If…

Posted on by January 17, 2024

You weren’t scared of air travel before…

The Federal Aviation Administration is actively recruiting workers who suffer “severe intellectual” disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website. 

“Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the Federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring,” the FAA’s website states. “They include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism.”

The initiative is part of the FAA’s “Diversity and Inclusion” hiring plan, which claims “diversity is integral to achieving FAA’s mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel across our nation and beyond.”

Full article, HERE from NY Post.

You should be now… Positions apparently under consideration include ‘oversight and execution of critical safety functions’…

No, just F’ing NO!

This, IMHO, will get folks killed through pure negligence just to put checks in the hiring box…

And that’s going to add DAYS to any trips I take because I’ll be driving.

Full circle…

Posted on by January 16, 2024

The Swarovski Optik Visio binoculars, with an excerpt of a 2014 xkcd comic strip called

Last week, Austria-based Swarovski Optik introduced the AX Visio 10×32 binoculars, which the company says can identify over 9,000 species of birds and mammals using image recognition technology. The company is calling the product the world’s first “smart binoculars,” and they come with a hefty price tag—$4,799.

“The AX Visio are the world’s first AI-supported binoculars,” the company says in the product’s press release. “At the touch of a button, they assist with the identification of birds and other creatures, allow discoveries to be shared, and offer a wide range of practical extra functions.”

Full article HERE from Ars Technica.

XKCD did that cartoon back in 2014, and now it’s a reality… A few more than 5 years, but having spent time in R&D, 9 years isn’t really bad.

Sometimes, those ‘hold my beer’ ideas really do turn out to be a good idea, and actually doable and marketable!

What will the next set of scientists/oddballs/inventors come up with next? Not a clue, but I’m betting it will be ‘interesting’ for various terms of interesting!!!

h/t to Stretch for the link!

Interesting…

Posted on by January 15, 2024

Russian lawmaker and Vladimir Putin ally Aleksey Zhuravlyov went on national TV Friday to warn that Poland has “probably started to realize that they are next.”

“Another question is to you, guys in the West, what are you going to do about it?” Zhuravlyov asked in reference to Putin’s imperial ambitions. “They understand very well that Ukraine is finished. So what’s next? Sweden is getting ready and so are the Balkans. The Poles have quieted down a bit, they probably started to realize that they are next. Of course, we have no illusions, but we understand that all of them are getting ready for the next stage of war.”

Full article, HERE.

The real question is, is this hyperbole or an actual plan based on what Putin thinks he will be able to get away with in the next year?

If the Ukraine falls, will the Russians even have enough of a military to go against Poland or anybody else?

Personally, I don’t think they do, but I’m not an Army type so I’ll defer to the experts. And if they do try Poland, what does NATO do? Poland is a member of NATO now, and there are mutual defense requirements that would come into play.

Globull warming…

Posted on by January 14, 2024

My ass!!!

We don’t normally see ‘cold’ until mid-late February, not mid January! Much less single digit temps, with windchill below zero!!!

Last night the low here was 4 degrees, with a windchill of -11! OBTW, our homes aren’t insulated enough for this crap! We’re all hoping our waterlines don’t freeze or the power go out like last year!

Grumble… I’ll be huddling in my blankie and waiting for Wednesday when things get back a reasonable temp…

This is interesting…

Posted on by January 13, 2024

And not in a good way…

The whole Red Sea issue is and will continue to impact the USA, even if it is half a world away.

Turmoil in the Red Sea is taking a turn for the worse, and may create new bottlenecks in an already strained global supply chain.

Why it matters: The situation has become another wild card for a world economy increasingly wracked by instability.

Catch up fast: The U.S. and U.K. conducted targeted strikes in Yemen against Iran-supported Houthi rebels on Thursday, in reprisals for their incursions in the Red Sea.

The impact: The tensions have sent oil prices on a tear, and complicated shipping for a number of companies — including Tesla, which suspended production in Germany to grapple with supply chain troubles.

Full article and links HERE from Axios.com

When everything has been ‘offshored’ for manufacturing, just getting product becomes an issue, even moreso when you look at the number of companies that now use just in time (JIT) warehousing of goods, like WalMart.

If you remember last year, the chip shortage from the far east just about crippled auto manufacturers like Ford who had thousands of vehicles parked waiting computer chips and the car lots were pretty much bare, to put it mildly.

These days, the US actually manufactures very little. Almost no steel of any type, many drugs are offshored, and most types of chips are also offshored.

Add to this the perturbations caused in the global supply chain by having to either go around the Horn, or Transpac and attempt the Panama Canal (which is having issues with low water and restricting the number of TEUs per ship due to depth issues and the time it takes to refill the locks limiting the number of ships per day, and you’ve got an additional 10-20 transit days to get product moved.

This doesn’t bode well, especially if we have as bad a winter as some are predicting, and with this administration bumbling around, could and probably will drive inflation even higher than it already is.

The sad part is that salaries, pensions, etc. are not even close to keeping up with inflation now, much less if it continues rising, even as product becomes less available.

All I can suggest is hunker down, make sure you get refills on your medications at every chance, keep as much cash handy as you can, and limit the amount of credit you use until we figure out where we’re going to end up for the next year or so…

And stock up on staples that will last, and look around to make sure you have people you can trust near enough to pool assets with if required.

I’m no expert, don’t play one on TV, and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn, so YMMV…

Sigh…

Posted on by January 12, 2024

Getting old sucks…

Went in yesterday for yet another hearing exam after the last one didn’t get saved due to computer issues.

