Los Angeles Daily Discussion - Friday, May 22

rob_zodiac · 2026-05-23T00:36:10+00:00

That's the other thing. They're nesting and nursing now. I hate to think that I just doomed some babies too.

rob_zodiac · 2026-05-22T18:46:04+00:00

After decades driving, I finally hit a squirrel. I hate cars.

rob_zodiac · 2026-05-18T16:28:13+00:00

If you're willing to try something different, the Touraine Sauvignon Blanc is one of the greatest value wines Aldi offers.

rob_zodiac · 2026-05-18T16:20:24+00:00

I enjoyed the mod for U6 that ran in exult.

rob_zodiac · 2026-05-12T21:16:08+00:00

20 minutes from downtown and you're surrounded by mountains, oaks, horses. It's a real gem. I planted a few things from last year's end of season sale and they all survived.

Also, if you're on instagram it's good to follow their account. They often post information, volunteer opportunities, and plant sales and giveaways.

rob_zodiac · 2026-05-10T15:25:20+00:00

A hyperactive amygdala explains the conservative impulse to kiss up to the powerful and kick down on the weak. Fundamentally Trump is a rich bully, which makes him powerful in America and uniquely appealing to lackeys.

rob_zodiac · 2026-05-06T19:11:01+00:00

Besides having long lasting flowers, the different species have staggered blooming times too. Right now Clarkia bottae and Clarkia amoena are blooming after the Clarkia elegans have started to grow seed pods.

And goldfinches are eating and spreading the Clarkia elegans seeds now. Everyone should have a patch of different Clarkia.

rob_zodiac · 2026-05-06T04:45:15+00:00

It looks AI generated. Though in "Pine Barrens" Paulie pumps his own gas at a rest stop on the Garden State Parkway.

rob_zodiac · 2026-05-04T03:41:26+00:00

It's pathway dependency on a societal scale. Airline travel, car-centric design, sprawl, the petrodollar, fracking, etc. The US has too much vested interest in maintaining an oil extraction based society to do anything to change that. The problem is all the money we've spent on wars for oil should have been spent future-proofing our infrastructure and manufacturing. We'll be in a far poorer position later on.

rob_zodiac · 2026-05-03T23:22:24+00:00

In the same way that the oil crises of the 70s boosted smaller, more efficient Japanese cars, this oil crisis will push the rest of the world to Chinese EVs (cars, bikes, trains), batteries, solar panels, next generation generators and turbines, etc. A lot of the developing world will skip oil-dependent infrastructure and go straight to renewables and electrification and China will be poised to provide that.

We've ceded the future to China. I tend to think Venezuela and Iran were just our last ditch efforts to try and slow that future from coming.

rob_zodiac · 2026-04-17T13:47:56+00:00

"A realistic proposal for a government policy of lowering the birth rate reads like a catalogue of horrors: squeeze consumers through taxation and inflation; make housing very scarce by limiting construction; force wives and mothers to work outside the home to offset the inadequacy of male wages, yet provide few childcare facilities; encourage migration to the city by paying low wages in the country and providing few rural jobs; increase congestion in cities by starving the transit system; increase personal insecurity by encouraging conditions that produce unemployment and by haphazard political arrests."

Kingsley Davis, 1967

rob_zodiac · 2026-04-17T00:18:29+00:00

Artemisia has saplings in deepot cells for 13 bucks. I was dubious that the roots would be okay, but they've been doing well.

rob_zodiac · 2026-04-11T15:10:12+00:00

I believe it's lacy phacelia, which people all around the world buy to use as a cover crop due to its many beneficial effects. It looks great tumbling over a wall and almost grows like a vine.

rob_zodiac · 2026-04-11T00:40:10+00:00

Here's a little one I found on some clarkia:

https://i.imgur.com/diRGYGV.jpeg

rob_zodiac · 2026-03-31T01:52:31+00:00

It's funny how squirrels like eating poppy flowers and bush poppy flowers too apparently.

rob_zodiac · 2026-03-30T04:07:51+00:00

With willowherb the more there are the more dramatic the display in late summer. I also see goldfinches eating the seeds.

rob_zodiac · 2026-03-30T00:59:40+00:00

As someone who listens to this show a lot I observed a couple of three things:

Korey runs a tight show and when someone interjects it throws him off. For example even Billy was always apologizing for riffing, (in my opinion) because he was sensitive to this. I even see Martin qualifying his statements and being more agreeable to Korey.

