Month: November 2021

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Well I tried…

Last night there was a lunar eclipse. This one was a super long one, only happening once in 1000 years.

In honor of the duration and rarity of the event I stayed up past my bedtime and walked out onto the deck to do what we often don’t do enough of.

I looked up.

The first time I went out, the sky was clear, with just a bit of haze and I could see the beginning of the eclipse.

Unfortunately my phone couldn’t. But this is what the beginning of the eclipse looked like and I thought I was going to be golden for the whole event.

I’d already heard from some friends “Down Below” (Yeah I live on a mountain and am elitist about it, So what!) that they were experiencing fog and cloudy conditions so they couldn’t see anything.

I smugly went back inside to warm up, secure in the knowledge that I’d be able to see the whole show. (Ahem! Mother Nature why do you hate me?)

I went back out about 30 minutes later to this.

What we have here is clear proof that A) Mother Nature hates me, and B) She has a cruel sense of humor.

If you’ll notice, this is a band of clouds, a single strip, the skies are relatively clear on either side.

The rest of the eclipse was more of the same from my vantage point. A strip of clouds that was moving in just the right direction to look like a curtain pulled across this celestial event.

Like I said Mother Nature hates my sorry ass.

There was a thinning of the clouds, and I could see the shadow covering part of the moon, the camera was even able to catch it, but much of the rest of the event was hidden.

From this picture, you can see that Mother Nature is also a bit of a tease.

That being said, I tried my best. I’m sure that Mother Nature is having a good laugh with friends this morning.

“Oh, Poseidon you should have seen the look on this one guys face when I painted over the moon with clouds! I haven’t seen a look that sad in millennia. Not since that poor tourist spent his life savings to visit Atlantis only to arrive just as it sunk. Hahahahahaha!“

Yes indeed the gods are capricious.

I hope you have a good day and pleasant weekend. I’m going to take a mid-day siesta and hope that there’s not an earthquake! (Poseidon, Hephaestus, I’m looking at you guys! No angry earth movements or accidents at the forge today please.)

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Well… I’ll be dipped!

President Biden’s inauguration speech talked about unity in America.

At the time, I was like oh yeah, sure you have never been about unity, you senile old fossil.

But here we are 9 months later and sonofabitch if the old fossil hasn’t started to deliver.

Based on Biden’s poll numbers, he has created unity among Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Libertarians.

Unity against him!

That unification also extends to Vice President Kamala Harris whose personal poll numbers are even lower.

Biden’s been able to unify opposition to handgun bans. In 2014 it was about 50/50 pro or against. Now according to a recent poll, only 19% of persons polled are in favor of banning handguns.

He’s also unified 160 Senators (and counting) against his unconstitutional vaccine mandate. That’s a surprise too.

Some 53% of a recent politico poll believe that Biden is not mentally fit for the position of President. Wow! Another win for Biden’s unification speech.

In the same poll voters were asked;

If they believed he is a strong leader (56% said “No”)

If he is trustworthy (51% said “No”)

If he is honest (51% said “No”)

If he keeps his promises (52% said “No”)

Is Energetic (60% said “No”)

Is a clear communicator (57% said “No”)

Is stable ( 48% said “No”)

Is capable of leading the country (53% said “No”)

But, but… President Biden won the election with better numbers than President Obama. How then could he have lost so much support in so short a time?

One word.

Incompetence

I have to give credit where credit is due, Former President Obama is credited with saying something like; no matter what job you give to Joe, he’s gonna fuck it up. Perhaps one of the few things I agree with Former President Obama about.

Biden could have been dumb as a post but still done a decent job, if he’d surrounded himself with smart people. But instead, he seems to have surrounded himself with people who are his mental equals. Some of the things these people say are simply astounding.

So astounding, that I’ll often go to any video presentation of their speeches or comments to hear every word in context. I always finish viewing these videos with the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. I usually can’t make it through one of these videos without having my brain reboot at least twice.

On the other hand, I’ve done due diligence in making sure the printed material I read wasn’t a bunch of snippets taken out of context and strung together. ( You know the way the press would often do with another former President… Just sayin.)

More’s the pity, they have said exactly the stupidest things that were reported in print. I’m always left with a cold pit in my stomach when I remember these are the people in control of our country.

On the bright side, The Biden Administration has in fact gone a long way to unifying the country.

Again, we must give credit where credit is due.

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This picture sums up the Rittenhouse Prosecution.

This is a prosecutor in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.

Thomas Binger during closing arguments, pointed Rittenhouse’s AR-15 at the jury.

Thomas Binger did not check the weapon before pointing it.

Even though there is no magazine in the weapon, since he didn’t check to make sure there was no round in the chamber it could be argued he recklessly endangered the jury.

Note too, that he has his finger on the trigger. Couple this with his failure to check the chamber, had he pulled the trigger accidentally, he could have shot a jury member.

This right here is how accidents happen. (Looking at you Alec Baldwin.)

Yes, the weapon had been checked multiple times by police, by the court, and was in an evidence locker. But with any weapon, you never assume it is safe until you prove it is safe, even then you never point a weapon at anybody unless you’re looking to join Alec Baldwin in infamy.

This is why I’m in favor of every single politician, judge, and lawyer, having to attend gun training classes. It’s my opinion that most of the people who make our laws about guns, or gun ownership have no clue about guns. (I seriously doubt many of them could reliably point the business end of a gun in the right direction.) If that is true, how can they make reasoned decisions?

Remember this is the prosecution that was asking a witness about exploding bullets. I believe explosive rounds are in violation the Geneva Convention. Regardless of the legality of such rounds, you can’t go to your local Walmart and buy them.

This is the prosecution that attempted to delineate the relative harmfulness of rifle versus handgun rounds. (Hint, at close range the harm is the same. Both are pretty likely to kill.)

This is the prosecution that said Rittenhouse should have taken a beating from rioting animals. Say What??

That’s the single most offensive thing I’ve heard. When the next riots start, and they will… Maybe we should drop these prosecutors in the middle of it and loudly announce these are the guys who failed to get Rittenhouse convicted. They can take their beating like men. Right?

If these prosecutors had any knowledge of guns, or gun safety, they might have presented a stronger case. Instead of the ignorant shit show they presented.

I believe Rittenhouse is innocent of murder. He killed in self defense. That is only my opinion

That being said, were I one of the jurors… After the prosecution pointed a gun my way with his finger on the trigger. I’d vote for acquittal, even if up to that point I was leaning toward the prosecution’s case. Hell, in some parts of the country, someone pointing a gun at you loaded or not it’s acceptable to shoot first or punch their lights out. Had I been in the jury box I can tell you I’d have been pissed off enough to assault this dumbass in front of God and everybody.

At least Rittenhouse didn’t point a gun at someone who was not a threat for theatric value.

I hope the Jury returns a swift acquittal. I also realize that this will mean Kenosha and probably other cities will explode into riots. I can only hope that when the rioting begins police are there to put a stop to it.

If they’re not, my hope is that there are a bunch of folks with their hunting rifles ready to do what must be done to protect their community.

At this point, if the criminality of inciting riots comes from members of Congress, (Looking at you Cory Bush,) and the lawlessness of rioting (Arson, Burglary, Assault,) get a pass. Then leaving bodies in the streets in defense of the rights of the citizens should get a pass too.

After all, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander…