What if governance sets up intolerable guard rails?

I tend to agree that humans collectively need guard rails. It's not OK to hack each other up or steal from each other. That's a given.

Still, the question is how much space is there between the guardrails?

I have lived by a moral code that guides me. I must be doing something right because I have not gotten into any real trouble in my life. (That and the fact that I have never been caught.)

The law only goes so far. When it goes too far it is the duty of the people to break said law and just plain ignore it.

An example of that is the ownership of certain firearms in certain places. Compliance with laws banning them runs well under 10% in these places and that disgusts me because it SHOULD run zero.

There are a few other rules that should be ignored. 

Right now in Michigan the governor signed a safe storage act and has instructed teachers to ask students what goes on at home which is clearly none of their business.

As far as I'm concerned any teacher that asks kids anything about their home life should be dragged out of the classroom and be beaten senseless by the parents.

The ONLY thing the teachers should be interested in are obvious signs of malnutrition or abuse. That's it. 

Of course a group of fathers beating up a 23 year old woman schoolteacher would result in them being called cowardly woman beaters so she should be handed over to the mothers to dispense justice to.

I pity the schoolmarm that has to deal with six or eight angry mothers. They can be worse than men.

When the guide rails get to narrow it's the duty of We, the People to stretch them out a bit.

I've said this before, and it bears repeating. Anne Frank was hidden by outlaws and ratted out by law abiding citizens.

While I am on topic, most governors are heavily guarded, usually by the state police. I wonder what they would act like if they were not given such protection. Maybe they would be far more apt to leave us alone.

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Wowee kazowie! A black owned pizza place!

Which means I will likely check it out because I like pizza.

If he makes a good pie than likely he will have a repeat customer. If he makes a great pie he can bet on having a regular customer.

If he makes a lousy pie he will never see me again.

It's not about color. It's about pizza.

Period.

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One of my pet peeves is attempted do good upgraders.

I remember being taken to dinner once and ordering the meat loaf and my host suggested I try one of the steaks. He actually tried to upsell me on it. My host, a company supervisor was trying to impress is over some damned thing and thought I was crazy not to take a steak dinner as a company freebie.

Over the years a few times when someone buys the drinks I've had my host get me Knob Creek or Maker's Mark when I asked for Jim Beam. Usually I quietly choke it down so as not to embarrass my host but not always.

A couple of times I've picked up my drink, gone over to the bar and handed it to the bartender and ordered a Jim Beam and returned.

Once the host asks what's wrong and I simply say that I don't like expensive bourbons. As usual, they say, "I don't understand. Knob Creek is a better bourbon than Jim Beam."

"No. It's a more expensive bourbon than Jim Beam. I really don't care for it."

It's that simple.

One time someone offered to take me to some damned hifalutin' fancy restaurant for dinner and I told him to "Save your money. I won't be impressed. Go find a nice truck stop or basic diner that makes a pretty good meat loaf and REALLY impress me."

He did and we had a really relaxed meal together.

I remember at work occasionally when they ran a class or something they'd tell us to save our dinner receipts. I had maybe 4 nights worth and while most of the other guys gorged themselves on steak and lobster, 

I turned in two from a diner, one from a fish place that made a pretty good fried cod and a supermarket receipt for a couple of pork chops, some potato salad, cole slaw and some lemonade.  

When he asked what the supermarket receipt was for I told him that there was a fire pit behind the motel and it looked like a pretty good night for a barbecue. He shook his head and laughed.

At a later three day and nights overnight class I turned in a receipt for a damned expensive dinner and a diner meal and my port captain laughed and commented that I didn't take advantage of things.

There's a 1991 Miata NA in the garage and if some rich guy destroyed it in an accident and offered to buy his way out of it by offering me a new one straight off the showroom floor I'd probably agree, sell it and go hunting for another low mileage, garage kept 1991 NA. Screw the upgrade. I like what I like.

 

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I keep getting dismal reports out of NC/TN regarding FEMA relief.

I would love to see just one report from a non governmental/biased media source that says something positive.

Even if it's some dumb local yokel kid saying something like "Hey! This is pretty cool! They're giving me 25 bucks an hour for me to sit here and make sure the proper forms are filled out before anything gets handed out!"

I just Googled 'Any good news about FEMA in NC?"

I went through the first 6 pages of what came up and it was nothing but denials of the accusations made by Trump and others.

However, it you look at the sources, they are the usual gang of culprits. On the other hand, what else would you expect Google to post? Over time I have watched Google go down the woke rabbit hole.

Wikipedia is no prize, either.

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On J5 I was in DTW and CNN was still the airport TV channel before they stopped using it there.

