Saturday, May 30, 2020

"As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap."

A Black man named George Floyd was killed in Minnnneeappollis by a policeman on Memorial Day.

Apparently, Floyd tried to buy a pack of cigarettes with a phony $20 bill, and was arrested, handcuffed and thrown to the ground.

He was asphyxiated and died when a cop named Chauvin knelt on his neck for 8 minutes and 47 seconds.  

There's no doubt the cop killed Floyd, as it's all on video.  It was a tragic, excessive and avoidable act, and just one more example of police abuse.  But the jury will decide whether it was murder in the 3rd degree, as that is his charge.

But what happened next is the subject of this little rant.  One could expect that there might have been protesting, especially considering the egregious manner of Floyd's death.  But lawful protesting does not include arson, battery, thievery, domestic terrorism and even murder, which have all occurred during the past three days.

So far there's been rioting, full-on RIOTING, in 30 American cities.  These include Minnnneaapolliss, Atlanta, New York City, Denver, Lost Angeles, St. Louis, Oakland, Baltimore, Portland and Kansas City.  Widespread looting occurred in Minnneeapules, as did the systematic burning of an Autozone, a CVS, an Arby's, a Lowes' and at least one neighborhood liquor store.  The anarchists even torched a 189-unit low-income apartment building.  170 businesses in all, with many, if not most, Black owned.  Stark videos of thieves liberating TVs and cases of booze and everything else not nailed down from a dozen stores there are circulating the Internet.  

CNN's World Headquarters was attacked in Atlanta and seriously damaged.  Dozens of police cars were torched and destroyed.  American flags were burned.  Barclay's Center in Brooklyn was attacked and its doors and windows broken, and more than 200 rioters were arrested.  The national guard was deployed, bottles and rocks were thrown, shots were fired, people were killed.

Perhaps most alarming, hundreds of rioters attacked the White House grounds in D.C., injuring numerous Secret Service agents in the process.

And all this occurred last night in America.

As I said, protesting because a rogue cop killed a Black man is not new.  Nor should it be.  But to those who chose to protest Floyd's killing, I would ask:  "Did you also protest the killing of the 10 Black men, women and children murdered by gunfire in Chicago this past weekend?"  No?  Why not?

There's an average of 30 shot and 8 Black folks murdered in Chicago every weekend.  Where are the protests?  Are they not worthy of your attention?  Or are you only interested in Blacks killed by police officers?  And if so, why?

And what exactly caused all of this shooting, looting, burning and killing?  I would offer up that it was the exact moment when the boy mayor of Minnneeeappalous ordered his police to evacuate their 3rd Precinct Headquarters, and retreat.  He did, and they did.  Full retreat.  And the moment they did, the rioters, the anarchists, knew they had won; they immediately burned it down.  They knew they could get away with anything.

And they did.  All night long.  The mayor of this major American city abandoned it and its citizens to the rioters.  Why?  I can only assume it's because he's a coward.  He was too afraid of being labeled politically incorrect.  So he abandoned his city.  To the thieves.  To the criminals.  That alone was enough for the members of Antifa, and Black Lives Matter, and other anarchic organizations all across America, to start rioting.  

They'd been schooled over the past few years in far-left cities like Portland and Seattle.  They'd been permitted to get away with arson and robbery and battery and pillaging and burning buildings and cars for all this time.  So they were waiting for a time when they could bring their fearsome and loathsome anti-American activities to other cities.  To almost all the big cities.

To all the Democrat-controlled cities.  As all the cities they attacked had something important in common; they are all run by Democrats, and have been for decades.  Doesn't that tell you something?  It does me...

Oh yeah, and Chauvin's wife has now filed for divorce, making this no doubt his - and Mr. Floyd's - very worst week ever.  

So as I mentioned on the way in the rhetorical door, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap (Gallations, 6:7)."  Or put another way, what goes around, comes around.  If you let anarchist Antifa and Black Lies Matters terrorists hone their skills on this streets of your liberal city, pretty soon they'll take their show on the road.

And they just did...

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Right Idea, Wrong State...

So I was just watching an episode of "LivePD."

That's the A and E cable TV show where you get to "ride along" with the officers and deputies from around the nation as they "protect and serve." 

I have to find some way to spend all this extra time while I'm "sheltered in place," and this program is among the very best, doncha' know.

Anyway, in this particular episode a team of three shoplifters, working in tandem, were in an Arizona department store awhile back boosting clothing.  They'd each taken a dozen or so garments into the fitting rooms and put them on, one by one, layer by layer, with the intent of walking out, a bit "larger" than normal, but free and clear.

Good idea, wrong state.

It seems that an eagle-eyed employee had caught wind of this heist and called in the fuzz.  Remote cameras will do that for you.  Anyway, three deputies arrived at the fitting rooms and one-by-one hooked up the perps and carted them off to the hoosegow.  Too bad for those thieves.  They screwed up.  It seems they just picked the wrong state in which to ply their trade...

They should have gassed up there in Arizona and driven off to California.  Why?  Not for the weather.  For the immunity...

(And be sure to gas up first, because gas ((and nearly everything else)) in your state is mucho cheaper than in Taxifornia!)

California just added another amazingly stupid law to a seemingly never-ending succession of amazingly stupid laws dating back decades.  They  just passed "AB-47."  This little jewel hikes the minimum for thieves to be charged with a felony from $50.00, where it's always been, to $950.00!  $950.00!  So our 3 theoretical shoplifters could have swarmed any number of compliant stores here and boosted armloads of anything worth stealing, stopping only when they began to reach that "felonious," nearly $3,000 collective number.  

