Military Matters

 It seems that the top Coastie has been relieved by the Trump administration.

Fox News first reported Fagan’s termination, citing issues with recruitment, operations concerns and a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion as the reasons for her relief. An ALCOAST, which is a message to all members of the Coast Guard, announced the relief.

As a full admiral, this probably puts the swan-song on her career.  She should trot down to the DEERS office and put in her paperwork to retire.  She's done. 

In other matters, I see that Trup declared the border a national emergency and is sending troops down to patrol the border and assist the Border Patrol.  I wonder if the 1st Cavalry Division has gotten the warning order yet?  This seems like a great mission for First Horse.

Snow

 The weather-weenies were right.  At 4:00 a.m., it is snowing in central Louisiana.

We'll wait till daylight and see if it is sticking.

UPDATE** At 7:00, still snowing.  Beginning to accumulate. No wind, just light, fluffy snow.

The Big Freeze

 Along with the weather forecast for wintry precipitation across south Louisiana, the weather-weeniest are also predicting record low temps.  Between now and Thursday, we'll get down in the low teens.  While this is not shocking for most of the nation, it will take many of us by surprise, mainly in the form of broken pipes. And dead car batteries.

The weather guys are forecasting that we will get 2-4 inches of snow, but that we are on the north of the snow line and that coastal south Louisiana will get more than us.  One forecast I've seen today says that New Orleans will get 6-8 inches in blizzard-like conditions. That would be an unmitigated disaster. New Orleans has absolutely zero snow experience or equipment.

Belle and I are going to be okay.  This is not our first rodeo. We'll simply stay home and eat soup until itis over.  She and I, in pat lives, lived in the Frozen North.  We know how to do this.  We don't like the cold, which is why we live in sub-tropical Louisiana, 

This will be over in a few days.  They are predicting temps in the 60s by Sunday.

Besmirched

 It seems that Joe Biden has given a hearty "screw you" to faithful members of his administration.  For example, General Milley, the past chairman of the Joint Chiefs. While we may disagree with him, I don't believe that he did anything criminal. Except, maybe, when he called his Chinese counterpart.

The withdrawal from the Afghan adventure was a disaster, but I assume that Milley was under orders.  Certainly nothing that would sustain a conviction under the US Code or the UCMJ. Why would he need a pardon? Why besmirch the honor of a career officer without good cause?  Milley is now hopelessly besmirched. He has neither honor nor dignity.

While these pardons protect the crew criminally,  it also removes their 5th amendment protections.  They can still testify.

Inauguration

 Well, we made it.  Today marks the end of the long national nightmare of the Biden crime family. Fifty years of public corruption comes to an end, not with prison sentences, but with a demented old crony politician stripped of dignity and shuffling off the national stage.  No one is going to miss the old bastard.

He's not dead yet, but his family is in mourning.  They are basically unemployable.  They can no longer trade money for the favors that Dad can bestow.  The money dried up today. There is no more, and the family brad is so tainted that the stench of corruption can be smelled up-wind.

The nominal news today is that Donald J Trump will be inaugurated for his second term, and that is good news for the country.  The better news is that the Biden crime family becomes irrelevant.

When I look at the Biden family, I am struck by the history of the Old West.  The tales of a figure who escaped justice, the bad man who got away, but was found later dead a the base of a tree, or was found trampled in a stockyard.  Karma seems to replay itself like a scratched album.

TikTok

 I understand that TikTok is off line.  I don't know, I've never used it, but from what I hear, it went down this morning. I absolutely do not have a dog in this hunt.

Congress passes a law, and the president signed it, and it was challenged in court, and the Supremes said that when Congress passes a law and the president signs it, that's the way it is supposed to work, and unless something is terribly askew, they ain't getting involved.

So, if you want TikTok back online, it's time to apply some pressure. White your Congress-critter.  That's the way it works.

UPDATE**  That didn't last long.  I understand from my daughter that it is up and running again.

Storm Watch

 Termite reminded me this morning that the weather-weenies are updating their predictions for Monday-Tuesday with a winter storm watch.  It's going to be snow-mageddon in central Louisiana. They tell us that the low  will get down to 16F, which is 20 degrees colder than we like it this time of year.

