Bullet Points:
** The UK National Health Service is now touting the advantages of marrying your first cousin. You can’t make this stuff up. Many of their guest arrivals are from countries that practice inbreeding, so it needs to be the British new normal – to make their new neighbors feel welcome.
** Does CK3 hang out at the YMCA?
** We have a second fund starting – GoFundEdB’sProps. They aren’t cheap. (more right) He’s also teaching an advanced course in maneuvering your yacht in tight quarters. He uses borrowed yachts, returning them in ‘almost’ like new condition.
** What’s Pedo Joe up to these days?
** Huckabee predicts – “But the biggest backfire on the Democrats for forcing a shutdown could come when President Trump plans to use the layoff of federal workers to eliminate up to 275,000 government jobs permanently.”
** Forgiveness – I don’t know that I could do it at this level… Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have collectively raised more than $200,000 for the family of Thomas Jacob Sanford, the shooter who killed four people in an attack on a church in Michigan. “One of the families that suffered a terrible loss on that day was the family of Thomas Jacob Sanford, the shooter. Sanford leaves behind a wife and children who must be grieving,” wrote David Butler, the organizer of the fundraising effort. I’m afraid that I’m more likely to piss on his grave. But I admire the spirit.
** Wall Street Journal: “Not long ago, Chief Executive Mary Barra declared that General Motors was a decade away from quitting gas-powered cars. She promised to launch 30 electric-vehicle models globally within a few years and, soon after, convert more than half of GM’s North American plants to EV production. Her ambitious quest to command new markets and save the Earth has since stalled. GM has gone from one of the industry’s loudest EV champions to a leading opponent of government emissions rules and fuel-economy standards that for decades fueled the consumer market for cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Many car companies, faced with softening EV sales and a Trump administration hostile to green-energy initiatives, have called for looser regulations. None has backtracked as quickly and dramatically as GM.”
** The Kremlin continues the parallel use of nuclear threats and economic incentives to pressure the United States into normalizing US-Russian relations while explicitly rejecting Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.
** Russian shadow fleet oil tankers may be connected to the recent incursions of unidentified drones operating in NATO airspace.
** The European Commission (EC) announced a $4.7 billion aid package for Ukraine using funds from frozen Russian assets.
** Once again, we are being treated to a barrage of stories about the horrors of a government shutdown. Roughly two-thirds of government spending will continue despite the “shutdown.” In other words, there is absolutely no reason for Republicans to cave on Democratic demands that Medicaid benefits for illegals and Obamacare subsidies for higher-income families be restored. The longer the federal government remains shut down, the more people will realize how meaningless it is, and the less leverage Democrats will have.
Landman Season Two – Trailer
“Who pissed in your Fruit Loops this morning?”
The Apache Death Cave
It is one of the most infamous and macabre legends along Route 66, located in Two Guns, Arizona 20 miles west of Winslow, AZ, near where the meteor hit. While it has a foundation in local conflict, much of the tale has been sensationalized and repurposed as a tourist trap story in the 20th century. Here’s a breakdown of the history and the legend:
Location:
The cave is beneath the ruins of Two Guns, just off Interstate 40 in Coconino County, Arizona. It lies along Canyon Diablo, a site with a long and violent history related to Native American conflicts, outlaws, and Route 66 boomtowns.
The Legend: Apache Death Cave
The Story (As Told) Around 1878, a band of Apaches allegedly raided a Navajo encampment near Canyon Diablo, killing several people and abducting others. Navajo warriors tracked the raiders to a cave near present-day Two Guns.
According to the tale:
The Navajos discovered the Apaches had hidden in a lava tube cave. They set sagebrush and timber on fire at the cave’s entrance, trapping the Apaches inside. As the fire consumed the oxygen, the Apaches suffocated or burned to death — 42 men perished. The site was then considered cursed or haunted by local tribes.
Note: This is folklore, not a verified historical fact. There is no definitive archaeological or historical record of this exact event, but it draws on real historical conflicts between the Navajo and Apache nations.
