Utah sees record cold of -43.6 ºF – ‘Perhaps the lowest October temperature ever recorded’ in continental U.S.
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Halloween
Halloween
Robert A. Hall
It’s scary on all Hollow’s Eve,
Ye never ken who’s at the door—
It might be a ghost or the fairies—
Of the jealous husband of sweet Nellie Moore!
It might be the Loch Ness Monster
Come slitherin’ oot o’ the deep=
Or the brother o’ Margaret MacGregor,
Claimin’ there’s a promise to keep!
It might be a water kelpie
Come creepin’ oot o’ the sea—
Or a lass with a bonny wee bairn
Wi’ a faint resemblance to me!
It might be an old hangit man,
Come clawin’ up oot o’ the ground—
Or the terrible mean old faither
O bonny, young Miss Molly Brown!
It might be any kind o’ a monster,
A thief, a rapist, a killer!
It might be the Queen’s Excise Man
Who’s come to demand a’ my siller!
Aye, it’s scary in Bonny Auld Scotland
When the witches come wigglin’ through—
Not to mention the fitball supporters
Who stagger around a’ roarin’ fu’!
You never ken who’s at your door—
To open to a ghost would be risky.
And it might be the maist fearful o’ a’—
And Englishman after my whisky!
From "share the Cup"
Random Thoughts for November 2019
Random Thoughts for November
2019
By Robert A. Hall
Feel free to post or forward.
Many people are desperate to find solutions to problems they made
themselves.
I think California should order the walls in gated communities and gated
homes torn down because they are undemocratic.
Every day we have little tasks (take out the trash, clean up after the
pets, do the laundry, etc.) which are not edifying, but are time consuming. If
you don’t do them, your life turns to crap.
Saw a tee shirt: It takes a secure man to buy his wife a gun.
Dealing with bureaucracy is like wading through molasses.
When socialist planners put their fingers in the economy, things always
get worse for average folks. Eventually much worse.
I wish I had the money to live in
NYC, SF or LA. I don’t want to live there, but I wish I had that kind of money.
Tee shirt: Someday, where
scientists discover the center of the universe, many people will be
disappointed to find it’s not them.
Thrift shops like Goodwill are
overrun with glass vases that come from florists. People think they are too
good to throw away, but not good enough to keep.
When I was in high school, I was
dying to have a leather jacket, like my friends had. They cost over $100, which
was like $500 today. I lived with my grandmother in a one-bedroom apartment,
slept on a pullout couch. Way out of our price range. My friend Charles lent me
a German one his dad brought back from WWII. Today (October 6, 2019) I bought
two nice ones at a flea market for $5 each. Will give them away as I have five
already. Wish I could ship one back to the 16-year-old Bob.
Don’t let dread
of winter ruin your enjoyment of autumn. Don’t let dread of death ruin your enjoyment
of life.
A sport coat
covers a multitude of sins. And a 9mm very nicely.
The spirit is
willing, but the flesh is wrecked.
I told the VA
director he should have signs put inside the stalls in staff area bathrooms: “This
is not a booth for checking phone messages.” Be good in a lot of stores too.
The only “sanctions”
that work are delivered by B-52s. Or boots on the ground.
Politicians
of all stripes feather their own nests and take care of their families, friends
and paramours. Partisans of both sides claim only the other party does it.
Sometimes you
have to stand alone.
If we had a
balanced media, Democrats wouldn’t stand a chance.
People seek geographical solutions to internal problems.
There is no such thing as a corruption-free government. People always
seek to improve their circumstances, and that of their families and friends. Legally
when they can, but often illegally. Government officials have more opportunity
to do that illegally. Which is why one-party dictatorships always have more
corruption than democracies, be they right wing, socialist or Islamic. Those
who would call them out are shot, or silenced by fear.
Baking from a boxed cake mix is like wearing a clip-on bow tie.
I may be old, but I can still put in a hard day’s work. It
just takes me about three weeks to do that day.
When I drop something, I have to think if it’s worth the pain
of bending over to pick it up, or if I should just leave it there.
Why would the Devil make deals for souls when masses of
people are determined to go to him anyway?
I suppose it’s true that too much money can ruin you, but I
think I could tolerate a few hundred thousand more.
Progressives are a cancer on the body politic, and like a
cancer in the human body, will kill the host if not excised.
My “get it done now” imperative can create more work for me.
If I write a note that needs to go on my desk for action later, I tend to take
it to the desk now, even though I’ll be going in there in a bit.
Every treasure you’ve built up will be stolen by that
relentless thief, time.
