Month: January 2023

Brazilians Occupy Their Congress, Supreme Court and Presidential Palace

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Bolsonaro supporters stormed the main buildings of their three branches of government today.  It should be interesting to see if Brazil’s election protestors end up as the January 6th protestors did or prevail.  Brazil is not within my areas of expertise so I’m not sure what any of this means.  But ti does show that America is not the only major country where the Left and the Right are at each others throats.

 

 

Ancient Roman Concrete’s Durability Finally Explained

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If you’ve ever seen the concrete in your house’s foundation or on your sidewalks start to crack and crumble after a few years then you might be interested to know that the answer to this sad situation exists in the 2,000 year old Roman Pantheon.  Apparently the Romans were better engineers than we are, at least as far as concrete goes.

Researchers at MIT have been studying the phenomenal longevity of Roman concrete edifices and they’ve discovered that using quick lime instead of slaked lime provides for the more reactive inclusions in the material to actually “self-heal” incipient cracks.

“The benefits of hot mixing are twofold,” Masic says. “First, when the overall concrete is heated to high temperatures, it allows chemistries that are not possible if you only used slaked lime, producing high-temperature-associated compounds that would not otherwise form. Second, this increased temperature significantly reduces curing and setting times since all the reactions are accelerated, allowing for much faster construction.”

Near the end of the article it’s stated that the researchers plan to commercialize the ancient technique.  Well, as a descendant of the Romans, I declare this cultural (or technical) appropriation.  And I demand reparations.  I’ve estimated my cut as approximately one billion denarii (silver of course).  If enough denarii can’t be found I will settle for gold doubloons.

08JAN2023 – Quote of the Day

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Power and wealth supply the place of each other. Power confers the ability of gratifying our desire without the consent of others. Wealth enables us to obtain the consent of others to our gratification. Power, simply considered, whatever it confers on one, must take from another. Wealth enables its owner to give to others, by taking only from himself. Power pleases the violent and proud: wealth delights the placid and the timorous. Youth therefore flies at power, and age grovels after riches.

Samuel Johnson

Guest Contributor – TomD – 07JAN2023 – Republican House

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Tom | Flickr

TomD

It’s over now but I think the whole circus has actually been a net positive. The worst thing that could have happened yet another round of Democratic Lite policies from the House. We’ve seen a number of those and just look at where they got us.

Maybe, just maybe this will lead not just to a veto of the egregious Dim policies but also a showcase of policies desperately needed by the country even if not enacted for now.

Also, someone has to look hard at Biden to determine if he is, as I suspect, wholly owned by the Chinese Communist Party. And the Dims simply won’t do it.

The Dims have long concluded that the Constitution, freedom, financial sanity, rational policies, the betterment of the nation all be damned, that the true brass ring is raw power achieved by any means. Anything that hinders their ultimate achievement of that goal is a plus.

Obama’s War Against the Cops Becomes More Deadly

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My good friend Mike Simonelli has an interesting article in today’s New York Post about the epidemic of murdered cops across the country.  He explains how many of them could have been avoided.

One of the biggest problems is the sheer number of the mentally ill on the streets.  The other major problem are the Soros funded District Attorneys that refuse to enforce repeat offender statutes that would take career criminals off the streets for long stretches .Here’s one example:

“That includes one who on Dec. 29 ambushed Riverside County, Calif., Deputy Sheriff Isaiah Cordero, fatally shooting him during a traffic stop. The killer had a long history of violence dating back to the 1990s that included kidnapping, robbery and assaults with deadly weapons. Having received his third strike in 2021, Deputy Cordero’s killer should have been locked up and serving 25 years to life.

“We would not be here today if the judge had done her job,” fumed County Sheriff Chad Bianco. Months earlier, Officer Santana’s mother voiced a similar refrain: “I blame the death of my son and his partner on [Los Angeles District Attorney George] Gascón”; they were “murdered by a criminal [who] should have been in jail.”

