Monday, August 31, 2020

The epidemic of police killings of black men

 IS A LIE. 


The numbers just don't play out that way. This entire thing, the BLM movement, and the rest of the chaos it has engendered, is a lie. 

I think the DNC thought it would rile up those darker folks in order to get them to vote Democrat, since without that unthinking voting in lockstep the DNC loses....and that they saw the polls last year and realized that decent hardworking folks of every race would vote for Trump because under his administration, they had what they wanted....a good job and some financial security. 

So the DNC did what they could to "Stir 'em up". I mean, it worked for them in the case of Treyvon Martin.....But they forgot that Black people are intelligent.  They can smell bullshit when you wave it under their nose often enough. 


So why isn't the Portland shooter jailed?

 I mean, he shot and killed a guy in Portland.

His FAMILY identified him, fer Chrissake. 

Yet no arrest. 

I guess the fact that he killed a 'Trump Supporter" makes it ok...especially if it happened in Portland. 


Yet a mob can attack a kid in the midwest and he gets tossed in the pokey for defending himself. 



Saturday, August 29, 2020

Holy cats

Watching the coverage of the  "protests" in downtown Chicago....One might call it Theater and be more correct, in fact. 

I mean, really.

How can anyone with a rational mind NOT see these "protests" for what they are? See the theater and hatemongering? 

And don't these folk realize that once the election is over the DNC (who is the prime mover behind these "protests) will forget about them until about a year prior to the NEXT election? 



Preparing for more "Peaceful" protests

 So the businesses in Downtown Chicago are preparing for more "Peaceful" protests this weekend.


Yep, construction crews are boarding up all the storefront windows in most of downtown. 3/4 inch plywood and lots of 2x4's to make sure those "Peaceful" protesters don't accidentally break those plate glass display windows and stumble inside to be tempted by all that unguarded merchandise that might fall into their possession. Those damned greedy Irish folks....


This is what liberal governors have wrought. Businesses cannot depend on the police for protection. The South Side residents cannot be depended upon to behave in a civilized manner. "Rage!" is the order of the day, with emboldened savages expected to once again ravage the downtown areas looking for :Reparations" for the plight of their won culture and behavior. 


I fully expect that the next step is armed security, or, failing that, those businesses will simply relocate elsewhere. 


The late Mayor Dailey is said to have told his officers to "shoot anyone looting" in his day, during the late 60's. Perhaps he had the right idea. It did keep the looting to a minimum, didn't it? 

Friday, August 28, 2020

Benjamin Crump

 Is a lying whore of an attorney. The worst kind of rabble rouser that can be. 


He should be ashamed of himself. 

Overheard:

" If yer gonna do day drinking, best to start early...No sense in burning daylight"

Question:

 So, since Kyle Rittenhouse is 17 years old (and threfore a minor) How is it that we all ahve heard his name? 

The media generally doesn't give out the names of minors, no matter what the crime they are accused of. 

Yet in this instance, the media has chosen to spread his name far and wide. 

Must be part of those Double Standards that we have these days....wherein RightSpeak flourishes. 

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Oughta charge 'em with murder

 I mean, sending people with Covid-19 (or, for that matter, any disease that can be deadly to elderly people) to nursing homes....and when those facilities balked, ORDERING them to accept those patients is tantamount to murder, really. 


Every death in one of those nursing homes from Covid should be another charge of murder. 

Coronavirus risks

  Put into perspective


You have a much greater chance of dying from a lot of other causes. Lots greater. 


Unless, of course, you are a Liberal and reject the "science" for Feelz.




Wednesday, August 26, 2020

"Rooftop Kenoshans"

 Kenny's term, not mine. But it fits.


He has some articles with interesting videos. (warning, graphic video of a dude with a gunshot wound to his bicep). 


Seems a couple of friends of the business owner decided to keep his business from being looted and torched (again) and this led to some kinetic interactions with the looters protesters. (watch the second link)

(a side note, dude in the video with the AR helping the gunshot guy is lucky the cops didn't ventilate his ass). 


There's gonna be more of this, as people in free states are gonna use the tools at their disposal to protect that property which they have worked hard for. It hasn't happened elsewhere 'cause those folks are limited as to what weapons they have (and can use) to defend their property and livelihoods. But now that they rioters have moved into a free-ish state like Wisconsin, where lots of people are able to arm themselves (and are willing to use force to defend what they have) things are gonna get serious....and they have. (in other words: This ain't Portland, boys and girls....these people fight back, and your ass might just get shot)



The State will have it's Revenge:

 It seems that the 3 mile Border Wall that was built on private land in McAllen Texas pissed some folks in Hidalgo County off. 

