The tropics have been fairly quiet for the last week or so, but one disturbance is showing up on the map.
Thankfully, we are outside the 7 day cone, so the shoot this weekend should be okay. We're not sure yet where it is going, so a weather eye will be necessary. It's hotter than hell outside this afternoon It's 95 out there right now, with a wind chill of 101. Humidity running about 80%.
Listening to talk radio this morning, I'm hearing outrage over the Olympic opening, where drag queens mocked the Last Supper. Oh, it's full-throated outrage.
So, I have to ask myself': What would Jesus do?
The record is clear. Jesus was mocked, persecuted, prosecuted, condemned, and executed. Luke 23:34 recorded that Jesus forgave them. "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
That is good enough for me.
I screenshot this from Fox News this morning. It seems that ol' Joe has a plan for everything now that he's a lame duck.
Good luck with that. The first two, at least, will require a constitutional amendment.
What I've head of his SCOTUS term plan is that each justice will be limited to an eighteen-year term, staggered every two years. So, each president will appoint two justices during a four-year term. With, of course, the advise and consent of the Senate.
It's a plan. We'll see how far it gets down the road.
Elon Musk asks a very pertinent question.
If diversity hiring is good, why do Democrats get mad when you point out that Kamala Harris is a diversity hire?
That is a very good question.
I'm planning a major event for next weekend, the Louisiana State Championship of Cowboy Fast Draw. It's an indoor event, so I'm not worried about rain. However, I am concerned that we are in the midst of hurricane season, so I've been watching the NOAA website. Here is the 7-day tropical outlook.
One little disturbance with a plow probability of intensifying. That makes me feel better, but I've seen these things gin up in two or three days, so we'll keep a weather eye on the Gulf.
I'm going to be extremely busy over the next week.
With all the Biden-Harris talk of the great economy, it's time to revisit that old commodity that we all use on a daily basis. Unleaded gasoline. It has been my habit to take a photo at the gas pump on the last day of a president's term and compare it to reality later. So, here is a picture I posted a while back.
As you can see, when Trump left office, unleaded gasoline at my favorite station was $1.979. Below, a photo I took today at the same station.
Gas is still considerably higher than it was the day Biden took office. That is complete and total failure. Only one of many failures from the Biden cabal.
After I filled the car today, I went to the grocers, bout a 5 lb bag of potatoes, two pounds of sausage, and one bag of peanuts in the shell. Over $20.00. The Biden cabal might be touting a low inflation rate, but that only means that prices are steadily rising. Unless I'm missing something.
It seems that yesterday, NORAD intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers closing on the Alaska Air Defense Zone.
NORAD detected, tracked, and intercepted two Russian TU-95 and two PRC H-6 military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on July 24, 2024. NORAD fighter jets from the United States and Canada conducted the intercept.
They never crossed into our airspace, but the timing, just ahead of Biden's address, seems to send a message. We are not the only ones watching this election.
I took my Mom to a routine doctor visit this morning. I was off the net.
Got home, and turned on the computer. I see that Cheatle has resigned. Because no one would fire her. Good riddance. The Secret Service needs a complete overhaul, and they have to do it without a "stand down" period.
I also understand that DHS Sec Mayjerkus was outraged over the treatment of Cheatle yesterday in Congress. He can be outraged. No one gives a shit. If this had never happened, we would not be talking about it at all. It did happen, and we are outraged. The failures of the security detail were covered on live TV for everyone to see.
I don't give a shit what Mayjerkus thinks.
In the early 1980s, there was a nationwide problem in law enforcement. President Reagan came into office and solved that problem with is institution of Peace Officers Standard Training. Federally mandated training that every cop must have, from the village marshal to the FBI. Everyone. Basic knowledge that every police officer must have.
Yesterday I watched most of the testimony of the Secret Service director, Kim Cheatle, and I was struck by how poorly she had prepared for the inquisition, and her apparent lack of basic tradecraft. She could not answer very basic questions, like how many agents are assigned to the Trump detail, how many were on duty at the time of the assassination attempt and why the glass building was unsecured., She didn't know how many shots had been fired, nor how many pieces of spent brass were found on the roof of the building.
She had no timeline, which is freely available from public news sources. The timeline ain't a secret, it was broadcast live on television. The fact that she didn't have a timeline is utter incompetence.
In short, she appeared totally clueless, totally unprepared, and totally unserious about the assassination. She should be totally unemployed.
