Caturday Night Special, Episode 0x31

Ale and Horticulture

Three of the nine tubs of Purple Viking and Carola potatoes ("Potatoes?" Yes, potatoes.). I started with just over a pound of each, and I'm curious to see how many pounds the plants will yield with the bin-method. That, and digging up potatoes in clay soil isn't compatible with low-maintenance minimal-labor paradigm. Tipping over pots of potatoes onto a tarp, that I can handle.


The compost-bin. Next year I might build more for the potatoes, depending on how the harvest goes. These stackable frames are built from sections of 6" corral-boards from our old fence, then nailed together with scrap 2"x4" pieces (height off-set about half-way, to stabilize the next stack). Theoretically, there's no limit to the height of the bin, but I wouldn't recommend this for obvious reasons. As I'm replacing a 50'-60' section of similar fencing, I should have enough to build more than I can use for a long while.

Only the top layer is visible, but there are several layers of ash leaves, grass slippings, coffee grounds, kitchen waste, top-soil and shredded paper in the pile.

Incidentally, Starbucks will give you free bags of wet coffee-grounds on request (usually in 5lb leak-resistant bags) for your compost pile. I cleaned out the local Starbuck's bin, which yielded something in the neighborhood of 100lbs of prime worm-food.


I saw this pair of swallow-tail butterflies flying together in close proximity around the garden. Maybe it was a dog-fight, maybe they're in love. Maybe both, it's impossible to tell sometimes.


It's important to keep up with the pruning, thinning, and for those so inclined, espaliering the fruit trees. This is my plum tree, given to me by my grandfather some twenty years ago, and now it's a monster. It'll need a good pruning twice a year for a while after this harvest to control the shape, growth and yield.

This is the view from the top of the ladder.


Naturally, the first branches with ripe plums are directly in the middle of the tree at the very top; such is the perversity of the Universe.

Also, an ordinary cultivator makes a handy tool for thinning green plums and reaching wayward branches when harvesting.

The predictability of powermongers and the idiots that follow them

A succinct and scathing examination of the utter idiocy behind HR 2454:

Before the last few years, scholars used to say that we couldn't get a depression today because policymakers wouldn't make mistakes as bad as the ones they made in the 1930s. Though we've made some great moves in the last year — increasing the money supply and guaranteeing money markets funds — we're also repeating many of the same mistakes as Hoover and FDR (propping up failing industries; raising taxes; wasting money on unneeded public works projects; corruption; expensive new anti-business government programs).

Certainly, the Smoot-Hawley bill of 1930 was dumb; it imposed huge tariffs on foreign goods imported into this country, which backfired when those countries raised their tariffs too. In a sense, cap-and-trade looked like it would be even dumber; it seemed that it might impose a tariff on our own US manufactured goods, but not on foreign goods. But the House realized this and decided to require the administration to impose tariffs on goods imported from countries that don't restrict their own emissions to the same extent as the US (tip to Maguire and OandO. This 21st century version of Smoot-Hawley will probably take years before the tariffs will be imposed.

The cap-and-trade bill, if passed by the Senate and actually implemented over the next few decades, would do more damage to the country than any economic legislation passed in at least 100 years. It would eventually send most American manufacturing jobs overseas, reduce American competitiveness, and make Americans much poorer than they would have been without it.

In other news, America still has manufacturing jobs.

The commentary regarding the smug, self-satisfied masturbatory group-think regarding carbon-footprints, offsets, credits, et al from Matt and Trey in the South Park episode "Smug Alert" is both devastatingly funny (although, as one might expect, not safe for work) and tragically accurate; much to the misfortune of the nation, the Bay Area has already demonstrated that not only does it produce power-hungry fascists with questionable mental stability, it can bring the rest of its party to heel with its lunacy.

We are long overdue for a second discussion regarding the voluntary association of "these United States".

Odds and Ends

I noticed that it's been about a year since I started this virtual-soapbox, and I wanted to take a moment to thank those of you that continue to stop by to read and comment and/or continue to suffer my musings on your respective blogs. Suffice to say, it feeds my ego to know that others do read this drivel, but (and more importantly) I do edify myself in the process. So, for this and anything else I missed, a profound and heartfelt thank-you, dear readers.