For much of the country, that amount of snow wouldn't be much of a challenge, but we don't get snow down here in the Deep South.  I  have one grandkid who was born in 2002 and didn't see snow until 2010.  According to my archives, the next snowfall was in 2019.  That was a huge pain in the ass, because it was mostly an ice storm.

Louisiana has no snowplows, or ice removal equipment.  Weather like that comes once in a decade.  The highway guys will put sand on the bridges, and everyone else will stay home. In less than 24 hours, most of it will melt and we'll go back to running the roads.

We'll be okay.  I have food in the pantry and the propane bottles are all filled.  Extra gasoline in case we need the generator. We'll be fine.

I see that Trump has moved the inauguration indoors, and that seems like a smart move.

Timber

 Watching the wildfires in California and struck by the loss of property and lives.

Driving to town yesterday I followed a log truck.  Not unusual, we have lots of log trucks in Louisiana, but what struck me about this load was that there were only four logs on the truck. And, it was a full load. As I looked closer, the logs looked like hardwood, easily six feet at the base.  Someone is going to get some beautiful slabs out of those logs.

And I wondered.  California is going to need a lot of logs to rebuild, and the wildfires are in forests.  Why not cut the logs that are standing and use those to mill into lumber.  Institute good forestry practices and treat the forest as the renewable resource that it is?

As a young man, I had to know the native pine species in Louisiana Basically, long leaf, short leaf and loblolly's.  As the pines were cut down and reforested, the Southern White Pine replaced most of the native species, but I still see the native species.

There is no reason California can't manage its forests, except that it seems they can't manage water or power either.  We'll see what the next elections reveal about Los Angeles.  Has the disaster changed enough minds that forest management is no longer a foreign concept.

If you want to build houses, you gotta have lumber, and it's standing right there in the forest.

Don't Let The Door HIt You

 Lyin' Joe is giving his farewell speech tonight, and I can't wait until this national nightmare is over.

Everything that Joe has done has been despicable, misguided, or felonious.  The simple fact is that our elected president is a demented old fool who can't tell the difference between fact and fantasy.  If he were a simple old curmudgeon, it might be understandable, but he lies about everything.  

A week or so ago, President Trump took a page from Ronald Reegan's playbook and told Hamas to release the hostages before he takes office.  Or else. Today, Hamas wisely announced the release of the hostages.

As sure as God made little green apples, Joe is going to try and take credit for that tonight. The fact is that Hamas knew that Joe is an empty vessel, and they didn't want to find out what manner of hell Trump was about to rain on them. Joe had nothing to do with this.

The next few days will be about waiting for the calendar to run out, and Joe to leave the national stage.  He's over, done, kaput. And not a moment too soon.

Hey, Joe!  Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Surgery

 After not going to the eye doc for about five years, I decided in December that I needed new glasses and made an appointment. He told me that I had cataracts and scheduled surgery.  We did the right eye two weeks ago and the left eye yesterday..  I have a follow-up today.

For the surgery I was mildly sedated, drifting in and out.  I talked to the doc during the surgery, but I was woozy.  In recovery, they told me not to drive for 24 hours, and Belle heard them say that.  She was a registered nurse for well over 40 years and won't let me drive until tomorrow.  So, she'll take me to the doc today.

I'm getting really good at putting eye drops in my eye, and skill I never wanted to acquire.  It's all part of getting older, which heats the alternative. In another week, I'll get a new glasses script and can go buy a new set.  I am amazed at how much better I'm seeing things now, but I'll still need lenses. Something about astigmatism that I have had since childhood.

From talking with friends and family, this is pretty common at my age.  Lots of folks have these problems, and the eye docs are pretty good at this kind of thing.  The reason I'm telling you about this is to boost the signal.  If any of you old farts have been putting it off, talk to your friends and go get an eye appointment.  It's not that big of a deal.  Just another pain in the ass and we know how to deal with those.

Oh, Why Not?

I've been busy today with doctors appointments, so why not listen to a little C.W. McCall?