New Study shows that they don’t spend their Food Stamps wisely.

Duh.

That want , nay, DEMAND a “Permanent and immediate ceasefire” in Gaza….

Remember this:

There WAS a ceasefire in Gaza. In fact, “Palestinians” were WORKING in Israel.

Then Hamas changed that…Not the Israelis. Hamas…The government that the “PALESTINIANS” chose. Hamas chose to assemble a bunch of “fighters”, equip them, give them leaders….and allow them to attack across a border and slaughter innocent people. (and not a single “Palestinian” chose to say anything before the attack, either).

Now that they are getting their butts kicked, Hamas, the “Palestinians” are crying for a ceasefire. Like blaming the hornets for starting the war after you knocked their nest down with a stick. Whose fault is it that you got stung?

I realize you think it is cool to follow a cause. But THINK.

I watched the Formula 1 race and then decided to go fly….It was Severe Clear…..,so I  kidnapped invited MC, stuffed her in the 340A and we flew to KMCD…Mackinac Island, Michigan.

The flight up was pretty much uneventful.  A bit hazy, but VFR all the way. We cruised north up at 9500 as that was the best for fuel and speed….Higher burns more fuel in the climb, but less fuel at cruise, but more fuel due to the headwind component….. sometimes a bit difficult finding the best combination for speed and fuel burn………

But off we went about 11 AM. …South Bend Approach was pretty busy, but then the next controller, Great Lakes Approach, was really quiet…Then Minneapolis Approach took us all the way to Mackinac…he was pretty busy.

South Bend did ask us to deviate north right after takeoff to avoid some skydivers…..(I hate ’em, they get caught in the wings, unbalance the  the props, and  as MC says “They won’t stop screaming!” )  but then it was straight o the destination. 1 hour 26 minutes later we had the island airport in sight. Followed a TBM in the pattern and landed. Short runway (3500 feet) , but the 340 can, if I am on my game, land in less than 1600 ft, so it wasn’t a big deal. we made the 2200 foot turnoff with room to spare and parked right next to the TBM 700.

Walked the 3 or so miles to the downtown…past the Grand Hotel, and just wandered around for a while.

We ate at the Yankee Rebel Tavern, I think it was…Fresh pan fried walleye over smashed taters with green beans…Damn, that was good. MC had the prime rib sammich.

Then, of course, being Mackinac Island, we had to buy some fudge…and then we decided that it was time to go because there was possible weather at home….

Decided on a cab (horse drawn, of course, but dispatched via telephone) because I didn’t want to walk back (it’s all uphill to the airport)…But that took longer than if we had walked….

Ended up at the airport, got someone to let us in (we forgot to get the gate code from the ranger that runs the airport) and preflighted the plane. Waited for two other, slower airplanes to take off and get clear, then did a short field takeoff I didn’t really need to do, but hey, practice, right? and turned south… Had to climb hard as BOTH of the other two airplanes were down low but right on our course, but passed over them at well over a thousand feet separation…we were talking to each other all the time, so no big deal….Called Minneapolis Approach and got flight following and then set an economy cruise at about 185 knots at 10,500….I calculated that we would have about an hour’s fuel at the end , but if we had headwinds or something we could always stop along the way as there are lots of airports in Michigam….there is NO FUEL of any kind available at Mackinac Island.

Turned out I was right, we landed with about 30 gallons left in the main tanks… but the aux tanks were bone dry. So an hour of fuel left. The landing was…..firm…. Definitely not my best. Hey, it happens. Unlike Aaron, whose landing are always like butter, I sometimes demonstrate how NOT to do it. (Someone’s gotta be the Bad Example)…But we CAN use the plane again. (Guess I’m gonna have to spend an hour or two working on my landings.)

There were thunderstorms about 40 miles to the south of our airport, but nothing for us to worry about.

So 1.6 (VFR) each way and 2 landings, and damned nice afternoon.

Sorry no pictures. I was enjoying myself too much on the island, and there wasn’t much to see but hazy blue skies on the trip out (and back) over Michigan. The Mackinac bridge was pretty to see, but I was too busy preparing for landing to take a pic.

Lots of miles this weekend…370 on Saturday and 580 on Sunday…plus I was a passenger in Aaron’s plane for another 160 or so miles. Al told I flew for about 7 and a half hours between both days. 1100 miles or so.

That would have been about 28 hours of driving. This way I had time for fun and still home each night.

So we did:

Went out and saw Aaron yesterday. Flew to PTK then dropped off the 340 and got into his Piper Archer for another leg..

The flight out to PTK was sorta in and out of IMC., even the approach to PTK was really hazy until about 1500ft. From Indiana to Pontiac, it was just kinda-sorta almost but not quite Instrument Meteorological Conditions. Smooth though.

So once in the Archer (slower, but still fun to fly) we headed to Mount Pleasant Michigan to hit the Casino. The weather was Severe Clear with a touch of Smooth most of the way…once close, Aaron put on the Foggles and did an approach for his instrument currency with me a safety pilot….Now, like shooting, instrument currency and proficiency is a perishable skill. Aaron did OK but was, as all of us are, heavy handed at first, but them got it together and did a really nice approach and a smooth as butter landing under the foggles. and without an autopilot. All hand flown.

