Still working on the duck coop, my daughter talked me into insulating them for the winter…

You need something that doesn't have insulating properties (like rubber soles). 100% leather can be grounding too. Best is to go barefoot, especially on a sandy, wet beach. Copper as the ground wire is a bad idea. Copper is a toxin for humans.

So the unions win. “Within the movement, particularly among senior figures in the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union and the Electrical Trades Union, there is deep unease about the consequences of destabilising the leadership at this point. That prospect of a full-scale royal commission into the “Big Build” is viewed by some as a far greater existential threat than current polling. In other words, the very issues eroding Allan’s authority publicly are, internally, also insulating her. Corruption talk weakens her standing in the electorate but raises the stakes so high within the party and affiliated unions that many conclude continuity is the safer option.” #DitchJacinta #BootOutLabor

Anchoring Vision 2030: Why Dr Tungwarara’s Unwavering Endorsement of CAB3 Marks a Turning Point for Zimbabwe’s Economic Destiny ​In a bold and unwavering declaration, Presidential Investment and Empowerment Advisor, Dr P. Tungwarara, is emphatically throwing his full weight behind Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3), presenting it not merely as reform, but as a strategic instrument for ongoing national transformation. With the clarity of a seasoned economic thinker, Dr Tungwarara is articulating the bill’s far-reaching benefits, underscoring its capacity to anchor economic stability in an increasingly competitive global landscape. He is notes that prolonged policy consistency, which is being enabled through the provisions of CAB3, is essential in insulating the economy from the disruptive cycles of electoral uncertainty. Central to his argument is the undeniable link between governance continuity and investor confidence. Dr Tungwarara is emphasizing that investors are seeking predictability, stability, and long-term assurance—qualities that CAB3 is inherently strengthening. By reducing the frequency of political transitions, the bill is fostering a climate where capital feels secure, and enterprise is thriving without hesitation. Equally compelling is his focus on business continuity; in his view, sustainable development cannot flourish in an environment punctuated by frequent political resets. CAB3, he is arguing, is providing the runway necessary for the long-term planning, execution, and maturation of national projects, which are serving as key pillars underpinning the ambitions of National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) and Vision 2030. Ultimately, Dr Tungwarara’s endorsement is standing as both a rallying call and a strategic affirmation that Zimbabwe’s path to prosperity is lying in stability, foresight, and bold reform. @paultungwarara @TinotendaGacha1

humans are living beings that constantly secrete oil out of their skin worse when you cover yourself in insulating bedding

OECD Report Fuels Growing Concerns Over China’s Subsidy-Driven Model A new report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is set to intensify the Western debate over China's aggressive state subsidies. The study reveals that nearly 60 percent of the global market-share gains achieved by Chinese firms over the past two decades are directly attributable to state subsidies, compounding worries over industrial overcapacity. The OECD likened this heavy state backing to the use of performance-enhancing drugs in professional sports, warning that it allows less productive competitors to win unfairly over innovative rivals. Analysts caution that while this strategy expands Beijing’s geopolitical influence and secures critical supply chains, it threatens to hollow out foreign manufacturing sectors while exposing China to severe long-term financial risks. Chinese Subsidies Far Exceed Global Peers Focusing on 525 of the world's largest manufacturing groups across 15 critical industries from 2005 to 2024, the OECD report highlights staggering disparities in government funding. The data conservatively estimates that Chinese companies received state subsidies averaging three to eight times higher than firms operating within advanced OECD market economies. While subsidies accounted for roughly 22 percent of market-share growth for expanding companies globally, that figure skyrocketed to nearly 60 percent specifically for Chinese enterprises. Long-Standing Western Criticism OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann noted that heavily subsidized firms won global market share not by demonstrating superior efficiency or innovation, but through sheer volume of state backing. China's Ministry of Commerce swiftly rebuffed the findings, criticizing the international report as one-sided, methodologically imprecise, and politically biased. However, independent economists state the report carries immense objective weight, effectively validating a decade of Western complaints regarding state-directed dumping and market distortions. Competitiveness or State Support? As the world's largest exporter, China relies heavily on electric vehicles, lithium batteries, solar products, and advanced shipbuilding to power its massive 45.47 trillion yuan export engine. Marketing and business experts argue that pure market competitiveness cannot explain this growth, noting that many Chinese firms are structurally unprofitable and survive solely on state aid. These firms possess significant scale and price advantages, but they fundamentally lack true production efficiency, effectively selling goods overseas at or below actual cost. Beijing’s Push for Greater Influence Over Global Supply Chains Political insiders suggest the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deploys these massive subsidies to artificially maintain domestic employment, absorb excess capacity, and accumulate vast foreign exchange reserves. The overarching asymmetric strategy aims to aggressively undercut foreign rivals, forcing international competitors out of the market to ultimately recapture unilateral pricing power. Massive Money Printing for Subsidies Carries Significant Risks Beijing’s industrial backing extends far beyond direct payouts, utilizing free land allocations, fiscal injections, and unlimited credit lines from state-controlled banks funded by the general public. To sustain this model amidst massive local deficits, authorities have relied on aggressive monetary expansion, shifting the burdens of inflation and currency depreciation onto Chinese taxpayers. Experts warn this trajectory is fundamentally unsustainable, threatening export-oriented firms with sudden bankruptcy if foreign nations successfully implement strict trade barriers. CCP’s Pursuit of Supply-Chain Dominance Could Create Global Instability Strategically, Beijing aims to construct self-contained industrial ecosystems that maximize global dependence on Chinese manufacturing while insulating its own economy from external pressure. This calculated pursuit of supply-chain dominance grants the CCP immense geopolitical leverage, effectively shifting its internal economic pressures onto the international community. By mobilizing total state resources against foreign private-sector firms, Beijing's trade practices risk driving deindustrialization abroad, inevitably forcing western nations to trigger prolonged trade wars.