Modern History – Tourist Trap Era
1920s–1930s: “Chief Crazy Thunder” Miller – A white entrepreneur named Harry E. Miller leased the land and reinvented the site as a roadside attraction. He called himself “Chief Crazy Thunder” and commercialized the cave with signs like “Apache Death Cave – Enter if you dare!” He added mannequins, bones, and artifacts to enhance the drama of the interior.
He also operated a zoo, a trading post, and a nearby gas station.
Miller’s attraction turned a grim tale into a money-making spectacle, blending real regional history with fiction. The trading post/zoo burned down in the 1970s. The cave entrance and ruins are still accessible (though on private land). Modern-day urban explorers visit the cave, but it’s not maintained or safe, with unstable rocks and potential wildlife hazards.
Paranormal & Pop Culture:
The cave is said to be haunted, with people claiming to feel unease, disorientation, and sudden cold spots. Some report strange whispers or shadowy movements. It’s featured in blogs, ghost-hunting shows, and Route 66 lore compilations. While the story is gripping, the name and narrative are problematic, built on stereotypes and a simplified portrayal of Native American history. The legend often ignores the real struggles between displaced tribes, settler expansion, and cultural erasure.
Two Guns is a genuine ghost town on Route 66.
Modern Portents
There are some things you don’t want to see in today’s world if you’re a tin-pot dictator. Some secrets are leaked (poorly kept) to send a message.
The US Military Sealift Command confirmed that the MV Ocean Trader, a Special Forces support vessel often described as a “ghost ship”, is now operating in the Caribbean. The ship, which frequently sails without broadcasting its location on civilian tracking systems, is designed to blend in with ordinary merchant vessels while secretly supporting covert operations.
Its latest appearance coincides with the largest concentration of U.S. naval power in the Caribbean since the 1960s. Alongside the Ocean Trader, the destroyers USS Stockdale, USS Jason Dunham, and USS Gravely, the cruiser USS Lake Erie, the Littoral Combat Ship USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group with USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale are all operating in the area. The Los Angeles-class submarine USS Newport News is also deployed, bringing the total force in the region to approximately 4,500 personnel, including the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked across amphibious ships. The Iwo Jima carries AV-8B Harrier jets and other aircraft, while Marine Corps F-35 Lightning II fighters have been deployed to Puerto Rico. Additional assets include P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and MQ-9 Reaper drones. Satellite data placed the group about 700 kilometers north of Caracas in late September, with Iwo Jima operating south of Puerto Rico and Lake Erie at Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Identify the Ships
1
2
Identify the Aircraft
3
Parting Shot
End
Cousins – so, the UK National Health Service is going to let peasants do what was once only a privilege of the European aristocratic class? That worked so well.
Yeah, same thoughts here. That and the Irish Travelers and Gypsies are big into keeping it in the family if’n you know what I mean.
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And another death against the UK, the new Archbishop of Canterbury is a female. So much for the Church of England. LSP visited just in time before the complete downfall of the CoE. Hey, LSP, the Catholics are always hiring….
Will this lesbian archbishop be succeeded by a male grand mufti, Archbishop?
That’s the way things are looking. Canterbury turned into a mosque.
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Let’s hope Britain fights back.
X2…Some people never read history, believing the world (or ‘weather’ for that matter) started when their magical selves were born and everything B.T. (Before Them) is irrelevant.
👍
1 – Japanese Guided Missile Destroyer Kongo DDG-173
2 – Japanese DD-106 JS Samidare Destroyer Murasame class
3 – Lockheed F-94C Starfire
Well done.
Back in the day, late 80’s, I worked at a boat shop. Getting your aluminum prop fixed cost about $75-100, and a new one ran about $200 or so. Going to stainless steel just about doubled across the board. So, yes, whacking the crap out of your prop, whether it be just a little outboard or a full sized container ship, is expensive.
