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This is the third time I've tried to start a response and twice attempted to PM you directly Mike. I wasn't sure how to respond to your non-bullet, bullet list with a single emoji, and once you posted about no comments and your lack of surprise at HC silence, even less so. I don't pretend to understand the weight of all the historic injustices in play in the Levant or peoples from there (the Holocaust most obviously, but also Spanish & Portuguese Inquisitions, The Crusades, forced migrations, etc.). However not only one side here was affected by those, especially the last two, and I most certainly don't support protecting oneself at all costs. That applies to the US or any other state or people. Look at awful 9/11 AND the awful 9/11 response. When W. said "you're either with us or against us" I thought most understood that wasn't the best path forward. I have to admit, probably my being naive, I can't remember during my life even having sympathy for innocents on both sides got you labeled as not supportive enough on one side. That feels different, though I know further back it was quite common. I hope we all feel similarly against terrorism, minimizing collateral damage, long-term peace goals, democratic governments, etc. If that's the case, it's probably why it goes less spoken. We already agree. But we all have additional lines too, and one of mine is cutting off food and water to an entire population. That's just waaay too far over the line on the at all costs yardstick and I can't believe people aren't starting every conversation with that fact. Not invalidating power structure or history or identity, etc. It's complicated history, but one side actively starving out the entire other side is the opposite of complicated. So for what it's worth I've given $2,500 so far to try to help slightly there. Hopefully humanitarian channels will further open.

I didn't like or post anything in this discussion because I don't know what to say on this very loaded topic. I will say that I support you, Mike, I support Jewish people here or in Israel or anywhere in the world and despise the long and ongoing history of anti-Semitism, and I support Israel's right and unfortunate need to defend itself. I also hate war and I am saddened by the suffering of both combatants and innocent people on both sides of any war. I don't think it fair or accurate to equate lack of response by your many HC friends with lack of concern for you or Jews or anything else, and I hope you don't really feel that way.

Chocolate Chess Pie - https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024822-chocolate-chess-pie I decided i needed an excuse to test the pie crust recipe that I want to use on Thanksgiving. It was judged to be quite good and that it should be made again.

I'm not sure why you are or are not surprised Mike. I don't know enough to comment significantly, so I don't. I can't like something as horrible and tragic as all of what is going on in Israel these days. My sister in law is Jewish. Our kids' best friends are Jewish. Does that matter? Not to me. They are great people, regardless of religion, that's what I know. As for what you expected from HC I don't know what to think about that comment either. I think you know that ultimately this is one of the most compassionate and caring corners of the internet. Did it spring into action to support your post? I guess not. But I'm not sure how it could have either. What I do know is that this place has rallied unlike any other to support its friends, time and time again. I think this is a good place, one largely free of hate. But it remains imperfect, like everything else in life.

Thanks folks, what a weekend. Started in Brussels for the Govt Mule - Warren Haynes show then proceeded to Amsterdam for Saturday through today. At the airport waiting to board my plane for Alicante Airport and home.

Jimmy has been in hospice for nine months and Rosalynn for only two days. They both took a lot of shit while in office and then continued to serve others for over forty more years. RIP Rosalynn.

I'll just chime in to say this. About a decade back I visited Israel for two weeks with the rest of my family. One of the most memorable parts of the trip was visiting the West Bank. I'm an empathetic person, and seeing the way the modern state of Israel treated the Palestinians people made me sad, more than anything. A day or two after we saw the settlements encroaching on the West Bank. That trip and the time we spent there seeing things with my own eyes changed my outlook. Many other people I've spoken to who have visited the Palestinian Territories feel the same way. Some of my other friends who have done the "birthright" trips never got a chance to see what we saw and had a very different experience of spending time in the region. What happened was/is horrible, and the nation of Israel is well within its rights to respond harshly. That being said, it breaks my heart to see bomb after bomb hit Gaza City and trash the place. More than a million people live there, and look what is happening to it. I think the situation is very complicated and that it is ok to feel conflicted. I myself am a non-practicing Jew.

