Special Forces soldiers told: Take off those patches

May 27, 2016 | by Richard Sisk

“U.S. Special Forces troops in Syria have been ordered to stop wearing the arm patches of a Kurdish rebel group regarded as an offshoot of a terrorist organization by Turkey, a U.S. military spokesman said Friday.

"’Wearing those patches was unauthorized and inappropriate and corrective action has been taken. We have communicated as much’ to NATO ally Turkey, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Baghdad.”

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/05/27/special-forces-isyria-ordered-take-off-unauthorized-ypg-patches.html

And Russia says:

http://russia-insider.com/en/erdogan-not-gonna-be-happy-us-special-forces-syria-are-wearing-kurdish-nationalist-insignia/ri14616

On his first Iraq deployment, my youngest said his platoon carried a person or more to a Kurdish town north of Mosul. He was impressed by the Kurds, as have been most other Americans.

Those who do not learn from history …

… Something, something, something.

Posted at Never Yet Melted:

“The guy supported Carter, Kerry and Hillary for President.

“I know: Let’s nominate him as the GOP standard bearer!”

http://neveryetmelted.com/

Well, there they go again.

There was this Republican elected president in 1980. He once backed Democratic Party candidates, congressional and presidential.

http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/when-reagan-was-a-liberal-democrat-219696195576

The MSNBC news dude is somewhat snarky in his introduction.

These people married the ocean – ecosexual wedding

No, “ecosexual” does not mean doing it on a picnic table in a state or national park.

‘EcoSexual’ students at SMC ‘marry the ocean’

"Earlier this month, a professor at Santa Monica College led students in an ‘EcoSexual Sextravaganza’ in which participants ‘married the ocean.’

"Amber Katherine, a philosophy professor who helped organize the May 14 event, explained to Campus Reform that the purpose of the 'wedding' was to bring about a deeper love for the planet through 'ecocentric passion and even lust.'”

http://collegeinsurrection.com/2016/05/ecosexual-college-students-get-married-to-the-ocean/#more

There is a video at the link. I didn’t watch the video; I’d like to keep my lunch off the keyboard.

Note: The participants look the way you would expect, the worst of hippie dress.

Lisa Douglas would say …

… The dumb bastard shoosted himself. (OK, so Mrs. Douglas would not call the dude “dumb.” That would be bad manners.)

The story:

By Harry Harris

OAKLAND -- A man found fatally shot Friday morning in the backyard of a Fruitvale district apartment house died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound suffered after he robbed someone at gunpoint a short time earlier, authorities said.
He was identified by police as Jonathan C. Webb, Jr., 29, who lived in another part of Oakland.

Police said Webb is the man who robbed a person at gunpoint of undisclosed items shortly before 4 a.m. in the 1300 block of 33rd Avenue near the Fruitvale BART Station.

The person robbed was also pistol-whipped.

Police said that as Webb ran away the pistol he used discharged, wounding him in the lower part of his body.

Police said that despite bleeding profusely, Webb was able to make it a few blocks to the backyard of an apartment in the 1300 block of Fruitvale Avenue, next to a fast-food restaurant parking lot.

Police officers on a special enforcement operation in the area had been flagged down by the robbery victim and while talking to that person heard the gunshot.

Officers then began canvassing the area and soon found a blood trail that led them to where Webb had collapsed in the back yard. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The gun was found near him in the yard, police said.
Fruitvale Avenue was closed until 7:30 a.m. between East 12th Street and International Boulevard while police investigated.

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/breaking-news/ci_29947300/man-found-fatally-shot-east-oakland

Link at http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=66050

Shouldn’t these be prosecuted as hate crimes?

‘Memorial Day Vandals’

http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=66060

They did what?

“Children recruited for farm work.”

http://www.shorpy.com/node/20952?size=_original#caption



Logic: FDR wanted all Americans to work for the government; there was a war; New Deal developers wanted all Americans to work for the government; the kids got plenty of sunshine; Progressives/Democrats wanted all Americans to work for the government ...

Fageol to Peterbuilt

The four Fageol brothers made trucks, buses and farm tractors in Oakland, Calif., from 1916-27. The company went into receivership in the early 1930s and was bought by T.A. Peterman in 1938. The first Peterbuilt was made the next year.

Examples: http://hankstruckpictures.com/fageol.htm

Truck builders in 1918:

http://www.shorpy.com/node/20990?size=_original#caption

The truck is solid, with steel wheels and a cable-gear steering system.

Before the Depression, the U.S. had dozens of car and truck companies.

Shorpy has great photographs.

Comedian masquerading as an intellectual

There is no link. The headline came into my mind when reading a piece on Penn Jillette. I have seen his face and sort of heard his words on a cable news show -- maybe CNN, maybe Fox News. I was not impressed.

Jillette says he is an atheist and a libertarian because of his credo – “I don’t know.” He’s not an economist or historian, either, but he is not slowed in expressing opinion on those. Or on religion, even though he does not know.

Jillette is far from being the only entertainer who believes he/she is an expert in all things or some sort of intellectual. Words of advice: You are not expert in anything just because people buy tickets to watch you perform.

Part of my dislike of Jillette is his beard. Far too many men (one is too many) wear a beard style that makes the face look like a pussy. Jillette wears only the chin part of that style, so he must be a half pussy.

WWII veteran, 94, visits England after 70 years, dies there

“Rector toured Battle of Britain Bunker, an underground command center where fighter airplane operations were directed during D-Day. After climbing back into the sunlight, he told Jowers he felt dizzy. She grabbed one of his arms, and a stranger grabbed the other.

“There, just outside the bunker where Winston Churchill famously said, 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,' Rector died quietly.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/05/26/after-long-sought-journey-to-wwii-post-u-s-vet-94-dies-quietly-at-battle-of-britain-bunker/?postshare=4911464259442139&tid=ss_tw

Link at http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=66034

Grits and bootleg whiskey

I was born and raised in Northeast Texas, but I never had grits until in the Army. I guess my father didn’t like grits. That’s the only reason I can figure for my mother never serving grits. She was from a farm family, sharecroppers for a time until her father saved enough and bought his own place northwest of Maud, Texas. Her family raised most of their own food – vegetables and a hog a year. They had a smokehouse, too.

Before joining the Army at age 18, I had been out of Texas one time, and that not by much. One Saturday while visiting my father’s parents in New Boston, Daddy asked me if I wanted to go to Texarkana with him and Grandpa. You bet, I said, and got in the back seat of the car. Texarkana was a city, must have had 25,000 people then. I was about 12 at the time and had never been to a town bigger than New Boston, so a 15-mile trip to Texarkana was a big deal.

Here is what I remember from the trip: Daddy drove, Grandpa was in the passenger seat. We got in Texarkana, and Daddy drove to a liquor store on the Arkansas-side of State Line Avenue. Grandpa went into the store and returned a couple minutes later with a bottle in a brown paper bag. Daddy drove back to New Boston.

