Thursday means Walmart Day here in Happy Larryville; be still my beating heart! I can hardly wait to see what’s out of stock this week, not to mention the latest price increases and/or “shrinkflation”.
Per Mac’s thread pic: Is Plaguie gonna be the harper equivalent of Marni Nixon? (Ms. Nixon was a “ghost singer” for several famous actresses in film musicals in addition to performing under her own name.)
When Prohibition was repealed, what did those gangs branch out to?
Drugs, prostitution, gambling, protection racket, loan-sharking, jukeboxes (and other coin-op amusements like pinball), cigarette machines (and counterfeit tobacco tax stamps), cargo hijacking, construction and unions, among other things.
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Chik-fil-A as a public good:
Last edited 2 years ago by Fatwa Arbuckle: Misanthropologist
IIRC, Prohibition made weed and Alcohol illegal. But when it was repealed, weed was left on the illegal list, AFAIK, this was because strong logging lobbies around making paper wanted to keep hemp out of the paper business.
There’re probably a lot more nefarious, yet little known, aspects of the thing, but this is just one thing I remember from earlier rabbit hole expeditions I tend to go on from time to time.
Good morning, Fatwa -- here’s hoping today is a HOA-free day for you and Jim & Co.
In Mexico, cartels have been branching out to kidnapping and ransom taking as another revenue stream. If drugs were legalized in America, then I’d expect our gangs and cartel divisions to do the same along with more armed robberies, home invasions, and protection rackets to make up for lost revenue.
Last week we had another wind/fire alert due to strong Santa Ana winds and low humidity. SoCal Edison put out several early warnings that power could be shut off (Public Safety Power Shutoff-PSPS) to various areas throughout SoCal and they weren’t lying as our power went out for almost two days. Red flag/fire warnings are nothing new; the power outages have been the new normal for the last 2-3 years and aren’t going away.
Over the last twenty years, we’ve had serious fire threats 4-5 times where we packed up and were ready to go, or actually did evacuate the house, or were unable to get back to the house. Probably another 3-4 times where we kept a close eye on things. Fire is a constant and real threat here and subjectively the fires seem to be more destructive to homes and people than they were in the past.
Early last week before the winds started blowing, I checked and charged all portable power devices and backups, did computer backups, pulled out fire extinguishers, placed flashlights and other portable lights in strategic locations, watered what I could, filled up the generator and gas cans, gassed up the vehicles, checked the generator, blah blah blah. By Wednesday night, I had us as prepared as we could be without staging for bugout.
Wednesday night the winds pick up and the power goes out Thursday around 2:00 AM.
Strong winds the next two days, no power, but no fires. Used the generator to power the refrigerator. Power back on Friday night.
What bothered me on a personal level was that I was afraid and anxious during those two days. I was checking the hills for smoke and fire every hour; checking the fire watch sites and feeds every couple of hours; unwilling to leave the house cuz if something jumped off I wouldn’t be able to get back. On the surface, I think my preparations were reasonable, but I don’t know if I overreacted to this latest fire threat even there and I was definitely overanxious – what I don’t know is if what I did and felt was reasonable or if I’m becoming afraid of things that I shouldn’t be. Am I becoming an old and frightened man? Has two years of constant covid fear mongering taken its toll on me?
Our Dear Harper has some very good points on this subject. I’d also like to inject my $0.02.
If there were no PSPS, you would be checking the news and maybe the fire watch sites, just as you have for the last two decades, but you’d do it in “just in case” mode, not “tracking an existing fire” mode. By issuing these alerts, then acting on them, SCE is priming you for disaster. “Fire conditions are high!” followed by “Fire conditions are so bad that we have to shut off your power!” In reality, if they shut off the power you should be less worried about fires, since Edison seems to be a major cause of fires. Instead, you end up more worried. If you think about it, the power doesn’t go out when things are fine, only when they aren’t (with a few exceptions). Edison is prepping you, psychologically, to expect a disaster that may never come.
Sven, you’re a good man. I’ve lived that way my whole life, it’s the way I was raised with one caveat…prepare, pray, play. I was raised to be prepared with a three year supply of food and all that goes with that. A bugout bag for each family member, training and planning. It’s done in our church but it isn’t just for disasters although, of course, there is that. It also insulates us from other kinds of problems. For the most part we don’t use government welfare so it’s a bulwark against job loss or the death of the father and helps us endow our children with skills and the confidence that comes with knowing how to do things and take care of themselves, etc. It’s not as big a deal as it sounds though. It’s integrated into our lives so that we don’t think much about it. We’re not like preppers.
