Let’s Look at one of the Dem’s Biggest Problems

Let’s see. Within months of Old Joe taking up his position behind the desk in the Oval Office, he assigned Kamala the problem of the southern border. I know. Some say she was giving the title of border tzar. Kamala and her cohorts are fighting with their last gasp of air to avoid the term. It doesn’t matter. And you know what that great philosopher, Murphy, said, “If it doesn’t matter, then it doesn’t matter.”

The fact of the matter is, that she was given the task and she failed at it. Well, actually, she was supposed to fail. Old Joe did not want the border fixed. Indeed, it was part of his campaign promise. Everyone remembers that, right? I mean most everyone, can remember back that far, right. I mean, I am almost 77 and I remember it. I’m the one who cannot remember why I went into a room and I can remember it all.

Supposedly, she went down south the fix it. The problem is that when she reached the border, she just kept going. She ended up in South America somewhere. You remember that, don’t you? You don’t need the news media to remember that.

Realizing her mistake she went to the southern border. This time she stopped a little short. I don’t know how many others noticed it, but the city in which she stopped, isn’t where the real problem was. You might say she was doing her best to avoid the problem. When confronted by the press, yeah, that’s when she said she hadn’t been to Europe either. Let me see. I think that was when she let out with one of those irritating cackles.

Now, when she is confronted with these facts, she says, that she was never appointed to border tsar. That would have required an act of Congress. Someone should point out to Kamala, responsibility doesn’t work that way. She was given the job and she didn’t do it. It matters not why. It matters not what her title is. She was assigned the job, she accepted responsibility for getting it done, and she didn’t do it. She never even tried.

That is called failure, regardless of the reason.

Indeed, it is one of the biggest problems of the dems. They just don’t know how to accept responsibility. When Obama withdrew from Iraq, millions died. Did you hear Obama accept fault. Did you hear any apologies. When Old Joe came up with that huge disaster in Afghanistan, did you hear him admit to failure. No, never. All you heard from him were efforts to put the blame on others. You remember him pointing fingers and saying it was his fault, never mine. When the bodies were brought back, he could barely take the time to meet them. I have not any idea what was so important to him, but obviously, he could not wait to get back to it.

When his foreign policies led to Russia attacking Ukraine, did you hear him accept responsibly? I didn’t. When Iran funded the attack on Israel by the Palestinians with American money supplied by Old Joe, did you hear anything close to an apology? Did you ever hear him say, “Oops.” You and I both know, it’s not going to happen. When illegal aliens enter the US and kill Americans, is there even the slight appearance of sorrow. Nope. Not anyone in and around the White House. They won’t even acknowledge they took part in the cause. Not going to happen either ever.

I would guess it is part of their plans – never say your sorry – even if you are at fault. Instead, deny, deny, deny. Eventually, of course, we will all forget. Right? I mean, how many even remember the disaster in Afghanistan? And it was just a few years ago. How many have already given Old Joe and his ilk a pass on the all the deaths.

What Type of Bullet Was Fired at Trump

I have been listening to the news on this and most everyone has said it is a .223 nearly the same as a 5.56 mm. Most people would not be able to tell the difference by looking at them.

The .223 is just almost the same diameter as the .22. The .223 is 223 thousandths of an inch in diameter. The .22 is 220 thousandths of an inch in diameter. That makes the .223 three thousandths of an inch greater in diameter. Essentially, the 5.56 mm is the same diameter but it is built to metric (NATO) standards while the .223 uses the American measurement of caliber or hundredths/thousandths of an inch.

Until Vietnam, the US military used 7.62 mm or .308. They went to the M-16 that fires the .223 for cost, weight and ease of shooting. The .223 does not kick nearly as much as the .308. I know. I shot both. The .223 I could shoot all day. The M-14, 7.62 did a number on me. By the time I fired it for qualification, my lip was all swollen up for about a week after that.

However, it is not all about the bullet diameter. The .223 is longer and is built in such a way that it is much faster and deadlier. The cartridge, or that part that holds the gun powder is considerably bigger in diameter. It is what allows it to fire at speeds of over 3000 ft per second. Indeed, the M-14 can kill at over a thousand yards in the hands of the right person, even without a scope. I’m not so sure about the m-16. Not only does it lack the range of the M-14 but it is less accurate to begin with.

That being said, the gun that the shooter used fired the .223, a variant of the AR-15, which is something of the civilian version of the M-16. However, not all AR-15s use .223. They can be purchased to fire larger and smaller rounds. I have seen a few that fire the 7.62, or the M-14 round. Not many buy them for a number of reasons, mostly cost of ammo.

This is the very abbreviated version. It is easy to look it all up on the internet. On the other hand, you can go to a place that sells guns and they will likely be happy to explain it, or maybe even show you. There is simply no excuse to talk about all this on the news without knowing all this when it is so easy to look up.

Old Joe’s Wrong Again

Joe’s last words in his speech, “The power is in your hands.”

The problem is that it’s not. The power is in the hands of the Washington elite. That is not democracy, not even close.