From later conversation by my father, I decided the Texarkana trip was unusual for Grandpa’s whiskey buying. Most of the time, he got his whiskey from local bootleggers. All of Texas was dry then – no alcohol sold legally – which gave additional income to legal sales in Arkansas and illegal whiskey in Texas and Oklahoma. What some people did, other than operate stills in the woods, was go to Texarkana, Arkansas, and buy many bottles and sell the whiskey from home.

Daddy said he did that one time. He got a couple dozen pints of whiskey in Arkansas, then drove home to Maud. He said he was exceptionally nervous and wondering when he would be stopped by the highway patrol or alcohol bureau. Had that happened, it is quite possible he would have spent time in jail, lost his job, and Momma and us kids living on handouts from relatives, none of whom had anything to spare.

Before September 1964, that whiskey run to Texarkana, Arkansas, was my one and only trip outside Texas, a few hundred feet. When enlisting in the Army, I went from Rocky Branch to Texarkana and then by bus to Shreveport to Fort Polk, Louisiana. A long way beyond a short trip for Grandpa’s whiskey, a bus ride that eventually led to Korea, Maryland, Vietnam and Maryland again.

The war and all that

I read in a couple of books baseball players saying there are no physical differences between a AAA player and a player who makes it to The Show.

There are physical differences. Not differences in strength or eyesight. AAA players and Major League players have the same muscle strength and eyesight.

The difference is that muscle-controlled, eyesight accurate portion-of-a-second ability to place the proper part of the bat on the proper part of the ball, the difference between a hit and a popup or flyout or ground out. Or for a pitcher, the difference between muscle-controlled, eyesight ability of being able to put the baseball within one inch of where you want it, opposed to two or three inches. Jim Bouton claimed a control pitcher was one who put the ball within six inches of where he wanted it, but Bouton was exaggerating and must have forgotten the times he watched Tommy John pitch or maybe never saw Gregg Maddox or Tom Glavine.

There are ball players who, in minor leagues, can muscle up and hit many a ball out of the park, yet fail to do the same when hitting in better parks with better backgrounds. Those players are no less strong than a major league player, but have a small defect in muscle or eyesight that keeps them from a long career in The Show.

Buck Frierson was one of those players. Frierson spent seven days with the Cleveland Indians in September 1941. In five games, Frierson had 11 at bats in five games. His three hits gave him a .273 batting average. His fielding average was 1.000 on two fly balls hit to him in right field. He also played one game in left field, but did not have an opportunity to handle the ball. In Frierson’s first major league game – Sept. 9, 1941 – he went 0 for 2 in the Indians’ 13-7 win over the Philadelphia Athletics. Bob Feller pitched a complete game for his 23rd win.

Frierson played minor league ball from 1937-1942 and then 1946-1953. In 1947 at Sherman-Denison, Frierson hit 58 home runs and drove in 197. That was a good year for the Class B Big State League, as well as for Frierson, with Texarkana and Greenville both winning more than 100 games, and league attendance exceeding 100,000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_State_League

Frierson was born July 29, 1917, in Chicota, Texas. Chicota, “near the Red River one mile north of Pat Mayse Lake and fifteen miles north of Paris in northern Lamar County, was established in 1879, when it received a post office. Capt. Robert Draper started a store at the site called Center Springs. From Indians trading at the store he heard of Checotah in Indian territory and chose the name for the post. In 1884 Chicota had a post office, four churches, and a district school with 100 white pupils and two teachers. The population was forty-five. The town grew to 225 residents in 1892. In 1914 Chicota had a population estimated at 100 and seven businesses. By 1936 it had a church, a cemetery, a couple of businesses, and a number of scattered dwellings. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s the population was estimated at 212. In 1980 Chicota had a cemetery, a school, four businesses, one church, three surrounding churches, and a number of scattered dwellings. In 1990 the population was estimated at 125. The population remained the same in 2000.”

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlc26

That gap in Frierson’s baseball career – 1943-45 – came about because of his Army time during World War II. At the end of the war, Frierson was 29 years old, somewhat up in age for a player with only five big league games.

Here’s a video of beekeeping in Chicota:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNGd6sc2n4c

Zip-codes.com has no census information on Chicota.

Texas.hometownlocator says Chicota has eight business addresses, one single family address and zero multi-family addresses. Whoever posts data on that site might want to consider the improbability of those numbers.

Zipcode.org says Chicota has no people.

When working for the newspaper in Paris, Texas, I drove through Chicota a few times, heading somewhere else. If the internet had been a bit more available then (1997-2001), I would have written an expanded version of this piece, with pictures.

Princess, countess cross swords in 1892 dispute over flower arrangement

“Avert your eyes, avert your eyes—you lustful wretches!” – Baroness Lubinska, to men servants who attempted to give aid to wounded duelists.

http://neveryetmelted.com/2016/05/24/famous-topless-female-duel-of-1892/

Almost all emphasis has been on topless aspect of the two duelists.

Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

(A cheap joke would be to say the two women settled their dispute like men.)

‘We are stronger together’

Yeah, people make fun of Mrs. Clinton’s new campaign slogan. It is the nature of politics to grab and twist everything possible from an opponent.

A couple of weeks ago a web site ran a picture of an (alleged) college student (blonde in cutoffs, my remembering says) holding a sign that said “Stop the Wreckers.”

“What?” said another part of my remembering, the part that contains passages and such from books read. “Wreckers?” Rather Stalinist, isn’t it?

Army renaming Apache helicopter

Yossarian

THE PENTAGON — The Pentagon announced today a plan to rename the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter the AH-64 “Haji Killer.”

The move comes amid pressure from Native American advocacy groups to remove what are seen as racist or degrading references to Native Americans from the Pentagon’s naming conventions.

“We want to ensure we do not offend marginalized groups of people with the names of our flying death machines,” said Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. “We take special care to avoid microaggressions, as the Department of Defense is only in the business of macroaggressions.”

Carter acknowledged he aims to bring the Pentagon into the 21st Century by becoming more culturally sensitive.

“We have a proud heritage, and will not allow the white man to dehumanize our people by reducing us to mascots for sports teams or nicknames for helicopters,” said Chief Flying Horse, spokesman for the National Congress of American Indians.

Several name changes were proposed for the AH-64. The AH-64 “Hornet” was a provisional name under consideration, but was scrapped due to not wanting to offend F/A-18 Hornet pilots.

“Instead of trying to come up with a catchy nickname, we simplified the process and named the AH-64 based purely on its functionality,” said Carter.

In addition to the Apache changing to the Haji Killer, OH-58 Kiowas will now be known as “Mosque Manglers” and BGM-109 Tomahawk Missiles as “Turban Torpedoes.”

“This is a proud moment in the advancement of Native American civil rights,” said Flying Horse. “Now we just need to deal with those fucking Washington Redskins.”

http://www.duffelblog.com/2016/05/citing-pressure-from-native-american-groups-pentagon-renames-apache-helicopters-haji-killers/#ixzz49aURMwm6

With his Magic Pen, Obama cleans American history, eliminates ‘Negro’ and ‘Oriental’

Former Negroes will be known as African-Americans; Orientals now are Asian-American.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/280751-obama-signs-measure-striking-oriental-and-negro-from-federal

This is stupid enough to be almost funny. Almost.

