The .44 Magnum.

Even though the Model 29 Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum (the "Dirty Harry" revolver) was officially released in 1957, their production was so slow that I saw my first one only in 1963.  And the circumstances surrounding that event are worth retelling.

You may know that I was a gunsmith, starting my training at the age of 13.  So by the time I was 18 I was a seasoned hunter and target shooter and collector.  I was at a shooting range one day competing in the NRA's 1,000 yard, 1903-A3 .30-'06, Springfield, Ohio, Open Sight Nationals.  That's where you take an old WW1 battle rifle and, using only open, "iron" sights (no scopes), you shoot at a man-sized target 1,000 yards away.  That's three-fifths of a mile!  And yes, we actually hit it every now and again.

But this day was different.  That day while I was competing there was a conversation a few yards away.  One that I couldn't help overhearing.  It turns out a fellow down the line had just been presented with a Model 29 S&W.  The biggest and baddest and heaviest weapon one could carry.  3 and 1/2 pounds of man-sized revolver.  If you ran out of bullets you beat the guy to death.  I'd never even seen one so I was distracted a bit.  In fact, I removed my ear coverings so as to catch the conversation between the two men.  

The recipient of this wonderful present ($1,000, 60 years ago!) wasn't an experienced shooter, he said.  His friend was trying to explain to him what he'd been given.  While the guy was loading it up with .44 Magnum rounds.  Bringing the weight of this monster to a full 4 pounds.  And just like that, he aimed it at a target.  While holding the revolver with both hands, only about a foot in front of his eyes.  As in, up close and really personal.  As opposed to held out arm-straight, with all body parts tensed up real good.  

And for many, eyes closed, head turned and flinched up real good.

While I was computing all of this, I finally realized this guy was about to screw up badly.  He was about to fire off this cannon within a foot of his kisser. 

I started to yell, "Don't Pull That Trigger!," I got out "Don't..." as he pulled the trigger.   

Uh Oh!  

I should start by saying the .44 Mag was the most powerful handgun available anywhere at the time.  It shot a 245-grain lead bullet at about 1,400 feet per second.  Look at your middle finger back two wrinkles, and you'll get an idea of the size of the round.  And as with Newton's Third Law, the recoil from this brute is a bitch!  As that heavy bullet leaves the barrel, the gun simultaneously punishes the owner with a tremendous kick.  

Held properly, as in at the end of an outstretched arm, it will kick your hand upon firing more than a foot and a half into the air, and twist your hand counter-clockwise a full 60 degrees.  It was a joke back then that it was better to be in front of one of these than behind it.  While trying to aim and shoot.  Most sort of aimed and then closed their eyes.  In short, it is a most unpleasant gun to shoot.  Nor is it pleasant to be on the receiving end.  Put simply, it will shoot completely through a car.  Even hiding behind a car's engine block does not guarantee one safety.  

It will also bruise your hand before you can fire its 6-rounds.    

In this instance, the revolver fired, assaulting the new owner with its ferocious kick.  A kick which smacked him right between the eyes.  Burying its steel notch rear sight deep into his forehead.  Right between the eyes, breaking his nose and splitting his upper lip.  Resulting in his legs kicking forward, and his body reeling backwards.  Knocking him clean out.  

For a split-second his entire body was airborne.  And then he fell with a "Whump!"

I stopped shooting and ran to his aid.  He was knocked out cold.  His forehead was an awful shade of reddish purple by the time I arrived.  He had rivulets of blood running down each side of his nose.  Which by then had swollen to about double in size and turned a bright shade of blue.  His eyes were swollen shut as well.  He was really messed up. 

There was a medical team on site and they tended to his injuries.  After a minute or so he came to, and was aided in standing.  By then his face was blown up to about twice it's normal size.  He was led to the ambulance and taken away.  I never learned what became of him, but I really should have followed him to the hospital.  I'll bet I could have bought that gun on the cheap... 

Who, Exactly, do They Work For?

The U. S. Gubmint leases more than 14,000 buildings.

(!)  

The New Administration just provided lessors of its intent to break 7,500 of those leases.

That's because, according to that same Gubmint, only 7% of that office space is currently occupied.  Empty.  Vacant.  Silent.  Nobody home.

Most of the 93% "working" remotely have done so since the Chinese Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak occured.  That was 4 years ago.  One wonders how many of those 2,700,000 employees toiling away at home are still working?  Or being supervised?  Or even still alive?

Maybe they're watching Jerry Spring reruns, while eating bon bons and sucking back Pabst Blue Ribbon.  And stroking a key every now and again to try and fool the algorythm.  

That's exactly what the New Administation has been asking.  Where are all those nice folks who were sent home a few years ago.  By an Administration that apparently didn't give a sh*t about getting a $Dollars' worth of work out of the Taxpayers' employees for a $Dollars' worth of pay.  

And then nobody bothered to ask them to return.  Back to the office.  Nobody overseeing their acitivities.  Their output.  Their contribution to the Organization.  That would be Us.  The U.S.  Seems to me there's a whole lot of Chiefs in D.C., and a whole lot of Indians, but dammm few Braves to make sure the trains run on time.

Those nearly 3 Million Federal Employees make (earn?) an average salary of $106,000 a Year.  Did you know that?  Don't know about you, but I'm wondering just how many of these "remote" workers have at least one other job?  Wouldn't you like to know that also?  

After all, it's your Tax Money!

Yet again, the outcry from these Federal Workers has been cacophanous!  They've been crying their eyes out on the Clinton News Network and what's left of MSPMS.  Too think!  "I'm being asked to spend a minute providing 5 bullet points of what I did last week!  Five!  By a miserable billionaire!  And then send them back by email!  Or get fired!  That's insulting!  I have a Master's Degree from Columbia!  Who do they think they are?"  

I'm guessing none of these nice folks has ever had a private sector job.  Where you have to justify your contribution to the organization Every Single Day.  Justify your very existence or get shown the door.  You get fired.  Canned.  Dumped.  Excised.  Culled from the herd.  Removed from the scene.  

With extreme prejudice.

I must admit, I've been fired a couple of times.  Because I wasn't performing.  But it steeled my spine.  And forced me to become so valuable to my employers that they fought to keep me.  And I learned enough to venture out on my own.  And made a success of it.  Seems to me a rather large number of those "Swamp Dwellers" could use a good firing.  Or maybe just cushion the blow by one of those "Reduction in Force" memos.  

