On Tenterhooks
08/10/23 07:05
Can you believe that it's October already? Holy jumping Jesus. We have less daylight, cooler mornings and evenings, a lot of muted foliage, maybe due to all the rain we've got over the summer, and a sense of urgency hereabouts to get stuff tidied up before Winter arrives. I need to change the oil in my snow machines and, if I can remember, remove the spark plugs on my machines and give them a squirt or two of WD40. I saw that on YouTube. It makes perfect sense. Right? The machines sit for months on end with any and all lubrication settling to the lowest point in the unit. When the time comes to start the machines, the pistons lack the necessary lubrication to operate efficiently, and that's never good for the machines. Would it cause them to seize up? I don't know, and I don't want to find out. But that's just me.
It doesn't look like Amazon is going to deliver my water dispenser. It was scheduled for delivery, but the delivery day came and went, and still no water dispenser. We have an e-mail into the vendor, so we'll see what they have to say. I think the tracking site said something about FedEx picking up the unit, but that's all it says. That's where everything stopped. Is it sitting in a warehouse somewhere? Was there a work shortage or a strike of sorts that messed things up? Not that I know of is the quick and dirty answer. Do I still want the machine? It's just like the old eight-ball thing of days gone by when you gave it a vigorous shake until it spit out an answer for you. Remember? "It is decidedly so." That's the answer I'm looking for. That's my answer, and I'm sticking to it. In fact, I can't consider buying anything else until I get a resolution of some kind. I'd hate to buy another one only to have the original one that I ordered, and the one I thought was never coming, arrive on my doorstep.
The Cowboys vs. New England Patriots game yesterday exceeded my greatest expectations. You know I hate the New England Patriots. Right? I've long maintained that their coach, Bill Belichick, rode the coattails of Tom Brady for a good decade or more. The question no one knew the answer to was whether Belichick was the brains behind the duo or was it all Brady all the time. Was Brady's brilliance making up for, or covering up for, might be a better way to say it, Belichick's incompetence? Now we know. We've known for a few years now since Brady's departure. Last year, the Patriots didn't even get to the playoffs. Wait a minute. Who's hiring all the "talent" for the Patriots? It's Belachick. Who's coaching the "talented" players he hires? It's Belichick. Who put some putz like Mac Jones in as quarterback? Belichick. Who was coaching the Patriots in the game against the Cowboys yesterday when they lost to the Cowboys 38-3, the worst loss in the history of the franchise and in Belichick's run with the team? Belichick. It was downright delicious to watch. The Patriots, under Belichick's "leadership," are now 1-3 in their first four games. It's time for him to go.
So much for shutting down the government if the Republicans don't get what they want. I liked the idea of passing 12 appropriations bills instead of either a continuing resolution (CR) or an omnibus bill. That's what Speaker McCarthy promised his caucus when they elected him Speaker. Well, McCarthy is the rat that we've always thought he was, and, with votes from Democrats, he put through a continuing resolution to kick the can down the road for another 45 days. He also allegedly agreed to a side deal with Biden to fund Ukraine. Most Republicans wanted no part of funding Ukraine while we have an invasion at our own border. That's the height of insanity. All that remains now is for the caucus to remove McCarthy as Speaker for his skullduggery. That was the deal. Right? Keeping the Speakership role was conditional. I think his response when confronted with that question about his potential ouster as Speaker on one of the Sunday talk shows yesterday was, "Bring it." The Republicans will need Democrat votes to get it done, so we'll see how that goes. He might as well be a Democrat for everything he's done for Biden and the Democrats, so I think they like him right where he is. That's the Uni-Party for you.
I don't know what's going on with my legs. They were throbbing last night. I was tossing and turning for the better part of the night. It almost feels like my musculature is unwinding after not riding my bike for a couple of days. It goes right on up to my hips, and I'm not liking that one bit. Was I sitting around too much? Is my napping catching up to me? I was busy doing this and that around the house yesterday, so I can't easily attribute it to anything that I did or didn't do. This is an entirely new sensation, so I'll just throw that out there. I had half a mind to get out of bed in the middle of the night and take a couple of Motrin. If I had something stronger, I would have considered that too. I half thought to myself as I lay in bed, is this the throbbing stuff that the missus complains about from time to time? I'm going to get back on my bike this morning to see if I can shake this shit. I also have more cleaning scheduled, so I'll be up and about, which may help. What am I going to do if nothing helps? What if it gets worse rather than better? I think this bears watching.
Fast forward 24 hours, and the throbbing is no longer. Maybe it was a warning of sorts. I just don't know. I suppose I could Google it, but then I'd start seeing ads on every web page I visit for salves, ointments, and gels, and I want no part of that bullshit. The missus complains about that sort of thing all the time. She looks up a nice pair of shoes, and before she knows it she's getting reminders from Amazon that that very same brand or style of shoe is on sale on their site. It's fucking insidious, is what it is. I worried a little bit that when I laid down to go to sleep last night, I might conjure up the pain I felt from the night before if for no other reason than I feared too much that it might come over me again. Is that sheer stupidity on my part or just part and parcel of who and what I am? Don't answer that. I also got in a bike ride yesterday. I needed to dispense with the notion that not riding my bike was the cause of my leg issues. Now that I've had a ride and now that I've gone one night without my leg pain, what possible conclusions can I draw? This is getting very circular.