The Hidalgo County Appraisal District sent a letter to the landowner, sugar cane farmer Lance Neuhaus, of Neuhaus & Sons, advising him that his property south of Mission, Texas, has been valued at millions more than the previous year because of the private border wall structure.

I expected that the Liberals would find a way to get back at him. 

One might argue that the 3 mile border wall adds no more value than any other fence, and therefore the valuation is bogus....and that the change from Agricultural to Commercial is capricious. 




Tuesday, August 25, 2020

I don't know what happened:

 And neither do any of you, or likely any of the folks protesting in Kenosha.

We do know the dude shot by the cops in Kenosha had a warrant, that he had a record, that he had a conviction on weapons charges, that he disobeyed a police order, Tazed before walking away from the cops, that he ignored their orders to stop and that he was reaching into his car for something. 

The folks protesting don't want "justice". they want a lynching. Instant "justice"....

They don't care what really happened, they don't care about anything except that a man with an African ancestry was killed by a police officer. 

And they are trashing another city because of it. 

I don't know the circumstances surrounding this shooting. Nor do you. I have questions, and I can't make the call if it was a god shoot or not. I'm not prepared to condemn the officer, nor am I prepared to exonerate him either. A 30 second video is not enough data to make the call. 

But then again, I'm not African American, nor am I likely to act in a Mob. I'm more deliberate than that. 


Monday, August 24, 2020

"Defund the cops!"

We should give 'em a sample...Just a taste, as it were...

So in the inner cities (or any community that wants it, for that matter), if the folks in a neighborhood or community can demonstrate a majority of people inhabiting their area really wish to have no police presence (just to be sure that most people really want that), (and this election is a great time for that sort of referendum, innit?) the governing bodies (city or county, or for that matter, state) should grant them that wish. 

But first, they should give their citizens a taste of what they think they want...

Along about the middle of, say, October, the governing body should choose a Friday night, say 8 PM, to Sunday morning, say 8 AM, and declare a "Police holiday"...no police response to those areas that currently wish to "Defund the Police"...Any crimes committed in those places will not be responded to by the police. Further, there will be no investigations then or later, of any crimes committed during the "Holiday". Let the people get a sample of what "No Police!" really looks like. 

No one to call when someone is breaking into your house. Up to you to make sure your property remains in you possession. No one to call when your wife or sister or girlfriend is raped....or worse.....you'd better escort them everywhere. No one to call when your car is stolen..... or someone wants your wallet and jewelry. Better keep those locked up or well hidden. Better be able to defend all of your possessions or have them locked up so no one can steal 'em from your home.  

And, of course, no one to haul off the bodies when all sorts of grudges are suddenly able to be dealt with...Payback is a bitch when the cops are not there to arrest folks who might want revenge for wrongs you might have done...especially when they have no fear of consequences from the police or the Law. I'd expect a lot of issues to be dealt with once the rule of law stops protecting criminals from righteously outraged citizens.......Maybe there had better be designated places for corpses to be stacked for disposal....


Oh, and fire and ambulance services? In most places, especially in those areas that want to "Defund the Police", most ambulances and fire departments require a police presence when responding, so they might not show up when you call. You might be well advised to get a decent trauma kit and some fire extinguishers too. Probably better make sure your garden hoses work so you can fight random arson as well. 


I'm thinking 36 hours should be enough to help those folks make their decisions as to whether the police need to be "Defunded". Might be it is actually too long. maybe only from 8 PM on Saturday to 8 AM on Sunday might be enough time. I think lots of action might happen in 12 hours. 

We'd have to schedule it, so that decent folks there can secure their belongings and give 'em time to figure out where they can relocate to, or hire armed security of their own to defend that which they think they value, but the logistics can be fairly straightforward with a bit of thought....

I'm thinking it will change a lot of attitudes. Probably would be good for the cops as well....a bit of time off, and a bit of respect afterwards. Probably some beatings for those who continue to insist on defunding the police afterwards too, I would imagine. But it would let people have a small taste of what they think they want. 


I think it would be an excellent lesson for the rest of us too. 








Sunday, August 23, 2020

Well, that escalated quickly

 So last weekend, I stepped out of the shower. 


Heard that odd sound that there was one loose floor tile. 

Closer inspection revealed loose grout and a tile that was, indeed, loose. 


