brickhistory

The satisfaction of leaving on my terms. I already formally retired last year and am drawing a retirement check for a 12 year GS career. Although I liked the folks I was working with, including management, which is a rarity, doing government work was just not for me anymore.

https://www.wbez.org/stories/congressional-map-puts-kinzinger-in-left-leaning-district/08fa3566-03bb-447b-8dc5-679d9fefc39d Hopefully, AMF.

Soooo, the Chinese flu literally almost killed me earlier this summer. I didn't think I was especially at risk as, although I'm in my late 50s, I wasn't overweight, didn't have any known complicating factors, etc., etc. Was not vaccinated because A) I remember the anthrax fiasco from before and B) wanted a fully approved FDA vaccine in place before getting the shot(s). Although I retired last year, I actually started work again as a GS again because I was bored and a buddy asked me to apply. Was only in the saddle for a month when I got sick after going TDY. Two weeks of hospitalization included two periods of the question on whether I would continue to breathe or not. Turns out that the pneumonia I had 25 years ago doesn't go away, it just nurses its' drink in the corner of my lungs until the friendly Chinese hooker named Covid shows up and wants to party and things got out of control... I never understood the part when terminally ill patients just give up - we are trained in the "will to survive" thing at SERE and as part of being alive. Now I do. I have never been that utterly exhausted/tired/just wanted it to stop and hope to never again. I was fine if the light turned out permanently. 13L/min of O2. Essentially pressure breathing in order for enough oxygen to get in me to keep me alive. I recount the melodrama above because after I got out of the hospital, ol' Joe decides he's king and says I got to get vaccinated. Even though the vaccine doesn't prevent the virus, has noted/documented side-effects, and, this is the important part, I ALREADY HAD THE VIRUS AND RECOVERED. My body is swimming in antibodies. My lung specialist says not to get said vaccine for at least a year as I am likely to have a severe reaction and my lungs, already now f'd because of this, wouldn't take kindly to another CCP orgy. But that's not good enough. So I thoroughly enjoyed quitting. F' the Man. Fortunately, I'm in a position to do so. Please note that nothing written has been put out by the President so legal challenges are difficult, although some are underway. Federal departments, like DoD, have put out their own directives. Those also are under challenges. But the sneaky part is Biden having corporate America do his bidding without said Presidential direction. Get a jab or lose your job. Seems a bit Stalinist-like to me. Not to mention, the President does not have that power under our system of government. No law has been passed. Yet many people are happy, even eager to comply. Want the vaccine? Great, go get it. Don't want it? Don't especially since the virus shrugs off the vaccine anyway. It's all fun and games until the President and the bureaucracy decide what the limits of your freedom are. Without you getting a say so. Comply or else. For your own good, of course. It's great to be the one deciding, ain't it?

Sure wish she'd encountered some of that incompetence... Wonder what I can get for $1,600...

Don't do this, but if you do: TLDR: If you inadvertently bring a firearm and try to go through an airport TSA checkpoint, TSA imposes civil penalties (primarily a fine, but more issues below). They will call law enforcement who will decide if any criminal activity is involved. Highly jurisdiction dependent. STORY: Wife flew to east bumfcuk Louisiana to visit her parents. (I'd rather take a bullet than spend time with them...). She drove them from there to Memphis, TN. Since she flew, she left her concealed carry weapon at home. Once in Louisiana, however, and knowing Memphis' reputation, she took her Dad's .38 as a just in case. Trip over, she flew from tiny airport in Lafayette, LA back to TX. Except she forgot about her Dad's .38 as it was not in her normal routine and place in her purse. TSA caught it, wife admitted the mistake, showed contrition, embarrassment, and accepted responsibility. As I wrote, this is a small airport and this was the first found firearm in anyone present's memory. Sheriff's deputy on duty questioned her, took and unloaded the .38, they called FBI for background check (wife is retired USAF O-5), kept the gun, let her proceed. She was not arrested nor issued any citation. AFTERMATH: TSA issues a Notice of Violation (NOV) anywhere between 10 days and 2 years after incident. NOV spells out facts and options for violators. Note, as this is administrative law, you only have to be found to have done the act. Intent/mitigating factors do not enter into the finding. Max fine can be up to $13,000 based on entirety of circumstances, how the miscreant acted (hence the take responsibility/act embarrassed advice above. Entirely different, of course, if law enforcement reads you your rights and arrests you.) TSA increases the fine based on various factors - were you using the pre-check line? Add money to fine. Was there a round in the chamber? Add to fine (oddly, different rule for revolver, no additional fine). Repeat offense? Ca-ching! (Should never be a first one, let alone follow-on idiocy...but stuff happens, I guess). If in pre-check program, likely to be kicked out for 36 months The NOV lists the offense and offers to "settle" your case for a reduced fine if you pay it immediately and don't chose any option that drags this out for them. We hired a retired TSA lawyer who specializes in this stuff. He, while working for TSA, helped write the administrative law that he's now making bank off of defending. Pretty good gig on both ends of that... Paid his fee of $400 and listened to his advice which was let him handle it by contacting TSA who reduced the "pay it now" fee by one-half. So all in, this was a $1,600 dollar mistake by my thoroughly embarrassed wife. Could've been so much worse as the initial "pay it now" fine was $2,500, or up to around $5,000 if we'd protested and lost. According to lawyer, no further ramifications, i.e., no-fly list, enhanced screening, further federal law enforcement scrutiny, etc., are likely. She goes back to LA in December and will pick up the .38 from the Sheriff's department with no further action required. So don't do this. Another reason why I am against any kind of concealed carry where the weapon is not on my person.