Many of the people now who thank Vietnam vets for their
service are the people (or their kids) who spit on the vets when they came home
from Nam.
It costs so little to be kind, helpful, nice, and polite, and
pays off so well.
My wife’s super power is the ability to not notice clutter at
all.
People often judge bananas by their appearance, not their
contents. They judge other people the same way.
People are expected to choose a mate, a career and political
leaders at an age when they aren’t competent to choose a brand of beer.
They Democrats are the party of the Free Rider. Many of them
don’t vote, but once they have a solid majority of Free Riders, the Democrats
will win all the elections. Until the country collapses in fiscal ruin. Keep
your powder dry.
There must be a Progressive Academic Award for the
progressive professor who identifies the most previously-undiscovered sources or
examples of racism in a year.
In the 1940s, college students weren’t afraid of the Nazi and
Japanese armies and joined the military in droves. Now college students are
afraid of ideas, and band together to drive speakers who might say something
they disagree with off campus.
Every time the techies “improve” a website or program, they make it
harder to use and less intuitive. I now find it almost impossible to use
MapQuest and Google Maps. They’ve “improved” several programs I use at work,
making them harder to use.
I have several shot glasses, but I don’t know why. I measure whisky and
other liquors by sight.
If you love heroin, you cannot love a person. They are just objects to be
used or discarded.
Many people dream. Few accomplish.
From an email: Brandolini's law states that: The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit
is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.
Some early Christians believed in
mortifying the flesh. Some churches today believe in mortifying the eardrums
with rock music played at a decibel level that would melt glass.
Everyone has a monster hidden
inside. The evil people have let it take over their lives.
“He meant well,” is the epitaph of
every socialist who condemned millions to oppression, privation, starvation,
and extermination in pursuit of the chimera of a socialist utopia.
Get the collection! My
“Random Thoughts” from 2009 through July, 2013 are collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life,
Liberty, and Leadership by Robert A. Hall
The Old Jarhead’s
Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and
Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including
the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall
Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of
interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a
service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their
heads explode. All
royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.
*****
Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five
terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic.
http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=booksandie=UTF8andqid=1304815980andsr=1-5
For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail
him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s twelve books are listed here: http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html.
His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com. He currently works
part-time as a writer-editor in the My Life, My Story program as the Madison VA
hospital, interviewing vets and writing up their life histories.
Reading Scores on National Exam Decline in Half the States
Reading Scores on National Exam Decline in Half the States
We have the most cost per student of any nation in the world, and kids' reading ability has declined? While leads to a very serious question of what in hell is wrong with the schools now? Maybe we need fewer special programs and specialist administrators and social justice focus and get back to basics? Just a thought. --Del
Scary: 70% of Millennials Would Vote for a Socialist Today
Scary: 70% of Millennials Would Vote for a Socialist Today
Democratic hopeful Sanders urges giving chunk of US military aid to Gaza instead
Democratic hopeful Sanders urges giving chunk of US military aid to Gaza instead. At J Street confab, 2020 candidate attacks Trump and Netanyahu credibility, saying ‘one is going to be impeached, the other one may end up in jail’ By ERIC CORTELLESSA
The White House Needs an Impeachment Strategy
The White House Needs an Impeachment Strategy
Excerpt: Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the GOP minority in the House, reacted to Speaker Pelosi’s reversal on conducting a vote to endorse the inquiry by arguing that it shows awareness that the impeachment gambit has always been illegitimate. As National Review’s Mairead McArdle notes, McCarthy says the process was “botched from the start.” Maybe . . . but a week or two from now, that’s not going to matter. Once we have both public hearings and public disclosure of transcripts from the prior, secret interviews, Americans are simply not going to care about the irregularities in the inquiry up to this point. Again, even without more transparency, the polls have been moving in the Democrats’ favor. That is, the attack on the process mounted by the president’s allies is already losing traction; soon it will become irrelevant. The public will not be moved by process arguments as long as the Democrats afford the president and the minority a decent opportunity to refute allegations and oppose articles of impeachment. The president is not going to win this by ranting that he has been subjected to Star Chamber tactics. He is going to have to win it on the merits. [This argument makes a lot of sense though it isn't very comforting. Ron P.]
Increased Antarctic sea ice may have contributed to past ice ages
Increased Antarctic sea ice may have contributed to past ice ages
Lukewarm Bond Yields Belie Mayors’ Climate Alarm.