Currency is one of the hardest things for us non-professional pilots to maintain, But the  skills are there, we just need to polish them. And that was part of the reason we flew the Archer instead of the 340 (plus the Archer is fun to fly)

We then chocked the plane and called for the ride to the casino…Outside was a really nicely done crew car:

After giving our money to the casino, via Craps and Blackjack and a meal, we caught the bus back to the airport, preflighted the airplane, and took off for Pontiac. Aaron flew much better this time,….it shows when we haven’t flown for a few weeks and then get back behind the yoke,…..Just a tiny bit of flying polishes our skills .He flew a perfect approach into 09R at PTK. I’d consider the skillset polished.

We then put his plane away, drove around the airport to where my plane was parked, did a flight plan, and I preflighted the plane, filed the flight plan, and started the engines.  Got my IFR clearance and was told to taxi to 09R….but then Ground called and told me to do a 180 on the taxiway and proceed to 27L….they changed the runway.!? I asked if I had misheard the first time? He said no, they just changed the active runway after I got my taxi instructions.

Got to the runway, did a runup (mag check, cycle the props, all that) then got takeoff clearance and proceeded west(ish) into rising clouds.

After that is was pretty decent flying. Got just above the clouds and cruised for a while. I did ask for some course deviations for some rapidly building rising clouds, but they we easily avoided.

While I like flying at 100 knots, for making miles, there is nothing like burring fuel and cruising high and fast…190 knots makes for a faster trip.

After that it was a nice decent from ATC and a setup for the RNAV approach to my runway.. It was all thick haze (Not IMC but certainly not VMC either) on the descent until about 1600 feet, then clear to the runway…where I did an adequate (but only barely) landing. Glad no one else was in the plane to see (and feel) that. Some landings are better than others….

Taxi and hangar the plane and then home.

It was a good day:. flying, friends, a different plane, gambling, more flying….

Probably more like that today too.

To find a whole boatload of Cicadas clinging to most vertical surfaces, some molting already, some not yet. There appear to be two distinctly different kinds, based on coloration and size.

But they apparently have reached the correct conditions for emergence.

There’s a LOT of them though. I expect it to get noisy very soon.

I never knew that an upside down US flag was a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement:

But, apparently, it can be:(at least to some people) An upside-down American flag, a symbol associated with former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud, was displayed outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021, The New York Times reported.

I was taught that an upside down US flag was a sign of distress.

Funny all these things that the Left comes up with about the Right, innit?

Is this true or is this yet another thing the Left has made up that is now something “Everyone Knows”? (There are so many “Dog Whistles” that I can’t keep up anymore)

Trust the goddamned science already! How many times do you have to be told, fer chrissakes?

the origins of the coronavirus remain up for debate, the lab-leak theory is not a conspiracy, and that there was no scientific evidence to support the government’s social-distancing guidance.

So they’ve been lying to us. Not that anyone with more than 2 working neurons to rub together didn’t already know that….

Plus this: We now know the likely truth about COVID, and how scientists lied

Even the Daily Mail folks are laughing at, and see the truth of, the Trump/Stormy Daniels “trial”.

It is scathing.

If it wasn’t for the political prosecution part of it, it’d be a joke, really.

So the cops in Louisville have covered themselves in Glory….No matter how you look at this, it’s gonna give them a black eye in the minds of the public. There is no way to “spin” out of this

Seems that they were investigating a traffic incident at the PGA Golf tournament….And a major player, Scotty Scheffler, was arrested for failing to comply with their commands to stop….

The best part is that a cop “Attached himself to the car” and was somehow injured,,, and they are blaming his injuries on Mr. Sheffler….IN fact they are charging him with assaulting the cop who somehow “Attached Himself”.

Their heavy handed practices are only coming to light because of the celebrity of the person they used them on….if it had been you or me or most anyone else, they’d get away with it.

Look: I am all for our police. We, as a society, need them. But it is about time that they realize that they are not our masters, they don’t have special privileges, we are not subservient to them, and they have to play nice with us. If they can’t, then they don’t need to be cops.

I find it interesting that Mr. Scheffler was processed and released in record time….. Someone in the department has some intelligence and some sense….But the cop didn’t. All he  knew was the Mr Scheffler didn’t obey…..and that made him angry.

So you may have heard about the “Controversial” commencement speech made by Harrison Butker, a staunch catholic (and the kicker for the KC Chiefs)

The calls for him to be fired from the chiefs because he believes in (and espoused) traditional values in his commencement speech are loud….and there is a petition with approximately 190,000 signatures calling for his firing.

The NFL took a somewhat weasely stance and said “”His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”.

At the end of it though, what stood out to me the most is that the folks who always want “Inclusiveness” really don’t…..they want their views to be heard, but never opposing ideas…..they want acceptance of their lifestyles and morals, but others that may disagree with theirs Must Be Silenced.  Funny how that works….There is no real Free Speech, there is only the speech and beliefs that THEY deem acceptable.

This man has his core beliefs. He had the courage to state them. Publicly. (and ,mostly, he represents the values of MOST of America, more or less.) You are free to disagree with his views. But the one thing you are NOT free to do is silence him.

To do so is t undermine YOUR ability to have alternative views, and espouse an alternative lifestyle…one that many may not agree with. But if your views are Free Speech, then so are his.

Someone need to tell these Fagots and Transgenders and lesbians to shut the hell up about this.

Why do less than 1% of the population get such a loud voice, anyway. Why does the Media eve bother to report what they want? Why does anyone listen to them at all?