Random Musings

Faith feels wonderful

Faith feels wonderful.

Faith is intoxicating.

Faith is being head over heels in love with someone who is always there for you.

Faith gives you strength.

Faith gives you confidence.

My faith contradicts your faith.

One of us has faith in a lie.

It feels so wonderful. I must be right.

You feel the same way.

I'll beat you. You'll know I'm right.

Coherent thoughts on guns - a hot topic

Question number one. Do Americans have an unfettered right to own arms?

Some people believe the constitution says that we have an unfettered right to own arms Does every American have the right to own a tank? How about a missile or a 1,000 lb bomb? How about chemical, biological, or nuclear arms?

Well, now, if we accept that we can't own any type of weapon, then we agree that the right is not unfettered.

Therefore argument #1, reasonable people will agree that the constitution does not guarantee the right for Americans to own any weapon.

Now we have only to decide where to place the boundaries. On that, the constitution gives us no guidance.

An argument might be, that since the right is explicit, we should always err toward allowance rather than restriction.

The interpretation that the right to bear arms is explicit in the constitution is a new interpretation. For most of our history the interpretation was that having army, or militia, satisfied the specifics of the 2nd amendment to the constitution.

Question number two. If we establish boundaries, should they be national or regional?
This country is large and there are clear differences between being a rancher in a desolate area and someone who lives in New York City.

I am reminded of the academic couple that were murdered in their home in Dartmouth, Vermont by 2 young men. As it turns out, the 2 men had previously attempted to gain access to different house by knocking on a door of a secluded home saying that their car had broken down and "could they come in and use the phone". The owner of the house, being suspicious because of the late hour, showed the men a gun through a door window and refused. The men left, upgraded their armament and struck 6 month later against older, easier, and less suspicious prey..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Dartmouth_College_murders

On the other hand who wants 8 million short tempered New Yorkers in their everyday stress of congested living, running around with guns to settle petty and not so petty arguments.

The argument is, that rules that are not national are ineffective, since arms can be bought in one location and transported to another.

Question number three. Can we define boundaries that are intelligent are meet the needs of the whole country?
My answer would be to try and make this distinction.
Is the armament a weapon of war or a weapon of protection.
100 cartridge magazines are weapons of war. Machine guns are weapons of war. They should require special licenses.

Question number four. Can we define rules about who shall not have the right to own guns?
There is an argument that the existing rules are sufficient and that we should strengthen the control against the mentally ill accessing weapons. My question is "who decides?" Where do you draw the line? What is aberrant behavior?

Question number five. Is there a case for gun tracking?
Gun tracking means that all guns have to be registered and all gun transfers, losses and disposals have to be registered. It establishes that an owner is responsible for his weapon.

A counter argument is that registered guns are easier to confiscate.

Another counter argument is tracking would require an expansion of bureaucracy - manpower, computer systems, procedures, forms etc.

My argument is that guns are not nearly as essential as cars and their main function is killing. If we can accept registration and transfer tracking on cars we can accept it on guns.

Question number six. Is there a case for licensing ?
Should a license be required before someone can own a gun? Should there be testing ad training required?
I think so. Once again the car analogy. A person should show that they can handle a gun safely, and that they know the relevant rules before being able to buy and operate a gun.

A secondary advantage is that the tester, similar to the driving tester, can "fail" people who just seem too erratic.

Question number seven. Do we distrust our government so much that we must stay armed to the teeth in case our system falls apart? Or,does the proliferation of gun in our society make us freer?

Would the holocaust have been any different if the Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and all the targets of the Nazis been better armed? I don't think so. The Nazi tactics may have been different; divide and conquer. There may have been more individual resistance but it would have made no difference in the overall big picture against an organized, brutal, and maniacal force.

Question number eight. Are you more likely to be killed if more people have guns, than if fewer people had guns? Meaning are we killing more of ourselves by arming ourselves to protect ourselves than if we didn't arm ourselves and relied on society to protect us?

How to replace the motor coupling on a Sears Kenmore series 90 Washer

How to replace the motor coupling on a Sears Kenmore series 90 Washer

It is actually quite easy and can be done by anyone. It happens so often that when I went to the Sears parts depot the clerk just reached behind him to where they were hanging in easy reach on the wall.

What you need:
Good light so you can shine it where you need to.
A small open faced wrench or socket.
I forgot what side I needed, 1/4 inch or smaller for the hex screw.
A screw driver to pry the strap.

1) get the part from sears part. If you live near a part center you can pick it up or you can order it, arround $20.

Replace:

2) DON"T TAKE OFF THE BACK WASHER . Tilt the wash on its side. All the elements you need to access are easily accessible from the bottom.The left side is easier.

3) You will see the broken motor coupler before you do anything. It's between the pump and the motor.

THERE IS ONLY ONE SCREW TO REMOVE

It's the one that holds the strap that keeps the pump up against the motor.
The strap is metal about 8 - 10 inches long and an inch wide. The strap acts like a long clip.
You don't need to loosen the motor .

Remove the screw and pull off the strap.

4) Push apart the pump assembly and the motor. The motor is connected to the tub. The whole tub assembly is on springs so you can push it aside to get to the coupler.

5) remove the broken coupler

6) replace with the new. You may have to use some force to push the coupler all the way onto the shaft of the motor..

7) replace the strap and screw.

8) DONE

WATCH THIS VIDEO ON YOU TUBE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM4DW2bq7o0

and follow my simpler steps.

How to replace a burner igniter on a Wolf R366 Stove

I figured it out, with some help from the parts people.

