Two down…

How many more to go? And I have to ask, are their egos really that big that they think they are untouchable???

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, abruptly announced his decision to resign from Congress Monday evening amid calls for him to step aside after admitting to sexual misconduct with a staffer earlier this year.

The embattled lawmaker was facing an anticipated expulsion vote that could have occurred as early as this week. 

His announcement came just an hour after Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said he planned to resign from the lower chamber amid serious allegations of sexual misconduct and rape.

Full article, HERE from Fox News.

With Swalwell and Gonzales resigning from Congress, is it time for Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) and Cory Mills (R-FL) to follow suit?

The House Ethics committee have already done an investigation on Cherfilus-McCormick supposedly guilty of 25 infractions of House rules. Mills also has some sexual issues apparently…

Congressional approval remains at roughly 15-16%, so maybe it’s time they actually DID some house cleaning. They definitely need it, IMHO!

The other thing Swalwell has done is drop out of the California gubernatorial race, which will help the Dems out there, as right now, the two leaders in the ‘jungle primary’ are both Republicans. Since only the top two go to the November election, there is a very real possibility that NO Dem would be on the ballot for governor…snerk…

Talk about hoist on their own petard!!!

A little humor…

Since taxes are due this week…

Ambition in America is still rewarded . . . with high taxes.

America is the land of opportunity. Everybody can become a taxpayer.

If my business gets much worse, I won’t have to lie on my next tax return.

Congress has the job of getting the people to pay taxes they can’t afford for services they don’t need.

Golf is a lot like taxes. You drive hard to get to the green and then wind up in the hole.

The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf.

I must admit I lied on my income-tax return. I listed myself as head of the household!

A harp is a piano after taxes.

You really can’t beat the system. If you earn anything, it’s minus taxes. If you buy anything it’s plus taxes.

Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut save you thirty cents?
+++++++++++++

TAXPAYER’S LAMENT

Tax his cow, Tax his goat;
Tax his pants, Tax his coat;
Tax his crop, Tax his work;
Tax his ties, Tax his shirt;

Tax his chew, Tax his smoke;
Teach him taxing is no joke.
Tax his tractor, Tax his mule;
Tell him, Taxing is the rule.

Tax his oil, Tax his gas;
Tax his notes, Tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know,
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers, Tax him more;
Tax him till he’s good and sore.
Tax his coffin, Tax his grave,
Tax his sod in which he’s laid.

Put these words upon his tomb,
“Taxes drove him to his doom.”
After he’s gone, we won’t relax,
We’ll still collect inheritance tax.
++++++++++

A couple of weeks after hearing a sermon on Psalms 51:2-4 and Psalms 52:3-4 (lies and deceit), a man wrote the following letter to the IRS:

I have been unable to sleep, knowing that I have cheated on my income tax. I understated my taxable income, and have enclosed a check for $150.00.

Sincerely,
A Guilty Taxpayer

P. S. If I still can’t sleep, I will send the rest.

Dang it…

Sigh, R&D doesn’t always go perfectly…

NASA’s X-59 experimental aircraft, part of the “Quesst” (Quiet Supersonic Technology) mission, conducted its second flight on the morning of Friday, March 20. The flight was scheduled to spend roughly one hour in the air, but was abruptly canceled after a cockpit warning. It returned to the ground at 11:03 a.m. PST, roughly 10 minutes after takeoff.

In spite of the flight’s short duration, NASA engineers praised it, claiming that they had been able to collect valuable data that would help in subsequent flights.

The X-59 aircraft, designed to test supersonic flight without a sonic boom, is intended to pioneer an aviation breakthrough that would lift sound-related restrictions on supersonic travel.

Full article, HERE from the National Interest Organization blog.

It is definitely an ‘odd’ looking test article, but…

Even more interesting is that the pilot has zero forward visibility! He is dependant on cameras to be able to see foward. Shades of Charles Lindbergh!!!

A lot of the design work and math behind it are focused on ‘softening’ the crack of the sonic boom as it moves across the ground. If you’ve ever heard them, they are rather distinctive, and an oddity of the space shuttle was that it actually created two sonic booms from different parts of the airframe.

The long nose is supposed to ‘break up’ the boom, and the design of the tail is supposed to focus the noise ‘upward’, rather than down at the surface. Of course, the ‘seating’ would be a tad cramped, assuming there was a second seat, which there is not…

But if the math works, there are folks who would be very interested in upscaling the tech to a full sized aircraft capable of carrying passengers. The Concorde was the last true supersonic passenger transport, and even as big as it was, the ‘tube’ was extremely small, with only 100 seats total, in a 2×2 arrangement and very small overhead storage. And they were approximately $6000 one way from New York to London or vice versa but that was a three hour trip! Thank you

Heritage Concorde com helicopter

Who knows what it will cost when/if this new tech proves out? Or when it will be flying?

