Our state fair! Hot dogs, rides, and...gangs

"Some people, like that handsome young man in the picture above, just like to go to the Minnesota State Fair, have a foot long hotdog, and people watch. That is what the majority of us do. However, in the past few years, going to the fair has been marred by violence. Mostly at night, mostly by wild and feral youth."

What has happened to the Minnesota State Fair? I will tell you what has happened. It has become a microcosm of what ails our society. We have spent some considerable time and money to negotiate with some young Somali gangs concerning our rapidly approaching fair. "Please stay away this year. And if you come, please don't hang with other gang members." That was our AG asking those questions. Will this work for a more peaceful fair this year? Odds are it will not. Why not? The current in our country right now is all about mass mayhem, put on by wild and feral youth. The Minnesota State Fair is prime breeding ground for that kind of behavior. 

Not to get too political, but this kind of behavior is a hangover from the lawlessness condoned in the Obama and Biden years. If it feels good - do it, even if it is against law and order. We still have a bevy of prosecuting local attorneys and judges who HATE to impose any kind of punishment on law breakers. "Please do better. Now go home and have some ice cream." So long as that is the kind of punishment we dish out for lawlessness, we will continue to have mayhem in our streets.

Think I am dabbling in histrionics or hyperbole? I am not. What about blocks and blocks of cars who have their windows broken overnight? One man who was interviewed on the news said this was this third time this year he woke up to broken windows in his car. Who is doing this? Who do you think. Hint: It is not Mormon missionaries or Boy Scouts. Wild and feral youth? That is a much better guess.

Some people, like that handsome young man in the picture above, just like to go to the Minnesota State Fair, have a foot long hotdog, and people watch. That is what the majority of us do. However, in the past few years, going to the fair has been marred by violence. Mostly at night, mostly by wild and feral youth. Why do I think this will happen again? Because it happened across the border at Wisconsin's fair. That is why.

How do we turn this ship around? How do we get back to that "Ozzie and Harriet" type of life we had years ago? The Mary Tyler Moore years in Minnesota? Or have been so scarred by the Floyd riots that we are stuck in this new rut. Because if we are, we better get used to living in Dystopia.      

Do we have DUMB, or what?

"Do we have underground bases? Underground cities? Most of us will never know. This might just be urban legend and rumor-mania, or there could be some truth involved in it. Do I have any superior knowledge on this subject? Not a shred. That being said, I am still interested in the stories about these things - true or not."   

Every now and again, the old rumor mill starts to buzz like crazy. Which topic? Oh, there are quite a few. But one of the topics which really catches my glance is DUMB (Deep Underground Military Bases). Now before you hang up the phone, let's take a bit of a longer look at this issue. First off, is it even possible that we do have some military bases underground? The short answer is yes. We have had the technology for years on how to safely and securely construct underground facilities. But the next answer is the most vexing - can we develop these bases without being noticed or heard? Maybe, maybe not. 

The current narrative on our underground bases makes their existence seem actually quite possible. Shortly after the Soviet Union exploded their first atomic bomb, it scared the pants off our military planners. So much so, they started being concerned about how to have our military continue should we ever be attacked by nuclear weapons. We know from our government, they have a continuation of government plan by having POTUS, most of his cabinet and Congress go to an underground secured and safe location in time of national emergency. This is fact. Weather Mountain is fact. Cheyane Mountain is fact. There are some others, but then we lose the factual information and start getting into conjecture and rumor.

If you look at what has been discovered in Gaza, what we know about what is in Iran, burrowing underground in cities and storage areas is common. If these backward areas of the world can do it, why can't we? There have been stories about tunneling machines with plasma cutters on them, which can make miles and miles of tunnels with no debris evident. What about the purpose and location of these bases? If they exist, I am sure the security rating on them is sky high. So much so, some of them might have been around for decades, and decades yet to come.

One year, my wife and I went up to a Minnesota State Park called Soudan. It is a mine deep underground. Currently, it is used for research by the University of Minnesota as well as other agencies. Why bring this up? It was spooky and weird to be that far underground. I suppose if someone was stationed in a DUMB, they would get used to it. But like it said, to us it was nothing but strange and unnerving.

