Is "Rock and Cows" really that dense?

"Good luck on the trail Tim. Please keep spewing the nonsense which you have been. Right now, your platform is the best thing in the world for Jeff Johnson. You want to further tax the socks off of a state which is already one of the highest taxed states in the union?" 

Hello? Earth to Tim? What are you thinking brother? Who is advising you? Are you awake? Do you know what year it is? First off, nice play referring to your soon to be former district as being made up of nothing but "rocks and cows". I have traveled in southern Minnesota many times, and I love it. Different than up north, but still has a real beauty to it. And the people I have met down there are great. They only thing I have against them, is why in the world they kept re-electing you.

But let's move on. Gas tax. Really? For a guy who says he will be the "education Governor", you are not very educated on what is real and what is not. Do you ever read the paper Mr. Walz? Do you have any idea what Detroit, as well as many of the foreign car manufacturers, are cooking up for the next few years? Electric and hybrids. Lots and lots of them. Driving assisted as well as autonomous. Many locations are putting in charging stations for electric cars. And you think a gas tax will solve our highway woes? 

By the way, a gas tax was recently polled with the good citizens of Minnesota. Most give it a thumbs down. What are we going to do then about our decrepit roads? Here is a novel idea. How about funding them with existing funds? I know, I know. This is will drive the "greenies" nuts. The money, the obscene amount of money going for rail, and the bike trails - are losers. We need to use those funds for roads. We have plenty of money coming in for good roads in this state. We just need to use it for roads instead of nonsense.

I can't close this out without saying a word or two about how you want to make Minnesota a sanctuary state. ARE YOU FLIPPING NUTS???? I mean, look at the polling numbers on that loser. I know you don't have a high degree of regard for many of the people in this state, but we are law and order people. We don't want all kinds of law breakers living within our borders with total impunity. And by the way sir - did you know we have one hell of a drug problem in this state right now? And you want open borders and sanctuary status? You really are a progressive, aren't you.

Good luck on the trail Tim. Please keep spewing the nonsense which you have been. Right now, your platform is the best thing in the world for Jeff Johnson. You want to further tax the socks off of a state which is already one of the highest taxed states in the union? DUH! Well, the damage is done. Your positions are known. Whereas Jeff Johnson will break the tired old status quo, you will take us a few levels deeper. No thanks.

This election year, the difference in candidates could not be more clear. The differences in vision between the two parties could also not be more stark. For a better Minnesota, for ALL Minnesotans, all we need do is elect Jeff Johnson. We have seen what the other side has to offer. We have lived it. Now is our chance for something much different, much better. Like a breath of fresh air - after living in a stale room for eight years. 

Getting away with it....

"This is just part of the corruption from the past administration. I want it cleaned up and investigated. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more easy going Paul Ryan. Time to drain the swamp. And we will start from the deepest part of the swamp - the Obama Administration."

I have to hand it to the Democrats. On one front, they sure outplayed us during the first part of the Trump Administration. Like what? Just to re-play, we have the House, we have the Senate, and we have the White House. And what are we investigating? The non-existent Russia/Trump collusion from the 2016 election. Hello? Does anyone in Washington not know what a dry hole is? In the oil business, when you hit a dry hole, you pull your stuff out and move on. Not in Washington however - this Trump/Russia dry hole keeps getting deeper and dryer all the time. 

Meanwhile, the Clinton's have gotten away with murder (figuratively and maybe even literally). In fact, when Ms. Clinton was our SOS and the Benghazi mess happened, both her and her boss (BHO), escaped without a scratch. How could that happen? In fact, Obama is now so brazen (due to the fact he and Hillary got away with it), this past week, he referred to the entire Benghazi event as a "GOP made up conspiracy".

