Dutton Ranch TV Series – Spoiler – Rip and Beth buy a ranch 70 miles from the Mexican Border. There is an adjoining ranch that buys politicians, police officers, and kills anyone who looks too closely at their business. Yes, it’s a cartel theme, in much the way Landman is. Taylor Sheridan is trying to make it mysterious, but it’s a lot like Landman in that. I agree that it’s a way to build tension and drama that’s not far from the truth, so my problem isn’t exactly with the plot, except that he’s already doing that, and he took Lioness (Season 2) in the same direction. How else do you build that sort of requiem for murder and intrigue on the Texas border? Sheridan is making more money than he can ever spend, so I don’t begrudge him that. However, there are many other ways to go without endless rehashing or remaking (which Hollywood loves).
Bullet Points:
** A discussion of private intelligence organizations – Dalton Fischer podcast – interview with John Kiriakou (Youtube)
** Britain and Poland have signed a landmark defense treaty promising to defend each other by military means, with both nations naming Russia as the most significant long-term threat to European security. I know what the Poles can do, but I’m not certain what the British could do if the Russian hordes marched west. Use harsh language? Maybe the Brits are relying on past glory?
** A black lady speculates on Big Mike Obama’s gender. Will she end up dead like Joan Rivers?
** There is no “we” in chocolate.
** The Seventh Crusade – It never went quite as well as people hoped. The French treasury was so thoroughly emptied to pay Louisโs massive 400,000 livre ransom that Queen Margaret had to borrow from the Knights Templar just to get her husband back. Western Europe spent decades claiming this catastrophe was a test of faith, yet Louis made the exact same logistical blunders in the Egyptian swamps that destroyed the Fifth Crusade thirty years earlier. Was Louis IX actually a brilliant, pious commander struck down by bad luck, or was he just an incompetent religious fanatic who led thousands of men into a predictable death trap? God wills it!
** What does it take to make a hero? $1.6 million. Three Sherman tanks from the 321st were waiting in reserve.
** Sitting in history class – back to school.
** The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Socialists asks for a simple crust of bread ($6,000/mo) to keep a socialist going. It’s the very least you could do.
** China’s four-step plan.
** GregW emailed me backchannel and asked whether the opioid epidemic in Canada is leading to an enhanced organ harvesting operation. My sense was that MAID (assisted suicide, where the Canadian medical system is allowed to choose whether you live or are euthanized) was responsible for the huge increase in the Canadian ‘organ donation’ industry. The Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program in Canada does not mandate organ harvesting, but it does allow for voluntary organ donation after death. Canada is currently a world leader in organ transplants originating from MAID patients, with 5% of all organ transplants in the country in 2024 coming from these donors. So where do the other 95% come from? I think that he may be onto something. Could that be the reason that Canada turns a blind eye to cartel trafficking? I know that the organs for cash business is big money.
The Writing Business
Blog Question: Do you like reading modern cowbody drama of the sort that Sheridan produces? Should I be writing novels that cover those topics, with contemporary twists? I’m not trying to copy anyone, but does that genre appeal to you? I’m trying to find the sort of topics for stories that people will buy – that will be successful enough for me to set aside time and money to do more detailed research and on-site travel to generate that sort of work.
Are simple plots better – good guy, bad guy – sexual tension – resolution?
Is it better if the good guy wears a white hat – to keep things straight?
Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
One of the cleanest examples of last-minute Biden-era grant fraud: the $2 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund award to Power Forward Communities, the climate-NGO coalition whose senior counsel through 2024 was Stacey Abrams. Before leaving office, Creepy Joe Biden dropped $2 billion into an account that had $103.00 remaining. Abrams was unable to say what she did with $2 billion.๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก $๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฆ๐ข๐-๐๐๐๐. ๐๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ฌ ๐ $๐,๐๐๐,๐๐๐,๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ. ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฑ๐ญ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
$๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฐ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐. The cases are working their way through the D.C. Circuit, and as of September, the Circuit Court vacated the injunction blocking the cancellations. The money stays frozen pending final adjudication, which is now expected to go in EPAโs favor on the merits. ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐ฌโ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ ๐จ๐ญ $๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก $๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฌ. ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐.