Also, a few random folk have been asking about the whereabouts of the bloggers in "Deep Hibernation" (see sidebar); the recurring theme is that blogging is subordinate to the goings-on of their lives, which is both good and proper. We hate to see them go, but the truth is that they are never really gone, but with us in spirit when we post. (Much like Obi-Wan Kenobi's ghost, but with less cryptic advice.)

To conclude, I realize that someday, perhaps sooner rather than later (but not by choice), I will give this up; not today, not tomorrow, but inevitably, for whatever reason will serve, by my will or no. Regardless of how or when, I do hope that it was entertaining, instructional, or in some other way valuable to you all, and serving perhaps some greater purpose in the designs of the Almighty.

May you all be richly blessed in the days to come, shielded from machinations of the vain and the snares of the foolish; keep your heads down, and your powder dry!

When in doubt, empty the clip

- "We love the idea of the Kindle, but Amazon really needs to step up and start communicating more honestly with customers about the details of the invisible shackles they use when they sell us ebooks. How can their license agreement promise you permament access to a copy if that access to it is taken away after a certain number of actions?"

- Incredibly invasive, idiotic and inimical to even the pretension of liberty: more "change we can believe in".

- "In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors aren’t obligated to turn over DNA for testing after someone has been convicted, even if the state acknowledges that a DNA test would prove conclusive as to guilt or innocence, and even if the defendant agrees to pay for the testing himself."

- "The Mexican legislature has voted quietly to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and other drugs. Past efforts have proved highly controversial, most recently three years ago, but President Felipe Calderón is expected to sign the bill into law this time."

- Speaking of drugs,votes, and advocating products and services without full disclosure...

Caturday Night Special, Episode 0x30

He's come to save the day!

Shocked! Shocked!

Evidently, the "increased transparency" in governance has been extended to assertions made while under investigation:

The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee came to the defense of the National Security Agency today, saying that the federal agency didn’t commit flagrant abuses in its program to intercept American’s phone calls and emails — but stopped short of denying that the agency had overstepped its bounds or broken the law.

To quote Rick, "I don't mind a parasite. I object to a cut-rate one." One would think that the least Pelosi and Feinstein could do would be to share a successful strategy for working the press on their respective denials. Pathetic.

But wait, there's more!

Meanwhile, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) of the Senate Judiciary Committee criticized Attorney General Eric Holder, for refusing to declare that the warrantless wiretapping program started under the Bush administration is against the law. Holder testified before the committee today.

“I was disappointed by Attorney General Holder’s unwillingness to repeat what both he and President Obama had stated in the past – that President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program was illegal,” Feingold said in a statement. “For an administration that has repeatedly stated its intention to restore the rule of law, this episode was a step backward.

I suspect that realizing the importance of the case, they are rounding up twice the usual number of suspects.

Greener Pastures

As Erik pointed out earlier, power consumption is perhaps the largest hurdle for those seeking to disconnect from the grid, and understandably so: relatively few of us alive today recall an era without the ability to magically animate their appliances by pushing a metal string into the wall. Indeed, it's only a small step to posit that the lion's share of the psychological hang-up harbored by John and Jane Q. Public regarding prospective off-grid living is the thought of being abruptly and unceremoniously drop-kicked into the world mid-19th century amenities.

Not that I'm distributing blame; I love my flush-toilet and Internet as much as the next blogger, but the fact remains that the fear is largely irrational; one is only limited by their imagination (and working budget, of course). To drive it home with a sledge-hammer: SUFFERING OPTIONAL.

Unfortunately, the sad fact is that bureaucracy is an ever-present damper of domestic innovation, requiring that various permits be acquired (revenue generation), inspections be performed (more revenue generation), and standards be maintained through ordinance and/or the ever-execrable home-owners associations (you guessed it, revenue generation). Nevermind that one's neighbors and local bureaucrats are not responsible for financing their own petty demands against the property of others, but that is the price of living in a community group-think play-pen: aesthetics trump economy, functionality is subordinate to superficiality, and everyone enjoys the cold gruel of mediocrity. Yuck.

