psybelle

The last few days have been focused on garden planting. Of course there has been the endless war against grass. It feels like a sisyphean task to beat back the grass, but bit by bit I'm winning. Last year I gave up and weedwhacked. This year there is still some tall grass to go, but the main part of the garden is pretty well under control. Here is a picture of the back of the garden. The tank is two feet tall. I think the fava beans in them are 3 feet tall. The fava beans are being grown for "green manure" so I guess I should chop them down now. I pulled one out the other day and it's roots were covered with little white nodules of nitrogen. The grass is so lush because about 4 years ago I had a truckload of wood chips dumped in this area. They are now composted down some and are providing a wonderful nutrient source.

Of course there are also those dratted foxtails. Far fewer than a couple of years ago. All the seed heads are going into bags and into the fire.
The green house is full of lettuce, tomatoes, dill and hyssop. I've planted out most of my tomatoes already, there is no frost in the forecast, and although it could freeze, I'll take the chance. Some of the lettuce has been planted out and protected from the goldfinches.

All over the garden there are little pops of color like this lewisia that has been sulking in the Henry St garden.

The miniture geum has been blooming for a month and shows no signs of stopping soon.

Over at the potting table there is a new (gray) shelf. This wall had a couple of hose hangers on it which were really not useful at all.

Out in the pasture I'm having a struggle with Firefly. She is being a typical horse and grazing the same places every day instead of eating down the pasture evenly, which is what I want. She is only one pony, and at this point she only gets about 3 hours of grazing per day (or she would get too fat). Right now she is being confined to an area about 15 x 25 feet. It takes her a day and a half or so to eat that much. Then she can go to the next section... Fortunately she has a lt of respect for electric fences.

Back at Henry St the builders are jack hammering out the foundation. The new one should be poured next week.

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3224/

Yes, the cosmic microwave background is great, but what about the earthly microwave foreground?

https://xkcd.com/3224/

ecosophia

Well, this is awkward. I just heard from the guy who's been hosting my website and other internet services since 2017; he's getting out of the business. I need to find a reasonably inexpensive place to put ecosophia.net. If anybody has had good experiences with an internet hosting company, especially on the smaller end of the industry -- I prefer to avoid the big corporate outfits -- I'm all ears.

Current Mood: annoyed
Current Music: Jethro Tull, "Too Old to Rock and Roll"

solarbird

The latest smoke detector to howl pointlessly into the night sends out 11.3V DC onto the signal pin when triggered but running off batteries. I suspect that’s 12V nominal, and it probably delivers 12V when operating on AC power.

Most importantly, it’s not like… 500mv. Or AC. Or complicated. It’s plain, simple DC.

When acting as a non-reporting satellite node, it triggers when receiving 4V DC on the signal pin (4.0 exactly), and that voltage is polarity sensitive. -4V doesn’t trigger the alarm.

Checking for DC on the signal line, I get functionally nothing. 20ma DC at most, and even that’s something I’m picking up out of noise floor shift rather than direct measurement.

(Yes, I checked for AC as well. Still functionally nothing.)

My thought was that if the signal line was somehow floating in whole number volts (for whatever reason) than maybe somehow the right RF noise could kick it over.

The problem with that is that I can now also confirm that non-detecting units go off exactly as long as a detecting device keeps saying it’s detecting by putting voltage on the signal line. If that voltage goes away, so do the satellite alarms – and immediately.

And that’s not what happens. We have to manually intervene and shut the alarms off ourselves.

The reason I paid meaningfully more than baseline for this particular set is that they report exactly which detector went off and why. That way, if it were the signal line somehow triggering the alarms, none of them would claim to be the originating unit; they’d all report it came from the signal backbone.

But they don’t. There’s always a unit claiming to be the active detector and it’s always smoke (and there is never actually smoke), and none of them shut up until we shut off that unit, which sometimes seems to require removing it from power.

So today’s afternoon check was basically just another way of confirming what we already knew, and I guess I’ve done that now, but…

All that does is get us right back to where we started, which is, “we have alarm after alarm after alarm of different makes, methods (ionisation, photodetector), and models which just in this house are determined to go off randomly, usually but not always at night, for absolutely no detectable fucking reason, and then pass self-test just fine afterwards.”

And no, regular cleaning – even weekly cleaning – does not help. I do all the things. None of it stops the problem.

If you’re new to this adventure, I have heard this exact same story from many other people at this point – though nobody I’ve talked to has said they’ve literally taken metres to the signal wires to verify that way.

Regardless, I know it is not just us.