Really Barry? Should we dive deep on what really happened on that 9/11 anniversary in Libya? How Obama's "good friend", Christopher Stevens, was literally abandoned and sacrificed? How innocent Americans were who were there to protect Ambassador Stevens were killed or wounded to cover up this colossal eff-up? No - there is a lot left to tell on this story. Many truths which have never been revealed. And remember - Susan Rice was only the puppet in this charade. We want the puppet master(s). Most of us have a pretty good idea who the puppet masters were, but we need Congressional hearings, under oath, with witnesses, and FACTS, to clear this up. 

Did I mention that Fast and Furious is also still an open sore? The soul of Brian Terry still cries out for justice. And where is Brian's justice? Not here. He was just collateral damage in the scheme that Barry and his AG, Holder hatched. The one which would show how "out of control" our guns were in Mexico. We have so many guns in America, they were leaking across the border to commit crimes. The problem is, Fast and Furious backfired, and Agent Terry paid the ultimate price for it. Now let's have the truth.

Then there was the Obama Administration weaponizing the IRS. We cannot forget Lois Lerner. Lois and her do nothing boss, Koskinen. They personified the "DEEP STATE", even before most of us knew what it was. Then - after that egregious misuse of power, what was the remedy? Not much. Lerner is "retired" now, drawing a huge salary. And Koskinen still heads up the IRS! I want this fixed!

What else do I want? I want an end to this Mueller bull crap, and a start to real investigations. When? When Congress starts to roll again. Before the midterms. There is much, much to do.

I have not even addressed the missing Clinton emails and the "pay for play" her husband was involved in while Hillary was SOS. Or the uranium issue, which 99% of the citizens do not understand. They don't understand why and how that sale (or give away) was okay. 

Finally, we cannot forget John Kerry. The architect of that phony Iran deal which cost us a mint. What exactly did Kerry and Obama agree to? Without having Congressional approval? Without even having the Iranians sign the deal? And where did those pallets of cash come from? Oh yes - we need hearings on this issue also. Big time.

This is just part of the corruption from the past administration. I want it exposed, investigated, and cleaned up. I want heads to roll. I want people doing the perp walk. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more easy going Paul Ryan. Time to drain the swamp. And we will start from the deepest part of the swamp - the Obama Administration.

The land of the lawless...

"Most folks I know who live in this neck of the woods, HATE driving into Minneapolis. For a variety of reasons, primarily safety. The city is being managed by a boy mayor and a council who looks and acts like they are out of the Star Wars bar scene."

Anybody hear about last weekend? How our fair city of Minneapolis was trying to look a bit like Chicago? Okay - we are still small potatoes compared to Chicago. But we had a good showing (as far as crime is concerned). Ten people shot with four dead. If fact, it shook up one business owner so bad, he made the decision to pull up stakes and relocate somewhere else. "One murder happened right outside the steps of my business. It could have been an employee or customer." Did you hear that Mayor Frey? That is the sound of more money leaving your town.

I have said this for a while now. We have three options. Option One - let the cops be cops. It is no secret that most of the guns in Minneapolis are illegal. Have more aggressive policing, including "stop and frisk". Option Two - Do nothing. Go with the flow. If crime happens, then crime happens. Option Three - Never mind - there is no Option Three.

Under Mayor Frey and the current City Council, Option One is off the table. That leaves Minneapolis with only Option Two. God help the innocents who will get caught up in this ever growing crime wave. Gangs will become more embolden. Turf wars will become more pronounced. More small businesses will leave. How do I know? This is the same thing which has happened to many of the Blue cities points east of here.

And did you hear about the PUC meeting on the Northern Minnesota Pipeline Project? Some jackass(es) came in to disrupt the meeting. Came in with bullhorns, signs and a plan to disrupt. Bottom line? The meeting had to be scrubbed. Why? The lawless faction won again. Just like when they shut down freeways - and get away with it, scot-free. Could the cops have come in and removed them? Yes, but they did not. Why not? Because the Twin Cities are becoming lawless.

