half-mast for the half-assed? — ?d=780×488
IN THE NEWS: President-elect Donald Trump is objecting to flags being lowered to half-staff for 30 days as a sign of national mourning for former President Jimmy Carter, who died at the end of December. Trump is kvetching because he wants the stars and stripes at the top of flagpoles for his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Perhaps a more appropriate plan would be to keep the flags lowered for the next four years since there is certain to be much to mourn as Trump misleads the country into one folly after another.
patd – down in SE Virginia, along the Chesapeake Bay, in the middle of nowhere, deepest red, where the stars and bars were considered the national flag, one yo-yo flew the American flag upside down. He was showing his support for President Obama. There others but this one was hard core. Funny is his place was for sale and empty a couple months after Obama left office. There were others too who for some reason had their business closed empty and for sale in that area in 2017. Guess being a magat was so great they moved on from nowhere to whoknowswhere.
I like the idea of keeping the flag at half mast for the next four years. After all half of the country is in morning, and I suspect it will be more than half shortly.
Ivy, seems to me that considering that both of the egg choices that I noted in the previous thread were ostensibly cage, free, it seems to me that egg producers in Colorado are taking the opportunity to make profit off of the states requirement.
Patd, I wonder if it’s some point some of the people who voted for FF will realize that fact checks never turn up anything but lies from FF. He obviously has absolutely no understanding of how municipal water systems work, and he’d probably say, “Well you need to remove those big tanks on the top of hills; they’re an eyesore.
Poobah, one thing I really like about the new look and features is the editing feature package. The features enable me to dictate my comments and correct the inability of the voice recognition to pick up some of the more slurry southernisms that come out of my mouth.
Not really a paradox. They wanted someone who disrespects the law as much as they do.
And so the nation will soon witness the paradox of a newly elected president putting his hand on a Bible to swear an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” the supreme law of the land, barely a week after being sentenced for violating the law.
His supporters do not view him as a villain but as a victim. Even a significant number of opponents have grown weary of it all, or their outrage has faded into resignation.
https://myspace.com/PAMSAILS-ENJOY It is still alive. MySpace has morphed a bit over the decades, but it is still doing okay. I have seen a couple others find their old passwords and bring their accounts to life now that FB and twit have gone to magat world.
I do need to update the contents of MySpace as all the old has been wiped away a very long time ago. If you do go there you will not see anything.
Forget the eggs, My coffee maker died. It had a good life, lasted over 10 years. So I will brave the cold, with a trip to walmart and see if I can find a simple coffee maker. One with just an on off switch that doesn’t need to hook to my smart phone just to make coffee. Fortunately I have my travel coffee maker as a back up. When I first started doing my 2 lane/ cheap motel road trip I learned that the odds of getting a drinkable morning coffee were somewhere close to zero. So I bought a small hardshell suitcase packed it with all the supplies I might need ( cups napkins knives, can opener, and a 5 cup coffee maker) It has been quite handy In addition to good coffee I can stop at a rest area let the dog run about and I can make… Read more »
Jack, when my coffeemaker quit on me, I just boiled water on the stove, put in a filter and coffee in the basket, and poured water over, dripping into the carafe. I got a new maker, use it in another area, but continue to drip water into the carafe too. Oh, I was gifted a Keurig and like 100 pods, and when hurried, use that too. The older I get, I drink way-less java. Remember that best-seller, “Blue Highways”, by William Least Heat Moon from many years ago? Now that for the first time since 1971 that I am totally on my own, when spring comes (“You can never hold back spring”–Tom Waits), I will have a newer vehicle and am going to head out on some blue highways myself to see what I can see.