Just imagine if we were operating on a Balanced Budget.  And where everyone hired must be justified or not happen.  And every Department and Secretariat operating on Zero-Based Budgeting.  Every year you start back at zero and they have to justify every expense they seek.  No more of that last year's budget plus an automatic 17% bump for "inflation."

You should know that our Gubmint rakes in about $4.6 TRILLION DOLLARS every year from income taxes.  An all-time record, BTW.  Yet, it spends more than $1.5 TRILLION DOLLARS more than that!  That's why we're nearly $37 TRILLION DOLLARS in debt! 

When Elon Musk (over)paid $44,000,000,000 for Twitter, he immediately fired 80% of its staff.  And you'll notice "X," the old Twitter, is humming along quite nicely.  I doubt such draconian cuts would prove necessary in D.C.  But I'm betting we could get along without at least 25% of the Federal Gubmint's workforce.  After all, they're not coming to work anyway!  

Oh yeah, and free them from the burden of having to reply to their Boss...

Here's a question on my way out the Digital Door, do they work for us, or do we work for them?

"Viewer Discretion is Advised"

I'd like to ask you a question.

I'd like to know if you're as infuriated as am I, and insulted, when you see those infernal "Viewer Discretion is Advised" taglines streaming across the bottom of your TV screen? 

You turned on the TV, you grabbed your remote, you picked the channel, and you selected the program.  After presumably learning what it's all about.  So I would think you'd need no "warning" about its contents about to spew forth.  Or fifth, even (yuk, yuk).   

Usually preceded by, 

"Foul language, sexual situations, pedophilia, Conservatism, gunfire, pictures of happy families, the hunting of innocent animals, war, loud noises, blood spurting, and the mentioning of God or illegal Aliens." 

As if to say, "We know you're a lily-livered pu*sy, so you might want to cover your miserable, overprivileged eyes and stick your fingers in your ears, at what we're about to show you.  Or else you might wind up terminally offended.  And want to go protest somewhere.  Or throw paint on old Masters.  Or glue your hands to the highway.  Or assume the prenatal position and suck your thumb." 

Cop shows.  And firefighter/1st Responder shows.  And doctor shows.  And military shows.  And reality shows.  And every other kind of show you might realistically see.  If they screen it, they've added that disclaimer.  Written by some $800 an hour lawyer.  A warning so if that if you, the viewer, get somehow shocked and/or offended, it won't be their fault.  So you won't be able to sue.  Hopefully.  

Maybe.   

But since lawyers are now ubiquitous, I mean, every family's got one (what, you don't?), he/she/it can file a lawsuit for a filing fee of $100.00.  And since you don't have to pay little Johnnie, or Suzie, or Sky, the family lawyer, you can ride it out with a smile on your face.  They'll likely settle a "nuisance" lawsuit for $100 Grand or so, enabling you and Johnnie or Suzie or Sky to splurge at the local steak house.  And cause an entire 'nother round of those infernal "warnings" to be visited upon our friends and neighbors before the program can start.

Remember the fat old babe who poured her MickeyD's coffee in her lap?  And scorched her no-longer-needed nether region?  She got a $Million.  Back when a $Million was a $Million.

All this started back in 1994 when "Home Box Office" was forced by the Gubmint to come up with advisories to protect our little kiddos.  That's where the "G, R and X" came from.  It was meant for cable channels, but gravitated to broadcast shortly thereafter.  And soon it was on just about every dammm program they offered.  Don't know about you, but I don't need anyone telling me what to be offended about.  Frankly, if you'd lived my life, it would take one Hell of a lot to offend you.  

I think those infernal warnings should be limited to graphic violence.  Violence so eggregious it would shock the conscience of Americans.  Like car crashes with bits of arms and legs flying in all directions.    

And kidnappings and rapes and mass murders and dismemberments with a Skil saw.  Which occurs almost always in those Big Blue Cities.  Controlled by Democrats, almost exclusively.*  For decades!  And almost any other thing that might trigger some poor soul teetering on the edge of reality out there in TV land!  Or it just might make one "uncomfortable!"  That watchword of the 21st Century.  And lots of other stuff that could warrant me using an exclamation point "!"  

And you know how I just luuuuv to use those "!'s!"

Back to that old lady who snagged the $1 Million over a dropped cup of hot coffee in her unproductive area?   Well, my area's unproductive also and I'm tired of sitting here watching my $money lose its value through Bidenflation.  So I'm going to the local MickeyD's and ordering one of those $8 coffees.  I'll bring my lawyer with me.  'Cause we have more lawyers now than there are guests at Rykers Island, doncha' know.  So why not bring them along, just in case?  I mean, they have nothing to do after law school except study for the Bar exam, right?  And even after they pass, if they do, they'll be driving part-time for Uber to make ends meet.  I'll keep you informed as to how the lawsuit's going.

I saw a rerun of "Saving Private Ryan" on one of the cable channels recently, which prompted this spleen venting.  It was made before the word "woke" was a word.  But now it comes with a viewer "warning."  About what?  War?  Blood?  Guts?  Isn't that kind of what it's all about?  Especially now, in this, the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landing?  Seems to me we need another war to get our priorities straight.  

When, exactly, did we shed our  masculinity?  Our bravery?  Our sense of patriotism?  Do we really need to be warned about life?  And all this begs the question:  Just who, exactly, decides which shows to tag?  And were they bullied on the playground as a kid?  Getting wet willies and their BVD's pulled all up real tight in the crotch, doncha' know?

I'm guessing the Russians and the Chinese are laughing their commie as*es off...    

*    34 out of 40 of our Biggest and Bluest cities' mayors are Democrats.  Only 6 are Republicans.  Makes my point. 

  

There are Now Three Kinds of People.

"There's two kinds of people in this world.  There's my kind, and that other kind."

Sorry, that's an old joke.  But it's actually become a reality, what with our dramatic political polarization.  Except now, there's not two kinds of people; there are three. 

A recent poll was conducted among 1,063 adults who were self-identified registered voters.  They were asked if they agree with POTUS Trump's new Executive Order naming only two kinds of humans.  The "Males," and the "Females."  Just like it was when we were in high school.  And just like it was when Benjamin Franklin was in high school.