Enough about the mouth-breathers; what are the rest of us to do? As I outlined in my previous post, cutting one's energy-consumption is key to whittling-down the intimidating cost of putting in an off-grid system. Sure, advances in technology are bringing down the price of power-systems, but the discrepancy in price between a multi-kilowatt array and a sub-kilowatt array are non-linear: doubling the wattage will often cost much more than double the price of the previous system. (Note: I am not going to outline specifics for any photovoltaic, wind-turbine, micro-hydro, wood-gas, or cogeneration systems here, as it is beyond the scope of this post.) At the farm, our main offenders for necessary minimums are the sump-pump for the septic system and the well-pump: the sump-pump has the greatest transient-response in the circuit, but the well-pump is perhaps the largest consumer of energy (modulus the refrigerator and the freezer, but these particular appliances have already been addressed). As Desert Cat has mentioned before regarding his own system, the real expense is in acquiring a charge-controller and power-inverter that are robust enough to handle simultaneous use of more than a few appliances at once. There are a few different strategies that could be applied to mitigate the expenses, such as a dedicated DC-system for LED-lighting in the house (used in conjunction with strategic use of natural lighting), but again this would be subject to individual cost-benefit analysis. Needless to say, despite what the final accounting shows, proximity to any sort of urbanized residential area will dictate what may be used, regardless of is tasteful, efficient, or even useful.

It is not surprising, therefore, that those contemplating the off-grid lifestyle move away from the hive and into rural properties. Having grown up on a farm (albeit in a moderately-populated area) and experienced what exactly can happen with designs implemented without the minimization of maintenance in mind, the notion that country-life will break the weak is no lie. Older and wiser now, I venerate redundant fail-safe designs for crucial systems, like water, septic and power; it is unsurprising that I have grown into the "survivalist" that I am, as this is merely par for the course out here. That said, those looking to make the eventual move would do well to acquire a copy of Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country; it's well-worth the money for the information.

Furthermore, it's worth noting that others are acknowledging the slippage in food-production combined with the destruction of the US dollar are going to cause more than a few domestic problems:

We've known about Rogers' bullishness on agriculture for some time. But, this bet takes it up a notch. By purchasing the land itself, Rogers is securing a stream of future production in a world he argues will be pressed for food production in the future as demand rises. And, for what it's worth, Don Coxe agrees with Rogers.

Other notable agriculture bulls include Rogers' ex-Quantum fund partner George Soros. As we noted in our hedge fund portfolio tracking series, Soros has bought a ton of Potash. Rogers, though, has certainly taken it to the next level and has placed his bet on the next big real estate boom.

Land, fertilizer and energy. As Jack Spirko (of the Survival Podcast, see the side-bar) loves to say, for "... if times get tough, or even if they don't." Fortunately, it just so happens that the prudent investments happen to be the ones that increase one's relative independence from an extremely fragile system of co-dependence.

Peeking into the mind of British bureaucracy

It all begins to make sense...

Edgy, but largely without a point

It's an excellent scam, but the situation defies belief:

The first “anti-stab” knife is to go on sale in Britain, designed to work as normal in the kitchen but to be ineffective as a weapon.

The knife has a rounded edge instead of a point and will snag on clothing and skin to make it more difficult to stab someone.

Getting one's self killed with one of these "safe knives" won't make one any less dead for the effort. In fact, there is danger in the idea that there is any such thing as a "safe knife" to begin with; as even the most wet-behind-the-ears Scout knows, a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one due to forcing the blade during use, and failure to treat any tool with respect will inevitably lead to injury.

One hardly knows what to expect next; a universal ban on grinding wheels? Perhaps cleavers? Rocks? Whiffle bats?

Pathetic.

One Man's Trash

Last night, after working on the MythTV box for a while, my long-time friend and I plug in a hard-drive that I had sitting on my desk for an indeterminate amount of time, as I really couldn't remember where it came from (this happens when there's more than ten floating around at any given time). New, SATA, 200+GB drive. I had figured that it belonged to the system I built for Elle a while back (who, as a budding Linux acolyte, I am very proud of).

