A Riddle Worth Its Weight in Gold

 Posted by at 7:48 am  Politics
Sep 062025
 

In a time long, long ago there lived a wise and generous king.  As with all kings, he was extremely wealthy.

But what set him apart from most rulers past and present was he loved sharing his good fortune with his subjects.

And just as much as he enjoyed spreading his good fortune around, he enjoyed a good riddle.

The king posted this riddle and if his subjects could solve it the king would disperse the gold among his people.

He showed his subjects five royal purple velvet bags and then displayed the five gold coins that each bag contained.

He explained that each coin weighed exactly one pound … EXCEPT for one bag that was filled with five fake gold coins.  And each fake gold coin weighed exactly one pound and one ounce.

He pointed to the royal scale beside him and noted that it was extremely accurate.  He told his people that they could have one –but ONLY ONE – chance to use the scale to try to determine which bag held the fake coins.

And whatever they decided to weigh had to go on the scale ALL at the SAME TIME.

They couldn’t put one bag on and then closely watch as they added another to see how the scale changed.

Whatever they wanted weighed had to go on the scale at the same time – and they only had ONE CHANCE to use the scale.

If his subjects could figure out which bag had the fake coins, the kind king would disperse all the gold among his subjects.

Would you be able to figure out how to use the scale JUST ONCE and successfully find the fake bag in order to enjoy some gold?

 

I trust everyone will be on the honor system and avoid Google, Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini, etc. – and figured it on their own.

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Open Thread September 6 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 062025
 

Yesterday, I received an email from Catholics for Choicea addressing the myth that the Catholic Church “cannot change,” which  is historically, demonstrably false. I won’t do a rant on this, but for anyone who cares about women’s rights, I’ll provide the link.

Pro Publica takes a deep dive into what the regime is on to about “mortgage fraud.” It’s about what constitutes a primary residence. Apparently, in many cases claiming two primary residences is perfectly legal. I don’t know what the criteria are for that, but I can certainly see it in the cases of “snowbirds,” who have a primary summer residence and a primary winter residence. Yeah, most people couldn’t afford that, but in thse cases that really is how they are using their properties. But even if some of these case aren’t technically lawful, anyone he attempts to prosecute will have a great “selective prosecution” defense, since three of his Cabinet members have multiple primary mortgages.

Steve Schmidt from The Warning. Yeah. That ship we just attacked was carrying drugs exactly like all those men we sent to CECOT were MS-13. Right. I’m positive of that.

Joyce Vance shares an analogy made by a federal judge and presented by NBC News. The anonymous judge, along with other quoted in the episode, was anonymous for self-defense. Theres a link to the (print) article in Joyce’s post. All of the article is onsistent with what I see and probably most hee ee, which eans that it may not be encouraging, but it does appear accurate.

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Open Thread September 5 2025

 Posted by at 5:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 052025
 

Yesterday, A hearing in the Senate Finance Committee took (unsworn*) testimony from RFK Jr. It was pretty much a dumpster fire. Wonkette covered it. (* Senator Wyden requested he be sworn in and was overruled by Chairman Mike Crapo [now there’s an appropriate name if there ever was one.]) There’s video if the ful hearing but of course it’s long. Wyden’s opening is only about 6 minutes.

Yes, Professor Richardson sent this several days ago – but at least I managed to post it on the exact anniversary of the original event. (I would love to know how the jewelers’ union managed to be the ones to put together and bring a marching band. Musicians in general are not known for being wealthy enough to buy jewels, though of course a few do reach that plateau.)

I figure if The Root feels black folks need to know this, it wouldn’t hurt everyone else to know it also. I can’t say it did much to alleviate my fears.

Probably no one cares about this except me – and, because I essentially only shop sales, I have enough projects in hand to keep me busy for the rest of the Persimmon Palpitine’s term and beyond (what I don’t finish will just have to be part of my estate.) But creating with yarn and/or thread is so much more than just the end products. It is good for the soul. My heart goes out to anyone unprepared for this.

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Open Thread September 4 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 042025
 

Yesterday, Trinette came by after her work day ended. She works at home, for the state of Colorado, on a program which was new last year to assist mothers and children. If it were for the Federal Government, she would be out of work now, you betcha. I am SO grateful she is working where she is! Also yesterday, I got the first fundraising email from the first candidate for one of California’s new provisional Congressional districts. She is a federal labor attorney and will run against Darrell Issa. She previously flipped a city council seat within the new district. You go, girl! Also, the press conference with Epstein survivors was recorded on video (by PBS News) and is available here. it’s almost an hour and a half but I really don’t know how it could have been much shorter. (you can always skip the introductions – although heaven knows it’s remarkable to hear MTG make sense. And all of them together only come up to about 18 minutes. Questions begin at about 52 minutes)

You may have read about this incident – I did – but I didn’t have the analysis then. Talking Points Memo is generally pretty good at that.

I drink coffee again, after I don’t know how many years not doing so. And I have to say I’m glad the EU is doing this, because we certainly won’t. Yes, it will affect prices. But too many people have somehow convinced themselves and others that there is no price to pay for keeping our planet livable. Or, for that matter, for doing right by others on a daily basis. And that just isn’t so.

It’s no secret that I’m big on analysis. Sometimes without good analysis (and occasionally even with it) it’s tough to tell whether news or potential news is good or bad. Take, for example, the possibility of the Mango Monster dying. Many people are all for it. I, o the other hand (and along with John Pavlovitz, among a few others) am terrified by the possibility. But I digress. The Brennan Center, which is also keen an analysis, is addressing “the shape of the big showdown on presidential power” in an article titled “Appeals Courts Rule Against Trump on Tariffs and Deportations.” Brennan doesn’t always link to specific articles, but I think I found a direct link to this one.

