The Usual and Iran

Last Tuesday was our final baby hummingbird sighting.  There has been nothing since then.  So, maybe the baby fledged successfully, or maybe it was eaten.  Based on the timeline provided by the internet, it didn't seem like enough time had passed since hatching and flying.  But it was hard so say, since we could not see inside the nest.  The bird is centered in the photo, it's hard to see.

Other than that, bike, hike, row, and lift weights.

Currently there is no ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.  Jim and I are wondering if gas will be available to return to Spokane by mid-April. The sticking point is ship insurance.  Underwriters have cancelled existing policies and made it really expensive to insure for travel through there.  In addition to fuel shortages, we will see shortages of urea, ammonia, sulfur and phosphate; four key ingredients of fertilizer.  They need to be on the ship now in time to make it for spring planting.  This is bad.

Kristi Noem has been fired from DHS, her new job is Special Envoy to the Shield of the Americas.  Every time I hear that, I picture her in the Wonder Woman suit, holding the Lasso of Truth.  George Conway said it best, "replacing Noem with MarkWayne Mullen is like shitting your pants and then changing your shirt."  I laugh every time I think about that.

This is a stupid war.  The US does not have enough interceptor drones to counter Iran's thousands of Shaheds.  Iran cranks those out like crazy, as does China.  We're spending millions of dollars per missile to knock down cheap drones.  Today WAPO had a headline that Russia is giving Iran targeting data on the US positions.  Meanwhile, the US is asking Ukraine for help on how to swat down these pesky drones fired by Iran.  Personally, if I were Zelenskyy I would give the US nothing, 47 will just turn around and give information to Russia.  Zelenskyy has said, it's not like we can just send you a box of drones, it took them years to develop a layered defense and to know how best and when to fire what at the Shaheds.  I do not think the US has that kind of time with limited resources.

The girls' school that was bombed was bombed by the US.  It wasn't Iran.  Why, exactly this happened, is either not known, or they don't want to say.

Phillips P Obrien has an excellent substack up about the rot that infests the military.  It can be summed up by lack of education and moral fiber.  Rot. It really is worth a read.

In a substack written by Jonathan Larsen, we read the following:  
"A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God’s plan and that Pres. Donald Trump was “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,” according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer."
This is so off the mark, I can't believe this is allowed.  This is what happens when the Secretary of Defense is a Christo-Fascist.

47 has gone on record as saying that HE will name the next leader of Iran.  Right, then.

I feel so fortunate to live in interesting times.

Ride and Current Stuff

We were up and out early to ride.  Apparently summer is just about here.  I really hate up and out, I like dawdle and drink coffee much better.  Anyway, there was some cloud cover which really softens the sun's rays on one's flesh.  See the yellow stuff?  We're in the season of steenking yellow trees.  Acacias are in bloom now, they're really full of pollen.

This evening, the remnants of the cloud cover gave us a small sunset.

February 26, Hilary Clinton testified about her knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.  Her knowledge was exactly zip.  Didn't ride on the plane, didn't go to the island.  They took six hours to accomplish this by asking the same questions repeatedly.  In short,  a woman was forced to testify in a closed-door deposition about the crimes of men who are not being forced to testify at all.  She also had this to say in her opening statement.  “I did not dedicate my life to advocating for women and girls just so that I could be lectured by a bunch of pedophile protectors.”  

OpenAI (ChatGPT) has been chosen to do the work originally awarded to Anthropic (Claude).  It's been said that the terms for each company were the same.  Josh Kale has a concise statement of what's different.  Everyone’s saying OpenAI got the “same deal” Anthropic was banned for. Read the fine print. They’re not the same: On weapons: Anthropic asked for “no fully autonomous weapons without human oversight” = a human involved in the decision. OpenAI’s deal says “human responsibility for the use of force” = someone accountable, which can happen after the fact. Oversight ≠ Responsibility. One requires a human before the trigger. The other requires a name on the paperwork after. On surveillance: Dario said explicitly: current law hasn’t caught up with AI. The government can already buy your movement data, browsing history, etc without a warrant. AI can assemble that into a complete picture of your life, at scale. That’s mass surveillance without breaking a single law. Anthropic wanted protections beyond current law. OpenAI’s deal says the Pentagon “reflects them in law and policy.” That’s existing law as the safeguard, the exact law Anthropic said is insufficient. Same words. Different agreements. Read them carefully.  As it turns out, Jared Kushner's brother is involved in the OpenAI IPO, and stands to make a ton of money from it.

Yesterday we bombed Iran and killed the Ayatollah.  Iran retaliated.  For some reason, Iran sent drones to Dubai and closed their airport and did a lot of damage.  Israel killed a hundred or so school girls by bombing their school.  Oil prices are already up.  Who knows where this will end.  Talk about something that was not necessary.  Whether or not the US has a sufficient number of drone interceptors in now in question.  What could go wrong?

Hoo-boy. 

Current Events

I just put stuff in my "things to blog about" file, and noticed that it's quite large.  This may be a very long post.  If you don't make it through all of it, I will certainly understand.

Here is a cactus in the parking lot of our Primary Physician, aka Family Practitioner, aka General Practice.  She is an excellent doctor.  I'm hoping we die before she retires. There are more arms on the other side of him.  He's been busy.