After Joe's cowardly letter from yesterday afternoon, the Dems are in a mad scramble to put together a ticket. We haven't seen the President, for all we know, the coroner is working on him. Just the letter. The manly thing to do would be for Joe to show his pasty face and tell us he isn't running. So far he is a no-show.
Whether or not Kamala is the pick is yet to be seen. And who the VP pretender might be. It's all up in the air. We're hearing lots of stuff, and the news will shake out eventually. This morning, the Democrat party is a sh*t show.
It won't be a Harris-Newsome ticket. That pairing has the same constitutional trouble as a Trump-Rubio ticket. No rational candidate would throw away that many electoral votes. The news will change 30 times today, and will appear to be utter chaos.
Kamala is the safest bet. Other wise they disenfranchise everyone who voted in the primary. Today the largest threat to democracy is the Democrat party itself.
It's Sunday afternoon, and I'm just learning that Joe Biden just took a dump on the Democrats. He's out, done, fini. Kamala is the heir apparent. He'll serve out his tern, because someone has to pardon Hunter, but he ain't running for a second term.
The Democrats are in complete disarray and the coming days may well tell the tale. It will be interesting to see what they do at their convention.
What will the Democrat ticket look like? Only time will tell.
I see that the news-critters are reporting that Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas is deceased. Thirty-three years in the US House, she was a colorful soul, and Momma told me to never speak ill of the deceased.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, I will not attend the funeral, but that does not mean that I am opposed to it.
I don't even like to say that word, but yesterday we noticed a lead under the sink in the kitchen. That fixture was installed when the house was built n 2001and it was leaking, so I put Belle in the car and we went to Lowe's. It has always been my practice to let the lady pick out the fixture she wants, and that practice has served me well.
Have you ever laid on your back under a kitchen sink, and cussed and cried trying to get tools between the basin and the wall, trying to disconnect a plumbing fixture? Mo too. This morning, I said "the hell with it" and went to a local place that specializes in plumbing. I told the tech what I was doing, and be brought out a Ridgid EZ Change Faucet Tool.
This thing is the cat's meow. It's basically an updated basin wrench. The job still ain't fun, but there is a whole lot less cussing. Tightening the supply lies to the faucet is easy-peasy.
If I had known I needed this tool, I might have done a little research. It worked great, but I could have saved a few bucks But, when water is running across the kitchen floor, it is no time to quibble over cents.
Running around this morning listening to talk radio, the news seems to be that Joe is being pressured to drop out of the race. Evidently the pressure is ratcheting up. Will he go? Who knows?
A brokered convention would be a show-stopper Would Kamala be at the top of the ticket?
Personally I don't think it would help. The Democrat brand is damaged and the party is fractured I don't know if even Michelle Obama could turn it around, or if she wants to. Maybe they consider that this election could be lost, and prep someone for 2028. Who knows what they are thinking?
If Trump wins, and that is looking more likely by the day, his era will be over in 2028. The Dems have time to rebuild the bench and come up wiht a plan that does not consist entirely of Not Trump.
Trump was shot on Saturday. Today is Wednesday
No rioting, no American cities burned. No shops looted.
The Democrat machine is worried about retaliation. Yet, there is no proof that anyone is going to retaliate about anything.
Secret Service director Cheatle is spouting bullshit. Her "slant roof" alibi is utter nonsense. The lunatic managed to use it, but it was unsafe for her counter-snipers? Horse shit.
Have you noticed that no rioting has occurred?
Commenter Drew458 says
law enforcement says rifle is a DPMS AR-15 in 5.56, purchased by Cooks’ father over a decade ago. No other info.
Interesting. I happen to own a DPMS Model A-15. I picked it up 2015-16 from a pawn shop. I think I gave $300 for it. It's a low-end AR with no frills. No sights, no dust cover, no forward assist. It has a middling trigger and is a flattop.
Mine is multi-caliber, marked on the receiver. Both 5.56 and .223 run through it just fine. It's not a high-end AR, quite the contrary. It's the budget model, but it serves me just fine. Mine has a Vortex red dot that cost about what the rifle did. As it's set up, it is capable of 3 minutes, probably better with a better trigger, better optics, and a better shooter behind the stock.
We now know that President Trump has picked Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate.
We still don't know what rifle the shooter used against Trump and the crowd on Saturday. We're told that it is an AR style rifle, purchased legally by the shooter's father. We're told it was chambered in 5.56. We don't know who manufactured it, nor whether he used an optic. I have heard that it only had iron sights on a rail, but I have no confirmation of that, one way or the other.
