I saw part of a Mandami rally the other day

They were chanting "Tax the rich! Tax the rich!"

I would imagine that any New Yorker with more than two bucks in their pocket is planning on leaving the city after the election. I sure would. I'd be out of there like a shot.

Tax the rich schemes never seem to work out very well because them dirty rotten rich people up and move.

I have also heard Mandami talking about imposing taxes based on minority status. Whites would pay more. That won't see the light of day. It'll be thrown out in federal court as it should be. In fact it won't be mentioned again because of that.

Norway tried a tax the rich scheme and instantly tax revenues dropped. The rich took their money elsewhere. 

A lot of people don't even know what the rich are. They seem to think that they are people with huge vaults full of cask like Scrooge McDuck. It ain't that way.

The rich are rich because they own assets like stock, bonds and real estate. Their net worth can fluctuate. 

The ignorant screech things like So and So just made another million bucks today! Tax him!

Fact is his net worth went up a million bucks because his stocks, bonds or real estate grew in value when in real world money he hasn't seen a dime. If you tried to tax the person they'd probably have to sell the asset to raise the necessary cash. The increase in net worth is theoretical and as such means little or nothing. These things don't become income until they're sold.

Little people do thing like this, too. When you buy a house and the value rises you don't pay taxes on the difference until you sell it.

Taxing the rich is probably a pretty good way to have tax revenues go DOWN. 

  

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Trump's ballroom

is likely something worthwhile. 

Trump has stated that the White House has had to erect tents and use portable toilets for some functions. I Googled it and it appears to be true. We can certainly do better than that. Tents? Portable toilets? Come on, now!

I have been in one of Trump's holdings before years ago and it was airy and totally emaculate. A couple of us were in Atlantic City years ago and decided to check out one of Trump's casinos. I was surprised that everything looked brand new and was immaculate even though it was a few years old.

It wasn't a gambling trip. I think I had maybe two bucks worth of quarters to play the slots with just to be able to say I'd gambled in AC.

Still, my partner and I wandered around and I was very impressed at how clean the place was. Trump or whoever was paying a lot of money to keep the place clean.

The thing that stunned me is that I saw someone spill some popcorn on the floor as I was getting up to find the men's room. I was gone maybe five minutes and when I was returning some uniformed guy went past me carrying a dustpan and pushing a vacuum cleaner. 

When I passed where the scene of the popcorn spill was it had vanished like it had never happened. I was mildly amazed.

While the decor is not burned into my memory, one thing is. I never saw anything even remotely tacky or cheesy in the casino. In my opinion it was a really well put together place and was maintained with excellence. 

It was the kind of place that brings people back. 

Later on a shipmate told me about a visit to one of Trump's buildings in NYC and reported the same thing. The place was immaculate.

In Trump's book he said that he had been told that the cleaning crew could probably only have to shine up the brightwork every three or four days. Trump wasn't having it. He wanted it shined daily.

My guess is he simply wanted cleaning people being seen by the residents because it makes them feel they're getting their money's worth. Having people shining brightwork daily has a certain optic to it.

I have no problem with Trump's ballroom whatsoever. If we are using tents and portable toilets for White House functions that's just plain wrong because we can do better than that.

I also think that building the ballroom is right up Trump's alley because he made his money as a builder.

Besides it's not public money being used. Somehow Trump has raised funds to have it paid for by private donors.

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Halloween is coming and the usual gang is complaining

about Halloween vandalism. 

Of course some of it is apply anywhere crap.

A LOT of it is specifically targeted.

The day after when the complaints appear the first question I used to ask is "What did you do to deserve it?" 

Of course I generally got the usual wide eyed "I didn't do anything!" which makes me wonder. It's the suburban version of 'I dindu nuffin'.

Remember the time you called the police on the kids playing ball in the vacant lot? How about the time you raised hell because some kid rode a bicycle a couple of houses down without a helmet? 

I remember that as a kid the list of upcoming Halloween victims started being compiled on November first. Generally the list was short, sometimes empty but it was kept.

Are you one of those motorists that comes up on a group of kids riding bikes and give them a long, angry blast of your horn to express your displeasure?

(Generally when I pass kids on bikes I smack the horn quickly to give a little muffled 'Bink!' as a courtesy to let them know I'm coming up behind them as a slow speed. They usually pull over and smile and wave as I pass by because I treeated them with a little respect.)

Of course when you ask the victim what they did they claim they did nothing. That's most likely because they don't realize they were being stupid.

All you have to do  to get along with kids is show a little respect.

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Another day at the range

but I woke up late this morning and didn't have enough time to grab my gear. I wanted to shoot the Garand. 

It was supposed to be an 80 or 50 shot match. I would have shot a 50 shot match with the Garand as 50 shots is enough. An 80 shot match is hard on the body when you get old.

One of the guys that's older tham me always takes the 50 shot option.

Actually the reason I showed up late was to make sure I made it to the picnic which was pretty good. Sportsman clubs ALWAYS put on a pretty goood feed.

This ends the official season and we give the range back to the deer hunters for November. In December the preseason matches start up and I guess official the actual matches start up in April.

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Years ago I worked for a guy that had no scheduled paydays

which I actually had no problems with because the money was pretty good and I lived a casual lifestyle.