My friend (we will name him Sisco) fires up the tower and prepares to format, but notices that there happens to be an NTFS partition already on the drive. After some discussion, I figured that I had tried to install XP from Elle's HP laptop (another story of frustration and woe), but being unsure of its nature we decide to investigate further, as the partition size isn't consistent with standard operating procedure. Sisco reboots the tower, this time with Archlinux on a USB-drive, and we start scanning the contents of the directories on the drive: Firefox history, cookies, Documents, Firefox bookmarks, etc; nothing matches up with any expectations that we had for our prospective users.

Curiouser and curiouser; we attempt to boot the drive by itself. Nothing. XP is completely borked.

Sisco ups the ante, and starts a Ubuntu Live CD to examine the contents of the drive previously unviewable from the command-line.

The user, who shall remain safely anonymous, had copies of the user's passport (scanned), résumé, and his William D. Ford Direct-Loan disbursement information (which is to say, everything) on the Desktop. Needless to say, there was enough information here to cause all sorts of mayhem with his life, and probably the lives of his references with a little additional phishing.

Finally, a beautiful display of irony: the résumé lists "advanced computer skills" as one of the user's talents.

It turns out that the drive had been given to me some years ago by a roommate that inherited it from another roommate previous to my occupation of the house; I imagine that since XP was shot, they assumed that the drive itself was trashed and subsequently ditched it. Luckily for him, Sisco and I ended up with the drive (the sensitive data will be destroyed, and likely irreplaceable data will be emailed/mailed to him), but not everyone is so fortunate.

Folks, please, if you value your privacy, take some time to either fix or destroy this sort of sensitive information on your hardware when upgrading or tossing your desktops or laptops. It's an easy mistake, but that doesn't make it any less costly in the end; this means using something stronger than Mickeysoft at some point (see here: dd (command)), or physically destroying the drive. Encryption is not only highly recommended, but borderline mandatory. (I'll have some links up in a later post, as this is a rather broad topic.)

Lastly, if you are not joined at the hip to a Windows-only application for work, I would suggest scrolling to the top of the page and giving Ubuntu a try; it runs in memory for those trying it without an install, it's intuitive, clean, infinitely more secure than Windows or Apple, and it's free. FREE. As in, "free beer".

Join us.

When a problem comes along, you must empty the clip

Hindsight is twenty-twenty, and all it took was a couple of comments for me to realize that something without comment-space would be unwieldy. So, we're back to "round-up" posts until I get this figured out. Here are the links, preserved for posterity:

- US Customs poised to ban one-handed assisted-open knives.

- "Isn't it time we started rounding up promoters of hate before they kill?"

- Use a camera, go to jail. (Via Lew Rockwell Blog)

Caturday Night Special, Episode 0x2F

Lately, this is my general attitude regarding anything news-worthy.

Thinking outside the ice-box

This has been filed away for future use for a while now, but a recent post at Code Monkey Ramblings regarding the use of a freezer for cutting food expenses reminded me of it: a brief how-to on modifying a chest-freezer to function as a low-wattage refrigerator. (The site also has some other practical project ideas, like the worm-farm and high-efficiency wood-stove; ideally, they will all be implemented in future house-plans.)

It may be unnecessary, but I'm going to take a moment to emphasize the reasons for taking the trouble to implement low-wattage technology:

- It's frugal, which is a good thing. I don't pay tax on money I save through attentive consumption and wise investment. Yet. (Frugality applies double to wood-gas cogeneration, provided I can get enough acreage to maintain a sizeable wood-lot.)

- It's survivalism. Low-wattage technology is something that makes an off-grid power-system feasible, and control of my own power means not giving two hoots in Hell about the local power-utility, their prices, or their reliability (go kick sand, PG&E). It also means that properties that were previously untenable building-sites are open to me, which drives down the prospective price on acreage.

- It's self-sufficiency; no further explanation required.

