Your EV Update...

Well now, since "THAT'S" over with, we need something to talk about until November 6th...

So here we go.  Those of you who follow The Chuckmeister, your go-to guy on all things automotive, know by now that new cars cost double what they did a decade ago.  And that the monthly payments to buy them have increased by 55% over the past 3 years, equalling almost $900 now.  And that car insurance is up more than 50% in some areas.  And double if you own an EV.  And that your Gubmint has issued a diktat (the way they spell it in Russia) that you WILL drive electric vehicles (EV) by 2030!  If you want to drive at all!   

Face it:  Electric cars are the answer to a question only very few are asking.  I guess every generation has to have something to be afraid of.  When everything's A-okay.  

As I've written, for some, "The Sky is Falling!"   

The Mumbler-in-Chief issued this proclamation, despite the fact that we're sitting on a river of oil that the USGS (U. S. Geological Survey) has told us will last for more than 200 years.  Plus three other U. S. oil formations bringing that total to 900 years!  

You know that the U.S. was a net exporter of oil and gas while The Donald was POTUS, right?  And that gas averaged $2.80 a gallon the day he left office.  It isn't anymore.  It's $3.89 nationally, and $5.60 here in Taxifornia.  Where it's so dayummm Blue that they don't even pretend neutral governance anymore.  Did you know that 47 of Taxifornia's 54 counties are owned and controlled by Democrats?  And that they can pass any ridiculous laws they can come up with?  Including a new law requiring other cars to beep at you if you're speeding!  Including paying hamburger-flippers $10,000 a year more than military enlistees?  

On the strength of this unilateral "Executive Order" (no legislation supports it), the auto makers began to gear up to manufacture grossed-up golf carts.  And to dedicate vast sums of $Cash in the changeover.  Ford even required dealers wishing to sell EV's to pony up $500,000 for the opportunity.  

Imagine:  You're a Ford dealer and you have to pay Ford to sell Ford products.  Hmmm...    

The auto makers were happy about this turn of events, as EV's have far fewer parts (1,300 vs. 33,000, on avg.).  And they're easier to design around (the battery is under the floor).  So they were willing participants in this folly.  They were gung ho, despite the fact they knew making EV's to try and fix Global Warming is a Leftoid's pipedream.  They were in it for market share.  And PROFIT!    

What they didn't count on was the American People.

Some "early adopters" bought EV's, to be sure.  Up to 6.7% as a total percentage of cars bought last year were plug-in EV's.*  Especially those located in the big cities where commutes tend to be short.  Many bought them as 2nd cars for just that purpose.  17.3% of all new cars bought in Taxifornia last December were EV's.  Mostly Teslas, BTW.

And 92% of EV owners have a second, gas-powered car.  As a backup, no doubt, knowing that their $expensive little toy will fail them when they need it most.  

If it's very hot out?  Won't work.  If it's very cold out?  Won't work...

And then last November the sales stopped.  Dead.  In their tracks.  For the reasons I'd forecasted a year ago.  It's called the "Cuisinart Effect."  Cuisinart was a food processor.  It burst on the scene in the '80's.  Would-be chefs had to have one.  And they bought one.  Until the day when everybody who wanted one, had bought one.  And then that $100 Million Dollar, Publicly-Traded Cuisinart Corporation went bust!  Couldn't they foresee that there was a limited number of chefs? 

Couldn't they see there were a limited number of those wanting a growed-up golf cart?  You're watching it happen again...

Ford's CEO Jim Farley stated recently that it had stopped construction on its Michigan battery plant.  And halved production of EV's.  And stopped production of its F-150 Lighting model pickup.  The one with oodles of horsepower.  A pickup that can burn rubber for blocks.  Exactly what people looking for a pickup tend to desire.  A $70,000, tire-shredding pickup  

Whu...?

That same CEO said Ford had lost more than $5.6 Billion, with a "B," on its  EV's last year.  He said they lost...get this...more than $133,000 on each EV they sold in 2023.  So on waaay overpriced EV's, they lose $133,000 each!  Are their stockholders reading this?    

And GM lost $2.7 Billion in the same period.  And although GM's CEO says its still committed to EV production, it's trimmed back its production schedule by 45%.  

Face it, EV's suck for most of us.  "Range anxiety" is still a hugely limiting factor.  It's sometimes tough to find a place to charge them.  And 20% of chargers are out of commission at any one time.  And if you choose "Supercharging," it can be as expensive to charge them as buying gasoline.  And their range is still limited.  Especially when it's very hot or very cold (figure a loss of 30% either way).  And it sometimes can take an hour to charge.  Against 5 minutes at Larry's Gas Station.  

Who thought up this sh*t show?  

Oh yeah, they just put out a poll showing that fully 83% of all plug-in EV owners would return to gas-powered cars next time.  Not a good endorsement.

But for those very few who live and work in an urban enviro, make lots of $cash, are comfortable with the idea of your neighbor helping you buy your car (your $7,500 tax rebate that other Taxpayers pay for), can charge their cars overnight, in their own garages, and for whom it would be a 2nd car (still can't rely on them for long distance trips), EV's can work fine and save on gas.  And if you're also willing to pay a $Yuuuuge premium to Save the Planet.  While ignoring the fact that it takes 20 tons of Earth to generate 17 pounds of Lithium.  And EV batteries take fully 17 pounds of lithium.  Which is the key heavy metal needed for battery production.

And while Ford was losing its shirt for following O'Biden's orders, Tesla went on a price-lowering tirade!  Musk lowered the price of all his models by an average of more than 25% in the past year.  How would you like to have purchased a new Model S for $100,249 in January, and then discover its retail price was $74,455 in March?

I mean, EV owners can expect to get smacked with a 49% depreciation rate the moment you drive if off the showroom floor.  It seems to me they're asking waaaay too much from you, the poor customer.  

And speaking of Tesla, did you know that the first Model S was only sold in 2013?  Yes, Fellow Patriots, the EV market is only 11 years old.  So how long will that battery last again?  And how much is a replacement, again ($20k, at least)?  And how much will it cost me to dispose of this rare Earth time bomb when it gives up the ghost?

And then there's the secondary market.  What's a used EV worth?  Nobody knows!  Elon Musk has now sold some 2 million of them.  But Hertz just dumped one-third of its entire fleet of 60,000 Teslas at bargain-basement prices because they're too costly to maintain!  What's that tell the prospective retail buyer?

And what will happen to the Brand, and to the reputation of EV's in general, when those beat-up used Teslas hit the road.  And Fisker just went tits up, for the SECOND TIME, not only screwing its 5,000 orphaned owners, but dragging down the entire EV market.  Plus Lucid's future isn't all that bright, either.  So what's a used EV worth?  

What'll ya' pay?  

Put simply, unlike our fleet of 220,000,000 gas-powered cars out there, we don't know what they're worth on a used car lot.  We have no reliable data.  And if you own one you're already caught up in this drama.    

Plus, they tend to spontaneously combust.  News just in has two Tesla S's colliding at highway speeds.  Causing a roaring battery fire.  That could not be put out by water.  And another "S" ran it's 12 volt battery dry in Phoenix, locking a 20 month-old infant inside.  In 100 degree heat.  Firefighters had to break the Tesla's window in order to gain entry.  And are you really comfortable with some snot-nosed genius at Tesla World Headquarters be able to push a button and turn off your air conditioning in West Texas heat if you don't pay your lease bill?  These, Fellow Patriots, are problems you do not face with ICE automobiles...

So, like I've said before, those who choose to get involved in this mess, after being warned by me and others, deserve everything that they get.  

"A Choice Between Negatives."

I've been passing along some of my Dear Ol' Daddy's homespun wisdom over the past few postings.

Because he was brilliant.

