The Native Iowan

I’m watching the planet. Viewing the globe through my rose colored glasses. Ruminating upon matters big and small… and I must admit to being a bit confused, perplexed, bewildered…

A young Democrat operative, David Hogg, has come out and stated the DNC needs to get rid of their moderate members. An old DNC dog, James Carville, weighed in… calling Hogg a “contemptible little twerp”. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/david-hogg-james-carville-lawsuit-b2735217.html

Here is a run down of the DNC Admin: https://democrats.org/leadership-dnc/

Here’s a leftist take on the situation: https://www.newsweek.com/democratic-civil-war-david-hogg-incumbent-primaries-2060649

The civil war in the Democratic Party ratcheted up another notch as a group founded by Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair David Hogg said it plans to spend millions to unseat Democratic incumbents it believes aren’t pushing back hard enough on President Donald Trump.

Here’s a quick review of the DNC and the factions therein… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factions_in_the_Democratic_Party_(United_States)

So, what is young MR Hogg saying?

I hear him saying that the old farts gotta go. That the moderates gotta go. That the DNC has to move to the left, become more progressive, more militant… ??? …

This is pretty worthy: https://www.axios.com/2025/04/18/house-democrats-david-hogg-primary-dnc

Interesting take aways:

* Democrats’ anger boiled over in private this week, with several venting that Hogg is putting his own interests above those of the party.
* “I think this is a mistake,” said a second House Democrat who spoke anonymously. “Now, are people pissed? … I don’t know a single person who is happy about it.”
* A third told Axios it “seems inappropriate for a DNC vice chair to threaten sitting Dems.”
* A fourth said they are “totally dumbfounded” that “instead of focusing on [winning], we’re focusing inward in a circular firing squad.”
* Yes, but: Some lawmakers, particularly progressives, are defending his plan, arguing that the party needs an effective core in order to appeal to voters.
* “He makes some good points. We do have some ranking members who should step aside,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.),
* McGovern, the ranking member of the House Rules Committee, added that Democrats also “have some long term members who are terrific.”
* A fifth House Democrat who spoke anonymously said Democrats “should have the most effective members right now. Competition is not a bad thing,” though they argued age shouldn’t be the only criteria.

AOC and Bernie are flying around in a private jet, lecturing people about socialism… I wonder if they are paying attention?

Yep, I think I agree with Newsweek… I see a DNC Civil War brewing.

More later

Following my “perplexed” post I received comments from respected friends commenting per “Trump’s trashing of the share markets”.

It’s a worthy discussion. One I’ll look at herein, BUT…. BUUUTTTT… my “perplexed” post dealt specifically with the “hands off” protests. I was/ am perplexed per what was being “protested”. I have a friend who posted over 50 picts of signs and banners from the protest he attended on the West Coast. I dont think there is a single issue, subject, topic that was not covered. Nor was there a single explicative, swear word that wasn’t proudly brandished about.

Remembering that the protests, as I am told, were beautiful…

So, leaving the protests, I shall discuss the stock markets…

In 2016 the stock market(s) caught a chill…

What happened in 2016 finance? Several events impacted the world economy in 2016. World markets witnessed a crash after China’s steep fall in stock markets in January 2016. An increasingly interconnecting world makes countries vulnerable to events in others.26 Dec 2016

At that time I had a fair amount of my wealth invested in a “portfolio”. The market(s) started coughing in late 2015. By January 2016 I’d lost 5% of my portfolio. It took me a couple weeks to get my “brokers” to give me my money back. To de-invest. It was a mess. When you want to invest they love you. When you say “I’m done” they dont want to hear from you. Or talk to you.

Here’s an email from that time…

Nicole, Just checking in and adding a bit more info…
Balance at 23 October 2015 = 2137526.49, balance as of today = 2086339.94. Not pretty. Will feel better once I get this slide stopped.

Funny thing about this account… It took ages to get my $2mil original investment returned. My 2mil had grown up to 2.15mil but when liquidated I got less than 2.05mil. About a year later I received a credit of $50,000 from the fund management firm. They’d short changed me. The regulators eventually caught it and fined them. Forced them to pay me out.

