I am alive and well after what was probably, luckily for me, the worst days long storm I can recall that I have lived through since Super Storm Sandy damaged the roof of my home in NY years ago.
I have never seen it rain as much, I think, in my lifetime as it poured down in the storm that just passed. I have seen it rain harder, that was just north of Binghamton, NY a couple of times during summertime cloudbursts but never have I seen a truly terrible torrential downpour that lasted for as long as was this one.
Luckily, I did not lose power here; as far as I know only traffic lights lost it early on in the storm on day one when almost no rain had fallen as of then. Texarkana was lucky overall, I do not think there were any fatalities here but I would bet there were arsehats out driving for no good reasons. Other places not so lucky. I know my son, who lives north of Little Rock, AR, lost power in his house for over a day and that at least one person died in Little Rock reportedly due to the storm.
I read today that 17 people died, so far overall, due to the
storm - most in TN. I am guessing most were out driving in it and got
washed away. One, a nine year old boy somewhere (not sure which state), who supposedly had been
walking to his school bus stop, was reportedly swept away and perished. Damn the
schools if they stayed open that day but not for Covid or for an inch of
snow. Then again, how his parents let him out in that is beyond me;
they will probably suffer anguish, for their eternities, if they loved
him at all. What a crying shame. Here in Texarkana, the weather service
(National I think), sent out at least seven or eight severe storm
warnings in text messages telling folks to stay inside a strong structure and not to
attempt to travel through any flooded areas. They woke me up several
times that night accompanied by the sound of the rain pounding on my
building.
One gal I know had the misfortune of her apartment complex flooding. In her apartment, the water rose up to or just over her knees. That apparently from a creek that runs next to it that must have crested at least about 20 feet above normal to flood her apartment that badly. Today, when I walked Skye (my mongrel), the water level was only a few inches above average. That gal, her fiancē and pooch were rescued by boat; thank goodness and thank her rescuers. Most folks who lived in the complex wound up in a homeless shelter for the night. She, her fiancē and pooch were lucky to be able to go to her mom's house. I think that, most insurance policies do not cover flooding, I am guessing they are screwed on losses of personal effects. Of course, the government may help if their insurer's do not or if they did not have insurance.
I hope all of you are safe and well. I can actually begin to imagine what it must have been like if the biblical account of Noah's ark is true. By my guess, it would not have had to rain for 40 days & nights here to be just as bad - considering how badly it came down here in this one.
I think it rather ironic that the former president (Joe Biden) immediately previous to the current one (the Right Man For The Job Donald Trump) welcomed 11 million criminals or so, whom he considered to be worthy of our help, across our borders into the USA. That was regardless of the fact that none were properly vetted, that almost everyone of them was an illegal alien who thus had committed a crime entering the US, that many among those just mentioned were violent criminals and members of criminal organizations, others were mentally incompetent, many were children apparently being sex trafficked (hundreds of thousands of them lost in the shuffle yet the democrats moaned and groaned that Trump is separating families while Biden had no clue where are those missing smuggled children apparently all separated from their families), that many of the illegal aliens were smuggling illegal drugs into our country - especially fentanyl, that too many of them were terrorists and or from enemy nations such as red China. This was all taking place under Biden's direction while, since June of 2024 on what as to be a one week mission, there were two astronauts in the International Space Station (ISS) who became stranded that month (uncannily sounding like Gilligan's Island and the three hour cruise during which the crew & passengers on the SS Minnow were stranded on an island during a storm). Well, Biden did almost nothing, or absolutely nothing, to bring them home safely. They were stuck up there with no hope at all of getting home, for nine months while Biden was president.
Yes,you read that right, they went up for a one week mission, got stranded and were up there for about 9 months or so; that is until President Donald Trump (the so called dictator and Fascist as the leftists proclaim him to be, but actually the gets it done president) decided to do something about their predicament - all while he was also deporting criminal illegal aliens whom Biden had allowed in to the US.
Soon after he was elected for his second term, President Trump got together with Elon Musk who is saving us hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, by cutting out waste in government - such as our tax dollars going to support those 11 million illegal aliens that Biden let in). Elon Musk who owns SpaceX, had his people there get together with NASA, and sent up a manned spacecraft to rendezvous with the ISS to rescue the two stranded astronauts. the SpaceX/NASA team (including a Russian cosmonaut - after all it is the ISS) accomplished the rescue mission today, only to months less one day after Trump was sworn in for a second term as president. Biden had around 7 months to get them back home to the terra firma of earth but seems to have ignored the issue and the two stranded astronauts altogether in favor of facilitating the illegal entry of 11 million illgal aliens into our nation. As of last evening the two astronauts were no longer stranded after splashing down in the Atlantic ocean off of Florida. I should mention, two other astronauts who went up on the SpaceX/NASA rescue mission were dropped to to continue whatever research was being done on the ISS.
Thank goodness for president Trump keeping out and deporting illegal aliens but also for having the respect, the compassion for the stranded crew by taking on the responsibility to bring them not only back to earth but also across our border into the USA.
Well,
I input embed codes for videos from the above linked article but they
did not take. So, go to the link (or cut and paste the address as
needed) and you can see the videos there.