Some of that brilliance was passed along in his DNA, for which I'm eternally grateful.  And the wisdom I'll pass along today is very relevant.  I came to him once with a thorny problem.  One of those "50 - 50" deals.  A coin flip.  And he said to me,

"Boy, when faced with a choice between negatives, choose the one least negative."

Daddy said you almost always know where you want to go, or which job you want to take, or which girl you want to date, or how you want to vote.  Sometimes you just need a little extra, unbiased help.  I've had a few of those "fork-in-the-road" moments during the course of my storied life.  Perhaps you have as well.  And I've always used Daddy's logic.  

So here's what Daddy said.  "Simply flip a coin."   Ascribe one choice with "heads," and the other choice with the "tails."  Then flip.  I know it sounds simplistic, but bear with me.  The very second the coin stops rolling, and you see whether it's a heads or a tails, you'll know exactly how you really feel.  

The answer will go straight to you heart and bypass all the thinking and feeling and justifying you've done up to that point.

There may be an event upcoming in yout life or our Country's life which permits you to use my Daddy's wisdom.  Such as, who's best suited to run the Country for the next 4 years?  That might be a "fork-in-the-road" for you.  And event requiring you to make a choice.  Watch the debate, then decide.  And if you need some help, take out a $Quarter and give it a flip.  It may well be a "Choice Between Negatives," but I'm working on the assumption that as a patriotic American, you'll pick the choice least negative...

Pain Management is a Pain!

 Likely as not, "seasoned" 'Muricans like me, and perhaps you, take a pain pill or two to get through the day.

Or perhaps more than one or two.

In my case, it's all the Federal Gubmint permits me.  I'd certainly like more, but it's No Way, Jose.  The Gubmint stuck it's gigantic nose in my business about 15 years ago and has been tightening the screws ever since.  And it's worth some figurative ink to tell you about it.

Way back about 25 years ago I hurt my back.  And I was prescribed 6 Vicodin (Hydrocodone) a day.  That's a popular pain medication that also happens to be an "opiate."  

Well now!  It seems that a particular family that makes the stuff (Purdue) I was prescribed dumped loads of the stuff all over Kentucky.  At one time 90% of the population of Kentucky had been given a prescription for the stuff.  Whether they knew it or not.

And whether that was true or not, or simply faked, matters not.  It seems like everybody in Kentucky wound up an addict and toothless.  And the Gubmint then chose to get involved.

The Beast was awakened.

The first thing that HHS did was reduce my Vicodin supply to 5 a day from the previous 6.  Why?  No one ever told me.  I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to the Kentucky mess, but what it meant to me was an increased level of pain.  

Tough nuggies, Veteran citizen!  Your Gubmint don't 'splain and don't care!

And then about 10 years ago the Gubmint's HHS decided to reduce my Vicodin dosage once again. They decided I could get along quite nicely on only 4 pills a day!  So 25 years ago my pain was tolerable with 6 pills.  Now, 25 years later, the reason for my pain has worsened, and I get only 4 pain pills to handle it.  It's a net lose-lose!  

And if you take a trip to Tiajowannnna and try and buy some, you'll likely wind up with Fentanyl and be dead by morning.  I believe they call that a "Choice Between Negatives."

Jeeesh!

And to make matters worse, not only must I get along with only 4 pills a day, I have to visit a "Pain Management Specialist" every month before I can get the prescription for those measly pills!  I have to drive to a pain doctor who will simply verify that I am still vertical.  I guess.  They weigh me, and take my blood pressure.  For what reason I've never learned.  Maybe it's a layer of insurance in case us old folks drop dead in their exam room. 

Since they're not my doctor, and aren't in charge of my health care, I know of no other reason to insert such an unnecessary individual between a primary care physician and his patient.

Unless somebody's getting paid off.

And God help us all, there are thousands who are getting paid off.

This pain doctor's waiting room I'm required to visit usually looks like the bar scene from Star Wars.  Old, creaky, wounded, limping, hurting, often drug-addicted/addled oldsters and Veterans on walkers or canes, who must stop by this waste of time in order to get their tickets punched.  The only reason I can think of is to keep the family doctor from self-prescribing (it happened a lot, to be fair).  Or writing ghost scripts which likely occured in Kentucky.  

Anyway, it's a waste.  And in the 9 years I've been forced to stop by my pain guy's office...I've never met the pain guy.  Only his physician's assistant.  Who takes my blood pressure, then asks me robotically how I am, and then leaves the exam room.  For no apparent reason, as they do not practice medicine.  They only permit medicine to be practiced!  I could literally leave my car running out front for all the time this takes.

And get this:  MediCare, the folks who underwrite all basic and HMO and most PPO plans, pays this pain guy $256.12 for this visit.  Five minutes!  

In my next life I want to come back as a Pain Guy.  All they have to do is verify people are still alive and our Gubmint pays them $256 bucks.  Each.  All day long.  

Are we dumb, or what?

Just think about the millions and millions of Senior Citizens who waste their valuable time, effort, energy and money, which they don't have so very much of, engaging in this folly.  I hate waste.  I particularly hate the waste of my own time.

I have written letters to ombudsmen and TV stations and MediCare and MediCal about this dummass process, and to date, no response.  If you know anyone who knows anyone who can fix this outrage before I keel over, dm me and let's talk...

Are We Devolving as a Society?

I can say for sure that there were no transgender folks in my high school when I was growing up.  Nor my hometown.  Nor my county.  Not that there's anything wrong with that!  

In fact, there were no transgenders anywhere.  The term "transgender" was only coined in San Franpoopco back in the late 1960's, as a protest against the police.  And it's an escape from societal norms that's expanding to this day.  

Except they've been smart enough to sidle up next to those "LGB" folks, and join in on the fun.  That's "Lesbians," "Gays," and "Those Who Cannot Make Up Their Minds." 

Thus, we then had "LGBT."  Creating then a vacuum into which the other anti-social oddities were drawn.  As we've learned.  And then others who've decided to color outside the lines brought their particular fetish or brand of weirdness to the group and added their unique "Initial."    

In fact, just finding out how many transgenders there are is tough.  Health and Human Services tells us that 1.7% of our population is transgender.  I'm sure they're trying to minimize the number.  Other Federal agencies put the number as high as 3%.  And the "Lesbian and Gay Alliance" puts the number at 5%.  I've read it could be up to 8%.   That means as many as 20 Million people are representing themselves as transgender, whether they are or not.

And fully one-third of all transgenders are gay, we're also told.  By them.  So they're fully entrenched in that "LGBTQ2TIA++" thing now.  Can you imagine a convention of these folks?  So the Bottom Line:  Two-thirds of the 15 or 20 million people who present themselves as transgender aren't gay, and one-half of them aren't even transgender.

And even though Ronald Reagan doesn't have his own holiday, nor John F. Kennedy, nor Dwight D. Eisenhower, the guy who won WW2, the transgender folk are being celebrated all month long.  So all you have to do to be celebrated is to be confused about your sexuality.  The parts and pieces you were born with don't work for you any more and so you have your own month.  It's now "Transgender Awareness Month."  You've no doubt grown weary of seeing that on your TV all day long.  

And then there's also "Transgender Happiness Month" all month in San Franpoopco.  And "Transgender Day of Visibility." in North Hollywood.  San Fran also has their "CITP" Program.  That's "Consideration for Immigrant Trans People."  Such a nice gesture!  They offer $1,200 a month for 18 months for any "Newcomer" (illegal alien) who breaks into the U.S.A. from any of those 196 countries flooding our Southern Border.  Imgine that!  They pay you to break our laws!