Except it's not theoretical...

The above scenario is happening thousands of times every day in California.  It's happening so often in San Franpoopco that the cops now don't even rush to try and stop it.  If the Bad Guys are still there when they arrive, IF they decide to arrive, they just casually write them a citation, on the assumption they might show up for their court date.  Might!  But there's no teeth in this law.  There is NO penalty for failing to appear.  

None!  

And even if the cops decided to arrest these miscreants, our new "no cash" bail system would mean they could just turn around and walk back out the jailhouse door.

It's gotten so bad up in San Frantaxyou that car break-ins there now exceed 60 per day.  So many are calling the cops to report break-ins that the City has now decided to simply pay for the car owners' glass breakage rather than to try and find and arrest and try the thief.  Think about that.  Their new faaaaarr-left D.A., a feckless bozo named Chesa Boudin, the offspring of 60's Weathermen Underground anarchists who were found guilty of murder, and given life, the Godson of that (in)famous Obama domestic terrorist buddy Bill Ayers, doesn't charge thieves, he simply uses taxpayer money to pay for their crimes

Does that make any sense to anyone?  Anyone at all?

I think not.  Yet, the "tail wags the dog" here in Taxifornia.  Our 22 "blue" counties have significantly more people in them than do the 36 "red" ones.  Thus, with a supermajority in both houses of our Legislature, they can, and DO, pass any dumbass law that tickles their Left-wing fancy.  And that fancy included AB-47.

For those of you who are now comfortably sequestered in some other place besides Taxifornia, just think: this law means shoplifting is essentially no longer illegal in the once-Golden State.  Just imagine being a shopkeeper in SFO, or LA, or anywhere else in the once-Golden State, and having gangs of roving thieves separate you from your property, in broad daylight, while you're just standing there, watching, without any fear of prosecution.  I find this just beyond belief.  Perhaps you will as well.  

But it's a fact that our left-wing leadership does not.  What a shame. 

I guess this comes from the same sort of thinking that produced "sanctuary cities."  Can you say commie pinko dumbass liberal weenies?  I can...

So I say to all our prospective shoplifters nationwide, just hop in your cars and head out west.  To San Franscrewyou.  They have lots of stores there with lots of stuff still left in them, just awaiting your visit.  At least they did before the shoplifting spree began.  But remember to bring a calculator with you.  You must not take more than $950, else you may be arrested and may be found guilty.  

And we can't have that, now can we?

P.S.  There was an armed robbery in Culver City, CA a couple of weeks back.  It turned into a freeway car chase and a shootout with the police.  The thief was caught and arrested and taken to jail.  Good, right?  More Bad Guys off the streets, right?  Wrong-O!  He was immediately charged with a major felony.  And, due to the new Los Angeles Country District Attorney's rulings, under the auspices of AB-47, he was issued a summons and...and immediately released back on the streets, without bail.  

Ridiculous, huh?  It gets worse.  This guy stole 2 more cars that same night and was arrested two more times for doing so.  And twice more he was charged and released.  With another summons.  Released.  Presumably to terrorize some other poor citizen.  

No wonder the sales of new firearms here was up 85% last month...    

So, in conclusion, fellow Patriots, I issue this invitation to all prospective shoplifters nationwide:  be sure to bring your masks.  While we now allow, even welcome shoplifting, please make it known we do not condone those who fail to follow our mask and "social distancing" guidelines.  Just remember to remain six feet apart as you commit your crimes.     

A state has to have some standards, right?    

Monday, May 25, 2020

Civil Disobedience...

You've perhaps heard about "The Shot Heard 'Round the World."  Or maybe you haven't.  

History of this sort is not always taught in our schools any more.  Sadly.  

But just in case you haven't, it started the Revolutionary War.  And we, you and me, are the result.

On the night of April 18th, 1775, hundreds of British troops set off from Boston toward Concord, Massassachuusettts, in order to seize weapons and ammunition supposedly stockpiled there by American colonists (sound familiar?).  Early the next morning, the British reached Lexington, where approximately 70 Minutemen had gathered on the village green.  Someone suddenly fired a shot - it's not certain by which side - and a melee ensued.  When the brief clash had ended, eight Americans lay dead and at least an equal amount were injured, while one redcoat was wounded.  The Brits continued on to nearby Concord, where that same day they encountered armed resistance from a group of patriots at the town's Old North Bridge.  Gunfire was exchanged, including the first, the "Shot Heard 'Round the World," leaving two colonists and three redcoats dead.  Afterward, the British retreated back to Boston, skirmishing with the colonial militiamen along the way and suffering a number of casualties; the Revolutionary War had just begun...

Why did the colonists choose to take on their own government?  That era's only superpower?  They blanched at the idea of ever-increasing taxation.  So much so that they began to contemplate "civil disobedience."  Meaning, protesting laws and rules and regulations they found offensive, unfair, or illegal if they were successful, and armed resistance to British overreach if they weren't.  

When the Brits learned of this, they immediately began to seek out and seize the colonists firearms and ammunition (sound familiar?).  They had learned that a cache of arms and ammo might be in Lexington and they simply could not abide an armed citizenry (sound familiar?).  And so they attacked.  

