Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Hump Day

As in, "over the hump." My wife had the last of her chemo last week, and the effects are significantly lesser today than they were yesterday, so we are on the downhill side of this damned thing. Still have radiation to go, but the doctor promises that will be a walk in the park; very limited in scope and duration. Hopefully they got it all and we're done with it.

Low Inflation?

We are told that inflation is well below the 2% rate targeted by the Fed.

In the last five years the value of our house has gone from $420,000 to $720,000. What has increased its value? Not capital improvements; it has not had any, has not so much as been repainted. So, how does 2% inflation account for a 71% increase in the value of our house in just five years?

Just as a point of information, at the peak of the last housing bubble, just before it collapsed in 2008, this house was valued at $550,000. Despite being valued at some 30% higher now, we are told that this value is not artificial or part of a bubble for reasons that are too complex for uneducated slobs like me to understand. Right.

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Let's See How This Works

I'm not holding my breath, since NASCAR's track record (pun intended) is considerably less than stellar the last few years.

Today's issue, which is at Charlotte, goes back a few weeks ago to Bristol. That has always been a one-groove track, with many fans complaining that cars could not pass and that no real racing, therefore, ever occurred. Other fans liked the "bump and run," in which the overtaking car would hit the car ahead, knock it physically up out of the "groove" in order to pass, and sometimes knock it into the wall in the process and wreck it completely. Fun and games.

Dale Earnhardt (senior) once said of Terry Labonte after such an event that, "I didn't mean to wreck him, I just meant to rattle his cage." He was, as he said it, grinning like a jackass eating thistles, so some people questioned the sincerity of his statement. Terry Labonte, usually among the most mild tempered of men, attempted to express his opinion with his fists, but was successfully restrained.

NASCAR, never willing to leave well enough alone, brought a grinder to the track and ground the concrete pavement to provide a graduated banking, steeper on the outside of the turns and less steep on the inside. The idea was to provide multiple racing grooves, which had worked well on several asphalt tracks. It didn't work for shit on a concrete track; all it did was move the single racing groove from the bottom of the track to the top. No more "bump and run," because now when you hit the car ahead of you he cannot just move up the track, he can't do anything but hit the wall because he's only about one foot away from it. The "run" part turned into running away from the really pissed off driver that you bumped.

Nobody could come up with a way to "ungrind" the concrete, sort of like trying to teach a chicken to "unlay an egg," so some genius came up with some sticky gunk to spray on the lower groove to provide better traction and allow cars to race down there. Results are, to say the least, mixed. Sometimes it works until the sun comes out, sometimes it quits working when the sun comes out, sometimes it works until the tires heat up, sometimes...

Fast forward to the "All Star Race" last weekend at Charlotte, which was one of the best soporifics on television in weeks. The screaming by the announcers kind of spoiled the sedative effect of the event, but the racing certainly did not. There was only one pass for the lead, and that was during a restart when one driver caught the rest of them snoozing because nobody seemed to think anybody was actually racing. Everybody drove in the same racing line which, as I recall, has always been the case at Charlotte.

Everyone acknowledges that the main problem is the aerodynamics of the cars, in which when a car is the clean air of having the lead it is enough faster that it cannot be caught, let alone passed. Everyone acknowledges that solving that problem means a redesign of the car and getting rid of the "splitter." (Never mind what that is. It's an aerodynamic part that totally divorces the machine from being a "stock car.")

Everyone further acknowledges that racing is further degraded by excessively hard tires required, or claimed to be required, by high downforce that makes the car easier to drive and impossible to actually race.

Well, everyone except NASCAR, who seems to have decided that something is wrong with the Charlotte track. They noticed that everyone was driving in the inside of the turns, which makes sense since it is the shortest way around the track and nobody is trying to pass anybody. NASCAR decided that if the drivers would choose to drive up next to the wall, taking the longer way around the track, then the racing would be more competitive.

So, they went down to Bristol and got a bunch of that gunk and sprayed it on the upper groove of the Charlotte track in the hopes that it would provide closer racing. There's a few imponderables in that thought:
  Charlotte is paved with asphalt, Bristol with concrete.
  At Bristol they are going 90mph in the turns, at Charlotte more than 180mph
  The tire compounds used at the two tracks are very different.

