Dylan Ratigan bitten by a tick, alas

I heard about the tick-borne meat allergy on this podcast:

I heard another podcast episode, Truth or Skepticism, with Tom Sosnoff and Dylan Ratigan, where Ratigan reports the meat allergy after having been bitten by the lone star tick.

The tick in question:

If you get bitten by one of these, you're then restricted to fish, chicken and Impossible meats. Beware!

Scott Adams' Memoir; I just reread this on my Ipad ...

I was out of reading material and started rereading this one from Scott Adams:

I quite enjoyed it and it spoke to me at this stage of my life. I just came up with a trading strategy, I think, that will solve my current family set of financial problems.

His story is very interesting:

• How he decided to move to California from upstate New York
• The idea for Dilbert and its background
• Some physical challenges he's faced and mostly overcome
• Some other business ventures he's tried, including the Dilberito vegan burrito
• His use of affirmations, which he says works for him though he doesn't think it's "magic"

And more ... I think it's well worth reading for anyone, but especially younger people. Four stars!

New consumer item coming: hydrogen stove?

Climate change is getting serious enough that some municipalities around the U.S. are looking to start banning natural gas. But since many cooks prefer cooking with flame, what about hydrogen as a cooking fuel?

YouTube is full of demos:




And a bit off topic: this guy recommends drinking hydrogen-rich water!


 There are some stoves advertised  ... and a system described to bring to poor countries in place of carboniferous alternatives.

Finally, Leeds in the UK is looking to be the first in the world to convert a whole region and then the whole UK from natural gas to hydrogen.

Another good Culture series novel from Iain M Banks

I somehow had no memory of getting all the way through this one even though I bought it in 2014:

The title is Matter, by Iain M. Banks, and the plot involves the inhabitants of a "shell world" (artist's rendering above) ... there's been a murder in the Royal Family and surviving Prince Furbin evades the killer with his trusty servant Holst ...

There are a lot of interesting ideas in this novel:

• the idea of the Universe being a simulation, and of war being better waged as a simulation
• the Many Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics
• The interaction between cultural less developed civilizations and the "optimi" like the Culture and peers

This is almost as good as my favorite, Surface Detail ... where a lot of these ideas are given fuller treatement.


Five stars! Money back if not satisfied ... contact me!
 

Political humor from Saturday night live: The Democratic Debate

Enjoy!

Free EV charging at some Walgreens and maybe elsewhere

I was in Covington WA the last couple of weeks and saw this sign:

I tried plugging in my 2015 Nissan Leaf while I was sitting nearby at Jimmy John's ... and it worked!

It's a level 2 charger, not the faster CHAdeMO type that my car handles, but much better than nothing!

Politics roundup

Three items from recent news and one from further back:

Ranked choice voting in NYC

Ranked choice was on the ballot in New York City in the recent election and won with 73% approval!

Trump fails boosting Republicans in Red States

Kentucky: Matt Bevin concedes to his Democratic opponent Andy Beshear.

Lousiana: Democrat John Bel Edwards wins reelection ...

In both cases, Trump campaigned vigorously for the losing Republican.

Tee hee!

Comey probably cost Hillary Clinton the election

538's article came out in 2017, but I just found it recently via the New York Times ... History turns on events like this ... what would 2020 look like if we did have President Hillary? The mind boggles ...