A little of this and a little of that Part 2

Posted on by

First up will be the upcoming elections, in Florida, my District and my County.

We have 3 Constitutional amendments on the ballot. The one I will address is Amendment 3, dealing with property taxes. Let me say this concerning this amendment, it isn’t ever going to get 60% support. Why, you ask? For a few simple reasons.

First, the largest employer in Florida, whether it be State, County or Local is government. The amendment would reduce the amount of money that would come into the government coffers. The poor things would have to get by on less, kind of like we non-government citizens have to.

Secondly, to my knowledge not a single government official has come out in support of this amendment, excluding our current Governor. As a matter of fact, they have been wringing their hands since the amendment made it to the ballot. There statements and actions have been akin to “The sky is falling”.

Thirdly, I doubt seriously that any government employee is going to you Yes on this amendment. they see it as an attack on their income, status, position, pay and retirement. As I mentioned the largest employer is the government.

Now we move to the State Legislature. Why would I vote for a republican who is just a democrat in disguise. I may as well vote for a democrat, at least I know what I am getting.

Now to the House of Representatives. I sometimes wonder just who or what he represents. So, I guess here too I will vote democrat.

As for the rest of the ballot there are some listed who I will be voting for, and others I will be voting just to cancel out one vote for. Some that I know have said they will be sitting this one out.

I read an article this morning about a campaign that claimed to have knocked on 2 million doors. I just wonder where those alleged doors are, no one out in my area has said they have had any interactions or visits with any one on your campaign staff. You must be concentrating your efforts in the high population centers.

Well, that is enough of this for now. Now a little of that.

This part will be little more of the things I grow weary of.

I grow weary of hearing those in government saying “Nobody is above the law. Yes, there are many above the law. Again, you ask Why? When a law is passed and you deceitfully include exclusions,classes of people or occupations that the law does not apply to are by definition “above the law”.

I grow weary of hearing about the “human printer”, the “most beautiful aid” and the latest press secretary.

I grow weary of hearing campaign promise, especially the ones made that they cannot fulfill or even if they could they would not. This one deserves its very own post, and it will be forthcoming.

I grow weary of hearing talking-heads saying, “This is the most consequential election of our lifetime”. Each and every election has consequences.

And lastly, for now, I grow weary of those same talking-heads justifying the mess we have now by how messed up things were under past administrations.

How many times?

Posted on by

This is not the post I had intended to write, but here it comes anyway.

How many times must we read news articles concerning children shooting him or herself or another with a sidearm, firearm, handgun or gun (however they choose to label it in the article) left unattended by their parent or parents?

The latest incident I read concerning this topic occurred a bit further south than my area in Florida. The father had apparently removed his sidearm from his waist band and placed it on the seat of the car. They were at a drive thru and the father needed to use his cell phone. While distracted with the cell phone the child got a hold of the gun and shot himself in the face.

I had many questions about the story especially some of the details.

First off, the detail that said the sidearm was removed from the waistband. It did not say it was removed from a holster. Secondly, it stated that the firearm was removed to use a cell phone. Why would using (gaining access) to cell phone necessitate the removing of a firearm? Thirdly, it said the firearm was placed on the seat. My question was Why, especially with a child present?

Above I posed a question. How many times must we rad news articles concerning this. That would indicate I suppose that this has happened before. A mistake, a costly mistake, had occurred. Some would say mistakes happen and that is true. But there is another thing said concerning mistakes. You can learn from the mistakes of others. Of course, the opposite is true you can ignore or fail to learn from the mistakes of others and make the same mistakes they did and get similar or worse results.

Now we come to the part of this where I will offer some advice some would call opinions.

First, sidearms (pistols or revolvers) need to be in a holster. Not just any holster but a good quality holster, plastic or leather your choice, but one that does cover and protect the trigger and have some retention. Not one of those cheap fabric holsters which only cover the trigger but offer no protection for the trigger.

Another thing on holsters. They need to be firearm specific, not one labeled as fits most. If you are waiting for me to recommend a specific brand you will be waiting a very long time. I make my own holsters. Made out of leather and form fitted to the sidearm it will hold. There is no need for me to have a break-in period or method. The firearm fits because my holsters are made one at a time, stitched and wet molded with and to the actual firearm. If you know me, stop by and I will show you how to do it and I will tell what you need and where to get what you need.

Second, removing the firearm and no longer having control of it. I can only think of a few reasons to remove a firearm from a holster. Taking it off at the end of the day. Needing it to defend oneself or another. To practice at or on the range. That is about it.