I'm driving to my Brother's house for Thanksgiving. My ailing Mother recently moved there to live with him and his wonderful wife. I'm worried this may be her last Thanksgiving and absolutely have to be there. My Mother is very excited about my visit and has volunteered me to cook Thanksgiving dinner. There is historic reason for her to do so. I cooked Thanksgiving dinner in Texas for almost 20 years. Most years for around 20 people. My Mother tells everyone that I make a better Thanksgiving dinner than she ever did. That's not really true, but I thoroughly enjoy doing it and do a pretty good job of it. I cook my turkey upside down. You don't get the Norman Rockwell photo opportunity, but it is so much juicier and tastier. And I always make my homemade macaroni. I consider it my best dish of all time, and somehow my Brother has never had it. So that'll be fun. So I actually do make quite a few good dishes. But I fully admit that I can't make a better pumpkin pie than Costco, so I know where to put my efforts and where to offer Costco $7.99 for money well spent.

The world is shit enough right now that some smooth music and bourbon together does not go astray.

Brownies with the Brits

Comedians should stick to jokes not this. Don’t take casually numbers from Hamas, the group that started this in the first place. Palestinians spit on a girl who was raped and killed by Hamas. They were happy about the killings. They were not Hamas, they were Palestinians. Israel needs to do what they need to do to defend themselves against Hamas. Full stop. The US killed more civilians since WWII than Israel has in their war against Hamas. Hamas is responsible for each civilians death in Gaza. The civilians in Gaza are responsible for Hamas. They voted for them and have done nothing about them. Hamas has received billions of dollars and instead of making it a tourist paradise on the Mediterranean they used the money to build tunnels. Jews have been in that land for more than 3000 years. There was not a Palestinian people until, at the earliest, the early 1900’s. The Arab world hates the Palestinians and do not lift a hand to make their lives better. From the river to sea means annihilating Israel. It has been that way from 1948 on (actually long before). Never Fucking Again.

As a Jew myself, I fully stand by Israel. Mike makes a lot of true and salient points. Even the "illegal" settling of the West Bank was done AFTER several surrounding countries attacked Israel, and they gained the land. The Sinai peninsula is another example of that. But Israel gave that land back to Egypt as a part of a peace settlement. The Palestinians - in Gaza or the West Bank - have never agreed to any peace settlement with Israel. So Israel has not given back the West Bank. They HAVE left Gaza alone, and have been out of there basically since 2005 IIRC. The non-Israeli's in the West bank have continued to send suicide bombers into Israel, so it's always a hotbed of violence. The bombing of Gaza is indeed massive. I have mixed feelings about that because 1) until Hamas is removed there will just be more bombs/missiles/attacks on Israel, and 2) thousands of civilians are dead and tens or hundreds of thousands displaced. I wish it wasn't happening, but I still lean to Israel's side because of #1 above, AND the fact that this wouldn't be happening if October 7th hadn't happened. And any sign of weakness with Israel is a sign for others to do what Hamas has done. I will ALSO recognize that Netanyahu uses this to exercise his power in war. I cannot stand Netanyahu, indeed he is a right-wing power hungry asshat who would marginalize many in Israel, Arab and Jew alike. I also condemn the settlers who force their way into the West Bank. I would like to hope that some day it can be part of the Palestinian/Arab state and self-govern...peacefully. Tens of thousands of Israeli's have protested Netanyahu's attempts at grabbing power and many of his policies. But I will always support Israel, and condemn Hamas and any non-peaceful Palestinian. Mike is right, Palestinians cheered when the dead bodies of some of the Israeli's were paraded around. I also think they've been taught only with propaganda that everything wrong in their lives is because of Jews/Israel. In many ways they don't know better. I was having a passionate but relatively peaceful debate with someone, who was also focusing on the horrible conditions in Gaza. I asked the same question as noted above: would this be happening if October 7th never happened? And when he said that Hamas doesn't represent all Palestinians, I agreed. Then I asked: why don't they protest or revolt? And the answer was that the people in power wouldn't let them or accept it (they have actually killed those who rally against them). So of course, I then asked: who is oppressing the Palestinians more? The answer is clearly Hamas. They place weapons and fighters in or next to civilian locations (schools, hospitals, etc.) and don't let people evacuate (or at least until so many have died and they can use it as propaganda). There are videos from their leaders saying they will have civilian casualties to achieve their goals. I'm rambling....I'm not as firm as Mike to say you MUST support my thoughts or like my posts. But I understand his passion, because as Jews we KNOW what it's like when people do nothing (ref: Hitler and Germany in WW2). What I would ask is to do some research and help form a stronger opinion. Research at how Palestinians have been kicked out of several Arab countries (because of the elements of violence) and are not welcome even as refugees. Read what Hamas stands for (eradicating Jews in Israel, as well as globally). Understand who is the MOST oppressive to the Palestinian people, what "genocide" REALLY means (guess what: Hamas is genocidal in intent, Israel is not), and then recognize that Jews have been marginalized and attacked globally and throughout history perhaps more than any other race/religion. And also do research into how many Arab on Arab conflicts have resulted in dead Palestinians and other Arab populations, and try and understand why there is so little outcry for the Palestinian people in those situations. Because it's not Israel doing it.....that's a sure sign of Antisemitism.... So I get where Mike is coming from, and feel much of the same fear and sometimes anger. I don't expect anyone to like my post, but at least to read it and try to learn more, to help understand.