Almost makes you want to join in with that group pretending to be trans in order to get some financial benefit, right?  Especially since being trans is pretending, right?  I mean, they're handing out goodies, why not get in line?  Especially if you're a Veteran.  For whom there is no recognition or awareness nor consideration at all.  You're completely invisible to these people so very busy virtue signaling.  Just put on a dress and some 3" heels and a nice wig and you'll be set for life!  Like about 10 million of your fellow soon-to-be citizens...

But God help you if you give any of them grief.  Just let them live out their lie in front of those who know they're lying.  And assuage their uber-Liberal leanings in the process.  Plus, reap the many $Rewards.  Otherwise, you'll get arrested for some bogus civil rights complaint and wind up in jail.  While they're getting elected to Congress.   

And so, Fellow Patriots, we went from no transgenders to 20 million of them.  Are we devolving as a polite society?  I'll leave the answer to you...

The Kardashuns...

If Orenthal James Simpson hadn't tried to decapitate his ex-wife, Kim Kardashun and her XXL arse wouldn't be famous.  

Nor would her sisters.  Nor her mother.  Nor her step-fa, er mother.  Nor the Sacramento Warriors...  

Those under 40 might not recall that O. J. knifed his ex to death.  Tried to cut her head off, he did.  And that of her friend, a waiter from a local restaurant.  And his lawyer at the time was a guy named Robert Kardashian.  A reasonably well known Lost Angeles defense lawyer.  And once O.J. got indicted for murder, he threw Bob over for a guy named F. Lee Bailey.  Who you also might not remember, even though he was the most famous lawyer in 'Murica at the time.  

So Bobbie, as he was known, died shortly thereafter of a massive heart attack.  And his wife was left with 28 daughters to feed.  Whose arses were growing.  But then she discovered she could market those panty-poppingly yuuuuge arses!  And yuuuuge arses seemed to be in at the time.  To Black basketball players and rappers in particular.  

So she started marketing her daughters' arses.  To the Sacramento Warriors, it would seem, as well as to available rappers.  Because she had enough of them to supply the whole team!  And the Team kept signing new talent every year so there was an unending supply should there be a falling out.  

Oh yeah, and that guy/gal who got mommy some fame, first for being an Olympic Medalist, and then a Transgender, er, spokes...woman.  So being married to this guy/gal got mommy back into the Big Hollywood Picture and raised her daughters' Celebrity Quotient.  And got mom a reality TV show.  Enabling her to show off her daughters' arses.  Which ran for 37 years.  

It enabled them to all start their own cosmetics and clothing lines and name their children after directions on the compass.  And become Enablers on all those TikTok channels.  Making them multi-$millionaires.  And making China, TikTok's owner, multi-$zillionaires.  

Not that they couldn't have ridden those voluminous, garment-stretchingly enormous, sun-blotting arses to fame and fortune on OnlyFans, even without that decapitation thing and all.

 

Flying, Back Then...

I started flying on business back in the early 70's.  And when I did there was a high likelihood the seat next to me would be empty.  On either side.

In fact, there was a very great chance half the plane would be empty.  And that the half-filled half would be wearing suits.  No shorts, no T-shirts, no flip-flops.  Because it cost a bundle to fly.  That was before the Gubmint forced the leaders of the airlines to stop getting together in the bathroom and colluding to fix their fares.  So that more of the public could participate.  Prior to which it had been the province of the Upper-Middle Class and wealthy vacationers.  Plus corporate representatives.  And politicians.  Plus Big Ticket salesmen selling Big Ticket items.  

Like me.

I recall it costing $405.00 to fly from Lost Angeles (before it was "Lost") to New Yawk City back then.  Back when you could walk down the streets of either city and expect to still be alive when you finished your stroll.  To not be mugged, or knifed, or robbed, or shot.  Or their current favorite, carjacking.    

And you can just imagine what $405 in today's money would buy (that was five decades ago!).  Because $405 factoring for inflation is worth $2,400 today!  And I flew round-trip LAX-NYC more than 100 times during my 7 years of steady air travel.  

That works out to about 3 months in the air.  

I wound up being appointed the International Sales Manager for a medical equipment manufacturer.  And the World was my Territory.  As well as my oyster.  I not only had to fly everywhere to put together and manage a sales team, I had to then visit foreign countries to set up distributorships.  So my corporation issued me an "Air Travel Card," the-then credit card good for all airlines.  You just flashed that red card (making Gold Card holders green with envy) and stepped aboard.  And during the period 1976 - 1983, I averaged, averaged, $6,200 a month in air travel.

And that's not counting rental car expenses (one car for every flight), nor all the thousands of hotel/motel rooms (one room for every flight).  Nor meals and incidentals (2 or 3 meals for every flight).    

That's a lot of flying!  That's a lot of Hertz!  That's a lot of Holiday Inn!

I travelled so much I recall asking a wake-up call operator one morning where I was?  She said, "The Holiday Inn, sir."  And since they all looked the same back then, I said, "Okay, thanks for that, but give me a clue.  Which state?"

When you fly for a living, you get confused sometimes about where you are.  As if it matters.  It's like "muscle memory."  You just plod through the motions until "go time."  That's when you get in front of your potential customer, after that bushel basket of somebody's money you just spent to get there, and try and close the deal.  All the flying and driving and eating and sleeping is incidental to that sales call.  

A very expensive sales call... 

In fact, I averaged a plane a day for years!  And that's not those one-stop, take-off-and-landing-and-take-off-again, continuing flights.  That's different planes and different flight numbers.  In fact, there was one 24-hour period during which I flew on 5 separate planes to five separate destinations.  Columbus, OH at 5:15 a.m., to Cleveland, then on to Chicago, IL.  From there I flew just across the Detroit River to Windsor, Ontario.  I then taught an 8-hour class at the University of Ontario to a room full of PharmD candidates on "The Theories, Principles and Practical Applications of Sorbent Hemodialysis Science."  Then a 6:00 p.m. flight back to Chicago, then to Louisville, KY, and on to Lexington.  All within 24-hours.  

Oh yeah, and that last leg, that Louisville to Lexington?  Yeah, that included flying around a tornado and suffering the terrors of an emergency landing.      

Oh yeah, if you're keeping score, I lived.  My kids are surely happy about that...  

And how about this: I started one Monday morning having a bizz lunch on the Space Needle in Seattle; then toured the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas on Tuesday; had dinner at famous Pitty Pat's Porch in Atlanta on Wednesday; took in the Museum of Science and Industry and Second City in Chicago on Thursday; and had a lovely dinner at Windows on the World in the Twin Towers (we should bow our heads) on Friday.  And that was just one week in the life of the pre-Chuckmeister.  

Getting up and heading off to the airport was my daily routine.  And during this period I visited 49 states and 37 countries.  Sorry, North Dakota, couldn't fit you in.

I had some favorite airlines, yes.  I recall PSA, fondly.  That was "Pacific Southwest Airways."  They flew up and down the West Coast back in the '70's and '80's.  And I flew with them from LAX to SFO and back literally dozens of times.  They were famous for catering to us mostly male business flyers.  The "stews," as they were called back then, were leggy 20-somethings in mauve and orange hot pants and skimpy tops, plus white "go-go" boots to round out the uniforms (the '70's were something, huh?  Can we go back?).  They even featured a big painted smile on the nose of their DC-9's, right under the pilot's cockpit.  

I would have flown PSA even if I had nowhere to go.  In fact, since the World was my territory, I often did just that.  Just hopped on and then started selling something to somebody when the plane landed.  'Cause no matter where the plane landed, I could do bizz...

We all know what flying's like today.  Seats that shrink right before your eyes.  Every single seat sold at least once.  You've got a guy with a comfort chicken in his lap on one side, and a 500 pound sumo wrestler, who's bathing-averse, on the other.  

Who is desperate to tell you why he's voting for RFK!

