New York, Again

Eight dead, over a dozen injured in New York City.

It seems that a man from "Tampa" engaged in a wild shooting spree driving a rental truck into a crowd while shouting something that might have been interpreted as "God is Great!" or perhaps he was screaming the name of actor "Alan Arkin!" as have many other individuals over the past several years whilst murdering thousands of people.

There. Have I got the official narrative right? I don't want to offend anybody or put any group into a defensive posture . . .

Let me ask a couple or so questions, however, while we search for the motive and debate whether he was or was not a "lone wolf": What was he doing in the USA? Why was he here? Why do we let these "folks" into our country?

Won't make any difference if we build a wall if we let them in via JFK. I think we have plenty of kooks and killers produced at home without having to import more . . . I don't want to seem isolationist or protectionist, but . . .

Time to get serious . . . unless that offends, of course . . . if it does, well, we can always break out the Teddy bears, flowers, and candles, and darken a couple of buildings for a day or two . . . that might do it.

Collusion Collision

OK. Just a quick one as I enter the final days of the GREAT MOVE.

The Russian collusion story has gotten so weird nobody could have predicted it . . . well, except for this blog and about tens of millions of other persons.

Anyhow, as regular readers know, I have written a great deal about the Russia story and the allegations that Trump and his campaign were in bed with Moscow, and that Putin was willing to go for broke (almost) to ensure that Trump, instead of that really, really scary Hillary Clinton, won the November 2016 presidential election. I never bought it, simply because it made no sense.

Last March I wrote a piece which basically called the true narrative of the Trump-Putin collusion story,

As part of the Democrats' desperation move to delegitimize and perhaps even abort the Trump presidency, the obedient and well-trained progressive national media took up the theme of Russian hacking of our election and of Russian intel efforts on behalf of Trump's candidacy. Please see the many pieces I have posted on this if you want more details . . . . 

The Democrats, trying to avoid discussing that their terrible candidate used an illegal private server for classified work while she served as SecState, and to distract from the steady and corrosive drip-drip of information coming out of Wikileaks re a range of Democratic shenanigans, hit on the story of the Trump campaign being in bed with Putin and his agents. A series of "bombshell" "leaks" from what was claimed were intel sources alleged that the Russians were working to get Trump elected and that the Trump campaign not only knew this but was collaborating with Moscow <...>

The Dems claim that Trump is in bed with the Russians; Trump denies it and countercharges that the Dems had him under surveillance. We have here a problem. If the Dems have official intel on Trump's connections with Russia, how did they get it? Presumably from the official intel services which then it would appear were monitoring Russian contacts with Trump's people. If there was no surveillance order given to US intel, from where did the intel on Russian contacts come? The British is apparently the Trump answer. I have a more plausible one. I think there was surveillance of Russian activity, probably by the NSA, and it found nothing to show that Trump had contacts with the Russians; the Obamistas and the Clintonistas then made up the accounts of Russian interference. In other words, they lied. That's the most charitable explanation I can develop. There, of course, are harsher ones which I hope are not accurate, ones that would show, once again, Obama's misuse of the nation's intel and enforcement capabilities.

When all the spinning, talking points, and bad/fake news reporting ends, one is left with the irrefutable fact that the Democrats lied about Trump's links to Russia. They lied BECAUSE, in fact, they were the ones in cahoots with the Russians. Bill and Hillary aided Vlad's effort to corner the world's uranium market in exchange for, (drumroll, shocked face) money! Lots of it. Some (around $145 million or so) funneled to the odious criminal organization known as the Clinton Foundation, and other large amounts handed directly to Bill as "speaking fees."

The Clintons and Obama were dead certain Hillary would win the election, and all this grotesque corruption and selling out of the nation's interests would be buried and ignored. Hillary's campaign and the Democratic Party leadership paid millions to a shady outfit (Fusion GPS) to develop a narrative about Trump being the Ruskies' Pet Poodle. In violation of US election laws, the Dems paid millions to foreigners, including Russians, to cook up the salacious but very fake "dossier" on Trump and help ensure the election would go Hillary's way.

It's all coming apart now, a massive train wreck.

Popcorn has never tasted so good . . .

Progsanity

Let me just assure one and all  one that the move out of the formerly magnificent state of California continues apace. No turning back.  Purchased airline tickets, have a date for two of the cars to ship, and movers on the hook. We are heading east and down!