You might be surprised to learn that about half of the colonists back then were loyal British subjects.  They were just fine being subservient to Britain, as they'd known no other life.  They did not want war.  Yet, the Brits had never learned an important lesson: You simply cannot lead The People unless The People willingly submit to that leadership.  And that's why the other half of the colonists, those who desired freedom, decided to protest.  To revolt.  And when their demands were not met, to take up arms.  And by then, the British had so enraged the colonists that the other half had joined them in revolt...

You know the rest.  We demanded our freedom.  We were forced to fight the Brits to gain it, and the Brits lost.  America was the result.

Why do I bring this up now?  Look around.  We are "sequestered at home," which is a euphemism for "home confinement."  We are ordered not to assemble, yet the freedom to assemble is emblazoned in the 1st Amendment to the Constitution.  We are ordered not to attend worship services, yet the freedom of religion, and to also practice it, is likewise guaranteed by that same Amendment.  Mayors and governors may not simply erase our Rights via an "executive order," or any other mechanism.  Those self-same mayors and governors were elected By The People, and govern at their consent; it is Not the other way around.  

Yes, we must accede to reason and "socially distance," and wear a mask when wearing a mask is necessary.  National crises occur; yet those crises do not subvert the very Constitution upon which our Great Country is founded.  We may not be ordered around like so many sheep.  We will be reasonable and cooperate, so long as the choice to cooperate is left up to us, the electorate.  Enough, as they say, is enough.

For all those barbers and hair stylists and restauranteurs and surfers and shop keepers out there, fight back.  Take the cities and states to court that try their best to make you cower in fear.  A pox on those who try to make you hide in the corner and await their next proclamation.  You will win.  Because they are assuming the authority they desire, even though they do not have the authority they seek.  

Today is Memorial Day.  On this day we remember those who gave their lives so that we could live in freedom.  Ask yourselves; are we making them proud?   

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Cruella De Ville, Revisited.

I've decided that this whole "sequestering in place" thing is just not working.

Oh sure, laying low for a couple of weeks so that we could "flatten the curve" was a doable deal.  And we did it.  You and me.  Americans will always rise to the occasion.

So long as the occasion is a good one.

But somehow, someway, 15 days of "sequestering in place" morphed from "flattening the curve" into "testing everyone, everywhere, all of the time, and then finding a vaccine, whenever THAT might happen, and then administering it to everyone in America.  Twice."*

But only in our "blue" states.  Not the "red" ones.  Just the ones which are owned and operated by Democrat governors and legislatures.  The ones that make up stupid, dumbass rules that their citizens find intolerable.  And unfollow-able.  

Like Michigan's governor Whitmer, for example.  She does the very best Cruella De Ville impression I've ever seen!  She says a canoe or rowboat's just fine, but a motorboat shall not be tolerated!  And if you're a barber, don't cut that hair!  You'll lose your license!  And one of her 77 year-old barbers just did!  Except her own judiciary slapped her hand and reopened this barber's shop!  Good for him!  A pox on her!  

Imagine being so consumed with gaining...and keeping...power that you terrorize an old barber who's just trying to keep from starving.  

Michiganders can buy cigarettes and lotto tix and maryjowanna, doncha' know, but cannot buy paint, or tools, or carpet, or seeds.  Yeah, stupid, dumbass rules.

So Michiganders are "up to here" with the antics of their power-mad guv.  Who, BTW, just extended her state's lockdown for the fifth time, all the way out to June 12th.  And so are the victims, er, citizens of WA, and CA, and NJ, and NY, and MD, and IL, and CO, and so many other deep "blue" states.  22 of them, to be exact.  Oregon's Governor Kate Brown, for example, tells her "prisoners" that she's ordered her highway patrol to check the license plate numbers of those citizens trying to shop in another, "open" county, and then jailing them for trying.  Are you sh**ing me?  

"Whatcha' in for, buddy?  Shopping in an "open" county..."   

And the used-to-be Golden State has plenty of dumbass rules as well.  Lost Angeles' Mayor Garcetti has issued an edict informing his captives that they can finally return to the beaches.  Excepppppt, they may not walk on the "dry" part of the sand.  Only the "wet" parts.  And they must walk.  No running, or jogging, or swimming.  Do not go in the water!  And be sure not to sit or lay down or do any of that "sunning" thing.  In other words, "No Fun For You!"

So 22 of our 50 states are run by governors who think your getting a haircut is tantamount to willfully spreading the Chinese Virus and attempting to murder your fellow citizens.  That going out to a bar for a drink means you want to kill all your friends and neighbors.  Such horses*it!  And the residents of those 22 states are sick and soooo very tired of waiting for their Democrat guvs to loosen the traces.  To open up their states so they can resume a normal life; going back to work, going to a movie, going on vacation.  Like that...

And just to make things Orwellian to the max, the commie pinko governors are releasing hardened felons out the back door of their jails and welcoming barbers and hair stylists and gym owners through the front.  Sexual predators, armed robbers, burglars, drug peddlers, and other miscreants are being released from jails across the fruited plain due to the same virus that causes "blue" state governors to want to lock up their ordinary citizens.  Huh?

Let me restate that so there's no misunderstanding:  "Blue state governors have released more than 67,000 hardened felons from jails nationwide** because...ummm...they might catch the dreaded "Coronavirus."  And they're doing that while threatening ordinary citizens, barbers and stylists and restauranteurs, just trying to work or play or pray, with jail!

Cruella De Ville only wanted to make a coat out of dalmations.  These governors want to make their citizens homeless paupers...

I'm truly happy that most of our governors never have the need or get the chance to show their leadership qualities.  That's because we seldom have a National Crisis, thankfully.  And that's because from what we've seen recently, most of them seem to be fresh out...

