Wordle 1330 Hint

Hint: Solving today's Wordle entails a climb, or at least a challenging upward walk.

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First Letter: S

Cheap Camera Road Test

A camera that cost eight or nine bucks on Temu. I don't recall the listing mentioning that it records in black and white. I don't guess that's really a problem for the price.

Since it has a built-in mic -- no Bluetooth, no mic jack -- any audio other than bike/road noise would have to be overdubbed.

I'm still thinking about a helmet-mounted camera with a mic jack so that I can just plug in the mic already in my helmet (it connects to my Bluetooth headset). This one just clips on to a jacket or whatever.

I'd like to be able to share ride videos in color and with in-the-moment commentary.

Anyway, here's a minute or so from my short ride today. I don't think eight bucks is gonna get me what I'm trying for. But enjoy anyway.

Update, Saturday, 02/08: I was wrong about the camera only being black and white. It supposedly has a "night vision" function, and that was on when I took the above video. If I take the bike out today, I'll see if I can get some color video.

Wordle 1329 Hint

Hint: Strip -- the noun form like your lawn mower might make, not the verb form like your mama does on stage (rim shot).

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First Letter: S

Wordle 1328 Hint

Hint: A student, or something one looks at a student through.

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First Letter: P

It Seems To Me ...

... that absent some factor I'm not noticing in the news stories about Elon Musk's young friends barging into government offices and demanding the keys, those young friends couldn't expect much more than to receive the same warnings Ashli Babbitt got at the US Capitol four years ago, followed by the same corrective treatment if they pressed the matter.

What might that factor be?

Wordle 1327 Hint

Hint: You might find one under an old sewing machine, or several under a musician's feet.

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First Letter: P

I Find It Odd

Every evening this time of year, Alexa informs me that the National Weather Service has issued a severe weather alert for my area, lasting from late evening until 10am the next morning.

Fog.

Yes, this time of year we have fog every damn morning.

But I've never thought of fog as "severe weather."

Wordle 1326 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle is so versatile! You can brush it, clean it, drill it, fill it, pull it ...

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First Letter: T

Note to Chiefs Haters

Cope.

Angela McArdle Is Gone ...

... and the Libertarian National Committee has chose Steven Nekhaila to replace her as chair.

As a bonus we get Paul Darr to fill the vice-chair vacancy.

Effective a few minutes ago, I'm a (small-time) monthly Libertarian Party donor again.

I'm not saying we've turned this thing around, but these are at least preliminary signs that we're starting the process of doing so.

Least Surprising News Item of the Day

Elon Musk, November 2024: "[A]ll actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency."

Elon Musk, February 2025: "With regard to leakers: if in doubt, they are out"

Wordle 1325 Hint

Hint: Theater, but in the style of the Ziegield Follies rather than of Waiting for Godot.

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First Letter: R

Wordle 1324 Hint

Hint: Solving today's Wordle may be work, but it's routine work.

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First Letter: C

Economic Analysis in Brief

Call: "Trump tariffs begin, with levies on Canada, Mexico, China."

Response:

A Book Recommendation, Totally Not Self-Serving Or Anything

The book: Samuel Edward Konkin III Revolutionary Friend, by Wendy McElroy (not an affiliate link).

Why I've been remiss in mentioning it here: I like to actually finish reading a book before I recommend it, and I haven't had time to meaningfully dig in to this one, especially with the recent illness (when I've got a cold or flu, I tend to keep my reading to light stuff like mystery fare).

Why I decided to suddenly mention and recommend it here:

1. It's by Wendy McElroy, so I can confidently predict that it will be well-written;
2. It's about SEK3 and the wild libertarian milieu he lived and worked in, so I'm absolutely sure it will be interesting; and
3. While Wendy, a long-time friend, had asked me if it was OK to quote an email exchange we had on a particular topic, I didn't know until today (when reader GregL mentioned it to me) that the quoting is extensive, pretty much the whole conversation. I had figured I was just good for a pithy line or two.

I can't even describe how personally flattering it is to be written about by Wendy McElroy in a way that literally puts my opinions alongside those of both SEK3 and Murray Rothbard and takes those opinions seriously.

It's kind of like being a local Catholic parish priest and learning that the pope put out an encyclical discussing my thoughts along with those of Thomas Aquinas and Ignatius of Loyola.