Ok, no big deal. gently removed the cracked grout, and the tile came up easily. 

And the tile next to it moved as well. And the one next to that..... aaannd the one next to that, and of course the one next to that....

The last tile revealed a bit of soft flooring.  

So now I have 9- 6 x 6 tiles loose. and a half dollar sized bit of soft underlayment . I let it all dry out, cleaned up the old tile glue (I think the previous owner used Liquid Nails) and got the floor dried out. Stabilized and filled that soft section with some epoxy. Sealed the floor (who uses PARTICLE BOARD for an underlayment in a BATHROOM?) and then pulled the wall trim so I could get the edges clean to re-glue the tiles back down. ( I hope not to have to pull ALL the tiles up, 'cause then I gotta move the terlet and vanity and then GOD knows what other issues that is gonna cause). 

Pulling the wall trim revealed soft drywall, which is gonna have to be replaced...which is gonna necessitate repainting the walls...Unless I can find the paint I used 5 years ago when I last repainted that bathroom.  (and if that paint is still good). 


I am afraid of what else I am gonna find. Maybe it would be easier to move....




So....

 The House can do a "Special Session" to find a way to suddenly come up with 25 Billion Dollars funding for the Post Office......


Yet they could not, and would not take the time to find a way to give our unemployed citizens some sort of  relief.

The first is most obviously an attempt to make sure that their push for "Vote by Mail" with it's abundant opportunities for fraud and cheating and all the other attendant issues is not damaged by a lack of funds for the Post Office.


The second is a slap in the face of all those folks put out of work with the Coronavirus "Precautions" in order to damage the economy. 

I hope those folks remember who could not find the time to even discuss any relief efforts for them when it come time to vote. 

Thursday, August 20, 2020

So...not all of those looters in Chicago were poor, it seems.....

 Seems that some were fairly well-off, some were college students, some were recently unemployed (and therefore getting unemployment PLUS that extra $600/week from the feds. 


But we are told they had to break into stores to loot and steal just so they could eat, just so they could clothe themselves. 


And, BTW, I have a question:

Who was buying all of those high-end goods that they liberated from their white oppressors stole from the stores they broke into? I strongly doubt that the pawnshops would take 'em, so they must have sold them to someone.....and where did THOSE folks get the money? 

SO which part of her is "Black"?

 I mean, everyone is going on and on how she is the first "Woman of Color" Vice President candidate..

But other than having sorta brownish skin, what color is she? She isn't African, except partly through some of her fathers's ancestors. He was from British Jamaica...

It isn't from her mother, she is from India. 

(here for some background)

She isn't, except for the shade of her skin, an "American" black person. Certainly not an "African-American". 

But I guess to those DNC Liberals, all people that are darker than them are all the same....These are the same folks that think that we need lesser standards for non-whites, after all. 



Notes from the road

 Gah. 

Had to travel to Cleveland for a deposition. (I was not the one being deposed)

Flew the 182 to Burke Lakefront Airport (BKL)... flight time was about 2 hours. Much better than the nearly 6 hour drive. (Or the 4-1/2 hour time to travel if I had flown commercial)

Flight was enjoyable. Fairly smooth, fairly uneventful. When I got to the Cleveland class Bravo airspace, I asked if they would clear me direct instead of having to go around it. They gave me clearance through, direct BKL, so that took 15 minutes off my flight time. Never hurts to ask. Sometimes you get lucky.  One almost NEVER gets VFR clearance through the class B airspace in Chicago.  Landed, taxiied, parked as the marshaller directed, tied the wings down, checked in at Signature Flight Support, and locked the plane. waited a bit for their courtesy shuttle and off I went. I got to the hotel (near the Stadium) and spent the evening looking around a nearly deserted area that is apparently usually teeming with people from football games and conventions and such. 

The downtown area near the stadium is like a scene from a dystopian novel. probably less than 10% of "normal". Not much business travel to fill the hotels and there is NO convention business. The Hilton had rates of $129 a night, so I stayed there. It is a sad reflection of what it once was. Services are at a minimum. If it is even 10% full I'd be surprised. They have to be losing tens of thousands of dollars a day. There is only one restaurant open, and that wasn't being used much. The food was good though. Services are at a minimum. No valet services, few bellhop services, no concierge at all, no room service, etc. Masks are, of course, required in all indoor spaces. 

Since the place I had to be in the morning was only about 2 miles from the hotel, and the evening was cool, I thought I'd walk to it and see where I needed to be, just to get some exercise in and reconnoiter the area. 