If there is not irony in all of that, then me thinks nothing is ironic.
...and have had a liking for guns for even longer. I added that part about liking them longer because well before I ever shot an actual firearm, I like many young boys of my youth had a small collection of cap guns, friction ray guns, water guns, and even a muzzle loading cap-gun rifle that fired cork balls. That's me in the photo holding that rifle. It was a blast and helped lead to a long-term passion for shooting (real guns) when I was older. My mom is next to me, aunt Mary next to her (family but not really an aunt but we called her that) and my brother next to her.
I got the rifle at Freedom Land in the Bronx, NY back in 1961. I was 5 and would be 6 later in that same year.
Not all that long after, well actually it was five years later in 1966 when I was 10 going onto 11, I was in my second year of sleep away summer camp. I was mandated to be sent there, as a problem child, by the penguins holy sisters of the Dominican Order who ran St. Pancras RC School, my grammar school. (I think the church must have paid for camp because we did not have a pot to pee in, a window to throw it out of not the ground to catch it as my mom used to say - we were very poor but I did not realize it then). At camp, I was privileged to participate in things like Animal husbandry, Archery, Arts & Crafts, Athletics, Camping, Fishing, Hiking, Hunting (of a sort as in catching frogs, salamanders, snakes, turtles and trapping things like raccoons and rabbits in live traps), Nature Study and Riflery. The ones that stuck with me into adulthood were Animal husbandry (breeding reptiles), Athletics (moderately until severe arthritis), camping, fishing, hiking (same as for athletics), hunting, nature study, and the one I currently enjoy the most - riflery (or guns & shooting in general).
I was not the greatest shot in camp but I shot fairly well. More importantly, I enjoyed shooting a lot. In 1965, my first year in camp, we shot BB guns to break us in, I shot BB guns in 1966 and part of 67 as well. My first certificates for shooting were for the BB guns.
That next summer, 1967, near the midterm of the camp season or so, I started shooting rifles chambered in .22 LR. I got another couple of awards for my shooting that year - Pro-Marksman & Marksman just like in 1966 for BB gun and also got certificates for the real rifles in 22 LR chambering. In a later year, I achieved Sharpshooter but have no clue where my sharpshooter certificate is now. As you can see, I do have the Pro-Marksman and Marksman certs from 1966, my first ever certifications for shooting even if only for BB guns; I treasure them. I also have another two for BB gun 1967. After certifying in 67 with BB guns, my age group moved onto rifles chambered in .22 LR. I got similar certifications for them and also certified as Sharpshooter with the 22s but those certificates were lost over the years in between now and way back then; wish I still had them.
The real firearms, that we shot at camp, were box magazine fed Winchester and Remington bolt action rifles. I was kind of a wimp and preferred the lighter Winchester but one of the brothers/firearms instructors (the camp counselors were Marist brothers) convinced me to man up and shoot the seemingly much heavier Remington. It became my preferred rifle back then. In fact, I still very much like Remingtons today. I have owned several over the years and still have seven of them currently. I am pretty certain I qualified for my Pro-Marksman and Marksman rifle certificates with a Remington. I do not know the model of either the Winchesters or Remingtons, it is just too long ago for my aged little gray cells to remember.
I also used to have a camp jacket with the corresponding NRA pacthes (and some archery patches) sewn onto one of the sleeves. That was a treasure I had into adulthood but somewhere, sometime, years or decades ago it disappeared never to be seen by me again.Which I still had it but that is how things go as you get older - all to often, the treasures of your youth vanish just as does your youth and when they are gone they are lost forever except maybe in memory.
Since back then, I earned many shooting certificates over the years after I started my career as a federal agent in the Border Patrol. Later on I switched over to U.S. Customs as a Patrol Officer and later as a special agent. It was while I was in Customs as a patrol officer that I first was certified as an NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor. I performed collateral duties as a firearms instructor for 16 years. Below is my first certification as a firearm instructor while with U.S. Customs.
In Customs, I achieved the rank of distinguished expert a couple or few times with revolver, semi-automatic pistol, shotgun, rifle and submachine gun. I shot well enough that when the Customs Office of Investigations acquired Heckler & Koch MP-5 submachine guns I was trained in their use and was issued one. A requirement was that anyone to be issued an MP-5 had to shoot at either 95% score or better in several qualifications before getting one. A score of 95% was considered Distinguished Expert and I had been shooting that well for years before being given the chance to have an MP-5 issued to me instructor.
I was trained with and was issued an MP-5 and can say without a doubt, that was one heck of a fun gun. Not much longer after that, we got more of the MP-5s and I was offered training to become an MP-5 instructor. I jumped at the opportunity and I became the first special agent within the U.S. Customs service to become an instructor or so I was told by RM who was our Primary Firearms Instructor and a good friend. I miss him dearly, RIP.
