19 Friday Jan 2018
Posted in News and Notes, Other Columns
So, here’s today’s Prepper News Weekly for FP:
Perrin Lovett/FPTV/YouTube.
And, since you’re here, and this tunes in my head, here’s a couple of takes on John Prine’s Paradise.
Prine
Johnny Cash (my favorite because he inverted the timber and land parts)
Buffett (live)
There are quiet a few more: Tom T. Hall (whom I used to speak to from time to time); Denver; etc.
Why? Just because. Now it’s in your heads too.
Happy Friday.
P
17 Wednesday Jan 2018
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Trillion Dollar SJW Doubles Down
Get with the social justice, or else, says Larry “John Stewart Mill” Fink:
“Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose,” Fink wrote. “To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society. Companies must benefit all of their stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, and the communities in which they operate.”
Fink said BlackRock would ramp up its investor-stewardship initiative, started in 2011 to favor engaging with companies and their management over proxy voting. The stewardship team will double in size over the next three years under the new leadership of Barbara Novick, a vice chairman who helped found BlackRock, Fink said.
Literally doubling.
He posed some questions; so I, as CEO of perrinlovett.me (one of them there private companies), answer with:
What role do we play in the community?
My blog (mine, not BlackRock’s) is a town crier for the West and for cigar awareness.
How are we managing our impact on the environment?
In general, I’m not. However, as a digital service, I try to harm no trees. And I have that offer to adopt or foster the first polar bear I meet as it flees the global warming climate change new ice age…
Are we working to create a diverse workforce?
No. Just trying to save some corner of civilization from it.
Are we adapting to technological change?
Actually thinking of reverting to a manual typewriter. Might need the polar bear’s input first. Can they talk?
Are we providing the retraining and opportunities that our employees and our business will need to adjust to an increasingly automated world?
I see your man-hating, child-maiming robots and AI. Bring ’em.
Are we using behavioral finance and other tools to prepare workers for retirement, so that they invest in a way that that will help them achieve their goals?
What, in the Name of God, is “behavioral finance?” Sounds like command and control communism to me. The bear will hate it.
I doubt these guys can even read, let alone type.
Mind your own business, Bub.
15 Monday Jan 2018
Posted in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes
Tags
One of those days, friends, one of those days. After some six months of success in self-medicating a minor mechanical problem, I wisely decided to check the old covert bug out vehicle into automotive convalescence. Prayers if you will, donations should you have them (only $500 will feed a starving Jeep…).
Anyway, I was all set to shoot a Hawaiian preppers video for FP. Tomorrow! And more collected and so forth – will post here.
I leave you with fond thoughts of the US Debt Clock.
I consult these numbers from time to time. They sing a song, tell a story, for those willing to listen. Give them a try tonight.
Dobry vecer, priatelia.
10 Wednesday Jan 2018
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Debtonomics
One side says the modern US economy is built upon little more than debt and threat of force.
Another side says things are fine, the Fed knows what its doing, and everything is supported by real value.
(Other sides say things too.)
Of the first two sides, which might be worried about the following headline?
China is reportedly thinking of halting US Treasury purchases and that’s worrying markets
“If China stops buying Treasuries, the market could suffer,” strategists at Jefferies said. “Treasury financing needs are going to rise significantly in 2018 and beyond relative to recent history, so Treasury is going to be looking for as many sources of demand as they can find.”
The news worried markets.
Treasury prices fell, boosting yields. The dollar also dropped against most currencies and gold rose. U.S. equities declined.
Hmmm. How can this be? Things are fine. They know what they’re doing.
One might almost think the debt does matter after all.
08 Monday Jan 2018
Posted in News and Notes
I know the last time I was on a train in Boston a hand grenade went off. It was a blast.
So it was in Sweden the other day. Whatever it is, it is NOT terrorism. They authorities told us so.
The explosion occurred late on Sunday morning outside the Vårby Gård station, injuring a man in his sixties and a 45-year-old woman.
“There was something on the ground that the man picked up, and then it exploded,” Sven-Erik Olsson of the Stockholm police told the TT news agency.
The man died in hospital in the early afternoon, the police announced on their website.
Stockholm’s police force said the man was unlikely to have been purposely targeted by whoever left the explosive at the station. They added that there was nothing to suggest terrorism.
Police said they suspected the blast was caused by a hand grenade, but said it was too early to confirm.
Okay, maybe it’s really not terror-related. Here’s a hint: if you see a grenade on the ground, by a train or anywhere, then leave it there. Maybe run away…
Henrik Montgomery/TT.
13 Wednesday Dec 2017
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Giant Cigar Misidentified as Derelict Alien Spacecraft
Astronomers and cigar enthusiasts were recently startled and delighted to discover a 1 Million Ton cigar speeding through the solar system. Some are floating ridiculous ideas about it.