Yes, Obama’s signature on the bill applies only to Federal law. For now.

Some places have rid themselves of statues dedicated to Confederate soldiers. Schools named after slave owners are being renamed.

Back in the bad old days, “colored” schools in Northeast Texas were named after: George Washington Carver, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln.

The thing is: Do people of Philippine ancestry want to be in the same demographic category as people of Japanese or Chinese or (East) Indian ancestry?

The assigning of labels is ever-changing, and some years from now people in now-popular categories will want another name.

USS Portland christened in Pascagoula; mayor declines to attend

Pascagoula is in Mississippi. Mississippi has a Religious Freedom Accommodation Act. Portland mayor says he “will not travel to a state that legalizes bigotry.”

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/05/23/ship-christened-pascagoula-mayor-namesake-city.html

With those people, “bigotry” means anything keeping with long-held rules of morality. For what those people want, see:

http://www.onefootinberlin.com/2012/07/priestess-of-debauchery.html

City to atheist group: We don’t own the land with the cross. We used to, but we sold it to a church

Freedom from Religion Foundation – based in the People’s Not-so-Republic of Wisconsin – found somebody who was offended by a cross and decided to take action to protect the person’s religious freedom. Or something.

FFRF “received a complaint from an unidentified citizen of the community of 13,000 near the East Texas city of Beaumont.” The community is Port Neches.

“’The government’s permanent display of a Latin cross on public land is unconstitutional,’ the group wrote in a letter to Port Neches Mayor Glenn Johnson.”

Take down the cross, FFRF demanded.

Not so fast, said the mayor. Said the city attorney: “We found a section in the local government code that allows the sale of property to a religious organization, as long as that organization owns land within the municipality and there’s an agreement to revitalize that land.”

The First United Methodist Church of Port Neches bought the 400-square-foot plot and the cross.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/05/23/texas-city-hatches-real-estate-deal-with-church-to-cross-out-atheists-lawsuit.html?intcmp=hpbt3

Cafeteria: Kids love school pizza

Kids: Not as much as the pizza the church gives us.

Seattle church that was giving away pizza at school (with permission) knuckles under when server’s union uses magic Progressive words: job loss and unemployed immigrants.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/05/23/union-flips-out-over-churchs-school-pizza-giveaway.html?intcmp=hpbt3

The union is International Union of Operating Engineers. How does a school lunchroom figure in “Operating Engineers?”

“The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) is a trade union within the United States-based AFL-CIO representing primarily construction workers who work as heavy equipment operators, mechanics, surveyors, and stationary engineers (also called operating engineers or power engineers) who maintain heating and other systems in buildings and industrial complexes, in the United States and Canada.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_of_Operating_Engineers

Maybe it’s that “heating and other systems in buildings.”

Somebody screws up and the gay guys get all bitchy

The San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus was all set to begin singing “Oh, say can you see” Saturday before the start of a Padres baseball game, when, OMG!, A WOMAN’S VOICE came from the speakers! When the song ended, the 100 gay guys were escorted from the field and reportedly heckled by some fans.

The mistake and the heckling were proof, of course, of baseball homophobia. That’s what the gay chorus executive director said, anyway.

The incident raised “serious questions about homophobia within the San Diego Padres organization and its relationship with the LGBT community.”

Not so, not so, said the Padres. Well, that's what the front office people said. The Padres organization is all for homosexuals singing the National Anthem, or as the apology/press release said, “The Padres organization is proud of our long-standing commitment to inclusion…”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/padres-fire-contractor-after-national-anthem-flap-with-san-diego-gay-mens-chorus/ar-BBtlzBu?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCDHP

I wonder, though – How inclusive would the Padres organization be if the San Diego Not Gay Men's Chorus wanted to sing the National Anthem? Or the San Diego Heterosexual Chorus, which would be composed of men and women, and that is about as inclusive as you can get.

The Sky is Falling, and by G-d, if it doesn’t hit you on the head it’s because you aren’t trying

The Portland, Ore., school board unanimously approved censorship and inquisition toward any publication and/or person which/who denies man-made climate change.

“’It is unacceptable that we have textbooks in our schools that spread doubt about the human causes and urgency of the crisis,’ said Lincoln High School student Gaby Lemieux in board testimony. ‘Climate education is not a niche or a specialization, it is the minimum requirement for my generation to be successful in our changing world.’”

“The resolution passed Tuesday evening calls for the school district to get rid of textbooks or other materials that cast doubt on whether climate change is occurring and that the activity of human beings is responsible. The resolution also directs the superintendent and staff to develop an implementation plan for ‘curriculum and educational opportunities that address climate change and climate justice in all Portland Public Schools.’”

http://portlandtribune.com/sl/307848-185832-portland-school-board-bans-climate-change-denying-materials

Oh good lord! Climate justice! What the Hell does that mean?

From Comments: “Me and my whole family were drowned when the Atlantic flooded the Boston area in 2004, when all the ice melted.”

Link at https://ricochet.com/

(The people who run Ricochet want Rubio or Jeb! to run against Trillary. Proves running a blog does not take a whole lot of smarts.)

1,400 years ago …

… when Muslim armies burst from Arabia and began conquering the present Middle East and North Africa, did leaders in Western countries claim Islam was a religion of peace? Did leaders say the conquering armies did not represent real Muslims? Were there calls for talks with moderate Muslims? Were there claims the invaders had hijacked true Islam?

It doesn’t violate any agreement

Fars News Agency:

A Revolutionary Guards leader says Iran can wipe out Israel “in under eight minutes.”

On May 9, another Iranian general said Iran had successfully test fired a missile “with a range of 2,000 kilometers and a margin of error of eight meters.”

“Under a nuclear deal signed last year between world powers and Iran, ballistic missile tests are not forbidden outright but are ‘not consistent’ with a United Nations Security Council resolution from July 2015, US officials say.

“According to the UN decision, ‘Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology,’ until October 2023.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/iranian-commander-we-can-destroy-israel-in-under-8-minutes/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=d5db53ff39-2016_05_22&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adb46cec92-d5db53ff39-55395173

So is that what U.S. officials say to Iran? "Your threats are not consistent with our agreement."

Russian pictures and stories

An informative site.

http://englishrussia.com/

450,000 condoms for Olympics athletes?

“Olympic organizers are distributing 450,000 condoms … to athletes, Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo reports.”

http://qz.com/689356/the-rio-olympics-organizers-are-giving-out-enough-condoms-for-each-athlete-to-have-sex-84-times/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link

That’s 42 condoms for each athlete, “an Olympic record.”

At the 2014 winter meeting in Sochi, the world’s greatest athletes got only 100,000 condoms. Hmm. Russia, winter. Brazil, summer. Which is better – an additional bed warmer or Brazilian beach frequenter? Decisions, decisions.

The Australian team “is taking no risk,” traveling with its own supplies, thank you. Taking no risk? Is that a sarcastic comment?

