God and Debt
God will help you get out of debt…..but only if you send us your money (which you’re currently using to stave off starvation).
Tagged with: God and Debt
Yes, JFK Was a Liberal
Now, those of us who believe in the precise same tenets that Kennedy spoke of 65 years ago are regarded as woke sissy communists.
That’s how far we’ve fallen.
Tagged with: woke sissy communists
How Is it Possible that the Stock Market AND Human Misery Can BOTH Be Rising?
Apparently, there are people who believe that wealthy investors actually give a s*** about human suffering.
Where Is This Radicalization Coming From?
If the United States is to become less radicalized, it has to begin somewhere. Hmmm. Where to start?
Tagged with: Radicalization
Answers for Geoff
What was our locker number at the HVCC swimming pool?
412
Who was the portly kid in your class at PC who once did a weekend sleep-over at someone’s house and beamed the next Monday: “And we had steak for dinner!”
Greg Pavlovitz
What was Mom’s middle name before she married Dad?
Rapphold
What was the length of the 2nd hole at HVCC from the whites?
406 yards
Who drove the 14th creek?
Ralphie Ervin
What did Peter Ervin ask Ralphie to do bring him when he returned from Vietnam?
A head
Until the 70s, the phone system used two-letter abbreviates as part of the prefixes, e.g., TU for Turner. What did the following stand for? IV, OL. OR, VE, VI, WI?
Ivyland, Olfield (yours), Orland, Vernon, Victor, Wilson
What was the name of Dad’s secretary?
Mary Jane Williams
What were Dad’s two office phone lines?
TU4-5620/1.
What’s the town just south of Hartsville?
Warminster
What’s the former (long defunct) stop on the Reading Railroad between Fern Rock and Wayne Junction?
Tabor
Before Mom quite smoking cigarettes, ca. 1965, what was her brand?
Salems
What was the name of the train conductor whom we gave an initial-embroidered handkerchief as a Christmas present?
E. E. Conway
What’s the name of the place on the Delaware River due east of City Hall in Philadelphia?
Penn’s Landing
What’s the address of PC?
3000 W. Schoolhouse La.
In what year was that building constructed?
1925
What was the first year of HVCC?
1897
Who was president that year?
William McKinley
What is the name of the fabulous Christmas dip that Kim makes from (guessing) chutney, cream cheese, and some sort of hot sauce?
Jezebel
Which friend of ours went from stoner/bass fisherman to geology PhD to spokesperson for NASA?
John Grotziner
What was the middle initial of Joe Perrot?
S
Who was the business manager at PC?
Oscar Jannson
What bomber group was Dad in?
487th
I asked Dad if he felt any exhilaration parachuting out of his B-17. What do you think he told me?
Jacy, the only reason I jumped out of that plane was that it was on fire.
Besides Sam Schmidlac, what other fake names did it have for males?
Larry Fudnick, Dominic Stitudi
For females?
Susie Lipshoots
Which friend of our parents made an eagle on the 11th hole, canning a shot from the bunker left of the fairway?
Roland Evans
Which one of Dad’s high school friends ran the Texaco station on Old York Road, just north of his office?
Bill Leeds
The Snack Shop (just south?)
Jim Rosemia
Who was an officer (soon to become chief) of the Abington Police Department?
Captain Jackson
Where was the Abington incinerator?
Arbuta Road, a spur off Susquehanna
At which park did Dad fall of a log, and thought that he had broken his leg?
Lorimar
Where did Dad and his men go when they were captured after having been shot down?
Luft Stalag One
At which altitude his Dad fly?
29,000 feet
How many of his four engines had failed when he knew he couldn’t get back into France?
3 (you can maintain altitude with 2, one on each side, but not with 1).
Dad was offered an incentive to stay in the military when the war was over. What was it?
He could go directly from Second Lieutenant to Captain.
Why, according to Mom, did Baba consider sending to college far into the south?
To break up her romance with Dad
Baba had siblings. What were their names?
Clyde and Phyllis, and perhaps others
How did Beep get his name?
From his incredible sports car of the early 50s, which, though I can remember it well, I can’t find online
How many acres constituted the farm in Hartsville (before some of them were taken by eminent domain)?
7
Why did we have to stop swimming in the pond?
Snapping turtles
When we first to LBI for summer vacation, which town did we choose?
Brant Beach
On LBI, which town lies between Barnegat and Harvey Cedar?
Loveladies
Where had we gone before LBI?
Ocean City
Which bridge did we cross to get there (which terrified me because I thought we have to drive over the superstructure)?
The Tacony Palmyra
Approximately, what was the toll on the PA Turnpike to get from Willow Grove to Ohio?
$3.50
Which one of us was the first to kiss Ann McConnell?
Probably me. I think I was 12.