RM got his job with Customs after retiring from the NYPD. He and his predecessor as primary firearms instructor EH, at Customs, were as I recall both members of the Stake-Out Unit - official name. So were two other Customs instructors: HD and Jimmy Cirillo (maybe the most known from that unit). It was also called and is probably better known as The Stakeout Squad - unofficial name, a famous (or infamous depending on how you look at it) elite team of NY City Police Officers who did stake out duties in high risk retail targets for armed robberies such as bodegas. They shot several armed robbers dead, the ones who refused to surrender and who used very poor judgement and tried to shoot it out with the squad (it is such a shame that AOC uses that term today). Sadly the unit did not last long enough at least in my opinion. It ran from 1968 - 1973. It was supposedly shut down due to budgetary concerns but it was more likely due to the ultra liberal politics of those in NYC government who loved to cry foul when the scum of the earth were justifiably shot & killed by the police. Of course they did not kill them all but too many for the libturds to tolerate. That is my guess anyway.
Yes, I have digressed, but things like the Stakeout Squad (and movies like Death Wish and the cowboy, lawman and spy television shows of my younger years) fired up something inside of me that eventually led me to become a federal agent. That I liked guns was a plus since I had to carry them throughout my career. Enjoying shooting and such is what led me to become an instructor. I admit, I started this post to reminisce about when I first started shooting and how long I have been doing and enjoying it. The thing that got me to post about that was me going through a box of firearms related records that I have kept over the years and then finding those NRA Pro-Marksman and Marksman certificates from summer camp in 1966.
Now though, allow me to carry on a bit more about the Stakeout Squad by sharing this YouTube video with you. It is a video about very dedicated, truly brave men, who put their lives on the line to fight crime and violent criminals who gladly would have killed those officers just as soon as look at them. They got the job done so well they were disbanded. Sadly that is often the case when politicians who love to screw up a good thing get themselves involved.
I must say I was very lucky to have gone to summer camp where I was trained to shoot. I also consider myself extremely privileged to have met men such as RM - a good friend and excellent firearms instructor (RIP), EH - another excellent firearms instructor and the man who got me to go to firearms instructor training in the first place, HD - a big lovable lug of a man (RIP), and Jimmy Cirillo - whom I met at the range during qualifications who was also a great instructor not only for Customs in NYC but at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia (RIP). Not only were they all excellent firearms instructors, tactics instructors and so on - they were also the actual men legends are made of. As such men often are, they were also a lot of fun at the bar/restaurants we often visited on City Island after a long day at the NYPD range at Rodman's Neck (Customs used that range for many years). I miss those guys and those days very much from summer camp all the way to retirement and beyond.
Oh the f'ing toothache I have has been keeping me up all night or maybe
sleep is eluding me due to the six 5 mg oxycodone tablets I took over
the past several hours or so. Oxycodone keeps me awake, but feeling amazingly well rested about 50 to 60% of the times I take it soon before going to bed.
At least my back and right hip are painless right now but it is not
workimg very well on my tooth. I have an appointment for a root canal on
the 27th of this month, that is about a month and a half after I got a
referal from my dentist for it. Health care here and the availabilty, or
lack of availabilty, for medical and dental providers is pretty
horrendous.
Of course, that means there is not even a single endodontist who
participates in the Blue Cross dental plan within 100 miles of where I
reside. So, I expect to have to pay a substantial portion of the bill
out of pocket but BC says they will cover more than usual for a
non-participatng provider because of the lack of any participants within
that range. Still, my guess is I will need to pay big bucks. As for my
dentists, BC has paid everything for each visit I have made to two
participating ones so far.
Oh well, I need to have it done so will pay what I need to pay. I am
going to call the dentist later today to see if she can get the
endodontist to see me much sooner than the 27th and if she will give me
something that works better to quell the pain or at least will refill my prescription. It is just about exhausted.
Trump and the USA hold a royal flush to Zelensky's pair of deuces. See: https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-world/us-says-zelenskyy-has-agreed-sign-mineral-deal-well-see-he-follows-through.
...recommending that he consider Alan Gottlieb, the man at the helm of the Second Amendment Foundation, to take on the top job at ATF. I did likewise a few hours ago. You can go to this link and send a letter to him. If his flunkies, in the White House, receive and read enough of these, some one or more of them are bound to pass on our recommendation up the chain to him or so one can hope. If Trump checks out Gottlieb at all, I think he'd want him in charge of ATF. I would hope Gottlieb would see the advantage to him being in charge of ATF; I hope as well that he would accept it if offered.
Yep, I know ATF should be abolished but that will probably not happen in the immediate future so we may as well have someone who thinks like myself and most of my readers that the RKBA as enumerated in the 2nd Amendment is our most precious right which gives us the ability to overthrow tyrants and tyranny. See my post immediately prior to this one.
First of all let me say, the ATF should be abolished. Since that is probably not going to happen immediately; President Trump needs to put someone in charge of it.
If Trump wants someone who is extremely pro 2nd Amendment to run the ATF, and at the same time someone who is extremely knowledgeable about it and who is proactive in fighting for it then I think Trump should nominate Alan Gottlieb the man in charge of the Second Amendment Foundation. There probably is no better defender of the RKBA than him.