Finally got to watch it. Yep, spot on.

Biden gets handed note, " Mr President, you have something on your chin." Biden wipes it off, looks at it, eats it. https://nypost.com/2021/07/30/joe-biden-gets-aides-note-sir-there-is-something-on-your-chin/ Totally a Hunter Biden move. I guess we see where he gets it from...

The Democrat-controlled House sets up a Jan 6 Committee and wants the Republicans to play. Despite multiple investigations on-going. Whether they should or not is another thread. The Republicans offer up 5 GOP representatives. The Democrat Speaker of the House rejects two of them. If they can't determine their own members to serve on this Committee, the GOP declines to play. The Democrat Speaker then chooses two 'GOP' members to serve on the Committee, thus making it 'bipartisan.' As "Pelosi Republicans," this seems totally legit... as tame talking heads for various CNN/MSNBC/MSM gigs. Oh, and don't forget the "Stunning and Brave" memoirs that are sure to be out soon. Funny how books like that get the 'author' a hefty advance, but never actually sell and make a profit. I have got to get in on that economy.

Well, that oughtta take care of any more fly bys...

Well done to today's winner. Quite a chase. BS on the penalty. A) it's racing B) other driver was moving right as well. Horner and Red Bull are drama queens...

Enjoyed the sprint race qualifying format today way more than the traditional method. Except I'd make the "sprint" much shorter. They did 17 laps which made it a short race with the inevitable cars on parade dance. Make it 5 laps and it forces them to mix it up immediately and for the entire sprint.

I shall try to get through my day knowing this is your opinion...

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/16/hunter-biden-probe-prosecutor-499782 Maricopa County officials, the same ones who fought in court to prevent, then stop any audit, say the results being found is wrong. Totally legit. Hmmm? So is the incumbent responsible for what happens on his watch? Pretty sure the answer is yes. And the government "asking" private companies to censor citizens on the government's behalf seems totally not a bad thing. Especially since the government can sue said company into oblivion with lawsuit after lawsuit, regulation after regulation. Sure, the company can do what it wants. But I do admit twitter is a more cheery place now. So you do you.

- Justice Dept admitting it covered up the Hunter Biden laptop story which includes them actively investigating him for tax evasion (say, while you're at it, you might want to check on him for lying when purchasing a handgun..) because they "didn't want to seem political during an election." - WH Press Secretary admitting this Administration has been working with various Big Social Media companies to have voices silenced "because they are spreading 'disinformation.'" Say, who decides that anyway? I'd like to be part of the 'in crowd' deciding what the plebes can say or see... - Fulton County had at least 4,400+ illegal votes during the 2020 election. In a state that Trump lost by 12,000-ish votes. So one county had 1/3 of the difference and the only one that had an audit. And this coming from reporting by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, about as liberal a paper as there is. - Maricopa County audit looks like 74,000 mail-in ballots received than were sent out officially. Nothing see there, yet Congress wants to investigate the investigators. - The DOJ IG hammers the FBI for missing/covering up for years info on the now imprisoned Olympic Committee doctor who abused young girl athletes. Sure does seem like the FBI's been "missing" a bunch of stuff in the last years - San Bernadino shooter, the Lakeland shooter, the Pulse Night Club shooter, etc, etc. - Groceries and gas seem to be a tad bit more expensive nowadays as well. But twitter has been remarkably upbeat and nice so that's a fair trade.

Another win that should force the useless Roberts' "led" Supreme Court to actually decide something. https://www.rollcall.com/2021/07/13/appeals-court-finds-aged-based-handgun-purchase-ban-unconstitutional/ In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, Va., found that the Second Amendment’s right to keep and bear arms is no different from other constitutional rights that start at age 18, so the government must have a justification to restrict that right.