Here’s the big point to all this, Sven. We then trust in God, pray and play hard. If I was in the house nextdoor to yours I would definitely take all of the same precautions that you do. I would also put an acorn cap on the computer hub as an offering to the household hubgoblin. I’d spend a good amount of time thinking up other puns, japes and nonsense to pass the time. I’d have special dead tree books set aside and special food. And I’d set aside time to pray and meditate, time to listen to my beloved Gregorian chants and focus on my relationship with my Savior. It’s all in the attitude…whether living in a state of preperation causes anxiety or a sense of comfort in knowing that you’ve got things covered and can relax and think of the time as an enforced cutout to do with what you will.
But that’s just my experience. YMMV.
(yes, I do have the books, puzzles, puns and food set aside. Of course! How else could a Plague Fairy make disasters fun? And one thing in life is assured, there will always be disasters)
Rabbit’s advice is always worth considering. As is Nedra’s, that gentle soul.
I say, make hay while the Democrats shine…choose the attitude you’re going to have and tailor your situation around it -- After having prepared, I believe it’s best to try to take hold of of the situation and consciously take stock of it, as you have been, so you can go forward with your own plan…your own attitude firmly in place. That’s how you defeat the myriad voices around you pushing fear and nonsense.
This is really an oldschool Midnight Oil subject that deserves the Gentle Mac treatment. I know he has much wisdom about this subject that would be edifying.
I just realized I’m still writing here and it’s 12:48am.
Thursday means Walmart Day here in Happy Larryville; be still my beating heart! I can hardly wait to see what’s out of stock this week, not to mention the latest price increases and/or “shrinkflation”.
Per Mac’s thread pic: Is Plaguie gonna be the harper equivalent of Marni Nixon? (Ms. Nixon was a “ghost singer” for several famous actresses in film musicals in addition to performing under her own name.)
Drugs, prostitution, gambling, protection racket, loan-sharking, jukeboxes (and other coin-op amusements like pinball), cigarette machines (and counterfeit tobacco tax stamps), cargo hijacking, construction and unions, among other things.
========================
Chik-fil-A as a public good:
IIRC, Prohibition made weed and Alcohol illegal. But when it was repealed, weed was left on the illegal list, AFAIK, this was because strong logging lobbies around making paper wanted to keep hemp out of the paper business.
There’re probably a lot more nefarious, yet little known, aspects of the thing, but this is just one thing I remember from earlier rabbit hole expeditions I tend to go on from time to time.
Good morning, Fatwa -- here’s hoping today is a HOA-free day for you and Jim & Co.
In Mexico, cartels have been branching out to kidnapping and ransom taking as another revenue stream. If drugs were legalized in America, then I’d expect our gangs and cartel divisions to do the same along with more armed robberies, home invasions, and protection rackets to make up for lost revenue.
Sure Happy It’s Thursday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Fatwa, and Sven!
Fatwa -- enjoy your WaddleMart run!
In re legalization of drugs: NYC opened up the first legalized shooting galleries and had a handful of ODs on the first day. Not an auspicious start.
Good morning, Paddy.
Does NY consider ODs a bug or a feature of their program?
I see Brandon will be addressing us soon on some new covid bullshit plans to keep us all
under the govt’s thumbsafe.Oh, I can hardly wait to
try to decipherhear what he has to say.Claire Wolfe. “That’s what we need to understand about them. The worse they get, the worse they’re going to get. The worse they’re determined to get.”
https://www.clairewolfe.com/blog/2021/11/30/from-alpha-to-omicron-theres-nothing-new-under-shining-delusions-of-authoritarians/
Another good read, thank you, Sir.
Last week we had another wind/fire alert due to strong Santa Ana winds and low humidity. SoCal Edison put out several early warnings that power could be shut off (Public Safety Power Shutoff-PSPS) to various areas throughout SoCal and they weren’t lying as our power went out for almost two days. Red flag/fire warnings are nothing new; the power outages have been the new normal for the last 2-3 years and aren’t going away.
Over the last twenty years, we’ve had serious fire threats 4-5 times where we packed up and were ready to go, or actually did evacuate the house, or were unable to get back to the house. Probably another 3-4 times where we kept a close eye on things. Fire is a constant and real threat here and subjectively the fires seem to be more destructive to homes and people than they were in the past.
