On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 10:28:01 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> And by the way, only Marxists read the Guardian ...

Interesting, because somebody over in comp.os.linux.advocacy quoted a
Guardian article as some kind of evidence of the dominance of Microsoft in
the office-suite arena.

Do Marxists use Microsoft products? Or do they prefer Open Source?

Answers on a postcard, please.

On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 14:08:40 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:

> Why would you want to leave Boston?

The real one, or the one that stole the name?

On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 21:05:59 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 10/11/2024 18:28, rbowman wrote:
>> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 10:28:01 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> Once again your insularity has prevented you from understanding how
>>> things are outside Montana. Which is I admit, a very nice place to
>>> live.
>>> If a bit Bible-ish for my taste
>>
>> My understanding goes a bit beyond Montana.
>
> You dun bin as far as Wyoming! Far out!

Yeah, well, we could drop your little ol' island in eastern Montana and
nobody would notice or care except the black footed ferrets. They don't
take kindly to strangers.

btw, you left out 46 other US states, 8 Canadian provinces, and three
Mexican states.

On 2024-11-10, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> On 10/11/2024 09:09, Pancho wrote:
>>
>> Don't you get deer everywhere? You get them in the outskirts of London,
>> certainly just outside the M25 (the London ring road). They seem wild to
>> me. I've never seen them look before crossing the road, and I have
>> actually collided with one when driving. I was lucky and managed to
>> brake, but I know a lot of people who have seriously damaged their cars
>>
> This is totally true and the fact that people think they are cute and
> wont shoot them makes it worse.
>
> Bloody lethal in a crash. Usually a write off at any speed. If you see
> one, stop. It runs across in front of you and the rest all follow blindly.

If you think hitting a deer is bad, you should try hitting a moose.

Niklas
--
"... I've seen Sun monitors on fire off the side of the multimedia lab.
I've seen NTU lights glitter in the dark near the Mail Gate.
All these things will be lost in time, like the root partition last week.
Time to die...". - Peter Gutmann in alt.sysadmin.recovery

On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 22:24:51 +0100, D wrote:

> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> On 10/11/2024 18:02, D wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 10/11/2024 01:14, rbowman wrote:
>>>>> On Sat, 9 Nov 2024 20:37:31 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 09/11/2024 20:19, rbowman wrote:
>>>>>>> On Sat, 9 Nov 2024 06:37:12 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Ive had a lot of experience  with Glaswegian  drunks...This guy
>>>>>>>> was no different. He just wanted someone to pay him the respect
>>>>>>>> of listening to him
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Until recently a drunk in Glascow didn't hate whitey and have a
>>>>>>> Saturday night special in his pocket.
>>>>>> Still doesn't as you would know if you had bothered to travel
>>>>>
>>>>> Are you sure?
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/01/gun-rising-in-two-
thirds-
>>>>> of-police-force-areas-in-england-and-wales
>>>>>
>>>>> Were I to visit Europe it would be Germany, Ireland, and maybe
>>>>> Norway, certainly not Glasgow.
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/all-about/crime
>>>>>
>>>> Both of those sites feature predominately *white* criminals.
>>>>
>>>> And by the way, only Marxists read the Guardian and only total
>>>> imbeciles believe it.
>>>> It has offered its staff free counselling to deal with the shock of a
>>>> a Trump victory...
>>>>
>>>> Once again your insularity has prevented you from understanding how
>>>> things are outside Montana. Which is I admit, a very nice place to
>>>> live. If a bit Bible-ish for my taste
>>>
>>> I see no reference in the quoted text to the color of criminals. Why
>>> does that matter?
>>
>> Look at the pictures.
>>
>> It only matters because of the mildly racist comment that "Until
>> recently a drunk in Glascow didn't hate whitey"
>> Muslims, who do hate whitey, dont drink,
>
> Logically speaking, that sentence does still not imply color. It could
> be a whitey hating a whitey. Also, it does not have to be a muslim, or
> it could be a mix to make matter more complicated.

It could be a Celtic F. C. fan getting rid of one of the orange bastards.
The only good orangeman is Donald Trump.

On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 12:26:05 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:

> Linux just kicked out all the Russian contributors.

Torvalds doubled down by accusing anyone who disagreed of being a Russian
troll. He would have been better off staying silent or pointing out the US
location of the foundation.