...and somehow even though a Hollywood actor, I do not recall ever hearing him spouting off politics like a leftist loony tune. Those were two good reasons to like him. Gene Hackman, Betsy Arakawa (his second wife of many years) and one of their pooches - were found dead and who all may have died at the same time. An investigation is ongoing (more at the source: https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/oscar-winning-actor-gene-hackman-wife-found-dead-santa-fe-home.
I saw several of his films, also have not seen quite a few. In the ones I saw him in, he was excellent, those were: The French Connection, French Connection II, The Poseidon Adventure, Unforgiven, The Package, The Birdcage, Crimson Tide, Bat21, A Bridge Too Far, Zandy's Bride, The Quick And The Dead, The Hunting Party, The Conversation, Loose Cannons, Absolute Power, Bite The Bullet, Mississippi Burning, The Heist, and Young Frankenstein (basically a long cameo but his part was great because of him). I just saw his credits and am amazed I have not seen more of his work (I tend to watch older movies but considering how much I liked the acting of Gene Hackman, I have some a lot of catching up to do).
Rest In Peace for him, his wife and the one of their pooches that also passed on.
Can you believe that anyone with more than a grammar school education, would think that there was free speech inside of Nazi Germany, let alone weaponized free speech, prior to and during WW II and that that is what caused the Holocaust! It probably should not be all that surprising that leftists think that, considering all of the prior ridiculous statements I have heard from liberals, as well as all of their outrageous tactics that I have seen; yet, it absolutely amazes me that anyone could think as they think, take for instance CBS host Margaret Brennan of "Face the Nation" who reportedly said this, to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in reference to VP Vance's a speech, while in Germany, to European heads of state about free speech:
"Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to
conduct a genocide," Brennan replied. "He met with the head of a
political party that has far-right views and some historic ties to
extreme groups. The context of that was changing the tone of it. And you
know that." Source, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rubio-defends-vances-munich-speech-cbs-host-suggests-free-speech-caused-holocaust.
Is she out of her mind? If a German citizen, during Hitler's reign of terror, even so much as said you did not agree with each and everything Hitler said - the Nazis had the youth of the country so brainwashed as inform on their own parents at the whim of the Gestapo, SS or other Nazi elements. Even if your parents said they felt sorry for their neighbors, let's say for example the Goldbergs, who had been rounded up and sent to a death camp, the child of the German parents who had said that were encouraged to inform on their parents. The parents would possibly go to the death camps for termination along with Jews, Russian POWs, Gypsies, Criminals, the mentally handicapped, and on and on - anyone whom the Nazis wanted to get rid of. Other parents were shot on the spot or jailed and executed later. My bet is many paid a high price, if they had wealth enough, to be exonerated. However, if they were among people sent to the camps and they were deemed fit enough to work, the Nazis worked them to death or until so weak that the Nazis killed them in the gas chambers or shot them; they also starved them (anyone who was a prisoner in the camps) while they lived. If considered not fit enough to work in the first place, they were killed outright.
For any idiot out there who thinks for a moment that there was freedom of anything for the people at large, inside of Nazi Germany or inside the lands they had occupied, let me tell you most assuredly: THERE WAS NO FREE SPEECH IN NAZI GERMANY OR IN THE OCCUPIED LANDS UNDER NAZI CONTROL.What there was, was a tyrant and his heinous evil goons running amok who gleefully killed anyone they chose to terminate and they did so as they pleased.
I wish these so called 'woke' leftists would finally actually wake up. Maybe Margaret Brennan should go to any historical account of the Nazi death camps and read the text and view the photographs. Maybe if she (and those who think like her) bothered to take a look and actually read the text and view the photographs, then also look at the above photos, and at the statistics shown below (found at Queensboro College, CUNY website), they might wake up.
Somehow I doubt it though, I doubt it if only because they a consider themselves 'woke' and thus in their minds they know it all, even when they have the reality of any given situation completely wrong. Facts and reality never seem to interfere with the opinions nor any of the wrong information spewed by liberals and by those whom I think are idiots in the press.
Being of about half German descent, I started to tear up about halfway through an article I was reading about it all, with truly disturbing text and photos, and I was forced to think that some, maybe even all, of my German ancestors were capable of such atrocities.
Texas executed a man yesterday, more than 20 years after he killed two men from a strip club, on Thanksgiving in 2024. He also killed two dancers, a woman and a girl, from the same club a couple of days later. He was prosecuted for the murders of the two men but was never prosecuted for the deaths of the woman and the 16 year old girl he killed because he was found guilty of killing the men. I see justice in him being put down. More at the source. (if you need to cut & paste to your browser this is the address: https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-death-row-inmate-mouths-final-2-word-message-victims-families-before-execution).
What I have to wonder about and what I'd like to know is: What was a 16 year old girl, a runaway according to the linked Wikipedia article, doing working at a strip club! Police visit these places frequently either for duty calls or for personal entertainment. How is it they never noticed she was a minor, or is it legal in TX for 16 year old runaway teens to work as strippers!!!