So, The Trump trashing of the markets… Its not pretty: How many trillions has the stock market lost?The sell-off that began on Thursday has intensified, wiping trillions of dollars from global share prices, after US president Donald Trump announced new tariffs. Bloomberg have calculated that around $9.5tn (£7.39tn) has been wiped off global share prices since the US announced new trade levies.

Sounds terrible. And I dont want to down play anyone’s losses. Losses are indeed real… But, in 2015 when I started “losing” money, I knew I’d only invested $2mil in my portfolio. My value had increased over a number of years to around $2.15mil. I’d increased my wealth by about 7%. Then I lost about 5% of what I’d made. When I cashed my portfolio out I accepted a decrease of my “return on investment”. I was penalised, charged extra, raped, noting I never really ever lost anything. I got my $2mil back, but instead of a 7% ROI, I got maybe 3%. Maybe.

If I had left my investment alone, the increases between 2016 and 2025 would have seen me thinking I was clever, happy that I’d made such wise investments.

The long and the short: I didnt lose a dime. But I’d wasted time and wasn’t happy and decided there and then that I’d stay clear of the share market and invest my wealth, my future in tangibles, brick and mortar, LAND!

And I did.

I still do.

So, acknowledging that the crashing of the share market is terrible, huge, important… I am only indirectly affected. I’m not smart enough to play the share markets.

For those folks that are involved in the market(s)… The old rule of thumb is “ride hit out”. Most folks won’t lose anything from their principle. Stick it out, trends show us the markets will come back.

The other rule of thumb is “buy while prices are low”. If you are an investor, the market is running a fire sale.

Wishing every one all the best in these confusing times.

More later

Ive been driving a lot today. Thinking a lot. Listening to the half hourly news…

I decided I needed help to figure out what is what in the USofA. I watched the recent anger, the recent protests, the recent angst. What I see confuses me a whole bunch.

So I decided to ask for some help, some advice. I asked two people I know well, respect a lot and who had each attended one of the many “protests” held over the week end. It was titled/ advertised as the “hands off” protest. The following is what I sent…

Hey there… need some help if I may…

As an outsider looking in, I am confused by what I see in the USA. 

I understand the polarised nature of the US society… sadly most of the world is split along a 50/50 line. No matter what the question, 50% say yea, 50% say nay. Influences and preferences sway left and right.

Ive lived “overseas” since January 1981. I now hold 3 passports. I have only ever voted in one country, Australia. It’s illegal not to vote here.

So, I’m not the most political creature, but I am a long time commentator. And a very conservative businessman. I started a business in the Solomons in the 80s, my son and daughter run it today. I have a business here in Australia. I am well versed on taxes, liabilities, trade, commercial finance, etc, etc. As a businessman I have never seen a “good” elected administration. They all suck in some way, shape, form, they all mismanage the public purse. 

I claim to be a centrist… I think both (all) sides of the political spectrum to be corrupt, self serving, unfaithful, cant respect any of them. New politicians may have a modicum of self respect, but they lose it shortly after taking office. Too much temptation. Too much corruption. 

I use Australia as an example of bad governance, bad decision making… in the name of “Green”, manufacturing has been shipped off these shores to Asia and beyond. Aus is resource rich but is phasing out coal, something they export heaps of. Phasing out natural gas, another thing they export heaps of. And ore… no smelting/ value adding of resources done on these shores, anymore. No oil is refined here anymore. Minimum wage is something like 20$s an hour. Rent is around 3500$ per month for an average house. A Macdonalds burger is 20bucks. Its is a very expensive country to call home.

I have not been back to the USA since 2019. 

So I am wondering what and why the protests. 

I get it… Trump is a despicable human… or such I believe. I get it. He is impossible to “like”. I have an articulate reason why I believe Trump aint respectable. I know why I dont like him. 

But why the protests… is it for shutting down USAID? Cancelling all things DEI? Taking boys from girls locker rooms? Claiming that there are only 2 sexes.

Are his policies unacceptable? I dont know. I dont live there. In my opinion the USA is in a mess. I’d like to think the last election has led us to where we are. I’d like to think supporting the system is the best first choice.

