Author: Derek
Ward Manor Happenings
Day Job Happenings – We’re still in a holding pattern. We know that Reductions In Force (RIFs) are happening, but the timeline is a bit…opaque, shall we say? Similarly, while a large segment of my division’s workforce has returned to office, I am in a portion without a current RTO date. The Wife and I are a little concerned that I’ll get an RTO – which necessitates getting a car – and then getting RIF’d a few months later. On the plus side, we received some additional revenue, so our last major debt, other than the houses is now paid off.
Musical Happenings – Back in November, I saw that the Sarasota Orchestra was going to be playing Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.” This is one of my favorite pieces of classical music. So, I picked up tickets for their matinee. Weekend before last, The Wife and I made the trek down. It was amazing to hear that played live. One thing that hit me while I was playing it live was the intricacies of the orchestra. Yes, I’ve seen it on television, but for some reason, the synchronicity of the various sections and the way that they came together was more on display in a live setting.
Sourdough Happenings – The Wife decided to join the sourdough bandwagon and try her hand at a starter. Because we need to anthropomorphize everything, she christened her starter “Doughlene.” Something about feeding it and keeping it alive means it must have a name. The Brother was kind enough to lend us some cookware he wasn’t using. We shall see what arises over the next few weeks. (See what I did there)
Monday Links
Well, this week will be a grab bag of links.
Reason first, starting with a couple of COVID retrospectives.
Do face masks work? A look at the evidence. The only time I wear a mask these days is if I’m actively sick and I’m forced to go out into public. I keep a few disposable N95’s in my various bags.
How many Americans died from COVID-19? As the article states, these numbers are going to be contested for decades. The range for the 1918 Spanish Flu is between 17 million and 100 million.
Standard piece on ending daylight savings time. Based on what happened in the 70’s, I lean more to staying on DST, but I’d be happy with just staying on one. For some reason, this time change has Ward Manor more discombobulated than normal.
Union makes outrageous claims when DHS reneges on union contract for TSA. I’m not a fan of how unions work these days – particularly government unions. I’m not a member of the union at the day job, but I’m still bound by the contract they negotiated. Then there’s the part of me that says it’s one thing to let a contract lapse and another to just break a contract. On the gripping hand, there’s something to be said about doing what you can to get out of a bad deal.
Georgia passed an anti-doxxing bill that was written poorly. Broadly written laws leaves a lot of room for abuse.
Cornell is disciplining students and student groups for disrupting a speaking event. And not just slaps on the wrists either.
Take a couple hundred bucks out of an ATM? The feds want to know about it. Especially if you’re too close to Mexico. No, this won’t be abused. History is so replete with examples of the feds upholding the highest standards of following the spirit of their laws.
I have a trio tech stories.
A Bloomberg article on Apple planning to bring live translate to its AirPods. I have some interest in this. I wonder if it would do it for anime I’m listening to on my AirPods?
From The Verge, Apple has agreed to support a new message encryption protocol that will make it interoperable with Android. No news if that means the green bubble / blue bubble divide will continue.
From CNN, iRobot’s future is in doubt. Thanks EU from blocking the sale to Amazon in order to “protect consumers.” Hopefully the robots in Ward Manor won’t be affected too much if iRobot goes under. Well, at least Eufy’s tend to go on sale pretty frequently.
A couple of gun stories.
Fox News article on Arkansas public school students being required to take a gun safety course. With the ubiquitous nature of guns in America, every child should know at least the four rules with some heavy doses of Eddie the Eagle thrown in at the beginning. It’s like swimming. You may never plan on taking your child anywhere near a pool, lake, river, or ocean, but there’s enough of those around that it’s best if kids know how.
From Shooting Illustrated, Tam has a piece on why you may need different carry pistols for different situations. It was one of the reasons I like having a compact M&P and a full-size one.
A couple of local stories.
The Rays backed out of a stadium deal. Now local leaders and sports fans are wondering how to keep the team in the area. I still hold that if the Rays want a stadium, make them pay for it.
An article on the endangered nature of Florida’s orange groves. It’s a story we’ve been seeing a lot lately around Ward Manor. The children of old family farms don’t want to take over the business and the demand for land has driven up prices that makes selling a good way to make the family fortune. This is before you throw in the greening epidemic.
Finishing up with a couple of lighter science stories.
Via The Brother, we have an article on how different languages hear and say animal sounds.
March Anime Recommendations
A rare rom com involving adults instead of students.
Speaking of rom-coms involving students. This one has an interesting premise and done well.
Another rom-com where the stepchildren used to date – and may still have feelings for each other. And a bit of ecchi.
It feels odd recommending one that’s not technically anime and over ten years old, but damn RWBY is good.
Monday Links – Clearing the Backlog
After two weeks of no Monday Links, I had quite a stack of links. I’m posting the ones that weren’t time sensitive.
Let’s clear the Reason links first.
Chicago taxpayers shelled out more than $100 million to settle police misconduct suits.
A thinkpiece advocating a flat tax. I’m all for a flat tax. Particularly if means special interests can’t fiddle with the tax code.
Why is the internet celebrating a murderer?
The FTC wants to make social media more fair. Proving once again that the right doesn’t want to stop the power grabs of the left. They want to use that power for themselves.
The Supreme Court heard a case of Mexico suing American gun makers. Of course it’s the gun makers fault that Mexico is a mess. Not their own corruption or culture.
Jay Bhattacharya’s Confirmation Hearing Proves the Lockdown Skeptics Won. This was one of Trump’s appointees I was glad to see.
Apple is taking the UK to court over the demand for a backdoor. Personally, there’s part of me that thinks Apple should take the same stance Randy Barrett took with California. If the UK makes unreasonable demands from Apple, then Apple should withdraw all of its products and services from the UK.
How to recover from debanking.
I have a few articles from Gizmodo.
Uber for Armed Guards. Personally, I’m fine with a service that can deliver armed security. Particularly if it does the same as Uber and brings down prices so more people have access if they have to travel to places where they can’t bring their own tools.
A man credited with saving over two million lives has passed away at age 88. Not all heroes wear capes.
NASA tests a new quiet supersonic engine. All the speed without the property damage.
More stories.
From The Free Press, What Does It Mean To Be A Man?
From SNN, there was a heck of a road takeover down on Alligator Alley involving exotic sportscars.
From Beebom, Microsoft now has an ad-supported version of Office, but didn’t tell anyone.
From Fox Business, Moody’s reports that top ten percent of earners are responsible for almost half of the consumer spending.
From AthlonOutdoors, Massad Ayoob discusses when it is time to talk with the prosecutor after a self-defense incident. When Mas talks, I listen.
From American Cop, an article on searching with a weapon-mounted light. In particular, using reflected light so you don’t point the weapon at something you don’t want shot. Good advice. (H/t Tam)
For our light item, a new phonetic alphabet. Someone’s been listening to Barenaked Ladies too much. (h/t The Brother)