to keep the AI bubble from imploding?) are likely key.  That and next week’s “leadership issues” from our lookahead scans.

To go with coffee? The Philly Fed is first up:

The current general business activity diffusion index rose to 47.4 in August from 41.4 in July. 56.9% of the respondents reported an increase in general business activity, and 9.6% reported a decrease from July to August.

New UI Filings have us wondering if “the good times” may be topping:

And at 10 AM, it’s anagram time!  Leading Economic Indicators (LEI).  Last month?  Month over Month dropped -0.2 %.  We think slow erosion…

Over-the-Horizon Summary

Our Over-the-Horizon work keeps getting more interesting because the object is not to predict tomorrow’s headline. It’s to identify the larger ridges forming beyond the daily news cycle — where energy, food, finance, weather, politics, conflict and public behavior begin leaning in the same direction. Individual stories are mostly noise. What matters is whether enough independent channels begin pointing toward the same future pressure point. That’s what OTH is being built to measure.

And really, OTH is why we read news in the first place. Elections come two or four years apart, and for most stories the only useful reason to follow the daily information flow is to improve our estimate of the path between here and the next meaningful decision point. Otherwise, news junkies risk becoming people with either not enough else to worry about — or goals too small to keep their energy and output focused on something more useful. News isn’t the destination. It’s instrumentation for seeing what may be coming.

Our BlinkLabNews Compressor handles the week ahead. After that — at t+7 — we’re into OTH territory.  Now blink!

News Compressor: ON

What has changed is a Russian overnight ballistic-missile and drone barrage on Kyiv and the surrounding region that killed at least 12–14 people and wounded more than 30–40, damaging residential buildings, a children’s hospital, a school, warehouses, and industrial sites while leaving tens of thousands without power. Vector: Escalating. Principal American consequence is intensified pressure on U.S. and allied air-defense interceptor supplies and any remaining diplomatic tracks. Sources: Ukrainian officials via AP, Reuters, CNN.

The way we figure it is this: Two sides are trying to work a gentlemen’s agreement over Ukraine wheat, and Russia just signaled they will bring out “heavy iron” if pressed.

U.S. and Canadian negotiators advanced toward a trade agreement that prompted President Trump to pause threatened 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods until Saturday, with both sides describing substantial progress but incomplete final documents. Vector: De-escalating. Principal American consequence is temporary relief for cross-border supply chains in autos, dairy, alcohol, and related sectors. Sources: AP, White House statements, Canadian officials.  Wait!  Did you hear it?  Off in the distance:  “TACO!!!”  [Technical note: This is a soft TACO for now.]

The United Arab Emirates suspended all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran after accusing Tehran of launching two ballistic missiles that targeted maritime traffic and fell into the sea (one inside UAE waters); Iran denied the claim. Vector: Escalating. But we figure the path to WW III breaking out of weekends is firming with (more) heavy iron in flight.

Only three independently verified changes met our Vital Four threshold; we don’t pad.

 Inside Pages

Star Trek section.  (Remember Chekov?)  Let’s go through the news “Chekov…”

  1. Indiana recovery from multi-day storms and historic flooding continues with at least seven confirmed deaths, roughly 90,000 customers still without power, and a federal emergency declaration covering dozens of counties; officials target weekend restoration. Please share with the South!
  2. U.S. national debt crossed $40 trillion, with investors demanding higher rates and elevating borrowing costs. Not “chump change” – Trump change…
  3. President Trump nominated White House aide Dr. Heidi Overton to lead the FDA.
  4. California adopted the nation’s strictest home-landscaping rules for wildfire mitigation. Better late than….
  5. Meta faces ongoing landmark trial testimony alleging addictive design features targeting children.
  6. Five Americans were among those killed in a tourist helicopter crash in Kenya.
  7. ICC President Tomoko Akane and a senior prosecutor were sanctioned by the U.S. over Gaza-related investigations. Let me put Gaza aside: The U.S. Constitution doesn’t seem to include allowing a global mob rule court to second-guess domestic law. The ICC is another EU-like power grab front, as we figure it.
  8. Florida Republican primary produced Byron Donalds as gubernatorial nominee; progressive Angie Nixon won a Senate primary upset.
  9. Extreme heat advisories and heat-index values near 112°F covered portions of the South and Southwest. Beer alert in ATR section following.
  10. Unquenched & related: Drought and demand left water levels at the two largest U.S. reservoirs at record lows.
  11. Flash-flood or severe-storm watches expand eastward with the frontal system (window: next 24–48 hours). Odds: 55%.
  12. Former Fauci adviser David Morens pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge related to COVID-origin records.  If you think COVID was a clean-hands, all-science deal, better deep read this: Former Fauci Adviser Pleads Guilty to Trying to Conceal Covid-Related Records – The New York Times
  13. Ebola outbreak case count surpassed 5,000 (reported in morning digests).
  14. Israel conducted strikes in Syria, including an air base, amid continued Gaza operations.

