Archive of entries posted on February 2021

You Are Now the Sheriff of Nottingham

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An election was held.

We’ve calculated the results.

Congratulations, Sheriff!

(You’ll do what we say, won’t you?)

There were mail-in ballots. No one can see them.

There were in-person balllots also. No one but us counted them.

All that data is propietary.

Back off, man! We’re scientists!

Follow the science, as Biden says.

Nice Try

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Have you ever had a derelict vehicle towed away?

I wouldn’t want to be one.

I own a car that I do not want towed away.

It’s a gorgeous old baby-blue ’88 Jeep Wrangler with rectanglular headlights. To say I admire its lines would be an understatement.

I keep it insured and registered, and dutifully paid up with stupid town property taxes — all of which are rip-offs, by the way — just on the off-chance that some day I’ll get it road-worthy again. It has an undercarriage problem.

Today I got this threatening email from the state, obviously because of my connection with IMAO and my poem about Brandi-Sniffer:

Dear RMV Customer,
RMV records indicate your annual inspection sticker is expired and your vehicle needs to be inspected. To confirm this and act accordingly, please refer to the expiration date on the existing sticker on your vehicle’s front windshield.
The annual Vehicle Check requires all vehicles registered pass a yearly vehicle emissions and safety inspection – this inspection is essential to the safety of the environment and roadways.
• If your vehicle is currently in storage, an Off-the-Road Verification Inspection Form must be completed and mailed to the RMV.
• If your vehicle is currently out of state, an Out-of-State Verification Inspection Form must be completed and mailed to the RMV.
There are over 1,800 licensed inspection stations where customers can bring their vehicle in to safely update their inspection sticker. Visit the Inspection Station Locator to find a location near you.
Inspection stations are required to follow all applicable COVID-19 public health guidance and safety protocols. Should you have concerns of a violation upon visiting an inspection site, we encourage you to report those with the Department of Labor Standards.
Please note that all previous sticker extensions applied last year have now expired and no further extensions are planned.
While the RMV has encouraged law enforcement to use their discretion in issuing citations for an expired sticker, driving any motor vehicle without a valid inspection sticker is a traffic violation that may result in a fine and affect your insurance rate.
Please check and confirm the status of your annual safety and emissions inspection sticker, and go to the Inspection Station Locator to plan a visit to your local station today!
Thank you in advance for your attention and commitment to the safety of the environment and roadways.
If your vehicle has recently been inspected and has a valid, current sticker on your windshield, please disregard this email.
Sincerely,
The Registry of Motor Vehicles

Yeah, I’m really going to get a garaged vehicle inspected because it’s not road-worthy.

And why did they suddenly pull this trick out of their bag after twenty years?

Nice try!

Swing and a miss, F-knuckles!

(I’ve previously mentioned that my server has been compromised — because whoever-they-are posted a sarcastic comment about my sister’s innocent downloading from Netflix “The Wizard of Oz.” Which is definitely appropriate.)

Also: why, when I try to close my email server (Hotmail), does it take over an hour and a half (while showing a spinning icon) to close — before I just hit the power button to kill it?

Grrr.

If you ever not hear from Oppo again, you’ll know why. He has been quietly eliminated, like a derelict vehicle.

And you’re next.

The Stupid, it burns!

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To be fair stupidity is not limited to the United States. It appears that even military types overseas can be pretty durn stupid. I don’t know if it can rival our pledge to recognize the lived experiences of others but it certainly can give it a run for it’s money.

NATO chief suggests battle tanks with solar panels as militaries go green

Link to article.

Yes folks, they are serious.

Nato should examine how it can power tanks and jets with alternative energy, such as solar panels, to reduce its carbon emissions, the alliance’s secretary general said.

Reducing reliance on fossil fuels would also make troops less vulnerable to attack because they would not have to rely on long supply lines getting fuel to the front line, Jens Stoltenberg said.

The Nato chief suggested that militaries should advance research into low-emitting vehicles because of the advantages they bring, at an online seminar titled New Ideas for Nato 2030.

“Nato should do its part to look into how we can reduce emissions from military operations,” he told the Chatham House event. “We know that heavy battle tanks or fighter jets and naval ships consume a lot of fossil fuel and emit greenhouse gases and therefore we have to look into how we can reduce those emissions by alternative fuels, solar panels or other ways of running our missions.”https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/nato-chief-suggests-battle-tanks-with-solar-panels-as-militaries-go-green-1.1160313

Even others on the net comprehend the burning stupidity.

The stupid, it burns … an M1 tank gets 0.6 mpg. A gallon of diesel contains ~ 40 kWh of energy. A solar panel puts out ~ 1 kWh per day. A solar panel is about 17 sq. ft. You MIGHT fit four of them on an M1 tank without impairing the weapons and sensors. Then you’d need four Tesla Powerwall batteries, weight half a ton.With that setup, every ten days you could move your tank 0.6 miles …w.

Read it and weep as the saying goes.

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Thursday Night Open Thread: The First Really Boring Tweets

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Or were they just spam?

The First Marconigrams Sent Across the Atlantic to The New York World Newspaper

London (via Marconi wireless via Glace Bay, N. S.), Oct. 17, 1907.

To the New York World:

Greetings to the Americans through the New York World in the words of Burns:

Man to man the world o’er
Shall brithers be for a’ that.

(Lord) LOREBURN, Lord High Chancellor of England.

London (via Marconi wireless via Glace Bay, N. S.), Oct. 17, 1907.

To the New York World:

Greater miracles than those of old bewilder us to-day.

(Andrew) CARNEGIE.

London (via Marconi wireless via Glace Bay, N. S.), Oct. 17, 1907.

To the New York World:

I earnestly trust that this marvellous discovery may tend to enrich the mutual affection and confidence between the two great branches of the English-speaking [race.]

(Ven. William Macdonald) SINCLAIR,

Archdeacon of London and Chairman of the Pilgrims’ Committee.

Sounds like that last guy’s winding up for a sales pitch.

Do you have something you’d like to share? A link? A joke? Some words of wisdom? A topic to discuss? It’s our nightly Open Thread, and you have the floor.

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These Are Great Legal Minds We’re Up Against, Folks

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Biden’s AG Pick, Merrick Garland, Just Refused To Say Illegal Border Crossings Are A Crime. Says He “Hadn’t Thought About It.”
National Pulse | 02/22/2021 | Natalie Winters

When pressed by Senators on the legality of illegal border crossings, President Biden’s Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland revealed he “hadn’t thought about it.”

“Just a fundamental question. Do you believe that illegal entry at America’s borders should remain a crime,” Senator Dick Durbin asked.

Garland replied: “Well, I haven’t thought about that question. I just haven’t thought about that question.”

“I think, you know, the president had made clear that we are a country with borders and with a concern about national security. I don’t know of a proposal to decriminalize but still make it unlawful to enter. I just don’t know the answer to that question – I haven’t thought about it,” he adds.

I wish the source was the Babylon Bee.

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Via the Wokeback Machine

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British spy chief apologises for LGBT staff ban
Irish Independent via Press Reader | 20th February 2021 | Dominic Nicholls

The head of MI6 has apologised for the “misguided, unjust and discriminatory” ban on gay spies, 30 years after the restriction was lifted.

. . . the government-wide security ban was lifted in 1991.

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