We still don't know why May-jerk-us still has a job. He's hiding behind the tired old canard of "active investigation" to avoid answering questions. He's worthless, and has been since he hired on. The man has no honor at all, but Biden doesn't fire anyone.
If anyone has any info on how the rifle was kitted out, let me know. The rarest AR in the world is the one that is bone-stock. Curious minds, etc.
I recall a time when I was training soldiers. It was a beautiful morning and we were running a qualification range for the 1911. The sun was behind us and the targets were well lit, a perfect scenario. From the tower, I began to pick up glints of copper as the bullets went down range. They looked like angry bumblebees, steaking toward the berm.
In other times, I've been able to watch the trace of a bullet as it goes downrange. There are those odd times when the combination of light and air density and humidity combine to give a visible trace as the bullet passes.
In the photo below, which I cannot couch for, the photographer seems to have caught the trace of the bullet as it passes Trumps head. The photo is widely circulated and may be enhanced or manipulated, but it may be legit.
Either way, it is a cool photo. And yes, sometimes we can see a bullet in flight.
I will thank God that President Trump survived, and I will pray for the peaceful repose of those that didn't. The evil act of the lunatic on the roof will reverberate long after we forget his name.
Three people were injured at the Trump rally by gunfire from the lunatic on the roof. One dead on the scene, two injured. Those three have watered the tree of Liberty with their own blood. Let us not forget the role they played, and the sacrifice they made. I'm sure that we will learn their names in the coming hours or days,
If Biden has any honor left in his decrepit body, he would immediately award then the Presidential Medal of Freedom. They are much more deserving than the political hacks who seem to get that medal.
I'm watching the news about the Trump shooting.
Political violence is never the answer. The shooter is to be condemned in the strongest terms. We don't know who he is at this point.
CBS is calling this a "strategic failure" of the security detail. I'm not going to blame the security detail. There may have been a failure, but I know how these things happen. This is the shooter's fault. I understand that the shooter is dead, but we don't yet know who he was, which tells me that he wasn't a Republican.
Now is not the time for retribution. We'll take that in the ballot box. I'm just now hearing that the shooter was 200-300 yards away, using an AR style rifle. We'll learn more later.
What strikes me as odd, CBS is not referring to the AR style rifle as a "high powered" cartridge.
Here is waht I'm listening to right now.
As we learn more, I'll have more. I'd really like to learn how they reveal the identity and background of the shooter.
We'll learn more tomorrow.
Between normal day-to-day, and going to the doctor's office, I am struck by how weird this election cycle is getting. It's so weird that even the Babylon Bee is stymied.
Every Republican I know wants Joe to stay in the race. Popcorn sales are up, we're just watching the steady decline of a man who has won the Democrat nomination, fair and square. Yet, there is an active coup d'état among the mainstream media, Hollywood, and some members of Congress. It's stunning to watch.
Biden went through the primary process, say about it what you might, but he won the delegates. He deserves the nomination. Yet, they are actively plotting against him, Trying to disenfranchise millions of voters who pulled the lever for Biden. This is the party that tells us that democracy is at stake?
Trump, on the other hand, is simply sitting back, watching this unfold. To paraphrase a great military mind, Never interrupt your opponent when he is destroying himself.
I really ned to run to the store and pick up some more popcorn.
Joe's campaign is falling apart, even after the Monday letter where he doubled-down on staying in the race. Reports are coming in that Dr. Jill is the stumbling block, keeping Joe in the race. She doesn't want to go.
It appears that the Democrat establishment is coming more closely to the simple fact that Joe no longer has what it takes to lead the country, much less to beat Trump. The entire Democrat establishment has enabled this old geezer to get as far as he has gotten, but the debate two weeks ago showed the world that Father Time has caught up with Joe.
Joe told George Whathisname that only a message form God would take him out of the race. Joe has a hgh-stakes presser this afternoon. Everyone is going to be watching for any crack inthe armor, but I suspect that the armor has worn thin. Joe still has the delegates, but later today it may become apparent to every delegate that they cannot in good conscience cast a vote for Joe.
Democracy is messy. The next two weeks smacks of one connotational crisis after another.
I wonder who Trump is going to pick for his VP? And, if the Angel Gabriel is going to show up at the debate tonight?