Do we have underground bases? Underground cities? Most of us will never know. This might just be urban legend and rumor-mania, or there could be some truth involved in it. Do I have any superior knowledge on this subject? Not a shred. That being said, I am still interested in the stories about these things - true or not.   

You can't cure stoopid!

"To have a secure homeland, we need enough water for all to drink, and to use for agriculture. We need a secure and almost limitless supply of electricity. We need enough gas and oil in reserve to use in a national emergency. And we need enough ammo to ensure we can fight off bad guys."

I am going to do something this morning I very rarely do. I am going to take a swing at our country. Not every part of our country, but at some things which has been a burr under my saddle for a long time. One problem has been a huge problem for decades and is still a huge problem. But now that problem has been made even worse by another problem is which just as huge and just as serious. In short, we have an electrical grid which is held together by spit and chewing gum, and now a huge area of our country is running out of water. Why does this make us stoopid? Because we are doing NOTHING about either problem.

I am going to talk about our water issue first. Israel has a lot less water than we have, so they have taken this on this problem with urgency. They have used the unlimited supply of water which comes from the sea. Now, things are going so well with the water they are harvesting, they are even able to start refilling the Sea of Galilee. Seriously - they really are!

We are losing Lake Powell and Lake Meade. Both are dependent of the Colorado River, which is starting to lose its punch. Since tens of millions of citizens in the desert southwest are dependent on that river for just about everything, it is time to think about a Plan "B". Like desalination - and lots of it. But no - we have done zip. Nada. And if we don't hurry up and take this problem seriously, we will have a mass migration of citizens headed northward, out of the desert.

Then we have our very fragile electrical grid. We have been so very lucky in the past that this grid had not failed. And if it did fail, due to natural or manmade causes, we would be in big, big trouble. People would die. To make matters worse, we are going to need much more electricity in the near future to power the proliferation of data centers. Ironically, many of these new AI data centers are being built in Arizona. And what do these data centers need the most? Water and electricity. Duh!

There are other issues also which need attention. Like our Strategic Petroleum Reserve being at historic lows. That is inexcusable. That need to be fixed like yesterday. And to have some of our smart ammo and missiles now being in short supply. Where was the planning on that? We can't fight a war against Russia or China and run out of ammo in the first week. Both of these issues also need to be fixed - like now.

To have a secure homeland, we need enough water for all to drink, and to use for agriculture. We need a secure and almost limitless supply of electricity. We need enough gas and oil in reserve to use in a national emergency. And we need enough ammo to ensure we can fight off bad guys. In short, it is time to start fixing some of these vexing problems before they become beyond vexing and a catastrophe. We are smarter than this. We have no time for stoopid. 

Who likes Iran these days? Hint: Nobody who knows them

"D-Day is coming soon for Iran. Trump is starving them out right now, but soon we might have to mix in some of our kinetic fire power to boot. BTW - what Trump said is true. We may be a wee bit short of some of our super smart munitions, but we have an almost unlimited supply of bombs and missiles which are not quite as smart - but smart enough."

What a bunch of jerks. Who? The IRGC. Yesterday, just for kicks and giggles, besides hitting two tankers in the Strait, the IRGC launched some missiles at the UAE. At the same time, they instructed their proxy (Houthis) to fire ballistic missiles at Saudi. If they are not killing their own people, they are shooting at their neighbors, or they are taking pot shots at commercial shipping. No wonder nobody wants to go to the prom with them.

What happened yesterday was the last straw for the good folks who rule the UAE. They have cut off any ties which remained with Iran. If Iran wants to be another hermit kingdom, just like the Norks, they are doing a fine job of getting there. And just to be clear on one very important point - it is Iran and Iran alone who has bottled up the Strait of Hormuz. That is why the best thing Trump has done for a while, is announce to the world that the US just might make the Strait a territory of the US. Where we can control it. Why? Iran had their chance - and blew it.

