Around the net…

Posted on by June 25, 2021

Gleaned from various places…

FBI feared Pennsylvania would seize fabled gold

This story has more twists and turns than most mystery novels… Full article, HERE.

Next, we move to Virginia and the goings on around the statues…

A time capsule was placed under the Robert E. Lee statue in 1887. Gov. Northam says he will remove it. Gov. Ralph Northam plans to remove a time capsule placed under the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue in 1887 and replace it with a new one, he announced Tuesday, as the state begins to form its plans for the future of the much-contested monument. 

The supposed contents, according to reports from the day-

What’s in the time capsule?

A time capsule was placed in the pedestal of the Robert E. Lee monument in 1887 when it was built. According to newspaper archives, a rare picture of President Abraham Lincoln lying in his coffin was put in the time capsule. Here are some of other items donated for the time capsule, which Gov. Ralph Northam plans to remove:

• a battle flag and a square and compass made from a tree over Stonewall Jackson’s grave from J.W. Talley;

• a history of Monumental Church donated by George Fisher;

• a collection of Confederate buttons from Cyrus Bossieux;

• a copy of Carlton McCarthy’s “Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia” given by J.W. Randolph & English publishers;

• a guide to Richmond with a map of the city and a map of Virginia;

• three bullets, a piece of shell and a Minie ball lodged in a piece of wood from a Fredericksburg battle field, given by Frank Brown;

• a bible from Thomas J. Starke;

• statistics of the city of Richmond from J.B. Halyburton;

• a $100,000 Confederate bond from John F. Mayer;

• an English penny from 1812 from W.T. Moseley; and

• an Oct 26, 1887, edition of the The Richmond Dispatch.

Full article, HERE.

And now to Texas…

The Veep FINALLY went to the border… in El Paso, 600 miles from the Rio Grande Valley, where the real ‘center’ of the border issues are. No visit to the Donna facility, everything carefully planned with photo ops, etc. Interestingly, not a single State of Texas official was there. Sen. Durbin (D- IL) and Rep. Veronica Escobar (D- El Paso) were the only two political figures there. Henry Cuellar (D-28th district) which includes the Rio Grande Valley, was NOT in attendance. And she said they ‘inherited’ the border crisis… Really??? And El Paso is the new Ellis Island? Sigh…

Full article, HERE from USA Today and HERE from the AP.

On to Georgia…

The Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ), led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, is planning to sue Georgia over the newly-signed voting reform law. The lawsuit is being spearheaded by DOJ Civil Rights Division head Kristen Clarke, Associate AG Vanita Gupta, and Deputy Assistant AG Pamela Karlan. 

Soooo, after HR-1 failed, now they are apparently going state by state and suing over the ‘new’ voter laws, saying they are racist. Full article, HERE.

It’s an virtual con…

Posted on by June 25, 2021

LibertyCon is virtual this year, not by choice. But it does give y’all a chance to ‘see the sausage made’, so to speak.

HERE’s the link- go down the page and you’ll find the links and instructions on how to view the panels.  Peter, Dot, Sarah Hoyt, and myself have a panel tonight at 2100 EDT on writing cross genres, and I’m doing a reading at 1300 on Sunday.

Thank you!!!

Posted on by June 24, 2021

Just wanted to say thank you to those who have given me honest reviews on my books and stories.

Reviews are the bedrock of our ‘advertising’ if you will. Without reviews, people tend to ignore us, not buy our stuff, or not be willing to take a chance on us.

Having said that, Showdown on the River is stuck at less than 50 reviews, which is the first ‘bump’ if you will where Amazon actually starts putting it out on the also read categories… 100 reviews are the breakpoint where you start getting listed with other authors on search pages, or did… Amazon seems to be…as usual changing things on the fly, so I’m not sure where it is now.

Anyway, if you liked Showdown, or didn’t, I’d appreciate an honest review. They are our lifeblood as authors…

Thank you again!!!

Interesting…

Posted on by June 23, 2021

Watched Xiden’s presser on ‘epidemic’ gun violence that ‘started during the Covid lockdown’…

His out of the gate… background checks, assault weapons ban, ‘community’ policing all worked, don’t today because the ‘funding’ got cut.

Role of gun dealers in ‘illegal’ sales. 90% of guns found at crime scenes sold by 5% of dealers. So, zero tolerance for illegal sales.

Second amendment ‘limited’ the types of guns a person could own. (interesting statement).

And there was this little gem- “Those who say the blood of Patriots, you know, and all the stuff about how we’re gonna have to move against the government. If you think you need to have weapons to take on the government, you need F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons.” Really??? Shades of Swalwell…

blather, blather, blather- guns coming from ‘other’ jurisdictions is why gun violence is spiking in Chiraq, Bawl’more, Philly, NYC. (yeah, right)… How about the cities NOT enforcing the laws in their own cities!

All folded into the ‘American Jobs Program’… repealing the liability protection against gun manufacturers. Close the ‘stalking loophole’ with bad boyfriends.

Pushed Chipman for director of ATF.

Smart gun technology should be pushed to the top of the list.

Not one word about gangs, proactive policing, illegal drug trade (and ancillary guns), going into the cities, and actually ENFORCING the existing laws, much less arresting, trying, and sending to prison the criminals.

Also, never said a word about defunding push across many blue cities, the no bail/bail reform situations, releasing criminals back to the streets in as little as four hours, and not prosecuting gun crimes… Zip, nada, crickets…

Well, I didn’t expect this…

Posted on by June 22, 2021

It appears there is also a ‘significant’ issue with lube oil…

Donegal, PA.  It’s where they store salt, plows, and vehicles for maintenance of the PA Turnpike.
Last week they got a delivery of P.O.L. for their trucks.  Delivery man said “Make it last.  Don’t know when we’ll have more.”
Seems an “ingredient” of the lubricating oil is in short supply and when it becomes available again “it’s gonna cost an arm and a leg.”
As it turns out, apparently the ‘issues’ is additives…
Initially, COVID-19 shut down non-essential manufacturing and travel, greatly reducing finished lubricants demand and, consequently, additive demand. This was softened by lubricants marketers continuing to blend finished product and fill their warehouses in the event that their plants were also shut down. helped ease some of the impacts of shutdowns and restrictions faced by additive manufacturers, but it also threw off their forecasting.
Full article, HERE, from Kline. Also a pretty damning article on JIT, HERE, from the Union of the European Lubricants Industry.
Just In Time (JIT) shipping works well when everything is flowing smoothly. When it’s not… well, there are ‘few’ issues… When you stack 50+ ships off LA harbor, or things like the Evergiven shuts down the Suez Canal, or plants closing due to the WuFlu…
That kinda puts paid to JIT. The simple fact is, be lessening their on hand inventory, companies make money by not having to rent warehouse space, storage, etc. Walmart is famous for using JIT for its stores, famously have computer systems that automatically place orders with regional warehouses on a daily basis, based on sales in the stores. That is why you see so many Walmart trucks on the road. And their regional warehouses are HUGE!
But their stores only have enough storage for basically product on hand plus something like 10% of consumable product. Everything else comes from the warehouses.
As long as the warehouses have it…
Like building products, ammunition, and now gasoline, apparently lube oil is also going to be an issue going forward. Better hope your vehicles/tractors/mowers, etc. don’t have problems for a while.
Sigh…

US Open…

Posted on by June 20, 2021

I know most people consider golf as boring as watching grass grow and I understand.

But… Having said that, I’ve played at it since high school and always enjoyed, most of the time enjoyed it… Okay, okay, I played flog more than golf, but still…

Thanks to being the Navy, I did get the chance to play a lot of interesting courses over the years, and was able to work the Players Championship in Jacksonville a couple of years. I’ve also worked a few other tournaments too.

One of the courses I was lucky enough to play was Torry Pines at ‘Navy’ rates a few times over the years, so I’ve actually walked that course just like the pros. It’s a public course, so it gets a good bit of play and when the wind is blowing, it is TRULY a challenge!

I’ll be the first to admit they out hit me with EVERY club in their bags. On a ‘good’ day, I’m barely over 210 yards with the driver, and 100 yards with a wedge. They’re hitting over 320 with drivers, and 150-170 with their wedges.

What really amazes me is their shotmaking ability and accuracy. And their putting… So yes, I’ll admit I watch golf… If for no other reason than to see actual head to head competition, where there aren’t any excuses for how well or badly they shoot. Golf is definitely NOT a team sport, and I know some people say they aren’t athletes, but I’d challenge you to go out and walk 4-5 miles a day, up and down hills, and swinging a club 60-100 times a day, week after week in all kinds of weather.

I believe the quality of the golfers today is a direct result of Tiger Woods and his ascendancy in the golf world. He popularized the sport world-wide that was basically a ‘rich old man’s sport’, and started kids all over the world playing golf. We’re seeing the results of that now on the leaderboards with all the different countries represented. At one point, there was a South African, a Spaniard, an American, and an Irishman in the top four slots. Rahm from Spain won it with two huge puts on the last two holes.

One other point- Lots of folks don’t realize that most of the course workers are volunteers, unpaid other than maybe a round or two of free golf at the location. This allows the tournaments to donate a lot of money, $204 million in 2019 and $3.9 billion over all the years. Philanthropic contributions, including those from professional tournaments, are a huge part of the industry, with the majority of funds going to causes outside of the sport like hospitals, youth development groups, food banks, and programs in local communities the PGA Tour visits.

I don’t believe any of the other ‘sports’ match that…

YMMV…

Oof…

Posted on by June 19, 2021

Made too much food…

I made enough for the folks I’d ‘planned’ on making it, but three didn’t… Guess I’ll be eating leftovers…

Oven baked short ribs, smoked beef ribs, shrimp boil, chicken skewers, and coleslaw.

Why so many choices, you might ask?

Well, one person is allergic to shrimp, one can’t eat beef, and everybody can eat chicken. But it was damn sure an all day affair…

Was it worth it? Hell yes, good friends, good conversation, laughter, and everyone relaxed. Definitely worth it.

Signed, sealed, and delivered!!!

Posted on by June 17, 2021

Gov. Greg Abbott appeared Wednesday on the grounds of the Alamo to sign seven pieces of legislation loosening firearms restrictions in the state.

The most controversial of those, Senate Bill 1927, allows Texans to carry handguns without a license or training starting on September 1. That so-called constitutional carry proposal was passed over the objections of gun safety advocates and some law enforcement groups.

Full list, HERE.

The one that is really going to be interesting is the suppressor bill…

House Bill 957 (Oliverson/Springer) repeals the criminal offense of possessing, manufacturing, transporting, or repairing a firearm silencer. It also ensures that any firearm suppressor manufactured in Texas, and that remains in Texas, will not be subject to federal law or federal regulation. 

But I won’t be running out and buying one just yet… I KNOW that one is going to be challenged left, right, and sideways…

Of course the left is melting down, and I’m just waiting for the ‘blood in the streets’ wailing to start. Dunno if anyone else has noticed, but those other states that have passed Constitutional Carry haven’t had any blood in the streets…

TBT…

Posted on by June 16, 2021

Soooo, PP and family are going camping, and I ran across these…

Family campers

1910 version…

1918 version…

1924 version… Probably the first ‘motorhome’…

Today???

YMMV, and everybody makes their ‘own’ choices… 🙂

Posted in TBT