Wait for that young man to encounter Wickard v. Filburn!
As some of you may know, I’m in a soccer family. Daughters started playing at 4 years old and continued through college and into adult leagues. I’ve been reffing youth soccer for 20 years. I no longer engage with my Ds friends on politics, but one in particular has been greatly enjoying the WC and I’ve been educating him on the finer points of soccer. He posted a picture of Erling Haaland, the amazing player from Norway. I commented that the guy would look great in a horned helmet and with a broadsword. I was immediately chastised by his friends for “ethnically profiling” Norwegians. Never mind that the Norwegian fans in the WC stands are totally decked out in Viking regalia.
On a similar, and I guess unsurprising note, they are now claiming it’s Trump’s fault that the US lost to Belgium. How that’s possible doesn’t seem to cross their minds. I gave them a link to Carli Lloyd’s brutal assessment of the US team’s lack of focus and poor play, but it’s still Trump’s fault. Just another example of how politics and TDS affect these people…..I’m convinced it will be written up as a true mental condition in the future.
Here’s to Judith Curry, for her bravery, strength and intelligence. “Scientific American” called her a “heretic,” she was unfairly maligned by the whole climate alarmism establishment, but she stood her ground, paid various prices and made a difference.
She’s my idea of a true scientist — all too rare these days.
Land use planning has some agreeable features, but the ordinances he’s describing are so far beyond the cost-benefit inflection point that I would chuckle if an appellate court invalidated that county’s ordinance as an impermissible imposition on property rights which adhere to households.
==
The point of building codes is to promote health and safety. (Which also incorporates a cost-benefit calculation).
==
Utile land use planning should be devoted to: (1) ensuring congruence between private land use and the operation of public works, (2) containing nuisances which have an impact on neighbors. These are primarily of interest in core cities and suburbs of a certain density, not where they are living.
==
Where they are living, you can construct a well and a septic system. As long as these are up to code, there should be no issue. If there’s an issue with the tree house, the one to raise it should be an insurer. The only objection to subdividing the property should concern the appropriate distance between well heads and leechfields (which would not come into play subdividing a ten acre property, much less a 100 acre one).
IMO, county and multi-county authorities should be concerned with arterial transportation, lumpy public works, and commercial developments of a dimension exceeding a certain threshold. Granular land-use planning should be the business of municipal government.
Re: Judith Curry, a woman, a scientist, an educator, of integrity, strength, and competence. And a retirement well earned.
Regarding the video:
“The la-aand of the freeee, and the home of the buh-raaaave.”
On Judith Curry….brave individual, much like her colleague John Cristy. At some point one has to step back and let others take up the fight. Enjoy the retirement.
Second the callout to Haaland, he’s just great to watch. Here’s a goal against Brazil (yes, it does go through the defenders legs):
Re the US, I don’t really know soccer from cricket but I do know watching them reminds me of watching the Princeton basketball team play 4-corners offense back before the shot clock.
Thanks for the post on Judith Curry. I still have hope for the hard sciences. I’ve met two astronomers, separately, who have published papers tying changing temperatures on earth to solar output. Of course I asked them if they’d received any pushback. Both said none at all. Now that I think about it though, both of those encounters were over ten years ago, which freaks me out a bit. Where does the time go?
physicsguy on July 8, 2026 at 10:12 am said:
“He posted a picture of Erling Haaland, the amazing player from Norway. I commented that the guy would look great in a horned helmet and with a broadsword. I was immediately chastised by his friends for ‘ethnically profiling’ Norwegians.”
__________________________________________
All my ancestors came from Norway. If anybody wants to profile my ethnicity with Viking outfits, then have at it. But it’s fun to pretend to take offense and egg on the Woke to the point of absurdity.
Many years ago, when we were first told that naming sports teams after American Indians was déclassé, I used to demand that the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings change their name. My leftist friends didn’t know how to react to my fake outrage. No logic, no sense of humor. The nature of university towns. Now their ideology’s been spread everywhere by social media.