I know I probably will NOT be able to afford a ticket, nor do I really see a need to visit London…

I guess what I’m saying is that R&D isn’t quick, nor easy, nor does it always work out. So if, big if, they can make it work, so much the better. If not, well, lessons will be learned…

 

Whew…

Welp, they made it back 1707 PDT!

I think a lot of us holding our breath can now breathe!

Now comes the debrief and the technical look at the systems…

Whew…

I just…

Don’t understand the mentality that can do this…

The FBI arrested Courtney Williams, 40, of Wagram, North Carolina yesterday and a federal grand jury indicted her today in connection with her alleged transmission of classified national defense information to individuals not authorized to receive it, including a journalist (the Journalist). Williams allegedly violated 18 U.S.C. § 793(d).

“Clearance holders accept a solemn obligation to protect the classified information entrusted to them,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “That they do so is critical to the security of our Nation. When clearance holders violate that trust, the National Security Division will act swiftly to hold them accountable.”

“We trust our war fighting individuals to cooperate as a team to protect our military and country,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Ellis Boyle. “We will pursue criminal charges to keep these warriors safe whenever we find leakers exalting their own feelings over the safety of the United States.”

Full article, HERE from DOJ OPA website.

I guess the real irony is the ‘journalist’ is the one that outed her in the article, by name…

She had TS/SCI clearance, and had signed Nondisclosure Agreements (NDAs), which include wording that distribution of ANY of those documents or other things are prosecutable…

So why did she do this for four years??? Was it money? Pissed off at the Army???

WHY???

I cannot fathom anyone doing this, much less to the actual people she worked with every day. I only hope she is convicted and sent to jail for MANY years.

TBT…

Anybody recognize these???

fuses

Back in the day before ‘breakers’ these were what you had in your house…

They weren’t called FUSE boxes for nothing…LOL

And an ’emergency’ fuse was a real copper penny! As a high school kid, I helped a friend’s grandpa restore a couple of old houses, including rewiring them. We were pulling out CLOTH wrapped wire that dated from the early 20th century, and fuse boxes where you could literally see the burn marks inside the box from fuses arcing as they’d blown over the years…

I’m still amazed those houses hadn’t burned to the ground over the years…

Especially with ‘this’ wiring…

Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-3.0-migrated

Known as knob and tube, it consisted of ceramic knobs were cylindrical and generally nailed directly into the wall studs or joists. The knob was used to secure and anchor the wire, seperating the wire from potentially combustible framework, and ensured that wires were not subject to excessive tension. Because the wires were suspended in air, they could dissipate heat well.

Ceramic tubes were inserted into holes bored in wall studs or floor joists, and the wires were directed through them. This kept the wires from coming into contact with the wood framing members and from being compressed by the wood as the house settled.

OBTW, the ‘maximum’ safe current was no more than ten amps with knob and tube, and the wires were cloth wrapped in most cases…

Today, it’s not unusual to see 30 amp up to 50 amp circuits in homes…

Posted in TBT

This one…

Bothers me a lot…

Australian authorities have arrested and charged the country’s most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, 47, with five war crime murders allegedly committed during the war in Afghanistan.

Roberts-Smith, a former member of the Australian Defence Force, was arrested at Sydney Airport on Tuesday. His arrest has sparked outcry from a former Australian prime minister, who argued its unfair to judge the actions of “men in mortal combat by the standards of ordinary civilian life.” X owner Elon Musk also weighed in on the arrest, calling it “insane.”

The Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Special Investigator said Roberts-Smith is being charged in connection with the killings of five unarmed Afghans in three separate incidents between 2009 and 2012. AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett alleged that Roberts-Smith either killed the unarmed Afghans himself or instructed a subordinate to kill them. If convicted, Roberts-Smith faces life imprisonment on each charge.

Full article, HERE from Fox News.

It’s enough to make one wonder ‘what’ is the real point? Is this somebody out to ‘get’ Roberts-Smith, or something else? Supposedly, the investigation was started in 2017, so 8 years after the fact???

By lawyers who weren’t there, and who made the original complaint and why 8 years later, rather than at the time???

Of interest is the comment from the investigator that “We don’t have access to the crime scenes, we don’t have photographs, site plans, measurements, the recovery of projectiles, blood spatter analysis, all of those things we would normally get at a crime scene.”

What are they basing the investigation on then? The recall of people that were there? What was the ROE at the time, the specific orders given to Roberts-Smith and/or his bosses?

This kinda reminds me of the BS ROE our folks had to put up with where if the bad guys didn’t have guns in their hands, they couldn’t be shot, even after they had been observed shooting at our folks. And the lawyers wanting to know if any ‘children’ had been harmed.

