Wednesday morning links

Always a small scale farmer, my Nebraska cousin now calls himself an “ethanol millionaire - courtesy of the US taxpayer”.

In addition to an artificially priced ready market for his crop, his land value was pushed sky high by the ethanol-driven demand. He bought as much land as he could leverage and sold last year when it appeared the program would be scaled back/ended.
Rather than whining he acknowledges his good luck and is delighted the program has lasted as long as it has.

#1 Louis miller on 2018-04-25 09:11 (Reply)

Ethanol: First it is not helpful to the environment. It actuallly consumes more energy in the process of making it and getting it to the consumer than it saves. It is and always was a scam. Secondly it is this huge corrupt boondoggle and we aren't going to be able to reverse it unless we are willing to pay off the corrupters. So bite the bullet and buy the corn from the farmers and use it for what it is; food! Sell it overseas, send it to Africa and India to feed the poor and starving but please don't pollute our gasoline with it anymore.

#2 GoneWithTheWin on 2018-04-25 09:34 (Reply)

Thumbs up! It's also corroding small engines and the storage tanks in gas stations.

Plus one-crop production ruins the soil. Crop Rotation 101 used to be taught in kindergarten. Oh but, is the gov't still paying for letting land lie fallow? Gotchas both coming and going.

#2.1 jma on 2018-04-25 13:12 (Reply)

A critically important point right there.

It takes far more energy, and produces far more pollution, to replace a corroded engine, than will ever be saved using EtOH.

It's almost like these leftists don't really want problems to be solved.

#2.1.1 DrTorch on 2018-04-25 15:09 (Reply)

It kills the gas mileage in your car and causes you to use more fuel. And it takes in more fossil-fuel inputs to produce than it saves.

Plus, any country that thinks it should rely on a fuel source that potentially can be completely destroyed by bad weather or pests is just brain dead.

#2.2 Jim on 2018-04-25 14:35 (Reply)

WaPo: Trump keeps saying he’s innocent. So why does he keep sounding like he’s guilty?

WaPo = Bezos Po = CIA Po.

Once you understand that Bezos's little scandal sheet/rag is merely a mouthpiece for the rogue Intelligence community, it's articles almost make sense!

#3 B48 (Link) on 2018-04-25 09:37 (Reply)

And once you understand that the CIA has underwritten and weaponized all social media, you can understand how most Americans have no idea what is factual and what is a stage play by the intelligence community. The TV soaps have nothing on our intelligence community.

#3.1 jma on 2018-04-25 13:21 (Reply)

Re: FEC Records Indicate Hillary Campaign Illegally Laundered $84 Million

Why is it that the only thing in that article that surprises me a little is that Weintraub, the initiator of the suits is a Democrat.

The next thing that won't surprise me is if the FEC allows the Hillary campaign and the DNC to retroactively amend their filings to somehow seem legal.

#4 mudbug on 2018-04-25 10:10 (Reply)

All that complicated money stuff is so much less interesting than RUSSIA. I'm sure any mistakes were purely technical, and not at all like whether Trump COLLUDED with the RUSSIANS. [/sarc]

#4.1 Jim on 2018-04-25 17:08 (Reply)

And 17 intelligence agencies confirming all that collusion when none of the information came through those agencies...it's a miracle I tell you.

#4.1.1 indyjonesouthere on 2018-04-25 20:15 (Reply)

Thanks for the tip about RTIC coolers. Got an anniversary coming up.

AirBnB opponents in Boston "even brought in a group which fights against child predators and sex trafficking to warn about, 'the risk unknown renters pose to neighbors.' Do you know what those 'unknown renters' are called when they rent their room for a couple of days from a hotel instead of a gig economy owner? They’re called “tourists” and the hotels aren’t vetting them all to find out if they have a criminal record."

In my town, I hear rumblings about AirBnB, as well as rumblings about food trucks and their unfair competition with brick-and-mortar restaurants.