https://www.miningweekly.com/article/musks-massive-tesla-lithium-plant-hunts-for-water-in-drought-hit-texas-2025-01-08 “Musk’s massive Tesla lithium plant hunts for water in drought-hit Texas” “Twenty miles outside Corpus Christi, Texas — an area so dry the local water company distributes shower timers at high school football games — the world’s richest man is nearly done building a lithium refinery that could require as much as eight-million gallons of water per day.” “South Texas Water Authority controls the water but doesn’t sell it directly to Tesla, which is negotiating a water contract with Nueces Water Supply, a water utility company. Nueces Water Supply didn’t respond to requests for comment. South Texas Water Authority didn’t provide a comment for this story. It’s difficult to determine what kind of drain Tesla’s factory would have on the area’s water supply. But the average American family uses about 300 gallons of water per day or 109 500 gallons per year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. About… Read more »
“Ted Cruz defends Trump’s pitch to acquire Greenland”
“On his podcast, Cruz supported the national security argument for acquiring Greenland. Its location would expand U.S. control of the Arctic Circle, an area that could be a critical trading route as global temperatures rise and a potential conflict zone with Russia or China, Cruz said. Greenland also has abundant natural reserves of critical minerals necessary for clean energy technology and electronics.”
I went back to percolator coffee. Cheap one from Amazon, same day delivery and I did not want to go face the crowds at stores. Automatic, coffee in 10 minutes.
This is a short video of me making sure I could remember how to use my on stove percolator. It makes great coffee.
Dex
I started doing the 2 lane road trips after Mrs Jack passed away. She was more about the destination where as I am more about the trip. I decide how many days I want to be gone and what direction I want to go. Then get on google maps. Click on options, where you can avoid Highways, meaning interstates. It gives you some nice secondary highway routes. Of course you can play with it for hours and create your own route. I enjoy doing that even if I never make the trip.
Jack
Must admit I’m a coffee snob, can’t help myself. I buy 100% Arabica whole beans and grind for brewing in a high-end machine that reaches optimal temperature (205°F), finishes in six minutes.
Cowboy coffee. Boiling water in a sauce pan on stove top, add coffee and eggshell or two……when done, drop in a tablespoon of cold water to magically settle the grounds to the bottom of the pot and there it be’s.
That’s what happens when the Cuisinart breaks.
“No Coffee” is not an option.
BB I used to have a small aluminum percolator which I really liked, both it and the coffee it made, but it got lost in a move. Another heartbreak.
Sturgeone – Most surprising is my on stove coffee percolators cost more than the electric percolators. I use stainless pots because I keep a coffee pot on each boat and butane stoves for use when off shore power. The stove top were around $45 and the electric percolators were $36.
I’ll probably not get another percolator, at least not like that one—it was so old it was my mother’s.
So many nice things get lost along the way. It makes you get used to losing things…..people, percolators, photographs, recordings…..,you just get used to it.
Cowboy coffee. Hot water, ground coffee. Learned the art working at Outward Bound. Made it in 18 cup aluminum percolator that the percolator part and the little glass piece was always gone. Bring the water to a boil, dump in a cup of ground coffee (usually Maxwell House or Chock-full-o-nuts), take it off the heat and let it sit until it seems about right then instead of pouring cold water in to settle the grounds, stand on the gunwale, hang onto the mizzen shroud and swing it like a windmill 4 or five times and hope the bail doesn’t break. Pour, drink. In six years I only saw one pot go flying – and that’s a minor miracle. Tasted great.
I’ve never thought of myself as a coffee snob but some of the “free” coffee that is served at the low budget motels …
Fortunately, McDonalds is everywhere.
When I moved, I gave away my flex brew which used a pod or a basket of grounds, but was a pain to empty remaining water out of the reservoir.
The French press is still in storage; it’s a pain to clean that wire spring on the plunger.
Grew up drinking Grandpa’s stovetop coffee that was heated up multiple times a day. Joked that you could stand up a spoon in it. Kids were given coffee way back when, with milk and sometimes sugar.
Craig – I still remember the saga of the broken piercer on a machine you had years ago.
BB, wonder if he’s already on a plane heading back to the Netherlands and his old job at ICC. if so, hope he’s not assigned to prosecute putie or bibi. he’s had enough headaches in re BFFs of DOTUS-elect.
I have a French press in a box, never opened for 10 years. I used to use one every day. This blogging has inspired to break it out. I live in the area which has the best tasting water in the world. Montpelier, Ohio, 10 miles north, gets its water from limestone underground caves and regularly wins the contest for world’s best tasting water. I go to McDonald’s there for a snack and a free large water. It is purely fantastic.
