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Right Angle: Backstage (03-02-2021)

Some call it a meeting. Some call it work. But no one calls it either of those if they’ve ever seen a single Backstage episode.

Right Angle: Backstage (03-02-2021)

Some call it a meeting. Some call it work. But no one calls it either of those if they’ve ever seen a single Backstage episode. Join us for…well…whatever you want to call it. Thank you, Members.

https://youtu.be/KslltnYi6_4

85 replies on “Right Angle: Backstage (03-02-2021)”

Bill, Scott and Steve, How do you know when people are moving on from the Dread Covid? When the free market speaks, that’s how. All the Covid era disinfectants at Lowes are on clearance. Marked down from $10 to $2. Toilet paper on clearance for $.24 a roll. I moved on last April. I must be a leading indicator. Bless you guys. Keep up the good work. Blessings, Warren Groen

When talking about Elon you guys forgot to mention Thomas Edison and I paraphrase him when he was asked about failing ‘I did not fail 10,000 times. I discovered 10,000 ways that will not work work’

I’m not certain, but I think the Dodge equivalent of the LeBaron convertible was known simply as the 400. There was also a 600, but I think that was a larger FWD model.

I thought that the LeBaron and Diplomat were equivalent body styles in the 80’s.

Those were the original RWD versions, that came out in the late ’70s. The K-car-based models that came out in the early ’80s were first LeBarons — sedan, coupe and convertible — and then Dodge followed up with their own slightly less pricey equivalent which were called 400. A stretched K-car — the E series came out in ’82 or so which was sold as the Chrysler E-Class, Dodge 600 and Plymouth Caravelle.

If memory serves me correctly, the 300 designation was used by Chrysler, followed by 200 (essentially a rebadged Dodge Avenger). Ya gotta love the convoluted naming protocols that vehicle manufacturers go through! 🙂

Probably had something to do with the development program number. Might be the 200 started before the 300, but the 300 got to market first.

Just to add insult to injury, the Chrysler 300 letter series started in 1955 with their new “luxury performance” model with the hemi engine (the real one) and 2 4bbl carburetors. The 1957 model was the 300C
In 1962, they started building cheaper cars using the 300 designation and the numbers caught on after that.

Steve: There was this bad Sci-Fi Movie called ‘Battle Beyond the Stars’ released in the 80’s. George Peppard played a character named cowboy. His utility belt carried his whiskey glass. It also dispenses whiskey & ice. Top that Batman!

Backstage is my favorite of all the BillWhittle.com videos. It reminds me of working mid shift in the Army. Discussions may start out in one direction, but you can never predict where they’ll wind up.

A couple of interesting stories.I listened to a local radio talk show last week. The guy was talking to one of the engineers for the recently landed Mars probe. He said, “I heard that on a previous Mars lander there was code in the tread of the tires.” She said, yup, we had to give the wheels some tread so we just wrote JPL in morse code for tread. So, as it drove it laid down “JPL,” everywhere it went.
What do you want to bet that if Musk lands, his will write, “Of course we know the way home!”

One more quick one. Many years ago, Dr. Jordan Peterson was trying to help a college student who was always comparing himself to his roommate and coming up short.
He told him to not compare yourself with some else, compare yourself to who you were yesterday. He then causally asked the young man who is roommate was, He guy responded, “Elon Musk!”

No. The RAF/RN used roman numerals on their various Marks of aircraft. Hurricane Mk I, Spitfire Mk V, etc. are examples.

I think it was General Motors who used to test their new engines to destruction. They would then analyse the pieces and see why it failed. Elon Musk was very smart in doing the same thing. You have to know the structural limits of your creation in order to know it’s safe operating conditions.

One of my favorite quotes, which happens to be from “Batman Begins”:
“Why do we fall? So that we can learn to pick ourselves back up again.”
I have to believe that quote is posted somewhere prominent at SpaceEx.

Now this is weird. As I watched this, I had just told someone “Yoda says, there is not try, only do.” Seconds later, Scott quotes the same thing. There are no coincidences…

It was Bantam Motor Cars that built the Jeep prototype, but didn’t have production facilities large enough to build the numbers needed, so Willys got the contract. When even they couldn’t meet the numbers, Ford started building them. The same thing happened when GM started building airplanes.

1940, Bantam Pilot prototype presented to the Army for evaluation.
Bantam did build all the trailers used during the war.

If we Conservatives do what we should be doing, Jeff Bezo’s will be filing for welfare. But too many people prefer convenience over principles.

