News
2024-09-15
2024 Pennsylvania: Trump vs. Harris | RealClearPolling
I have been saying that Pennsylvania will decide the election. Most of the other states are solid enough that it is going to come down to Pennsylvania, which is super close.
The vast majority have already made up their minds, so a small percentage in one state could decide the national election. The result may depend upon turnout.
The Bloomberg poll appears to be an outlier from the other polls. It appears to exaggerate the Democrat advantage and was way off in the last two elections. If I were to cut the Bloomberg margin for Harris in half, I get an average poll result of 0.1% for Trump. Otherwise, Harris is ahead by 0.1%. The bottom line is that the state is too close to call. (Rumor has it that the Harris campaign is worried about Pennsylvania, but the Trump campaign should be worried too.)
Early voting in Pennsylvania was supposed to start tomorrow but has been delayed by court challenges by 3rd party candidates.
Why Japanese People Are Not Obese Like People In The US?
I assume that it is not just "healthy" food but the quantity of food that people like to eat. Americans love to overeat. I think that eating out is the cause of obesity because it is not only junk food but the large portion sizes.
I wonder if buffets are an American-only phenomenon?
Watch "Lithium is dangerous"
On Sun, Sep 15, 2024 at 12:10 AM Albert wrote:
When these batteries die, get rid of them immediately, Here's why.
I knew pure sodium is super reactive with just about everything, especially water, and can explode. I didn't know that about Lithium. They both produce hydrogen gas when they react with water. Lithium, Sodium, and Potassium are all on the first column of the period table, meaning they have similar chemical properties.
Sodium Chloride and Potassium Chloride are very safe. I buy "Lite Salt" which has 50% of each.
Most batteries you would buy in the store are alkaline, containing potassium hydroxide, which is not so reactive but corrosive.
Rechargeable batteries use Lithium-ion.
Lithium carbonate in small quantities can be used as an anti-depressant.
2024-09-14
Churchill
Lately, I have been seeing people who are Hitler Apologists, claiming that Hitler didn't want war with Britain and that Winston Churchill was a warmonger who started World War II by declaring war on Germany. A YouTuber, "Zoomer Historian" has made many videos with this distorted view of history.
Had Hitler only invaded Austria, which Germany might have had a historic claim to, he might have been just a footnote in history. But then he invaded Czechoslovakia claiming that he only wanted a part of the country, the Sudetenland, which was ethnically German. Hitler made an agreement with Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, that he would renounce any claim to the rest of Czechoslovakia. However, Hitler violated the agreement and took the rest of Czechoslovakia. Had Hitler stopped there, he once again might have been just a footnote in history. However, he invaded Poland, claiming that he only wanted one city that was ethnically German. He took the whole country anyway. Britain and France had made promises to Poland to help protect the country. They warned Hitler that if he invaded Poland they would declare war, but Hitler didn't believe them. After the invasion they declared war and World War II started.
2024-09-13
Why Is the New York Times Legitimizing a Holocaust Denier?
The Nazis were not simply ill-provisioned bumblers who somehow failed to keep their prisoners alive. The thirty-three thousand bullet-riddled corpses at Babyn Yar did not die of exposure. Denying the Nazis' overtly murderous intentions is just one more way of denying the Holocaust, pure and simple.
2024-09-10
Is salt actually bad for you? Why do some people like salt way more than others do?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy2ncip_ILA&t=4599s
The first hour of this video gets deep into the science and is also interesting.
The Asterisk on Kamala Harris’s Poll Numbers - The Atlantic
How did the polls get worse from 2016 to 2020, with everyone watching? In the aftermath of Trump's surprise 2016 victory, the public-opinion-research industry concluded that the problem was educational polarization. If pollsters had made a point of including enough white people without college degrees in their samples, they wouldn't have underestimated Trump so badly. During the 2020 cycle, they focused on correcting that mistake.
It didn't work. Even though polls in 2020 included more white non-college-educated voters, they turned out to be disproportionately the white non-college-educated voters who preferred Biden. The new consensus is that Republican voters are less likely to respond to polls in the first place.
It didn't work. Even though polls in 2020 included more white non-college-educated voters, they turned out to be disproportionately the white non-college-educated voters who preferred Biden. The new consensus is that Republican voters are less likely to respond to polls in the first place.
Public Polling Has It All Wrong (Again) - by Mark Harris | ColdSpark
With Kamala Harris as the nominee, politically engaged, wealthy, educated, white voters are taking up too many spots in the Democratic quotas, pushing out downscale, lower-turnout Democrats who are much more likely to be undecided or Trump voters. Whereas a college-educated Democrat might be 95% for Harris, a non-college one might be 88%. That seven-point gap matters and is not reflected in public polling.