Dexter – If you find a good way to clean that spring thing in the French press, let me know. I’m sticking with pour over for now.
NYC tap water is the best. The water here is terrible. We have to filter it. Could use a filtered shower head, too. My hair does not like this rural water.
Dex, I love French press coffee – assuming the water and coffee are good. Mrs. P is fond of Dunkin’ Hazelnut, which I, as a supportive spouse, dutifully brew in our trusty Cuisinart drip maker and drink most days. However, when I just want coffee, I pull out the Bodum ( bought for $10 at a thrift store) and make a couple of cups of dark roast and just love it. If I weren’t so lazy I’d grind excellent beans and French press the shit out of them every day. But being so lazy, …
I have well water, I live surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay, “Brackish Life”. Most of the time it is hard water, like rock with enough moisture to flow through a pipe. During winter it can sometimes get a bit of a funk to it. Lots of filters, changed often. But, when it is good, it rocks!
“Thune has privately told Trump that Hegseth has the votes to be confirmed as Defense Secretary, sources say”
*Well, Orange Adolf will be CIC but as a felon, could not join the military. Up is down, so of course an alleged alcoholic who is unqualified for the position would get the MAGAt votes.
current example of the school’s most successful and magna cum laude graduate —
Fact checking Trump’s claims about the California wildfires – CBS News
Newsom implores Trump to visit LA fire destruction, not politicize tragedy
half-mast for the half-assed? —
?d=780×488
IN THE NEWS: President-elect Donald Trump is objecting to flags being lowered to half-staff for 30 days as a sign of national mourning for former President Jimmy Carter, who died at the end of December. Trump is kvetching because he wants the stars and stripes at the top of flagpoles for his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Perhaps a more appropriate plan would be to keep the flags lowered for the next four years since there is certain to be much to mourn as Trump misleads the country into one folly after another.
patd – down in SE Virginia, along the Chesapeake Bay, in the middle of nowhere, deepest red, where the stars and bars were considered the national flag, one yo-yo flew the American flag upside down. He was showing his support for President Obama. There others but this one was hard core. Funny is his place was for sale and empty a couple months after Obama left office. There were others too who for some reason had their business closed empty and for sale in that area in 2017. Guess being a magat was so great they moved on from nowhere to whoknowswhere.
I like the idea of keeping the flag at half mast for the next four years. After all half of the country is in morning, and I suspect it will be more than half shortly.
Ivy, seems to me that considering that both of the egg choices that I noted in the previous thread were ostensibly cage, free, it seems to me that egg producers in Colorado are taking the opportunity to make profit off of the states requirement.
Patd, I wonder if it’s some point some of the people who voted for FF will realize that fact checks never turn up anything but lies from FF. He obviously has absolutely no understanding of how municipal water systems work, and he’d probably say, “Well you need to remove those big tanks on the top of hills; they’re an eyesore.
Poobah, one thing I really like about the new look and features is the editing feature package. The features enable me to dictate my comments and correct the inability of the voice recognition to pick up some of the more slurry southernisms that come out of my mouth.
I stocked up on two cartons of Safeway brand (Lucerne) eggs a month ago when they were on sale for $1.99 a dozen. Same brand today is $4.99.
The sad thing about Trump’s lying is the MAGAts think it’s funny when “elites” get upset about it.
True, Pogo, and people here are squawking about it.
Sam Moore, half of Sam & Dave passes away.
Sam Moore, Half of Sam & Dave Duo That Rose to Fame With ‘Soul Man’ and ‘Hold On I’m Comin’,’ Dies at 89
Not really a paradox. They wanted someone who disrespects the law as much as they do.
Short story
good morning…
Hey…. we finally got some snow. It’s only 2 inches of fluff…but it’s enough to make it look like January.
Once and future mug shot
https://myspace.com/PAMSAILS-ENJOY It is still alive. MySpace has morphed a bit over the decades, but it is still doing okay. I have seen a couple others find their old passwords and bring their accounts to life now that FB and twit have gone to magat world.