More Mischief from the People’s Liberation Army’s Navy
Chinese naval and air forces drove off a Dutch air defense frigate near a disputed archipelago using warnings and electronic interference, Beijingโs South China Sea command said Wednesday.
According to the Peopleโs Liberation Armyโs Southern Theater Command (PLA STC), the HNLMSย De Ruyter (F804) and its embarked helicopter intruded on Wednesday over the airspace of the Paracel Islands, an archipelago under the control of Beijing, following its violent seizure from Vietnam in the 1970s.
One week before the incident,ย De Ruyterย moored in Manila for a port visit and activities with the Philippine Navy. The frigateโs captainย told local media outletย Manila Bulletin that the shipโs previous interactions with a Chinese helicopter were โprofessionalโ and did not involve a territorial challenge.
Amsterdamโs sail near the Paracel Islands comes as Beijing ramps up artificial island construction through a massive reclamation project at Antelope Reef. According to theย Center of Strategic International Studiesโ Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, Chinaโs build-up at the reef may create the largest island in the South China Sea.
The Netherlands also joins a growing number of non-Western Pacific powers in deploying forces to support freedom of navigation and cooperation with Beijingโs adversaries. China has asserted its control of the majority of the South China Sea under its 10-dash line claim. Fleets of paramilitary fishing vessels, Coast Guard cutters, and warships are constantly deployed to back Beijingโs territorial assertions.
Larry Correia is on Another Rant – let’s listen in.
Oh goody. It is Europe whining about America having air conditioning while they pass through, dropping like flies, season, again. This is my favorite time of year. (the other continents call it “summer”)
This year, they seem fixated on American houses being made of wood and how we have tornadoes. Because you know, Europeans all live in two-thousand-year-old brick huts and windowless castles that can’t accept a window unit, and that somehow makes them morally superior to us, so they can die miserably by the thousands when it hits 78 degrees, while lecturing us smugly about “climate change” the whole time.
I live in a place that’s Norway in the winter, Algeria in the summer, five thousand feet higher than the average elevation in the UK, in a house that’s so large the average UK home would fit in my office/game room, but please, do go on about how amazing your 800 square foot mud brick shack built after the Blitz is. (He lives in rural Utah)
Listen, you absolute pussies, if you’re that scared of living where there are tornadoes, that’s okay. Tornadoes are like a warning sign God put up, saying you’re not tall enough to ride this ride. That’s why our ancestors came here, and yours stayed to decay there.
A couple of generations ago, the UK was our peer. Now they’ve got the per capita GDP of Mississippi, there’s only 5 UK companies in the global top 100, it took them a month to get their one functioning destroyer out of dock (and it promptly broke a week later), and they’re menaced by the rape gangs their government imported and protected. You’d think there would be some self-awareness exercised in there somewhere, but nope. It’s all hubris. America sucks because our average house (which is about 3x bigger than the UK’s, only it’s insulated and has air conditioning) is made of wood. Oooh, sick burn. We also put ice in our water. GASP.
I just saw some Brit bragging about how he had a pub in his neighborhood older than America. Cool. The guys who built that pub would be ashamed of what’s become of you, while their descendants who weren’t scared of tornadoes moved here. Then he bragged his house was two hundred years old and would be standing in two hundred more! Sure, but living in it will be five dudes named Achmed and their twenty wives.
For the record, I don’t hate the British. I like most Brits. I just despise your bossy weenie socialists who want you to live like fucking peasants to sacrifice on behalf of global warming, and those are the ones who mouth off on (other social media site) all day. I’m actually rooting for you, normal, sane Brits, to continue overthrowing your shitty Labor government in the hopes you can move into the modern, air-conditioned world with the rest of us. So anyways, happy summer. Try not to die.
