Thursday, February 28, 2019

'Private" testimony

Seems that Mr Cohen has some words that we mere citizens are too fragile to hear, so today's testimony is behind closed doors and private in order that special secrets are not revealed on television. 

Which means that the spectacle yesterday was just for show, and had no real import, but was, rather just a method of making TheDonald look bad as this dildo-holster was able to say really bad things about Mr. Trump with no real recourse by the accused.

And anyone who cannot see that Cohen was coached and instructed to say certain things in a certain way is either blind, stupid, or just plain so partisan that they will believe anything as long as it fits their belief.


I must confess

So there I was, putting my stuff back in my pockets and putting my belt and shoes on after passing through the TSA checkpoint.

And, behind me in the line is some poor middle aged woman getting hand searched after triggering something on the  machine she had passed through.

And another TSA woman was gathering up her bins of stuff from the belt after passing through the scanner.

And I'm thinking"Poor lady, you can tell she's a terrorist looking person" as she is taken away for further inspection, looking terrified.

And I, helplessly,watched it happen.

I am part of the problem with this country.

GWB should be hung for letting this happen.


ADS-B

And, Finally.

I didn't do anything different the second time.


Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Where was I??



Sorry, I was out for a few days. 

I had a bit of fun, and some stuff is more important than other stuff. 

Lemme get caught up and Blogging will resume shortly. 

Friday, February 22, 2019

Well, that sucks

So I got my new ADS-B transponder installed.

I have a reservation for a $500 rebate. Which is nice, since the equipment and installation cost $4500. (I knew this cost when I bought the plane, and figured the installation cost when I made an offer).

So, today, perfect VFR weather. Skies clear to above 25,000 feet, visibility greater than 10 miles.

One of the requirements of getting the $500 rebate from the FedGov is a "validation flight".

One must have at least 30 minutes of "Mauevering Flight" in class C or better airspace to "validate" the installation.... "Manuevering Flight" is, however, undefined.

That was the flight I did today. I flew around the outer shelf of a class C airport for 1.1 hours plus a bunch of class E and G airspace...total time 1.6 hours. No, ATC doesn't have a defined route nor any procedure in place for ADS-B validation requirements....I asked. So I did turns, climbs, descents touch and goes and straight and level. ATC wasn't thrilled.

And I just got my report. Not good enough.

Thing is, apparently LOTS of people are having this same issue. Yes, the system sees you. Yes, we fly the areas. Yes, we met the time limits. And No, sorry, not enough. Try again.

But it is kinda hard to meet requirements when the standards are undefined.

At this rate, I've burned $110 dollars worth of fuel failing to meet those undefined standards.

Gonna go do touch and goes and REALLY piss off the ATC folks tomorrow.

At this rate the fuel is gonna cost more than the rebate. 

Because they don't care enough to check

Seems that the Media is decrying the terrible fate of all those poor people who are doing their taxes and are finding out that, while they got an overall reduction in taxes, they failed to bother to look at their payroll deductions and now aren't getting as large a tax return (although other, more credible news outlets claim that tax refunds are up a tiny bit over last year.

It is, of course, Trump's fault.

It's his fault that they never learned how it works. That tax time is merely a time to settle up your accounts. To determine if you paid too much, or too little over the previous year. (Perhaps it is the fault of the schools that don't teach this?? I dunno. I learned it school, but I am old)

All of a sudden, the media is trying to make Trump look bad, again, because some folks can't manage their tax burden. Because they, apparently (and I heard this many times from folks who worked for me) "I don't pay taxes....I get money back every year! "

I don't, in case you haven't figured it out, feel sorry for folks that are that ignorant of how things work.

Thursday, February 21, 2019

charged

Seems that Jussie turned hisself in this AM for charges of Disorderly COnduct and Filing a False Police Report.

Apparently this opens him up to paying the entire costs of the investigation.

Toldya this "attack" was bullshit.

Plus, apparently, there are possible Federal Hate Crime charges because of another prank using the mail.

Poor Jussie. He got a lot more than he bargained for. One would have thought he'd be a lot smarter than this.


How many of those folks who told us how terrible whites are are gonna apologize for paining us all with the Racism: brush?