What I’ve been told from others who deal with this is to RMA individual units that trigger randomly one at a time until you end up with a set that doesn’t. And I guess that’s what I’m gonna do, but

holy shit, team

holy shit

this is the opposite of fire safety

this is the opposite of how anything like this should ever work, I mean

what if all the RMAs are getting you are a set that won’t go off even when they should?

but whelp

guess i’m gonna find out

’cause this sure ain’t workin’.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

madbaker

This week's Resolution Recipe: Clams Bordelaise.
"The Pacific Northwest is loaded with clams, and I am as happy as one. My older brother thinks that anyone who steams clams without garlic should be shipped out of the country."
( Read more... )

Current Mood: tired

ecosophia

We are now well into the fifth year of these open posts. When I first posted a tentative hypothesis on the course of the Covid phenomenon, I had no idea that discussion on the subject would still be necessary all these years later, much less that it would turn into so lively, complex, and troubling a conversation. Still, here we are. Crude death rates and other measures of collapsing public health remain anomalously high in many countries, but nobody in authority wants to talk about the inadequately tested experimental Covid injections that are the most likely cause; ~~public health authorities~~ government shills for the pharmaceutical industry are still trying to push through laws that will allow them to force vaccinations on anyone they want; public trust in science is collapsing; new revelations are leaking out about just how bad the Covid vaccines are for human health; and the story continues to unfold.

So it's time for another open post. The rules are the same as before:

1. If you plan on parroting the party line of the medical industry and its paid shills, please go away. This is a place for people to talk openly, honestly, and freely about their concerns that the party line in question is dangerously flawed and that actions being pushed by the medical industry and its government enablers are causing injury and death on a massive scale. It is not a place for you to dismiss those concerns. Anyone who wants to hear the official story and the arguments in favor of it can find those on hundreds of thousands of websites.

2. If you plan on insisting that the current situation is the result of a deliberate plot by some villainous group of people or other, please go away. There are tens of thousands of websites currently rehashing various conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 outbreak and the vaccines. This is not one of them. What we're exploring is the likelihood that what's going on is the product of the same arrogance, incompetence, and corruption that the medical industry and its wholly owned politicians have displayed so abundantly in recent decades. That possibility deserves a space of its own for discussion, and that's what we're doing here.

3. If you plan on using rent-a-troll derailing or disruption tactics, please go away. I'm quite familiar with the standard tactics used by troll farms to disrupt online forums, and am ready, willing, and able -- and in fact quite eager -- to ban people permanently for engaging in them here. Oh, and I also lurk on other Covid-19 vaccine skeptic blogs, so I'm likely to notice when the same posts are showing up on more than one venue.

4. If you plan on making off topic comments, please go away. This is an open post for discussion of the Covid epidemic, the vaccines, drugs, policies, and other measures that supposedly treat it, and other topics directly relevant to those things. It is not a place for general discussion of unrelated topics. Nor is it a place to ask for medical advice; giving such advice, unless you're a licensed health care provider, legally counts as practicing medicine without a license and is a crime in the US. Don't even go there.

5. If you don't believe in treating people with common courtesy, please go away. I have, and enforce, a strict courtesy policy on my blogs and online forums, and this is no exception. The sort of schoolyard bullying that takes place on so many other internet forums will get you deleted and banned here. Also, please don't drag in current quarrels about sex, race, religions, etc. No, I don't care if you disagree with that: my journal, my rules.

6. Please don't just post bare links without explanation. A sentence or two telling readers what's on the other side of the link is a reasonable courtesy, and if you don't include it, your attempted post will be deleted.

7. Please don't post LLM ("AI") generated text. This is a place for human beings to talk to other human beings, not for the regurgitation of machine-generated text. Also, please don't discuss large language models (the technology popularly and inaccurately called "artificial intelligence" these days) except as they bear directly on the Covid phenomenon. Here again, my finger is hovering over the delete button.

Please also note that nothing posted here should be construed as medical advice, which neither I nor the commentariat (excepting those who are licensed medical providers) are qualified to give. Please take your medical questions to the licensed professional provider of your choice.

With that said, the floor is open for discussion.

Current Mood: wary
Current Music: David Lanz, "Wings to Altair"

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3223/

Depending what corners of the internet you hang out on, 'regular' may at times awkwardly coexist with 'sexy.'

https://xkcd.com/3223/

madbaker

Yesterday was the wife's birthday. We spent a fairly quiet day together, then went to a local highish-end sushi place at her request. We had their omakase, which was not cheap but wasn't overpriced for the quality. The restaurant was crowded even on a Sunday; it's been around for 35 years so it's a neighborhood staple. We quite liked everything and made sure the chef-owner knew we appreciated it.

I'd love to be in a financial space where we could be regulars instead of budgeting for a special occasion. But life isn't convenient that way.

solarbird

Make sure people know: DONALD TRUMP says airports will stay fucked until Democrats agree to vote for the Women’s Disenfranchisement (“save”) Act.

Everybody who complains about airports, everyone who complaints about gas prices, anyone who complains about anything: Donald Trump HIMSELF will not let it get fixed UNTIL 21 MILLION WOMEN are disenfranchised through his mass disenfranchisement act.