Not that I ever saw anything defining what a child was… In a part of the world where children were routinely used as lookouts, trigger people, suicide bombers, etc.

Thankfully, I was not there and never had to make one of those decisions, but I knew folks that were and did.

And where does this leave Roberts-Smith? Even if he’s found not guilty, he is ‘tainted’ with the accusations, VC or not.

Sigh…

This…

Could get ‘interesting’ in any number of ways…

DHS Secretary Mullin raises the possibility of pulling CBP and customs officers from airports in large sanctuary cities, citing lack of cooperation with the federal government and funding refusals. International arrivals would be unable to clear customs at those airports. “It’s something we’re looking at,” Mullin said.

Markwayne Mullin is coming out swinging, no question!

So, Boston, Philly, NYC, Chicago, Seattle, SFO, LA, and, if Spanburger has her way, Dulles could lose their customs services. Which would severely impact the airlines as they would have to find somewhere else to clear international travellers.

Can you say Florida and Texas???

I knew you could. The other thing this would do is affect the types of aircraft the airlines could use on the international routes when they have to add 2-3 hours of extra fuel to reach a ‘cleared’ airport.

It might be time to look at your hole card if you were thinking about travelling overseas anytime soon…

Just sayin…

And one other thing, while I’m thinking about it…

WHO leaked we only got ONE of the F-15E crew back? WTF? Did nobody ever hear of OPSEC???

Nothing like giving the entire friggin country a license to headhunt one guy! Thankfully, he was recovered yesterday, apparently in a fairly sophisticated rescue. And it was very involved to keep the Iranians unsure of where exactly he was located.

Sigh…

A little humor…

To start the week!!!

And a few St. Paddy’s jokes… They took the slow boat…

  • Definition of an Irish husband:  He hasn’t kissed his wife for twenty years, but he will kill any man who does.
  •    Murphy told Quinn that his wife was driving him to drink.  Quinn thinks he’s very lucky because his own wife makes him walk.
  •    The late Bishop Sheen stated that the reason the Irish fight so often among themselves is that they’re always assured of having a worthy opponent.
  •    An American lawyer asked, “Paddy, why is it that whenever you ask an Irishman a question, he answers with another question?”  “Who told you that?” asked Paddy.
  • Question – Why are Irish jokes so simple? Answer – So the English can understand them.
  • Reilly went to trial for armed robbery.  The jury foreman came out and announced, “Not guilty.”

“That’s grand!” shouted Reilly. “Does that mean I can keep the money?”

  • Irish lass customer: “Could I be trying on that dress in the window?”

Shopkeeper: “I’d prefer that you use the dressing room.”

  • Mrs. Feeney shouted from the kitchen, “Is that you I hear spittin’ in the vase on the mantle piece?

“No,” said himself, “but I’m gettin’ closer all the time.”

  • Q. What do you call an Irishman who knows how to control a wife? A bachelor.
  • Finnegin: My wife has a terrible habit of staying up ’til two o’clock in the morning.  I can’t break her of it.

Keenan: What on earth is she doin’ at that time?

Finnegin: Waitin’ for me to come home.

  • Slaney phoned the maternity ward at the hospital.  “Quick!” he said.  “Send an ambulance, my wife is goin’ to have a baby!”

“Tell me, is this her first baby?” the intern asked.

“No, this is her husband, Kevin, speakin’.”

  • “O’Ryan,” asked the druggist, “did that mudpack I gave you improve your wife’s appearance?”

“It did surely,” replied O’Ryan, “but it keeps fallin’ off!”

  • Did you hear about the Irish newlyweds who sat up all night on their honeymoon waiting for their sexual relations to arrive?
  • My mother wanted me to be a priest.  Can you imagine giving up your sex life and then once a week people come in to tell you the details and highlights of theirs?
  • Paddy and Mick get a pilot to fly them to Canada to hunt moose. They bag six.

As Paddy and Mick start loading the plane for the return trip, the pilot says, “The plane can only take four of those.”

The two lads object strongly. “Last year we shot six, and the pilot let us put them all on board; he had the same plane as yours.”

Reluctantly, the pilot gives in and all six are loaded.

However, even with full power, the little plane can’t handle the load and down it goes and crashes in the middle of nowhere.

A few moments later, climbing out of the wreckage, Paddy asks Mick,

“Any idea where we are?”

“I think we’re pretty close to where we crashed last year,” says Mick.

  • Paddy says to Mick, “Christmas is on a Friday this year”

Mick says “Let’s hope it’s not the 13th.”

  • Mick walks into Paddy’s barn and catches him dancing naked in front of a tractor.

Mick says, “Oh no, Paddy, what ya doing?”