Link at http://www.fark.com/

Reckon contributors figured their money would finance athletes' sexual activity?

Petroleum engineer graduate: ‘The money doesn’t hurt’

Top 10 majors with top dollars. Petroleum engineer can expect to earn $4.8 million, while early childhood education will pay $1.4 million.

Business is the most popular major in college.

http://collegeinsurrection.com/2016/05/the-majors-with-the-highest-salaries//#more

A couple or three years back, I read: Colleges should tell incoming students that if they want to help people, get a degree that will pay lots and lots of money.

In a watermelon eating contest …

… the water horse wins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxP1cp8KS1o

OK, so it’s not a contest. But if it were, I would bet on hungry, hungry hippo.

Speaking of Baghdad Bob

My favorite BB statement: "I can say, and I am responsible for what I am saying, that they have started to commit suicide under the walls of Baghdad. We will encourage them to commit more suicides quickly."

And who can forget:

"NO", snapped Mr al-Sahaf, "We have retaken the airport. There are NO Americans there. I will take you there and show you. IN ONE HOUR!"

"Today we slaughtered them in the airport. They are out of Saddam International Airport. The force that was in the airport, this force was destroyed."

"Listen, this explosion does not frighten us any longer. The cruise missiles do not frighten anyone. We are catching them like fish in a river. I mean here that over the past two days we managed to shoot down 196 missiles before they hit their target."

"Their forces committed suicide by the hundreds. ... The battle is very fierce and God made us victorious. The fighting continues."

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/jokes/bljoke-iraqinfominister.htm

In the UK, Mohammad Saeed al-Sahhaf was known as “Comical Ali.” He reportedly now lives in the United Arab Emirates.

Pearls from the Z Man

“The Left never takes a break. They are always pressing forward. There’s no deal you can strike with them that will end their attacks. They are like Muslims in this regard.” – ‘The Stupid Party Way’

“Always be on attack. In a culture war, there are two modes, offense and defense. That’s why the Left is always pushing into increasingly bizarre causes. They have to be on offense. Otherwise, they have to go on defense. If you take the red pill and decide to go shitlord, attack, attack, attack.” --‘So, you want to be a shitlord?’

http://thezman.com/wordpress/

Flo has gone nuts

Progressive’s insurance ads were weird to begin with, but have digressed to the neighborhood where live those two odd dudes who hang out at Sonic and are nearing the absolutely bizarre Burger King.

(I almost typed "Burka King," which would be a deadly accusation in an Islamic country, accusing a man of wearing a burka. But, then, a King who wore a burka would be a Queen, possibly transgender and all that. Either way, a death crime if caught.)

A two-lane road, traffic goes in two directions. Right?

HA-HA-HA. It's a Ukraine highway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWoD5l8SOIc

General Motors Uzbekistan scandal

As not seen on American TV.

“An investigation into GM Uzbekistan has led to so far to the detention in late April of the company’s general director, Tohirjon Jalilov, and the questioning of deputy prime minister Ulughbek Rozikulov. Although little is being made officially public about the case, it is understood that the main charges center around an alleged scheme to resell cars intended for export on the local market. Since the vehicles sell for higher prices in Uzbekistan than in Russia, where the GM Uzbekistan exports much of its goods, it is believed the management were pocketing the difference.

“The cars involved in the alleged scheme may have numbered in the multiple thousands, so the suggestion that a sudden drop in dollar transactions for GM Uzbekistan vehicles has caused a knock-on effect in the currency market may not be such a stretch.”

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/78816

The homosexual chickens will come home to roost

Western non-governmental groups pushing homosexuality as normal could drive Orthodox back to Russian fold, Georgian businessman claims.

“In a fiery speech to conference goers on May 16, the 45-year-old (Levan) Vasadze stressed that there are no LGBT groups in Georgia; only provocateurs sponsored by Western non-governmental organizations that will soon be kicked out of the country.”

…

“The West, he said, owes Georgia an apology for attacking Georgian traditions; a reference to heterosexual marriage and families, both actively encouraged in this emphatically Orthodox Christian country. Vasadze, who holds an MBA from an American university (Emory), demanded that the US apologize ‘for supporting homosexuality globally’ and predicted that Georgia will ally itself with Russia, with which Georgia shares a religious faith and, as he put it, traditional values.”

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/78846

Not so long ago, President Obama took his pro-homosexual campaign to Africa, and then ignored African leaders who told him to keep his ideas out of Africa.

Azeris blame Armenia for shooting down Armenian drone

When one side in a war blames the other side for doing something rather idiotic, you have to maybe smile at least a little.

Like when Baghdad Bob claimed there were no America forces in Baghdad, ignoring the M1A1 Abrams tank sitting a few blocks away. Or Iranian Republican Guards arrested Israeli spy squirrels, Egypt blaming attacks in Aqaba by Mossad-trained sharks, or Lebanese reports of an Israeli spy vulture. So …

“Baku, Azerbaijan, May 19

“Armenia has again shot down its own drone, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said May 19.

“An Armenian X-55 UAV, which was carrying out a reconnaissance flight in the direction of Aghdam District along the frontline, was mistakenly shot down by the Armenian armed forces on May 19 at around 13:20 (UTC/GMT +4 hours).

“The drone fell not far from the Armenian positions, according to observations of the Azerbaijani armed forces.

“It is the second X-55 UAV shot down recently as a result of the nonprofessionalism of the Armenian servicemen.”

http://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/karabakh/2536012.html

The Azeri claim of Armenia shooting down two of its own drones might stem from this three-month-old Armenian accusation:

Armenian Defense Minister Artsrun Hovhannisyan:

“We know that Azerbaijan is in need of victory, and even made up victories. According to reliable data, the Azerbaijani side shot down their own drone. ‘Colleagues’ from Azerbaijan are confused, and new reports will appear soon.”

https://www.armenianow.com/karabakh/60201/armenia_karabakh_azerbaijan_drone_shot_down

Trend is an Azerbaijani web site, and Armenia Now … well, that’s kind of obvious.

The sky is fall … Oops. Iceberg might melt!

If weather in Antarctica gets, like, really, really warm.

“Warmer waters in this area could, therefore, ultimately be even more damaging than what’s happening in West Antarctica — and the total amount of ice that could someday be lost would raise sea levels by as much as 13 feet.”

(Two uses of “could” does not equal one “will.”)

And: “(V)ast regions of the Totten Glacier in East Antarctica are fundamentally unstable.” WE HAVE BEEN WARMED! Uh, WARNED. Of something.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/05/18/fundamentally-unstable-scientists-confirm-their-worries-about-east-antarcticas-biggest-glacier/

Nose art OK … as long as it’s in good taste

Air Force approves concept of nose art … sort of.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2016/05/14/air-force-nose-art-painted-planes/82979232/

Microsoft sucks

That’s S-U-X-X-X-X-X.

For the first time today I have control of my computer. Control being a temporary matter, given recent history.

Every day for the past few months of days a message has flashed on my screen telling me I need to join millions of others and download Windows 10. For free. For a limited time only.

Every day I click “Nope” or whatever the decline choice is. Every day.

