On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:47:30 +0100, D wrote:

> Two handed? That's for nerds! In all cowboy movies I've seen it's one
> handed! And drawing is losing time, just shoot straight from the hip.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaver_stance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isosceles_Stance

The 'modern' technique is how the military, police, and competitive
shooters train these days. I'd always used the classic one handed target
shooting stance and it took a while to learn.

From some of the bodycam footage cops tend to revert to one handed point
shooting and we're back to Fairbairn.

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

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 15:15:39 +0100, D wrote:

> It is very strange. With all the internet at your fingertips, how can
> you not go down rabbit holes? If you really want to take it above and
> beyond,
> there's plenty of free academic papers about every conceivable (and
> inconceivable) area.

I was always good at finding rabbit holes but it used to take visits to
multiple libraries as well as hunting down and buying obscure books. I'm
in hog heaven with the internet.

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 15:14:06 +0100, D wrote:
>
>
>>
>> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:14:29 +0100, D wrote:
>>>
>>>> Anecdotally, I heard a story that once my grandfather visited sweden,
>>>> from iceland. And for some reason he and my mother were visiting the
>>>> country side in the north where they have a very strange dialect.
>>>> Apparently he could speak with an old man there in icelandic, and the
>>>> old man could speak this very rare dialect and they would understand
>>>> each other.
>>>
>>> Translators tend to get into cat fights over their versions. One of the
>>> Icelanders alleged only they could accurately translate Old Norse since
>>> they were still speaking it.
>>
>> I do not agree. I agree it is close, but I find it improbable that
>> nothing has changed for a thousand years. They did have a nationalist
>> revival where I think purged some foreign words and tried to move it
>> back a bit.
>
> I took it with a grain of salt. It's a different time frame but while
> Quebec French may be closer to 17th century French than the current
> Parisian version it hasn't been preserved in amber.
>
> https://www.sequentia.org/recordings/recording23.html
>
> Bagby tried for the most accurate reproductions of medieval music possible
> and iirc Sequentia spent a few months in Iceland working on the material,
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLmzPKPcKmc

Very interesting, thank you. Based on my very basic knowledge of modern
icelandic, and without cheating, I'd say that "Nú erum komnar til konungs
húsa" means something similar to "Now we have come to the kings house".

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 15:21:51 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> We will see. When the wife drags me on a trip to the US, we'll stay for
>> 2-3 weeks atleast and then there will be plenty of scouting.
>
> That's the condensed version. In '88 I spend from May to October scouting
> out the US west of Texas. I'd already poked around the eastern states
> extensively. It's a big place :)

This is the truth! And it will become bigger still, when Canada joins the
union! ;)

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:53:30 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> Yes, this is the truth! I'm not hardcore enough to go icefishing though.
>> My wifes father loves it! He can sit an entire day in his overall in -15
>> or -20 and fish. He has invited me, but that's too much. Out there on
>> the ice, without any trees, it's even worse!
>
> Apropos, I am reading Asa Larsson's 'The Black Path'. It starts when a man
> in his ice fishing shack (translated as 'ark'?) steps out to take a leak.
> A sudden squall sends the shack skating away and he realizes he is in
> trouble. He manages to find another ark, breaks in, fires up the Calor
> heater, and discovers the frozen body on the bunk.

Never heard it but it is true! Ark, I also see isfisketält (ice fishing
tent) which is what I would say. When my father was a child his father had
one of those I think, with ice skate blades on it, so it was very easy to
push out on the ice.

> We set up a dinnerware molding plant in Minnesota in the winter, of
> course. At least there are no mosquitoes in the winter. On the drive out
> from St. Paul I'd pass Lake Minnewaska. I think the whole town moves out
> on the ice for the winter.

This is the truth! During autumn they start to disappear. Then you can sit
outside all night without any mosquitoes, very nice for fishingand just
general camping!

> https://www.life.com/lifestyle/the-joys-of-minnesota-ice-fishing/

> The Minnewaska House had excellent meals and you could still eat the pike.
> Looking out the windows at the shacks was as close as I wanted to get.

