Occasional Reader 7/9/2021 5:55:06 AM

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Egads.  That photo belongs here:

https://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/

Occasional Reader 7/9/2021 5:56:43 AM

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And in Haiti:  Looks like the mercenary squad who assassinated the President planned the hit perfectly; the exfil… not so much.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57766749

Kosh's Shadow 7/9/2021 6:09:54 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 1:

Most of those I looked at look more appetizing than the picture on this thread.

vxbush 7/9/2021 6:18:32 AM

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In #2 Occasional Reader said: And in Haiti:  Looks like the mercenary squad who assassinated the President planned the hit perfectly; the exfil… not so much.

I'm just comparing this hit to the one that got Osama bin Laden, and let's just say I'm not impressed. 

Kosh's Shadow 7/9/2021 6:21:20 AM

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Kosh's Shadow 7/9/2021 6:34:35 AM

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In #3 Kosh's Shadow said: Most of those I looked at look more appetizing than the picture on this thread.

I hadn't looked at enough of Lileks' pictures. Maybe I better stop

doppelganglander 7/9/2021 6:53:45 AM

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vxbush 7/9/2021 7:21:24 AM

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In #7 doppelganglander said: Sunday I leave for St. Augustine. 

No room in your luggage for some of us? 

doppelganglander 7/9/2021 7:58:10 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 8:

I could fit a few of you in my car, but I'm staying in a studio apartment. Could get awkward.

Occasional Reader 7/9/2021 8:19:41 AM

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So of course you're all interested in my dreams... right?

In the dream from this morning (just before awaking to the sounds of OR playing in the living room), I'm going into the office, with in-office work having resumed post-covid.  I stop at an Au Bon Pain on the way in; there's a long line, and some ridiculously complex social-distancing arrangements for ordering and pickup up one's breakfast, which is annoying.  I look up and see a clock, it's about 10:48 am, I realize I had completely forgotten to set my morning alarm, that's why I'm so late.  I hurry to the office, entering the building on the east side (nearer to the Metro - as in real life), and decide that to cross to the west side, where my office is, in order to save time I should take the new...  teleferique, that crosses from one side of the building to the other.   It zips me along at quite a fast speed, over a surprisingly long distance, causing me to marvel, "i used to walk this every day on my way into the office?!'  I finally get to my office.  A colleague is there, complaining that in his office, for some reason, maintenance had removed the inside door handle.  "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave,",  I joke.  

I then check the inter-office mail that's on my desk (in real life, physical inter-office mail is now practically non-existent), and see that I'm supposed to take a business trip to Bolivia in a few days.  There's a paper ticket and some other assorted documents; I see I'll be flying onto La Paz, but then flying on a small airline to some remote city.  The ticket specifes the manufacturer of the plane I'll be on for that trip:  "Baddy Aircraft Corporation".  It also specifies the aircraft model: the "'Diablos".  I have an idea that this aircraft company is based in Myanmar.  I think:  Do I really want to fly on a Myanmar-made  Baddy "Diablos" to some backwater in Bolivia that I've never heard of?  I want to get out of this trip, just to avoid flying on tha aircraft, if for no other reason.

And then I woke up.  

Occasional Reader 7/9/2021 8:41:41 AM

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In #4 vxbush said: I'm just comparing this hit to the one that got Osama bin Laden, and let's just say I'm not impressed. 

Well, they seemingly accomplished the objective; but one has to wonder what their exit plan was supposed to be.  A whole bunch of military-age white guys (or "white Hispanics", as the NYT might say), in the immediate wake of a big, noisy assassination of a president, in a small, very poor country where white people stick out like a sort thumb... what was the plan?   Anything that didn't have them on a helicopter, or at least a boat, within five minutes of the "hit" seems doomed to failure.  

JCM 7/9/2021 8:52:53 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 10:

Back before Afghanistan fell apart they had a national airline Ariana.

We all called it Scariana, it had two frights a week.

JCM 7/9/2021 8:57:51 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 1:

This weeks theme was strange breakfasts.....

Kosh's Shadow 7/9/2021 9:13:33 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 11:

I  wonder if whoever hired them also said they arranged transportation out, then let them get caught.

The people that hired them could have arranged it in a way the mercenaries wouldn't be able to identify who they are, and this way, they don't have to pay them.

doppelganglander 7/9/2021 9:15:20 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 10:
Your dreams are remarkably detailed. This one sounds like the next installment of the Bourne movies. 

