Making Nice

See where Obama is calling for everyone to accept the results of the election blah blah blah.

My cynical and suspicious mind thinks he is laying the ground for a Gerald Ford - Richard Nixon situation. I think we all know some real ugly shit will be coming out from Shillary's emails, the Clinton RICO, and  at what level Obama is involved, just saying.

Nah, couldn't happen.

Seldom Seen, Buick Reatta

Buick Reatta 1988-1991. Could have been a classic but the quality control was terrible. They were unreliable money pits. Any over five years old were nearly sale proof. Other than Credit Unions, few lenders would touch them.

GM earned their decent into bankruptcy. Take the Pontiac Fiero. 1984-1988. Fun cars, utterly unreliable with a reputation for catching fire. The 2nd generation with a V-6 was a great car but too late to undo the damage of the money pits before it. Same money bought you a Toyota MR-2. Great car but my rotund body couldn't slide past the side bolsters.

You can have great engineers and great designers but lose your customers by seeing how damn cheap you can build them. Dodge Intrepid comes to mind.
In 1993 it was miles ahead of the competition. However, the rear seat was terrible. Blasts of cold air coming from the door handle area just right to hit the legs of a child in a car seat. So much noise coming in from the trunk the rear seat passengers couldn't hear the front seat passengers talking. 

Ford? Using cheap plastic parts in their automatic transmissions which failed around 60,000 miles.

Still, it made me smile today in Scottsbluff to see that older car carefully maintained and still going.

Oh No, No Snow

Once again, Nature shows who is boss. All along the Colorado/New Mexico Rockies there hasn’t been enough snow for the ski resorts to open. A huge negative economic impact for the tourist industry but a boon to commercial travels and truckers.

Last winter snow started early and stayed late. Spring followed with a lot of moisture making the prairies greener than I’ve seen them in many years. Now they are going back to brown.

This time last year my SHTF winter backpack went into the Prius I drive 500 miles a day three days a week each start of shift.This year, other than unpacking it, checking the contents, replacing batteries, etc. it hasn’t been touched.

A mild winter isn’t good news. The areas East and West of the Rockies are high desert. Water is life.

On a personal level I’m enjoying the mild weather. Soon enough I will be driving in Wyoming blizzards.

You take the bad with the good and I do it gladly to live where my roots are.

Feel The Rage

People out in the streets protesting the election.  You Tube Videos of people crying and raging. Why?

WSF, World Class Philosopher, and a legend in his own mind, has the answer.

Trump voters have had years of drip, drip, drip put downs, erosion of rights, mocking of beliefs, and one loss after another. They developed emotional scar tissue  and toughness. Finally, they found someone to rally behind who said, “It is past time for this shit to cease”.

The (P)regressives have been on a roll. A few minor setbacks but mainly “winning”. They have convinced themselves of their own righteousness. To the rest of us deplorables, it has been their way or the highway.

In one night they lost it all.  They have never experienced a loss. How dare we deplorables do this to them? They don’t know how to cope, having never needed to cope before.

Full disclosure. The mean spirited side of me is enjoying the hell out of this. Yes, I’m deficient in many Christian virtues. So, sue me.

As always YMMV.

Breaking Patterns

One great thing about Trump’s victory is he will be able to nominate one or, more likely, several Supreme Court Justices.

Let us hope he breaks entrenched traditions by nominating people who DID NOT attend Harvard or Yale Law. Surely, other law schools graduate qualified jurists. 

Political Rant

Lost amid the election news static is the news an entire armored brigade, the 3^rd Brigade, 4^th Infantry Division, being deployed to Europe for a nine month rotation. Also going are aviation assets of the 10^th Mountain Division. Current plans are for a permanent rotation, that is, a new unit every nine months.

https://www.google.com/search?espv=2&q=3rd+brigade+europe+deployment&oq=3rd+brigade+europe+deployment&gs_l=serp.3...3496.27822.0.28615.55.36.0.3.3.0.196.3345.21j12.33.0....0...1c.1.64.serp..25.24.2069.0..0j0i20k1j0i131k1j0i67k1j0i10k1j0i22i30k1j33i160k1j33i21k1.EvVOV9r_t_s

Supposedly this is to deter the Russians from expanding into Ukraine. In other words, another fucking red line in the sand.

