Month: January 2021

On Socialism

Socialism is only considered bad because we get sold on the idea that The Wrong People will benefit from our hard earned tax dollars. GoFundMe’s for medical bills are acceptable socialism because, by crowd-sourcing funding, you get to individually screen each case to ensure your money only goes to The Right People.

Evidently enough people in the US feel it’s worth risking medical bankruptcy to avoid some undesirable’s bad behavior racking up taxpayer funded medical expenses.

Same with tuition-free state schools. Rich kid might still pay a heap-o money and go to a private Uni. But they also MIGHT go to the state school and then my taxes are covering that tuition. Seriously, if the state school is so awesome that rich folks are sending their kids there, or some small handful of rich misers send their kids to the stae Uni because it’s free … we’re all graduating Uni with tens of thousands in debt to avoid those horrors?!

Maple Candied Almonds

Maple Candied Almonds
Print

Maple Candied Almonds

Recipe by LisaCourse: Snacks, DessertCuisine: American
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

Ingredients

  • 4 cups raw almonds

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1/2 cup maple syrup

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Method

  • Preheat oven to 250 F.
  • Mix maple syrup, olive oil, and salt. Stir in almonds and mix to combine.
  • Line a baking tray with a silicone baking liner. Spread almonds in a single layer.
  • Bake for 30-60 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
  • Allow to cool before packaging.

Notes

  • Make sure to check every ten minutes while baking to avoid scorching maple syrup.

Cinnamon Candied Almonds

Cinnamon Candied Almonds
Print

Cinnamon Candied Almonds

Recipe by LisaCourse: Dessert, SnacksCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs raw almonds

  • 1 cup brown sugar

  • 1 cup granulated sugar

  • 2 Tbsp vanilla extract

  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon

  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

  • 2 egg whites

Method

  • Preheat oven to 250 F. Beat egg whites until soft-peak stage.
  • In a bowl, combine sugars, cinnamon, and salt.
  • Mix almonds into egg whites and stir to coat. Add sugar mixture and stir to combine.
  • Line a baking tray with a silicone baking liner. Spread almonds in a single layer. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
  • Let almonds cool before packaging.

Oracle: Query Timestamp Today

I wanted a quick way to query a logging table for today’s records. I figured there had to be some way to put a variable “today” into the query rather than put in the numbers for the current date. Voila — a query that retrieves records where the timestamp is greater than or equal to today:

select *
from ossa_central_logging
where action_ts >= cast(trunc(current_timestamp) as timestamp)
order by action_ts desc;

It’s a problem when it impacts me

Meghan McCain realizes the US needs paid maternity leave after she has a baby. That sums up my problem with a lot of Republicans: it’s only a problem that needs a solution if it impacts me (and, maybe, someone I love). Otherwise it’s something you did to yourself and you are a lazy bum for looking to the government for a solution. The Ayn Rand view of non-me people.

Net neutrality is awful … hey, why is this service provider treating my content differently? Private businesses should be free to refuse service to anyone based on the owner’s beliefs … hey, why is this company refusing to host my service? At-will employment is the ultimate free-market solution … wait, why am I being fired for trying to overthrow the government? The meme-ified version is “The Leopards Eating Faces” party decrying “why are these leopards eating my face”. And it’s why I think private charity is considered more acceptable than more efficient, coordinated social safety net programs … it’s someone “like me” being helped.

As much as I dislike approach, I’m thinking there are about to be some areas where conservatives are open to supporting liberal positions. The three already mentioned (net neutrality, businesses refusing service, at-will employment) and … I expect insurrectionists will discover the problem with felony disenfranchisement now that they are felons.

And, on a related note, they may want to read through [18 U.S.C. § 922]. Specifically:

 
(g) It is unlawful for any person —
(1) who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year
 
to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

Notes on Adding Drive to Linux Host

Create partition, format, find UUID, and add line to fstab to mount the volume

[lisa@linuxhost ~]# parted /dev/sdb
GNU Parted 3.2.153
Using /dev/sdb
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type ‘help’ to view a list of commands.
(parted) mklabel GPT
Warning: The existing disk label on /dev/sdb will be destroyed and all data on this disk will be lost. Do you want to continue?
Yes/No? y
(parted) mkpart primary 2048s 100%
(parted) q
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.