...as far as blogging goes or at least I don't feel like blogging very much. It is February, it is cold (relative to my location), I have a toothache, Trump is president and judges who are violating the Constitution are trying to shut down most of what he is trying to do in his legal capacity as president, some Representative or Senator just called for his constituents or maybe for all dems to arm themselves for the fight against the Trump Admin (as I understand what he he allegedly said). Would that not be inciting an insurrection and possibly be treasonbut no stink made by any other dems about his call to do so, as far as I know. The Democrat party is the party of are hypocrisy as far as I can tell. Imagine the ruckus they would cause if Trump told his constituents to hold a peaceful protest, oh wait, you do not need to imagine, we already know the outcome. I want to buy some gold or silver but not at current prices. Gold recently peaked at close to 3K per ounce and silver selling for over $36 or $37 per ounce. I bought 1K rounds of 5.56 M855 a couple weeks ago. Price is down a bit but not by much. Since I have not wanted to put out for gold or silver recently, I figured that metals like brass, copper and lead would be the next best thing. I have not bought any new guns lately. That is all for now. Basically just letting you know, I am still breathing and still think most democrats are total arseholes and are the height of hypocrisy, arrogance, over taxation and tyranny in this country.
ETA: Changed my mind after writing the above about making a bullion purchase. So, I just bought a 1/4 ounce BU Australian Kangaroo coin. If the price was too high, oh well. If the economy crashes or if we wind up in WW III, I'll be happy to have what little bullion I own. When my kids inherit my bullion and if they keep it long term for use only due to something like the Zombie Apocalypse or any other TEOTWAWKI type catastrophe, they will be happy to have it too. Cash may be king but as any German from just prior to WW II could have told you (now the history books mostly will have to do as most folks old enough to remember are dead by now) cash can become not worth the paper it is written on. My next bullion purchase, sooner or later, will be either another gold coin or 25 to 100 BU silver one ounce coins.
Of course, the title of this post refers to the air collision of American Airlines flight 5342 with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. That as the AA flight was on approach to the runway at Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington, DC and the helicopter was on a training assignment. All of the people on both flights, numbering 67 in all, are presumed to have perished. Numerous bodies have been recovered since the crash last night. To say it was a terrible catastrophe may be an understatement.
According to reports on television, the local news radio and FoxNews.com: the helicopter was on a training assignment with three crew members aboard and as I said above the commercial jet was on approach to landing. Reportedly, the FAA had been i touch with the military pilot moments before the crash and asked him if he saw the plane to which he replied in the affirmative but one is left wondering was he looking at the right plane. Video, on Fox News.com showed the helicopter and plane collide and it looked to me as if the helicopter flew into the jet but that is just how I saw it when two very small specs on the screen hit one another and a fireball erupted.
I am not going to lay fault but a lot of folks already have done so. I think it best to wait for the results on the FAA investigation and any criminal investigation that could possibly also take place. I am not saying there as or is any evidence of criminal wrong doing but of course the possibility of a criminal act must be ruled out. There are going to be hundreds, if not thousands, of questions that need looking into and need answers based on facts and hard evidence. The cause of the collision (accidental or criminal) must be discovered, who or what was at fault, such as human error, mechanical failure, a combination of both and so on and on and on. One question that comes to mind is why was an Army helicopter crew performing a training assignment over a heavily used major U.S. airport in a metropolitan area. Meanwhile, the recovery efforts will remain ongoing until all of the bodies are found or until at least several days after today is my guess. In addition retrieval of as much evidence of the collision will take place. How much can be found in the Potomac river, into which the aircraft crashed after the collision, is a mystery that only time & effort will.solve. Of course, contacting and offering assistance to family members of the deceased will have to be handled. In addition any first responders or others involved with this tragedy (such as FAA Air Traffic Controllers) may wind up needing assistance after dealing with the event and or its aftermath.
Life is short enough without a horrendous event like this snuffing it out. My condolences to the families, loved ones, friends, coworkers and the like of the deceased. RIP.
...because I find it somewhat exhilarating, meaning how she handles that MP5. I think that is what gun it is but every time I try to make out the make & model I find myself being distracted for some unknown reason!
...and I am well within my 70th year on this earth. That advice reportedly has been, evidently according to a guru of grocery shopping at Fox News, to only shop the perimeter of a supermarket in order to buy healthy food products. Really folks, In all of my 69 plus years, I have never once before today read or heard that. Now all of a sudden, it appears to essentially have been gospel for all those years according to the source. Now though, as of about the time the linked article was printed, that has changed. Really! Leaves me wondering, how do they, them being the wonder children who come up with this stuff, actually think up this balderdash!
I am happy to know though that by today's new standard, I have been ahead of my time. That's because I have shopped virtually every aisle each time I have gone food shopping throughout my life. If nothing else, it's a bit of exercise for me when in the supermarket.
...he pulled no punches, most of which obviously were aimed directly at Biden, his administration and leftists in general. It also went right to the point outlining several of the things he intends to accomplish that Biden had destroyed or was on his way to destroying. President Trump most certainly is a very different kind of a politician and he has my utmost respect and support because of his love of the USA & her people. The fact that his speech wiped the smile off of Biden's face made it all the more enjoyable for me to watch & hear!