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Open Thread September 3 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 032025
 

Yesterday, Indivisible announced its next “No Kings” Day will be October 18. They expect to have maps up with events starting next week, but there is already a link to just “RSVP” (i.e. just say you’ll be there -somewhere.)

This is mostly a video with a reading from Robert Reich’s new book. It’s NSFW because Robert’s father did not mince words. It’s about 36 minutes, but doesn’t seem that long – but that may be partly because, being a book reading, it doesn’t need to be watched, and someone like me can knit while listening.

Margaret Atwood reports that The Handmaid’s Tale” is being banned in Edmonton, Alberta, and all the world and its canary wants her to comment – but she hasn’t been able to reach anyone in Edmonton who will tell her the basis on which it is being banned there. She still has a lot of general comments on book banning, though. And some other issues.

This Davis Mortuary thing has been a continuing scandal in the state for some time, but this is the first I have heard of a co-owner having a side gig as the Pueblo County Coroner. So now it’s political – and personal. The County Coroner in most places I know about is one of the least visible public officials, and, in many places, there is no legal requirement for him or her to meet any particuar qualificatons, other then getting elected. I do not know this, and could not prove it if I did, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is a real life example of American exceptionalism – I doubt that other, smarter countries handle deaths quite as crudely as we do.

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Open Thread September 2 2025

 Posted by at 5:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 022025
 

Yesterday, Trinette didn’t feel she was safe to come over, but is pretty sure she will by Wednesday evening. I sent her a Jacquie Lawson card with a recipe for chicken soup. I did get a little knitting done – not a whole lot, but enough to get me finished with a yarn that was dragging me down (a ladder yarn to be precise). I’ll be finishing the garment with a normal worsted yarn which is mostly recycled fibers (I am guessing mostly acrylic.)

As Robert Reich points out, nothing here is any reason for complacency. But they are reasons for hanging in there and fighting as much as we individually can.

There are several topics in this The F* News article, but the main one, the first one, is public health – and those of us who live in blue states can all be grateful for the news here. Those of us in red states … your nearest blue state may be a good place to look for vaccines.

I threw this in as a sort of extra, because it made me so angry. The Mango Moron is not smart enough to know about the 30-day minimum himself – so some veteran must have broken his (or her) oath and told him.

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Open Thread September 1 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 012025
 

Yesterday, after Saturday was rough, I slept till 2 pm- and started nodding off at about 4 pm. Normally, Trinette would have been by, but she has had a cold and doesn’t want to expose me to anything. If and only if she feels well enough, she’ll come today. Also over the weekend, a really beautiful fundraising email for Zoe Lofgren, authored by Liz Cheney, was sent out. Of course there’s no link. But Liz called Zoe “an unsung hero” for the Constitution, said she is “a thoughtful and serious member, and she operates with zero ego ‑‑ a rarity in Congress,” and that she “has been a source of wisdom and good judgment for me and many Members in Congress.” Her closer was “Although we don’t share many views on politics or public policy, I can assure you that we need Zoe in Congress and on the frontlines as we continue to protect and secure the future of our democracy.” Knowing, as we do, exactly how much they do disagree on policy, that’s one glowing recommendation.

From the Root. If you thought this was over, it isn’t. Chance may be gaining weight, but his respiratory issues are likely to be lifelong – however long that may be. I don’t even know what to wish for little Chance and his heroine of a grandmother.

This from The New Republic was referred by Daily Dose of Democracy. I think everyone here has a pretty good idea of what makes an economy healthy and why – but it isn’t necessarily all that easy to explain to people who for one reason or another have it backwards. I think this is a helpful analysis. I seldom if ever read The New Republic, but I checked that is has a strong reputation with the watchdogs for publishing just the facts.

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Open Thread August 31 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 312025
 

Yesterday, I hadn’t slept well, and got up with a (fortunately mild) headache. But I managed to hear the radio opera anyway. It was “Der Rosenkavalier” by Richard Strauss. It’s technically a comedy, and it does have some humor, but the basis for the category is really just that there’s a more or less happy ending. The plot is complicated AF, and the premise of the tradition of the “Knight of the Rose” is something Strauss and/or his librettist made up. I first heard (and saw) it on TV when I was pretty new at USAA, and I vaguely remember dreaming afterwards I answered a call from the general’s wife (“Marschallin” in German) to add her as a driver on his auto policy. The Opera is late Strauss, and considered his masterpiece, so there is little if any deliberate dissonance, as there was (appropriately) in Salome or Elektra, and the waltzes in particular are gorgeous (anachronistic, but gorgeous.). Not much like those of the Johan Strauss family (no relation to Richard) but equally lovely in different ways. Also, I found and listened to a conversation between Heather Cox Richardson and Sherrod Brown – just under 30 minutes.

This was shared by Daily Dose of Democracy. There isn’t a paywall, but there is an ad blocker wall. My browser will allow me to turn off the ad blocker for just one site (and I can always turn it on again when I leave.) I thought the story well worth it.

This is from Wednesday, and it’s not as if you don’t know what happened. But the analysis about how rare it is is delightful so I saved it for Sunday.

The 6 Cheetah cubs at the Metro Richmond (VA) Zoo are doing well and have been moved to the public portion of the compound so visitors can see them in person. (photos at link)

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