There is so much weirdness going on it's hard to pick starting and ending points. I see that some whacky Congresswoman from Florida, who dresses up like Howdy-Doody for some reason, has gotten all patriotic and is blasting President Trump for being insensitive in his call to the widow of a slain SF soldier, one who died on an operation in Niger. In the course of his condolence call, he apparently used a phrase something like, "He knew what he signed up for." This phrase has been jumped upon by the Honorable Ms Howdy Doody and the prog media as some sort of insult or insensitivity. It, of course, is a fairly standard phrase when discussing the deaths of heroes, to wit, people who knew the danger but went ahead and did their duty, regardless. The whole thing is obscene., and shows that nothing is off limits for the Progs. I can't stand when Progs play patriot. The fake just stinks way too much.

Speaking of fake Prog patriotic outrage, I am not hearing much of this Russia craze as the story slowly oozes out about the Clintons' own very strong Russia connection, i.e., the worst kept secret in the world. The Russians, it seems, poured some $146 million into the Clinton Foundation, and paid Bill some $500,000 in speaker fees, precisely at the time that a Russian owned subsidiary was negotiating a massive uranium deal and seeking SecState approval for it--uh, guess who was SecState . . . So the Russians had the anti-fracking, anti-military Clintons on their payroll but were working to get pro-fracking, pro-military Trump elected? Hmmmm . . . .

New word, progsanity: willful political, historical, and social amnesia commonly found among progressives when convenient to advance a radical agenda; the rewriting of history, including recent developments and the refutation of logic and its substitution by loud screaming, sneering, and violence, all justified by "the cause," to wit, the destruction of Western values, norms, and civilization.

Back to loading my cars . . .

The Movement Continues

Looks like we've sold our house in California. On the market less than 24 hours, and we got a full-price offer--no haggle, no fuss, no muss. Now we have to step on the gas hard to clear the place out. The paperwork for the North Carolina house, my son calls it the "Castle," is moving along smartly--we have some excellent realtors, genuinely excellent.

I have been checking on veterinary hospitals, boarding kennels, and gun stores near the new place. All signs are good. Also looking into North Carolina's concealed carry requirements, and they aren't bad; not too onerous, anyhow. The cars start to ship late next week, and we should be in NC by November 7. I will head back to California after Thanksgiving and put the doggies into my Silverado, and drive across country with them. I just can't put them in the cargo hold of a plane. My highly nervous Akita would have a total meltdown. Can't do that to him. The peregrination continues . . .

A lot in the news, some of which won't get the play it deserves. More and more is coming out about what a sleaze Jim Comey was as head of the FBI; the Russian collusion seems to have been between Hillary and Moscow, and more and more is coming out about that, too. Hollywood continues to implode and like Saturn to devour its own children. A wondrous and wonderful sight. All good stuff.

The best news is the systematic destruction of ISIS, just like Candidate and President Trump promised. To those around the world who doubted it, it makes a difference who is in the White House. ISIS & Co. are very good at killing unarmed people, but don't do well when confronted by well-trained people who shoot back. They are being shown for the miserable, brutal cowards they are.

As ISIS disintegrates, there seems to be less and less of an excuse to take "refugees" from the Middle East. I would think that many, many of these "refugees" living lives of "desperation" and dealing with "Islamophobia" in the West, would be right now packing their bags to return home . . . No? What is Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, etc., going to do with all that empty housing and unspent dole money? The world wonders . . . .

Back to my boxes . . .

Weakened Weekend Observations on Stuff

We're moving to North Carolina and are tired. Tired. Sore. Aching. Very.

Packing and moving stuff makes you realize that you have become a prisoner to that stuff. You don't own it, it owns you. It extracts your money and your energy, both physical and emotional. Do I keep this piece of useless doodad or do I throw it away? Is it worth paying somebody to ship it 3,000 miles or better to replace it on the other end or, horrors, do without it?

What about all that other stuff in boxes in the garage--the stuff you haven't looked at since you were a young buck in Pakistan? Thoughts turn macabre: When I pass, what will my kids do with my faded high school diploma? With my awards for obscure achievements in the State Department? With my collection of old stock certificates?  With my sneakers? Should I just throw the stuff out, or should I hang on to it for some sort of ill-defined psychic/emotional reasons? Sigh . . . . Smithsonian, interested? Let me know . . . cheap.

All of this stuff has distracted me from my usual concerns with other types of stuff, i.e., politics. I've, nevertheless, been following from a distance and intermittently the Harvey Weinstein "scandal." Come on, folks! Is this a surprise? Haven't there been all sorts of books, plays, and even HOLLYWOOD MOVIES about the Hollywood casting couch? When I would visit my father's house in Malibu and hit the bars and restaurants, they were full of hopeful "starlets" from around the world seeking favor from rich, creepy, old guys. It was open season all year, and, unlike other types of hunting, there was an understanding between the predators and the prey, to wit, you get what you want, I get what I want--and, at times, it was hard to tell who was predator and who was prey. It was and is a sick, sick game, and all sides in it are to blame.