USA Today had an opinion piece about Iran today. I won't go into all the details, but to me, the punch line was as follows: "The war with Iran came as no surprise. They have been baiting the USA for decades." BINGO! A real truth bomb that was! Whose fault was this (as the Dems call it), Trump's "unnecessary war"? Iran's fault. Pure and simple. Rather than being a truculent nuisance in the neighborhood, attacking Isreal whenever they could, and threatening us - they could have played nice. But no - baiting us is the least of their sins.

Iran does not know this as yet, so let me help them out. You sirs, the members of the IRGC, are like a dead man walking. Your time is up. The millions of normal Iranians who you have imprisoned in your theocracy are ready to take their country back. And Trump is ready to take over the Strait. Why? You have shown you are cruel dictators to your own people and have shown you have no clue on how to leave well enough alone with commercial traffic in the Strait. And you have riled up our president, which is never a smart play.

D-Day is coming soon for Iran. Trump is starving them out right now, but soon we might have to mix in some of our kinetic fire power to boot. BTW - what Trump said is true. We may be a wee bit short of some of our super smart munitions, but we have an almost unlimited supply of bombs and missiles which are not quite as smart - but smart enough. For the IRGC - your day of reckoning is almost here. As they would say in the wild west, "you better git while the gitting is good." 

Birds of a feather no longer flock together....

"When the dust settles in November and the ballots are counted, what will be the lessons learned? Since few will be happy with the outcome, the lesson learned will be to do better in 2028. Until then (as the old saying goes) - suck it up, buttercup!"

One RINO person I know, recently lamented about the fact that Republicans are not like they once were. Let me see if I can translate that for all of us. A few decades ago, Republicans and Democrats got along much better than they do today. Why? They were all colored the same. Not red and blue as much as Democrats were a darker gray and Republicans were a lighter shade of gray. When they expressed opposing positions, they often were more alike than different. One was constantly reminded of that old axiom - "Birds of a feather block together." Oh, those were the days! (NOT!)

Fast forward to today. Many Republicans have taken a crash course in advanced conservatism. It started with the Tea Party, and then (thanks to Donald Trump), has morphed into the MAGA movement. No shades of gray here! But on the other side of the coin, are the Democrats, who have gone from liberal to progressive to Socialism to out and out Communism. Ergo, here is the problem at the ballot box. Do you choose the Ozzie and Harriet party to rule, or do you take a chance and vote for crazy?

Right now, many are not happy with this developing "forever war" in Iran. This "one and done" war is turning into Iraq 2.0. How and why is this happening? First off, we may want it to be done, but Iran is willing and able to stretch thing out for months (years) to come. Why? They know how impatient the American People are. Anything to hurt or seriously wound Donald Trump and the party he came from.

But on the other side of the fence, we have crazy. The DSA is trying to make their foothold into the Democrat Party more of a stronghold. And their platform is straight out of Lala land. The establishment Democrats are trying to minimize and marginalize this group of upstarts. However, this new breed of Communists, is starting to win the day the old-fashioned way - they are winning the primary races. That is how they take over the Democrat Party - one precinct at a time.

This is going to be a very interesting election. Some are going to punish the Republicans because of this developing "forever war" which is causing almost Biden like inflation, and others are going to punish the Democrats for allowing "crazy" to take over their brand. In other words, this will be an election (in my opinion) where many will vote against something more so than voting for something.

When the dust settles in November and the ballots are counted, what will be the lessons learned? Since few will be happy with the outcome, the lesson learned will be to do better in 2028. Until then (as the old saying goes) - suck it up, buttercup!    

 

Is this war over, or is this just the start?

"BTW - even though there is very little kinetic activity going on right now, something strange is happening in Iran. Upper levels of the IRGC keep turning up dead. This is due to either some Iranians on the inside who are no longer drinking the IRGC Kool aide, or maybe Massad? Or USA operators? Or Kurds? Bad things come to those who deserve it."

When I was growing up, and after conquering most of my boyhood fears, there was still something that I was afraid of. And that is getting in a fight with somebody who had nothing to lose. Hard to beat somebody like that. That is something I think about in our fight with Iran. The IRGC does not give a whit about how much we bomb, what they lose, how many of their people are killed, what kind of poverty and inflation they are now living in. They just keep on fighting.