I had my tablet out and watched a bunch of videos made by people that were in DC nearby and got a 100% different picture of things than CNN gave.

 

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Figured I'd share one of my Facebook posts with you

One time some screeching impassioned mother asked me if I'd give a child a rifle. 

My reply was "Certainly not. Rifles are too heavy for small children to use. They are better suited for crew served weapons like machine guns and mortars because they learn how to work together and build teamwork. Just the other day I taught my grand daughter how to change a hot barrel on an M-60 machine gun and she's pretty good at it now. When she get a little bigger in a few years I'll teach her rifle marksmanship but until then she's going to be a machine gunner or maybe work a mortar." 

I was proud of the panic attack I gave her.

Protip. Always slip an extra asbestos mitt into your small child's spare barrel bag because little kids need both hands to swap out a hot barrel.

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What's with all the hate for ham radio?

I hear that it's not fair that people have to have a license to use it (other than in an emergency involving life or property. When that happens one can use ANY radio communications.) 

The blubbering is incessant. A lot of whiners that are too lazy or stupid to take a test that 8 year old kids have passed use the usual lame excuses.  (A couple months ago I worked a 12 year old girl. She was a real pro.) They don't want to have their licenses listed on a database.

That only holds water if they don't register to vote, have a Social Security number, drive, hunt, fish or do anything that doesn't require a license of any kind. Then I kind of see their point. Kind of.

"It should be like CB!" they cry. 

Someone said CB is the Haiti of the airwaves. They're spot on. CB is a mess, ham radio is fairly disciplined. It's disciplined because we have something to lose, a license. (and possible fines which are not light.)

CB used to require a license until the FCC gave up on it. CB was the 11 meter band taken from the hams and designated the Citizens Broadcast band in the late 50s. I recall some early 1960s Popular Science articles saying it was a pretty good public utility.

And it was one of those things that easily could have been a useful public utility had the FCC policed it and occasionally thrown out a fine to the abusers. They didn't.

Enter the 70s and any clown with $39.95 burning a hole in their pocket could go down to nearest Western Auto and buy themselves a CB and ratchet jaw all he wanted. It got worse as time went on. CBs are 4 watt rigs and enter the genius that dragged a linear amplifier to up his power. Couple that with a 55 mph federally mandated speed limit and enter the Smokey and the Bandit game. A lot of truckers had CBs powerful enough to service a small city.

That wasn't bad enough. Some rocket scientists started yanking components out to increase power even more which resulted in splattering his signal all over the entire band. I believe it peaked when some Billy-Joe-Bob finally splattered his signal on the aircraft bands. The FAA called the FCC who tracked him down and slapped him with a 5 figure fine. Of course he legally didn't have to pay it. He had the option to fight it in court which he did and the judge promptly doubled the fine. His problem, not mine.

"Freedom of the airwaves!" I hear from time to time.

While I hate too much government intervention as much as the next guy, I'm going to have to hold with basic licensing requirements because nobody want's to have a pilot of an airliner to have his radio jammed when he's trying to land at LAX with 300 souls on board.

The licensing itself serves a purpose. It shows a certain amount of  motivation on the part of the individual and as a result they respect the use of the airwaves. and gives them a little skin in the game.

No license means the individual has nothing in it and therefore will not respect it and like CB, the airwaves will go straight down the toilet.

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The older I get the more I believe the federal government should get out of just about everything.

Ever since Jimmy Carter set up the U.S. Department of education we've slipped from being the top of the chart worldwide down to number twelve. We're not even in the top ten anymore.

As I sit here I have been getting horrific reports of the absolutely piss-poor job FEMA is doing in flood torn NC and TN. There are also unconfirmed reports going around that the State Police have threatened to arrest FEMA employees that are trying to block non governmental relief efforts.

I'd just love to watch that one go down.

"You can't arrest me! I'm FEMA!"

Thirty seconds later Mister FEMA is face down, handcuffed in a van headed down 30 miles of bad road.

It seems that everything the feds touch turns into a warm, steaming pile of fresh dung.

FEMA=Funneling Everyone's Money to Aliens. That's another thing that should go away. 

The list of things that should go away is rather long and I don't have forever and a day to list them here but there's a damned long list.

Ronald Reagan was right when he said the most fearful words one could hear are "I'm from the government. I'm here to help."

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The Tea Party was doomed from the beginning

It didn't stand a chance.

It started as a fiscally conservative, stay out of the social issues movement. As such it started taking off.

Along came the usual gang of idiots that wanted to add 'their special issue' to the platform and that was the end of that. 

Ray Charles saw that one coming.

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One of my favorite sea stories

As told by the skipper of a Coast Guard cutter in the Village bar in Kodiak sometime in the early to mid 80s. I had asked him what incident in his entire career had left it's mark on him.