Again: if it weren't for staged "racist" "Hate Crimes" there would be almost none.


Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Was he already on his way out?

Or did his "assault" story just exacerbate his already tenuous employment status?

Smollett Cut From ‘Empire’ Episodes As Attack Probe Continues

One wonders what he was thinking.
The CPD may have poor leadership, but they are pretty good investigators when they try. 

Monday, February 18, 2019

You heard it here first:

I overheard a conversation the other day postulating that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is gonna be the next creation of the DNC machine. Pretty hard to argue with the parallels. And the formula works:

Yep, just like Barry Obama, she's being groomed to be the next DNC front runner as President.

It worked with the Black population of the US, and it worked with the more liberal voters in general. White Folks couldn't vote for him fast enough in order to prove they weren't racist and stuff like that.

It is possible that Ocosio-Cortez will be the same sort of thing...

She is hispanic, Female. Not really too bright. But photogenic and she appeals to the darker (black) and the latinos (brown) folks  and women...important voter blocks for the Dems....

The formula worked with Barry Obama. Similar profile. He was perhaps better educated, but not really that intelligent. But for many, he was a well spoken Black man and that was good enough to vote for because We Aren't Racist and We Vote Democratic. And he DID energize the Black votes for the DNC. And lots of DNC white types were surprised to find a black man who spoke good english....And were willing to vote for him based on that low a bar. Because Not Racist.

Might be that they try the same formula with Alexandria. It worked once.

President's day

Another Federal Holiday modified to give the federal (and usually State) workers a three day weekend.

Moveable Holidays should be abolished. Pick a day (or, in this case, days) and then either celebrate on that day, or don't.

I'm surprised we haven't made Christmas a moveable holiday.

Get.off.my.lawn

Question:

Since Jussie Smollett committed a "hate Crime" against himself, does he get charged with said "Hate Crime"?

Does he get the extra penalties connected with a crime that is deemed a "Hate Crime"?

I mean, if you or I had done such a crime....one that was racially, sexual preference or politically motivated, we'd get extra penalties....shouldn't he? 

Or will they just hope to sweep this under the rug?

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Open border advocates

They don't care about the country. Nor the citizens of the USA.

But (some) Democrats support Open Borders. Yep, they'd be happy when all of the USA is a third world shithole. They don't care about the economic damage that  folks who cross even our current porous (but difficult to pass) border do....and they'd cheer if more folks crossed an open border, despite the additional damage it would do to our country. 

But it'd be a leveler, which is what Socialists want, right?
And it would help increase the number of voters that vote Democrat....Like Blacks, Latino voters vote Democrat....they don't know why, but they do it because that is what they are told and that is what their friends do.....

But (some) of the Democrats in Congress would prefer to sell out the country....despite the oath they took. For more power and more Socialism.

And if the Press would do their job, then these folks would get tossed out on their ear. But the press supports the Agenda of the Dems. Over the safety and security of the Country and the Citizens. 

Saturday, February 16, 2019

The Unravelling

I was wrong....it did happen. Sorta.

So the Po-Po in Chicago (hey, that rhymes, sorta) have done their job and have tracked down and found the perpetrator of the terrible, heinous, racist attack by "MAGA" hat wearing Redncek Trump supporters (in the middle of the night, on the coldest day of the year)...

Seems it was folks the good ole' Jussie Smollett HIRED to do the job.   They have the confessions, they have the rope that they bought at an Ace Hardware.....They have all the details.....Excellent Job, CPD.

Funny, those Nigerians don't look anything like the folks Jussie portrayed in his description. I doubt if they even own a red baseball hat. Probably aren't Trump supporters either. And certainly aren't Rednecks.

While I doubt he will admit he lied and apologize to anyone, I hope he gets charged with Filing a False Police Report and is forced to pay for the costs associated with the investigation.  Ought tor be a pricey lesson for him...

(Isn't it odd how, when anyone investigates, nearly all the "Hate Crimes" based upon race, "gender" or sexual preference just aren't perpetrated by white conservatives? How it is (in nearly all cases) one of those "minorities" affected that commits the crime???(Often the one the crime was supposed to harm)? )

Odd, that.
But hey, Leftists. Symbols matter more that anything else.
More than reality.