________
The British and Europeans have very high electricity prices because of a combination of taxation and a woke refusal to use carbon-based fuel. The French embraced nuclear energy and don’t have the same problem that many others do. It’s not just Larry Correia who has been lectured by Euro-types. They love to scold. Meanwhile, even though the summers are very pleasant at the White Wolf Mine, I still run the A/C, and my electric bill runs around US$110/month – in Arizona.
Identify the Boats
1
228 built
2
341 built
3
68 built
4
481 built
Parting Shot
If you marry a robot, should you still wear white?
‘Till death do you part.
Ok, different scenario – let’s say that the groom is only part robot. Different rules? Still a white wedding?
Am I taking things too far on VM?ย …too late…
It’s a nice day for a white wedding.
Maybe stick with a human spouse. Take a pass on white.
Robots – we live in interesting times. They were only part of Sci-Fi when I was growing up.
End
Identify the Boats
1 โ Fairmile D motor torpedo boat
2 – USS PC-815 – C-461-class submarine chaser โ Commanded for a short part of 1943 by L. Ron Hubbard โ He was relieved of command after he fired live rounds into Mexico
3 โ USS PCE-872 – PCE-842-class patrol boat
4 – USN YMS-1-class auxiliary motor minesweeper
Excellent. Yes #2 had an interesting history and a strange CO. Marginal Sci-Fi author who turned his books into a species of religion – depending on how you define “religion”. The US Military can be classified as a cult, so he had something to draw on.
2 is USS PC-815 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser.
Yes – Stand corrected- I left out the P
Actually it was not a deliberate correction just timing as the only ship I recognised was that one. Shear coincidence that I posted just after you.
Louis Lโamore and Zane Grey cranked out short stories using that premise by the tub full. It worked well for them. Us more simple minded creatures will read whatever you put out, but are there enough of us to make it worth your while?
I’m always looking for topics that people are interested in. Some topics are easier for me to write than others. Zane Grey lived where I do (I mean like CLOSE). He ended up in Payson, and I live on top of the Rim, but it’s interesting to live where he wrote. Louis L’amore was every bit the formulaic writer that Grey was, and I have no interest in following them down that rabbit hole. Or L. Ron Hubbard (see his ship above), who had a screw loose from what I can tell. Then again, maybe I have a few screws loose, too.
We all do LL ( screw loose), albeit some more than others. But I embrace my โwhat the hay am I doing this at 65 next chapterโ as โlifeโs big adventureโโฆand I donโt play pickle ball or golf and fear I were to move to St. Pete would get bored inside of two weeks โdoing the retirement thingโ. Not for me (us)โฆgot spice it up once in a while when one can.
You write well and tell a good story, pick something you feel good about and have at it.
I’ll buy it when you sell it, I have on your others and have not been dissapointed!
ยกAl Cien!
If’n you do write some cowboy stories, write them based on what you know. So… a cowboy who’s got SEAL training, who’s a seriously rugged individualist, who has intel and experience working with cops and dealing with cartels. Maybe being asked, on the side, after his ‘retirement,’ to consult on things he knows.
–
Wait, gee, sounds like Larry Lambert.
–
Seriously, that would make a neat series. Cowboy, SEAL, Cop, international consultant.
X2
For modern cowboy movies I prefer Sons of Anarchy with motorcycles for horses over Yellowstone. The story is smaller and the main characters do not have as much money, but the personal violence is higher and more intimate. They seek out a Catholic redemption with very twisted family values.
I have been reading Earnest Hemingway short stories. My old mind is no longer capable of completing long novels.
Sons of Anarchy was an interesting series. The Mexican bikers (I forget the name of the club/gang) was ok too, but because I was undercover in the Hessians for the better part of two years, I found it to be too Hollywood. Not bad, though. I took a run at the biker culture with Exiles from Eden, based on a true story, early in my writing efforts. It’s been a long time since I did the biker thing in real life. I think that the scooter tramp angle might have some traction. I’d need to think about that.