Lukewarm Bond Yields Belie Mayors’ Climate Alarm. If politicians believe what they say on the campaign trail, why don’t their cities disclose it to borrowers? By Peter Schweizer https://www.wsj.com/articles/lukewarm-bond-yields-belie-mayors-climate-alarm-11572303011
Excerpt: Dire climate-change warnings have become a mainstay of politics. This is particularly true for state and local politicians whose coastal constituents stand to be most affected by rising sea levels. Mayors declare that impending eco-dangers represent an “existential threat,” and that significant portions of their cities will be submerged without swift and dramatic action. But do municipalities disclose these perilous environmental risks to potential bond investors? The Government Accountability Institute undertook a yearlong study of 40 major cities to find out if mayors’ apocalyptic projections about climate risks are factored into the interest rates on the municipal bonds their cities issue. The results revealed a gulf between the words municipal leaders speak and the disclosures cities make. There was no statistically significant difference in the interest rates for bonds issued by cities in high-risk locations for climate-change devastation versus those issued by low-risk cities.
Satire: CNN Uncovers Evidence Hero Dog Sniffed Dozens Of Butts Back In College
Satire: CNN Uncovers Evidence Hero Dog Sniffed Dozens Of Butts Back In College
Why Not Try Free Market Health Care?
Why Not Try Free Market Health Care? John C. Goodman https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoodman/2019/10/17/why-not-try-free-market-health-care/#1a4459b65358
Excerpt: I’m often asked if the free market can work in health care. My quick answer is: that’s the only thing that does work. Show me a health care sector where there is no Medicare, no Blue Cross and no employer and I bet that’s a market that works very well. Lasik surgery is one example. Patients get a package price and they know what they are going to pay in advance. There are no “surprise medical bills.” As my colleague Devon Herrick has shown, there is price and quality competition here – unlike other health care markets. Competition works. Over the past decade, the real price of Lasik surgery fell 25%, despite a huge increase in the number of procedures and all manner of technological change – the type of change we are told leads to cost increases everywhere else in medicine. A similar story can be told about cosmetic surgery – another sector where the third-party payers have no role to play. What about conventional procedures – like knee and hip replacements? Can the market work there? Where patients pay with their own money, it already is working. Canadian patients routinely come to the United States for these procedures (in order to avoid lengthy waits for surgery in their own country). They get package prices and they pay about the same amount that Medicare pays. That’s about one-half to one fourth of what employer plans typically pay.
Heroin addict allegedly drags NYPD cop with his car — and wins $11 million in court
Heroin addict allegedly drags NYPD cop with his car — and wins $11 million in court
Another super shyster has manipulated the system to get a total loser druggie a huge award after he tried to get a cop killed or badly injured. This is so far beyond comprehension that I have no words. Except clearly insanity rules in NYC now. --Del
Joe Biden Repeatedly Asked Federal Agencies To Do What His Son’s Lobbying Clients Wanted
Joe Biden Repeatedly Asked Federal Agencies To Do What His Son’s Lobbying Clients Wanted
First Common Core High School Grads Worst-Prepared For College In 15 Years
First Common Core High School Grads Worst-Prepared For College In 15 Years
Fairfax County, Virginia Presents Dire Warning to America
Fairfax County, Virginia Presents Dire Warning to America
'This is the golden age': eastern Europe's extraordinary 30-year revival
'This is the golden age': eastern Europe's extraordinary 30-year revival
Excerpt: But 30 years on from the heady days of autumn 1989, a range of metrics demonstrate that the transition from communism to capitalism has been a remarkable success.
Policymakers Played a Role in California’s Wildfire Issues
Policymakers Played a Role in California’s Wildfire Issues
Excerpt: It’s an overstatement to declare that progressivism or the Democrats ruined California — at least by themselves. But as the state burns from gargantuan wildfires, California Democrats are going to have to confront the fact that their state’s serious troubles reflect more than just bad luck. Policy decisions have consequences, and the full consequences are rarely seen clearly by advocates of particular policies. ... Eh, that’s part of it, but it’s not just the usual suspects of not enough environmental regulations and greedy rich people. But don’t knock Manjoo too much, and not just because his state is burning down. He’s among the few left-of-center writers willing to point out that a lot of progressive ideas get blocked by wealthy progressives who don’t want them enacted near their neighborhoods. They embrace grand schemes in theory but turn into vehement activists touting local control as soon as affordable housing proposals get too close to their posh neighborhoods. (He’s also pointed out that America’s biggest and most prestigious universities swoon when any billionaire comes along, even Jeffrey Epstein, and that economic engagement with China has corrupted our values, as demonstrated by the NBA. Are you noticing a theme here?) You don’t hear as much about Calexit these days, do you? There are currently ten fires burning. The boss recalled that “In 2016, then-governor Jerry Brown actually vetoed a bill that had unanimously passed the state legislature to promote the clearing of trees dangerously close to power lines. Brown’s team says this legislation was no big deal, but one progressive watchdog called the bill ‘neither insignificant or small.’” How often do you see a bill that passed unanimously get vetoed?