What were the three roller-coaster rides at Willow Grove Park?
Little Scenic, Alps, and Thunderbolt
Who lived near us on Horace Avenue?
The Wilsons, Slicks, Schreks, Stroups, McKays
Who lived just south of us on Cloverly Lane, famous for their barn?
The Yusems
Who lived just south of them?
The Becks
The kids’ names?
David, Susan, and Bobby
What did we try to catch in the stream in back of that mansion?
Crayfish and salamanders
When they moved, who bought the place?
The Clarkes, with kids Jay and Robin
What were the names of the Ickler kids, whose house fronted on Susquehanna?
Chris and Jackie
What restaurant did we all like on the west side of York Road in Abington?
Lums
Until the Abington Pharmacy came along in the late 60s, what was the only drug store in town?
Powell’s
What was the main difference between Jenkintown and Rydal station?
You could walk across the tracks at Rydal; you needed to walk through a tunnel at Jenkintown.
Which 8th grade U.S. history teacher at PC, earlier in his life, was in the U.S. Park Service, and arguably at the bottom of the barrel at our old school?
Russ Faber
Which 5th grade teacher tossed Alexis Sommaripa out the door of his classroom?
Alan de Gaulle Lamprele
Can you name any of the stuff we sold at the Lower School bazaar?
Brownies, lemon sticks, white elephants
What was the kindergartners’ Color Day event?
The dash (50 yards?)
Long before the June Fete was held where it is today, where was it sited in the early 20th Century?
Dodo’s place on Wheatsheaf La.
Dad grew up there, of course. What was the name of the baseball game he used to play with his friends in the late 1920s?
Movies Up. You hit until you were out, and that’s when you went to right field, aka, “last guts”
When you went through that door and walked to your left, what musical instrument as in that room?
An organ
Have you ever seen a larger dining room? A scarier basement? A more bizarre bedroom than Uncle Art’s, with the low ceilings? A toilet that was flushed by pulling a chain?
No
Whom did Dodo marry after her husband died? Hint: he made Dad’s real estate signs.
Nicolas Park, aka “Grandpop Nick”
What did I find when Dad let me climb up into the attic above Dodo’s garage at age perhaps 10?
A full case of live mortar shells that Uncle John had brought home from the war, each weighing several pounds, each perhaps 18 inches long
What did Dad tell me when I looked down from the attic to where he was standing below and showed him one?
“Using both hands, turn around and put it gently back where you found it.” He later explained that it could have blown up the entire property.
More Crap on Small Wind
Every ad I see for these people contains at least one–often several–glaring inaccuracies.
Do you really believe that utility-scale wind turbines are:
a) Fixed in position, and don’t adjust for wind direction? Just look it up; it only takes a few seconds.
b) Built for industrial rather than residential real estate?
Yesterday, they advertised that their product is designed for low RPMs. Guess what? Power = speed X torque. Low speed = low power. Does low power seem like an advantage?
Also, torque = force X radius. Small radius devices will have low torque, thus even lower power.
Maybe they’re looking for investor capital from high school dropouts.
Why EVs Are So Efficient
As shown in the graphic here, most of the energy consumed in ICE (internal combustion engines) is lost as waste heat.
Compare this to the efficiency of charging batteries through electric motors, which is approximately 90%.
This is why we could replace every ICE car and light-duty truck on Earth with EVs and increase the total load on the grid by only 14%.
Tagged with: and increase the total load on the grid by only 14%, efficiency of changing batteries through electric motors is approximately 90%, most of the energy consumed in ICE (internal combustion engines) is lost as waste heat. internal combustion engines, we could replace every ICE car and light-duty truck on Earth with an EVs
Countries Without God
A couple of months ago, I happened to ask a friend who had emigrated from Sweden if she was religious. “No!” she exclaimed. “Almost no one in Sweden is religious.”
As we see at left, there seems to be a huge correlation between atheism and the national level of happiness. But what causes that?
Are believers unhappy people for some reason? That doesn’t make sense.
Here’s my two-fold theory. Atheists believe:
a) That we only live once, so we try to enjoy it while we can.
And, more importantly,
b) That we need to take care of one another (since there is no God). We’re willing to make sacrifices if that means things like great education, universal healthcare, environmental responsibility, tolerable working conditions, and near-zero poverty.
From the Independent: “Trump Administration to Pay Two More Companies to Walk Away from U.S. Offshore Wind Leases”
From this article in The Independent:
The Trump administration announced two more payouts Monday for energy companies to walk away from U.S. offshore wind projects under development.
Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind have agreed to end their offshore wind leases in exchange for reimbursements totaling nearly $900 million. Both companies have decided not to pursue any new offshore wind projects in the United States, the Interior Department announced Monday.
