Author: Blue Bronc

— Andrew Nikiforuk

By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor

And now we move from a driver flipping us off to no driver.

I write this while my big kitty sneezes and snorkes in the bedroom.  A cat with summer allergies.

As we spend our days wondering whether or not America should be spelled Америка, much of the bureaucracy continues to function without dear leader.  State agencies are working on how to let driverless cars test and function in the mess which is the U.S. roadway system.

It has reminded me of fifties and sixties optimism of the future – driverless cars.  What was envisioned at the time were various forms of radar and laid-in strips in the roadbed which a magnetic sensor in the vehicle would follow, with the radar providing information for stopping or queuing the vehicles to avoid collision.

The concept of completely autonomous vehicles was an eighties and nineties concept.  Actually, earlier, like in the twenties and thirties, but those concepts were based on technology so far in the future it included flying cars in cities.  The problem has always been the lack of computing power in a package which could be on board the vehicle along with the camera systems to be able to discern between a boulder and a bus.

With the computer hardware and memory issues “solved”, and the “vision” systems now capable of seeing very tiny things in front, side and behind, it became time for the vehicles to get out on their own.  This is once again the speed of computing power change.  What took almost ten years in the eighties to solve, now has been moved from discussion to function in only a couple years.

As we discuss this issue, agencies in states around the District of Columbia, and the rest of the U.S. are working on bringing driverless vehicles on the roads.  This is good.  My Mother is almost blind.  Not having to worry about her driving is great.  Having her be driven to her destination and home again is even better.

Is there an upside to vehicles moving from A to B to C without a driver?

Yes, very good, as it will reduce crashes.  Yes, it will allow those not able to drive to travel.  Yes, it will be fun to sit back and let a vehicle deliver ME somewhere.

Is there a downside to vehicles moving from A to B to C without a driver?

No, it is the nose of the camel under the tent.  Force those wanting to drive to a position that only autonomous vehicles have the right of way.  Or zones or locations (for D.C., think Dupont Circle) where only driverless vehicles would be allowed.

Can these vehicles coexist?  I think so.  But, it will require careful choices by regulators.

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— Tammy Faye Bakker

By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor

Although we think there is little going on outside of the small dome on the East end of the Mall, there is much else going on.

How would you save retail shopping?  The malls?  The standalone shops?  The big box stores?  Even grocery stores?

Right now the retail industry is reporting hundreds of thousands of employees being laid off because the stores they worked at are closing.  Big names – gone by the thousands.  Little names – gone.  High end – gone.  Low end – gone.

Online retail is a great thing.  You order, you get it and you are happy.  Shipping costs have dropped a lot, nothing for certain contracts.  Comparison pricing is easy.  Returns are so-so.

Want to try it on before buying?  Retail yes.  Online – good luck.

Has the gaming life changed how we shop?  Game world, nothing is physical.  You experience only what you think you do.  No tactile world.

Retail shopping.  Feeling the weave.  Know the hand.  Know the fit.  Know the smell (yeah, some items of online purchase had an aroma that was rough).  See. Touch. Smell.  Total tactile world.

Where did the original online retailers fail?

Sears, J. C. Penny’s, Wards and several others were the original online retailers.  You had their catalogs in your hands. You compared outfit to outfit in each catalog.  You ordered, and depending on the warehouse, you could have it in a day or two; delivered for a price or even shipping cost to the store.  They sold all brands, including their own.  They had distribution systems and warehouses.  They had trucks to move goods, and they could deliver and install anything. They had total penetration of markets.  And they are failed.  Why?

If I had more time left in my life and wanted a PhD I would explore this issue.  I know the catalog sales side of the retail side did try early in the Internet era to make it work.  Sears went off into a private world which has resulted in its destruction.  J.C. Penny’s brought in a CEO who went nuts into some retail world which failed.  Wards went down in the time before the Internet.

You have to wonder if Sears, or J.C. Penny’s or even Wards would have become the Amazon of today if their leadership had seen a different path than the one they took?  I do think so.  Up to the point when Wards brought out a discount chain it was as dominate as Sears.  Up to the point when Sears brought in someone who destroyed it by mating with K-Mart it was the dominate of all sales.  While those two were failing J.C. Penny’s was doing quite well.  And, just as it might be the queen of sales, it brought in a fruitcake to destroy it.  Right now it is recovering after dumping the nut.  Will Penny’s survive?  Maybe, but it needs to answer the question first posed – how will it survive being an online and retail store?

