Powderhorn @ Powderhorn @beehaw.org

Unemployed journalist, burner, raver, graphic artist and vandweller.

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What the Jesus-tapdancing-Christ is this tripe?

Dating has always confused me. If this takes a half-hour, it's likely not right. It isn't about wordplay ... it's a gut reaction. Mind you, I can engage in wordplay, but the spark, that sense that you've always known each other ... throw out the calendar.

You. Fucking. Know.

I actually texted my ex tonight. This is usually months apart, and here it was as well. But I went out (yay, me!) to a weekly burner meetup, and there's my ex's Doppelgaenger, equally tatted, blue hair, gesticulating as said ex did. So I sent a pic. I hate talking to Babe, but there was no one else who could understand what had happened at 23.00 CT.

Nothing happened. The woman who I'm doting on a bit too much and I didn't even talk this week. She was engaged in her sketchbook, and I didn't want to be a dick and see her exasperatedly put down what she was working on. I'd seen this from the middle distance, and we'd talked last week. Oddly, she doesn't just look like my ex -- she espouses what I enjoyed in terms of interaction: brusque and disinterested, if polite.

And while my ex and I had what could charitably be called an "oh fuck" moment after the divorce in 2016, it has been quite the journey. Have we fucked over the years since? Well, yes.

I don't need to approve her new choices, nor does she mine. You can't hate someone you don't love, and we eventually came to this timeless realization. There was a lot of hate. See prior reference.

Which to a certain extent I think is about insecurity. We both thought we were done with having to look when we met, but this turned out not to be the case. Fuck, we thought we were done with each other. And yet she kept the name and still wears my wedding collar (no, not what you're thinking -- it was far more substantial and required a lot of collaboration to pull off for the day of the wedding after an absurdly huge steel portion showed up from the blacksmith first go 'round).

We are done, but ... that doesn't mean she's gone. The number of times I wanted to set her to blocked is in the high three-figures. I just can't. Oh, sure, I try to come up with rationalizations, and I'm not thrilled with having to tell someone new, "So, you should know Mrs. Powderhorn is still out there."

Our phone conversations are oddly binary. Either we're talking like we're back in bed, or it's scorched Earth. I think both of us resent that it didn't work.

So this woman at the warehouse? She won't ever realise (let alone care about) the extent to which a nice-looking counter-culture punk chick is actually alarming because I know where this goes via personality.

Tangentially related, back in 1999, I picked up a copy of the Vancouver Sun, as I was wont to do, and there's a photo of me around A6 (I know it was an even page), except it wasn't me. The Canadian girlfriend (yes, they exist) looked at what had caused my reaction and didn't quite need a fainting couch, though I can't see her saying "no" to one.

"Waiter!"

Perhaps the most jarring thing about the now-nearly-decade-ago divorce is that we operate in two states. When we're working together, all is well.

Yo no soy marinated.

Good they've got cables ready to go when no one has 2.2 on both ends, and likely won't for years.

Yes, yes, I know that this is how tech goes, but sometimes it feels like HDMI looks at USB and is like "hold my beer."

I forgot about the Croissan'wich ... I've had my fair share of those over the years. Invariably, the croissant was soggy, but two of those and I was set until dinner for like $3.

I'm sure they've since found a way to fuck that up further, especially with the egg-price rollercoaster.

I last went to Five Guys in 2018, and it's really good, but not $25 good. I can get five slightly less good but still top-tier double cheeseburgers at a local chain for that price. Not exactly like you're paying for the ambience and personal touch.

They started good, but quickly deteriorated.

America's true motto!

I don't think they used to precook batches of patties and then microwave as needed for 20 seconds when someone ordered. I distinctly remember smelling smoke before entering and then watching the flames coming from the grill that a cook was working every time I went in all the way through the mid-2000s. Not really since on the smoke or fire.

Maybe next they'll start microwaving the fries.

I'm some 10 miles from the Texas Capitol. They don't need AI, and they've done exactly this sort of thing before when cities pass ordinances the Nazis don't like by making such ordinances illegal at the state level.

Brought to you by the party of local control. "Oh, fuck ... no, not that local."

Sacre bleu!

Yeah, if I'm going to spend that much, I'll just go to Red Robin, have a full-service meal and include an overpriced beer. More likely, I'll just go to a local joint with even better food than that.

Took me a bit to figure out the typo in "leaner" (I read "Iraner" with the sans-serif typeface) -- but yeah. I'd imagine if they ever nail steaks, you could choose from different levels of marbling the way ground beef is sold today. Easily healthier, as no need for antibiotics, no chance of external pathogens such as avian flu, nothing dicey in the feed the could lead to Creutzfeldt–Jakob, and I'm likely forgetting a few other upsides.

