On Baggage & Loot

 

You Make The Call

First, there was the treadmill and Harry Reid suddenly left politics.

Then, there was Paul Pelosi with the Gay Hammer in the observatory and the wife, Steny Hoyer, and Jim Clyburn decided they didn't want to be the Third Triumvirate, after all.

Now,  we have news 5 cars rented by the Brandon family (technically the Secret Service) have burst into flames

Anybody get the feeling the Second Civil War has started and John Mosby just might be on our side this time?

UPDATE: The Secret Service has determined the blaze was not suspicious.

Sure 

The fire started 40 feet away from the airport’s 25,000 gallon jet fuel tanks. And Idiot called for all semiautomatic guns to be banned during his visit.

Sure sounds like a message to me.

On Conforming & Confirming Beliefs & Opinions

 

This week, it was the Mini Wheat in Powerline's pics made me smile along with Mona Lisa's beef. 

Caption, s'il vous plait

 

On Belief & Disbelief

 

"'Masking and social distancing should be encouraged or even mandated once more in public in order to protect people from COVID-19 and from the possibility of suffering from "Long COVID,' according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services."

Assistant Health Secretary Rachel Levine supports a new HHS report that says mask mandates would help people avoid long COVID.

On Corruption, Fobbing Off & Shifting Winds

 

Trump and Stahl were discussing Trump’s presidency, when the former president asked why CBS was not investigating whether then-Vice-President Joe Biden was involved in business dealings with his son, Hunter.

Stahl said Rudy Giuliani and Steven Bannon were the sources of the laptop story, while Trump was “making this one of the hottest, most important issues.”

Trump said it was important “to find out whether or not a man is corrupt who’s running for president.”

Stahl pushed back and said “all these things have been investigated and discredited.” 

“I think it’s one of the biggest scandals I’ve ever seen and you don’t cover it. You want to talk about – ” Trump said before Stahl interjected.

“Well, because it can’t be verified.”

“You want to talk about insignificant things,” Trump continued. “Of course it can be verified. Excuse me, they found a laptop. Lesley, listen.”

“It can’t be verified,” she pushed back.

“What can’t be verified?” Trump asked.

“The laptop.”

Nov 21, 2022  "CBS News has verified the contents reportedly belonging to Hunter Biden’s laptop after conducting an independent forensic review, the network shared Monday."

On Thankfulness & Windows of Awareness

 As I was looking for a Thanksgiving themed picture to post while Mr M was brining the turkey for smoking tomorrow and preparing the stuffing, with my contribution of creamed onions already fixed and in the fridge, and a pie from the bakery waiting on the counter, I wandered over to Robert Malone's substack.  There I found an article on  "The Tragic Story Of A 14-Year-Old Vaccine Myocarditis Victim — One Of Umpteen Males Misinformed By Health Authorities." 

A year and a half ago, the boy's mother had sent out a celebratory tweet, expressing her thankfulness that her son had received his first COVID vaccine.  That thankfulness was short lived, when her son ended up in the hospital a month later after experiencing intense chest pain two days following his second vaccine dose.  "He was found to have elevated troponin levels (a key sign of heart damage) and an abnormal electrocardiogram. Every doctor Emily Jo (the mom) spoke to at the pediatric hospital Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta confirmed her son had vaccine-induced myocarditis.  The article closes with this: "More than a year later, Aidan is still recovering from a vaccine that had little to provide him in the first place.  Though some have shamed Emily for getting her son vaccinated, she is hardly to blame for trusting in tax-payer-funded health agencies whose sole function is to keep the public healthy and safe.    

In light of the FDA and CDC's outrageous push to vaccinate everyone with the new "bivalent" booster--despite explicitly "unknown" myocarditis risks--hopefully more people will wake up and re-evaluate their blind faith in the institutions who have far abandoned their ostensible mission of keeping us safe and healthy. "

I continue to be thankful for the people who were willing to step up and stand outside the norm to provide the information I needed to make it safely thus far through COVID without being compromised by the vaccine.  Thankful too for the means to still receive information that doesn't fit pushed political narratives and agendas, yet fits with truth as I see it.  

While at Malone's substack, I also found these two.  Though not directly in keeping with turkeys or thankfulness, they appealed to my sense of gratitude over being able to look out of and through my own electronic window on the world, along with relief felt that I've so far managed to avoid the addictive draw of TikTok.

