Thursday Morning Ride

 I made a nice short ride this morning.    I stopped by Aunt Dot's resting place and rubbed some brasso on her marker.  After that, I went to the nearby Dollar Tree and purchased some batteries and a couple of L.A.S.E.R.s.

"Homemade I.E.D."

Middle schooler’s homemade ‘IED’ turns out to be actual IED; Student faces charges.

Seriously?  Who in the world writes this crap?

Tell It Like It Is

http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/comic/toast/

Coconut Oil

I have been using LouAna Coconut Oil.  I have read where some say that it is not the oil to use, aside from cooking.  The LouAna  writings say that also.  From empirical experience, that may be so.

I have a problem with my forehead skin that is annoying.  It dries and I have been rubbing the LouAna  coconut oil on it.  It has not stopped until I rubbed some oil that I bought for my mom on it.  This oil was not refined and the next day, the incipient sore on my eyebrow was gone.  I will buy some more of the same and use it.  I do not know what kind it is but I recall the jar. 

I Find that Sleep Eludes Me Tonight

"When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite."
--WinstonChurchill

And So it Goes, As Usual

"Then they revealed who the shooters were.

Immediately the same exact people who’d just been screeching about evil Tea Party, racist, hate monger, right wing, ciswhitehetero male phantoms, began urging calm, saying don’t jump to conclusions. It isn’t fair to tar the big group because of the actions of a few. Watch out for that hateful rhetoric, because you might inflame people."..."It is kind of funny how you can name any crisis, any crisis at all, and the inevitable solutions demanded are always giving the government more control."

Read it here: 

Guns and Vultures

Edit: I am sure that I missed an HT somewhere.

Jihad

Not all Muslims are terrorists but an unsettling number of terrorists are Muslims.

"It is simply false to declare that jihadists represent the “tiny few extremists” who sully the reputation of an otherwise peace-loving and tolerant Muslim faith. In reality, the truth is far more troubling — that jihadists represent the natural and inevitable outgrowth of a faith that is given over to hate on a massive scale, with hundreds of millions of believers holding views that Americans would rightly find revolting. Not all Muslims are hateful, of course, but so many are that it’s not remotely surprising that the world is wracked by wave after wave of jihadist violence."

Dispelling the ‘Few Extremists’ Myth – the Muslim World Is Overcome with Hate

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/428146/more-than-few-islamic-extremists

 

 

 

Remembering Judge Michael G. Sullivan

One of my favorite men was Judge Michael G. Sullivan.  He died in 2009.  He kept a copy of this in his office drawer when he was at City Court.

Do Your Best

HT: http://extragoodshit.phlap.net/index.php/329342/

Internal Passport - A Relic of the U.S.S.R.

"It sounds crazy, but next year, millions of Americans might have to start using passports to fly -- on domestic flights.

A decade ago, the U.S. government issued stricter standards for state-issued IDs, including drivers licenses. But four states have refused to comply: Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire and New York.

The deadline for upgrading is coming up in 2016. If those four states don't upgrade their ID systems by the deadline, the TSA will demand that residents of those four states use passports rather than drivers licenses to board flights next year. About 9.5 million drivers licenses have been issued in those states, according to government licensing records."

You may not think that is of any concern.  However, tie that in with the following:  "A little-noticed provision in the highway funding bill Congress passed this week threatens a right most Americans take for granted: the right to travel abroad. The provision in question gives the Internal Revenue Service the authority to revoke the passport of anyone the IRS claims owes more than $50,000 in back taxes."  "...the provision does not provide taxpayers an opportunity to challenge a finding that they owe back taxes in federal court before their passport is revoked." 

Read about it here.

HT: http://overlawyered.com/2015/12/but-you-cant-check-out/

No-Fly is Unconstitutional

“The American Civil Liberties Union is taking no position on legislation that would bar people from buying guns if they are on the federal government’s no-fly list — a list that the ACLU has spent the past five years arguing is unconstitutional.”

Never trust the ACLU. NEVER trust the ACLU. NEVER TRUST THE ACLU.

 HT: http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/220776/

A Day that Will Live in Infamy

"At five minutes to eight o'clock, on a Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941, in Hawaii, Japanese planes attacked the United States military base at Pearl Harbor.
An hour later, a second wave of Japanese planes continued the attack. By 9:45 a.m. (local Hawaii time), the attack was finished, with all but 29 Japanese planes returning to the safety of their aircraft carriers.
The attack on Pearl Harbor wiped out approximately half of America's military airpower in the Pacific Theater; severely damaged eight Navy battleships, three destroyers and three cruisers; demolished the battleships U.S.S. Oklahama and Arizona; and killed more than 2,300 American servicemen.

