PN:
When I left TELUS (by invitation) in 2002, my five year plan included driving to Belize and taking the wheels off the vehicle upon arrival. So much for 5 year plans.
I haven’t given up on wintering where the sun DOES shine. This year was the year it is supposed to happen. I was leaving on November 15, heading south, with the plan to not stop until the motor home furnace doesn’t kick on (a Clay H. expression that says it all….) Only a week or two late. Last minute preparations on the behemoth I will be driving plus renovations inside the house keep shifting the plan along the calendar.
Then, out of the past (8 months), my accountant rings me up to inform me the appeal to the Revenue Canada audit of my 2010 and 2011 tax returns has been answered.
Alas, the extra $10K Cdn they relieved me of in the spring will not be funding my “winter in the sun”.
Maybe I can do some more driving to garner a grubstake before it is next year……..
The following cartoon explains much of my adult life –
A Note to Jeanine
Dear Jeanine, please look at the following pictures and tell me what you DON’T see –
Do you see what you can’t see?
EXACTLY!!!
Betty isn’t underneath the large limb of the willow that decided gravity wins.
I very seldom do the right thing at the right time for the right reason. I’m not sure that’s what happened this time, either. A few weeks ago, I decided to move all the boats in the yard to the west fence line near the willow. If you remember, Betty was parked right where that extra large limb is lying where the windshield used to be on my Hawaiian Moonraker bow rider.
So don’t fret. Betty is safe parked behind the Peterbilt up at the shop. There is only one tree anywhere near her – a young healthy oak that isn’t at all close to falling down.
I’m quite pleased with this outcome. Who would have thought of a self pruning willow?
Long live Betty!
CANADA
Sex-on-the-hill
Sex scandals among the Liberal and NDP members. Not exactly consensual, but here’s a condom. WTF? Meanwhile, Trudeau showing (again) how tin his ear is with a cement handed rush to judgement hang them out to dry guilty because I say so knee jerk reaction. Lord help us Canadians if this prima donna manages to dupe the populace into electing his party to power next year. He would be a worse choice than Mulcair…… which would be unforgivable. How many more unassimilated immigrants will be voting next cycle?
Good thing Harper is in the driver seat while these ninnies play who hid the wienie… or not….. or maybe…..
Burnaby Mountain High
How embarrassing. To hear those young people speak so passionately while so misinformed. I suppose I felt the same or similar as a young dreamer of “what is right”. As for the injuns, some of them look old enough to know better.
Canada’s own Ezra Levant wrote a book defending Canadian energy industry called “Ethical Oil”. Alex Epstein has a website ( http://industrialprogress.com/about/ ) and a book titled “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels” wherein he champions the use of fossil fuels unabashedly. More from these fellows and less from the uninformed say I (and Joe). Just what WOULD you be doing in a Canadian winter if there were no pipelines, no oil and gas industry? What a joke!
The “professional protesters” are being paid to much to be embarrassed or self conscious. The dumb college kids are misinformed little Marxist twerps. The injuns are looking for a free ride. Sounds like a typical day in LeftyLand…..
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The Ferguson debacle is unwinding this week. The “culture” of some black members of the community (and a large number of anarchistic n’er-do-wells) is embodied in this graphic –
And the perspective they have on law enforcement is summarized here –
Matt Walsh has the point of view that the media, the race hustlers, the anarchists, the criminals, the imported “protestors” and arsonists never wanted justice. A worthwhile read:
A thoughtful if somewhat bitter analysis.
As for Joe and I, we like peace and tranquility. The pursuit of our own happiness however maligned from “normal” it might seem, with the caveat “harm no others”. We don’t run from confrontation or argument or conflict. We support the law (even when we don’t agree). We don’t support vigilante activism or the false “democracy” of the mob. Consensus is by and large unimpressive and often dangerous.
I and Joe would fit perfectly in this neighborhood of happy people (yes, it’s all “white” (almost) – got a problem with that?) –
As for the morally bankrupt Obambi administration and their disgraceful “contributions” to the Ferguson fiasco, this graphic pretty well sums it up –
POLITICS, POLITICIANS, WACKJOBBERY, HUMOROUS, STUPID
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, SUPER STUFF
The following link is to a video of Arthur C. Clarke from 1974, wherein he predicts the Internet and an “interface” in every home. He was a visionary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIRZebE8O84#t=76
The Internet is a wonder of human ingenuity, and quite healthy without government “regulation”. Obambi and his crones are trying to throttle the golden goose, undoubtedly for $$$ and political leverage. A short video which explains why this is not a good idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blhLC_RZ8G0#t=55
Here is a graphic describing aspects of the synchronized digital network that exists outside of telephone. The “World Wide Web” is much larger than you can see with a standard browser / Google search engine, which only plumb the “surface web” –
Another view of the “Deep Web” showing the minute percentage of the spectrum that is available via search engine –
A few web sites which describe the “Deep Web”, and some tools to help you explore:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Web
http://listogre.com/top-ten-list/top-10-interesting-things-on-the-deep-web/
https://www.torproject.org/docs/faq.html.en
Warning!
