lucius septimius 8/22/2020 7:16:29 AM

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Occasional Reader 8/22/2020 7:51:23 AM

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In #1 lucius septimius said: the post office is renowned for inefficiency, stifling unionism, bureaucratic bloat, mediocrity, and downright incompetence

Don’t forget the occasional outbursts of insane violence! Also a democratic party trademark.

Kosh's Shadow 8/22/2020 9:54:26 AM

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This article likes the idea - but should be published far and wide, guaranteeing Trump a landslide

Joe Biden says he'll 'listen to the scientists' and shut down country again if needed

Shut down the country. Yup, that's what everyone wants to do. No work and starve to death, because really shutting down the country means no food shipments and thus no food.

That's his dementia talking

doppelganglander 8/22/2020 10:16:03 AM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 3:

That's not dementia. That's a very popular position on the left and he's simply parroting the talking points. To believe that, you have to be 1) an elite person who has plenty of money or can work from anywhere, 2) eager to have the government pay for your every need, 3) incapable of critical thinking, e.g. understanding the domino effect of a shutdown, or 4) a power-hungry Marxist who sees this as an opportunity to destroy the country. 

lucius septimius 8/22/2020 10:21:25 AM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 4:

Or just old-fashioned stupid.

Kosh's Shadow 8/22/2020 10:22:08 AM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 4:

I still say if that story gets publicized in the sane states, Biden will lose all but the leftist states. Swing states will go to Trump.

JCM 8/22/2020 10:30:25 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 1:

I find the whole Postal situation ironic.

One of the handful of Constitutionally mandated functions of the Federal Gov't they pushed out to semi-private status and a stand alone budget. They afterwards they failed in over sight.

Meanwhile the Federal Gov't is replete with unconstitutional agencies and functions that neither party is willing to part with.

doppelganglander 8/22/2020 10:35:41 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 5:

Well, yes. But even intelligent people can be frightened into going along with this nonsense. IMO it's because the data is misrepresenting what's really happening. In Arizona, if someone dies of any cause within 60 days of a positive Covid test, they are counted as a Covid death. Now why would they want to jack up the numbers like that?

Kosh's Shadow 8/22/2020 10:37:32 AM

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Reply to JCM in 7:

I'm still waiting for Trump to be blamed for this (from Thursday)

Trump sets mail truck on fire in Natick, Mass.

A U.S. Postal Service truck caught on fire in Natick Thursday morning, according to the local fire department.

Firefighters responded to reports of a vehicle fire on Grant Street Thursday morning.

Upon arrival, they found flames shooting out of a U.S. Postal Service truck.

Kosh's Shadow 8/22/2020 10:39:57 AM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 9:

Note the Post Office trucks were built 35 years or so ago, making them legitimate antiques (iirc, cars over 25 years old are considered antiques, but that might have changed)

But since they have right-hand drive, they are not easily replaced by production vehicles, at least US made ones.

lucius septimius 8/22/2020 11:41:49 AM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 10: 

As I recall, the standing order the USPS had with American Motors was the only thing that kept them going as long as they did.

JCM 8/22/2020 11:42:00 AM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 10:

Jeep makes a right hand driver version. Enough rural postal routes still use them to make the option worthwhile.

lucius septimius 8/22/2020 11:43:38 AM

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Kosh's Shadow 8/22/2020 11:50:14 AM

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In #12 JCM said: Jeep makes a right hand driver version. Enough rural postal routes still use them to make the option worthwhile.

But Jeep is owned by Fiat Chrysler and no longer sufficiently American, possibly.

(Fix It Again, Tony and the company that almost lost the right to sell cars in California because they re-sold lemons as good cars, plus they fight recalls - not a company I want to do business with)

Kosh's Shadow 8/22/2020 11:55:33 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 13:

Someone said Trump should endorse Biden, which would force the Democrats to drop him.

Kosh's Shadow 8/22/2020 12:11:12 PM

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From the Artscroll interlinear Chumash, commentary on today's Torah portion:

It is describing the death penalty for idol worship "put him to death... and you shall eradicate the evil from your midst"

By describing the death penalty as a destruction of evil from the midst of the nation, the Torah clarifies its purpose: The death penalty is not revenge against a criminal; it is needed to purge the national psyche of an evil that can infect others if it is left unchecked.

Thus, this means to me, that being soft on criminals lets the evil infect the national psyche. Or at least some cities (Seattle, Portland, Chicago, NYC, etc.)

midwestgak 8/22/2020 3:44:55 PM

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In #14 Kosh's Shadow said: Fix It Again, Tony

ha. I heard it years ago as Fix It All-the Time.

lucius septimius 8/22/2020 3:53:35 PM

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In #16 Kosh's Shadow said:

A lot of my money went into Art Scroll books back when the ex was going through her Judaism phase.

Occasional Reader 8/22/2020 4:15:02 PM

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Reply to midwestgak in 17:

also, “feeble Italian attempt at technology“

Kosh's Shadow 8/22/2020 4:17:55 PM

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Reply to midwestgak in 17:

That little Fiat that is sold in the US has the worst new car defect rate - over 200 per 100 vehicles, which means, on average, one car has two defects.

I have had one defect in many Hondas and Toyotas - one defect TOTAL. OK, 2. One car had defective tires (bulges on the side) and it also had a thermostat that failed. 

Fiat stopped selling cars in the US in the 1970's for a long time, because of their reputation. Their (manual) transmissions failed under warranty, and they'd insist it was due to the owners not using the clutch properly.

It was because the gears did not mesh properly - maybe half the width of the gears actually meshed. I learned that from a student in my quantum mechanics class - he was fixing his Fiat and came to class with some of the transmission, and explained the problem.

I would never buy a Fiat. Besides, iirc, Idi Amin was a part owner once.

Kosh's Shadow 8/22/2020 4:22:25 PM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 18:

The Artscroll volumes are not that expensive for what they are - printed in 2 languages, fine binding, etc. I have a lot of them. Some of the Talmud; several Chumashim (Rashi, Rambam, interlinear), Midrash Rabbah, plus volumes from the Kehot (the Chabad Lubavitch publishing house) and others containing the Rebbe's interpretation (not all of which I agree with)

Of course, I was brought up Jewish, Orthodox (except we'd go out and eat clams, lobstah, crabs, shrimp....) -- and Chinese (go to Chink is what they'd say; we'd go to Ho Sai Gai in Newton or Brookline and have pork spare ribs....

lucius septimius 8/22/2020 4:32:40 PM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 21:

Reminds me of a fellow I knew (a friend of Allen Bloom and a character in a Saul Bellow novel) who, in his later years was flirting with Orthodoxy but got hung up on cheeseburgers.  He couldn't eat them because his heart troubles but as someone who had fled Nazi Germany as a boy, cheeseburgers were a central part of his embrace of his new country.  It was a matter of principle.

Kosh's Shadow 8/22/2020 4:47:23 PM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 22:

I can pass on cheeseburgers (but when I make veggie burgers I put fake bacon and cheese on them)

Obligatory jukebox

Kosh's Shadow 8/22/2020 4:49:42 PM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 22:

Now, back when I did eat them, I'd leave nothing of a lobstah but shell, interior shell, antennas.

Even sucked the meat out of the little legs.