Guard Dog

@Gromnir As you already know I am not terribly worried about the outcome of the next election. Or the next, or next or next for that matter. The worst thing that will happen is one party gets control of both houses of Congress AND the White House. That is bad. But it's also temporary. They will overreach, piss everyone off and lose at least half of Congress. Then the cycle begins again. As long as power is divided we will all sleep more soundly. When Barack Obama was elected I WAS worried. I thought we had finally gone and elected a genuine ideologue and revolutionary. Of course he was none of those things. In the end he was an average President. He did not leave the country any better or worse than he found it. He left the Executive Branch with more power than it had and that is a bad thing. But certainly no worse than many of his predecessors and not nearly as bad as some. Trump is an aberration. Generally speaking political candidates know the limitations of the Executive Branch. And while they will not bat an eyelash at trying to exceed them they will not be so brazen or corrupting in the process. If you will recall in 2016 I said a possible benefit of a Trump Administration would be for Congress to remember it is a co-equal branch of the government. That much at least has happened if not in the way or to the degree I hoped. I was sure his abuse of tariffs would convince Congress to rescind that power it "loaned" to the Executive back in 1916. I've also been disappointed at the way the GOP has defended Trump. But I guess I should no be. It would be no different if he were a Democrat. The Dems would defend him even if the knew he was wrong. Like I have always said there are naught but villains here. My lifestyle and my investment portfolio are, by design, not going to be significantly affected by any political changes in this country. And even if they were in the end I can and will just not obey any law I find morally objectionable. Firearm "buybacks" for example. Not going to comply. If they want them so bad come and take them. If they don't they can pass whatever laws they like. IDGAF.

Hey I'm a big fan of nuanced and rational analysis but those kind of posts tend to be long. And tedious to write sometimes. Sarcasm is a blunt instrument. Why use a glass cutter to make a nice precise hole when you can just heave a brick through it?

Abscessed tooth sounds much more likely given the location.

You know what? I'm with Gifted. I've been busting my butt for 30 years. I work 50-60 hours a week on a flat salary that isn't real high. If I vote democrat maybe I'll get some free stuff. Hell, pay for my health care and give me some free money and I'll quit my job and retire right now. I've been paying other peoples way for too long. Time for them to pay MY way! It's funny, I always imagined myself ending up in a Galt's Gulch but this is certainly another way to go!

People make fun of preppers. But they are the ones laughing now. Unless they had that second problem. Nothing funny about that.

@Gromnir I know exactly how you feel when it comes to taking a loss on a rental. The entire two years I owned that townhouse in Bartlett is was a loss every month up until it sold. It's a bummer about the tenant though. I was exceedingly lucky in my two tenants. The problem you describe is exactly why I got out of the residential real estate business. You might look into agricultural land development. That is what I'm doing now and I've found it to be a pretty easy (albeit small) revenue stream. You are pretty close to North Cal, seems like there is a demand for it.

Good luck and God bless

BTW. On this day in 2001 the 101st Airborne and the 22nd MEU began combat operations in Afghanistan. 18 years later... That means a child born after 9-11 to a deployed service member fighting there in 2001 is now old enough to fight in the same conflict as their parent(s). That has never happened in US history. Enough is enough. Turning over security ops in northern Syria to Turkey is only the latest in a long list of horrifying mistakes. Getting involved in Syria at all was a mistake. Invading Iraq was a HUGE mistake. That led in large part to the civil war in Syria. Keeping Iraq together rather than breaking it up was a mistake. It was a artificial construct (f--k up) of the British. An uneasy combination of three groups of people who hated each other. It was only ever held together at gunpoint. Now Syria is in ruins, Iran has a little buddy as a neighbor (rather than a sworn enemy) millions of people are dead or permanently f----d up. Thousands of those are Americans. Billions upon billions of dollars people had to work hard to earn have been wasted. All of this to permanently f--k up a region that had little or nothing to do with the original event. As for Afghanistan, I see no way that could have been avoided. But staying there for 18 years to set up a country that will collapse the moment we leave was a total waste. Once the Taliban were routed they should have armed the remaining regional warlords and left them to it. The Pashtun seemed to be happiest when left to their individual tribes anyway. In 1863 the leader of France sent a letter to the Lincoln Administration asking the US to join a "protest" of Tsar Alexander of Russia forcibly putting down a Polish uprising. The Secretary of State, William Seward declined in a letter defending "our policy of non-intervention—straight, absolute, and peculiar as it may seem to other nations,' "The American people must be content to recommend the cause of human progress by the wisdom with which they should exercise the powers of self-government, forbearing at all times, and in every way, from foreign alliances, intervention, and interference." WTF happened to us? It started going wrong the Teddy Roosevelt and the conflict between Panama and Columbia he incited. Then Wilson got in office and it went really wrong. Is it even possible to find our way back at this point? Are we so far down the this road of repeating and expanding on the mistakes of the British that we are doomed to shed our blood and others only to leave the world worse off?

