On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 01:38:53 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:

> How so? I have no say in what our dictators do. Our elections are
> stolen, which really doesn't mean that much because both wings of the
> UniParty get their marching orders from the "Deep State" anyhow. The
> only way we would ever get our country back is via another revolution.
> And I'm outgunned.

From what I saw during my stay in the rehab wing of a nursing home dying
in a pile of hot brass isn't all that bad. Wotan! Fire up the Valkyries!

On 11 Feb 2024 06:20:59 GMT, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote in
<l2r7aaF1buhU3@mid.individual.net>:

> On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 01:38:53 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>
>> How so? I have no say in what our dictators do. Our elections are
>> stolen, which really doesn't mean that much because both wings of the
>> UniParty get their marching orders from the "Deep State" anyhow. The
>> only way we would ever get our country back is via another revolution.
>> And I'm outgunned.
>
> From what I saw during my stay in the rehab wing of a nursing home dying
> in a pile of hot brass isn't all that bad. Wotan! Fire up the
> Valkyries!

Remember that sniper rifle with the automatic scope
trigger? The embedded system runs on Linux.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/bullseye-from-1000-yards-shooting-
the-17000-linux-powered-rifle/

--
-v

On 11 Feb 2024 06:20:59 GMT, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote in
<l2r7aaF1buhU3@mid.individual.net>:

> On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 01:38:53 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>
>> How so? I have no say in what our dictators do. Our elections are
>> stolen, which really doesn't mean that much because both wings of the
>> UniParty get their marching orders from the "Deep State" anyhow. The
>> only way we would ever get our country back is via another revolution.
>> And I'm outgunned.
>
> From what I saw during my stay in the rehab wing of a nursing home dying
> in a pile of hot brass isn't all that bad. Wotan! Fire up the
> Valkyries!

That...was highly spooky.

I posted a followup with a link to the Linux-powered sniper rifle,
and I guess it got grabbed by a spam filter.

--
-v

On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 06:44:20 -0000 (UTC), vallor <vallor@cultnix.org>
wrote in <uq9qc3$5ke6$7@dont-email.me>:

> On 11 Feb 2024 06:20:59 GMT, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote in
> <l2r7aaF1buhU3@mid.individual.net>:
>
>> On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 01:38:53 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>>
>>> How so? I have no say in what our dictators do. Our elections are
>>> stolen, which really doesn't mean that much because both wings of the
>>> UniParty get their marching orders from the "Deep State" anyhow. The
>>> only way we would ever get our country back is via another revolution.
>>> And I'm outgunned.
>>
>> From what I saw during my stay in the rehab wing of a nursing home
>> dying in a pile of hot brass isn't all that bad. Wotan! Fire up the
>> Valkyries!
>
> That...was highly spooky.
>
> I posted a followup with a link to the Linux-powered sniper rifle,
> and I guess it got grabbed by a spam filter.

LOL. I'd killed the thread in pan.

Next time, I'll check the onboard filters before suspecting
foul play...

MoreObLinux:

Steam is best run in a terminal window, so you can see
just what its up to.

$ cat mysteam.sh
#!/bin/bash

GDK_SCALE=2 steam

--
-v

On 2024-02-11, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 22:39:20 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>
>
>> Didn't know that. Montana "technically" cratered to the demands, but
>> didn't normally ticket anyone for speeding during the day. They always
>> had had a night speed limit.
>
> During the national speed limit days they had a $5 ticket for 'misuse of
> resources' or something like that which was not a moving violation. They
> finally caved in 2000 and introduced speed limits. I-90, I-15, and a few
> others are 80, others are 70 or 75. I wasn't saddened. Riding a Sportster
> in a flock of soccer moms in their SUVs doing 95 isn't good for the
> nerves. The Sporty starts to run out of steam at 100 so there wasn't much
> leeway.

I think 70-80 is plenty fast. 55 is (and always was) ridiculous in the
western United States, however.
>>> They held out against the Martin Lucifer King holiday until a
>>> Democratic woman managed to become governor.
>>
>> I never realized how "conservative" (if that's still a good word) New
>> Hampshire was.
>
> It was when I lived there It started going downhill although Chris Sununu
> seems to be pulling it back a little. The license plates have the motto
> 'Live Free Or Die'. I was in South Carolina at a gas station when some guy
> said 'I like that plate.' 'You betcha'.
>
> Some lib complained about it and the state's reply was 'If you don't like
> it, put masking tape over it. Perfectly legal if you don't obscure the
> number.'

Why would anyone object to "Live Free Or Die" as a motto? What's the
alternative, "Live Like Penned Up Cattle Or Die?"