So really, how could I not recommend it? The 15% or so that I made it through before getting sick is great, I know that McElroy delivers, and I even get to be part of the whole thing!

Wordle 1323 Hint

Hint: Rosie's iconic fastener.

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First Letter: R

Frankly I'm Surprised ...

... that this is blog post #60 for the month. That cold or flu or whatever it was had me out of it enough, for long enough, that I just assumed I was way behind my "two posts a day" SOP.

I don't think this episode was nearly as bad as it could have been. Two of my neighbors have now given me "sick for nearly two weeks, off work for a week or more" accounts of the same basic symptoms in more or less the same time frame. I managed to mostly keep up with my basic job responsibilities (both neighbors have non-work-from-home, more physical, occupations than me, though).

I heard the second of those accounts while outside running the motorcycle's motor, checking tire pressure, etc. I'm not back at 100% yet, but I felt good enough see how a short ride went. Three miles to the nearest grocery store and back.

No problems. But I did take a nap when I got home, and felt like I needed that nap, so it's probably good that I had nixed "ride 50 miles, go on a hike, engage in other recreational activities, ride back next day" plans for the weekend.

I don't know if some changes I made to my medication/supplement regimen got me a little more back in the game, or if the bug was just coming to its end naturally, but I'm glad it's at least close to over.

Wordle 1322 Hint

Hint: Three words that might intersect with today's Wordle: Avocado, Cinnamon, and French.

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First Letter: T

Wordle 1321 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle is a lie!

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First Letter: F

Wordle 1320 Hint

Hint: I keep milk in the fridge, but a cow keeps it here.

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First Letter: U

Bah, Humbug

I'm beginning to think this may be the longer-term bug that hit a friend's household recently. He was off work for nearly two weeks. I didn't think my household got any exposure to that, but I think I'm into the second week of not feeling well myself, and maybe at the high point (I'm up in the middle of the night with a mild fever and swollen lymph nodes, and from being kept awake by a previously non-ill family member's new cough; Tamara's been mildly ill for a few days).

Looks like a second upcoming weekend of ruined plans (both sickness and weather are a factor). And next weekend, in addition to being Super Bowl weekend (my main religious holiday these last few years), also tentatively has a poor motorcycling/hiking/other outdoor activities forecast (rain and 52 degrees).

Feh.

I've avoided fever reducers because it's been mild and on/off, but I may take some today to see if I can get a jump on tomorrow's Garrison Center column in case it gets worse.

"Populism"

Selena Gomez was born into poverty and worked hard from childhood to become one of America's most successful musicians and actors.

Tom Hohman was born into a multi-generation workfare client family, and has spent his career working his way up that parasitical food chain, mostly by way of abducting people who look like Selena Gomez in service to his masters.

One of those two is a populist success story.

The other is just an ultra-cringe establishment toady.

Wordle 1319 Hint

Hint: If you think today's Wordle is about temperature, you're getting warmer.

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First Letter: F

NFL: No Surprises Yesterday, But Good Games

Well, I guess I should say "no surprises in the outcomes of the games." There were some really fun surprises during the games. My favorite was probably the Commanders' fake punt (thrown for a first down) versus the Eagles.

Of course, I've got the Chiefs picked to win Super Bowl LIX, but not just for religious reasons. The Chiefs beat the Eagles two years ago ... and the Eagles are neither as good overall, nor as healthy at the moment, as they were then.

GO CHIEFS KINGDOM!

And for the record (as if you didn't already know), I didn't vote for Donald Trump.

Wordle 1318 Hint

Hint: If you're a train, try changing tracks per today's Wordle.

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First Letter: S

Back On The Horse

OK, I got caught back up on Garrison Center columns. I'm still not back to 100%, but I think the cold is mostly over with. And I'm caught up with work enough to hopefully be able to tuck into buffalo wings and watch both NFL conference championship games today.

Today's column is on two subjects close to my heart (taxes and tipping), and a Trump proposal I actually like on both those subjects.

Speaking of horses, whenever I think about income tax, I think about this scene from The Sopranos:

Wordle 1317 Hint

 Hint: The preferable side of the street.

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First Letter: S

Wow, They Come Right Out And Say It!

Per ABC News:

The stop was initiated by Border Patrol agents under the pretext of an immigration violation, according to the court records.

This was the traffic stop that resulted in one of the Border Patrol thugs, and one of their victims, getting shot dead.