On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 22:17:58 +0100, D wrote:

> Wow! The only thing I remember having heard or read is, if meet bear,
> then try to appear huge and make some noise. Maybe it works on cats as
> well?
>
> I guess if you turn and run that might activate the hunting instinct in
> cats?

It definitely works on cats. When one approached to about 50' I waved my
trekking poles and yelled. He wasn't impressed but didn't attack either.
Finally he retreated to a little stand of trees. Unfortunately I had to
pass the area to get down the trail. I gave it a wide berth and he
crouched down with waving tail like an upset house cat. I checked my back
trail frequently but he'd had enough of me. I was wondering to my self why
my firearms were at home leaving me with the poles and a KA-BAR Becker
Campanion. They're great for grooming a trail but not what you'd want to
bring to a cat fight.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm

The recommendation is to fight off black bears and play dead for
grizzlies. I don't think I could do the play dead act. Any black bears
I've encountered either ignored me or ran off. At one time I did have to
pass between a mother and her cubs that were up a tree. I talked to her,
"Cubs? What cubs? I haven't seen any cubs." I would not have done so but
the trail was such neither the bears or I could detour.

On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 19:53:47 GMT, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

> Q: How do you distinguish a black bear from a grizzly?
> A: Run up behind it and kick it in the ass, then climb a tree.
> If it climbs the tree and eats you, it's a black bear. If it knocks
> the tree over and eats you, it's a grizzly.

Q. How do you tell grizzly scat from black bear scat?

A. Black bears scat tends to have undigested berries. Grizzly scat has
little bells and smells like cayenne pepper.

https://www.backpacker.com/trail-news/do-bear-bells-really-work/

I don't know whether the bells work for bears or not but when I here them
I get off the trail. Most people that have the bells also have bear spray
and are nervous as hell.

On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 14:08:40 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:

> Why would you want to leave Boston?

I worked in Boston several times and enjoyed it. One company had its
offices in a building off Memorial Drive next to the Charles. My office
had a great view of the river. When they moved to the old Schrafft candy
factory in Charleston it wasn't anywhere near as scenic.

I liked walking around the city. I would rent a room and drive down from
New Hampshire Sunday evenings, park the car, and then go back to Dover
Friday afternoon unless there was some event over the weekend. I'm not
sure if it was a weekend but one 4th of July they had fireworks in the
harbor with Handel's Water Music simulcast on one of the FM stations.

Like NYC it was fun but I wouldn't want to live there forever. In a way
there was too much going on and it could be a time sink.

On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 19:53:46 GMT, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

> They both had a 350 with a Holley Quadrajet carb, though.
> Any smartass in a 240Z who thought he could block me from merging onto
> the freeway was in for a surprise.

There is something to be said for driving a large beater in places like
that. In the '90s I took a break from programming and drove OTR. I't
amazing the people who would try to play chicken with a semi in their BMWs
or Mercs. The best part was in the freeway construction zones that
bottlenecked down to one lane and they would try to jump ahead. Truckers
didn't even have to coordinate over the CB to block them completely and
force them on the shoulder.

On 11/10/24 3:33 AM, rbowman wrote:
> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 02:08:15 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
>
>> Looks like 1983 was the last year of the traditional inline-six alas
>> - from Chrysler corp. Good engines all in all, just enough and
>> simple. Never quite GOT the Slant-6 ... WHY they slanted it .....
>
> My '86 Ford F150 has a inline-six. I think they went to a V-6 in '87. I
> had a '80 Camaro with an I-6 but the '82 Firebird was a V-6. I'd had a '51
> Chevy with the old stovebolt 6 216 that was rugged despite the strange
> oiling system.
>
> I liked the slant sixes. The slant was to get a lower hood line.
> Supposedly the intake manifold made for better fuel distribution. If you
> wanted to hot rod it there were some good aftermarket designs. The only
> weird thing were the plugs. They sat in a sort of separate metal cup with
> an o-ring but they all were easy to remove.
>
> Then there was my '49 Chrysler with the straight 8. My to-be wife didn't
> enjoy becoming the duty driver. it was fine on the road but parallel
> parking it without power steering kept her biceps tuned up.

A place I worked had a straight-8 truck with 6v ignition.

They put an 8v battery in it - cranked better.

Ran great. Real work-horse. I have heard complaints
that such long engines were hard to COOL though.

I can kinda see the logic of 'lower hood line' for
the Slant-6. However it seems like half a V-12,
so why not .... ? :-)

THESE days with fuel injection and smarter ignition
and aluminum pistons you can likely replace those 200
sixes with a 200 straight or V-4 and get the same or
even better performance. But, for for the day ...
the tough/simple/ez-service cast-iron solution.

On 2024-11-10, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:

> On 10 Nov 2024 15:20:00 GMT, William wrote:
>
>> They are not nearly as much fun as they used to be?. I hope to be able
>> to write through vim with out misspressings before I die. Oh, Oh,
>> another twinge,
>
> My problem with vim isn't with vim; it's the odd :w and other artifacts I
> leave if forced to use other editors. Lately I've been using VS Code which
> has a very nice vim extension.

I use vi[m] a lot; my most common gotcha when using another editor is
when a bunch of "j"s appear on the screen when I'm trying to move down.

--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Growth for the sake of
\ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | growth is the ideology
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | of the cancer cell.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | -- Edward Abbey

On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 19:44:38 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:

> THESE days with fuel injection and smarter ignition
> and aluminum pistons you can likely replace those 200 sixes with a
> 200 straight or V-4 and get the same or even better performance. But,
> for for the day ... the tough/simple/ez-service cast-iron solution.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/reviews/a5041/
performance-tests-first-drives-1965-ford-mustang-r-and-t-archive-drive/

They didn't deign to test the 6, only the 260 and 289 V-8s but

"The straight-line performance of the Mustangs we tried was about what you
would expect. In all three versions, there was a tendency to lift the
right rear wheel under hard acceleration but once underway the Mustang
accelerated away at a brisk rate—the 289 4-speed getting through the
standing quarter mile in about 16 sec, the automatic making it in about
17, a second slower, and the 3-speed 260 being about a second slower that
that."

https://www.zeroto60times.com/vehicle-make/toyota-0-60-mph-times/

Most of the Yaris quarter mile times are in the 17 second range. The I4
engine is a whipping 91 cubic inches (1.5 L). 2018 was the last year for
the Yaris hatchback in the US. Even then the 4 door sedan was a rebadged
Mazda 2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_GR_Yaris

I'd love to get one of those but that's not happening in the US.

Looking back at the '60s and '70s is depressing when it comes to what we
thought were cool rides. I had a '71 AMC Javelin rental that I thought was
a classy way to get around Minnesota at 90 mph or so.

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vintage-reviews/vintage-road-test-1971-
amc-javelin-road-test-magazine-evaluates-a-regular-pony-car/

360 ci and 16.08 in the quarter. A Prius might embarrass it stop light to
stop light.

I don't think Moore's Law is applicable to cars but there is the same
relationship when I compare my phone to hot computers of the past.

On Mon, 10 Nov 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 21:05:59 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> On 10/11/2024 18:28, rbowman wrote:
>>> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 10:28:01 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>
>>>> Once again your insularity has prevented you from understanding how
>>>> things are outside Montana. Which is I admit, a very nice place to
>>>> live.
>>>> If a bit Bible-ish for my taste
>>>
>>> My understanding goes a bit beyond Montana.
>>
>> You dun bin as far as Wyoming! Far out!
>
> Yeah, well, we could drop your little ol' island in eastern Montana and
> nobody would notice or care except the black footed ferrets. They don't
> take kindly to strangers.
>
> btw, you left out 46 other US states, 8 Canadian provinces, and three
> Mexican states.
>