The unit in question is a crack unit. The 4^th Infantry may be the best in the Army. Any Russian General worth his vodka will simply bypass the 3^rd because the European units on the flanks aren’t worth shit. The European countries haven’t spent more than a pittance on their own defense for decades.

Once again the American taxpayer foots the bill. Maybe if Trump wins he will start billing the Europeans for our services. Yeah, that has a fat chance.

Back in the day I clearly understood why I was in Germany. The Russians were likely to invade (maybe) if the USAREUR forces weren’t there. A secondary reason was to keep the various factions from starting another European war.

This movie clip is somewhat long but the last minute or so may have the best political commentary I’ve heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hYBuK9q-NI

Many will say our affairs are so intertwined as to make a simple solution impossible. Bullshit. Our affairs are so intertwined as to make any simple solution extremely painful. There is a simple solution. We inform the Europeans they can pay for their own defense, period.

What I see is our people once again being put in harms way by leaders without the guts to back them. More to the point, no damn concern for their well being other than what political fallout that might result.

Examples:    1983 Lebanon Barracks Bombing, Saudi Arabia 1996  Khbor Towers bombing, Africa 1998 Embassy bombings, and, not to be forgotten, the 2012 Benghazi Consulate attack. 

My deepest apologizes to those who lost love ones in other attacks, like the USS Cole, that I haven’t listed here.

I’m sure those who follow naval affairs can point out scores of times ships have been put in harms way, or air assets of both the Navy and Air Force misused, on orders of people who couldn’t be trusted to run a newspaper stand in a PX.

The revolting disclosures of Clinton Inc. and the (P)regressive rot are coming from within our own government. Being a civil servant doesn’t preclude one from being a patriot. Should Shillary be elected and take office, I expect a coup. Painful as I find the prospect, I think I will welcome it.

As always, YMMV

   

Political Rant

Lost amid the election news static is the news an entire armored brigade, the 3^rd Brigade, 4^th Infantry Division, being deployed to Europe for a nine month rotation. Also going are aviation assets of the 10^th Mountain Division. Current plans are for a permanent rotation, that is, a new unit every nine months.

https://www.google.com/search?espv=2&q=3rd+brigade+europe+deployment&oq=3rd+brigade+europe+deployment&gs_l=serp.3...3496.27822.0.28615.55.36.0.3.3.0.196.3345.21j12.33.0....0...1c.1.64.serp..25.24.2069.0..0j0i20k1j0i131k1j0i67k1j0i10k1j0i22i30k1j33i160k1j33i21k1.EvVOV9r_t_s

Supposedly this is to deter the Russians from expanding into Ukraine. In other words, another fucking red line in the sand.

The unit in question is a crack unit. The 4^th Infantry may be the best in the Army. Any Russian General worth his vodka will simply bypass the 3^rd because the European units on the flanks aren’t worth shit. The European countries haven’t spent more than a pittance on their own defense for decades.

Once again the American taxpayer foots the bill. Maybe if Trump wins he will start billing the Europeans for our services. Yeah, that has a fat chance.

Back in the day I clearly understood why I was in Germany. The Russians were likely to invade (maybe) if the USAREUR forces weren’t there. A secondary reason was to keep the various factions from starting another European war.

This movie clip is somewhat long but the last minute or so may have the best political commentary I’ve heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hYBuK9q-NI

Many will say our affairs are so intertwined as to make a simple solution impossible. Bullshit. Our affairs are so intertwined as to make any simple solution extremely painful. There is a simple solution. We inform the Europeans they can pay for their own defense, period.

What I see is our people once again being put in harms way by leaders without the guts to back them. More to the point, no damn concern for their well being other than what political fallout that might result.

Examples:    1983 Lebanon Barracks Bombing, Saudi Arabia 1996  Khbor Towers bombing, Africa 1998 Embassy bombings, and, not to be forgotten, the 2012 Benghazi Consulate attack. 

My deepest apologizes to those who lost love ones in other attacks, like the USS Cole, that I haven’t listed here.

I’m sure those who follow naval affairs can point out scores of times ships have been put in harms way, or air assets of both the Navy and Air Force misused, on orders of people who couldn’t be trusted to run a newspaper stand in a PX.

The revolting disclosures of Clinton Inc. and the (P)regressive rot are coming from within our own government. Being a civil servant doesn’t preclude one from being a patriot. Should Shillary be elected and take office, I expect a coup. Painful as I find the prospect, I think I will welcome it.

As always, YMMV