And in place of everything included in the price of a ticket, as it was an eye-blink ago, you now have to rent a blanket.    

But back then it was a pleasure!  The planes were all newer and the stewardesses were all newer, too.  And "friendly" ("wink-wink"). The 727's and 737's and 747's and DC-9's and DC-10's and L-1011's were all spotless and ready to ferry our post-War citizenry around the Country.  And the stewardesses (what they were called before we got "woke") averaged about 25 or 26 and were there to please.  Take that as you wish.  To be a stewardess back then was a yuuuge step up from jobs normally open to young women.  Remember the 3 jobs that were the province of women back then?  Secretary, nurse and teacher?  To which we then added "stewardess."  

They were all beautiful, the planes were all beautiful, and life was simply beautiful.  

And you made enough friends while flying to sometimes keep you busy even after all that flying part was over.  Ahem...

And then the Gubmint stepped in and demanded air fares be open to competition.  

These Congress-types work for us, right?  Anyway, the lowest price is the best, they said.  So the airlines had to cut out all the "fluff," which is why we chose one airline over another!  Flying went from men in suits in half-filled planes, to fully-filled planes, one-third kids, shorts and t-shirts, on their way to Disneyland.

And so the profit incentive was mostly wrung out of the equation.  Little regional carriers, like PSA, could no longer compete.  And lots of airlines either merged with a larger competitor or went broke as a result.  Trans World Airlines and Eastern Airlines and Northwest Orient and Frontier and Ozark and Southern and many others all went down in metaphoric flames.  Including, I would add, the famous "PanAmerican Airways."  The folks who started it all.  

Sort of gives one a chill down the old back, now don't it?  

But the pilots were all fresh out of Vietnam and happy as a clam to no longer be dodging gunfire.  And the stews were happy they weren't teaching wet-nose kids or taking dictation.  It was sort of like, "fly where you want, collect phone numbers of the "10's," and some "9's, and go about your business."  Until nightfall.  When everything changed.  For the better.  You were in a strange city with nothing to do.  The stewardesses were in a strange city with nothing to do.  The hotels had bars and discos to keep their visitors entertained.  So you whipped out those phone numbers.

Did I ever have a close call?  Not really.  There was this time an L-1011 I was riding in managed to lock its brakes on liftoff from St. Louis' Lindberg Field, resulting in a roaring fire.  The hydraulic fluid in the right landing gear was ablaze.  The plane did a quick 360 and we landed in foam.  No harm, no foul.  We got free drink coupons, BTW.  Sort of a big yawn.

On one other occasion of note I caught a 747 from LAX to SFO on Saturday evening.  I was the only customer on the entire plane.  16 cabin attendants (stewardesses)...and me.  Can I tell you the champagne flowed!  New friends were made!  Phone numbers were gathered!  And there was summm party at the hotel! 

So, having flown all my adult life, to 6 of the 7 continents, more than 2,000,000 miles in the air, I can say I truly enjoyed it.  In the past tense.  I would never fly again, however.  I chose years ago to no longer fight this maddening crowd.  

I will not pay to have to arrive to an airport 3 hours early.  And pay a wad of $cash to park my car.  And submit to being felt up by some 400 lb. illiterate in order to get through security, when millions are wandering across our Southern Border without such rude and disrespectful treatment.  An then be flown in a plane being hot-lapped from city to city that just might fall apart.  By an air crew and an Air Traffic Control System whose employees were all hired and trained using DEI and CRT.  

Hire the barely qualified if their skin is the right color, lease planes from the lowest bidder, and hope for the best.  I was going to say "pray," but I doubt they're familiar with that concept.

Do you really care about the skin color of your pilot?  Or that of the guy/gal/other handling your plane up there in that Air Traffic Control tower?    

So if I can't get there by car, or train, or motorcycle, or sedan chair, or on the back of a camel, I'm not going.  You do as you wish, but flying commercial today is like paying to be mistreated.  I am not a masochist!  And you shouldn't be either!  The public will get what it pays for.  If it demanded better, it would get better.  Parts falling off of airplanes?  Fights breaking out at 30,000 feet?  There's a real opportunity in the ailing airline business for some $Billionaire to start an airline that does what PSA did, way back when.  

Doubt me?  Remember what happened when JetBlue came upon the scene?  The public embraced leather seats and widebody aircraft and free wi-fi and seats designed for humans with wide backsides and being treated like we're the paying public.

What a concept!

I never flew on business in the old Soviet Union.  Or dared fate on Cuban Airlines.  Or a Chinese airline.  But having spoken to those who have, what's offered now to the American public is a pretty good representation.  I'm ashamed to say...

Old folks die off continually and they take their memories with them.  And that's a real shame, because those they leave behind will have no idea just how good it was..."back then." 

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

As you no doubt know, the end of the Meheeeeekan-America War was Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed back in 1848.

It was not "Cinco de Mayo," which was nothing more than a creation of tequila makers.  That date celebrated the fact that the Meheeeeekans were attacked by a bunch of Germans and ultimately got their as*es kicked.  Whoopie.

Anyway, Meheeeeeko brought us into the "Mexican-American War," which is why they got their name first on the "War-" thing.  So we went ahead and kicked their as*es, just as the Germans had.  Didn't know what him 'em, even with Pancho Villa on their side.  

Don't mess with Texas, and all that.  And don't mess with 'Murica, and all that!  At least that was that case back then...

So the question was, how much of what was then Mexico should America have taken?  As the "Spoils of war."  We could have taken everything, the entire country, if we wished!  And it was a big country.  Personally, I would have left them with a taco stand in beautiful (!) downtown Tiajowanna.  

You declare war with me and mine and we're gonna' peel you like a grape.

Meheeeeko stretched all the way up past San Franpoopco, back then, and all the way across what's now Nevada and Utah, all of Arizona, and a big chunk of Colorado, Kansas, New Meheeeeeko and Tejas.  

That's what they called Texas back then.  

In other words, about one-quarter of America.  But we decided, being the good guys that we are, to take only that area North of the Rio (not so) Grande River.  Which is redundant.  Apparently we weren't aware that one day massive cartels would run Meheeeeeeeeko, and be charging an average of $8,000 each to ferry illegal aliens across our waste-deep Border from any of 196 countries. 

Which is all of them, BTW.

So instead of having M-60 .30 caliber machine gun emplacements every 50 yards all the way across our Border with Panama, preventing anyone from entering from anywhere, anyone, we have to defend 1,749 miles of Border, from Brownsville, Tejas, to San Diego, Taxifornia.  

And we have governors along the way who are either dead set against unfettered illegal immigration, such as Texas, or all for it.  As in our BoyGuv (Hairgod) Newsom's case, "Bring me your seriously illegal so we can shower them with goodies.  Free food and clothing and rent and $Cash and mental health assessments and legal assistance from our army of Left-wing lawyers and all the friggin' education they can possibly use.  And all they have to do is vote Democrat.  Early and often."

Ya' get it?

So when you're getting drunk on Cinco de Mayo next Spring, thinking you're celebrating Meheeeeeko's day of independence, you'd be wrong.  The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed into effect on February 2nd, 1848.  So, you could either hold up a sign and picket in front of your fave Meheeeeeekan restaurant next Cinco de Mayo, or you could just go ahead and get smacked on February the Secundo, ALSO.  

That would be me... 

A Nice, Neat Little War...

Do you know the only thing that will stop family members from fighting with each other?  Somebody from outside the family getting involved, that's what.  

Then you'll see the family members all coalesce around each other against a common enemy;  And it won't matter who.  ANYBODY ELSE!  

My dear old Dad once said to me, "Boy!," he said.  He'd start every important proclamation in my upbringing with a 'Boy!'  So "Boy," he said, "the single most dangerous man on the entire planet, is the guy who don't know...what he don't know."