That story ended well. A nine-year-old girl disappeared in upstate New York earlier this week after going out on a biking trip with friends. The headlines were blaring that she was likely in imminent danger. What the fuck does that mean? Did that mean that neither of her parents were suspects? Did they know something that we didn't about potential child molesters or serial killers in the area at the time of her disappearance? The videos and photos of her online were equally disturbing when you considered the fact that her loved ones were going through hell at the very thought of what their child might be enduring at the hands of some pervert. It's a fate worse than death itself. You don't allow yourself to think that she might be dead, although death may be preferable to the excruciating physical and emotional pain she might otherwise experience while in the company of her abductor. She's now been found alive and well, all things considered, I suppose, and you take things one day at a time. What is this we're hearing about a ransom note? Why do we not know everything there is to know about the abductor? Was he or she an illegal alien? A member of a marginalized community? What are they hiding? Fess up, you fuckers.
Word has it that Russia is having a country-wide nuclear drill today. Is it true what they say about Russia having fallout shelters throughout their country? Would they be having these drills if they didn't think that they might be the recipient of incoming warheads in the weeks or months ahead? And how many fallout shelters do we have, dare I ask? What American politician wants to go out on a limb even to suggest that we might be the target of some rogue nation and their fanciful ideas about taking out the greatest country on the face of the earth with a barrage of nuclear missiles? We're effectively sleepwalking into God only knows what in an insanely more dangerous and unpredictable world under the "leadership" of Bumbles Biden. Russia gets it, and they are preparing for the worst. We should be doing the same. Are we closer than we think to what we experienced back in the sixties with the Cuban missile crisis? You won't hear those words coming out of the mouths of Democrats. Not in an election year or a pre-election year, anyway. No sirree, Bob. Keeping power is more important than saving American lives. This is who they are. This is what they do.
My guy on the talk show this morning was going on and on about the civil trial in New York City involving Trump and charges of fraud. This is all about dumping on Trump and trying to influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential elections. How do you even accuse someone of fraud when no one was effectively defrauded? Did he inflate his net worth or the value of his properties in order to hoodwink banks or lending institutions into lending him money? They make it sound like the banks or institutions had to take Trump's word for what he was worth and that they had little to no responsibility or ability to do their own due diligence. The judge could rule that Trump has to turn over his properties to a conservator if he's found guilty. I can't imagine that any of this would be upheld on appeal. I didn't hear my talk show guy say that the judge stated yesterday that anything prior to 2014 would not be subject to the ongoing litigation, thanks to the statute of limitations. That takes 80% of the case off the table, according to Trump. Did I dream that? Why was that not mentioned by my talk show guy? No callers referred to it either. WTF?
Whoa. I didn't see that coming. I did not see them voting the go-along-to-get-along Speaker of the House, Keven McCarthy, out of his position. I've always considered him to be the penultimate insider who would sell his soul to tow not the interests of his party but the interests of big government. There have been too many broken promises, too many side deals, and too much capitulation to Biden and the Democrats, especially on issues like money for Ukraine. Words that come to mind when I think of the rat McCarthy: Milquetoast/sell-out/traitor/Democrat/liar/swine/Ukraine whore, etc. Do I make myself clear? If you want to know who the real shills for unlimited big government are, just look at who was most upset after McCarthy's ouster. I didn't watch FOX, but I heard that, to a person, they were livid. And Newt Gingrich, for chrissakes. I've never seen him so steamed. He wanted Matt Gaetz expelled from Congress for his critical role in getting McCarthy thrown out. Gaetz is a hero in my mind. He and eight other principled conservatives delivered on their promise to hold McCarthy's feet to the fire after they helped to forge the agreement that put McCarthy in as speaker some 280 days ago. The icing on the cake? The temporary Speaker told Pelosi to vacate the Speaker's office immediately. Who knew that McCarthy had allowed her to keep her office space when she lost the Speakership?
What is this I'm seeing? You know that John Kirby guy? He's a mouthpiece for the Biden Administration. He was quoted as saying something along the lines of if Congress doesn't keep the money flowing to Ukraine, the Administration will have to put American boots on the ground. What kind of threat is this? You never heard anything like this when McCarthy was Speaker because there was never any real threat of money being withheld. McCarthy wore Ukraine's colors in his lapel at some big Washington soiree, for chrissakes, so that told you everything you needed to know about McCarthy. Is this just another story that is going to disappear into the ether, or is someone in Congress going to stand up and call Biden out for his reckless and irresponsible language? We're talking about American boys fighting and dying on foreign soil to protect another country's borders when we have yet to send a single American to protect our own borders if you discount soldiers sent there by Biden to assist the illegal aliens flowing into our country. Here's my memo to whoever gets promoted to Speaker of the House: Not one more fucking dime for Ukraine.
The other thing that I heard about McCarthy is that he put the kibosh on issuing a subpoena to Hunter Biden. Comer and his committee in Congress wanted to issue the subpoena a long time ago, but he was prevented from doing it by McCarthy. Let's hope things keep rolling with the Biden impeachment inquiry after however much time it takes to fill the Speaker's position. I'm a patient man, but I'm not that patient. We need to keep turning up the heat on the most corrupt president and administration in America's history. While we're at it, we also need to do a deep dive into the Department of Justice and its complicity in covering up for the many crimes of the Bidens. I also agree with Senator Ted Cruz, who wants Secretary Mayorkas's ass on a platter for his mishandling of our immigration policies. He knows that Mayorkas is just a Biden toady, and if he's removed from office, Biden will replace him with another one of his loyal brownshirts. Right? I understand Cruz's disgust with Mayorkas and everything he represents, but Mayorkis is just a symptom. You need to lance the boil, and Mayorkis is not the boil. In political parlance, that means you remove whoever you have to remove at the ballot box, or sooner, depending on opportunities that may come your way, such as impeachment, etc.