@grok His description of the tariff strategy of the current administration tipped me off. By leveraging the trade policies developed by Bessent (best Secretary of Treasury ever) and Lutnick, they aim to incentivize domestic production and reduce the nation's vulnerability to the influence of external blocs, thereby reinforcing the dollar's long-term stability and central role in the global economy. By fundamentally recalibrating trade terms to prioritize American economic resilience, this approach effectively transforms tariffs from mere taxes into strategic tools that compel international partners to respect U.S. market standards, ultimately insulating domestic prosperity from the destabilizing maneuvers of the BRICS nations and other competing global blocs. Without these strategic trade interventions, the U.S. economy risked a long-term erosion of its industrial base and a dangerous acceleration of de-dollarization, potentially culminating in a loss of global financial hegemony to rival powers and a sharp decline in domestic living standards.

Unironically this is the right move. These people are generally non-quietist/Shariahist pettybooj elderly who are trying to have their cake (leftist supported initiatives for small business) and eat it too (insulating their children from basic equality pitches).

EVENING VIEW FROM THE RIDGE: from John Toth The Unyielding Standard of Leadership The structural transformation of Washington is no longer a future promise; it is an active, operational reality. For decades, the permanent political establishment relied on a rotating carousel of career bureaucrats, corporate lobbyists, and compromised insiders to manage the steady decline of American sovereignty. They engineered a top-down system designed to protect the interests of globalist cartels while ignoring the raw frustration of the working class. But the execution of the America First agenda requires a completely different breed of leadership. Looking at the core architects driving the current administration, it is clear that the old guard’s monopoly on power has been completely dismantled. The absolute brilliance of this leadership model lies in its ability to build an ideologically cohesive team while masterfully reaching across traditional partisan divides. By focusing on pure competence, raw grit, and an alignment on national sovereignty rather than strict party-line resumes, this administration has created a powerful blend of lifelong conservatives, independent reformers, and prominent former Democrats. They are not here to maintain the status quo or play polite beltway games; they are here to systematically drain the administrative state, secure our borders, restore energy dominance, and return absolute power back to the citizens of this republic. Here is the unvarnished breakdown of the top 15 key leaders executing the MAGA mandate on the front lines, highlighting the political diversity and strength they bring to the team: J.D. Vance (Vice President – Republican): Once a traditional critic, he evolved into the definitive, raw populist voice for the forgotten working-class communities of the Rust Belt. He brings an aggressive economic nationalism to the executive branch, combining sharp skepticism of Big Tech with a total refusal to fund endless foreign interventions. Marco Rubio (Secretary of State – Republican): Shifting entirely away from the old establishment foreign policy formulas, he has completely aligned with the peace-through-strength directive. He is leading the charge on the global stage, aggressively countering China’s economic subversion and prioritizing American security over borderless global agreements. Scott Bessent (Secretary of the Treasury – Republican): A powerhouse from the financial sector who completely rejects the high-tax, over-regulated globalist model. He is actively utilizing targeted tariff strategies and aggressive deregulation to rebuild our domestic industrial base and relieve national debt pressures. Pete Hegseth (Secretary of War – Republican): An Army veteran who has stepped into the Pentagon with a clear, uncompromising mandate to strip out "woke" ideological social experiments. Operating under the restored historical title of Secretary of War, his focus is absolute: stripping away the corporate public relations smoke screen of the old "Defense" label to focus entirely on building a high-speed, lethal warrior culture designed for total victory and national defense. Todd Blanche (Attorney General Nominee – Independent/Republican Alignment): A relentless prosecutor who stood directly on the legal front lines against weaponized lawfare. Serving as Acting Attorney General, he has been officially tapped by the President for the permanent top spot to lead the complete restoration of the rule of law, ending the political weaponization of federal law enforcement. Doug Burgum (Secretary of the Interior – Republican): A pro-growth, business-minded former governor who understands that true economic security requires total energy independence. He is systematically cutting through federal red tape to expand domestic energy production and unlock our public lands for responsible development. Brooke Rollins (Secretary of Agriculture – Republican): A dedicated conservative policy architect focused entirely on insulating our domestic food supply. She is working to strip away predatory regulatory burdens from independent American farmers, revitalizing rural economies, and securing our agricultural independence from foreign buyers. Howard Lutnick (Secretary of Commerce – Republican): A veteran financial leader and CEO who looks at global trade through a single lens: American competitiveness. He is engineering aggressive trade deals designed to protect domestic intellectual property, rebuild manufacturing, and safeguard American workers. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Secretary of Health and Human Services – Independent, Former Democrat): A historic independent ally who walked entirely away from the corporate-controlled progressive party to join forces with the administration. He is leading an unprecedented institutional clean-up of public health agencies, tackling the chronic disease epidemic, and breaking Big Pharma's corrupt monopoly over public health policy. Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence – Independent, Former Democrat): A fierce anti-interventionist veteran and former Democrat Congresswoman who completely rejected the establishment left. She brings radical accountability to the intelligence community, exposing deep-state overreach, resisting the influence of the military-industrial complex, and refocusing intelligence efforts on genuine national defense. Susie Wiles (White House Chief of Staff – Republican): The disciplined, highly strategic engine behind the movement's historic electoral execution. She runs a tight, hyper-efficient White House operation, ensuring that the America First policy agenda is executed daily without internal friction or bureaucratic leakage. Stephen Miller (Senior Advisor / Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy – Republican): The unyielding ideological architect of modern border enforcement. He remains the driving force behind the systematic implementation of strict immigration laws, mass deportations of illegal elements, and the absolute locking of the nation’s front door. Sean Duffy (Secretary of Transportation – Republican): A traditional conservative reformer tasked with rebuilding our failing, legacy infrastructure. He is cutting through the multi-layered environmental mandates and green-energy red tape that delayed basic construction projects for years, ensuring capital goes directly into actual American roads, bridges, and ports. Kristi Noem (Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas – Republican): A law-and-order conservative leader who understands the physical reality of border security. Stepping into this critical international enforcement role, she brings an uncompromising standard to regional security operations, prioritizing public safety and national sovereignty across the hemisphere. Russ Vought (Director of the Office of Management and Budget – Republican): A relentless fiscal conservative and administrative hawk. He is utilizing targeted civil service reforms like Schedule F to systematically strip protections from unelected, deep-state saboteurs, while driving a massive chainsaw through wasteful federal spending. Out here on the ridge, the lesson is absolute. The establishment left has completely run out of answers for this level of unified, institutional momentum. By breaking down old tribal political boundaries and drawing top-tier talent from across the spectrum, this administration has built a cohesive, disruptive force designed to return this nation to its foundational principles, prove that real leadership starts at the top, and ensure that the sovereignty of the American people is never subverted again. J.T. ~ Voice of Reason