Don't take just my word for it. POLITICO reported that even Democratic pollsters are admitting their internal (read expensive) surveys are much less optimistic than public polling, and they are also worried about this blue mirage.
Don't take just my word for it. POLITICO reported that even Democratic pollsters are admitting their internal (read expensive) surveys are much less optimistic than public polling, and they are also worried about this blue mirage.
2024-09-07
Does the Erucic Acid Level Make Canola Oil Unsafe?
I have looked at many articles. The vast majority say that Canola Oil is safe in moderation.
Most of the oils in Canola Oil are healthy, but Canola Oil also contains Erucic Acid. Erucic Acid is toxic (to heart health) so it seems to me that it would be better not to consume any. However, the exact amount of Erucic Acid in Canola Oil is unclear. Almost all sources claim that the Euric Acid level is 2% or less by law, although the article below says that it is barely detectable, only around 0.01% in Canadian-made Canola Oil.
Although the government classifies Canola Oil as safe, the recommended safe level of Erucic Acid is about 7 mg per kilogram of body weight. For me, that would be about 3/4 of a gram.
"For reference, 1 tablespoon of canola oil can contain a maximum of 280 mg of erucic acid. This means a person who weighs 80 kg can have around 2 tbsp of canola oil per day. "
https://www.goodrx.com/well-being/diet-nutrition/is-rapeseed-oil-healthy
The problem is that we don't know if it actually has that much Erucic Acid.
The same article mentions that Canola Oil has a tiny amount of trans fat.
Two tablespoons isn't that much. I used to cook popcorn with 2 ounces of Canola Oil. That is about 4 tablespoons, so I could have exceeded the recommended level of Erucic Acid.
According to this page, the Erucic Acid level in Canola Oil is not 2% but 0.2%. So that should make Canola Oil safe in moderation.
https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/canola-oil-properties.html
For several months, I have been using Extra Virgin Olive Oil instead. It is at least five times more expensive than Canola Oil, but I only use it 2 or 3 times per week. The cost is not a big issue.
Olive Oil is a key component of the Mediterranean Diet. Many sources claim that Olive Oil does not have any trans fat.
According to at least a couple of sources, you can use Olive Oil for frying if you don't get it too hot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PIEamGRnVQ
The smoke point of Canola Oil is 399 degrees Fahrenheit. Because of this, it is considered heat resistant and good for frying. The smoke point of Olive Oil varies from 350 to 430 degrees.
If I am being honest, other things in my diet are riskier than Canola Oil. I need to work on those as well.
Most of the oils in Canola Oil are healthy, but Canola Oil also contains Erucic Acid. Erucic Acid is toxic (to heart health) so it seems to me that it would be better not to consume any. However, the exact amount of Erucic Acid in Canola Oil is unclear. Almost all sources claim that the Euric Acid level is 2% or less by law, although the article below says that it is barely detectable, only around 0.01% in Canadian-made Canola Oil.
Although the government classifies Canola Oil as safe, the recommended safe level of Erucic Acid is about 7 mg per kilogram of body weight. For me, that would be about 3/4 of a gram.
"For reference, 1 tablespoon of canola oil can contain a maximum of 280 mg of erucic acid. This means a person who weighs 80 kg can have around 2 tbsp of canola oil per day. "
https://www.goodrx.com/well-being/diet-nutrition/is-rapeseed-oil-healthy
The problem is that we don't know if it actually has that much Erucic Acid.
The same article mentions that Canola Oil has a tiny amount of trans fat.
Two tablespoons isn't that much. I used to cook popcorn with 2 ounces of Canola Oil. That is about 4 tablespoons, so I could have exceeded the recommended level of Erucic Acid.
According to this page, the Erucic Acid level in Canola Oil is not 2% but 0.2%. So that should make Canola Oil safe in moderation.
https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/canola-oil-properties.html
For several months, I have been using Extra Virgin Olive Oil instead. It is at least five times more expensive than Canola Oil, but I only use it 2 or 3 times per week. The cost is not a big issue.
Olive Oil is a key component of the Mediterranean Diet. Many sources claim that Olive Oil does not have any trans fat.
According to at least a couple of sources, you can use Olive Oil for frying if you don't get it too hot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PIEamGRnVQ
The smoke point of Canola Oil is 399 degrees Fahrenheit. Because of this, it is considered heat resistant and good for frying. The smoke point of Olive Oil varies from 350 to 430 degrees.
If I am being honest, other things in my diet are riskier than Canola Oil. I need to work on those as well.
