Busy today

Teaching a class.  Enjoy the blogs on the sidebar!

Updated:  Five students started, five students graduated.  One of them started the day unable to keep a motorcycle running, and ended not even being the worst one at the test.  This is why I do this.  I'm in pain right now, with the Mrs. rubbing liniment on my knees and feet, but I was able to get someone who couldn't sit on a motorcycle without falling over at the beginning of the day to be able to navigate the riding test and pass well within the threshold of error by the time the day was done.

Watching people just...  get it.  Clutch and throttle, balance and input.  A guy who couldn't even keep a bike running was able to pass a riding test.

There's something joyous about that.  Yeah, I get paid to teach, but the money isn't worth it.  Watching people grow....  that's worth it.  Knowing that this kid will be able to ride, and keep himself in one piece and enjoy himself because I taught him how to do it...  THAT is worth it.  Knowing that this group is going to keep riding, and stay alive. 

I'm going to hurt for a day or two. 

Your blood pressure a little low? Read this:

The Average American Family spends more on TAXES than on food and clothing combined.

“Consumer units” (which include families, financially independent individuals, and people living in a single household who share expenses) spent an average of $9,562 on food and clothing in 2017, according to BLS. 

But they spent $16,749 on federal, state and local taxes.

And given how much food costs these days, that's saying something. 

Now, I would say that the state you live in makes a huge difference.  My house in Wisconsin, which is just under 1000 square feet and on 1/4 of an acre in a rural town makes me pay more property taxes than my parent's home which is over twice as large and sits on over 20 acres of land.  My house is valued at roughly one-quarter of what my parent's property is, but I pay more property taxes.  Think about that.

Gas taxes.  Kalifornia's gas tax is 69¢ per gallon.  Idaho is 43.4¢.  If a person in each state used ten gallons of gas each week, then the person in Idaho is paying $2.56 less each week for gas.  $133.12 per year.  (Cheapest gas tax?  Alaska.  26.4¢ per gallon)

But still, forcing the average family to pay more to the government than they pay to feed and clothe themselves might just explain why this country is so damn screwed up.  And then when you realize that this country is spending far more than it takes in?  Red Curtain Of Blood.

Things that cannot go on forever, won't.  There's going to be a massive crash.  Hell, it might coincide with Civil War v.2.  Buy guns and ammo.

And speaking of backstabbing shitweasels, Jorge Bergolio just sold out Chinese Catholics

What else would you expect from a pro-pedophile communist twatwaffle?

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis’ secretary of state, went on air to intone that “today, for the first time, all the bishops in China are in communion with the bishop of Rome, the successor of Peter.” It would be more accurate to state that, for the first time, the Holy See is in communion with the CCP. 

Left unsaid is what has been known for some time: that agreement with Beijing allows the regime virtually full control over bishop selections. The Vatican’s right of veto is a fig leaf over the fact that the CCP retains the option of ignoring a veto if it chooses.

It seems that Jorge Bergolio won't be happy until the entire Catholic Church is destroyed and in ruins.

The College of Congressional Clowns Convenes Again

Today.  Where Dr. Bullshitter will sit and utter more lies against a good man, while the Democrats do their best to destroy him simply because he actually believes the Constitution says what it says and not anything else.

And if the GOP lets the Left get away with their despicable behavior, they're done.  Cooked.  Through.

What’s baffling is that the Republicans, the party that actually holds all the major branches of government, is cowering and acting like a minority party. What is the purpose of winning elections if one cannot pass one’s flagship policies, and why would people trust Republicans if they cave in and cannot defend a man from uncorroborated character assassination? What is conservative about tolerating hooliganism and chaos? 

There’s no greater sin than condemning an innocent man without evidence. There’s no greater cowardice than caving in to mob pressure. Nothing is conservative about either of those two, and if the Senate Republicans cannot hold their line, be stoic and disciplined, and confirm Kavanaugh, they deserve every public wrath they will face.

The GOP might have a very good mid-term.  They might have a very bad one.  A lot depends on how hard they push back against the lies, the smears, and the fake accusations put forward by the Democrat Party.

