This…

Posted on by January 28, 2026

Scares the crap out of me. Especially considering yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the Challenger disaster (O-ring failure that was known/predicted), HERE.

The target launch date for the Artemis II mission, which will take four astronauts on a trip to orbit the moon, is Feb. 6. Early next week, top brass at NASA will gather for a “go /no-go” decision on whether to launch.

It’s been a long time coming. NASA has been developing the Space Launch System (SLS), which includes two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) and the Orion capsule, for 20 years. Development costs have exceeded $29 billion (excluding the Orion capsule), and the entire Artemis campaign cost $93 billion through FY2025.

There has been exactly one SLS launch in all that time. An unmanned Artemis 1 was launched in November 2022, traveling to the Moon and back. It was mostly successful.

I say mostly because there was a slight problem with the Orion’s heat shield. In its efforts to save a little money, NASA redesigned the heat shield “to increase manufacturing and installation efficiency.”

Full article, HERE from PJ Media.

You would ‘think’ NASA would be more concerned about the heat shield, since that is a live or die proposition, rather than simply redesigning it and not testing it…

But I’m not in charge…

Oh, and let me add the whole CF surrounding the Boeing Starliner fiasco. It is, no it’s not safe, well, maybe. But they finally decided to bring it home on auto (after rewriting the software), and had to send SpaceX up to bring the astronauts home almost 8 months later, but at least they came back in one piece.

Personally, I think NASA is just throwing good money after bad with the whole SLS concept, but they have enough ‘friends’ (read congresscritters) feeding at that government tit that want the money to continue, especially in an election year.

I wonder how many of them would volunteer for that flight if it was offered???

Your thoughts?

Quotes…

Posted on by January 27, 2026

I’m tired of the BS, so you get quotes…

But that first one hits home, especially now!

To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth. [Teddy Roosevelt]

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. [Douglas Adams]

Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity. [Nelson Mandela. Fighter, Prisoner, President, Revolutionary]

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. [Mark Twain]

Eleven teens die each day because of texting while driving. Maybe it’s time to raise the age of Smart Phone ownership to 21. [unknown]

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the establishment authorities are wrong. Voltaire]

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But the I repeat myself. [Mark Twain]

Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are right now, and we will never be here again. [Homer, The Iliad]

After a 25-cent breakfast of canned bacon and powdered eggs in a tar-paper shack on the field at Dahar, . . . [Omar Bradley, Feb 1943]

In my youth I was often called lazy. In rather successful adulthood I was called efficient. Same behavior, different times. [Bob Fiegel]

Man is the only creature disposed to kill huge numbers of members of his own species, and his instrument is usually the state. [Joseph Sobran]

I’m not afraid of the media. Why should anyone listen to the media? Who are these people? What makes them experts? What have they accomplished? [Dana White]

There’s one thing worse than change and that’s the status quo. [John Le Carre]

The truth is that the State is a conspiracy designed not only to exploit, but above all to corrupt its citizens… Henceforth, I shall never serve any government anywhere. [Leo Tolstoy]

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. [Mark Twain]

You have vanishingly little political influence and every thought you spend on politics will probably come to nothing. Consider building things instead, or at least going for a walk. [Conor Barnes]

A sword by itself does not slay; it is merely the weapon used by the slayer. [Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Roman Stoic philosopher, 4 B.C. – A.D. 65]

If gun control laws actually worked, Chicago would be Mayberry, USA. [unknown]

If enough data is collected, a Board of Inquiry can prove anything. [Unknown]

All middle-class citizens of education have a common belief that the tendencies towards centralization and paternalism must be halted and reversed. [Dwight Eisenhower July 1949]

No man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it. There can be no appeasement with ruthlessness. [Franklin Delano Rosevelt]

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. [Ronald Reagan 1986]

There are two ways to go to the gas chamber: free or not free. [Viktor Frankl]

The fatal fallacy of gun control laws in general is the assumption that such laws actually control guns. Criminals who disobey other laws are not likely to be stopped by gun-control laws. What such laws actually do is increase the number of disarmed and defenseless victims. [Thomas Sowell]

When immigration is done by single individuals, it is immigration. When done by groups, it is invasion.” – Nassim Taleb

Why???

Posted on by January 26, 2026

Is it that only blue states and certain blue cities seem to be having ‘issues’ with ICE?