Every couple of weeks on an odd day after work he's hand out paychecks. I guess he just calculated things out when he felt like it. 

The first couple of times I was curious and carefully checked to make sure everything was on the up and up. It was. Actually it wasn't. I had been hired at the rate of $15/hour and my first check was based on $17.50/hour. I was surprised. The following check I was paid at $20/hour where it stayed. 

When I mentioned that he replied, "I want to keep you around. I pay people what they're worth."

Fair enough.

One day over coffee the subject of the erratic paydays came up. I opined that my life was disorganized to the point where it made no difference.

Another one of the guys said he actually liked it because it kept his wife from casual spending because she never knew when the next payday was. 

The other two guys didn't seem to mind it just so long as they could keep the rent paid.

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On getting arrested.

It amuses me to watch some of the people that interfere with ICE get arrested. An awful lot of them turn thier misdemeanor charges into a legitimate felony bust.

I've been carted off twice. Once for disturbing the peace and another time for armed robbery. Both times I simply kept my mouth shut and did what I was told. I didn't argue with the cop, I didn't resist or fight with anyone. I simply let the chips fall where they may.

The first time, the disturbing the peace charge, I was taken to the station and handed a summons and went home. In court the judge threw it out and called the arresting officer a chowderhead.

The armed robbery arrest lasted a short period of time. The victim came into the police station, looked at me, looked at the cop and said simply "That's not him." 

I had to go through some brief protocol before I was released and went on my merry way. It didn't take long.

The thing that interests me to this day is why neither of these even showed up during my clearance background investigation when I was in the Army.

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Trump hysteria is getting to be more entertaining by the day.

Trump ought to decree a Millard Fillmore Day because Fillmore had the first flush toilet installed in the White House. 

President Trump should be grateful for that because if he tried to get one installed now the screeching would be so epic that he'd have to use an outhouse on the North Lawn. Either that or sneak off to the nearest gas station or convenience store to take a dump. He can thank Millard Fillmore for not having to to do this.

I guess something is wrong with me because I have a mental picture of the President of the United States stumbling out the front door of the White House in his pajamas, bathrobe and slippers into a limo and being whisked off to the nearest gas station or convenience store.  

Right now the left is screaming about the ballroom that is beginning construction. Trump has pointed out that for state dinners and things of that sort that specially constructed tents are used to host these events. Trump says "It isn't a pretty sight." Fair enough. He's probably right. Tents sound a little tacky to me. We can do better. It makes sense.

Of course the left is screaming about the money which is a total joke because Trump has managed to dig up private financing. It won't cost the taxpayers anything. That's pretty amazing if you ask me. A president that can raise that kind of money for a project normally paid for by taxpayers is amazing.

When Hillary Clinton criticized it he offered to name the ballroom after Monica Lewinsky which was delightfully savage. I love it. Hillary has no room to talk as the Clintons left nothing but were forced to return the furniture they stole and they left the computers vandalized. 

Almost all previous occupants left the place at least the same way they found it. Most improved it to some extent or another. Not the Clintons.

So far Trump's first year has done some amazing things. He has writtten the entire platform for the Democratic Party (Hate Trump) and gotten them to make total fools of themselves. He lives in their head 24/7 rent free. 

The left now supports criminals in Chicago, LA and other places. They also support Venezuelan drug cartels. It's hilarious.

The amount of power given to Trump is pretty astonishing when you consider he's currently writing the platforms for both political parties.

I suppose he could create a partial boycott of a company just by endorsing one of their products. It's really amazing. I suppose if he said he used Sunshine Rinso laundry soap the left would screech and start buying another brand even if it gave them a rash or dried out their skin. The patches of flaky skin would be badges of honor (to match their blue hair and facial piercings many of them have).

One of the things I can't help but to notice is how many people over the past few years have been the number of Democrats that have left the party and registered as Republican. While the number is somewhat surprising that doesn't include the Democrats that have registered to Independent or those that have not bothered to change their party affiliation but will vote as Independents. Admittedly that's only the results of the 31 states that keep score, but still it says something.

One has to remember that as the Democrats keep moving left it tends to drag the middle of the road Democrat along with them. In order for them to not be dragged along they have to drop out lest they be supporting a platform they don't believe in. People that leave the Democratic party often say, "I didn't leave the Democratic party. The Democratic party left ME." I know any number of people that have said that. I know I did years ago. I am now seeing an increasing number of #walkaway people.

It wasn't too damned long ago when a Republican and a Democrat would share a beer over the fence and discuss the issues. However the left seems to have gone way too far and the difference between the parties is too great for that to happen like it used to.

What would be interesting to find out is how many new Republicans can't stand Trump. Probably a number of them. The thing is that they held their nose and voted for him because the alternative was far worse. 

Personally in my old age I love Trump if for no other reason than the entertainment value he has provided. The whole thing is hilarious, but then again things that used to be sad now amuse me. It probably keeps me from being carted off to the booby hatch.

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Watching a good father make memories with his kids.

Walmart parking lot a few years back. I had just pulled into a parking space. Someone pulled into the space directly behind me and as I was getting out so was he. He went straight to the trunk, opened it and started taking his three children out of it and stood them on the pavement.

For a second I was sort of stunned but quickly smelled bull$hit and took a quick peek into the trunk. Sure enough, half of the back seat back was down. The kids had crawled through the hole and into the truck where Dear Old dad scooped them up and deposited them on the pavement. Needless to say, I was amused.