Think about the wisdom wrapped up in that homespun bit of advice.  And that wisdom could reasonably be employed in our world of today, doncha' think?  We have people in our White House who are making decisions right now that are impacting all our lives, every day, without having any idea what the Hell they're doing.  They've never been in the military.  They've never run a business.  They've never signed a payroll check on its face.  They've never worn a uniform.  They've never commanded men.  In any form.  

And they've never been to war.  

And yet, they've decided to back Ukraine, but only just enough so that Russia pounds the Hell out of it and it ends up in a draw.  And they're refusing to ship the weapons Taiwan needs, and has already paid for, sometimes 5 years ago (!), for reasons unknown.  Maybe they don't want to piss off the Chinese.  Maybe they're afraid of China!  Because they're a bunch of puss*es, maybe?  And they're providing their "ironclad" support for Israel.  I've heard that word "Ironclad" at least a dozen times coming out of the White House lately.  Funny, I used to think "Ironclad" meant solid, unending, and forever.  

Now?  With friends like O'Biden, Israel needs no other enemies.    

And giving Africa the back of its hand while China is papering it with money.  Africa is resource-rich, and the Chinese know that.  Because they have a brain.  Unlike the Ivy League suits we have running things.  

And these bozos are continuing to give our military budgets short-shrift, approving an increase of only 1.0% for the coming year.  When considering inflation, that's a net loss to our military of at least 0.4%, when it needs an 8.0% increase at least!

They're managing Ukraine to a loss, the Tawainese to a loss, and Israel to a loss.  Because they do not know... what they do not know.  And they're too damn stupid to ask their elders.

And while this is going on, our younger folks are riding on the backs of their grandfathers.  They've forgotten the price their grandads paid so that their heirs get a free ride.  So that they can simply assume that freedom is, ummm,  free. 

It isn't!

So I'm thinking what we need is a nice, neat little war.  Somebody blows something up and kills a bunch of our folks, let's say.  Or poisons our water supply.  Or fires a bevy of rockets at us say, and knocks down a few buildings.  Like 9/11 x 10.  And so have no choice but to declare war.  Like we did the day after Pearl Harbor.  

And since our "all volunteer military" is not enough to defend America, which we've been screaming for years, especially in a three-front war, perhaps, we have to start a draft.  We have to start conscripting our young men and women (and those who cannot decide which) in order to put bodies in foxholes.  And we start shooting back at the people who are shooting at us.  And people start dying.  And it starts to get damn real, real damn quick.  

Enough to make buttholes damn tight, too.

And the body bags start coming home.  And the "Corporate Media" is now forced to start reporting the actual news.  The stuff that's actually happening, versus the stuff they wish was happening.  Like the blather they're used to.  So those body bags get unloaded at Dover Air Force Base on a nightly basis, with the cameras rolling, like what happened during the Viet Nam "Police Action" days.

And then we all go, "Gulp!"

That's how we "lost" in Viet Nam, folks.  We won every single battle.  Didn't know that?  We did.  But our "Corporate Media" beat us down and out back home.  An incessant anti-war bleating, day and night.  And our Media used those body bags to turn the public against the us.  Against the U. S. and its soldiers.  

The commie socialist pri*ks. 

We came home with our heads hung low.  People spat upon us.  They threw food and stones and anything else they could get their hands on.  People cursed us as we got off planes at the airports.  It was not a pretty sight.  But we swallowed hard, went back to work, and tried to rebuild our lives from the mess our Government made of them.

Some of us didn't, BTW.  Some of us suffered from war wounds you can see, and some from wounds you cannot see.  Wounds that ruined their lives.  Wounds that kept them from reentering society.  As I've mentioned, we have 39,500 of our Veterans living on the streets of California, every single night.  

No, Fellow Patriots, Freedom isn't free...      

Not a long war, I'm thinking.  A few months maybe, or a couple of years at the outside.  Just enough for America to get another stiff dose of reality.  A serious wake-up call.  A smack across the collective faces.  The kind we all shared when World War Two started.  The kind we were forced to share.  I know what that was like.  

Because I lived it.

It would have been nice if I could have brought you all up to speed simply by talking to you.  By sharing all the really bad things which can happen to a country when it ignores all the dangers and focuses on stuff like sex change for little kids and pride flags and letting 6' 4", 230 lb. males swim against 5' 2", 115 lb. females for trophies.  And think that's somehow "equity."  

It would have been nice to avoid this.  If we'd had  two-parent households, maybe, so they could have raised their kids up right.  And had our teachers been teaching reality instead of their perception of reality, maybe.  And if the socialists hadn't gotten such a firm grip on the controls of school governance, all this could have been avoided.  

But that's not what happened.  We are where we are.  We have a generation of undereducated, overprivileged, whiny and demanding youth who should be stepping up to defend America.  To take care of their elders like they took care of them.  And the folks who defended them.  But they seem to have no interest in doing so.  The concept of "Patriotism" seems alien to them.  And honoring our Flag?  And the Pledge of Allegiance?  For suckers, I guess.  With no parents to teach them, and a socialist cadre of anti-American teachers who refuse to teach them properly, I can understand why they might hold America in disdain.  

We've frittered away that bold defense we've always maintained.  We had a 383 ship Navy when Reagan was President.  We have 270 now.  China knows that too.   It's enlarging its naval fleet from 370 ships now, to 435 in 2025.  And 600 by 2035.  Does that make you feel a bit queasy?  It should. 

So, like I say, a nice, neat little war should set things straight.  We'll purge the communists and the socialists from our governing bodies (buh bye, Ilhan and AOC!).  We'll fire all the Soros-bought-and-paid-for D.A.'s (more than 72,000,000 of our citizens live under their rule).  We'll start teaching patriotism once again in our schools (screw you, ACLU!).  Because our young people will discover just how close we will have come to losing the Greatest Country on Earth.  And becoming France at best, and 350 million Uighers, at worst.

And by the time we come out the other end of that sausage grinder, we'll have become a much stronger Country.  I won't be alive to see it, but I'm confident a new crop of "Founding Fathers" will step up and fight for our vision of Freedom... 

May God save America!

The Death of Humor...

Those of you much under the age of about 50 have no idea what the word "humor" really means.

I had the great good fortune to have grown up in the "Golden Age of TV."  It was brand-new, it had just being "colorized," everyone was filled with post-War exuberance, and our folks still believed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Before the Corporate Media had successfully divided us into warring camps.  Before we devolved into various tribes.  Sort of like the Hatfields and the McCoys, writ large...

The black and white 1950's were filled nightly with variety shows and comedy hours.  And the news and some professional wrestling.  And a TON of cowboy shows.  And everybody watched them.  Because there were only three channels back then and we had nowhere else to go.  So these channels commanded yuuuuge nightly audiences!  

It was a reality for everyone; finish the family dinner (everyone sat down for the family dinner), wash the dishes (alternating responsibility), turn on the TV (a chore handled by the youngest amongest), and sit down on the couch.  And watch "Gunsmoke."  Or "Superman."  Or perhaps "Wagon Train." *

The final episode of "Mash," for instance, brought in more than 54,000,000 viewers.  And that was back when our population was a whole lot less (it was 117,342,566 on the day of my birth).  And before half the world had shown up on our doorstep.  Streaming past that "Welcome" sign put up by Joe O'Biden and his Band of Merry Socialists.  

(Did you know that 1 in 5 New York City hotel rooms are now filled with illegal aliens?  Yeah, that's why the rooms now average $307 a night, up from $277.  Thought you'd like to know.  Just had to insert that factoid.  Couldn't help myself).  