But apparently not like it's been taught in the high schools of Democrats.  The results to this poll were rather shocking.  97% of Republicans agreed with this poll (I'm wondering about the other 3%).  59% of Independents agreed with this poll.  77% of Democrats disagreed with this poll.  In fact, only 14% of Democrats were old enough to have taken biology in high school, and thus agreed with this poll.  

Shocking?  I'd say "Yes."

This is the "Whatever makes you happy" generation.  The Democrats firmly believe that if you view yourself as a female, yet born as a male, you're a female.  It gets worse.  Wisconsin's Governor Tony Evers actually signed new legislation declaring mothers as "Inseminated Persons."  And fathers as "spouses."  Whether they're married or not.

Are they friggin' nuts?  I'm afraid so.

It seems that Democrats are on a collision course with reality.  They still haven't gotten The Word.  They still don't know why the Great Unwashed voted them out and Trump's Team in.  I fear it will result in a number of Blue States forcing major league legal wars over the $hundreds of millions of dollars to-be-withheld by the Feds from the states for failing to prevent men from competing in womens' sports.  Doing so is a failure to protect Title IX rules and regs.  And a giant Middle Finger to our women.

Trump called Maine's Gov on the carpet yesterday about allowing a man to win their womens' pole vault championship.  She told him she'll violate his Order.  He told her he'll withhold their $250,000,000 a year in Federal tax sharing funds.  Legal fights a'brewing.  

Remember the old saying, you never want to pick a fight with a newspaper, because they buy ink by the barrel.  In this case, might not want to pick a fight with the Feds.  They print money by the ton.

So we now have Three Kinds of People:

     -  Males

     -  Females

     -  And males looking to displace women from their rightful place in our society.  To take away their places in organized sports.  To steal their legitimate Rights under Title IX.  To grab their scholarships and their sponsorships and their fame.  And the Democrats are applauding their efforts.

This would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

"Scouting America"

Did you notice the press release a couple of days back?  The one where we're notified it's the 115th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America?

Which then went on to announce it had formally changed its name to "Scouting America?"

Thank God this didn't happen 7 decades ago!

Why the new name?  Because whereas the Boy Scouts of America when I was a Scout only catered to males, little boys looking to join together and learn how to grow up to be men, the new iteration welcomes girls.  And gays.  And lesbians.  And "Two-Spirits," whatever they are.  Not only as "Scouts," but as their leaders.  The Scoutmasters may now be a transgender, gay or lesbian.  Or maybe all three.  This new Organization's leadership made these changes in order to be more "inclusive."  

Inclusive?  Did anyone call for Boy Scout inclusiveness?  Except those who mirror the values of downtown San Francisco?

Just so you know how I view this, I joined the Cub Scouts at the age of 8.  I became a Tenderfoot at 10.  And then a Boy Scout at 12.  I rose throught the ranks to Eagle Scout at the age of 17.  Fewer than 4% of Scouts attain this ranking.  

And then an Explorer Scout the next year.  And then on to Asst. Scoutmaster and Scoutmaster.  I have 34 Merit Badges and a God and Country Award with two Oak Leaf Clusters.  In short, I was, and am, a dedicated Scout.  And it helped make me a man.  Like millions and millions of other boys.  Who are likely all now devistated.

The Scout Motto is (was?) "Be Prepared."  And I was, and am.  With thanks to the Scouts.

No doubt the $2.3 Billion Dollar judgment a team of lawyers pried out of the Scouts laid the foundation for all of this.  It seems a number of homosexual Scout leaders used their positions over the decades to harm young boys.  They should be found guilty, and were.  But in the process it gutted Scout treasuries.  All around the world.  Plus, the bad publicity resulted in their going from a membership of 2 million Scouts, to just over a million.  Harming dues and finances, and fundraising activities.  

But to go looking under every rock for new dues-payers is just plain idiotic!

If revenue is their goal, why not add in plumbers, and retired airline pilots, and librarians, and any other pedophiles with $dues money?

I wonder how many $Millions that used to be in the wills of life-long Scouts will now go elsewhere?  I was certainly poised to send some there way.  

But no longer.

I'm wondering also how much more fun I'd have had if such a decision had been made when I was a Scout?  I must tell you I'd have enjoyed it much more!  MUCH MORE!  My hormones were raging back then, and I would have enjoyed a captive audience as an outlet.  Instead of learning how to tie knots and build fires and camp in the wilderness, I'd have been trying to get in Little Suzie's skivvies.  And Sandra's.  And Gwendolyn's.  All day, every day.  Had I a choice back then I'd have much rather "camped" with Little Suzie than smelly Harold.  

It would have  been like Studio 54 in the Woods!  I wonder how quickly I'd have been sent to the Gray Bar Hotel?

If you'd like an incandescent example of "WOKE," this is surely it.  I am sorry to say it, but I expect this effort will fail.  I certainly hope it fails.  BTW, there's still a "Girl Scouts of America."  Where girls who want to learn what Scouting can teach, have joined for decades.  Except for those whose interests lie outside those stated.  Maybe they'll be trying to get in little boy's shorts!  

Isn't this just the dummmest damm thing you've ever heard of?   

"The 5 Stages of Grief"

At a Democrat rally on Tuesday a bunch of angry politicians paraded one at a time to the microphone to yell "Fu*k Trump!"

One at a time.  A couple of dozen of them.  Until freshman Congressperson Maxine Dexter (D-OR) came to the microphone.  She stated, with embarassment, 

"We've got to Fu*k Trump!"

Clearly, this was the first time she'd ever uttered such a word, and never before in front of the entire Country.  After her red-faced display, the rally sort of fizzled out and dispersed.

And so it is when dealing with "The Five Stages of Grief."    They are:

     -  Denial

     -  Anger

     -  Bargaining

     -  Depression

     -  Acceptance

The Democrats were so beat up in the recent Election, they're out of gas and rudderless.  And without the Presidency, the Senate or the House, they're left to just scream and shout into the wind.  To the already converted.  They stamp their little Gucci-clad feet and whimper.  "It's not fair!"  "They can't do this to us!"  

"Musk's trying to steal our identities!"  