--
[Self-centered, Woke] "pride is a life of self-destructive fakery, an
entrapment to a false and self-created matrix of twisted un-reality."
"It was pride that changed angels into devils..." — St. Augustine

On 2024-02-11, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 22:36:46 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>
>> I don't doubt you. Though, for a while, the Constitution was actually
>> used to keep people mostly free.
>
> For a couple of years. Look up John Adams' Alien and Sedition laws. It was
> illegal to criticize the government or any of its minions. Wilson brought
> that back during WWI.
>
> https://www.distinctlymontana.com/montanas-sedition-act
>
> That wasn't a high moment in the state's history and the Federal law was
> patterned after Montana's. Free speech wasn't too popular.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech_fights
>
> A few years ago they did a reenactment of the Missoula free speech fight
> at Higgins and West Front. Nobody was arrested. Frank Little, mentioned in
> the paragraph, was silenced when they hung him from a railway trestle in
> Butte in 1917. Dashiel Hammett's 'Red Harvest' was set in Butte although
> he called it Poisonville.

The Masons controlled a lot of Montana for a while, if I remember correctly.
So I shouldn't be surprised.

--
[Self-centered, Woke] "pride is a life of self-destructive fakery, an
entrapment to a false and self-created matrix of twisted un-reality."
"It was pride that changed angels into devils..." — St. Augustine

rbowman wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:

> On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 08:40:04 -0500, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
>
>> Heh heh. We still got California and its 400+ commodity crops. And
>> Illinois with its corn, soybeans, hogs... and some coal. Not to mention
>> New York.
>
> Live on aragula... New York? You like cabbage and cottage cheese, maybe
> with an apple or two?

You probably think that buying Land O' Lakes butter benefits "farmers".

> The fly-over designation is too simplistic anyway. Southern Illinois may
> decide it's better aligned with Iowa and Indiana.

Location doesn't really matter with industrial-sized farms like Dole, Tyson,
Perdue....

Although rich bastards tend to swing right as they descend into senescence,
and of course they plow their money into dark places.

Oh, and the money.... They won't get enough of that if they ignore the big
city.

The rich bastards (take a bow, Bill Gates) buying up farmland might be a big
issue, as well.

It's a web, as I have said before.

> I grew up in upstate NY.
> We really loved Sodom on the Hudson; we would have loved it more had it
> drifted out to sea. NYS is an excellent example of dictatorship by big
> cities. Gillebrand won her races upstate by running to the right; after
> she moved up to Clinton's still warm chair she turned into Hillary Jr.

Good for her!

ObLinux:

Using vim to edit my witticisms:

:r! fortune

After all, all he did was string together a lot of old, well-known quotations.
-- H. L. Mencken, on Shakespeare

And automatically in .slrnrc:

set post_editor_command "fortune > ~/.config/personal/slrn/signature.rc ; vim -f +%d '%s'"

Voila!

--
The Least Successful Collector
Betsy Baker played a central role in the history of collecting. She
was employed as a servant in the house of John Warburton (1682-1759) who had
amassed a fine collection of 58 first edition plays, including most of the
works of Shakespeare.
One day Warburton returned home to find 55 of them charred beyond
legibility. Betsy had either burned them or used them as pie bottoms. The
remaining three folios are now in the British Museum.
The only comparable literary figure was the maid who in 1835 burned
the manuscript of the first volume of Thomas Carlyle's "The Hisory of the
French Revolution", thinking it was wastepaper.
-- Stephen Pile, "The Book of Heroic Failures"

rbowman wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:

> On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 22:39:20 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>
>> Didn't know that. Montana "technically" cratered to the demands, but
>> didn't normally ticket anyone for speeding during the day. They always
>> had had a night speed limit.
>
> During the national speed limit days they had a $5 ticket for 'misuse of
> resources' or something like that which was not a moving violation. They
> finally caved in 2000 and introduced speed limits. I-90, I-15, and a few
> others are 80, others are 70 or 75. I wasn't saddened. Riding a Sportster
> in a flock of soccer moms in their SUVs doing 95 isn't good for the
> nerves. The Sporty starts to run out of steam at 100 so there wasn't much
> leeway.
>
>>> They held out against the Martin Lucifer King holiday until a
>>> Democratic woman managed to become governor.
>>
>> I never realized how "conservative" (if that's still a good word) New
>> Hampshire was.
>
> It was when I lived there It started going downhill although Chris Sununu
> seems to be pulling it back a little. The license plates have the motto
> 'Live Free Or Die'. I was in South Carolina at a gas station when some guy
> said 'I like that plate.' 'You betcha'.
>
> Some lib complained about it and the state's reply was 'If you don't like
> it, put masking tape over it. Perfectly legal if you don't obscure the
> number.'