Now when we go to the poles in November, or whenever you decide to vote, you get a choice between the candidate chosen for you or by the the people of the Republican party.

I understand why they changed the nominee, really I do. They started realizing that he was going gown in flames, figuratively. Still. If you’ll excuse the grammar, it just ain’t kosher. Moreover, it completely removed the power from the people. Even an internet vote would have been better, but then they might have selected someone the elite didn’t like. They might have chosen someone who would refuse to be their puppet. Finally, it might have revealed just how little popularity the woman has.

The Ultimate DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion)

When old Joe chose Kamala for his running mate, he said that he would chose a woman and he said she would be black. Okay, I don’t remember the exact words, but I heard the man say it on TV. I can’t think of a better reference than that. I know it happened because I did see it and so did millions of others.

That effectively makes Kamala THE greatest of example of DEI on this planet. It might be deniable had he not made the promise. Because he gave his word, that makes it Affirmative Action. She was not chosen because of her abilities but because she was black…out of Old Joe’s own mouth.

Spoiled

Since I retired, I look at it this way. My job now is to spoil my wife. I guess I have to some degree but, not in a way I expected.

Every now and then, I need to drive the Chevy HHR or it will go bad just sitting there. So, today, I went out and it started right up and I put my wife in it. It was not long before I had to step on it a little. My wife looked over and me and she asked what that noise was.

Okay. It’s not much, but she has gotten spoiled. She has gotten used to the quiet of the Ariya and she had forgotten the noise of the engine in the Chevy.

Actually, I must admit. I’m spoiled too. When I turn the radio off, it kinda gets spooky how quiet it can get.

Incidentally, we went down to Hernando to the Steak Escape. For a reasonable price, that place does spoil us. Besides that, they have good food and reasonably fast. It just has one problem. It’s in Hernando. I knew I should have bought a house a little farther south.

A Gross Waste of Money

The dems had a primary, same as the Republicans. Old Joe won. Kamala never got one vote. Appears to me as if it was a big waste of money.

Maybe, if we were smart we would take this as a lesson. It is not beyond the possibility that others might withdraw or die. it would seem to me a wise thing to make plans accordingly. Perhaps an alternate could be added to the ballot. If someone becomes disabled or withdraws in the future, the alternate could become the candidate. Maybe not perfect. Better than what we have.

There are many smarter than me. Maybe you could make your own suggestions. Whichever, we need to put it into law so as the folks in Washington can’t continue to chose who runs.

No Story

Just easier to say, “Ben”. Used to go by Benny, but I didn’t think it really suited me. There was one guy in junior high school who called me Benji. That was a long time before the movie of the little dog.

It really matters little to me. I had a cousin who went by Frankie. Didn’t know for a long time, he had the same name as me, “Benjamin Franklin Rhodes. I thought that one over for a while. Maybe I should have used “Frank Rhodes” for my pen name. Maybe then I would have sold a million or two. Lately, it would have another advantage. I would not get confused by that hopeless liberal who was in Obama’s cabinet.

You can tell me what you think about it. Should I change my pen name to Frank Rhodes?

Daily writing prompt
What’s the story behind your nickname?

It’s All About the Qualifications, You Know

Well as you likely know by now, we no longer have a Director of the Secret Service Hopefully, the replacement will actually understand the concept of responsibility. I would think it would be one of her qualifications. You notice I used the pronoun her. Why would I expect the appointment of a man?

The thing is, Old Joe’s idea of qualifications and mine are miles apart. I mean, being able to do the job should be right up there at the top. However, with Joe, his idea of top three qualifications are simple: Black, female and democrat.

You might have noticed that I chose to use the word female instead of woman. The dems have this really big problem these days determining just what a woman is. For that matter, they are having a really tough time determining what the word “qualified” means. Perhaps they should have a look in the dictionary before making the replacement. Just maybe they should look at the words of Martin Luther King. I mean, did he not suggest that we ought not consider race when hiring someone.

Then again, when he gave his speech, womanhood was still not a major qualification for a job. Incidentally, since then, many other qualifications have made their way known, not the least of which, homosexuality. I mean, otherwise, the mayor of a small city who knew nothing of transportation would have never been selected to be Secretary of Transportation. (Qualified or not, you notice all the problems we have been having in transportation) Maybe Old Joe should have thought again. Perhaps he should have selected a woman for transportation. Maybe she could have dealt better with the congestion in Los Angeles Harbor. Maybe she could have done better handling the crash of that train. Maybe, just maybe, we would not be having so many problems with our planes. (you notice any wheels falling off lately?)

Maybe Old Joe should select the former mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot. She’s a woman, (I think) , democrat, and Black. She’s also got the new qualification being as she has a wife, not a husband. In addition, she has experience. Ask the folks of Chicago. She quite skillfully destroyed that city.

I do find a little irony in it all, though. I guess, because Kamala is female, she can chose men. As near as I can tell, she hasn’t seriously looked at any women as running mate. I guess that is how it works, right? Men must select females. Only females can select men. Incidentally, I have noticed that some of those men she was looking at are White. I’m not sure, but I think I am finally figuring it all out.