If you look at the above list you can self-determine which of these Stages the Dems now find themselves.  With Trump shoveling Executive Orders at them through a firehose, and Musk finding $Billions of waste, the Public has indicated they're all for this sort of Governance.  Trump has never been so popular.  An entire generation has awaited these activities, and they're applauding with glee!  

In short, If I were a Democrat, I'd likely have to become a monk.

They denied reality for a few weeks.  Strained, licking their wounds, in shock.

Now they're relegated to Anger.  Screaming into any available microphone about how unfair it all is!  Anything that will cause their friends in the "Corporate Media" to attend.  And write.  And report.  Their brand of politics.  

Not the majority's, theirs...

My sainted wife Elaine and I ran a Mobile Acute Hemodialysis, Hemoperfusion and Therapeutic Apherisis Service for nearly 40 years.  In fact, we invented the Sub-Specialty, aiding patients whose kidneys had failed.  We were their 1st line of lifesaving in a crisis.  We served more than 40 Los Angeles and Orange County, California hospitals.  We treated more than 10,000 patients over our careers.  And since they were near death by the time we were called in, about 20% of them ultimately died.  And so we witnessed the passing of thousands of folks just like you and me.  

We were able to aid both our patients and their families with the writings of Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.'s book.  In fact, it was designed for kidney patients on the verge of passing.  And I had to go through it myself with my wife's untimely death.  Thus, I'm very familiar with the process.  Unfortunately.

The Democrats are now comparing President Trump to Hitler.  And it's only been a month.  Where do you go from Hitler?  The Devil?  Where?

So Trump is trying to end the War in Europe, seal up our intentionally pourous Border, end the unfair trade practices against America using reciprocal tariffs, open up our gas and oil production to lower our prices and our inflation rate, stop making pennies than cost a nickel, rejigger our costly relationship with Europe, face down China, and force the very first audit of a Government that's now nearly $37,000,000,000,000 (with a "T") in debt.  

And the Democrats are having to defend the opposite of everything Trump's doing.  Making both them and their fading Party yesterday's news.

I'm keeping score where they are on the Stages here at Fortress Chuckmeister.  You can do the same.  Stay in touch, Fellow Patriots!  Let's enjoy the ride while it lasts!   

      

A Little Bit of History...

In the beginning...

God created the Earth and the firmament, and the animals and the fishes in the sea, and like that.  All in less than a week.

Bravo!

And then shortly after The Flood, and the Famous Garden, and Adam and Eve, God ordered us humans to populate the Earth.  We did.  And soonafter some of those humans started fighting one another, Big Time.  So guns were invented.  And the very next day whomever was in charge at the time decided to cough up a bunch of gnarly new gun control measures.  To keep us humans from protecting ourselves.  And it's been that way ever since.

(How's that for crunching up history?)

For instance, Dodge City, Kansas' Marshal required every dusty cowpoke to check their weapons upon entering town.  That was back in 1850.  It was about that time Concealed Carry became popular.

We Americans did just fine without somebody telling us how to buy and own and store and carry and use guns.  In fact, were it not for our individual firearm ownership, we would not have won the Revolutionary War.  

We did just fine until the pansies amongst us decided they needed a Federal Bureau to control the Troglodytes' guns.  That gave birth to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on July 1, 1972.  The ATF has been piling new and "improved" rules and regs to confound us gun owners ever since.  

BTW, do they think every gun owner drinks and smokes and blows sh*t up?

Then, the Blue State governors added their own controls to gun ownership.  Believing, I assume, that it's far easier to govern the unwashed masses if they can't fight back.  That's why China, and Cuba, and North Korea, and nearly every other country on Earth has done it.  That's because a disarmed society is a subservient society. 

Except, if you really want to kill somebody a knife works just as well.  That's why gun-free London, England now has an average of 35 stabbings per day.*

Here's another example.  Taxifornia's own BoyGuv ("Hairgod") Newsom has shat out some 128 anti-gun Executive Orders.  So far.  

Making it much more expensive, and inconvenient, and difficult to buy, use, store and own a firearm.  

Remember that part of the 2nd Amendment that goes, "...the Rights of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed?"  Democrats are very big on infringing.  Really good at it, too!  They've certainly had a lot of practice.

So here's some 3-Michelin Star food for thought.  There's a town in Georgia named Kennesaw.  Its city council decided back in 1985 to require all its households to be armed.  With a gun.  And homes couldn't change hands without proof the new owner was armed.  And knew how to use it.  Kennesaw is a suburb of Atlanta.  Just northwest.  Crime was a big problem prior.  Murders every other day.  That's why they came up with this audacious plan.  It paid off.  There's not been a murder since.  I wonder why other towns don't follow suit?  I wonder why other states don't follow suit?  

Like I've often stated, "An armed society is a polite society." 

*   Right Jon?    

Just "Nuke the Bastards!"

President Teddy Roosevelt once said, "Speak softly but carry a big stick."

As in, let the perceived willingness of your intent to use your power instill fear in your enemies.  I believe Donald J. Trump does exactly that.

On purpose.

But I, The Chuckmeister, your Scribe Without Portfolio, would prefer we ratchet up that old admonition a tad.  I suggest we just do away with those foolish enough to cross us.  We warn them, and maybe even warn them a second time, and then we unleash Holy Hell!

Now that we have a President who actually comes to work (the last one spent more than 45% of his term at the beach), and also seems willing to flex 'Murica's muscle, I suggest we just bypass all the simple and easy threats and go straight to the Big Boomers!  

I mean, we have them, why not use them?

Teddy Roosevelt would be pleased.  Trump has a bunch of Big Sticks to carry.  And to use.  And it's time to stop pussyfooting around and show some backbone!  No getting pushed around anymore!    

If anyone pisses us off, let's just...

                    Nuke the Bastards!

If Kim Jung the Il won't play nice and stop rattling his sabres, we just Nuke the Bastards!

If Putin won't come to terms and stop the mass killings in his war on Ukraine, we just Nuke the Bastards!

Should China's Xi (Whiz?) fail to stop threatening the Republic of South Korea, upon whom we rely for 90% of our microchips, we just Nuke the Bastards!

If Meheeeeko won't get control of those nasty cartels, and stop them from bum-rushing our Border with legions of illegal aliens, we should just Nuke the Bastards!

Jimmuh Carter gave the Canal to Panama for the princely sum of $1.00.  And then leased it out to China.  If they won't give it back, we just Nuke the Bastards! 