Why the need for a "pretext?"

Because after several days of surveillance -- precipitated by reports from busybodies (with apparently nothing useful or productive to do) that the victims were doing perfectly legal things, like dressing in "tactical"-looking clothing and openly carrying firearms -- the victims hadn't been seen doing anything, you know, illegal.

Naturally, all the public tears being shed are over the Border Patrol thug, not his victim.

Wordle 1316 Hint

 Hint: It's worse than "I say potayto, you say potahto." In the US, we call this potato thing a chip and refer to a fry as French, but the Brits call a fry a chip and a chip this, leaving everyone (especially the French) confused.

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First Letter: C

Worse and Better

I woke up this morning feeling a little worse physically, but better mentally.

Usually a cold or flu puts me into a "brain fog" state where everything seems slow and difficult and makes me doubt that I'm getting stuff right if it requires any brain work at all. That was the case for a couple of days, but so far today it seems to be mostly gone. I was able to get a Garrison Center column out, which was important (to me, anyway).

Physically the cough and congestion are at least as bad as yesterday and maybe worse, and I still feel physically fatigued. But hopefully I'm on the general upswing.

Yesterday, the new handlebar grips and handlebar end mirrors for the motorcycle arrived. I don't think I'll get them installed today, but probably over the weekend.

Wordle 1315 Hint

 Hint: Personally, I think of today's Wordle as the pancake version of a burrito.

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First Letter: C

IMO, the "Common Cold" is Worse than Most Flu Variants

Woke up this morning feeling worse than yesterday -- more congested, developing a cough, etc. No fever at the moment, and the one yesterday was low-grade (just over 99 degrees).

I'm into (I think) the third day of this, which (along with having had my flu vaccine) makes me think it's the "common cold" rather than the flu.

Honestly, I prefer the flu. It's usually more severe, but it's also usually over in 24-72 hours, while "colds" tend to last 7-10 days.

Which means 7-10 days that I won't be riding the motorcycle (I haven't experienced any dizziness yet but that's not unusual for me when sick and a bad thing to happen while balancing on two wheels), 7-10 days I probably won't go out much if at all, etc.

I'm thinking I may feel well enough to get a Garrison Center column out today, if I don't get dizziness/head fog. We'll see. For now I'm doing the zinc/Vitamin C thing and hoping for the best.

Hopefully I'll feel well enough today or tomorrow to put the new hand grips and mirrors on the bike -- they're supposed to arrive today.

Wordle 1314 Hint

 Hint: Think "crust" as a social class descriptor.

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First Letter: U

If Certain People Are Not "Subject to the Jurisdiction of" the United States, How Can They Legally be Arrested/Deported?

Asking for a friend.

NFL: Swagger + Humility = Travis Kelce

I came across a quote this morning -- a quote that's not at all unusual from the guy who said it, but I always find this specific kind of quote impressive coming from this particular guy.

Travis Kelce is one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history. Maybe the greatest even if he retires after this post-season set of games (with, hopefully, yet another Super Bowl victory for his team). He holds nine NFL records specific to tight ends, one NFL record for any position, and five records for the Chiefs franchise. There's zero doubt that he's going to be a first-ballot Hall of Fame football player.

And the man can talk some shit. When it comes to his team's challenges and prospects, he is all swagger, boast, and brag.

But when it comes to himself? Here's that quote:

I don't care if I'm the MVP of the league, which I'll never be, or which I've never been up for. But it doesn't matter what you do individually, it's all about what your team does at the end of the day.

So far as I can tell, that quote is an honest expression of his true ethic. He really seems to mean it. Yeah, he has three Super Bowl rings, but for him it seems to be more about his team having three Super Bowl trophies. He's consistently been willing to do what the team needs him to do ... even when that means missing out on some personal glory by being "the guy everyone's guarding, so someone else can get open to receive a pass" or whatever. And when interviewers bring that up, he's very consistent in praising other players who get some of the glory he might have gotten, because he was glad to let/help them get it, instead of complaining that he didn't get enough opportunities to shine personally.

Most NFL players express a certain amount of that kind of humility ... but a lot of them accidentally reveal that it's not really where they're at. They'll complain that they're not getting the ball often enough, or that they weren't allowed to play enough snaps to win a bonus or set a record, etc.

My late brother identified Kelce as the NFL player he'd most like to sit around and have a few beers with ... and I agree.