Let me be clear on one issue. And this issue is one of the reasons the Iranians (the IRGC) will NEVER want peace. They HATE Israel. They will never accept Israel as a neighbor. They will always seek to have proxies who can carry out dastardly deeds against the Jewish state. And us? They hate us also. They will do anything to drive us out of the Middle East. Remember - in the eyes of the IRGC, we are still the big Satan. 

Today is the expiration date on the sixty-day MOU. Big whoop. The MOU, just like all the pauses and cease fires, have been there only to stall for time. Not having any agreements is just fine by most of us, thank you. And for Trump to keep our boot on the financial neck of Iran (via our Naval blockade) is good medicine. As Trump has said, he prefers not killing any more people but will delight in killing Iran's economy.

Meanwhile, yesterday a couple of Shahed Drones somehow made it into Egypt. Since that is outside their range, the thought is they could have been launched from some ship close by. It is no secret that Iran would love to pull Egypt into this fray. If Iran starts to launch drones from ships against friendly nations, this war in not going away soon. If anything, it will get bigger.

BTW - even though there is very little kinetic activity going on right now, something strange is happening in Iran. Upper levels of the IRGC keep turning up dead. This is due to either some Iranians on the inside who are no longer drinking the IRGC Kool aide, or maybe Massad? Or USA operators? Or Kurds? Bad things come to those who deserve it.

When will this war end? Will it end? My thinking is it will only end when the good people of Iran retake their country. And then we can be friends again. Until that day comes, we need to stay buckled up. Why? The IRGC types never give up.

What is up on the Abe? Fact or fiction?

How tough do I think the men and women of the USS Abe are? Plenty tough. Our sailors are well trained. I would put my money on the men and women of the United States Navy any day of the week - and twice on Sunday.

 

Before I went in the Navy, the motto I kept hearing was "join the Navy and see the world". Sounded good to me. I really wanted to go to sea. Make my own memories. I signed up for all "bird farm" (carrier) ratings I could when I was in boot camp. As luck would have it, my scores on the battery tests showed I had some kind of aptitude to do a different kind of work other than aviation. And that work led me away from a sea billet. Out of 21 years in the Navy/Naval Reserve, that was my biggest disappointment.

Lately I have been wondering, if I had gone to sea right out of boot camp, and was stationed on a pre-Nimitz era carrier off the coast of Viet Nam, could I have toughed it out? That being said, if I were younger, and in the Navy today, and stationed aboard the USS Abe Lincoln, could I have handled a 265-day deployment without going bat poop crazy? It is easy to sit back in my easy chair and judge what is happening off the coast of Iran right now, but I wonder how many of us have the mental toughness to "soldier up" and keep on mission like we are asking of the crew of the USS Abe.

For a young man or woman, 265 days is like an eternity. I get it. I do, however, have a hard time believing that with today's underway replenishments, that the Abe was running out of food - especially milk. When I was stationed on an Army Base in Okinawa, the chow hall only served powdered milk. The good news? The milk never ran out (until we could not get water during the drought). The bad news - powdered milk tastes like crap. But nobody starved and we all made it to the end of our duty rotation.

I know time drags when you are on station doing an important job. I know for young men and women they are wondering if this will ever end. But it will end. And good or bad, they will be part of a record setting deployment. As time goes on once this deployment is over, they will have a story to tell. For some, it will be bragging rights. For others, they will just want to get out.

It is times like these, that the leadership of the ship's CO, XO, Chiefs, Officers and lead petty officers must be as sharp as a tack. Yes, leadership. This is when real leaders, lead. Is it tough being on station for 265 days? Heck yes, it is tough. But the young sailors who endured this record setting deployment could or should come out of this deployment tougher and better. 

How tough do I think the men and women of the USS Abe are? Plenty tough. Our sailors are well trained. I would put my money on the men and women of the USS Abe any day of the week - and twice on Sunday.