12–96 Hour News Outlook  (0 -> t+4)

  • Additional Russian massed strikes on Ukrainian cities exploiting interceptor shortages (window: next 24–72 hours). Odds: 65%.  Keep eyes on EU over expanding Russia showdown.
  • Indiana power restoration reaches majority of remaining ~90k outages or major FEMA upgrade request (window: next 48–96 hours). Odds: 70%. (You can’t keep a good country down.)
  • Heat-related emergency-room surges or new Extreme Heat Warnings expand in South/Southwest (window: next 24–48 hours). Odds: 50%. Why it matters: public-health load on already stressed systems. Observable that raises Odds: NWS upgrades; lowers Odds: earlier frontal relief. Evidence: current advisories and heat-index forecasts.
  • UAE–Iran trade suspension produces measurable shipping or financial-flow disruptions visible in regional data (window: next 72–96 hours). Odds: 45%. Why it matters: secondary energy and logistics effects. Observable that raises Odds: port or banking notices; lowers Odds: quiet resumption signals. Evidence: UAE formal halt and Iran’s reliance on the corridor.
  • FDA nomination of Overton advances to formal Senate paperwork or early confirmation timeline signals (window: next 48–96 hours). Odds: 40%. Why it matters: near-term regulatory direction on drugs and devices. Observable that raises Odds: White House formal submission; lowers Odds: delayed package. Evidence: presidential announcement.

Blink Lab Guidance — Personally Actionable

  • Check current NWS and local emergency alerts for your county if you are in or near active flash-flood or heat-advisory zones; move vehicles and valuables from low-lying areas if rainfall is forecast.
  • Inventory and secure any outdoor equipment or livestock feed that could be affected by residual flooding or extreme heat.

New Signal Rising

  • Bond-market sensitivity to U.S. debt trajectory is prompting repeated Treasury actions to manage long-term yields. Supporting evidence: debt crossing $40 T and subsequent yield-management moves. Why it may matter: higher structural borrowing costs for government and private sector. Odds: 50%. Emerging pattern.
  • CME FedWatch tool was down earlier (FedWatch – CME Group) Will it move markets when repaired?

Around the Ranch: “Lala” Hank on Prepping IRL

We don’t often take a reader contribution from our Comments section and elevate it to ‘Should Read’ material. But this morning’s AAR (after-action report) from long-time reader and friend Hank out on the Big Island is all kinds of useful.

If you don’t usually track our Comments there is often a lot to be learned and this is exceptional.

“By Friday (a week ago) I was storm prepped. Gas cans filled. Early Friday morning I drove into Hilo for Laser eye surgery for my drainage canals. That went well. Drizzling rain all day, and I was back home by noon to catch a UPS package delivery that required my signature… the new drone. Friday night was a bit creepy as the calm before the storm, watching it approach.

Saturday morning it started to get breezy and rainy in bursts. I don’t worry much about wind because the Volcano Ranch here is rather protected. Neighbor house to one side is slightly higher than mine, and the lot on the other side is dense jungle that deflects the wind. Trees and bushes in the backyard also shelter from the wind. But this storm seemed to come in intense pulses of wind and rain, mostly from the southerly direction off the road where I am exposed. The car canopy was strapped to the truck underneath so it did not lift. The large tarp canopy alongside the house was well secured and protected the mowers. But it was a wet and wild windy day.

LALA just barely achieved Hurricane status as the eye approached South Point and was visible on the NWS Radar. At 2:30pm on Saturday the power went off. I duly reported it to the electric company and they projected power would not be restored until Monday evening. So at the peak of the wind and rain I hauled the generator out of the shed and attached the wires to the breaker panel and powered the house back up. I took a shower after that soaking while there was still hot water. Listening to reports of outages and trees and poles down on the ham radio, and mesh network reports from the electric company were discouraging. The cable TV & internet went dead a few hours after the power.