Challenge

SO I bought an old car at an acution (for my Dad).

a 1927 Chrysler.

not in the best shape, but the motor turned with a crank and it had (some) compression.

oiled up the cylinders, and it has pretty decent compression now.

Spark? Yeah, that's the issue at this time. Haven't worked on a points ignition system for a lot of years.

Cleaned and gapped the points, and ran a hot wire to the switched side of the coil. It has spark now.

Now if I could just remember where I put the timing light away 20 years ago....

One thing at a time. 

Bummed

I'm once again disappointed by Trump.

He has failed, again, to lead. Or at least lead well.

The Dems are keeping a Wall from being built....at least any meaningful amount of Wall.

Essentially, they've thwarted him (again).

So much for "The Art of the Deal".

He SHOULD have forced Wall funding when he had a majority in the first 2 years. He didn't.

He SHOULD have taken some of the deals offered. DACA. Border Adjustment Tax. Others. All were better than what we got.
Now? Yeah, we get, essentially, nothing.
He SHOULD have stood fast on the "shutdown". He didn't. Like Charlie Brown and Lucy, he trusted them, and they snatched the football away. Again.

At the end, all we got is that he isn't Hillary.  

Friday, February 15, 2019

And it crumbles a bit more.



So it seems that the "attackers"  KNEW and had worked with Jussie....and he knew them. Apparently had worked with them in the past on the set of "Empire"...and they had worked out together at the gym.....Friendly like. .

And now the Police think he orchestrated the entire scene. 
Which would explain why he didn't wanna give up his phone, among other things. 

Seems they weren't supposed to be caught....but the police did an excellent job and they were tracked and found...

Interestinger and interestinger. 

Screw that

Forget "declaring an emergency".

I'm all for Donnie simply refusing to sign the spending bill.

Go full shutdown again.

I don't want to see another shutdown. But I DO want our southern border secured....at least not open (as it is now).

Let Donnie go forward and ask why the Dems don't want to secure our southern border.

Let the shutdown happen (again). Let him stand fast.

And, just so I am clear, I think declaring an "emergency"  for wall funding is a misuse of presidential powers.  This has been an ongoing issue, and using the emergency powers is not right.

I still think he needs to call out ALL the legislators that won't fund the security of our southern border. Call 'em out by name and ask the American people to ask 'em WHY they won't. 

Thursday, February 14, 2019

If they spend any time, they should sue "Jussie"

Seems that the po-po are "questioning" two "persons of interest" in the "assault" that happened in Chicago. 

Now, The men are "not suspects" and are simply being questioned.
But if they spend any time at all with the police, and it is later determined that Jussie was not entirely truthful in his claims, they should sue him for the time they spent with the police and the stress that this is no doubt causing them.

And the police, should they be able to prove he is "less than truthful" should be able to force him to pay all of the costs for the investigation.

I say "not entirely truthful" because small bits of the story...small but important bits....keep changing. 

I am slowly coming to believe that if it weren't for fake racist (both anti-black and anti-muslim) incidents, there wouldn't be any at all.

ETA: Seems that the Chicago Police Department RAIDED the home of the "Persons of Interest".
Raided. Kicked down a door and tossed the apartment. Lots of damage.
I would think that Mr. Smollett should be liable for that damage as well, if and when.




As expected

Negotiations to end the Shutdown were, as expected, in bad faith.

Pretty much the past few weeks has been a waste of time, as the parts of the funding bill for border security are, as expected, a joke. Read some of the limits they have placed.

Apparently these folks are willing to sell out the country and the citizens therein.

I'm thinkin' lampposts and rope, but then again, I hate the sight of innards and such.

Trump should stand fast, and veto this abortion.








And yet she spent $20K on air travel last year....

So Ocasio Cortez wants to eliminate air travel, among other things, to save the planet.

Yet during her campaign she spent nearly $21,000 on air travel.....and only $3100 on travel by rail....so much for long distance travel.  7:1, more or less. Odd, for someone who believe that we are ruining the planet, innit?

