It’s snowing at the White Wolf Mine…

Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst, Where there aren’t no Ten Commandments an’ a man can raise a thirst; For the temple-bells are callin’, an’ it’s there that I would be By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea…

 

The Flag

US Citizens can protest policies, the current government, or anything else they choose, that is their right. (so long as they’re not doing it at the Capitol)

When they “protest” our flag and anthem as we saw during the recent Super Bowl, you are insulting the nation we all live in and love, and all those who have served, been injured, or died to keep it free. There is nothing you can do or say that can make your actions anything more than the arrogance of classless people, who care about themselves more than our country or the freedoms for which our veterans and their families have sacrificed so much, to ensure you have the “right” to speak freely. Except that the Bill of Rights is being trashed by our installed leaders. Do you sense my frustration?

 

Passport

A trash truck rear-ended my Honda Passport and now it’s being put back together. I have USAA Insurance (serving veterans). The Trash Company policy is underwritten by Progressive.  So naturally, because they’re progressive, they’re trying to say that it was my fault that their insured backed their commercial vehicle into my lawfully parked car. Whatever. Sometimes life is like that. How progressive.

 

Feel the Bern…

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wrote a book bashing capitalism: It’s OK to be Angry About Capitalism.  Sanders will venture out on tour to promote the book. Do you think the events are free? One would think so from a man who hates capitalism and claims to be for the people. The tickets cost up to $95

 

Identify the Tanks

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2

Your Tax Dollars

 

Bullet Points:

** Brandon Regime loves Ukraine – “Today, the United States announced $460 million in new support for Ukraine: $450 million worth of arms and equipment from DoD inventories under Presidential Drawdown Authority, as well as $10 million to support ongoing U.S. efforts to provide emergency assistance to help maintain Ukraine’s energy infrastructure,” a U.S. Department of State spokesperson said in a statement.  Apparently, we will also be funding the government pensions of Ukrainians. How generous our regime is with other people’s money.

** Rasmussen Reports Survey: among Republican voters, 45% say they would support Trump and 32% say they would support DeSantis, with 14% saying they would support some other candidate.

** Nuclear Treaties – what are they worth?

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49 COMMENTS

      • Generally opposed to increased radioactivity in the air – don’t want my great grandkids to have three arms and/or gills. I think a test ban helps with that….as long as both sides stick to it.
        Don’t know how far along the elite inbreeding program has progressed. Guess we’ll see more repeats of the European aristocratic bonehead maneuvers from times past.

  4. Can you hear the paddles choonkin’ from Rangoon to Mandalay?
    On the road to Mandalay, where the flyin’ fishes play
    An’ the sun comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the bay

  5. Too bad we don’t have real journalists & a free press any more, there is a so much graft & corruption going on that I’d like to read about.

    • They’re few in numbers. Lara Logan proclaimed that, “Nobody owns me” and was fired from CBS and then a Fox News affiliate. I like her, she wrote and spoke her mind then and still does – though from a smaller soap box.

  6. Larry,

    I have always thought that insurance companies pull that nonsense because so many people just roll over and take whatever they’re first offered for a multitude of reasons. Just like the success rate of the barristers representing the fortunes of Nigerian princes. It has personally happened to me. In the fall of 1990, I was driving a 1980 full size Chevy pickup sitting in an intersection waiting to turn left. A reckless driver hit me head on at full speed sending me spinning into two other vehicles. The at-fault drivers husband had a service garage and the vehicle she was driving had “Repair” dealer plates on it. The commercial insurance company said I was 50% at fault simply because I was there and offered peanuts. All I wanted was a fair price for my 10 year old truck and my medical bills covered. Funny how they changed their tune when my family attorney called to say he was going to be representing me. All of a sudden I got what I wanted plus $5K without my attorney doing a single thing beyond the phone call.

    • Been there also. Called the other insurance company rep, told them we could do this the easy way or hard way. Paid 100%. Speak up or forever lose the opportunity. Insurance companies bank on people rolling over, proving they are cheaters playing some stupid game set up between them and the state insurance commish…a sort of mafia operation if you ask me.

    • Long story condensed. Young lady slid into me while I was stopped at a light. Fresh asphalt with fresh rain was the cause. SAFECO adjuster told me I had no choice but to accept his offer. Hello, small claims court. Settlement was a few dollars over my costs so I contacted her father and gave him the overage. Turns out the LDS Church at the time owned 20% of SAFECO stock and he happened to be their board member.

      • Churches and pension funds really like insurance companies. USAA has treated me well, but they’re an insurance company… can’t live with them, can’t live without them.

        • Of all the insurance companies I have used, USAA is the only one that had and still has actual American English speaking people manning their phones.

          And most seem to be good old Southern ladies. Nothing is as heartwarming as a nice understandable Southern voice say, “Oh, honey, that’s bad. Let’s see what we can do to help.”

          That right there is why I encourage any who can use USAA to use USAA.