Bluepoint Wind is an offshore wind project in the early stages of development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York, while Golden State Wind is a floating offshore wind project proposed off California’s central coast.
Trump is hellbent on destroying the renewable energy industry so as to benefit his billionaire friends in fossil fuels.
He’s on course to be remembered as the most destructive person in world history, with the possible exception of Adolph Hitler. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Shields Family Questions for Geoff
What was our locker number at the HVCC swimming pool?
Who was the portly kid in your class at PC who once did a weekend sleep-over at someone’s house and beamed the next Monday: “And we had steak for dinner!”
What was Mom’s middle name before she married Dad?
What was the length of the 2nd hole at HVCC from the whites?
Who drove the 14th creek?
What did Peter Ervin ask Ralphie to do bring him when he returned from Vietnam?
Until the 70s, the phone system used two-letter abbreviates as part of the prefixes, e.g., TU for Turner. What did the following stand for? IV, OL. OR, VE, VI, WI?
What was the name of Dad’s secretary?
What were Dad’s two office phone lines?
What’s the town just south of Hartsville?
What’s the former (long defunct) stop on the Reading Railroad between Fern Rock and Wayne Junction?
Before Mom quite smoking cigarettes, ca. 1965, what was her brand?
What was the name of the train conductor whom we gave an initial-embroidered handkerchief as a Christmas present?
What’s the name of the place on the Delaware River due east of City Hall in Philadelphia?
What’s the address of PC?
In what year was that building constructed?
What was the first year of HVCC?
Who was president that year?
What is the name of the fabulous Christmas dip that Kim makes from (guessing) chutney, cream cheese, and some sort of hot sauce?
Which friend of ours went from stoner/bass fisherman to geology Phd to spokesperson for NASA?
What was the middle initial of Joe Perrot?
Who was the business manager at PC?
What bomber group was Dad in?
I asked Dad if he felt any exhilaration parachuting out of his B-17. What do you think he told me?
Besides Sam Schmidlac, what other fake names did it have for males?
For females?
Which friend of our parents made an eagle on the 11th hole, canning a shot from the bunker left of the fairway?
Which one of Dad’s high school friends ran the Texaco station on Old York Road, just north of his office?
The Snack Shop (just south?)
Who was an officer (soon to become chief) of the Abington Police Department?
Where was the Abington incinerator?
At which park did Dad fall of a log, and thought that he had broken his leg?
Where did Dad and his men go when they were captured after having been shot down?
At which altitude his Dad fly?
How many of his four engines had failed when he knew he couldn’t get back into France?
Dad was offered an incentive to stay in the military when the war was over. What was it?
Why, according to Mom, did Baba consider sending to college far into the south?
Baba had siblings. What were their names?
How did Beep get his name?
How many acres constituted the farm in Hartsville (before some of them were taken by eminent domain)?
Why did we have to stop swimming in the pond?
When we first to LBI for summer vacation, which town did we choose?
On LBI, which town lies between Barnegat and Harvey Cedar?
Where had we gone before LBI?
Which bridge did we cross to get there (which terrified me because I thought we have to drive over the superstructure)?
Approximately, what was the toll on the PA Turnpike to get from Willow Grove to Ohio?
Which one of us was the first to kiss Ann McConnell?
What were the three roller-coaster rides at Willow Grove Park?
Who lived near us on Horace Avenue?
Who lived just south of us on Cloverly Lane, famous for their barn?
Who lived just south of them?
The kids’ names?
What did we try to catch in the stream in back of that mansion?
When they moved, who bought the place?
What were the names of the Ickler kids, whose house fronted on Susquehanna?
What restaurant did we all like on the west side of York Road in Abington?
Until the Abington Pharmacy came along in the late 60s, what was the only drug store in town?
What was the main difference between Jenkintown and Rydal station?
Which 8th grade U.S. history teacher at PC, earlier in his life, was in the U.S. Park Service, and arguably at the bottom of the barrel at our old school?
Which 5th grade teacher tossed Alexis Sommaripa out the door of his classroom?
Can you name any of the stuff we sold at the Lower School bazaar?
What was the kindergartners’ Color Day event?
Long before the June Fete was held where it is today, where was it sited in the early 20th Century?
Dad grew up there, of course. What was the name of the baseball game he used to play with his friends in the late 1920s?
When you went through that front door and walked to your left, what musical instrument as in that room?
Have you ever seen a larger dining room? A scarier basement? A more bizarre bedroom than Uncle Art’s, with the low ceilings? A toilet that was flushed by pulling a chain?
Whom did Dodo marry after her husband died? Hint: he made Dad’s real estate signs.
What did I find when Dad let me climb up into the attic above Dodo’s garage at age perhaps 10?
What did Dad tell me when I looked down from the attic to where he was standing below and showed him one?