And if the Danes won't agree to sell us Greenland, at a price we feel is reasonable ($1.00?), we just Nuke the Bastards!

I'm considered somewhat of an expert on early American Indians.  Or, as some of our more woke like to say, "Indigeneous Personages."  And when their elders start babbling incoherently with old age, like somebody we all know, the Indians believed they were infused with a dose of the Great Spirit.  Mumbling on behalf of their god (small "g"), they were.  In short, they were addled, or even crazy.  But other Indians feared them.  Because they didn't know what they'd do next.  

Funny how that goes...  

Everyone fears POTUS Trump.  Because they don't know what he'll do next.  All the other countries' leaders fear him as well.  And for the same reason.  He keeps them off balance.  And he does so on purpose.  Can you say, "Art of the Deal?"  They actually believe he might pull the trigger.  They think he just might resort to nukes.  And it scares the sh*t out of them.  

Because D. J. Trump's adversaries think he might use nukes, he'll never have to.  Being willing to Nuke the Bastards, means you'll never need to.  The world is filled with scary people.  People who'll kill you as soon as look at you.  And no amount of Liberal wishing will make them nice neighbors.  LBJ tried that.  Clinton tried that.  Obama tried that.  O'Biden tried that.  It hasn't worked.  We have to make them know that a sh*tstorm of badness awaits them if they don't play nice.  

Which leads me to close with an old saying from the famous Chinese general Sun Tzu, in his book "The Art of War," that now pops to mind: 

"If you can't make them love you, at least make them fear you."

The "Attorney's Full Employment Act of 2025."

The Trump Train has pulled into the station!

You might have noticed.

And as soon as it stopped, Trump began issuing Executive Orders at a furious pace.  As in, one after the other.  Like Senator Kennedy noted, "It's like trying to drink from a firehose."  I've researched the matter and I can't find the total number thus far issued.  But it was 58 by the end of the first week.  And as many as 100 so far.  It could even be 200.  Everytime the camera points to him, he pukes forth another E.O.!

And boy, are they far reaching!

Pretty much every E.O. that O'Biden issued, Trump has overturned with another E.O.  In one such E.O. Trump overturned more than 50 of Obama's, errr, I mean O'Biden's E.O.'s.  Just one.  That one had to do with welcoming illegal immigrants by the millions, and shutting down all our gas and oil exploration, and gutting Title IX, and converting all our cars to electricity.  So all that was out of the way.  O'Biden muddied the water with his E.O.'s, and Trump has unmuddied it the very same way.

Tit for tat.

And there are E.O.'s on everything from killing the Plug-In Electric car madates, to renaming the "Gulf of America," to closing USAID, to a complete forensic audit of our Federal Spending.  Which, BTW, has never been done.  Ummm, hello!  When you're almost $37 Trillion Dollars in Debt, it just might be a good time!

But as you may not know, every major law firm in America has an office in Washington, D.C.  Dozens and dozens of law firms.  Each with dozens and dozens of lawyers.  Each suing the sh*t out of anyone they're paid to sue.  Even each other.  At $500 or $600 or $900 an hour.  However, it had been fairly quiet in The Swamp.  Since O'Biden only "worked" 2 hours a day, after 10:00 and before 2:00 p.m., not much got done there for the past few years.  So there wasn't much to sue over.  

Ahhhh, but Trump came to town!  And the E.O.'s flew!

The horrible reality is that the Democrats have no more arrows in their quivers.  The Republicans have the House, the Senate and the Presidency, so all the Democrats have left is the Law.  And the lawyers who happily show up to enforce try and enforce it.

Whether it's legal or not.  And whether they'll be run out of the courtrooms or not.  Just hire me!  I'll sue anyone!  

Kaching!

I'm guessing it'll take a bit of time before the Dems get organized enough to beg for enough donations and hire some lawyers.  But believe me, they will.  And each and every one of the new/old POTUS' Executive Orders will attract a lawsuit.  To try and enjoin it from happening.  And before this is over Trump will likely put forth many more E.O.'s, which will attract even more lawyers.  So I'm guessing his Election will result in what I call...

The "Attorney's Full Employment Act of 2025."

I'm guessing there won't be a single Swamp lawyer left without a Mercedes-Benz when this is over.  Maybe even Bentleys.  Every single one will be busy trying to thwart the efforts of our President, and the will of our voters.  Who are all watching.  Very, very closely.

It's too late for those of you to go to law school.  That train has already left the station.  The battle has been joined.  The hiring has begun.  The legal battles will ensue (pun intended).  A law license in The Swamp is now better than a license to steal.  

But I repeat myself...

P.S.      Didja' know there are more lawyers in Orange County, Taxifornia, than there are in all of Canada?

P.S.S.   Do you know why sharks don't bite lawyers?  Professional courtesy...

The Scriptmeister!

I've decided to pursue a new career.  I've decided to become a scriptwriter.  And I've been energized by recent events.  Let's see what you think...

                                  Plot for a new movie:

     -  Noticing that we're $36 Thousand Billion Dollars in Debt, our new/old President promises to look for any way to reduce Federal spending.

     -  His forensic accountant is Elon Musk, and his brainiacs are working for free.

     -  They discover that only 7% of our Federal employees are coming to work each day.  That means Two Million of them are staying home, eating bon bons and watching Jerry Springer reruns.  

     -  The POTUS offers the slackers an 8 month vacation at full pay and benefits if they'll only quit.

     -  Those on the Left loses their freakin' mind.

                  Or try this one:

     -  The new/old POTUS sets his Muskoids loose to find excess spending.

     -  They discover that USAID is nothing but a slush fund to funnel $Billions of our Taxpayer dollars to our enemies, worldwide.  As in, $195,000,000,000 (with a "B") a year.

     -  The new/old POTUS fires 97% of them.  More than 9,000 useless laggards off the payroll, and $195 Billion saved.

     -  The Left loses its freakin' mind.

             Or how about this one?

     -  The new/old Prez wants to round up and deport all the illegal aliens who've been found guilty in a court of law and ordered deported.  

     -  The Prez' new Border Czar prepares to round them up.  Using the pings from the cell phones O'Biden gave them to learn their location, no doubt.  