This brings me to the social media so-called influencers. What the heck is the purpose a “press-check”? Some of these people do what they call a press check, slightly pulling the slide back enough to see if they can see brass. I guess they like fondling their firearm. If I have loaded my sidearm and put it in the holster, then it is loaded and there is no need at any point in the day to check to see if it is still loaded. Any time a firearm is out of the holster is the time when something awful could happen. If the purpose of this press check is to ensure it is still loaded. Ask yourself a few simple questions. Did I unload it? Do I now have an extra hole in my body? Was there an ear-splitting bang and part of me is suddenly on fire? If the answer to these questions is NO, then the thing is still loaded.

Now to off body carry. Placing your firearm in a bag you are wearing or carrying. This I am totally against. Simply because when you remove the bag or sit it down you have lost control of your firearm.

Thirdly, to use a cell phone. Adjust your priorities. Your cell phone can do little to no damage. Put things in their proper place and perspective.

Fourthly, getting distracted. The last thing you need to do is sit a firearm down and forget about it and its capabilities. How many news articles have we read where a person, sometimes a “professional”, has gone into a public restroom, done their business and left their firearm on the toilet tank or wherever they laid it?

You probably notice I used different term for sidearms in this post maybe at some point I will address terminology as it relates to sidearms.

A little of this and a little of that

Posted on by

Been a while since my last post. Frankly I have been a little busy. By the end of this post some will attach labels to me. Well get over yourself I have been called worse by better people.

First up will be the ALPRs. They were sold as “Safety”. Law-enforcement tells the are an effective and powerful tool.

I leave it up to you to decide for yourself if they are effective or not. I am in the not effective camp. There are near daily news articles describing innocent people’s troubles caused by these ALPRs. As we used to say, “one aw-shit wipes out a hundred at-a-boys”.

I leave it up to you to decide for yourself if they are a powerful tool or not. One thing for sure is that they do not have to power to prevent crime. But as they say concerning power. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutly.

I again will leave it up to you if the ALPR’s have anything to do with safety or not. We are treated near daily with reports of those with access to the system using it to track former interests. Does it make you feel safer that someone, a former or perspective interest, can access this data to track your movements?

I for myself do not believe these ALPRs are for “safety”. They are just another tool of the “Surveillance State”.

Next up will be “Data Centers”. It seems that these data centers are all the rage. I just have to wonder why data centers are being built around the country. How much data is being collected, what is being collected and on who? What is the purpose of having all this data and how will the information be used?

From what I read and understand these data centers are “resource hogs”. Who will “foot the bill”?

Data is just information. Data centers have been with us for ages; they were called Libraries whether public or personal. With Libraries you would have to actually read for yourself, and with the information you obtained you might just have to think for yourself. Just another tool of the Surveillance State.

Now I move to Artificial Intelligence (AI). Yes, I am still referring to it as artificial. For now, I will just leave with this little nugget. “To err is human to really mess things up you need a computer”.

A little bonus. The fuel shortage or crisis, whichever is the scary word for today. First off there must not be a shortage, not when we have politicians flying all around the country for political or party rallies and back. There seems to be plenty for that purpose. The people attending have fuel to get there and back. As for it being a crisis, that may well be, but it is a man-made crisis.

Well, that is all for today, part 2 will be forthcoming.

So, who thought this would be a good idea?

Posted on by

By now you have heard that someone in the US government thought it would be a good idea to provide arms to the Iranian civilians. I suppose that the thought was if they had arms, they could rise up against their government and maybe even overthrow the government. The plan was as I heard it was to give arms to an intermediary group who would get the arms to the citizens, aka the protesters. It was reported that the intermediary group had indeed received the arms. After receipt of the arms a problem arose. The group kept them rather than getting them to the “protesters”. Back to this in a short.

I find what the US government did to be more than a little hypocritical. Hypocritical due to the fact that for many years the US government and indeed some State governments have been trying to disarm the US civilians and limiting what we have access to. It seems to me that here in the US the US government and some States seem to worry over the citizens rising up. They best to put that worry to bed is to not do things that would cause such to occur.

Now back to the arms intended for the Iranian citizens. The now lost arms. Who knows when or where they will turn up or on whom they will be used. One thing for sure, the US government did not send over a bunch of 22 caliber single shot squirrel guns. By the way, firearms would be of no use without ammunition.

Well, that about does it

Posted on by

Had to go into town today and regular unleaded gas was well above $4 per gallon. Diesel was well above $5 per gallon, Mind you that I live in North Central Florida. Just this past Sunday regular was just past $3.80, pretty steep rise for just three days. Regular will probably be near $5 if not above by this Sunday.

Neither the War in Iran nor the astronomical fuel prices will in any way prevent the November elections or the upcoming Primaries. Though they will have an effect on the results. I am a registered republican and many of my friends and associates will be sitting this one out. I am not going to sit it out, I will be casting my vote.