This another YouTube share from you that recently showed up in my YouTube feed. Not sure if YouTube promotes these generally or we both have excellent taste in videos and get shown similar suggestions 🙂
Two questions: What state is he in, and what in the world do they use for a bathroom??
Sue,
The septic system, that’s how they’ll get them.
I believe the Treehouse Masters chaps install composting toilets.
My septic system pumps to an off-site drain field. The transport line was not where it was shown on the as-built and it was found by a dowser. First time I had ever seen that in done person. I am watching thinking “really?” Yup. 20’ from where it was drawn. The guy that put in the tanks dug a hole like it was punched out with cookie cutter. Very impressive.
Art Deco,
It won’t matter. Remember Health and Safety.
Unless you’re willing to take them.to court, they’ll win.
In re the video:
The triumph of the bureaucrats: you cannot make it make sense.
Imagine “Catch-22” written by Franz Kafka.
I don’t think he should have telegraphed his plan, and annoyed the bureaucrats, but I can understand the frustration behind the impulse.
Maybe he can start a movement of similarly-situated citizens.
Viva la revolution.
Predecessor technological civilizations?
Here is a very clear, concise, and interesting discussion–based on a paper done by a scientist at NASA–laying out all of the reasons why–if there have been one or more industrial/high technology civilizations which preceded our current civilization–we would very likely have an extremely tough time finding any evidence of their existence, particularly here on Earth.
An Earth which is subject to the effects of weather, volcanic activity, the movement of tectonic plates, massive flooding, catastrophic strikes by large asteroids, seas covering the margins of land masses, and the top surface of the Earth slowly being covered up, and/or pulled underground in a natural churning cycle.
Thus, given these considerations, the best places to look for such evidence are in orbit around Earth, and/or on the Moon or Mars, where any such remnants would be subject to far less destructive environmental or geological forces. *
@Snow on Pine:if there have been one or more industrial/high technology civilizations which preceded our current civilization–we would very likely have an extremely tough time finding any evidence of their existence, particularly here on Earth.
This neglects mining. We know what kind of mining documented ancient civilizations did and where they did it. Had there been an industrial/high technology civilization before then, those mines the ancient Chinese and Romans and Celts worked would not have existed to be worked, they would have been mined out, just like the ancient Chinese, Romans, Celts etc mined them out. There are mercury mines in Spain that only recently went out of use and had been worked for 2500 years. Those mines would not have been there had an ancient high tech civilization existed that did any mining, they’d have been tapped out.
The ancients did the easy mining first, and had to develop more and more advanced technology in order to do the harder mining. For example, the Romans used Pascal’s principle to shatter mountains for mining in Spain. No one could have got there before them, or the mountains wouldn’t have been there for them to shatter.
And they didn’t just mine their backyards either, ore was traded over thousands of miles. The Bible records Solomon’s “ships of Tarshish” that traded to the Carthaginians in Spain, for things like tin that came from Cornwall. Almost all of the lapis lazuli mined in ancient times comes from an area in Afghanistan. The “Damascus steel” prized in the Middle Ages included ore from India and Sri Lanka.
So you’re limited to industrial/high technology civilizations that didn’t mine anything.
Basically the purveyors of Unicorn myths count on ignorance of the gullible; Look a shiny object!
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Wait for that young man to encounter Wickard v. Filburn!
As some of you may know, I’m in a soccer family. Daughters started playing at 4 years old and continued through college and into adult leagues. I’ve been reffing youth soccer for 20 years. I no longer engage with my Ds friends on politics, but one in particular has been greatly enjoying the WC and I’ve been educating him on the finer points of soccer. He posted a picture of Erling Haaland, the amazing player from Norway. I commented that the guy would look great in a horned helmet and with a broadsword. I was immediately chastised by his friends for “ethnically profiling” Norwegians. Never mind that the Norwegian fans in the WC stands are totally decked out in Viking regalia.