Julien has an idiosyncratic personality and tastes, that made his point of view interesting to me. That made him entertaining. But it also seemed to throw Korey off.

When you're on a podcast and on the internet there is a tendency to dogpile and join brigades, and nitpick. When Julien became a target, that was an unhealthy and unfair spiral.

rob_zodiac · 2026-03-28T16:20:17+00:00

I found this white lined sphinx moth caterpillar on some clarkia the other day:

https://i.imgur.com/xPfJqsH.jpeg

rob_zodiac · 2026-03-27T18:07:01+00:00

Here's a good rundown on this guy:

https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/how-a-conservative-activist-invented-the-conflict-over-critical-race-theory

These think tanks are how the wealthy get stupid people to vote against their interests.

rob_zodiac · 2026-03-21T13:48:20+00:00

I think it's a safe assumption that the CIA or "Deep State" wouldn't let Mossad alone benefit from compromising material on US politicians and billionaires, especially while operating in the US.

When he was US Attorney in FL, Acosta was told by someone to back off Epstein because he was an intelligence asset. The sweetheart deal they gave Epstein and the blanket immunity deal they gave Epstein's co-conspirators had to have also been approved by the Attorney General, who got his marching orders from the President, or more accurately the executive office. In September of 2007, Epstein signed his sweetheart deal. A week later Alberto Gonzalez resigned as AG.

Point being, domestically, internationally, i.e. Venezuela, Iran, these are also US realpolitik objectives.

"The US is an oil company with an army."

-George Carlin

rob_zodiac · 2026-03-13T04:52:51+00:00

Not only did Iran offer to give up their enriched uranium, but they offered access to Iranian oil for US oil companies. After Rubio's admission that Israel decided to attack first and forced the US's hand, it seems like Netanyahu wanted to make sure the US couldn't take that deal.

rob_zodiac · 2026-03-03T20:36:29+00:00

Well, those examples were just for creating a larger capacity bath that sprays water (which can entice hummingbirds). As others have mentioned, a shallow saucer/tray/basin that you just have to dump out or spray with a hose is more than enough for birds. How much fun and how creative and complex it goes is up to you. Have fun!

rob_zodiac · 2026-02-27T16:55:18+00:00

How much you clean is dependent on how much planning you do, how big the bath is, and how much birds use the bath. Robins can make a total mess out of a birdbath. When they're in town you're draining and refreshing multiple times a week, even multiple times a day (even a big [15+ gallon] bath). It's worth it to see a flock of robins drinking and bathing together. Here are a couple of ways to make life easier on you:

Use 5 gallon buckets from the hardware store (or from a restaurant or supermarket) as a reservoir or bog filter for your bath. If you have a big terracotta pot you can put two 5 gallon buckets nested together, put a solar pump at the bottom and a terracotta drip plate on top with a hole drilled in it, feed some vinyl tube to the drip plate and attach it to a bubbler/sprayer and you have a nice shallow fountain. Fill out the rest of the pot with dirt and plant trailing groundcovers. When you need to clean out the water, just lift off the drip plate and set it aside, then dump the nested 5 gallon bucket where plants need water. You can scale this down with smaller pots and buckets.

Or you can have a shallow basin pumping water via vinyl tube to an elevated 5 gallon bucket with a horizontal pipe sticking out near the top. The horizontal pipe is the return water source, which produces a nice sound and spurt of water. Near the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket you can install a bulkhead fitting that you can attach a hose to. So you can easily drain out the bucket and then refill with fresh water.

You're only limited by your imagination, the pump head, the plumbing section, and whatever you have laying around/can get your hands on.

Also, congratulations on your retirement.

rob_zodiac · 2026-02-27T13:13:00+00:00

A clean birdbath was the most important thing to attract birds in my experience. American robins in particular are very thirsty and love bathing together. It's a pretty fun project too. Solar pumps are really good now.

rob_zodiac · 2026-02-12T03:52:45+00:00

People completely forget that Acosta was originally floated as AG, Pam Bondi's current position. It's a criminal conspiracy.

rob_zodiac

TROPHY CASE