Dutton Ranch – Enjoyed the first episode but quickly lost interest and stopped watching. Same with Lioness. Landman keeps my attention with the humor, dry and based in truth
Of those, I liked Landman the best.
Me as well, let lone he level of โoil businessโ most of u schlubs have no clue. Add to that The Madison because it speaks truth to the City v. Rural West dichotomy interwoven with loss of the patriarch married to a serious woman. S2 is already โin the canโ as it were, and looking forward to see where he takes the story (just the fact he named Murdochs in Bozeman at the end scene is a tell).
Typically Sheridan does 3 seasonsโฆbut hoping for a 4th with Landman. Lioness was good upfront but got painful as he tried to make two females lead roles compete with rancor and toughness needed for โthat workโ. Bosch went the same way in that series โhandoffโ.
As for Duttonโฆno legacy rancher in their right mind would move from stunning Montana ranch country to a south Texas desert scrub place. Havenโt watch it yet, and save for a few clips here and there that were all excellent snippets with typical โgeneral public ignorance of the westโ, I never watched Yellowstone. And neither did most of the ranchers I know. This was a ranch drama for the massesโฆand while well done, its base theme of โyouโve had your ranch long enough and now we want itโ is rampant in many lib counties when big money waltzes in and makes dad an offer he can hardly refuse for a 130 year old or more family ranch (watch Sweet Land).
He had to get Beth and Rip down into narco country, IMHO, and so the DR. He already has the US Marshal series in Montana doing narcos – and the writing is straight out of USC Film School. Which is to say, it’s completely unrealistic and kind of foolish. Two machine gun duels in every episode.
Identify the Boats:
1. Fairmile D motor torpedo boat
2. USS PC-815
3. PCE-842-class patrol craft
4. USS YMS-324
Yes!
Building structures that last centuries is admirable, but reverting to the ancestors that achieved the same thing by living in caves is not. The same goes for the skills, and weaponry, to defend.
Are you referring to the Middle East? My thesis is that ‘not much has changed between then and now.’
Europe, and the Middle East. Modern technology hasn’t seemed to do much but perpetuate a mindset that hasn’t changed for centuries, if not millenniums. At the rate things are going, the Bronze Age is seeming to be the society they want to emulate.
The LATE Bronze Age – when it all fell apart.
Not everything in modern residential construction is โgoodโ (McStain, DR Horton, etcโฆbuilder grade garbage) but there is a reason build technologies advance beyond the quant thatched roofโd thick-walled stone houseโฆdamp and cold in winter, humid and hot in summer. And good luck making the interior climate and exterior envelope solid (which helps maintain the bones and keeps the structure from deteriorating). Let lone (like Martijn Doolard is doing above Turin, refurbing old farmer built stone โcabinsโ as his homestead) the local historical committees demand certain requirements to maintain the appearance even if it goes against current building standards (short doorways for instance), or massive stone roof systemsโฆbecause thatโs the way they were built with on hand materials.
Just installed a 12k mini-split to the new property temp cabin as the last thingโฆall about seasonal comfort. I wonโt suffer thru 85 inside when itโs 85 outside, or the flip in chilly weatherโฆnot for a $700 diy unit that is convenient and efficient.
I know that the price of steel is very high now, but I don’t regret the steel roof. Yes, it was expensive, but I live in the mountains.
No other roofing will do for us as well, especially in fire and snow countryโฆaltho a mix with asphalt shingles for accent purposes also works. Might do standing seam this time, like the lookโฆaltho a roofer will do the install this round, wise prudence trumps ability when age comes along.
LOTS of steel roofs here, too.
I seem to recall the Brits throwing the Poles under the bus in 39. What are they thinking?
Short memories.