If you did not watch it on TV or did not listen to it on a radio, I strongly recommend, regardless of your political affiliation or beliefs, that you calmly watch or listen to a recorded version. If you were a Biden voter in 2020 or a Harris voter in 2024, do yourself a favor - actually calmly listen to him for a minute and stop your pointless idiotic screaming and or juvenile whining when something with which you do not agree is something he says. Also, demand that anyone who offers you cookies & milk to make you feel better as if you were a spoiled rotten and essentially a mindless toddler, to shut up and allow you to listen to him without interruption. Maybe suggest they listen as well. Really, do yourself a favor and act like a responsible adult and actually think about hat he said. You may not like it, you may still hate him (admit it your side has been full of hatred for him) but at least you will have heard it first hand instead of through the liberal media or control freak politicians and academics who will almost certainly twist his words or at least their meaning.
Then again, if you listen with an open mind, you may surprise yourself and find yourself realizing he was the much better choice to be our president than Harris could ever be. That this president truly loves the USA and truly wants to make our country great again for all of us may actually be the conclusion you draw. To do so though, you'll have to at least calmly listen to his speech for yourself first.
...you, or at least I, could barely see Melania's eyes with what I think was a totally ridiculous hat on her head. I wonder, who was, in my opinion, the moron that designed that hat? Otherwise, I thought she looked fine, as usual.
We once again have a chance for our nation and her Constitution (the bedrock of our Republic's laws, our rights and our liberties) to be saved from the destruction brought upon us by Biden and the liberals who voted for and supported him & Harris.
What made it even more excellent was that as Schumer was walking toward the main room, he had on a face that looked as if he was on his way to get an unlubricated anal enema or maybe even to face a firing squad.
So, Biden's last minute pardons included almost everyone in Congress who 'investigated' Trump for January 6th including: all Capitol Police and DC Police who were testified in regard to the same, General Milley, and others whomever they are, all preemptively. More at the source. This comes as no surprise, at least to me. What I will be surprised about is if Biden does not pardon some, or even most, of those convicted for crimes on January 6th if only for him to try to show the world what a great guy is he, at least in his own mind. I also will be somewhat shocked if he does not pardon himself or at least try to do so. No, he pretty much cannot be prosecuted for crimes he committed while president but he could be charged for all those he committed while vice president and while a senator - for instance his taking and possessing classified documents before he became president.
Oh yeah, he also pardoned Dr. Fauci, a man who lied to every U.S. citizen repeatedly and who put everyone's health at great risk who got a COVID vaccination and who seemingly, in great part, was responsible for creating the enhanced version of the virus that caused the pandemic and therefore who apparently was responsible for putting every human life on the planet at risk.
I must note, there reportedly was a Supreme Court decision in the early 1900s that said if a person accepts a pardon, it is an admission of guilt (as per verbal reports I heard on NewsMax2 on January 20, 2025). I am not sure how that would work if the pardoned person had not yet been accused of a crime before the pardon was granted, as in how could they be admitting guilt if they were not charged with anything prior to the pardon. Thus, I am left wondering if a person who has been preemptively pardoned could be indicted for a crime subsequent to the pardon and then have prosecution declined by the DOJ. Bear in mind that a grand jury hearing is an investigation, it is not a prosecution.
I think it would certainly be right and just to at least try indicting many of these pardoned persons which would then very possibly make the pardoned person either have to admit to his or her guilt if he or she accepted the pardon or decline the pardon. If the pardon is accepted and this becomes an admission of guilt and there is a follow-up indictment, it would be very easy to fire every federal employee who accepts such a preemptive pardon. It would also make it impossible for any federal employee so indicted to ever testify under oath in federal proceedings if indicted for false statements. In addition, it would make it virtually mandatory to terminate the security clearance of any person pardoned but who was subsequently indicted for any felony. Again, I must emphasize that a grand jury indictment is not a criminal prosecution, it is the conclusion of a grand jury investigation albeit, it can lead to (but does not have to lead to) a prosecution. This of course,only holds water if the NewsMax2 reports I heard about acceptance of a pardon is in fact an admission of guilt. I am not sure if that would pass the muster of the Supreme Court justices but I strongly believe it would b e well worth the effort to find out and to help clearing out the swamp if the Supreme Court agreed.
I hope that somehow my idea is viewed or heard by President Trump and that he goes after the likes of Dr. Death Fauci General Milley, Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi among many others.
...of this Los Angeles Fire Department Deputy Chief next to the definition of cunt vulva in my opinion. This woman (?is it a woman?) should have been fired immediately after her remarks as far as I am concerned.
She evidently blames the victim (at least when a man) if she needs to rescue him from a fire by saying he got himself in the wrong place and also in essence says victims wants to see someone like themselves responding to a fire. More at the source. Hell, I want to see a fireman/woman who can get the job done and save my arse if it needs saving and save my dwelling to. She made what I think were likely meant by her to be both racist and heterophobic statements about whom a fire victim wants to see come to the rescue.
Sadly too many folks in way too many jobs have been hired because of how they look, their race, their sexual preference and so on under DEI - all of which have zero to do with actually being qualified for a job of a first responder and it sure sounds to me like that is exactly the type of hiring she is spouting off about. This DEI crap has gotten way out of hand, I think everyone last person hired under DEI needs to be fired and replaced with a truly qualified individual for the job at hand.