Our County Civil Defense director is a ham operator and he actively engages with the ham community and clubs to provide information dissemination and input. Volunteer operators from our club were manning the Emergency Operations Center radios on our local repeater and also a 40-meter shortwave NVIS frequency. They broadcast information from the County & electric company, and stood by to take emergency input calls from people needing assistance.

I tried to text a friend in Honolulu and found the cellphone service was out also. Some local area calls were possible, but nothing off island. LALA was having a clipping as the worst of the storm impacted our volcanos wall. It looked like the eye was closing just before we lost internet. It was projected to reduce to Tropical Storm status shortly afterward, but I have no idea of the impacts on Maui or Honolulu.

So Saturday night was a boring night hunkered in with a battery radio and flashlights with the driving wind and rain most of the night. My area has established drainage channels on the lava rock, so flooding is not a problem in my immediate area. Sunday morning it let up and quieted down. Prepping pays off. We ran the generator as needed. It will heat the water tank with no other loads, and we charged up some essential phones and lights, and saved gas when we didn’t need it. The rest is just boredom, waiting for power & coms to come back. The ham radio had Civil Defense on the local repeater taking damage reports and requests for assistance. The mesh network was the most reliable of everything. Most nodes are solar powered and independent, so we chatted and shared situations on the common channel, while one ham posted electric company reports on a separate ‘Alerts’ channel. At one point I saw there were over 200 outage reports and over 65,000 customers without power. That is about one third of the population.

Civil Defense reports all County and State offices will be closed Monday, and all DOE schools on the island also closed Monday. Then the cleanup and restoration begins. I am not optimistic that I will have power & internet back by Monday evening as projected. So if you have not heard from me for awhile, now you know why. I will be curious to see what happened on Maui and Honolulu later. We are without any external communications. I suspect it was nowhere near as bad as the Big Island got. They should thank us for knocking the stuffing out of LALA before it got to them.

Monday comes and the road into Hilo from the south here is closed with downed trees and power poles. Running the generator at noon to recharge cellphones, lights, and ham radio battery, and keep the freezer and fridge cold. Spectrum CATV & Internet reports service may not be restored until Wed 8/19. That’s two more days, and I’m betting the power company will be at least that long. Hope we have enough gas for the generator to keep things running. And hope we can get more gas at the village just 4 miles up the road. Three stations there. Topped off the generator and took two empty 5-gal cans up to Pahoa village about 4:30pm. Village was dark yet and nothing open, but there were electric inspectors in the village, and a bucket truck arrived at the substation at the head of our subdivision. So they are working our area and there is hope for power soon.

Tuesday morning planned a trip into Hilo which is mostly open, except State & County offices, parks, and schools closed yet. When the generator is down and no microwave available, I have a small propane burner that sits atop the small cylinder. So I can boil water for coffee & oatmeal, or fry some ham & eggs in a pan. We are not hungry. In Hilo we ran errands. Filled gas cans for generator. Found Pahoa village has power now just 4 miles up the road from us. Maybe our subdivision feed will get power soon. Spectrum CATV & Internet now say maybe Thur 8/20 we might get service restored. We notice that our cellphones are eating battery power even overnight when not being used. I suspect local cell tower may be down and we are connecting thru a distant tower. That will kick the phone transmitter into high power to respond to connection polling, even if not being used. So we are using backup batteries for the cellphones also. And connections are intermittent. Some text messages fail to deliver.

Wednesday cabin fever took over. Brother and I decided to drive over the mountain to Costco, just to get out of the house. No power yet, but I disconnected the generator and enabled the grid line in case we got power back while gone. And sure enough, upon return we were lit up, AND the internet is working! Now we see the news of how devastated the South Point are of Naalehu and Pahala are isolated. The highway washed out and totally destroyed on both ends of those communities and the county is struggling to get emergency services in to them.