It's very typical of arrogant europeans to do so. I apologize on his
behalf. =(

On Mon, 10 Nov 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 22:24:51 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> On 10/11/2024 18:02, D wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 10/11/2024 01:14, rbowman wrote:
>>>>>> On Sat, 9 Nov 2024 20:37:31 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 09/11/2024 20:19, rbowman wrote:
>>>>>>>> On Sat, 9 Nov 2024 06:37:12 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Ive had a lot of experience  with Glaswegian  drunks...This guy
>>>>>>>>> was no different. He just wanted someone to pay him the respect
>>>>>>>>> of listening to him
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Until recently a drunk in Glascow didn't hate whitey and have a
>>>>>>>> Saturday night special in his pocket.
>>>>>>> Still doesn't as you would know if you had bothered to travel
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Are you sure?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/01/gun-rising-in-two-
> thirds-
>>>>>> of-police-force-areas-in-england-and-wales
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Were I to visit Europe it would be Germany, Ireland, and maybe
>>>>>> Norway, certainly not Glasgow.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/all-about/crime
>>>>>>
>>>>> Both of those sites feature predominately *white* criminals.
>>>>>
>>>>> And by the way, only Marxists read the Guardian and only total
>>>>> imbeciles believe it.
>>>>> It has offered its staff free counselling to deal with the shock of a
>>>>> a Trump victory...
>>>>>
>>>>> Once again your insularity has prevented you from understanding how
>>>>> things are outside Montana. Which is I admit, a very nice place to
>>>>> live. If a bit Bible-ish for my taste
>>>>
>>>> I see no reference in the quoted text to the color of criminals. Why
>>>> does that matter?
>>>
>>> Look at the pictures.
>>>
>>> It only matters because of the mildly racist comment that "Until
>>> recently a drunk in Glascow didn't hate whitey"
>>> Muslims, who do hate whitey, dont drink,
>>
>> Logically speaking, that sentence does still not imply color. It could
>> be a whitey hating a whitey. Also, it does not have to be a muslim, or
>> it could be a mix to make matter more complicated.
>
> It could be a Celtic F. C. fan getting rid of one of the orange bastards.
> The only good orangeman is Donald Trump.

This is the truth!

On Mon, 10 Nov 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 12:26:05 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
>
>
>> Linux just kicked out all the Russian contributors.
>
> Torvalds doubled down by accusing anyone who disagreed of being a Russian
> troll. He would have been better off staying silent or pointing out the US
> location of the foundation.

He has lost a lot of credibility after attending woke courses. Could also
be that he is being blackmailed... "Say this or we'll kick you out".

On Mon, 11 Nov 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 22:17:58 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> Wow! The only thing I remember having heard or read is, if meet bear,
>> then try to appear huge and make some noise. Maybe it works on cats as
>> well?
>>
>> I guess if you turn and run that might activate the hunting instinct in
>> cats?
>
> It definitely works on cats. When one approached to about 50' I waved my
> trekking poles and yelled. He wasn't impressed but didn't attack either.
> Finally he retreated to a little stand of trees. Unfortunately I had to
> pass the area to get down the trail. I gave it a wide berth and he
> crouched down with waving tail like an upset house cat. I checked my back
> trail frequently but he'd had enough of me. I was wondering to my self why
> my firearms were at home leaving me with the poles and a KA-BAR Becker
> Campanion. They're great for grooming a trail but not what you'd want to
> bring to a cat fight.

Must have been a tense moment!

> https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm

I always wondered about that climbing thing. If the choice was between
meeting an attacking bear (without guns) on a level field, vs climbing up
a sturdy tree, and trying to kick it in the face from above, I always
thought that it sounded more pleasant to kick it in the head from above,
than being crushed on open ground.

> The recommendation is to fight off black bears and play dead for
> grizzlies. I don't think I could do the play dead act. Any black bears
> I've encountered either ignored me or ran off. At one time I did have to
> pass between a mother and her cubs that were up a tree. I talked to her,
> "Cubs? What cubs? I haven't seen any cubs." I would not have done so but
> the trail was such neither the bears or I could detour.

You don't think it was your soothing tenor voice that kept her calm? ;)

On Mon, 11 Nov 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 14:08:40 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
>
>> Why would you want to leave Boston?
>
> I worked in Boston several times and enjoyed it. One company had its
> offices in a building off Memorial Drive next to the Charles. My office
> had a great view of the river. When they moved to the old Schrafft candy
> factory in Charleston it wasn't anywhere near as scenic.
>
> I liked walking around the city. I would rent a room and drive down from
> New Hampshire Sunday evenings, park the car, and then go back to Dover
> Friday afternoon unless there was some event over the weekend. I'm not
> sure if it was a weekend but one 4th of July they had fireworks in the
> harbor with Handel's Water Music simulcast on one of the FM stations.
>
> Like NYC it was fun but I wouldn't want to live there forever. In a way
> there was too much going on and it could be a time sink.
>

It was many years ago since I last visited, but I much preferred Boston
over New York. But I also prefer Chicago over Boston, so I think the list
of preference runs Chicago, Boston, New York. If all the druggies were
removed, and disregarding the democrats, I think San Francisco would be
among the top three as well.