Much less the CF in Minneapolis right now? Funny how ‘this’ has knocked the fraud/Somali corruption off the front pages…

I’ve gotten this from a variety of folks yesterday, so I’m presenting it in full, and my comments are below…

Eric Schwalm
@Schwalm5132

As a former Special Forces Warrant Officer with multiple rotations running counterinsurgency ops–both hunting insurgents and trying to separate them from sympathetic populations–I’ve seen organized resistance up close. From Anbar to Helmand, the pattern is familiar: spotters, cutouts, dead drops (or modern equivalents), disciplined comms, role specialization, and a willingness to absorb casualties while bleeding the stronger force slowly.

What’s unfolding in Minneapolis right now isn’t “protest.” It’s low-level insurgency infrastructure, built by people who’ve clearly studied the playbook.

Signal groups at 1,000-member cap per zone. Dedicated roles: mobile chasers, plate checkers logging vehicle data into shared databases, 24/7 dispatch nodes vectoring assets, SALUTE-style reporting (Size, Activity, Location, Unit, Time, Equipment) on suspected federal vehicles. Daily chat rotations and timed deletions to frustrate forensic recovery. Vetting processes for new joiners. Mutual aid from sympathetic locals (teachers providing cover, possible PD tip-offs on license plate lookups). Home-base coordination points. Rapid escalation from observation to physical obstruction–or worse.

This isn’t spontaneous outrage. This is C2 (command and control) with redundancy, OPSEC hygiene, and task organization that would make a SF team sergeant nod in recognition. Replace “ICE agents” with “occupying coalition forces” and the structure maps almost 1:1 to early-stage urban cells we hunted in the mid-2000s.

The most sobering part? It’s domestic. Funded, trained (somewhere), and directed by people who live in the same country they’re trying to paralyze law enforcement in. When your own citizens build and operate this level of parallel intelligence and rapid-response network against federal officers–complete with doxxing, vehicle pursuits, and harassment that’s already turned lethal–you’re no longer dealing with civil disobedience. You’re facing a distributed resistance that’s learned the lessons of successful insurgencies: stay below the kinetic threshold most of the time, force over-reaction when possible, maintain popular support through narrative, and never present a single center of gravity.

I spent years training partner forces to dismantle exactly this kind of apparatus. Now pieces of it are standing up in American cities, enabled by elements of local government and civil society. That should keep every thinking American awake at night.

Not because I want escalation. But because history shows these things don’t de-escalate on their own once the infrastructure exists and the cadre believe they’re winning the information war.

We either recognize what we’re actually looking at–or we pretend it’s still just “activism” until the structures harden and spread.

Your call, America. But from where I sit, this isn’t January 2026 politics anymore.
It’s phase one of something we’ve spent decades trying to keep off our own soil.

When you look at this, and the Signal software they appear to be using coordinate, HERE, it’s fairly obvious that this is NOT just a bunch of random protesters. They are PAID by somebody(s), and definitely have an agenda.

And the Dems are now all in on another .gov shutdown to ‘prevent’ funding for ICE.

IMHO, this is collusion between the Dems, the ‘protesters’ and is insurrection, and is directly against the administration, without a doubt. Past time for the administration to step in an stop this.

In other news, Bud has dropped their new Super Bowl ad- Presented here to ‘cleanse your palate!

Slip sliding away…

Posted on by January 25, 2026

Well, we’ve got a skating rink…

1 1/2 inches of snow over 1/2 inch of ice. A predicted low of 4 degrees last night, and more snow predicted.

I went out yesterday afternoon to take a bag of trash out and almost went on my ass, it was that slick! I tippy toed out and back as quickly and safely as I could and didn’t bother going back out for anything!

So far, still have power and no burst lines, knock on wood! Reports yesterday were 50,000 without power between north and east Texas, and over 1 million nationwide. My heart goes out to those folks.

TX Dot is doing what they can with the main roads, but us peons out in the sticks have had nothing done. I saw one truck all day and it was sliding around. Saw two ATVs one was pulling a saucer with a little kid yelling his head off! I’m glad ‘he’ was having fun, and I hope he didn’t frostbite his nose!!!

It appears we’ve once again escaped the ‘big’ snowfall, and I, for one, am not complaining! Friends up in Amarillo shoveled more than they should have, and are going to be sore today!