🚨 #BREAKING: Applied Materials $AMAT Introduced Two New Chipmaking Systems Designed to Solve One of the Biggest Challenges in Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing. What was announced: ➜ Applied Materials $AMAT introduced two new systems: the Centris Spectral SiN ALD and the Producer Selectra Mo Etch. ➜ Both systems were announced alongside the 2026 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Technology and Circuits. The problem they solve: ➜ Modern AI chips increasingly rely on stacking structures vertically rather than simply shrinking them horizontally. ➜ As these structures become deeper and narrower, it becomes much harder to coat materials evenly or remove materials precisely throughout the entire structure. ➜ Existing manufacturing tools are increasingly challenged by these requirements. ➜ Variability in these processes can reduce electrical performance and lower manufacturing yields. ➜ Both new systems are designed to address this challenge from different angles. Centris Spectral SiN ALD: ➜ Silicon nitride is a key insulating material used throughout the chip manufacturing process. ➜ It is used for surface protection, electrical isolation, and as a spacer during patterning. ➜ The material must be deposited at low temperatures while remaining durable enough to withstand later manufacturing steps. ➜ Conventional plasma-enhanced deposition struggles to uniformly coat high-aspect-ratio structures. ➜ The Centris Spectral SiN ALD uses high-density microwave plasma technology to deposit high-quality silicon nitride uniformly inside tall, narrow structures. ➜ The system is designed to achieve this at low temperatures while avoiding the tradeoff between plasma density and ion-induced damage. ➜ In gate-all-around transistors, the system can create high-quality liners for transistor contacts that reduce electrical resistance and capacitance. ➜ Lower resistance and capacitance can enable faster device performance. ➜ Applications extend across advanced logic and DRAM manufacturing. ➜ The system is part of Applied Materials' new Spectral ALD platform. ➜ The platform features a quad-reactor design, precision chemical delivery, and support for both temporal and spatial ALD operation. ➜ Applied Materials said the system is being adopted by leading chipmakers. Producer Selectra Mo Etch: ➜ 3D NAND memory chips store data by stacking memory cells vertically, often across hundreds of layers. ➜ Molybdenum is increasingly being used for the wordlines that connect those memory cells. ➜ To prevent electrical shorts, the metal must be removed precisely from the spaces between adjacent wordlines. ➜ Conventional wet etch processes struggle to remove material evenly throughout the full depth of these structures. ➜ The Producer Selectra Mo Etch uses an engineered dry gas process to achieve uniform top-to-bottom molybdenum removal across the full stack. ➜ Applied Materials said the system has already been validated in high-volume manufacturing. ➜ The system reduces cell-to-cell variability. ➜ It lowers leakage current. ➜ It improves data retention. ➜ Applied Materials also said the technology creates opportunities beyond 3D NAND, including DRAM and foundry logic applications. What Applied Materials says: ➜ Dr. Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials, stated: "As the industry pushes the limits of AI computing, the biggest opportunities are increasingly found in materials engineering. From transistor structures to memory stacks, chipmakers need new ways to precisely deposit and selectively remove materials in extremely complex 3D architectures."

Oil and gas disrupted by Middle East conflict. Uranium? Zero disruption. Boring, reliable nuclear baseload insulating us from the chaos.

I thought the same thing as well. Maybe gains from the stock market insulating? Kinda tough to believe from brokers.... lol

NZ's corrupt, self-insulating Epsom gentry must flog off NZ to lowest bidder who, from our standing, is India. It’s why all their public appearances with Indians resemble real estate auctions, where the auctioneer subdues his distaste to close the sale.

So much wrong with this entire bit. The 4 easiest though A Wet, wetsuit isnt insulating. Its Low Voltage, so its not sparking like this. LV Protection would render the circuit dead. RCD's prevent these issues and have been around longer than this movie.

I’m more so speaking from experience knowing ppl who personally are related to government officials. I’ll also reiterate that creating with others has never been a problem economically. Insulating our own circulation is.

Definitely. He probably has a distaste for them like most kiwis but needs to sell the country to them if he wants himself and the rest of the gentry to retire comfortably. Corrupt, self-insulating Epsom scum.

Because it inculcates the preferred beliefs and values while insulating users from exposure to alternative ones.

An absolute abomination Sick Maddening Furiating Insulating

The very fact that Labor is so desperate to avoid an investigation into the CFMEU is why we must DITCH JACINTA and her government. “Within the movement, particularly among senior figures in the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union and the Electrical Trades Union, there is deep unease about the consequences of destabilising the leadership at this point. That prospect of a full-scale royal commission into the “Big Build” is viewed by some as a far greater existential threat than current polling. In other words, the very issues eroding Allan’s authority publicly are, internally, also insulating her. Corruption talk weakens her standing in the electorate but raises the stakes so high within the party and affiliated unions that many conclude continuity is the safer option.” Herald Sun - ALLAN A FIRM LIABILITY YET KEY ISSUES INSULATE HER edition.pagesuite.com/popove…