The duet is firewire, so you'd just nee the the thunderbolt to firewire adapter, and the thunderbolt to thunderbolt 3/4 adapter. I have all the parts, I should validate that it works with current revisions of macOS

You use the verb "making" the same way my sister-in-law uses it for holiday dinners. For me, unwraping the plastic and warming in the oven is not the same as "making". But then I am no Jose Andreas.

I too am making a pie for Thanksgiving. And by making I mean I bought it at Costco and will drive it to Arizona.

Two things, actually a number of things: I haven't replied in however many hours because something I ate tried to kill me. Longtime listeners will know that I have chronic digestive issues on the best of days. When I ear the wrong (combination of) things, the results can be catastrophic. I spent much of today accomplishing such tasks as "staying in an upright position" and "keeping solid food down." After that I decided to get my Sonnar on in the afternoon light. The median age in the Gaza Strip is 18. 40% of its population is under 30. The last and only time Hamas got elected was 2006, over 17 years ago. The population of Gaza as it is now, did not vote for Hamas. To suggest otherwise is akin to blaming Gen Z for Trump or Millennials for GW Bush. I find accusations of bigotry are almost never productive to any discussion, especially as we now live in the age where such allegations are constantly being weaponized. In the last few months I had a post on Facebook that had the word "assholes" in it mass reported by a bunch of buttmad cretins and I ended up in the tentacles of FB's AI moderation. There are no humans who monitor content at FB anymore. I now have a strike against my FB account with an unknown number remaining before it gets deactivated. Normally, this would not be an issue, but half of MV life takes place on that accursed site and I need to be there. Similarly, I pluralized the word "autistic" and got an official strike on fucking reddit for hate speech. This is a site that still allows people to have the hard R N-word in their username. With all of this said, anti-semitism is on the rise globally. The richest man in the world gave his praise and approval to some fuckwit pushing the "great replacement" theory. The idea is that Jews are somehow magically using dark skinned people to worsen the lives of good God fearing whites. Also, and it pains me to say this, I have seen supposed leftists chanting "gas the Jews" and other horrible shit. I'm sure some of them are bad actors posing as protestors, but there's no way they ALL are. This behavior is inexcusable. The rise of the toxic left is a worrisome trend. A major and important distinction is that being anti-zionist, or even offering mild criticism of zionism is not the same thing as anti-semitism. Similarly, calling Bibi a corrupt and evil clownstick is not even the same thing as being anti-zionist. Bibi doesn't own zionism, zionism doesn't own Israel and more broadly the country of Israel doesn't own the global Jewish identity. Also, we live in the "No True Scotsman" age. The moment the member of a group does something horrid, that person is magically no longer in that group according to its members. An incel or alt-right loser goes on a mass shooting, and suddenly he's no longer one of them. Similarly, a trans man shot up a bunch of school children this year. There was a not insubstantial amount of denial as to his status as a trans person all over social media, extending as far as (once again) weaponized accusations of bigotry for merely acknowledging the fact that he was in fact trans. This line of non-thinking has certainly been visible in the discussion of the Israel/Palestine conflict. I think comedy has an important role in the discussion of war. The greatest comedian of the modern era had quite a routine on Gulf War I: George Carlin had a thing or two to say as well: I'm not saying that the above two men had a massive shaping of my worldview, but if the shoe fits.... Lastly, I cannot stress how important it is to ignore things like "likes" and other reactions. They're a fucking curse. I use scripts and browser plugins to block them on sites like FB. HC is sufficiently small that TBH they don't have much impact, but they are still best ignored. I say this as someone whose mental health is an a precious balance on the best of days. Ignore that shit.