#5 Texan99 on 2018-04-25 10:18 (Reply)

I don't know if the social media campaign directed at Yeti, or the NRA-ILA's statement, is correct.

They seem to have done away with one customization program and replaced it with another that is, yes, still open for business with NRA and its members. See this article.

The statement they issued is also pretty clear, that "YETI is unwavering in our belief in and commitment to the Constitution of the United States and its Second Amendment." See this press release

I don't know if Yeti was trying to gaff off the NRA - it sounds like an unintended consequence of a shift in consumer programs at the firm. Consider the possibility that maybe the right is getting its panties in a wad the way the left does over something that maybe isn't all that well understood.

I don't have a tie to the company, although I bought a couple Yeti coolers when they were the first rotomolded coolers on the market to keep on the sailboat for distance races, and for when we go camping or to long (12-24 hour) mountain bike races. They are expensive but they are damn good (keeping ice for 3-4 days in blazing summer heat on the water), and while they have competition in this market now they still make a damn good product and I wouldn't want to treat them unfairly. (They whupped RTIC in a patent infringement case a few years ago, BTW, on the subject of fairness).

While I am a long time NRA member, and generally glad they are in my corner, sometimes the caustic behavior of the organization's board members and leadership is counterproductive.

#5.1 jablonski on 2018-04-25 10:43 (Reply)

I've tried a couple of times to try to understand the Yeti-NRA situation without success. So Yeti is not distancing itself from the NRA but is canceling the programs that had benefited NRA members? It sounds a bit like a contract I was in where the contractee could not cancel the contract for a couple of years but it could reduce the workforce in the contract. The contractee tried to get out of the contract by reducing the workforce to zero (which obviously didn't fly).

This may be a case of poor communication on Yeti's part or it could be more. In this post-Parkland environment, the NRA's response is certainly understandable, though contacting Yeti for a clarification of the situation would have been helpful.

#5.1.1 mudbug on 2018-04-25 10:59 (Reply)

Hey jablonski, are you a yeti sockpuppet? Cuz your post sorta reads like one. It has these tells:
1. "... a long-time NRA member". Just like all those posts by "lifetime Republicans" who swore they were never gonna vote for McCain/Romney/Trump because reasons.
2. "They whupped RTIC ..." Who would know that except a very enthusiastic yeti partisan? And "whupped"? Laying on that Texas accent a little thick there? Just like the Illinois-born haggard harridan going down south and exclaiming to her adoring small crowds "Ah ain't noways tarrhd!"
3. Two links: "See this article", "See this press release". Pushing yeti's damage control message. Very zz*! of you.
4. The starting setup "I don't know if ..." Another tell like item #1 above. Trying to establish your creds.
5. "Unintended consequence of a shift in consumer programs". Yeah right, and yeti an Austin company, Moscow on the Colorado. Thought you all could get away with it, huh? Trying to make your proggro Austin employees feel good about themselves.
6. "The right is getting is panties in a wad the way the left does ..." I don't think you understand righties, probably never met one. It's another tell. You couldn't help yourself, you just disparaged the people you are trying to convince. This is not a left/right issue. There are people who consider it is their loyal duty to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, to secure the blessings of Liberty. And there are those would see the Constitution broken. If the 2nd can be broken, the 1st will fall, and the proggro victory over the deplorables is within reach.
7. "... damn good product ..." Said twice. Looks and sounds like branding damage control to me.

People around here have been trained by the obvious Zz*+0o algos. Now I may be wrong, and you may be biolog. But with the socials infested with what, 20%+ fakebots, it's obvious that there is a lot of evolving expertise towards creating human-sounding and convincing media posts. Your post is too good, too perfect, tries to push all the right buttons, uses standard social subterfuges. You're either a biolog or a bot pushing a damage control script.

Convince me I'm wrong about the sockpuppetry and I'll gladly concede.