On 10/11/2024 21:17, D wrote:
>
>
> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024, rbowman wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 11:18:57 +0100, D wrote:
>>
>>> If I moved there I sure would need a .357 Magnum do defend myself if
>>> those cats are loose! I'd better practice my quick draw!
>>
>> I've had several encounters with cats without bloodshed. They have a
>> profile for prey and I don't fit it. Mountain bikers and joggers fit the
>> fleeing prey envelope rather well. Small children are vulnerable. The
>> last
>> fatality in this state was in 1989, a 5 year old riding a tricycle.
>>
>> Not to anthropomorphize but in my encounters we made eye contact and
>> eventually went our separate ways. My feeling was the cat was curious
>> about this thing standing its ground and concluded it was another apex
>> predator best left alone.
>
> Wow! The only thing I remember having heard or read is, if meet bear,
> then try to appear huge and make some noise. Maybe it works on cats as
> well?
>
> I guess if you turn and run that might activate the hunting instinct in
> cats?
>
>> When there are too many around there's a hunting season. Most hunt them
>> with dogs. It's a balancing act. Reduce the cat population too much and
>> you wind up knee deep in elk.
>
> Mmmm... nice meat!
>
>> I sometimes carry a .357 when I'm in known grizzly territory although
>> it's
>> too light. The preferred weapon is a pump shotgun loaded with alternate
>> slug and buckshot rounds. afaik I've only encountered one grizzly and I
>> retreated with no problem. Many trailheads have signs describing
>> identifying grizzly versus black bears but many people assume a brown
>> bear
>> is a grizzly but black bears come in a variety of shades.
>
>
Most wild animals - and domesticated ones - will only attack if they
feel threatened, or they are very hungry.

Why risk injury otherwise?

Making yourself look scarier than you are works for hungry animals, but
not for those that already feel threatened.

Bill Bryson's 'a walk in the woods' concludes a chapter on how to deal
with bears with

'Mostly bears don't attack. Sometimes they do'.

--
“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the
greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most
obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of
conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which
they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by
thread, into the fabric of their lives.”

― Leo Tolstoy

On 10/11/2024 21:20, D wrote:
>
>
> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024, rbowman wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 10:23:17 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> Oh dear.  The amateur view of history.
>>
>> No, the non Brit-centric view.
>>
>
> I'll go with the non Brit-centric view. In the spirit of travel and
> experience, I think the broader view is the more nuanced one.

Its certainly more nuanced than the US centric one.
Britain was a global power long before the USA even existed. USA is a
parochial and smug country.

Isolationism led to Pearl Harbour...and 911

--
New Socialism consists essentially in being seen to have your heart in
the right place whilst your head is in the clouds and your hand is in
someone else's pocket.

The Natural Philosopher wrote this post while blinking in Morse code:

> On 10/11/2024 21:17, D wrote:
>>
>> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024, rbowman wrote:
>>
>>> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 11:18:57 +0100, D wrote:
>>>
>>>> If I moved there I sure would need a .357 Magnum do defend myself if
>>>> those cats are loose! I'd better practice my quick draw!
>>>
>>> I've had several encounters with cats without bloodshed. They have a
>>> profile for prey and I don't fit it. Mountain bikers and joggers fit the
>>> fleeing prey envelope rather well. Small children are vulnerable. The
>>> last
>>> fatality in this state was in 1989, a 5 year old riding a tricycle.
>>>
>>> Not to anthropomorphize but in my encounters we made eye contact and
>>> eventually went our separate ways. My feeling was the cat was curious
>>> about this thing standing its ground and concluded it was another apex
>>> predator best left alone.
>>
>> Wow! The only thing I remember having heard or read is, if meet bear,
>> then try to appear huge and make some noise. Maybe it works on cats as
>> well?
>>
>> I guess if you turn and run that might activate the hunting instinct in
>> cats?
>>
>>> When there are too many around there's a hunting season. Most hunt them
>>> with dogs. It's a balancing act. Reduce the cat population too much and
>>> you wind up knee deep in elk.
>>
>> Mmmm... nice meat!
>>
>>> I sometimes carry a .357 when I'm in known grizzly territory although
>>> it's
>>> too light. The preferred weapon is a pump shotgun loaded with alternate
>>> slug and buckshot rounds. afaik I've only encountered one grizzly and I
>>> retreated with no problem. Many trailheads have signs describing
>>> identifying grizzly versus black bears but many people assume a brown
>>> bear
>>> is a grizzly but black bears come in a variety of shades.
>>
>>
> Most wild animals - and domesticated ones - will only attack if they
> feel threatened, or they are very hungry.
>
> Why risk injury otherwise?
>
> Making yourself look scarier than you are works for hungry animals, but
> not for those that already feel threatened.
>
> Bill Bryson's 'a walk in the woods' concludes a chapter on how to deal
> with bears with
>
> 'Mostly bears don't attack. Sometimes they do'.