And the all-color 1960's brought us the greatest and most entertaining productions imaginable.  You could see stand-up comics, and ventriloquists, and dancers, and singers, plus a guy who threw knives blindfolded, and folks who spun plates on sticks.  You would watch from start to finish, while heading off to the bathroom or getting a snack only during commercial breaks.  

There was no stopping it with a button on a remote while you peed.  Because there was no "remote."  There was no DVR.  There was no way to "see it over." 

I counted up more than 250 such 50's and 60's TV shows!  If you weren't a witness to this, here are but a few of our recurring shows, in no particular order:

     -  The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

     -  "Your Show of Shows"

     -  The Jerry Lewis Show

     -  The Spike Jones Show

     -  The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour

     -  The Carol Burnette Show

     -  The Dean Martin Show

     -  The Dick Van Dyke Show

     -  The Nathan Winter Show

     -  The Andy Williams Show

     -  The Steve Allen Show

     -  The Burns and Allen Show

     -  The Jim Nabors Show

     -  The Colgate Comedy Hour

     -  The Dinah Shore Show

     -  The Gary Moore Show

     -  The Frank Sinatra Show

     -  Jimmy Durante Presents

     -  The Eddie Fischer Show

     -  Your Hit Parade

     -  The Perry Como Hour

     -  Liberace

     -  The Chevy Show

     -  The Ed Sullivan Show

And remember, these are but a few.  There are literally dozens more.

I might add that then-President Richard M. Nixon appeared on "Laugh-In," a show filled with nothing but jokes and sight gags, opening himself up to be lampooned.  Which he was.  With great good nature.  Many pundits believed his doing so secured his election victory. 

And you should know that the "Ed Sullivan Show" is where the Beetles first auditioned for America.  All this was don't-miss stuff.  People talked about it the next morning around the water cooler.  Before they were paid to stay home in their BVD's and stare at their computer screen.  Back when people actually worked for a living.

Face it, Fellow Patriot, there is no more humor.  Certainly not like we enjoyed in past decades.  If "Progressives" were forced to sit through a loop of "All in the Family," they'd have a caniption fit!  In fact, maybe that should be the sentence we impose on our political prisoners...

That's one of the most important single problems we face.  The Death of Humor.  Except for all those almost-but-not-quite, but-we're-pretty-sure-they-will-be-soon, melting icebergs, of course... 

If you're a member of the Gen-Z Generation, and don't understand any of these words, you might want to look them up...

*   For those of you who don't know, one of our most loved movie stars had his start on this program.  His name was Clint Eastwood and his character was named "Rowdy Yates."  "Roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, keep those dogies rollin,"...

    

Can Our Vets "Identify" as Homeless?

We've been told we can "identify" as a girl if we're a boy, or a boy if we're a girl.  And we can "identify" as Black if we're White.  Or White if we're Black.  Or a dog or a cat should we feel "furry."  But that leads me to ask, can we "identify" as a resident of America if we live if Fuggetaboutitstan?  Seems like we can, now that Umpteen Milllion illegal aliens from 156 countries have come to visit.  Permanently.  And can we then "identify" as homeless?  

I just read that a new 19-story luxury highrise apartment building will be opening soon, with the intent to exclusively house the homeless.

Yes, that's right.  A 275-apartment, high-tech highrise in the midst of Skid Row.  That's the very worst sh*t hole in an entire gigantic sea of sh*t in what used to be Los Angeles.  Before it became "Lost" Angeles.  And again, it will open for 300 or so of Lost Angeles' enormous army of the homeless.  Exclusively.  

How nice for them.

The Project is anticipated to cost more than $165,000,000, that's with an "M," with financing provided by the LA Housing Department (that's you and me), State housing funds (that's you and me), and $56 Million in State Tax Credits (that's you and me).  Oh yeah, you'll be pleased to learn that this is no el cheapo deal here.  No, no!  Each unit is expected to come in at just about $600,000.  A 19-story luxury highrise apartment building in the heart of a toilet.  A slum.  In the heart of Crimeville.

What could possibly go wrong?*

Let's be sure we all understand the gravity of this situation.  California has attracted 181,500 of America's homeless (courtesy HHS).  Fully one-third of the entire Country's supply.  No doubt due to our fabulous weather.  And the fact that our BoyGuv Newsom (we call him "Hairgod") has explicitly invited people from all over the world to please break in and take our land and our wealth. 

And while all this is going on, might I mention that 39,000 of our Veterans wil be sleeping  on the streets of California's cities tonight?  

Having been completely ignored by Government, wouldn't it behoove our Vets to shed thier homeless status and adopt that of illegals?  To get free rent and free food and free clothing and free transportation and a free phone?    

So here's what you do.  Just drive on down to Otay Mesa, walk across, have a nice cool margarita, then turn around and come back.  Except this time add a "Z" to your last name, tug on the shirtsleeve of the nearest Border Guard and "identify" as being from Fumundastan.  And you "identify" as being a pregnant latina, coming to Hairgod's California to get a free abortion.  Oh, and you "identify" as homeless and want desperately to live in a 19-story Lost Angeles highrise. 

Then you'll get all the goodies our newly arrived, but uninvited Border-hoppers get; an air, train or bus ticket anywhere, a credit card pre-loaded with nice $Cash to keep body and soul together, legal assistance, housing, clothing, SNAP cards and all the free education us Taxpayers can buy for them.  

I ask again: Why shouldn't a homeless Vet qualify for at least the same welfare as we give to future Democrats?  

Oh, I'm sorry, never mind.  I answered my own question...  

*   Remember Cabrini Green in Chicago?  Yep, they spent more than $1 Billion Dollars back in the '80's constructing instant slums.  There were 4 highrise apartment buildings built in the middle of a slum.  Where people were getting shot all day, every day.  And they're still getting shot there!  But at least now the drug dealers can ply their trade indoors, out of the rain and the awful Chicago weather.  There's always that...

The Concert of a Lifetime!

It was April 12, 1969.

I'd been in Germany saving all of you unappreciative 'Muricans from communism for a couple of years by then.  I'd been assigned as Asst. Chief of Staff for Major General Lawrence J. Kennedy.  He was Commanding General for the Communications Zone, Europe, and had a lot of folks jockeying for his time.  And I was put there to act as his gate guard.  Nobody got in without going through me.

I'd only been in Frankfurt for a couple of months when I heard about an upcoming concert.  We were told that Ray Charles and Janis Joplin would be playing one night only at the spacious Jahrhunderthalle (One Hundred Year Hall) in Hoescht, a town with an unpronouceable name just outside Frankfurt.  And they were offering special cut-price tickets for G.I.'s.  And that included me.

A friend and I bought tickets and headed on in.  Even though we were early, the place was almost full.  And by "full," I mean upwards of 3,500 mostly Army guys like us.  Standing room only.  The buzz was in the air.  Everyone there was lit up, whether on wine, whiskey or some nice Thai stick.  Plus the unmistakable smell of still-fresh-from-the-ovens-of-Marsaille hashish.  We could not wait...

I recall being asked some years later, BTW, how I enjoyed my time in Germany.  I responded by saying that I'd heard '68 and '69 went well, but I couldn't swear to it...

The lights went out.  It went dark in the auditorium.  And those sounds you can never forget began to waft through the P.A. system.  It was Ray Charles singing, "Hit the Road, Jack!"  "Oh baby, listen baby, don't you treat me so mean, you're the meanest old woman that I've ever seen."  As he sung the lights came up and there was Ray, seated at his piano, surrounded by the Raylettes and a 12-piece orchestra.  He rocked through every one of his songs, ending with "Georgia on My Mind," of course.  He was still young enough to rock the place, and the sounds were like a quick trip back home.*  

And then it was time for the star billing.  Janis Joplin had taken off like a rocket a year or so earlier, with her breakthrough song, "Piece of my Heart."  She was backed up then by "Big Brother and the Holding Company," and they'd topped the charts.  We'd gotten her records and were playing them non-stop the in Day Room.  Her fans were waiting eagerly.  