!Haley! is another !Jeb! creature of the establishment. Noem is a maybe. Crenshaw doesn't have the large-scale leadership experience. DeSantis would be my pick if not for Trump. But I'm past the wanting to bring it together. I, and millions of others have been repeatedly and for a very long period of time, rejected. I will reject them right back. Happy to see it burn if needed. It's like those racist, misogynistic, privileged Founding Fathers were on to something including the rewatering of the Tree of Liberty at times.

Since the 2004 election, with the discontent brewing before that, a very large swath of the GOP, and, I imagine some centrist Democrats/Independents, have been unhappy with the sudden and ever-increasing growth in the size and scope of the federal government. The 2010 Tea Party movement was a direct result of that. The GOP did it's best to ignore/patronize/hijack the movement because it represented a threat to the good deal enjoyed by the Establishment class. Those "ugly" townhalls upset their merlot glasses. So what did the GOP do? It ran Democrat-lites like McCain in 2008 and Mr. Great Hair but can't fight Romney in 2012. Meanwhile, government growth and overreach marched on. Come 2016 and the slate was overly full of the same Establishment candidates. Trump, as a disruptor, beat 16 of those types of candidates. And the GOP did it's best to tamp him and his voters down. Obamacare still exists due to McCain, Murkowski, et al. Despite the very real and clear signals that the peasants were revolting. They ran during that election on specifically repealing Obamacare and when it came time, they supported it to stick it to Trump. Some profiles in courage fellas... With numerous other similar items unpassed or unrepealed because it would've been a win for Trump. Came 2020 and some unprecedented events and Trump still scored more votes than any other GOP candidate ever. I will leave off the voting shenanigans for another time. I So I'm not a fan of Trump the man, but of the idea he represents - mainly, a very large percentage of Americans are aghast at the size of the federal government, at the unbelievable overreach that is being tolerated and encouraged, and at the intentional fraying of the American societal fabric by that same Establishment group - is something that people want to rally around. Me? I want Trump to run again. To disrupt the same ol' GOP that they'll try to run again and get the serfs back on the turnip fields. And to absolutely piss people off to see that they aren't always the ones running the show for us peons. This inconvenient truth was demonstrated once and the amount of caterwailing and pushback by both parties was incredible. I look forward to it again. Or burn it all down. Barring Trump, then DeSantis.

So now that the possibility of China releasing this thing upon the world, intentionally or unintentionally, can be discussed without the black helicopters of the NIH/CDC/WHO and MSM/social media giants descending and disappearing the transgressor, what does the US and/or the world do if it's found to be the case? Is it a "ok, mistakes happen. Try to do better?" Is it a world opinion suing CCP and in what venue? Is it an act of war? My hunch is the world, and the US, will pick the first option. We suck up the dead, the losses to our economy and national psyche, and the rest. After all, we did manage to pick up some more government control over a lot of things so that's probably worth it.

Totally coherent and able to recognize what's happening moments when asked about leaving Afghanistan, about Russian cyberattacks of the week. We can discuss the WH putting together a deal so that Hunter can sell his "art" for $.5M each and it not be seen as buying access later. And those danged courts striking down the farm loan repayments for everyone, literally, except whites. I look forward to having the jacovid witnesses come by my place to ask for my vaccination papers...

This was what my brain translated...

Well done McLaren! Bottas finally caught a break. BS penalties for outside moves that didn't work out. That's called racing...

The Professor and the Madman on Netflix True-ish story of the start of the Oxford English Dictionary. Mel Gibson goes back to his Scottish accent as the guy chosen to do the dictionary. All noble, dedicated, family man. Sean Penn (whom I detest, but did a good job here) as a convicted but insane and in an asylum Civil War doctor who made major contributions to the project. Premise is pretty good and the acting is really good. Snobby Oxford Brits trying to sabotage Gibson's efforts, Victorian era mental patient treatment, and a lisping Winston Churchill. Gibson dusts off the two-handed broadsword and slays with abandon...(ok, made that part up) YMMV.

Had to watch last week's and today's races today. Last week - pretty good, although the battle at front took all the cameras off the midfield mostly. This week - it sure does look like Mercedes is kinda coasting (pun intended) this year while they, in their own words, focus on the massive rule changes for next year. Good on Leclerc for his recovery-ish. Is it a 3-D chess corporate move on Merc and/or F1's part to break the endless dominance of Mercedes so that fans don't become more bored or a gamble that seems to not be paying off by relying on past technical work to carry them this year? Bottas is gone next year, I believe. Norris continues to kick Riccardo's ass. Wonder if he, Riccardo, will try to run to another team next year? This'll be third time he's faced a better racing partner. His tactic has, thus far, been to try another tea where he can be the top dog.