Way to go libs of Los Angeles - now you know, at least in part, why your multi-million dollar home burned to the ground along with countless homes of regular folks. In my estimation, it's because they hired people like her!
All the best,
Glenn B
m/libsoftiktok/status/1877476073056645293?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1877476073056645293%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=://x.https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1877476073056645293?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1877476073056645293%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1877476073056645293?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1877476073056645293%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=/libsoftiktok/status/1877476073056645293?https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1877476073056645293?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1877476073056645293%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url==twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1877476073056645293%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=://x.com/libsoftiktok/sthttps://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1877476073056645293atus/187747607305664529How this slob still has a job is beyond m
...and as homes , businesses are destroyed, people are dying in that terrible blaze.
Be happy none of us live in there or if any of us do that we got out alive and well.
The governor of CA, I think, should be put on trial for manslaughter. He and other politicians in CA allegedly refused to keep the resevoirs filled, now the firemen have no water to fight the fires (more at the source).
How those liberal idiots in CA keep that arrogant POS in office, as governor, is mind boggling. I guess DEI, LGBTxyz and slamming Trump are their priorities.
Hoping for a massive downpour to extinguish the flames because the way it is now, little else will help.
...and they ceded lots of territory to us. So, does the president of Mexico really think we would not do it again if push comes to shove! Trump wants to rename the Gulf of Mexco to the Gulf of America 9 very fitting considering the name of the continent). The Mexican prez wants to rename the USA Mexican America, more at the source. I would like to remind her: she need take into consideration that the worst president since FDR & Woodrow Wilson - Joe Biden, who hates the USA but who loved to allow Mexican (and others) to invade the USA by way of 11 million illegal aliens, will soon be out of office and likely in a nursing home. A real man who actually loves the USA - Donald Trump - is replacing that mindless fool Biden. I am willing to bet that not only will Trump remove millions of illegal Mexican invaders from our land but he will also deal harshly with third world nit wits who try to tell us what we must do.
I doubt that either renaming will take place but if I had to bet which had the much better chance, I'd bet heavily on Trump's idea.
So, there I was at my table a gun show yesterday. As I was sitting there
staring straight out into the void (yes it was a slow day), a youngish
guy (less than 35, & could have been in late twenties) held out a
rather large rifle that appeared custom made. Had a nice white steel
barrel (likely stainless) as he took a live round from a dealer. He then
placed the round into the chamber of the rifle. I was about to get up
and say something. I likely would have explained something about that
being dangerous but right then I realized he had the bolt out of the
action. Still, it was potentially dangerous because of such poor
adhesion to show etiquette, to the rules and to firearms safety and add
to that any other knuckllehead moves increasing the potential danger.
(For instance, he might have tried again later after putting the bolt
back in and then absent midedly loaded it with a live round and close
the bolt making it all to ready to go kaboom). Luckily, besides them
doing something both against the rules and very stupid, it at least
posed no imminent threat to anyone. Suddenly and unexpectedly, he left
out the side door. He came back in the same way a fewor several minutes
later. The bolt was in his left hand and rifle in his right hand, as I
recall.
Before I even had the chance to stand up, he went right back to the same
dealer and they tried at least another round. Then he left again. I had
hoped to speak to him about what he had just done but he was gone
before I could hobble around my table (a very bad hip day today, was it)
to get to him. While he had still been outside, I had taken a brief few
moments to Google search for 'How to determine the caliber of a rifle
that has no markings' - that or something very similar. I pretty much
expected what came up, of which first on the list was an article by
Shooting Times. It described what I had just seen and a bit worse in
what some folks do regarding trying to determine the caliber of their
guns and just out getting it very wrong. The first thing the author said
about trying to determine the caliber by dropping rounds into the
chamber was that that method is extremely dangerous (probably the worst
way) because many rounds may seem to fit but in essence that shooting
just one shot of the wrong sized ammo could cause serious injury to both
the firearm and to the shooter. He went on to describe how a gunsmith
(or anyone with specific know how) could obtain a cast of the chamber
size using a proven method and proper tools. Once measu1red you would be
able to track down the proper caliber by checking proper data sources. I
had been about to go over to the dealer to show the article when the
guy came back in and started over again; then he was suddenly gone
again.
Once he was gone, I copied the link, then went over to the dealer and I
spoke to up. The dealer seemed momentarily surprised when I explained
how dangerous that method could wind up being in the end but listened
and caught on quickly. I explained that the end, of course, might not be
merely a ruined gun and maybe an injured whatever1 but could result in
the dealer being sued and or being criminally prosecuted. Imagine who
would be believed, when the shooter might swear, truthfully or not, that
the dealer had told him that was the best way to size the chamber to
the right sized caliber and then sold him the ammo that blew up his gun
and injured him; the dealer quite possibly claiming that the dealer had
told him it best to contact a gunsmith. Of course, that is all
hypothetical but in today's world of sue, sue, sue and prosecute,
prosecute, prosecute - it's all quite possible, even probable, if
injuries would have had actually resulted and those prosecutions and law
suits would be against not only the rifle owner (if a third party was
hurt) but the ammo dealer and probably at least the show promoter too.