On a similar, and I guess unsurprising note, they are now claiming it’s Trump’s fault that the US lost to Belgium. How that’s possible doesn’t seem to cross their minds. I gave them a link to Carli Lloyd’s brutal assessment of the US team’s lack of focus and poor play, but it’s still Trump’s fault. Just another example of how politics and TDS affect these people…..I’m convinced it will be written up as a true mental condition in the future.
Oh, and here’s Haaland:
https://media1.tenor.com/m/IlVAGnBzTUAAAAAd/erling-haaland-haaland.gif
First, awesome treehouse. Second, over 100 acres on fertile land… nirvana.
Nice essay over at The Federalist.
https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/08/in-a-year-of-high-stakes-scotus-decisions-justice-alito-steals-the-show/
Re: Judith Curry / Climate Etc.
A few weeks ago Curry closed shop on her long-running blog, Climate Etc. It’s still up as an archive.
_________________________________
RIP Climate Etc.
It’s time to declare victory against climate stupidity and move on.
–Judith Curry
https://judithcurry.com/2026/06/23/rip-climate-etc/#comment-1026015
_________________________________
There’s more worth reading at the link.
Here’s to Judith Curry, for her bravery, strength and intelligence. “Scientific American” called her a “heretic,” she was unfairly maligned by the whole climate alarmism establishment, but she stood her ground, paid various prices and made a difference.
She’s my idea of a true scientist — all too rare these days.
Land use planning has some agreeable features, but the ordinances he’s describing are so far beyond the cost-benefit inflection point that I would chuckle if an appellate court invalidated that county’s ordinance as an impermissible imposition on property rights which adhere to households.
==
The point of building codes is to promote health and safety. (Which also incorporates a cost-benefit calculation).
==
Utile land use planning should be devoted to: (1) ensuring congruence between private land use and the operation of public works, (2) containing nuisances which have an impact on neighbors. These are primarily of interest in core cities and suburbs of a certain density, not where they are living.
==
Where they are living, you can construct a well and a septic system. As long as these are up to code, there should be no issue. If there’s an issue with the tree house, the one to raise it should be an insurer. The only objection to subdividing the property should concern the appropriate distance between well heads and leechfields (which would not come into play subdividing a ten acre property, much less a 100 acre one).
IMO, county and multi-county authorities should be concerned with arterial transportation, lumpy public works, and commercial developments of a dimension exceeding a certain threshold. Granular land-use planning should be the business of municipal government.
Re: Judith Curry, a woman, a scientist, an educator, of integrity, strength, and competence. And a retirement well earned.
Regarding the video:
“The la-aand of the freeee, and the home of the buh-raaaave.”
On Judith Curry….brave individual, much like her colleague John Cristy. At some point one has to step back and let others take up the fight. Enjoy the retirement.
Second the callout to Haaland, he’s just great to watch. Here’s a goal against Brazil (yes, it does go through the defenders legs):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKRC_JfNFms
Re the US, I don’t really know soccer from cricket but I do know watching them reminds me of watching the Princeton basketball team play 4-corners offense back before the shot clock.
Thanks for the post on Judith Curry. I still have hope for the hard sciences. I’ve met two astronomers, separately, who have published papers tying changing temperatures on earth to solar output. Of course I asked them if they’d received any pushback. Both said none at all. Now that I think about it though, both of those encounters were over ten years ago, which freaks me out a bit. Where does the time go?
physicsguy on July 8, 2026 at 10:12 am said:
“He posted a picture of Erling Haaland, the amazing player from Norway. I commented that the guy would look great in a horned helmet and with a broadsword. I was immediately chastised by his friends for ‘ethnically profiling’ Norwegians.”
__________________________________________
All my ancestors came from Norway. If anybody wants to profile my ethnicity with Viking outfits, then have at it. But it’s fun to pretend to take offense and egg on the Woke to the point of absurdity.