Now the news & weather service tells us another storm like LALA is brewing to the southwest and aiming for us this coming weekend. It may not make hurricane status and likely center pass south, but that means all that north end rain and wind will hit the Big Island AGAIN around Monday. I’m leaving the generator connected and in place until that one passes us. Now that I have internet connection again I will post this to a few relevant places so you know why I’ve been absent. Five days camping with no power, no internet, and spotty coms. Prepping pays! Aloha!”

Yeah, so about that…

Personally, I think what Hank ought to do is put up a humongous ham radio tower and hoist a monster gennaker off to the lee side of the Big Island and simply sail it south to a new location.  But that’s just a “Texas answer” for fun…  (For real “Island-moving” we’d fly a 150% genoa and simply sheet-out Oahu a bit…_)

Here?

We, lemme see:

  • Lexus is in the shop – air crapditioner finally needed repairs (from 2005, Nada, so I can’t bitch too loud.)
  • A hint of rain out into next week, but color us skeptical to say the least. We’re likely to end the month at 22.6 inches (Year to Date). By this point in August 2025 we were at 44.84 inches and in 2024 we were overflowing with 57.82 inches.
  • Hydroponics-to-greenhouse broccoli transplants ahead today. Along with my giant bamboo children now 12 (plus) inches tall.  (Bamboo might make a poor man’s schooner rig for the Big Island?)

Climate Message: Texas Beer-Stocking Emergency!

No shit?  We’re definitely into “First two three turn to steam” territory now.

Off to reload the coffee and consider linguistic rehab.

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

Advanced Programmer and Wannabe Predictive News Emulators Note:

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42 thoughts on “Thurs: Datafication, OverTheHorizon, “Lala” Hank on Prepping IRL”

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.

  2. Good to hear Hank is OK and I am impressed how he stood up to the storm.

    I mentioned storms that passed through last week caused a power problem that fried one of two controllers in the greenhouse. New equipment is on the way…..supposedly. Having to do some of the nutrient delivery manually to the strawberry project and likely sacrificing some fall greens in the process. Water weighs 8 pounds per gallon but for some reason a full 5 gallon bucket weighs a lot more than 40 lbs as the day goes on.
    Yesterday Diana calls me to come in and tells me there is water on the floor in the laundry/storage room. Turns out the freezer, the one and only device in the house that is not behind robust surge protection, was also knocked out. We have been cooking everything and sending it to neighbors. A couple years protein gone. Diana wants to call the insurance company but I really don’t expect much from them. Not like a good neighbor they are not there.
    Stay safe. 73

      • “There coming to take me away ha ha, heehee

        tRumps coming to take me away.”

        – Said the shining yellow GOLD hidden in pvc pipes in pvc pipe rack in shop.

        Can you spell C O N F I S C A T I O N ?

        Nothing new under the Sun..either one.

        Replay soonly, as Creditors are banging on the doors of Treasury. One of these days, aint nobody gonna answer that bell.

        “Oh Ollie!”

  5. Beer Stocking Emergency? YES! We be in the zone.
    Forecast is 102F today as it was yesterday. The Low in the next 10 days is 71F on Saturday the 29th. Dogs are not happy outside at all.

    Off to water the plants as I can hear some gasping.

    Cheers and a Guinness later

  6. “UAE–Iran trade suspension produces measurable shipping or financial-flow disruptions visible in regional data (window: next 72–96 hours). Odds: 45%. Why it matters: secondary energy and logistics effects. Observable that raises Odds: port or banking notices; lowers Odds: quiet resumption signals. Evidence: UAE formal halt and Iran’s reliance on the corridor.”

    Hard to pick a headliner there George, nice smorgasbord of news.

    What am I waiting for? The design pattern to be reported on, if not already recognizable .

    UAE gets latest AI from US and signs mega deals with US.

    https://www.uae-embassy.org/news/uaeus-framework-advanced-technology-cooperation

    Ripple gets banking liscense in UAE

    https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250312413807/en/Ripple-Secures-DFSA-License-to-Offer-Regulated-Crypto-Payments-in-the-UAE

    UAE announced its departure from OPEC.

    https://shalemag.com/uae-exit-opec-2026-analysis/

    UAE is building a Hormuz strait bypass pipeline into the gulf.

    https://www.kpler.com/blog/new-pipelines-bypassing-the-strait-of-hormuz-could-come-online-in-1-2-years

    US is producing record petroleum output along with UAE they comprise the marginal BPD oil production that Iran was alleged capable of producing, it’s more like ~1.8M BBl/day according to zerohedge.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/uae-cuts-ties-iran-warns-gulf-states-against-helping-washington-kpler-says-us-navy

    With the exception of an ~30 day air gap in supplies that came out of the Persian gulf. What could go wrong ? Lol.