For the Democrats who voted en masse with the eight conservatives to oust McCarthy, here is what I say: Be careful what you wish for. I'm guessing that they were thinking that their votes would throw their Republican counterparts into a tumult that would invariably benefit their party. Short term, it's probably mission accomplished. Longer term, I'm hoping that we conservatives come out of all of this with an even bigger and even more conservative mandate. If that first volley out of the gate by the temporary speaker in telling Pelosi to vacate her office tells us anything, I think it will be game-on. I think we won't know what other skullduggery McCarthy was up to as Speaker until we see the new Speaker weighing in on issues where McCarthy was unwilling to go. Thus far, Scalise, Jordan, and the black congressman from Florida, whose name escapes me at the moment, have thrown their hat in the ring as potential nominees. Trump's name has been bandied about as well, but that seems a bit far-fetched. He's got bigger fish to fry with running for president.
I watched the video of that NYC activist getting killed on the streets of the Big Apple the other day, and as gruesome and hard as it was to watch, I found that I felt surprisingly little empathy for the guy. I don't know if the activist's assailant was a mentally deranged individual or maybe an illegal alien hell-bent on killing Americans, not that it mattered one way or another. I firmly believe that the once greatest city on the face of the earth, New York City, is now a living and barely breathing shit hole because of people like him and the policies that he and his Marxist brothers and sisters have been pushing for the past few decades. Would it surprise you to learn that the woman who was accompanying him at the time of his death now refuses to identify the assailant? What kind of madness is this? It's apparently more important to her that the killer not be brought to justice since his fate as a black American has already been determined by society at large, and jailing him will only perpetuate our collective and intolerant legacy of racial inequity. This is Marxism 101. Where and how does any of this end?
Have you heard about the kerfuffle in Foxboro, Massachusetts? The annual Army / Navy game is being held at Foxboro stadium this year, and any and all reservations in hotels in and around Foxboro have been effectively canceled due to the influx of illegal aliens in the State. Apparently, the State pays top dollar to the hotels to cover the costs of housing the illegals. Let me rephrase that. The taxpayers of the State of Massachusetts are footing the bill for housing these criminals, vagrants, pedos, and ne'er do wells. What I want to know is whether or not Bob Kraft and the hotels he owns inside of Gilette Stadium are also housing these illegals. Or, does he get a pass because of his political connections and the generous checks that he writes to the liberal politicians in the State? I think I know the answer to that question. Word also has it that these hotel rooms are being trashed left and right by the illegals. Imagine that. You come to our country from your dirt-poor existence in some squalid South American hellhole, you are provided with free telephones, $2,200 a month in cash, free education for your children, free healthcare for your family, free housing, and you ungrateful cunts trash everything in site in and around the hotels in which you reside. Thanks for nothing, Joe Biden. This is on you. This is your legacy.
I've been struggling a bit as of late with my bike riding. I don't know if it's my inability to adjust to this and that to account for the change of seasons, or maybe I've not yet recovered from not having not ridden my bike the entire week that I was away on vacation in September. Something is missing. I'm not riding as long as I usually do, and I'm feeling less physically able to complete my usual ride; forget the abbreviated version of the ride I sometimes take when I'm not feeling up to snuff. Even the missus has noticed, and she occasionally asks, "Did you do your normal ride"? It's a rhetorical question, really. She knows darn well I'm home ahead of schedule. Maybe she's expecting an explanation of sorts, but I offer none. My silence tells her everything she needs to know. She's been nudging me a bit lately to think about joining a local gym. Does that have anything to do with my less-than-stellar outings on my bike? You know, the ones she reminds me of every time I arrive back home ahead of schedule. You'll have to ask her. It's above my pay grade.
I sent the Ev man a text yesterday, and he never responded. The missus asked me yesterday if I heard back from him, and I told her that I hadn't. I probably should have given him a call. You know, just check in to make sure that he's okay. Here I am roughly twenty-four hours later, and I'm sending him a slightly more concerning text. He's never been all that prompt when it comes to responding to texts and phone calls, and it's not terribly unusual for him not to reply at all. I've always had a bit of a chuckle when we call him, and the call goes to voicemail, only to have him call us back within five minutes or so. Maybe that's his way of preserving what he prefers to think of as his privacy. I know it's early, so maybe he's not up and about yet. Or, he may be out and about looking to buy a cup of coffee to jump-start his morning. I'm making this up as I go along. I'm not going to call him just yet. I may wait until the missus is up and out of bed, although I'm not wanting to worry her when it may not be necessary. C'mon, Ev. Text me back. Pick up the phone and call me. It's been twenty-four hours. A very long twenty-four hours, now that I think of it.
