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Right Angle: Backstage (01-26-2021)

The weekly pre-production meeting of the men of Right Angle is suddenly interrupted by a mysterious phenomenon that takes out Stephen Green and threatens to turn a right angle into a mere line.

Right Angle: Backstage (01-26-2021)

Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the internet. The weekly pre-production meeting of the men of Right Angle is suddenly interrupted by a mysterious phenomenon that takes out Stephen Green and threatens to turn a right angle into a mere line.

Thank you to our Members for your support and magnificent endurance.

85 replies on “Right Angle: Backstage (01-26-2021)”

Regarding Gov Newsom’s recall petition: Surely a recall should be undertaken with the same somber sense of deliberation & duty as a national election. So, since it has been determined by the Left that ID is not needed, cemetery votes are acceptable, and people don’t actually have to claim residency, I (who live in Texas, and quite frankly, want all west coasters to stay the hell out) would like to do my part by adding my name to the petition. I’m pretty sure I can also convince my mother, my deceased father, my relatives in Germany and my dog to add their names as well.

I avoid wearing a mask as much as possible. Just because the government did mandate it. I don’t care if the coronavirus was the black plague the government has no business and no grounds to mandate wearing masks. It is not their job to protect us.
My so-called Republican governor here in Indiana needs to go jump off a bridge.

On top of that. It is acceptable and in accordance with the mandate to wear these biker turtleneck scarf things that are no thicker than a pair of pantyhose and don’t block anything. It’s face coverings that have bigger holes in them then lace panties counts then you know that it doesn’t have anything to do with our health and safety.

I was an engineering student at Illinois Institute of Technology.
If you did not have a calculator pouch on your belt; you were considered a social science major (AKA sub human).

I love these backstage shows, warts and all. Maybe even because of the warts.

You young whipper-snappers tickle me with your calculator stories …

When I was in High School my Dad was an area manager for a company that sold grain handling equipment. He bought a calculator for his work and carried it in his briefcase. It had a red LED display and had dimensions equivalent to a medium large paperback. It did nothing but add, subtract, multiply and divide. It ate batteries like candy.

It cost $250.00.

The reason I know how much it cost is because I swiped it from his briefcase and took it to school. Where I would quietly take it out of the old Army gas mask case I used for a book bag and nonchalantly place it on my desk to do my math work. This made me the envy of all the other brainiacs. Even the jocks thought that calculator was totally cool tech.

Getting lectured about the cost of the calculator was part of the penance imposed by Dad for swiping it. Getting grounded for a week for swiping Dad’s calculator out of his briefcase was worth every minute of it.

Working for a university …I’m all too familiar with endless acronyms … some clever, some a stretch … but I have a new one for the Big Tech bullies: “Controlled Response Against Patriots” (C.R.A.P.)

I would love to see a conservative medley of Biden being “mad as a hornet at Newsom” whether it’s true or not. We know it will be mostly true if we fact check it.

Given that it’s ol’ ‘Sniffer Joe’, I was thinking more along the lines of Mad as a hatter.

On the investing topic, textbook definition of monopoly abuse or crony capitalism. (Although, after some more discussion, it depend on whether they are trying to be coercive or advisory).

Everyone is for reducing smog, except for Smaug.
CGP Grey on Youtube had a somewhat funny but informative video on how much land the government owns, which department owns it, and a humorous historical look at why.

No Covid restrictions will ever be lifted for 2 reasons:
1 – This is the most politically useful virus we’ve ever seen.
2 – There will always be another virus.

Sure, they won’t just abandon it. But we know from history that you can build on lies, but it is not sustainable. People keep it up from fear and virtue signaling first, then from cognitive dissonance, but eventually everything wears off. You might still maintain a pretense by force, but from there it is like the pressure cooker. And some politicians will discover it is a better opportunity to get ahead of the explosion. And will be all too happy to throw the previous bunch under the bus with the “new revelation” that all the measures were for naught.

There appears to be a certain amount of self righteous pride in individuals who are wearing masks— especially the Karens.. It’s as if they are being good obedient children doing what mommy and daddy oligarchs say. Doesn’t sound too hopeful that this will ever go away for those people.

Seems like…Blackrock can choose their investment strategy as they wish. However, they are not trying to ride the investment ship to a profitable port. They are trying steer that ship by coercion and threat based upon ideology
.

“IF” there is an EMP strike on our grid, the electric cars and the post 80’s on up are doomed. I’m sticking to my 70’s square body Chevrolet’s with carburetors.
gavin newsom is still planning to run for President in 2024 while making new/more enemies.
http://www.capoliticalreview.com/capoliticalnewsandviews/eber-gavin-newsoms-fall-from-grace/#:~:text=Gavin%20Newsom%20is%20so%20busy%20running%20for%20President,homelessness%20and%20Toilet%20Bowl%20of%20the%20West%20moniker

This is it! Finally! This is the show that needs to go to the top of the Hall of Fame of all RA Shows.
I call for a referendum releasing this show to everyone, not just for members.
At least the last 12 minutes or from whenever the Chik-Fil-A talk started.

Yes! That’s what I was thinking while I was watching it, this was the best one ever!

As a general rule I agree with you guys but when it come to Public Lands I am 180 degrees from your take. I was born, raised and live in Wyoming which is more public land than private land. I can hunt, fish, camp and recreate on the public land when and, for the most part, where I want too. I can not set foot on private land without a direct invitation from the land owner which is nearly impossible to get and, as much as I hate to say it, is the way it should be!
On a side note, most of this public land is not developed because it is not developable! If it were it would have been developed long ago. Some of it has resources under ground such as the hydrocarbons but by a long stretch not all of it.
I use the term Public Lands instead of Government owned lands because that’s what it is. I will admit that the bureaucrats have far too much control over the public lands but that is an argument for another time.

I think that bureaucrats thing is why many people object to the Govt. owning so much land. You don’t have one without the other. And usually they eventually find reasons to fence it off, or charge you entrance fees and tax you for using it. That term “Public” usually means “Government”, and the public has little say in what happens with it.

John I agree with much of what you say. The only quibble I have is that it should be land owned by Wyoming, not DC. At least then it would be used in the interest of Wyomans (did I get that right?)

The problem I have with the state owning it is that the state will sell if off to private owners faster than the feds will. Also, for any number of reasons State owned land in Wyoming is more likely to be closed to recreation than it is to be open to it. On the positive side, we do have a little more direct control over state government but at the moment, not much.

I always thought Wyoming was one of the few areas where people were still relatively free from the shackles of state government.

Private land isn’t really private in the fact that you don’t really own it. If you don’t pay your property taxes, the county or town will take it back! I feel that you should actually own land and do with it whatever you want and it is yours until you sell it. As far as the tax liability is concerned, you can be removed from it until either the taxes are paid or you sell it, but you should still hold title to it either way. If it’s mortgaged, the bank owns it until you pay off the loan. Just my opinion.

Anyone else here on a Fruit & Veggie Offenders List for fondling the produce too enthusiastically?

I personally am banned from Green Markets because of what I have done to Grapefruit.

Coercion often takes the form of blackmail or extortion, and the way that Scott initially described Blackrock’s methods lead me to think they are involved in a form of extortion. As a result, I must disagree with Bill’s position that these “private” companies (i.e., Blackrock) can do what they want.

I think it’s indirect government coercion. The threat of coercion is itself coercion. “Do what we want or we’ll make you” is just as coercive as actually compelling compliance. So Blackrock is saying, “Hey, the gubmint is gonna force you to do this so we’re going to require that you do because they’ll come down on us, too, if we don’t.”

If the threat of the government gun wasn’t there, none of it would be happening.

I agree with you.
To add to the government threats, both implied and overt, I was talking with some friends last night, one of whom is immigrated and naturalized from the Czech republic. My Czech friend lamented at length about how he considers the cancel culture (my words) and affirmative action as the winner of the culture war in the United States. He also lamented taxation as theft, which is, of course enforced with the barrel of an implied gun. It was a difficult conversation for me to participate, because I was lost for words of encouragement.
It’s a very sad day that we must tolerate/combat both the government coercion and the mob rule of political correctness and cancel culture. All of which have taken up arms in some fashion to suppress/subjugate those who would dare oppose them.

Carbon negative?
Are you kidding me?
These jack-offs apparently forget that plants need CO2 and people NEED plants. If enough of this nonsense persists, then we will likely achieve extinction in the next century.
Morons!

Most people aren’t aware that the Earth is in a state of low temp/CO2. I think increasing these things are going to be for the better. Not to say there won’t be downsides. Certain animals and plants won’t survive, but others will thrive. There is a give and take.

