Stories that developed during my absence

 

I've been following a number of stories in recent days, and some others popped up during my absence at LibertyCon.  I thought I'd put them all into a single post here, so you can decide which ones you'd like to investigate further.  Click the title to be taken to the post/article concerned.

1.  The Commies Mount An Across the Board Push: DSA targets local elections around the nation in a well-planned strategy.

Instapundit author Glenn Reynolds points out that "The DSA and its allies have targeted local elections because they can mobilize a small but decisive number of voters in low-turnout elections".  This thinly-disguised extreme Socialist/Communist movement is trying to take over the Democratic Party from the inside, working its way upward through the ranks.  It's a timely warning, IMHO.

2.  Income needed to afford a median-priced home has nearly doubled since 2020, report finds.

It's no wonder younger people today complain that they simply can't afford a home of their own.  The cost of the latter has almost doubled in six years, but salaries certainly haven't followed suit.  I'd hoped for a "price dividend" as illegal aliens were deported (or deported themselves), but their absence from the housing market hasn't yet made much of a difference.  Can things find a new balance?

3.  Everest hospital scrambles for antivenom as snakes migrate to high ground.

"Experts said venomous snakes, including king cobras, were heading up the mountains as the climate warmed, threatening tourists and climbers."  That's a new and unexpected danger in the Himalayas, which have been relatively snake-free until now due to their extremely cold ambient temperature.

4.  Try Not to Crack a Rib Laughing.

"Police say 41-year-old Leonard “Lil Riblet” Barksdale allegedly hopped a privacy fence in Southeast Memphis around 2:13 AM after spotting what he reportedly described as '“a lightly supervised gas grill'. According to neighbors, Lil Riblet moved through the backyard 'with the confidence of a man who’s never once considered consequences.' That confidence lasted approximately four seconds. Because waiting in the yard was Memphiszilla… a pit bull described by witnesses as 'Built like a refrigerator with childhood trauma'."

5.  AI helped diagnose 18 children whose rare diseases had stumped doctors.

"OpenAI’s o3 Deep Research model helped clarify 18 diagnoses for children who had struggled to find causes for their illnesses and symptoms. 'It’s a total game changer,' said one of the study’s lead researchers, Catherine Brownstein, the scientific director of the genetic investigations arm of the Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research at Boston Children’s Hospital."

6.  Pokémon Go Scans Quietly Trained the Navigation Tech Now Headed Into Military Drones.

"Hundreds of millions of Pokémon Go players spent years filming the streets, parks, and buildings around them to earn in-game rewards. Those roughly 30 billion environmental scans are now owned by Niantic Spatial, and they helped train a camera-based navigation model that a U.S. defense contractor is preparing to put into drones and other military robots. Most of the players had no idea."

I hope you found them as interesting as I did.

Peter

Back from LibertyCon

 

We're safely home from LibertyCon - well, most of us.  Alma Boykin will tackle the last leg, from our home to hers, later this morning.  We had a pleasant journey, with no major problems.  We're all pretty tired, though.  Four days on the road to attend three days of LibertyCon is a poor trade-off.  We may consider flying next year, even though that's more expensive and carries with it the travel hazard of too many people crammed into a tiny metal tube, plus the joys (NOT!) of the TSA and modern airports.

Normal blogging will resume tomorrow, Wednesday.

Peter

On the ground at LibertyCon

 

We arrived safely on Thursday afternoon after a relatively pleasant journey.  The Interstate between Nashville and Chattanooga is often so busy that it can take two hours or more to cover the distance, but for some reason we were blessed with light traffic and good weather.

The convention kicked off today (Friday) with all the usual pleasures of meeting and greeting friends whom we hadn't seen for a year or two.  It looks like I'm not alone in my medical woes, as several people I'd hoped to see here have begged off while they recover from their own troubles.  Funny how that seems to happen more and more often as we get older...

I'm taking it easy, being gentle with myself, and wearing a back brace while walking around, to make sure I don't overstress the damaged areas of my spine.  It's not comfortable, particularly if one goes outside into midsummer humidity and heat, but it's better than the alternative!

So far, plans are to leave Sunday afternoon and get home late on Monday.  That may change depending on Alma's commitments, but we'll see.  Meanwhile, please keep the prayers for safety (traveling and otherwise) coming.

Peter

On hiatus for LibertyCon

 

My wife and I, along with friend of long standing Alma Boykin, are headed out this morning to attend LibertyCon in Chattanooga, TN.  We'll get there Thursday evening, and be back home on Monday evening next week, God and the traffic permitting.

Blogging will be sparse during our absence.  I'll try to put up an article or two during free moments, but conventions typically don't include many of those!  Therefore, please amuse yourselves with the bloggers in my sidebar.

I'll see y'all on the other side.  Prayers for traveling mercy will, as always, be greatly appreciated.

Peter

I'm not a happy Safelite customer right now

 

I'm extremely fed up with Safelite, the windshield replacement people, at present.

I called them last week to replace my vehicle's windshield after a large crack developed.  They handled the initial appointment, insurance issues, etc. without difficulty.  However, when the technician arrived at our home to do the installation, we noticed immediately that the replacement windshield was much, much thinner glass than the factory original.  I queried this, but the installer assured me it was just as good as the original.

He took a couple of hours to replace the windshield, then left.  Less than an hour later, I stepped outside to find that a crack had developed in the center of the new glass, from top to bottom - worse than the initial crack I'd asked Safelite to repair.  Irritated (to put it mildly), I called Safelite at once, but could not get a human being on the line at all - everything was referred to their app or their Web site.  I was eventually able to get an appointment for "warranty service" last Saturday morning.

Lo and behold, on Friday afternoon Safelite canceled the Saturday appointment, with no explanation given.  We had to drive through the weekend in a vehicle whose windscreen I didn't trust not to develop further cracks.  At any rate, yesterday morning I had a call from their technician (at last).  He proceeded to inform me cheerfully that they couldn't replace my replacement windshield immediately, because the glue they used had to dry for at least a week before it was safe to remove it.  Why that information couldn't have been provided last week, instead of making, then canceling, an appointment for work they knew they wouldn't be able to do for that reason, I do not know.  Grrrr!

I pointed out that my wife and myself were leaving for Libertycon on Wednesday, and that the delay would mean we'd have to hire a vehicle for the journey, because I certainly wasn't prepared to trust their cracked windscreen to remain intact over a few thousand miles.  I informed him that I expected Safelite to pay for the hired vehicle, because it was due to their botched repair and delays in fixing it that the hire was necessary.  He told me that Safelite would not cover that cost, as it was their policy never to do so.  We'll see about that.  If necessary, Small Claims Court, here we come!  I think he passed that on to his bosses, as I had a couple more calls later yesterday all trying to tell me that Safelite wasn't responsible for any further expenses.  We'll find out.

Anyway, today I have to pick up our hired vehicle, hoping against hope that we can get the size we need at an affordable price.  We've had good results from Enterprise, so we'll be using them again.  Tomorrow it's off to Chattanooga with a carful of family, friends and luggage, to catch up with friends we haven't seen for some considerable time.  Meanwhile, my vehicle will just have to bask in the North Texas sunshine, waiting for our return before the repairs can proceed.

I'm not impressed by Safelite so far.  We'll see whether they can regain my trust and my future business, or whether it will be better to look elsewhere.

Peter