So this morning – about 30 minutes ago – I opened the lid and found a blue screen and the message “WELCOME TO WINDOWS 10!”

The screen gave me two choices: NEXT and I AM NOT BOB MERRIMAN.

I selected the OFF button. After a few seconds, I powered up.

Look! It’s the same blue screen as before! Who would have thought Microsoft was so tenacious?

This time I selected I AM NOT BOB MERRIMAN. A new message appeared, saying that if I declined to accept Windows 10, I would lose a great opportunity to …

I clicked DECLINE.

And waited 7-10 minutes for Microsoft to RESTORE PREVIOUS WINDOWS VERSION.

So, if I read that right, Microsoft removed my previous version and added – without permission – Version 10, which I have declined every day for six months.

Eat ****, Bill Gates. Take your tens of billions of dollars and ….

Come on, Bob. If Bill Gates went up the mountain, he would come down with the belief he had reprogrammed G-d.

Hughes, Arkansas, Zip Code 73248, 32% poverty

Hughes is in St. Francis County, over by the Mississippi River. The city’s 2010 population was 1,441, a decline of 426 from the 2000 census.

Demographics show Hughes 67.76% black, 29.41 white, 1.16% Asian and 0.7% Hispanic. By the U.S. government, “Asian” can be a person from anywhere between Turkey and Japan, and “Hispanic” takes up Mexico, Central America and South America, as well as Spain. So there is a lot of leeway in the numbers, even when the numbers are small.

By the 2000 census figures, per capita income in Hughes was $10,039. About 31.7% of families was below the poverty line. For old folks, the figure was 31.5%.

A weird thing – the 1950 population was 1,686, but 10 years later dropped to 196, then in 1970 jumped to 1,872. Those are government figures; trust them as you will.

http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=997 shows 1,960 people in 1950; 1,872 in 1960; -- in 1970; and 1,919 in 1980.

Here is a picture of downtown Hughes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes,_Arkansas#/media/File:Hughes_AR_022.jpg

St. Francis County demographics show a population 49.01% black, 48.3% white and 4.88% Hispanic. About 23% of county families and 27.5 percent of the total population lives below the poverty line.

The late Sonny Liston was born in St. Francis County. As a heavyweight boxer, Liston won 50 of 54 fights, 39 by knockouts.

‘He ain’t my president and he can’t tell me what to do’

Texas school superintendent Rodney Canvass: “I have 5 daughters and I have 2,500 girls in my protection. Their moms and dads expect me to protect them. And that is what I am going to do.”

http://eagnews.org/schools-reject-obama-transgender-decree-straight-into-the-paper-shredder/

Link at www.gatesofvienna.net

President Hillary will put Bill in charge of the economy

“My husband, who I’m going to put in charge of revitalizing the economy, cause you know he knows how to do it,” Clinton said at a rally on Sunday, ABC News reports. “And especially in places like coal country and inner cities and other parts of our country that have really been left out.”

http://time.com/4336918/hillary-clinton-bill-clinton-economy/

Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

She said that in Kentucky, which means, what, Kentucky Coal Miners Matter, but West Virginia miners do not?

A ‘gay Catholic priest?’

That was one of the strangest things in the news recently, media interest in a man termed “a gay Catholic priest.” The indication is that the priest was a practicing homosexual, that is, he failed to live up to his oath of celibacy. Leave out his apparent disdain of New and Old Testament teachings on the evils of homosexuality, aberration toward God, who created Man and Woman and told them to increase and multiply, a capability beyond homosexuals, unless women homosexuals have sex with a man or use an other than normal means of becoming pregnant.

In order for the priest in question to be "gay," he must be engaging in sex acts with another man or men.

Those who protest the Roman Church’s teachings on homosexuality would screech in anger and disbelief if a priest were referred to as “heterosexual.” But for some reason, “gay Catholic priest” is perfectly OK.

Camouflage makeup, proper application of

Hannah Laskow Defore, IDF soldier, shows how to blend in with the bushes.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/viral-makeup-tutorial-features-idfs-camouflage-palette/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=28d83861c2-2016_05_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adb46cec92-28d83861c2-55395173

Air-to-air refueling

The US Air Force has been doing this for more than 60 years, so it’s just like pulling up to a pump and taking on gas.

Right.

Video includes F104 and F105 refueling (or trying to) from a KB50.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZV3Ffm2qIQ

Monday morning, I've had two cups of coffee, and then AP gives this:

“CONCORD, Calif. – A swarm of aggressive bees have been attacking a town in Northern California.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/swarm-of-aggressive-bees-attack-california-town/ar-BBt5rrP?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=HPCDHP

Nope, nope. Swarm is the subject of the sentence. Swarm is singular. A singular subject requires a singular verb, “has” in this case. “(0)f aggressive bees” is a prepositional modifier explaining “swarm.” Bees is not the subject of the sentence.

Confusion with tense has always been part of grammar. The confusion was exacerbated when gender police proclaimed sexist the longtime rule of using “he” or “his” with gender-neutral subjects. Thought/gender police demanded use of variations of “them” and “they” with gender-free subjects. Those variations are plural.

Whoever controls language controls society and politics. The grammatical tense rule is not self-correcting, but those of us who battle death of grammar will continue the fight.


And then: The all-seeing, all-knowing!

“This 1974 Bronco Woody may be the only one of its kind because we certainly haven’t seen one before.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/this-1974-ford-bronco-woody-is-a-4x4-the-beach-boys-would-drive/ar-BBt4AHT?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCDHP

(I mean, we literally haven’t seen one before.)

Danish integration minister, police have different views

Minister Inger Stojberg: “(G)et on and find a job.”

Police: “(W)e can often solve things through dialogue with disaffected youths.”

(The disaffected yoots throw bricks through bar windows and “conduct daily patrols and approach those who drink, gamble, or engage in other activities contrary to Islamic beliefs.”)

http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm/blog_id/64321/Danish-minister-to-Sharia-troublemakers-Get-a-job

Southard, Oklahoma, Zip Code 73770

Southard is an unincorporated community in Blaine County, in West Central Oklahoma. Southard’s elevation is 1,545 feet. Blaine County’s 2010 population was 9,785. The county has a land area of 928 square miles.

Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck was born in Blaine County. Nash also voiced Daisy Duck, and Donald’s nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie.

(Opinion: Walt Disney built what is now a multi-billion-dollar entertainment group, with sissy Mickey Mouse as icon. I never liked Mickey, although I never missed an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club in the late 1950s. Sure, as an almost teenage boy, I liked the girls. I liked the show Spin and Marty, too, and one that starred (I think) Darlene as a sheriff’s daughter and Earl Holliman as a misunderstood young man. I like Donald Duck. He is headstrong, temperamental, and loyal to Daisy and to his nephews. End of opinion.)

According to zipdatamaps.com, Southard’s population is 9, with 87.5% men and 12.5% women. The site says everybody in Southard is white. Average real estate asking price is $169,485, while the average sale price is $56,304. I don’t believe those real estate numbers.