I think the desire not to ruffle feathers when other people have strong opinions on both sides, is the reason for many not wanting to post. I also believe that history has shown that to be a very dangerous action. I hate war, but war is going to continue until humans are gone as a species. It's sad, but it's true. Sometimes you have to take a stand. I am appalled at Hamas' terrorist methods. I believe that they will continue to indiscriminately kill jews at any chance given. So the obvious solution is to not give any more chances. I don't apologize for my stance. Expecting a heavily discriminated group of people to accept being slaughtered is as insane as wanting to slaughter them.

I don't have any experience with anything newer than the apogee element, but I'd be surprised if the quality of their conversion has gone downhill as technology improves. I know they make the Boom for $250 which seems to be a step up from the old duets for windows, Mac, and IOS with usb c.

Hi guys! Thanks for the replies and kind welcome backs 🙂 Good point @jpelg . I think the Maggies need a bit more juice so a more powerful amp would be a future thing. But it's now mostly a matter of changing the source due to compatibilty issues. The Macbook is seriously outdated and I would prefer not to use a laptop anymore. A mac-mini would mean that I'd have to go the route of a USB-dac again. A streamer with a proper dac would also be an option but I don't know where to look. Or at least a streamer with a dac on par with the Duet and with the ability to bypass the internal one and add a more proper one down the line. I am very much in love with these Maggies though. I heard the 1.7 at a friend's place..that just blew me away. Never heard electrostats in speaker shape before.

The real problem is nobody in the entire region is washing down their bacon cheese burger with a nice cold beer.

Nate, I am one of those that in the past has rallied to support others on HC. I guess I had hoped that someone would have come to my defense and that of Jews in general. Instead I get a bunch of bs from people that have zero understanding of history and just repeat the same rhetoric that has for ever put Jews at risk. People spend all kinds of time liking the beer or cocktail someone is drinkng but almost know support for someone who has been a part of this community, although not as much as before, from the beginning. Seeing the people who have like the posts, other than mine, I think it is time for me to go. Please delete my account. I tried but could not figure out how to do so in the settlings.

I can't say much about DAC's in general. But as an owner of Magnepan 1.7i speakers, I will say that Maggies will be very sensitive & revealing to changes in your audio chain. I assume the Mini-Maggies are similar. So, I suggest having a somewhat clear idea of what improvments you are looking for if changing any individual piece, and being able to compare a few different new samples, returning what doesn't fit into your overall desired sound signature. For example, I went from a quite revealing, all solid-state chain (DAC/Pre->Stereo Amp & cables), to a more pleasing, warmer amplification section (warm class-D Amp monoblocks->Tube Pre-amp), but keeping my slightly more analytical DAC. Substituting a warmer DAC was too much of a good thing & didn't balance quite right to my ears with the warmer upstream components. Bringing back in my original DAC balanced things out better. As always, trust your own ears.

Awaiting Canjam LA part deux... Miss you man, hope to hit you up in Spain in late 2024 after we visit HK. I actually have your birth year port which I intend to open in the summer of 2024 if things go well.

I've got nothing useful but wanted to say hi Indra and welcome back! Hope we see you around some more. Cheers!

This is gonna be a long walk, as most such posts are. In early 2010, a now long closed second hand store on MV had two 1990s point and shoot film cameras. They gave them both to me because they didn't want to deal with the hassle of testing them. The first was an awkwardly titled Olympus Trip XB AF 44: Seen here in 2010, taken with my 30D and Orestor 135mm F/2.8 manual, stopped down to F/I-have-no-idea-that-was-13-years-ago. I got the Olympus working, but it died halfway through the first roll I put through it and and would not come back to life no matter what I did. The other camera was a lower end Fuji Smart Shot II: Seen here a few months ago, taken with my 5D IV and 135mm F/3.5 CZJ Sonnar. As I'm fond of saying, the Sonnar is the best actual lens among the ever growing army of manual focus 135mm primes I own. Unlike the Olympus, the Fuji kept running through an entire roll of film. Nothing says quality like "CVS Photostar." The Smart Shot II was made in 1994. I have no idea how old the above roll of film is, nor how long it was the camera. It might be utterly ruined. With that said, I shot the entire thing this summer. As with the other, uh, 4 exposed rolls I've amassed, I still have no idea where I'm going to get it processed. I've also been shooting a fair amount of digital. It's taken me quite some time to make friends with the 5D IV. It's quite a camera, and has a very dense set of controls. The AF system is very complex and I don't like it. I was much faster with my 2006 EOS 30D than I will ever be with the 5D IV. It's a good thing I don't shoot sports. With that said, I have had some successes. This time of year, last light is a fleeting and intense moment. The colors that appear for a few minutes at the end of the day are nuts. I live next to a pod, but across the street is a farm. I traipse through it with my 5D and lens du jour, trying to capture what I can. The above were taken with the 17-40L. The same phenomenon a few days later, taken with the '86 nifty 50 (a lens I much prefer.) These are all more or less "SOOC" with slight edits at most. I also visited the Edgartown waterfront with the 5D and 50, but those shots will have to wait for the moment.