Nope, ...I changed my mind about 2 blocks from the hotel (heading west)...I did not realize until then that the streets change hands at night. Gone were the smiling, happy folks, clean cut and greeting even strangers with a "hello" (while, of course, staying "Socially Distant")...in were a bunch of much more scruffy looking folks, playing loud rap music on their car stereos and congregating closely. It looked like a scene from Mogadishu...seriously.  Lots and lots of things being offered for sale, if you know what I mean. Men squaring off and women chatting and showing off for the men. No one was in any way threatening, mind you, but it was clear that not only did I stand out in my differences, but that I, whether because I was a stranger or because I was white, was not welcome. 

I took the hint and went back to the hotel. I found the same thing about 4 blocks south as well. I ended up going back and staying in my room, as there wasn't much to do...

The day of depositions went well and we got done about 7 pm local,  earlier than I had been told to expect, and I got an Uber to the hotel. Called 1-800 WX-Brief and decided to fly home that evening as the weather was clear, broken layer of clouds at 7500 and only about 15 knots of headwind forecast. 

Went to the FBO and untied the plane, and had them top off my tanks. I MIGHT have been able to make it, but the forecast headwind would make the trip back home with the fuel I had left marginal, so I chose to buy their (fairly expensive) fuel. 

Checked the oil, used their ladder to clean the windshield, and waited 5 minutes to check the fuel for water. Fired up and called ground for taxi.

They had me wait at 06R while a Learjet crossed to 06L, then cleared me for takeoff. However, I was afraid of the jetwash of the big Lear sitting just of my runway, so I waited....and waited...and waited. He didn't move, and Tower called me and repeated that I was "clear to takeoff" I told 'em that I was waiting for the jet to move as I was afraid they'd blow me off the runway, so they asked him to pull up a bit and he did, then I took off. 

Climbed out on runway heading as instructed, and then turned left "West on course" when they cleared me to do so. Changed to Cleveland Departure and, again, they cleared me right through their class B airspace at 6500 feet MSL.  

I never did find that headwind. My groundspeed matched my airspeed for nearly the whole flight plus or minus a knot or two. I moved right along at about 134 knots. Pretty smooth flight in the calm air. VFR all the way. 

1.9 hours home. If I had known the winds were gonna be calm, rather than a headwind, I would not have bought the expensive gas, and paid nearly $2 less per gallon back home. But, better to land with expensive gas in the tank than none at all. 

2 hours each way is so much better than nearly 6 hours driving (each way). This a part of the reason that I own a plane....I just don't get to use it that much for that what with the WuHan stuff these days. 




Monday, August 17, 2020

Of course we should have "Vote By Mail"

 (the above was sarcasm, just in case you weren't aware of that)

Nevada sends nearly a quarter million votes via US Mail to wrong addresses. 


and, of course, there's all the "rejected" ballots, (lots of reasons, some legit, some not, some caused by the voters, some caused by the USPS) that happen in Mail-in votes....


And those are just the ones where honest errors were made. How many more can be mis/un/not counted when the folks that have and interest in defrauding the voters get involved? We know that Donald Trump had to (in the last election) not only win a majority of voters, but overcome the "margin of fraud" in many "blue" enclaves. 


Why should we think that the political party that (disingenuously) tells us that it is racist to require people to prove they are who they claim to be in order to vote (Racist? Black people don't possess government ID? Really? Or are they too stupid to get one? Too lazy to get one? Who is racist here? ) won't continue the vote manipulation that has historically happened in Blue strongholds? 


Why, if we can go to the grocery store and the liquor store and such in a safe manner as long as we wear a mask, can we not vote safely wearing a mask? If we can march in the streets shoulder to shoulder for hours with a bunch of unmasked strangers why is standing in a line for a few minutes so dangerous? (Masked and, "socially Distanced" of course) 


One with a suspicious and untrusting attitude (such as myself) might think that there is an....underhanded reason for such changes....




Sunday, August 16, 2020

Some folks will sell themselves again and again,

 So, in addition to being Willie Brown's "Side Piece" so she could get the appointments that have led to her current positions (some might think she had prostituted herself for those positions, but other might just say that she was "helped" by a friend...you decide for yourself) there is this to consider....


Let us not forget that a year and a half or so ago, Ms Harris said about Joe Biden, when he was accused by a bunch of women of "Inappropriate touching" that she believed those women .... “I believe them, and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it.” . (to be fair to Dopey Joe, this was at the height of the "Mee Tooo" movement, where nearly every left leaning woman who could get a camera to focus on her long enough had a story to tell about a man being bad to her)...


