PN:
Joe’s Comment – What a week.
Rain curtailed outdoor projects.
Family issues kept me distracted and very non-productive.
Cold gave the furnace a wake up call on more than one day.
‘Tis the season for taking longer, costing more, and doing less.
Work on the upstairs bath was the major project for the week.
I gutted it completely.
For the last month we’ve had no bath or shower, one toilet in the basement bathroom, and only a hot water tap there.
As of Sunday night, the combo bath/shower unit is in place….. finally!
It was necessary to take out the door and framing around it, plus one more stud to make a large enough opening.
When I rolled the unit down the hallway, it wouldn’t make the corner!
Some modifications, lots of swearing, even more cursing, and a large heave, the one-piece unit popped into the bathroom.
Never to leave again…..
Now to re-build the wall, set a new door, plumb the tub/shower, install the toilet, install the vanity, and redo the drywall and baseboards.
All because the copper plumbing has been leaking for a few years.
The new stuff is Pex and ABS, with copper and brass controls.
I have too much outdoor work to do this late in the year.
I can’t risk the chance that what happened last year might happen this year – snow and 8 below on the first day of November, and no let up until March.
Tell me again how character building it is to live in the frozen north.
I’m all ears. Without frostbite, so far.
Canadiana
Trucker Strike Spokesman Talks
There were two leaders of the Trucker Strike – Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.
We embedded Ms. Lich’s interview with Jordan and Tammy Peterson in Sunday Rant – 2623.
Tamara Lich was worried about public relations. She contacted Benjamin J. Dichter, and asked him to be the spokesperson for the truckers.
The interview below is with Mr. Dichter, conducted by Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster of Triggernometry.
Joe and I enjoyed this interview. Mr. Dichter is well spoken, well educated, not at all humble, and certainly unimpressed with the political climate in Canada.
Mr. Dichter is a Lefty. And an LGBT (hold the mayo) dude who ran for political office in Ontario. His political niche – the LGBTorry group. (A group Joe and I had no knowledge of until we watched this video.)
He is pissed. Like most lefties his personal demeanor leaves us cold. Too much emotion not enough rage. Too much “me” not enough “do the right thing”.
However, the interview is worth watching.
My little pea brain deduces this guy was instrumental in stonewalling both political parties from reaching out or compromise.
He had a personal agenda from the get-go. Listen to him rant and see if you agree. Mr. Dichter seems to think he did a good job.
Joe and I do NOT concur.
Many mistakes were made. We believe Mr. Dichter’s personal political experience soured and prejudiced his performance.
What could have been a positive political event, became an ugly mess, a milestone of political cowardice, watched by the entire world.
Joe and I are pointing fingers.
Watch and judge for yer own self:
Philosophy
Darwin vs Facts Intelligent Design
In this video, Peter Robinson (Hoover Institute) interviews three “towers of power” regarding cellular biology, mathematics/mathematical probability, and the origin of life.
These men, David Berlinski, David Gelernter, and Stephen Meyer, have raised doubts about Darwin’s theory in their two books and essay, respectively The Deniable Darwin, Darwin’s Doubt, and “Giving Up Darwin” (published in the Claremont Review of Books).
Joe and I listened carefully.
We took some notes.
Our own curiosity has led us here before.
The very existence of DNA is a clear clarion that begs a question, for DNA is a language, or code. Who wrote the code? So much of DNA is referred to as “junk DNA” because it is there, but we humans cannot discern why it is so.
Joe and I suspect it might be a warehouse, storing the entire history of life.
The quest for man is to go Joe Friday on the subject (just the facts ma’am – a reference to Dragnet).
Needless to say, when Joe and I first thought these thoughts we had no desire to dedicate our life to the pursuit of whatever truth/reality/fact underlays it all. We were more interested in women, motorcycles, beer, and finding enough work to pursue the aforementioned.
Thank you to the Hoover Institute, and these men for sharing.
The more granular and detailed the investigation is, more complication and complexity is revealed.
The older we get, the more curious life seems:
The Culture
Tucker Carlson and Bill O’Reilly
Remember, there are no coincidences, nor are their conspiracies.
Mr. Carlson interviews Mr. O’Reilly on the same night as the second Republican “debate”. Joe and I do not have a Twitter / X account, so we grabbed the interview via Bennie Johnson on Ub2b. It may or may not be here when I post this on Sunday:
Health
Inflammation
Ivor Cummins, our statistician of note, interviews Bob Messerschmidt.
Mr. Messerschmidt has been developing a machine to allow people to analyze their own blood at home. The machine is a blood analyzing spectrometer.
His work is based on the theory that all (not most) illness manifests its presence in the body with inflammation. That is, when you are ill, your reaction is a measure of inflammation.
In the interview, both men use a lot of terminology and jargon that Joe and I don’t know. The bottom line is the entrenched medical system training for analyzing blood uses “norms” based on statistical averaging that may not include your own physiology (that’s right, you are abnormal!). Hence, by analyzing your blood yourself, you can make your own conclusions outside of the conclusions your medical specialist might make.
This will be an interesting way for people to “dial in” their nutritional intake by simply consuming, then testing the result. An interesting branch of inquiry.
Where it goes, who knows?
Joe predicts the established medical community and Big Pharma won’t view this sort of self help with a friendly handshake or pat on the back.
Fertile ground for the legal buzzards, we thinks!:
Sunscreen vs Cancer?
Dr. Sam Bailey has done a statistical study and it lead to her questioning the veracity of sunscreen actually protecting skin.