2 screencaps. On left, Hannah Brandt on X, 4:51pm 22 March:BREAKING: In a phone call just minutes ago President Trump told me Democrats want to make a deal on DHS funding but he doesn't "think any deal should be made on this until they approve save America."First I asked him how long he's prepared to have ice agents help out at airportsHe told me, "For as long as it takes."Then I asked "Some lawmakers are saying they should just fund TSA while they negotiate on DHS. What do you think about that?"President Trump said "Now that I did this the Democrats want to make a deal. And I don't think any deal should be made on this until they approve SAVE America."On right:Shitstain on Shithole Social, Sunday 22 March:I don't think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass "THE SAVE AMERICA ACT." It is far more important than anything else we are doing in the Senate, and that includes giving these same terrible people, the Dems (who are to blame for this mess!), a Five Billion Dollar cut in ICE funding, a deal which, even when disguised as something else, is unacceptable to me and the American people - UNLESS it includes their approval of Voter I.D., (with picture!), Citizenship to Vote, No Mail-In Voting (with exceptions), All Paper Ballots, [anti-trans hate propaganda], and [anti-trans hate propoganda]. Put it all together, and also, let Leader Thune clearly identify those few "Republicans" that are Voting against AMERICA. They will never be elected again! In other words, lump everything together as one, and VOTE!!! Kill the Filibuster, and stay in D.C. for Easter, if necessary. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DJT

I don’t give a fuck if Fox says it’s not like that, it fucking well is. “RealID” doesn’t count. Name change documents don’t count. Marriage certificates don’t count. Changed your name when you got married? Well, if you didn’t also change your birth certificate or spend a couple of hundred dollars and many hours to get a passport, NO VOTING FOR YOU, BITCH.

Which is exactly how they want it. Way too much of “centrist” media is reporting this as a general effect, but it’s not. It’s targeting women (and trans people) and that’s how they want it, because they don’t want women to vote at all, and they’ve said so a lot since 2020. In the open. In words.

So they need to strap in and hold steady, because we absolutely cannot let that happen.

Donald Trump and the entire Republican Party want only elections if they are guaranteed to win.

Anybody whinges about airports, anybody complaints about gas, remind them: that’s what Donald Trump wants, because he wants to say in power forever.

#fascism #politics #uspol #uspolitics

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

ecosophia

It's getting on for midnight and so it's time to launch a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism, and with certain exceptions noted below, any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. Please note: Any question or comment received after that point will not get an answer, and in fact will not be put through. If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 341,928th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.3 of The Magic Monday FAQ here.

Also: I will not be putting through or answering any more questions about practicing magic around children. I've answered those in simple declarative sentences in the FAQ. If you read the FAQ and don't think your question has been answered, read it again. If that doesn't help, consider remedial reading classes; yes, it really is as simple and straightforward as the FAQ says. And further: I've decided that questions about getting goodies from spirits are also permanently off topic here. The point of occultism is to develop your own capacities, not to try to bully or wheedle other beings into doing things for you. I've discussed this in a post on my blog.

(The image? I've finished the sequence of my published books; while I decide what I want to do next, I have some memes to share.)

Buy Me A Coffee

Ko-Fi

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use either of the links above to access my online tip jar; Buymeacoffee is good for small tips, Ko-Fi is better for larger ones. (I used to use PayPal but they developed an allergy to free speech, so I've developed an allergy to them.) If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here.

I've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online.

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com.

~~With that said, have at it!~~

***This Magic Monday is now closed and no further comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Jethro Tull, "Dark Ages"

elf

There is Drama going around in the indie TTRPG community. Some people accuse a game designer of being a jerk, a cheat (someone who doesn't pay contractors, not someone involved in relationship shenanigans), a liar, and weaponizing their fame to harass other people in the community.

Others say the above comments are nothing but hate-speech aimed at a person of a marginalized identity, and this person has written great works and brings creativity and fresh insights to the community at large.

I'd love to figure out which is true, or if they both have elements of truth.

The details are apparently covered in a Rascal article, possibly some posts at Medium, and of course, in multiple Discords. If I joined the right ones, I might be able to find out who actually said what. (I will not be joining any Discords over this.)

I can confirm:
• Creator in question has written some amazing stuff, not only much-lauded but also unique improvements to the TTRPG-sphere
• People I respect (but do not know personally) are calling aforementioned creator a scoundrel and abuser

( My analysis )

ranunculus

Firefly is currently being let out on lush green grass for 1 1/2 hours twice a day. So far she isn't too fat...
This week she is in her white phase. I have a large pile of dirty brown hair to put into the compost.

Early Winter( pic )

gwydion

* I'm well over a month behind. Sorry.

* "Trump makes Pearl Harbor remark in meeting with Japan's PM:" https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dlpr074q3o

* "Concerns over US travel visas sees huge event moved to Europe for first time in 35 years:" https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-visas-ig-nobel-prizes-europe-trump-b2935119.html

* "Rubio beclowns himself dancing to Trump’s tune; U.S. security suffers with Rubio’s distractions:" https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow/watch/rubio-beclowns-himself-dancing-to-trump-s-tune-u-s-security-suffers-with-rubio-s-distractions-2487579715575

* "Ex-DOGE Employee Exploited Americans' Private Data, Whistleblower Claims:" https://www.huffpost.com/entry/doge-whistleblower-complaint-data-breach_n_69b09a66e4b07e0eaa23d70e