*    NOTE:  The Chinese Killer Coronavirus (COVID-19), and the MERS virus, and the SARS virus, and the H1N1 Swine Flu are all Coronaviruses.  And so is the Common Cold.  And we still do not have a vaccine for any of them! 

**  DOJ, April, 2020

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Big Game Hunting.

What are your thoughts on "big game hunting?"

You know, where hunters go to Africa, gun down an elephant, or a lion, or a cape buffalo, then have the poor lifeless bastard mounted so they can bring it on home and hang it over the fireplace.  And then brag to all their buddies about how they confronted danger in the Dark Continent...and escaped with their lives!

Do you agree with PETA, and the ASPCA, and "Mother's Against Hurting Wildebeests Unnecessarily (just made that last one up!)" when they call for an abolition against all such hunting?  In fact, PETA would prefer that no animal anywhere would ever be killed again for any reason whatsoever.  Sort of like forced veganism, I guess...

I know that this subject is a bit controversial.  You'll recall the dentist from Ohio who mistakenly shot poor old Cecil the Lion on a private game preserve a few years back.  And you'll recall he was tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.  He lost his license, and his dental practice, and his marriage.  Yeah.  Controversial.

Oh yeah, and I should also add in about here that more than 200 local villagers were eaten in the months following Cecil's ignominious demise.  That was because all hunting was outlawed for a time due to the outrage over poor old Cecil's death.  And no hunting meant no herd control.  And out-of-control herd growth results in waaaay too many lions vying with each other over who gets to eat whom.

So do you think hunting for Big Game, or any game, for that matter, should be abolished?  Should hunting for Big Game be officially sanctioned?  Or outlawed altogether?  Well, fellow Pilgrim, let's take a deep dive into that question...

Did you know that Africa is a poor continent?  With exception of South Africa, it is.  Africa is beset with poverty.  And crime.  And corruption.  And anything the world can do to help them in their time of need should be welcomed, don't you think?  So do I...

And Big Game hunting is often a major source of help.  Of economic assistance.  Their pathway out of poverty.  Whaaaat?  What's that you say, Mr. Chuckmeister?  That Big Game hunting is actually HELPFUL?  Yes, yes it is.  And here's how...

Africa has been divided up by its various countries into a series of franchises they call "concessions."  Much like McDonalds, Africa's countries have divvied up their millions and millions and millions of square miles into several dozen game preserves that are each called "concessions."  And each concession is tasked with locating, inventorying and protecting the health of the game animals within its borders.  But each is also tasked with protecting and caring for their various indigenous tribes, their "human capitol," lest they wither and starve.  So each concession must also provide security for its citizens, its residents, while protecting its game animals from poachers.  And poaching represents the single biggest threat to Africa's big game animals today. 

So, how does one preserve and grow the herds of game animals, protect and feed the tens of thousands of tribal members under their sway, and also hunt down, arrest and prosecute poachers?  They do it by selling permission slips to kill their animals.  

Each concession offers hunters the right to come to their territory, their preserve, whether it be in Zimbabwe, or Uganda, or Kenya, or any of the other participating countries, and hunt any of their animals...for a price.  A tag to hunt a wart hog, for instance, could cost as little as $200.  A wildebeest, $1,500.  A Sable would cost you $4,000+.  An Oryx, around $6,500.  And then it starts to get interesting.  

The so-called "Big Five," lion, cape buffalo, leopard, rhinoceros and elephant, will set you back Big Bucks.  A lion tag, good for a period of as little as 10 days in duration, start to finish, costs around $32,500 for a lioness, and $50,000 for a black mane male.  That's just for the license!  A cape buffalo, perhaps the toughest of all big game animals, costs around $30,000.  A leopard, a cool $60,000.  And an elephant, believe it or not, as much as $100,000!

So you hire a safari company (around $2,000/week, lodging and meals only) and a Professional Hunter to serve as your guide (upwards of $5,000/week, plus tip) to help you fill out your Bucket List tags.  That's on top of all your costs fo transportation, both to Africa and in-country, and for firearms, and ammunition, and specialized clothing and gear.  And once you've hunted down and dropped that elephant something unexpected will happen.  The local villagers will appear en masse, as if by magic, in mere moments, to harvest the meat.  And within 30 minutes there will be nothing left of that elephant but bones.  And had that elephant not be harvested at that time, and at that place, then that tribe would not have eaten that day.

There are no food stamps in Zimbabwe.  No welfare.  No Medicaid.  No nothing, but a wealth of game animals which can be turned into a payday.  And a meal.  If managed correctly... 

And oh yeah, I should mention it can cost more than $10,000 to have one of your trophies mounted for presentation.  Ten Grand!  

"Hey Larry!  Whaddaya' think of my elephant foot waste basket?"

All of the foregoing expenditures occur within poor countries.  Countries with slight other economic opportunities than hunting.  And now that these professional concession operators are caring for and growing their herds while hunting down poachers, we have the best of all worlds.  Their job is to field the private police forces necessary to hunt down poachers, which are paid solely by the concessionaires, and then arrest and prosecute those evil bastards who kill elephants and rhinos solely for their tusks and horns.  And those tusks can command as much as $200,000 each, proving the worth of this modern franchise concept.   

So, by managing herd size through a carefully-controlled hunting program, the concessions can earn enough income to police against poaching while guaranteeing their tribal members don't starve.  What's not to like? 