The “boycott” mentality is absurd. All that approach does is prevent (or significantly-limit) an individual consumer from finding a needed item. Boycotts are also insignificant to a corporate vendor of the scale of Amazon. It is not possible for conservatives in the USA to drive Bezos to unemployment through boycotts. The global market is too large to defeat on that front.

That said, if participating in a boycott of Amazon makes one “feel” better, then do so; however, within the realm of politics, Ben Shapiro stated it accurately and succinctly, “Your [One’s] feelings don’t matter.”

Circular logic. Boycotts don’t work because not enough people will join in, and since not enough people will join in, why bother? Circular logic. But even still, I’m not really talking about boycotts. I’m talking about principles over convenience. If we sit and whine about how tyrannical these mega corps are, and continue to feed them our money, then we are hypocrites. And Ben actually said “facts don’t care about your feelings.” I’m not talking about feelings…I’m talking about “principles.”
Do what you want, I personally won’t be giving them my money. I can deal with inconvenience. I can’t justify funding people who want to take my rights away. I’m only following what that still silent voice of the Holy Spirit tells me.

If my reply is “guilty” of “circular logic” as you say, then your original statement is likewise flawed: if <condition> then <result>.

If we Conservatives do what we should be doing, Jeff Bezo’s will be filing for welfare.

My followup was a comment upon that assertion. I don’t believe that there are enough “conservatives” in the USA that, even if they all chose to boycott Amazon, would have any impact upon Bezos’ position. I think this logic is different than the “circular logic” you describe it to be. Life must go on, and If I boycotted all companies that held public opinions different than my own, then I would starve/freeze to death. Hypocrisy is not a variable in the equation. Another solution must become available to combat these cultural issues. A better solution would start with redefining a corporation as a non-person. As it stands, corporations are treated as if they have the rights/privileges of a person. This, unfortunately, protects corporations from the consequences of the current spate of discriminatory practices we are observing.
I realize Shapiro didn’t say what I wrote, but I attributed my paraphrase to him regardless. I did so out of respect for the original thought. This comment tool doesn’t always retain the formatting that I originally applied: I striked the “Your”. Thus the implicit meaning of my paraphrasing was lost. Sigh. Maybe it was too subtle. I often attempt to be subtle, and I often fail — especially when the editor conspires against me. It’s irrelevant, because I cannot edit it after you replied — sigh.

Admittedly, my original comment could easily be construed as such. But that’s not my intention. Hence “If”. And my apologies…my last comment may have come off condemning. However, my point still stands. There are plenty of options in which we don’t have to support these tyrants. Sure, a lot of sacrifices will have to be made, but is our freedom worth it? I think so. I’m used to not being able to afford the finer things in life, so it’s probably easier for me to accept adversity. That, and my Faith sustains me.
I just think it’s hypocritical for one to complain about these tech tyrants and yet continue to give them our money.
I also noticed some issues in this comment tool…I though I just dropped words or letters.

Nope. It did not come across as “condemning” at all. We’re just sharing differing perspectives, which is often difficult to do with written words in a comment thread.
As far as freedom goes, we’d be better served to limit the cultural influence of these tyrants rather than ostracize their products, which are often sold by affiliate sellers rather than Amazon Corporation. Amazon should be considered to be exclusively an interface between the seller andthe consumer. The fact that our political system is structured so these corporate tyrants have influence is the fundamental problem. Political lobbying and influence peddling for profit should be eliminated and violators punished severely. Those are the fundamental political problems to be solved rather than promoting boycotts.

Well, there are other sellers, and we still have a few mom & pop stores left. That’s where I prefer to spend my money at least.
As for the effectiveness of avoiding tyrannical institutions and all, look how Fascistbooks declining…

Let me preface this comment with the fact that I don’t care about Facebook and never have, because I consider its software to be extremely intrusive to the point of being virus-like. To be honest, I’m pleased to see that its market shares in decline.

Okay, let’s really yank on this thread. If one is truly concerned with any implied or apparent hypocrisy in using a corporation’s products, then one must consider the entire supply chain from birth to death of every individual product that one purchases. If avoiding all support of Amazon services and products is paramount to a consumer in order to avoid any pretense of hypocrisy, then one must ask some questions:

  1. Was the product ever shipped or transported on a platform owned either directly or indirectly by Amazon?
  2. Did one’s preferred Mom and Pop store ever use an Amazon product or service to obtain the consumer good? That would include web services (i.e., AWS)
  3. Does the vendor from which one prefers to purchase an item ever use products or services owned and operated by Amazon?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then harping about the hypocrisy of others seems rather hypocritical.