I do need to update the contents of MySpace as all the old has been wiped away a very long time ago. If you do go there you will not see anything.
today’s meme…
Forget the eggs, My coffee maker died. It had a good life, lasted over 10 years. So I will brave the cold, with a trip to walmart and see if I can find a simple coffee maker. One with just an on off switch that doesn’t need to hook to my smart phone just to make coffee. Fortunately I have my travel coffee maker as a back up. When I first started doing my 2 lane/ cheap motel road trip I learned that the odds of getting a drinkable morning coffee were somewhere close to zero. So I bought a small hardshell suitcase packed it with all the supplies I might need ( cups napkins knives, can opener, and a 5 cup coffee maker) It has been quite handy In addition to good coffee I can stop at a rest area let the dog run about and I can make… Read more »
HA!
picture from Greenland
Jack… I recently went to the closest Target and bought a simple Mr. Coffee.
It makes coffee good enough for me and it was cheap.
Jack, when my coffeemaker quit on me, I just boiled water on the stove, put in a filter and coffee in the basket, and poured water over, dripping into the carafe. I got a new maker, use it in another area, but continue to drip water into the carafe too. Oh, I was gifted a Keurig and like 100 pods, and when hurried, use that too. The older I get, I drink way-less java. Remember that best-seller, “Blue Highways”, by William Least Heat Moon from many years ago? Now that for the first time since 1971 that I am totally on my own, when spring comes (“You can never hold back spring”–Tom Waits), I will have a newer vehicle and am going to head out on some blue highways myself to see what I can see.
RebelRen: I have been a dedicated Mr. Coffee user since Joe DiMaggio sold them on TV in 1977 and maybe before that.
https://www.miningweekly.com/article/musks-massive-tesla-lithium-plant-hunts-for-water-in-drought-hit-texas-2025-01-08 “Musk’s massive Tesla lithium plant hunts for water in drought-hit Texas” “Twenty miles outside Corpus Christi, Texas — an area so dry the local water company distributes shower timers at high school football games — the world’s richest man is nearly done building a lithium refinery that could require as much as eight-million gallons of water per day.” “South Texas Water Authority controls the water but doesn’t sell it directly to Tesla, which is negotiating a water contract with Nueces Water Supply, a water utility company. Nueces Water Supply didn’t respond to requests for comment. South Texas Water Authority didn’t provide a comment for this story. It’s difficult to determine what kind of drain Tesla’s factory would have on the area’s water supply. But the average American family uses about 300 gallons of water per day or 109 500 gallons per year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. About… Read more »
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/ted-cruz-greenland-donald-trump/
“Ted Cruz defends Trump’s pitch to acquire Greenland”
“On his podcast, Cruz supported the national security argument for acquiring Greenland. Its location would expand U.S. control of the Arctic Circle, an area that could be a critical trading route as global temperatures rise and a potential conflict zone with Russia or China, Cruz said. Greenland also has abundant natural reserves of critical minerals necessary for clean energy technology and electronics.”
*The last part! It’s about the last part!
I went back to percolator coffee. Cheap one from Amazon, same day delivery and I did not want to go face the crowds at stores. Automatic, coffee in 10 minutes.
This is a short video of me making sure I could remember how to use my on stove percolator. It makes great coffee.
Dex, your method is the classic french drip. Simple, time-honored and effective.
aka French Press
condition for the next four years
Dex
I started doing the 2 lane road trips after Mrs Jack passed away. She was more about the destination where as I am more about the trip. I decide how many days I want to be gone and what direction I want to go. Then get on google maps. Click on options, where you can avoid Highways, meaning interstates. It gives you some nice secondary highway routes. Of course you can play with it for hours and create your own route. I enjoy doing that even if I never make the trip.
Jack
Must admit I’m a coffee snob, can’t help myself. I buy 100% Arabica whole beans and grind for brewing in a high-end machine that reaches optimal temperature (205°F), finishes in six minutes.
Cowboy coffee. Boiling water in a sauce pan on stove top, add coffee and eggshell or two……when done, drop in a tablespoon of cold water to magically settle the grounds to the bottom of the pot and there it be’s.
That’s what happens when the Cuisinart breaks.
“No Coffee” is not an option.
BB I used to have a small aluminum percolator which I really liked, both it and the coffee it made, but it got lost in a move. Another heartbreak.