What plants and animals are in danger from higher CO2?

I read an article two or three years ago, in which the author’s opinion is that the industrial revolution, and all that O2 spewing forth into the atmosphere, actually saved the planet. CO2 levels had been gradually depleting for millennia and were dangerously low by the beginning of the 18th century.

I have read we are currently entering a period of Grand Solar Minimum. Solar minimums happen on a regular eleven year cycle, while a Grand one comes along every so often – the last one in the mid 17th century – and can last for decades. Nothing too dramatic if you live in the south, but if you live in more northern regions, the growing season can be shortened by a couple of weeks.

Sounds to me like we could use a little more greenhouse gases right now. Bring on that CO2!

I have been hearing about the sun going quiet for several years now and some scientists thinking it will be another mini-ice age.
When I was teaching Biology and was supposed to teach about how horrible the planet was doing, I would tell the students about how much better the air and water quality is now in the US than it was in the 70s… but shhhh… we can’t talk about that.

They say concentrations of over 400 ppm are going to kill us. Did you know in a large auditorium it can get up to 600 ppm? If you want lush green landscapes, you need CO2 in the 600 ppm range at least! I think the only reason we have a “carbon problem” is we’ve cut down too many trees! Think Amazon Jungle.

See, at the previous network, they would have made you guys re-record the whole thing. And we’d never get to see all this great content.
I’m serious, No snark here.

Didn’t some Hawaiian judge say a President can’t repeal a former President’s EOs? It’s unconstitutional. Or was it just Trump can’t do that?

Not just energy. Last year I bought some jars of apple sauce for $1.29. Just a week ago I paid $2.49. Just yesterday I saw broccoli for $2.49/lb. I had never ever seen $2.49/lb broccoli before in my life.

So people are going to become outraged at some point, and I’m sorry to say most will blame the wrong people. BLAME THE GOVERNMENT, and government spending. Stuff isn’t really becoming more expensive – your money is losing its value.

From the RecallGavin2020.com website:

[We need] 1,495,709 Valid Signatures. However, there was a 25% disqualification rate for signatures collected last time. If we only submit 1,495,709 signatures, we will certainly fail because some will be disqualified, so we are shooting to collect upwards of two million signatures in order to have a very comfortable safety gap.

still at 77% after what, 9 months of collecting in the environment of blatant tyranny and destruction? The CA love is strong in this one.

I’m 68. I’m not yet convinced that I want this vaccine until it’s been around awhile, and we get a true picture of long term side effects – and I am not an anti-vaxer by nature. Generally speaking, if there is a vaccine available for some dread disease, I want it. But there is just so much conflicting info out there, and a whole lot of expertise that I just don’t trust. In the mean time I’m taking quercetin plus zinc every day, and I have a bottle of Ivermectin wending its way to me via the USPS as we speak. After listening to a number of different voices on the matter, I have decided this is my best plan of action, and I’m just not going to live in fear of a bug with a survival rate of 99+%.

And yeah, Fauci now wants us to wear TWO masks, because it is known – and apparently there is a CDC study done about five years ago which proves the point – that mask wearing is not effective in protecting against virus transmission. My mask is spinach green, dark so that it looks solid, but actually very thin and loose so that I can breath. It is for appearances only and it is ugly. I want it to be ugly. I refuse to make my mask into a fashion statement.

I also refuse to harbor any guilt over infecting others. I can’t give you what I don’t have, and I am not sick.

I make sure I am protected with vaccines, my son was protected with vaccines, and my dogs. but I will not be getting this covid vaccine. There is no legitimate reason to.

I wish we lived in a society that was willing to let us all live our lives and take our own consequences as we get them. If you want a vaccine, get one. If you don’t, don’t. If you want to wear a mask, wear one. If you don’t, you don’t. Don’t expect others to cater to your fears. Protect yourself as you see fit and let others do the same. Quit trying to run my life. Was there ever a time when that was how people felt?