Choose the bear, gals.

--
Your goose is cooked.
(Your current chick is burned up too!)

On 2024-11-10, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> On 10/11/2024 01:59, Niklas Karlsson wrote:
>> On 2024-11-08, Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> I think mediaeval monks ate pretty well, certainly better than the
>>> peasants. Ascetics they weren’t.
>>
>> And there was the beer...
>>
>> Niklas
>
> Well yes, so weak that people could drink a gallon of it without
> becoming drunk.
> Bit like American beer.
> [hard] Cider was the real McCoy. And mead. And wine.

That's what I hear about beer among the great unwashed, certainly, but I
was under the impression that monastery beer was quite a different
matter. I could be mistaken, of course.

Niklas
--
Kids have it easy today. All they have to listen to is stories about
how back in the '70s we had to listen to stories about how bad it was
back in the '30s. --Keith Lynch

On 11/11/2024 13:30, Niklas Karlsson wrote:
> On 2024-11-10, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> On 10/11/2024 01:59, Niklas Karlsson wrote:
>>> On 2024-11-08, Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I think mediaeval monks ate pretty well, certainly better than the
>>>> peasants. Ascetics they weren’t.
>>>
>>> And there was the beer...
>>>
>>> Niklas
>>
>> Well yes, so weak that people could drink a gallon of it without
>> becoming drunk.
>> Bit like American beer.
>> [hard] Cider was the real McCoy. And mead. And wine.
>
> That's what I hear about beer among the great unwashed, certainly, but I
> was under the impression that monastery beer was quite a different
> matter. I could be mistaken, of course.
>
Later on it was.

But a huge amount of drinking was not to get drunk. It was to have a
liquid that was safe to drink in large quantities that was free from bugs.

People who didn't drink from the river, but drank beer instead didn't
have the squits.

So they didn't let the fermentation go all the way.

Just enough to rapidly produce a pleasant safer drink for thirsty
peasants...

> Niklas

--
"The great thing about Glasgow is that if there's a nuclear attack it'll
look exactly the same afterwards."

Billy Connolly

In comp.os.linux.misc D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
>
>
> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024, rbowman wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 11:18:57 +0100, D wrote:
>>
>>> If I moved there I sure would need a .357 Magnum do defend myself if
>>> those cats are loose! I'd better practice my quick draw!
>>
>> I've had several encounters with cats without bloodshed. They have a
>> profile for prey and I don't fit it. Mountain bikers and joggers fit the
>> fleeing prey envelope rather well. Small children are vulnerable. The last
>> fatality in this state was in 1989, a 5 year old riding a tricycle.
>>
>> Not to anthropomorphize but in my encounters we made eye contact and
>> eventually went our separate ways. My feeling was the cat was curious
>> about this thing standing its ground and concluded it was another apex
>> predator best left alone.
>
> Wow! The only thing I remember having heard or read is, if meet bear, then
> try to appear huge and make some noise. Maybe it works on cats as well?

Do keep in mind that outside of African savanna cats, the 'cats' that
someone will encounter backwoods in the US will be quite a bit smaller
than a bear (both in weight and in size). So a standing human, holding
his/her gound, will appear to the cat to be a possible 'foe' of 2x to
3x their height.

Bears, not so much, since they start out out-weighing the human at the
outset, and if they stand up, will usually be able to stare down at the
human as well.

> I guess if you turn and run that might activate the hunting instinct in
> cats?

That would very much trigger a "prey..., hunt now" instinct, in the cat.

On 11/11/2024 15:51, Rich wrote:
>> I guess if you turn and run that might activate the hunting instinct in
>> cats?
> That would very much trigger a "prey..., hunt now" instinct, in the cat.

I watched my cat fight a weasel years ago. The weasel ran, the cat ran
and pounced, The weasel turned and reared up baring its teeth. The cat
backed off.

In the end the cat got it.

I strapped it to my neighbours car aerial. He never noticed his new
'mascot'...

--
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere,
diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”
― Groucho Marx