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Episode-1332- Listener Calls for 4-11-14 — 73 Comments

  1. Topic Time Markers

    [5:11] The Year 1332
    [9:13] Waterways on BOLs good or bad or some of both
    [15:09] The dumbest reason I have ever heard for the failure of our school systems
    [27:27] [Steven Harris] Putting a CB antenna in your attic
    [33:22] The structure and shape of swale berms and why it matters
    [40:23] Why black poly tanks for water tanks
    [43:09] Mountain laurel and other toxic plants
    [51:58] [Ben Falk] Advice on building a wood shed from Ben Falk
    [57:38] Thoughts on tactical kit for your firearms training
    [1:06:04] What color of shotgun for home defense, hunter brown or evil black
    [1:13:50] Does properly stored ammo have a shelf life
    [1:17:03] An urban legend about ammo primer shelf life that is total BULLSHIT!
    [1:19:31] Thoughts on bamboo for prepping, homesteading and controlling spread
    [1:25:42] [Jon Pugliano] Council member Jon Pugliano on high frequency trading and the BS around it
    [1:30:13] Brand new cars with no spare tire, yep, just wow!

    If you’d like to thank me, please consider sending me a bitcoin tip, but please don’t feel obligated to. The address is 1NT4uiDUBtQ5yjeQM4PbastdURpdkBZ5o7 QR Code.

    • Thanks Amy. Getting to really value this contribution. A staple of this format show. We can always count on you!

  2. I’ve been thinking about coating a poly tank with roofing foam to keep it cool. I’m not sure if there would be a chemical reaction though (?).

    • A quick google search for any negative reactions between whatever the tank is made out of and the foam. One problem I can see is that you would need to be sure the foam was UV stabilized. The stuff in a can (and the stuff that is commercially sprayed in homes as insulation material) rapidly breaks down and becomes powdery in UV. Hope this helps.

  3. As far the school issue, this goes beyond the science classroom. I had to deal with this with our 2nd oldest daughter. Her 10th grade history teacher appeared to have a vendetta against christians. He was going out of his way to teach where stories of the Bible were copied from other cultures and such. I really don’t have a problem with it. I do believe that a faith that is not tested is probably not very strong.

    The issue that I had with this guy is that he seemed to be looking for blood. He was always putting her on the spot as far as her knowledge of the Bible, and as a result making for a lot of unneeded peer pressure and embarrassment for her. At some level, I think he was really abusing his position as a ‘teacher’.

    I always told her to let it ride. The stories and history he was bringing up were probably true. But the fact that he would try to pick a fight with a student half his age was very immature and didn’t deserve her time and energy. Her faith and belief as a Christians had nothing to do with what he was attacking her with.

    She got thru the class, but the damage was done. She spent a lot of time after this guy doubting herself thru the rest of her high school years, and she started avoiding a lot of people, probably bullied and picked-on for episodes that happened in that class. We have never been the ‘helicopter’ parents and always tried to make kids for the road; not roads for the kids. But this guy seemed so out-of-line, I was seriously considering requesting a parent-teacher ‘conference’ with this guy.

    She is better now that high school is behind her, but I only bring it up because this conflict is coming up on more fronts than merely the science classroom. I always told her, only worry about making sure she loves God, and to love this man the way Jesus asked us to, we don’t like him but love him more, don’t worry about all the other ‘stuff’. But I am sure that is hard even for the most faithful person.

    • Wait till she gets to college. Majority of the teachers are like that.

      I am all for teaching the different theories and letting mom and dad guide them.

  4. My comment is on the bamboo segment. Running bamboo is not that hard to control. It only sends up shoots once a year, if it’s going into an area you don’t want, cut down those shoots. This is only a problem if it’s on the edge of your property. I’ve taken a hayfield and I’m converting it to a bamboo grove. I have some that I’ve gotten from family that maxes about at about 2 inches wide, I’ve grown these for about 6 years. They are easy to control. Last year I purchased over 100 plants of 2 timber types from Lewis Bamboo that were 2 year old plants and they are just starting to come up this year, they are easy to control. I think bamboo gets a labeled as so invasive because people won’t deal with it at the right times of the year. If you guide it in the spring while it’s shooting you’ll find it easy to manage. The shoots are also tasty, Enjoy your stir fry.

    • This is my thoughts.

      I will make the argument that if you are no longer in charge of keeping it in control, it could (will) spread out and go on, like any other species considered “invasive”. I’m a bit meh to that argument though.

      I have seen some areas around here where there used to be a little bit of bamboo, but the person long since left and now its ALOT of bamboo. I am like 99% sure i”m going to be buying Moso bamboo. It’s just too impressive of a timber bamboo not to get, and there is a nursery about 30 minutes down the road that sells it. After seeing it, i’m totally sold.

      We’re in the process of planting 30 (clumping) bamboo plants right now along our southern edge so that we can get a very heavy wind and sound break. Right now we definitely need it with this storm coming. I’m sure my garden and young trees are getting beat to death right now.

  5. And about the spare tire. It’s totally about MPG and cost. They are trying to pinch every penny to keep costs down and desirable. My sister bought a Ford Focus in 2008 that came with a patch kit in the space where the spare tire went. And how do you jack the car up? You use the pinch welds because they don’t have frames anymore either.

    The mandatory backup camera’s and hands free systems, indeed, may be a short ways away too. Then ignition interlocks after that.

    • The only thing I could think of when jack mentioned the backup cams and hands free stuff is “talk about increasing the costs”. Typical gubnit plans that increase the costs to consumers, and giving them less choice, and in general making everything more expensive. This ALWAYS hurts people with the least amount of money.

      I remember an article awhile back about a car for sale in india for like 3,000 bucks. Not legal in the US because of all sorts of components, but it pointed out quite clearly that at least in other parts of hte world, the poor can afford cars without going into debt, or at least ALOT of it.

  6. Jack,
    It DOES matter what teachers DON’T teach, (Ie., intelligent design). And it has nothing to do with people being weak and unable to tolerate the differing beliefs of others. The key is that elementary school is just the beginning and that all the way through college Intelligent Design is not ALLOWED to be taught. So tell me who is being weak and afraid to hear a different idea? The debate is not that creationists don’t want evolution to be taught; we just want it being taught as a THEORY, not facts; and we want equal time for Intelligent Design. And it is most certainly not limited to one page in a science book, as you liked to say during the broadcast–Evolution is being fed to us on TV, school, museums, and the media. As FACT.

    • Why are your kids even taking their “faith” into an argument with those teaching at school? It is simple the problem here is that we even have public schools. I no more want my son taught creationism in school as fact that you want your taught evolution as fact.

      Flatly evolution/origins is 1% of school at best.

