Right On The Numbers

Perfect Approach

I love this image. Where it came from, I do not know, but it has great meaning to me.

Years ago, 1973 to be exact I found myself building a freeway in Arcata, California; which is near Eureka, California. I was single at the time, living in a environment surrounded by the Northern Coast Range on three sides, and the Pacific Ocean on the fourth. Isolation Central. It was a two hundred mile car trip in any direction, but west, to the nearest civilization. What to do? Learn to fly seemed to be the answer.

Gary Justice, an intrepid flight instructor out of Murray Field, just north of Eureka, agreed to take me on and recommended that I join a flying club with an airplane I could take lessons in. I followed his insructions and off we went. One of the first, and most important things to learn, as a pilot, is how to land. There are a lot of other things that are important to learn, but landing, in my opinion, ranks at the top.

“Okay Dick, line yourself up with the runway, aim for the numbers and maintain that position until flare-out and touch down”. It took two or three attempts, but I finally got the hang of it. Runway, numbers, maintain. For some reason, when you find the right spot, it feels right and there is no mistaking that you are on the right path.

When I saw this image, that feeling came back to me. This guy, is Right On The Numbers.

I Get It and It’s Not Too Late

I_Like_Ike_button,_1952

Why all this fighting, name calling, mud slinging, hateful crap? I have had enough. I become enraged when I hear Hillary  outright lie in front of millions upon millions of people. I want to shout, scream, and rant until my dogs get so stressed they leave the TV room in fear. I understand the need for my feelings, but I don’t understand why I have to act this way.

Then somewhere I saw the image above and  a sense of calm swept over me. I have one of these buttons. So I went and found it, picked it up and held it, yes and actually rubbed it. A clarity hit like a ton of bricks.

There is no way our country can stand another four years of Progressive Politics and the so called “legacy” of the incumbent president. This great country is polarized almost beyond repair. Europe is floundering, and the Middle East is in flames, our Judeo-Christian values are slowly eroding, our first amendment is a sham, and our second amendment is in jeopardy. There is more racism and anti-semitism today than there has been in any of my past 78 years. It is really catastrophic, in my opinion, which I share with millions in this country, Europe and the Middle East.

Yet Clinton supporters steadfastly insist on a ‘first woman president’ and refuse to see or realize the peril that we face if this particular woman is elected. She has created a frustration level never before seen in this country. A frustration level that causes polarity and hate, in its venomous venting. One side screaming obscenities the other lieing, cheating and muckraking. Party candidates at odds with their parties (Trump and Sanders), incumbents so fearful for their jobs that they refuse to support their candidate with the consequence of losing their party completely, is a sure sign of depths to which our current political system has driven this country.

We have had enough. We can’t take it anymore. We long for the days of the free swinging pendulum that kept this incredible country steadfastly on a middle course. We must throw off the chains of Media manipulation, SuperPac interference, open lies and subtrefuge. None of our rights should ever be altered, none of our freedoms should ever be challenged. A vote for Trump has a chance of making a change for the better. Stand up and vote. If you don’t, a vote might not be a strong enough solution if the Ship of  State, continues to sail on its current course.

Pounce

Pounce

I found this image on a Facebook Post from an Australian friend of mine. “Carpe Diem”, “Early Birds and Worms”, “Sieze the Moment”, all came to mind. Get out there. Do it. Pounce.        Something for the weekend.

Revelation from The Old Country

Danish Flag

I love this flag as much as my Stars and Stripes,
which I fly with pride. I am a first generation
son of the Old Country.