The lights went up again.  Joplin came out with a blaring rendition of "Heart."  We were close to the stage and the sound was set at "10."  I had to plug my ears to avoid permanent damage.  She was dressed like a homeless San Franciscan and in her right hand was that ever-present quart bottle of Jack Daniel.  Her favorite vice.  Or at least the only one we could swear to.  

And man, did she scream her lungs out!  And man, did she woof down that booze!  Once she'd finished the first song she took a long, hard pull on that Jack.  Glug, glug.  I was only 50 feet or so from the stage, and all this was very visible.  It was down about a quarter when she first came out.  It was only half full by the end of her third song.  By the end of the set the bottle was empty.  And as she was famous for doing, she went to the edge of the stage, motioned for us to get back, and then slammed it down on the concrete floor with all her might!  The glass shards shot everywhere!  She laughed as if possessed.  Perhaps she was.

I might mention that several of us warfighters were wounded in that firefight.  The medic were called to treat the sliced-up, smoked-up patrons, and some were seen slipping on the bloody floor.  But I digress...

It was a three-hour feast for the senses.  My $10 ticket may have been the very best use of money in the  entire history of my DNA.  They carried Joplin off the stage.  I don't think it was an act.  I think she was hammered and no longer in control of her very talented faculties.  

At least the "lines crossed" at the proper time; she was finished, and so were we... 

*   Many years later, in the late '80's, I believe, my Wife and Partner Elaine and I were returning from Vegas to Orange County.  As we descended the escalator to the bag claim there was Ray, seated up against the wall, all by his lonesome.  I stopped short; what was going on here?  I had to find out.  I went over, cleared my throat to announce my presence, and introduced myself and Elaine to The Man.  It turns out his bodyman had gone for the car as to why he was alone.  He returned during our convo.  Ray recalled that night in Hoescht, and the rest of his subsequent tour with Joplin.  He said that if he hadn't been hooked on heroin when he started it, he certainly would have been by the time it ended... 

On a "Glide-Slope."

As a certified gunsmith, graduate sociologist, professional pool shark of world renown, (in)famous humorist, almost certified-clinical psychologist, racer of fast cars (AHRA, SCCA), self-appointed Scribe Without Portfolio, impressive vocabularian, would-be political scientist, pretend journalist, famed sharpshooter, father of four gorgeous and accomplished daughters, and Bigfoot Hunter of the First Magnitude (without ever having caught one), I've developed some opinions. 

(One of my better sentences, I trust you'll agree.) 

Opinions borne of decades of treading upon this Earth.  And paying attention to the goings on around me.  Which gives me an occasional opinion worth listenting to.  And I share one or two of those opinions with my Fellow Patriots from time to time through this humble little blog.  

And this is one of those times...

America has been on a "glide-slope" to socialism since Woodrow Wilson was given the tiller.  Better than 100 years ago now.  All this stuff is history, BTW.  And I'd welcome your keeping me honest on any and every fact.

Anyway, he was elected our President back in 1912.  He came from one of those big Ivy League schools before that.  And since we've been able to see what goes on behind the scenes at our "prestigious" Ivy League schools lately, his coming from Princeton to the White House should tell you all you need to know about what he wanted to do, and then did, to America.

Wilson was our very first "Progressive."  He was anti-capitalism as only Bhraman Liberals can be, and he brought that pervasive view to the White House.  That "camel got his nose under the tent" way back then.  The removal of God from our schools and our courthouses began with him.  The seeds of control over those same schools by gargantuan teachers unions began with him.  And civil service unions as well.  The constant pandering to minorities and the poor, began with him.  And then conditioning them to expect it, began with him.  And "Progressive" taxation, that cancer forcing the productive half of our Country to carry the unproductive half, 

BEGAN WITH HIM!  

As I said, we were on a "Glide-Slope."  Like an airliner cruising at 30,000 feet, preparing to home in on the chosen airport's radio beacon.  Once acquired, all the pilot has to do is flick a switch and let the autopilot do all the work.  And it will, flying 800,000 pounds of aluminum hauling 400 people until the plane reaches the "outer marker."  That's just beyond the airport's runway.  At which point the pilot takes over control once again and flies the plane for that last 100 verticle feet or so until touchdown.

Like the "Parable of the Frog."   Not familiar with that?  If you were to toss a frog into a pot of boiling water, he would surely hop right back out.  But if you were to place a frog into a nice warm pot of water, and then turn up the heat, ever so slowly, until it boiled, that frog would turn a bright red.  Because he's too dumb to know any better.  He's too dumb to know he's being played.

We are that frog.  

From working for ourselves with the Gubmint's help, to working for the Gubmint, and hoping to take home a few table scraps it might accidently leave behind.  

In short, the more the productive makes, the more the Gubmint takes.  And then redistributes.  For votes.   

And now O'Biden's promised not to renew the Trump Tax Cuts when they sunset next year.  That reinstates old tax laws that will bring in more than $3 Trillion New Dollars to the Treasury.  And cost the average family more than $3,700 a year.  

Let's hear again about nobody getting taxed with under $400,000 of income?   

Those born after about 1980 have no idea what it was like back in the real, true "America."  The America for which many of us fought and a lot of us died.  The America filled with that "can-do" attitude.  A place where everyone was free, and no one messed with that freedom.  Where we had few laws and fewer Gubmint servants to try and enforce them.  We worked hard for our money, and kept so much of it we didn't even consider taxes an issue.  They were just "there," and that was that.

Remember, our first tax Wilson imposed on us was for 2% on the very "rich" back in the 1920's.  And that was an income of more than $700,000 a year, when $700k was like $FordyLebenJilliun!

Until the Johnson and Carter Administration's taught us that Big Gubmint was not our friend.  It was to be feared!  It had grown so big that it now controlled us, versus the other way around.  Remember those gas lines?  You could only fill up only on alternate days.  And I bought my first house under Carter.  I had to pay 11.5%!  

America, in my humble opinion, is now infested with an elite, Governing class.  Believe it or not, there are more than 2,100,000 Gubmint "servants" in Washington, D.C.!  And 90% of them are paid more than $100,000 a year!  They're the real "Gubmint."  Because they were there before our elected leaders arived, and, no matter how long they may stay, the real government will be there long after they leave.  And they spend money like they have a printing press.  

Because they do.  They print another $1,000,000 every 11 seconds.

Here's an example: Do we really need a "Department of Education?"  For which more than 4,600 people in D.C. are employed?  With an annual budget of $68 Billion?  That's with a "B?"  

We have District school boards for every 11 - 27 schools, on average.  We have County boards of education to look over each District's shoulder, making sure they do what the Taxpayer expects and the law requires.  Expecially since about 55% of all property taxes go to our schools.

Did you know that?

And we have State boards to ride herd on the counties' operations.  California's Board of Education, for example, employees 2,740 with an annual budget of $84.6 Billion.  Can you tell me why, with all these people looking over the shoulders of all those other people, why are our graduation rates so awful?  

The LAUSD, that's Lost Angeles "Unified" School District, the largest school district in all of America, oversees 565,479 students in and 24,759 teachers more than 1,000 schools.  It also has the very largest budget in the entire Country at $6,297,000,000 a year.  Also with a "B."  Yet, they graduate only 44% of their students.  Less than half.  The biggest school district in America with the very worst grad rates.  And it's been that way for years.  With nobody doing a thing about it.  Hundreds of thousands of failed kids roaming the streets.  Is that the very best we can expect?

Where do those parents go for a refund?  