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
The Morning Dispatch
The Morning Dispatch
Excerpt: All of this brings into focus a harsh new reality for the White House: the people digging Trump’s grave in Ukraine are Trump’s own people. Even if it’s true that Democrats are being partisan, that the impeachment process they’re running is in some respects unfair, that the media are inclined to see daily developments in the worst possible light for the president—none of that mitigates the fact that those doing the most damage to the president’s position, aside from the president himself, are not “deep state” actors or political opponents, but people whom Trump hired. [The Dispatch is a new on-line political commentary site with Jonah Goldberg and (soon coming) David French, among others. I only agree with them about half the time, but their observations are certainly worth reading. The link offers the opportunity to read the content without subscribing (it’s just below the “subscribe” button). I’ve been reading the free stuff for a week, now. It’s interesting. Ron P.]
Monday, October 28, 2019
Postcards from a poisoned coast: Vietnam's people-smuggling heartland
Postcards from a poisoned coast: Vietnam's people-smuggling heartland
Excerpt: The countryside in the Vietnamese provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh is dotted with billboards for labor export companies advertising jobs or study overseas. Thousands of people respond to the lure of a better life abroad every year, but many take the underground route - via smugglers and sometimes dangerous journeys by sea and road. That phenomenon is now in sharp focus after 39 bodies were discovered in a truck outside London last week. Many are feared to be Vietnamese from Nghe An and Ha Tinh, rice-growing areas in the northern-central part of the country. (A hidden tragedy in the "socialst paradise." More explanation of how desperate people are to get out of Viet Nam. --Del)
Sunday, October 27, 2019
ISIS Leader Baghdadi Dies In U.S. Special Forces Raid
ISIS Leader Baghdadi Dies In U.S. Special Forces Raid
So at last we got the new "Caliph" in a US SF strike that took out him and a whole bunch of his people. This won't stop all the craziness, but it will discourage at least some of it. Jihadism depends for support on being thought of in the world of Islam as smart and successful. When the biggest new part of it, the fantastically attractive New Caliphate, loses every inch of territory and the leader himself, the supposed descendant of Mohammed, is killed by US forces, it's a serious blow to that idea. I only wish we could have put his head on a stick and videoed it to the world, barbaric as that is, it's the kind of message that would get through to at least some. I also wish we took no adult prisoners, every damned one of those in his entourage should be dead, dead, dead. That's another kind of message that some people understand. But of course I'm a nasty, barbaric SOB. I can live with it. --Del. Inshallah. ~Bob
Saturday, October 26, 2019
About 41% of the global population are under 24. And they’re angry
About 41% of the global population are under 24. And they’re angry…Simon Tisdall
Are Some Cultures Better than Others?
Are Some Cultures Better than Others?
This video really strikes me as worthwhile. Cultures are different and all of them can have features that enrich the lives of those in them, and other features that narrow and even damage those lives. They may have their own moral systems that we don't like, and customs we find strange, but we can't be too quick to assume our superiority and get judgmental about them. Yet there certainly can be, have been, and are cultures that have aspects that we can reasonably find very unattractive, a primary example being ones where women are very much second class citizens, almost slaves to the males in their lives. Saying that all cultures are essentially equal in all values is a bit silly. If that were true, why in hell would so many people be fleeing their native countries to get to the West? And the tearing down of Western culture for its imperfections is again silly, it's throwing out the baby with the bath water. I think a lot of young Americans should see this and have to think about it. --Del. Saying that all cultures are equal is not just silly. it's a pernicious, harmful lie. ~Bob
Elizabeth Warren Wants to Lose Your Vote.
Elizabeth Warren Wants to Lose Your Vote. Those with plans for everything prove only that they can’t be trusted to plan for anything.
Excerpt: A decade ago, it was conventional wisdom that the world would soon start running low on oil and that the United States would henceforth be at the mercy of the inexorable trend. Then the fracking revolution came about, and the U.S. resumed its long-lost place as the world’s No. 1 oil and natural gas producer. The result: lower oil prices for American consumers, less dependence on petrodespots, a dramatic shift from coal to natural gas for electricity generation (with concomitant benefits in carbon emissions), and hundreds of thousands of working-class jobs, including tens of thousands in swing states like Colorado and Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Warren wants to kill all this.