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Go-Fund-Me might actually be warranted for really bad days. I knew one guy who wrecked his trolling/GP prop, switched to his speed prop and wrecked that, switched to his ski prop and wrecked that, switched to his first spare and wrecked that, same with his second spare and wrecked that and made it back, barely, using a trolling motor (of which he had to replace 2 props…) That was a really bad day for him and a great day for the shop’s cash register. I did not feel bad in ringing it all up because he was a complete dumbass and rich and a leftist college professor and did I mention he was a leftist dumbass college professor? Sucked to be him. Even worse, he could have just poled his way out to deep water in no time but he kept replacing props and wrecking props and replacing and wrecking…
I had a Volvo Penta with a duo-prop, which I loved. But if you dinged one prop, you likely also dinged the second. I kept a spare set of props onboard. And as you pointed out, there were trips when I had to hit the prop shop on my return. I paid the prices you cited.
after ripping out a lower unit i learned to use aluminum props despite their disadvantages. two hundred dollar props pail in comparison to complete rebuild of the lower unit.
X2
Dad spent a lot of time teaching us how to read water, how to read charts, how to read channel markers and tide charts.
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He pushed us to read “Chapmans” before getting behind the helm. That and reading his “Sea Scout Manual.”
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I see people buy boats who have no earthly clue how to do basic line work or chart reading or even how to read the water surface in a quiet lake.
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And it galls me to my core to hear people on the TV not use nautical terms like Starboard and Port and Fore and Aft and calling the captain of a boat “Captain.” Peeves me off it does.
I did damage a prop a few years ago.
I agonized over what to replace it with.
Was a 3 blade, should I go 4? Pitch?
Was on the phone with the prop shop owner for a while with questions.
Visited the shop, still unsure.
The owner took a call on the phone while I was agonizing.
I could tell that the guy on the phone had all the same questions.
Then the owner said the magic words he had not told me: “Try it. If you don’t damage it, exchange it.”
I switched to a 4 blade Turning Point Hustler prop.
This prop is uniquely engineered with two blade geometries, two blades utilize the Hustler high performance variable rake and aggressive pitch design for incredible hole shot and cornering, and two blades utilize an offshore style design for high speed and maximum stern lift.
Think variable pitch.
What a difference! It made my boat a sports car on the lake!
Planes out immediately and turns on a dime with increased stability.
The duoprop gave me 6 blades turning on 2 shafts, (counter-rotating) which meant no cavitation.
I don’t cavitate, but I sure torque to starboard.
The duo-prop setup avoided cavitation and torque, and it was very fast “out of the hole” and up on step. I’d buy it again if I was in the market for a boat. I’d like to buy a power boat at some point but different things need to be in play before I do it.
There are medications and surgery to correct that…
Cederq, I have offered my talents as an amateur at first aid, but a proper ace with a knife, to perform exploratory surgery on Ed. All I need is a mallet to quiet him, a pocket knife, an egg beater and a carrot and some fishing line to tie things up when I’ve finished. More here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxm5e4EI_MA
These days, the hub and prop are separate.
Why pay for a new hub when you only damaged the blades?
And replacement is easier.
My next boat is going to be a stream float craft…no motor, but comfortable seats and oars…oh, and cup holders (these things have a cool anchor pulley system, boat is worth it just for that…as an engineer that is).
We will need to do a series – Boating with PaulM…
God knows it’ll be epic…assuming history repeats, and no, beer was never involved (swear). Now which way does this flotation device go on?
Straps in front.
How about reaching out to LawDog, do an anthology of say – sci-fi boating stories based on other planets? Dedication and/or foreword to PaulM…
I would definitely contribute. I’ve submitted some short stories to that group and currently face 100% rejection rate. So there you are.
Thing is, I’m not Jesus…regardless of whatever planet lake, when a storm comes up, and likely a weird gravity effect the waves might be epic…I’ll be toast.
How many of those 275,000 feds are gonna blame Orange Man for getting cashiered instead of Grill Boss Schumer? My guess would be about 274,000 of them……..
.
However, and paraphrasing LTC William Kilgore, I love the sound of rice bowls breaking in the morning. It sounds like victory.
too bad they won’t be leaving before the va. gov election. that’s about the usual difference in the vote.
Nice to haves (prop, pins, and nut) beat spending the night in the Golfo de Mexico (at the time of the event and before cell phones/CB radio).