     -  Blue State governors and mayors across the Fruited Plain pass new rules and resolutions and laws to defy that Border Czar' efforts.  Preferring to retain murderers and rapists and burglars and child molesters within their communities, just to thwart the new/old Prez.  Taxifornia, as an example, approves $50 Million to "Trump proof" that effort.

     -  The new/old POTUS sends his DOJ attack dogs to arrest the governors and mayors and council weenies instead.  Setting up a pretty neat Constitutional crisis.

     -  The Left loses its freakin' mind.

              Or maybe this one:

     -  The new/old POTUS campaigns on eliminating men from womens' sports.  And keeping them out of womens' shower rooms.    

     -  He wins, and then promptly signs an Executive Order doing just that.  No more transgender men pretending to be women, stealing their scholarships and trophies, or forcing them to shower with men.    

     -  The recalcitrant States of Taxifornia and Illinoway openly promise to defy the President and allow men to take womens' scholarships and trophies.  And to take long, enjoyable showers with pretty girls.

     -  The POTUS issues a warrant for the arrest of BoyGuv ("Hairgod") Newsom and Guvner ("Fatboy") Pritzger, and then has them dragged in chains down Constitution Avenue.  

     -  The Left loses its freakin' mind.

Whaddaya' think?  You likey?  Am I on to something?  Or will movie goers find these plots just too outlandish to be believed? 

   

Acceptance...

I was Shocked!  Shocked, I tell you!  

(With apologies to the French commandant in 'The Maltese Falcon.')

I just learned that some friends, family and acquaintances do not share my personal brand of politics.  What a shock!  Others reading my well-reasoned commentary, full of the commonest of sense, and then choosing not to embrace my point of view!  I'd never considered that might happen!

In fact, I suspect some even voted for Kamala.  But whomever they might be, please keep it to yourself.  I'd rather not know...

Yep, one of those close to me opened up and told me he wasn't as hard edged as me.  Not as convinced of his positions.  Or as well educated and reasoned, perhaps.  But I chose not to tell him that.

It might be a surprise to some people to know there was a time when folks voted for a Democrat, and others voted Republican.  And nobody gave a sh*t.  We didn't view each other through a political lens.  And if the subject of politics did come up, it was more like, "Oh, you voted for Suchandsuch?  Really.  Let's go bowling..."  

That was back in the day when the national news started at 5:30 p.m. and ended at 6:00.  One Half Hour.  And since there was 8 minutes of ads, it was really just 22 minutes.  And they spoke slowly.

There were only 3 networks, ABC, NBC and CBS, so you got pretty much the same news on each.  They all knew you'd already gotten your local and regional news from their network affiliates, you know, the weather, the farm report, and such.  So all you needed to know is how many body bags were off-loaded at Andrews Air Force Base.  And how terrible the war in the 'Nam was going.  Even though it had never been officially declared a "war."  And even though we'd been kicking their butts.  

(Funny, you can win a war in the trenches, but lose it in the "Legacy Media."  It happened in Korea, in Viet Nam, and again in Afghanistan.  We never learn...)

We never knew whether the network news folks were Republican or Democrat.  And we didn't care.  They were broadcasting to the widest possible audience.  And competing with one another.  So they would never have declared their alliegiance to one Party or the Other.  Like you see when watching almost every news program today.  The 2-dimensional folks at MSNBC broke out in tears when the Election was called for Trump.  Like they just learned their dog had died.  I only found out CBS's Walter Cronkite was a Big Lib long after he'd retired and started sailing around the world.

Wouldn't that be better?  To not be able to discern whether a particular news reader was a flaming Leftie or a hard-bitten Conservative? 

BTW, Cronkite was from St. Joseph, MO, just up the road from my home town.  I actually met him once.  His breath from smoking that nasty pipe was palpible.

Anyway, I endeavor to puke forth my official Right-leaning opinions on the pages of this humble blog.  To my faithful Fellow Patriots.  And even those not as faithful.  Otherwise, I try and keep my political opinions to myself.  I choose not to talk politics with friends or family unless they bring it up.  And then, as you might surmise, I'm bountiful with my thoughts on the subject.  Without attempting to proseletyze.  You can buy my brand of politics, or not.  No biggie.  But just remember, by the time you get to be my age, you've likely made every mistake in the book.  And most folks only learn by touching that hot stove, and then learning not to touch it again.  

I've "touched that hot stove," on nearly every subject.  In short, I know the answers to nearly every single question, but nobody's asking.  And I'm pretty sure other folks my age feel the same way.  The smarmy upstart Yalies have been running things for the past few years.  And we have wars all over the planet, inflation high as a kite, gas prices through the roof, and rules, regulations, laws and ordinances piled so high they choke out ingenuity.  And entrepreneurism.  And risk-taking.  The very foundations of our capitalistic society.  

So I accept your failure to embrace my brand of politics, should that be the case.  I'ts okay.  We can still be friends.  You can read my spleen-purging here, yet not be burdened by my opinions when we get together.  

After all, isn't that the very basis of Free Speech?  

Tariffs 101

"A tariff is a tax imposed on foreign goods and services.  Reasons for imposing tariffs include:  a), the reduction of the importation of goods and services by increasing their prices, and; b), the protection of domestic producers."

Well now, Fellow Patriots, it seems that you get not only a gunsmith, an Eagle Scout, a professional pool player, a semi-pro NHRA and SCCA car racer, an Army veteran, and a serial entrepreneur, you also get one of the very few folks you know with an Economics/Psychology double major!

Wowzer, Batman!  That was some sentence!

And BTW, with a major of either psychology or economics, you can ask, "Would you like fries with that?" 

Anyway, I've discovered over the past few days that several of my friends and family have been alarmed about our new/old POTUS' imposing "tariffs" on our neighbors and non-friends.  They think the new/old guy is going to get us into wars and raise our prices for everything.  Because, they say, he's gonna' use that tafiff weapon!  Which they don't understand!  

I'm here to help you understand.

Let's start with the fact that tariffs were authorized by our Constitution, and first used by one Alexander Hamilton back in 1789.  He wanted to protect our whiskey production against foreign competitors.  And to also generate enough revenue to run our new Gubmint.  It worked.  And it's worked many times ever since.