A day or two ago I was rooting around Twitter and noticed a name that had strong similarities to mine, so I decided to engage the owner. She earns a living as a Freelance Writer in the Media. Our disjointed twittering started out very friendly, and soon evolved into a friendly discussion of politics. Typing messages back and forth, is difficult at best, but she was determined, as was I, to communicate.
Apparently she studied my Twitter page and said, “I see you are a Trump voter.” I told her that I was, but feared that the polished wheels of the Clinton machine, might overrun Trump’s quest to make America great again.  She was devistated to hear that. We went back and forth for over an hour, and here is the gist.
Denmark has been a Christian civilization for over a thousand years. She has been noticing change in Europe, but it was not until Chancellor Merkel of Germany allowed thousands and thousands of “Islamic Refugees” to enter Europe, through Germanies open borders, that she noticed real change in Europe. (Studies now show that 65% of the Merkel labled “Refugees” are men of fighting age, as we have seen from the rape and pillage reports earlier this year from Western Europe.) Merkel wielded her economic power to force less wealthy nations to take some of the “Refugees”. She saw that Chancellor Merkel was gaining popularity in Europe, by hook and by crook. Wealthy Germany has the power to bring economic pressure on the less wealthy nations, my Denmark seemingly, being one. Apparently, however, Chancellor Merkel’s reign is over next year but she is making a bid to Chair the EU in 2017, causing millions of Europeans to fear the path Europe might take, and what a collaboration with Clinton might cause. She is concerned what two greedy and power hungry women might do to the world order.
I tried to explain the Progressive Movement, and our need to have the pendulum swing back to the right, but she already understood that, and did not understand why Americans saw “Locker Room talk” as more important than the loss of America’s identity and the fostering of the election of a lying crook. She, along with millions of Europeans, fear that Clinton and Merkel will form a union, promoting Progressive change and the destruction of Judeo-Cristian values everywhere. Christian cultures are the same, the world over, and millions have the same fears. American schools stopped teaching our Judeo-Christian values years ago and the steamroller keeps quietly moving along. The ACLU, Liberal Justices, Liberal Press and Liberal Education are growing like weeds and destroying America. Isn’t it time to wake up? Isn’t it time to make America and the World great again?

Blowin In The Wind

Dylan

I grew up in a very strange music atmosphere. Mom and Dad played symphony and opera on the radio and the victrola. When TV came along, it  was; Lucky Strike’s, Your Hit Parade; Mitch Miller’s, Sing Along With Mitch, and the Lawrence Welk Show. In High School it was The Kingston Trio at the Hungry I, Hootenanny at the Red Garter on Broadway in San Francisco and Turk Murphy at Earthquake McGoons .

I joined the Navy immediately after High School and after my discharge, got very serious about my college education. I put myself through, so there wasn’t much time for music in my life, and I had formed negative opinions during the 60’s. Dylan, The Beatles, The Doors, The Stones, The Who, The Kinks, The Zombies, The Animals, Jefferson Airplane, Joplin, Creedence and Hendrix, all passed under my radar. “They are too loud”, I said. The Mama’s and the Papa’s, Simon and Garfunkle and the Beach Boys, made my list.

Then my wife, a product of North Beach and the Haight Ashbury, entered my life with her music collection. Nine years my junior, she played all the 60’s stuff I previously disliked plus a lot of new stuff I wasn’t aware of either; like, Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. Slowly but surely my ear began to bend and I started to hear the good in all the music I had shunned. The Beatles, the Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Joplin, Creedence all found their way into my music backlog. I needed a little John Denver every so often to level me out, but for the most part the music of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s became my music.

Blowin in the wind, Like a Rolling Stone; Knock, knock, knocking on heavens door, Don’t think twice, Mr. Tambourine man, Lay Lady Lay and many, many others have formed a rich poetic tome, worth of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Bravo Mr. Dylan, bravo you musicians of the 50’s through the 70’s.

USA Today, Or Any Day, Is A Joke

USA Today

USA Today, as well as most of the newsmedia, is a joke and a hypocritical charlatan phoney when it comes to political news reporting. Recently USA Today boasted that they have never, in their umpteen years of reporting, denounced an individual candidate until this election cycle, because of some dastardly deed Donald Trump did ten to twenty years ago.

USA Today, Gannet Company states on their website; OUR PURPOSE:  We exist to get the right information, tools and guidance to people at the right time. That is a true statement, because also recently Gannet purchased our local newspaper, Redding Searchlight, from Scripps newspapers. How does that jibe with their PURPOSE? Gannet immediately announced that it was their intention to replace current conservative writers with left leaning liberal ones, to balance out the reporting, giving us the right information, tools and guidance. The political newsreporting in the Redding Searchlight today is so biased and slanted left, that I refuse to read it.