Nothing major, but a bunch of routine appointments in our near future. I an the sibling that takes my Mom to her appointments, and I am happy to be able to do that. Belle has a couple of appointments in the next couple of weeks, and Mom has at least one (I'll have to re-check the calendar), and I have a couple.
This getting old crap keeps us busy, just going to the sawbones offices. I can recall a ten year period when I never cast a shadow on a medical office. Come to think of it, this all started after I had been dating Belle for a while. She's an RN and talked me into going to the doc simply to establish a baseline.
This is all her fault.
So, the New York Times is reporting that a noted physician who specializes in motor diseases has been regularly visiting the White House. The guy is the leading doc in Parkinson's disease. But, the reporting from the White House doc leads to more questions than it answers.
Instead, Dr. O’Connor implied that most of Dr. Cannard’s visits were related to treating other people who work at the White House. “Prior to the pandemic, and following its end, he has held regular neurology clinics at the White House Medical Clinic in support of the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations,” Dr. O’Connor wrote.
First question: Why do we have thousands of active duty service members assigned to the White House? I could see a couple of hundred, but thousands?
Second question: How many of then have Parkinson's? Jeez, it sounds like an epidemic?
I sincerely doubt that we have thousands of "active duty members" assigned to the White House, who all have Parkinson's. A more complete explanation is in order.
Driving to town this morning, I heard the news that Biden has told Democrats that he is staying in the race Here's the deal. He went through the primary process, and whatever else you may think about it, he won the delegates. He is the only one who can release them. It's his decision. I'm sure that he was counseled by Jill, who really likes living in the White House, and by Hunter, who knows that when Dead retires, the gravy train is over.
Biden is convinced that he is the only person on the planet who can beat Donald Trump. We all recall that Trump has been in only two political races in his life. He won one and lost one.
A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris. That should make the Democrats sleep better tonight.
Beryl coma ashore southwest of Houston, TX this morning as a Cat 1 hurricane. Not a particularly big storm, as hurricanes go. It is probably a tropical storm as I type this and will quickly downgrade as it passes over land.
As one commenter noted, on July 4th, Louisiana became the 29th state to adopt Constitutional Carry.
Very nice to find out that Louisiana is now the 29th constitutional carry state. Somehow the tv news media here in the NE missed this story completely!
Honestly, it wasn't much of a story here either. Louisiana is so very gun-friendly that this law was more of a hat-tip to culture than anything else. It certainly won't change behavior.
Storm Beryl is barreling toward the Texas coast. By all appearances, it should make landfall near Matagorda Bay and promptly devolve into a rain maker. Landfall is expected sometime during the overnight hours.
The morning after our national birthday celebration, we awaken to another hot, summer day. The news is filled with a hurricane about to slam into the Yucatan peninsula and how long Biden will stay in the race.
There is nothing I can do about either of these issues. However, I do understand that tonight ABC News will air an interview with our President. That might be interesting, although I can't imagine that it will be unedited.
There are plenty of calls for the President to step aside, but I am struck by the number of pundits who have done the research and say that state laws and federal campaign laws are starting to catch up to the process, and every day that a decision is delayed makes it that much harder to change course. Like a hurdle race where the farther you go down the track, the higher the hurdles get. At some point it will be impossible to clear the hurdle. The campaign money is Joe's to spend, and the delegates are Joe's to keep or release.
This bleeds over to the Republican side too. Donald Trump may well choose a running mate hased on who his opponent might be. The uncertainty of who the Democrats might eventually choose creates uncertainty everywhere.
Strong words from resolute men.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Shot answer, we don't know. The models are all over the place and changing constantly. What we do know is that the models will change and the hurricane will go where it will.
This is today. Tomorrow might tell a different story. I've seen models that take it into Louisiana, I've seen models that take it into Mexico. This will firm up over time.
The Supreme Court published a decision today that ex-presidents have presumed immunity for official acts. This covers Trump of course, as it will cover all ex-presidents. I feel that this is the correct interpretation. of our Constitution.
Not everyone feels this way. Some lunatics are saying that the only way to stop Trump now is through violence. The very thought should give his security detail something else to consider.
We learned this weekend that Creepy Joe is doubling down on staying in the race. His apologists are now saying that the debate disaster was just one bad night. We've all watched aged relatives go through their final years, and there comes a time when the family is forced to take the keys away. The fact that Joe has the nuclear football doesn't strike me as a comforting idea.
If Joe persists in running, we all know that a vote for Biden is really a vote for Kamala, and that thought makes me want to get up and pour a stiff drink.