* "Trump’s acting cyber chief uploaded sensitive files into a public version of ChatGPT:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/27/cisa-madhu-gottumukkala-chatgpt-00749361

* "Rescuers Responding to Storms Were Left Without Key Tornado Tracker After Kristi Noem’s Team Let Contract Expire: Report:" https://people.com/rescuers-didnt-have-tornado-tracker-after-contract-expired-under-kristi-noem-report-11925823

* "JBS workers launch first US meatpacking strike in 40 years, union says:" https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/jbs-workers-launch-first-us-meatpacking-strike-40-years-union-says-2026-03-16/

* "Republican in Congress resist calls for Iran war hearings, creating a new standoff with Democrats:" https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/republican-in-congress-resist-calls-for-iran-war-hearings-creating-a-new-standoff-with-democrats

* "‘Monumental strategic stupidity’: Trump faces wrath of Senate Democrats over Iran:" https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow/watch/monumental-strategic-stupidity-trump-faces-wrath-of-senate-democrats-over-iran-2492388931769

* "Congress braces for $200B Iran war request:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/19/congress-braces-for-200b-iran-war-request-00835914

* "True to form, Trump’s new DHS pick comes with baggage, promising a lively confirmation hearing:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/true-to-form-trump-s-new-dhs-pick-comes-with-baggage-promising-a-lively-confirmation-hearing-2492567619934

* "Rand Paul beef with Markwayne Mullin adds surreal layer to bizarre hearing:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/rand-paul-beef-with-markwayne-mullin-adds-surreal-layer-to-bizarre-hearing-2492737091529

Tell Your Senators to Block Markwayne Mullin from Taking Over I.C.E.. There isn't much chance of permanently blocking him because senators like to rubber stamp other senators no matter how horrible, dangerous, or incompetent they are, but we can try to delay the process.

Tell your Senators to filibuster him until I.C.E. reforms go through.

* "Capitol agenda: Thune kicks off SAVE showdown:" https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/03/16/congress/save-america-act-thune-senate-vote-debate-00829442

* Republicans are thinking of nuking the filibuster so they can disenfranchise married women, trans people, and the poor. "Fact Check Team: Filibuster fight intensifies as Republicans push for action on SAVE Act:" https://katv.com/news/nation-world/fact-check-team-filibuster-fight-intensifies-as-republicans-push-for-action-on-save-act-department-homeland-security-legislation

* They aren't even pretending anymore about the real goal. "White House press secretary ties voting bill to unrelated anti-trans Trump agenda in Fox News appearance:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/karoline-leavitt-transgender-save-act

* "Senators must reject Trump’s expanding anti-trans agenda in SAVE America Act, advocates warn:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/senators-reject-save-act-letter

* "Senate blocks Trump-backed trans sports ban in Republican voting bill:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/senate-rejects-trans-save-act

I beg you to fight hard on this one because it's likely game over for American Democracy and absolutely deadly for trans people if they win this one.

* The goal of the SAVE Act is to make it illegal on a federal level for married women and trans people and people who can't afford expensive ID to vote.

I am really alarmed I am about to be stripped of my right to vote, that a large portion of Americans are about to be stripped of their right to vote.

Resistance in the Senate is Weakening. Please contact your Senators!

Please contact your US Senators to tell them to vote AGAINST the SAVE ACT

* Here is a model email: https://amaebi.dreamwidth.org/2767709.html

* "Congressional Republicans advance federal ‘don’t say trans’ school bill:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trans-identity-education-ban

* Our until Midterms is to survive, to build grassroots resistance, to do all in our power to slow the republican Christo-fascist agenda, and to prepare for 2026 in case there is still Democracy.

"Take action with Indivisible:" https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/

Trump 2.0 Indivisible Guide. https://indivisible.org/resource/guide

If you can't safely contact them in person, here are some other options for contacting your Congress Critters:

Five Calls to your critters: https://5calls.org/

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

And another: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

Snail Mail Campaigns: https://conuly.dreamwidth.org/3622760.html

"Congress. gov:" https://www.congress.gov/

White house (Possibly Dangerous): https://www.whitehouse.gov/

ACLU advice for writing to your Critters: https://www.aclu.org/writing-your-elected-representatives

This tracks legislation: https://www.govtrack.us/

"The Public Comment Process (+ how to write effective public comments):" https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/781844516804149248?source=share

"Swing Left:" https://swingleft.org/

Run for Something: https://runforsomething.net/

"Vote Smart:" https://justfacts.votesmart.org/

Protests: "50501 Events:" https://www.fiftyfifty.one/events

"ICE Raids Toolkit: Defend Against ICE Raids and Community Arrests:" https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/raids-toolkit/

Contains a raid tip hotline amoung other things. "Know Your Rights
LEARN HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY:" https://wearecasa.org/know-your-rights/

* We are in primary season now. States vote at different times, so I beg ALL of you to check when your state is voting. If you are in an in-person vote state, research ahead of time so you can vote for the candidate with views closest to your own. If you vote by mail, take the time to look them up when your ballot comes.

THIS is how you move the party further LEFT.