Attack on Pearl Harbor Remembered

Some Shaggy For Anne

UPDATED

Amy Winehouse

I loved her music and was sorry to see her go.

The Big Lie

"On Wednesday, a Washington Post article announced that “The San Bernardino shooting is the second mass shooting today and the 355th this year.” Vox, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, this newspaper and others reported similar statistics. Grim details from the church in Charleston, a college classroom in Oregon and a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado are still fresh, but you could be forgiven for wondering how you missed more than 300 other such attacks in 2015."

How Many Mass Shootings Are There, Really?

Aunt Rose

My Aunt Rose died Friday, after Thanksgiving.  I liked Aunt Rose and had not seen her in some time.  I plan to attend the funeral on Monday.

Babakurn al-Turki

"Popcorn the Turkey, now calling himself Babakurn al-Turki, was pardoned from the dinner table only yesterday by President Obama in a public ceremony at the White House. Normally the pardoned bird is sent along with its competitor to live out its remaining days at Morven Park’s Turkey Hill in Leesburg, Virginia.
However, U.S. officials have now admitted that al-Turki instead hijacked an Osprey out of Andrews Air Force Base in nearby Maryland and flew like a bat out of hell to Syria."

Video at the link:

Pardoned White House Turkey Defects To ISIS

 HT: http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/219911/

Good News for Sunday

" Dubbed the Ghostbusters, the quartet of distillery cats are extremely hard workers, keeping rodents at bay day in and day out, and even making friends with their human co-workers – who were kind enough to buy the motley crew an array of toys before realizing they wanted only one thing for entertainment: cardboard boxes!"

Chicago Distillery Guarded by Feral Cats Is a Win for Everyone

 HT: http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/219515/

Mo F.O.E.

I enjoy reading Fred's posts, whether I agree with him or not.

To whit:

"White Privilege is real, of course. It is a combination of high genetic intelligence, studiousness, a tendency toward intellectual exploration, the capacity to organize, sustained hard work, and conscientiousness. There is a reason why whites design Mars landers and black athletes do not."

Missouri: Taking the National Temperature

Alligators

When I was growing up in South Central Louisiana in the 1970s and 1980s, my cohorts and I spent a lot of time in and around the local waterways.  We would see alligators on occasion but they were hardly a nuisance.  The animals seemed to be wary of humans and shied from us.

Today, 2015, and for the past ten years, the alligator population has increased to where it has become a nuisance.  Large alligators sometimes show up on city streets near waterways and become a traffic hazard until someone stops or calls someone to handle it.

"►Population data: In 1971 the Fish and Wildlife Service reviewed the alligator’s status and requested information from range states. Louisiana supplied data showing the species was not imperiled, and recommended the alligator be removed from the federal list of endangered species. Louisiana also provided the FWS with information on state conservation legislation that had been passed or was planned. Florida also had data, available to the FWS, showing the state had a large and healthy alligator population. Data released in the aftermath of the ESA’s passage provided more confirmation. In 1974, Louisiana estimated the alligator’s total population at 734,384 and increasing over most of its range. This estimate was the result of a 1973 survey, released in 1974, in what became known as “the Joanen Report” after its author, Ted Joanen."

The Great Gator Hoax: The American alligator is thriving—no thanks to the Endangered Species Act

Quantum Locking

I think that this is pretty cool.  Click on the link for video.

 

How to Do Quantum Magnetic Levitation at Home

 

Climate Model Science Update

If this man is correct, all the smoke and mirrors vanish.

"It turns out the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has over-estimated future global warming by as much as 10 times, he says.
“Yes, CO2 has an effect, but it’s about a fifth or tenth of what the IPCC says it is. CO2 is not driving the climate; it caused less than 20 per cent of the global warming in the last few decades”.
Dr Evans says his discovery “ought to change the world”.
“But the political obstacles are massive,” he said."

Perth electrical engineer’s discovery will change climate change debate

Bureaucratic Tyranny

"When 87 percent of Americans do not trust the federal government to do what is right even most of the time, it is obvious that the alienation does not break along party lines. When I propose systematic civil disobedience to regain some of our freedom, it is not against a government that has made a few unintentional missteps and should be given the benefit of the doubt. The civil disobedience I propose is against a federal government that has fully earned our distrust."

The regulators’ yoke

Precipitate from Ice Cubes

A few days ago, I fixed a drink that was mostly water and ice cubes.  Yes there was vodka.  Anyhow, I noticed that a white precipitate of all sizes up to a millimeter or two was falling from the ice.  It so disgusted me that I went to the CVS store and purchased a PUR water filter for the faucet, 25% off!