I was thinking the same thing.
ditto
Same with Polish squadron 303 after war’s end.
The Brits also threw the Finns under the bus during the Winter War.
–
And that was when the Brits had the ability to fight. Now? Pretty much 10 US Mormon families could outfight the Brits.
It might not take 10
LL writing in futureโฆ please do not go the serial formulaic pathway unless you need the money. Iโd rather read your series writing like in the โDualistโ or โWhite Powderโ or โRed Mistโ where all kinds of crazy goes on. Leave the 250 page where they are all the same but the names changed, read in twenty minute books for others to write. As to topics the colonial era in Africa especially the chaos of Belgium in central Aftica is interesting. The French in early Vietnam era, the USA in the Philippines pre WWII. The British in Egypt. Daniel Boone in the Ben Franklin era. Molly Maguires and early Pinkertons.
First off, I don’t need the money and second, I enjoy doing things like the VM blog where you, the serial reader, have no idea what’s coming around the corner. There are common themes, of course. Vengeance and Retribution will have some interesting twists as the end of the Civil War creates its own drama. Fort Fischer is about to fall as the book begins (isolating the Confederacy) and the Golden Circle and it’s offshoots become more strident in their efforts to force regime change in DC.
.
I am looking for topics that might be more interesting. Africa – maybe. I’ve done Southeast Asia but could to it TODAY with the civil wars in Myanmar, the corruption in Cambodia, Red China, etc. Those are grist for thought. The modern cowboy thing is being wrung out by Sheridan.
History Class: Kinison and Dangerfieldโฆforgot about that bit of brilliant
***
The Mrs O: From a black woman no less, Itโs really that simple. Yet, if the reveal ever occurred would any of their fawning supporters change their warped minds about these two? Noโฆโa man convinced against his will is of the same opinion stillโ will win out every time, facts be damned. Just look at what Tallv spews on a regular basisโฆbecause she believes her own tortured illogic, and no amount of documented fact or video will ever effect that to see the light.
***
Fraud et al: Again, why is it always Democrats doing this stuff (rhetorical, no need to answer, we all know whyโฆjust saying it out loud). Prison for everyone involved is the only solution to end the cheatery employed by the same scumbags over the decades. Whatever happened to oversight (again, rhetorical).
***
Write cowboy novels to your hearts content, maybe theyโll get picked up for a seriesโฆlike Joe Pickettโฆ.which for some reason Paramount dropped after only two seasons. ๐ก
(Ok, time for a new iPadโฆstarting to force typos even when I know for sure I entered the full word, canโt possibly be operator error- ๐คฃ)
There are different sorts of i-pad units. Get one with a larger screen because — you’re 65
Exactlyโฆeven if 1.0 readers are all I need at this point. Pretty sure Iโve worn out a few โkeysโ on this one with all my bloviation. Begs the question: Do we verbose types get VM points or demerits? Asking for others ๐
You get points by being fascinating, which all of the contributors here are.
Why is it the Dems? For the same reason all the school shooters and political assassins and gang-bangers are Dems. Because they, the Dems, really don’t care about the nation, only about themselves.
Sheridan—where to start. I’ve watched most of his stuff from the beginning. Raw and gritty. Mrs. AOWF gets upset and exits room or does running commentary. The best and lasting part is the music. I’ve been listening to Outlaw Country on Sirius since the beginning. Sheridan hits the mark. Yesterday’s blip on Tombstone. Great music came out of that place from the bars. All over Arizona in Honky Tonks came great music. None of that Nashville bubble gum crap. I loved your Confederate Cipher series. Spy stuff, cartel and true crime are captivating.
Housing. We’ve been in the new downsized house for a year now. Just ran the numbers from the previous country house, shop and property. Saved $9,000 over the past year in utilities and yard care. Best saving was in electric (we have the lowest rate in the country) down 67%. All our needs are within 1.5 miles from home yet we feel like we are still in the country. Farm dust gets a little annoying when the wind blows which has been every day for over a month.
