Who's the real moron, Larry?

Larry Wilmore had fun Wednesday night with reports about a North Carolina town that rejected solar panels because they "suck up all the energy from the sun."

No, it didn't. One person pointed out that some vegetation close to solar panels dies. (Which seems reasonable to me; they heat up the air around themselves. Anybody ever torture and murder ants with a sunbeam through glass?)

Woodland Town Clerk Kim Bryant pointed out to techtimes.com that the town, population 750, already has three solar farms. Reason for the vote against changing zoning to permit No. 4: The new farm would mean the town would be surrounded by solar farms.

North Carolina is No. 2 in solar energy production in the United States; California is No. 1 and Nevada No. 3.

Larry, don't let your staff run with an idea without checking more than one online source, please.

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 As long as we're in the neighborhood of Comedy Central late-night, Trevor Noah had fun last week, multiple times, with a segment, "Donald Trump wants to bang his daughter."

A clip from an interview showed Trump saying that if he were not married, he'd like to date his daughter.

Trevor, bang and date are different activities. Trump's comments about his daughter are still skin-crawlingly creepy, though.

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Go fly your saucer

So, the flying saucer that started the mess in this year's "Fargo" came back for the final massacre.

Way to fly!

If Peggy had taken the Gerhardt kid to the hospital, would the clan have killed her anyway? Even if he lived?

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During tonight's "NCIS: New Orleans," I realized that Scott Bakula's face is becoming a tribute to the Shar Pei. Or maybe Neapolitan Mastiff.

Botox, captain!

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Which FEMA you talking about?

I'm re-reading various SF novels by Englishman Charles Stross, including, today, the Merchant Princes series, which was published 2004-2010.

Early on, the main characters uncover a massive drug-smuggling operation in the U.S. and contemplate federal law enforcement reaction, including FBI, CIA and FEMA.

FEMA? Stopped me cold, kicked me out of the novel's world.

Sorry, bloke. While the Federal Emergency Management Agency is lumped into Homeland Security, it doesn't hunt criminals. Under GWB, it gave away public money by the handful, especially in Florida in 2004, and let people drown in 2005. With a change in President and philosophy, it's back to doing what it was created for: coordinate responses to disasters that overwhelm local and state capabilities.

One other nitpick about the Merchant Princes: The lead character is a woman who is aided by three other women and her mother. You can read for pages and pages and not find a prince anywhere.

Did the publisher not believe that the Merchant Princess series would sell books?

On the female side, the bloke's Laundry Files series finally added a novel narrated by the hero's wife, Mo, who has experiences more horrid than hubby Bob can even imagine. 

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The Doctor is out

I want a "Clara and Me" TV movie.

Now.

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Guru me, Scott

Scott Adams' blog is fascinating, especially for the Master Persuader filter and how it applies to The Donald, if anybody still calls DJT that.

He autopsies DJT's jaw-dropping rhetorical skills and negotiating tactics. Gobsmacked was I when illumination dawned.

Adams created "Dilbert," which anchored me to sanity when I was trapped in Cubical Hell with a Pointy Haired Boss and its clones.

Adams' past careers include hypnotist, which requires convincing people of things that aren't necessarily so. Adams openly admits he was a giant failure in many careers, until "Dilbert."

Dec. 8 blog: "According to the Master Persuader filter, the selection of the next U.S. president is dependent on whether the public is feeling hungry or scared in the coming months. I'm betting on scared."

DJT, President of the USA. President Trump. Get used to it.

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Man of the middle

Donald J. Trump?

Is the source the same as Bullwinkle J. Moose, Homer J. Simpson, Michigan J. Frog?

The intellect level's about right.

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Hey, Charter: You pissed me off, again

My TV screen right now, 11:22 p.m., holds a frozen picture of Trevor Noah in mid-commentary.

Only the HD channels are frozen; the old cable box in the bedroom is running fine. Trevor is on the only frozen channel. I checked; I've had plenty of time to surf.

This happens two or three times a month, usually around 11:10 p.m., only during "The Daily Show." Some times it's for a minute, sometimes for long minutes.

Who's in the control room at Charter/Spectrum, the KKK?

11:26 p.m.: it just unfroze.

11:29 p.m.: froze again.

I'm off to the tiny TV in the bedroom to watch "The Nightly Show."

Another black man for Charter to silence.

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It's Alive!

No apology to NV Energy, but the DVR is back.

I left it unplugged for a couple hours, then--just for a laugh--plugged it back in.

It came on.

I praise the DVR gods; I don't have $400 for a new one.

Gotta be a DVR, so I can copy shows to disc.

When ya gotta have a "Doctor Who," you can't wait for BBCA, or the serials on RetroTV.

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Underground killer

Once again courtesy of NV Energy, I have a dead DVR. NVE killed the first one several years ago when I was living in a very old house with old wiring, but new-ish power-surge bar.

Today, NVE killed its replacement, in my apartment.

Power went off for around an hour at 11:30 a.m.-ish. Back on, everything's fine.

Power went off and on at 2:40 p.m. Afterward, DVR's dead. It's hooked to a very expensive Radio Shack power bar.

The biggest laugh: utilities at the apartment complex are underground.

There was a refreshing windstorm today, clocking 55 mph at the Reno airport.

Again, underground utilities.

Power went off last month at the leading edge of a windstorm, which also managed to take down a tree on the far side of the apartment I'm in.

Consider this sentence a string of curses, accompanied by spitting and shouting.  And throwing things.

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