The United States gives African countries $Billions each year in foreign aid.  Zimbabwe gets nearly $One Billion all by itself.  Other countries contribute far less, but still a significant amount.  But most African countries are still doing their best to work their way out of poverty.  And hunting is a major component of that quest.

So, I ask again:  what do you think about Big Game hunting?  Has knowing a bit more about what it entails and the many benefits it offers changed your mind somewhat?  Or are you still dead-set against it?  I'm certainly not here to change your mind.  That's not The Chuckmeister's job.  My self-appointed job is just to bring you the information you need to form an intelligent opinion.  Have I?  Have you? 

Sunday, May 17, 2020

No Free Lunch!

While we're all safely sequestered, "sheltered in place," protected by our elected officials from that awful virus that's everywhere but Home Depot, Albertson's, Wal-Mart and Lowes, I thought I'd take a look at something that's been bothering me.  And perhaps it's been bothering you as well...

So I was thinking about buying one of those reeeely trendy little electric cars.

You know, the kind you just plug in, and then absolutely "free" electricity flows unimpeded directly from the wall - or somewhere-or-other - right into your "tank."  Or your battery, or your computer, or your back pocket, or wherever the heck it chooses to go...

Damn, maybe it comes directly out of the ether!  Who knows?

But we do know that it's the "right thing to do," as taught to us by our current generation of folks who are scared of Confederate statues.  And plastic straws.  And mis-pronouning folks, lest they have their precious little snowflake feelings hurt.  And the 1st and 2nd Amendments.  And the 4th and 5th and 10th, too.  And "global warming," of course.  Can't forget about that.  It's the new religion of the Left, doncha' know...  

Now, we put-upon Californians, for example, know that doing bizz with electric utilities is somewhat sketchy.  Like SCE for example.  Southern California Edison decided a generation ago (1984) to build a really nice, shiny new nuclear power generating plant in Orange County's San Onofre, California.  

San Onofre is Spanish for "gouge the rate-payers," I think.  

And boy, did it ever work!  It was beee-u-tee-ful!  It spewed out tons and tons of electricity, powering hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses here in the Southland.  For years and years!  Absolutely clean!  The natives rejoiced!  The politicians rejoiced!  The climate rejoiced!  All without nasty emissions, or otherwise harmful consequences  of any kind!  

That little jewel cost them (us) $8.986 Billion Dollars.*  

But all was not sweetness and light.  Oh No, my friends, no, no, no!  The folks who built this baby later learned that this plant was situated near an earthquake fault.  (I wonder why the highly-paid consultants didn't notice that glaring detail going in?)  And if an earthquake hit nearby, it might, just might object.  And I emphasize "might."  And when nuke plants object, things can get real awful, real soon.  Think Three Mile Island.  Or think Chernobyl.  Bad...  

Of course, a ten mile-wide meteor just might strike downtown Chicago today.  And I emphasize "might."

So, they decided to redesign, refine and update the plant, in order to make it more earthquake-proof, taking more than a decade to accomplish.  And costing them (us) more than $2 Billion more of our hard-won dollars.  Boy, them there rate-payers (us) sure are nice, aren't they (we)?

Uh oh!  And then back in 2012 somebody discovered a radioactive leak in one of the generators.  Ooopsie!  Not good!  

The Social Justice Warriors then mounted their assault.  They somehow decided that nuclear power, especially nuclear power located in a state where earthquakes are more ubiquitous than Starbucks, in a state where folks are afraid of what the weather might bring in 12 years or so, a state where they love illegal aliens and hate old white geriatrics, like me, is a big time "no-no." And somehow or other the folks in charge up there in Sacrataxyou listened to these limp-wristed pantywaists instead of the normal, everyday rate-payers.

Like you and me.

Pretty, it was.  And I say was, because it no longer is...  

SCE then decided to s**tcan the entire project, tearing it down and carting it away.  Of course, disassembling a 30 year-old nuclear generating plant is not so very easy; we're told it'll take a long time and costs $Billions.

In our case, our erstwhile power company is spending another $4.2 Billion in a "decommissioning fee" to make the San Onofre nuclear plant disappear.  As in, go away.  Buh bye!  Courtesy of the rate-payers (me, and maybe you), I might add.  And then estimate that this disappearing act will take at least 9 or 10 years, and generate no fewer than 600 jobs.  Hmmm.  

I'd just like to say that this is not a good way to create jobs.  Oh no!  Otherwise, why not just tear down the L.A. Coliseum and the Golden Gate Bridge, too?

So, SCE, a company already in bankruptcy due to its having caused the infamous 2018 "Camp" Fire, which destroyed more than 18,000 homes, burned 150,000 acres down to the ground, and killed 85 people a year or so back, has blown through through some $10.4 Billion Dollars of OUR MONEY, for no good reason that I can determine.  But it's gone.  And we, the rate payers, have to pay it back.  Via increased electric bills ad nauseum and ad infinitum (doncha' just luuuuv French?)

And all of that is happening as countries around the world are mothballing their nuclear reactors.  Why?  Hmmm, because hand-wringing scardycat weirdo commie Lefties who sit at the feet of teenage climate gurus like that loudmouth little Greta chick are demanding it.  They want wind!  And solar!  And wave energy!  

Fossil and nukes bad!  Solar and wind good!

So our "Sano" Nuke Plant is history.  But our electric bills are not.  They're gonna' be with us ratepayers  for decades.  And if I were to buy a Tesla, or another of those little Liberal automobiles, my electric bill would go up faster than Slick Willie's willy.  So just remember this, fellow Patriots.  Our elected officials will do everything they can to make our puny, miserable, Great Unwashed little proletariat lives less livable.  And the moral of this story is, whatever they do, helpful or not, we have to pay for it.  