I have to laugh when I hear the talking heads talking about the fact that someone like Jim Jordan can never be Speaker of the House because he'd never get the votes from the congressmen in his caucus who live in districts that voted for Biden. It's funny because I never hear Democrats talking about not being able to get something done in their caucus because their members reside in Republican districts. Don't think for a minute that the entire Democrat caucus wouldn't vote for their leader, the obvious radical and extreme leftist, Hakeem whatever-the-fuck-his-name-is, to become Speaker of the House if his name came up for nomination. They could give a flying fuck if one of their members who resides in a Republican district casts a vote that could cost him his position. They stick together, and they get things done. Imagine running for a congressional seat for the honor of representing your constituents only to end up in Washington and having some fuck or other tell you how you're going to vote on issues that impact your people back in your district. I'll never understand that. You know I'm referring to the Democrats here. Right? I suppose the people you represent are fully aware of what they're getting when they vote for you, so maybe it works for everyone involved. I'm just not sure that what we see in Washington these days, at least what we see with the Democrats, would pass muster with our Founding Fathers.
Man, that is some serious shit that went down in Israel last night. I think it's still going on even now. I saw videos of Hamas terrorists on social media using hang gliders to fly into the center of Tel Aviv or other to do their dastardly deeds. I saw one video of a dead Israeli woman lying face down on the bed of a truck surrounded by Hamas fighters screaming Allah Akbar. Hamas apparently now has taken any number of Israeli prisoners. It's a complete and utter shit show. A failure of Isralei's Intelligence agencies is what some are saying. Others are throwing shade on Biden and his recent gift to Iran of some $6 billion dollars as a catalyst for this terror attack. Leaders across the globe are urging restraint between the two parties, but Israel is close to declaring war against Hamas if they haven't already. I have to imagine that the level of retaliation about to be leveled on Hamas is going to be something otherwordly. I don't really know or understand the dynamics of everything at play, so I'll simply send prayers and well wishes to our ally, Israel, in her time of need. If not now, when?
I'm hearing that Biden is unleashing his agencies on MAGA extremists ahead of the 2024 presidential elections. What the hell is a MAGA extremist anyway? Is it someone who says bad things on social media about the inimitable, feckless, and demented Joe Biden? Is it someone who holds up signs at rallies or abortion centers decrying the policies of Biden and the Marxists whom he surrounds himself with? Is it someone who refuses to trade in their gas guzzler for an electric vehicle? Is it someone who calls Biden and his family members wholly-owned assets of the Communist Chinese Party (CCP)? Is a MAGA extremist and a card-carrying member of the Republican Party one and the same? To carry some or all of this to a logical conclusion, let's not forget that Hillary Clinton was recently quoted as saying that "at some point, there needs to be a formal deprogramming of the cult members." Is that where we're going with all of this? Can she be any more clownish? It is precisely she and her minions who have been demonizing Trump supporters since he beat her ass good in the 2016 election. If the good Lord is willing, and the creek don't rise, he'll do it again in 2024. There, I said it. And no, that's not a prediction.
It's pretty sad when you think about it. How long did it take for Biden to step up to the microphone after Hamas fighters killed more than 300 (At last count) Israeli citizens to decry the hostilities and to call for restraint on both sides? A little too long if want to know the truth. It was a pathetic speech by any standards, and if it took two minutes from beginning to end, I'd be very surprised. He took questions for about forty-five minutes after his speech, much to the surprise of the media types in attendance. Correction: He took no questions and shuffled away from the podium while the media shouted questions, only to have them fall on deaf ears. This is the leader of the free world? This is who people across the globe look to in bad times and good times for guidance and inspiration? Did I mention that Biden ordered that the Biden White House be illuminated in Israel's colors in the wake of the terror attack, much like they did in Germany and other nation's capitols across the world? Nope, he didn't do that either. You know that Biden ordered the White House illuminated for an entire week during gay pride week. Right? And, how does one call for restraint after what can only be called Israel's 911? You tell them that it's okay to crush the animals who did this to your fellow countrymen.
One guy I follow on social media posted the following tweet on Twitter (X) last night: Gas up your car. What's that all about? Is he suggesting that we Americans not be caught flatfooted when the shit hits the fan? Is that to say that we should be prepared to move quickly to points south or wherever with our family and all our belongings when the word comes down? Is he suggesting that the price of Brent Crude is going to go through the roof now that the Middle East is being thrown into turmoil as a result of the attack on Israel, and we should fill up our tanks before the price at the pumps goes out of sight? Do his comments have anything to do with the fact that Biden has nearly drained our Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR), and we'll not have any reserves to fall back on if and when world oil supplies dwindle? Now we know, I suppose, why Biden hasn't refilled the SPR to levels we saw under Trump's tenure. He never intended to refill the reserves. Think of all the electric cars they can sell when gas prices go nuts. Think of all the refineries they can shut down once people aren't driving gas guzzlers anymore. Brent crude dropped by some 10% last week on the world markets. My guess is that we get that back and more this coming week. Maybe that's what he's talking about.
Is it me, or does something seem fishy about this Israel thing? Is anyone buying this bullshit about their intelligence agencies not knowing anything about this before it happened? Somebody knew something, and you know it. If they knew something, why wouldn't they say something? Much like the hyped-up 9/11 event here in America in 2001, which gave the Bush White House carte blanche to invade Iraq, it's possible that Israel now has the imprimatur to bring the war to Hamas (And Iran) in a way they couldn't before all of this happened. I'm not saying the 9/11 event itself was hyped up, just the media firestorm that followed the event that claimed the lives of some 2,000 plus Americans. It was a firestorm that ignited passions in Americans from coast to coast, and we were ready and willing as a people to sign off on anything that restored our national dignity and pride. Sadly, but not surprisingly, we had politicians and a willing industrial-military complex more than happy to send our children to fight and die in foreign lands. So, I ask you this: Who in the Five-Eyes community wants a war in the Middle East? Let me rephrase that: Who in the Five-Eyes community benefits most from a war in the Middle East? Have I already answered my own question? You tell me.