ObLinux:

"Live Free or Die" Linux license plate

https://img.devrant.com/devrant/rant/r_487992_1XV1H.jpg

--
Save energy: be apathetic.

rbowman wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:

> On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 08:42:14 -0500, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
>
>> :-D You need to visit Chicago some day. It's a great city. Like all big
>> cities,
>> it has its sore spots, of course.
>
> The first time I was in Chicago as I checked into the hotel the clerk said
> "Enjoy your stay in Chicago. Just don't go south of Roosevelt."
> Considering the hotel was on Halstead and Monroe I wondered what
> constituted the 'bad' part. From the map it looks like the area has been
> gentrified but in the early '70s Monroe was lined with SRO flophouses and
> the bar across from the hotel sold cigarettes one by one.
>
> I did head south to see a friend at the U. It was, um, interesting.

Our dad used to pick us up, and we'd go to the Amtrak station in nearby Mokena
(the podunk where I went to Catholic school) and take the train into Chicago.
On the way we passed a fair amount of what you'd call "tenements" next to the
tracks.

I loved going to the Cubs games, the Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd
Aquarium, the Field Museum (of Natural History), Adler Planetarium, Lincoln
Park Zoo....

--
That secret you've been guarding, isn't.

rbowman wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:

> On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 08:42:14 -0500, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
>
>> :-D You need to visit Chicago some day. It's a great city. Like all big
>> cities,
>> it has its sore spots, of course.
>
> Big cities are environmental disasters. In 'Bright Green Lies' Jensen
> describes the widespread destruction needed to support a big city, 'green'
> or not. It's all out of site out of mind from the people saving the planet
> by tooling around in their Teslas.
>
> It's always been so. Chaco Canyon was a thriving Anasazi center before
> they used up all the resources within 50 miles. Fortunately they didn't
> have horses and hadn't figured out the practical uses of the wheel or it
> would even have been worse. No one knows what happened to them after their
> society collapsed.

Google for "montana environmental disasters".

--
You will be misunderstood by everyone.

On 2024-02-10 1:39 p.m., rbowman wrote:
> On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 14:25:58 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>
>> And if you check the farming communities in California, you'll find
>> they're not in the cities (surprisingly?). Nor do their citizens vote
>> the same way as Californians on the coast. As a matter of fact, the
>> morons who run California are doing their damnest to destroy California
>> farming. Shortsighted idiots that they are.
>
> Maybe there needs to be thousands of tractors descending on Sacramento
> like the European farmers are doing as their politicians try to screw
> them.

+1. I've said it before and I will say it again: the only reason we're
not still wearing masks and on our 15th COVID shot is because of the
truckers in Ottawa.

--
RabidPedagog
Catholic paleoconservative

On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 06:58:51 -0500, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:

> Google for "montana environmental disasters".

It looks like there aren't many great matches for your search

Try using words that might appear on the page you’re looking for. For
example, "cake recipes" instead of "how to make a cake."

Need help? Check out other tips for searching on Google.

On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 06:56:36 -0500, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:

> Our dad used to pick us up, and we'd go to the Amtrak station in nearby
> Mokena (the podunk where I went to Catholic school) and take the train
> into Chicago. On the way we passed a fair amount of what you'd call
> "tenements" next to the tracks.

When I was working in Ft. Wayne I took the train to Chicago. It was an
enjoyable experience having a train that actually worked.

Even better, a group in New Haven had a working steam locomotive and
vintage railway cars and ran excursions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Wayne_Railroad_Historical_Society

I went on one to Peru where the Circus Hall of Fame had a special
performance. Members of the society served lunch aboard the train. At one
point the train pulled through a tunnel, let us out, backed up, and exited
again so people could photograph the engine.

While Missoula has two train stations the old Milwaukee station is now the
home of the Boone & Crockett Club, and the Northern Pacific is offices.
The closest Amtrak station is 140 miles away in Whitefish. You might be
taking your life in your hands,

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/26/1040819353/amtrak-derailment-montana-
investigation

On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 06:43:09 -0500, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:

> You probably think that buying Land O' Lakes butter benefits "farmers".

Don't get me started on agribusiness. Earl Butz got fired over a
politically incorrect joke but he should have been fired for his 'get big
or get out' mantra that every administration since has supported.