2024-09-06
2024-09-04
Baking the Original Brownie - The History of Brownies
@john2001plus
7 hours agoI heard that during medieval times, around holidays like Christmas, parents would make sweet treats they would leave out for their children. When the children would ask where the treats came from, the parents would respond, "Brownies", which were elves.
12 replies
@atlas4698
6 hours ago
I'm gonna do this if I have kids.
@firstlast1047
6 hours ago
Not a Brownie fan...Too much chocolate. But, thanks for the coherent recipe. I'm not adverse to baking brownies for others.
@user-po3ir2tx5z
5 hours ago (edited)
Interesting... is this the source of Madison Ave's idea for the Keebler Elves?
Timeline of Gaza | 3500 BCE to October 7th, 2023
His conclusions are in my opinion a bit biased. The Palestinians have had multiple good offers for peace since 1948 and have refused all of them.
2024-09-03
You May Not Like It But this Is What Peak Combustion Technology Looks Like - Rotary Vane Engine
This is an interesting theoretical engine design.
2024-09-01
2024-08-31
Is This The Most Absurd Time In History? - Rudyard Lynch
Humans respond to incentives or the lack thereof. If there are no incentives then society falls apart. With the right incentives, society stays together.
Shared myths also hold societies together. Even if the myths are a complete lie, people with common values are incentivized to cooperate. They get along.
There are a large number of people who want to overturn the current system and replace it with some form of benevolent authoritarianism. The problem is that this never turns out well. What follows is a hellish existence for at least some people.
I think that people are primarily motivated by fear. The world is a dangerous place and filled with uncertainty. Fear can cause normally peaceful and rational people to suddenly turn violent.
I think that most people in their minds perceive something in the world as an existential threat. In the 1960s it was communism. Even little kids talked about it. Our country had what we perceived were enemies.
It used to be that despite our differences, most people in the United States shared the belief that the United States was a force for good in the world. Now we perceive each other as the enemy.
2024-08-30
RFK ENDORSES Trump, Kamala’s Still Hiding
This was the Monday program. I listened to part of it on the radio and watched the video.
He makes good points. I like Ben Shapiro, but he is a bit repetitive.
Either candidate could easily lose the election by saying something stupid.
Trump voters are extremely motivated. There will be an enthusiasm gap. If Trump voters turn out an extra 2 or 3%, which they will, then that will be enough to sway the election.
BTW, my vote doesn't matter. Indiana will vote for Trump regardless of whether I vote. Because of the Electoral College, six or seven battleground states will decide the election.
The only problem with a direct presidential election is that it would give high-population cities and states a great deal of power. The Democrats would win most of the elections. The Electoral College was designed to provide slightly more representation to low-population states.
2024 RCP Electoral College Map | RealClearPolling
Three days ago, it looked like Trump would win the electoral college. However, his small lead switched to Harris in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Nevada.
The election is close, but Harris is ahead.
I think that the country should reject Harris' policies. However, she is not winning with details or policy, but with DEI, leftism, and lies.
Trump has time to make his case. I think that her popularity will fade, but I can't predict the future.
Harris' problem: She's a complete phony
'Her political problem was always simple to identify but difficult to solve. Her policy positions, many of which have been part of her public record for decades, are radically out of step with those of most Americans, and trying to renounce them won't be remotely believable.
So, in the lead-up to the CNN interview, her staff laid the groundwork for her and notified reporters on background that the candidate had allegedly changed her views on some big things.
For example, how will she ever convince natural gas workers in western Pennsylvania that she supports fracking to protect their jobs when she hasn't and doesn't?
She was adamantly and emphatically against fracking when she ran for president early in the 2020 Democratic primary cycle (she bowed out in December 2019), and she was an original co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, which sets its sights on eliminating fossil-fuel use.
In that vein, she's been a major cheerleader for the Biden-Harris efforts to force Americans to buy electric vehicles they clearly do not want, regardless of how much her campaign says she doesn't want to require that anymore.
She stole former President Donald Trump's proposal to stop taxing tips for service industry workers and somehow discovered a child tax credit proposal even though she voted against it as a senator when it was part of the Trump tax cut package in 2017.
Placed in charge of the Biden-Harris administration's alleged strategy to address illegal immigration, she has overseen the unsecuring of our southern border. Now, she is masquerading as an immigration hawk. Her television ads even have images of Mr. Trump's border wall, a national security measure that she once called "un-American."
She has been quite clear in her views on illegal border crossing and has said multiple times that she does not believe it should be a crime. Today, of course, that tune has changed.
She has consistently supported the "defund the police" movement but is now desperately trying to walk that back.'