Other than that, it's bike, hike, row, lift weights.  That's pretty much it.  Also, going to the grocery store too often.

So, we all know that the women's and men's hockey teams took gold at the Winter Olympics, by beating Canada.  I was really disappointed in that outcome, I wanted Canada to win.  Kash Patel, director of the FBI, was with the men players in their locker room.  He was drinking.  So if he was drinking, he wasn't working.  Agents can not drink on the job.  However, he took an official FBI plane to Italy.  It's a conundrum.  Then they got the president of the US on the phone who invited them to the White House.  In the process he made a joke about he would have to invite the women or face impeachment.  Everybody laughed.  

From twitter:
So let me get this straight, 8 of the 12 US’s gold medals were won by women. The US women’s hockey teams score across the games was 31 goals made and only 2 made on them While the men’s team scored 24 goals across the games and let in 8… And now a room full of those hockey men are on the phone with a pedophile, laughing at the idea of including their female peers who out performed them in every aspect of the game in the celebration? Remind me again, how these people care about protecting women’s sports and women?
Aria Frey   

The men’s hockey team will be forever remembered for aligning with Kash Patel, while laughing at the demeaning remarks Trump made about the women’s team.  Karma stepped in, however.  Here is the men's team having a delicious dinner of McDonald's burgers and fries at the White House.  On the right we have the women's team having a gourmet lunch in Italy with Stanley Tucci.  Score one for the women.  After their dinner, the men than had to sit for close to three hours listening to 47 bloviate through the State of the Union address.

The men's team is being dragged on social media for being dicks.  The women are on their way to Las Vegas in July, hosted by FlavorFlav for shows, dining and spa treatments.  

A submariner on the SS Delaware, a Virginia class attack boat, had some sort of dire medical emergency at sea.  They took the sub into Greenland's territorial waters, with permission, and a Danish helicopter picked him up and took him to hospital.  When told of this, 47 confabulated this into Greenland needs our help immediately, we'll send a hospital ship.  Hah!!!  Hah Hah Hah.   

We have two hospital ships, Mercy and Comfort.  They're 50 years old, and are repurposed oil tankers.  They are interesting boats, because they used to haul oil, they now have to have huge amounts of ballast to stay at the proper height in the water.  They're soft sided single hulled boats, and can not be taken into ice, which sort of rules out Greenland.  Mercy just finished up time in dry dock in the Alabama Shipyard, and is now on the way to Portland, OR to the Vigor yard for a midlife maintenance. She is currently southeast of Cuba headed for the Panama Canal. There is a contract that stipulates that she arrive by March 20, other wise there will be significant fines.  So, no, Mercy will not go to Greenland.  Comfort just currently moored in Alabama prior to entering dry dock for extensive maintenance.  So, Comfort is not going to Greenland, either.  Someone needs to put a muzzle on 47, and not let him post stuff that's completely wrong.

Anthropic is a leading developer of an AI, named Claude.  Claude was used in the planning for the kidnapping of President of Venezuela.  It's a good LLM.  

This is receiving virtually no coverage in main stream media.  It should be.  The thought of an uncontrolled AIs killing people should chill your soul.  Palantir, a Thiel company, pretty much has data on all US citizens, combined with facial recognition, the future looks a lot like a gulag in all of those repurposed warehouses.  This is bad.

Update to post:  Anthropic has replied to Hegseth and said no to autonomous killing and surveillance.  You can read their statement here. 

47 has sent two carrier groups to Iran.  Originally he said help was on the way for the thousands of protesters killed by the Iranian regime.  Now, this has morphed into a demand that Iran give its enriched uranium stockpiles to the US.  The Iranians are saying no.  Iran is being threatened with the mighty US Navy.  There's a hitch in the plan, however.  Senior officials have reportedly warned that current US weapon stockpiles could only sustain strikes for 7 to 10 days before running dry, the consequence of years of supplying both Ukraine and Israel.  Think about it, this information is out there.  Everybody on the planet with an interest in attacking the US knows that our cupboard is bare.  Now would be a great time for China to invade Taiwan.  The US can't do a thing about it.  However, our stalwart negotiating team of Kushner and Witkoff are on it, and I'm certain all will be well.  They've done such a great job of negotiating peace between Ukraine and Russia. 

A draft executive order which is said to be based on a conspiracy theory that China interfered with the 2020 election would allow Trump to unilaterally ban mail-in ballots and voting machines on the basis that they are susceptible to foreign interference. There is a good piece on the subject here.  States control elections, it's in the Constitution.

I don't like how much of my information is out there.  Today I ordered a pair of arm warmers from Primal, which is a stand alone company.  Somehow I was given over to an app called shop.  Shop had my shipping address, mailing address, and credit card number on file.  I do not recall ever using them, and I don't like the fact that they have my info like this.  I know I'm on the dark web from a credit reporting agency breach years ago.  All of this snooping is wearing on my last nerve.  A former health insurance company we were with had a breach, so now we have to go confirm our accounts are still frozen and sign up for more credit monitoring.   It's just one more thing.

If you made it this far, I commend your attention span.  

I Think This Covers It

 

Furnace Filters and SCOTUS

This is Jim, yesterday morning.  He's not fond of this photo, but I think he's adorable.  The point of my posting this is to serve as a reminder that it does get cold enough to require the heavy polar fleece camo pants, and so we must continue packing them.  Please make a note of this.