On Sofa Covers, Enablers & The Upholding of Family Tradition

 

On Gormlessness & Control Variables

 

On Gaming the System & Garnering

 

On Bee Stings & Mimosas, Cornhole & Work (Stuff)

 

Is that what they mean by a bubble butt?

 

On Heads & Hearts

 

Yes, to this.  We had a shelf and a stack in days gone by, but those days are done.  A cell phone suffices now.  I'm not much into news these days, which happens whenever my trust takes another dump as it did with the election weirdness and the machinations that showed up for another round of wool pulling and pretending things are not as they seem.   I wonder what it's going to take to turn things around?   

Fifteen years ago,  Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit wrote a book about "An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths".  And for a while that seemed to be the shift taking place, until Big Media, Government and Other Goliaths woke to the possibilities of becoming more empowered themselves; and with a Fee Fi Foe Fum they became champions at forming a club and wielding it to their advantage.  

Due to the fact that I grew up familiar with the story of David (as a child, I had to memorize the list of  of all the kings of Israel and Judah) along with his backstory, I still have a tendency to believe heart is what matters most.  It's what Yahweh saw in the young boy shepherd from the get go, even though a later wave of passion would lead that shepherd astray. 

As the story goes, "The time had come for Samuel to go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint Israel’s next king. As Samuel looked at Jesse’s oldest son, Eliab, Samuel was impressed with what he saw. “Surely, this is the man the Lord wants me to anoint,” said the prophet. 

But God told Samuel, “Don’t look at his appearance or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. God does not see as humans see. Humans look at outward appearances, but the LORD looks into the heart”

Does heart, followed by clear vision, a sense of center and the humility as well as the faith and confidence that comes from knowing ones place in the bigger picture, still have the potential to make a huge difference?  

This week I came upon this:  "Being present invites us to set aside judgment yet still retain discernment, to set aside sympathy yet hold empathy, to set aside power yet be responsible for influence.  It invites us to bring head, heart and body into this moment."   

Retain discernment

Hold empathy 

Be responsible for influence.  

Is it possible these are some of the improbable stones still available for use against giants?  

Analyze this one

OK, real simple.

When the Ice Cream Queen's hubbo got his head rearranged under circumstances more than questionable, I theorized it was another episode of Harry Reid and His Magic Treadmill.

Yesterday, not only did she retire from leadership positions (insert punchline), so did Steny Hoyer (who has managed to keep his mouth shut the last 2 years) and Jim Clyburn (who hasn't). The whole Democrat House leadership. Those people didn't rot for 50 years or so to climb to the top the heap to bail out just because the Rs actually managed to eke out a majority.

Does this pave the way for The Squad to take over? And who orchestrated it? Face it, Brandon's gone downhill much faster the last couple of months and Chlamydia's due for a rare tropical illness to overtake her.

My money's on the Davos crowd in the parlor with a hammer.

On Trust & Resolve, or Lack of It

 

On Thinking, Not Thinking & Wondering in the Wind

 

The upside down flag on the lapel is a nice touch.   A stimulus check was mailed to my dead mom a year after final taxes on her estate were filed and two years after Social security was notified of her death. How does a break in connection like that occur in this digital age?   Is it the same break that is making it so difficult to count votes that used to be tallied on Election Day or soon thereafter?

The first snow of the season is falling in a state that will continue to be governed by Gretchen Whitmer. She continues to eye the prize denied her by Biden when his people made the decision to use Kamala instead of her, and she'd be a great hook-up with Newsome, two heavy handed manipulators focused on appearance management and power.  She dominated in the majors cities, after amassing a huge war chest.  The Dems are slick about reaching out on social media and using ads to their advantage.      

At the end of July, 2022, "The campaign account balance for the Democratic governor sits at $14.7 million with 100 days left before the start of the general election.

The five Republican candidates combined have a total of $5.1 million in their campaign coffers.

The Gretchen Whitmer for Governor campaign announced Friday nearly $9.5 million was raised between Jan. 1 and July 17, with a total for the cycle at $29.2 million."