Pike is a very nice fish for cooking! Another advantage with winter is
that there are no ticks! =D

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:47:30 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> Two handed? That's for nerds! In all cowboy movies I've seen it's one
>> handed! And drawing is losing time, just shoot straight from the hip.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaver_stance
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isosceles_Stance
>
> The 'modern' technique is how the military, police, and competitive
> shooters train these days. I'd always used the classic one handed target
> shooting stance and it took a while to learn.
>
> From some of the bodycam footage cops tend to revert to one handed point
> shooting and we're back to Fairbairn.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_shooting
>

Point shooting for the win! I would have two guns of course, so I'd have a
2:1 advantage over the nerds who just use one! ;)

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 15:15:39 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> It is very strange. With all the internet at your fingertips, how can
>> you not go down rabbit holes? If you really want to take it above and
>> beyond,
>> there's plenty of free academic papers about every conceivable (and
>> inconceivable) area.
>
> I was always good at finding rabbit holes but it used to take visits to
> multiple libraries as well as hunting down and buying obscure books. I'm
> in hog heaven with the internet.
>

Same here! I remember when I was young, sometimes I'd go to the library
after school to find books on various subjects which interested me. I had
a period when I was reading a lot of japanese buddhist books. I also had a
time when I was reading a lot of magic books.

I still remember going to the library desk asking the woman behind the
counter which section I should go to, or the TUI terminals where I could
search and find the right section my self.

In a small annex to the main library in Stockholm, they used to have a
small computer history museum with about 10 old mini computers. I always
wondered what happened with those. I don't think this small mini museum
still exists and I do pray the machines were not thrown away, but perhaps
exist in a storage area somewhere!

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 22:57:10 +0100, D wrote:

> In a small annex to the main library in Stockholm, they used to have a
> small computer history museum with about 10 old mini computers. I always
> wondered what happened with those. I don't think this small mini museum
> still exists and I do pray the machines were not thrown away, but
> perhaps exist in a storage area somewhere!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Computer_Museum,_Boston

Hopefully most of the collection survived. That's not always the case.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamtown,_U.S.A.

I never went to the Pennsylvania site but a good deal of the collection
was sold off. I'm not a gambler so the main attraction for me in Reno was
the gun collection at Harold's Club. The collection was sold off.

https://gunshopguide.com/roaring-camp-gun-collection-harolds-club/

It isn't in that list but they had a punt gun.

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

Harrah's car collection was also dispersed although the National Auto
Museum is worthwhile. They have one of Harrah's creations, a Jerrari. It's
a '77 Jeep Wagoneer with a V-12 engine from a Ferrari 365. Harrah didn't
like to waste time motoring around the desert.

I love the small town museums and hope they make it to the future. They
tend to have very idiosyncratic collections of old stuff stuffed in the
corners. They're much more fun than the antiseptic museums designed by
professionals. They seem to be aimed at people taking videos on their cell
phones as they walk through rapidly.

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 22:40:17 +0100, D wrote:

> Very interesting, thank you. Based on my very basic knowledge of modern
> icelandic, and without cheating, I'd say that "Nú erum komnar til
> konungs húsa" means something similar to "Now we have come to the kings
> house".

I've got the first volume of Jesse Byock's 'Viking Language' on the shelf.
One of these days, honest. I didn't know he had made MP3s available. I'll
have to download those.

https://www.amazon.ca/Viking-Language-Learn-Norse-Icelandic/dp/1480216445

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr0gSsI4t_4

That's a 15 minute video of archaeologists at work at the Mosfell
Archaeological Project. It looks like a nice place to dig. I recall one
archaeologist working in a heavily populated area, Java iirc, saying it
was incredibly difficult since every place you wanted to dig was
somebody's back yard. They're also lucky to find the mound intact. In the
US many of the Mound Builder sites were destroyed by farmers leveling that
inconvenient bump in the middle of their field.

Byock is in touch with reality. Many point to Iceland as an example of a
libertarian society; in one of his book's he characterizes it as a society
of feuding farmers.

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 22:46:42 +0100, D wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 15:21:51 +0100, D wrote:
>>
>>> We will see. When the wife drags me on a trip to the US, we'll stay
>>> for 2-3 weeks atleast and then there will be plenty of scouting.
>>
>> That's the condensed version. In '88 I spend from May to October
>> scouting out the US west of Texas. I'd already poked around the eastern
>> states extensively. It's a big place :)
>
> This is the truth! And it will become bigger still, when Canada joins
> the union! ;)

To say nothing of Greenland. I'm surprised Denmark got its hackles up. A
cash sale versus pouring in a few billion kroner a year? It must have
something to do with Denmark's long history of losing real estate; they
want to hang on to the little they have.

