Portland is a stinking commie shithole. The rest of Oregon is relatively sane.

 And the further you get from Portland, the more sane it gets.

In the small-ish burg of Baker City, way out in Eastern Oregon, far away from the capital city, a proposal among business leaders has ignited a movement. Now, the mayor says other towns across Oregon are looking to her city as a model to fight back against an out-of-control governor.

The short-short version is that Baker City is essentially telling Portland's governor (she sure as hell ain't the governor for the whole state!) that they are done with her stupidity, and she and the rest of the commies from Multnomah county can pound sand.

Here's a nice little slice of sanity

Amongst all the people screaming about how we're all gonna die in the next 30 days from the Wuhan Kung-Flu.

Keep in mind that despite any problems with paying for it, we have the best health care in the world right here in the US. Italy? Not so much, which is why their mortality rate is higher. China? Not even close. Iran? 7th Century medicine is not up to the task.

None of the people I know, including my 100 year old Mother in Law, are hysterical about this.

This is not the plague.  We're not all gonna die.  Wash your hands.  Don't trust the Chi-Coms to do anything other than grab and maintain power through any means necessary.  And remember that the Wuhan virus came from a communist country with single-payer health care, and has thrived in countries with single-payer health care like Italy.  I won't even go into what's wrong with Iran, because I don't have the time required to write it all down.

The EU is most likely fucked.  They have single-payer health care, which is essentially a death sentence to older folks under these situations.  They have millions upon millions of 7th century barbarians who wipe their ass with their hands and then go rape the local women, which is NOT a good thing for sanitation or hygiene.

We're not Italy, or any of the EU.  We're not Iran.  And we're not China, although the Democrats are working to change that as quickly as possible.  We will get through this.  Don't panic.  Wash your hands.

The stock markets can't figure out what to do

And I'm buying more stock index funds, because as the idiots and losers shed their stocks in a panic, they just keep getting cheaper.  That market is going back up, folks.  And the big difference is that I'll have more of their money in my pocket when it comes to retirement.

To quote this post at Instapundit:  I haven't lost a dime.  I haven't sold anything.

The USA has the least poverty in the world

Despite what lies the DNC tells, we're doing pretty damn good.

A few weeks ago Matt Yglesias published a tweet (since deleted, which I don't totally understand as I thought it was pretty innocuous from a Progressive viewpoint) saying that he wanted to spend more time focusing on "relative child poverty."  What the heck is "relative" child poverty?  I want to spend a bit of time discussing why this is a useless metric, helpful only if one want to try to sell socialism in the US.

Capitalism in the USA has lifted more people out of poverty than any other force.  Period.  Go check out the data he presents.

It's sad that this even needs to be said, but this is the world we live in

Being a Fatty McFatCakes is NOT a service related disability.  Senior officers/NCOs in the USAR and ARNG hardest hit.

Obesity cannot be considered a service-connected disability, according to a new ruling by the Department of Veterans Affairs General Counsel expected to be published in the April 8, 2019, edition of the Federal Register. The new ruling, among several precedent opinions set to be included, reinforces the VA's long-standing opinion that obesity isn't a disease or injury according to the law for wartime or peacetime compensation and can't be considered directly related to military service for compensation purposes. 

The number of people I've seen waddling up to the door of my unit, with their uniform stretched to the breaking point, makes me rather angry.  I actively work to either get the people I am responsible for to be A) in shape, or B) out of the Army if they can't put the fork down.

If you have an injury that prevents you from working out, then you should be getting compensation for that injury.  But if you're a fat-ass, and you can't be bothered to do a minimum of exercise, that's on YOU, not the Army.  I've been unable to run for the past six months thanks to a fractured sesamoid bone in my foot, but I've found other ways to exercise so that I don't get fat.  Getting fat is bad, m'kay?  Especially when the Army will kick you out for being fat, and I rather enjoy being able to see Mr. Happy when I look down.  Which is a total non sequitur, but it's still rather important to the Mrs.

While the VA treats obesity as a disease for which treatment is warranted, the distinction is in the words "service-connected." The VA simply does not see it as a condition that was a result of military service, and therefore for which compensation is payable. 

Oh yes, obesity is treatable.  Stop drinking beer.  Stop eating fried everything with fried sauces on top. 

When I was stationed in Wisconsin, I worked with another Soldier from Georgia who was so fat even his fingers were plump.  He did enjoy his fried chicken.  He retired sometime in 2012, and was dead from a massive heart attack by 2014.  He had probably gained another 50-100 pounds from his rather hefty retirement weight. 

I think he was 51 or so.

Put the fork down.  Eat an apple instead of a donut.  Cut down on the beer, like I did.  And I love beer, folks.  I really, really do like beer, but it makes me fat so out it went.  My diet has had to change multiple times depending on what it was doing to my body, and I figure that it'll change a couple more times once I retire and grow a beard and put up signs around my house saying "Trespassers will be shot; Survivors will be shot again".  But don't ever blame anyone else for you being fat.  If you're fat, it's because YOU made the choices that made you fat.  The VA shouldn't have to pay for that.

It's all about who they're afraid of

"They're" in this case being the gutless, pathetic politicians who continue to keep military members unarmed and at the mercy of violent assholes.

With the recent threats by ISIS to target military personnel and their families, why are we pretending our military bases and stations are not military targets, ripe for exploitation by hidden terrorist assets or lone-wolf nut cases? For the love of God and country, allow our military members who pass standard background checks and have weapons training to carry personal sidearms in or out of uniform. The lives of military members and families alike–families just like mine–could depend on the courage of these armed and honorable individuals. 

The lives of four military members could have been saved today in Chattanooga by such a change in policy. May God comfort their families. I doubt, Mr. Obama, that you will. 

Sincerely, 

A Military Wife

Why should a politician care about the military?  They have their own armed guards protecting them, so they're safe.  Screw the little people, right?