Looking at the long range forecast, this crap may hang around until next Friday!!! So much for an in/out in three days… Grrrr…

Re the CF in Minneapolis, I’m doing the usual 72 hour rule…

Really???

Posted on by January 24, 2026

Soooo, the snowmageddon is all Globull Warming’s fault…

“It’s cold because it’s hot.”  

Today Show weather presenter, Al Roker, said that the reason it has been so cold in the U.S. over the last several weeks is not in spite of, but rather because of global warming. 

His explanation is riddled with numerous unforced errors. First, he confuses the tropospheric polar vortex (TPV) with the weakening of stratospheric polar vortex (SPV), the latter of which has been strong all winter (i.e., donut-shaped ).

From Chris Martz on X, HERE.

Among other things, I ‘like’ how the TV weather types, especially in Europe show cooler temps, but in RED to scare the public.

It’s the frikkin WEATHER people! Weather doesn’t read the papers, it does what it wants, when it wants to do it! Yes, we’re in a La Nina situation per NOAA, HERE. Of note, even the so called experts at NOAA cannot actually explain ‘why’ La Nina weather patterns change like they do…

We were ‘supposed’ to have a low of zero last night, but when I went to bed it was only 9 degrees, and the weatherguessers were saying a low of 5 degrees Sunday night! So everything is shifting to the right. And we’d had less than an inch of snow (not that I’m complaining) over 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice.

I only saw one vehicle out yesterday, and that was a 4WD pickup that stopped at the stop sign (surprised the hell out of me), and took a while, spinning all four wheels to get going. As he went down the street, he was dancing side to side on the ice.

We still had power when I went to bed, and no burst pipes, so I’m a happy camper. Yes, I know a lot of folks have it worse than we do, but I dare say they are better insulated and better prepared (like real snow removal equipment, snow blowers, etc.) than we are. Everybody in the group is okay so far, and we check on each other routinely.

Oddly, the phones have been ‘weird’ all day, a lot of no connections, some really scratchy vox when it does connect, but texts are getting through fine. I can’t help but wonder if the ice on the tower ‘petals’ is having a blanking effect???

Anyhoo,  y’all stay safe and hunker down. The way this storm is extending, it may stick around through the middle of the week! Sigh…

Stormageddon is here…

Posted on by January 23, 2026

Temps have dropped over 30 degrees from yesterday morning, now 20 with a windchill of 11. The storm was late getting here, and we didn’t start getting sleet until around 1700 yesterday, as opposed to the 1100 estimate.

So far 1/4 inch of ice and as of 2200 last night, getting RAIN on top of sleet, even though the ‘forecast and current in blue’ was snow… sigh…

So far, power is holding, which is good. faucets are dripping (both hot and cold), and I’ll gladly pay the extra to not have frozen pipes!

Apparently some of the stores down in Dallas got ‘stoopid’ shoppers, but what can you expect the day of the storm?

I’ve laid in sandwich stuff, just to be on the safe side, and I have half a cistern of water for flushing if required (as long as it doesn’t freeze). I also have a case plus of bottled water, and I know where my percolator is for coffee.

Thankfully, plenty of blankets, including two from my youngest daughter…LOL Makes me wonder ‘what’ she knew than I didn’t…

Y’all stay safe out there, and stay warm!

Grumble…

Posted on by January 22, 2026

Welp, we’re getting read to get ‘slammed’ by a winter storm…

It’s supposed to start rolling in tomorrow by noon, and continue until Monday sometime…

We’ve watched the lows and highs ping pong all over the place from a high of 17 to a low of 19, to a low of 2! And snowfalls from 8 inches to 15 inches…

In any case, it’s gonna be COLD! And we’re not ready. Our houses aren’t insulated for these kinds of temps, and everybody is running hither and yon looking for generators, heaters, bread, water, eggs, etc…

And a lot of folks are ‘bragging’ that they have gas heat, so it won’t get that bad. Except the gas heat is controlled by electric controllers/pilot lights. Power goes out, it gets ugly!

Also, reminder, kerosene heaters DO NOT belong in the house! Carbon dioxide will kill you!

And check your tire pressures if you’re crazy enough to want to go drive around! Low tire pressure can cause you to roll the beads on the tires right off those fancy rims!