Primary schedule here:

* "2026 Statewide Primary Calendar:" https://www.270towin.com/2026-state-primary-calendar/

I don't know where you live, so I can't link this for you, but I find the Progressive Voter Guide online very helpful in narrowing down candidates in the often packed primaries where I live.

I also suggest looking at things like volunteer work and endorsements, because it really, really helps with things like sheriff and judicial elections, but can be useful in all sorts of primaries when you have multiple good options.

REMEMBER: Don't just vote for the big things like US Congress. Vote in every State and local race down to the smallest and on all the referendums.

State and local elections have a massive impact on your quality of life.

* Arkansas! Don't forget to vote in the Run Off Election March 31st!

* Indiana! Ohio! Don't forget to vote in the Primaries May 5!

* "LGBTQ+ Task Force’s Evan Low: What’s at stake this midterms:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/gay-democrat-evan-low-midterms

* "Election Live Updates: Juliana Stratton Wins Illinois Democratic Senate Primary:" https://archive.ph/A97ah

* "Who is Daniel Biss, the Democrat who narrowly beat Gen-Z star Kat Abughazaleh in Illinois:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/who-is-daniel-biss

* "Democratic incumbent fends off progressive Army captain & trans rights ally in Illinois primary:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/election/nikki-budzinski-beats-dylan-blaha

* "Mississippi Senate Primary Results 2026:" https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-primary-elections/mississippi-senate-results

* "Trans tech executive could become first out officeholder in western Tennessee:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/election/transgender-candidate-lena-chipman-tennessee

* "Mayor Matt Mahan - His Vision as Democratic Candidate for Governor of California | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "Idaho Republicans pass bill making it a felony for transgender people to use public bathrooms:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/transgender-bathroom-ban-felony-idaho

* "Christian ‘Black Nazi’ Mark Robinson admits to porn obsession he denied while campaigning:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/mark-robinson-admits-porn-obsession

* "Demolition underway at Pulse nightclub, site of one of the deadliest U.S. mass shootings:" https://www.advocate.com/news/pulse-nightclub-demolition-underway

* "Afroman prevails in cops' music video defamation suit after a brief but viral trial:" https://www.npr.org/2026/03/19/nx-s1-5753563/afroman-lemon-pound-cake-trial

* "‘I will not comply’: Tennessee librarian refuses to move LGBTQ+ books:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/rutherford-library-director-refusal

* "Fewer young Americans support LGBTQ+ protections, survey finds:" https://www.advocate.com/young-americans-opinions-lgbtq-rights

* "How Ozempic is impacting gay men's body image—and ability to bottom:" https://www.advocate.com/health/mental-health/ozempic-gay-body-image-explainer

* Long Covid Awareness Day: "Willful ignorance:" https://janetgunter.net/willful-ignorance

* "Have the gay tech titans turned their backs on us?:" https://www.advocate.com/cover-stories/gay-tech-billionaires-betray-lgbtq

* "Apple CEO Tim Cook swears he is ‘not a political person’:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trump-tim-cook-apple-ceo

* "Tim Cook wants you to touch grass. That's rich:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/tim-cook-nature

* "'Agent of chaos' Peter Thiel is lecturing on the Antichrist at the Vatican's doorstep:" https://www.advocate.com/news/religion/peter-thiel-antichrist-vatican

* "Possible meteor seen over Southeast Texas:" https://www.khou.com/video/news/local/fireball-seen-over-part-of-southeast-texas/285-f278dee0-51ad-4994-95f8-069e3282c8b9

* "32,000 Year Old Plant Brought Back to Life:" https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/120221-oldest-seeds-regenerated-plants-science

* "Anne of Cleves Wrote a Letter to Her Brother Politely Declining to Return to Cleves to Become a Political Pawn Again:" https://themedievalbeekeeper.com/2026/03/19/anne-of-cleves-wrote-a-letter-to-her-brother-politely-declining-to-return-to-cleves-to-become-a-political-pawn-again/

* "6 Black Suffragettes Who Made a Difference:" https://blackgirlnerds.com/6-black-suffragettes-who-made-a-difference/

* "My dad made the biggest jewelled egg in the world. The obsession would destroy his marriage, family and fortune:" https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/mar/07/paul-kutchinsky-egg-obsession-destroy-marriage-family-fortune?

* "Robert Mueller, who investigated Trump and tested limits of presidential power, dies at 81:" https://www.advocate.com/obituaries/robert-mueller-dead

* "Donald Trump cheers former special counsel Robert Mueller’s death:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trump-celebrates-robert-mueller-death

* "Officials say it’s ‘disgusting’ that Donald Trump is celebrating Robert Mueller’s death:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trump-robert-mueller-death-celebration

* "Punch the orphan macaque is outgrowing his plushie and making friends:" https://apnews.com/article/japan-baby-monkey-zoo-7911e0597837b97199a810601f91c35d?

* Monday was a symphony of frustrations. I also had four separate calls from the insurance company that is trying to fuck up my medicare while I was asleep. They have a lot of auto dialers and no matter how many I block. They are getting desperate. I lost several hours of sleep as a result.