The devil can only buy your soul if it's up for sale.

Weinstein is a creep, and, as befits the majority of such creeps, he's a well-respected and much adulated (75 Oscars!) progressive creep who gives lots of money to Democrats. There are lots more where he comes from. Disgusting phony hypocrite--the motto of the progressive. Hillary call your husband, if you can find him, and ask him about it.

The election of President Trump has, I think, overturned a rock that would have stayed firmly in place had he not won. The insanity of Antifa, the Russia craziness, BLM violence, kneeling NFL etc., how much of that would have happened if Hillary had won? The Dems would have called it off real fast.

OK. Back to the other stuff . . . boxes are waiting, a photographer from the realtor's office is here, a handyman wants to be paid . . .

Good-Bye, California

Well, we did it.

We put an offer on a house out of this state; had a couple of go-rounds with the seller; came to a mutually acceptable price; and . . . we're packing our stuff. We should be out of California in a few weeks, probably well before Thanksgiving.

I was not born in California, and I spent decades out of the state. Despite that, I always considered California my home. I went to school there all the way through graduation from UCLA, once a great university with some fabulous professors. I loved the place, and its colorful history. It seemed anything was possible.

I remember coming to California one Christmas from grad school in Massachusetts, and literally spending the morning in the snow up in the mountains, and the afternoon on the beach. I loved the desert and the coastline; scuba diving off Catalina island; racing up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. For much of my time in California, this place was where IT was happening, almost regardless of what IT was. Technology, medicine, literature, movies, TV, theater, cars, fashion, economy, etc, California set the pace for the country and the world. I have been no place on earth, even the most remote, where people have not heard about California.

In the last few years, however, this place has gone nuts, and not in the eccentric, creative sort of way that produced, say, Hollywood, Apple, or Uber, but in a bizarre, self-destructive one that seeks to undermine all about California that made California into California: The ever rising taxes; government regulations; the absurd political correctness and its ugly traveling companion, to wit, social and political insanity on things such as guns, immigration, and the environment.

Reality has been banned here; I have a feeling, nevertheless, that it will make a reappearance with a vengeance. I don't want to be around these parts when that happens.

So, we're moving. Our house is full of boxes and bins. The dogs are sensing change, and acting nervous and suspicious. My back hurts from moving stuff around. Yes, we're moving.

We looked at a lot of places, and fortunately this country still has a lot of nice places with very good and welcoming people. In the end, however, we had to pick one and we decided on (drum roll) North Carolina!

My non-meat-eating wife discovered pulled pork there: watching her pass up the salad and go for the pulled pork was a sight to see. The BBQ was great; the people were super; the prices are reasonable (gasoline is almost a dollar a gallon cheaper than here in SoCal); folks love the second amendment; the taxes are OK, although property tax is a bit on the high side; and it's a very beautiful place with a colorful history of its own and lots and lots of places to visit and enjoy. It is getting many folks coming in from around the world, and I hope that doesn't destroy the feeling of the place. Anyhow, we've scored a very nice house on a large wooded lot, one without irksome neighbors breathing down my neck. It's a bit dark and remote, but at night you can see these things in the sky, which I believe the locals call "stars." I am going to have to investigate those . . . odd little things that they are . . . We're moving.

Las Vegas

I am deeply troubled by the mass murder in Las Vegas. It is beyond outrageous that the simple act of attending a concert or another public event can prove life threatening almost anywhere in the world today. My family and I are all very sad. One encouraging fact, however, is the many, many examples of courage and compassion that we saw during and after this attack. There is still some hope for humanity, I guess.

I aso find beyond outrageous some of the comments from the lefties. I am sure you have already seen those so I won't repeat them. Those are driven by the lefty attitude of never let a horror go to waste, whether it is a mass killing or a hurricane; the first impulse of the lefties is to politicize it and try to gain some sort of advantage by establishing a narrative--regardless of the actual facts--that demonstrates the evil of Western man, and the need for corrective action by the state.

I am reluctant to comment at length about this shooting but feel very uneasy with the information being put out by most media outlets. Much of it just seems wrong, and not only because most early information in an incident such as this is inaccurate almost by definition. Too much just doesn't make sense, way too much. I suspect there is a great deal more information to come that will alter the narrative about this horror.