Me? I’ve done what I can, got a checklist, followed it, and I’m not planning on going anywhere. Plus saying prayers none of the pipes freeze. I’ve done what I can to protect them, and will have them dripping, but who knows???

If you have/know elderly in the path of the storm, please check on them.

Also, if you don’t see posts from me, that means we probably lost power and I’m just staying warm in front of my fireplace.

Sigh…

Posted on by January 21, 2026

Virginia… Sure as hell isn’t for lovers anymore…

It’s only been a couple of days, but Virginia is going to hell in a handbasket. We’ve already covered a lot of legislation that was introduced on Day 1, most of it either raising existing taxes or creating new taxes. 

With Minnesota being investigated for massive, multi-billion-dollar fraud through fake daycares and bogus programs like Feeding Our Future, you’d think other states would be more careful about where their federal dollars go. You’d be wrong, though. A Virginia delegate has introduced a bill that would facilitate fraud in the commonwealth by banning the state from verifying eligibility for federal taxpayer benefits.

Full article, HERE from Twitchy.

But they sure as hell are ‘inviting’ fraudsters in with open arms if this passes.

And Spanberger has already been killing Republican measures like working with ICE in VA, HERE.

Oh yeah, and gun control is on her agenda too… HERE.

I am SO glad I got out of there when I did! It might be ‘time’ for the NRA to actually relocate to Texas before they get all the guns in the museum confiscated… Just sayin…

It is so bad up there that the ‘median’ income in northern VA to buy a house is now around $330,000/yr. That is just flat INSANE! Anybody that is in the service industry is now living an hour or more outside of the area, just to find (marginally) affordable housing, and dealing with rush hour traffic in and out of DC every morning and evening.

Friends of mine, who had a house in Fairfax, left last year as they had enough, and thankfully the kids were grown and gone. They relocated to Maine and are loving the peace/quiet/lack of commute!

For those that are stuck there, I feel for y’all. I really don’t see it getting any better for the next four years, and probably a LOT worse!

The ‘gift’…

Posted on by January 20, 2026

That seemingly keeps on ‘giving’… Illegals…

Bombshell video obtained by Townhall News indicates that immigration court judges and lawyers in Ohio are willing to be corrupted by illegal aliens from the African nation of Mauritania.

The footage shows a man asking two women, Patricia “Pat” Golder and Cindy Reis, about Mauritanian immigrants whom he says he wants to hire. He mentions that he thought the immigrants were legal, causing the women to laugh. “Heck no!” one says. Later in the video, Golder actually brags that she can bribe the immigration judges for favorable rulings in Columbus, Ohio.

Stunningly, Golder — who seems to be a former immigrant herself — tells the undercover videographer that she will discuss with judges how to push illegal aliens through the courts for a fee of $50,000 to a judge she pays off. Not only that, she bribes lawyers. “You has to have a lawyer who can go to the judge,” Golder emphasizes, “because, you know, that’s the one who talks to the judge, is the lawyer.” She forces her illegal alien workers to split up the cost of the bribes among them.

Full article, HERE from PJ Media.

It seems they have just brought their ‘culture’ with them, including bribery, collusion, and working ‘around’ the systems.

Sadly, it seems that the American judicial system, and the ambulance chasers…err…lawyers are just as willing to bribe the judges to get their way(s).

At what point can this kind of crap be stopped, absent just kicking them ALL out of the country and IMHO, putting the judges/lawyers under the jail?

Sadly, I don’t think this country has the will to do what is needed right now, and may never have the will…

Your thoughts?

That was a helluva game!!!

Posted on by January 19, 2026

Stayed up way too late last night, watching the CFP championship game.

To my way of thinking, the ‘play’ of the game was IU’s quarterback Mendoza on a 4th and 5 from about the 12 yard line, with a called quarterback sneak. He took a big hit as he crossed the goal line, but that score was critical!

Indiana won on an interception with less than thirty seconds left in the game, but it was a game that was literally back and forth the entire game. Two great teams, playing their hearts out.

Probably the best game I’ve watch this year, college or pro!

Oh, and it’s Indiana’s FIRST ever national championship! They went 16-0 never losing a game the entire year, which I believe, also sets a new record.

Congrats to Indiana, but Miami can still go out proudly, as they gave it their all.

I’m sleeping in this morning…zzzz