Yet now, since she couldn't get enough people to want her as President, she's hitched her wagon to the star of Joe Biden....


Odd, innit, what ambition and lust for power will do to a person, especially one with a history like Ms Harris. Some people have standards and moral, then there are politicians....then folks like Ms Harris, for whom no sacrifice, no sell out is too great for advancement. 


You'd think that, if she wasn't lying when she "believed" those women, that she wouldn't want anything to do with a man she has all but accused of being a serial rapist. But then again, she's sold a part of her for advancement once, what is another piece of her soul?  



Saturday, August 15, 2020

Finally, some said "NO".

 So the planned March/Protest/Riot/Shutdown of the Dan Ryan Expressway was a fizzle...


Oddly enough, when the police (the Illinois State Police, actually) stood in a line and blocked access, the protesters, already less than well organized, chose to do their protest on City of Chicago streets instead. 


Funny how that works, innit? When these folks who want to protest are not allowed to do so, when confronted with an authority that says "NO, Not Here" then they....don't. 


If the leftist mayors in Blue cites would learn from this lesson, and NOT LET THE SHIT START, then they wouldn't have to stop it later. 


Kudos to the ISP for not letting folks commit a Federal and State crime...and especially for not aiding them in committing one. 







AAANNDD this looks like a good start

 Seems that the feds investigating the "RussiaGate"  debacle by the FBI...By that I mean the malfeasance in targeting the Trump campaign to try and keep him out of the 2016 Presidential election...In essence, politicizing the FBI....have found someone they have been investigating that figures it's easier to cooperate and plead guilty. 


I fully expect that there will be more folks that are convicted from the leads he will be providing. 


Unless, of course, he is suddenly introduced to Jeffrey Epstein. 

Friday, August 14, 2020

And the start of the exodus from Chacago

 Macy's has informed it's landlord that it will be leaving it's Water Tower Place store location in Chicago's "Mag Mile". 


I guess they got tired of the looting, and the failure of the city's Administration to provide enough police to keep the peace when looters came out of the south and west sides to break windows and steal merchandise.  The images of cops sitting in their cars, outnumbered 20:1 and helpless to intervene while (mostly) poor black folks brazenly walked through broken glass doors and windows and left with armloads of merchandise. While teams of people loaded large box trucks (some say U-Hauls) and left with tens of thousands of dollars of property. (One would have though that the cops would have taken license numbers, but what do I know?). 


Merchants cannot do business without the rule of law. 


I expect that in a year, three at most, the "Mag Mile" will not be so "Magnificent"... It will take a while, but it will soon be an empty shell, as merchants leave for safer places to do business, taking with them millions of dollars in wages, taxes and ancillary costs that will, instead, go to other, safer, communities. 


Look at Detroit and other cities where riots happened. They still haven't recovered even decades later. 


Macey's is just the first rock in the avalanche. 

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Happy Birthday

 To my brother. 


If you were a car, you'd be a "classic". 



An interesting take...by CNN of all entities

 "...someone whose resume suggests being ready to step in, if and when Biden decides to step aside."


I guess the cat is out of the bag then. We all know Biden will have to "step aside" because of failing mental faculties very soon. It is sad that they are using him this way

This gets (should they win) a fairly far Left candidate into the White House when she could not make it there on her own...


And it was CNN who brought it to the forefront. 

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

You just gotta wonder

 What, exactly, Kamala Harris had to do THIS time to get her position as Joe Biden's VP pick. 

I mean, it isn't like she hasn't "assumed a position" before, is it? 

Was in Joe himself? Or someone (or someones) else that she had to take care of. 

Enquiring minds and all that. 


You would have thought that even the DNC would have found a woman with some character to be the First Black Vice President nominee. 

I see it as giver her some payback for services rendered but they realize that Joe (and now Kamala) won't be in the white house after Nov, so they have nothing to lose....

Looting is "reparations"

“That is reparations,” Atkins said. “Anything they wanted to take, they can take it because these businesses have insurance.”


And:

“I don’t care if someone decides to loot a Gucci or a Macy’s or a Nike store, because that makes sure that person eats,” Ariel Atkins, a BLM organizer, said. “That makes sure that person has clothes.”


I didn't see any of those folks without clothes or anyone looking like they had missed a meal .


So it's OK to loot someone's store because "reparations"? Or because they think they need a meal? 