I was surprised when I read the suicide rate in Greenland peaks in the
summer. I guess it's easier to stay drunk in the winter without the light
hurting your hungover eyes.

I think it was Ernest Gann who talked about flying transports in WWII and
refueling in Greenland. The fjords looked all the same; pick the wrong one
and you were screwed.

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 22:52:48 +0100, D wrote:

> This is the truth! During autumn they start to disappear. Then you can
> sit outside all night without any mosquitoes, very nice for fishingand
> just general camping!

No wonder Scandinavians gravitated to Minnesota; just like home! Why the
Somalis went there beats me. An advantage of a semi-arid climate is the
mosquitoes flourish for a couple of weeks, and some years not at all. I
think I saw three this summer and only one tick. Every spring I spray my
hiking clothes down with Permethrin, It doesn't repel ticks but scrambles
their nervous system. I've seen ticks make it half way up my leg before
running out of steam. For actual repellent it's DEET all the way. The hell
with eco-friendly patchouli flavored organic tea tree oil or whatever.

On 12/24/24 9:28 AM, D wrote:
>
>
> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
>
>>> Ahh... but let's wait and see...
>>>
>>> "The findings, posted on the preprint server arXiv but not yet
>>> published in a
>>> peer-reviewed journal, have attracted both global attention and
>>> skepticism".
>>
>>  Oh, I agree there ... but one of the main points was
>>  that the instrumentation/methods were much improved
>>  yet STILL showed the mysterious effect (just in better
>>  detail).
>>
>>  So, downstream, I expect this is gonna be deemed REAL.
>>
>>  And it's REALLY weird.
>>
>>  Seems like every time instrumentation improves by even
>>  2X then The Science has to leap ahead 10X.
>
> This is the truth! It almost feels like Moores law kind of. The further
> we go,
> the more time and money needs to be invested to reach the next level.
>
> I wonder how many paradigm shifts and quantum leaps remain to be
> exploited? I'd
> like to have anti-gravity!! And in computing, I'd like to see a shift to
> a new
> paradigm during my time left on the planet.

I have doubts on 'anti-gravity'. It'd require 'un-bending'
spacetime. If it doesn't require as much energy to unbend
then 'perpetual motion' machines become possible.

As for paradigms ... we're still kinda using Babbage's
machine - nice orderly distinct steps at a time. Going
parallel, well, it's just multiple Babbage approaches
stapled together. 'Quantum', if they can ever deal
with the error issues, may be a glimpse at that
'next paradigm'.

>>>>  Better find a way, quick, to push up human IQ into
>>>>  the 500 range, WITHOUT causing insanity.
>>>
>>> What is IQ? What is intelligence? We are fumbling around in the dark.
>>> Is a human
>>> + a computer a 200 IQ person? Stanislaw Lem writes in one of his
>>> books about
>>> knowledge factories. It was a long time I read it, but it kind of
>>> gave me the
>>> impression he is thinking about AI-farms churning out theories and
>>> science.
>>
>>  Beyond a certain point nobody is SURE what "IQ" means.
>>  It's kind of the problem where you're trying to describe
>>  yourself - but the very attempt at description ALTERS
>>  the equation. Very quantum  :-)
>
> Yes.
>
>>  I've met a few people with EXTREME 'IQ' over the years.
>>  One seemed kinda 'normal', but just had kinda superhuman
>>  math abilities/perspective. The other two were, well,
>>  NOT so 'normal' - skittish, borderline autistic,
>>  'borderline' in general.
>>
>>  But we're still talking IQ-200 max here. What the hell
>>  would 300 or 500 look like ??? Note effective intellectual
>>  ability is not proportional to the IQ score. 120 is MUCH
>>  more capable than 100.
>
> I imagine that our IQ scales (as bad as they might be) start to break down
> beyond a certain level.

The practical limit for "IQ" measurement is
around 200 - and even that's getting up into
error territory. "IQ" is ok for maybe 70 to
140. That fits for MOST people.