If you want to shake hands with the devil you're going to have to do it in hell.

Working late from home tonight. Preparing some info for the SA. Some lawsuit over waterway dredging. Boring stuff.

He did poop everywhere. The dogs are scared to death of him.

I'm dreading the end of the World Series and the conclusion of the baseball season for much the same reason. It is a very pleasant diversion.

An old, blind cowboy wanders into an all-girl biker bar by mistake. He finds his way to a bar stool and orders a shot of Jack Daniels. After sitting there for a while, he yells to the bartender, 'Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?' The bar immediately falls absolutely silent. In a very deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says, 'Before you tell that joke, Cowboy, I think it is only fair, given that you are blind, that you should know five things: 1. The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat. 2. The bouncer is a blonde girl. 3. I'm a 6-foot tall, 175-pound blonde woman with a black belt in karate. 4. The woman sitting next to me is blonde and a professional weight lifter. 5. The lady to your right is blonde and a professional wrestler. Now, think about it seriously, Cowboy. Do you still wanna tell that blonde joke?' The blind cowboy thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters, 'No, not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times.'

Everything is cyclical. In 2016 the Democrats were virtually destroyed. You could drive from Miami FL to Pocatillo ID and not pass through any state, county, city or congressional district controlled by the Democrats. Next year there is a pretty good chance they win both houses and the White House. Then they will go hog wild, stick their middle fingers in red America's faces, do all the s--t that they are howling about Trump doing and in 2022 they will lose congress. Then the cycle begins again. @Gromnir I do hope this is not the new normal. It would be helpful if the next administration comes in and strikes a tone of reconciliation. Pretty much the opposite of what Trump and Obama did. Not going to happen though. Especially if the next admin has Congress on their side. Assuming Trump fatigue is enough to cost him the election even if all bad acts are dismissed by his supporters. I know I'm sick of him.

Actually his best hope at this point is to put as much distance between himself and the President. As far as his political future I'm not sure he has or wants one. He was not seeking any office when Trump picked him. He was term limited as Indiana governor IIRC was was leaving politics.

Well, I guess this is another way to go: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-blames-rick-perry-for-perfect-ukraine-call/ar-AAIlhHy?ocid=spartanntp How the Energy Secretary is "responsible" for all that is..... WTF am I saying? This is a Trump Administration. None of it makes any sense.

As far as throwing Pence under the bus, Pence might not be blameless. One thing is for sure though. Trump likely did not know he was wading into an ethical swamp. Even after three years he has no clear idea of what a US President can or cannot (or should not) do. Pence does know better.

http://news.trust.org/item/20191002165718-bqnd4 Oh why does no one ever try to enviro-shame me? It's been far to long since someone has given me cause to look them in the eye and tell them to go f--k themselves!

Sure conduction state business on private servers and phones. Away from the prying eyes of Congress who has a Constitution duty to oversight just as they do now. Millions upon millions of dollars changing hands then all devices being thoroughly and professionally destroyed the moment they were subpoenaed. And this just one instance in a very long career or this kind of s--t. But then again you may be falling into that age old trap: four legs good two legs baaaaaaad. There is a lot of that going on here in the US. The truth is there are naught but villains in government.

Republican democracy is a terrible system of governance. In fact it’s the worst kind. Except of course for all of the others. The problem is not that the system is flawed. The problem is that all of the choices are wrong. Gromnir has going on at some length about all of the damage that Trump has done to the executive office and the balance of power. And he’s right. Is the thing though, it was only going to be Trump or Hillary Clinton. Is there anything about Hillary Clinton’s past, present, pattern of behavior, or reputation that leads any sane person to believe she would’ve been the kind of president that respects the limitations of the office? Or the ethics that are expected of the executive? The answer to that is obviously no. So with a contest of two villains we’re told voting third-party is throwing our vote away. Do you know the old adage when the sheep have to choose between the lion or the wolf they are only voting for which belly they end up in. Next year‘s election will be the same. With just two exceptions neither of which has a realistic shot of winning, no one currently running for president will make a capable or ethical leader that respects the limitations of the office. So you see? No matter what happens we are f——d.

LOL, if “real“ socialists ever get power men like us will be the first ones to be lined up and shot.

Giving a s—t about what cannot be changed is frustrated death. If the train is going over the cliff no matter what anyone does might as well enjoy the ride!

You guys remember that rooster I was going to cook but couldn't do it? I named him Duke because he struts around like John Wayne. He still seems to like me and follows me all over the yard. Well, he figured out to use the doggie door. When I got home from work last night guess who was in the house.