#5.1.2 John A. Fleming on 2018-04-26 03:20 (Reply)

Okay, yer getting fisked.

>>>>Hey jablonski, are you a yeti sockpuppet? Cuz your post sorta reads like one. It has these tells:

Yeah, I'm totally a Yeti sockpuppet. Er, Russian troll. Or, whatever you need me to be.

>>>> 1. "... a long-time NRA member". Just like all those posts by "lifetime Republicans" who swore they were never gonna vote for McCain/Romney/Trump because reasons.

Oh Christ, really? I joined when I was 20. The Sergeant Major was chatting with a bunch of us enlisted guys who hunted and shot with him and he said that this Dukakis guy looked like he was coming for our guns, and if we didn't want that, we'd best join up. I've been a member since then, with the exception of a couple years in school when my wife and I were eating beans and rice and needed the 30 bucks for things like rent. You make a good argument though - unless I could somehow find 30 years worth of endorsed checks it'd be hard for me to prove it. And considering I wasn't a member before I was 20, and I maybe missed a year or two of dues in the late 90's, I guess you got me there, I am no lifelong member of the NRA. Really just a 27 of the last 30 with about 6 or 7 years pending, as I send in a check for another year or two pretty much every time Chuck Schumer introduces a new gun bill.

>>>2. "They whupped RTIC ..." Who would know that except a very enthusiastic yeti partisan? And "whupped"? Laying on that Texas accent a little thick there? Just like the Illinois-born haggard harridan going down south and exclaiming to her adoring small crowds "Ah ain't noways tarrhd!"

Bless your heart! Yankee bred, I nevertheless spent the first 10 years of my adult life in the Army, and another three in north cakalacky. I am effectively bilingual. I could have lapsed into lawyerese, if that would make you feel better. How about, "in a lawsuit brought by Yeti alleging patent infringement by RTIC, RTIC eventually agreed to the terms of a settlement agreement, conceding an undisclosed amount of money, and further agreement to re-design several of their cooler products." There, you happy now?

>>>>> 3. Two links: "See this article", "See this press release". Pushing yeti's damage control message. Very zz*! of you.

Yeah, I do that because if I don't cite primary sources, some utter twat will go, "Link? Link? Link?" and then, "See, he didn't post a link, told you he's a liar!" It's not really arguing with the utter twat who will find some other shallow rejoinder, as it is posting up resources for other people to look at if they care. As a lawyer I also believe in pre-emptive napalm strikes on the most obvious and lame rebuttals that are likely to be raised. The story has been all over social media but there is limited non-partisan coverage. So I tried to find that but settled for the Washington Post.

>>>> 4. The starting setup "I don't know if ..." Another tell like item #1 above. Trying to establish your creds.

No, it reflects uncertainty. I try very hard not to assert as fact what I do not know to be true. You'd have to be a real asshat to state things as fact that don't have a good basis in fact. I don't know anybody at Yeti, and I'm pretty sure I don't know anybody at the NRA either. All I have seen on the matter are a ton of social media posts, a couple articles in more or less mainstream sources, and the press release that Yeti sent me after I wrote them asking what was going on, and if I needed to buy RTIC or Pelican coolers to replace theirs.

>>> 5. "Unintended consequence of a shift in consumer programs". Yeah right, and yeti an Austin company, Moscow on the Colorado. Thought you all could get away with it, huh? Trying to make your proggro Austin employees feel good about themselves.

I am actually consistent with Larry Correia's take on this, that it's completely possible that Yeti killed a program which benefitted the NRA, among other groups, and a stink ensued, based on the principle that one should never attribute to malice what looks like stupidity. Given the cack handed response from Yeti, it looks like the move was unplanned and it took them over three days to respond to the completely predictable backlash, and when I saw their statement about unstinting support for the Constitution and Second Amendment, I thought that an idiot marketing move was a good possibility. Might have been planned, might not have, but I don't have a good basis for knowing what happened either way. Go ahead, call Larry Correia a Yeti / proggo / sock puppet.