Coldwell Banker says the population is 5. The median household income is $0. Sixty-seven percent of the residents are marred, and 50% are families with children. The median age of Southard homes is 60 years, with all owned, none rented and all occupied.

http://oklahoma.hometownlocator.com/zip-codes/data,zipcode,73770.cfm says Southard has one business address and eight single family addresses. That site gives the population as 14. The site also claims that of the 11 total housing units, five are owner-occupied, one is rented and five are vacant. Coldwell Banker and Hometown Locator must be looking at some awfully disparate Census reports.

U.S. Gypsum Co. is located on Highway 51A in Southard.

http://www.wetakesection8.com/search/OK/southard/ says Southard has no Section 8 housing.

No psychotherapists, psychiatrists, internet companies, cable or satellite TV companies, either.

We had Lightning and Thunderbolt …

Japan had Ayanami – “Waves whose beauty suggests figures woven in silk.”

http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Swindelle/8140.htm

The U.S. called the seaplane “Mavis.”

Maybe it’s my American mind, but the clunky seaplane does not suggest figures woven in silk.

If Shakespeare be for you, who can stand against you?

Believing the French were attacking his trains and free the prisoners for an attack on his rear, Henry V ordered the killing of the captured French.

“When this dolorous decree and pitifull proclamation was pronounced, pitie it was to see how some Frenchmen were suddenlie sticked with daggers, some were brained with pollaxes, some slaine with malls, other had their throats cut, and some their bellies panched, so that in effect, hauing respect to the great number, few prisoners were saued.” (Holinshed, Chronicles, p. 554) –

http://blog.oup.com/2015/10/shakespeare-agincourt-historical-revisionism/#sthash.60KuDWNI.dpuf

There must have been some justification. Shakespeare provides one.

FLUELLEN: Kill the poys and the luggage! ‘Tis expressly against the law of arms. ‘Tis as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now, as can be offert. In your conscience now, is it not?

GOWER: ‘Tis certain there’s not a boy left alive. And the cowardly rascals that ran from the battle ha’ done this slaughter. Besides, they have burned and carried away all that was in the King’s tent; wherefore the King most worthily hath caused every soldier to cut his prisoner’s throat. O ’tis a gallant king. (Henry V, 4.7.1-10)

Same link.

IDF Staff Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman

“The army awarded Staff Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman, who was killed in a terror attack earlier this year, one of its highest honors Tuesday for representing a ‘shining example of IDF values.’

“Weissman had been shopping with his family in a West Bank supermarket on February 18, when two Palestinian terrorists began attacking customers. The 21-year-old off-duty soldier and another man were seriously wounded in the attack; doctors at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center pronounced Weissman dead a few hours later.

“As he was off-duty at the time, the Nahal Brigade soldier was without a service weapon, but nevertheless fought the attackers ‘barehanded,’ the army said in a statement about his award.

“’He demonstrated in his actions a shining example of IDF values,’ the army said.

“Weissman received a citation from Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Roni Numa, approved by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot.”

http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/05/israeli-murdered-by-palestinian-teens-in-supermarket-given-posthumous-military-honor/

When baseball players did not wear gloves

Pitchers knew lots of ground balls and fly balls and throws would not be caught.

Cherokee Fisher, pitcher, Red Stockings 1876 and Grays 1878: 238 innings pitched; 214 runs allowed; 81 earned runs.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=fishech01

Old Hoss Radbourn played before gloves and during, 1881-91: 4,535 innings pitched; 2,275 runs allowed; 1,348 earned runs.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=radboch01

In the area of ‘We gotta do something!’

Former Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might be looking at charges he failed to protect $2 billion of Iran’s money in U.S. banks.

“According to Iranian officials, a decision by the former government in 2008 to purchase the dollar denominated securities is among the issues paving the way for the assets' confiscation.”

http://www.oratert.com/news/iran/102970.html

I am confused. I did not know the Iranian government could, before the recent nuke agreement with the U.S., buy anything American.

Send in the celebrities!

Teruel, Spain, December 1937-February 1938

“Celebrities and politicians entertained and visited the (Republican) units during this time. American pro-Communist singer Paul Robeson sang for them on Christmas Eve with a repertoire that included L'Internationale and ended with Ol' Man River.[32] Future Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Clement Attlee, left-wing Labour politician Ellen Wilkinson and future Labour Government official and diplomat Philip Noel-Baker visited a British unit.”

…

“Mathews, Hemingway, Robeson and the British politicians have been mentioned previously, and the battle certainly attracted many other such celebrities. One of them was Soviet spy Kim Philby, who was nominally a correspondent for The Times covering the war from the Nationalist side. Evidently he was already under Moscow's orders in Spain but wrote glowing reports about Franco.[45] Near Teruel in December 1937, a shell hit an automobile in which Philby and three other journalists (Bradish Johnson, Eddie Neil and Ernest Sheepshanks) were riding. Philby was the only survivor. Franco personally decorated Philby, to Philby's great exhilaration.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Teruel


It was a strange war, the Spanish one, 1936-38. Celebrities abounded, some supporting the Republic, others Viva Nationalists! Left-wing writers, actors, politicians; right-wing priests and cardinals, writers and politicians -- Fascism and Communism and Anarchists all fighting (literally and figuratively) for a future that never came to pass.

Madison County Arkansas – site of a Civil War massacre and birthplace of Texas gunman John Selman

Madison County is in northwest Arkansas. Fayetteville is in the same area. THE University of Arkansas is at Fayetteville. Several other colleges carry the UofA name, and then a location, but there is only one real University of Arkansas.

The census of 2000 showed Madison County with a population of 14,243, of whom 95.94% were white. That demographic is not unusual in mountain areas of the South. Mountainous land is not cotton land, therefore, few white mountaineers back in the old days owned slaves. Mountain areas were more Unionist than were downslope regions. The mountainous part of western Virginia split from Virginia early in the U.S. Civil War (so-called).

Madison County has one designated city – Huntsville, which is the county seat. There are two towns – Hindsville and St. Paul – and 12 communities. The county also has 21 townships, including Alabam, California, Kentucky, Venus and War Eagle.

In the “Huntsville Massacre” of Jan. 10, 1863, Union soldiers shot nine suspected Confederate sympathizers, killing eight. The Civil War (so-called) was a nasty piece of business away from battlefields, especially in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Ante bellum politics and armed irregular forces – Confederate and Union – contributed to general killings and extralegal executions. The Outlaw Josie Wales does not stray far from what people did to each other during those times.

John Henry Selman, Sr., was born in Madison County in 1839. He served for a time with the 22nd Texas Cavalry and reportedly deserted before the Civil War (so-called) was over. Selman became a bad man and a lawman in West Texas and New Mexico. On Aug. 19, 1895, El Paso Constable Selman shot and killed outlaw/gunfighter/attorney John Wesley Hardin, shooting Hardin one time in the back of the head and three times in the torso as Hardin lay dead on the floor of the Acme Saloon. Eight months later, U.S. Marshal George Scarborough shot and killed Selman in an alley in El Paso.

