Posts from — November 2015

The BBC reports on a disturbing new study: Why is death rate rising for white, middle-aged Americans?

While non-whites, younger people and people in other countries are seeing falling death rates, a new study shows the reverse is happening for white men and women in the US aged 45-54.

Covering the period from 1999 to 2013, the study by Princeton University researchers says it is particularly acute for those without a college education.

The data shows that the rates are higher in the South and the West and given that the data set covers the period before and after the Great Recession, the trend doesn’t seem to be strongly influenced by the economy, unless the change occurred in the last century.

Today was dedicated to replacing a shut-off valve to an apartment. The thrill is that the 60-year-old galvanized pipe and connections tend to be a bit fragile. Too much torque and pipes snap, usually in very inconvenient locations, like in a concrete slab.

I don’t deal with those operations any more as I tend to use too much force as I get older, i.e. I have over compensated by increasing the amount of leverage to excess. I let the professionals break the pipes – they have a truck full of them so it takes them less time.

The CBC thought that TransCanada’s Keystone XL delay plan was a good move, as Obama doesn’t seem to be enamored of the plan. Now the BBC reports that that Obama will decide on Keystone pipeline during his term.

Reality check – every Democratic candidate has said NO, and exactly who believes that anyone in the Klown Kar of Kaos can become President?

The CBC reports on holiday celebrations: Tin Man assaulted by Scarecrow on Halloween, police allege

On Halloween, South Simcoe police allege a man dressed as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz was assaulted by a suspect dressed as The Scarecrow, who fled the scene with the Cowardly Lion.
…

Three women dressed as, obviously, Dorothy, Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the East, told police that The Scarecrow had punched the Tin Man.

The Tin Man was treated for minor injuries — scratches or a dent, perhaps?

“Turns out the Tin Man didn’t have the heart to lay charges against his friend, and refused to tell the officers anything,” police said in a news release.

Police believe alcohol was involved.

Every so often you would get to write a crime report that would spread to all of the neighboring jurisdictions.

It was nice to see that the new prime minister of Canada appreciates Halloween traditions. OTOH there were no children willing to risk stoning by the Fundies to ‘trick or treat’ around here.

The average rainfall for November here is 3.46 inches. We already had 2.8 inches at 2PM [Central STANDARD Time] so I think we’ll make it this year, probably today. We are not experiencing the flooding problems that they have been having in Texas.

Update: Just over 3 inches Monday and 1.8+ today.

Even if it wasn’t raining, which scrubs the pollen, I wouldn’t be spending a lot of time outside because we are having a Red Tide bloom. It isn’t just the odor of dead fish, I’m sensitive to the airborne toxin of Karenia brevis, the specific type of Red Tide algae responsible for the local blooms.

I see that they are now admitting that there are Special Forces ‘advisors’ in Syria. This isn’t really like Vietnam – we didn’t help the Viet Cong in SEA. 👿