We also changed the furnace filters yesterday.  One of these days, I will get a video of the filter levitating into its position with some force.  It's so different than when installing one in the vertical.  Anyway, the point of this is to remind us that when we are using the rubber mallet to force the cold air return grill back where it belongs, apply force in the direction of the second bedroom, as well as straight up.  Please make a note of that, as well. 

We had interesting skies yesterday.  I was hoping for a good sunset, but, alas, it was not to be.

So, the Supreme Court over ruled 47's use of IEEPA to levy tariffs at will.  There are a lot of legal words, and closely reasoned arguments for and against, but essentially they said a tariff is a tax, and taxation belongs to Congress.  It says so in the constitution.  He has other paths to levy tariffs; what I don't know is if Congress has to approve the use of those laws.  Here is a 70 second clip of 47 going off the rails this morning.  Later in the speech, he was having trouble reading the words on the page because he was so angry, and apoplectic.  SCOTUS side stepped the issue of whether the tariffs have to be repaid to the companies and consumers who paid them.  So, he has lost his bludgeon that he was applying to other countries to make them bend to his will.  Previously negotiated trade deals are now in jeopardy.  

A person who tweets under the name Boston Smalls had this to say about it:  Corporations are already filing lawsuits and they're going to win them. This is going to be a disaster. Taxpayers will once again get screwed. We will be on the hook and pay billions for these lawsuits. Not to mention corporations are not going to lower prices because they never do. While at the same time, the damage is already done with trump's illegal trade war that he has waged for the last year and the world is passing us by now. They're moving on because maga has turned America into a dumpster fire. Canada, Europe and the trans-pacific (40 countries) are currently working out deals with each other. This 6x time bankrupt pedo has ruined us. Elections have consequences and your stupidity has driven us off a cliff. Thanks maga.

Justin Wolfers, an economist had this to say: Key issue to bear in mind as you watch today's political response to the Supreme Court tariff decision: The Court didn't say that the US can't issue tariffs, simply that the President has to convince (the Republican-controlled) Congress first. If tariffs are a great idea, that should be an easy argument to win. (Spoiler: They're not.)

So, that's it then. 

  

 

Cactus and the Administration

Hola!  How are you doing in this time of everything going off the rails, all at once, for no good reason, other than the cranky orange baby trying to distract us from the number of times he appears in the Epstein files?  My feeling of existential dread has returned with a vengeance.  It's feeling like 1965 all over again when Barry McGuire was singing this song.

First there are a few photos.  Jim took this last night.  It wasn't a great sunset, but it's what there was.  I think sunsets used to be better, must be global climate change.

Our Mexican fence post cactus is blooming and making fruit.  We did not see this last year.  I don't know if we just were not looking, or if it was a fallow year for it.  Notice the hummingbird.  That's the one sitting on the nest.  We spent a week making hummer juice and putting out a feeder, but she will not partake.  Our windows have a UV coating, which is very mirror like, and I guess her reflection scares her.  I tried putting on the electric meter, but she didn't like that, either.  So, no chow for her. The feeder is one of those small ones that you stick on a window.

The fence post cactus is about 15 feet tall.  It amuses me that the blossoms are so small and non-descript.

The cactus is in the process of loosing two more arms, which is bad.

47 and Netanyahu have decided that something must be done about Iran.  The US will have two carrier groups in the area.  February is when Iran, Russia and China hold their yearly joint military operations in the Strait of Hormuz.  One fifth of the global oil supply goes through the strait.  See that pointy land mass almost in the middle of the map?  That's the Strait.  There's not a lot of room to maneuver in there.  

After the recent Iranian crackdowns on the protests, when thousands of people were killed, 47 told the citizens that help is on the way.  I guess help consists of the US bombing Tehran.  The Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group is currently in the Arabian sea, the Ford carrier battle group is on the way.  So, stand by to be amazed.  We'll have Iran, Russia and China and the US within spitting distance of each other.

This is from Axios via Meidas Touch on Facebook.  It gives you a pretty good idea of how much equipment and time may be involved.

Here is badness from the home front.  "A few weeks ago, the Heritage Foundation—the powerhouse organization behind Project 2025—released a 250-year roadmap to “save America.” Written by authors with close ties to the Trump administration, the document is a how-to guide for subjugating girls and young women: a detailed plan to push them out of college, funnel them into early marriage and motherhood, and then trap them there."  They want us out of the work place and back in the kitchen, with no ability to determine our destiny.  There's a good substack on the subject here.

ICE is buying up giant warehouses.  They plan to convert them into detention centers.  If the goal here is to deport people here without documents, why do they need detention centers this large.  I scraped this off twitter.  Why do they need this many square feet?  Where is all this money coming from?  The tax payers, of course.  I would like to see some detail on these buildings.  The only good thing happening, is the locals don't want these built in their neighborhoods, and so some of the sales have been cancelled.  