Yep, like I said, we were on a "Glide Slope."  And then Donald J. Trump came down that golden escalator.  And turned up the heat too rapidly under that "frog."  And a bunch of us "frogs" jumped out of that pot, and stayed out.  And the entrenched governing "elite" went positively insane.  

Now they've whipped up a mob and metaphorically lynched The Donald.  They've turned a paperwork misdemeanor whose statute of limitations had expired into 34 felonies.  With the actual crime no one can seemingly name.  Nor wants to.  A clear 6th Amendment violation if there ever was one.  Which the Democrats believe will help them, because they can now label him a "convicted felon."  They believe that will end him.  It won't.  It will result in the coming together of the entire Republican Party.

If it were up to me, I'd paint "Convicted Felon" on the side of his plane.  It's such a farce we could use some comedy...

In fact, we've been forced into becoming a "Tribal Society" by O'Biden and his gang of socialists.  The "reddist" states have become redder, and the bluest states...are starting to become red.  Those of us who can see reality, who have a healthy dose of common sense, especially those who deign to watch a broad swath of our news channels and then decide for ourselves what we should believe, have decided to circle the wagons and prepare for troubles ahead.  

And trust me, there will be even more troubles ahead.

I hope they're happy with themselves.  The bozos running things in D.C. have done their best to transform America from the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, to the Land of the Paranoid and the Home of the Uncomfortable.  And it's up to our voters to decide whether we stay that way...       

Have You Noticed?

Have you noticed that up-and-coming movie "startlets" and aging "stars" tend to take off their clothes when they're on the way up...and then again when they're on the way down?

And that the amount of talent a starlet possesses is often directly proportional to her bra size?   

Inversely?  

And that trying to sell tickets to some of their concerts gets ever tougher when they're older than sin and the tickets now average $500?

And have you noticed that the ads on TV for weight loss products have mostly disappeared now that the cost of food has skyrocketed?  You tend to drop those lbs when you can't afford to eat!  Nomsayin'?

And speaking about food, have you noticed that folks would rather pay a $fortune to get Ozempic shots so they could lose weight, while still stuffing their fat faces?  When they could simply eat less instead?  And save $Yuuuge on food costs?  Oh yeah, and they discover those Oz shots make them deathly ill and cause explosive diarrhea?  Which may be why they lose weight?

It's sort of like the "Chuckmeister's Smoking Cessation/Weight Loss Program."  Have you heard of that?  You show up at Fortress Chuckmeister on Monday morning at 8:00 a.m.  I lock you in a closet.  You get bread and wa wa 3x a day.  You get sprung on Friday afternoon at 5:00.  You no longer smoke.  Plus, you've lost lots of weight!  It's like a side effect!  Sort of like weight loss is a side effect of Ozempic shots!  Which is a drug for diabetes.  You knew that, right?  

Ozempic Oshmempic!  

Damn!  That's so good I'm gonna' have to raise my prices for that little Program of mine.  It was $5.00 a day.  Now?  Pulleeeeze!

And lastly, have you noticed that despite Hollywierd's solid support for all things transgender, they've as yet failed to cast an "other" as a female lead in a movie?  Wouldn't that be interesting?  To see some 6' 3" movie hunk guy kissing a 6 '5" movie hunk "girl?"  With the only way to differentiate between the two is that one is wearing a dress?  Oh yeah, and the other one has a lump in "her" panties?

Plus, the audience, not wishing to appear anti-gay no doubt, and after nervously looking at one another for guidance and support, would stand and applaud.  

Politely...  

I'm guessing Disney would do it.  After 8 failures at the box office in a row, costing it and its stockholders more than $One Billion Dollars, I doubt they'll give up.  That "woke" stuff is hard to kick once it's grabbed ahold of you.  Disney has helped to chase away movie fans like me in droves.  Do you think people might finally return to the theaters to see such a, ummm, "display?"  

So even if you're not yet as old as dirt, you could observe things like you are.  And know exactly when they're trying to blow smoke up your a*s.  Just look real hard at the crap being shoveled your way and make notes.  Like I do...

How America Lost Iran.

If you were born much after 1980, you probably have no idea why Iran hates us so much.  And our little buddy Israel.  And wants so badly to kill us both.

Why do they continually fund and supply various proxy groups to try and destabilize Israel and cause mayhem for us in the Middle East?  Why they're trying to build a nuclear weapon so they can blow us all up and get to see Mohammed and those 92 virgins a tad bit sooner.  You'd probably like to know the answer to those questions, right?    

Well, Fellow Patriot, I'm here to provide it.*  

On January 16th, 1979, Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi abdicated Iran's Peacock Throne and flew into history.  That was a Throne he'd occupied since 1941, when his father died.  And although a Sunni Muslim, he Westernized Iran.  Its women wore the finest French fashions.  They paraded around on the boulevards without head coverings, with legs showing.  Its lovely beaches were enjoyed by both men and women, together.  The Shah adopted Western laws and values in a sea of Arab nations hostile to America.  

Moreover, Iran had been a friend to and for America for decades.  It purchased more than 100 F-4 Phantoms, for example, and $Billions in other military aid.  All that infuriated those who believe you should be kept in poverty while bowing 5 times a day to Mecca.  So Iran was secure with America providing support.  

Until Jimmy Carter became President, that is.

Iran's minority Shia Muslims had been clamoring for power for decades.  They sponsored many armed uprisings and bombings.  And the Shah had imprisoned so many of them that Carter's Left-wing became alarmed.  They thought he should be nicer to those who wanted to kill him.  And they wanted Carter to micromanage Iran's minority just like they do with O'Biden's micromanaging Israel's.  

Just like today, Carter wanted to placate his Left Wing.  And just like today, he had a loud and nasty one.

And then the Shah contracted cancer.  His grip on power was fading.  And he needed medical care.  He wanted to receive that care at the Houston Medical Complex in the U. S. of A.  The very largest in the world.  While still retaining his power.

Carter was afraid of the backlash from the AOC's of his day and wouldn't allow him to come here for treatment.  So the Shah abdicated his Throne.  And proceeded to travel to various countries, hopscotching from place to place, trying to find one to provide him and his family shelter.  The President of Mexico finally relented and allowed the Shah to rest in Cuernavaca.  The Shah later travelled to Egypt, where he died in 1981.      

And mere moments after Pahlavi lifted off from Tehran, Shah Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini landed.  And assumed the dictatorship of Iran.  And he and his hard-line Shia crowd has been keeping his population in bondage ever since.  The women may not go to school, they are owned by their husbands, they must cover themselves from head to toe, and may not speak without permission.  

So the folks who are so worried about abortion rights refused to support basic human rights for our friends.  Friends we needed then, and need even more now.  All of that all could have been avoided.  And so could the saber-rattling we're now living through.  And the possible descent into World War Three.

Do you see any parallels between Carter and O'Biden?  No matter what you thought of Reagan, he had a spine.  And he protected America.  O'Biden could have prevented Iran from becoming stronger, but he gave them the $Billions they needed to stay in power and continue to fund terrorism.  And he could prevent Israel from becoming weaker.  But he hasn't, and he likely won't.  Because he has no spine.

O'Biden's "Two-State Solution:"  Michigan and Wisconsin...

As the famed Irish philosopher George Santayana once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to to repeat it."  Perhaps our lawmakers need a little remedial reading assignment...

Like I said, if you'd like to know who exactly caused the problems in the Middle-East, and who could stop them, right now, but won't, it's the Democrats and their flawed leadership.

You have the power of the vote.  Be sure to use it wisely.  

*  BTW, this was all done from memory so forgive me if I get a date wrong.  But the facts are right.  And right there for all to see.  I was gifted with an excellent memory.  Which, if things turn to sh*t, like now, can sometimes be prove to be an affliction...