Nice to see you back again Indra (hope I remembered that right). Sorry, can't help you much on DACs as I still only use a CD player, with another as transport for it. People tell me that SPDIF still sounds better than USB, but with your envisioned setup, USB would be much easier unless you wanted to get an interface. The Schitt Yggy seems to be well thought of, but not sure what those run these days. They do seem to come up used fairly often. Someone should pop by shortly with better ideas. Take care!

Hi all, have been out of the game for a while but slowly lurking again. I still use a Macbook pro (late 2008) as a source to play local files on a separate drive and stream Tidal. But it’s really too old to function properly. Looking for a headless mac mini running Roon server. I still have the macbook attached to an older Apogee Duet, the FW version, and slowly looking to upgrade to, preferably a proper USB dac. Saw a Stello DAC DA200 II for around €500,00 though not sure if that would be a significant step up. I use a Solen / Ensemble B-50 amp with tube front and SE end. Might upgrade to more powerful tube amp in the future. And have this all hooked up to a pair of little Maggies, which I acquired recently and is the cause of the audio fire lightning up again 😍 Anyway, a usb-dac for a mac mini; what would you recommend? What’s interesting these days? I’ve been away for so long! Budget around 1000-1500 second hand. Would that get me more than let’s say a new Duet? Edit: If I were to stray away from the USB-dac route, which would be better quality wise I suppose, which streamer, roon-ready, with a built-in dac on par with the Duet would you recommend? Or a streamer with the option to bypass the dac later on.

All you have done is suggest there is some moral equivalence between the sides. There is nothing the Palestinians can point to that is the same as Israel in terms of the history. All your comment suggests that you are ignorant of the history, which is part of the problem. As far as the UN, they said that Zionism is Racism which has led to so much anti-Semitic rage over the years. The UN is and has always been anti-Jew. You are kidding yourself if you believe otherwise. You may want to listen to what I posted above from YouTube. I suppose you want a ceasefire? There were many including on October 6, which was once again broken by Hamas, the government in Gaza. Israel has offered a 2 state solution since before 1948. In fact, in 1948, Israel agreed to give half, the better half of Israel to the Arabs and what did they do, attack Israel. Please get your head out of your ass, I’m sure there is a campus you can be in protesting in support of Palestinians.

I'm sorry, but I am not sure what you are trying to imply. Just because no one comments does not mean that no one has an opinion (informed or otherwise) or that silence means that you are right or that everyone agrees with you or that there are not counter arguments to what you have written. The lack of comments could simply be that no one wants an argument with you (especially with your privileged role as a moderator), or start a flame war. If the protagonists on both sides in Palestine where equally reserved perhaps there would be fragile peace or even better a pathway to some solutions to the problems. Each side can point to the past, to past atrocities from the other side, atrocities that fuel more retribution and atrocities and naturally lead to attack is the best form of defense arguments. Until there is forgiveness and a willingness to not look at the past the deaths on both sides will probably continue at infinitum. International law says Israel illegally occupied the west bank (United Nations resolutions, including 446, 452, 465, 471 and 476 and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 of 2016 reaffirmed this yet again) and then illegally (advisory opinion by the primary judicial organ of the UN in 2004) built settlers homes on what amounted to the front line. If this had occurred elsewhere in a different context the international community would be sending an army to throw the occupiers out... Given this it is hardly surprising Hamas and the Palestinians also use the argument that the Israel is responsible for the deaths and that attack is the best form of defense. And so the atrocities and deaths continue on both sides, each blaming the other and each attacking the other and calling it defense and the human suffering continues.

RIP former first lady Rosalynn Carter. She was married to Jimmy since 1946(!)