It doesn't look like Amazon is going to deliver my water dispenser. It was scheduled for delivery, but the delivery day came and went, and still no water dispenser. We have an e-mail into the vendor, so we'll see what they have to say. I think the tracking site said something about FedEx picking up the unit, but that's all it says. That's where everything stopped. Is it sitting in a warehouse somewhere? Was there a work shortage or a strike of sorts that messed things up? Not that I know of is the quick and dirty answer. Do I still want the machine? It's just like the old eight-ball thing of days gone by when you gave it a vigorous shake until it spit out an answer for you. Remember? "It is decidedly so." That's the answer I'm looking for. That's my answer, and I'm sticking to it. In fact, I can't consider buying anything else until I get a resolution of some kind. I'd hate to buy another one only to have the original one that I ordered, and the one I thought was never coming, arrive on my doorstep.
The Cowboys vs. New England Patriots game yesterday exceeded my greatest expectations. You know I hate the New England Patriots. Right? I've long maintained that their coach, Bill Belichick, rode the coattails of Tom Brady for a good decade or more. The question no one knew the answer to was whether Belichick was the brains behind the duo or was it all Brady all the time. Was Brady's brilliance making up for, or covering up for, might be a better way to say it, Belichick's incompetence? Now we know. We've known for a few years now since Brady's departure. Last year, the Patriots didn't even get to the playoffs. Wait a minute. Who's hiring all the "talent" for the Patriots? It's Belachick. Who's coaching the "talented" players he hires? It's Belichick. Who put some putz like Mac Jones in as quarterback? Belichick. Who was coaching the Patriots in the game against the Cowboys yesterday when they lost to the Cowboys 38-3, the worst loss in the history of the franchise and in Belichick's run with the team? Belichick. It was downright delicious to watch. The Patriots, under Belichick's "leadership," are now 1-3 in their first four games. It's time for him to go.
So much for shutting down the government if the Republicans don't get what they want. I liked the idea of passing 12 appropriations bills instead of either a continuing resolution (CR) or an omnibus bill. That's what Speaker McCarthy promised his caucus when they elected him Speaker. Well, McCarthy is the rat that we've always thought he was, and, with votes from Democrats, he put through a continuing resolution to kick the can down the road for another 45 days. He also allegedly agreed to a side deal with Biden to fund Ukraine. Most Republicans wanted no part of funding Ukraine while we have an invasion at our own border. That's the height of insanity. All that remains now is for the caucus to remove McCarthy as Speaker for his skullduggery. That was the deal. Right? Keeping the Speakership role was conditional. I think his response when confronted with that question about his potential ouster as Speaker on one of the Sunday talk shows yesterday was, "Bring it." The Republicans will need Democrat votes to get it done, so we'll see how that goes. He might as well be a Democrat for everything he's done for Biden and the Democrats, so I think they like him right where he is. That's the Uni-Party for you.
I don't know what's going on with my legs. They were throbbing last night. I was tossing and turning for the better part of the night. It almost feels like my musculature is unwinding after not riding my bike for a couple of days. It goes right on up to my hips, and I'm not liking that one bit. Was I sitting around too much? Is my napping catching up to me? I was busy doing this and that around the house yesterday, so I can't easily attribute it to anything that I did or didn't do. This is an entirely new sensation, so I'll just throw that out there. I had half a mind to get out of bed in the middle of the night and take a couple of Motrin. If I had something stronger, I would have considered that too. I half thought to myself as I lay in bed, is this the throbbing stuff that the missus complains about from time to time? I'm going to get back on my bike this morning to see if I can shake this shit. I also have more cleaning scheduled, so I'll be up and about, which may help. What am I going to do if nothing helps? What if it gets worse rather than better? I think this bears watching.
Fast forward 24 hours, and the throbbing is no longer. Maybe it was a warning of sorts. I just don't know. I suppose I could Google it, but then I'd start seeing ads on every web page I visit for salves, ointments, and gels, and I want no part of that bullshit. The missus complains about that sort of thing all the time. She looks up a nice pair of shoes, and before she knows it she's getting reminders from Amazon that that very same brand or style of shoe is on sale on their site. It's fucking insidious, is what it is. I worried a little bit that when I laid down to go to sleep last night, I might conjure up the pain I felt from the night before if for no other reason than I feared too much that it might come over me again. Is that sheer stupidity on my part or just part and parcel of who and what I am? Don't answer that. I also got in a bike ride yesterday. I needed to dispense with the notion that not riding my bike was the cause of my leg issues. Now that I've had a ride and now that I've gone one night without my leg pain, what possible conclusions can I draw? This is getting very circular.