This is my plan and intention. We have a do-nothing member of Congress with ambitions to be the next Governor of Florida. He has some “endorsements” from other politicians and the party. This matters not to me. I will not be voting for him in the primaries as I think there are better alternatives. Should he win the primary I will not be voting for him, nor will I vote for a democrat and since the other parties cannot seem to find anyone with a lick of common sense that part of my ballot will go unmarked. My current Representative in the same do-nothing Congress is in the same boat. If he has a primary challenger, I will vote for him or her. Should he win the primary that section of my ballot will also remain blank for the same above reasons. The same goes for any in the do-nothing State Legislature up for re-election. I have a suspicion that most of the sections will be blank on my ballot.

I can hear some of you now, not voting for a republican is voting for a democrat. Well, I disagree. How many elections have we been forced to choose the lesser of the two evils. Less evil is not better than most evil. Evil is evil no matter the quantity. We only get to choose between republican evil and democrat evil.

So, basically, I am pretty much done with the republicans at the federal level and rapidly getting that way about the republicans at the state level and possibly at the county level.

We are told the short time pain we feel now is worth it because of the longtime gains that will be achieved. I will give you a moment or two to adjust your budget for that short time pain. As that knucklehead said, “You can just make one less tip to Starbucks”. More will soon learn that there is more month than paycheck.

But we are told that things will get back to normal when this war is concluded.

Now would be a good time to list another of the “Things that makes me weary”.

I grow weary of hearing thing will return to normal after this crisis. Normal will never come back. Did normal return after 9/11? Did normal return after Covid? When this “crisis” is over there will be another declared “crisis”. Wash rinse and repeat. But there is “Good News”.

Normal isn’t coming back but Jesus is. This is a great song. I recommend the version by the Bellamy Brothers featuring the Issacs on You Tube, but you choose the version you wish.

Things I grow “weary” of

Posted on by

I grow “weary’ of hearing or reading about some in this country who think themselves to be of some importance saying that we need to bring the draft back. They say this while they are past the age of enlisting and way past the maximum age to be drafted if there was a draft. There was a time in their lives when they could have enlisted, America has had an all-volunteer military since 1973.

So, to these dim wits I have this to say. It bothers me not that I did and you did not. It bothers me that I did and you would not. So, shut your pie holes. You have no right to speak or offer your opinions on this matter.

I grow “weary” of reading and hearing about the 2020 election, I mean it is now 2026. Good grief. Even if it could be proven that the 2020 elections were illegitimate could or would it be possible to undo the damage that was done in those 4 years?

How many presidents have been labeled as “illegitimate”?

I grow “weary” of reading and hearing about “the Epstein files”. Not because we do not need to get to the bottom of that mess, but because they have no real intention of getting to the bottom of it. If they ever charge and indict one in those crimes, that one will sing like a “canary” and give up the rest. I think it was said it would bring down the whole system. Bird of a feather do flock together.

I grow “weary” of hearing that Iran is or was only “two weeks” from having a nuclear bomb or ten. That has been said and repeated for many years.

The above is by no means an all-inclusive list of things I grow weary of. If I put them all in one post it would be a long one, I mean really long. More later.

Lessons and Assumptions

Posted on by

History has many lessons for us to learn from. One of them is do not make assumptions. The word Assume is comprised of three words, if you know what they are you know what they are. If you do not, then you do not.

Talking heads are still debating things that no longer matter. It no longer matters whether Iran had a nuclear weapons program. It no longer matters how close they were or how far they were from having the material to make one. Hostilities have commenced and that is what matters.

I find no example in history where a successful bombing campaign ever brought a conflict to a conclusion. It has always taken ground forces to end the war, sometimes meaning up close and personal violence. At some point ground forces will come into this, whether it be American or Kurdish perhaps both. I did not mention Isreal because I think they will be occupied elsewhere.

Taking a little sidetrack here for a moment. I personally am so tired of hearing the phrase “boots on the ground”, especially when those words come out of the mouth of one who has never served (worn those boots). One who has served and yet still utters those words should really know better and be ashamed for using them. Think on this, those “boots on the ground” are going to have a soldiers’ feet in them. It is a little different when you attach a face to those boots, isn’t it.

It was assumed that possibly, maybe, hopefully the Iranian protestors would rise up and take over their government. Well, that has not happened as of yet and most likely will not. There is no formal government to seize as we understand. I am not saying the Iranian citizens (civilians) will not fight, they may well, later.