I'll maybe start thinking these people really believe what they say when they start acting like they believe what they say.

Hypocrites. 

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

What is he hiding?

I mean, if one had been the "Victim" of a racist and homophobic attack, wouldn't you want to do whatever it took to find those folks who perpetrated the attack? Cooperate with the police?

Do everything you could to prove your story is correct? Truthful?

Like, maybe, turn over your phone records to the police when requested? Metadata and geolocation tags?

Or would you turn over records that were so heavily redacted as to be useless?

(Sources close to the Chicago Police Department tell me that the theory is that it was a Grinder date gone bad)

Seems the video records don't show the "noose" readily apparent as he reenters his apartment after the fact, but it was around his neck when the police got there. And he apparently was able to retrieve his Subway sandwich that was purchased BEFORE the attack. Odd.

it is also reported that "The growing lack of evidence in the case has reportedly pushed Chicago police to even consider charging Smollett with filing a false report. ".


Ice, Ice, Baby

First rain,

Then turning to a half inch of ice.

Then some more rain.

Then snow, to make the load on the trees and powerlines greater as it sticks to the wet ice.

Now wind. Ice is falling from the trees, along with small branches.

Oughta be interestin' later.
I pity the power line guys. (never yet seen a girl lineman)
I think they're gonna be busy this afternoon and evening.

Let 'em go to Venzuela

More than one in four Democrats, 26 percent, now say socialism means “equal standing for everybody, all equal in all rights, equal in distribution,” 

Y'know, I don't see any of these folks reducing their lifestyle, living at the Poverty level, giving all of their hard earned money and possessions away,....not one. They all take their pay, their income, and live well. Make no mistake, I don't begrudge them the fruits of their success, be it from hard work or from inheritance (which is the hard work and success of other before them). Sometimes, a level of success comes from simply not making bad choices...from an eye to the future, from impulse control. From making GOOD choices.

But failure to realize that their money came from SOMEONE's hard work, luck, or skill is stupidity....

And if they AREN'T living at the level of those they claim to want to help, those that they wish to take from other successful people to "level the playing field" then they are hypocrites.

And we should call 'em out for their hypocrisy.

Have you ever noticed

That when teachers unions strike "For the Students", they almost always also require a substantial pay raise?

"For the Students".
"For Better Education".

Sure.

One interviewed teacher:
"I have a Masters degree, and I never expected to be at this position at this point in my life...I deserve more".
Then get a different job, dearie. A Masters degree to teach elementary school? High school?


Sunday, February 10, 2019

Conversation in class:

Calling "bullshit"

The inevitable Glock vs 1911 came up (no surprise there!) during one of the breaks. (For the record, I carry 1911 style pistols. Don't like GLOCK, but they are good pistols that do what they are supposed to do:..go "Bang" when the Bang Switch is squeezed and hit where they aim. I don't like the Safe Action trigger....my choice. Doesn't mean GLOCK are bad firearms, just not my preference.)

"You can take a dozen GLOCK pistols and field strip them and put all the parts in a pile and then stir them up and reassemble a dozen GLOCK pistols from random parts in the pile and end up with a dozen working GLOCKs."

True.

"you can't do that with 1911's, they have to be hand fitted".

I asked if they really thought that, say, Springfield Armory hand-fitted their production 1911 pistols at a an MSRP of $900 or so? Seriously?

No, they assemble them from bins of parts.....then test fire them and put them in a box with a manual, just like GLOCK.

I also pointed out that when GI 1911's are rearsenaled, the same process happens. Stripped into parts, inspected, and then reassembled from bins and racks of parts. And, if the parts are in Spec, then the pistols work as designed.

One cannot take parts from different specifications of firearms and do this. You can't mix Gen 1, Gen 2 and Gen 3 and 4 GLOCK parts and reassemble them randomly into working pistols, same way one cannot take parts from 1911 pistols from different manufacturers (and therefore slightly different dimensions) and end up with working pistols.  1911 describes a TYPE of action in a pistol, not pistols made to the same specifications by different manufacturers (Wartime military production notwithstanding). Different brands have different dimensions, just as different series of GLOCK pistols have different dimensions.