Mike’s a cop and he understands the specific risks that the present situation has created for police.  But at this point anyone living in the large cities with Democrat governments is taking his life into his own hands living there.  After all, if these lunatics will shoot it out with the police what chance does an ordinary citizen stand?  Getting out is the only way to reduce the risk of violent assault to a reasonable level.

Update:

I was pleased to see former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton link this article on his twitter feed.  I can only imagine what someone like him who knows how things should be done feels about the NYC Criminal Justice travesty we have now..

Men and Dogs and Women

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A7 III with Sigma 150 – 600mm MC-11 adapter

Dog is man’s best friend.  But woman is dog’s best friend.  Or should that be mommy.  I went with Camera Girl to the vet’s office with Kaylee, our older dog.  She’s a 13-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer and she’s starting to wear down.  Camera Girl loves her dearly and has been very worried that she won’t make it through the winter.  Now this seems like an unnecessary concern.  Other than progressive arthritis and a certain amount of mental confusion she seems relatively healthy.  She still enjoys her food enthusiastically and can keep up her normal activities, only at a slower pace.

But because of her concerns I went along in case any bad news was forthcoming.  When we got there, we entered the office and the receptionist began engaging in the typical female baby talk that is reserved for pets.  Then we got to the examination room and the vet tech came in and she too commenced with the mewing and cooing that passes for woman to dog communication.  And finally, the vet showed up and she also began the embarrassing babbling.  Now I will admit that both the tech and the vet were pretty adept at their medical tasks.  They vaccinated Kaylee and cut her nails quite skillfully.  And the vet convinced Camera Girl that Kaylee will make it through the year at least.  But as a man it was pretty comical listening as three grown women coaxed and comforted a large dog as if it were a three-month-old infant.

Now, full disclosure.  I have a very soft spot in my heart for all our dogs past and present.  And since I’ve had to be the one holding them when the vet puts them to sleep for the last time, I know exactly how close is the bond between a man and his dog.  Of course, they’re not human and certainly not our children.  But they think they are.  And that obligates us to treat them as family.  Since they lack the wherewithal to be responsible for themselves in human society, we become their guardians and keepers.  So that’s the logical underpinning for our position.  But the emotional relationship is much, much closer to a parent-child relationship than anything else.

So, fine.  We treat them in many ways like children.  But why do these women pretend they’re talking to newborns?  Dogs have the intelligence of a young child in many ways.  And they have the ability to respond to verbal commands and prompts of all kinds.  Why do these women chirp at them in this embarrassing manner.  As a mother and grandmother Camera Girl has always been quite good at teaching and disciplining little children and once they’re beyond a year or so she speaks to children in English with a minimum of singsong and baby words.  Why does she insist on using it for dogs.  In fact, why can’t she discipline her dogs as well as she did her children?

For the majority of our married life, I’ve been at the office during the week and she was home with the kids and dogs.  And without exception she has spoiled every one of our dogs rotten.  All of her cooing and babytalk is useless in getting the dogs to obey her.  Finally in desperation she asks me to take over and I have to growl at the dog to get obedience.  And this is a very bad situation.  For larger sporting breeds bad training can be dangerous.  But my protests have always been in vain.  She just can’t treat a dog as anything but a baby.

But at last, there will be a changing of the guard.  When in the fullness of time we need to get a new puppy in the house I will be home much more of the time than formerly and I intend to train this dog.  And it will be a revelation to Camera Girl.  This dog will obey my commands immediately and unerringly.  This dog will be a manly chap who will eschew all baby talk and respond to the curt guttural syllables reserved for a dog in the field.  Sit!  Heel!  Down!  He’ll be used to good solid pats to the ribs when he succeeds in his chores and maybe a scratch behind the ear while we’re watching tv together.  I’ll allow this dog a modicum of self-respect as a carnivore in good standing.  No goo-goo gah-gah.  Sure, I won’t stop Camera Girl from chirping at the dog and lavishing affection on him but I will not allow her to undermine the training.

A man and his dog.  A woman and her dog.  So different.