Most folks I know who live in this neck of the woods, HATE driving into Minneapolis or St. Paul. For a variety of reasons, primarily safety. The City of Minneapolis is being managed by a boy mayor, and a council who look and act like they came from the Star Wars bar scene. In other words, many think this city is not that far from total anarchy. And since they have voted to be a "sanctuary city", they might be there right now. 

Good luck folks. If you live in Congressional Districts 4 or 5, you might want to consider moving to Congressional District 2 or 6. Then you will have some hope. Wake up. The Twin Cities are lost right now. They are lawless. They are hopeless. They are a mess. 

And when and how do "bug out"?

"Bottom line? HAVE AN 'E' PLAN! It does not matter if you live in Rapid City, South Dakota, or Wilmington, Carolina right now. If you have to leave in a hurry, you need a PLAN! Practice for it, prep for it, and get ready for it."

I said I might have to address this issue again. In the past, I mostly have only addressed prepping from a stable platform - that be our humble abodes. But what about if you need to leave your home in a hurry? To "bug out"? Like from a rapidly moving forest fire? Or a flash flood? Or a Cat 4 Hurricane named Florence which is about to come on shore? And those are just natural disasters.

What about a dirty bomb in your city? An NBC attack? A melt down at a nuke plant close to town? A GRB, not strong enough to be a global killer, but still very destructive? A solar flare? I could go on and on, but there are a thousand or so natural or un-natural things which would cause you to vacate your premises. And now. 

Current day. This nice thing about this hurricane, as with most, is they are slow motion disasters. Much different than twisters. The smart folks on the coast, pack up, lock up, board up, and then move on, days before the storm hits. They might need to make a week or so worth of hotel reservations far, far inland. Then they will take most what they can carry for a short term exit. Money, medications, clothes, important papers, and so on. Plan on being out of your home for a few days, maybe a week, maybe longer. Just ask the folks in Houston  who went through Hurricane Harvey last year. The week long hiatus tuned into a year or so.

Speaking of Houston, over 40,000 were displaced from the storm. That means their homes were either gone or not fit to return to once the storm was over. It was a huge mess, and Houston was caught unprepared. Yesterday, the Governor of North Carolina held a presser. He said this storm could leave over 100,000 people in both Carolina's displaced. Why? It will be the worst Carolina storm in over 60 years! Think of that as compared to Houston.

What does all this mean? I have said this many times before. Most Americans are nowhere near prepared. Not even close. More importantly, the government can only offer so much help. As with Katrina, if you are forced out of your house with nothing but the shirt on your back, you could be in very bad shape, very soon. In fact, your might die (as so many did in Katrina).

Bottom line? HAVE AN "E" PLAN! It does not matter if you live in Rapid City, South Dakota, or Wilmington, Carolina right now. If you have to leave in a hurry, you need a PLAN! Practice for it, prep for it, and get ready for it.

Every year, when there is a natural disaster, many die for no reason. Why no reason? There was no plan. Even if you have no money, GET OUT of your house which might be flooded due to tidal surge or excessive rainfall. Take what you need to STAY ALIVE for a week or two! Then FEMA should be kicked into gear to handle what needs to be done. This Hurricane Florence could be one for the ages. A disrupting event of historical magnitude.

By this time next week, we will know how prepared we really were for this mega-storm. Hopefully, the tag line will be how much better prepared we were for this storm and the loss of life was negligible or zero. My fear however, is many will show how brave they are by toughing this storm out. And every time there is a major storm, that is how many of the fatalities happen.  

Now it is religion over country....

"On this day, we will all remember that awful day. Where we were, what we were doing. The patriots, bikers, firefighters and cops will be on the overpass in Coon Rapids again, flying a huge flag from the fire trucks. We will pause and think about the thousands of innocents who died 17 years ago, just for the crime of going to work." 

Does the pain still sear? It sure does with me. When I said I will never forget, I WILL NEVER FORGET! And if you are mired in the pool of PC madness, this might not be the article for you to read. I am one of those guys who rejected Obama renaming this day, "a day of service". Like go cut your neighbor's grass or something. No, this is our first Patriot's Day. A day to remember. A day we will never forget.