Tombstone and Fort Worth (Hell’s Half Acre) had some of the more memorable honkytonks in the Old West – which didn’t last very long.
Westerns are alive and flourishing. Read Johnsonโs Longmire (county sheriff) and CJBoxโs Joe Pickett (game warden) series, effectively mysteries set in the modern west, where the Wyoming setting is a major part of the story. In what other creative direction could you take them?
I did not read the Longmire books, but I watched the TV series and liked it. You asked where I might take a series set in the modern West. There is nothing new under the Sun. I could do Magnum PI in Arizona. I could write that with an Arizona twist, for example. Would you want to read it? That’s more of a question. Good writing is about creating conflict and tension within a plot where characters are interesting and believable, IMHO. I’m not good at writing female characters. I can take stabs at it, like the Hannah Clifford character in the upcoming book Vengeance and Retribution (Duelist Series). Her husband treated her badly and she threw a bucket of coil oil over him while he slept and lighted it, burning him and her house down. I think she’s one of the more interesting female leads I’ve done. They called her the Ice Widow – but then her heart melts in the story.
.
I enjoyed writing with Jules Smith because doing a he said/she said by chapter creates something better than I can do by myself. You could do that with a modern Western if you could get a male/female writing team to take that on.
On the subject of the Red Mist books, could I say thank you to both you and Jules for some excellent story telling.
You are very welcome
Speaking of MAID, it doesn’t go well to go into competition with the government:
A Canadian man accused of selling lethal products across 40 countries to hundreds of people who bought them to end their own lives has pleaded guilty to 14 counts of counselling or aiding suicide.
https://7news.com.au/news/canadian-kenneth-law-pleads-guilty-to-14-counts-of-aiding-deaths-c-22359338?fbclid=IwY2xjawSIHFJleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFXemVlb1Q0WEE1OFZXV0xlc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHnXxqZqA5Kbjk3gqtRTKYRTYp23AIjd70TJIwehiTs45HxmqPAD97J-fPML2_aem_jtE5rjh1LQIz_Mizh0c-cA
Point well made Ed. Kinda like state lotteries, casinos, liquour and now weed shops. Regulation$$$$$ for ” the safety of the public “, even MAID services.
When Coloradanโs (re: Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins) voted to [illegally] legalize pot, the election PACโs were about how much revenue the state would โbring inโ by the new.y minted legit Rec-Med/Med-Rec shops, who would now charge sales tax and higher โshopโ prices. Well, didnโt go according to the geniuses in charge planโฆthe first year proved a massive disappointment to [so called] lawmakers (aka Democrats) because the street product was still more convenient at less cost than the โregulatedโ shops. Never fails when bureaucrats get involved in their inimitable attempt to grab more of our money in order to make things โsafe for allโ the result is a stupid mess.
Just sends money to the black market (untaxed) while the user no longer hides his use.
Exactly.
modern cowbody drama…
Bodice ripping, land grabbing, politician buying, AI Data center building in the theme of Blazing Saddles. Written from the view of Gabby Johnson’s Frontier Gibberish.
The hero would drive an old Ford 1/4-ton pickup with a rusty exterior. He wears a battered cowboy hat and a Carhart shrt that has seen better days. His old lady left him for the shoe salesman at the J. C. Penney’s and she took his dog with her. He lives in a rented single-wide in an abandoned mine property dominated by slag piles. He does have his 45-70 lever action with a loading press and components.
.
It’s beginning to sound like Broken Toys…
No spoilers!
Not criticize your art Larry , but these are some boney angular women , I would be scared to talk to one of these ladies. Donโt need Reubenโs ,but curves are nice .
More adipose flesh…gotcha. I’ll think about it. Can I eliminate the nose ring, blue hair, and woke ink?
โAdiposeโโฆyouโve been chatting with MikeC, using the doctor term.