- Regarding the worm-farm, it's a health and safety issue. It's just my opinion, but running "grey water" and septic through an active digestion process (much like, oh, a septic-tank) that also filters the outflow to some place other than the water-table seems just a tad more sanitary and responsible than spending millions on sewage-treatment, then pumping it into the bay (I'm looking at you, coastal hyper-Marxist hives). I'm willing to bet that it's cheaper than putting in a septic-system, too.

On a related note, Desert Cat posts regularly on renovating his little slice of Paradise, which is inspiring for the rest of us that aren't quite there yet, but want to be. I'm not sure what I'm going to do once the process starts, but it will be documented for the same reasons, and hopefully a few more hopeful souls will be able to live the dream (or avoid my mistakes during the implementation).

Flask, and ye shall receive

Finally, a welcome respite from a week that was sorely lacking in my recommended daily intake of awesome.

Smithers, release the booze-hounds!

jeffrey Published: June 6, 2009 9:57 PM

Well, after the big reaction here, we went ahead and ordered them and I think they will be in next week!

How awesome? This awesome.

A distinct dearth of frog-marching and irons

I lament that the United Kingdom is so Milquetoast, so anemic in its desire for liberty that the trash must take itself out:

LONDON -- U.K. Home Office Minister Jacqui Smith will resign her post, a person familiar with the matter said, becoming the most senior member of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's team to leave amid a scandal over politicians' reimbursement claims.

Ms. Smith, who oversees counterterrorism, immigration, law enforcement and other areas, will depart when Mr. Brown unveils a cabinet reorganization, this person said, but she plans to run for re-election to Parliament.

Ms. Smith informed Mr. Brown of her decision two months ago, the person said. Ms. Smith didn't return calls seeking comment.

Surely the United Kingdom still has trees with sufficient strength of limb from which to hoist this homely harridan?

While I am pleased that Smith is leaving (the faster the better), it is the right thing done for the wrong reason:

Ms. Smith was one of the first caught up in the scandal. Earlier this year, when newspapers reported that she had charged taxpayers for two pay-per-view pornographic movies ordered by her husband -- a paid member of her staff -- Ms. Smith said claiming the expense was a mistake and reimbursed the cost.

Ms. Smith became the first woman to serve as Home Office minister when Mr. Brown appointed her to the position in October. A person familiar with the matter said Ms. Smith wants to spend more time with her family and plans to concentrate on retaining her seat in the next election, which must be called within a year.

The only real scandal here is the trite nature of the charge to which the press attributes Smith's resignation and the absence of outrage over the Home Office's policies under her control; if anything, Smith's record as Secretary of the Home Office is another railroad-spike in the coffin of the notion that increased representation of women in government positions would yield a kinder, gentler government. And yet, undeterred by shame or scruples, she plans to run for public office again as an MP; unfortunately for the Brits, I am convinced that she has a rather accurate appraisal of the average voter's ability to think critically while at the ballot-box.

(A more complete list of offenses: the "might as well be chipped" card, the "persona non grata" list, the "Big Brother" database, time-dilation of habeas corpus, and crusading for surveillance/loud-speaker implementation.)

Caturday Night Special, Episode 0x2E

Read the future

I have abhorred the wars and despised the liars, laughed at the frightened
And forecast victory; never one moment's doubt.
But now not far, over the backs of some crawling years, the next
Great war's column of dust and fire writhes
Up the sides of the sky: it becomes clear that we too may suffer
What others have, the brutal horror of defeat—
Or if not in the next, then in the next—therefore watch Germany
And read the future. We wish, of course, that our women
Would die like biting rats in the cellars, our men like wolves on the mountain:
It will not be so. Our men will curse, cringe, obey;
Our women uncover themselves to the grinning victors for bits of chocolate.

Robinson Jeffers, We Are Those People (1948)

The tariffs are exorbitant

So, if America exports democracy to Iraq, and we import freedom from China, and freedom comes from democracy, is Iraq manufacturing black-market freedom from taxpayer democracy to sell to the Chinese to sell to the Americans?

If my math is correct, we should have an incoming invasion of Chicago, as I hear they have the technology to manufacture democracy from dead people; doubtless we could use this to our benefit in Iraq.

*(Conor Clarke refutes his argument thusly.)