Today, scientists led by Stephen Hawking are using high-tech scanners to discover if a huge, cigar-shaped ‘comet’ is in fact, an alien probe.
Now, one astronomer claims that the space rock, named Oumuamua, could be an alien spacecraft with broken engines that is tumbling through our solar system.
Dr Jason Wright from Penn State University suggests that a broken alien spacecraft move in exactly the same way as the interstellar comet.
Oumuamua is about a quarter of a mile long, 260ft wide and currently travelling at 196,000mph.
Rather than moving through space like other space rocks, astronomers believe that it is ‘tumbling’ through our solar system.
Writing in his blog, Dr Wright, an associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University, says: ‘Such derelict craft would, if they are not travelling so fast that they escape the Galaxy, eventually ‘thermalize’ with the stars and end up drifting around like any other interstellar comet or asteroid.
“Oumuamua” just happens to be Norwegian for dark, oscuro leaf. Coincidence? Surely not.
That’s a giant cigar or I’ve never seen one. PA/Daily Mail.
For the ring gauge counters among you, the Oumuamua HYPER-Toro measures a galaxy-tipping 15,840 X 199,680! And you thought the Girthquake 11 X 90 was impressive…
Such a stogie can only be further proof that God exists, loves us, and wants us to be really, really, really happy. Just seeing the thing is enough to satisfy the curiosity. Catching it, at 196,000 MPH, would prove troublesome – as would clipping and lighting the thing. If you love it, let it go. Carry on, giant cigar, carry on. Godspeed.
There is, I suppose, a tiny chance we just witnessed a piece of long since malfunctioned alien technology. That, or a big rock.
And, speaking of things that rock, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the following:
Order your shirt or hoodie today to ensure delivery for Christmas. Order 3, or 10.
12 Tuesday Dec 2017
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Twelve Plus Eight Equals Too Much
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Jimmah had his peanuts; Ronnie had his jellies. Trump has aspartame and teeveeeee (in rather extreme quantities).
President Donald Trump drinks roughly 12 cans of Diet Coke every day, according to a lengthy New York Times profile about how he grapples with the daily demands of the presidency.
Trump is famous for his voracious consumption of cable news and tendency to fire off impulsive tweets when he’s displeased with the way he’s portrayed in the media. According to the Times report, the only people allowed to touch the TV remote are Trump and the technical support staff. The Times said the president watches up to eight hours of TV per day.
4 – 8 hours of the plug-in drug!
People close to Trump told The New York Times that Trump spends at least that much time in front of a TV each day, and sometimes spends as many as eight hours watching television.
The Times reports that Trump begins each day around 5:30 a.m. by turning on CNN before quickly flipping to Fox News’s “Fox & Friends.” He occasionally watches MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” because it works him up, Trump’s friends told the Times.
Wow…
This, being about 7 times my annual consumption of these things – each day!, may explain all the Tweets.
Anyway, to each his own. At least the man smokes a good cigar after a nice, rare steak. Oh, wait….
Patheos.
11 Monday Dec 2017
Posted in News and Notes
Another day in the Big Apple, another visit from ISIS. Luckily, this one – all the way from Bangladesh (via Brooklyn) – was incompetent. I always get the sulfur/charcoal/saltpeter ratio mixed up. You?
Taxi driver and/or electrical worker and/or homicide enthusiast, Akayed Ullah, arrived at NYC’s main bus terminal early this morning on a mission. Seems his plan was to detonate a homemade bomb in the middle of rush hour. The device had other ideas, detonating prematurely and pitifully. *POOF!*
The explosion happened around 7:20am, in an underground tunnel linking the Port Authority Bus Terminal to Times Square.
The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Akayed Ullah, took the A subway train to Port Authority, got off and was walking east towards Times Square when a ‘low-tech’ explosive attached to his body with Velcro and zip ties partially exploded.
A photo from the scene shows Ullah crumpled up on the ground of the tunnel as police took him into custody. He was then rushed to Bellevue Hospital to be treated for serious burns and cuts to his abdomen and hands. Jack Collins, Sean Gallagher and Anthony Manfredini have been identified as the hero Port Authority Police officers who took Ullah into custody.
Three other people were also injured in the blast for minor injuries like ringing in the ears and headaches. But they were able to talk themselves to local hospitals.
Crafty New Yorkers: talking themselves to the ER: probably on the cellular.
Many speculate he was angered over the recently announced plan to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This would fit with the general reaction of many in his home country, Hamas, and various American and European liberals. He told police he wanted revenge.