"The governor collected millions in excess funds through a loophole in Michigan's campaign finance laws that allows a candidate to raise over the state-mandated contribution limits if they're facing a recall. While Whitmer faced dozens of recall efforts during her time as governor, none were a serious threat to her governorship."

https://thelivingstonpost.com/whitmer-triples-war-chest-over-entire-gop-gubernatorial-slate-combined/

These things do exist

OK, I have no money in this fight. I throw it out for your speculation.

Fact: Everybody wants to bury Trump today. The Demos, the NeverTrumpers, the Libertarians. They say it's time for him to step aside and let DeSantis have the reins. 

Fact: Trump has alluded he knows something about DeSantis that could kill him if he runs for national office. How true this might or might not be, I have no idea.

Fact: The Demos like to get behind a weak R and push him so the more formidable candidate is dumped in the primaries and they can sweep the floor with their guy in the general.

Fact: Like a lot of other people, I like DeSantis. I like what he's done in FL. I like the way he's stood up on the national stage. The red wave was there in FL. Maybe because they were able to announce early, the Demos didn't wait for 4AM, but started as soon as they got the word the wave was real (it was also real in WV and OH).

Question: What if Trump isn't blowing smoke, what if there is something there? What if this is the old Demo game for the national stage?

Data points

A couple of goodies you won't see on Fake News. Or Insty.

75% of the country thinks the Demos are leading us astray.

For the past 200 years, the party in power always takes a beating in the midterms.

You honestly believe MI re-elected the Ubersturmbannfuhrerin? Or that PA elected the Indescribable Hulk?

Just like last time, news of the "irregularities" is starting to come out.

Do.

The.

Math.

Ah yes, the great red wave - it was yuge!

 If only republicans could find and nominate a candidate as articulate and good looking as this monster, er, senator:

By gosh, then we would be walkin' in tall cotton, by golly!

Did you ever imagine you would be living through the end of an empire? From landing on the moon to electing certifiable retards in one generation. 

E Pluribus Assimilation

One thing that's striking terror into the hearts of Lefties is word that all those groups they allowed in illegally (or imported) are doing something horrible. 

They're assimilating.

If they'd been paying attention, or had a real grip on American history, instead of trying to rewrite it, they'd know the trend was coming. Pew noted some years ago that Moslems, to the tune of about 1/3, most of them young, were leaving the faith. Why, you ask (I know you asked, I heard you). Because of the freedom here. 

Same with Hispanics. Michael Barone noted that, some years ago Hispanics were already settling in to being Americans (I believe I've retold the story of the young, obviously Hispanic, mom with 2 little boys in tow looking at the diorama of the assault on the Alamo at its height, asked who the guys coming over the walls were and she says, "The bad guys"). Give it a generation or 2. No sweat.

Orientals, fresh from Inja, Singapore, Korea, and both Chinas, are doing the same. It's better here. No poverty (if you're willing to work), no castes, no ruling class, no party chairman. Hell, Hop Sing's great grandsons are partners in Ponderosa LLC. Land of Plenty. What's not to like?

In America, if they ask about your ancestry, as often as not when you tell them, the answer you get is, "Cool". Everybody came from somewhere else, even the (American) Indians, who proudly call themselves American Indians.

All the race baiting and class warfare stuff is falling on deaf ears. What all the newcomers see is the focacta Lefties trying the same stuff that never worked at home and caused them to seek greener pastures and they want no part of it.

They like America. 

Which brings us to the other 2 constituencies the Demos are losing. White women and blacks. Actually, I think they lost white women a long time ago. the Kavanaugh inquisition seems to have been the final straw, but there have been articles for years about women leaving their career ro take the Mommy track (this isn't the women who have a job because the wonderful welfare state has ensured a man can't support his family on his paycheck alone). The feminuts may clutch their pearls and reach for the smelling salts, but denigrating those women and suppressing what the newly minted housewives may like about life without Gloria Steinbrenner doesn't seem to be doing it.

The Demos have thought screaming about Clarence Thomas and abortion will save the day, but that train has also sailed. Ultrasound has been the worst thing to happen to the Left since the suburbs, The lie of feminism and the clump of cells was there for all to see. The drop in support for abortion may not have been all that noticeable, but the number of abortion mills closing has been.

We're not told about how many women suffered remorse and guilt after an abortion, but it seems to be a lot higher than the daughters of Margaret Sanger and Heinrich Himmler are willing to admit.

