From the eastern shore of northern Michigan - north of Oscoda - the lake is about 100 miles across at this point. Not intentionally, but on the eastern shore of the lake at this point is the beach where I spent most of my youthful summers ... and learned that "warm" water (as I was often informed that it was - my mother lied to me) in the northern Great Lakes is good drinking temperature.
Back before Global Warming, we'd drive out on the ice a bit south of here; if it was thick enough to stymie Coast Guard ice-breakers, it was certainly safe for cars. At least so far as our feeble minds were capable of thinking at that age. Made it 20 miles out one time.
In a nice bit of shade right in the middle of the path.
Did I mention it was a hot summer day in southern Arizona?
The path was narrow ... I was literally between a rock and a hard place ... and I had places to go and no desire to back up. Anymore than he had a desire to move from such a comfortable place to laze away this fine summer afternoon.
So I stopped - a polite distance away - and we had a bit of a discussion. I said my piece; he said his. I pointed out the error of his thinking - he pointed out he was armed and wasn't taking any nonsense.
I countered with my point of view - the fact that I was armed didn't seem to faze him one little bit. I told him I didn't really have any argument with him but that I was going to pass by. He attempted to convince me that he didn't care - he wasn't moving.
Eventually he saw my point of view - we came to an understanding: he moved on, I passed by ... and other than a vigorous bit of noisy displeasure on his part, no harm was done to either party.
I just received an offer to buy Gerard's domain name "americandigest.org". No price mentioned nor was the offer from Neo (I wouldn't expect it to be). I'm not inclined to buy it, I wouldn't use it - I'd prefer the name to fade away. On the other hand, controlling the name would keep it from being used for other purposes - assuming someone would purchase and use it. (A "normal" registration costs about $20/year or less).
I have no reason to think this is anything more than a first-chance and friendly offer. Just letting y'all know ...
A sample of some obscure – and some maybe not obscure – tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today’s selection: It's A Beautiful Day "White Bird" 1968
Hippies!
A 1967 San Francisco band; their most famous cut was inspired when living in Seattle during winter.
"Where the 'white bird' thing came from … We were like caged birds in that attic. We had no money, no transportation, the weather was miserable. We were just barely getting by on a very small food allowance provided to us. It was quite an experience, but it was very creative in a way."
The first English industrial works in the New World was glassblowing. The Jamestown Colony was established in 1607 (the Pilgrims were newcomers. :) ). Seeking profits, glassworks seemed reasonable with plentiful local supplies of sand, potash, and wood. A glassworks was established at Jamestown in 1608. In 1610, it was reported that the works was of a "goodly nature" ... but the attempt failed. The second attempt in 1622 also failed.
The old glass furnaces were uncovered in 1948.
A reconstruction has been built near the remnants of the old works' furnaces (which are now uncovered and on display in situ). The techniques used in the new works are similar to those of the 1600s but natural gas is used in the furnaces rather than wood. This modern works is far more successful than the original works; the articles produced are available for sale at the gift shop.
Who to believe less? A government official talking money or a big media talking head?
From today's "Face The Nation" on CBS with Margaret Brennan:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: "Thus far there have been no price increases - everything has been alarmist. The inflation numbers are actually dropping.We saw the first drop of inflation in four years. The inflation numbers last week, they were very pro-consumer."
"Margaret, when we were here in March, you said there was going to be big inflation. There hasn't been any inflation. Actually, the inflation numbers were the best in four years. So why don't we stop trying to say 'this could happen,' wait and see what does happen."
Emphasis mine.
I remember seeing this movie back in the 1970s.
Let's see now ... If there have been no price increases, how are inflation numbers dropping? Or is he claiming deflation?
Or maybe he's right. Prices haven't being going up, the value of your dollar is going down. I recall one time long ago when a CEO of McDonald's said that they still sold a 15¢ hamburger but adjusted for inflation.
There hasn't been any inflation? This must be from someone that doesn't do his own shopping or keep his own accounts.
Are you aware the Fed is dumping massive amounts of funny money into the system (ie, stock market) in order to keep the stock market "stable"? Your 401K and/or other "money" assets are not going up in value; they're actually decreasing faster than most realize.
The word for the day ... and many days to come ... is "ohshit".
But in other latest news: we won't be worried about such things for very long.