Dr. Bailey is a real gadfly. She questions the veracity of most things medical. Much to the chagrin of the official medical community.
Joe and I are fans of Dr. Bailey.
She is akin to Nina Teicholz in her tenacity to find the truth.
We are starting to believe the foundational argument for much of health, nutrition, and medicine is kittywampus:
Affect and Effect of Mask Wearing
A study has been published that analyzes the consequences of wearing a mask for extended periods of time. You can read it here, in pdf format (downloadable).
Joe and I did not wear a mask for the duration of the COVID hysteria here in Vernon BC Canada. Having worn such devices in the past while working in dusty or aerosol laden environments (spray painting, using insecticides, spraying orchards, et cetera), we know that nothing short of a respirator can be effective.
As for affect, that is more nuanced. Joe says imagine a sheep bleating just before slaughter. I say we’re from Missouri – the “show me” state – you’ve got to be able to prove / back-up your statement.
The study is the product of independent researchers in Germany. For the record, their names are Kai Kisielinski, Susanne Wagner, Oliver Hirsch, Bernd Klosterhalfen, and Andreas Prescher. The study is 18 pages long, and is very dense. The Abstract is as follows –
“Introduction: During the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic, face masks have become one of the most important ubiquitous factors affecting human breathing. It increases the resistance and dead space volume leading to a re-breathing of CO2. So far, this phenomenon and possible implications on early life has not been evaluated in depth.
Method: As part of a scoping review, literature was systematically reviewed regarding CO2 exposure and facemask use.
Results: Fresh air has around 0.04% CO2, while wearing masks more than 5 min bears a possible chronic exposure to carbon dioxide of 1.41% to 3.2% of the inhaled air. Although the buildup is usually within the short-term exposure limits, long-term exceedances and consequences must be considered due to experimental data. US Navy toxicity experts set the exposure limits for sub-
marines carrying a female crew to 0.8% CO2 based on animal studies which indicated an increased risk for stillbirths. Additionally, mammals who were chronically exposed to 0.3% CO2 the experimental data demonstrate a teratogenicity with irreversible neuron damage in the offspring, reduced spatial learning caused by brainstem neuron apoptosis and reduced circulating levels of the insulin-like growth factor-1. With significant impact on three readout parameters (morphological, functional, marker) this chronic 0.3% CO2 exposure has to be defined as being toxic. Additional data exists on the exposure of chronic 0.3% CO2 in adolescent mammals causing neuron destruction, which includes less activity, increased anxiety and impaired learning and memory. There is also data indicating testicular toxicity in adolescents at CO2 inhalation concentrations above 0.5%.
Discussion: There is a possible negative impact risk by imposing extended mask mandates especially for vulnerable subgroups. Circumstantial evidence exists that extended mask use may be related to current observations of stillbirths and to reduced verbal motor and overall cognitive performance in children born during the pandemic. A need exists to reconsider mask mandates.”
The heightened vulnerability of pregnant women, children, and adolescents is particularly worrisome.
Joe and I reiterate – your mouth and nose act both as input and output ports.
The air you exhale has approximately 40,000 parts per million of CO2 (if you are healthy and your lungs and heart are doing their jobs). It is moist. It is filled with whatever toxins, bacterium, viral agents, flotsam and jetsam that populates your respiratory system. It will invariably establish a presence in the mask. The mask will be moist after a few breathing cycles. As the study points out, the concentration of CO2 in the mask can reach as high as 0.3% (that’s 300,000 parts per million). The study points out that breathing concentrations that high cause neurological damage.
We are approaching the nefarious “flu season”.
Please, for the sake of you, me, and We The People, refuse to wear a mask as a prophylactic against aerosol-born infectants. The mask does not prevent infection and actually does harm. The psychological affect of wearing a mask is a separate conversation. Joe and I don’t do it, and we won’t have that discussion, not here.
The metaphor to use is Paul Revere.
Joe and I are riding through the town crying “The Wackjobs are coming!, The Wackjobs are coming!”. Be aware. Be polite. Be courteous, even. Be and adult and say “no, I won’t be doing that”. Don’t get fooled again.
Joe and I hope (passionately) that you won’t get fooled again:
Dr. Jay Wortman
One of a series of presentations / lectures at the Wyndham San Diego Bayside hotel conference in August this year, hosted by Low Carb Down Under.
Dr. Wortman is a Canadian doctor (Vancouver) who once was vegan.
He was forced to see the light due to health complications – type 2 diabetes.
An interesting, humorous, and informative presentation.
Joe says this is one to forward to friends who have type 2 diabetes:
Joe’s Garage
Janus Motorcycles
Last Sunday Rant, Joe was mourning the loss of the “golden era” of motorcycling.
To us, it was the ’60s and ’70s.
There is a manufacturer in America that is bringing a part of that era back to life.
You ring them up, tell them how to outfit your modern retro motorcycle, send some money, and they build your Janus to specification.
It looks antiquated, has your unique styling and fitment parameters, but doesn’t leak like a sieve, shed parts, or not perform, because it has modern technology going for it.
The best of all motorcycling worlds says Joe and me:
Colliding Bullets
Joe and I are mesmerized by this video.
The team at Smarter Every Day were trying to capture on high speed video two equal mass bullets meeting head-on.
They were inspired by a pair of bullets found from Civil War times that were fused together.
By jim cracky, they get the job done!
This is approaching the plasma spectrum of events.
Lead flies!: