50 years…

Posted on by October 18, 2019

50 years ago I graduated from here…

The sign wasn’t electronic, and where the flags are was the parking lot… And the arch led to the football field… Now that’s the ‘practice/PE’ field and there is a new 10,000 seat stadium a block away.

But some things haven’t change… The odor of despair and sweat in the gym… LOL Even the scoreboards are the same ones we had!!!

The rest of the school, not so much… Modernized isn’t the half of it!!! The school was originally built in 53, two wings, plus the gym. The main entry is now a ‘collaborative‘ space, the trophy case is gone, and that entire wing of the building is GONE! The office is now in the old library, and there are new ‘facilities’ all over the place. And to top it off, there are apparently THREE food lines, pizza, burgers & made to order sandwiches, and the ‘regular’ food line. And lunch is free!

The truly sad part is that this mosaic, which used to be just inside the main entry, is now outside and has, to put it politely, gone to s**t… Sigh…

We’re talking about getting a fund together to save it, clean it up, and have it properly sealed. Kids today have NO sense of history… Dammit…

 

Snerk…

Posted on by October 17, 2019

Looks like the average Londoner doesn’t put up with protesters well…

Full article and videos, HERE.

Now this one just sets my teeth on edge…

Over the last two weeks in the ongoing federal civil jury trial of Planned Parenthood against David Daleiden, Judge William Orrick has repeatedly cut off defense questioning that he considers straying too close to eliciting information related to Planned Parenthood’s history of selling tissue from aborted fetuses.

Full article, HERE.

How can the judge suppress the basis, IMHO, for the reason that they did the undercover recordings? I know I’m not a lawyer, but damn…

And an interesting take on the ‘gaslighting’ currently going on in DC, HERE. That’s actually a pretty good report, and brings up some good points. Re Pelosi, Chuckie, and whoever the other Dem talking head was yesterday, they come off looking stupid again, more like three year olds that didn’t get their way, especially when the REST of the Dems stayed in the meeting.

And speaking of talking heads, the Dems are truly melting down, I watched a couple of different shows and they absolutely REFUSE to answer a direct question, instead resorting to Orange Man Bad taking points (that are ALL identical across all the talking heads), and/or talking over the questioner or other talking heads in shriller and louder voices every day. It’s getting to the point that it is becoming humorous, and oh so predictable… LOL

And I heard an interesting take on Beto and his gun confiscation yesterday- The commentator raised an interesting point in that Beto himself would never have to DO anything other than order it, he wouldn’t actually put himself in harm’s way to take the guns. Much like the others beating the drums about protecting the Kurds (who are not monolithic by any means), knowing they won’t actually have to DO anything. They can get on the MSM and spout their words, then slink back to congress and rely on the rest of the congresscritters to not pass any real legislation (and the large majority of them have no children in harm’s way, or any possibility of them having to go (wo)man the front lines. And apparently they are also decrying the ceasefire that VP Pence and Sec State Pompeo forged with Turkey, saying the US gave in to Turkey. Wow… just… Wow…

Lastly, it looks like South Park took a shot at Mao Lebron in their episode this week!

“South Park” took a not-so-subtle dig at NBA superstar LeBron James over his response to the league’s controversy with China in Wednesday night’s episode of the long-running animated series. 

South Park has skewered the Chinese influence more than once, and it doesn’t seem to bother them that they are now banned in China. Full article, HERE.

Musings…

Posted on by October 16, 2019

I didn’t watch the Dems clusterf... debate last night, but apparently it was ‘entertaining’ for some folks. Apparently CNN came out for Warren as their choice based on various reports today, and Gabbard got basically kicked to the curb after she called out both CNN and the NYT in her opening statement. The millionaire, the one that bought his lectern apparently misspoke about how long it’s been since folks have had a raise, saying it’d been 40 years. Warren ONLY came under fire from the other candidates, apparently over how to pay for all the crap she wants.

In other news, who cares what LeBron James thinks about the whole China situation? Article, HERE. The NBA had a chance to stand up to China and caved like a cheap suit, because they value MONEY more than actual honesty about the treatment of people in China… Sad, sad, sad.

And Project Veritas is lighting up CNN from the inside. Apparently an individual wore a wire and got a number of ‘interesting’ video/audio recordings of the inside goings on.

In the second Project Veritas insider video segment covering racial bias and it’s effect on coverage at CNN, Media Coordinator Christian Sierra, states, “I think that shootings in poorer areas or, um, minority communities don’t get as much coverage as if they were to happen in a white area.”

Full article, HERE, from Townhall.com

Lastly, I think it IS a good idea to get out of Syria, and Afghanistan, and Iraq… I’ve seen the results of the injuries to our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines at Walter Reed and Bethesda. It’s not pretty, and we have been there way too long. Previous administrations have tied the military’s hands with extremely restrictive ROEs, rather than letting them do their jobs (break things and kill people until the other side gives up). Our military isn’t trained as a ‘police force’, and shouldn’t be used as such. And the ‘allies’ haven’t stepped up, forcing the USA to do ALL the dirty work, in a myriad of situations where we shouldn’t even be there.

This coming weekend is my 50th high school reunion, and I’m not sure what I think about that… 50 years??? No way! It can’t possibly be that long, can it? But it is… Sigh…

It’s enough to make you wonder…

Posted on by October 15, 2019

Fleet week brings over $100 million a year into SFO…

Full article, HERE.

But there are those who hate it…

We have been unable to find a single story in any local news outlet that raises a single critical issue about the cost, safety, environmental impacts, problems for veterans with PTSD or kids who get frightened—or the overall military promotion—of this annual Navy airshow.

In an era of worries about climate change, personal safety, and public spending, you’d think that the Navy’s Fleet Week and Blue Angels air show would be a tough sell. Yet, even as the event guzzles phenomenal amounts of fossil fuels and taxpayer dollars—and presents huge safety risks with its low urban flyovers and perilous maneuvers—the military celebration and public-relations stunt draws big cheering crowds and uncritical applause from mainstream media and politicians.

Full article, HERE.

The military used to have a LARGE presence in the San Francisco Bay area… Used to have… BRAC closed many of them, personally I believe due to the attitudes of the powers that be… I was stationed there twice at NAS Moffett Field. We closed Moffett for the Navy due to high per diem costs (it was taking a large chunk of the entire P-3 community budget to support training students there). Those squadrons were moved to Hawaii and Washington State, to lower costs, and VP-31 was decommissioned.

I know we were not treated well by the locals in the Bay Area, and the funds available for housing forced enlisted families to band together and share housing in order to get a decent place to live, and most of those were a longer distance than they liked from the bases (anywhere from a half hour to an hour away).

Almost no military bases remain in the San Francisco Bay area.
Downsized – Concord Naval Weapons Station
Closed – Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Oakland
Closed – Fort Baker
Closed – Fort Barry
Closed – Fort Cronkhite
Closed – Fort Mason
Closed – Fort Point
Closed – Fort Miley
Closed – Fort Ross
Downsized – Moffett Naval Air Station – Now Federal Airfield Moffett
Closed – Naval Air Station Livermore
Closed – Oakland Army Base
Closed – Treasure Island Naval Station
Closed – Hunters Point Naval Shipyard
Closed – Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Closed – Naval Air Station Alameda (Piers used for RRF Ship)
Closed – The Presidio of San Francisco
Closed – Hamilton Air Force Base

Closed- Skaggs Island Naval Communications Station

This would be somewhere around 70-80,000 military and civilian jobs/personnel. Taking a base salary of $35,000 a year as an average, that’s a loss of ~$2.8 billion a year in direct money coming into communities. You cannot convince me that didn’t have an impact. And many of those bases, even today, are not being used.

Right now, there are, to the best of my knowledge, only three small bases in SFO- Coast Guard Integrated Support Command Alameda, Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma, and Coast Guard Station San Francisco – Yerba Buena Island

And the only reason they are ‘tolerated’, is they take care of the boaters in the Bay Area.

Far as I’m concerned, I’d pull Fleet Week and send the ships somewhere they and the Blues would be appreciated…

Back in battery…

Posted on by October 14, 2019

And speaking of batteries…

Going solar isn’t necessarily any protection from California’s new “planned” power outages, and local residents and businesses are enduring a lot more than just a few inconveniences.

Full article, HERE.

Soooo… Now you get to spend another $10,000+ for batteries and connections, and… to make those solar panels actually work for YOU…

It was a good four days! No internet, no TV, no ‘real’ phone calls, just hanging out shooting things, and communing with friends. But Thursday night, Friday morning was a ‘tad’ chilly… Left the house it was 80, got to the location it was 19!!! BRRR frikkin R! Got up Friday morning, it was NINE frikkin degrees! Layer, layer, layer, crap, I ran out of layers… But it warmed up to 51, so we set the range(s) in the afternoon, after painting the steels so we could see them.

Saturday was a decent day, and we shot, ate, did a wedding, and then BS’ed until late. Sunday was pretty laid back, other than the Tannerite in the pumpkins, and one of the local ladies did some EXCELLENT enchiladas for us!

Yesterday morning was the final breakfast, and everybody was on the road by about 10, heading to their respective homes, and looking forward to next year.

Me? I got home and went looking for my bed! 🙂

 

 

Sigh…

Posted on by October 13, 2019

My apologies, yesterday’s post didn’t, and I didn’t catch it. So… Spent time unwinding with friends and there was a first, with a wedding (NOT me)…

Sadly all good things must come to an end, and people started leaving last night, heading back to the ‘real world’, but I think we can all say much refreshed. It was great to see everyone, and fun was had. Pumpkins were turned into mush, especially when filled with Tannerite and exploded from a safe distance. 🙂

Heading home today, and back to regular blogging and commenting tomorrow.  I’ll leave you with this, as the barn is no more…

Peter has been doing a daily report on our get together, HERE. He’s got the details… 🙂

Big sky…

Posted on by October 11, 2019

Out in the wilds of Colorado…

And in the me vs. Prairie dogs, the score is me zero… Couldn’t figure out the wind yesterday afternoon… 30 rounds zero hits, one scare. .22s at 225 yards is not easy in a gusting wind… Dammit…

 

Grrr…

Posted on by October 9, 2019

Welp, apparently yesterday’s post lit off the spambots again! 20-30 an hour from 0600, until I went to bed last night.

This is the outage map PP sent me last night… Note who has ZERO people without power… 339,840 homes without power…Sigh… As always, follow the money…

I’m off to spend a weekend turning money into smoke and noise, so there will be light, if any posting, and probably no commenting, considering that we’ll be about 20 or more miles out of town and the nearest tower…

Go read the folks on the sidebar, and I should be back in battery next Tuesday.

So, they’re going to shut off the power…

Posted on by October 8, 2019

The ‘new’ fire prevention effort for northern California is to have the utilities turn off the power!!!

Citing the potential for extremely dry air and steady winds of up to 30 mph, with gusts that experts said could be twice as strong, Pacific Gas & Electric announced it was considering a public safety power shut-off for 29 counties between Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon.

Full article, HERE.

Now ‘my’ question is, what about those folks who NEED power to run medical devices, keep things like…oh… Insulin cold, and other meds??? Or charge their wheelchair, or charge that Tesla or other electric car they depend on?

And what about cell towers? Do they have 48 hours of battery backup? I don’t think so… 24 hours maybe a little more. And Kommiefornia, in their ‘infinite’ wisdom have told the Ham radio network they are no longer needed!

What about the people that telecommute? Are they going to get paid, or have to relocate to work? How about on call/volunteer fire/EMS? Those towers require power to work…

Sigh… Rather than actually DO what needs to be done (tree removal, controlled fires, etc.), cutting power is the answer… Would the last American out of California please bring the flag? They won’t need it anymore…