    • Intelligent Design is not taught in school for the same reason flat earth theory and geo-centricity is not taught in school – there are much better “theories” for these things that are supported by what most knowledgeable people consider fact. Evolution is a fact-based theory that explains the world around us quite well, ID works backwards from a pre-determined conclusion and that is not science. Evolution is being fed to us because it aims to move mankind forward through better understanding.

      Evolution is much more than 1% of school for biologists and folks who want to understand more about how plants and animals came to be the way they are: shaped through countless iterations and tiny adjustments over time.

    • Ah the great Evolution vrs. Creation debate!

      Full disclosure, I am a Christian, who…. believes about 99% of evolutionary theory, even the part where men evolved from apes.

      I know shocker right? But I have found this belief enhances my view of God and enhances my view of the Resurrected Christ as the next stage in human Evolution.

      Oh and I am not alone, in fact MOST Christians on this planet believe that evolution does NOT contradict God, or Genesis, or the Bible at all, not one little bit.

      It is only Christians in the US, Canada, and Australia that except the ridiculous theory of young earth creation as fact.

      What is equally ridiculous is the idea put off by evolutionists that evolution disproves God. Sorry, not even close, in fact if you look at the way things do evolve ie the micro evolution we can see, you will see that it happens way to fast to be by chance.

      Mice that change color in one generation to match there environment. Foxes that start barking, wagging there tails, and and displaying affection to their human handlers in just one generation. These are just 2 of many examples that can be listed.

      What it all boils down to is that the whole debate creates a division or a dichotomy where there really shouldn’t be one.

      Christians must ask themselves, what do I base my faith on? Is it young earth creation? Or Jesus Resurrected. If suddenly you found out that beyond a shadow of a doubt men evolved from apes, would it destroy your faith? If it would, then your faith was based on the wrong thing.

      You haven’t been worshiping God, you have been worshiping an idea!

      • Wow I had no idea we actually agreed this much on this issue! As a Deist this is pretty much what I believe about creation, not religion of course.

        Did man directly evolve from apes? May be, looks that way, certainly could have. Is it possible that there is another potential origin? Yep. Do any of them have the basis of a theory that evolution does? Nope. Doesn’t mean they are not possible though, just less probable.

        For all we know we are fricken star children, that ancient aliens are real! Of course I would simply say well, that isn’t an answer, how did they get us here and where did they come from.

        I actually don’t believe in an origin of the universe by the way. (if we define the universe as everything that is, multiple universes then would just be more universe, known vs. unknown).

        What I believe in I call the theory of existence. All that is has always been, only the arrangement and assemblages have changed. The “big bang” is likely just part of a contraction and expansion cycle and time has no real meaning at the cosmic scale.

        I wrote a paper on this by the way in NINETH GRADE, I called it “Religious Misconceptions and Scientific Jokes”. I got a D! I was told I deserved an F but since the paper was long enough and met the technical requirements I got a D instead.

        Today much of this is now cutting edge theoretical theory.

        I had this same teacher in 10th grade, she could not understand why I simply didn’t do my term paper that year at all. In her class I got three As and one C. The C came in the quarter that the term paper was due as it counted as a test grade and drug down all my As.

        When I simply explained that it wasn’t worth my time and three As and one C equaled a final average of an A, and that was all that would be on my record, she rolled her eyes and we sort of had a live and let live relationship after that.

        She was shocked when I took two scientific electives with here in my final years! One day she asked me why I would do that, I told her I liked science and that she was usually right about it and a good teacher.

        She who gave my paper a D a paper that likely should have been showcased for independent study, ended up one of my favorite teachers.

        • “What I believe in I call the theory of existence. All that is has always been, only the arrangement and assemblages have changed. The “big bang” is likely just part of a contraction and expansion cycle and time has no real meaning at the cosmic scale. ”

          That is an interesting theory, I have heard some Quantum physicists who talk about a multiverse of universes that occasionally bump into each other and create new universes and they say that is what caused the big bang.

          I’m fascinated by this kind of thing.

          I have also heard Physicists say that time is irrelevant to the laws of physics.

          This suggests that there is a place or an existence that is outside of time, wouldn’t you say?

          You see there is the age old philosophical problem of the law of cause and effect. In that eventual you run out of causes for the effect at the point of creation, even the multiverse must have a cause.

          Theologians suggest that since God is outside or above time that he is the ultimate cause of everything. Because only something that is outside of time and space could have caused it.

          It is like when a builder builds a house he is not part of the house, he cannot be. In order to build it he must be outside of it.

          This is why it drives me nuts when so called “experts” like Steven Hawkins claim that gravity is the creator of all things since it holds everything together. That is like looking at a house and saying that nails are the builder of the house since they hold the house together.

          What is really interesting is that many of the things that modern physics suggests are the same things that theologians have been suggesting for hundreds of years.

          One reason I believe that Jesus is the creator is that his resurrected body obeyed the laws of quantum physics 2000 years before men discovered them. He transported through walls yet remained solid, he walked on water defying gravity. Particles have been observed on the quantum level defying gravity and transporting from one place to another.

          Now sure this doesn’t prove that Jesus is the creator of all things, but you have to ask yourself if a disciple of his were writing a fabricated account of his resurrection, how would they know not to disobey the laws of quantum physics that would not be discovered for 2000 years?

          I realize that like you said I have not convinced anyone, but my goal is not to convince but to give enough information for people to begin to ask questions and search for the truth.

        • I’ll tell you what I appreciate about your view here man. You just made a case for God, which many Christians seem to feel proves that their faith is correct and everyone should just accept it, but you didn’t do that.

          Franky your case for God’s existence above is one of my MANY cases for God’s existence. And we agree right up until you make a case for the deity of Christ. Yet while the facts leading there are presented as facts and the strong provable theory is presented as such, when you get to faith you present it as such. I am so ever loving fine with that. In my view and I want to be clear it is my view, Christians believe in Jesus because in the end, “the Bible says so”. Sure Parents, Teachers, Priests, etc. reenforce this in the end, 100% of your faith is derived from the bible.

          There is little to no real historical record of support, the often attributed Josephus is most often mis-attributed by the way.

          Now if you are a Christian you should believe the Bible, especially the Gospels. If you don’t believe them, well you need to examine your faith. Yet you can no more make a case to a person like me with your book than a Buddhist could make to you with the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

          Now your statement of “One reason I believe that Jesus is the creator is that his resurrected body obeyed the laws of quantum physics 2000 years before men discovered them. He transported through walls yet remained solid, he walked on water defying gravity. Particles have been observed on the quantum level defying gravity and transporting from one place to another. ” for example is 100% based on the bible. As one that has a real understanding of the process of canonization and how the bible came to be, I personally have reason to doubt the claims as fact. Yet even if they were true, I would say that it is still consistent with my beliefs about space, time, energy and matter and humans.