Austria: Married Muslim migrant temporarily marries two non-Muslim teens in mosque
Austria: Married Muslim migrant temporarily marries two non-Muslim teens in mosque
Excerpt: The story is unbelievable: a 34-year-old Afghan man, who is said to have a wife and seven children in his home country, lives a particularly wild life in Linz. Because his wife is far away, but apparently he does not want to renounce sex, he is said to have drugged two local girls (17 and 18 years old) filled with the drug Crystal Meth and married them in a mosque in Linz.
Friday, October 25, 2019
Only 17?
...I have compiled a list of 17 Democrats who have defied commonsense, decency, and justice to survive scandals to prove that there is something horribly wrong in their party. This list, which is by no means comprehensive, demonstrates a longstanding pattern of Democrats willing to ignore depravity in their elected leaders when they reach the ballot box.
Watch: Crenshaw Busts Schiff, Points To Exact Rule In House Rules Book That Gives GOP Access To Impeachment Docs
Watch: Crenshaw Busts Schiff, Points To Exact Rule In House Rules Book That Gives GOP Access To Impeachment Docs
The more I see of Crenshaw, the more I like him. And I hope he continues to progress in politics. --Del
We, Too, Can Be a Failed Latin American State
We, Too, Can Be a Failed Latin American State by Ann Coulter
A lot of people really don't like Ann Coulter, she is sometimes flip and sarcastic. But she usually has her facts right. She makes her case nicely here. --Del
Thursday, October 24, 2019
F-35s in Madison
Today, Together Truax shared on our social media accounts video footage of two F-16s and two F-35s taking off from Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho. You can find the link to our Facebook post here and our Twitter post here (watch the video until the end for side-by-side clips).
Video of all four takeoffs was recorded by Chris Ennis of NuVision Productions on the same day (Oct. 16, 2017) from the same vantage point using the same camera. Our intent in sharing this video was to answer community interest in a side-by-side comparison of the sound of an F-16 to the sound of an F-35.
Our posts also share confirmation from Dane County Regional Airport that there were four unscheduled F-35 arrivals and departures in Madison between late July and mid-August of this year, providing further evidence that the actual noise impact of an F-35 is not much different than the existing F-16s.
We strongly encourage you to share and retweet these posts on your own social media channels. With the Nov. 1 online public comment deadline fast approaching, it is critical that we push back against misinformation being spread by opponents and continue to demonstrate strong community support for the F-35A basing and the 115th Fighter Wing.
If you haven’t already shared your thoughts with the Air Force as part of the public comment period, please do so now.
For more information about differences between the F-35A and the F-16, potential impact on residents and more, click here: https://madisonbiz.com/wp-
A Drug Cartel Just Defeated The Mexican Military In Battle
A Drug Cartel Just Defeated The Mexican Military In Battle. Mexico is in a state of collapse, and Americans need to realize that the crisis underway south of the Rio Grande won’t stop at the border.
tomorrow is St. Crispin's Day
Oh, damn, tomorrow is St. Crispin's Day. Granddad will be getting roaring drunk and having the neighbors in, showing off his scars and going on and on about York and Suffolk and Harry the King...
http://www.britishbattles.com/
http://www.britishbattles.com/
The road rage row that turned a Rochdale street into a battleground as mob set upon teenage tree surgeon... he had his hand severed by axe.
The road rage row that turned a Rochdale street into a battleground as mob set upon teenage tree surgeon... he had his hand severed by axe.
Excerpt: A teenage tree surgeon had his hand chopped off with an axe in an 'appalling' attack carried out by an armed mob sparked by a road rage row in Rochdale, a court heard. The victim, then aged just 18, was one of four workmates set upon on Church Road, Newbold, on the afternoon of October 17, 2017 by a gang of up to 20 men. They had been summoned by Habibur Rahman, 27, who called the victims 'white b******s' who were in his 'country', Minshull Street Crown Court heard. One of the mob, Mohammed Awais Sajid, known as 'Skinny', came armed with an axe. Others were carrying knives, machetes, a clawhammer and a knuckleduster.
Free Market Capitalism Is Good for Democracy, New Study Finds
Free Market Capitalism Is Good for Democracy, New Study Finds
Universities Breed Anger, Ignorance, and Ingratitude.
Universities Breed Anger, Ignorance, and Ingratitude. By VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
Excerpt: In turning out woke and broke graduates, they have a lot to answer for. What do widely diverse crises such as declining demography, increasing indebtedness, Generation Z’s indifference to religion and patriotism, static rates of home ownership, and a national epidemic of ignorance about American history and traditions all have in common? In a word, 21st-century higher education.
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