Last week Vinay Prasad, who is head of vaccines in the FDA, unilaterally chose to not review Moderna's new flu vaccine study.  He did not like the control arm that was used in the trials.  Never mind that the vaccine in the control arm is one currently in use, and was previously approved for the drug trial.  Moderna's response was: “Moderna’s CEO announced the company will no longer invest in new Phase 3 vaccine trials for infectious diseases: ‘You cannot make a return on investment if you don’t have access to the U.S. market.’ Vaccines for Epstein-Barr virus, herpes, and shingles have been shelved.”  So, way to go Vinay.  However, today someone higher up in the food chain at HHS as announced that the new vaccine trials will be reviewed.  Perhaps all is not lost.

There is a list of Notable People, and the locations of their graves, at Arlington Cemetery.  The Secretary of Defense, Petey Hegseth, has removed Colin Powell's name, as well as every person of color and women from the list.  Only white men remain.

 

Clouds and Spying

The climate today was just delightful.  We were up and out on the bikes, now that the hideous garage painting project is done.  The clouds were glorious.

By now, most people know that Savannah Guthrie's Mom has been kidnapped.  The Pima County Sheriff did their usual inept job by allowing people back into her house, before FBI forensics had been there, and the entire crime scene was compromised.  Anyway, footage from a door bell camera has been recovered.  What is interesting is that there was no subscription for the camera.  However, it recorded anyway.  When you subscribe, you're being allowed to look at that footage, the FBI can get it anyway.  Additionally, we have learned that the FBI can can retrieve footage from any camera at your house at any time even if they were not set to record and even if you do not have a subscription.  So, don't think those cameras in the house aren't recording, even if you let the subscription lapse, they are.  

Ring, a major purveyor of door bell cameras ran a commercial during the Super Bowl.  In this commercial, they told us they are building a surveillance network.  This is an excerpt from a paywalled article.

At Sunday’s Super Bowl, Ring advertised “Search Party,” a cute, horrifyingly dystopian feature nominally designed to turn all of the Ring cameras in a neighborhood into a dragnet that uses AI to look for a lost dog: “One post of a dog’s photo in the Ring app starts outdoor cameras looking for a match,” Ring founder Jamie Siminoff said in the Super Bowl commercial. “Search Party from Ring uses AI to help families find lost dogs.” Onscreen, an AI-powered box forms around a missing dog: “Milo Match,” it says. “Since launch, more than a dog a day has been reunited with their family. Be a hero in your neighborhood with Search Party. Available to everyone for free right now.”

Although Ring says they don't use human biometrics, they do give police access to Ring data.  It's only a matter of time before we're all surveilled all the time.  China  already does this.  Having a cell phone is bad enough in terms of being spied on, but this is a next level.  We don't have Ring, or Alexa, or any of those spy devices.  Here is a free article.

There is more, so much more, but I'm just not up to talking about that man.

Random Stuff

Hola!  Are you aware of how many magats do not know that Puerto Rico is a US territory, and as such, all people born there are US citizens?  It's just amazing to me how strong the stupid is with these people.  They are all having a cow because Bad Bunny is performing at Super Bowl half time, and most of his set will be in Spanish.  Kid Rock is counter programmed opposite him, to bring good wholesome Christian entertainment for the impressionable children.  Look up some of his song lyrics, the guy is a pedophile.

Jim took these photos a couple of days ago.  It was pretty impressive.

We put up the hummingbird feeder, but she hasn't found it yet.  We're hoping she'll accept free chow, now that she's sitting on the nest.

Here is a very interesting substack.  The writer lives in France with her six children, she's a US citizen by birth.  She has previously written about the importance of responsible ejaculation.  Do the math, a man can impregnate a woman (different women) every single day.  Pregnancy takes 9 months.  So who is making all the unplanned babies?  Her new essay is on why men are the secondary sex.  It's an interesting read, and made me think some.   Here is an excerpt.

Let’s start with the timeline. The system of patriarchy didn’t exist for 97% of the history of human beings. Our species, Homo Sapiens, has been around for at least 260,000 years. Once patriarchy makes its appearance, we follow a very quick path to pervasive violence and destruction via climate change, nuclear bombs, oppressive religion, forced starvation, preventable disease, etc.. And we’re not just destroying humankind, we’re destroying thousands of other species too. Picture it: we managed to go along for ~250,000 years, then we introduce patriarchy and we can’t even make it ~10,000 years without bringing our species to the brink of total annihilation. Patriarchy is very bad for humankind, and for the Earth as a whole.

What is it about patriarchy that makes it so harmful? I’ll tell you. Patriarchy is built on hierarchy, competition, and domination, which is how we get horrors like white supremacy and racism, class systems, war, unregulated capitalism, pervasive violence, and rape culture. Patriarchy is also harmful because it puts males in charge of everything. But males are the secondary sex and aren’t supposed to be in charge of anything.

In nature, males are interchangeable and somewhat disposable laborers, while females are primary, and essential for a community to thrive and grow. Females are so essential that human DNA perpetually preserves the maternal line—females pass down an unbroken genetic chain that is traceable by lineage, while “interchangeable” males do not. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to child without recombination. Autosomal (or nuclear) DNA is contributed by both parents, but every generation it gets recombined, so it doesn’t preserve a single unbroken ancestral line. 

Those of you who have read me for some time, are no doubt aware of how much I do not enjoy painting.  Today we started on the garage.  The baseboard in there seems to go on forever.  Today we did all the cutting in of cabinets. the water heater, the baseboards, and the inside corners.  My feet are tired.  Here is Jim, painting around the garage door track, standing backwards on a ladder. I did the other one.