Many brave hearts are asleep
In the Deep (web)
So beware, beware! ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3hlSOhasAI )
Net Neutrality
An uninformed political class is responsible for many poor decisions in the past. There is no reason to believe the future will include better informed politicians. Or a more ethical political class.
“Net neutrality” at first blush looks like a bully issue – those who can pay for better service will do so at the expense (or lack of ability to pay) of us poor little individuals / small start-up companies / those not looked upon with favor by the bullies. The recent action by Obambi to direct the FCC to ensure “net neutrality” is another of those noble initiatives that should not find public support. A brief overview of the conflict:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DKIb9zRZrg
Not clear to you? Some background…… The FCC and it’s Canadian equivalent CRTC can be criticized vigorously for past short-sightedness and embarrassingly foolish (in retrospect) decisions which have cost huge $$$ and time investments which have not accomplished their stated goals. Why? In most instances, actual “competition” was hindered or rendered impotent due to regulation, monopoly, “central authority”, et cetera, imposed by government. The following is a history presented by Stefan Molyneaux, describing the existing network (USA) and how the government interventions on behalf of “the citizenry” have complicated and overpriced services while favoring those corporate giants who could lobby effectively.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z_nBhfpmk4
The presentation is one hour and eighteen minutes of eye opening fact after fact. The history and reality in Canada with the CRTC is just as convoluted and corrupt. If you have any chance at input at all, DO NOT SUPPORT “NET NEUTRALITY”. You, as the consumer, will be handed the bill which will be excessively overblown for the service provided. A free market (pray we have one eventually) is the golden era we haven’t seen since the 1800’s but desperately need to re-invent.
The Network that exists today was created despite the government, not because of the government.
THE CULTURE (THERE IS ONLY ONE)
From whence ye came, if yer a western Canadian inhabitant. An amazing collection of old photos of towns and cities of the prairies:
http://www.prairie-towns.com/index.html
This is a picture from the nearest town to where my mother Rose was born – Ituna, Saskatchewan –
And another from 1912 –
PHILOSOPHY, PHILOSOPHERS, SMART THINKING
Featuring quotes from Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States (1923 – 1929) –
GUNS, GUNNERS, GUNNERY
A brutal reminder of the words of Ayn Rand – “You can ignore reality, but you can’t ignore the consequences of ignoring reality” –
The gun laws regarding a citizen’s right to own and carry firearms has recently changed in Israel and Russia. The argument is: for modern societies to survive lawful citizens must be armed (have the choice to arm themselves). The article is logical:
http://bearingarms.com/modern-societies-survive-lawful-citizens-must-armed/
A quote from the article –
“These nations are being forced to concede that the natural human right of the citizenry to be armed for their self-defense must be honored if their cultures are to survive.
For light to defeat darkness, for civilized society to triumph over barbarism, good men must be armed and resolute against the lawless, the violent, and the tyrannical.”
Underwater discharge of a revolver. Don’t try this at home. At least not my home, ’cause it’s 17 below and the lake is very chilly –
THE RELIGION OF PEACE (ON ALL OF US)
SUNDAY SERMON
Today’s sermon delivered by Sam Harris, titled “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr3lqY7DUsM
Do you believe in God? The quiz at the link below purports to predict whether you believe in God, or not:
http://bigthink.com/praxis/a-three-question-math-quiz-that-predicts-whether-you-believe-in-god
The exercise is an “intuitive vs analytical” approach to assessing a problem to determine a logical answer.
WEATHER (OR NOT)
Welcome to -17°C. In Vernon. What a crime….. A foot of snow. What a crime….. I’m not at the Equator. What a crime……
The view out my office window –
Magnolia avec neige –
Uncommonly cold for late November. If it stays until February it will be a big $$$ gas bill for heat. Let’s hear it for the “fossil fuel” industry and those wonderful megajoules of clean efficient odorless energy which heat the house and keep us snug and warm. As for “nature’s dandruff” outside, I have found in my short time on earth only three (3) uses that are mentionable:
- It cools beer in a jiffy
- It hides dog shit (for a while)
- A method to store water when you haven’t got a bucket
Anyone have any other uses for “hard water”?
Joe (Snowshoe) Mekanic
p.s. Ramirez leaves big tracks –
