For the Rittenhouse verdict (and the soon-to-follow protest riots).

A couple of points though:

This is, essentially, a judgement on the right to defend oneself when attacked (Notice that people in the background  NOT attacking young Mr Rittenhouse were not threatened…only those who physically attacked him). Provocation, even if it were valid here, only goes so far. Rittenhouse was retreating/leaving the scene, yet he was attacked (a point the prosecution defense should have made much more vehemently) and then actively fleeing….therefore, even if a provocation, he was not a threat at the time of the attacks. One cannot shoot a person once they cease being a threat in any scenario….if they are leaving your house, even after attacking you, you cannot shoot them once they are leaving.

Further, if the (mostly peaceful!) protests are allowed to run rampant, not snuffed out quickly, then the State is saying that such riots are acceptable and allowed. This too has to stop. People need to be able to sleep at night without fear of rioters burning their homes and businesses. Without fear of being attacked on the street by a Mob. If the authorities cannot stop this, then at what point do the citizens have right, the responsibility, to do so themselves….by whatever method they choose?

From trashing neighborhoods and burning property and assaulting people, then we won’t:

“we shouldn’t have, broadly speaking, vigilantes patrolling our communities with assault weapons”

(A partial tweet from Joe Biden)

If the police and the authorities allowed the “vigilantes” like they allow the rioters…you know, free reign to do what they want…..then there’d be a lot less riots and destruction, I think.

Of course, those “vigilantes”, oddly enough, seem to have self control and don’t wildly shoot or kill…..oddly enough, they seem to follow the laws.  Funny how that works.

So if Kyle Rittenhouse “Provoked” the attacks by threatening people with an AR-15 (and I wonder what kind of delusional thinking could lead to that conclusion) then why did the second and third “victim” (and I am using that term as loosely as the prosecution only in order to ask this question) not retreat rather than attack him in order to (supposedly) disarm him….aren’t THEIR actions also “Provocative”?

If young Mr. Rittenhouse was perceived as a threat then why attack him rather than retreat? Why didn’t the other people in the area retreat rather than ignore him rather than run away if he was perceived as a danger?

I guess that a prosecutor must have to try and twist reality ion order to make a case like this one.

When I was younger, for about a year I worked with a bunch of Russians who were working for the company where I was employed. Nice folks, but they saw the world differently…..Ferinstance: they thought our “capitalist” system was wasteful: “you have 20 different kinds of shit-paper in your stores, why do you need all those different kinds of similar goods? ”

Having said that, in talking with them, I discovered that when in Russia, when one is shopping and there are items available, you buy as many as you could carry (or afford)….even if you did not need the items right now…because very shortly they would likely NOT be available….and then one could either consume them yourself or trade them for other items or luxuries because you had them, and others did not. I’m talking about things like coffee, and socks, and some canned goods. Their stores were not stocked like ours were (remember, mid ’90’s) with many kinds of goods competing for shelf space, different brands clogging the shelves, overfull with goods.

Nope, their shelves were like ours are now, not overflowing with goods, but rather sparsely populated with products….And so I have begun to shop as Sergei told me he and his family did….buying what I need (if I can find it) and when I see something like coffee or other products that store, buying extras so I have it because I might not be able to purchase those goods in a week or two…no longer do we live in the great times where the stores were ALWAYS stocked.

I call it “Socialism Shopping”. I’m not sure that the choices  and availability will be there next week when I need something, so if I see it, and can afford it, I stock up. I simply have no faith that the products will be there in the future like I did 3 or four years ago.

Sad, really, how far we have fallen as a nation. From the greatness of the 80’s. 90’s and early 2000’s, to today. Part of it may be Covid reverberations, but more of it is our government and the regulations and failures of leadership and simple failures of our leaders.

This lies squarely on the Biden Administration. It wasn’t this bad (with a few exceptions) last year, when Covid caught everyone by surprise. It is amazing how badly the “supply” situation has crumpled in the 10 months or so since Biden and his team have been running things.

And let us not forget the inflation and the resultant higher pricing that inflation (caused by the Congress spending money that doesn’t exist) has caused…not the increased energy prices caused by the Biden administration.

Thanks Joe…and the DNC.

Let’s go Brandon! 

Seems that a brothel in Austria is giving away free time with a Professional when one gets a Covid shot.

Odd, innit that we need to bribe people to get a shot of an unproven treatment with significant percentage of serious side effects that doesn’t work all that well and wears off quickly for a disease that most sufferers don’t even know they have and have to be tested to find out, that 99.6% of it’s infected victims survive…..

“I don’t give a shit about the Christmas presents….I need parts for my machinery, my cars and supplies so I can keep my operation going. Fuck Pete Buttigieg and his promise of Christmas presents. Fuck Biden too.”

(and no, it wasn’t me)

To all Veterans.

I appreciate your service and sometimes the sacrifices you make….. Time away from home, discomfort, sleeplessness, exhaustion, stress, fear, frustrations, etc.

Thank you for your Service.

Some beautiful Old Iron at the car show. This was the stuff that interested me, the older stuff.  Real cars for folks who, at the time, were stinking rich. Rare and interesting autos. This is just a sampling. There were hundred of cars for me to lust after. Stutz’s, Auburns, more Cadillacs and Packards….The FIRST ever Duesenberg production car….(Custom Bodied, of course), E-type Jags, real 289 Cobras, and lots more…this is just a sample that were being shown (at the time when I was able to walk around, it was raining and lots of cars were not then on display so I did not/could not get photos of them)…bad lighting and no sun made for difficult photography, and I am not a good photographer anyway,,,but here are some pics of some of my favorites:

1935 Auburn Boattail “Speedster”

’56 Packard Boattail Speedster.

’36 Packard120B

1926 Cadillac…one of five in the world.

1933 Chrysler LeBaron Custom Bodied one of 4

1932 Packard 140 Victoria…Custom bodied car….one of 2 in the world

1942 Cadillac “Sedanette”

1956 BMW Cabriolet…one of 50 ever made.

Oddly enough there were a fair number of electric cars from the 30’s and some from the 60’s and 70’s and a hydrogen fuel cell powered van from the 70’s as well….all examples of failed ideas and technology that simply could not compete with recycled dead dinosaurs. Some things never change, really.

So at the awards ceremony at the Concurs d’Elegance in Hilton Head, one of the award recipients asked the audience “Is this the appropriate time to say “Let’s Go Brandon”?”

While I appreciate the sentiment, I think there is a better time and place to make that statement.

Nonetheless, I laughed and cheered. Others were shocked.

Spent a bit of time with my dad at the Concours d’Elegance in Hilton Head Island helping my dad get his car ready for the car show.

He came in second in his class. Pretty stiff competition. Lots of nice old iron there, despite the rain and wind.

‘Twas a good flight to Hilton head. the 340 (and the pilot!!) performed well in IFR conditions. 5.5 hours each way, but we did some stops to see some folks along the way there and back. Burnt a lot of fuel, but we had fun and that is, after all, why I own a capable plane.

Got lots of photos, and if I can get them off of the IPhone, I’ll post ’em soon. For now, I gotta play catch-up in my real life.