I still had to drag myself out for library. I'd promised myself the special seasonal potato cheddar bread as a treat, but it was sold out.

Came home to find housing threatening bureaucracy in the mail. I really fucking hate that they replaced the perfectly functional automated system at SSI with shitty AI designed to try to force me to use their broken website I can't get into and a cell phone I don't have.

The auto tax bill never came, and I am nearly out of time. They have made paying online impossible and have closed the place I used to go in person to pay. I don't understand why they couldn't A. send the bill in January like usual. B. have a website that lets you log in. Oh there are lots of boxes you can click and type into, but they require you to receive an email to actually log in and they do not send the email. Yes, I checked the spam filter and trash.

* We've been prepping for the annual inspection where they decode if I need a nursing home whether I want to live in one or not. I do not, of course, and I hate it, the intrusion, the inherent initialization. New Millennial was an absolute Superhero with the cleaning, and Techie Millennial was also a help.

Squirrel and I did get trash and recycling out in the middle of the night after the rain stopped. (It was pouring in that soak you in seconds way earlier).

I am exhausted. Was it five phone calls or six today? Two of them were real and important. One was a thing that may actually be a medicare thing, but I don't trust them because they are on that sketchy bubble and won't go off script to answer a simple question. (Sometimes real medicare does that and I once spent months hanging up on a legitimate thing because they were not willing to clearly say who they were and why they were calling and wouldn't go off their long rambly script. So I kept hanging up after two sentences until a supervisor called and said please don't hang up, identified herself clearly and said what she wanted. Just saying). The rest was yet more insurance company scammers. I have added a third voice to the list of ones that have been harassing me often multiple times a day for over a month. (Insurance Companies can afford a LOT of autodialers and tricking the elderly is a lucrative business). Luckily, the new one has a distinctive voice, so it should speed up the hang up and block the number process. (The other two are local accented white lady voices with very common pitch and delivery for around here. I learned to distinguish them mostly because one was and asshole and the other easy to discourage.) I also got one with a different voice and trying to trick you sales pitch, but the scam was obvious enough I could hang up and block one sentence in. Her voice was also distinctive, which will make the hang up and block process faster. I wonder if this is a different insurance company also trying to scam seniors or the first company trying out a different script. Sigh.

And then there was physio and cleaning and starting the stupid housing bureaucracy paperwork. (I was too tired to tackle the complicated second page directions, but I have Squirrel started on getting their documentation, so setting it aside for when my brain wasn't mush made more sense, since neither their documentation nor mine will be ready until likely next week). Then more cleaning, including futzing with the fish tanks so I could get the filter parts off the table ahead of inspection. The filter for the 20 gallon is kaput, which is not a surprise given its age and the fragility of filter propellers. (I miss when I could just switch them for one salvaged from another with a dead motor, but that company went out of business ages ago). At least the 50 has the filter back in after a cleaning. The tanks really need changing and I need to move some plants from the 50 to the twenty, but at least this is progress. Both tanks are dirt (not stones), with air pump and live plants. Going an extra week without a change will be okay. I just could not be hauling that much water around and be dealing with all this cleaning this past week and physio and at least three extremely low spoon days. I did at least top them off a couple days ago, and pop in a little extra stability.

All of this would be so much easier if people would just let me sleep instead of constantly trying to trick and/or threaten me into fucking up my Medicare for their profit.

As I wrote this it was less than too hours until inspection Thursday morning and I mostly just want to go to bed, but I can not, especially as I should really try to sort out the car tax thing after inspection because truncated ours. Sigh.

* The nurse practitioner/ inspector was about 4 hours late without calling.

When they were half an hour late, i did lungs. When they were more than an hour late I brushed my teeth and went to bed in my clothes, on the grounds that she might turn up. My money was on reschedule, but I hate keeping someone waiting while I try to scramble into my clothes.

Livia was already warey because all the intensive clening,buclothes in bed is a dead give away, and she is a clever girl and keen observer of human behavior. She was up and checking the window, ready to run for herhide at every odd sound from ouside or upstairs. I couldn't sleep anyway between this and phone scammers.

Nurse/inspector called I think 11:24AM, asked if she could come in 15 minutes. I said yes. My day was blown anyway, and we'd just have to clean all over on a reschedule. People are often late here because they can't find close parking or thy pick the wrong building. The buzzer doesn't always work, so some people do not come unless they have sense to call us. This late, I suspected a medical emergency at whoever her first visit was with. This was correct. I did not ask if she shipped her lunch break to squeeze me in, but I don't doubt she did.

I was grateful to be squeezed in and not mad at all. Someone could have died if she hadn't sorted it and it was exactly the sort of situation you can't leave until everything is stabilized and care is passed on to someone else. Like I said, I'd guessed something like this was what was going on and I don't waste angry in the absence of Malicious. I definitely don't get at angry about Kind and at no point did I think I'd been blown off without cause.

The upshot is I was too tired to be driving downtown for car tax crap I didn't get to bed until nearly one and have had Not Remotely enough sleep. I have massive headache and I am not enough butter on too much bread.