"That's an easy one," he said. "it was a kid just fresh out of Cape May."

"What about him?" I asked.

I had just taken my first Cutter command a couple of months earlier and we had this kid come aboard. I was pretty surprised he graduated form Cape May, actually. He didn't appear to be sharp but he was the most enthusiastic non-rate I ever met. He worked like a dog, even off watch and always did a good job on everything he touched. 

He was also the biggest pain in the ass we had because he was always asking about when we were going to do 'real Coast Guard stuff'. It was constant. The crew was sick of it.

Anyway, a big blow was coming through and I decided we should hole up in Dutch (Harbor) and it kept getting worse and worse. We were ordered off the dock to prevent it from damaging either the dock or the boat and we were jogging into it in the harbor. It was wild but in the harbor we at least had some protection. I handed the boat off to the XO and laid down to get some sleep.

I was awakened by the emergency generator being fired up and the sounds of guys running all over hell and heard someone say "Somebody ought to wake the Old Man" and someone running past hit my door a couple of times. I went straight to the bridge and looked at the XO and the Chief and asked what was going on.

"Some fishboat a couple hours out sounds like they're in over their head and needs help," the Chief said to me. Then he added the entire crew has taken it upon themselves to show the new kid some 'real Coast Guard $hit. It's your call, of course, but if you say no you're probably going to have a mutiny on your hands!"

So I told the XO "Let's go." 

It was wild out, the wildest I'd ever seen it. To this day I'm surprised we didn't lose the entire boat! Anyway, we arrived and the deck of the fishboat was awash and there were 5 guys in survival suits handing on for dear life. We got as near as we dared and managed to get a line out to them. I later heard it was the kid that managed to throw a heaving line to it. He must have calculated the wind because he got it on the first try.

We tied 5 separate lines to the heaving line and had them haul it to themselves and tie themselves to them and then we hauled them over to the cargo net we had alongside. Inside of ten minutes the boat went down like a stone.

Anyway, we heard we had all 5 on board and left to head back to Dutch.  

I wasn't privy to the details of what happened on deck until later. I was very relieved to hear all five souls were on board.

Once we were underway for Dutch the kid popped into the bridge and announced, "We got 'em all! All five!" I was mildly annoyed at the interruption and turned and saw the kid standing there with a gash on his forehead, a chipped tooth, bleeding like a stuck pig and the absolutely biggest smile I have ever seen in my life. It was a look of pride and satisfaction. When I faced him he looked at me and simply said, "THAT'S why I joined the f***in' Coast Guard, Sir!"

I didn't have the heart to tell him he shouldn't have walked into the bridge like that and neither did COB (Chief Of the Boat)  Cob took the helm and told the helmsman to take him to sick bay and have his cut looked at.

The look on that kid's face was the high point of my entire career!

What happened to him?" I asked.

The officer's face smiled. "That's another story but I have time."

A couple days later I asked the guys on deck detail about the operation and they told me in detail how it got pulled off. Then mentioned that the kid had successfully gotten the line to the fishboat on the first try. That got my attention. I asked how the kid had pitched in and my two petty officers looked at each other, laughed and said "Sir, he was a problem. We had one hell of a time holding him back. When the survivors got close to the boat he went down the cargo net to horse them in. He carried the last one up the net!"

"And you let that happen? That little runt?" I asked.

"We couldn't stop him, Sir. He's an animal and after the third time we just gave up on him and let nature run its course. He actually went into the water to snag the last one. We know he's a striker and have tried to figure out what to do with him. He's unstoppable. He's do or die!"

When I asked what they think they ought to do with him they looked at me and said they thought he should be sent to AST school.

"Rescue Swimmer?" I shot back. "He'd bilge out on the academics! How well does he swim?"

"He doesn't quit," said my First Class. "He doesn't know HOW to quit!

Long story short, unheard of, the entire crew recommended him, COB and a couple of petty officers made a few phone calls and I had a quiet word with the Kodiak COMMSTA CO and got him a slot and six months to get him into shape. They got the entire Syllabus for the AST rating and pounded it into him and made sure he'd spend time during 'Office Hours' with the instructors.

COB called someone later on and told me the kid made it. He had graduated at the second to bottom of his class. When I announced it to the crew they were astounded and cheered. 

"What happened next? I asked.

A few years later I heard he had reenlisted, he told me. Then he said something to me that stunned me.

"I signed that kid's death warrant because there's no way in hell he's going to survive until retirement. Not in that business as a20, 30 year career. But I can meet my maker with a clear conscience because I helped a man do what he was clearly cut out to do. He HAS to go out. That's the way he is. He doesn't know anything else. He's fully aware he doesn't have to come back in again." 

Take it or leave it. I heard it at the Village. It is what it is.

  

 

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In other gnus I see where the feds are refusing to allow private citizens help with NC and TN relief efforts.

They have even made life damned difficult for Elon Musk's engineers to set up Starlink equipment to give the beleaguered survivors a form of communication.

There IS a way to stop this crap and it ain't pretty.

I also hear that FEMA has no real money because it has been pissed away on illegals. If they had used the money to pay bounties on illegals that would have been one thing. Instead they gave the money to criminals which is exactly what illegal immigrants are to begin with. 

I also read where there is a list of 400,000 people to be rounded up when martial law is declared. 

Interesting.

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USPS informed delivery is a pretty good deal.

The USPS sends me an email daily with pictures of what's coming in the mail later on in the day.

Not a bad deal. Check it out.

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My advice to the Cajun Navy (if it's not too late)

Stay independent of government. 

Accept no monies from government. If you take their money you will have to take their orders and play by their crippling rules and regulations.

Currently it appears to me that your organization is a shining example of the best America has to offer. It's the American people helping the American people like they are supposed to.

If you let the government get involved you will have so much interference you will have one hell of a time accomplishing your mission of actually helping people.

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At the financial institution.

Which had to be done because I am getting too close to the age where I have to start taking minimum withdrawals from my IRA(s). 

I really don't need the money because I live like a coolie but it's take the withdrawals or face tax problems so it had to be done. 

Anyway the wife had sent me to find someone we could work with. I didn't bother getting dressed well. I looked like a coolie.

I later figured out that these agents don't pay attention to their client's wardrobes. A lot of very wealthy people dress like bag ladies. 

So I walked in and sat down waiting for someone to come along and tend to me. I was sitting there when the guy across me asked me how I was doing. He looked and sounded like someone that should have transgendered because he would have made a pretty good Karen.

"Not worth a shit. Thank you for asking, and you?"

"Maybe it'll get better," he said.

"Doubtful," I said. "After I finish with my financial business which I hate, I've got to go home and deal with my two year old daughter."

His jaw dropped and he blushed. 

What I didn't see is an agent that heard the whole thing. He addressed me and apologized for being late for my appointment.

I was a walk in! What appointment? Then I saw the suppressed smirk on his face and knew he had heard everything I had said to the other guy and wanted to help me. I had made his day in the serious world of finance. This man clearly knew bull$hit when he saw it.

On the way into his office I explained to him, "You are going to be careful and explain everything to me clearly and slowly because I am now in uncharted waters because this is the first time. I've never been a senior citizen."

When I said that I could have knocked him over with a feather. He turned to me and said, "Thank you. You opened my eyes up quite a bit. It's easy for people like me to forget that many working people bust their ass for years and years and never learn the procedures. They're too busy working."

"Yeah. I busted my ass at sea making the money and my wife was at home taking care of home, hearth and finances."

"At sea?" he asked.

"Yeah. Merchant mariner, commercial fisherman since 1978."

"I think I understand. My father was career Navy." he said. "You guys bust your asses."

I then explained what I wanted to do and he carefully explained my options. It was a lot easier than I thought and knew I had found someone my wife and I can work with.  

Of course this was entirely unnecessary in my opinion. When I start my mandatory withdrawals only puts me into a tax bracket I don't want to be in. I am (not seriously) considering donating my required withdrawals to charity and lowering my tax bracket even more.

I have been retired going on 2 years and have enough money coming in. On the other hand, I don't have a whole lot of expenses, either.

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This is the transition time for sleep

Right about now, a little before Halloween. 

The days are getting shorter and the nights longer and I sleep more because it's dark earlier. I do think I sleep a little better, too. The numbers from my CPAP seem to be better, too.

We're getting on to my favorite time of the year which, of course, is followed by my least favorite time of the year. I am old and winters are hard on me. Still, winter has the advantage of being good sleeping weather.

I do believe that a 50/50 split of daylight and darkness is probably the heathiest situation for people as far as getting sleep goes. 

Anyway, I have found that I am sleeping longer now and my CPAP numbers are a little better. This morning I woke up feeling rather refreshed and recently I have felt pretty good.

Oh, well.

================================

I see where we are changing back to Standard Time on 3 November. 

This means I am going to be cutting it pretty close to get to England to reset the stones at Stonehenge. I have a ticket for 0001 out of here and as soon as I shut down Halloween it's off the the airport.

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Some people's children

No $hit. 

I stole that line from the Old man on Pawn Stars.

Some people's children. 

He's right. Some people ought to be sterilized.

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