          It isn’t that I don’t believe in the “deity of Christ” if the historical Jesus is a real person, I even doubt this but I don’t say it isn’t true just it might not be. If the man in the story existed at all, even if he didn’t rise from the grave or walk on water I still accept his “deity”, I just accept my own, yours and every other person’s that exists, has existed and ever will exist.

          Read “Illusions – The Confessions of Reluctant Messiah” by Richard Bach, you may just like it. Easy fun read, takes no more than 90 minutes to read it.

        • I will read the book Jack. Thank you for the recommendation.

          I also have a couple book recommendations. One that I am reading right now is called “Letters from a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with His Father’s Questions about Christianity” by Greg Boyd and his father Ed Boyd

          There is an entire chapter on the question of the historical accuracy of the Gospels. Greg makes a very compelling case.

          Also there is The Case for Easter by Lee Strobel. This one is quite compelling and is also a quick and easy read.

          I do have to say though that while it is true that my faith is based on what the Bible says, I do not look at the bible as some sort of Divinely written and sent down from on high text. I always read it with a critical eye and with an open mind, remembering that it was written for an audience that is very different than us post modern thinkers.

          In doing so I am fully aware of the canonization you refer to, and after vetting that out with historical context and keeping in mind all of the events that took place in that time period (the first 300 years AD) I have come out of it with a much stronger faith in the reliability of the bible, based on historical events. One of which is the martyrdom of early Christians before Constantine, and before the Council of Nicaea. It is difficult for me to believe that Christians would face death by means such as crucifixion, and an arena full of Lions for a faith based on a fabrication, before canonization of the New Testament.

          That is just one of the many questions that I have explored while proving out my faith to my own skeptical mind.

          I would love to share more of these with you if you would like to engage in this conversation. I am always excited to share these things because of the assurance and peace that I have found through faith in Christ. I will give you fair warning though, I will be praying for your conversion to Christianity!

        • I’d read anything written to expand my mind, I don’t have time unfortunately written only to change my mind when I know full well it won’t change my mind.

        • Jack and BarnGeek,

          Great debate and great points.

          I really like the deep thought and respect shown by both of you. I’m a Catholic that believes that if God is as great as he is (supposed to be) to have created us, and if we are such a tiny speck in the universe, as Jack pointed out in this episode, that our understanding of God is akin to a sea monkey’s or a meal worm’s understanding of us. Believing in something that makes us stronger or better, whether Catholic, Hindu, Deist, or atheist, etc. is how I believe a creator would want it. (If your retriever fetches your ducks, do you care if he knows you are a human being or just thinks you are the alpha dog of his pack?)

          One final thought on separation of church and state: Since when is prayer a church, and since when did a school become the state? If we had a local group of families paying a teacher, there would be no issue…

      • @BarnGeek, great! I believe in about 98% of evolutionary theory, so we’re close on that. No decent scientist would say that evolution disproves God, I would join you in ridicule of anyone claiming that.

        Mice and foxes can show different gene expressions in one generation, or perhaps over a life span, but that’s not the same evolving into a species with different genes.

        I think it’s reasonable to hold the dual believes you describe, especially if you allow the boundary to change when new evidence presents itself. I keep that 2% around for that very possibility.

    • how about this crazy idea..

      instead of teaching ANY theories to school children..

      until their heads stop being mushy..

      you are only allowed to teach them mathematics, logic, grammar, art (physical practice.. not ‘art theory’) and music

      the ‘scientific method’ may be taught.. but NO THEORIES. physical laws are ok, as long as its explained that they are subject to revision if we find out they’re not true.

      history, ‘social studies’, etc. forget it.. not allowed. lets get that basic grounding in critical thought laid down before anyone starts in with the propaganda.

      (said propaganda includes things like teaching children the USDA food pyramid in ‘health’ class, or ‘exposing’ them to ‘alternative lifestyles’. what they’re experiencing in their own lives is enough until they’ve got that foundation in critical thinking)

      =)

      • On the right track for sure.

        Here is my method teach them how to learn, how to read, write, do math, and science basics as you say.

        Then NO CONTROLS, let them take it from there. Instead of teaching the origins of man, ask them to figure it out, cut the leash and let them research it.

        How about this, assignment, there are three main theories of the origin of life and the universe, discover what they are, then using logic, reason and personal intuition write a thesis and both defend and oppose each of the three theories. In your conclusion you may decided to make a final case for one of the prevailing theories or you may choose to leave the final question open.

        Now I know this will piss some off, but I would bet that most of the people opposed to that one will be of the religious persuasion.

        Lets us add on to this though and consider the above assignment.

        We told the student there are three prevailing theories they are of course

        Pure Evolution
        Intelligent Design
        Pure Creationism

        However, we did not tell them that, just the number was three and three shall the number be. They would have to find these answers first on their own. Then they would be required to examine each without the force of authority (state or church) and derive for themselves a true examination.

        The paper would not be graded based on the individuals beliefs or conclusions. Rather that each segment was understood and evaluated and dissected.

        Now what if this were how we handled most learning? Not just issues that are highly debated?

        Lastly, what if I could send my son to a school like that, what if you could send your son to a school like you described and Barngeek could send his kids to a school based on Christian faith (of his particular brand by the way).

        What if the state got out of this business of education of our children? What if we all had back all the property tax we paid as owners or via rent and were able to use that to see to our children’s education? What if churches and frankly any group were free to create “schools” with no accountability to the state at all?

        Why does Barngeek even have the right to bitch about this issue? Because his money is taken from him, against his will and used to further something against his morals, that is the ONLY REASON WHY.

        Like I said there are plenty of things taught in school that are against my morals. Last year about 4,000 dollars of my hard earned money went directly to fund them and who knows how much went indirectly via Federal support of education.

        Again though may be we should be more concerned about our academic standings in the world and kids killing themselves and each other than we are about one old as time debate that will never be settled anyway.

        • I agree with your thinking Jack. That is why last September we began homeschooling our kids.

          I don’t however force feed them my views on creation, evolution, and the universe. I teach them to discover the truth for themselves. I have faith that the truth is discoverable by anyone if they seek it.

          I do tell them what I believe, but I encourage them to question me and to think critically.

          I also agree that a lot of Christians are afraid that their children will look at the scientific theories and start questioning the existence of God, so they hide from science. They do this because there have been scientists who claim that science has disproved the existence of God, and the Christians believe them. They have a lack of faith.

          If they would just hunt down the truth through scientific theory they would find that there is no need to fear because all the claims that some scientists make about the non existence of God are untrue.

          God’s existence cannot be proven or dis-proven by science. If it could what would be the use of free will?

        • As an engineer, science has done nothing but strengthen my belief in God.

          I personally belief as a Christian your faith is tied to the resurrection, not the Bible verbatim. Yes, all scripture is sacred, but God didn’t tell you to turn your brain off.

          The issue with all the changes people talk about as far as not teaching this theory or that theory is that it all gets slippery as time progresses.