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 22:57:10 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> In a small annex to the main library in Stockholm, they used to have a
>> small computer history museum with about 10 old mini computers. I always
>> wondered what happened with those. I don't think this small mini museum
>> still exists and I do pray the machines were not thrown away, but
>> perhaps exist in a storage area somewhere!
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Computer_Museum,_Boston
>
> Hopefully most of the collection survived. That's not always the case.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamtown,_U.S.A.
>
> I never went to the Pennsylvania site but a good deal of the collection
> was sold off. I'm not a gambler so the main attraction for me in Reno was
> the gun collection at Harold's Club. The collection was sold off.
>
> https://gunshopguide.com/roaring-camp-gun-collection-harolds-club/
>
> It isn't in that list but they had a punt gun.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_gun
>
> Harrah's car collection was also dispersed although the National Auto
> Museum is worthwhile. They have one of Harrah's creations, a Jerrari. It's
> a '77 Jeep Wagoneer with a V-12 engine from a Ferrari 365. Harrah didn't
> like to waste time motoring around the desert.
>
> I love the small town museums and hope they make it to the future. They
> tend to have very idiosyncratic collections of old stuff stuffed in the
> corners. They're much more fun than the antiseptic museums designed by
> professionals. They seem to be aimed at people taking videos on their cell
> phones as they walk through rapidly.

This is the truth! However, my wife gets angry with me when we go to
museum. She frequently complains "do you have to read everything and watch
everything? We'll be stuck here for _hours_!" so it is better for me to go
by myself, because then I can take my time and not run through the museum
missing at least half of the items. ;)

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 22:40:17 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> Very interesting, thank you. Based on my very basic knowledge of modern
>> icelandic, and without cheating, I'd say that "Nú erum komnar til
>> konungs húsa" means something similar to "Now we have come to the kings
>> house".
>
> I've got the first volume of Jesse Byock's 'Viking Language' on the shelf.
> One of these days, honest. I didn't know he had made MP3s available. I'll
> have to download those.
>
> https://www.amazon.ca/Viking-Language-Learn-Norse-Icelandic/dp/1480216445
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr0gSsI4t_4
>
> That's a 15 minute video of archaeologists at work at the Mosfell

Hmm, the name rings a bell. I have a vague memory visiting Mosfell as a
child, with my parents, for some reason or other. But apart from the name,
don't remember much.

> Archaeological Project. It looks like a nice place to dig. I recall one
> archaeologist working in a heavily populated area, Java iirc, saying it
> was incredibly difficult since every place you wanted to dig was
> somebody's back yard. They're also lucky to find the mound intact. In the
> US many of the Mound Builder sites were destroyed by farmers leveling that
> inconvenient bump in the middle of their field.
>
> Byock is in touch with reality. Many point to Iceland as an example of a
> libertarian society; in one of his book's he characterizes it as a society
> of feuding farmers.

Yes, the land-taking/settlement era of iceland is often used as a
libertarian example. Remember (well, you probably already know I'm sure)
that many of the first settlers were oppressed by the king of norway, so
I'm certain the last thing they wanted when having found the island, was
to setup a new king who could dominate them.

As a libertarian, my favourite argument against libertarianism, is that it
is very unstable, and very likely to be attacked from without, or over
time, to be converted into kingdoms with serfs. To democrats (who believe
in democracy, and a big state) I always argue that modern democracy is
about 200 years old or so, and has definitely not been stress tested as
much as ancient libertarian societies, and that it equally looks as if it
might be turned into kingdoms with serfs. Another line of argument is
modern weapons and technologies which might serve to stabilize a
theoretical libertarian country, or, it might serve to accelerate its
downfall. Who knows?

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 22:46:42 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
>>
>>> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 15:21:51 +0100, D wrote:
>>>
>>>> We will see. When the wife drags me on a trip to the US, we'll stay
>>>> for 2-3 weeks atleast and then there will be plenty of scouting.
>>>
>>> That's the condensed version. In '88 I spend from May to October
>>> scouting out the US west of Texas. I'd already poked around the eastern
>>> states extensively. It's a big place :)
>>
>> This is the truth! And it will become bigger still, when Canada joins
>> the union! ;)
>
> To say nothing of Greenland. I'm surprised Denmark got its hackles up. A
> cash sale versus pouring in a few billion kroner a year? It must have
> something to do with Denmark's long history of losing real estate; they
> want to hang on to the little they have.

