Is This Something Important? November 5, 2011
Posted by Retired Geezer in Crime, Economics.13 comments
I’m retired, I’m a moron and I can barely balance my checkbook.
I don’t understand all the financial stuff.
Put me some knowledge here.
Reminiscing About Ill-Considered Defense Cuts November 5, 2011
Posted by geoff in News.4 comments
The woes of the F-35:
Ten years and $66 billion later, the aircraft is still in development, five years behind schedule and 64 percent over cost estimates. The Obama administration may cancel some models and also cut the Pentagon’s orders.Miss me yet?
…
The Pentagon in June 2010 estimated the program’s total cost to be about $382 billion, taking into account an extension of development phase of the program, additional tests and delayed production.
If only there were another aircraft, an aircraft still in production, say a fifth-generation fighter available at $70 million per copy. If only.
A Cautionary Note on Interpreting the BEST Global Warming Data November 4, 2011
Posted by geoff in News.7 comments
A UC Berkeley professor assembled a team and reviewed the land temperature data since 1800. He told the world that after reviewing the data he was no longer skeptical of global warming claims, and that global warming was real and significant. But the Global Warming Policy Institute (GWPI) got hold of the data and said that it proved that there has been no warming since 2001. The Daily Mail then published this graph based on the GWPI’s results:
"The Inconvenient Truth" should be "The Lame Data Analysis by GWPI Clowns"
You may have seen this running around the internet – Hot Air had it up today. It’s been pretty popular on conservative blogs.
The thing is, it’s wrong. Just wrong.
Do you see that weird data point at the end of the lower graph – the one that spikes way down? Turns out that it was based on a tiny number of stations, all of them in the Antarctic. The uncertainty associated with the point is more than 10 times the normal uncertainty for this data. And that one point is enough to mess up trend analysis.
If you exclude it, as you certainly should, there is a positive trend of 0.14 K/decade over that time period. The trend is pretty sensitive to the starting and ending points – but for any time period extending farther back than about 5 years, it’s definitely positive and significant (and most intervals in the 10-year range give a 0.2 – 0.25 K/decade increase).
Over the past few years the trend has flattened and even shows a decline for some time intervals, but it’s too early to say whether that’s a real change in climate trends. So we’ve got to wait.
In the meantime, don’t stick your neck out over the GWPI/Daily Mail data interpretation.
Not Much Happening on the Unemployment Front November 4, 2011
Posted by geoff in News.2 comments
Last month’s unemployment rate was released today – it dropped from 9.1% in September to 9.0% in October. Not much of a change – the Establishment survey says that we added 104,000 private sector (non-farm) jobs, last month, which is just enough to keep up with the labor population growth. Of course we also lost 24,000 government jobs (only 2,000 were from the federal gov’t, dang it), so we’re not really keeping up at all.
The funny thing this month is the way the BLS struggles to find good news. So they tell us this:
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) decreased by 374,000 to 8.9 million in October.
Of course they don’t mention that over the preceding 2 months the number of involuntary part-time workers increased by 874,000 (and they didn’t take note of it during those months’ reports, either). Context much?
Speaking of context, here is The Chart, where once again we see the deadly accuracy of Timothy Geithner’s predictions from March 2010. Yes, 20 months ago Mr. Geithner predicted our current state of misery. And then sat back with his thumbs up his ass watching it unfold exactly as he had expected.
Probably better that way, actually. If he’d tried to do anything, we’d just owe more money.
Veterans Day Discounts and Freebees November 3, 2011
Posted by Retired Geezer in Heroes, News.15 comments
Veterans Day is November 11th. I received this list from an online organization I belong to. I’m posting it a week early so you can plan ahead.
Call first to confirm the store participation.
God Bless the USA and our Vets.
Restaurants
Abuelo’s Mexican Food – Abuelo’s offerings vary by region, be sure to call ahead to see what the discounts or freebies are included.
Applebees – All veterans and active duty military eat free from a limited menu at Applebee’s on Veterans Day.
Chili’s — Veterans and active duty dine for free from a special limited six item menu on Veterans Day.
Golden Corral — Golden Corral Restaurants’ Military Appreciation Monday free dinner will be available on November 15, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Military retirees, veterans, active duty, National Guard and Reserves are all welcome.
Hooters — All Veterans and active duty eat free. The free entrees must be selected from a special Veterans Day menu.
Krispy Kreme – All active-duty, retirees & veterans get a free doughnut on Veterans Day. Be sure to call ahead to verify your local Krispy Kreme is participating.
McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants — Participating McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants offer a complimentary entree to vets from a special menu on a space available basis, online reservations are highly recommended.
Outback Steakhouse — Veterans and active-duty military get a complimentary Bloomin’ Onion and non-alcoholic beverage on Veterans Day.
UNO Chicago Grill — UNO is offering a Buy One Get One free offer to Service members or Veterans with a military or veteran I.D. or in uniform or with a photo of themselves in uniform. The Veterans Day BOGO offer includes a free entree or individual pizza, with the purchase of an entree or pizza of equal or greater value.
Texas Roadhouse – Free meal from opening until 4pm. on Veterans Day. Call ahead to your local restaurant for more information.
T.G.I. Friday’s – Veterans and Service members Buy one get one free from Nov 11–14. Contact your nearest location for more details on their Veterans Day BOGO offer.
Retail Stores
The Dollar General — Veterans, Service members (Active, Guard, and Reserve), and their immediate families will receive a 10-percent discount with a Veterans Day coupon. The coupon may be found in store circular ads or by asking a sales associate.
Home Depot — Offers a 10 percent discount to all Veterans during Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day.
Lowe’s — All veterans receive the 10-percent discount on Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. The offer is available in stores only and is limited to in-stock and special-order purchases of up to $5,000.
Sam’s Club — Sam’s will give away 36,000 collapsible Hugo Canes on Veterans Day to military veterans in need of mobility assistance. Sam’s Club will require membership for this offer, but proof of service may be necessary.
Amazon.com – Free ―Veterans Day Honor MP3 album download. The album includes 12 songs by The Bands and Ensembles of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Cabela’s Outdoor Store – Offers their employee discount to all veterans, active-duty military and reserves, law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel November 11-12. Discounts vary from 5% to 50%, depending on the item.
Build-a-Bear Workshop – Members of the armed services including the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Reserve Officer Training Corps, will receive a 20% discount November 11-15 on any one transaction at Build-A-Bear Workshop.
Fashion Bug – 20% off all plus-size and misses clothing purchases with a copy of military ID or spouse’s military ID.
Sports Clips Haircuts – The men’s hair salon chain is offering a free haircut to active military and veterans on Veterans Day.
Foot Locker — Veterans, Service members (Active, Guard, and Reserve), and their immediate families with a Foot Locker Veterans Advantage Card receive a 20 percent discount every day of the year. That offer is good both online and at any store location, including Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Footaction and Champs Sports — even on sale items.
Ever Eaten a Pine Tree? November 2, 2011
Posted by Retired Geezer in Food.7 comments
Pine Trees: Not just for Breakfast anymore.
Euell Gibbons became famous for asking, “have you ever eaten a pine tree?”
A lot of folks had a laugh over that, but perhaps Euell will have the last laugh. We all probably have an ancestor who ate a pine tree or part of it now and then. I know I did. And people may eat pine again. It’s a family with over 200 species and has served man well, famine food to ship masts. So much has been written about this family let me see if I can say a few things others haven’t.
Continuing on with the self-help Theme of Innocent Bystanders ™, I proudly present episode 92 of “Eat The Weeds.com”.
You should subscribe to his YouTube feed.
You’re Welcome.
How To Do The Electric Slide November 2, 2011
Posted by Michael in Entertainment.2 comments
I’m pretty sure that many of you have been at a wedding reception where everybody started doing the Electric Slide, and you felt left out. You were nursing a plastic cup with Sangria-tasting punch in it, maybe eating some meatballs, and feeling like a loser. Everybody else knew the dance.
Yeah, I know the feeling. Been there.
Turns out, the Electric Slide is not really all that hard to learn. This lady will explain it in detail.
Cool Gadgets November 1, 2011
Posted by Retired Geezer in Art, Man Laws.2 comments
Throwable Panoramic Ball Cam
Here’s one of the coolest gadgets we’ve seen in years. Created as a prototype for the SIGGRAPH Asia 2011 conference by Jonas Pfeil, the ball camera uses 36 small 2-megapixel fixed-focus lenses. When you throw the ball in the air, the cameras snap a panoramic view as soon as the ball comes to its highest point (and stays motionless for a split second). It’s brilliant because the wide angle shots mimic what we see as humans in our wide field of view, as opposed to normal photographs. And, to snap a panoramic shot, you normally need a tripod and a lot of extra time to take each precise photo.
Here’s the link to more cool gadgets.
Update by Michael:
A video demonstrating the capabilities of the ball camera –