But the same brand and same model of production 1911 style pistols? Yes, yes you can.

(ETA: Please, this was not meant to start a "1911 vs Glock" fight in the comments.)

Geh.

Long day Saturday.
9 hours of class.

But I are now an NRA certified Range Safety Officer. (Or I will be once the paperwork and NRA fees are paid)

This way, the range has more than one NRA trained RSO.

It was an interesting class. I knew most of it, but details matter, and I learned a bit that was good. 

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Short Sporty trip

So I had to get the plane to the avionics shop for the transponder upgrade.

But the weather wasn't cooperating. Clouds, low ceiling, ice, snow. T he forecast changed hourly, it seemed, and trying to get the plane to the shop for the appointment was gonna be difficult due to weather.
But Friday was supposed to be clear.
It was.
With winds out of the west at 25 gusting 38. ceilings broken at 3000. Fun.
So, at the end of the day, when winds were down to 18 gusting 30, I preflighted and took off for the 35 mile flight to the airport where the avionics shop is located.

Nice. At 3500 feet the winds were 50+ knots. at first it was not too turbulent, so I enjoyed ground speeds of 170 knots. But shortly I had to reduce to Va (and then to less than that for a while) to prevent damage due to turbulence.
Approach vectored me to the base entry and then final was.....fun.
Turbulence on the descent and lots of side vector. Winds were 18 gusting 28 10 degrees off the runway centerline. I did a faster approach with only 10 degrees of flaps.Dancing on the rudder all the way down. Smooth touchdown and then I had to get progressive taxi instructions from Ground to find my way.
Was fun taxiing too, what with the gusty (and high) winds. But the plane is in the shop in time for it's appointment.

So I'm not flying for about a week while they tear into the panel and install an ADS-B transponder.

Toady I am at an NRA Range Officer course.


Thursday, February 7, 2019

Built well.

It just amazes me that our buildings and bridges and other things that Man has built are still standing after weather like we are having this winter.

Last week: -25F to plus 28F in less than 24 hours.

Today, +50F to +4F in 12 hours.

One would think that concrete and stucco and brick would just spall and crumble.


Wednesday, February 6, 2019

An interesting speech:

Not the State ofThe Union, although that was interesting and somewhat thought provoking.

Rather, I am discussing the DNC response to the SOTU by Stacy Abrams.

Nice set of talking points, somewhat divorced from reality and pretty much not a rebuttal, just a bunch of illogical responses and statements containing half truths and slogans. Failed to address much, really.

Sad, it was. Very sad. Almost as if it had been written by N. Pelosi in one of her less-lucid moments....

I would have welcomed a decent response.
But there was none. 

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

I think I may have solved the case:

Hollywood eating it's own?

The case, that is, of Jussie Smollett.

So, to recap, Jussie claims he was assaulted by a person who knew he was a gay actor.....at 2 AM when, on a whim, he chose to go out on the coldest (to date) night of the year to get a sandwich and this person who assaulted him knew he was black despite being bundled up head to toe against the cold...Said person or persons attacked him and beat him and put a "noose" around his neck and then poured "a chemical" on him all while telling him that "This is MAGA Country" (which is a term not used by folks that wear "Make America Great Again" hats, but rather by liberals, Hollywood types and journalists (but I repeat myself) who have never met anyone who supports Trump's agenda). 

But there MAY be a break in the case. It appears that the latest Hollywood news is that actor Liam Neeson had , because of a crime committed against a "friend" of his by a black man, decided to take revenge against all black people and especially against a black man.....


And so here we have it....Hollywood, again, eating it's own. 

There, I solved the case.

(No, despite rumors, the attack wasn't really a GRINDR date gone bad and we are sure of that because Jussie won't let anyone check his phone or cooperate in any fact finding by the police)

Boosting the signal

Monday, February 4, 2019

I was disappointed

By the Superbowl commercials.

The game was OK.

I didn't bother to watch the halftime show.

I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of politics.


Sunday, February 3, 2019

DIllema:

So if a woman is a lesbian, Vegan, Does Crossfit, Does Yoga....