For those of you that like pictures, the government is not a socialist abomination! For those of you with basic reading-comprehension, this is a lie!

*(I'm using asset information from the US flow of funds account. This chart is basically an updated and modified version of one I did for the business site, using slightly different data and a slightly different metric. There were some very thoughtful criticisms of that chart, so I decided to make a new one using asset information.

That said, this measure isn't perfect. I'm excluding a lot of assets -- households, farms, the financial sector -- in part because there's no precise data (see here for more) and in part because I want to avoid the same assets being counted twice. And I don't include liabilities. Please let me know of other methodological suggestions in the comments section.)

Here's a methodological suggestion: try including the liabilities. Richard Fisher, of the Dallas Federal Reserve Board, takes pair of pliers and a blow torch to the argument:

Add together the unfunded liabilities from Medicare and Social Security, and [the total unfunded government liability] comes to $99.2 trillion over the infinite horizon. Traditional Medicare composes about 69 percent, the new drug benefit roughly 17 percent and Social Security the remaining 14 percent.

I want to remind you that I am only talking about the unfunded portions of Social Security and Medicare. It is what the current payment scheme of Social Security payroll taxes, Medicare payroll taxes, membership fees for Medicare B, copays, deductibles and all other revenue currently channeled to our entitlement system will not cover under current rules. These existing revenue streams must remain in place in perpetuity to handle the “funded” entitlement liabilities. Reduce or eliminate this income and the unfunded liability grows. Increase benefits and the liability grows as well.

Just a quick guess on my part, but I don't think that the collected assets of the government at any level amount to even one-tenth of their liabilities. Where exactly is this money supposed to come from, Mr. Clarke? When one starts to muddy the waters between public and private ownership and control, liabilities do not exist in some quantum-state, trapped in some Social Security lock-box like a geriatric and vegetative Schrödinger's cat; they exist as a real unfunded problem, growing exponentially and swallowing nations in the process.

Peddle your sophistry elsewhere, you sycophantic hack.

It's not sexism, it's "differently empowered"

Giving new teeth to the phrase "electric leash":

Sheriff's spokeswoman Elise Schaffer said Cody J. Redenius, 20, is under a domestic abuse restraining order that prohibits him from possessing a firearm.

His ex--girlfriend told investigators she found a picture of Redenius holding the shotgun on his Facebook account. The picture was posted Wednesday. It's unclear who posted it.

What's the real story here? Is it that one can be busted over a social-networking site for alleged wrong-doing, or that a restraining order (not, mind you, a conviction by a jury of peers) invalidates numerous Constitutionally-protected rights?

Brought to you by Joe "Foot-in-Mouth" Biden via the VAWA of 1994: remember, this man is one heart-beat away from the Football...

Timothy Geithner, Rocket Surgeon

The Chinese may be buying our assets*, but even they have their limits:

"Chinese assets are very safe," Geithner said in response to a question after a speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student in the 1980s.

His answer drew loud laughter from his student audience, reflecting scepticism in China about the wisdom of a developing country accumulating a vast stockpile of foreign reserves instead of spending the money to raise living standards at home.

"Mr. Krugman, our esteemed thaumaturgist, has promised that the ancestral animal spirits will smile upon our money harvests once again," Geithner continued, "But only so long as we maintain our confidence that they will do so. To doubt the animal spirits would be folly!"

I suspect Geithner is fearing for his job (I am hesitant to call it a career, as it is unskilled labor), as he may yet need to exchange his suit for motley:

In his speech, Geithner renewed pledges that the Obama administration would cut its huge fiscal deficits and promised "very disciplined" future spending, possibly including reintroduction of pay-as-you-go budget rules instead of nonstop borrowing.

"We believe in a strong dollar ... and we're going to make sure that we repair and reform the financial system so that we sustain confidence," he said.

"Initial phases of balancing the spending increases include the sales of various government properties, including former Navy shipyards in Arizona and New Mexico, and necessity-based taxation of excess assets in the private sector," Geithner added, "The Obama administration is determined to fix our economy, good and hard."

* In the least-valuable sense of the term.