We got an excellent paint match, so I think we're not cutting in the ceilings.  It's a garage!

This is from twitter:  I don’t understand why it’s not being reported … the reason why perpetrators names are redacted and the reason why the entire case is not being pursued is because of non-prosecution agreements. If you go back and read Epstein‘s original NP agreement (that Pam Bondi signed off on) it includes Epstein and “all associates and co-conspirators known or unknown.”  This is just pathetic.  On news of the good, the Europeans are all over this, the resignations have begun over there. 

Here is the picture 47 posted in the wee hours of the morning this week.  He did this. Then he blamed it on some un-named staffer, but we know he did it.  He won't apologize, either.  I'm fairly certain that Mr. Obama is living rent free in 47's head.
 

And finally, here is a nice photo of ravens that I screen shotted.  They are majestic birds.

That's it, that's all I've got. 

Nope, I just saw this Guardian article about Epstein world.  Worth a read. 

Random Stuff and the Administration

Well, I have not dropped off the face of the earth, I've just had too much ennui to buckle down and put words on the screen.  

Yesterday I saw the ENT, good thing.  My left ear canal has collapsed, so wax can't easily leave the area.  ENTs are good for removing the build up.  It looks like I'm back on the once a year torture plan.  I also picked up my new ear plug.  No water is allowed to enter that ear ever, so showers require a swim plug.  The technology has changed.  The top one is from 2015, the new one is from now.  It's smaller and more flexible.  It works, so that's good.  It's also easier to get in the ear, since it's flexible, and the old one is not.  The black mark on the new one is a serial number.  The ENT did say that the hole in my ear drum is not terrible, which is good.  

We have a nesting hummingbird.  This year the bird has picked a better place to build her nest.  It's really difficult to get a photo of her because of all of the leaves.  Look in the middle of the photo, about 1/3 down from the top.  Her face is in the sun, so look for the bright spot.  She's in there.  Unlike last time, I won't be taking photos of the babies, the nest is too high.  If you want to see the last nest, look at the labels, and click on the Baby Hummingbirds.

Jim took this the other night, there wasn't much color, but it was a nice sky.

47 has said, out loud, that he thinks Republicans should run the elections.  Any Democratic win is always fraud.  The Speaker of the House said he had not evidence to support that opinion, but it made sense to him.  These people are idiots.

Other odds and ends from twitter; Mark Kelly tweeted "We had a hearing on what happens when the last major nuclear treaty between the U.S. and Russia expires this week. It's nothing good. Unfortunately, reducing nuclear risk doesn't seem to be a priority for this Administration."  Then there was this: The last nuclear arms treaty between the US and Russia expires today. For the first time since 1969, there will be no treaty constraining the nuclear arms race. It's worth remembering that when Trump scrapped the Iran nuclear deal in his first term, he said he'd get a "better deal." It never happened. 

Ukraine is freezing to death.  47 is not sending any weapons, the EU is busy having meetings and clutching their pearls.  There are two primary factories producing the missiles that are taking out all of the electrical production in Ukraine.  With long range missiles, these could be destroyed.  But no.   

What they say: just give Donbas to russia to end the war. What they mean: stop defending yourself, reward russia with land it can't take from you, condemn your people to a silent genocide under occupation which we'll look away from, & start a countdown to russia's next invasion. It's just appalling.

The Washington Post has gutted the reporting it used to do.  No more coverage on Asia, Ukraine, the Middle East and many other areas.   I guess Bezos needed to save some money after spending all those dollars on the Melania movie.   

Oh, and then there was this from Dr. Oz.  "Seniors should retire later and kids put off schooling and work right out of high school. They should do this in order to make up for federal debt." Oprah owes us an apology for this fraud. 

Cactus and the Administration and Science

Greetings Earthlings.  It's been a week hasn't it?  Oh wait, it's only Tuesday.  There has been some hiking.  We're trying to get more weight bearing exercise, so we've been lifting weights more consistently, and walking more.  We've not seen much that's interesting.  

The tall plants are Chollas.  They're very unattractive, but also very successful survivors of the desert.  Each spine has a tiny hook on the end, so they can latch on and travel with you.  Carry a pocket comb to remove a pup, slide the teeth under the pup and pull it away.  Never use fingers for that.

A member of the Mammilaria family.  They're small, and sometimes live under other plants.  If you look for them, they're everywhere.

A Teddy Bear cholla.  These are wicked for sticking to your skin.  

Other than that, I have not much of interest to recount.  So, on to the horrors that is our country.

The shootings in Minneapolis have been documented up the ying-yang with video.  And yet, the administration continues to lie about it, blaming the victim of brandishing a gun and like that.  They're contemptible.  Bovino has been sent back to El Centro California, which almost counts as cruel and unusual punishment.  There are rumors that the poison dwarf, Stephen Miller, may be thrown under the bus for his role in inciting violence by ICE.

Trump  has been threatening us with a $300 billion tax increase (a 100% tax on Canadian imports), the largest tax hike ever, because Mark Carney made a fool out of him at Davos.  Apparently he has backed down on this threat after Canada said they were not pursuing a free trade agreement with China.  

