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.