Many years ago, when we were first told that naming sports teams after American Indians was déclassé, I used to demand that the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings change their name. My leftist friends didn’t know how to react to my fake outrage. No logic, no sense of humor. The nature of university towns. Now their ideology’s been spread everywhere by social media.
This another YouTube share from you that recently showed up in my YouTube feed. Not sure if YouTube promotes these generally or we both have excellent taste in videos and get shown similar suggestions 🙂
Two questions: What state is he in, and what in the world do they use for a bathroom??
Sue,
The septic system, that’s how they’ll get them.
I believe the Treehouse Masters chaps install composting toilets.
My septic system pumps to an off-site drain field. The transport line was not where it was shown on the as-built and it was found by a dowser. First time I had ever seen that in done person. I am watching thinking “really?” Yup. 20’ from where it was drawn. The guy that put in the tanks dug a hole like it was punched out with cookie cutter. Very impressive.
Art Deco,
It won’t matter. Remember Health and Safety.
Unless you’re willing to take them.to court, they’ll win.
In re the video:
The triumph of the bureaucrats: you cannot make it make sense.
Imagine “Catch-22” written by Franz Kafka.
I don’t think he should have telegraphed his plan, and annoyed the bureaucrats, but I can understand the frustration behind the impulse.
Maybe he can start a movement of similarly-situated citizens.
Viva la revolution.
Predecessor technological civilizations?
Here is a very clear, concise, and interesting discussion–based on a paper done by a scientist at NASA–laying out all of the reasons why–if there have been one or more industrial/high technology civilizations which preceded our current civilization–we would very likely have an extremely tough time finding any evidence of their existence, particularly here on Earth.
An Earth which is subject to the effects of weather, volcanic activity, the movement of tectonic plates, massive flooding, catastrophic strikes by large asteroids, seas covering the margins of land masses, and the top surface of the Earth slowly being covered up, and/or pulled underground in a natural churning cycle.
Thus, given these considerations, the best places to look for such evidence are in orbit around Earth, and/or on the Moon or Mars, where any such remnants would be subject to far less destructive environmental or geological forces. *
* See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7UKFfK31po
It won’t matter. Remember Health and Safety.
==
What won’t matter?
Snow on Pine:
Asteroids won’t hit the Moon, those aren’t craters you see. (sarc)
And archaeologists haven’t found any old evidence of human pre-industrial civilizations. (sarc)
And Unicorns didn’t care enough to make artifacts that the dumb f…ks (us) could find. (sarc)
She was 62 at the time.
==
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFxyYgN-wmw
@Snow on Pine:if there have been one or more industrial/high technology civilizations which preceded our current civilization–we would very likely have an extremely tough time finding any evidence of their existence, particularly here on Earth.
This neglects mining. We know what kind of mining documented ancient civilizations did and where they did it. Had there been an industrial/high technology civilization before then, those mines the ancient Chinese and Romans and Celts worked would not have existed to be worked, they would have been mined out, just like the ancient Chinese, Romans, Celts etc mined them out. There are mercury mines in Spain that only recently went out of use and had been worked for 2500 years. Those mines would not have been there had an ancient high tech civilization existed that did any mining, they’d have been tapped out.
The ancients did the easy mining first, and had to develop more and more advanced technology in order to do the harder mining. For example, the Romans used Pascal’s principle to shatter mountains for mining in Spain. No one could have got there before them, or the mountains wouldn’t have been there for them to shatter.
And they didn’t just mine their backyards either, ore was traded over thousands of miles. The Bible records Solomon’s “ships of Tarshish” that traded to the Carthaginians in Spain, for things like tin that came from Cornwall. Almost all of the lapis lazuli mined in ancient times comes from an area in Afghanistan. The “Damascus steel” prized in the Middle Ages included ore from India and Sri Lanka.
So you’re limited to industrial/high technology civilizations that didn’t mine anything.
Basically the purveyors of Unicorn myths count on ignorance of the gullible; Look a shiny object!