This is ridiuclous! Greenland is just losing them money, and should a war
happen, they have _no_ capability of defending it either as one of the
tiniest countries on the planet. They should sell it while they are ahead,
or possibly bargain to sell the country, while retaining rights to oil and
minerals, if that is why they are holding back. Maybe they expect hueg
oil, gas and mineral findings? But if so, why haven't they exploited
those?

> I was surprised when I read the suicide rate in Greenland peaks in the
> summer. I guess it's easier to stay drunk in the winter without the light
> hurting your hungover eyes.

Be careful! Sweden has been rumoured to be very fond of suicide, but I've
heard that it is a modern myth, and that there aren't in fact that many
more suicides per capita, compared with other countries.

> I think it was Ernest Gann who talked about flying transports in WWII and
> refueling in Greenland. The fjords looked all the same; pick the wrong one
> and you were screwed.

Sounds reasonable! Did you know that the vikings had farms in greenland? I
wonder how that was possible, since the only thing that changes the
weather is cars. Hmm. ;)

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 22:52:48 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> This is the truth! During autumn they start to disappear. Then you can
>> sit outside all night without any mosquitoes, very nice for fishingand
>> just general camping!
>
> No wonder Scandinavians gravitated to Minnesota; just like home! Why the
> Somalis went there beats me. An advantage of a semi-arid climate is the

The somalis, like ticks, enjoy living off scandinavians. They do it in
sweden too! ;)

> mosquitoes flourish for a couple of weeks, and some years not at all. I
> think I saw three this summer and only one tick. Every spring I spray my

Please tell me you killed the tick! I do not like them at all.

> hiking clothes down with Permethrin, It doesn't repel ticks but scrambles
> their nervous system. I've seen ticks make it half way up my leg before
> running out of steam. For actual repellent it's DEET all the way. The hell
> with eco-friendly patchouli flavored organic tea tree oil or whatever.

Hah! Tell me about it! My wifes mother loves everything eco, alternative
and hippie! She dabs me with some weird smelling pine oil + vegetable mix
that does absolutely nothing to repel mosquitoes.

It is very fascinating how ticks are attracted to different people. I get
between 0-3 or so per summer depending on how much I need to walk through
bushes and underbrush on my way to fishing spots.

In the country house the neighbour have a daughter, and when she was a
child she was literally rolling around in meter high gras in a field, and
she never got any ticks. Very strange. She must be blessed!

With ticks, my best strategy is to check myself religiously and remove
them as quickly as possible. I use pincers, and just gently pull them
straight out.

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:

> On 12/24/24 9:28 AM, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Tue, 24 Dec 2024, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
>>
>>>> Ahh... but let's wait and see...
>>>>
>>>> "The findings, posted on the preprint server arXiv but not yet published
>>>> in a
>>>> peer-reviewed journal, have attracted both global attention and
>>>> skepticism".
>>>
>>>  Oh, I agree there ... but one of the main points was
>>>  that the instrumentation/methods were much improved
>>>  yet STILL showed the mysterious effect (just in better
>>>  detail).
>>>
>>>  So, downstream, I expect this is gonna be deemed REAL.
>>>
>>>  And it's REALLY weird.
>>>
>>>  Seems like every time instrumentation improves by even
>>>  2X then The Science has to leap ahead 10X.
>>
>> This is the truth! It almost feels like Moores law kind of. The further we
>> go,
>> the more time and money needs to be invested to reach the next level.
>>
>> I wonder how many paradigm shifts and quantum leaps remain to be exploited?
>> I'd
>> like to have anti-gravity!! And in computing, I'd like to see a shift to a
>> new
>> paradigm during my time left on the planet.
>
> I have doubts on 'anti-gravity'. It'd require 'un-bending'
> spacetime. If it doesn't require as much energy to unbend
> then 'perpetual motion' machines become possible.