  7. Nothing like starting the day with some Kipling.

    In morning hush, each rock and bush
    Stands hard, and high, and raw:
    Then give the Call: “Good rest to all
    That keep the Jungle Law!”

  8. So a day after Biden showed Big Balls of courage by going to Kiev on the now repaired (I wonder who paid that bill) railroad we hear Zelensky, president of a war torn country, bought his momma a mansion with saltwater pool and a new car! (times 3). Well, son of bitch, what do you know, that prosecutor is still fired.

    Looks like extortion works. So does 10% for the big guy.

  10. Anyone desecrating our Flag should be taken behind the woodshed then dropped into Iraq wearing a ‘Gay & Away’ rainbow ballcap.

    Sorry about the accident, it’s always the other drivers that put me on yellow alert…I see more lousy drivers whenever in town, betting many are toasted on their “legally obtained” Rec-Med.

    Surveys aren’t worth the paper they’re printed, like election results.

    Kid Rock has it dialed in for sure, but is anyone listening? Too many are scrambling to put food on the table and gas in the car, which is exactly why Biden’s Handlers are hamstringing every industry, keep people on their heels so they can run open loop without consequence.

    A bit chilly and light snow so far. One plow pass completed, more to come according to the prognosticators. Maybe it’ll skirt West for once this Winter. Hahah

  11. All gave some, some gave all to protect our rights under our flag. I think you hit the nail on the head. Classless pieces of… and ignorance come to mind when I see someone butcher our national anthem on purpose. I too also think about my brother’s and sisters who gave all in defense of our nation. I get filled with rage and sadness at the same time. Yes LL I sense your frustration.

  12. Snowing here in the PNW also. Snow is soon to stop, not much accumulation but with 40 mph gusts we will have some drifts. Horizontal snow, gotta love it.

    Best wishes on dealing with the insurance company of the truck that backed into you. Even if they pay up fully for the damages they never pay for the aggravation you have to go through do they?

    Having gone through many START inspections from my time in the military I am not too sorry to see it go. The Russians cheated big time developing and posturing an intermediate range missile and we bent the rules a little bit too. It was useful when there were just two players but now with China expanding their ICBM capability it needs to be re-thought. The test ban should be turned into a limited test ban. Weapon system parts age and just relying on computer simulations to make sure weapons still work is not reliable enough to ensure deterrence.

  13. I want to believe that Trump is the guy, but I do believe that people are leaning toward him to run thinking it will be like last time. I don’t think it will be and I don’t believe he will be as successful. Much of that will depend on how many seats the GOP can get in the Senate and House. And if the GOP will get behind him, which isn’t likely.

    • Even if he doesn’t get backing from the Swamp-R’s I want him for muckraking, he’s good at poking at establishment soft spots, and at this point TPTB require serious comeuppance as a reminder they put their pants on one leg at a time like everyone else, maybe opening the door for a younger candidate.

  14. Nuclear Treaties
    After years of treaties and inspections, where all sides pushed or manufactured a bit of almost truth, they served an important purpose. The back door was open for coffee talks between trusted individuals on opposite sides of the table allowing clear messaging to continue without the politicians causing trouble.

    In the 80s when the Soviets and the US were examining systems and withdrawing them from central Europe, one of my Army buddies was checking Soviet tanks in East Germany. As they were loaded on a train, they both checked off the hull number and agreed on that particular tank being removed. One tank was missing.

    The crew claimed it was stuck in the mud at the training range and that their depot had recovered it. Depot claimed they didn’t have the tank. The generals and colonels showed up because of the delay. Additional interrogations of the crew discovered that they hadn’t been paid for months so they parted their tank out to the locals in exchange for bucks and food. The engine was running an irrigation system, the armor repurposed by farmers and manufactures as were all the other parts. My buddy though it was funny and recommended they scratch it off as it was no longer a combat vehicle. His Soviet counterpart was all for it but said it was impossible as the generals were involved, extremely mad and they had no sense of humor. Needless to say they put some distance between themselves and the generals

    On Guam, three B-52Ds were pushed off the ramp into the jungle so the Soviets could see them via satellite. After the required time period, they were broken up to show they were off the roster as combat vehicles. That sounds legitimate except for the fact that not a single one of those planes was airworthy and could not fly.

    All that being said, the back door coffee chats helped both countries. Yes, the treaties are worthwhile.

    • It’s all a game. Back in the day sometimes we had to do certain munitions moves when the Soviet satellites were overhead and could “see” the movement and other times we had to do munitions moves when the satellites were not overhead. We got a schedule every week of overflights.

  15. I think Kid Rock fails to appreciate the context of an $8 mansion for the elder Zelenskyys. (And KR didn’t even have the courtesy to spell the name correctly.) Doubtless the Zelenskyys have lived their entire lives powerless, marginalized, and at daily risk of utter annihilation at the whim of hateful, bigoted, ungrateful morons. So it’s vitally important, out of simple decency and fairness, plus equity, that they have somewhere secure to go to if things should go bad. And if a place just happens to come with a pool, are they supposed to fill it in and pave it over or what? Unreasonable! Simple, honest and powerless people like the Zelenskyys just humbly take what they are given. Shame on Kid Rock for his insensitivity.