    I wonder homegamers. What’s logically up next ???

    https://political.org/2026/05/06/the-petrodollar-system-how-it-was-built-why-its-under-threat-and-what-collapse-would-mean-for-america/

    Not advice:

    https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/xrp-gains-attention-in-oil-trade-debate-as-ripple-wins-us-trust-bank-approval/

    https://youtu.be/XF2ayWcJfxo?is=7eYzbpMbhEqVhRds

    • ..threw in towel on resident Ostriches.

      “You can lead a Horse to water, but you cant make him drink” – much like talking about “dogs” and religion, no one but no one can (85%) overcome the “the Pre-Programed Bullscheisse” of organized religion.

      If a particular religion is only thing you have ever Heard or Seen Ure whole Childhood- how do you break that FEAR programing, false hope/belief, without damaging the believers’ mental state ? Its difficult, and believers mental state is of little consequence in big picture – “they really need to grow a pair”.

      Like Alcoholism – very hard to break the vicious cycle, when the hopeless drunk depends on the daily bump to get to feeling better that day. Now this particular addiction has a CURE – its called Semiglutide/GLP1 inhibtors.

      Dont have a “Semiglutide cure” the Fiat luving BTC haters.

      So haters gonna end up getting the Cold Turkey treatment, unfortunately, no not Wild Turkey 101, you unrepentant lushes..

      Amazed that the big players are telegraphing plans/future, and Haters still swimming wit da Hippos&Crocs, against the current, in de-Nile.

      Write when youse all tire out and start floundering, maybe Ill throw ya line, or a rock..

      depends, doesnt it?

      • I’m afraid a lot of people aren’t paying attention to the Lummis reset which pencils out to ~ 100FRN to 1 new digital US$. Congrats that $1M home you hold now has a $100K price tag. It’s all relative you know. But just like stock splits, the price almost always finds its way back to the pre adjusted price point sooner than anyone has anticipated. That’s bullish for $ decorrelated assets such as HODLing select cryptos.

  8. Moar BS..

    Gold – winning
    Oil – Winning
    BTC – Winning

    So what does a wild eyed gambler do in the midst of these glorious rallies ?

    All In on the TBT! – yerp ULTRA SHORT UST.

    The limp wristed rump wrangler over treasury can kiss my hairy Ass, what a genius that guy…$ 100 billion wasted on buying our own DEBT- again.

    Rinse and Repeat above

    Lil bird mentioned again about a israHELLI mistake…we wonders WHAT that could be…ya dont think the desperate will act desperately anytime in near future, nah never happenz..

      • Nein, nein, nein

        Pay for building Ure new vacation home, or buying a Vacation home?

        Many more are accepting BTC nowadays; Swiss solar co that did my install – accepts BTC.
        I used BTC to build/purchase 50% of vaca house, then decided too valuable, and tapped the Equity held in margin acct for rest of purchase price. Funny thing was at time BTC was rising thru the $60k range, so switched payment forms.

        I get paid interest on certain cyrpto-BTC holdings – good rates you never see in a standard bank CD.
        BTC backstops Credit card from Coinbase -the FULL SERVICE Crypto Bank – US domiciled.
        Not to mention all the ADDITIONAL Discounts I get when using Crypto – we be talking significant discounts.

        Crypto Networks are GROWING – and it is that Growth Activity that FFG remote views for latest hot pick cyrpto’s. Yes I can attest to their accuracy, and yes I pay for their service – as I have been successful following their picks/hits for short term gains.

        So no – no longer true Kemmosabe – the Field has changed, and is still changing as we go along and learn MOAR.

        Water is warm – just saying..

    • Fade gold fade oil and get yerself into a synthetic cash position. I’ve been in a synthetic cash position for 9 years now waiting (in select crypto) for the big un-raveling… we are closer now than ever before. It’s great to be early, being early with solid research and conviction means building a life changing position out of just what it would cost to forgo some lunch each pay day. The psychology that that supports? HODL it was just lunch money, use time diversity like Buffet and buy more if the fundamentals haven’t changed but the specialists have put the thing you are accumulating on sale.