Fuck that. No matter how you try to justify it, that is theft, plain and simple. 


Watch it here: (start at 0:30). Even Jesse Jackson is ashamed at the actions of these folks. 


And it is all OK because "Insurance".


These folks are animals. Not all black people, but a significant portion of those urban Blacks. They are a cancer on society, and need to be locked away from the rest of society. We corral dangerous dogs for a reason. 





Monday, August 10, 2020

Question:

 Why is it that when there is a "Peaceful Protest" about a perceived injustice to a black person, it always turns into a riot and then looting? Smashed store windows and acquisition of other people's property....

It didn't happen when the TEA Party folks did their marches. 

It doesn't happen when other marches take place, like LGBT and such. Even Antifa limits themselves to destruction, not looting

Only when it is a black protest. 


Why is that? 



The sad part is that this makes every black person look bad.... And most aren't that kind of trash. Most are decent, and as upstanding citizens as the rest of us.... . Now they get lumped in with the folks that did this last night, and they won't ever be trusted because of it. 


Shit like this sets race relations back another generation. 

An interesting take on Covid-19

 READ this.

(vial Common Cents)

Go ahead, I will wait. 

Done? Yeah, it is middlin' long, but it is worth the read. 

Sweden has, apparently, run the gauntlet and is now on the other side. 

The numbers in the article are pretty solid. The approach Sweden took is much more sensible. And it has worked much better that the "Flatten the Curve" strategy (that was originally supposed to be for just TWO WEEKS) and has now stretched on for more than 150 days, with no real end in sight.....at least until a vaccine is tested and shown to be efficacious (and safe)). 

Every time people interact, we have the chance to transmit this (or lots of others) disease. Only "slightly" letting people interact simply kills us slowly...if it will kill us at all. Thinking that the current "Lockdown" or limited social interaction will prevent people from getting the disease at all is foolish, it simply spreads out the (very small) infection rate over time.....and doesn't really solve the problem. To think otherwise is to abandon logic.

Allowing protests with no "Social Distancing" but preventing people from congregating elsewhere is foolish and illogical. If Distancing is a requirement for safety, then is is required everywhere, not only outside of a political protest....If it is safe to walk shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of strangers, then it is safe to attend a wedding or funeral with your friends and relatives.....or at a high school football game...or on a beach or at a party.... If it is safe to eat in a restaurant with no masks but forcing the patrons to wear the masks while walking TO the table is idiocy. To release prisoners is another example of foolish, poorly thought out prevention. If masks really work, then they should work as well in a prison as at a store or other place of business. Releasing prisoners harms society, the entity that the imprisonment of the prisoner is supposed to protect....and if the measure required to keep those same members of society work in public, they should work in a prison as well  To think that the Social Distancing spacing of 6 feet makes a difference when there is no allowance for airflow or other factors is also foolish. (and there is no evidence that "6 Feet" is any more efficacious than 1 meter or 4 feet or 5  feet. It was just a number that was picked)

Yet we persist in these poorly thought out practices when we have an example, imperfect perhaps, but valid, that shows what a mostly urban population experiences with little or no "Covid safety" practices as we here in the United States are following, to the detriment of our society and our economy.. Sweden is fully operational, and has been, yet they have, effectively, no current "Pandemic" of Covid-19 in their borders. 


Yet we persist in following a poorly thought out and proven ineffective policy, enforced by our government entities, to the detriment of our population....WHY? 

Until either well over 70% of the population has been exposed, or until a vaccine is found and distributed, Covid 19 will be specter that will hang over us. And the measures we are taking aren't fixing the problem...Nor, oddly, are our hospitals even close to overwhelmed.... 

When you see the  statistics on the morning news tomorrow, or the evening news, ask yourself....why don't they tell us the positivity rate for the massive amounts of testing.....oddly, they leave out that statistic. Also, why don't they give us the death RATE for those folks who HAVE Covid?  

The data is massaged and presented to give the recipient the impression that this is a massive "Pandemic"...when it really isn't...but they don't want you to know that. The highest rate of death is currently New Jersey...at 178 people dying per 100,000 people.....that is a death rate of 0.00178, or less than two-tenths of a percent. And that is the HIGHEST of all the states in the country. Yet we re told to cower in fear and wear a mask so we won't all die.....When in reality, the chance of dying from Covid is really very, very low. 



"Peaceful" Protests

 or just plain looting...


And it wasn't the Amish that were looting and vandalizing the businesses on Michigan Avenue and the surrounding areas in Chicago late Sunday evening. More at the Channel 5 news website...including video of the folks doing the looting. 