>>>> 6. "The right is getting is panties in a wad the way the left does ..." I don't think you understand righties, probably never met one. It's another tell. You couldn't help yourself, you just disparaged the people you are trying to convince. This is not a left/right issue. There are people who consider it is their loyal duty to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, to secure the blessings of Liberty. And there are those would see the Constitution broken. If the 2nd can be broken, the 1st will fall, and the proggro victory over the deplorables is within reach.

Oh, Jesus. Really? I practically heard the Battle Hymn of the Republic when you made that speech.

I can recognize an excitable social media mob when I see one. That's how I found out about the story in the first place and when I couldn't find solid primary sources or news reporting on it, I wondered about the truthfulness. So I dug into it and found a lot of social media nonsense (blowing up a Yeti with Tannerite, while amusing, doesn't really provide any facts about what actually happened). Actual facts on the ground are sparse, but oh my, the excitement just keeps building. Has Justine landed yet?

>>>> 7. "... damn good product ..." Said twice. Looks and sounds like branding damage control to me.

Yeah, no, I own a couple of their mid-size coolers for boat and general outdoors use, and a couple coffee mugs. Couldn't give a shit about the coffee mugs, they're fine. The coolers are the best coolers I have ever had, keep perishables cold on a sailboat for the best part of a week in 90-100 degree mid-Atlantic heat, although I understand they have competitors now that are pretty good and maybe better in some respects. I researched that too before I commented, looked at non-cooler company sponsored tests and reviews before forming an opinion, or before even thinking about blowing mine up with Tannerite and replacing them with another brand.

>>>People around here have been trained by the obvious Zz*+0o algos. Now I may be wrong, and you may be biolog. But with the socials infested with what, 20%+ fakebots, it's obvious that there is a lot of evolving expertise towards creating human-sounding and convincing media posts. Your post is too good, too perfect, tries to push all the right buttons, uses standard social subterfuges. You're either a biolog or a bot pushing a damage control script.

You have obviously missed my douchey comments on other posts. You probably need to re-tune your bot detection algorithm. It's not working right.

>>>>Convince me I'm wrong about the sockpuppetry and I'll gladly concede.

Yeah, right.

#5.1.2.1 Jablonski on 2018-04-26 10:35 (Reply)

I just want to give you the reassuring reality check that you made sense, and Fleming didn't.

#5.1.2.1.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2018-04-26 11:08 (Reply)

Thank you, A.V.I. I thought maybe I was off my nut digging around and not really knowing what to think until I saw Larry Correia had the same take. Good to know there are three of us out on that limb, you and I are at least in good company if we're wrong.

#5.1.2.1.1.1 Jablonski on 2018-04-27 11:05 (Reply)

Hi jablonski,
I gladly concede. Thanks.

#5.1.2.1.2 John A. Fleming on 2018-04-26 11:58 (Reply)

Very gracious of you, Sir.

#5.1.2.1.2.1 Jablonski on 2018-04-27 11:09 (Reply)

The maven has a bit more on this: www.themaven.net/theresurgent/contributors/yeti-responds-to-nra-backlash-in-email-to-dealers-ambassadors-C7l5TwYlbUWvQHtI2lWVyw/?full=1

Pelican and RTIC are both good choices that cost a bit less but are similar in performance. My expeditions these days are in hours and days, not weeks, so I defer to the lesser gods and accept that I will never pay out a YETI in ice savings. This is the case for 99% of YETI owners; so for a product that heavily relies on name brand recognition (not actual product value in the critical sense), they have chosen a dangerous path.

The whole thing looks like virtue signalling by YETI, considering the timing of jumping on the pig pile and lack of effort at preserving their market segment. It appears they cut off 2 NRA-associated foundations from their previous deals. No others were mentioned, and YETI's words are very carefully chosen to avoid bringing it up. I'll do without them happily.