Some woman pushing a shopping cart saw it and was not amused. She came charging up and started to go off on Dear Old Dad adding to my amusement. When Dad told her to mind her own damned  business she stormed off incensed adding even more to my amusement.

I stayed clear. I wanted to watch the show.

I was still working and had nothing planned for the day I had off. I decided to see what he would do when he got back to the car.

Maybe a half hour later he returned carrying a bag and walking with the three kids. When he got to the car he opened the trunk and started throwing them in like cordwood. It was pretty funny to watch and he was snarling "I'm not going to listen to you little yard apes all the way to Chicago! Now hurry up. We don't have all day!"

He was doing a pretty good Danny DeVito impersonation. It was pretty funny. The guy was good. He sounded like a nasty little $hit but I knew it was an act.

As he closed the trunk I heard a loud "Owww!" 

That was followed by a loud, "Shaddup and get your damned arm out of the way!" He reraised the trunk lid and gave it a good slam.

About this time some woman came charging up waving her phone and telling him she had pictures and was going to call the police.

"Go ahead, you old bag," he snapped back. She grabbed her phone and dialed and called the police who showed up a couple of minutes after he had left with his kids seated and belted into the back seat.

The woman flagged the hapless cop down and carrying on as to be expected. I caught the cop's eye and said, "Don't leave before you talk to me. Finish with her first." He nodded.

After he was finished with the woman the cop came over to me. "Did you see what happened?" he asked.

"A man pulled in, got out and opened the trunk and three kids squirmed through the fold down seat back and exited the vehicle through the trunk. It was some pretty funny $hit. I looked inside the car when he was out of sight and saw the right half of the backrest was down," I said. "When they returned to the car they reversed the process. The guy was a pretty good actor, too. Sounded a lot like Danny Devito when he said he wasn't going to listen to them all the way to Chicago. I almost cracked when he said that and I play you laugh you lose a lot!"

"You sure those kids were not being abused?" he asked. He was serious.

"Absolutely not. I saw the father look carefully to make sure they were buckled in properly in the back seat. The kids scrunched down to stay as hidden as best they could. Dad was doing his job in spades looking forward to the memories to come," I said.

"Memories?" the cop asked.

"Yeah. In about 25 years down the road they will be at a family gathering. Thanksgiving, Christmas, whatever and one of those kids is probably going to say, "Remember when Dad used to let us ride in the trunk?" The three of them will sit at the table and laugh themselves silly and tell their kids about it. You only get to raise kids once so you might as well have fun doing it and make a few memories."

The cop looked at me. "I used to hate calls like these but after so many calls over kicked and abused kids a call like this is actually a delightful rare treat. Thank you."

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WNBA players are demanding more money.

which is a joke because WNBA doesn't generate the revenue that the NBA does.  

Where will the money come from?

It's not like the muckety mucks are keeping every red cent from them. They would likely be happy to be offering million dollar contracts if the sport would grow to the level of the NBA and that's probably not happening.

You can't get blood out of a turnip.

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It looks like NYC is going to turn very, very very, blue.

and when it does a lot of money is going to leave. A LOT of money.

I've heard numerous stories of well-to-do people already listing properties and I've also heard of a number of people already bailing out. Google 'real estate listings in NYC' and see what pops up.

Look at the prices and make a note of them. Then after the election look at the prices and watch them drop like a stone. I'm sure they are not listed at what they could have been listed for before it looked like a socialist will likely become the next mayor. It looks like the owners want to bail out.

I've often wondered what would happen if, for example, the NYSE moved to a small city in middle America. 

My guess is that after a small period of getting used to things the big city types would wonder why they didn't move years ago.

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Someone was complaining about the White House ballroom that is not costing the taxpayers a dime.

Apparently they were unaware that numerous presidents have made changes over the years and said it shoulld be left as built.

"So now you want the President of the United States to have to sneak down to the nearest Sheetz to take a dump? The White House was built before the advent of flust toilets that were installed fifty years after the place was built. I suppose they could tear the toilets out and park a Sani Can outside." I said.

Some people's children.

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How to smear someone.

Joe Blow drank an entire bottle of Jim Beam and drove through a school zone.

True story. He did exactly that. He drank an entire bottle of Jim Beam and an hour later drove through a school zone.

Now for the rest of the story. It was a 50 ml bottle, about 1.5 ounces. He didn't drive through the school zone until two hours later.

But by God he drank the whole bottle!

A man I knew growing up spent three years doing prison outreach at Walpole State Prison.

Now let's put the spin on it. The man spent 3 years at Walpole State Prison.

And that is how easy it is to smear someone. It doesn't take much.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You are not afraid Trump is going to destroy the country. You're afraid he'll be successful and destroy your political ideology.

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Another story about the Old Man.

Long before the days of cell phones when I was about eighteen I went to a kegger and lost track of things. I just plain had too much to drink and it was too far to walk home. I stopped and thought things over 

I figured that if I slept it off and was out all night the Old Man would be angry with me. Then I thought that if I got into an accident or got picked up he'd be madder than a wet hornet. Then I thought again and decided that no matter what would happen to me I was going to do the right thing.

I opened the trunk, got out the sleeping bag and crashed out in the back seat. I woke up, drove home and at about 0630 ot 0700 I walked into the house where my parents were sitting in the kitchen. I was greeted with and angry "Where the hell have you been?!"

I held up both hands in surrender and Dad knew I was going to explain. My mother was upset and started babbling. Dad snapped, "I got this." and turned to me.

"I went to a keg party last night and accidentally lost count and had too much to drink. There was no phone and I refused to drive home because it would have been just plain wrong," I said. "I slept it off in the back seat."

Dad was silent and I could see the gears in his head were tuning. Mom interrupted and Dad again said "I have this!"

"I figured that no matter how mad you and Mom got that the right thing to do was sleep it off and come home and face the music. I'm not in the hospital and I'm not in jail," I said. 

Dad softened a bit. "So you did something stupid," he said. "Then you realized you did do something stupid and decided not to compound it with a bigger act of stupidity."

"Yes, sir," I said.

"You might have been able to drive home and sneak in and get away with it," he said. "And you knew when you walked in this morning you'd be walking into a hornet's nest," he said. "But you didn't. Why?"

"Because it was the right thing to do," I replied. "I figured I'd just have to take my medicine. It wasn't worth risking an accident or getting arrested."

He turned to my mother and said, "Thank God for small miracles. Our son did something stupid but had enough sense not to risk compounding it by trying to risk driving home even though he knew he'd be in hot water. I'm calling this one a wash. Don't do it again. Go in peace, kiddo. You got a lot of moxie."

He turned to Mom. "This case is closed. He learned something."

A couple years later when I was on leave Dad and I were talking. He asked me if I remembered the incident. I had.

'When you left I sat down and thanked God I had raised you to have some common sense. You stood up and offered to take the hit," he said. "I was actually relieved that morning."

"Dad, the jails are full of people that made a small mistake and kept making bigger mistakes to avoid owning up to the little mistake."

He nodded, and exhales audibly. Nothing more had to be said.

The lesson served me well. In the Army I had a problem getting back from leave on time once so instead of wimping out I called the first Sergeant and explained to him the problem I had with a cancelled flight. Top simply sid, "I have you covered and THANK YOU for letting me know."

As it was, I made it back to the unit on time, signing in at 2355 but that's another story.

77777777777777777777777777777777777

Later on I overheard Mom say to dad, "The drinking age is 21."

"The draft age is eighteen." he replied. "He could be in the Army now. I don't care if he drinks a little beer. I'm just watching to see that it doesn't get out of hand."

Then he said, "We can't win this one. Kids are going to follow the example set by adults." 

"Yeah, but it's against the law," Mom countered.

"So is your lead foot," he said. "You just got a speeding ticket. We're not perfect. We do the best we can."

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The drag race.

One night I was driving dad somewhere in a long forgotten errand of some sort. We were on a long, quiet, straight section of road and I saw someone waving a flashlight from side to side.

I didn't think twice. I simply pulled into what was either a long driveway or a fire road. I set the parking brake and turned out the lights.

''What the hell are you doing?" asked Dad.

"Drag race," I replied. "Let's watch it."

The kid with the flashlight started waving it upp and down. A couple of seconds later he shut it off, raised it aiming toward the sky, turned it on and dropped it.

Almost instantly we heard the sound of screeching tires and roaring engines that grew rapidly louder as the neared us. We also heard chirps as both drivers power shifted. 

"Wow! Someone just got rubber in all four gears!" I said to dad, who was watching carefully as they raced past us. The obvious winner was about a length and a half ahead. 

A second later I turned the headlights back on, backed back into the road and we went along on our merry way.

"How did you know there was going to be a drag race?" Dad asked.

"I wasn't 100% sure but I've heard some of the gearheads at school talking about it so I figured it was probably what was happening. The guy with the flashlight over there was the starter. When he dropped his light they both took off."

"You have any interest in drag racing?" he asked.

"Not other than watching them sometimes," I replied. "Maybe some Sunday we can go to New England Dragway."

"Maybe. You do know your mother's car has a 389 cubic inch engine in it." he stated.

"Yeah, but it's a lead sled," I replied. "Remember when you let me go from zero to 45 in it? I wasn't impressed."

"Hmm. What car do you thik you'll buy when you get older?" he asked.

I stopped at a stop sign and proceeded. "Probably something like this. Inexpensive to buy, inexpensive to run. Simple basic transportation."

"Makes sense," he replied. 

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There are about 813 billionaires in the United States.

which means thay control one hell of a lot more than 813 billion as many of them are multi billionaires. I recently read they have $6.2 trillion between them which is one hell of a lot of money.

Of course most leftists can't leave someone else's money alone and are screeching and blaming them for every problem under the sun. Of course they want them appropriately taxed at a rate of, say 90+%.

The battle cry of ''nobody needs that much money'' echoes through the hallowed halls of the left. well, guess what? They earned it. It's theirs to do anything legal they want to do with it. It's theirs and doesn't belong to them. If it did belong to a leftist they would likely stop being leftists and go ape $hit trying to keep it all.

Look at Bernie Sanders. He used to screech about millionaires until he became one. Now he screeches about billionaires. Now that he's a millionaire I don't see him offering to pay more than his legal share.

Needless to say, the left demands that billionaires get hit harder on taxes.