JCM 7/9/2021 9:16:33 AM

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I know! I have a great idea!

Let's micromanage a $21 Trillion economy.

Occasional Reader 7/9/2021 9:23:26 AM

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In #15 doppelganglander said: This one sounds like the next installment of the Bourne movies. 

That being The Bourne Breakfast Sandwich, or...? 

buzzsawmonkey 7/9/2021 9:32:41 AM

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In #16 JCM said: Let's micromanage a $21 Trillion economy.

Just as dumb as people who can't maintain recently-built, closed, man-made systems trying to regulate the climate of the entire planet.

buzzsawmonkey 7/9/2021 9:33:21 AM

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Occasional Reader 7/9/2021 9:54:42 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 19:

Thank you!

It's also a lot of fun for me explaining some of Lewis's English usage to him.  

JCM 7/9/2021 9:55:46 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 20:

I have fond memories of going through the Narnia series.

Occasional Reader 7/9/2021 10:21:34 AM

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Reply to JCM in 21:

but I am dismayed to discover there are no empowering transgender characters…

JCM 7/9/2021 10:23:30 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 22:

Don't get me started on the racist portrayals of the Telmarines.....

doppelganglander 7/9/2021 11:21:57 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 20:

That's impressive. My kids were not especially early readers. They caught on quickly, but they weren't interested in reading for pleasure until 3rd or 4th grade. I think that's when their skills caught up to their interests, and they've been voracious readers ever since.

lucius septimius 7/9/2021 11:45:26 AM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 24:

My kids hate to read.  This is their way of punishing me, I believe.

JCM 7/9/2021 12:13:32 PM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 25:

Mine too....

They continually ask, "how do you know that", my stock answer is, "I read".

buzzsawmonkey 7/9/2021 12:36:28 PM

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In #23 JCM said: the racist portrayals of the Telmarines.....

They were actually LGBT---the "Kiss-and-Telmarines..."

lucius septimius 7/9/2021 1:05:54 PM

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Reply to JCM in 26:

They have other interests.  Number 2 son spends much of his time writing; Daughter draws -- this week she's been working on hands and color shading.  Youngest boy has been fiddling around with C++.  But they get nearly all their information from watching videos.  Hence my plan to start producing my own.  But to get that going I really am going to need an infusion of cash.

vxbush 7/9/2021 1:09:22 PM

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In #28 lucius septimius said: But they get nearly all their information from watching videos

I've noticed this with a lot of technical issues as well for the last 5 years; it used to be you had to read the documentation or go to a page, but now everyone produces videos to show what to do. Personally, I hate it; I'd rather have the written word. 

Kosh's Shadow 7/9/2021 1:16:12 PM

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In #29 vxbush said: Personally, I hate it; I'd rather have the written word. 

Same here. I can move at my rate through a document; with a video, I have to go at their rate (although sometimes you can speed up videos - the Microsoft authentication this blog uses was really only explained in a video, but their video let me speed it up while making the voices sound normal.)

Also, I can quickly move around a document, going back to something I need to refer to, etc.

Occasional Reader 7/9/2021 1:41:59 PM

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JCM 7/9/2021 2:00:41 PM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 30:

I read an article a while back, the tactical aspect of a book, turning the pages, how many pages on the read side and how many pages on to read side. Assist in remembering what was read, it puts the information in time and place in a manner.

JCM 7/9/2021 2:00:41 PM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 30:

I read an article a while back, the tactical aspect of a book, turning the pages, how many pages on the read side and how many pages on to read side. Assist in remembering what was read, it puts the information in time and place in a manner.

Occasional Reader 7/9/2021 2:22:58 PM

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In #32 JCM said: the tactical aspect of a book

Well, if it's thick enough, it could stop a bullet, I suppose... 

JCM 7/9/2021 2:49:04 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 34:

dang tactile.......

Kosh's Shadow 7/9/2021 3:49:23 PM

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In #34 Occasional Reader said: Well, if it's thick enough, it could stop a bullet, I suppose... 

Or you could hit someone over the head with a big, heavy book.

doppelganglander 7/9/2021 4:24:43 PM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 28:

That's much better than vegging in front of the TV or playing video games all day long. I'm also one of those fuddy-duddies that think reading matters. It works different parts of the brain compared to taking in information visually or auditorily. But part of being a parent is accepting the fact that your kids aren't necessarily like you.