Ronnie Hawkins was born in Huntsville. He later formed a band called The Hawks and played with Bob Dylan. One of Dylan's songs is John Wesley Harding, "a friend of the poor," who "traveled with a gun in every hand."

Orval E. Faubus, former governor of Arkansas, was born in Coombs Community in Madison County.

Here is a picture of a dirt road in a Madison County, maybe Arkansas.

http://ih0.redbubble.net/image.9030612.3797/flat,550x550,075,f.jpg

If I want to see my favorite teams on MLB TV …

… I’ll have to wait until they play the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets or Cubs.

Tonight’s schedule: Royals v. Yankees and Mets v. Dodgers. A few days ago, MLB TV had Yankees and Red Sox two successive nights.

A thing not imaginable by the Boston-New York-Chicago clique -- Not everybody is a fan of those city's baseball teams.

Here's an example of Northeast mental make-up:

Years ago my wife was executive director of a local chapter of an international woman's organization. The organization's headquarters is in New York City. The organization made some sort of policy change. The first my wife knew of the change was in a letter announcing approval by the organization's national board of directors.

My wife called the organization and said, "It would have been nice if you had let us know this policy change was being considered so we at the local chapters could present our thoughts."

The national person said: "We bought a full page in the New York Times."

My wife: "Not everyone reads the New York Times."

National person: "Of course they do. Everybody reads the Times."

No policemen or policewomen

Stock photographs of “officer persons.”

http://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/officer_person.html

There is a picture of K9 police officer with his police dog. Wonder why it’s not a “police animal?” Shouldn't cats and bears be protesting?

Whatta we want?

Police bears!

When do we want 'em?

Now!

Victim of a man who entered the country illegally

Alien, non-citizen – Whatever the description is today.

It was car crash in 2007, and no one was injured. My pickup was damaged to almost totaled, the main damage such that the driver side door would not open, the point of collision bending and otherwise constricting the fender and door.

Despite lack of personal injury, though, the fact remains that had the illegal been driving only a few mph faster than the 30mph impact speed, or had I been driving slower than 30mph, the alien’s car would have rammed the driver’s door and caused injury to the driver – me.

The collision happened at an intersection in North Little Rock, Ark. I was driving west; the illegal was driving west. The traffic signal was green. When I was in the center of the intersection, the illegal made a left turn and hit my pickup.

I called the police. The illegal did not speak English. My guess is he had been told green meant right of way. The light was green on his side, so in his illegal mind, he had right of way. My guess is that although the illegal had a Missouri license, he had not had a driver’s test.

He was given a traffic ticket by North Little Rock Police.

A couple of years before the crash, Arkansas State Police reported that more than 50 percent of traffic accidents in Sevier County were caused by persons illegally in this country. Sevier County had a chicken processing plant at the time. The county population and that of DeQueen was increasingly Hispanic.

How’s that again?

“Among the businesses is the Ho-Made restaurant for both inside dining and carry-out and a part of the town's social fabric for decades.”

There is a picture, and, yes, it is the Ho-Made Restaurant.

Above that picture is one with the cutline: “The vacant former office of the physician John Pugh was the site of the former Cotton Valley branch library.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Valley,_Louisiana

Obama’s foreign policy dude on manipulating reporters

“'All these newspapers used to have foreign bureaus,' he said. 'Now they don’t. They call us to explain to them what’s happening in Moscow and Cairo. Most of the outlets are reporting on world events from Washington. The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns. That’s a sea change. They literally know nothing.'”

…

“’In the absence of rational discourse, we are going to discourse the [expletive] out of this,’ he said. ‘We had test drives to know who was going to be able to carry our message effectively, and how to use outside groups like Ploughshares, the Iran Project and whomever else. So we knew the tactics that worked.’ He is proud of the way he sold the Iran deal. ‘We drove them crazy,’ he said of the deal’s opponents.”

Whole story: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/magazine/the-aspiring-novelist-who-became-obamas-foreign-policy-guru.html?_r=2

Link: http://hotair.com/archives/2016/05/06/how-the-white-house-sold-the-iran-deal/

Seis de Mayo

My daughter is having a Cinco de Mayo party tonight. She could not have the party last night because of a thing called “work.”

K is not celebrating the French loss at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. She decided to have the party after reading a post on one of those neighborhood bulletin boards or blogs or whatever it’s called. The post was by a woman who said an increase in crime (now practically negligible) was likely to increase because of “the Mexicans” moving into nearby neighborhoods. The woman also posted her fear of lowered property values after witnessing “a black man walking a pit bull” while a real estate agent was showing a house. The woman asked: “What kind of people will buy a house when they see a black man walking a pit bull?”

The woman’s remarks got a lot of attention and replies, all negative, K said. She did not post a response, figuring (correctly) that nothing written or spoken could change the woman’s mind.

Wondering how best to respond, K came up with the idea of a Cinco de Mayo party, progressing from house to house, with each household providing a course of food.

As of this afternoon, K said around 30 people responded to attend.

What better way than using chips and dip, tacos, enchiladas, and tequila to fight racism and ignorance?

NYC looks at upstate farms for city

“New York’s city council has proposed a $5 million municipal farm-subsidy program, under which the city would buy development easements in the Hudson Valley.”

Seems as though impoverished city folk don’t have access to fresh fruit and vegetables, even though the Federal agricultural department shows city’s “food desert” statements wrong.

NYC-backed Green Carts have not solved the fruits and vegetables problem because “Systematic socioeconomic disparities in household purchases persist after controlling for access.” Or, “People gonna buy what they buy.”

http://www.city-journal.org/html/new-yorks-food-desert-myth-14425.html

That “food desert” definition of at least one-third of the local residents living one mile or more from a grocery store that sells fresh food? My wife and I live in a gated community mostly of other retired people, and the nearest grocery store is more than a mile away, but I don’t see anybody protesting lack of food availability.

Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

As we all know, crazy people with guns will obey the law

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a new law allowing licensed concealed carry on public college or university campus with this reasoning:

“From the early days of our nation and state, colleges have been treated as sanctuaries of learning where firearms have not been allowed. To depart from such time-honored protections should require overwhelming justification. I do not find that such justification exists.”

http://hotair.com/archives/2016/05/04/georgia-governor-vetoes-campus-carry-bill/

Yep. Places where “firearms have not been allowed” have not a record of unlawful gun owners shooting people. Crazy people illegally carrying guns or carrying illegal guns see those “No Firearms Allowed” and just shake their heads and go home, stymied from murder.

Sliding down the slope to extinction

Wisconsin school cancels father-daughter dance citing complaints of “not inclusive.”

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/elementary-school-cancels-father-daughter-dance-over-lack-inclusion

(I don’t know what that means, a father-daughter dance not being “inclusive.” Does it mean mothers should be included? Or … What?)


The school administration said it had received less than 10 complaints. How many offended persons are necessary to overturn a 90%-plus approved event?

Mass. school music classes must include homosexual composers.