      Thats my hallucination not advice. lol

  9. Left wing media outlet “The Canary” reported two days ago about recent alleged clandestine maritime adventures in waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. Details can be seen at the following link. Their site seems slow although they note separately about having been debanked in the UK two months ago:

    https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-analysis/2026/08/18/trump-eyes-on-latin-america/

    As chance would have it, a single engine helicopter unlike the twin engined variety of London Ambulance units, crashed yesterday in Kenya. The event is previously noted above in “Urbansurvival”. The tourist helicopter allegedly catering to a 1% clientele went down near the monolithic Mount Ololokwe (maa: “Wide/Round Head”) which the Maasai consider to be a home of God.

    Tragically among the casualties were a vacationing couple. She was a businesswoman in the fashion industry. Her Italian born husband of an Ecuadorean parent held a cabinet post of Director of National Intelligence with the Government of Ecuador. That Administration is understood to be operating under a rolling window state of emergency stemming from cartel activity.

    • Had 2 Maasai officers in my BUD/S class. Winter class 1982-3 – Coronado was isolated from mainland due mass flooding at both ends of island. Historic winter storms. The surf was rocking hard that Winter..how hard ? The training videos that is still shown in classes today, is from our class IBS Surf Ops/Training.
      Night landings on rock jetty out front the Hotel Del…watched a bowline man plant (rides L or R bow tube, 1st one off) foot in between rocks, and lean into bow line to pull IBS up rock jetty. Pulled it alright, with the force of a incoming wave behind it, lifted the boat and sent sailing into said bowline man. Knee shredded, he rolled his ass back several classes.
      Last I heard he got blown the F up in El Salvador (friendly fire incident) while involved in River clearing/unjamming logs.. “accident”.
      Anyway – should have seen the 2 Maasai guys eyes when they rode their first kahunna wave, never seen so much white in an African mans’ eyes, as they both bailed off side of IBS as we crested the top, rubber boat got bent in half on wave face and everybody (7) went in. No you can not duck the next waves like Surfers do, the mandatory Kapok life preserver that strap wraps around both thighs at the crotch, prevent such escapism..full benefit is one of the mottos’. The pampered prince from Bangledesh ? he didnt last one week. Talk about leaving candy wrappers on toilet seat after business bee done..

      Was not Fear – Amazement, those 2 Maasai dudes made it all the way thru 23 week training and 2 weeks at Benning.. with the Army “Dogs”, always pricks. Think it goes without saying, but those Maasai guys were awesome dudes who I would gladly share a foxhole with, anyday.

        • met a Scott ahead of me 2 classes..good dude met in service club on base, was medical roll back – back to the class just in front of me. there was a Scott in my class – big surfer from Hawaii..definitely did not ring out.

          There was a OG Scott in class directly in front of mine as well, last time I saw him he was a burnt corpse hanging from a bridge in Fallujah, Iraq, on national tv.

        • Might be my pal Scott – he was living on a lightship resto project6 while doing divers inst mixed gass and then off to the GOM – haven’t heard from him for years – great sailor though – busted leg is what finally got him as I recall…

      • No complaints I think you are in the ten ring here.

        You still rocking about three hours of REM every night, or 45 min on 15 min off? The Navy’s good for that sort of thing.

        Thank you for your service shipmate.

      • I went thru Airborne training and Ranger School in ’68

        .., are you calling me a prick ? Seriously ?

        Care to discuss that., you know., face-to-face ?

  10. Peter Grandich: Though the public storage industry itself has done nothing wrong, it is to me the “Poster-Child” for one of the many factors that have led many Americans down a very bad economic road.

    Our parents and grandparents lived in much smaller dwellings, but never needed what is now seen every couple of miles on roads all over America, “Public-Storage” (to keep what they couldn’t hold in their own households” and had far less “stuff” then we do now).

    One man simplified the issue many years ago:

    https://petergrandich.com/americas-poster-child-for-what-has-gone-wrong-economically-and-socially/

  11. When does an anti-Vaxx’er become a Vaxx’er?

    “Moderna and Merck melanoma vaccine succeeds in trial…”

    Flip flopping like that Carp in a hot skillet. Big Pharma is now the good guys and Red Dye 3 can be used again!