Early last week before the winds started blowing, I checked and charged all portable power devices and backups, did computer backups, pulled out fire extinguishers, placed flashlights and other portable lights in strategic locations, watered what I could, filled up the generator and gas cans, gassed up the vehicles, checked the generator, blah blah blah. By Wednesday night, I had us as prepared as we could be without staging for bugout.
Wednesday night the winds pick up and the power goes out Thursday around 2:00 AM.
Strong winds the next two days, no power, but no fires. Used the generator to power the refrigerator. Power back on Friday night.
What bothered me on a personal level was that I was afraid and anxious during those two days. I was checking the hills for smoke and fire every hour; checking the fire watch sites and feeds every couple of hours; unwilling to leave the house cuz if something jumped off I wouldn’t be able to get back. On the surface, I think my preparations were reasonable, but I don’t know if I overreacted to this latest fire threat even there and I was definitely overanxious – what I don’t know is if what I did and felt was reasonable or if I’m becoming afraid of things that I shouldn’t be. Am I becoming an old and frightened man? Has two years of constant covid fear mongering taken its toll on me?
Thoughts?
Q1: Probably not. But with age comes experience. I could tell you some very embarrassing stories. Really.
Q2: Probably. I know it has on me, and I live in a red state that had no real restrictions.
Thank God you guys aren’t in a blue one.
Indeed
Our Dear Harper has some very good points on this subject. I’d also like to inject my $0.02.
If there were no PSPS, you would be checking the news and maybe the fire watch sites, just as you have for the last two decades, but you’d do it in “just in case” mode, not “tracking an existing fire” mode. By issuing these alerts, then acting on them, SCE is priming you for disaster. “Fire conditions are high!” followed by “Fire conditions are so bad that we have to shut off your power!” In reality, if they shut off the power you should be less worried about fires, since Edison seems to be a major cause of fires. Instead, you end up more worried. If you think about it, the power doesn’t go out when things are fine, only when they aren’t (with a few exceptions). Edison is prepping you, psychologically, to expect a disaster that may never come.
That’s a good point, Paddy, that hadn’t crossed my mind. Thanks
Sven, you’re a good man. I’ve lived that way my whole life, it’s the way I was raised with one caveat…prepare, pray, play. I was raised to be prepared with a three year supply of food and all that goes with that. A bugout bag for each family member, training and planning. It’s done in our church but it isn’t just for disasters although, of course, there is that. It also insulates us from other kinds of problems. For the most part we don’t use government welfare so it’s a bulwark against job loss or the death of the father and helps us endow our children with skills and the confidence that comes with knowing how to do things and take care of themselves, etc. It’s not as big a deal as it sounds though. It’s integrated into our lives so that we don’t think much about it. We’re not like preppers.
Here’s the big point to all this, Sven. We then trust in God, pray and play hard. If I was in the house nextdoor to yours I would definitely take all of the same precautions that you do. I would also put an acorn cap on the computer hub as an offering to the household hubgoblin. I’d spend a good amount of time thinking up other puns, japes and nonsense to pass the time. I’d have special dead tree books set aside and special food. And I’d set aside time to pray and meditate, time to listen to my beloved Gregorian chants and focus on my relationship with my Savior. It’s all in the attitude…whether living in a state of preperation causes anxiety or a sense of comfort in knowing that you’ve got things covered and can relax and think of the time as an enforced cutout to do with what you will.
But that’s just my experience. YMMV.
(yes, I do have the books, puzzles, puns and food set aside. Of course! How else could a Plague Fairy make disasters fun? And one thing in life is assured, there will always be disasters)
Thanks, Miss Harper. Preparing for things is how I am -- Mrs Sven is the spontaneous one -- me, not so much if at all.
It was the anxiety and fear I felt during those couple of days that has me thinking things through. As Rabbit would say: must think on this.
Rabbit’s advice is always worth considering. As is Nedra’s, that gentle soul.
I say, make hay while the Democrats shine…choose the attitude you’re going to have and tailor your situation around it -- After having prepared, I believe it’s best to try to take hold of of the situation and consciously take stock of it, as you have been, so you can go forward with your own plan…your own attitude firmly in place. That’s how you defeat the myriad voices around you pushing fear and nonsense.
This is really an oldschool Midnight Oil subject that deserves the Gentle Mac treatment. I know he has much wisdom about this subject that would be edifying.
I just realized I’m still writing here and it’s 12:48am.
I wish I could embed this but there you have it.
My favorite.
How lovely, Gentle Mac. Thank you