“Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties:
1. Those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers
from them into the hands of the higher classes. 2. Those who identify
themselves with the people, have confidence in them, cherish and
consider them as the most honest and safe, although not the most wise
depositary of the public interests. In every country these two parties
exist, and in every one where they are free to think, speak, and write,
they will declare themselves. Call them, therefore, Liberals and
Serviles, Jacobins and Ultras, Whigs and Tories, Republicans and
Federalists, Aristocrats and Democrats, or by whatever name you please,
they are the same parties still and pursue the same object. The last
one of Aristocrats and Democrats is the true one expressing the essence
of all.”
– Thomas Jefferson (Letter to Henry Lee, 1824)

’cause James O’Keefe couldn’t find anyone ……

Not that this is a surprise….

Watch the whole video.

There is no border security. Never has been, really. 

Has apparently returned to Ork.

Robin Williams is dead.

Bummer.

He was damned funny during my younger years. 

“Man, my trailer hitch is stuck in the receiver..”

Me: “Gotta take ’em out every few years and clean up the rust. Or use “Never Seize”..even so, take ’em out once a year.”.

He says: “I had it moving back and forth about a 1/4″ in June, but  I was afraid I’d break the chain and I didn’t have anything but a telephone pole to hook to, and it swayed too much”.

Me: “Bring it over, I got a chain your truck can’t break and a tree you can’t pull down….We’ll get it out”.

So he comes over on Sunday, and we proceed to hook the chain to the tree and the truck.

Bang!    Bang!    nope, not moving. Shook the tree a bit and pissed off the squirrels, but no joy.

Try a little heat and some Strike Hold….

Bang! Bang! Bang! Nope, still not moving. More heat…enough that I went and got a piece of aluminum sheet to act as a heat deflector so I didn’t melt the plastic on his bumper. Lots of Strike-Hold (from both ends) and some gentle love with the air hammer to crack the rust.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Nope. Nothing. Not any movement at all. It’s like the pin is still in (it isn’t).

Got out the bigger torch head. Still nothing. Am afraid I am gonna pull the hitch out from under his truck.   There is no more paint on the receiver or the hitch itself. The chrome is peeling off the ball from the heat.  The bottom of the receiver is orange. Much more and something is gonna catch fire…..The squirrels are pissed and have filed an OSHA complaint and are ready to go to the Housing Board. All told, I have been at it for over an hour…

Me: “Dude, how did you get it to move a few months ago? It is STUCK.”

Him: “I don’t rightly remember. It’s been over a year….”

Me: So when it moved, it wasn’t LAST June…….2 months ago??

Him: “Nope, a year ago this last June….I think. Maybe longer. ”

I unhooked the chain, dragged it to the barn (it is a 1″ chain) and put it away. And the torch and the rest. Spooled up the air hose, put the air hammer away.

Him: “You are just gonna give up? I though you said you could get it out.?

Me: “Nope. I’m done. Go find a dealer and buy another hitch…it’ll be easier, and likely cheaper. If I’da known it hadn’t moved since June a YEAR ago, I’d not have wasted my time. It has been rusted in place for over two years or more. Go home”

Ass. I wasted a fair amount of a Sunday trying to help an idiot. Coulda been splitting wood.

2 people in this house, and we are down to ONE functioning toilet.

Scheduling is difficult.

Stay tooned.

Is irony the opposite of wrinkly?

Not here in the US (yet), But EBOLA IS AIRBORNE.

Now, this isn’t a big deal, as long as you have the appropriate precautions….have you a supply of facemasks and a supply of hand sanitzer and other methods of sterilizing your skin after you interact with other people? (I am prepped for this, you should be too, if not for ebola, then for influenza). I’d order a supply of facemasks before the rush.  Seriously. if there is an outbreak then these masks will very quickly become unavailable…. have some on hand.enough for 30 days worth.

Gloves aren’t a bad idea either.  (and if nothing else, you can play “Bad TSA Agent” with your significant other….)

If there is no outbreak this year, it isn’t like these spoil in storage.

I call it capitalism. Basic economics drive the price.

Some people in Toledo were prepared. Others had to pay a higher price for bottled water because demand went up and they couldn’t use the municipal water for drinking. The demand for bottled water went up…the supp;y stayed the same. ergo the price increased. This is a basic supply/demand/price equation I learned in Econ 101.

Some merchants drove many miles to find a supply of water….who pays for their time and fuel they invested to meet a need?

If they had paid for the water and couldn’t sell it, who would reimburse them for their investment (and loss?).

If these people had bothered to have a weeks worth of water on hand, they’d not have had to pay a higher price for their water.

Much like people bemoaning the increase in price for plywood before a hurricane (and the increase in price for gasoline after) demand increases the price….as it should.

it is getting difficult for Obamacare patients to find doctors who will accept them as patients.

There will soon be two levels of care….(because there will not nay uninsured, otherwise there’d be three levels): One for those who have Obamacare, and one for those who have “normal” insurance.

Those who have Obamacare will not get as good treatment for things like cancer or other diseases, not for those who have chronic issues as those who have normal insurance. And how many people lost their insurance and were forced into Obamacare plans?

Thanks, Barry! You took a system that worked and broke it.