You and I are of similar age, and my husband and I both got the first round of vaccine, waiting for the second. My parents are in their 80’s and my dad has dementia. They got their first vaccine yesterday. My mom was nervous about it, but she called my son-in-law (a doctor) who told her she really should go get the vaccine. He’s extremely conservative in his practice (not his politics), but he is adamant that the vaccine is a wonderful thing.
As to all the negative press this vaccine has gotten since Operation Warp Speed started, I’ve tried to consider the source. In the end, I came down on the side of believing that no company would risk being labeled as “the company who produced the poison that killed millions”. They’d be out of business. Therefore, it’s doubtful they’d knowingly cut important corners just to be known as the first company to roll out a vaccine. If that vaccine turned out to be deadly, that would be what they would forever be known for. No one would ever trust their products again.
All of us have to make our own decisions on our health. I’m not afraid of the virus, or the vaccine. But I’m thinking that here in Texas we will be able to get rid of the mask sooner if we all get our shots. That’s reason enough for me!
Stay well!

We had vaccine related blog a few weeks ago with actual info and real, non-political concerns. That are just hushed away by the propaganda. The development companies gained a special release from legal liability in case something turns up badly — a thing they never enjoyed for other projects.

The vector technology used is brand new and we know nothing about the 10, 5, 3 or even 1 year impact. As even the latter data will be available next year the earliest. We hope it will be “nothing interesting” but no one with actual conscience can claim that. And if your friend doctor did, then shame on him. We are supposed to be bound by truth and stating only what we know. Alternatively you might have misunderstood the statement — the vaccine is indeed a wonderful thing and is a technical marvel too. This has nothing in common with the risk evaluation. And whether people who have very small risk from the wild infection should take this unknown risk.

Actually, the doctor I mentioned is my son-in-law. In his practice, he sees indigent families who suffer from lack of access tp vaccinations, even as he also deals with the privileged ones who willingly play Russian Roulette with their children’s health as they succumb to the fear thrown out their by the ‘internet experts’ who warn of the evils of vaccines.
I am old enough to have been around when the Polio vaccines were first getting wide use. The story of how the Salk vaccine came into being seems like a parallel to the COVID vaccine situation. Back then, it was a race to see who would develop the vaccine first, Dr. Salk with his experimental theory of using a live strain of the virus to develop a vaccine, and Dr. Sabin who used the more established track of using a dead virus. Dr. Sabin filled the newspapers with denouncements of Dr. Salk, predicting tragedy if the Salk Vaccine were to be used. People couldn’t dismiss his comments and opinions out of hand, because he was a noted scientist, and the Salk theory was innovative, with an element of danger and the unknown. Dr. Salk continued his work, and when it came time for drug trials, women lined up and offered their young children as test subjects, willingly and in full understanding of the risks. When the vaccine was first rolled out nationwide, there was an incident where the vaccine injected into some of the children caused hundreds (thousands?) to be infected with the deadly virus. The vaccines were temporarily withheld while the various agencies consulted and a quick search was made to find out what happened. It was learned that a lab in Berkely had mistakenly shipped the wrong form of the vaccine, and once this error was corrected vaccinations began again. Dr. Sabin eventually completed his alternate vaccine trials, and both forms of the drug were used to eradicate that terrible scourge from our population.
All this is to say that while we don’t know if there will be any ‘interesting’ issues down the road with the COVID vaccine, we also don’t know there will be. It’s always seems easier to believe something bad is coming than it is to think it isn’t. I think of those mothers and children who overcame their fears and allowed a new-fangled and innovative drug to be injected into their arms, trusting that in the end they would be helping to overcome a terrible disease. For some reason, we don’t seem to have the same intestinal fortitude. Maybe that’s unfair. It’s just an interesting item to consider.

You have the names mixed up there, Salk had the inactivated virus and Sabin that we still use today the living one that you can just feed from a spoon.
Beyond that it fairly aligned with what I learned.
But has very little in parallel with COVID vaccines. Even at those years there was plenty of knowledge on both techniques and both were used and much ground to assess many aspects of the risk. Including weird stuff like re-strenghtening of the living agent or the supposedly inactivated material effectively revived by other mictoorganisms.
And production artefacts like remnants in the Hempt rabies vaccine causing demyeliinisation that is about as bad as rabies itself from rembabts of the ovine brain tissue.
As I said in the previous post, the covid vaccines are pioneering with smuggling mRNA into cells using some virus or liposomes. That we never did before en masse and just don’t know what else that vector can also smuggle potenially, or what remains after it’s done. And the disease it is standing against has negligible risk on majority of the population, unlike polio, rabies or other diseases. For those in the marked endangered group vaccination makes sense, but for the young and healthy the risk/reward just not work out. Especially as you compare a known low number to the unknown.