That story ended well. A nine-year-old girl disappeared in upstate New York earlier this week after going out on a biking trip with friends. The headlines were blaring that she was likely in imminent danger. What the fuck does that mean? Did that mean that neither of her parents were suspects? Did they know something that we didn't about potential child molesters or serial killers in the area at the time of her disappearance? The videos and photos of her online were equally disturbing when you considered the fact that her loved ones were going through hell at the very thought of what their child might be enduring at the hands of some pervert. It's a fate worse than death itself. You don't allow yourself to think that she might be dead, although death may be preferable to the excruciating physical and emotional pain she might otherwise experience while in the company of her abductor. She's now been found alive and well, all things considered, I suppose, and you take things one day at a time. What is this we're hearing about a ransom note? Why do we not know everything there is to know about the abductor? Was he or she an illegal alien? A member of a marginalized community? What are they hiding? Fess up, you fuckers.
Word has it that Russia is having a country-wide nuclear drill today. Is it true what they say about Russia having fallout shelters throughout their country? Would they be having these drills if they didn't think that they might be the recipient of incoming warheads in the weeks or months ahead? And how many fallout shelters do we have, dare I ask? What American politician wants to go out on a limb even to suggest that we might be the target of some rogue nation and their fanciful ideas about taking out the greatest country on the face of the earth with a barrage of nuclear missiles? We're effectively sleepwalking into God only knows what in an insanely more dangerous and unpredictable world under the "leadership" of Bumbles Biden. Russia gets it, and they are preparing for the worst. We should be doing the same. Are we closer than we think to what we experienced back in the sixties with the Cuban missile crisis? You won't hear those words coming out of the mouths of Democrats. Not in an election year or a pre-election year, anyway. No sirree, Bob. Keeping power is more important than saving American lives. This is who they are. This is what they do.
My guy on the talk show this morning was going on and on about the civil trial in New York City involving Trump and charges of fraud. This is all about dumping on Trump and trying to influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential elections. How do you even accuse someone of fraud when no one was effectively defrauded? Did he inflate his net worth or the value of his properties in order to hoodwink banks or lending institutions into lending him money? They make it sound like the banks or institutions had to take Trump's word for what he was worth and that they had little to no responsibility or ability to do their own due diligence. The judge could rule that Trump has to turn over his properties to a conservator if he's found guilty. I can't imagine that any of this would be upheld on appeal. I didn't hear my talk show guy say that the judge stated yesterday that anything prior to 2014 would not be subject to the ongoing litigation, thanks to the statute of limitations. That takes 80% of the case off the table, according to Trump. Did I dream that? Why was that not mentioned by my talk show guy? No callers referred to it either. WTF?
Whoa. I didn't see that coming. I did not see them voting the go-along-to-get-along Speaker of the House, Keven McCarthy, out of his position. I've always considered him to be the penultimate insider who would sell his soul to tow not the interests of his party but the interests of big government. There have been too many broken promises, too many side deals, and too much capitulation to Biden and the Democrats, especially on issues like money for Ukraine. Words that come to mind when I think of the rat McCarthy: Milquetoast/sell-out/traitor/Democrat/liar/swine/Ukraine whore, etc. Do I make myself clear? If you want to know who the real shills for unlimited big government are, just look at who was most upset after McCarthy's ouster. I didn't watch FOX, but I heard that, to a person, they were livid. And Newt Gingrich, for chrissakes. I've never seen him so steamed. He wanted Matt Gaetz expelled from Congress for his critical role in getting McCarthy thrown out. Gaetz is a hero in my mind. He and eight other principled conservatives delivered on their promise to hold McCarthy's feet to the fire after they helped to forge the agreement that put McCarthy in as speaker some 280 days ago. The icing on the cake? The temporary Speaker told Pelosi to vacate the Speaker's office immediately. Who knew that McCarthy had allowed her to keep her office space when she lost the Speakership?
What is this I'm seeing? You know that John Kirby guy? He's a mouthpiece for the Biden Administration. He was quoted as saying something along the lines of if Congress doesn't keep the money flowing to Ukraine, the Administration will have to put American boots on the ground. What kind of threat is this? You never heard anything like this when McCarthy was Speaker because there was never any real threat of money being withheld. McCarthy wore Ukraine's colors in his lapel at some big Washington soiree, for chrissakes, so that told you everything you needed to know about McCarthy. Is this just another story that is going to disappear into the ether, or is someone in Congress going to stand up and call Biden out for his reckless and irresponsible language? We're talking about American boys fighting and dying on foreign soil to protect another country's borders when we have yet to send a single American to protect our own borders if you discount soldiers sent there by Biden to assist the illegal aliens flowing into our country. Here's my memo to whoever gets promoted to Speaker of the House: Not one more fucking dime for Ukraine.
The other thing that I heard about McCarthy is that he put the kibosh on issuing a subpoena to Hunter Biden. Comer and his committee in Congress wanted to issue the subpoena a long time ago, but he was prevented from doing it by McCarthy. Let's hope things keep rolling with the Biden impeachment inquiry after however much time it takes to fill the Speaker's position. I'm a patient man, but I'm not that patient. We need to keep turning up the heat on the most corrupt president and administration in America's history. While we're at it, we also need to do a deep dive into the Department of Justice and its complicity in covering up for the many crimes of the Bidens. I also agree with Senator Ted Cruz, who wants Secretary Mayorkas's ass on a platter for his mishandling of our immigration policies. He knows that Mayorkas is just a Biden toady, and if he's removed from office, Biden will replace him with another one of his loyal brownshirts. Right? I understand Cruz's disgust with Mayorkas and everything he represents, but Mayorkis is just a symptom. You need to lance the boil, and Mayorkis is not the boil. In political parlance, that means you remove whoever you have to remove at the ballot box, or sooner, depending on opportunities that may come your way, such as impeachment, etc.