Which one does she tell you about FIRST in the first 30 seconds after being introduced?

I mean, the rest will come out soon....But what is the FIRST one she tells you about? 

Saturday, February 2, 2019

What the cops are saying:

Yeah, I know the "official" line is different....'cause no one wants to call it for what it is,
.....But here is what the cops are saying about the whole thing:

Well, that's just bullshit. Would you like to know what detectives are telling us?
It never happened. CPD is wasting hundreds of man hours to solve a Grindr date gone bad. The "victim" is refusing all forms of cooperation, his "ear witness" isn't cooperating, the Hollywood press is running with a non-existent narrative. The "persons of interest" are all but unidentifiable and left the area 20 minutes before the "attack," not to mention the anonymous witness who saw a "hillbilly looking" character that not a single camera in a one mile radius has a picture of.
And that's just from a couple of people working the case.

Anyone with two working neurons to rub together can see that the story just doesn't smell right.
Let us recap:

1. Some dudes were waiting for him in the middle of the night when he JUST HAPPENED to decide to go out at 2 AM to get a sandwich.......And they recognized him and somehow knew he was an actor and gay (cause it shows, AmIRite?) and cared enough (I had to look up the dude on Google just to find out who he was) and therefore knew enough to take this action.........and this occurred, mind you, on one of the coldest nights of the winter so far ('Cause all MAGA hat wearing people have nothing else to do on a cold night, and are stupid enough to not go inside where it is warm)....and after they roughed him up, they just happened to have a handy noose to put around his neck (Hint: a noose is only a symbol to black progressives, not to anyone else)....How many rednecks say things like "MAGA Country"?

2. He somehow staggered home despite the (mild) beating and called for help....not the police, mind you, but someone else (his ("manager")....who he may or may not have been on the phone with at the time of the "attack". Said person sometime later called the police (if he had a phone with him, why didn't he call RIGHT THEN?) and reported the "beating"..... (Hint: If you've ever been set upon by a couple of rednecks, then you might not believe that they will just be satisfied with pushing you down and (maybe) striking you on the cheek.....Trust me, it is generally a LOT more beating...kicking and stomping and general mayhem, that takes place before they leave).

3. When police arrived approximately 45 minutes later....for some reason the "noose" was STILL around his neck. Odd, that. Almost as it were a symbol or something....

4. Neither the "victim" nor his "Manager" are willing to give access to their phones. One might think that they were hiding something.

5. The ONLY men that can be seen for over a MILE around the alleged attack location anywhere near the time of the (alleged) attack on video cameras are walking away calmly, not hurrying as one might expect after (gently and/or slightly) beating someone....and their position and timing says that they had to have done it at least 20 minutes before the alleged attack occurred.  Again, kinda odd.

I'm not sure what the motivation is for this claim, but I strongly doubt that anything remotely like what the "Victim" claims happened actually happened.....I think he made up many, if not all, of the details he reported. Like someone who has never met a Good Ol' Boy (say a Hollywood type) might THINK that they speak and act...(if, say, one had never met anyone outside of those Hollywood circles)....not like how they really do.

How many hundreds of man hours are being wasted on this "case"?


Today

Groundhog Day.

Either you've seen it and understand, or you haven't and don't.




Friday, February 1, 2019

Float

So since I hadn't flown since 1/5, and the day was clear and wind was light, I went up and flew touch and goes.

6 of 'em. 1.1 hours. Density altitude was -2200 ft , the plane climbed like a rocketship. First time I overshot my pattern altitude by 200 feet.

Landings were "Meh" simply because I am out of practice.....Like shooting, flying is a perishable skill. And it has been nearly a month.

Winds were 120 at 8, so Runway 9.

First one was ok, second one was too fast. Third and fourth were just right...but in the low density altitude air, the damned plane just would not set down on the runway. I sat in ground effect for over a thousand feet, stall warning horn blaring, at an altitude of like 5 feet, at an airspeed of about 35-40 knots FOREVER, just tying set the plane onto the runway. Float float and more float

5th and 6th landings were good, but still a bit long.

I might go up tomorrow and practice some more.

Liking this cold, dense air.

1.1 and 6.