After I arrived back home, I installed the filter and dumped all of ice into the sink.  Never one to pass an opportunity, I gave the food dispenser a good clean/sharpening by running the ice through it.

I fixed the same drink sans ice and all was crystal clear.  I filled my ice trays with the filtered water any the next time I made a clear drink with ice, there was that same precipitate!  After some research, I determined that it was likely calcium carbonate that I was seeing.

"No matter what you do, there will always be a few poor people around, but to really maximize those numbers there are very specific government policies abetted by a few cultural attitudes that will make all the difference. You want to make as many Americans poor as possible? Then start by…."

The 7 Keys To Trapping As Many Americans As Possible In Poverty

 HT: http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/219013/

Flat Tire

I had my first flat tire today on my morning ride.  I had to push my bike for the last mile and a half.  After I heard a ticking noise, I removed a piece of glass from my front tire.  On passing through UL campus, I realized that my rear tire had gone flat.  I pumped air into it but it only held for a half a block.

Malum Prohibitum

"If it were up to me, I’d find it a violation of the due process clause to treat violation of regulatory statutes as a felony. Historically, only the most serious crimes — typically carrying the death penalty — were felonies.  Nowadays, though, we designate all sorts of trivial crimes, such as possessing an eagle feather, as felonies. This has the effect of empowering police and prosecutors at the expense of citizens, since it’s easy to find a felony if you look hard enough, and few citizens have the courage of a veteran like Cort, who went to trial anyway. Most will plead to something."

Glenn Reynolds: How gun laws put the innocent on trial

Ghost Stories

When I was a boy, we used to camp out and tell ghost stories.  Here are some "true" stories form policemen.

Cops Share True “On Duty” Ghost Stories

Extortion

Here is an interesting piece that fairly sums up my own thoughts.  Of course, this is an age-old complaint.

"In the United States, our swollen public-sector payrolls, particularly at the state and local level, are little more than a supplementary welfare state, providing a more dignified form of public dependency for relatively low-skilled and mainly unenterprising people."

The gist of the article is that, "When it comes to government, if you aren’t involved in the provision of actual public goods, you are involved in extortion."

Read more here.

Related: "Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people":

 First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.

Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.

The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization."

Gaslighting

Gaslighting, as opposed to simple denial of guilt.  Of course, if you have been paying attention, then you already know how the Obama administration works.




HT: http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/217735/

No Alcohol for 30 Days

Here is an interesting article that I ran across.  This is the second such study that I have read.  There was an article published earlier this year that showed a study with similar results.

I will  give this a try. Starting today, no alcoholic drinks for a month.

Month off drinking slashes risk of disease: Abstaining found to heal the liver and lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels

"Drinkers should take a month off alcohol to prevent serious illness in later life, doctors warned yesterday.

They cited dramatic British research showing how abstention can heal the liver and lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Patients who gave up for four weeks were also at lower risk of developing cancer and type 2 diabetes.

The study is the second at the Royal Free hospital to uncover the huge benefits of staying off booze."

Women

Getting Away With Murder

This man clearly had no reason to shoot and should be on trial for murder.

"The dash cam footage of a South Carolina police officer fatally shooting a 19-year-old in July has been released after it was announced that no criminal charges will be filed against the officer."

Dashcam video reveals horrific moment cop shot dead teen on a first date as it's revealed officer will NOT be charged with anything

 

It Matters

"If a nation has a constitution, and nobody reads it or follows it, does it matter?"

Read it:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/10/26/election-2016-voters-constitution-ignorance-column/74588286/

French Table

I ate breakfast at Victors' cafeteria this morning with Mom. There was a French immersion class joining us.  I had two eggs, over easy and sausages.  Mom had an "egg biscuit".   We both had coffee.

There Should Have Been a Big Kaboom

Liver for Bait

I used calf liver for bait in the Vermilion River this morning.  I rigged up for bottom fishing, as I was trying for catfish, and baited a hook.  The liver is not easy to keep on the hook and so I did the best that I could.

Things started hitting on the bait right away and I lost my bait a couple of times.  I was beginning to think that I should be trying for blue crabs instead.

On the fourth cast, I finally hooked something.  I did not expect it to be a turtle but there he was.  The next cast produced a stick and so I called it a day.

Cultural Marxism

Sometimes, I wonder who actually won the cold war.  I do not believe that this is what Sun Tzu  had in mind when he wrote that to win a war, you become your enemy.

"There’s a bit of controversy surrounding student elections at a San Francisco middle school after the results were immediately withheld by the principal because they weren’t diverse enough."

Middle school election results (temporarily) withheld because the winners aren’t “diverse” enough

Mosquito Zapper

If we could make something like this for fifty bucks or less per module, this would sell like gangbusters.