For the Democrats who voted en masse with the eight conservatives to oust McCarthy, here is what I say: Be careful what you wish for. I'm guessing that they were thinking that their votes would throw their Republican counterparts into a tumult that would invariably benefit their party. Short term, it's probably mission accomplished. Longer term, I'm hoping that we conservatives come out of all of this with an even bigger and even more conservative mandate. If that first volley out of the gate by the temporary speaker in telling Pelosi to vacate her office tells us anything, I think it will be game-on. I think we won't know what other skullduggery McCarthy was up to as Speaker until we see the new Speaker weighing in on issues where McCarthy was unwilling to go. Thus far, Scalise, Jordan, and the black congressman from Florida, whose name escapes me at the moment, have thrown their hat in the ring as potential nominees. Trump's name has been bandied about as well, but that seems a bit far-fetched. He's got bigger fish to fry with running for president.
I watched the video of that NYC activist getting killed on the streets of the Big Apple the other day, and as gruesome and hard as it was to watch, I found that I felt surprisingly little empathy for the guy. I don't know if the activist's assailant was a mentally deranged individual or maybe an illegal alien hell-bent on killing Americans, not that it mattered one way or another. I firmly believe that the once greatest city on the face of the earth, New York City, is now a living and barely breathing shit hole because of people like him and the policies that he and his Marxist brothers and sisters have been pushing for the past few decades. Would it surprise you to learn that the woman who was accompanying him at the time of his death now refuses to identify the assailant? What kind of madness is this? It's apparently more important to her that the killer not be brought to justice since his fate as a black American has already been determined by society at large, and jailing him will only perpetuate our collective and intolerant legacy of racial inequity. This is Marxism 101. Where and how does any of this end?
Have you heard about the kerfuffle in Foxboro, Massachusetts? The annual Army / Navy game is being held at Foxboro stadium this year, and any and all reservations in hotels in and around Foxboro have been effectively canceled due to the influx of illegal aliens in the State. Apparently, the State pays top dollar to the hotels to cover the costs of housing the illegals. Let me rephrase that. The taxpayers of the State of Massachusetts are footing the bill for housing these criminals, vagrants, pedos, and ne'er do wells. What I want to know is whether or not Bob Kraft and the hotels he owns inside of Gilette Stadium are also housing these illegals. Or, does he get a pass because of his political connections and the generous checks that he writes to the liberal politicians in the State? I think I know the answer to that question. Word also has it that these hotel rooms are being trashed left and right by the illegals. Imagine that. You come to our country from your dirt-poor existence in some squalid South American hellhole, you are provided with free telephones, $2,200 a month in cash, free education for your children, free healthcare for your family, free housing, and you ungrateful cunts trash everything in site in and around the hotels in which you reside. Thanks for nothing, Joe Biden. This is on you. This is your legacy.
I've been struggling a bit as of late with my bike riding. I don't know if it's my inability to adjust to this and that to account for the change of seasons, or maybe I've not yet recovered from not having not ridden my bike the entire week that I was away on vacation in September. Something is missing. I'm not riding as long as I usually do, and I'm feeling less physically able to complete my usual ride; forget the abbreviated version of the ride I sometimes take when I'm not feeling up to snuff. Even the missus has noticed, and she occasionally asks, "Did you do your normal ride"? It's a rhetorical question, really. She knows darn well I'm home ahead of schedule. Maybe she's expecting an explanation of sorts, but I offer none. My silence tells her everything she needs to know. She's been nudging me a bit lately to think about joining a local gym. Does that have anything to do with my less-than-stellar outings on my bike? You know, the ones she reminds me of every time I arrive back home ahead of schedule. You'll have to ask her. It's above my pay grade.
I sent the Ev man a text yesterday, and he never responded. The missus asked me yesterday if I heard back from him, and I told her that I hadn't. I probably should have given him a call. You know, just check in to make sure that he's okay. Here I am roughly twenty-four hours later, and I'm sending him a slightly more concerning text. He's never been all that prompt when it comes to responding to texts and phone calls, and it's not terribly unusual for him not to reply at all. I've always had a bit of a chuckle when we call him, and the call goes to voicemail, only to have him call us back within five minutes or so. Maybe that's his way of preserving what he prefers to think of as his privacy. I know it's early, so maybe he's not up and about yet. Or, he may be out and about looking to buy a cup of coffee to jump-start his morning. I'm making this up as I go along. I'm not going to call him just yet. I may wait until the missus is up and out of bed, although I'm not wanting to worry her when it may not be necessary. C'mon, Ev. Text me back. Pick up the phone and call me. It's been twenty-four hours. A very long twenty-four hours, now that I think of it.
I have to laugh when I hear the talking heads talking about the fact that someone like Jim Jordan can never be Speaker of the House because he'd never get the votes from the congressmen in his caucus who live in districts that voted for Biden. It's funny because I never hear Democrats talking about not being able to get something done in their caucus because their members reside in Republican districts. Don't think for a minute that the entire Democrat caucus wouldn't vote for their leader, the obvious radical and extreme leftist, Hakeem whatever-the-fuck-his-name-is, to become Speaker of the House if his name came up for nomination. They could give a flying fuck if one of their members who resides in a Republican district casts a vote that could cost him his position. They stick together, and they get things done. Imagine running for a congressional seat for the honor of representing your constituents only to end up in Washington and having some fuck or other tell you how you're going to vote on issues that impact your people back in your district. I'll never understand that. You know I'm referring to the Democrats here. Right? I suppose the people you represent are fully aware of what they're getting when they vote for you, so maybe it works for everyone involved. I'm just not sure that what we see in Washington these days, at least what we see with the Democrats, would pass muster with our Founding Fathers.
Man, that is some serious shit that went down in Israel last night. I think it's still going on even now. I saw videos of Hamas terrorists on social media using hang gliders to fly into the center of Tel Aviv or other to do their dastardly deeds. I saw one video of a dead Israeli woman lying face down on the bed of a truck surrounded by Hamas fighters screaming Allah Akbar. Hamas apparently now has taken any number of Israeli prisoners. It's a complete and utter shit show. A failure of Isralei's Intelligence agencies is what some are saying. Others are throwing shade on Biden and his recent gift to Iran of some $6 billion dollars as a catalyst for this terror attack. Leaders across the globe are urging restraint between the two parties, but Israel is close to declaring war against Hamas if they haven't already. I have to imagine that the level of retaliation about to be leveled on Hamas is going to be something otherwordly. I don't really know or understand the dynamics of everything at play, so I'll simply send prayers and well wishes to our ally, Israel, in her time of need. If not now, when?
I'm hearing that Biden is unleashing his agencies on MAGA extremists ahead of the 2024 presidential elections. What the hell is a MAGA extremist anyway? Is it someone who says bad things on social media about the inimitable, feckless, and demented Joe Biden? Is it someone who holds up signs at rallies or abortion centers decrying the policies of Biden and the Marxists whom he surrounds himself with? Is it someone who refuses to trade in their gas guzzler for an electric vehicle? Is it someone who calls Biden and his family members wholly-owned assets of the Communist Chinese Party (CCP)? Is a MAGA extremist and a card-carrying member of the Republican Party one and the same? To carry some or all of this to a logical conclusion, let's not forget that Hillary Clinton was recently quoted as saying that "at some point, there needs to be a formal deprogramming of the cult members." Is that where we're going with all of this? Can she be any more clownish? It is precisely she and her minions who have been demonizing Trump supporters since he beat her ass good in the 2016 election. If the good Lord is willing, and the creek don't rise, he'll do it again in 2024. There, I said it. And no, that's not a prediction.
It's pretty sad when you think about it. How long did it take for Biden to step up to the microphone after Hamas fighters killed more than 300 (At last count) Israeli citizens to decry the hostilities and to call for restraint on both sides? A little too long if want to know the truth. It was a pathetic speech by any standards, and if it took two minutes from beginning to end, I'd be very surprised. He took questions for about forty-five minutes after his speech, much to the surprise of the media types in attendance. Correction: He took no questions and shuffled away from the podium while the media shouted questions, only to have them fall on deaf ears. This is the leader of the free world? This is who people across the globe look to in bad times and good times for guidance and inspiration? Did I mention that Biden ordered that the Biden White House be illuminated in Israel's colors in the wake of the terror attack, much like they did in Germany and other nation's capitols across the world? Nope, he didn't do that either. You know that Biden ordered the White House illuminated for an entire week during gay pride week. Right? And, how does one call for restraint after what can only be called Israel's 911? You tell them that it's okay to crush the animals who did this to your fellow countrymen.
One guy I follow on social media posted the following tweet on Twitter (X) last night: Gas up your car. What's that all about? Is he suggesting that we Americans not be caught flatfooted when the shit hits the fan? Is that to say that we should be prepared to move quickly to points south or wherever with our family and all our belongings when the word comes down? Is he suggesting that the price of Brent Crude is going to go through the roof now that the Middle East is being thrown into turmoil as a result of the attack on Israel, and we should fill up our tanks before the price at the pumps goes out of sight? Do his comments have anything to do with the fact that Biden has nearly drained our Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR), and we'll not have any reserves to fall back on if and when world oil supplies dwindle? Now we know, I suppose, why Biden hasn't refilled the SPR to levels we saw under Trump's tenure. He never intended to refill the reserves. Think of all the electric cars they can sell when gas prices go nuts. Think of all the refineries they can shut down once people aren't driving gas guzzlers anymore. Brent crude dropped by some 10% last week on the world markets. My guess is that we get that back and more this coming week. Maybe that's what he's talking about.
Is it me, or does something seem fishy about this Israel thing? Is anyone buying this bullshit about their intelligence agencies not knowing anything about this before it happened? Somebody knew something, and you know it. If they knew something, why wouldn't they say something? Much like the hyped-up 9/11 event here in America in 2001, which gave the Bush White House carte blanche to invade Iraq, it's possible that Israel now has the imprimatur to bring the war to Hamas (And Iran) in a way they couldn't before all of this happened. I'm not saying the 9/11 event itself was hyped up, just the media firestorm that followed the event that claimed the lives of some 2,000 plus Americans. It was a firestorm that ignited passions in Americans from coast to coast, and we were ready and willing as a people to sign off on anything that restored our national dignity and pride. Sadly, but not surprisingly, we had politicians and a willing industrial-military complex more than happy to send our children to fight and die in foreign lands. So, I ask you this: Who in the Five-Eyes community wants a war in the Middle East? Let me rephrase that: Who in the Five-Eyes community benefits most from a war in the Middle East? Have I already answered my own question? You tell me.