The best summation of Trump's UN Speech EVAH!

Check it out here.

Ten Red Flags about Sexual Assault Claims

Also known as "The Rule of Law".

It’s not nice or politically correct to say, but people do sometimes lie to get money, revenge, power, attention, or political advantage. False allegations of sexual assault have been documented. Even the most pro-accuser advocates acknowledge that 5 percent of the claims are simply false. 

When the complaint is “he said/she said,” we should not helplessly acquiesce to coin-flip justice that picks winners and losers based upon the identity politics profile of the accused and accuser. Experience with a career’s worth of complaints in hearings, depositions, and negotiations has taught me some tells, red flags that warn that an innocent person stands accused.

I have been falsely accused of sexual harassment before, when I worked at the EMP in Seattle.  Luckily, that place has cameras everywhere, and my boss was able to observe the supposed harassment, and then went to his boss and said "This is utter and complete bullshit."  But suppose there had been no video?  In today's current climate, I would have been screwed.  In retrospect, this is probably one of the reasons I'm so opposed to working with females.  Yeah, 95% of them wouldn't do that.  But 5% would, and that's enough to ruin my career and my life.

Thanks, but no thanks. 

Staycation

Been on leave since Monday.  Haven't done a damn thing except clean up around the house and sit on my ass.  I've been enjoying it.  Right now I'm having a cigar and coffee after my run, listening to the rain patter on my porch umbrella.  I'm also watching the hummingbirds as they slurp up the food from the multiple feeders we have out back.

Later today, range time with the Mrs.  It's a hard life, but someone has to live it.

Not really news, but still worth posting: Gummit fucked up again

All their weeping and wailing about cholesterol?  Yeah, they were wrong.

A comprehensive new study on cholesterol, based on results from more than a million patients, could help upend decades of government advice about diet, nutrition, health, prevention, and medication. Just don't hold your breath. 

The study, published in the Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, centers on statins, a class of drugs used to lower levels of LDL-C, the so-called "bad" cholesterol, in the human body. According to the study, statins are pointless for most people. 

"No evidence exists to prove that having high levels of bad cholesterol causes heart disease, leading physicians have claimed" in the study, reports the Daily Mail. The Expresslikewise says the new study finds "no evidence that high levels of 'bad' cholesterol cause heart disease."

My mom liked to point out that her father died with a cholesterol count somewhere between 300-400....  at the age of 93.  Grand-dad was Italian, and he ate his pasta and drank his wine and chowed down on olives and steaks and the like.  He also stayed busy, worked constantly and never allowed himself to develop a gut.  (Well, no more than any man in his 70s or 80s has.  But he was never fat.)

Getting up and moving is what keeps you healthy.  EATING REAL FOOD is what keeps you healthy.  All of the hysterical whining about diet from the government was followed by what?  The obesity epidemic. 

The government couldn't run a whore-house and make a profit.  Why the hell does anyone think they have a better understanding of nutrition?

The key phrase here is "Olympia resident"

The Ragin' Mrs apparently thought that she would have a giggle by raising my blood pressure, so she sent me this news article:

A Washington State Patrol trooper was confronted with occupational difficulties earlier this month while attempting to pull over a woman driving a Toyota Prius with expired tags. The woman, 42-year old Jamie Petrozzi, was headed southbound on I-5 through Marysville two Wednesdays ago when the trooper turned on his lights and attempted a traffic stop. 

The driver made no attempt to stop on the highway and, instead, exited a mile later before finally stopping at an intersection. From here, the highway patrolman ordered her to pull over using his loudspeaker. Petrozzi declined to cooperate, forcing the trooper to approach the side of the car and instruct her to pull off the road. “I will not,” she said, according to the arrest report. “I drive a Prius. I am not pulling over there.” 

Crap like this is why I am not in law enforcement.  There would be multiple videos of me dragging brain-damaged hags like this out of their cars by their hair, and then giving them a pepper-spray facial.