He was correct in his observation that peasants without a supply of cheap
food get restless but the policies to achieve that goal have been a
disaster. True, without them the US could not support a 300 million+
population but I do not see that as a Good Thing.

On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 10:16:11 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:

> The Masons controlled a lot of Montana for a while, if I remember
> correctly.
> So I shouldn't be surprised.

Yeah, between the Masons, the Jesuits, and the Copper Kings Montana has
had an interesting history.

On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 10:14:30 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:

> I think 70-80 is plenty fast. 55 is (and always was) ridiculous in the
> western United States, however.

80 is fine by me. I see a significant decrease in mileage running at 80.
It's about 120 miles from here to Butte so an extra half hour or more at
55 would suck.

> Why would anyone object to "Live Free Or Die" as a motto? What's the
> alternative, "Live Like Penned Up Cattle Or Die?"

A Jehovah's Witness.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooley_v._Maynard

I was wrong. It required a Supreme Court decision before the state said
you could cover up the motto if you didn't like it. Thomson was governor
then and he was one of the good ones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meldrim_Thomson_Jr.

The motto has dome better than the state emblem. That fell down in 2003.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Man_of_the_Mountain

The last time I was back east was in 2004 before they built the memorial.

On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 06:44:20 -0000 (UTC), vallor wrote:

> On 11 Feb 2024 06:20:59 GMT, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote in
> <l2r7aaF1buhU3@mid.individual.net>:
>> From what I saw during my stay in the rehab wing of a nursing home
>> dying in a pile of hot brass isn't all that bad. Wotan! Fire up the
>> Valkyries!
>
> That...was highly spooky.
>
> I posted a followup with a link to the Linux-powered sniper rifle,
> and I guess it got grabbed by a spam filter.

No, it came through. What's spooky?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHJL5Eh9wZo

rbowman wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:

> On Sun, 11 Feb 2024 06:58:51 -0500, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
>
>> Google for "montana environmental disasters".
>
> It looks like there aren't many great matches for your search
>
> Try using words that might appear on the page you’re looking for. For
> example, "cake recipes" instead of "how to make a cake."
>
> Need help? Check out other tips for searching on Google.

You don't need the quotes; if you needed them I would have written
it as "\"montana environmental disasters\"" :-)

Libby and asbestos ring a bell? Mesothelioma anyone?

--
O, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive.
-- Sir Walter Scott, "Marmion"

On Mon, 12 Feb 2024 08:14:25 -0500, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:

> Libby and asbestos ring a bell? Mesothelioma anyone?

There are some good real estate deals in Libby. W.R. Grace fixed the
problem, honest.

Actually Grace was acquitted of the charges the Feds laid. The vermiculite
mine had been in operation long before they bought it and before anyone
recognized the dangers of asbestos. They bought it in '63.

I think it was around '60 when my parents had asbestos siding put on the
house. It was very popular at the time and a lot lower maintenance than
the original wooden clapboard. We had a supply of leftover shingles that I
sometimes used in my projects, sawing or drilling them. Who knew? The EPA
didn't ban asbestos until '89.

If you want a real environmental disaster, look no further than Butte.
It's the gift that keeps on giving.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaconda_Smelter_Stack

Anaconda knew what they were doing. It was an attempt to get the smelter
gases high enough that they would get carried away and not kill everyone
in the valley. They also bought thousands of acres of land downwind that
were contaminated. Even today not much grows there and the few trees are
stunted and twisted. It might make Chernobyl look hospitable.

With a degree of creativity the town of Anaconda crafted the tailing heaps
into a pro golf course.

Then there is the Berkeley Pit. Don't go skinny-dipping there if you like
your skin attached.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Pit

It doesn't stop there.

https://clarkfork.org/our-work/what-we-do/restore-the-best/confluence/

ARCO fought for years to avoid chipping in for the removal. Companies only
buy assets, not liabilities, dontcha know. iirc it was '95 when a higher
than normal snowpack led to a greater spring flood than usual and everyone
was shitting themselves that the dam was going to break. It's now a state
park on both sides of the river.

In fact I was hiking on the south side Saturday. If you look at the lower
right corner you can see tunnel 26 1/2 of the old Milwaukee Road. A lot of
the right of way has been part of a Rails to Trails project but the state
wouldn't touch that tunnel so it's fenced off. There used to be a scenic
overlook on the bluff directly over the tunnel with signage describing the
removal project but it was closed last year when the state decided the
whole formation might fall into the river. The trail goes up over the
bluff and down the other side to a series of trails about where the photo
shows the train cars. Nice trail but I couldn't ride a bike up it on the
best day I ever had.