Guess what? Norway tried that a while back and to their surprise tax revenues dropped considerably. Why? 

Because the Norwegian rich moved their money out of Norway. Can't say as I blame them. I would have. 

I bet that if the left got their way then the rich would simply leave the country or at least move their money out of the country.

In fact if enough billionaires moved their money to some hellhole like Somalia or Sudan and set up operations inside a few short years they would not be hellholes. They'd be prosperous as all hell. You'd have immigrants from Minnesota trying to return home to Somalia.

What would happen here in the States is the economy would likely collapse worse than it did during the Great Depresion.

The big problem with the left is they always want to spend someone else's money and they will likely instantly piss it all away on various social programs (at least the part they don't steal)   

The always seem to forget that every billionaire out there in the process of making their billions have created numerous millionaires and countless middle class jobs. Currently Musk has about 147,000 people on the payroll. That doesn't include the number of outside jobs that are created by outside contractors and suppliers. 

Ford Motor Company lists up to 300,000 jobs not including outside contractors and suppliers. You don't get rich all by yourself. Everyone that gets rich takes a lot of people up with them.

The left doesn't think beyond the end of their noses.

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Classmates

Someone asked me why I didn't attend my 55th HS reunion.

"Because I couldn't find an attractive 22 year old woman with a newborn to accompany me," I replied.

They looked confused.

Sarcasm is like buying food at a state run market. Some people get it, some don't.

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The NJ state police don't have a sense of humor.

Someone reminded me of the time I have a crew change in New York somewhere. One of the relief crew had driven up in their own vehicle and I got the job of driving it to company HQs to park it for his tour.

The company van also arrived and an ad hoc decision to toss duffel bags in the car I was driving was made. I'd drop the duffel bags off at the company office so they could recover their stuff. The bags were unceremoniously dumped into the car I was driving and the tug skipper's was in the passenger's seat. It had a broken zipper and was open.

I left early and started down the Jersey Turnpike. When I was well along my shiny new cell phone went off and I was told the van had gotten tied up in traffic so I decided to pull over and wait for them.

I forgot why they asked me to do this but I did what they asked.

Anyway, after a while I was bored to tears and noticed the skipper's duffel bag had a hair dryer in it. The skipper was a woman with fairly long hair so it did make sense for it to be there.

I took the hair dryer out and started pointing at cars and watching them panic and slow down. It really was entertaining at first but after watching a number of people panic and try to go from 90 down to 60 in ten feet I realized I could probably have caused an  accident as the traffic was a bit on the heavy side.

I put the hair dryer back in the duffel bag and inside a couple of minutes I saw a cruiser pull in behind me and light up. Quickly I buried the hair dryer under a cooat in the tug skippers duffel bag.

Keys on the dash, window open and hands on the wheel I waited for about half a minute and the state cop approached me and asked for my license and registration. I handed him my license and explained that I was driving someone else's car. I explained I was a seaman making a crew change. Then I handed him my seaman's papers. 

I know it wasn't the first person he'd stopped that didn't have the correct paperwwork. He asked me if I had a hair dryer. 

"Hell, I don't know what the crew has in their duffel bags," I said. "Who knows?"

"Yeah, well if I had caught you pointing a blow dryer at passing cars I would have to arrest you for impersonating an officer," he said. I was uncomfortable with the tone of his voice. "We got a report that someone was doing just that."

I shrugged. He went back to his car and I waited. He took a lot longer than usual. He returned, handed me my license and Z-card (seaman's papers) back and said I was free to go.

I have to admit that it was pretty funny watching people panic and slow down. If traffic was lighter I probably would have been caught because it was funny but it was dangerous doing it in traffic that heavy.

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No lie, GI

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Windows 11.

Kinda sucks but I guess it is what it is.

As far as I am concerned the best program Windows ever came up with was XP.

Oh, well. I suppose this is probably going to be the last program I will have to use unless I break some kind of longevity record or they decide to come out with Windows 12 sooner than expected.

-----------------------------------------

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It's hard to admit that your political party left YOU.

It really is. 

The democratic party left ME decades and decades ago and it was hard to admit to myself that I had been turned into a stooge. I dropped out and reregistered as an Independent and have stayed that way since.

I had to look at myself and say, "DUH!!!" and take a long, hard look at myself. This was back in the 70s and for a while later on I was a non registered Libertarian until they decided to add plank after plank to their platform.

When the TEA party came around I looked into that and it took me four minutes and six seconds to see where that was headed. The same social issues drivel the Republicans were promoting got dragged into their platform and the became Republican Light. Ray Charles could have seen that one coming.

Nope.

I will stay an independent conservative and that is that. Needless to say I will probably continue holding one nostril shut voting for Republicans.

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I just read where some school asked parents not to pack ham in their children's lunches

because Muslims find it offensive.

What bull$hit! Jews don't eat pork but I have never heard one single Jew complain about the rest of us eating pork. Not one I have ever heard about.

It's a good thing that kid isn't mine or the poor little yard ape would be eating something with pork in it 5 days a week while he was in school. I'd go right out and buy a copy of The Pork Cookbook complete with 14,267 recipes for pork and start cooking school lunches for the kid. 

Pork pot pie, pork sausage, pork roast, ham, ham salad sandwiches, BLTs, you name it. The poor kid would be eating pork at school until it came out his ears and then I'd buy him earplugs and keep feeding him pork something. Of course he could eat what he wanted before and after school.  

Some clown in Texas, of all places tried to tell a Texas barbecue place to stop cooking pork dishes. Of course he was told to take it to a taxidermist and shove it. He threatened to picket the place and from what I figure in Texas the owner of the barbecue place is going to get very rich soon as angry Texans mob it. Knowing Texas it would not surprise me to find that Texas Jews would join in on the gala festivities of mobbing the place, probably ordering a non pork dish but who cares.

Personally I think the Muslim should have simply had things explained to him by an angry, unruly mob and be handed a ticket from DFW to the nearest Muslim enclave. That or be thrown out a 30th story window, his choice.

The Muslim that demanded we stop making bacon should be rolled in hog entrails and then handed a ticket.

I wouldn't even consider moving to an Islamic or for that matter Jewish country and opening up a hog farm. What makes him come there and think he can tell the locals what to do?

Thomas Jefferson once said that Islam is incompatible with western values and I seriously think he was spot on.

         

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One of the things that has not returned since Covid killed it.

It didn't happen all that often but every once in a while you'd run into someone that just had to hold their face 2 inches away from your nose to talk to you.

Covid killed that and fortunately it doesn't seem to have returned.

Thank God for small miracles.

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The almost annual phone call for the guy that used to have my number.

Shortly after I got my cell phone with a Philly area code I would start getting calls for the number's previous owner. It sounded like the previous owner had used it as a burn phone or for other criminal activity. At the time it was a Tracfone number and I used minutes cards.

I often got calls of a nefarious nature. I remember one being from someone that said they'd gotten out of prison. He wanted the money that was owed to him. Sounded like a drug deal.

As time passed the calls stopped coming in and went down to maybe once a year and it's been a couple years since I have received one.

Yesterday I got a call from Philly for the first time in a couple of years. The called asked for John and I finally got to use the classic line.

"No John here," I answered. "I $hit in a paper bag."

Click. He hung up on me.

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Things people are no longer afraid to be called.

because they are being beaten to death and are just plain worn out by the left.

So far being called a Nazi, fascist, racist, bigot only means you disagree with the left. When somebody calls me one of these names I simply reply, "Yeah, so?" because it means nothing anymore.

Right now the big thing is to call a political opponent a pedophile. That one used to be the biggie. Now the left is in the process of wearing that one down. Soon it will be sent to the dustbin of names the left uses to describe people that don't agree with them.

The English language is constantly changing. For example the term 'rip off' came out of nowhere circa 1970 and was constantly heard. I seldom hear it anymore even though it is still out there. It's dying. The only people I seem to hear use it are a few dying off boomers.

The language is changing fast because now terms like bigot, racist, fascist and Nazi are changing in meaning rapidly. They are rapidly becoming non insults because they are rapidly losing their original meaning. Pedophile is rapidly joining them as the left uses it as a one size fits all word to accuse those that oppose them.

 

Sometimes things backfire fast on the left. 

Remember when Hillary called Trump voters 'deplorables' and the Trump voters immediately embraced it?

Same difference. 

Soon the word used to describe depraved sexual predators will start to become yet another meaningless word the left uses to call those that disagree with them.

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The CO of the ORNG has been put in somewhat of a quandary.

He seems to have been handed conflicting missions. On one side he has to protect ICE and the other side he has to protect the citizens of Oregon, many of which are protesters.

The general seems to have two commanding officers. The truth is that no man may serve two masters. Federal law supersedes state law and the minute they are federalized they no longer belong to the Governor of OR. They belong to the feds. That's pretty clear.

The general appears to think that his mission is to protect Oregonians. Actually he does. He has a mission to protect everyone in the state BUT Oregonians have some responsibility, too.

Whole the OHNG has a duty to protect protesters, However the protesters have responsibilities, too. The protesters have to protest in accordance with applicable laws. Once they break the rules and riot then it's game on.

What the good general is doing is trying to roil up things and muddy the waters.

If you are familiar with the military the highest a person can generally go up the food chain simply by being a kickass soldier is O-5, lieutenant colonel. Very rarely can a kickass soldier make colonel because that's where things get pretty political. There's a lot of 'ya gotta know the right people' going on at the higher levels. The old days of George Pattons and Chesty Pullers are long gone. 

The commanding general of the OHNG has clearly stopped being a go where they send me and do what they tell me soldier. He's being a political animal and squirming. 

Fact is that if the OHNG gets federalized then the good general has to decide is he wants to work for the feds or retire. Is he going to play both ends against the middle or simply retire?

Personally I'd honor the POTUS as my CinC but we shall see what we shall see.

If an officer gets an order he finds distasteful he can either obey the order or resign.

It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

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I am beginning to see that an awful lot of leftists are simply failed human beings.

I have heard that middle class suburban woman are a danger to the republic and I see it happening more and more.

As I listen to their rants and raves I can't help but picture some woman sitting behind a computer in sweat pants surrounded by nine cats and either underemployed or even unemployed living off of whatever. Very possibly the settlements from four divorces after they cleaned their exes out.

These people are angry because life didn't turn out the way they expected. Many of the women had fathers that lied to them and told them they were princesses and deserved a knight in shining armor to take care of them so they didn't have to lift a finger.

If they have adult children it's likely they don't visit very often, and probably with good reason.

What dad forgot to mention is that a lot of knights hide their shining armor under greasy coveralls. 

Dads have lied to sons, too. They tell their son that he is destined to become president or CEO of a major corporation or a top physician.

Seems Dad was always a little short on explaining the hard work and brains department required to get there. He forgot to mention that part. He also forgot to mention that life isn't always fair.

So now that you have gotten older and life isn't what you were promised by your parents you get resentful. You're not rich and famous and don't have a billionaire husband or a trophy wife. You're angry, disillusioned and very, very bitter and have more than a dallop of self-hate. You also hate successful people and blame them for a lot of your problems. 

You are not living in a huge mansion and now you think it's someone else's fault so you cop towards socialism thinking you have something to gain. You're too lazy to earn your own but are willing to do twice the work to take money and goods from someone that did earn it.

I can't say that you would be a billionaire but if you had accepted responsibility for your own life and gone as far as your talent, brains and drive would take you then you would likely be a whole lot better off than you are and likely would not want to have the rest of the world take care of you. You damned sure would not be forced to give any of it to someone too lazy and stupid to earn their own.

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Fix bayonets.

Most people don't know it but the order to fix bayonets is sometimes used on Navy ships carrying Marines. 

For example if a platoon of Marines is needed fast on the flight deck the officer or NCO in charge will sometimes order the Marines to fix bayonets and double time them to where they have to be. They run with their rifles at Port Arms which is safe enough and does what they need it to do.

Sailors are not stupid and know enough to flatten against the bulkheads while the Marines pass by. The smart ones go against the bulkhead on the right side of the Marines because that's not the sharp end of their rifles.

Most people have an aversion to sharp, pointy objects so apparently the trick seems to work rather well.

I hope the National Guard issues bayonets just in case they have to hold a line or move a crowd. 

Back when I was in the service we had a class on riot control as it was nearing the end of Vietnam which was winding down rapidly. 

A 2LT was giving a part of the class and he and I crossed swords and I made it clear to him that if he ordered me to fire on Americans with no bona fide reason I would fire one shot, at him. 

The whole class got silent REAL FAST and my battery commander broke the silence by saying, "As you should, Sergeant."

Then he said, "Lieutenant, you better have a damned good reason to fire on American citizens." My BC was a good officer and besides he was getting out and therefore had no career to protect.

The BC turned to me and asked me how I would move an unruly mob. "Fix bayonets," I replied. "Half step toward the crowd and once a few of them got a quick  little poke they would move. You are not trying to seriously injure people. You are trying to motivate them to move.  Once the crowd sees sharp pointy things they will move and pretty quickly, too."

I didn't know the S-3, a major had dropped in. He spoke up.

"What do you do if someone grabs your rifle and tries to take it away from you?" he asked.

''That's when the guys on either side of me give the guy about an inch or two of steel below the ribs. He'll back down fast." I said.

"Interesting," replied the major. "Would you seriously shoot the lieutenant?"

"Major, we both joined the United States Army to defend the American people, not gun them down. I'm also not going to be responsible for another Kent State black eye, either."

He looked at me thoughtfully and said nothing.

Later I had business with the S3 shop and the major noticed me and told me to grab myself a cup of coffee and step into his office when business was concluded. I did and we briefly discussed a few things about the class. I suggested actual hands on training is they were serious about it. I pointed out that the last thing we needed was some worked up kid skewering people.

I support using the NG to support ICE but the government should make sure they train them before deployment.

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If you want a shot at returning to the country buy your own ticket

and self-deport.

Don't take the ticket that Uncle Sam is offering if you want to apply to get back in. For one thing is is a prima facia admission you entered illegally.

Just buy yourself a ticket out of the States and see if you can be readmitted quietly. Don't lie on the forms or anything that can come back to bite you.

Come on back but this time do it LEGALLY.

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Socialism was tried at least once in America

Who tried it?

The Pilgrims. 

They had a system of everyone putting 10% of their harvest into common storage for those that had unsuccessful harvests.

They starved.

In desperation the Pilgrim fathers gave every Pilgrim family a plot of land and told them they were on their own.

They flourished.

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Get your own lawyer.

I see where Antifa people that are getting busted are getting legal services from their benefactors. I'm sure they have faith in their benefactors mouthpiece.

It probably hasn't occurred to a lot of them that lawyers work for who is paying them. They are there to defend the people that are paying them, not their so-called arrested client.

The attorney is not there to defend the arrested. He's there to insure his client doesn't cut a deal and rat out the people that hired him.

I believe it hasn't sunk in as to what the arrested is looking at. We are not talking about 30 days and $100 for disorderly conduct here. He is looking at a couple of decades for domestic terrorism.

Most likely many of these won't figure out they have been thrown to the wolves until they have been sitting in prison for a while.

Sometimes free legal services are not free. They get paid for one way or the other. In the case of an arrested Antifa member many will pay the bill with their time. 

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If you can't beat 'em then buy 'em.

Catching and detaining an illegal immigrant cost a small fortune.

I wonder how many of the paid Antifa types would flip if the government put a bounty on illegal immigrants.

At $10K/head that would mean if you pop a family of five you have more than enough to buy a new car or put down a decent down payment on a house.

Of course if you add 'dead or alive' to the equation you'd save a lot of money because it would create the largest mass exodus in human history. 

Still, at $10K/head I bet that would cause a number of paid Antifa types to change sides.

I actually proposed a dead or alive bounty and listened to screeching liberals talking about what a bloodbath it would be.

I asked them what they would do if they were living in Casablanca and the Moroccan government said there was a bounty on American citizens in 90 days.

"I'd leave immediately!" was the reply.

"Of course you are fortunate enough to have a monopoly on the world's knowledge and went into deep thought to figure that one out, right?"

"Well, it's just common sense," he muttered. 

"Correct. What will happen is the largest mass exodus in human history. They will leave rather then being turned in for reward money. When it sinks in that Joe, his wife and three kids are worth a brand new car or a good, solid down payment on a house he'll be out of here like a shot. No violence, no nothing."

  

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I commented that Donald Trump is hilarious.

and the reply I got is, "Yeah, but the funniest part is watching the Democrats totally over react to him."

It really is. 

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

The current government shutdown is a classic case of heads I win, tails you lose.

If they give him a clean bill to sign Trump wins. If they don't and the government shuts down then Trump gets to clean house and eliminate any number of useless and unnecessary government department and jobs. 

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What would likely happen if they did implement talented and gifted programs.

Money would be earmarked for the program and about half would be siphoned off and run through various NGOs and wind up in the hands of the usual gang of crooks.

The whole program would become politicized and be full of regulation that it would do not one bit of good for the people it was intended to help.

Just like almost everything else government does.

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I am still driving the Miata now

because the weather is holding which is surprising. we're into October now and still have warm weather. 

l Still, I don't dare fill the gas tank. I try keep it about half full because when the snow flies it gets parked for the duration after I add fuel stabilizer and leave the upper half of the tank empty so I can add a spring refresher of a few gallons of premium.

Hopefully I can run it to Thanksgiving this year before the snow flies. I see no signs of white in the coats of the deer so I am being optimistically hopeful for a short, mild winter.

(Murphy was an optimist)

 

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I see where ICE is arresting Antifa types.

With Antifa on the list of domestic terrorist organizations getting arrested is no longer a joke. It's not like some local/state liberal DA or judge can either drop charges or gloss it over. 

Charges can, in some cases be life imprisonment in the federal can.

I recently saw a video of someone that got popped and was seated and being held by ICE. He was shaking like a paint mixer, most likely after an ICE agent pointed out that he was being charged federally.

My guess is he's going to cut a deal REAL FAST and sell many of them out. A lot of them will when they start looking at long prison sentences.

I don't think it will be too hard to follow the money to the source and freeze the funds. Say what you want about ideology but the pallets of brick put on street corners during the BLM riots didn't put them there themselves. That took money.

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There are now so many grey cars around

that I am surprised I have not heard of someone making a 

                               U.S. NAVY

                                          for official use only

stencil and start slapping it on their car doors.

77777777777777777777777777777777777777777

Someone said they wanted to help illegals escape from ICE.

I told them to spring them from the holding pens in front of most convenience stores.

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Why don't they have talented and gifted programs?

Before I even get started a society that doesn't have a special needs program is a society that doesn't have a heart. It's necessary. So before anyone gets fired up I am not talking about eliminating special needs education. 

What I am advocating is investing money into the truly gifted kids. I'm not talking about the somewhat above average kid that works his ass off to get straight As and is in advanced placement. He'll be OK and will likely do well if he stays on track.

I am talking about the rare and truly gifted kid that's forced to go to classes that hold him back and leave him sitting there bored to tears. I'm talking about the bright kid that learned to read at a college level by the time he headed into third grade. The genius that teachers never seem to notice or are too embarrassed to admit that they are challenged by the kid.

These kids are being held back by the system and should be discovered and allowed to run. There should be a gifted and talented program for the small handful that are out there. They should not be held back. Instead they should have their reins removed and be allowed to learn at their own pace. If they can get into college at 14 then let them. Don't hold them back. Let them run at their own pace.

These are the kids that only need a little guidance and have it explained to them that setting up a nuclear powerplant in their garage isn't really a good idea. Maybe hook them up with a nuclear scientist and have him learn at a nuclear powerplant or something along these lines.

These kids are few and far between and under no circumstances do they belong in the average classroom.

One of the things that should be taught as a part of a teaching certificate is how to spot these youngsters and send them to a program where their talents can be utilized. 

It wouldn't be too expensive and would be one hell of a good investment in our future. These are the kids that will cure cancer or build us an energy efficient engine or something worthwhile.

 

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I am starting to see a growing number of black conservatives on social media.

 Which I find rather delightful.

It's wonderful seeing Black folks leave the plantation and strike out on their own.

If they are smart and work hard maybe they can get a plantation of their own someday.

Seriously I've seen a number of conservative black on social media and it's a breath of fresh air. It takes a lot of moxie for a black to come out in the open about being a conservative. 

Some of them have reported ostracism from parts of the Black community and had people tell them they aren't black anymore. (What are they going to do about it? Wash his color off?)

It's well past time for many blacks to look at themselves and realize that when it comes down to the wire they have to take care of themselves and leave the plantation.

As a conservative I can say you're certainly welcome to enter the fray alongside us. the biggest thing that the left fears is that blacks and whites will unite.