A "tariff" is very simply a tax.  Not unlike the tax you pay on a stick of gum.  Except tariffs are imposed on the imports from other countries which have economic advantages over us.  Such as lower labor costs.  Which influence the finished price of goods.  That's why our chip makers and our car makers and our drug makers and our food makers and our washing machine makers and our cell phone makers have moved overseas or to Meheeeeko in order to secure lower production costs.  So they'll have a price advantage over our companies which didn't do the same.

Our Gubmint takes that all into consideration and then orders a tariff.  Or should.  Some percentage of the finished price of everything that comes off one of those gigantic container ships from China.  900' long, filled will goods on their way to Wal-Mart.  And every one of the products offloaded will be subject to a tariff. 

And in order to continue to compete, I'm guessing most of that tax will be absorbed by the manufacturer.   

Think about this:  The average hourly pay in Bangladesh is just over $0.55 cents.  Our average hourly pay is just over $14.00.  We impose tariffs on Bangladesh to protect our clothing industry.  Without such tariffs we would have no clothing manufacturers left in America.  You see?

In the case of China, Trump has ordered a 10% tariff.  To being with, Trump says.  And I'm assured it will stay that way until they stop sending the precursors of Fentanyl to Meheeeeko.  Which they've been doing for years.  Killing 100,000 of our citizens every year.  They've been warned to stop.  They haven't stopped.  They need their hands slapped.  In the only place where it hurts.  In their communist pocketbooks.  From what I hear they're in the beginnings of a economic recession, so they'll be hardpressed to let it occur.

And in the case of Meheeeeko and Canada, they're to pay 25%.  Because they haven't secured their side of the Border, and they haven't stopped illegal aliens from streaming across.  In Canada's case, they refuse to let our banks do bizz there.  And they don't buy our food.  Or cars.  Or milk.  Or clothing.  They also burn us on oil and gas imports, which we've been buying.  Because Obama/O'Biden wouldn't use our own oil and gas.  Even though we've got more of the stuff than any other country on Earth.    

Global warming, or something.

The Good News is that Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau caved within hours.  They've agreed to spend $1.3 Billion on Border Security.  And also send its Mounties out to corral those nasty Fentanyl producers.  They also have one month to get with the program.  If not, here come the tariffs!  

Meheeeko has used its "Maquilodoras" Industrial Free Trade Zone" to make American cars and American washing machines and American cell phones, but won't secure its Border from illegal immigration.  In fact, it's been aiding it.  Most likely because its political class is afraid of their cartels.  

Trump's imposition of a 25% tariff on its goods, more than $1,000,000,000 a year, would likely bankrupt the Country.  That's why today, less than a day after tariff imposition, Meheeeeko's Prez knuckled under.  Meheeeeko's Prez Sheinbaum has promised to send 10,000 of their military troops to the Border to secure it against illegals and Fentanyl smuggling.  Funny how we get their attention only by putting our hands in their pockets.  They've got a month to do so.  Let's see how it works out.

O'Biden and Obama and Clinton and LBJ and every single Democrat Prez in your lifetime were all politicians.  Meaning they're good at lying in public.  Trump is a  businessman.  He wrote a book about the "Art of the Deal."  You're watching it in action.  His threat to impose painful tariffs to finally get our neighbors to treat us right is a part of the negotiations.  I doubt he has any intention of actually imposing these tariffs.  It's just his opening salvo.

I'm thinking maybe his political enemies should have read his book...

P.S.  To my family and friends, don't worry.  He knows what he's doing.  And he's doing it on our behalf.  I'm laughing my ass off watching it.  Better than any movie.  It's a real-time massive course correction for our Ship of State.  O'Biden and his handlers were good at hiding our mounting problems.  Trump is ripping off the BandAid so we can see them.  And fix them.  We've been headed for the rocks for a long time.  Whether you know it or not.. 

Bathroom Prose.

Do you know how long it takes to take a poop?

If you ask Google how long it should take to do a Number Two, it'll tell you somewhere between 2 and 3 minutes.

Or, it goes on to say, as long as 10 - 15 minutes.  It does not offer an average.

But I do.

My own personal research tells me it's about 5 - 7 minutes.  On average.  That's assuming you're "regular."  You're not having to take Metamucil, or Bisocodyl, or any other aid to facilitating pooping.  

Which is how long, BTW, it takes to read my humble little blog postings.

Yes, Fellow Patriots, I long ago decided to make my blog postings longer than an email, and shorter than a short story.  Just about the time it takes to take a poop.  Around 5 - 7 minutes.  If you've got the runs, save my postings for later.  If you're heavily impacted, you'll then have a few to catch up on while you wait.  

Brilliant, huh?

Go back and check, if you'd like.  All my postings are about the same length.  On purpose.  So you'll decide not to read them until you've got time.  So you can concentrate on the message.  And the only time you'll get during the course of a day to concentrate, away from the distractions of life, is when you close the bathroom door behind you.  And focus on some good reading.  Which I hope you'll agree I offer...

The "Drudge Report" looks at 300 or 400 stories each morning and then selects 50 to feature.  I, on the other hand, look through hundreds of stories until I find "the one" I look to feature.  The one that inspires me to learn more about it, and then homogenize it into a feature story.  One designed to be read whilst my Fellow Patriots have the time and are most able to read them.

Life today is a cacophany of noises and interruptions.  The Harvard Business Review tells us we're innundated by more than 3,000 individual marketing messages every day.  Folks trying to sell you something.  The radios and the TV's and the Social Media tripe focused on lightening your wallet.  I say, relax!  Put the noise behind you, close the door and read my blog postings.  You'll sometimes get so irritated at the crap I choose feature it might even be easier for you to crap!  

I'm thinking it will work at least as well as Metamucil...   

Just Four Main Things...

It was the summer of 1789.  It was more than 100 degrees outside, yet our Founding Fathers had to keep the windows closed in Philadelphia's Independence Hall so they could hear over the screaming crowds outside.  They were doing their very best to come up with a Constitution.  One which would become the road map for our New Country to follow.  As its opening paragraph states, these were its overarching goals:

   "To form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity..."  

Worthy goals, all. And in addition to those Rights conveyed upon us Citizens by God at birth, and codified via the Bill of Rights to that Constitution, the signatories looked to hit the ground running by doing 4 Main Things:

     1.  Mint our money.

     2.  Defend our borders.

     3.  Deliver our First Class mail.

     4.  And mount armies and navies to fight our wars. 

Let's take a look at each of these Categories, shall we?

