Official Off Topic Discussion Thread #1

[Ogertron3000]

Oh a note was found alright.... the guy's manifesto is almost as long as a senate bill!

On the news here they said he was saying the education system was a mafia front. A bit strange but so is setting yourself on fire I guess.
Since that monk did it in Vietnam back in the 60s it has become a way to make a point but usually the people who would do such a thing have the craziest points to make.
It’s a ****ty thing for the emergency services to have to deal with I imagine. Probably quite traumatic for them

 

[esoxlucius]

On the news here they said he was saying the education system was a mafia front. A bit strange but so is setting yourself on fire I guess.
Since that monk did it in Vietnam back in the 60s it has become a way to make a point but usually the people who would do such a thing have the craziest points to make.
It’s a ****ty thing for the emergency services to have to deal with I imagine. Probably quite traumatic for them

It certainly seems like this guy had a point of view to get across. But in order to get that point of view across he's actually done something where he will never know if his actions had the desired effect!!!

A total waste of a life.

 

[jjohnwm]

Well, I guess his life is his to live...or to waste...

He's tried to push his views on other people...and in order to do so, he chose a method that makes most reasonable people think that he was totally insane. Not a good way to sway public opinion, at least not in the desired direction.

Kinda the same thing with people who deliberately starve themselves, even to death! Speaking for myself...if you want me to consider your argument and perhaps come to support it...acting like a lunatic is not going to make me feel inclined to do so.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; decades ago when I was still running I discovered something similar. A small but aggressive dog, around beagle sized, charged out from it's yard at me. This was on the route of my maintenace run so i knew it would continue to be a problem. Next day I carried a stick about as big around as my index finger. Gave the dog a good smack. After that I discovered the dog would come after me if i were empty handed, but would not if I carried a small stick. I wound up for a long time putting a small stick in the guardrail at the base of the hill. I would grab the stick on the way up and put it back in the guard rail when I completed the circle. had to grab that stick every day.

The problem was the inconsistency of my current issues. Never knew when the neighbors dog was to be let out. So it was hard to have something handy. One day i had a hoe at hand I had been using. Another a hammer. Another a knife from my boat. The dog has been clever enough to stay just out of reach no matter what I was holding. I do figure a lesson such as you suggest would work. Thanks for the suggestion.

In the overall scheme of things i do not want to kill the dog. I also do not want to be bitten or see someone else get bitten. The best solution would be to smack the old man a few times. ( Actually i am probably ten to fifteen years older than him.)

Hello; A follow up on the neighbor's dog situation. Last time the dog came at me was maybe two weeks or so ago. I had stepped onto my back porch. The dog saw me from a distance, two yards away, and came running into my yard. I squared off with a yard tool and the usual standoff happened. Eventually the old man showed up and tried to get the dog, but it would not come to him nor mind him.
The man said some things that made me understand there would be no use dealing with him. That it would be alright if the dog bit the right person, he says. That I was doing the worst thing by being aggressive toward the dog (reference to the pickax I was holding). Took him a while to get the dog and leave.
I called the sheriff's office and discovered we have an animal control officer. That officer showed up to the owners house in about 20 minutes. I do not know what was said as the officer did not come over to speak to me. Anyway, have not seen the dog since. Maybe it was taken to a farm in the country. Not a euphemism for being killed as the couple do have a large farm about twenty miles away.

Glad I did not actually hurt or kill the dog as i would be vilified no matter the justification. I have been seeing on TV about a Govenor who put down an aggressive dog and was candid enough to put the tale in a book. Gutfeld made a series of jokes about it last night. Had a local NBC news on this morning and they talked about it. A key point, to me, is that the governor knew the dog was too aggressive and a danger to others. I am from a background that a biting dog needs to be put down. Preferably buy the owner. Guess her career advancement is over. I however understand the resolve it takes to do something you do not really want to do. Nobody wants to put down their own dog, even when it is badly injured, and the act is a mercy.

 

[Ulu]

Congrats on the dog issue. Here it is common for a farmer to shoot a destructive dog. I’m glad you didn’t have to.

On the news here they said he was saying the education system was a mafia front…

The whole government is a legal mafia front. Just not the Italian mafia.

I got my mini-welder all together, and working.







This isn’t technically “welding.”

I am “hard-solder brazing”, with a carbon arc torch, mating scrap steel and copper to tinned copper, with silver alloy solder.

The work is actually already soldered and I am just making sparks for show (and photographing it with my spare hand.)