    • re: Portus Incolumis Carinis – Youghal, Eire
      feat: “A safe harbour for keels (ships)”

      The birthplace of the late Italian expat hotelier Baron Carmine (Charles) Forte is a town formerly named Mortale in the province of Lazio. Roman banker Atticus is said to have owned a nearby villa in the first century b.c. The Baron purchased (New) Strancally Castle situated on a rocky promontory on River Blackwell near the Irish town of Youghal. Strancally translates from Irish as “the hag’s/witch’s nose”. The gothic styled edifice only dates to the 1830’s. However ruins of its predecessor (Old) Strancally Castle stand a couple of miles away.

      The origins of Old Strancally Castle begin in 1170 with an Ireland-invading Welsh-Norman leader Raymond FitzGerald whose nicknames include Raymond le Gros and Strongbow. A legend from Elizabethan times alleges unsuspecting castle banquet guests were fatally dispatched into River Blackwell via a hidden trapdoor. It became known as Murder Hole.

      Owners of New Strancally Castle in the 19th century through to 1959 were the Whitelocke Lloyd family. As chance would have it, Lt. William Whitelocke Lloyd served with the 24th Foot Regiment in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. He compiled a collection of war illustrations as described by Sothebys Auctions at their following link:

      https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/english-literature-history-childrens-books-and-illustrations/lot.29.html

      Apparently Lt. Whitelocke Lloyd sketched the scene where the French Prince Imperial Napoleon had fallen a few days prior on June 1, 1879. His death was a nail in the coffin for resurrecting the Second French Empire. He is the grandson of Napoleon Bonaparte’s step-daughter Hortense, Queen of Holland who penned the piano music in 1807 for “Partant pour la Syrie”. It is the tune which became known as “The Fisherman Sam Jones” in frontier America. U.S. soldiers gave a nickname of the song’s Sam Jones to Chief Abiaka. The latter eluded Major Lauderdale in 1838 at modern day Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

      The Prince Royal Napoleon is buried along with his parents Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie at Farnborough Abbey in Hampshire founded by the Empress in 1881 and dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. The church is a Benedictine abbey overseen by the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation which is part of the Benedictine Confederation formed by Pope Leo XIII in 1893. Previously in 1881 the Pope had penned St. Michael’s Prayer following a vision he had of Jesus and the Devil with the latter claiming he could take control of the Church within 100 years time.

      The Benedictine Order began about 529 at the Abbey Monte Cassino. It was the site of the WWII Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944. As chance would have it, Monte Cassino is 7 miles distant while overlooking the town of Mortale, birthplace of Baron Forte.

      Thursday brought news from multiple msm outlets that a Baron’s son and his wife have arranged a private sale of Strancally Castle. The devil’s in the details as they say. The new owners of the castle and its 440 acres are apparently wishing to move closer to Meta’s Irish headquarters. Perhaps Mr. Zukerberg and Mrs. Chan can bring their own pot of gold. One imagines that Irish leprechauns will be charmed.

  13. “Personally, I think what Hank ought to do is put up a humongous ham radio tower and hoist a monster gennaker off to the lee side of the Big Island and simply sail it south to a new location. But that’s just a “Texas answer” for fun… ”

    You realize you are wanting to move the largest mountain mass on the planet… MaunaLoa. So big it puts a dent in the crust. You’re gonna need a sail halfway to the moon… and then several hurricanes to move it. Dunno if we can weather that (again).

  14. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s shock bond buyback plan was nothing more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.., and the bond market didn’t ‘buy’ it., as of this morning they are right back at the highest levels in years.

    This has the very real potential to get very fugly.

  15. Indiana Mid state northward is drowning in rain. Here in S Indiana, we’ve had popup showers, some pretty violent. Some of the weather aftermath will make it’s way south in river flooding, but so far, as well. The gardens kinda think there is a spring renaissance as the temps are favorable for more growth.

    • Bragging about your rain again. The Rio Grande has had four wheel drive vehicles rolling around, and it would not surprise me to view deer grazing there. Our monsoons have been sparse, and fires have sprouted around the state. The rains in the US have inundated a few places while leaving many places dry and vulnerable to fire.
      As for Hawaii, I have never heard of such rains they have had and back to back hurricanes/tropical storms.

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