I think you are right, but I hope you are wrong. ;)

> As for paradigms ... we're still kinda using Babbage's
> machine - nice orderly distinct steps at a time. Going
> parallel, well, it's just multiple Babbage approaches
> stapled together. 'Quantum', if they can ever deal
> with the error issues, may be a glimpse at that
> 'next paradigm'.

This is the truth!

>
>>>>>  Better find a way, quick, to push up human IQ into
>>>>>  the 500 range, WITHOUT causing insanity.
>>>>
>>>> What is IQ? What is intelligence? We are fumbling around in the dark. Is
>>>> a human
>>>> + a computer a 200 IQ person? Stanislaw Lem writes in one of his books
>>>> about
>>>> knowledge factories. It was a long time I read it, but it kind of gave me
>>>> the
>>>> impression he is thinking about AI-farms churning out theories and
>>>> science.
>>>
>>>  Beyond a certain point nobody is SURE what "IQ" means.
>>>  It's kind of the problem where you're trying to describe
>>>  yourself - but the very attempt at description ALTERS
>>>  the equation. Very quantum  :-)
>>
>> Yes.
>>
>>>  I've met a few people with EXTREME 'IQ' over the years.
>>>  One seemed kinda 'normal', but just had kinda superhuman
>>>  math abilities/perspective. The other two were, well,
>>>  NOT so 'normal' - skittish, borderline autistic,
>>>  'borderline' in general.
>>>
>>>  But we're still talking IQ-200 max here. What the hell
>>>  would 300 or 500 look like ??? Note effective intellectual
>>>  ability is not proportional to the IQ score. 120 is MUCH
>>>  more capable than 100.
>>
>> I imagine that our IQ scales (as bad as they might be) start to break down
>> beyond a certain level.
>
> The practical limit for "IQ" measurement is
> around 200 - and even that's getting up into
> error territory. "IQ" is ok for maybe 70 to
> 140. That fits for MOST people.

Sounds reasonable.

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024 12:34:53 +0100, D wrote:

> Please tell me you killed the tick! I do not like them at all.

I have a special thing about ticks. I swat mosquitoes if they try to bit
me and I have good relations with the household spiders. I chop ticks into
pieces with a knife or my thumbnail.

> Hah! Tell me about it! My wifes mother loves everything eco, alternative
> and hippie! She dabs me with some weird smelling pine oil + vegetable
> mix that does absolutely nothing to repel mosquitoes.

https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/threads/self-made-bug-repellent-nessmuk.
150556/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Sears

I have his book 'Woodcraft'. Along with the recipe he gives instructions
to apply it liberally and often and in a few weeks you build up a patina.
His canoe trips were solo.

The Adirondacks lie on the Canadian shield. While there are many mountains
including Marcy, the highest in NY state, the valleys have lakes, rivers,
and bogs. Possibly worse than the mosquitoes is black fly season.

https://www.adirondack.net/hiking/black-flies/

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024 12:21:14 +0100, D wrote:

> This is the truth! However, my wife gets angry with me when we go to
> museum. She frequently complains "do you have to read everything and
> watch everything? We'll be stuck here for _hours_!" so it is better for
> me to go by myself, because then I can take my time and not run through
> the museum missing at least half of the items.

I really appreciate museums that have a dining area so can at least get
something to eat during an all day outing.

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024 12:27:27 +0100, D wrote:

> As a libertarian, my favourite argument against libertarianism, is that
> it is very unstable, and very likely to be attacked from without, or
> over time, to be converted into kingdoms with serfs.

Libertarians have a lot of faith in mankind that I don't share. Then there
is the problem that many of the libertarians I've know IRL tend to be
nutters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Jones_(Libertarian_politician)

At least he stood out and became a little less blueish over the years. The
Libertarian Party typically gets 3% of the vote but outdid itself this
year with 0.42% after nominating a pro-choice gay. The LP in this state
ignored him completely.

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024 12:30:50 +0100, D wrote:

> This is ridiuclous! Greenland is just losing them money, and should a
> war happen, they have _no_ capability of defending it either as one of
> the tiniest countries on the planet. They should sell it while they are
> ahead,
> or possibly bargain to sell the country, while retaining rights to oil
> and minerals, if that is why they are holding back. Maybe they expect
> hueg oil, gas and mineral findings? But if so, why haven't they
> exploited those?