If he's just acting -- "one of the all-time football greats who just happens to be in a relationship with the biggest pop star of the 21st century, but really a down-to-earth fun guy" -- he does a great job of it (and yes, now he's acting too).

I'm really, really, really hoping to be able to make it to a Chiefs game (my first NFL game) while he's still active on their roster. And if he's still playing next year, that just may happen. Especially if the Jacksonville Jaguars pick Gainesville's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as their temporary home while their stadium undergoes renovations.

Wordle 1313 Hint

 Hint: It should exceed your grasp, or what's a heaven for?

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First Letter: R

Thank You, President Trump

I normally try to avoid news in the evening hours, and was feeling lousy last night as well (worse today, dammit), so I got to bed early and without seeing an email from reader GregL.

I saw it first thing this morning, though -- Donald Trump has kept his promise to pardon political prisoner Ross Ulbricht! Hooray!

No, my overall opinion of Trump hasn't changed. But I like to give thanks and credit where due, even to politicians. So thank you, President Trump.

NFL Divisional Round vs. My Bracket

I'm feeling a little under the weather, but I'm not blogging enough the last few days so let's talk football.

Here's my bracket.

On the AFC side, things have righted themselves after I missed one pick in the Wild Card round, but got both picks right this last weekend -- the AFC championship game will, as I predicted, match the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills.

On the NFC side, I missed one pick in the Wild Card round and both picks in the divisional round, so the NFC championship game will feature two teams I hadn't picked to get that far, the Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles.

My guess is that the Eagles will win the NFC and lose to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl -- a replay of 2023.

But if the Commanders stuff the Eagles I expect it to be a better, more exciting game.

Either way I have the Chiefs picked to win, of course, but the Commanders do really have something special going.

Wordle 1312 Hint

Hint: A desirable noun as it relates to baked goods; an undesirable verb as it relates to aircraft wing surfaces.

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First Letter: I

Wordle 1311 Hint

 Hint: A Marine's nickname for a sailor.

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First Letter: S

The Big Problem With "Free" Online Poker Sites

I've been playing a little at the World Series of Poker web site.

Online poker is inherently a little less fun than face-to-face poker, since you can't watch your opponents' faces, motions, etc. to help you figure out whether they're bluffing.

Onlike poker that doesn't use real money is even less fun, because ...

You're playing with "chips" that are trivial in value, near zero.

I say "near" zero because if you want chips without winning at the table, you do have to do a little work to get them (if you don't feel like paying real money for them, a little money for a lot of chips). On the WSOP site, you're allowed three hands of "video poker" every so often, a spin of a "wheel of fortune" or "slot machine" every so often, etc., all of which credit chip winnings to your account. There are also substantial chip bonuses for completing little "quests," collecting virtual cards, etc.

A typical table buy-in is two million to five million chips. You can knock that much down several times a day with a few minutes of the aforementioned things.

Which means that in almost any game, some newb nob will go all-in on the first hand, and maybe every subsequent hand, without regard to what cards he's actually holding or what the flop/turn/river cards indicate about what may be out there.

Which means that people who are actually inclined to, you know, play poker are less likely to back two pair or three of a kind with a reasonable bet because as soon as they do, said newb/nob will go all in even though he has 2-3 unsuited in his pocket and isn't getting any joy from the community cards, and nobody sane is going to go all-in on two pair two pair when it's mathematically very plausible that someone else at the table is sitting on a straight or a flush draw.

I'm not sure how to solve that problem. Maybe require a real cash deposit to play ... a deposit that's forfeit if an algorithm detects that you're just fucking around?

Wordle 1310 Hint

 Hint: If you own a boat or an exercise machine, you may be one of these.

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First Letter: R

Wordle 1309 Hint

 Hint: Think "Walks, Ministry of."

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First Letter: S

I Did Sort of Expect It ...

... but, naively, I didn't expect it to be unanimous.

The Supreme Court has just ruled (not for the first time) that any time a bunch of parasitic nobs jump up and down screeching "national security," the First Amendment goes away.

As for whether TikTok really can be effectually banned, I guess we'll see about that.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm ...

I've mentioned the FIO protocol, and its associated token, before. While it hasn't been as widely adopted as I'd hoped just yet, it's a cool way of making cryptocurrency manageable. You get an FIO "name," and people can just send (via a number of wallets) any of several cryptocurrencies to that "name" instead of to a long crypto address (my FIO name is knappster@edge).

