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.

One heck of a summer!

 

I was not going to mention this fact, but what the heck - I am surprised and honored by it. I have addressed this before - because it amazes me. My blog, the Very Angry Bird, has been read in over 2/3 of the countries on Earth. As such, the number of my views keep going up. I try to make my posts to be not only family friendly, but also about freedom and liberty, with a bit of faith stories thrown in for good measure. That being said, then there is this summer.

The number of views I have on my blog site have gone from the thousands per day to the tens of thousands per day. One day, I went over 110,000 views. This month, I am about ready to hit one million views for August - and the month is not even half over.

I have been asked in the past how and why I write what I do. My answer is always the same. First, it must interest me. And then comes the most critical part - it must (in my opinion) interest others. It can't be too long, nor too boring. And at times it can be even pithy. But that is it. In a nutshell. Oh, and I do a lot of reading from different sources, watching a lot of news, and at night, before going to bed, watching some YouTube. 

For those who read my ramblings from time to time - thank you. For those who don't, give it another try. I have thick skin - if you disagree with me - let me know. I any event, I have blathered on long enough. I put my article for the day was on the site earlier this morning. You might want to check it out. Hint: It is not about flowers.

Why we can't (won't) win

"Here is what the DFL does that the MNGOP does not do. Once the dust settles and the primary is over, they gather around the winner. It really does not matter to them how corrupt or imperfect their candidates are. They vote lock, stock and barrel. Meanwhile, many in MNGOP are still bemoaning the imperfect flowers in the bunch, as they wonder how and why they lost (again)."

The story goes as follows. Every two or four years, a man goes into a flower shop to buy some flowers for a lady friend. One shop which he goes into, has vastly superior flowers to any other shop, and his lady friend much prefers them to any others. But this man is very particular. Quite often, he will spot one flower in a perfect bunch which is less than perfect. For that reason alone, he leaves the shop empty handed. He instead, goes to a flower shop down the road which has flowers which are far less attractive. Many are diseased. But to keep from getting that one imperfect flower at the other store, he (out of spite) - buys the far less attractive and diseased flowers. And this happens over and over and over again.

Welcome to MNGOP. This is the land where (believe it or not), we still have enough registered Republicans to win statewide elections. Proven fact. But (and this is going to sting a bit) - we have far too many of the MNGOP voters who are like the man who did not buy the nice bunch of flowers with one flower which was imperfect. And the stink of how we vote is already in the air. How so? The DFL, which are running pretty much the same bunch of fraud infested losers they have had for years, out voted MNGOP by a margin of 2 to 1 in the primary. THAT - does not bode well for the general election.

I am a lifelong Republican. I have never been a Democrat. That being said, Republicans frustrate me in this state. Why? The knives are already out for Lisa Demuth. RINO! Loser! All kinds of names which should never be used for our candidates. Is Lisa the best candidate for governor we have ever had? Maybe not - but in my book she is pretty darned good, and hundred times better than Hotdish Amy. But we have many MNGOP folks, some even being state delegates, who will SIT THIS ELECTION OUT, rather than vote for Lisa. Is that cutting off your nose in spite of your face, or what. We will lose another election just because many MNGOP types have hurt feelings and will either vote third party, or not at all. Same outcome.

And we can't forget about Michele Tafoya. Oh my gosh - she is or was pro-choice. Now my preference is that she is not, but she still has the best chance of winning that open senate seat. However, there are MNGOP types who will SIT THIS ELECTION OUT, rather than vote for Michele. By the way, as the old expression goes, you can't govern if you don't win. The trifecta rule of the Democrats in 2023 gave us the immoral abortion law which is now law in MN. You know - the same type of law that MA just passed. It is a satanic law, and we had no Republicans who could stop it. Again, if you don't win, you can't govern.

Here is what the DFL does that the MNGOP does not do. Once the dust settles and the primary is over, they gather around the winner. It really does not matter to them how corrupt or imperfect their candidates are. They vote lock, stock and barrel for their candidates. Meanwhile, as many in MNGOP are still bemoaning the imperfect flowers in their bunch, they wonder how and why they lost (again).