          Technically, they would consider ‘Newton’s Laws’ theories these days, because the definition of a law in science is something that cannot be broken (unlike man-made laws). Newton does not hold-up in all situations (you don’t have to look far, check out your kitchen cabinets, you can make non-Newtonian fluids for your kids to play with), hence why Einstein’s relativity and quantum physics are actually better frameworks, but the majority of people could never get their brain wrapped around it. But they only call them ‘theories’ because it doesn’t hold for all situations. Then you get to the string theory concept, but that is a whole can of worms in its self. The question becomes would anything get taught?!? I would agree with many when they say Relativism is running rampant these days, and it isn’t making things better.

          An FYI for the non-time believers, your wrong, time is a real ‘thing’. It is not merely a man-made amalgamation. These people are about as bad as flat-earthers. I am not going to turn this into a thesis defense, but you don’t have to look far to see that time shows up again and again in the calculus of the cosmos. There is a reason why we continue to spend very large sums of money of get the exact precision of the measurement and definition of time ‘right’.

        • @Scott, I am glad that you are able to distill the unknowns of cosmology down to a simple “you are wrong” answer. You said, “you don’t have to look far to see that time shows up again and again in the calculus of the cosmos”.

          Odd, I didn’t know the cosmos required us to calculate it!

          Just because there are constants in the universe, such as at least our understanding of lights “speed” doesn’t make time real. To me I consider it simply a variable we created for our convenience so that we might try to understand the world and universe better. Again in my view time is a human construct simply created by humans to explain something only humans (as far as we know) can conceive of, how “long” some event takes.

          Why do we care about this? One real reason, we are mortal. As such we both die and we have phyical limitations to movement and travel and we “feel” pain and discomfort. Remove those and not only does time become meaningless but in effect so does space.

          What people like me are saying isn’t that time in and of itself doesn’t exist, it does in a way, simply because we will it so. More that time and space are not the separate things that man has them divided into. Neither space or time really exist, but “space-time” is real. In much the same way man with his limited understanding has tried to separate matter and energy. This make no real sense to me at all. I feel all energy is matter and all matter is energy. Not just convertible to each other but that they are one in the same, simply manifest differently based on current assemblage.

          Your flat earther comment is both rude and one made in ignorance. Not only are there top physicists in the world right now that agree with the summation of the non existence of time. I mean that is just those who agree with me. So how about the words of Julian Barbour, “time is the one thing we can most accurately measure as physicists, but we can’t even agree on what it is”. So not only do some of the brightest minds in the world agree with me, those that don’t can’t even agree with each other about what time is.

          A man that mocks what he doesn’t understand is usually afraid of what he doesn’t understand being true.

        • Jack,

          This is the difference between engineers and scientist and philosophers. Theoretical physics has real world impacts for civilization, but when you start to go too far down the rabbit hole, it all becomes more or less an exercise in circular thinking, and doesn’t really advance things.

          I don’t know what all this nonsense you are talking about energy and matter. Conservation of energy, E-mc2, etc., explained the relationship of energy and matter ages ago. It has long been accepted that anything that has mass has energy. The problem is none of these frameworks work well to deal with the math at all levels. String theory does its best to try and account for both the macro and micro variables of physics, but just haven’t nailed it down yet.

          This could get ugly if you really want to go there as far as the time issue. It brings in the concepts of dark matter and energy, and the fact that much of what we observe and measure is only representative of less than 10% of what is out there. As our knowledge of light and the technologies we use deal with the properties of light improve, so has our understanding that time is outside of man definition, and we continue to refine our understanding of it. To keep it simple for non-science types, it is the age old argument of light: is it a particle or a wave? It is both. So is time. It is something we can define, and something beyond 100% understanding and continues without us.

          I find it very amusing that one of the great theories dealing with the universe is the zero energy universe. The assumption I think many make is when the big bang happened, all the energy was at a single source, and this theory actually says, no, there was no energy at all, it just came into being instantaneously. How so? Maybe from a source outside of this realm, hmm….

          The concept that I find most fascinating is the irony of Life with the second law of thermodynamics. It is such a simple thing, but you don’t have to understand a ton of math to get it. In layman’s terms, that law states that all energy is trying to balance out from high to low, and get everything near equal. We call it entropy, and one day, heat death of the universe MAY occur. However, Life stands in direct contrast to it. Life is actually the gathering of energy; not the dispersion of it. One could argue that biology and physics are locked in the spiritual war of heaven and hell.

          In the famous words of Jeff Goldblum, “I’m simply saying that life, uh, finds a way.”

        • @Scott, you said, “I don’t know what all this nonsense you are talking about energy and matter.”

          While I have no doubt that you don’t understand what I am saying, the fact that you have first called me a flat earther and now take what I am saying which is largely supported by people smarter than both of us by the way and calling it nonsense, means we have reached the end of discussion. Enjoy your world where what you are taught is true and anyone questioning it is just wrong, a flat earther and full of nonsense. It is a pretty boring world but what ever works for you.

          Again people often mock what they both fail to understand and what they fear.

      • I do like this idea for sure, but science was my favorite subject through every grade in school. Maybe weekly walks through the woods or something could also be added for those kids that can’t get enough in the meantime.

    • Frankly I don’t see why we need to even bother with evolution/intelligent design/creationism at the K-12 level.

      Education directed at that age group should be focused on building pratical life skills.

      We should be focused on teaching practial math, rhetoric, public speaking, PE, technical writing,nutrition,typing, computer skills,CPR, home economics,critical thinking, spelling, and so on and so forth.

      Instead we focus on filling our children’s head with facts that have practical use in the real world unless your engaged in a highly specilized career fields.

      We are graduating children who don’t have the basic accounting ability to formulate a budget or figure out a good APR on a credit card, can only prepare meals for themselves out of boxes, can’t swim, and can’t run a mile without keeling over, cant change a tire, and don’t realize how bad much of the food they are putting in their body really is.

      Honestly Evolution, French Lit, Biology, and even things like History can wait for the college and if a child wants to learn about such things before college he can read books and use the internet to find out learn about them independently.

      Primary school should be about skill building not fact building.

      • I think you are dead wrong.

        It is very hard to learn a new skill in a group setting such as school. Skills that most of us think of are best learned in more intimate environments where the teaching is more one-on-one. Auto shop in school is a joke compared to tearing down and rebuilding a 454 with my dad, and troubleshooting the hydraulics on his caterpillar loader (this was all before high school).

        Why in the world are you teaching your kids that they should be using credit cards?!? Instead of APR, you should focus on delayed gratification.

        My 5 year old loves sitting down and watching Chris Kimball (he refers to him by name) and America Test Kitchen with me, and can crack eggs with no shells in the batter. All the while, telling you the best and worst places to be when lightning is in the area.