Paddy says, “Well me and Mary haven’t been getting on in the bedroom lately & the therapist recommended I do something sexy to attracter…..

  • The Irish have solved their own fuel problems. They imported 50 million tons of sand from the Arabs and they’re going to drill for their own oil.
  • Paddy says to Mick – I’m ready for a holiday, only this year I’m going to do it a bit different.

3 years ago I went to Spain and Mary got pregnant.

2 years ago I went to Italy and Mary got pregnant.

Last year I went to Majorca and Mary got pregnant.

Mick asks – So what are you going to do this year?

Paddy replies, I’ll take her with me

  • Paddy calls Easyjet to book a flight. The operator asks “How many people are flying with you?”

Paddy replies “I don’t know! It’s your frigging plane!”

  • Paddy and Murphy are working on a building site.

Paddy says to Murphy “I’m gonna have the day off, I’m gonna pretend I’m mad!” He climbs up the rafters, hangs upside down and shouts “I’M A LIGHTBULB! I’M A LIGHTBULB!”

Murphy watches in amazement!

The Foreman shouts “Paddy you’re mad, go home” So he leaves the site.

Murphy starts packing his kit up to leave as well.

“Where the hell are you going?” asks the Foreman.

“I can’t work in the  dark!” says Murphy.

  • Paddy, the electrician, got sacked from the U…S. Prison service for not servicing the electric chair. He said in his professional opinion it was a death trap!
  • Paddy is said to be shocked at finding out all his cows have Bluetongue. “Be Jeysus!” he said, “I didn’t even know they had mobile phones!”
  • Mick and Paddy are reading head stones at a nearby cemetery. Mick say “Crikey! There’s a bloke here who was 152!”

Paddy says “What’s his name?”

Mick replies “Miles, from London !”

Happy Easter!!!

To each and everyone I wish you a Happy Easter, may your day be filled with Love and Joy!!!

THE EASTER LILY HOLIDAY TRADITION

Each holiday is marked by cherished traditions that bring joy, comfort, and warmth, and provide continuity from one generation to the next. Easter has its share of traditions: egg decorations and hunts; gift baskets and chocolate bunnies, sunrise church services, parades, and, of course, the Easter Lily. For many, the beautiful trumpet-shaped white flowers symbolize purity, virtue, innocence, hope and life – the spiritual essence of Easter.

History, mythology, literature, poetry and the world of art are rife with stories and images that speak of the beauty and majesty of the elegant white flowers. Dating back to Biblical lore, the lily is mentioned numerous times in the Bible. One of the most famous Biblical references is in the Sermon on the Mount, when Christ told his listeners: “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet….. Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

Often called the “white-robed apostles of hope,” lilies were found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane after Christ’s agony. Tradition has it that the beautiful white lilies sprung up where drops of Christ’s sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and deep distress. Churches continue this tradition at Easter time by banking their alters and surrounding their crosses with masses of Easter Lilies, to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and hope of life everlasting.

Since the beginning of time, lilies have played significant roles in allegorical tales concerning the sacrament of motherhood. Ancient fables tell us the lily sprang from the milk of Hera, the mythological Queen of Heaven.

The pure white lily has long been closely associated with the Virgin Mary. In early paintings, the Angel Gabriel is pictured extending to the Virgin Mary a branch of pure white lilies, announcing that she is to be the mother of the Christ Child. In other paintings, saints are pictured bringing vases full of white lilies to Mary and the infant Jesus.

The legend is told that when the Virgin Mary’s tomb was visited three days after her burial, it was found empty save for bunches of majestic white lilies. Early writers and artists made the lily the emblem of the Annunciation, the Resurrection of the Virgin: the pure white petals signifying her spotless body and the golden anthers her soul glowing with heavenly light.

It seems the thirteenth-century Barthololmeus Anglicus had this in mind when he wrote: ‘The Lily is an herbe with a white flower; and though the leaves of the floure be white, yet within shineth the likeness of gold.” So goes the saying, ‘To gild a lily is to attempt, foolishly, to improve on perfection.” To many artists and poets it seemed that, if any flower could have one, the lily had a soul.

In yet another expression of womanhood, lilies had a significant presence in the paradise of Adam and Eve. Tradition has it that when Eve left the Garden of Eden she shed real tears of repentance, and from those remorseful tears sprung up lilies. The spiritual principle held here is that true repentance is the beginning of beauty.

A mark of purity and grace throughout the ages, the regal white lily is a fitting symbol of the greater meaning of Easter. Gracing millions of homes and churches, the flowers embody joy, hope and life. Whether given as a gift or enjoyed in your own home, the Easter Lily serves as a beautiful reminder that Easter is a time for rejoicing and celebrating.

Ironically, the white (Easter) lily is a native plant of Southern Japan…