Akayed Ullah, 27, who is from Bangladesh and was living in Brooklyn, told authorities he was trying to exact vengeance for Israeli actions in Gaza — where four Palestinians have been killed amid violent protests and airstrikes since President Trump declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel last week, police sources told CNN.
Of course, per my First Law of Terrorism, Ullah was on someone’s radar before today. At the very least they had to look, glancingly, at him seven years ago when he tagged along behind … whomever from Bangladesh.
The miracles of post-1965 chain migration never cease. Car 54, where are you?
An added benefit was that, once again, Americans were treated to seeing their streets look like some Banana Republic:
Perceived security – after the fact. Daily Mail.
Friends, as terrible as this incident was, there is still time to act. That is, if we have the will. We can (and should) ban “assault-style” pipes. I’ve been a hunter for over 30 years and I can tell you that no sportsman needs a pipe. Your pipe will be useless (and pretty silly) going up against an Abrams tank or a nuclear carrier. Only the military needs “hi-capacity” pipes of this nature. Maybe plumbers…
One can’t help but note that I called for banning pipes almost a year and a half ago. I also called for a ban on buses – no buses, no pipe attack at the bus station!
Better to ban these hateful objects of hate that, say, civic nationalism and terrorists.
05 Tuesday Dec 2017
Posted in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Islamist Assassination of Theresa May Foiled
Hopefully Trump won’t Tweet about this one; such actions angry Mrs. May and Wrath of Khan. I’m not sure about Khan nowadays, but Trump isn’t the enemy the Prime Minister needs to worry about.
“It is in essence an extreme Islamist suicide plot against Downing Street. Essentially police believe that the plan was to launch some sort of improvised explosive device at Downing Street and in the ensuing chaos attack and kill Theresa May, the Prime Minister.”
“This is something which has been pursued over several weeks at least by Scotland Yard, MI5 and West Midlands Police. It came to a head last week with the arrest of two men, by armed police, who earlier today were charged with preparing acts of terrorism.”
Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman, 20, from north London and Mohammed Aqib Imran, 21, from south-east Birmingham are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning.
May is a bit better protected than the average Brit. Sky News.
This is really much ado about nothing, the antics of some misguided “teens” or something. No reason for Mrs. May to even think about coming close to the Enoch Powell train. No reason to read Camp of the Saints. No need to open her eyes. Nothing at all, here. I probably shouldn’t even be posting this. It is certainly nothing to Tweet about.
I’ll admit: one, I don’t like Twitter in the first place, and; two, Trump’s Tweets seem to get out of hand at times. But, it turns out that being out of hand sometimes actually works to the advantage of international intelligence.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo said at a national security event in Simi Valley, California, over the weekend that Trump’s tweeting has actually yielded helpful intelligence.
The current CIA director sat down with former CIA director Leon Panetta and Fox News host Brett Baier for an hour of discussion on world events from a security perspective at The Reagan National Defense Forum on Saturday.
Baier brought up Trump’s tweets about the Muslim videos and asked Panetta why he thought “it was like playing with fire.”
“When you tweet something like that out there you don’t know what the consequences are going to be, and the consequences could be lives,” Panetta replied solemnly. Baier turned to Pompeo: “One account on Twitter makes your job harder?” he asked. The CIA director’s answer was almost certainly not what the host expected. “No, I don’t know that that’s the case,” he replied. “I’ve actually seen it help us.”
“I have seen things the president has put on his Twitter account actually have a real-world impact on our capacity to understand what’s going on in other places of the world,” Pompeo said. “That is, our adversaries responded to those tweets in ways that were helpful to us to understand command and control issues, who’s listening to what messages, how those messages are resonating around the world,” he added. Panetta seemed taken aback by Pompeo’s answer.
Tweet! Tweet!
03 Sunday Dec 2017
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Have Hydrazine, Will Travel
Tags
Over 40 years and 141 AUs after launch Voyager 1 is still rocking along.
At present, the Voyager 1 spacecraft is 21 billion kilometers from Earth, or about 141 times the distance between the Earth and Sun. It has, in fact, moved beyond our Solar System into interstellar space. However, we can still communicate with Voyager across that distance.
This week, the scientists and engineers on the Voyager team did something very special. They commanded the spacecraft to fire a set of four trajectory thrusters for the first time in 37 years to determine their ability to orient the spacecraft using 10-millisecond pulses.
After sending the commands on Tuesday, it took 19 hours and 35 minutes for the signal to reach Voyager. Then, the Earth-bound spacecraft team had to wait another 19 hours and 35 minutes to see if the spacecraft responded. It did. After nearly four decades of dormancy, the Aerojet Rocketdyne manufactured thrusters fired perfectly.
File this one away under “pretty cool;” another of man’s most impressive, if quiet and distant, little accomplishments.
PERRIN LOVETT 
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