As for the token, it's not any kind of major investment/speculation vehicle so far as I can tell, but I do keep some on hand, and keep it "staked" to help with network liquidity, for which I earn "rewards" (about 10% APY).

The other day, I got a wallet alert on my phone that the token's value had gone up.

WAY up.

So far up that my $150 or so worth of staked FIO was now priced at more liked $9,000.

I didn't expect that to last, and my FIO balance, being staked, was not liquid (after unstaking, it can't be transferred for seven days).

Nonetheless, I did unstake that balance, thinking that perhaps seven days from now my $150 worth of FIO might still be worth, say, $1,000. Maybe there was some kind of big deal I hadn't heard about (e.g. one of the major exchanges adopting the protocol, or some big investor throwing in to improve, promote, etc.), meaning the surge was genuine, if way over-optimistic going forward.

In the minute or so it took me to do that, the price fell back down to where it usually is, and my $150 or so worth of FIO was worth $150 or so again.

The whole thing happened too quickly to feel like any kind of "pump and dump" operation or other scam.

Kind of weird.

Even weirder when you look at the token's price chart, which doesn't reflect the massive increase my wallet alerted me to.

So now I'm wondering what happened. Was there some kind of error in the price reporting mechanism? If so, where and why -- at the wallet level, on whatever trading platforms inform the wallet, etc.? Microsoft Copilot tried to educate me on "flash crashes," but just in general.

Wordle 1308 Hint

 Hint: Possibly purple, but not poetry.

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First Letter: P

Wordle 1307 Hint

Hint: Consumable component of cigarette lighters (and older firearms).

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First Letter: F

Wordle 1306 Hint

Hint: Their talent was most famously expressed with regard to Sharona.

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First Letter: K

The Latest Temu Motorcycle Stuff Order

Here's a screen shot:

From right to left:

• New hand grips that match the bike's color scheme
• New mirrors that will stick out the ends of the handlebars instead of sticking way up high above the handlebars
• A clip-on camera that may allow me to get usable video while riding the bike

That third item was something I took a chance on just because Temu orders have to total $20 or more to avoid shipping charges. It was $8.50.

I don't have a real problem with the existing hand grips, but these look like they'll be more sticky.

I'm not sure whether I'll like the new mirror set-up, but I know that I don't particularly like having the mirrors way up high. The new setup should require less head movement to check mirrors.

NFL Post-Season Bracket Progress: Wild Card Week

Here's my bracket.

The two teams I have picked for the Super Bowl (Chiefs and Lions) are still in the running, of course -- because they both had first-week byes.

For the Wild Card weekend, I got two right and one wrong in each conference. Green for right, red for wrong:

• The Houston Texans beat the Los Angeles Chargers (AFC)
• The Buffalo Bills beat the Denver Broncos (AFC)
• The Baltimore Ravens beat the Pittsburgh Steelers(AFC)
• The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers (NFC)
• The Washington Commanders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC)
• The Los Angeles Rams beat the Minnesota Vikings (NFC)

That Rams/Vikings game was the only real upset -- and it means I've got at least one Divisional Round game wrong already, since I had the Vikings going on to beat the Eagles, which is now impossible since the Vikings won't be playing. At best I can go 50/50 on the NFC side, with the Lions beating the Commanders.

On the AFC side, I've still got a chance to ace the divisional round because all the teams I have picked to win there are still in it: I had the Bills picked to face Houston and beat them, but now the Bills are playing Baltimore instead, and could beat them. I had the Chiefs playing and beating Pittsburgh, but now they'll be playing Houston and could (almost certainly will) beat them).

I have KC picked to beat Buffalo for the AFC championship; my pick will remain in play even if they play the Ravens instead (if KC loses to Houston, I miss Super Bowl joy).

I have Detroit picked to beat Minnesota for the AFC championship and that is not going to happen. But assuming they beat the Commanders, they'll face either Philadelphia or Los Angeles, and I expect the Lions to win either of those contests (if they don't, then neither of the teams I picked for the Super Bowl will be in it).

Wordle 1305 Hint

Hint: Like ketchup, or a Reba McEntire song.

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First Letter: F

NFL: When You Erase Your History, You Erase Your History!

Yesterday, the Washington Commanders won their first NFL playoff game. Ever.