To complicate this discussion even further, one must consider other corporations that exhibit tyrannical tendencies, like Google. It is an extremely high probability that Google services are being used directly or indirectly just to interact with this website, billwittle.com. Just by using any product or service owned by Google increases its bottom line and profit, since it’s business model is based upon trafficking information and advertising. In fact, just watching this backstage episode on the YouTube implicitly supports Google and its market share.

So, I shall return to my original assertion, boycotts, by definition, are absurd. They provide nothing more than an emotional response akin to the off-criticized virtue signaling of the Left. I refuse to fall prey to such fragile reasoning, and I choose to fight against the fundamental problems in our culture like those I’ve mentioned previously.
—
EDIT: All that being said, I commend anyone who aspires to disconnecting from all of these tyrannical corporate “masters” and I declare, “Good luck.”

Answer to number one…yes. Amazon trucks but that’s irrelevant. Amazon is raking it in, and becoming tyrannical. Monopolies used to be frowned upon. I remember the AT&T split. My father worked for them. And what a lot of these companies are doing is far worse.
Answer to number two and three…I ask questions, and vet the places I buy things. It’s just an inconvenience I am willing to accept.
As for Bloogle/BlueTube. I don’t use either anymore, and where possible, I block their scripts. Even here. Many sites can function without them. And again…it’s a monopoly that needs devolved.
As for boycotts not working, Liberals seem to have some success in that regard. That’s the cancel culture. And again, I’m not talking about calling for boycotts. I simply suggest people think about who they are giving their money to. I personally can do without a lot of these toys people have come accustom to.
Humans are like sheep, they flock to what’s popular and makes their lives seem more fulfilled. Christ does that all for me. He is my Shepherd. All these ‘things’ we hold dear…the Bible says, “this too shall pass.”
This is a discussion that could go on for a long time. Because I could go on about how things like Genetic Entropy, and what the ramifications of it are as it relates to God’s Word, can be used in this argument. So instead of getting into a diatribe on my birthday…and now knowing how a lot of people don’t want to hear about God on this website…I’d rather just leave it at this. I would not be able to justify myself before the Lord knowing I put worldly things before Him. It is that simple, yet very complex to break it all down. Not that I wouldn’t spend the time…I’m just discovering that not a lot of people here want to hear about it.
I’m going to do what my conscience tells me, because that’s God’s Holy Spirit’s still silent voice.

As soon as Scott started talking about carrying gadgets on his belt, I thought of the “original” Schneider from “One Day at a Time”, Pat Harrington.

Your episode brought back memories of role playing in my HS Social Studies class. We had a mock Senate. I was Senator Gladstone Culpepper of the great state of Georgia and had to debate my honorable colleague Senator Horatio Hornblower of Maine. The issues involved the Soviet Union, Cuba and the lead up to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows here. I have to rip it since it’s on BlueTube. But I pay for it by being a sustaining member. If only Rumble would get off their ass’ and fix their website…

… and their app. The Rumble players are definitely lacking ease of use features found in YT. Plus, I detest the autoplay feature that cannot be disabled in the client player.

I don’t use social media apps on my phone…never would, so I can’t speak to that. But Rumble’s website doesn’t have auto play anymore. My biggest issues with Rumble are: the entire comment and notification functions, the lack of a preview when you hover over the progress bar, but most of all…the (-) Rumbles.
A Liberal Atheist troll made false arguments about the Bible on one of my comments. As a Christian, I must be able to give answers and corrections. But when someone clicks the (-) button, the reply button disappears. Then, after more (-) Rumbles, the comment gets hidden. That’s completely unacceptable. And I’ve brought a lot of Christian ministries and Creation Science organizations to Rumble. I’m feeling a bit guilty about that.
Right now, I have a bigger issue. I attempted to change my email associated with my account. We intended to dismantle our ministry page, and email, because our web host has gone full blown Liberal on us. When I attempted to change it, they said it was successful, but yet it wasn’t. Now I get zero notifications from Rumble comments, and I don’t even get an auto-reply for ANY of my support requests.
With all that, I still suggest people to use Rumble over BlueTube. Because we’re all going to have to make sacrifices to restore our Constitutional Republic. Now it’s Rumble’s job to fix their issues.