#5.1.3 Aggie on 2018-04-26 09:41 (Reply)

Finland, very early in the experiment, abandoned UBI. While those who still think it is a great idea will claim that the idea was not tried long enough, well enough, or with insufficient hamsters or something, two things are already clear:
1. It was not such a rousing success that a strong majority of Finns thought there was reason to continue - and they love safety nets

2. Scandinavian countries, especially Finland which is not admitting refugees and immigrants, are the absolute best environment for UBI. There is a strong work ethic. They are homogeneous enough that everyone looks like second cousins. They are wealthy to start with. They have admirably low levels of corruption. If they can't make it even mostly work, other countries have no chance of doing it better.

#6 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2018-04-25 10:48 (Reply)

Assistant Village Idiot: Scandinavian countries, especially Finland which is not admitting refugees and immigrants

Well, they have admitted a lot of Swedes.

#6.1 Zachriel on 2018-04-25 10:54 (Reply)

Then AVI was inaccurate. Finland is admitting a lot of Swedish refugees. They are refugees from the social and cultural carnage precipitated from Sweden's allowing the "refugees" and "migrant children" to settle.

#6.1.1 mudbug on 2018-04-25 12:02 (Reply)

They've had Swedes (5%) since the 12th C and maybe even back to prehistoric times. As neither group is entirely endogamous, there's not a lot of genetic difference in the lot at this point. That it is still controversial is an indication of how fiercely tribal Scandinavians are, even about differences that would invisible to Americans. Scandinavians are a more peaceful people and aren't at each other's throats, but they still don't like each other much. Finland has a few Russians and Estonians, a smattering of other Europeans, a very few Roma and Jews. The Sami live almost entirely in the north.

If you see a picture of Finnish students or children and you see any non-Scandi looking kids, you know it's a staged photo, similar to what small private colleges do in getting their black and Hispanic kids prominently on the brochure.

About 50K/year, or 0.5%, emigrate from Sweden. Other countries in Western or Northern Europe show a higher percentage. For now.

@jim, below. They are Scandinavians. Their language is Uralic, and therefore distantly related to Hungarian, but still not that close. One can discern some genetic difference in that direction, but it's slight. What you encountered is the prevailing irritation Scandinavians have for each other.

#6.1.1.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2018-04-25 15:04 (Reply)

My point is that the Swedish government is been sh*tting in the "Swedish Nest" by allowing so many migrants who have no interest in becoming Swedes much less civilized. The Finn government did not and so Swedes are immigrating to Finland.

The fact that Swedes and Finns are genetically (and presumably culturally) similar just heightens the contrast between the environment created by the governments' policies. It encourages one to draw comparisons with East/West Germany and North/South Korea where the effect of governmental policies are emphasized.

#6.1.1.1.1 mudbug on 2018-04-25 16:23 (Reply)

Finland is not part of Scandinavia. They are their own culture. I think they are actually most closely related to the Hungarians. At least that's what a girl from Finland once told me who had a name that I first thought was Hungarian. She didn't like to be called Scandinavian.

#6.2 Jim on 2018-04-25 14:53 (Reply)

Jim: They are their own culture.

That's right. Swedish is a Germanic language, while the Finnish language isn't even Indo-European. There's a significant cultural difference between the two ethnicities.

Assistant Village Idiot: That it is still controversial is an indication of how fiercely tribal Scandinavians are, even about differences that would invisible to Americans.

QUOTE:

Bele: It is obvious to the most simpleminded that Lokai is of an inferior breed.

Mr. Spock: The obvious visual evidence, Commissioner, is that he is of the same breed as yourself.

Bele: Are you blind, Commander Spock? Well, look at me. Look at me!

Captain Kirk: You are black on one side and white on the other.

Bele: I am black on the right side!

Captain Kirk: I fail to see the significant difference.