So, in the lead-up to the CNN interview, her staff laid the groundwork for her and notified reporters on background that the candidate had allegedly changed her views on some big things.
For example, how will she ever convince natural gas workers in western Pennsylvania that she supports fracking to protect their jobs when she hasn't and doesn't?
She was adamantly and emphatically against fracking when she ran for president early in the 2020 Democratic primary cycle (she bowed out in December 2019), and she was an original co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, which sets its sights on eliminating fossil-fuel use.
In that vein, she's been a major cheerleader for the Biden-Harris efforts to force Americans to buy electric vehicles they clearly do not want, regardless of how much her campaign says she doesn't want to require that anymore.
She stole former President Donald Trump's proposal to stop taxing tips for service industry workers and somehow discovered a child tax credit proposal even though she voted against it as a senator when it was part of the Trump tax cut package in 2017.
Placed in charge of the Biden-Harris administration's alleged strategy to address illegal immigration, she has overseen the unsecuring of our southern border. Now, she is masquerading as an immigration hawk. Her television ads even have images of Mr. Trump's border wall, a national security measure that she once called "un-American."
She has been quite clear in her views on illegal border crossing and has said multiple times that she does not believe it should be a crime. Today, of course, that tune has changed.
She has consistently supported the "defund the police" movement but is now desperately trying to walk that back.'
Michael Moore says Kamala Harris would be ‘most progressive’ president in history: ‘I feel so hopeful’
Filmmaker and activist Michael Moore is "over the moon" about the possibility of electing Vice President Kamala Harris as the "most progressive" president in American history.
New Rules for Radicals -- How To Reinvent Kamala Harris
1. Remake Harris as an entirely fresh happy face. She's about joy and vibe -- which trumps position papers and policy statements. Banish all thoughts that she is an incumbent vice president and co-owns the last four years of the Biden administration.
2. Ignore/deny that Harris as vice president could have long ago enacted her new makeover proposal -- or could do so right now in the remaining five months of her administration's tenure. She was the last person out of the room when Biden made those awful decisions.
3. For the next 70 days, reinvent Harris as a moderate. Xerox much of Donald Trump's current more popular agenda. Have Harris claim it as her own. Reboot her as a border hawk, a China hawk, a defense hawk, a budget hawk, and a law-and-order hawk.
4. The word-salad Harris must not do a single unscripted media interview, live town hall, extemporaneous chat, ambush hot mic, or lecture without a teleprompter.
Harris would turn nation into Kamalafornia, where illegal immigrants get free money
Way back when we didn't even know who the candidates would be in November's election, I said that there would be one choice above all.
The choice for the country would boil down to "Which direction America?" And if you boiled that question down further the question would be "California or Florida?"
Like Gavin Newsom, Kamala is one of those West Coast politicians who after ruining a city and then a state seems to hope that they can roll out the same disaster across the whole land.
The choice for the country would boil down to "Which direction America?" And if you boiled that question down further the question would be "California or Florida?"
Like Gavin Newsom, Kamala is one of those West Coast politicians who after ruining a city and then a state seems to hope that they can roll out the same disaster across the whole land.
Jack Smith, Democrat-Lawfare Complex Hit Man
'The combined effect of these rapid-fire developments should have sent an unmistakable message to Smith: Abort your mission. This is doubly true given the impending November election, for which a certain criminal defendant will appear at the very top of the ballot. After all, the DOJ's own internal Justice Manual stipulates that "federal prosecutors ... may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution, or select the timing of investigative steps or criminal charges, for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party."
Come again?
Any reasonable prosecutor -- or so-called prosecutor -- would have conceded defeat and dropped the lawfare madness. Instead, in his superseding indictment filed this week in Washington, D.C., Smith doubled down in every possible way.
Smith only made cosmetic changes to his original charging document, removing certain factual allegations that clearly involve a president's plenary constitutional conduct but retaining other alleged acts that still fall under the broader scope of "official" presidential conduct. Astonishingly, Smith left in both his counts against Trump that invoke the very Sarbox provision the Supreme Court just held in Fischer cannot be invoked for Jan. 6-related prosecutions -- including Smith's anti-Trump case in Washington.'
Come again?
Any reasonable prosecutor -- or so-called prosecutor -- would have conceded defeat and dropped the lawfare madness. Instead, in his superseding indictment filed this week in Washington, D.C., Smith doubled down in every possible way.