This one is going to be raw. Many times when writing, I have had to pull my talons in. Be polite. Not today. Not on this anniversary. Today, I am calling people out. Why? What happened 17 years ago was the most egregious thing that could have happened to us. It was the day which changed America. It was the day which changed everything.

Let's go back 17 years just for a moment. One of our stanchest allies in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia. Was then and is now. And yet, 15 of the 19 Al Qaeda hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. How can that be? The Saudis are our friends, our allies. Let me tell you what happened. 15 young men from the Kingdom, decided to put their religion ahead of their love of country. Then the next thing that happened, almost 3,000 innocent Americans died.

If you think that 9/11 was a "one off", think again. This was the second time that Muslims tried to take down our twin towers. Not Irish Catholics. Not Norwegian Lutherans. Not Buddhists. Not Orthodox Jews. But Muslims. And now we have waves of Muslims coming to America as refugees and immigrants. To assimilate and become Americans? Not hardly, to many of us. 

Many Muslims who have come to Minnesota, Michigan and other states are not fitting in well. And why should they. They don't want to "fit in". There are many parts of our American culture they do not like. Many do not care for dogs, for liquor, for gays, for pork products, for Christians, or for Jews. Then one might ask, what in the world are they doing here? It certainly is not the climate. 

The reason is becoming clear to many who are paying attention. Muslims continue to put their religion over their new adopted country. In other words, rather than becoming part of the American fabric, they are trying and make the American fabric more like them. 

Does this apply to all Muslims who have come to America? No, but enough of them. To be successful in this country, they need to understand one basic fact - acceptance is a two way street. Once they accept our way of life, and try to become Americans (just like many other immigrants have), they will be accepted more freely. In other words, when they accept us and our way of life, then we may accept them being here.

One final thought. I have seen many Muslims driving cars in South Minneapolis. Guess what I NEVER see on their bumpers? That stupid COEXIST bumper sticker. I have often wondered why. Is it they don't believe in bumper stickers, or just don't believe in coexisting with us? The naive liberals in town however, have it on their cars. Just saying.

On this day, we will all remember that awful day. Where we were, what we were doing. The patriots, bikers, firefighters and cops will be on the overpass in Coon Rapids again, flying a huge flag from the fire trucks. We will pause and think about the thousands of innocents who died 17 years ago, just for the crime of going to work. 

Will be ever forget? Hell no. And we will remember who did it - and why. We may find it in our hearts to forgive some day, but we will NEVER FORGET!  

Neither fit Noor ready...

"So the Minneapolis Police Department took a flyer on Officer Noor. Now it is a huge mess which needs to cleaned up. Who lost? Everyone." 

I know this subject was just an excellent article by a great writer in Alpha News. I still wanted to put my take on this issue. Why? I think this might end up being a much bigger story when  all is said and done. I am talking about the murder of Justine Damond. A murder done by Officer (at the time) Mohamed Noor. What has just been revealed about Noor, and how he got on the police force, is jaw dropping to say the least. 

As a gun owner, every time I buy a firearm, or renew my carry permit, I have to fill out forms to prove to the state (and to my sheriff) that I am fit and ready to legally carry a firearm. I don't like it. I prefer Constitutional Carry, but right now, it is what it is. Police officers on the other hand, should (and I am sure they do), go through a much more stringent vetting process before being handed a badge and a gun. 

It seems when Officer Noor was going through the vetting process, there were troubling "markers" which showed up. One would think when these "markers" show up, the candidate is thanked for his or her interest in the program, and then shown the door. Not with Officer Noor. Even with these warning signs, he was passed through. And why is that? Was it for diversity of the force? For PC reasons? What? Not to worry. With this massive lawsuit the family of Justine Damond has filled against the city, I am sure all these facts will come out.