 

No class, no morals, no kidding

 

"I have always said that one of the things I love about this country is that we have an open-door policy. Open borders to an extent. Open borders? Yes - whomever wants to leave this country which they hate so much - can do so freely." 

Did you see the latest and the greatest disgrace which was done by disciples or fans of Hassan Piker? Why do I say that? Because when every other word out of your mouth (like it is with Piker's) besmirches or degrades America, some loose nut kids will take that crap to heart. Yesterday, filled with rage against the machine (so to speak), they defaced the nation's World War II Memorial in Washington DC. These young punks, whom without the duty and sacrifice of those heroes who fought and died in World War II, would living in tyranny and speaking another language. It makes me sick to my stomach.

What has happened to our great country? Why are our national monuments no longer sacrosanct? I know this started under Obama and then went hog wild under Biden - but come on folks - these monuments mean something special to the normal folks who live in and love this great land. Is it the schools these days, which are filling this young heads full of this vile hatred for America? Teaching faux history and civics?

How about this past primary election season. Some of these Commies which were running for public office, proclaimed loudly they hate America as well as some of our holidays. Why do they say that kind of crap? Because they don't belong here. Not one bit.

Or is it the churches? Some liberal denominations have strayed so far from the Gospel they are preaching things which are antithetical to Biblical teachings. Like pride. Like gender reassignment. What will be next? Polyamorous marriages? Same sex marriages? (sorry - we are already there). Are these the days that Ezekial had prophesized about? 

Are we at the point right now that the majority cannot have nice things in this country, just because some minute minority hates it here? A small minority who feels guilty that we won wars, that we invent things, that our standard of living is higher than most? Is that what the message was with the damage done at our World War II Memorial yesterday? Well guess what? There are more of us than there are of them. Plenty more. And when we catch these vandals, mercy will be in short supply.

I have always said that one of the things I love about this country is that we have an open-door policy. Open borders to an extent. Open borders? Yes - whomever wants to leave this country which they hate so much - can do so freely. That being said, those who want to come here need to do it the right way. That is freedom in my book. Living in a free and open country. As the old saying goes - "America, love it or leave it". 

The gravity of the situation

"Rumor has it that DARPA is working on an anti-gravity propulsion system. I find that very interesting. Why? How can we do that if we don't understand how gravity works in the first place? Bottom line? The gravity of this situation really escapes us. Love it or hate it, gravity keeps us here and prevents us from floating away. Does gravity suck, as the hippies from the 60's would say? Not in my book."   

For those who survived the close call with the seven seconds of no gravity yesterday - congrats. The seven seconds of free floating never happened. And that is a good thing. Why? As the old saying goes, what goes up must come down. There was even a fictitious name for this fictitious event. Project Anchor. Somewhere, many light years from here, there was a disturbance in the gravity field. It was going to hit Earth yesterday, and if you were not hanging on to something which was firmly attached to the ground, you were in for the ride of your life. Probably the last ride of your life. 

If you ever want to have fun with a scientist, here is a series of questions to ask him or her which will put that person in a box canyon. Question One: What is gravity? Answer: It is the force which keeps us on this (or any other) planet. Question Two: What causes gravity? Answer: It is caused by the mass of something in the universe. Question Three: (And this ends the discussion) - What causes gravity? How does it work? Answer: We are still working on it.

Gravity is one of those things which is real, yet unexplainable. Thus, to have this gravity wave hit the Earth yesterday and nullify our gravity for seven seconds, was a good story at best. Why? How would NASA know that, if they can't even figure out what gravity is in the first place? The interesting part is even after this seven second story had been debunked, some still believed in it. But those who still believed in it, still had a shred of truth to do so. Really?

Trying to get an absolute answer on why this could not nor would not happen from experts who can't even fully explain the how and whys of gravity is a problem. Sure, the seven seconds came and went with nothing happening - but was it only because it was a fable, or were we just lucky? 

Rumor has it that DARPA is working on an anti-gravity propulsion system. I find that very interesting. Why? How can we do that if we don't understand how gravity works in the first place? Bottom line? The gravity of this situation really escapes us. Love it or hate it, gravity keeps us here and prevents us from floating away. Does gravity suck, as the hippies from the 60's would say? Not in my book.