Smith only made cosmetic changes to his original charging document, removing certain factual allegations that clearly involve a president's plenary constitutional conduct but retaining other alleged acts that still fall under the broader scope of "official" presidential conduct. Astonishingly, Smith left in both his counts against Trump that invoke the very Sarbox provision the Supreme Court just held in Fischer cannot be invoked for Jan. 6-related prosecutions -- including Smith's anti-Trump case in Washington.'
2024-08-29
Climate Tipping Points are Real, Stop Denying It
This seems like old news. Climate Alarmism is based on worst-case scenarios, which is what the IPCC likes to assume. I have seen multiple sources claim that it will take 5,000 years for the Arctic ice to melt. Meanwhile, we will run out of most fossil fuels by the year 2100. We only have about 46 years of oil reserves remaining. If by some miracle I live to 110, I will see us run out of oil.
It is going to take a lot of heat to melt the permafrost. I have seen claims of a 5-degree increase but other claims of 3-degrees and another claim that it will start melting at 1.5 degrees, which is about when we run out of most fossil fuels.
Geologists look at Climate Change differently. In at most 10,000 years, we are going to be in another period of mass glaciation where New York is covered by glaciers. Massive cold is the long-term climate threat. We would already be in the cool-down cycle except for those pesky humans who put some CO2 into the air.
CO2 is a valuable resource. It is plant food. The world is CO2-starved. The CO2 level has been in a nose dive for the last 40 million years because calcifying marine organisms sequester CO2. This is why we have been in the Pleistocene ice age for the last 2.5 million years. During the last period of glaciation, the CO2 level got to 180 parts per million, just barely above the level where all terrestrial plans die. Long term, this downward trend will continue unless humans intervene. We are not the enemy of nature but its salvation.
Climate Alarmists are data deniers. The data shows that it took 140 years for the temperature to rise 1 degree Celsius, and that started from an exceptionally cold period in the 1880s. Climate change happens very slowly and we have plenty of time to adapt, and humans are by their nature very adaptable.
If Climate Change were to accelerate, then I would agree that some action is needed. Iron Fertilization of iron-poor oceans would allow plankton, which are the basis for the marine food chain, to flourish and sequester CO2. I don't know why this wouldn't work.
The solutions to the so-called climate crisis are draconian in that they require complete government control over energy. This crisis is pushed by people who want government control.
It is going to take a lot of heat to melt the permafrost. I have seen claims of a 5-degree increase but other claims of 3-degrees and another claim that it will start melting at 1.5 degrees, which is about when we run out of most fossil fuels.
Geologists look at Climate Change differently. In at most 10,000 years, we are going to be in another period of mass glaciation where New York is covered by glaciers. Massive cold is the long-term climate threat. We would already be in the cool-down cycle except for those pesky humans who put some CO2 into the air.
CO2 is a valuable resource. It is plant food. The world is CO2-starved. The CO2 level has been in a nose dive for the last 40 million years because calcifying marine organisms sequester CO2. This is why we have been in the Pleistocene ice age for the last 2.5 million years. During the last period of glaciation, the CO2 level got to 180 parts per million, just barely above the level where all terrestrial plans die. Long term, this downward trend will continue unless humans intervene. We are not the enemy of nature but its salvation.
Climate Alarmists are data deniers. The data shows that it took 140 years for the temperature to rise 1 degree Celsius, and that started from an exceptionally cold period in the 1880s. Climate change happens very slowly and we have plenty of time to adapt, and humans are by their nature very adaptable.
If Climate Change were to accelerate, then I would agree that some action is needed. Iron Fertilization of iron-poor oceans would allow plankton, which are the basis for the marine food chain, to flourish and sequester CO2. I don't know why this wouldn't work.
The solutions to the so-called climate crisis are draconian in that they require complete government control over energy. This crisis is pushed by people who want government control.
Why Don't We Have 128 Bit CPUs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKbNOmysJQo
This is something I wondered about.
The fact is that 64 bits is large enough to hold almost any number we would need. Even 32 bits is adequate. There might be special cases in science where a higher level of precision is required, for example, if you need to calculate a flight path to Pluto. Still, current 64-bit computers can do 128-bit computations if needed but less efficiently than a 128-bit processor.
With the extra circuitry required for a 128-bit processor, the space on the CPU die is better spent having more processors. So there is no reason for general-purpose CPUs to ever be 128-bit.
Graphics cards, which do a massive number of calculations every millisecond, can have processors that use more than 64 bits so that they can move data to and from memory in larger chunks. This is a special case.
2024-08-28
Kindness
https://youtube.com/shorts/BQYli7vqS_U?si=Y5Qi93gZwP3wlOTd
Maybe the real lesson is that everything you do in public is captured on camera.
Maybe the real lesson is that everything you do in public is captured on camera.
2024-08-27
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