Because, and no surprise here...there ain't no free lunch!

*  KPBS News

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Freedom Isn't Free...

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn't pass it along to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed down for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

                                    -  President Ronald Reagan


I've heard the above quotation many times.  And each time I sort of scoffed inwardly at the notion that America, our Great Country, could somehow find itself in a position where our innate and guaranteed freedoms were at risk.  

After all, we've fought the wars we needed to fight to win our freedoms, I thought, and I could not foresee any situation where those freedoms might be lost.  Or to some degree compromised, even.  That an enemy, foreign or domestic, could somehow put its boot on our neck and subject us to authoritarianism and tyranny.  That we might find ourselves in danger of losing our hard-won birthright.  Of finding ourselves under the thumb of fascism.  

I was wrong. 

It seems all it took was a pandemic to be unleashed on the very day after our Mr. Trump was found Not Guilty in his bogus impeachment trial.  The very day after.  Take from that what you will...

As one among many who's fought for freedom while wearing the uniform of the United States, I now sit, sequestered, "sheltered in place," while San Fran Nan Pelosi's nephew decides whether or not I can leave my home.  And return to work.  Or go to church.  Or get a haircut (which I desperately need...notice, he doesn't!).  Or grant me a relative degree of ever-changing "freedom" depending upon the state in which I reside. 

Freedom isn't free.  We bought and paid for it with our blood.  And I can tell you I won't stand by and watch it taken from me, and from my family, without putting up a fight.  And I'm betting I'm just one of many millions who agree with me.  Millions and millions.  That just sitting by and watching while some commie pinko dumbass liberal weenie governor somewhere or other issues an "executive order" taking my Rights from me...and keeping my Rights from me...for no good reason, is just not going to happen.  Rights he does not have the authority to erase.  And his trying to do so is unconstitutional.  A little tour through the 1st Amendment to the Bill of Rights should provide all the proof anyone needs.  

So I sit back and watch.  I watch whether our current crop of Americans are made of that "special stuff" needed to adequately represent our Country while they're carrying the load.  And what I see leaves me concerned.  I watch people driving their cars while wearing a mask.  Huh?  Don't they know...or care...that wearing a mask is purported to protect everyone but the wearer?  Or are they just too damn dumb to even be permitted to drive their cars?  Maybe, just maybe, they're Darwin Award candidates making their cases early...

So I watch the so-called "Mainstream Media" work overtime to try and blame Trump for his manufactured failings on the Chinese Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic.  All the while shielding Biden and Obama and everyone else for their culpability over pandemic preparedness.

It's worth recalling that Trump was a Democrat working and living in New York City while the Obama Administration was refusing to "deal" with the H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic that killed nearly 20,000 Americans a decade ago.  It hospitalized 250,000 Americans.  And sickened more than 60 Million worldwide.  And in the aftermath, the Obama and Biden Administration's requirement to also adhere with a House panel's recommendation to purchase millions of masks and tens of thousands of ventilators to promptly resupply a depleted inventory.  

Which they didn't.  As Trump said, "The cupboards were bare..."  

Remember hearing anything about this pandemic back then from your friendly Dinosaur Media?  Anything?  No?  Me neither.  Could it be that the primary difference between then and now...is the Party occupying the White House?

It seems to me that many of the governors of the 22 Democrat-controlled states have forgotten something that all of us should remember; our citizens deserve, and must receive, the trust of those they choose to elect. Our citizens must be trusted to "do the right thing," lest we're left with authoritarian despots who've decided that they are the arbiters of acceptable behavior.  When Michigan's Democrat Governor Whitmer can decide, unilaterally, that it's okay to row a canoe, but not okay to use a motorboat; and that it's okay to buy pot and booze and lotto tickets, but not paint or seeds or a shovel; and that it's okay to cancel a 77 year-old barber's cosmetology license without a hearing because he decided to open without her exalted permission, then we have sown the "seeds" for civil disobedience.  And when she's joined by other governors arresting barbers for cutting hair, and anglers for fishing, and surfers for surfing, then we have the makings of a revolt.  

And perhaps much worse...    

I've often wondered why the Leftists among us are so dead set on removing from us our 2nd Amendment Rights to "keep and bear" arms.  Now, it appears, we have an inkling.  Just imagine how much more compliant we, The People, would be if one-third of us, more than 100+ million of us, were not armed and considered (by them) dangerous...

Sunday, May 10, 2020

Another New Record!

You'll be pleased to know that our Great Country set another new record in March!  

Yes, fellow Pilgrims, while we were all kvetching over the Chinese Killer Not-From-Here Wuhan Killer Coronavirus, the FBI just informed us that the fine folks of the United States purchased more than 3.8 Million Firearms in March!     

And that number is up from our all-time monthly record of some 2.7 Million Firearms in December.  That's nearly a one-third increase, boys and girls!  That yuuuuge!  That means that nearly 4 million more Americans decided to finally exercise their individual, immutable, irrefutable, non-cancellable, guaranteed* 2nd Amendment Rights to "keep and bear arms."

More power to them!

You should recall that the FBI told us we Americans owned roughly 150 million firearms the day ex-Prez Obama was elected.  And then our citizens immediately started buying guns in droves!  Apparently they, like me, knew that Obama was on record...on video...as saying that he'd confiscate all our guns if he ever got the chance (check it out on YouTube).  