The soon to be announced EU / India trade agreement will see a seismic shift in global trade. The impact on both China and the US is going to be felt for generations to come. This opens many markets for trade.  The US has no involvement here, as you recall, the EU put the recently negotiated trade agreement with the US on hold.

This is not good.  "The International Monetary Fund is preparing for the possibility of a rapid sell-off of US dollar-denominated assets, its managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said," per Euractiv. Also not good is the current price of gold and silver.  When people have lost faith in the dollar, they head for metals.  

This is a good article about how Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, is not helping things.  I enclose an excerpt.

It doesn’t reflect well on a treasury secretary when the price of gold goes through the roof. As I explained in October (“Gold Is Booming and That’s Really Bad News”), it means people expect higher inflation and are losing faith in the stock market along with the overall health of the economy. In such moments, Wall Street longs for a steady hand at the helm. Instead, they get Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hurling insults in every direction and giving every impression that he’s about to have a nervous breakdown.

Bessent previously enjoyed a reputation as the sole grown-up in Trump’s Cabinet. But at Davos last week, Bessent engaged in a frantic sort of MAGA minstrelsy, or possibly he converted under duress into a true-believing thug. I’m not sure it matters. But the more Bessent shoots his trash-talking mouth off, the more the dollar’s value falls and the higher the price of gold rises. Probably the best thing Bessent could do right now—for himself, for the dollar, and for your 401(k)—is to shut the fuck up.

Canada is still mulling over which aircraft to buy.  The F-35 order appears to be in jeopardy.  Sweden makes the Gripen, which is a seriously good airplane, and it's not from the US.  I cut and pasted this off twitter.  

The Gripen E outperforms the F-35 in key areas: quicker acceleration, higher top speed, longer range, shorter and narrower runway requirements, superior maneuverability, lower maintenance downtime, and better value - we can acquire more jets per dollar. 

Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra warns that if Canada skips the 88 F-35s, American F-35s will need to fly over our airspace to defend the Canadian North. Good luck enforcing that! It appears Americans are intent on terminating the Canada United States relationship.

From whom would the US be defending Canada?  Greenland, perhaps.  You don't get to violate a country's airspace.  They could shoot us down.  The F-35 is a maintenance hog, their reliability numbers are bad.

I find this to be extremely interesting.  There is still a fair amount of science posted on twitter, which is where this came from .  It's worth a read, especially if you're plagued by kidney stones.

For decades, doctors believed the most common kidney stones (calcium oxalate) were lifeless lumps formed purely by chemistry—minerals building up in the kidney. ​A groundbreaking study published this month (Jan 2026) by UCLA Health has proven this wrong. ​ Using high-tech fluorescence microscopy, researchers discovered that these stones actually contain live bacteria and fungal-like biofilms "entombed" inside them. The bacteria act as a scaffolding (nidus), allowing the minerals to crystalize and grow layer by layer. ​ This solves a long-standing medical mystery: Why do patients sometimes get severe infections (sepsis) after stone-breaking treatments (lithotripsy), even when their urine was sterile? The answer: breaking the stone releases the bacteria trapped inside. ​This could revolutionize treatment, shifting focus from just diet changes to targeting the hidden microbiome within the kidney.                                      Journal Reference: Wong, Gerard C. L. et al, Intercalated bacterial biofilms are intrinsic internal components of calcium-based kidney stones, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2517066123. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2517066123

Pretty cool, eh?

Davos

There has been riding.  We saw this the other day.  Here we have a pot with a saguaro skeleton in it.  The pot has a lizard attached to the outside.  It's really attractive.

This is the house next door.  I really like this paint color.  If you look at the shrubs that are up against the wall, they're almost the same color.  Those are Brittlebush.  They're very hardy, and self seed like crazy.

Other than that, we're completely and totally unexciting.  Maybe we should paint something.  Or not.

47 has been on a tear.  Monday he gave a three hour press conference in which he raised old grievances, complained about Greenland, and told lies.  Three hours is a long time to talk.   Then he got on a plane for Davos.  His first set back was a mechanical that caused the plane to have to return to base.  He ended up being three hours late upon arrival.  

This is an interesting photo of how the arrival went.  If I could embed the video you would see him walking down the red carpet with two members of his security walking behind him.  I think this may not be AI, Russia carried the video as well.  Even if it is AI, it's a nice image for him.

His speech was predictably obnoxious, he insulted NATO repeatedly saying they had given us nothing in 30 years.  I wonder how the families of the NATO soldiers who died in Afghanistan after 911 feel about that statement.  The good news is that he has backed down on invading Greenland.  There is supposed to be some sort of long term frame work put in place, which means nothing will happen.  

Other things that I have cut and pasted off twitter are here.

Prime Minister Carney received a standing ovation.  That has happened only three times, I think the other two were Mandela and Zelenskyy.  Here is a frequently quoted excerpt.

"American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security ... this bargain no longer works.  Let me be direct: we are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. Over the past two decades, a series of crises in finance, health, energy, and geopolitics laid bare the risks of extreme global integration. More recently, great powers began using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructure as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited. You cannot “live within the lie” of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination."  

Full text of speech is here. 

47 covered himself in glory when he said that Canada could not exist without the US.  "Canada lives because of the United States - remember that Mark, the next time you make your statements."