Think back to occupied Europe. In some of those countries the government fled setting up a government in exile in a friendly country and left the citizen to fend for themselves. Some stayed and endured the hardships with the citizens. Others capitulated and collaborated with the aggressors. There were partizan fighters in all of the occupied countries. Not a one of them was fighting for their government, they were fighting the invaders. At the end of the war the collaborators were dealt with. I never could understand why the ones who fled and set up a government in exile were ever welcomed back and even worse allowed back in power.

A more recent example would be the war between Russia and Ukraine. It could be said that Russia saw itself as a liberator, but the Ukrainian people saw them as invaders. When arms were provided to the citizens who or what did they fight, the Ukrainian government or the invaders?

Funny thing is if Ukraine ever has another election, they may well elect a pro-Russian government. Politics are unpredictable.

When ground forces are introduced into the mix, how will the Iranians see them? Liberators from an oppressive government or invaders?

Been a while

Posted on by

Haven’t posted anything in a good long while. It was not because nothing was going on, there certainly was. There is much going on now, so I might as well get busy.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, Operation Epic Fury has been launched against Iran. There have been many statements and opinions (theories) made as to why.

One theory floated was it was done to get the Epstein files off of the front page and out of people’s minds. If this was the reason, it failed miserably. The Epstein files are still on the front page and mentioned as many times as before. This Epstein mess is not going away.

Another theory floated was that it was launched at the behest of Isreal. There are other theories and opinions as to why.

We could just accept what President Trump said in his statement or not.

One thing for sure is that it no longer matters as to the why, it is on and that cannot be changed, that toothpaste is not going back in the tube.

Politically speaking, in my opinion, this could not have started at a worse time, as the mid-term primaries will be soon getting underway. In November we will have the mid-term election. If Epic Fury turns out to be a protracted conflict or continues to escalate it will most probably have a negative effect on the November elections for the republicans.

Speaking of escalation, I have noticed a few things in my news feed of late. There have been reminders for the 18-year-olds and those soon turning 18 to register with the Selective Service aka the Draft. There have also been “pointers” on how to avoid the Draft. Not to mention maps showing the areas here in the US most likely to be a nuclear target.

We can all learn a very important lesson from this latest conflict. Some in Congress are mightily pissed that the President did this on his own and without the consent of Congress. There was a time long, long ago that Congress had the sole power to declare war. You lost that power long ago with something called the War Powers Act. You passed that act and it was signed into law. The only way to regain your power is to pass another act restoring that power to you. Here is a news flash “cupcake”, that will never be signed in to law. There is no way any President democrat or republican will give up that power. It was not taken from you; you gave it away. The same goes for tariffs and all the other things you were too busy to do. I mean after all if you took time to do your job, the job you were elected to do you would not have all the free time on your hands. Time for extended recesses, retreats and the many vacations you take.

To all of the knuckleheads out there that vote away rights, even the rights you have but choose not to exercise. If you choose not to exercise your rights that is your business. Leave the rest of us alone. You do not have the right to vote away the rights of others. Rights lost or stolen are near impossible to regain.

A novel idea

Posted on by

For all of you politicians, celebrities, and mouthpieces that think student loans should be “forgiven” either in part or in whole here is a suggestion. How about you take some of your wealth and pay down or pay off student debts? I mean show that you really care about the plight of people. Find you a few worthy candidates and put your money where your mouth is.

After doing that why not haul in some of those college and university presidents in and conduct one of your showboat hearings and ask why the cost of higher education is so expensive. That should be quality entertainment for the people to watch.

Why is it that the taxpaying public should be on the hook for paying down or off a debt taken out by another, willingly?

No thanks

Posted on by

There are things that I need and there are things that I do not need.

I do not need you to tell me what to think or how to think. Period. I also do not need you to tell me what disinformation is, I can figure that out for myself. Besides, I must wonder how you came to claim something as disinformation. In other words what are your criteria in making your decision?

I have my opinion and you have yours. Just because our opinions differ does not make my opinion wrong, it is only my opinion.

We now have an agency within an agency of the Federal government. The Disinformation Governance Board, referred to as the Ministry of Truth by some.

As some of you know I like to look beneath the surface. So once again I turn to Webster’s.

Disinformation. false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by planting rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.

Governance. government.

Board. a group of persons having managerial, investigatory, or advisory powers.

You can interpret the above definitions for yourself and arrive at your own opinion.

As a bonus I looked up Psychological Operations (PSYOP) and here it is.

Operations to convey selected information and indicators to audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.

PSYOP is used in both peacetime and conflict and has an objective of inducing or reinforcing behavior perceived as being favorable to objectives. These operations range from diplomatic to informational to military to economic.

I encourage you to do some research on psychological operations and behavioral modification.

Back to this disinformation governance board. I am perfectly capable of determining for myself what is or is not disinformation. But you go ahead and protect the narrative. I will search for the truth, and it does exist.