The carbon footprint is of course dependent on the emissions of the power source. Heating is incredibly energy intensive, and electricity isn't going to be the best bang for the buck (there's a reason I have a diesel heater in the van) on account of just how much solar (especially in England) would be needed. It would still take up less land than a cattle ranch, which reduces the CO₂ emissions to the chemical precursors.

A few things about that.

Heat pumps would be an option, with significantly improved efficiency. Heat pump water heaters are also a thing, so likely more suited for vats.

Colocation is an option; i.e., setting up shop in an industrial area and hooking up to waste heat from an existing facility. To me, that counts as carbon neutral. District heating is another option. No waste heat available? Locate next to geothermal.

I think we're going to see more and more bespoke microgrids going forward. Data centers are already signing contracts for this, and an entirely indoor operation doesn't really care about the climate the way cattle do, so siting is far more flexible.

The issue more than some abstract estimate of carbon emissions is how much capital they're willing to put in up front to go net zero. In the modern world of line-go-up, it's unlikely to be as much as a company that intends to be in it for the long haul to realize significant savings.

The use of chemicals often means petroleum is involved, but as this is a proprietary blend, there's no way to say for certain. Biofuels could be a replacement for long-chain hydrocarbons if they're used. I doubt they'd want that level of chemistry from scratch brought in house, but it's an option. Still, it's the only other place in the chain where phantom CO₂ can go unreported even if the operation itself is net zero.

As someone who reported on the energy sector for the better part of a year, there are a lot of technologies, some more mature than others, that simply aren't in mainstream consciousness. This article's emissions estimates seem to take a more conventional view, and during proof-of-concept and ramp-up, I'm sure the figures are reasonable, but by the time we hit industrial scale, even more energy tech will be mature.

Talking about what the economics would look like in, say, five years (which is on the low end for industrial scale) is a fool's errand. Case in point: Model anything you like out by five years from December 2019 and see how accurate those predictions go.

That's the energy side.

As to the ethical concerns, as far as I'm aware, reducing animal suffering is a big portion of the impetus behind lab-grown meat. My ex and I had a rabbitry for a couple of years (pets to start, but when you have two males and two females, you end up with a shitton of bunnies in short order), so I've gotten to witness skinning and butchering (I couldn't bring myself to be in the washroom as she performed the actual slaughter). It's horrific, and I had a very hard time eating something I'd fed and cared for.

Land use is not only about the grazing land; the land used for feedstock in traditional beef production isn't insignificant, either, nor is the agricultural water use from growing said crops. So we're talking a lot of land that can be repurposed in aggregate should cultivated meat scale.

On balance, I see zero downside. The lower bound of 1.2kg of carbon per 1kg of meat may well be trumped simply by transportation emissions for the finished product, but in total, there's no way it's not a significant improvement in terms of greenhouse gases. It's 100% more humane, and land- and water-use considerations are a slam dunk.

Once they've nailed flavour, there's lots of reason for optimism. I'm not paying five times as much for something that gets 90% of the way to the real thing, and in many such scenarios, that last 10% is by far the most difficult. Parity on price, taste, texture and Malliard reactions will be what ahem brings me to the table.

The parent company is Restaurant Brands International, but no. Franchisees get fucked, employees get fucked and corporate basically says, "Hey did anyone else hear something?"

in unison: "Nope."

"OK, then. Back to the business of figuring out how to charge more for worse food. Baby needs a new pair of yachts."

Art imitates art ...

And several cities have decided not to renew or expand their contracts with Flock. The City of Austin let its contract with Flock lapse, in part because of concerns around ICE access to the data. The City of San Marcos decided to not place additional cameras in the city. The San Marcos Police Department also changed their policy to require outside law enforcement agencies to file a request concerning a specific crime in order to receive Flock data, Spectrum News 1 reported.

I'm surprised the Legislature wasn't convened to pass a state law prohibiting cities from opting out of Flock.

Gotta make money while the world burns.

It's not feasible unless Dems take the House in the midterms. Still zero chance of conviction.

Maybe it's just having a more refined palette as I age, but back in the 99-cent Whopper days, they seemed way better. Not that I've at this point had one in years given the (lack of) value proposition, but in general, microwaved, desiccated meat isn't something I seek out.

Even on immigration and deportations, two weeks of consistency is a big ask.

It's abundantly clear there's nothing so egregious Trump can do that congressional Republicans will turn on him and vote to impeach and convict. A battle that can't be won is not a battle worth fighting.