According to the Danes their expanding of the military budget for
Greenland was coincidental. There is even the theory Trump was trying to
nudge them. With the Russian and Chinese interest in the Arctic somebody
better be minding the store.

There's also the problem of the US inheriting a massive welfare state well
beyond anything the leftist even dream of. 50,000 Inuits on welfare
wouldn't fly.

> Sounds reasonable! Did you know that the vikings had farms in greenland?
> I wonder how that was possible, since the only thing that changes the
> weather is cars. Hmm.

Ericsson was a hell of a salesman. Jared Diamond has a book, 'Collapse',
that makes some interesting points. He has spent some summers in this area
and describes how marginal it is. The only crop that really works is hay
which supports dairy operations. A little cooler and that wouldn't be
tenable either.

He includes Easter Island and Greenland in places that collapsed because
of the ecology. His ideas on Eastern Island have been challenged. I didn't
buy his idea that the settlers left Greenland as the maxima wound down
because they wouldn't eat fish. He based that on not finding fish bones in
the middens. Somehow I didn't believe that the tastes have changed so
much that surströmming and hákarl got on the menu in the following
centuries, let alone the more edible fish versions.

That reminds me. Lutefisk miraculously appears in the markets here this
time of year. It's edible, given enough melted butter. I think frozen
pizza is more popular in Norway, but those ethnic urges die hard. I brewed
up a batch of sauerbraten and rotkohl myself.

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Wed, 25 Dec 2024 12:34:53 +0100, D wrote:
>
>
>> Please tell me you killed the tick! I do not like them at all.
>
> I have a special thing about ticks. I swat mosquitoes if they try to bit
> me and I have good relations with the household spiders. I chop ticks into
> pieces with a knife or my thumbnail.
>
>> Hah! Tell me about it! My wifes mother loves everything eco, alternative
>> and hippie! She dabs me with some weird smelling pine oil + vegetable
>> mix that does absolutely nothing to repel mosquitoes.
>
> https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/threads/self-made-bug-repellent-nessmuk.
> 150556/
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Sears
>
> I have his book 'Woodcraft'. Along with the recipe he gives instructions
> to apply it liberally and often and in a few weeks you build up a patina.
> His canoe trips were solo.

Hmm, I'm skeptical. Well, maybe I'll pass the recipe along to my wifes
mother. Should keep her occupied and happy! On the other hand, I will be
the guinea pig. ;)

I thought about buying a cheap canoe for fishing, but I am worried about
it not being light enough, or stable enough. I like to stand up when
throwing the bait out. I thought about perhaps adding some kind of
crossbar to the canoe to stabilize it. Another option I thought about was
some kind of inflatable boat. But that would then mean I need a pump, and
spend 15-20 minutes inflating it etc.

What I'm envisioning with the light weight canoe is that I could just have
it by the lake, cover it with a tarp and use it when I need to. Since it
would be "just" a canoe, no one would steal it. In fact, I would probably
announce on the local forum that anyone who wants to use it can use it,
since I only spend at most 8 weeks a year at the house, so if someone else
enjoys it, I would just be happy to share it as long as they return it to
the same place and take care of it.

Well, let's see this summer. Maybe this is the summer when I will make it
happen.

> The Adirondacks lie on the Canadian shield. While there are many mountains
> including Marcy, the highest in NY state, the valleys have lakes, rivers,
> and bogs. Possibly worse than the mosquitoes is black fly season.
>
> https://www.adirondack.net/hiking/black-flies/

Horrible! At least one type of bug I don't have to fight with either in
sweden or eastern europe! =)

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Wed, 25 Dec 2024 12:21:14 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> This is the truth! However, my wife gets angry with me when we go to
>> museum. She frequently complains "do you have to read everything and
>> watch everything? We'll be stuck here for _hours_!" so it is better for
>> me to go by myself, because then I can take my time and not run through
>> the museum missing at least half of the items.
>
> I really appreciate museums that have a dining area so can at least get
> something to eat during an all day outing.
>

This is the truth! When I decide to go to a museum, I like having at least
a day to really explore it! I do not like rushing through it in an hour or
two. This is not so good.