Over and over again, Clinton dominates the positive political news; she can do no wrong and Trump can do no right. It is so biased and slanted that it is laughable. Give us a break USA Today. If you have such a hard time telling the truth, stop calling yourself a NEWSpaper and call yourself a SCANDAL sheet, which is what your are turning out to be. But remember if dastardly deed reporting is your bread and butter, I think you will lose a lot of subscribers if you don’t report on Hillary’s dastardlys, and for heavens sake don’t fire your star reporter, Billy Bush, for breaking the story.

Come on USA Today. Clean up your act.

 

 

 

 

One Of My Pet Peeves. What’s yours?

Pet Peeve

I live in a rural area, and we have a mailbox that is shared with eight other users. It’s located down the street on a corner with a main roadway to make is easier for the mailmen to deliver the mail. The box had a slot where we could place outgoing mail to be picked up. Some dirt bag thought there might be something of value in the outgoing mail slot so he got out his tire iron and made a total mess of the slot. The Post Office, in its wisdom, sent out a handyman who welded the slot shut, rendering it useless to the dirt bags and good citizen users alike.

Colin Kaepernick has chosen to boycott the National Anthem at football games in order to foster an issue he personally believes in. Several other sports celebrities have followed suit by taking a knee, raising a fist, or pouting on the sidelines. None of the teams have the balls to tell their millionaire employees that the National Anthem at a team sponsored football game is sacred and not to be messed with. The teams, down deep, I’m sure, feel that the antics are disrespectful to everyone; the media, televising the travesties, down deep, know that it is the wrong thing these people are doing. So what is their solution to the problem? Of Course, stop televising the National Anthem. My wife and I were watching football this Sunday, and she said to me. “Hon, isn’t it a shame that the Anthem is no longer played at the games? I really miss that.” “It’s simple dear”, I said, “The law abiding citizen is always the one that suffers for our inability to call a spade a spade, and punish the wrong-doers”.

Responsible gun owners are another good example of this same sort of thing. People, unwilling to deal with criminals always look to punish the innocent first. However, I was happy to read that Megan Rapinoe has been dropped from the USA Team Roster. Spitting on your employer is a no-no.

Truth in Government

Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

Propositions D an E have been put forth and touted with noble chants of making Redding safe again; lets, once and for all, help the mentally disturbed; support our men in blue, blah, blah, blah. Chief Paoletti has been trotted in front of the city council chambers for months explaining to voters that he hasn’t got enough help, response times are dangerously high, Redding is in peril, and the homeless are taking over our parks, streets and shopping areas. “Woe is me”, cries the council, “We need to raise taxes. One half of one percent only on sales tax will do it. We are going to put this money ($11 million per year, for the next 10 years) into the General Fund (the hen house where the wolves can access it at their discression), but trust us”, they say, (Wink, Wink);

Wink“it (the tax money) will only be used to make Redding safe again”. “Safe Streets Now” another slogan for disaster.

California is facing a backlog of several hundred million dollars in unfunded pension and health care liability. This, because CALPERS (the fund that pays public employees there 90% of salary retirement pensions and health plans) is unable to forcast its needs accurately. I’m not sure of the amount, but I read recently that Redding will have to come up with $1.5 Million per year to handle their share of the shortfall. Where does that money come from? You guessed it, the General Fund.

Sales Tax is a regressive tax. It adversely affects people with a fixed and low incomes, and they will be required to pay a disproportionate amount of the tax increase. There is no fairness in this proposal for two of the largest groups in Redding’s taxpayer base; retired and low income folks. Low income families, those closest to being forced into the streets, will be harmed immeasureably which will in turn compound Paoletti’s problems.

Before you vote on D and E, please know what you are doing, who you are affecting and how you are affecting them. The City Council doesn’t care, they will be long gone when the real damage is done.

Pigs at the trough2

The pigs are at the trough again.