Most media seem to be reporting that the Washington Commanders won their first NFL playoff game in 19 years.

But that's not true.

The Washington Redskins won a playoff game (beating Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round, just like they did yesterday) on January 7, 2006.

The Washington Commanders didn't come into existence until 2022.

The Washington Redskins ceased to exist in 2020, after considerable shaming over their name.

When you're ashamed (or at least pretend to be ashamed) of what you are and decide to be something else, you don't get to keep the good parts of who you were -- they go into the dustbin of history along with the bad parts.

Congratulations to the Washington Commanders on making it to the playoffs for the first time ever, in only the third year of their existence. They're a great team this year, and their greatness isn't increased by trying to peg it to another team's history.

I Doubt This Is A New Idea, But It's One I Just Had

Per the South China Morning Post:

Jason Oppenheim, star of Netflix’s Selling Sunset, has accused Los Angeles landlords of illegally price gouging rental rates amid the city’s devastating fires. ... Oppenheim shared the example of a client who went to view a rental property that was initially asking for US$13,000 a month. He said his client offered US$20,000 a month and six months of rent paid upfront, but the landlord responded by asking for US$23,000 a month.

While that sounds pretty high-end (Microsoft Copilot tells me the average rent in LA is about $2,800 per month), accusations of "price-gouging" tend to occur at all price levels.

So ... instead of risking accusations of "price-gouging," why not just hold lease auctions?

For example, the landlord above might set a reserve price of $13k per month with security deposit, then allow pre-qualified bidders (e.g. those who pass a credit check and present the security deposit and first/last month's reserve price rent as refundable -- if they don't win the auction -- "earnest money") to compete for the lease.

Hold an auction, and the winner gets that one-year lease ... maybe even with first and last month's rent, as pre-paid, set at the reserve price?

The landlord gets at least his reserve price, and whoever can afford the lease, and wants it most, gets it.

Yes, there would still be complaints of high prices, but it would be the renters, not the landlord, deciding those prices. No "gouging" involved.

Of course, there's a good chance that something as sensible as that is illegal, especially in California.

36 Years Later ...

Back in the 1980s, A Picture Made, was one of my top two favorite bands in the world (I think they'd still make my top ten, and most of the others have a lot more in the way of recorded output). I went to every gig they had in the Springfield, Missouri area (they were from Pittsburg, Kansas), had a great time, even got to know them a little.

I always felt bad that when they finally released an album -- Past -- in 1988, I was too damn broke to buy it. That was shortly after I started, you know, adulting, and had to make rent, etc. on a fairly low-paying job.

I've since found the songs on the album in digital format, but a month or so ago I happened across an eBay deal. The album, on vinyl, still in the shrink wrap. Produced by Mitch Easter! That guy also produced some of my favorite R.E.M. material (the Chronic Town EP and their first album, Murmur).

I'm not even going to unwrap it. It's nice to just finally have the genuine article.

Sample, courtesy of YouTube:

Wordle 1304 Hint

Hint: A garment worn over other clothing (a magic one can make you invisible).

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First Letter: C

Wordle 1303 Hint

Hint: When I added up the costs of all the damages, repairs came to more than the car was worth.

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First Letter: T 

Wordle 1302 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle isn't too bright. It also needs a good scrubbing.

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First Letter: D

Nice $1.89 Motorcycle Mod

I bought these silicone brake lever covers on Temu (not an affiliate link) and installed them yesterday:

Less than two bucks, and while I hadn't yet had any problem with my hands slipping on the brake levers while riding in the rain, etc., they reduce any future risk of that, and just feel more solid.

They come in different colors, but of course I chose the ones matching the bike's color scheme.

I'll probably replace the hand grips with something similar in the near future. I'm also considering replacing the "up high" mirrors with ones that stick out from the ends of the handlebars.

Still waiting to hear from the scooter shop about upgrading the CTV variator. For various reasons (including but not limited to cool weather), I haven't been on the bike much for the last week or so, but that may change as soon as today.

Wordle 1301 Hint

Hint: A non-walking way to get around.

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First Letter: C

Wordle 1300 Hint

Hint: Like communion bread, or a popular vanilla cookie.

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First Letter: W

A Question For Any Legal Eagles Who Might Happen To Notice It

On January 7, Aileen Cannon -- a judge whose jurisdiction is the US Southern District of Florida -- issued an order purporting to bind functionaries of the US Department of Justice (special counsel Jack Smith and US attorney general Merrick Garland) against releasing a report on Smith's investigation of president-elect Donald Trump.