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Wed, 25 Dec 2024 12:27:27 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> As a libertarian, my favourite argument against libertarianism, is that
>> it is very unstable, and very likely to be attacked from without, or
>> over time, to be converted into kingdoms with serfs.
>
> Libertarians have a lot of faith in mankind that I don't share. Then there
> is the problem that many of the libertarians I've know IRL tend to be
> nutters.

This is interesting! I am very much in favour of libertarian, and by
extension _decentralization_ because of a lack of faith in mankind!

I often criticize socialists for their unreasonable trust in some 100%
fair human being, not being corrupted and turning their socialist utopia
into an authoritarian nightmare.

Please tell me more about libertarians faith in man kind since that is so
opposite my own position, yet, I do call myself a libertarian.

> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Jones_(Libertarian_politician)
>
> At least he stood out and became a little less blueish over the years. The
> Libertarian Party typically gets 3% of the vote but outdid itself this
> year with 0.42% after nominating a pro-choice gay. The LP in this state
> ignored him completely.

I think as a libertarian, I cannot participate in political parties.
Nietzsche warned against parties and saw them as a threat against
democracy. I agree with him completely. I think libertarianism is not
compatible with parties and trying to change the system from within. That
will just lead to them becoming corrupted over time and diluted to some
other form of ism.

On Wed, 25 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Wed, 25 Dec 2024 12:30:50 +0100, D wrote:
>
>
>> This is ridiuclous! Greenland is just losing them money, and should a
>> war happen, they have _no_ capability of defending it either as one of
>> the tiniest countries on the planet. They should sell it while they are
>> ahead,
>> or possibly bargain to sell the country, while retaining rights to oil
>> and minerals, if that is why they are holding back. Maybe they expect
>> hueg oil, gas and mineral findings? But if so, why haven't they
>> exploited those?
>
> According to the Danes their expanding of the military budget for
> Greenland was coincidental. There is even the theory Trump was trying to
> nudge them. With the Russian and Chinese interest in the Arctic somebody
> better be minding the store.

Could be. I always tell people to look at what Trump _does_ and not to
listen to what he says, since that is often just negotiating tactics.

> There's also the problem of the US inheriting a massive welfare state well
> beyond anything the leftist even dream of. 50,000 Inuits on welfare
> wouldn't fly.

Haha. Would that even be noticeable among the millions in the US? Give
them a bottle of vodka or two, and they will take care of themselves. ;)

>> Sounds reasonable! Did you know that the vikings had farms in greenland?
>> I wonder how that was possible, since the only thing that changes the
>> weather is cars. Hmm.
>
> Ericsson was a hell of a salesman. Jared Diamond has a book, 'Collapse',

This is the truth! A true entrepreneur!

> that makes some interesting points. He has spent some summers in this area
> and describes how marginal it is. The only crop that really works is hay
> which supports dairy operations. A little cooler and that wouldn't be
> tenable either.
>
> He includes Easter Island and Greenland in places that collapsed because
> of the ecology. His ideas on Eastern Island have been challenged. I didn't

I saw a documentary about easter island and they came to the conclusion
that is was not ecological disaster that lead to the depopulation.
However, annoyingly I cannot remember exactly what they thought happened
instead or if they thought it was a combination of factors.

> buy his idea that the settlers left Greenland as the maxima wound down
> because they wouldn't eat fish. He based that on not finding fish bones in
> the middens. Somehow I didn't believe that the tastes have changed so
> much that surströmming and hákarl got on the menu in the following
> centuries, let alone the more edible fish versions.

Hákarl is the Donald Trump of party snacks! A lot of fun! I like it, it
has a very strong concentrated taste, and is slightly chewy. I do not
understand why people are so against it, but I suspect it is because it
smells so strongly and they think it will taste the way i smells.

> That reminds me. Lutefisk miraculously appears in the markets here this
> time of year. It's edible, given enough melted butter. I think frozen
> pizza is more popular in Norway, but those ethnic urges die hard. I brewed
> up a batch of sauerbraten and rotkohl myself.

On my mother side, in iceland We have red cabbage with lamb. I don't think
it is something traditional, and perhaps only in her family but for me, I
associate it with lamb steak.

The most "weird" thing I had yesterday as part of the swedish tradition
was sop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sop and hte liquid used is the fat
from the christmas ham (julskinka)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_ham .