It wound up the dealer tracked him or a friend of his down and the ammo
was returned. The dealer also sent him the link to the article that I
had supplied. I am pretty certain the dealer will never do that again
and I must admit, I briefly was unnerved in a very disquieting &
alarming manner in as much as the dealer had worked with the guy trying
to figure out the correct caliber by dropping rounds into the chamber
and I would have thought the dealer would have known better. I have
known the dealer from several shows over at least a few years now and I
have never seen the dealer do anything else even potentially dangerous
before today's exercise of poor judgement. I think a lesson was learned
and neither would ever repeat that. The dealer later told me the guy who
had been trying to figure out the caliber had been quite receptive to
getting the article link and to having the issue explained to him.
Hopefully, they will not repeat it because one stupid mistake all too
often leads to another, or maybe to more than merely one more, and such a
chain of events can lead to a catastrophe.
I sit here wishing everyone the joy of this season while also thinking very sad that for some, instead of joy, there is horror and extreme grief. I am talking about those killed or injured in an evident terrorist attack in Magdeburg, Germany by another, by my guess, follower of the so called Religion of Peace - Islam. He reportedly plowed a rental car in a large crowd at a Christmas market, more at https://www.foxnews.com/world/car-drives-idyllic-germany-christmas-market-suspected-terrorist-attack-report. If it was up to me, then hypothetically, it would be quite possible the nukes would rain down on Mecca and several other choice locations in the Middle East. If this shit keeps up, they will win in their quest to take over the planet and rid it of infidels (that would be you and me) if only because one scumbag takes out scores of innocents with each such attack. If inclined to pray, pray for the victims of that truly abhorrent attack.
Anyway back to being joyful:
My Christmas shopping is done; that is except for whatever I do on Christmas Eve. Shopping on that last day before Christmas day is a tradition for me. One I love and hope to continue for my forever; heck I have been doing it since I was a pre-teenager. While I miss even the outside chance of snowfall on Christmas Eve and or Christmas day, I can live with the expected 65 degree temp expected that day in my current neck of the woods which will make shopping on Christmas a bit easier than if snowed in. Not having to shovel is also a plus, but to be truthful, I kind of liked that chore. Somehow my aching back almost always felt better after shoveling snow.
Speaking of shopping on Christmas Eve, I have everything I need for everyone on my gift list except my dog and my son's dogs. Oh yeah, I probably also will get my next door neighbor's three kids something and am likely to pick up something for her too. If I am home and not at my son's place on Christmas Eve, I may ask her to take the kids along and go shopping with me - for them. Nice lady with nice kids and she has done a few favors getting my mail and such when I have been traveling. Other than that - I am done shopping unless I get something for myself. Hopefully you my readers are done with it too; it can be a bit of a hassle but then you see the smile on the faces of those to whom you give gifts, it makes it all well worth the efforts. And what is Christmas all about except the giving of gifts; after all it is the day that God the father gave his only begotten son to humanity as the best gift ever. Then the three wise men and others brought gifts to the Christ child and the tradition has not ended in well over 2,000 years. It is all about gift giving and if everyone was of that mindset, we would be better off by giving to one another than by doing all the nasty shit we sometimes do to other people.
This year, I hope to go to Christmas mass, maybe even midnight mass if they hold one locally. I am not very religious but many Christian values were instilled deep within me when I was younger and midnight mass was a tradition I upheld for many years maybe even a couple of decades.
I have not sent out a single Christmas card this year. It is not like I cannot afford them, I have dozens from the last three years. The thing is that, it has been two weeks now after my gall bladder surgery and I still fell like I just drank a quart of rat piss or worse. I have been very fatigued and still have some abdominal pains and upset. That has put me in a mood to not do much of anything; although, I have been going to the local dog parks twice a day with my mongrel Skye and I started walking her again a few days ago besides just letting her walk herself in the dog parks. Mostly, she just lies there waiting for a squirrel to appear so she can stalk it but she is always eager for us to go for a walk even if the most I can accomplish with my bum hip now is about a mile at a time.
This year, instead of cards, I will just send out Merry Christmas or happy Hanukkah emails. I have a little ditty and a picture of Santa for the Christmas emails:
Money is tight
Times are hard
Here's your Bidenomics
Christmas card!
I guess that may get me a well deserved lump of coal in my stocking. Which, by the way, might not be too bad considering the nights here have been somewhat cold for an old geezer like me.
As for a happy Hanukkah email, it won't have Santa's pic nor my ditty. Just for your info, Hanukkah commences on Christmas night this year. So, if you are sending out Hanukkah wishes by email, I guess do it before or by then.
More about Hanukkah here. More about Christmas (and Advent) can be found here. For the rest of us, there is Festivus. I am certain I can air grievances but also just as certain I am in no shape for the feats of strength - at least not this year.
Party hearty for Christmas, Hanukkah, or Festivus - just not too much and please don't drive unless sober.