Golfo de America.
Cletus lived during the Viking era, using a sunstone to navigate…
Workin’ with what ya got…the Mother of Invention.
They really don’t want first cousins. That’s just a stepping stone to marrying goats. Goats are cheaper than wives, and divorce usually means something new for supper.
What with UK animal control laws, it is easier to import terrorists than goats.
So they probably can;t afford the goats, no matter how much they prefer them.
– Kle.
*
P.S. – maybe if the goat is named “Jihad”… that seems popular with UK “immigration
enforcement”.
Once under a burka, who can tell?
Two Guns; h/t for all the AZ history. Just discovered the “Kentuck” y bar/Saloon legend from Gale Gardners poem, “Tying knots in the Devil’s tail.” Which inspired M.M. Murphys song.
Maybe referring to the Jerome AZ area?
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2 Props; LOL!!! Only available @ H.E.B. or Lambert family fun trips. Seat belts optional or mandatory?
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Is the R and R done bending over the stern or treading water with tools, new prop, ect…? Just imagining sharks and gators in warmer waters making any diving work challenging. Any other macabre tales of maritime operations that come to mind?
You stand on the same rocks that took out the prop,
Don’t ask me how I know.
Funny how they appear after the fact. Had a client tell me an associate needed my service, “I told him you walk on water…it’s up to you to find the rocks under the surface.” Funny, but true…and it stuck with me.
Thinking EdB should get himself a submarine, problems solved, plus he can tool around in stealth mode. Altho…fishing while underway might be a problem, unless he got the Polish model w/ screendoors. (I’ll be here all day for other boat purchase advice)
I’ve been on a few 688’s and a Virginia class. Listened to shrimp on the sonar.
You can hear shrimp making the sharp snap sound when a school of speckled or sand trout, etc. force ’em to surface around your boat and before the gulls show up. Then there is the issue of trying to make a high arcing cast of a jig into the school and hooking a gull in the neck, all the while an 8 year old is screaming “put him in the box Dad”. I can just imagine what all that commotion might sound like on sonar. I can attest that getting a jig out of the neck of one very unhappy gull while bare handed, can give your hands the appearance of getting into a knife fight and dropping your knife.
Get out! Really? Now that’s not something I would have figured.
You need a computer to discriminate between biologics and mechanicals. Advanced systems make mechanicals sound like they’re biologics. Of course, if you go active with sonar, it clearly differentiates (unless thermal layers intervene) but it kills the whales.
Forgiveness: Not really my forte at this magnitude, but I respect the recent
folks in the headlines for it.
– Kle.
CK had a wider effect than maybe he could have known (which, to many out there suggesting “things are not what they appear or we’ve been told” on the tragedy…but that’s for another day). In the meantime I look to his widow’s example, she is stepping up to fill the void. Exceptional woman.
Ps. Forgiveness (LDS in this case): Watch that scene in Amish Grace regarding “those left behind”…explains a lot where Christ will want us to go with such unspeakable tragedies. Here’s another take on the real Amish faced with the aftermath…powerful yet instructive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drLx40tKZpg
Forgiving him is one thing; supporting his financially strapped family is an order of magnitude greater when you consider that Daddy just burned some of your people and shot other unarmed people as they ran. You must give the LDS people credit for walking the walk.
Not easy to do for us mortals. Examples abound tho.
Side note: Comments today are hilarious and massively creative to boot. h/t
The Apache Death Cave
Tourist traps. Need to find a good location, close to Yellowstone, and start a Jackalope zoo.
With the ‘clientele’ moving into Colorado you could do it in someone else’s parking lot grassy median, include some Rec-Med and the line will be around the block.
Rec-Med sales before entering the Jackalope Zoo and the Snipe Encounter.
It helps.
Dam I love this place and all of the knowledge imparted in the comments!
Old Dog – New tricks
Thanks to all!
x2 on ML’s comment
Juan
What next, LL, raping 9 year olds with impunity? Oh, that’s already allowed. The reaction, when it comes, will be furious.