Rather than conducting the traffic stop at her current location, the Olympia resident said she would instead pull into a nearby parking lot to conduct her business with police. After a fourth refusal to pull over, she was arrested. 

According to Everett’s The Daily Herald, which was shared with us via Jalopnik, the woman refused to leave her vehicle when asked and went into a fury when taken into custody. “I will own your bank account. I will own your house,” she was reported to have said.

That's right along with the "I PAY YOUR SALARY!" line of bullshit that every cop just luuuuuuuuuurves to hear.

The police report alleges Petrozzi said she refused to move to the shoulder because her tires keep “popping,” which apparently, in her mind, had something to do with its status as a Prius. We think the only thing that was popping was the driver’s bad attitude. However, if her vehicle was suffering from some kind of audible issue, that only makes her unwillingness to stop even more confounding. Petrozzi was arrested for failing to obey instructions, refusing to identify herself, and obstruction — all of which are misdemeanors.

Liberalism is a mental disorder, and quite honestly this woman seems to be nuttier than squirrel turds.  Not pulling over because your tires keep "popping"?  I've been around a Prius before - they have the same tires any other car has.  So either she's just tossing off a bullshit line, or she's driving where she shouldn't drive, or she honestly thinks that the space aliens keep doing it.  Either way, this is the kind of driver that would have had me calling the SDO and requesting permission to drag her from her car.

I did love the Seattle area.  I loved the weather.  I loved the food.  I loved the mountains and the forests and the water, but the people there are bat-shit crazy.  Just like this old broad.  I didn't want to live next to crazy.  It was a relief when we left, like a weight was lifted off of our chests, and we didn't have to deal with the crackheads and the nutcases anymore.  Trust me on this - this woman from Olympia is not an outlier.  This is pretty much normal Olympia.  SondraK was the outlier, before she up and moved further way.  I think she got tired of the crazy too.

Apparently, she was just supposed to let them die

Letting animals drown and die of infection is just the name of "things we do together", right?

“Our mission was to save as many animals from the flood that we could," Hedges said. "We went through Hurricane Matthew and it was horrible. There were many preventable deaths.” 

She said an elderly couple dropped off 18 of the animals, some of which were sick and injured, just before the storm. 

On Monday, after Florence passed, Hedges got a call from Wayne County Animal Control regarding the animals. 

“He basically told me, 'You can voluntarily hand over the animals, or I can go get a warrant,' " Hedges said. 

She willingly surrendered the animals. 

"A few days later they called me in for questioning and yesterday they arrested me," Hedges said. 

The charges included 12 counts of practicing medicine without a veterinary license.

I'm thinking of calling Wayne County, North Carolina and letting them know of my displeasure with their actions, and how I won't be conducting any business in their county until they just leave this woman alone.  SHE did the right thing.  THEY are a group of stupid, ego-maniacal, ass-hatted thundercunts who should have never once taken any action against a woman who was saving pets from a hurricane and the subsequent flooding.

No, the US does not lead the world in mass shootings.

We're actually below-average, which is a good thing in these cases.

A paper on mass public shootings by Adam Lankford (2016) has received massive national and international media attention, getting coverage in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, plus hundreds of other news outlets spanning at least 35 different countries. Lankford’s claim was that over the 47 years from 1966 to 2012, an enormous amount of the world’s mass public shooters -- 31% -- occurred in the United States. Lankford attributed this to America’s gun ownership. 

Lankford claims to have “complete” data on such shooters in 171 countries. However, because he has neither identified the cases nor their location nor even a complete description on how he put the cases together, it is impossible to replicate his findings.

Emphasis mine.  This is not how you do science.  This is not how you publish information.  This is how you build a crack-pot theory to justify your political beliefs.

And of course, it's not limited to just this political hack.  Less than 40% of published studies can be replicated.  As the world of science gets more and more politicized, it's no shock that it gets shoddier and shoddier as so-called "scientists" push to confirm their bias rather than find the truth. 

When you hear people blather on about how the US leads the world in mass shootings, point out to them that they are wrong, and they're not doing themselves any favors.