1) Remove the old igniter: The igniter is held in place by a ridge as part of the center piece that is unscrewed with an allen wrench in the center. In my stove that piece would NOT unscrew and I did not want to apply too much force, break something and require a whole new burner, which I know will be quite expensive. Separate story on that. see below

If you cannot unscrew the cap, you can use a strong a needle nose and bend the ridge to let you remove the igniter. DO NOT USE A PLIERS AROUND THE HEAD TO TRY AND TURN IT. If you do, then it will not ignite properly!

Pull the stove away from the wall, and remove the back of the stove. Follow the igniter wire and unplug it.

2) Replace the igniter and the wire: Insert the igniter, plug the other end of the wire into the same slot where you removed the old one.

3) If you had bent the ridge, tap it back with a screwdriver.

Separate Wolf Story.

Wolf is now part of the sub-zero group and they charged me $950.00 LABOR for about 1/2 hour of repair work on my sub-zero. No Parts.

It took calls up to the president to get it reduced. The common theme from all the middle managers in my call process was: "When you buy a Mercedes, you should expect Mercedes prices". Arrogant, don't you think?

Incidentally, the Wolf R366 is an excellent stove. The heat is consistent and it holds a simmer forever.

The fittings on the burner are very finicky and after cleaning you have to replace the parts exactly the way they were meant to be, in the appropriate grooves.

Our Insatiable Demand

There are 2 underlying causes to much of our troubles. They are our insatiable demand for foreign energy, most notably foreign oil, and our instatiable demand for foreign drugs. In fact they are the major subsets of our insatiable demand in general.

We are turning into a glutton society, and it's turning us into a country of users, in the worst sense of the word.

Outsourcing our future

The Bain Capitals of the country will push every job they can to the lowest bidder in India, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and elsewhere. They do that in their pursuit of profit, and that is their right.

Is it good US policy? Pretty soon the jobs remaining will be those that cannot be outsourced, the hands on jobs, haircutters, burger flippers, nurses and some doctors. The rest will either go overseas or will pay the same that as overseas pay - $2 a day.

And don't think that only menial jobs go overseas. Only lawyers requiring their presence will be needed. Back office and legal research are already being outsourced. And where is the radiologist diagnosing your condition? Radiologists are already reviewing the CAT scan you just got in the ER from their home computers. There's no need to be nearby, or in this country.

So in a world economy, labor competes internationally. You and all the Chinese will be equal. Their billions of people will earn $50,000 a year or you will earn $2 a day. More likely we will meet somewhere, but not in the middle. They will earn $5,000 a year and we will earn the same or be out of work.

The answer according to Romney/ Ryan is that we all start Bain Capitals and if we can't or don't succeed, we must be lazy. That is not reality. Look around at your circle, family and friends. How many can run Bain Capital? How many can be successful if everyone is doing it? How many work very hard and still just get by, or struggle?

It is a great sales job to have you vote against your personal interest, in the hope that you will make the 1%.

Here's the argument. You can work hard, smart and lucky and join the 1%. And when you do, you will want to pay a lower percentage in taxes, since you will be paying so much. Therefore, in the meantime while you are working toward that goal to get into the 1% club, you should pay more, so later you can pay less. Pretty self serving isn't it.

But we buy it. Shame on us.

Obama care:

What exactly is the complaint?

That you are mandated to buy health insurance?

Do you not have health insurance?

Are you worried that you will have to buy health insurance and you won't want to?

Is it a philosophical argument - I don't want anyone to be required to have health insurance even though my premiums have to cover the uninsured? Are the Republicans all of a sudden worried about the poor not being able to afford the requirement?

Funny, it was a Republican think tank that invented the idea, and a Republican governor, guess who - then the owner of his own soul before selling to it Mephistopheles for a chance at appeasing a vocal and well funded fringe - who implemented the idea, quite successfully I may add.

Trickle down

What is trickle down? Trickle down is this. I make more money than you do. Therefore I should pay less in taxes, percentage-wise than you. Why? because I may spend some of that money, and eventually it may create jobs.

It is an economic myth invented as a rationalization for an inequitable burden by those who benefit from the inequity.

Even those who argue it, recognize it can only be a trickle at best.

In contrast, "flow up" is an economic reality. Middle class households that are allowed to keep more of their income will spend it, guaranteed, growing the economy for everyone.

Redistribution and Class Warfare

Redistribution is the newest label being assigned by Fox and the Republican Party to President Obama.

When one percent pays 13% and the rest of us pay double, who is redistributing from whom?

Look at your paycheck. Are you paying 13% taxes? And if you request equality, they accuse you of class warfare. Who is waging war on whom?

Voting against your own interest - part one.

I don't understand why hard working firemen, who owe their pay checks, pensions, health care, and disability care to their union, support the Republican Party, who would do anything in their power to dismantle the unions.

The unions are not blameless, and they contribute to inefficiencies and self serving work rules. Yet they have been a great force in the growth of the middle class and the resulting economic power of our country. To destroy them would contribute to the continuing shrinking of our middle class, an alarming trend in our country.

There are GM workers who owe their livelihood, their success and comfort to Obama, who will not vote for him - against self interest and common sense.

Random Musings

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Faith feels wonderful

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Coherent thoughts on guns - a hot topic

Sunday, February 03, 2013

How to replace the motor coupling on a Sears Kenmore series 90 Washer

Monday, January 07, 2013

How to replace a burner igniter on a Wolf R366 Stove

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Our Insatiable Demand

Outsourcing our future

Obama care:

Trickle down

Redistribution and Class Warfare

Voting against your own interest - part one.

Links

Previous Posts

Archives