Bele: Lokai is white on the right side. All of his people are white on the right side.

#6.2.1 Zachriel on 2018-04-25 15:48 (Reply)

Language always feels like a huge cultural difference, but it doesn't actually drive any real differences. Swedes, Norskis, Danes, Icelanders, and Finns are Lutherans, all adhering to secular and ceremonial aspects more than doctrine - though the Finns hang on a bit tighter. They are social democrats in their politics, they are hard working, they are generally humble about themselves individually but unbearably arrogant about their group*, they eat fish and other white foods, they listen to more death metal than anyone but burst into tears at old pointless songs about mountains and streams, especially if the children are costumed. They consider themselves the only enlightened people about sex and the body,and are willing to discuss them openly, while refusing to talk about religion, money, medical issues, and family life. They drink too much and have high suicide rates. They value conformity and decorate their homes in exactly the same way. They don't even like the people in the next village, let alone in the capital or in other countries. They believe fantasies about 19th-20th C history because the reality is too painful. Their teenagers believe that about 10,000 people died because of communism in the 20th.

BTW, I just explained a lot of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota to you as well. These are my people.

Language doesn't seem to have dented that. It seems like it should, but it hasn't. Additionally, they speak the same language (except the Finns and Karelians), just different dialects of Scandinavian. They refuse to admit this.

*They consider their nationalisms to be a good thing, but American nationalism to be one of the most dangerous forces on the earth.

#6.2.1.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2018-04-25 18:52 (Reply)

Hamas is Hamas, and the locals are the chum in the water, just there to get killed/maimed/injured.

#7 Sam L. on 2018-04-25 12:45 (Reply)

Actually, what the monkey study proves is that the whole idea of species as fixed and immutable units clearly oversimplifies the actual situation to the point of being simple error. If you look at the common domesticated dog, you can see that its genome is a dog's breakfast of genes from various canids, possibly including extinct species. (Most probably originally a hybrid of Asiatic Grey wolf with African red wolf, interbred for a few hundred generations then re-hybridized with grey wolves. There's some African wild dog in most bloodlines, and probably some coyote in breeds from the Americas.)

#8 another guy named Dan on 2018-04-25 13:50 (Reply)

re Ignoring Frigid Winter, Jerry Brown Screams That 3 Billion Will Die of Global Warming

This is a good thing is it not?

The Left has gone on and on about over population and Global Warming threatens to cut the number in half . . . and the carbon footprint with it, I imagine.

If you are a lefty what's not to like?

#9 feeblemind on 2018-04-25 15:10 (Reply)

Jerry Brown is, was, and probably will be forever to his grave, wrong.

#9.1 OldFert on 2018-04-25 15:45 (Reply)

Along with Paul Ehrlich.

#9.1.1 indyjonesouthere on 2018-04-25 20:24 (Reply)

Especially Paul Ehrlich.

#9.1.1.1 JJM on 2018-04-25 23:41 (Reply)

Air BnB hosts are scumbags who bring rifraff into quiet neighborhoods. It should be regulated and taxed like hotels in tourist areas and banned in others. My HOA will start fining home owners $1k/day for rentals under 30 days and has the power to take out liens and foreclose. This is in response to heavy partying, pot use and prostitution in a community that is over half retirees.

#10 DieBnB on 2018-04-26 00:57 (Reply)

If someone breaks the law or disturbs the peace then they should face legal remedy's. If neighbors simply resent that someone in their community rents out their house they should not have the right to interfere. However, the HOA contract is indeed a contract and enforceable. I would suggest that those who feel the HOA is being misused by some people to harass them use the same HOA to harass the harassers. How else can you stop busybody neighbors from taking your property rights. I would also suggest that it would be foolish to buy a home in an HOA community exactly because of this harassment.

#11 Anon on 2018-04-26 10:39 (Reply)

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Wednesday, April 25. 2018

Wednesday morning links