The lengths to which NASCAR will go to avoid solving the problems with their racing program boggle the mind. Indycar had similar problems, and they addressed the car design. That made a big difference and began to re-grow their fan base, and they are taking that experience and building on it with a new car next year. They listen to their fans and undo their errors. NASCAR just piles on more gimmicks, like playoffs, and stage racing, and spraying gunk on the track.

Friday, May 26, 2017

NASCAR Gets It Wrong, Again

The Coca Cola 600 is run on Memorial Day weekend, so NASCAR goes all out to "honor the troops" at the race. They make a big production out of having troops on the track prior to the race, troops in the stands, troops in the television broadcast... All of these troops are alive and speaking to us, so NASCAR, as they so often do, is honoring the wrong troops.

Further, in addition to appearing in public wearing fatigue uniforms, showing that they have little or no pride in their service and no self respect, not one of these "troops" tells the interviewer that they are getting it wrong, because this holiday is about honoring military service people who have lost their lives in service to their country.

We have Veterans Day to celebrate guys like me, people who have served in the past; none of whom would ever have appeared off base wearing anything but Class A dress uniform.

We have Armed Forces Day to honor those who are presently serving; despite of their own disrespect for their service by wearing fatigues off base.

This day was created specifically to honor those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation; those who in placing themselves, "their precious lives, between their homes and the forces which would destroy them," lost their lives.

To those, the soldiers and sailors on eternal patrol, rest in peace.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Asking a Dumb Question

A blogger asks, "Why is the Left Losing in a Moment it was Made for?" Notwithstanding the rather odd capitalization, it's not a bad question on the face of it. His posit is that with "minuscule wage growth, near-record levels of household debt, and soaring corporate profits" the left should be winning elections by large margins, but is losing them on a dishearteningly regular basis.

But, why is "the left" a movement that is "made for" such miserable economic conditions? Okay, I'll chalk that off to a degree of illiteracy, because I don't think that he really understands what "made for" really means. Anyway, his explanation for liberalism's inability to win elections is an overwhelming tendency to "straddle between globalization and economic nationalism," whatever the fuck that means.

The real reason, of course, is the liberal adoption of "identity politics," meaning that they are so busy making sure that a tiny handful of the population is able to use the bathroom of their choice that they are doing nothing for 300 million working men and women who are the backbone of the electorate.

Monday, May 22, 2017

Racing Update

Watching qualifying at Indianapolis yesterday, where only one car is on the track at a time, was infinitely more exciting than watching the "All Star Race" that NASCAR put on Saturday night. The "stock car race" produced precisely three passes for the lead, all of them on restarts after a caution.

Fernando Alonzo, the Formula 1 driver who is running in an Indycar for the first time, qualified fifth. Not bad for a rookie.

Six of the top nine cars are powered by Honda. Chevrolet has been dominating on the road courses but are not doing well at all on ovals. Penske, in particular, is struggling to come up to speed with his Chevvys; only one car in the top nine, and his next best position is 18th. Might be an interesting race.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

This Is How Democracy Dies

The California Democratic Party elected its leader this week, and the representative of the portion which regards itself as “progressive” because they supported Bernie Sanders in the presidential race lost to the “establishment” candidate by a narrow margin. Needless to say, the losing faction cried foul, claimed that the election was rigged in some undefined manner, and is vowing to file a lawsuit to invalidate the election.

They are not, as far as I know, claiming that it was the Russians who interfered with the election, but

They seem not to realize that an election in which only one outcome is acceptable is the kind of election that is held in, say, Syria. They feel that democracy only works when they win. Six-year-olds feel the same way.

In a similar vein, I inadvertently watched a few minutes of Face The Nation this morning. Three CBS anchors were discussing James Comey and one of them stated that, while it, “might be okay to question a few of his actions, you just do not attack his character.” Continuously, and rigorously attacking the character of the President, however, is entirely fair game.

That same anchor went on to say that persons leaking contents of private meetings are, “trying to get out what they believe to be the truth.” Not what is the truth, you understand, but what they believe to be the truth.

Democracy simply has no chance in this nation.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

It Depends On Who You Are

Quote from the New York Times, just in case you thought the media was neutral in reporting the news.