The EU realized that Trump will raise tariffs for any reason, a deal with him is worthless, so they terminated the deal they made last year. The European Parliament has decided to freeze the approval of a trade agreement with the United States. The decision was reported by the news agency AFP and the French newspaper Le Monde. The trade agreement between the European Union and the United States was concluded in July. On Saturday evening, leaders of the largest political groups in the European Parliament said they would not vote in favour of the EU’s trade deal with Washington. According to Le Monde, the leader of the Socialists and Democrats group, Iratxe García Pérez, said there is now a “broad majority” among the political groups in favor of freezing the agreement. 

Bessent was asked about these two events.  He blew them off, characterizing them as insignificant.

Danish pension fund AkademikerPension announces they will sell all US Treasuries by month-end, citing "rising credit risk" under President Trump. The fund's CIO says US finances are no longer "sustainable," due to weak fiscal discipline, a softer Dollar, and Trump’s push for Greenland.

Sweden’s pension fund Alecta has divested most of its U.S. Treasury holdings, citing increased risk and unpredictability in U.S. politics. The sell-off totaled roughly 70–80 billion SEK ($7.7–8.8B) - Reuters

Anyway, 47 has given up his plans for invasion.  So now we wonder where he is sending the two battalions of the 11th Airborne division.  Perhaps martial law is back on the table.  Who knows.

 

I swear the uncertainty is sucking the life out of me.  The financial talking heads have spent the last two days forecasting everything from economic slow down to runs on the banks.  The stock market has been whip-sawed as well.

 

So, that's what I know. 

 

There is a massive geo-magnetic storm in progress, it's a big one.  I don't remember where this was taken, it's impressive.

 

Today in Dementia

This was on the front page of the Washington Post this morning.  Apparently our president really has lost his mind.

Here is the message he sent.  This should be the first exhibit in a case for the 25th Amendment removal from office. 

Dear Ambassador:  
 President Trump has asked that the following message, shared with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, be forwarded to your [named head of government/state]

“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. 

Thank you! President DJT”

As you no doubt recall, this is the history of when the US bought the Virgin Islands, and signed over Greenland to Denmark.  This issue really is closed.

The US bought the Danish West Indies during 1916. The two sides agreed to a sale price of $25,000,000. As part of the sale, the United States accepted a Danish demand for a declaration stating that they would "not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland". Although the US had a claim on northern Greenland based on explorations by Charles Francis Hall and Robert Peary, the United States decided that the purchase was more important, especially because of the nearby Panama Canal. Historian Bo Lidegaard questions the utility of such a declaration, as the country had never disputed Danish sovereignty.

Denmark is not going to Davos.  I guess they've had enough of 47, and are taking some time away from him. 

Hot Water Tank and the Administration

We've been hearing the hot water heater popping when it's heating water.  That's a sign that sediment from our very hard water is precipitating out, covering the bottom of the tank.  When water gets hot, it boils underneath that layer and then bubbles up and pops.  It's not difficult to drain and flush, you just have to do it.  So today we did.  

Fifty feet of house were required to get the water down the driveway.  Here it is, water coming out of the tank.

There is sediment in the water.  It's really hard to see because it's in the water, the sun is really bright and the camera can't really focus on it.  See the white patches on the road - sediment. 

It looks like we'll be having some cactus death.  This part of the Mexican Fence Post is dying.  There is another arm that is leaning.

There are two more arms that are leaning, as well.  There is one that's still green on top, and one that is yellowed in front.  There is nothing to be done about this, eventually they'll fall down.  There is a dying arm in the middle of the plant, and another one in front of the tall leaner.  None of my photos are particularly good.

Well, this has been a very full week in the US government.  This is one of my favorites.

“One of ours, all of yours.” 
That was the slogan behind the 1942 annihilation of Lidice in the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, in what is now the Czech Republic. Czech resistance fighters assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, a senior SS leader and one of the principal architects of the Holocaust. Hitler and Himmler ordered the complete destruction of Lidice as collective punishment and a warning. All men over 15 were executed. Women were deported to Ravensbrück. Children were either murdered in gas vans or taken from their families and placed with SS households for forced “Germanization.” The Nazis also systematically abused and tortured dogs, primarily as part of their racial ideology and military programs.  

Kristi Noem, Secretary of DHS thinks its appropriate to have this slogan printed on her podium when she's speaking.  Nice, really nice. 

Canadian Prime Minister Carney went to China.  Here is his synopsis. "We’re removing trade barriers to unlock billions of dollars in business for Canadian farmers, fish harvesters, and workers across agri-food sectors. By March 1, we expect that China will lower tariffs on Canadian canola from 84% to about 15%, and that Canadian canola meal, peas, lobster and crab will no longer be subject to the anti-discrimination tariffs." Canada is moving on without us.

Mr. Carney stopped in Qatar on the way back from China, and then on to Davos.  Busy Busy.

47 continues to demand ownership of Greenland.  If he invades, this will be the end of NATO.  It's hard to believe he's still going on about this.

-74% of all insulin used in America comes from Denmark. 
-100% of all Ozempic used in America comes from Denmark 
-15% of all shipping containers arriving in America come from a Danish company 
All 3 are being discussed within Denmark to halt. 