[lisa@linuxhost ~]# mkfs.xfs -f /dev/sdb1
meta-data=/dev/sdb1 isize=512 agcount=4, agsize=163839872 blks
= sectsz=512 attr=2, projid32bit=1
= crc=1 finobt=1, sparse=1, rmapbt=0
= reflink=1
data = bsize=4096 blocks=655359488, imaxpct=5
= sunit=0 swidth=0 blks
naming =version 2 bsize=4096 ascii-ci=0, ftype=1
log =internal log bsize=4096 blocks=319999, version=2
= sectsz=512 sunit=0 blks, lazy-count=1
realtime =none extsz=4096 blocks=0, rtextents=0

[lisa@linuxhost ~]# lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 20G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 1G 0 part /boot
└─sda2 8:2 0 19G 0 part
├─fedora-lisa 253:0 0 17G 0 lvm /
└─fedora-swap 253:1 0 2G 0 lvm [SWAP]
sdb 8:16 0 2.5T 0 disk
└─sdb1 8:17 0 2.5T 0 part
sr0 11:0 1 650M 0 rom
[lisa@linuxhost ~]# blkid | grep sdb1
/dev/sdb1: UUID=”801ebed3-ddd6-459d-bd62-04a0a75f91b8″ TYPE=”xfs” PARTLABEL=”primary” PARTUUID=”b9a9a340-28f5-4efb-b649-af804ef5bc4c”

Add a line to /etc/fstab to mount the volume — here I’m mounting it to /mnt/data/mythtv:

UUID=801ebed3-ddd6-459d-bd62-04a0a75f91b8 /mnt/data/mythtv xfs defaults 0 0

Writing Prompt: Star Registries

It was a scam. I know it was a scam. I worked at the International Astronomical Union for thirty years and know how celestial bodies are named. That’s what made it such a funny gift when I retired: my team “bought” me a star. No, there’s no such thing. There are commercial entities that maintain a “star registry” – which is just a database of stars. You buy a line in the database — Right ascension 23h 13m 16.97632s, Declination +57° 10′ 06.0823″ has the “name” of TinaM. What stops someone else from creating a database, throwing a bunch of coordinates of celestial bodies into a table, and selling you a slot in their table? Absolutely nothing! It’s a scam. That star is really designated HD 219134! There are a few planets orbiting this star. At least two of which are super-Earths. I know this because I looked it up after being presented the “Star Certificate” at my retirement party last July. The certificate which hangs behind the desk in my office.

Also? The certificate toward which the amorphous lavender blob draped across my desk is frantically gesturing with a protrusion that is vaguely arm-like. High-pitched whines emanate from within its form. The blob shakes violently, and a sliver box plops onto the floor. A holograph fills my office. Hundreds of lavender blobs are swimming in a shimmering, silver ocean. They dot the rocky shore. Suddenly, a spaceship appears above beach. A hatch opens and something begins to fall from the spacecraft. The ship begins to move, and the detritus quickly covers the beach and ocean. “Tina”, a voice booms. “If you have the hubris to claim ownership of our solar system, at least tell the thwrrgs to stop shipping their rubbish to our beautiful, rocky shores.”

ORC Hunting – Message to State Rep

Quick message to my new state rep trying to get airgun hunting legalized here for large game:

 

Good Afternoon!
Congratulations on taking office yesterday.

ORC presently does not allow for hunting deer with air guns. With smaller air guns, that makes sense from an ethical hunting standpoint (same reason, I assume, a minimum draw weight is defined for archery). But there are rather powerful air guns available — and I’d love to be able to hunt deer with something like an 50-cal AirForce Texan CF. There are other states that permit hunting big game with an air gun — and I’d encourage you to see about getting similar legislation enacted in Ohio.

Thank you for your time,
–Lisa

Garlic Knots

I made garlic knots to go with broccoli cheddar soup tonight — it’s just a basic dough like pizza crust (I made a half recipe — ~2 cups of flour). After the first rise, I cut the dough into eight pieces and rolled them out into long strands. Anya tied the knots, then we let them sit and rise for half an hour or so. Basted the knots with garlic butter before and after baking them at 400F for about 15 minutes.