I feel/ fear the emotion I perceive in the USA to be very close to hysteria. I do not get the violence and civil dismantling taking place. Ive lived through civil wars and huge amounts of civil unrest… and do know it aint cool.

So, I need some help and I see you were at a protest. 

What are your take aways? Why did all this happen? 

In my past I too attended a protest that was really a riot spiced with looting plus a few murders thrown in…

Hope all is well with you. 

Come visit Australia

Smiles

Mike

I cant publish what my friends said. I cant/ won’t quote them. But I will summarise what I gained from the experience, from the interaction…

I found that emotion is the driving force. I failed to gain any articulate clarity as to why or how, but I got consensus that it was “BEAUTIFUL”. My old buddy, living on the West Coast, said it was… “…beautiful, like the old days, man…”. My close female friend in the midwest too said it was “…beautiful, nice, friendly…”.

I didn’t get to understand why they each wanted to join the protests, what they individually were protesting. An inherent distrust “of The Man” is a shared theme with my old buddy, but I didn’t get much of a reason why…. “dismantling the system” was mentioned, but I remain uncertain what system we speak of. I heard an articulated fear that the loss of the Dept of Education would be bad, but a quick discussion on the past 50year decline of standards fosters agreement that change is needed. Is it a bad thing that each state now gets to mange their own education-system? Give it a chance.

The deportation theme is a hot potato. Both agree that legal immigration is good, and the recent mass-migration of illegals has not improved their lives…. BUT… both have BUTssss….

The LGbtxzy+Tranz theme is a distraction. Live and let live is easy, but dicks in the girls locker room aint cool. Each of my friends agree with that. Both have children.

Billionaires running the country… nothing new, agreed. We all agree that the Elites are the puppet masters. My contention has always been that both DNC and RNC politicians/ operatives work for the same people.

So it boils down to personalities. Not polices. Or such is my take away… and it was beautiful…

more later

Weather has shifted, a bit, for a day or two. Would be good if it were to be fine n dry for a week or two. Technically we are heading into our annual “dry season”. Last year we didn’t get a dry season at all. Nope, we got a wet season then we got an even wetter season.

In our modern world, in this AI influenced and computer driven existence, the one thing we can not do is control, or even predict the weather.

Weather influences everything in our lives. Our mental health is very severely influenced by the weather.

In my “retired” life I make a hobby out of what I used to consider work. Being retired means I should not really be working too hard on my hobbies. I should not be stressing too much, worrying too much on anything.

And I dont, really, very much, unless the weather is against me.

The weather has been against me for a couple years now.

I was talking the other day to a heavy-equipment contractor that does a lot of work for me. Dave is a guy that owns a big tipper, a roller, a bob-cat, and a raft of add ons. He builds roads, does hard seal, cuts building sites. He does a great job.

Recent heavy rains ate up my roads here on the farm, so I need Dave to come fix things up. But not soon, not now… not before this wet, wet, wet weather slows down. And I need to install more drainage. Hydrostatic forces demand adequate drainage.

Dave tells me sad stories… When I met Dave he had a partner, Ben. That was months ago. Ben has fallen by the way side. Couldn’t survive as a private business dude, as a sole-proprietor. Nope, the weather and the insane hours and the long wet spells with no income did not suit Ben, so he dropped out, went back to being a salaried mechanic.

Ben had thought, had hoped that he could make being a private business dude work. When the weather is good you make it look easy. But when the weather is against you… you get a long week off because of rain, then have to work 30hours a day to catch up. Ben is a young guy with young kids. Dave is older. The frenetic, unpredictable life style and income did not suit Ben at all. He’d hoped he could fly with the business birds, but life and security and familial demands clipped this wings.

Another guy, a genius motorcycle mechanic that has done heaps of work for me, was flying high in the business world. Building a reputation. Busy as he wanted to be. He helped me with two of my vintage bikes – before he had his first kid.

His business was growing. Mama and baby ran the front, sold T-shirts and coffees while he wrenched in the back. Then they had a second kid. Not long after that the needs of the young family changed. Mama needed more security. She sent him down to the local Toyota dealership to get a “real” job. She still sells coffee and T-shirts in the shop, but no mechanical work done any more.