     1.  You might have come to realize that our Treasury Department has the Mint running 24/7.  Putting out pallets of $100 bills out at a furious pace.  6' x 6' x 5' pallets, weighing 600 pounds, packed tightly with Benjamins.  Lots of them.  So much so that we're $36.4 Trillion Dollars in debt.  Perhaps it should slow down a bit, doncha' think?  Me thinks we should make it harder to run those presses.  Imagine how much money we could save if we just stopped printing money!  Maybe flip the switch.  Just turn off the power?  Anyone know how?  

Oh yeah, it costs us, you and me, the Taxpayers, $3.7 Cents to make a Penny.  Representing an annual loss to us Taxpayers of more than $110,000,000.  Does anyone else besides me (and my daughter Dana) know that?  Does anybody care?

     2.  Defending our Borders took it in the shorts once O'Biden took the wheel.  Or rather, whomever was pulling the string in his back.  Me thinks that ventriloquist was Obama, who stated he'd happily run for a third term, but only if he could find a willing stooge through whom he could run things.  We'll only know for sure when the book's written.  Probably well into the future.  

O'Biden opened our Borders to more than 15,000,000 illegal aliens from 168 countries.  Including China, Iran, Krygistan and Sierra Leone.  Plusss, an estimated 1,400,000 so-called "gotaways."  Those who chose to run rather than to take a free cell phone, a free bus/train/plane ticket to anywhere, lots of free food, free shelter, free clothing, free legal advice, and free medical care.  

Obviously, they had some other goals in mind.  It seems getting all those goodies from 'Murica via its "Non-Governmental Activities"* wasn't enough.  Let's pray those goals don't represent a risk to us Americans.  Remember, it only took 19 Muslim terrorists to bring down the Twin Towers and kill nearly 3,000 of our innocent souls. 

It will take $Billions of Dollars and decades to root them out.  Long after O'Biden and Obama have died (maybe they'll take Jane Fonda with them?), we'll still be paying for their efforts to make America a socialist paradise. 

Oh yeah, I say "pray," because hoping doesn't feed the bulldog.  And there's not much else we can do about it.  Just turn our Bulldog Homan loose, then stand back and watch.  He's rounded up more than 8,000 of them so far, with a goal of 1,200 a day.  500,000 a year.  But until then, we don't know who they are, where they are, why they're here, or what they plan.  It keeps me up at night.

     3.  Oh yeah, Mail.  The USPS.  The "United States Postal Service."  Those nice folks who (sometimes) deliver our mail.  Our Founding Fathers gave birth to our U. S. Postal System.  In fact, Benjamin Franklin was America's first postmaster.  Didja' know that?  We, the Gubmint, bestowed on it the exclusive delivery of our First Class mail.  I doubt they had any idea 2nd and 3rd and 4th Class Mail usage would explode as it has, nor did they believe there'd be hundreds of millions of packages to deliver.  

But companies like UPS and FedEx and and DHL arrived on the scene.  Taking from the Post Office its main revenue generator.  Because 1st Class Mail generates nowhere near enough revenue to float the boat.  Especially now that we, The Public, have devised methods to communicate without spending boucoup bucks for a stamp.  Emails, texts, Zoom, apps, and bullhorns.  That's why we, the Taxpayers, had to inject nearly $6.7 Billion Dollars into their operations just last year.  Why don't they compete on price with those lamprey eels sucking out all their (our) profit?  They can't.  Apparently, doing so is not permitted.   

If the law is stopping it from competing, we ought to change the law.

     4.  And finally, our Founding Fathers wanted to defend us and our allies from foreign countries who try to use force against us.  To mount and stage an army, navy, coast guard and marines to "...provide for the common defense."  How are they doing at that task, you might ask?  Pretty crappy, I'd say.  

You might be surprised to learn we, the U. S. of A., has been involved in 116 wars since our Founding.  10 of them major.  We won the first few, then took it in the shorts from the Brits in the War of 1812.  Remember, they burned the White House?  Then Andrew Jackson kicked their asses. 

After that we got serious.  We built up our Army and Navy and Coast Guard and Marines.  And then went on a tear, winning every war we fought, including World Wars One and Two.  After that?  Zero.  We lost the Korean War (never declared, called a Police Action).  We lost the Vietnam War (another Police Action).  We lost the Iraq War (not declared, not named).  We lost the "whatever" in Afghanistan, costing us another 4,500 American soldiers over a 20 year period.  Sending us off with the shameful retreat from Bagram Air Force Base 3 years ago.  Remember that?  With people dripping from the wings of our C-17's? 

And 13 of our brave soldiers died because of that blunder.  O'Biden couldn't have cared less.  And his poll numbers never recovered.

It seems that, even with a professional, all-volunteer Army, we just cannot win.  Or, is it that our "leaders"  just CHOOSE not to win?  As an Army Veteran, who participated in the Vietnam fiasco, we proved once again that we just cannot learn from history.  The French got their butts kicked at Dien Bien Phu.  That's in Vietnam, BTW.  That was in 1957.  Yet, refusing to learn from history, we sent a "Vietnam Advisory Group" of 100 elite soldiers there in 1961.  To "teach" the Vietnamese how to fight, was the plan.  Before long Kennedy was shot, LBJ was installed, and we had 550,000 American Soldiers there.  Fighting for...what again? 

A picture I cannot forget is the one of our helicopter taking off from the tallest building in Saigon.  Loaded with our Embassey staff.  The last few to run with their tails between their legs.  Another war chosen by old guys in suits, but fought by your sons and daughters.  I'm hoping our new Defense Secretary will call a halt to all unecessary future bleeding.  And if it proves necessary, just Kill Them All.  And fast!  

You can visit the Monument to our 55,000 fallen Vietnam-era soldiers the next time you're in Washington, D.C.

So to wrap it up, our Gubmint has four primary jobs.  And it's been doing a crappy job at all four.  Our Constitution still works.  But it's up to our leaders to maybe follow it for a change.  Perhaps our new President will right the Ship of State.  I sure as Hell hope so...

*    America (O'Biden) sent $1.7 Billion Dollars to its "NGO's" so they could circumvent our laws regarding illegal alien immigrants.  WE couldn't give them all that free stuff, but the NGO's COULD.  Pretty shady, huh?