Stories are nice but you just can’t substitute one virus for another or one disease for another and pretend similarity just by that broad classification. Details matter. A lot, really.

You are right, I apologize for mixing the Salk and Sabine protocols.
My main point was,I‘m eternally grateful to those housewives who stepped forward in 20th century America and allowed their own kids to be the test cases. The average person was very much in the dark about what was going on with either vaccine. I know, from talking to my grandparents and parents, that they didn’t understand the science, and didn’t fully understand the news reports or explanations they saw in newsreels. They only knew how horrible and mysterious Polio was, that it struck down old and young alike. They were courageous enough to volunteer if it could help save lives. I don’t think we have the same courage now. Maybe the women back then were still in that mindset that comes when your country is at war and you know you may be called on to sacrifice for the good of the rest of the world. This was soon after WW2. Maybe people trusted more then that the powers that be were still all about ‘promoting the general welfare’, and weren’t cynical the way we all seem to be now. I don’t know. But, I’m grateful to them for their courage and would like to be able to live up to their example.

I have to add, that bask in thet time science was actually science. And you at least could rely on that. And trust that whoever has “MD” is working for you first, and takes the Hippocratic oath seriously.
At least in the places I saw that was the general case.

Today we’re lightyears from that. “all doctors agree” is a phrase you see in a toothpaste ad or a purely political stunt. And science is raped as Bill pointed out in the most recent episode.

And the few remaining people who know the actual, original science and voice it are simply censored or flooded in the noise of propaganda of the day.

Around COVID everything is politics and almost all references to “science” are between outright lies or massive distortion. Be it on medicines that can be used for a good benefit, protocols like masking and lockdowns, and recently the vaccine too.

If someone just tells the simple truth that everyone supposed to know and is even written on the box, and you get the hammer. Remember that PR video on the vaccine where the girl fainted on the camera minutes after the shot? Then they started to explain that it’s all natural and can happen with any other vaccine, etc. And yes, that is correct. There is a mandatory observation period for a good reason, and all kinds of problem can emerge.
Yet, the same media honking that there is “no risk” “no possible side effects” and so on, as that is the narrative. A major lie.

And the layman is supposed to sort it out whet is true to what extent. Meh.

Back to the point, polio is a thing you want to avoid at almost no cost. Find someone who would say “yeah, fine, let it come for me”. Or my child.
For covid19 that pool of people is like 70% or more. Even with all the scare propaganda we get for a year now.

Also on the vaccine front AFAIK we still have shortage against the demand and it will be that way for months. IMW for this case the sensibe approach is to let all the directly endangered people have it first, and apply as extra test subject only after that.

Yes, those were more trusting times, but I also think people were more accepting of the cycle of life and the circumstances that can happen to anyone at any time. Antibiotics hadn’t been around all that long, so stories of people getting a cut on their hand and ending up losing a limb or dying when a sore throat turned septic were common. No seat belts and few speed limits on open roads meant you usually didn’t survive car accidents. Product safety standards were much more lax, lye and gasoline and ammonia were common household cleaners. It wasn’t that people were immune to fears, they seemed to take death, illness and injuries more or less as a consequence of living. I think we’ve insulated ourselves over the decades so that we expect perfect results. That same doctor I mentioned (my son-in-law) does not see a virus survival rate in the 95+% range as a ‘good’ thing. A 3% death rate terrifies him, while people who aren’t getting the vaccine see it as proof that the virus isn’t that deadly. I guess it’s a matter of perspective on both sides.
We’ve traveled far off the original topic, but I’ve enjoyed talking with you! It’s great to hold a real conversation, even when there’s disagreement. Enjoy your day!

My “favorite” subject is the PADDED PLAYGROUNGS that are now probably mandatory in the EU.

Children used to have opportunity to learn fear, excitement, handling pain and many other things. As part of their day job of playing. Now even that is stripped. There are good pst studies on the effect of the development. “Back to normal” is not on the horizon.

I’m pretty sure there are some old style Democrats and Republicans out there who were lured in to vote for ‘return to normal’ with Biden, thinking it would be life before COVID, only with no Trump Noise. They got normal Leftism instead. Wonder how they are feeling now?
We never had car seats for our kids, and they often stood up in the back seat or in the front seat when they were toddlers to see the road. It was a different world all right.

Speaking only for myself, as a Telepath, I heard every word Steve Green said behind that Censored By Big Tech screen.

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