And I’m creeping up on being officially deaf. Left ear down 68-70dB pretty much across the entire spectrum, but especially above 3kHz. Right ear down 50dB with the same issues.

Left ear is even worse on ‘word discrimination’, even with male voicing words.

So, ladies, I WILL be staring at your faces so I can read your lips. Sigh…

Oh, and I will be getting TWO new hearing aids in March, apparently they have to be special ordered and the doctor that saw me yesterday is at 32 weeks of pregnancy (I swear the baby sat down before she did!), so yesterday was her last day of seeing patients for the next couple of months due to baby girl getting ‘ejected’ one way or the other in the next week or so…

But she did say she was plugging in all the required programming and filing it so that whomever ends up fitting me will have all the programming to start with and adjustments will be made from there.

I’m thankful the tech is available and the VA is providing it for free, but dammit, I hate getting old!!!

JHU Med…

Posted on by January 11, 2024

Stomps on it with track shoes this time…

Proving again that inane leftist ideology still doesn’t go over well in the real world, Johns Hopkins Medicine is scrambling to explain the thinking behind the decision for its “Chief Diversity Officer” Sherita Hill Golden to include a “privilege list” in January’s issue of the “Diversity Digest” from the “Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity.”

This list was included as part of the digest’s discussion of the “Diversity Word of the Month”: privilege. 

Privilege is defined in Golden’s digest as “a set of unearned benefits given to people who are in a specific social group” and operating “on personal, interpersonal, cultural and institutional levels” in a way that “provides advantages and favors to members of dominant groups at the expense of members of other groups.”

Full article, HERE from Townhall.

Johns Hopkins continues its race to the bottom with another faux pas…

Suffice to say, Golden is NOT in the same league as Dr. Ben Carson, who was smart enough to leave in 2013. They used to be in the top ten for research institutions and I think the med school was in the top 100. Most of my dealings were with the Applied Physics Lab which is NOT associated with the med school at all, and it is actually a separate entity from Johns Hopkins University since 2013 or so.

With the recent ‘pushes’ going on to steer medicine and doctors in directions away from the Hippocratic Oath, which most med schools no longer use anyway…

Translated by Michael North, National Library of Medicine, 2002.I swear by Apollo the physician, and Asclepius, and Hygieia and Panacea and all the gods and goddesses as my witnesses, that, according to my ability and judgement, I will keep this Oath and this contract:

To hold him who taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents, to be a partner in life with him, and to fulfill his needs when required; to look upon his offspring as equals to my own siblings, and to teach them this art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or contract; and that by the set rules, lectures, and every other mode of instruction, I will impart a knowledge of the art to my own sons, and those of my teachers, and to students bound by this contract and having sworn this Oath to the law of medicine, but to no others.

I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients according to my greatest ability and judgement, and I will do no harm or injustice to them.

I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.

In purity and according to divine law will I carry out my life and my art.

I will not use the knife, even upon those suffering from stones, but I will leave this to those who are trained in this craft.

Into whatever homes I go, I will enter them for the benefit of the sick, avoiding any voluntary act of impropriety or corruption, including the seduction of women or men, whether they are free men or slaves.

Whatever I see or hear in the lives of my patients, whether in connection with my professional practice or not, which ought not to be spoken of outside, I will keep secret, as considering all such things to be private.

So long as I maintain this Oath faithfully and without corruption, may it be granted to me to partake of life fully and the practice of my art, gaining the respect of all men for all time. However, should I transgress this Oath and violate it, may the opposite be my fate.

Note- There is nothing in the oath that says ‘first, do no harm’!

I miss the days when I was a kid and doctors actually made house calls… I know medicine is better today, but have you tried getting an appointment lately???

Serious this time???

Posted on by January 10, 2024

Or just more posturing before a deal?

Senate Republicans made clear on Wednesday that there will be no immigration deal unless Democrats agree to restrictions on parole, the border authority used by the administration to admit hundreds of thousands of immigrants.

That was the unequivocal message as Republicans emerged from a meeting convened to update members on the state of talks. The conference has been united in the need for border reforms as crossings reach record highs, but conservatives have warned against accepting any deal the White House could sidestep.

Full article, HERE from the Washington Examiner.

Maybe some on the right are finally waking up to how many illegals are actually coming into the country and what their impact is…

Maybe…

Take your BP meds…

Posted on by January 9, 2024

Before reading!

Ray Epps, the federal government’s pet protester, has been granted one of the lightest sentences for a January 6 rioter that we’ve seen yet. 

Epps was gifted by federal prosecutors and a D.C. judge with probation for one year. His recent sentencing memo has been widely mocked by imprisoned January 6 protesters, some of whom are still awaiting trial. In fact, he didn’t even have to show up for the sentencing that was done via Zoom. 

Full article, HERE from PJ Media.

Soooo, who you gonna believe??? The .gov or your lyin’ eyes???

Gah, this is just ridiculous! For all his protestations that he’s not and has never been any kind of informant or government agent, this kinda puts paid to that whole schtick of his…

Now where the hell are my BP meds?

Ye Ghods and little fishes…

Posted on by January 9, 2024

Edited to fix the link! Sorry about that!

This is… just go read it for yourselves…

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, there is no dispute about the benefits of breastfeeding an infant. “Most health professionals are familiar with the benefits of breastfeeding,” the organization says on its website. “The AAP continues to support the unequivocal evidence that breastfeeding protects against a variety of diseases and conditions.”

However, according to leftist academics, breastfeeding is “ethically problematic.” Want to guess why?

Full article, HERE.

The stoopid is strong with this one! I literally don’t know what to say!