She was nice though. She skipped the cognitive exam, "You are intelligent, cheerful, and clearly your memory is fine."

Squirrel is now in a battle with the people doing the partial pay for work related injury time people to get the stupid piece of paper we need for the Housing Bureaucracy stuff, but they ae being diligent about it.

* Friday, I stayed up to do the car tax thing. Disabled parking was full, so it went from a walk the length of the building situation to most of a mile each way walking. I couldn't breath and I very nearly collapsed. So I'm laid up from that.

* "Allies Pass On Helping Trump Fight Iran | MarineTraffic Is Amazing | Taking Cuba:" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZiRkfHzPRg&list=PLiZxWe0ejyv_1xFlP0NLPIhviSnmDs4S8&index=2

* "Jon Stewart Invites Panel of Trumps to Debate Iran War | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "MAGA Spins High Oil Prices Into Patriotism & Rand Paul Beefs with Markwayne Mullin | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "Trump: I'll Bomb Iran "Just For Fun" | Hegseth Wants A Patriotic Press | Dig We Must?:"

( Embed: )

* "Trump Pisses Off Japan with Pearl Harbor Joke & Afroman Cucks the Police in Court | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "Un Forever | Iran Posed No Imminent Threat | Not The Smartest Person | Florida's Cousin-Couples:"

( Embed: )

* "Revisiting Ode to Billy Joe—and the boy who jumped—50 years later:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/ode-to-billy-joe-50th-anniversary

* "Bryan Fuller on Dust Bunny, Clive Barker & Going To Hell?:"

( Embed: )

* "Lost Doctor Who episodes found in 'eclectic' collection:" https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g7kwq1k11o

* "‘The Pitt,’ as Told by Its Patients:" https://www.theringer.com/2026/03/12/tv/the-pitt-behind-the-scenes-patients

* CW: Rape "The Tragic Mulatto: An American Lie:"

( Embed: )

* "Sorrowful Scipio (Africanus):" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0ZZmNGMSF7g

* "Ides Ideals:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/g47zLpq95iE

* "Pious Peddlers:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fkOvcCBroaA

* "Angry Angevins:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hIncHmWfc_A

* "Belligerent Bromances:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wX_9GL4V6yw

* "Horrendous Hapless Habsburgs:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eId7P_hwoPc

* "Typical Tanks:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JamCE1GygRI

* "Devastatingly Dystopian Dating:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sWYLsKUUGkw

* "Lore-ndry:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZqC5hgEi3u4

* "Sleep Sanity:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qG9KF26LF_E

* "Introducing Free Speech Plus: Pay What You Need to Say What You Want! | The Daily Show:"

( Embed: )

* "Bombing Iran? Try Havinaplan:"

( Embed: )

ranunculus

Rode the Split Rock circle with Dave and Lisa this morning. Lily let me use Beau. Unlike Firefly, Beau poked along on our way out and had to be encouraged to step out all the time. Going home he was walking really fast. It was a nice ride. Lots of pretty spring scenery. Cows with little calves.
When we got back I switched to going over and working with the basket weaving ladies. This was our second go at clearing out and cutting back some willow. We have one small area pretty well cleared. It had a lot of blackberry in addition to the willow, much of it dead but still vicious with thorns. Most of the willow there is grey willow, I'm going to cut back some of the willow near the pond which should make good long willow shoots.
Finally got the last of the compost out of the uphill compost bin and refilled the bottom with manure from the corral. Firefly is undoubtedly grateful to have her corral clean. Now to fill up the bin with all the stuff that has piled up and is waiting for a chance to compost!

solarbird

Pete Hegseth either has no idea what a pocket square is and/or what it’s for, or he uses the American flag as facial tissue, for blowing his nose. You might point this out to any flag patriots who still worship the shitstain and his minions:

Screen capture from video of Pete Hegseth ejaculating more lies and propaganda from behind a podium, as seen on MSNOW (formerly MSNBC), captioned PENTAGON LEADERS HOLD BRIEFING ON IRAN WAR, and captured by Mary Trump Media for her breaking news segment. In his suit jacket, he has an American flag in the pocket square/handkerchief pocket, because, as a fool and a clown, he has no idea what it actually is or what it's for. I like to think he rubs one out into it, because - let's face it - that's what he thinks of the Republic.

Normally, I probably wouldn’t bother with something this stupid and petty, but they’re trying so hard – so hard – to pretend to be old money and yet have no fucking idea what any of the symbolism means that this basically became a small but perfect snapshot of the sick delusional fraud encompassing literally every aspect of their worthless, filthy lives.

There are nearly infinite reasons to want to punch this cretin directly in the face the moment you see him, this is merely one of many.

But it’s just so completely on the nose, isn’t it?

Just like someone’s fist should be.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

elf

Found a nice gaming article on Bluesky (Three Tiers of RPG Publishing), which led me to another article, which I found insightful and clever (and a bit sad, as accurate talk about economics these days tends to be), and then hit the bit that blew my mind.