And the cops weren't allowed to use the crowd control tools they needed when they were outnumbered. 


This is how the Chicago we know dies slowly. In order to protect the city, the police will shut down the trains from the south side and raise the bridges to limit access to keep the majority of the folks doing the crimes away. Folks who work downtown, if they are actually going in to work, are having to prove that they are essential and have to be in the downtown area. 


There has to be someone organizing the folks from the south side. No way that thousands all decided to get on trains and into cars to go and loot in the more affluent parts of the city all at once. 


And this is a great way to make sure that whites fear and loathe poor black folks. 

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Unverified:

 It could just be rumor:


But the story is that a major chain is having a "Michael Jackson Memorial sale".


Supposed to be Boys Underwear Half Off. 

Saturday, August 8, 2020

Friday, August 7, 2020

Just sayin'

A thought before you go out for lunch:

A damned good question.



Of course, the Left and the Media (But I repeat myself) have never been known for their consistency, have they. 

I mean, if they didn't have Double Standards, they'd have no standards at all......

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Update to the update, Raptor edition:

outa my hands now. Gonna be a longer stay as well. 




This 2-3 year old Red-tailed Hawk was brought into the rehab center on Monday after being found near Rt 30 in Valparaiso. A slow response time and slight head ticks suggest it sustained head trauma, likely from being hit by a vehicle. What's more is the damage done to its feathers. During admission exams, feather quality is always examined and taken into consideration when assessing a bird.

As you can see below this bird is missing multiple primary feathers on each wing. These feather shafts are actually snapped off as opposed to being new growth from molt. This damage will take a long time to repair itself as we will need to wait for new feathers to grow in. This bird will likely be in our care through winter and into next spring as a result of this feather damage.

As with all of our birds of prey, a blood draw was also performed to test for lead toxicity. We will know more in a few short days if there is any lead in this birds system.



Wow:

48 degrees this morning.

Forty Eight. 

In early August. 

Almost sweater weather. 

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Raptor update:

So the bird survived the night. They gave her (she's a young female, probably a year and a half old, according to the wildlife refuge folks) some fluids last evening, and she perked right up. 

Apparently, she ate a mouse this morning, and is drinking. 

She does still appear somewhat disoriented, snd they think that my analysis is correct: that she was tumbled by a car or truck.

The reason she cannot fly is that most of her primary flight feathers are broken....probably from being tumbled by the vehicle.

She has no obvious broken bones, but is bruised. 

They think she was on the side of the road for a while, likely several days. She did not poop during the evening hours, which apparently indicates that she has not eaten for a while. 

Prognosis: Good. She will have to live in a cage for a while while her feathers grow back, and they think that as long as she is eating and drinking she will recover and be able to be released in a month or two when her feathers are back to the point at which she can fly again.

It was only plain luck that she tried to fly as I drove past.  If she'd have waited 20 seconds, I'd not have noticed her there on the side of the road...in fact, my brother had driven that same road only 20 or 30 minutes before, and he did not notice her...he's pretty observant, and would have likely seen her had she been struggling when he drove past (and he'd have done the same thing I did, if had seen her).  

When I saw her, I assumed that she was entrapped by a silt fence that was there in the median, as she rose up, then fell back. I figured she had a foot tangled in the silt fence or something like that. 'Twas just luck that the timing put me there and that I saw her struggle. 

Lucky bird, on many accounts. 

So it looks like full recovery and release in a month or a bit. 

I'll be making a small donation to help feed and house her during her recovery. 

If you care to as well, the website is https://humaneindiana.org/wildlife   They apparently have a facebook page as well, but I don't facebook. 

I am supposed to get some photos later so if they email them to me, I will post 'em here. 






Monday, August 3, 2020

Raptor rescue

I did my Good Deed for the day....

So there I am, driving down the highway at about 50 miles an hour (construction zone, so not speeding). 

And there, on the side of the road, I see what appears to be a hawk flapping and trying to rise. It was only a glimpse, but when I looked back in the truck's mirror, I didn't see anything take off....

So I turned at the next safe spot and reversed course. Back a mile, and then turned again.

As I approached the spot, I pulled off the active lane and into the cones marking the construction zone, and parked the truck. 

Yep, sure enough, a hawk, right at the edge of the pavement on the far side of the road....When I say the edge of the pavement, I mean the bird's tail feathers were ON the pavement.  