And she issued this order even though the entire matter is currently in the hands of her superior court, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (which only has jurisdiction over Florida, Alabama, and Georgia).

If I'm not much mistaken, the US Department of Justice is located in, and Smith works from, the District of Columbia, which lies in neither her jurisdiction nor the Eleventh Circuit's.

How does she get to do that? It seems like the equivalent of a local traffic court judge asserting the power to enjoin the state attorney general against issuing a report on a state highway traffic enforcement matter, just because the state trooper who wrote the report happened to have written one of the involved traffic tickets (which has since been appealed to a higher court) on a stretch of road passing through her town.

Wordle 1299 Hint

Hint: Think Clydesdales, or what's in the kegs in the wagon they're pulling.

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First Letter: D

Sometimes It Just Can't Be Helped ...

I missed writing a Garrison Center column today, partly because what I expected to be a 2-3 hour hole in my day (a family member's medical procedure) turned into a 5-hour hole in my day.

There were other reasons (one of them is why I'm up late -- abnormally high blood glucose and I don't want to got bed and not wake up), but that was the big one. I'll aim for a better-than-usual column on Thursday to make up for the miss.

Wordle 1298 Hint

Hint: I visualize two kinds of today's Wordle -- one is on the road and one is shrugging.

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First Letter: A

While I Had Some Spare Time Last Night ...

... I thought it would be worthwhile to check a couple of the larger pr0n sites and see what's up with the new Florida "age verification" law.

I checked two sites (the first two I happened to think of) and verified three things:

1. At least some of the sites are attempting to implement the "age verification" idiocy (one of the sites I checked was xHamster, which is doing that);
2. At least some of the sites are blocking traffic from Florida IP addresses (the other site I checked was PornHub, which is doing that); and
3. VPNs resolve both issues (I used Proton VPN -- yes, that is a referral link, and if you sign up for any of their paid services, I get credit toward my own subscription; they do have some free services).

If you're in Florida, and if pr0n, and a variety of sources for it, are important to you, I'd recommend going the VPN route rather than giving your personal information up. 

For reasons that aren't all related to pr0n, it's important that the idiot pols in Tallahassee don't succeed with this culture war virtue signaling project.

In fact, it's important that it fails, and fails spectacularly. As seems to be the case.

And you really should have a VPN set up, even if it's not something you feel the need to use all the time.

I Don't Believe The Chiefs Threw That Game, But I Do Notice The Happy Results

So, after going 14-1 in the first 17 games of the NFL's 2024 season, the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Denver Broncos yesterday by a score of 38-0.

That broke a streak for the Chiefs -- they'd gone 61 games without being shut out in the first half, and 12 years without a full-game shutout.

The obvious explanation is simple: The Chiefs rested five of their starters -- Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, Trent McDuffie, and George Karlaftis -- because this game didn't matter to them for post-season placement, while the Broncos brought all their fire because this game did matter to them.

But I'm already hearing rumblings online that the Chiefs intentionally "threw" the game for a very different reason:

The Chiefs' real AFC competition consists of two teams: The Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals. 

The Bills already had a playoff berth knocked down prior to Sunday.

But the Bengals had a kind of lackluster season (before coming back to win their last five games) and the only way for them to make the playoffs was for the Broncos to lose.

Since the Broncos won, the Bengals are out of the playoff picture.

I think the obvious, simple explanation is the correct one. The Chiefs used this game as an opportunity to rest some key players, audition some newer/up-and-coming players, etc., and allowed the chips to fall where they fell. If they were actively "throwing" the game, they'd probably have made it convincing and preserved those no-shutout streaks. Even a first-half field goal would have accomplished that.

But they're probably glad they don't have to get past Joe Burrow & Co. to make it to the Super Bowl.