    Besides, there’s zero proof that Volodomyr is skimming the aid for himself. If he were doing so, he’d have some decent suits to wear. Heck, Wayne LaPierre has mighty fine suits, and his grift is far smaller than the Ukraine grift.

    • Volodomyr is taking his wardrobe cue from Castro, who wore a scruffy beard and greens his whole life. I remember Rep. Robert Dornan (R-CA), also known as “B-1 Bob”. I asked him once why he dressed like a beggar wearing an old scruffy rack suit (shit-brindle colored) and old, run-down, scuffed shoes. His answer was both candid and revealing. He told me that dressed down when he was raising money. Nobody wanted to contribute to somebody wearing an $18K Brioni vicuna suit, and driving a Rolls Royce. (and Bob could afford both)

      • I like his style, but what’s a Brioni vicuna? Sounds Italian.

        Seriously, never heard of it, but most days I wear Wranglers and a ballcap and have one very nice Mens Wearhouse suit left that is collecting dust even inside the suit bag so not really a good marker. Okay, just looked…geez!, a cashmere scarf for $3200, beyond Gorsuch level. Probably can’t easily get manure and mud and hay and diesel out of cashmere so will have to pass.

        • A vicuña is something like a llama that lives in the Andes. Vicuña coats grow very slowly, and sometimes they take as long as three years to grow back after being sheared. A single vicuña produces about 0.5 kilograms (1.1 pounds) of wool per year, which makes vicuña wool very rare and valuable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicu%C3%B1a

          Brioni is a high-end suit tailor company. For a hand-stitched Brioni with lower-end fabric (not vicuna or silk), you’re looking at about $7,500. Most hand-stitched and fitted (3 measurings) suits run between $3K and $5K depending on the fabric. A good custom men’s dress shirt (cotton blend) will run $350 with the Swiss fabrics pushing the cost nearly double. A good pair of men’s shoes start at $1,000.

          The most I’ve paid for a silk tie is $400.

          The only people I’ve actually seen wearing vicuña suits are Russian oligarchs.

          • My day is complete. Actually, thx for the precede, there’s a huge and interesting world beyond the [currently snowy and frozen] homestead for sure.

          • It’s something that you have to pay attention to in some business circles (and some big churches if you’re in leadership). When I worked at Orange County DA (for 21 years) I took heat for keeping a pen in my shirt pocket even though I wore a suit to work, technically covering the offensive Mont Blanc.

          • True…when in Rome. My ties are a thinner collection and I prefer the dress Frock coat I wore at our wedding and pastoral duties, still fits, mostly.

        • ‘Granger interrupted, “Before you sever his spinal cord, what is a vicuña?” She dismissed him with a wave. “It’s like a guanaco! But everyone knows what a vicuña is, so don’t play stupid.” ‘
          “The Old Whore (Cartel Wars, Book 2)” by LBL; location 5526

          That is hilarious because I can imagine such a verbal exchange for reals. And while it’s annoying as all hell to be in the Granger role when it happens, as a spectator it’s funny as hell.

          I have probably 100 silk ties. A few actually tasteful. The most I’ve paid for one was around $50 (from a store at DCA — and the selection was crap — because I forgot to pack a tie for an event in Bethesda). The rest came from thrift stores. Can’t find the photo gear or porcelain thing I was looking for? A sub-$5 necktie is a good consolation prize. (Post FJB thrift store prices have increased 20 to 100% depending on the type of item. Grrr.) But I don’t own any cashmere. I’ve bought cashmere, but those went to someone else. I’m a simple guy: a good Goretex shell, an Arc’teryx “Atom LT” insulation layer and wool socks and I’m happy (in winter).

          Personally I think any suit over $1000 is a status marker (nothing intrinsically wrong with that) because you can get a perfectly respectable suit for under $1k. But I don’t necessarily condemn status markers unless they were got by bilking widows or taking food from the mouths of orphans. All sorts of things are status markers. Hell, the Arc’teryx thing is an affectation (and in my defense, damned good outdoors gear). The Swedish Disaster recognized it as such immediately. A few months in the Pretty Korean Girl (who somehow always looks like a million bucks on a thousand dollar budget) said, “I just realized: you usually look like a hobo, but that’s on purpose. It’s actually your style, isn’t it?” It’s been said that the only thing more dangerous than a woman who doesn’t understand you is one who does. Heh.

      • Knew a guy who worked as a bodyguard for a while after getting out of the military. He got some handmade Italian suits to fit into the crowds he was working in. After he left that he applied for a position as a programmer. Walked into the interview wearing one of those suits and the interviewer got really big eyed.

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