“Incorporate LGBT composers and musicians into the curriculum • Change ‘heterosexual’ lyrics in songs to be ‘queer’ – and explain to students that not everyone is heterosexual. • Use gender-neutral pronouns, such as ‘ze’ instead of ‘he’ or ‘she’. • Do not use terms such as ‘boys’ and ‘girls’, or have events where males and females dress or act differently. • Share a list of LGBTQ-friendly resources, organizations, and websites with students. If possible, start a ‘gay-straight alliance’ (GSA) club. • Refer students to LGBTQ-friendly guidance counselors. • Distribute material from the national LGBT organizations such as GLSEN. Become a proactive LGBTQ ally. • Provide homosexual and transgender role models for students. (And come out to your students if you’re L, G, B, T, or Q.) • Display LGBTQ “safe space” stickers in the classroom.

http://moonbattery.com/?p=71623#sthash.btzFD6id.dpuf

Both stories linked from http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

A You Tube thing

I didn’t access the thing, but the title is interesting:

‘unbelievable alvin and the chipmunk…’

‘Instead of bringing out just want, the
‘world, And never think of your attitude.’

Sure. Why not? From now on, I will not bring out my wanting the world and I will never again think of my attitude. Satisfied, alvin and the chipmunk?

Good history

IN 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd, both of the New Democratic Party, signed an Executive Order ending enslavement of African-Americans in the United States. When signing the Order, Lincoln, whose great-grandfather was a Free African-American, said his decision would bring peace to the nation and prosperity to all, especially to those African-Americans freed by his hand. Todd, whose great-grandmother was an enslaved African-American in Kentucky, agreed.

Why African-Americans were enslaved in the United States is not known. Rumors abound of large numbers African-Americans held as slaves in a part of the country known as “the South,” but researchers have been unable to find documentation supporting those rumors. Likewise, researchers have not discovered, other than in rumored references, to a city called “Washington” in the area of Capitol City.

There are tales, too, of a great war in the middle of the 19th century, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1 million soldiers. As with other reputed events of that era, researchers have found no proof.

State Department cancels plan to pay Pakistan to buy F-16s

Deal would have sent $699 million to Lockheed-Martin for up to eight aircraft and equipment. Congress pressed the State Department, which told Pakistan to “put forward national funds.” Guess – State or DOD will find $699 million in some other fund, and Pakistan, as well as Lockheed-Martin, will be mollified.

A State Department spokesman said “effective engagement with Pakistan was ‘critical’ to promoting democracy and economic stability in the country.” Sarcastic laughter was heard seeping up from other parts of Foggy Bottom.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/pakistan/2016/pakistan-160503-presstv01.htm?_m=3n%2e002a%2e1708%2eye0ao05v9c%2e1kiy

Crazy Ivan

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Best+of+Crazy+Russian&&view=detail&mid=81A461E272C29202FE1381A461E272C29202FE13&FORM=VRDGAR

Alcohol might have been involved.

The cat in the meat market around 2:50 was quite sober. And taking advantage of the situation.

Anybody who dies will be sent to a work camp

Kim Jong Un has “banned all weddings – and funerals – for the coming week as the reclusive country gears up to anoint him as their official leader at the first Workers' Party of Korea Congress in 36 years, Britain’s Sunday Times reports.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kim-jong-un-issues-temporary-ban-on-weddings-and-funerals-for-security/ar-BBswOjq?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCDHP

Shoe war, or, Obama’s Pentagon trips over trade pact

"Rob DeMartini, New Balance's president and CEO, said he agreed not to oppose the trade pact in exchange for assurances from Michael Froman, the Obama administration's top trade official, that he would ease the impact by helping the company get a Defense Department contract to produce up to 225,000 pairs of athletic shoes a year for military recruits and soldiers. That never happened, the company said, then unleashed its attacks on the trade pact after years of reluctant silence."
…
"Beyond the allegations that the Pentagon shops overseas to dress its servicemen and that it used a contract to bait a U.S. manufacturer on a political matter, the Pentagon also is accused of flouting the will of Congress on a major procurement issue."

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/05/02/new-balance-snub-latest-in-long-line-of-pentagon-miscues.html

You mean the command branch of the government would issue orders that negatively affect American companies?

What’s the reason for this?

At a local station: Unleaded regular: $2.15 9/10; Diesel: $2.15 9/10.

I have never seen gasoline and diesel priced the same. Before diesel became popular as an automobile and pickup fuel, the price was way below gasoline, but went way above gasoline with additional diesel-powered cars and pickups and the great increase in numbers of tractor-trailer trucks.

We don't need no edjukashun

You said there would be chicks … Uh, girls … Uh …

Peter Fricke, Investigative Reporter

“The University of Southern California cancelled an event for students in its game-design program last week because the panel of industry leaders did not include any women.

“Just hours before the ‘Legends of the Games Industry’ discussion was scheduled to begin on April 20, the USC Interactive Media & Games department announced on its Facebook page that the event had been cancelled ‘in the interest of promoting diversity and inclusion,’ and that a replacement event ‘with a balanced group of panelists’ will be arranged in the coming weeks.

“’The panel didn’t reflect the diversity within the USC community and the games industry at large,’ read an accompanying statement from Professor Anthony Borquez. ‘We regret presenting an all-male panel and are committed to a diverse and inclusive games industry.’”

Director of USC Games Tracy Fullerton told The Daily Trojan that ‘there was no perfect choice here,’ but maintained that she believes she made the right call by cancelling the event.

“’There was only the choice to stand for one set of values or another. So, I chose the path I believe in,’ she explained. ‘You all are free to disagree, but I think it is the right side of history.’”

http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=7538

There was a girl … uh, female participant, but something happened and she withdrew.

Majoring in Queer?

‘Schools such as Mizzou, Brown, Harvard, and the University of Wyoming will host lavender graduations, according to the Human Rights Campaign.’

Victoria Stroup, Missouri Campus Correspondent

“Over 100 colleges and universities will be hosting a separate graduation ceremony for LGBTQ and ally students this spring.

“According to the Human Rights Campaign, the ‘Lavender Graduation’ (a reference to the pink triangles Nazis forced gay men to wear) will take place on at least 124 college campuses in the United States in the coming weeks.

“The graduations are intended to ‘provide a sense of community for minority students who often experience tremendous culture shock at their impersonalized institutions.’

The HRC also says that the Lavender Graduation is often ‘the payoff for staying in school, and friends and families find the smaller, more ethnic ceremonies both meaningful and personal.’

“The ceremony is a ‘cultural celebration’ to recognize LGBTQ students of all races and ethnicities, and aims to encourage them to mentor their younger peers, as well as to recognize their contribution to their various universities.”

http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=7537

(I had to step away for a moment and find a trash can for use as an immediate barf receptacle. It’s OK. Breakfast was not as good coming up as going down, but I will survive.

(Now. What is LGBTQ “cultural celebration?” Used to, people sometimes mentioned “homosexual lifestyle,” which I figured meant a guy s****** another guy’s d***, or a woman e***** another woman’s p****. But now, all that is “cultural?” One guy s****** another guy’s d*** is cultural?

(I will survive for now, but whether American and Western society has a real future … Not so sure.)