        There are plenty of things that I am clueless about. School fills in the blanks, and exposes kids to things outside of the expertise of their parents. Is it the same caliber of knowledge they get from their parents? Probably not, but even the smallest photon of exposure is sometimes enough to wet someone’s appetite to travel down an unknown path to them or their parents.

        What I think you are really upset about is bad parenting (adults that stare at the screen of their smartphones and still can’t identify Polaris without an app for that; all the while expecting a different result from their kid) and bad schooling (new math that tries to let the student ‘discover’ factorials instead of teaching them this knowledge that we have learned, the mechanics of it, where it can be applied, and move on.)

    • People learn skills just fine in group settings.

      They often learn faster and better in a well conducted group.

      When you learn from solely from a mentor you limited by that mentors abilities..when you learn in a group not only can you learn from your teacher but from your fellow students.

      An open loosely structured group where everyone is working together to develop the same skill is a powerful tool.

      Infact there are many skills that have to be learned in groups.

      You can’t learn social skills by entirely by yourself or even with a single mentor.

      I didn’t say children should be taught to be use credit cards recklessly but should be taught what credit is how it works so they can make informed decisions about using it.

      You tend to learn to “delyed gratifacation” when you can fully understand what student loans, credit cards, and debt can do to you and you understand he math behind it.

  7. About the defense shotgun. I want a full stock. I am a vet, & was good at bayonet stuff. I have a .357 leaver action and .357 LCR, for home defense, & big varmint control.

  8. I was the caller about the spare tire deal and yes, after returning to the hotel I did a quick google search on the issue. Most answers I found was cost savings and how great modern tires are… I did find the guys air pump and let it run for a good 5min, no luck. I found that the rim on the back side seperated from the tire. I also learned that the pump had a built in can of fix a flat. The info online said if you use this stuff, the dealer will most likely scrap out the rim as this compound is some super sticky stuff. What a great way they can get you for an extra $600. WOW again. Great comment on having a plug kit and compressor.

    I guess the statistics show most people call aaa anyway and probably have no clue how to deal with a flat. Well, off to Amazon to find a nice 12V air pump. Thanks for taking my call!

    • In the tire sales world, according to the guys at my local Discount Tire, any fix for a tire that does NOT involve replacement is considered ‘temporary’ now. The guy (one of the service managers) could not tell me why the industry has gone that way, but his theory is it is simply to sell more tires. And yeah, having grown up on a farm and ranch out in BFE, every tire on the place (car, truck, tractor, bicycle, wheelbarrow, etc) either had one or more plugs in them or the tubes had multiple patches. So I think the guy is right and it is totally a way to push the uninformed/lazy/stupid/inept into buying more tires.

  9. Thanks for the soil info on the bamboo Jack. I’m in Arizona where we have very alkaline soil, so I’ll be doing some work to get a deep mulch bed going and keeping it moist. Hopefully it’ll work out.

  10. I liked john pugliano’s segment and would like others. Jack I agree with you mostly on the school origins issue. My parents sacrificed greatly to send me to a private Christian school so that I would have the education they desired and not that of public education. So I get what you are saying. Just remember that the evolutionary theory has enough problems that it does require some faith in it to fully believe. If more than one theory was presented and then moved on from we would be better off leaving it at that in the public arena.

      • 1. “Survival of the fittest”
        2. Gaps in the fossil record
        3. A scientist’s biased interpretations of evidence

        There are plenty of grey areas in evolution that require faith to believe. There just happens to be more evidence in favor of it than anything else currently proposed.

        That does not mean that it is 100% correct.

        There are evolutionists who use the theory for science and leave it at that, and there are those who have turned it into a religion.

        That is where the problem lies.

        When you have a teacher who has turned a useful theory into a religion and declares that it is 100% fact, when clearly it does have some missing pieces. Then it becomes a religion, and that is why Christians have a right to remove their child from such a situation.

        The theory itself is evolving and changing, some things are disproved other things are confirmed and new things are discovered. Many biologists now believe that “survival of the fittest” is not the only method by which things evolve. Others believe that evolution happens in short bursts of change rather than long slow processes.

        Show me an evolutionist who takes the theory as 100% correct and I will show you a person of faith.

        • I think the problem lies in some people thinking they should have their faith given special consideration in public schools.

          Here is the deal, most of you so bent about this one thing, that really doesn’t matter (I’ll get to why in a second) would not be so hip if we also included in SCIENCE, the origin of man as taught by Buddhists, Hindus, Shintos Tribal Peoples, etc. now would you?

          Now here is why it doesn’t matter, why the hell do you care what a school system with a 50% rate of failure is teaching your children? IF you can’t compete with that, well. Again you teach YOUR CHILDREN what you want them to know about faith and god. Public schools teach accepted scientific theory. If you don’t like it, take your children out of public schools.

          But again mountains to mole hills. How the hell does anyone have time to care about this when kids are killing themselves and each other. And the US is falling in performance every year in the 99% of other parts of the curriculum that actually get kids jobs and teach them to run businesses?

          Again I am not putting down what you believe, I don’t care what you believe. Parents should have a lot more creditability that a teacher does. Something tells me most Christians are more concerned about getting their view into the minds of others children rather than what they fear their children will hear. Again you teach and guide your child.

          Franky though I don’t get how anyone believes in LITERAL CREATIONISM, as in Adam and Eve, even the Jewish faith from which Christians take it considers it a metaphor.

          Here are some religious facts, the Christian faith is an extension of the Jewish faith, the Jewish faith is the authority on the Old Testament where this belief lies. The Jewish faith in its mystic form Kabbalah actually describes the origin of the universe as well, get this, a big bang. It is though God that caused it. Basically God concentrated everything that God is into one space, the resulting energy created the universe in a brilliant flash of light.

          I personally believe in some sort of intelligent design. I also believe there is an evolutionary process and yes most of the science supports that. Though I have to say I tend to agree more with the Jewish mystic than purists on either side of the debate.

          And you know how much I just convinced anyone of anything? ZERO, and again this is why it doesn’t matter. Either your children will believe in your faith and then nothing can change that, certainly not a teacher that is likely mocked when his/her back is turned. Or they will though some path of their own choosing decide to not practice your faith and trust me again there is no way to change that. Humans are free beings, we are not meant to be told what to believe by teachers or parents. We are to be taught by both and in the end make our own choices.

          In the end I think that is what scares Christian parents the most, the fact that their child may very well grow up and turn away from the faith they have worked so hard to covey to them. Well, what a teacher in a 40 minute class tells them in 3% of the time they are in that one class, isn’t going to change that one way or the other.

      • I actually don’t think that Creation or Intelligent design should be taught in public schools, because I do firmly beleive in the seperation of church and state.

        So, I’m not sure what you are responding to, maybe it’s not directed at me.

        This is the same reason I have an objection to evoloution being transformed into a religion and being force fed to kids. As I said before I believe the theory of evoloution as a process of biology, but so many have hung their faith on it, and that goes agianst the principle of seperation of church and state.