Still, if I am going to chose someone for a position, my primary concerns would be, is he honest and can he or she do the job. It does make the selection process a little more difficult, but I think I like the results better.

By the way, during the interview, my first question would be, “What is your definition of responsible?” That in itself might tell me a lot. It seems that our schools don’t like to teach the word or meaning to our kids anymore. AND, that is something of an indictment against our education system, the one that mostly the dems run.

Value of Life, Lack of Punishment and Drugs

Channel 3 here in Memphis is performing a study…about guns and shootings. I guess they are getting tired of doing reports on daily shootings, many resulting in deaths.

As with most, they do seem to want to put the blame on the gun. They are ignoring the obvious. I think they want to. I don’t need to do a study. In essence, I already have. It was not my plan but I have eyes in my head and I have ears. I have noticed at least three things that have contributed greatly to the shootings.

First, the most obvious. No teaches the important things nowadays. As a result, the youth have little respect for life. After all, they learn in school that the only difference between a person and the ape is a few genes. Human life is never taught as being any different than any other animal. We are only different because of the chance, for a simple coincidence. Therefore, why give human life any special consideration?

Second, they have nothing to lose. Mostly, they won’t be caught. If they are caught, they likely won’t pay much of price, even if convicted.

Finally, drugs. If those news experts want to do a study, let them do a study. When we look at the stats, we know how many deaths by shooting. We know how many use and sell illicit drugs. I have yet to see a study of the relationship between the two. How many robberies were spawned from efforts to get the money to buy drugs? How many robberies were by people robbing to get the money to buy drugs? How many robberies and break ins were by people seeking drugs? We don’t know. No one has done any studies.

How many killings are by drug dealers for who knows what. We don’t know. We track murders. We track drug crimes. No one studies how many murders are because of drugs. We don’t know. The stats, to the best of my knowledge, are not kept. My best guess is half. I have had conversations with many in law enforcement and they all agree, every one I asked.

However, no one keeps the formal stats. You can’t just look it up. The only people aware are those of us who keep our eyes open and our ears alert. Those that help enforce the law see it, but no one asks them. Those that make the laws seem to want to divert their eyes from the drugs.

Take note 58,220 soldiers died in Vietnam in almost 20 years. In one year, we are currently losing over 100,000 lives to overdoses in the US. That is almost twice our soldiers lost in Vietnam. The loss by guns is minuscule by comparison. The gun problem might could be partially resolved in years. The drug problem can be cut to half by doing one thing, no more illegal immigration. We know that, because when Trump cut the illegal immigration, a side affect was that deaths by drugs dropped to about 30 to 40 thousand. Trump’s border policy likely save 60 thousand x 3 years =180 thousand lives, mostly from our youth. If Trump had been reelected, we would have saved an additional 200 thousand, at least. Likely more. How many have we lost to shootings? Look it up. It’s not close.

And yet, the media is addressing the “gun problem.”

Then again. As that hero of the socialists put it, It’s nothing but statistics. It kind of works out that way. Anything past a thousand lives are numbers, statistics to be printed and soon forgotten.

Brown-bagging it Without the Brown Bag

Some of “brown-bag it” to save money. I can’t imagine there are many out there that don’t know what brown-bagging it means but, just in case, this is the explanation. When in school, some of us ate in the cafeteria. Those that were not able, frequently carried lunch boxes to school. Those who could not afford lunch boxes, carried our lunches in brown bags.

Then there were those of us who could not afford brown paper bags. We carried out lunch in our plastic see through bags. Sometimes, I could buy a carton of milk, but I was always required to take the plastic bag home. It would be washed and reused the next day. I got weeks of use out of my plastic bags.

When my wife and I first moved to Desoto county with our two sons, I didn’t make much so my older son qualified to for cost free lunches. He really liked it because he traded for hamburgers. One day he had five of them, which made him sick. (He still likes hamburgers) After, he was told no more trading.

At any rate, as time went by, I started receiving promotions and, of course a larger paycheck. Then one year, we no longer qualified for free lunches. Strange as it seems, it took us about a week to get them to discontinue them. I suspect that no one would have ever said anything if I said nothing and let my sons receive the lunches. Thing is, unlike many, it does go against my grain to receive the free lunches. Besides, it hurt my ego. I did work hard for the privilege of paying for the lunches myself.

Now, once a day, my wife and I go somewhere to eat. Today, we went to McAlister’s Deli. I had one of their stuffed potatoes, which I could not finish. My wife had a cup of potato soup and a half ham sandwich. I paid for it. Right there at the counter, I pulled out my debit card and waved it over their magic reader. In a while, of course they brought us our dinner. I figure you ought to know. I mean the tax payers did put the money in my checking account. Shouldn’t I explain what I am doing with the money?

On the other hand, there are those who think they need not explain what they are going with the tax money entrusted to them.

By the way, I do want to thank everyone for the lunch.