Which brings us to blexit, a phenomenon ongoing for at least a decade. Van Jones, one of the very few cool heads in DC back when Zippy was checking out all the mirrors in the Rainbow House, said if the Demos lost 10% of the black vote, they were finished. Now pollsters (I know) say it looks more like 20%.

You may well ask why now.

Like everything else, it's about the younger generation which in itself is enough to scare the Left (they loused up the schools to create masses of indoctrinated yoots).This leans on several things. First, 2 generations passed since Lynnon said he'd have them niggers voting D for 200 years and things are worse instead of better. This was aggravated by the George Floyd nonsense which, as always, destroyed black areas almost exclusively. Second, Zippy was supposed to be on their side. 8 years of the whitest black man ever made things miserable, but 4 years of a white guy who'd worked with blacks all his life showed how good things could be. Third, the race baiting appears to be getting old; no nightriders in Detroit, but the city turns a blind eye to black on black crime.

And that is the dirty little secret. Only whites want law enforcement, and that's only to oppress blacks, but the latest round of white Democrat-induced urban violence made blacks quit worrying about being Soul Brother Number 1 and come out with the fact they wanted the cops better funded. Only white guys and their house slaves wanted the cops pulled back.

Same with Brandon's 3 letter word JOBS. Demos have been talking a good fight for a half century. In 4 years, Donald Trump produced the lowest black (and Hispanic) unemployment in history (or at least since Appomattox). Times were good and, for once, they had their fair share. You notice things like that.

Especially when the faculty lounge crowd fronted by a leaden-tongued hack and racist brings it all down in a year.

Where this all goes is anybody's guess, but it would appear that stealing the election of '20 was the worst thing the Democrats could have done, or let the Davos crowd and Winnie the Foo talk them into doing, but I do think the American people are going to come out of this better and stronger. And much prouder to be American than we've seen in a half century.

I could be wrong.

We shall see.

On Specters & Haints

 

I don't know if I can watch this time around.  I'm still haunted by the specter of the voting irregularity I witnessed during the last go round.  After sitting in the darkness watching the count for the 2020 vote in Michigan suddenly and inexplicably shut down for several hours late at night after the polls closed and come back up again in the small hours of the morning with Brandon in the lead in the key states where he'd previously been trailing, I didn't know what I was seeing.  Not then and not now, but whatever went down was definitely peculiar to say the least, a never-before-seen phenomena that didn't come through as open and above board.  Although I'm now hoping it was a once in a life-time thing, I have my doubts.  

Oddly enough, that afternoon I'd handed my own mail-in ballot out the car window, and placed it directly into the hand of our township clerk as he stood in his driveway in his stockinged feet.  He'd just finished taking his work boots off in the garage, and as he walked toward us with a smile he said something about it being the safest place to leave my vote; and I believed him.  Though I worried afterward he could leave it on the garage bench and forget about it, I still had trust in the overall process.  I don't anymore. 

On Full & Empty Minds & Hearts

 

Since my mind hops around a lot, all six concerns mentioned here and more are rolling around upstairs. Only my thoughts involve a few more exclamation points.  Plus I consider Musk's control of Twitter to be a positive change running alongside whatever else is flying out of mouths of White House leadership. What briefly entertained me today, however, more than any of the other cartoons found, was Babylon Bee's list of the 43 Things Besides Covid the Democrats Are Requesting Amnesty On. Brandon and his sidekick have not yet made the list but Hillary is #43.

Even with all else going on, my mind came to rest this 60+ degree afternoon as I sat outdoors in the sunshine, listening to the oak leaves as they gently swirled down around me to land with an audible tick, tick, tick on the forest floor.   A rain of leaves, with the trees doing what they done for thousands of years they finish up one season and prepare for the next.  What I experienced, the peace I felt as I sat there reminded me one of the short Frost poems I memorized years ago:

Dust of Snow BY ROBERT FROST

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

On Hammered & Noses as Long as Telephone Wires

 

Curiously enough, Urban Dictionary came through with a broader and more fitting description of "hammered" than I was familiar with, listing symptoms that include: babbling, hysterical laughter, name calling, aggressiveness, destructiveness, momentary lapses of consciousness, stumbling, vomiting, yelling, incoherent singing, falling, profanity, disregard for the value of money or a propensity for excessive spending and, of course, more drinking.