      • @BarnGeek, interesting. My understanding is that it’s more like “survival of those who best reproduce,” not necessarily the fittest. Many factors can lead to reproductive success, and major environmental changes can accelerate changes. You are certainly correct that there are multiple camps of evolutionary biologists.

        There will always be gaps in the fossil record. As for man, all those old bone fragments could fit in a garbage truck – hardly enough to chronicle a million years.

        I wouldn’t mix this discussion with Big Bang theory, which is a lot more like a wild ass guess with some supporting evidence and a whole lot of placeholder (black matter, black energy). Such unknowns don’t really existing for evolution and biologists can err more on shaping the basic theory, leaving less room for tossing the whole thing out in favor of a better-fit explanation.

      • I’m surprised my wife hasn’t jumped in on these topics. I’m going to save any long post that I might have on it and just hit the basic points. What a coincidence that the wife and I were just talking about this yesterday on a long drive (hadn’t even seen this podcast, so it was completely unrelated). As a quick “disclaimer” about my “beliefs” is I believe in NEITHER and I also don’t care.

        Evolution is a theory, it has some extremely shaky foundations and definitely requires you to have full faith in particular scientific approaches to accept it. Anytime, and I mean, anytime, somebody throws around the word “fact” they should be question, and in my opinion, take what they say with a grain of salt, especially, if its bolded, upper cased, underlined, or any other sort of dramatization of uhm facts. The word has now been used as a weapon to silence debate, and 99% of the time, its not fact, its extrapolation from “data” which could be considered fact, but fact of what? Data represents measurements of phenoena, of which what you’re measuring doesn’t necessarily map to what you think it does. Nevermind the fact, that all underlying beliefs about the phenomena are required to be believed (intentional word use) in order to even conceive of a scientific test, and then that the results of said test show what you think they do. (Any time modeling and statistics come into play we’re REALLY talking shaking foundations).

        In the case of evolution it requires you to believe (I say that word intentionally) that similar changes in fossil records indicate that species A was some sort of great great grandfather of species B. The time component comes with dating techniques, which heavily depend on the age of the fossil. ( The fossil record has countless holes in it, requiring the observer to continually leap from place to place.) There is also the overall scientific problem, especially with biology, where boxing and defining comes into play. Now we’re going to add a prehistoric “data” and lack of controllable variables into play? Please. Evolution is taught as undeniable fact, which is aggravatingly false, and to be honest, like a lot of climate science, discredits themselves further in the most scrupulous of eyes.

        Creationism and Evolution shouldn’t even be discussed in the same sentence or analyzed using the same techniques (speaking specifically of logic). Taking a hearty dip into Epistemology should stop any person from using logic to understanding faith (there’s no reason to). If there is a god, and said god works how people think that he/she/it does, god supersedes logic, therefore, any attempt to “discredit” or even “Credit” is, in-it-self, a logical fallacy. (Please, nobody bring up Descartes, because while he certainly provoked some thoughts, and brought a fresh philosophical/logical approach to analyzing “the god” question, the holes are unbearably huge.) I recommend reading up on Fideism.

        I agree with jack’s perspective that the problem is having to pay for something that you don’t agree with, regardless of the situation. I don’t think we should be paying for NPR anymore than I think a “liberal/progressive” should have to pay for Fox news.

        The most important point, I think, personally, is that this shit literally doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change anything what-so-ever in life. I like geology like the next person (my wife is a geologist) but it’s like two geologists arguing about the most meaningless and trivial points about a geologic record (not stuff that could lead to finding oil, or minerals, just useless/fun geo information). As an explanation, Geologic records are artifacts in the past, that, if they occur, occur on a time scale uncompromisable to a human, therefore, they cannot be “proven” (hah) or disproven. Just makes good drunk debates.

        Cheers

      • @Norcal Mike
        Biological fitness is being able to produce viable progeny so you are correct. As much as we all like mules, they are not a new “species” and have no “fitness” if you will. This just goes to show when sound bites get out of control and the public at large is treating scientific literature as dogma. I also agree with your other points as well (that you mentioned a few posts down that I can’t seem to respond to).

  11. There are a bunch of clumping bamboo varieties that are great timber bamboo. Just Google “clumping timber bamboo” and you’ll find plenty.

  12. I could not agree more about high frequency trading. It is a none issue. Real issues might be “front running,” or ” phantom orders,” but the SEC apparently needed something sexier to demonstrate their importance. One thing you can count on is that whatever they end up doing, if anything, will decrease liquidity and increase spreads. So, once again the
    little guy gets screwed – first by paying the taxes to support a useless watchdog, and then suffering from that same watchdog.

  13. I got a full electric car (Nissan Leaf) about a year ago without a spare tire. They say it’s because they don’t want the car jacked up, since it might damage the battery. They say to compensate for this the manufacturer will pay for a tow if there is ever a flat. I had this happen to me and I was rather shocked when they did actually reimburse me for a 70 mile tow that cost $200.

    It was still a pain since the whole event cost me 4 hours of time. So I looked into getting a spare anyway and learned that Australia mandates spare tires on all cars, including electric. So somehow there is a way to jack it up I guess, because those do come standard with a spare.

    • Ale-

      That doesn’t really make much sense that you can’t jack up the battery. All vehicles currently produced are required to have some form of roll over protection. This includes fuel, batteries and component fluids. I would actually suggest you call Nissan customer service (the manufacturer’s service) and ask them if they offer an accessory spare tire.

      I work for a GM dealer and a majority of the vehicles are coming with inflator kits. That maybe an option for you too. I suspect this omission of spare tires is due to mileage requirements as it lowers the overall weight of the vehicle.
      At least GM does offer spare tire accessory kits that you can have installed in your vehicle.

  14. Great show Jack!!!

    Really good info across the board on the show.

    Your answer on evolution in the class room I would use at least the first half of that answer every time for both sides.

    Honestly, even scientists going back are merely speculating and in doing so treating science like a religion.

    Maybe some things are not meant to be known. It is even possible that are brains just can’t comprehend even another possibility( because everything is possible when no one can know for sure right), where something always has existed.

    We always try to say there was nothing and then something. Why must that be?

    Does there have to be a beginning and an end just because of our nature of existence in its current form?

    The important thing about the class room is ideas are described and critical thinking is taught. Not what we have now when ideas are forced as acceptance and critical thinking is diluted and not fully taught. A healthy class room is one where a teacher can be questioned and their ego is not offended.

    • Agreed and here is why what you say is so true.

      School is supposed to teach us how to

      1. Think
      2. Reason
      3. Use logic
      4. Learn what we don’t already know via research

      As such it is supposed to prepare us to

      1. Deal with unknowns
      2. Deal with other people
      3. Get a job
      4. Live our lives not fully dependent on others, be self sufficient

      Plenty of people that are “believers” are able to think, reason, use logic and learn new things with research. Of course plenty of non believers are able to think, reason, use logic and learn new things with research. And plenty of people that don’t really care or are sort of like, could be true, might not be true, are able to think, reason, use logic and learn new things with research.

      So in category one, school does what it is supposed to do, at least where it fails we can’t blame religion or science for it.

      On the second group, you don’t need faith to deal with an unknown and you sure are not prevented from dealing with an unknown due to having faith. I seem to deal with other people very well and some who get along well with me are agnostics, atheists, Christians, Jewish, Muslim, pagan, etc. So it would seem unless you are an intolerant asshole being of any belief in and of itself doesn’t prevent people from getting along with each other.

      As to getting a job, well I have had jobs from working on a Turkey farm to being the VP of Sales for major companies to being the COO of another. I don’t ever recall needing to place my feelings about the origin of the universe on my resume or application even one time.

      Live your life independently without the direct need for help by others (charity) to exist. Plenty of people from atheist to devote believer are successful in life and business. Plenty of both are sucking the hind tit of the government dole.

      In short plenty of Christians are idiots and so are plenty of Atheists, Agnostics, Deists, and keep filling in the blanks. Conversely plenty of Christians are brilliant and wonderful people and so are plenty of Atheists, Agnostics, Deists, and keep filling in the blanks.

      Simply put, as long as we live in a modern world where no one is stoned for “breaking a commandment”, what you believe should be very important to you, while what I believe should not disturb you in any way.

      Again as well, flatly our modern school system is a total failure. I can ‘t though put any of the blame at all in anyway on the theories of creation, intelligent design or pure evolution.

      You want the cause of shitty schools, it is “totalitarian design”. People if you think this issue is the problem, once again consider your SCHOOLS including your vaulted PRIVATE SCHOOLS are run on a Prussian model from 1880! It matters not what education is used to indoctrinate, only that it is used to indoctrinate. Using school to brainwash anyone into believing or not believing anything not fully provable is the problem, doesn’t matter what you are choosing to brainwash them into believing or disbelieving.

    • Only one final set questions Jack. Did you send your son to a school, private or public? If so, was your home location a factor in the equation for a good school when you bought it in the DFW area?

      I ask to understand you as a person. You have made it quite clear that you had a realization about school, and you saw such little value in it at a very early age. So did you apply this going forward and had the opportunity prove your theory with your son?

      Some would argue to hold-the-line, and no compromise, if they truly believe whatever they are fighting for is right no matter the circumstances, environment, money, etc. Others, try to reason why it didn’t happen that way.

      I am not accusing you of anything, I merely ask to understand the ground truth.

      I will admit that I have a certain amount of empathy for teachers in classrooms because they have a very tall bill to fill. They get it from both sides, the administrators and the parents.

      I think you are just jaded at some level. I think you need to travel a bit to some parts of the world were the kids don’t have school available to them. I have experienced some of these places in my younger years, and the kids were very very excited. I do not exaggerate to say the looks on their faces were with bated breath for what we were about to teach them. And yes, we taught them ‘facts’ about the world. Things that humanity has discovered and found enlightenment over the years. I was always playing the role of Mr. Wizard trying to show simple science experiments (resources were quite limited), and how math cognitively can unravel what they were seeing with their eyes. Those facts turn on curiosity about other things, which leads to your list. State-side, life comes far too easy even for the most ‘poverty’ stricken person.

      • You are damn right that I am jaded by an eduation system that tells a child that phyical abuse and mental abuse are part of learning to cope with others. With one spending 12-14K a student a year in Dallas for example which only graduates 54% of students who start in their district. I am jaded because it is a failed system, defended by those in power who use my money and my fellow citizens money to teach children to comply with the state. Because the solution for most in education to a student that doesn’t sit still is drugs and I could give you 100 more PROVABLE and VALID reasons why this is the case.

        As to my son, NOT THAT IT IS EVEN 1% of your business and not that I would not be in my rights to tell you to F off if you ask about my son and his life but I will answer this question anyway.

        My son was in 2nd grade when I met Dorothy. At the time I was broke and working my way up, his school seemed fine at the time. Good teachers, decent success, good meetings when we went to teach parent nights, etc. We ended up in a small town in PA for quite a few years. This school was as good as it gets in modern systems.

        We returned to Arlington, he started high school there. We moved to the same place that seemed okay when we left, our house was less than one mile than the one we sold before we left.

        By the middle of his 10th grade year I was ready to pull him out and get him into a private school I had a showdown with a teacher and a vice principle and was at my end. That prior year and a half I watched more and more stupidity hoisted on him.

        He asked me to let him finish, given his age I agreed and told him to tell me if he changed his mind.

        Now again frankly NONE OF THIS IS YOUR BUSINESS. Yet if it were 1996 again and my son was in 2nd grade again I would consider Private School as a minimum and home school as an ideal and do whatever I had to do to make it happen.

        You can defend teachers all you want it won’t change the fact that the system is a total failure. My beef isn’t with teachers, it is with a public system of education paid for with the theft of the citizens wealth.

        I assume you are the same Scott that called me a flat earther and referred to my agreement with with world renowned physicists as “nonsense”. Given that my response here was an undeserved courtesy. You will get no more such investments of my time.

        • My questions had nothing to do with your son, and everything to do with you. I don’t doubt that your son has become a fine gentleman.

          I would even go as far to say the question doesn’t have anything to do with you as much as it is to understand that life happens to everyone, and no matter how much we may ‘belief’ in something, many of us are put into a position were we compromise our stance.

          As passionate as you talk, and the confidence that you air your opinion on the solutions, it is not hard to fathom, that you actually put those solutions into action in your own life come hell or high water.

          The reality is you did not when opportunity was there. The elementary school was ‘decent’. Which, believe it or not, is fine. I do not fault anyone. I do believe as parents we are all trying to do the best we can with whatever circumstances and means we have available to us. Our resources are finite; time, money, ability, whatever don’t necessarily align correctly with the stars to happen when we really want them to.

          Jack, you give the persona of a man with high moral values and even higher conviction of these issues. The questions are not to start a fight, or cause rage, but to show that we all can fall short of those things we hold so high in our minds for a one reason or another. We are all human, and I think many of us can really appreciate your opinion when the person also shows their own scars and failings when an opportunity arose.

          I believe one of the many reasons you have been and will continue to be successful in the future is your frankness. I think you make a great connection with people, but as you put these ideas out there, people can relate better knowing that you are coming from a place where you didn’t do everything ‘right’, but came up short, and are not a know-it-all.