(Funny how video can always tell the truth no matter how often some choose to lie...)

So the lines at the gun stores grew long after Obama took office.  And they haven't really stopped.  The FBI released statistics last month indicating that we American citizens now own and use and "keep and bear" more than 429.7 million firearms!  In just a bit more than a dozen years we've nearly tripled our firearm ownership!  It took us 240 years to reach 150 million guns, and just 12 years to triple that number.  

It surely must be that Americans know something, or at the very least suspect something, and their firearm purchases prove it...

For evah we've been told by the "more equal than us" that we don't need no stinkin' firearms.  That we've got the police to watch over us and keep us safe.  All the while knowing that when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.  So while we're being told not to become beer-swilling, pickup-driving, flag-waving rednecks by the the "Coastal Elites," The People are choosing to disregard that sophomoric and short-sighted advice.  

And there's something else I'd like to add to this little rant about now.  You've been told for eons by the effete authoritarians that "guns kill people."  And that more guns will kill even more people!  So last month we Americans bought almost 4 million (more) guns.  Did you notice any new mass shootings?  No?  Did this mountain of newly-purchased guns load themselves up and start mowing innocents down like ducks in a shooting gallery?  No?  Nobody running around killing hoards of people with all their new firearms?  No?  No bodies bleeding in the streets as a result of all those new gun owners?  No?  

Then I guess you've been fed a load of s**t all these years, haven't you?

So I say again, the surest way to avoid a life-threatening confrontation with a Bad Guy, is to have the Bad Guy think you might be armed.  Then, like all other predators, they'll bypass you, the armed, and prey upon some other poor unarmed schlub.  They may be crooks, and evil, but they're not necessarily stupid.  So don't YOU be.  If you haven't joined the long, but "socially distanced" lines at your local gun store, assuming your local commie liberal dumbass weenie politician hasn't shut them down as being "non-essential," now might be a good time to do so...

*  (Supreme Court Rulings;  "District of Columbia v. Heller," 2010; "Chicago v. McDonald," 2008)

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Too Many Channels...

Time was, children, when there were only three broadcast TV channels.  They were 2, 4 and 7.  And they were only "on," broadcasting, about 18 hours a day, signing off as they did at around Midnight.  With a big picture of a black and white Indian chief on your TV screen all night long to keep you entertained until the next morning.

Oh I'm sorry.  I meant "Indigenous Personage of a sort of reddish hue."

And during this time there were only 40 or 50 big-time stars.  The Milton Berle's, the Jimmy Stewart's, the Bob Hope's, the John Wayne's, the Clint Eastwood's ("Wagon Train," if you didn't know), the Lucille Ball's.  There was a few "B-List" stars, and even fewer "C-List."  There were no "D-List" stars. Kathy Griffin hadn't yet been born.  Apparently her mother hadn't heard of Planned Parenthood.  And no room for them anyway.  Not enough channels.  Thankfully.

And then an entrepreneur named Ted Turner "turn"ed a medium-sized TV station in Atlanta into a 24-hour cable provider.  And almost overnight we went from 3 channels to dozens.  And then hundreds.  And now 1,000 or more!  And then the skirmish began to find what they call "content" to fill all those hours of dead air time.  That's another name for "programming."  And God knows, they did.  To our mutual disadvantage, I would say.

Some of these new channels were dedicated to home and garden.  Some to cowboys and Indigenous Persons.  Some to comedy.  Some drama.  Some religion, and some sports.  And more recently, politics.  In short, they, the TV moguls, needed content; lots and lots and lots of content.  So they started buying up old TV shows.  "Friends," and "Gilligan's Island," and "Batman," and "Maverick" made their stars millionaires after-the-fact.  Taking "Seinfeld" for an example, its stars hit pay dirt when their production company sold 100+ previous episodes for more than $100,000,000!  In fact, we still have channels boasting nothing but "Cheers" and "Friends" and "Law and Order" reruns, all day long.  

But they also needed new content.  New dramas and new comedies.  And so they started looking high and low for creative talent; the writers, the producers, and, to them, most importantly, the actors.  

Overnight we were inundated with new actors and actresses who we'd never heard of previously.  Actors who were nobody's yesterday, and stars today.  People who were parking cars at "Ivy" or waiting tables at "Chinois" on Tuesday were on a cable channel program by Saturday.  Actors who were hired more because they were available, I would say, and somewhat attractive, than because of their talent.  

And God knows, we get proof of that lack of talent every.  single.  day.

And that's my beef.  I don't mind not knowing much about these overnight stars, I just wish they could act.  Or sing.  Or juggle.  Or whatever it is they're supposed to do.  In most cases, they're laughably inept.  Some of them are even called "influencers."  I guess that's a bunch of non-famous folks whose job it is to sell crap that the other "stars" are hawking.  Like Gwynneth Paltrow's newest product that she guarantees smells like her, ummm, "nether" region. 

You just cannot unlearn that... 

It's as if they were yanked from the nearest acting academy and thrust in front of the camera.  Or from the local Starbucks if their frontal protuberances, their mammilary corpulence-ses-ses, their "headlights," if you get my drift, are sufficiently bulbous (Thanks. It's a rhetorical flourish of which I am duly proud!).  And then WE'RE expected to watch the drivel they then produce.  

This I shall no longer do!