On this site comments can be up voted and down voted and you don’t get to see who did it. So if a clique of disgruntles decides to stalk your comments and down vote in clusters then there is no way to know who is doing it or why. I consider that a flaw. It enables gratuitous assholeism.

Well, the Rumble autoplay affects me in the browser as wel as the app. I’m not talking about autoplay when one intially loads a page, but the autoplay to the next video in the stream after I watch one. Not being able to disable autoplay in all use cases is aggravating.

That’s what I’m talking about. It used to auto-play the next video, but it doesn’t anymore. I doubt it’s browser related. I use Brave.

Well it still autoplays for me regardless of my device/browser/app. It continues to be a flaw.

That’s odd. I thought it might be in the settings, but I couldn’t find it. Here’s a screen shot of what happens when a video ends for me. (P.S. I am trying to reply to your other comments, but there appears to be issues with the website)

Well, thanks anyway. I thought it was in the setting as well, but those things are devoid of anything useful on Rumble. It’s unfortunate, because I’d like to cut the YouTube cords; however, such limitations don’t make it generally attractive to content creators and viewers.

My Aunt (72) has intolerable fear issues. I say intolerable because not only does she lose her mind when fear sets in she attacks and wears out those around her. You cannot get her to see reason when it takes hold. So this vaccine will remove 85% of that fear, For my uncle (81) that will make a world of difference. The placebo effect sometimes matters for quality of life for all involved.

She is prescribed something but she will not take the full amount recommended by her doctor, She is worried about the side effects.

Speaking for myself only, I would cease enabling her behavior and cease cooperating with her manipulations. Your aunt is an outlier not a typical person of sound intellect and, as an anecdote, her disorder does not answer my question. Consider my question rhetorical if that better serves.

To Steve’s point about driving Denver international from Colorado Springs is 83 miles 1 Hr 16 minutes. I’m in Nassau Co. NY , Ft. Lee NJ is – 27 miles away 1 Hr, Greenwich Conn is 35 miles away also 1 Hr. Straight from NJ to Conn. passing through N.Y. 30 miles. Time here is meaningless when driving, I used to work 40 miles away 40 minutes on Sunday morning , 2 Hrs on a weekdays.

Hmm, my comment did not post so I will try again. Maybe it was the link I included.
Thanks for the shout out, gents! For those interested, “We Also Walk Dogs” was written in 1941 and I think you can see the precursor to Amazon in the story. Pretty sure Jeff Bezos read this story. If you do a search, you’ll find a link to a site under Kevin Marks (no idea whom he is, but link is safe) to the html version that showed up just fine on my phone. It’s about 20pp and a quick, fun read.
Below is photo of my well-worn copy of “The Past Through Tomorrow” (duct tape not original equipment) which also includes the stories “The Man Who Sold the Moon” and “Requiem” which are about DD Harriman whom Elon Musk clearly emulates.

I was in love with the boxy1984-5 K car, the one which was supposed to save Chrysler. God only knows why I thought that car was attractive back then, but after a huge drought in American convertible offerings, maybe I just wanted the wind in my hair.

My dad was a service manager for a Chrysler dealership in the 80’s, so I parked my butt in many K-cars and Lebarons. Good, reliable cars that saved Chrysler for a little while.

Thanks for the shout out guys! For those interested, “We Also Walk Dogs” is a fun little tale written in 1941. I am pretty sure Jeff Bezos read it as you can definitely see something that looks like Amazon in the story.
Here is the link to the html, which shows up on my phone just fine. (No idea who Kevin is)
http://www.kevinmarks.com/wealsowalkdogs.html
Here is my copy of The Past Through Tomorrow complete with duct tape holding the spine together. I want Scott to read “The Man who sold the Moon” and “Requiem” both about DD Harriman and in whom I can see much of Elon Musk. But this one is only about 20pp.

And Texarkana is closer to Chicago than to Brownsville. Dallas might be too, but I remember Texarkana because it was the punchline to a joke.

All good things come to those who wait … some bad things too. On with the show! 😉

Only if you’re a democrat. They always seem to be misplacing that imagined … er … “thing.”

NO!…Like pretty much every one else, I was born a Liberal, but….”When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:11 lol

I’ve watched Backstage on Youtube for a couple of years before I became a member so IDK what the hype is all about.

I think it’s just a run-of-the-mill goof. I can’t get it either, I usually like to watch/listen to Backstage as I fix my dinner on Tuesdays. I guess I’ll have to put something else on this time and I think by tomorrow they’ll have the issue cleared up.

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