His current position is give us "Greenland or we will increase taxes on American citizens for things that they buy."  He thinks that he can tariff part of the EU if he doesn't get his way. It doesn't work that way.  EU is a trading block, tariff one you tariff them all.  The good citizens of the US actually pay the tariffs, he's shooting us in the head to try to get his way.  So, threatening tariffs is not the win that he thinks it is.

Minneapolis continues to be a misery.  He's now threatening to declare an insurrection and bring in 1,500 people from 11th Airborne who are currently based in Alaska.  One wonders how that will work out.

OK, I am now sufficiently depressed.  Enough.

Shocks and a Ride

This morning we were on the phone to the HVAC guy early.  It's cold and dry here, and the wearing of polar fleece pants makes static electricity.  Last night Jim got up to adjust the thermostat.  From down the hall I heard the zap of his finger touching a button.  He killed the thermostat.  So, if your house has an issue with static electricity, ground yourself prior to adjusting the temperature.  We're very happy they were able to get out here today and install a new one.

Today we were able to ride.  It was good, it's been really windy the last few days.  I suppose we could have ridden, but I would rather not.  Anyway this is what we saw today.  I believe it's a Cardon.  I could be wrong, there are many cacti with this general shape.  The cactus in the back is a Saguaro.

This is a deer who is not afraid of people.  I guess she spends enough time in the neighborhood that she knows no one will shoot her.  Out in Tucson Mountain Park they run, so they know the bow hunters might get them.

Yesterday we were out in the yard doing nothing, and I pulled the fruits off the red barrel cactus.  One of them had a hole in the bottom, and released all the seeds.  There are many.  I've always wondered what was inside, so now we know.  See all of the little black dots?  Seeds.  Those all came from the one fruit on the end. 

Today 47 flipped off an auto worker at the River Rouge Ford plant.  The worker called him a pedo protector.  He's right.  Such a classy move from a world leader.

That's it!  That's all I've got. 

 

Dogs and the Administration

Even during this time of the disintegration of our country, I can still find things that irk me.  Currently my dander is raised by my fellow neighbors who let their dogs poop in yards that are not their own.  I don't care if it's picked up, it leaves the scent and every dog that passes by will want to at least pee on it.  

There are new people up the street from us who have two huskies and some sort of small dog.  She let her dogs go in the yard two houses down from us.  The lady who lives there asked the women to please not do that, and the new neighbor let loose with invective, yelling and finally flipping off the home owner.  The new people's huskies have been known to jump over their wall and go after leashed dogs in the street. 

A couple walked by our yard two days ago with their dog on an extendable leash.  Said dog went well into our front yard and pooped.  The lady followed the dog into our front yard with a poop bag.  Jim told them  that our yard is not a toilet for their dog.  She started yelling at us, her husband yelled out that maybe they wouldn't pick it up.  When did people get so entitled about trespassing, which she was.  The arrow indicates how far she was into the yard.

We have signs indicating our desire to not have this.  There are many common areas in the neighborhood where they could go.  There is a large expanse of waste land at the front gate.

So, the guy whose wife was verbally assaulted by the husky owner bought a solar powered animal repellent.  It has a motion sensor and emits a high frequency noise that people can't hear, but that dogs don't like.  Since he installed his, he's noticed that dogs are walking on the other side of the street from his house.  So, we got them, too.  If everyone on this street installed them, we could have a complete dog no-go zone.  Kidding, just kidding.

Here is Jim pounding a piece of rebar into the ground so we can put the stake in the dirt.

They look like little robots.

So, we'll see.  We also bought a gallon of 30% vinegar, which we will dilute and then spray on the perimeter.  I'm starting to feel like I have a role in the movie Caddy Shack.

We hiked today.  Look at this poor saguaro, he's not doing down without a fight.

Here is my collection of stuff from twitter.  As always, I wonder when the republicans are going to grow a spine. 

We evacuated our kids out of Minneapolis this weekend and my spouse reports that as she drove them out of town she saw "multiple freeway exits where people are being pulled over." It feels like the Twin Cities is being subjugated by a hostile occupying force.

Aaron Rupar

 

Trump is pissed that oil companies don’t want to take over Venezuela’s oil industry because of the cost of modernization, security concerns, political instability, and current low price of oil which would take decades to turn a profit, and now he looks like an idiot.

 

Sources report that 1.5-1.85 million #Iranians have taken to the streets tonight. They are battling security forces in more than 180 cities and 512 locations in all 31 provinces. The protests can now officially be called a revolution.  

 

If I wanted to permanently cripple NATO, divide the USA and help Russia and China, I could think of nothing better than the US using military force to seize Greenland.  Philips P Obrian 

 

After Donald Trump just tweeted out a trolling post that says he's the "Acting President of Venezuela," Venezuelan officials trolled him back by announcing they were indicting him for sex-trafficking and launching impeachment proceedings.

 

Federal agents in Minneapolis are presenting documents to arrest people in their homes, signed by immigration officers. The documents, unlike a warrant signed by a judge, do not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.

BREAKING: US House Introduces Bill to Annex Greenland and Grant It Statehood The document authorizes the president to annex or purchase Greenland from Denmark to control the Arctic. If approved by both chambers and signed by the president, the bill will become law.   

 

One does wonder where all of this will end. 

 

Here is a Norwegian cartoon from ten years ago.