I approached the hawk, and it didn't move. I could see it breathing heavily (panting) in the hot sun, but it didn't seem to have the energy to do more than eye me warily. (S)he looked stunned and kinda weak. 

I called the local wildlife rehab agency, but they did not have the staff to come and pick it up. Shit. Oh well, time to improvise. Needs be when the devil dances and all that. Do nothing and the bird is gonna get hit by a car again, or maybe die on the side of the road. 

So I looked in the back of the truck and found an old zippered hoodie, got out some thick leather work gloves, and walked across the one lane of traffic. Tossed the hoodie over the birds head, and scooped her up. Wrapped the sweatshirt around the bird, and back to the truck. She struggled a bit, but settled nicely. As MC was with me, I got her to open the door and we (me and the hawk) settled in the passenger seat as MC closed my door and she got in the driver's seat...and on the way to the wildlife rehab facility we went...with me holding the bird snugly on my lap. 

She was mostly quiescent, but did get one foot down on my jeans-clad leg sharp talons, I tellya. Real sharp. and pretty strong too....no real damage, but my leg is gonna have a bruise..... part of the gig, I guess.  

15 minutes later, we are at the wildlife rehab facility. They took the hawk and put her in a cage. She was somewhat disoriented, but aside from a limp, appeared to be relatively uninjured. We shall see how it goes. Live or die, I tried. 

I think she (or he) got hit (or sideswiped) by a car. The bird was somewhat dehydrated and I think it had been there most of the day, maybe longer. 'Twas luck that I was it struggle, really. 

Hopefully, they can get it back to health and release it. 


Sunday, August 2, 2020

Passing it on:

You should read this post .

and ask yourself....why? 

I am sorry I will miss it:

I'm talking country fairs...

This is the week we would have had the county fair in my county. This week and the one two weeks prior are the 2 weeks that I looked forward to going to a county fair....

The hot afternoon heat and dust, the scent as one approaches the gates of dust from the parking lots....the smell of sweat, of cooking food that isn't good for you...fried things....battered stuff that has way too much salt, and too much fat, and too much of everything that tastes good, but is so bad for you...of roasting meats and vegetables, of sweet corn and hot dogs and sausages. 

The scent of sweating people. of the animals in the barns, of diesel exhaust from the generators, of grease and hot bearings and unwashed carnies. 

The scent of sweets of all kinds. fried dough, cinnamon and sugar, of lemonade and root beer, Of cotton candy, and melting ice cream.  

Close you eyes, you can smell it if you try...

Sadly, due to the Wuhan Crud, it ain't gonna happen this year. 


 

Saturday, August 1, 2020

We need more of this:

So Trader Joe's got a complaint: Their brands were "racist". 


About time some companies had some leadership that stops bowing to a small minority of crybabies. Enough is enough. Changing policies or branding of colors of your logo or whatever because one person is offended and gets his or her 3 friends to sign a petition is bowing to the tyranny of the minority....One cannot win, as no matter what one does, there will be another tiny group of people that will find something offensive or just simply complain....

No one has a right to "not be offended". Enough of this pandering to those who complain just to complain. 

I believe the one of the first instances of bowing to the minority was "Taco Neck Syndrome" wherein Taco Bell had a long and well funded ad campaign planned featuring folks who turn their head sideways to eat a taco without spilling the contents...with Shaquille O'Neal as the spokes-celebrity...

After the first few days of the opening of the ad campaign, some folks with an affliction called "Dystonia" screamed and cried loudly and long enough that Taco Bell cancelled the ad campaign....costing MILLIONS of dollars. 

There were, at that time, less than 4000 people in the country diagnosed with Dystonia, an affliction of the neck, also called "Spasmodic Torticollis" 

But they got Taco Bell to toss a multi million dollar ad campaign over a few people being "offended". 

It has snowballed from there, with corporate appeasement happening more and more. 

Kudos to Trader Joe's for (finally) saying "NO!". 

Triple jeopardy?

So, for a third time, the case of Michael Brown was reviewed....and still, the investigator could not find any evidence that the police officer involved, Darren Wilson....and, for the third time, there was not enough evidence to show wrongdoing. 

This time, as some have pointed out, it was a black prosecutor....(why that matters, I dunno?) who exonerated Ex-officer Wilson.

Is there ever gonna be a time when Mr Wilson will be left alone? Will the Black Community ever accept the fact that Brown was simply a thug, a jerk, and a guy who got shot because he believed that "Might makes Right"...and he found out that sometimes it doesn't?