Normally it takes two hands to do this work. I built it for a guy who makes orthodontic things. Retainers and braces.

 

[skjl47]

I have been seeing on TV about a Govenor who put down an aggressive dog and was candid enough to put the tale in a book. Gutfeld made a series of jokes about it last night. Had a local NBC news on this morning and they talked about it. A key point, to me, is that the governor knew the dog was too aggressive and a danger to others. I am from a background that a biting dog needs to be put down. Preferably buy the owner. Guess her career advancement is over. I however understand the resolve it takes to do something you do not really want to do. Nobody wants to put down their own dog, even when it is badly injured, and the act is a mercy.

Hello; Well the governor/dog story is a story of the day it seems. So far some very dumb comments. Few practical or realistic suggestions and some clearly not well thought out. One guy even suggested that because the dog could be led by the owner (governor) that it could not be a risk to others. Even i see the flaw. The owner and the owners family are accepted I guess as part of the pack to use canine terminology. Just like my neighbor's dog who went after everyone else in the area, it was good around them and their three year old grandson.
I do not live in her state, but this dog story would not keep me from supporting her. In fact, I tend to think, based on so far limited information, that she very likely did the best thing.

 

[Ulu]

My wife’s dog is that way, but we never let him out. If he bit some gardner they’d bankrupt us with legal fees. Even if it happens in my fenced yard, I could me liable, but then I have insurance.

Our old house had a mail slot by the front door, and we had an iron security door over the wooden door, as a screen door.

One day the postman dropped our mail in the slot, and was so surprised when our old dog barked loudly, from the darkness behind the door (and rattled the door like a 65 lb dog) that he spun around and ran headfirst into a post.

Fortunately my homeowner’s insurance paid for the damages.

 

[skjl47]

If he bit some gardner they’d bankrupt us with legal fees. Even if it happens in my fenced yard, I could me liable, but then I have insurance.

Fortunately my homeowner’s insurance paid for the damages.

Hello; I get it. Having a dog can be a big liability. I tried to point that out to my neighbor and her husband. I think the wife understood to some degree. The husband not so much if at all.
I had the Gutfield show recorded but had not watched much as i fell asleep late last night. I watched some more today. Not only did he have a bit in his opening monologue about the Govenor's dog he had a segment in the show. I contend he and the guests either do not understand or choose to be obtuse on purpose. Gutfield and most of the talking heads on that channel have dogs. Gutfield got one fairly recently. A small house dog. he shows pictures often. I get the transference of feelings from his dog to be applied to all other dogs. He and his guests likely cannot imagine having to put their dogs down. The thought may well be abhorrent to them.
I contend that governor likely had the same sort of feelings about her dog. it was not a pup. It was around 18 months old. Plenty of time to be attached to a dog that was no doubt loyal to her. So, does she keep a dangerous dog around which, according to her, was a risk to others? On top of the huge liability was the actual risk to others.
I get there will be a piling on all around against that governor. She will be an easy target for the weak who have not had to face such a decision. All sorts of pie in the sky notions will be tossed out in terms of what could have been done. I went to get a load of firewood this spring. The man has a big lab. He was not around but told me to get my wood when i could. His dog had met me before. It came around to say hello and went about it's business. I was never worried about that dog.

Last thought. my neighbor with the three kids lets them out again now that the mean dog is gone.

 

[krichardson]

One day the postman dropped our mail in the slot, and was so surprised when our old dog barked loudly, from the darkness behind the door (and rattled the door like a 65 lb dog) that he spun around and ran headfirst into a post.

Fortunately my homeowner’s insurance paid for the damages.

Wow,all because he got startled at a sound coming from the other side of the door!

 

[Ulu]

Yup. It’s the dog in your imagination that gets you.

In other news, I have always thought that fusion energy research was the biggest perpetual motion boondoggle ever invented.

Now we have a machine that can “create energy” for six minutes, If you feed it enough electricity to send a stainless steel sports car into the future..

I believe that 1.15 giga joules of power was more power than was ever used by human civilization for its first million years.

(from Google today….)
A new record in fusion has been achieved using a device internally clad in tungsten, a development that could set the pace for helping make fusion energy viable at the commercial scale.

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility, reports that the device was able to sustain hot fusion plasma nearing temperatures of 50 million degrees Celsius for a record-breaking six minutes. Relying on 1.15 gigajoules of power, the latest achievement saw a 15% increase in energy, as well as twice the density of previous experiments.