I have begun noting the names of would-be actors and singers and jugglers who...can't.  Can't act and can't juggle and can't sing, I mean.  And I also add to this ever-growing list the names of actors and singers and jugglers who wish to impose upon us, the viewing public, their particular political persuasions.  The foul-mouthed Bobby De Niro's.  The aforementioned, desperate-for-attention Kathy Griffins.  The scarily sick Jim Careys.  And then I make it a point not to watch them.  Or listen to them.  And the silence is so very calming...

(And by the way, when, exactly, did actors decide they were the moral arbiters of American culture and values?  And when did a needy subset of our society decide to start paying attention?  I'm guessing it was the very day that Turner married "Hanoi Jane" Fonda...)

The Net Result?  It's as if I've reduced the number of channels dramatically, overnight!  And I've certainly reduced the number of would-be actors and singers and jugglers I give my valuable time.  That little list of mine is not only saving me time, and improving my mood, it's also saving me money!  Just think about the bucks you can save by not giving them to people who likely view you with contempt and wish you dead! 

So now I think I'll watch a little bit of "livePD" and luxuriate in the fact that I'm not one the people they're stopping on the highway each and every night... 

Monday, May 4, 2020

Biden-isms, Part Deux.

I have to say I received so many nice complements from those who appreciated reading about Uncle Joe Biden's "Biden-isms" in a recent posting that I decided to gather up and send along a few more.  

You should know that all these "Biden-isms" are direct quotes.  Nothing made up.  Although it would frankly be easier to believe if it were.  Attributions are provided where possible.  And because I think we all know that Uncle Joe is, ummm, a couple of fries short of a happy meal, most of these "Biden-isms" are spread over the past two decades.  Indicating, I'm pretty sure, that Biden's been daft for quite a long while.  

And so, without further ado (or a don't), here goes...

     -  "No ordinary American cares about their Constitutional rights."

     -  "I never had an interest in being a mayor, 'cause that's a real job.  You have to produce.  That's why I was able to be a senator for 36 years."

www.huffingtonpost.com, March 30, 2012


     -  "Every single morning since I've been 27 years old, I've got up and someone's handed me a card like the one I have in my pocket with the schedule on it, of all the things I'm gonna' do.  I don't know what to do if I didn't have that card."

Source:  PBS.org


     -  "The next person that tells me I'm not religious, I'm going to shove my rosary beads up their ass."

     -  "I get a lot of credit I don't deserve." 
                                
Source:  www.telegraph.co.uk



     -  "I think the only reason Clarence Thomas is on the court is because he's Black."

     -  "It's easy being Vice President.  You don't have to do anything."

Source:  www.foxnews.com, February 26, 2010


     -  "You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent."

Source:  www.nbcnews.com, July 7, 2006


     -  "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and nice-looking guy.  I mean, that's a storybook, man."

Source:  www.cnn.com, February 9, 2007


     -  "There's never been a day in the last four years that I've been proud to be his Vice President.  Not a single day..."

     -  "Folks, I can tell you I've known eight presidents, three of them intimately."

Source:  www.newyorker.com, July 28, 2014


     -  "Guess what, the cheerleaders in college are the best athletes in college.  You think I'm joking, they're almost all gymnasts, the stuff they do on hard wood, it blows my mind."

     -  "When you're appealing to people's fears and anxieties, you can make some gains."

Source:  www.realclearpolitics.com


     -  "I worked at an all-black swimming pool in the east side of Wilmington.  I was involved in what the Negroes, I mean, blacks were thinking, what they were feeling."

     -  "I did not grope the wife of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter or the daughter of Sen. Christopher Coons.  I don't put drugs in drinks or give drinks to underage females.  And all those photos about me inappropriately touching girls, they are blown-up."

Source:  www.spectator.org, October 22, 2015


     -  "Well, you know, my shotgun will do better for you than your AR-15, because you want to keep someone away from your house, just fire the shotgun through the door."

Source:  www.fieldandstream.com, Feb.25, 2013


     -  "The number one job facing the middle class.  And it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word:  jobs.  J-O-B-S!"

Source:  www.nationalreview.com, Oct. 28, 2008


     -  "Make sure of two things.  Be careful - microphones are always hot, and understand that in Washington, D.C., a gaffe is when you tell the truth, so be careful."

Source:  www.politico.com, June 20, 2012


     -  "Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century, has required government vision and government incentive."

Source:  www.foxnews.com, October 28, 2010


     -  "If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there's still a 30% chance we're going to get it wrong."

Source:  www.newsbusters.org, July 19, 2010


     -  "Banning guns is an idea whose time has come."

Souce:  www.nwtimes.com, November 18, 1993


     -  "In presidential campaign I released a 65-page file from the time from the Syracuse University College of Law that showed poor grades, back in college, also.  If I were plagiarizing consistently, my grades would have been better."

Source:  www.spectator.org, October 22, 2015


     -  "I was kind of secretly hoping one of my kids would go out and make a million bucks.  So when they put me in a home, at least I'll have a window with a view."

     -  "I may be Irish, but I'm not stupid."

     -  "For too long in this society, we have celebrated unrestrained individualism over common community."

Source:  www.nytimes.com, june 10, 1987


     -  "The more people learn about them (Obama and Hillary) and how they handle the pressure, the more their support will evaporate."

Source:  www.huffingtonpost.com, Jan. 30, 2007


You like these?  There are plenty more.  Plennnnty more!  And they plainly reflect that Joe's elevator has ceased going all the way to the top floor.  Joe's malapropisms are legendary.  And multitudinous.  Let me know if you want me to look around for another batch...