Sturgeone – Most surprising is my on stove coffee percolators cost more than the electric percolators. I use stainless pots because I keep a coffee pot on each boat and butane stoves for use when off shore power. The stove top were around $45 and the electric percolators were $36.
I’ll probably not get another percolator, at least not like that one—it was so old it was my mother’s.
So many nice things get lost along the way. It makes you get used to losing things…..people, percolators, photographs, recordings…..,you just get used to it.
Cowboy coffee. Hot water, ground coffee. Learned the art working at Outward Bound. Made it in 18 cup aluminum percolator that the percolator part and the little glass piece was always gone. Bring the water to a boil, dump in a cup of ground coffee (usually Maxwell House or Chock-full-o-nuts), take it off the heat and let it sit until it seems about right then instead of pouring cold water in to settle the grounds, stand on the gunwale, hang onto the mizzen shroud and swing it like a windmill 4 or five times and hope the bail doesn’t break. Pour, drink. In six years I only saw one pot go flying – and that’s a minor miracle. Tasted great.
BB, Amazon’s choice is an 8 cup SS on stove one for $24.99. Looks like a nice one.
I’ve never thought of myself as a coffee snob but some of the “free” coffee that is served at the low budget motels …
Fortunately, McDonalds is everywhere.
Jack
I could make the cowboy coffee, I’m highclass, I have a fine mesh strainer. All I would have is a little mud at the bottom of the cup.
Jack
I like the pour-over method best.
When I moved, I gave away my flex brew which used a pod or a basket of grounds, but was a pain to empty remaining water out of the reservoir.
The French press is still in storage; it’s a pain to clean that wire spring on the plunger.
Grew up drinking Grandpa’s stovetop coffee that was heated up multiple times a day. Joked that you could stand up a spoon in it. Kids were given coffee way back when, with milk and sometimes sugar.
Craig – I still remember the saga of the broken piercer on a machine you had years ago.
Politico is reporting Jack Smith has resigned.
a must for me (no matter whether perked, pressed, dripped or boiled) is to brew only with water filtered to take out the chlorine taste of city water.
BB, wonder if he’s already on a plane heading back to the Netherlands and his old job at ICC. if so, hope he’s not assigned to prosecute putie or bibi. he’s had enough headaches in re BFFs of DOTUS-elect.
I have a French press in a box, never opened for 10 years. I used to use one every day. This blogging has inspired to break it out. I live in the area which has the best tasting water in the world. Montpelier, Ohio, 10 miles north, gets its water from limestone underground caves and regularly wins the contest for world’s best tasting water. I go to McDonald’s there for a snack and a free large water. It is purely fantastic.
Dexter – If you find a good way to clean that spring thing in the French press, let me know. I’m sticking with pour over for now.
NYC tap water is the best. The water here is terrible. We have to filter it. Could use a filtered shower head, too. My hair does not like this rural water.
Dex, I love French press coffee – assuming the water and coffee are good. Mrs. P is fond of Dunkin’ Hazelnut, which I, as a supportive spouse, dutifully brew in our trusty Cuisinart drip maker and drink most days. However, when I just want coffee, I pull out the Bodum ( bought for $10 at a thrift store) and make a couple of cups of dark roast and just love it. If I weren’t so lazy I’d grind excellent beans and French press the shit out of them every day. But being so lazy, …
I have well water, I live surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay, “Brackish Life”. Most of the time it is hard water, like rock with enough moisture to flow through a pipe. During winter it can sometimes get a bit of a funk to it. Lots of filters, changed often. But, when it is good, it rocks!
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pete-hegseth-votes-confirmation-defense-secretary-john-thune-donald-trump/
“Thune has privately told Trump that Hegseth has the votes to be confirmed as Defense Secretary, sources say”
*Well, Orange Adolf will be CIC but as a felon, could not join the military. Up is down, so of course an alleged alcoholic who is unqualified for the position would get the MAGAt votes.
Denaturalize & deport Elon…and confiscate his assets.
putting the coffee immediately into a warmed carafe from the Mr. Coffee changed my life
maybe for the worse, but no more “burned” coffee!
Moonshots from NOCO.
Thanks, Craig, for this week’s new format.