Many moons ago was with VetDrMrsPaulM up in Buellton at the first veterinary Stem Cell conferenceโฆpresenters kept saying โadiposeโ so kiddingly I turned to her and said, โWhy does the medical field need to use three syllables to complicate simple terms, canโt they just say โfatโ like normal folks?โ Heh.
These Angular Women respond well to Machine Language & are very very well compiled IMHO, Large Language Models turn them off.
Heh, don’t need Reubens’ but the ladies need some Reubens (sandwiches, that is, meat and sauerkraut and cheese…)
x2 There’s something special about a properly made Reuben with excellent rye bread.
What I enjoy reading most (primarily ’cause I can’t write ’em; I tend to run on and/or diverge) are “The Lady or The Tiger” ’bout the length of one “Duelist” book, strong character development (out of sheer necessity) leaving the reader hanging.
I don’t care if the setting’s ’60s Nam or ’60s Jo’berg, ’60s London or ’60s NYC but it has to be a setting the reader’s somewhat familiar with ’cause the story’s all ’bout the interaction of 2/3 personalities leading to an impossible choice/state-of-affairs/situational ending.
60s are ancient history to MOST readers… Like White Powder?
Yep and the 45/70 is the short barreled trapper model ,,when you light it off it looks like a flame thrower and the sound makes your teeth rattle .
I love that kind of thing.
ll, any comment on the cia guy that got caught w/ 40 mil in gold bars at his house?
Just the one that didn’t get away…..
Zero oversightโฆbecause half of them (if Iโm being generously conservative) are doing the same. Galling ๐คฌ
RR, there is too much that I don’t know about the situation. Where was he assigned? What was he assigned to do? It’s not unusual that a case officer would pay an agent a million dollars, for example, for something – the operational plans with codes and access to air defense in Iran, for example. We do that sort of thing all the time. There is an over reliance on the polygraph and always has been. The CIA has too many administrative layers that create problems with personnel and operational roadblocks and holes like the one uncovered. And it WAS uncovered, referred to law enforcement. How was his conduct uncovered? Was there an ongoing IG investigation. They didn’t cover it up – big press release, etc.
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I’m waiting for more details that might never be forthcoming before I have a better understanding of what went wrong.
roger that. i was thinking maybe he was running one of their funny money ops and got caught skimming off the top, so they dropped a dime on him. just can’t figure they never checked his bona fides, the way they crawled up my butt for my little clearance.
I’ve haven’t read any of your books, so nothing to compare them to. I suggest immersing oneself into Wilbur Smith. Start with the one offs and work your way into the trilogies. Number one selling fiction writer in the world, who no one has ever heard of!
Regarding air conditioning, the Euroweenies can go copulate themselves. I point out, constantly, to these poop-heads that I live, latitudinally, south of Cairo, Egypt and Tel Aviv, Israel. In Florida. And I live in the northern part of the state. AC isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.
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Sure, I’d love to live in a reconditioned underground military (missile base or radar base) or civilian (phone retransmit- bunker) bunker, with all that dirt to keep the inside temps the same year-round, but I don’t. Thus I use the blessed invention of St. Willis of Carrier and deal with it.
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Now, wintertime? If the humidity is low enough, I’ll leave the windows and doors open even when it’s below freezing. Love cold air. I can put clothing on and bury myself under lots of blankets. Though now that I’m getting older, well, maybe not when the outside is below freezing.
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Suck it, Europe.
As to Kelly’s Heroes, damn great movie. Damn fine cast.
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As to the Rodney Dangerfield skit, yeah, I like Truman, but… Of course, there was that deep recon team that went into southern China and found out the Russians were ready to use canned sunshine if we were going to use canned sunshine. And lost most of the team trying to exfile. That may have had something to do with Truman not wanting to play ‘Global Nuclear Warfare – The Korean Peninsula Edition.’
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F’in Congress screwed South Vietnam. Just saying.