They Killed Normal and Called It Progress: "Julia Roberts, Applebee's, Bandcamp, your manager, and the death of everything in between. (Also, Sweetgreen is the A24 of dining and I will die on this hill.)"

Have you noticed that the middle is gone from everything? Restaurants, companies, careers, music, retail, the economy itself. What replaced it is a barbell: one enormous weight on each end, nothing in the center, and most of us trying not to get crushed by the bar.

And the replacement does look better every single time, I grant you that. The A24 film is better than the $40 million adult drama from 2007, yeah, we can all agree on that. The Sweetgreen bowl is better than the Applebee’s chicken parm, sure. Your favorite Substack is sharper than the mid-list magazine that folded in 2019. Every replacement is a genuine upgrade. But every replacement serves fewer and fewer people.

That's not the mind-blowing part. That's the thesis, the baseline, the part that he spends half of the ~3000 word essay explaining, giving examples of, making neat comparisons across different industries.

( It's amazing that it doesn't get boring because it truly is the same damn pattern )

arethinn

Theory of Wings by

AelinLaerFineArt

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3222/

It's ok, I still have some nice, cool gas clouds that aren't collapsing. As long as nothing ionizes them, I can continue to enjoy their ... HEY! NO!!!

https://xkcd.com/3222/

ecosophia

I'm pleased to report that late next month I'll be the keynote speaker at the 2026 Southeastern Masonic Symposium in Asheville, North Carolina. While it's being hosted by Freemasons, this event is open to the public and will be livestreamed over the internet. The theme for the event is the important figures in esoteric Masonry, and my talk will be on Gerard Thibault d'Anvers, the brilliant 17th-century martial artist whose book Academie de l'Espee (translated by me as The Academy of the Sword) is the longest and most elaborate treatise on swordsmanship ever written, whose work is pervaded by Masonic and proto-Masonic symbolism, and whose legacy has intriguing connections with a British school of sacred geometry deeply enmeshed in the 18th-century Masonic scene.

Interested? You can access tickets here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2026-asheville-masonic-symposium-tickets-1980822909645

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Yes, "Heart of the Sunrise"

solarbird

So I’ve been getting my radio game back together, since in adventurous times – particularly times with the possibility of particularly severe emergencies and communications troubles – it’s very good to have access to and practice with backup comms that will work under almost all circumstances.

I’ve also been brushing up on my Amateur radio skills, tho’ really in both cases this comes down to “buying and/or making antennas,” which has meant a bit of both, but particularly making antennas.

I feel like I’ve got the GMRS kit into decent nick. I need to make a longer-term version of the attic antenna rig; while I can do about as well in the highest front window, that setup is somewhat inconvenient and has to be taken down every day. So if I can just have something just set up full time somewhere out of the way, that’d obviously be much better. I’ve got it all worked out at this point, too; all I really need is cable. And to build a functional duplicate of my latest GMRS antenna.

Looking up towards the peak of a roof from inside the attic, a series of beams rise up to a crossbeam upon which sits an antenna going up to the top of the space. A piece of paper pinned to the crossbeam reads "GMRS" indicating that this is the location for the GMRS antenna.

There’s been a bit of a learning curve but at this point I can reach the West Seattle repeater on 15, the Beacon Hill on 16, the Queen Anne on 18 – hugely important, the busiest repeater, an unknown repeater on 19, the Maple Leaf repeater on 20, and the Snohomish repeater on 22. I can also occasionally reach the Redmond repeater on 17, but that’s kind of a best-conditions ping and I don’t know how useful it’d actually be given how weak my signal must be even when it does get picked up.

Also, I’ve gone ahead and coded up North Bend on 21, just to have it there even though there’s no way in hell I’ll ever reach it from here.

Meanwhile, over on the Amateur bands, the new 70cm/2m antenna – this one, I bought – has made a huge difference and really broken me out of my UHF Hole. I’ve been adding Amateur repeaters as I verify I can reach them, and I even managed to get the local 1.25m relay into parrot mode so I know my voice is audible for sure now.

So far tho’ GMRS is much more active, probably because it’s much easier and because the license doesn’t require a test. You can just buy one for $35 and it’s good for 10 years. And it works with FRS which requires no license at all.

It’s also far more limited – no HF component at all, just UHF, just FM, no arbitrary frequencies, just channels and repeaters – but low barrier to entry is most definitely a good thing here.

I’ve got more posts I want to get caught up on but tonight I just wanted to get something – anything, really – out there to celebrate digging my way out of this RF hole which is where I live. So, uh…

RADYA! Yeah! xD

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

herding sphinxes on the astral veldt

This and That

Centimeter Wavelengths

website host needed

(smoke detectors) Okay, let’s write this down to think it though

Steamed Hams II

Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 236

Inflation Timeline

(no subject)

the shitstain won’t let airports get fixed until women are disenfranchised en masse

Magic Monday

The Receipts Are Paywalled

Firefly

3/16/26 - 3/22/26

Ride, Willow

the barbarians in chief

The Missing Middle

art rec: Theory of Wings

Star Formation

2026 Southeastern Masonic Symposium

gmrs and other radio adventures

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August 2024

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