        • Scott in response to “The reality is you did not when opportunity was there.” to be bunt after all the bullshit out of you today, SCREW OFF! The convictions I have now about public education did not exist in your words “when opportunity was there”. Does it not occur to you that my experience with my son as a STEP parent by the way who only gets so much say over such things, is in part WHY I FEEL THE WAY I DO NOW? My view today is one of a father that watched school get shittier and shittier as my son progressed though it.

          If the system was the same as it was in 1996 today, I would be critical of it but nowhere near as critical as I am now. The school system has become much worse in the 18 years since that point! Eighteen years is a long time for a system to degrade and a man’s opinion to change. My son for the record has been out of public schools since 2009. In 2009 when he graduated TSP was less than a full year old, my knowledge of how shitty the system was wasn’t close to what it is today.

          Again screw you for your back handed dig that “when opportunity was there” I didn’t take it. I didn’t come up short, when it comes to what I have done as a father I hit a fucking home run. Tell you what, tell me I came up short as a father to my face bro see what happens. I really mean that, you say that to me in person some day and for a few minutes I will be happy to disband my personal non aggression principle and respond to your shitty remark with what it deserves, a good solid kick in your ass. One can assault a man with insults, not just a punch. You just did so, I hope someday to get the opportunity to either have you apologize in person like a man, or return your insult in kind.

          I have had enough of you and this line of provoking bullshit today Scott! One more time and you are done here permanently.

        • Jacks last response to Scott is why I love Jack so much. This is what makes some people say Jack is an asshole. Well, I guess if you take only the end of this little scenario it can look that way.

          What I saw today was Scott basically being a taunting little dismissive prick in multiple threads. I saw Jack be decent in spite of it, defend his positions with decency and authority and basically clean Scott’s clock.

          In response Scott became more taunting, more annoying, more dismissive and more over the top with back handed insults. Eventually Jack calls him out, tells him flatly if you said such things to my face I would jack your ass up and frankly I believe Jack to be a man of his word.

          I also know Jack to be actually non violent and figure Scott would quickly apologize in person, start making some BS excuse about how he was misunderstood and Jack would likely let him off the hook.

          If someone accused me of falling short as a parent, I would be a lot harder on him that Jack was.

          Scott you acted like a prick today and you know it. You baited and taunted Jack, I say you should apologize but most taunting cowards never do such things.

        • Thanks Jimmy! He did get on my damn nerves, this is what comes from tolerating assclowns, instead of banning them like I should.

        • Jack, I am sorry. You have my absolute apology if you construed my words to mean that you are a bad parent. That is ABSOLUTELY not what I was getting at. So I will say it again: I am sorry.

          I do believe that every parent tries to the best of their ability for their kids. I would not dare take that away from anyone.

          And yes, I am fully aware, of the issues that arise as a step-father. I have a blended family, and it is very very hard at moments, especially at moments when it can seem to be most critical.

          I never expected the conversation to devolve the way it has, so lets just let it go. I do hope that one day we will meet, talk, and then laugh. I am sorry.

        • No man with the continued back handed bullshit today it isn’t that easy, you are on my shit list and it will take more than that to get off. Generally I accept an apology quickly and reciprocate fast, but not this time. Your behavior has been that of a total troll and you have more than one sorry ass comment back handed insult to apologize for.

          You insulted me on more than one occasion today for no good reason. May be you had a bad day? I don’t know but it will at this point take some time for me to not have you singled out as a troll.

          Here is the thing, just insulting a person is emotional and just happens. Back handed insults take thought, they are premeditated. I imagine in time it will either come out that you just had a bad day (God knows I have) or that you are a troll. Time will tell.

  15. The wife and I have talked a little bit about getting a recreation property down a little further south in Plaquemans parish, or down in the Bayous. Basically a location where I could do some deep semi-tropical permaculture, and enjoy some even warmer winters.

    What better way to enjoy winter than driving about 2 hours south and eating bananas and fresh citrus? (Although I am doing both here).

  16. Jack,

    Thanks for answering the kit question. You hit it right when you said that ,when you get to the more advanced training classes there are lot of people in there that, its is their livelihood..what they go to work in. The story I have on that is below and might give a chuckle.

    I was attending a low light pistol course and at that beginning of the course we go around the class and do intros,…normal stuff like name, where you from and what you do for a living. Everyone in the class was answering SWAT, military police, Army, police, they get to me and I answer computers. With that… everyone turns and looks at me with a curious look. (of course I’m thinking ok, everyone look at the nerd, yeah one of these ducks is not like the others..:) About 75% of my classmates were cool, the other 25% seemed pissed that a computer guy was learning the same stuff. (also I had talked to the instructors before attending and they were very supportive for me to attend) Thanks Jack.

  17. Jack I contacted Sog up in Ohio, they do not stock those Mauser s anymore.

  18. Jack, in regards to John Pugliano’s segment, I would love to see him come back on and explain his position on HFT. Yes, it is going to to be used as political theatre to distract the masses from the massive slow moving collapse/shift that is ongoing in our society today. However, an above poster hinted at the real issues here: Front running quotes, phantom quotes and HFT firms being granted “special” access to electronic markets to faciliate the above two practices. TPTB will make a big stink of this overall issue to coverup the real issues of front running and phantom quotes. The best place to hide something is in plain view of all.

    I do think asking expert council members to give brief presentations in the Friday or Monday shows is a great idea. Especially when the topic doesn’t warrant a full show or if we the viewers never ask the question. Just think of all the info in the expert council’s heads that we should know!

    • Well as what has been said time and time before, we need to separate away “computerized trading” and the activities that have occurred by people using computerized trading platforms.

      I personally don’t think its a non-issue. I’ve got a bit more of a deeper philosophical argument why I’m against at least the majority of it, but I’ll spare people that. The whole controversy was from now best selling book (I need to get on reading it) that just showed what so many people already knew and the only reason all these government agencies are just now “doing something about it” is because every person in finance talked about it.

      Having a computerized company as an intermediary between a customer and a broker presents an unbelievable number of conflicts of interest.

  19. It seems like the establishment pushes Darwinism quite a bit and there is evidence that archeology is filtered as well to a surprising extent based on findings by people like Michael Cremo. This is conspiracy type stuff, but there is a great deal of evidence it does seem.

    The leading Darwinian Scientist (Dawkins) has written quite a bit of anti religious material attacking Christianity or anything that doesn’t fit the Darwin model. There was also an establishment figure back in the days of Darwin (Thomas Huxley) who was hitting people over the head with Darwinism quite a bit to get it accepted. He was known by the name “Darwin’s Bulldog” and the historian Webster Tarpley has discussed this topic on a few podcasts

  20. I will also add that people like George W. Bush are pretty much fake Christians or those posing as Christians for various political reasons. He is the most obvious example of that or may be in a class of his own

  21. I remember the Nissan 280z from the70’s came with flat spare tires and a air canister to inflate them. There wasn’t enough room for a inflated spare, lol. It had weird sidewalls that folded up but didn’t come off the rim.