WTH???

Posted on by August 2, 2025

The three toed fish were bad enough, but this???

Officials at a former nuclear bomb site in South Carolina have discovered a radioactive wasp nest.

Workers were conducting a routine radiation level check at the Savannah River Site near Aiken when a nest was identified with liquid nuclear waste tanks, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

The U.S. Department of Energy filed a report on July 22 stating the nest had 10 times the radiation level that is permitted by federal regulations.

Full article, HERE from Fox News.

Now they ‘claim’ no wasps were found, so where did they go??? And where did they find the material they used to build the nest? Inquiring minds and all that…

It’s not like there aren’t plenty of places they could be. Most of SRS is trees, swamp, and the Savannah River is on the south boundary. At 310 square miles, with 14 different ‘sites’ on the ground, there is a lot of ‘stuff’ going on there…

And who really knows were those wasps are? Do they glow in the dark? If they sting you, what happens?

So many questions, so few answers… In other words, typical government site… sigh

 

 

 

Rules depend…

Posted on by August 1, 2025

On where you are…

Moscow Rules for intelligence operatives and others…

  • Assume nothing.
  • Never go against your gut.
  • Everyone is potentially under opposition control.
  • Do not look back; you are never completely alone.
  • Go with the flow, blend in.
  • Vary your pattern and stay within your cover.
  • Lull them into a sense of complacency.
  • Do not harass the opposition.
  • Pick the time and place for action.
  • Keep your options open.

 

London Rules are…more permissive, lower threat theater, and more applicable to much higher level ‘players’…

  • Lower Threat Environment: Applicable to environments like London, where the level of risk is significantly lower. 
  • More Flexibility: Allows for more freedom of movement, communication, and interaction. Also known as CYA…
  • Less Rigidity: Operatives can take greater risks and deviate from strict protocols. Getting doubled/tripled is not unusual depending on the type of blackmail used and by whom…
  • Different Operational Focus: Shifting from survival to achieving specific objectives within a less dangerous context. See also- CYA to protect your ass from taking ANY blame for anything…

As they say, different strokes for different folks…

The rest of the story…

Posted on by July 31, 2025

From the Coasties that participated in the Camp Mystic rescue…

Seth Reeves was only supposed to be at U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, for two weeks.

He was slated to work from July 1 to July 15 as part of the Aviation Training Center’s flight mechanic exchange program, which allows guardsmen to stand duty at operational air stations. He had become a third-class aviation maintenance technician just over one year ago, in March 2024.

Full article, HERE from Military Times.

Kudos to ALL of the aviators, both USCG and US Army that participated in those rescues. Tight quarters, low ceilings, lousy vis, and long hours, but they got it done.

Nuff said…

TBT…

Posted on by July 30, 2025

Haven’t done one of these for a while…

So, back in the day…

This one comes with a few memories…

Lajes

Cafe Acores, George the Crook, Fast Eddies, Matteus Rose, goat cheese and fresh bread, beautiful filigree silver and gold jewelry…

Oh yeah, and winds that would blow your ass sideways…  There was a C-130 ‘parked’ on the side of the hill behind the hangars thanks to one helluva crosswind and being too heavy to go around.  If memory serves, the entire crew survived though!

One of the scariest landings I ever lived through, approaching from the seaward side, we ‘developed’ a 3000+fpm rate of descent at about three hundred feet, full power, stall warning, figuring we were going to hit the cliff… updraft and a greaser landing… And about half the crew had to go change underwear (me included)…

USAF SOP was to call in from FL300 and get a wind check, if it was too high, they kept on truckin for Torrejon…

Where is it???

Hint- Middle of the Atlantic Ocean…

Continue reading →

Some people…

Posted on by July 29, 2025

Have WAY too much time on their hands…

Seen locally…

I’m guessing it was built out of ‘stuff’ that was just lying around… And that plow would stop it in a HURRY, but might not do the track any good…

But the steering gear actually works!

Yes, that is a flathead Lincoln 337 CI motor, which is actually a V-8. 157 HP originally,  but capable of 400 HP naturally aspirated! I don’t think the ‘fan’ would do much good though…

And one of those old steel chairs everybody had on their porch back in the 50s-60s… The silver hand grip is a direct link throttle!

Still neat to see, and this guy has also build, driven a few rat rods, so he knows what he’s doing!!!