To add something to the punch bowl. Amazon is opening retail stores.

The reason for the question is because retail has been a backstay of American prosperity from the beginning of our country and is the largest employment segment of the economy.

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but only an idiot persists in his error. — Marcus Tuilius Cicero

By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor

What happens when your leader is run out of a foreign country by people with torches and pitchforks?

If you are from the United States you are thinking “at least he was not around here”.

There is nothing a guy who has a frame of reference the width of his outstretched arms can do to understand what is going on in a world that is outside his fingertips.

He is a man-child (sorry children) who has a problem with understanding anything in any language. He has a short temper and is always looking forward to being slighted.  His need to “pay back” is so strong he will take out his closest relatives.

What we are dealing with is a man who might have an issue with dementia, and is 70 years old, but that is an excuse and the guy does not allow excuses in his “I always win” world.  Now that he is loose, allowed to roam the world and demonstrate he has all the brain cells, firing just as they did when he was a baby, we can expect lots of good stuff.

Nah.

We do not expect him to do good.  Many of us are waiting, wearing out our popcorn machines as we cannot leave to go to the kitchen, for him to deliver his Love Muslims speech, which is written by his friend, the Hate Muslims leader.

Oh, the world stage awaits a loser who only wants to stay in his hotels.  He will be staying in all sorts of hotels.  And, eat all sorts of meals, which are not American junk food.  And, go places he – oh no he won’t land there. It has to be a be hit to his ego to be told “NO” and there is nothing he can do about it.  He refuses to take the tram to the top like all humans do.

Try to figure out the odds.  Air Force One can probably send out his tweets, but what if the flight crew forgets to tell the guy?  Maybe someone tells him he cannot tweet from anywhere other than the U.S.? Considering he is low on the uptake, he might believe them.

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By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor

From the first time man (or woman) tried to go farther than his arms and legs could go, and found some reeds or a log or something that floated on water it was time for blessing of the fleet.  Nowadays it is for recreational purposes and for commercial fisherman (neutral term) to not sink or to find fair havens or better shrimp, fish or crabs.

Blessing of the fleet may seem weird for those who are not religious, but it is not — if you believe there be a god or goddess. One of the better parts of the blessing of the fleet is it won’t hurt, and it might even be good.  And, it is an excuse for those so inclined, it starts the opening of the beer, wine and hard stuff before noon.

A week after the floater lost his fleet, CVN-70, it seems it is still not off the coast of crazy and starved N. Korea.  When I was in the military Korea was a 13 month combat zone.  Later it changed, but right now I am guessing some are looking at making it a short tour combat zone tour again.

Did you notice how fast the senile old man dropped attacking Korea?  Did you notice how fast he has dropped all sorts of things?  Yeah.  He writes an idiotic tweet and drops it a day or so later.  His short term memory seems to be really short.  There seems to be only a couple channels of long term memory too.

It is important for the country to know that this federal government shuts down April 28 midnight unless a couple of R’s change their minds.

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— Hugh Hefner, 2006.

By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor

Death is a horrible way to die. WE all go, eventually. Just a day or so ago the oldest person on Earth died at the tender age of one hundred seventeen years.  The news reports she was the last person who was born in the 1800’s.  Stunning to think of all she saw and experienced during those years.

Right now we have a person purposely poking a hot stick at a half together dictator in North Korea.  It is quite likely the dictator is the saner of the two.  Plus two other nasty powers are joining in the fray.  With Russia trying to recover the costs of getting the guy with a dead orange colored rat on his head into the White House, we can guess they are unhappy at his wild acts and may want him removed from power.  With China trying to maintain a safe distance from any nuclear fallout, we know they are not happy with the guy either.

Is there anything to be done to stop the guy?  There is, but it takes some brass gonads by the Congress.  They can stop him.  Will they?  Although not quite one hundred days into the new presidency I am sure there has to be more than one or two republicans and a lot more Republicans ready to yell “STOP”.

How soon will the impeachment start?  I hope before the end of summer.  He and his family, along with their friends will destroy us if left in power too long.  There seems to be an undercurrent with the phrase “treason” in its flow.  That is a very different issue. One which has very different final acts.

The most important thing is none of us want to die too early because the actions of some guy with a dead critter on his head.

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