Most of us who have been in the workplace have seen PC programs run amok from time to time. At one of my employers, a young man of color, was given a management slot in quality control. I knew this young man and liked him. He and I were friends. It not only came as a shock to him when he was selected to have this post (he had zero quality control experience), but also to some other folks who had their hats in the ring for this spot. Folks who did have the proper experience. To make a long story short, this grand experiment crashed and burned shortly after it started. Is was bad for everyone, especially the young man who was put in that unfortunate position. 

If seems the Minneapolis Police Department took a flyer on Officer Noor. Now it is a huge mess which needs to cleaned up. Who lost? Everyone. Justine Damond was innocently killed for no reason. Officer Noor was fired and is now up on serious charges. The family of Justine Damond is without Justine. And the City of Minneapolis is going to have to pay a boatload of money in this pending lawsuit. 

I will be following this story as it continues to unfold. Even though the local press would love to have it just go away, facts will surface. Will there be justice for Justine? I sure hope so. And I hope that justice finds its way to the boneheads in city hall which allowed this young immigrant man to become a police officer. When he was neither fit nor ready for it.

The "Pie in the Sky" City

"Those of us on the outer fringes of the city will do just fine, thank you. We have all the services we need right here, and we can drive to use them." 

Many times I have been asked over the past few years, "Bird! Why are you so hard on the fair City of Minneapolis? You have lived in, or close to it most all of you life, have you not?" Yes, yes I have. And that is exactly why I am so hard on this City of Lakes. When I was young, and living only feet from the Minneapolis city limits, this city had purpose. It was normal. It was a great place to live and or visit. And then somewhere, sometime, during the past 50 years or so, it fell off the turnip truck. Now it is truly, the land of the lost.

Great article in the "fish wrap" Sunday paper today. Now that Thrive 2040 has gone from a Met Council clandestine document, to an all out planning instrument for the Minneapolis City Council, for many it has become an OMG moment. The article in the paper discloses what many have suspected for some time now. Minneapolis wants to be a "car free" city. And for the folks who live there - plenty of options. You can walk, ride your bike, or take a choo-choo, or just go without. Good times, good times!

This is nothing but a "pie in the sky" vision. It is "la-la" land. It comes straight out of the of the "never going to happen" playbook. This is not the town that Dr. Marcus Welby practiced medicine in. Or the town Andy of Mayberry was the Police Chief in. No, this is a town which does NOT have affordable grocery shopping on every corner. Does NOT have a doctor or vet for the pooch on every corner. This is town situated on the 45th parallel with weather ranging from 100 degrees in the summer to 25 below in January. To say that no automobile transportation is needed anywhere in town is, well, just plain nutty.

And I can say it is nutty, because if you have ever seen the Minneapolis City Council in session, more than half of them act like they are off their rocker. Their nuttiness however, is only eclipsed by the unelected, unaccountable Metropolitan Council. Seriously - these two councils put together look and act like the starring cast from One Few Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Another article in the paper which is related to this topic talked about the last of the open parking lots on Washington Avenue being torn up and replaced with some kind of buildings. This is the future. After a butt ugly commute into downtown Minneapolis, good luck finding a place to park. And if you do, it will be in an over crowded ramp, costing as much as $20 for the day. Minneapolis has become a destination which I HATE to go to. For any reason.

So, good luck city dwellers. As you get closer and closer to 2040, this is only going to get worse. The nut balls in charge will have you so tied up in knots, your city will be un-workable and un-livable. But don't worry about us. Those living in the outer fringes of the city will do just fine, thank you. We have all the services we need right here, and we can drive to get to them. 

One final thing. We don't do "pie in the sky" out here. We are stepped in reality. Rather than living a "pie in the sky" dystopian lifestyle, we like our pie sitting on on our diner table. We like our pie for desert, following a meal consisting of tasty and affordable groceries bought in stores we drove to. That is the American dream we still recognize out here. And that dream is as American as apple pie.