NFL Week 18 Results

Well, that wraps up the NFL's 2024 season. I did not have a very good week. Here are my picks, green for correct ones, red for incorrect ones:

• Baltimore Ravens beat Cleveland Browns
• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Cincinnati Bengals*
• Atlanta Falcons beat Carolina Panthers
• Washington Commanders beat Dallas Cowboys
• Green Bay Packers beat Chicago Bears
• Houston Texans beat Tennessee Titans
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Indianapolis Colts*
• Buffalo Bills beat New England Patriots
• Philadelphia Eagles beat New York Giants
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat New Orleans Saints
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Denver Broncos
• Los Angeles Chargers beat Las Vegas Raiders
• Seattle Seahawks beat Los Angeles Rams*
• Miami Dolphins beat New York Jets
• San Francisco 49ers beat Arizona Cardinals
• Detroit Lions beat Minnesota Vikings

Eight right, eight wrong. That leaves me at 179 right, 93 wrong for the season and in the 87.2nd percential among players of ESPN's "Pigskin Pick'em" game.

Better than last year, when I finished the regular season with 159 right, 113 wrong and in 83.3rd percentile.

Here's my post-season "bracket," which culminates with the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Detroit Lions in Super Bowl LIX.

Wordle 1297 Hint

Hint: A small piece instead of the whole plant (think mistletoe or holly).

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First Letter: S

Wordle 1296 Hint

Hint: Like space, only virtual.

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First Letter: C

Wordle 1295 Hint

Hint: Frankie Say ...

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First Letter: R

Concerned, But Not Changing Any Of My NFL Picks ...

As I've recently mention in my NFL pick posts, end-of-season games are especially difficult. For most of the season, you have to think about who's injured and not playing.

But the last few games, it becomes a matter of "are the teams who've already secured playoff berths going to bench some of their big guys rather than risk injury" and "are the teams who have no shot at the playoffs going to do the same so that they don't have key players out for the beginning of next season?"

I mostly just treat all that as an unpredictable wash. The only thing I've been seeing to make me reconsider any game is an actual injury situation -- it looks like Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins won't be playing this weekend. Not due to concussion, thank God. Some kind of hip issue.

This is a must-win game for the Dolphins if they want to make the playoffs -- versus the Jets, who are completely out of contention. I'm tempted to switch my pick, but I'm not going to. I think Tyler Huntley will do a credible job for the Dolphins. The Jets, having long since fallen off the end of the season's rope, could be a threat because they might be trying out some new guys, etc. for a game that makes no difference to them, but there's no way to predict whether new things will work for them. So I'm sticking to it.

Ditto the Chiefs, who probably won't be putting in Mahomes and some other important players as they try to stretch out rest periods for their key playoff guys, having already secured first seed (which includes a bye week and home field advantage). Not because I don't think Carson Wentz and friends will do a good job (I'm sure they will), but because I don't not pick the Chiefs to win, ever. The Broncos may well beat them (and, like the Dolphins, must win for any playoff shot), but I'm not going to predict that. It's a religious thing.

Wordle 1294 Hint

Hint: The kind of shot you'll be taking if you criticize me for tying today's Wordle to Robin Zander and company.

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First Letter: C

Wordle 1293 Hint

Hint: When you've had to make a choice and you did.

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First Letter: C

NFL Week 18 Picks

The final week of the NFL's 2024 regular season doesn't include Thursday or Monday night matches, but does include two Saturday games (Browns v. Ravens and Bengals v. Steelers). Here are my picks, as entered in ESPN's "Pigskin Pick'em" game. "Upset" picks -- that is, picks where I'm in the minority as to who will win -- have asterisks next to them. Any changes to my initial picks will be made before kickoff and will be noted below.

• Baltimore Ravens beat Cleveland Browns
• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Cincinnati Bengals*
• Atlanta Falcons beat Carolina Panthers
• Washington Commanders beat Dallas Cowboys
• Green Bay Packers beat Chicago Bears
• Houston Texans beat Tennessee Titans
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Indianapolis Colts*
• Buffalo Bills beat New England Patriots
• Philadelphia Eagles beat New York Giants
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat New Orleans Saints
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Denver Broncos
• Los Angele Chargers beat Las Vegas Raiders
• Seattle Seahawks beat Los Angeles Rams*
• Miami Dolphins beat New York Jets
• San Francisco 49ers beat Arizona Cardinals
• Detroit Lions beat Minnesota Vikings

As I mentioned last week, the final two weeks of the season have their own prediction challenges. Some of the top teams with secure playoff berths may sit key players so they don't get injured, for example. I'll be interested to see how well I do this week.

Wordle 1292 Hint

Hint: Sometimes Wordle gets on my very last one.

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First Letter: N

Thanks For Asking! -- 01/01/25

New year, new AMA thread. Ask in comments, I'll answer in (or linked to from) comments.