Snerk…

Posted on by July 28, 2025

For you ‘sciency’ types…

Ya know, I really DO wonder about folks sometimes…

Not saying I’m disagreeing, but somebody had way too much time on their hands. And I’m not sure I want to know ‘how’ they determined which was which.

Just sayin…

AAR- Writer’s Cantina…

Posted on by July 27, 2025

Welp, I survived it…

But ##!@$@ am I out of shape!!! 1.8 miles through TWO airports (DFW and SLC) after 7 months of not walking any distance put me on my ass! And being at 4200 feet didn’t help… sigh

Coming back wasn’t quite as bad, but it still sucked… and I gotta do laundry tomorrow!

Anyhoo, it’s a great little con! HERE is the attendee/presenter list. Utah is a hot bed for fiction writers, and the list of those presenting was outstanding! Great panels, presentations, etc. I’m not going to name names, because I’d miss somebody, but it was great to see old friends, and make a few new ones!

Raconteur Press represented well, and as usual, Larry and Steve did a live Writer’s Dojo on Saturday. Lots of networking got done, with folks getting marketing, editing, and other help, along with some interesting sidebar discussions.

The thrust, if you will, of the entire conference is professionalism and how to get ‘better’ as a writer, through any number of ways. But the ‘nice’ thing is all of the presenters were cautious to point out that there is no ‘one’ way to do things. Each person has to determine what works for them as individual writers.

One thing I need to remember is that not everyone has the same depth of background I do in certain things… like terms… and what they mean. Thanks Nancy for bailing us out!

I got a couple of good meals, and Saturday night was the usual ‘Saturday supper’, albeit in a slightly different location! Thanks Jonna, Nancy, et al!!!

If you’re serious about writing as a ‘business’, I’d highly recommend it!

Posted in AAR

Willie is playing my song…

Posted on by July 23, 2025

Off to Writer’s Cantina in SLC for a few days…

It will be interesting, since this is the first real ‘travel’ I’ve tried to do since my back surgery, and it will be a test for the repairs, especially with the conference chairs (which I lothe)…

So, bottom line, no blogging or commenting until probably Monday.

Go read the other folks, they rite gud!!! 🙂

Oops…

Posted on by July 22, 2025

And another oopsie for Commiefornia, as if they didn’t believe what happened in Seattle…

California’s new $20-per-hour minimum wage for fast food workers has resulted in a significant decline in employment in that sector, leading to 18,000 fewer jobs than would have been the case otherwise.

Full article, HERE from Breitbart.

Granted that is a drop in the bucket for them, but a LOT of those are/were entry level jobs for teenagers and those just starting in the workforce.

Where do they go now?

Or do they just stay home and live in their parent’s basements???

And did they NOT learn anything from what happened in Seattle with the loss of jobs/closures of small restaurants/fast food franchises??? Link HERE, and what I find interesting is that apparently Kings Co. doesn’t ‘track’ employment… strange…

The other thing lots of folks, not just on the left coast, but across the country are seeing is more kiosks in place of live workers…

For or against??? Personally, I don’t care for them, as I like to pay cash rather than use a credit card in those places…

This…

Posted on by July 21, 2025

Is NOT right, and seems to be ‘typical’ of Commiefornia…

When dreamy, beach-adjacent Pacific Palisades became a moonscape after the conflagration that started on Jan. 7, 2025, homes worth billions of dollars, lifetime bodies of work by musicians and artists, and prized real estate in one of the best areas of L.A. became dust. Many fire victims want to rebuild and reclaim their old community. However, it didn’t take long before the state and local leaders who had promised to move mountains to streamline the rebuilding process began to have other ideas. Instead of receiving help from Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom, they and state Democrats dragged out the permitting. And now it appears we know why. 

The Palisades and Altadena fires left 15,000 structures in cinders and thousands of people without homes. 

Now, using lack of housing in the state as an excuse, Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA planners are considering instituting planning changes that would play the Palisades like a game of Tetris, placing hundreds of units of low-income housing in areas where previously there had been two.

Full article, HERE from PJ Media.

Why does this NOT surprise me? Just like their ‘two week’ approvals to rebuild are apparently taking up to two months!!!

And I’m betting they will not pay what the people want for the land. Any bets on them doing eminent domain when they don’t get what they want? And prime properties with ‘views’ for ‘selected’ contractors…

Not that this is anything new…

Grrr…