"Democrats are struggling to challenge President Donald Trump, and with control over nothing in Washington, they're relying for now on the power of saying 'no.'" They go on in praise of Democrats, after eight years of severely castigating Republicans for taking precisely the same position vis-à-vis Obama.

Friday, May 12, 2017

Deer In The Headlights

Watching a clip from some "news" show; some talking head interviewing Dianne Feinstein. The clip provided me with no convincing evidence that she is still alive. Sort of like El Cid propped up on his horse.

Anyway, he asked her if there was any evidence that the Russians had interfered in the presidential election. There was a pause while the question filtered through whatever it is that she uses for a mind, and then there was a flicker of panic in her eyes, like a deer caught in the headlights of a car.

She knew that the next question, if she said yes, would be, "What is that evidence?" She opened her mouth; paused, choking on the answer that she did not want to utter. "No," she said; turned and left.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Trending "News"

There was a quote on “Madame Secretary” this past weekend that was unattributed but which I have heard before, regarding a reporter; “The stories that we least want to read are the stories that must be written.”

That was true when the media was populated by journalists. Today the news media is entertainment and even brags that, “We present the news that people want to watch.” And thus comes the term “clickbait” for news items that are trivial and matter to no one, but are of a degree of prurient interest that many will click on the link to read about them.

For instance the current rash of misbehavior by airlines. Have airlines suddenly hired a bunch of thugs and idiots for some unknown bizarre reason? Has passenger treatment been totally lovely until some contagious disease hit airline employees and caused a sudden outbreak of bad behavior?

Of course not. One story got traction for God only knows what reason, and every “journalist” in the media went looking for anyone who had a video on his iPhone of an airline employee saying “shit.” Airlines being bad is “trending” right now, and so that’s what the media is presenting.

This stuff has been happening for a long time, but it didn’t matter six months ago because no one wanted to read about it. It wasn’t popular. It wasn’t what people wanted to read. Now it is one of the hottest news items, not because it suddenly matters or has suddenly become important, but because it is popular and will attract readers.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Selective Outrage

Trump is under pressure from Democrats for firing the director of the FBI, James Comey, who was investigating him for being a Russian spy. I still have a bit of a problem getting my head around that; the FBI is investigating the President of the United States for anything, let alone for being an undercover foreign agent. Anyway.

CBS News stated repeatedly last night that Comey “has an impeccable reputation for integrity,” but that’s a little different than the song they were singing a few months ago when they were blaming him for Hillary Clinton’s loss in the election.

Democrats are displaying their general lack of intelligence or principle. In December of last year they wanted him fired, and now they are outraged that he has been fired for basically the reason that they wanted him fired; namely his handling of the Clinton email issue. Democrats claim his handling of that issue in October cost Clinton the election, while Trump says his handling of the issue throughout the process exceeded his authority.

Democrats would have been thrilled had Obama fired Comey before he left office, but they are outrage that Trump was the one to do it. Typical. My only question is why it took so long to fire the silly ass. I have been wondering for months why he still had a job.

Oh yes: the last president to fire an FBI director who was investigating him? Bill Clinton.

Friday, May 05, 2017

Thanks, Google

The latest Gmail scame has been in the news quite a bit, so Google has done something about it, namely making it harder for me to access my own effing Gmail account. Instead of the usual login screen, I now get one saying that they are protecting me from the phishing scam that they claimed in the news they have already shut down, and telling me how wonderful the new process is, with a tag that says "First, enter your password."

Then, of course, it will not accept my password. There is a link for "Forgot your password." Clicking on that leads to the original login screen, the one I've been familiar with for many months, only now it reads "Enter the last password you remember." I do that, and am logged in to my Gmail account.

??? So, what did all of that accomplish?

Wednesday, May 03, 2017

A Product Of Her Times

If you actually "take full and personal responsibility" for something, you say so and stop talking. Hillary Clinton says that she takes "full and personal responsibility" for losing the presidential election last year, and then goes on to say that she also lost because of James Comey, Russian interference in the election and self hating women who would not vote for her. In other words, she takes no real responsibility at all.

There is, however nothing unusual in that, this is the way modern politics works. "I apologize if anyone took offense."