Welcome to the world of being a business dude.

A while back, not far from my farm, an elderly gentleman-farmer was out checking his stock. He got stuck in the mud, bogged down, trapped. Could not get himself free, out, unstuck. Over 24hours later a neighbour came looking for the guy. He was alive but in a bad way. He later died in hospital. Death by weather?

Being a farmer is a high risk occupation.

What am I waffling about? TTSIA… the title says it all…

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-shiny day
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-shiny day
I think I can make it now, the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I’ve been prayin’ for
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-shiny day
Look all around, there’s nothin’ but blue skies
Look straight ahead, nothin’ but blue skies
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-shiny day
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-shiny day
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-shiny day
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-shiny day

4th month of the year, is here…

First quarter of 2025 done, dusted, home and hosed..

The Newz… The Bluez…

Australian Federal Election has been announced for May 3.

We have the incumbent, Albeneze and the Labor party, who have been running the country into the ground for the past three years. The Nut Zero BS has seen way tooo much $$ going in the wrong directions, into the wrong pockets. Cost of living, cost of everything is stoopid.

We have Dutton and the Liberals trying to take over, take control, from what could be one of the few one-term administrations in Aus history… Dutton and the Liberals, like the Abeneze and Labor, are making promises, spending $$$ that is not available, buying votes with the public purse.

Status Quo as near as I can tell.

Aus needs to decide which forward path they wish to take. Chase the elusive Nut Zero, dismantle and export all manufacturing, decrease co2 emissions by exporting everything from energy to productivity to profitability.

It may well be too late to reverse the trend, to cease the hemorrhage of resources and capacity.

A fun fact… Private investment in Nut Zero here in Aus is… well, it’s hard to say. We can see that the Federal Administration is still throwing money around, but numbers are hard to find. It is in the billions… Billions of $$s of public funds invested in backing winners and wieners… From what I see very little private funding is involved. its pretty much all Gov’t grants to would be “green” enterprises.

This says little, but tells us much: https://international.austrade.gov.au/en/news-and-analysis/news/australia-accelerates-investment-in-net-zero-transformation#:~:text=Areas%20of%20focus%20for%20government,critical%20minerals%2C%20batteries%20and%20infrastructure.&text=The%20Australian%20Government%20is%20accelerating,for%20net%20zero%2Daligned%20investment.

My past month in pictures…

More later

A lovely morning here in my valley. Sunshine, fresh breeze, dosing dawgs, and Blood Sports. What’s not to like?

Ive been up since 6am watching a full morning of Blood Sports. A “fight night” out of Mexico City. Mexican fighters are all tough, tough, tough. Some great bouts.

I was recently told that my writing does not support my position as a Centrist. That my words are better suited and slanted for someone with an overall authoritarian attitude. And I do understand. For the past 2+ months Ive been under the influence of logic and as such I believe that:
1) Donald Trump won the General Election without dispute. The Democratic Voice has had its say. PERIOD.
2) All the crying and whining and gnashing of teeth is nothing more than posturing.
3) The DNC played every dirty trick, cheated, lied, prevaricated, and manipulated – To No Avail. The DNC and their lap-dogs in the Legacy Media tried hard, lied hard – To No Avail.
4) My Centrist position could, emotionally continue to lash out at both/ all sides, could, emotionally, continue to be angry, mad, and illogical. But I shall breath deeply, and be hopeful, be supportive in the HOPE THAT THE US ELECTORATE WAS RIGHT.

I said this in late January… If you cant lend a hand, if you cant grab a paddle and help us all move forward to a better place, shut the fuck up.

I know people, close to me, who have/ shall lose their jobs due to the DOGE cost cutting measures. Of course I am compassionate/ sympathetic… but, as they say in the Islands… sore hola boko.

I also know people who lost their jobs when Maytag moved to Mexico. No one went on a destructive spree then. Why now? What is different now? Who is paying for all the energy, emotion, destruction? Make no doubt, it is premeditated and orchestrated and paid for by our ever friendly DNC faithful.

Think about that for a minute.

All this fake outrage and bullshit sanctimonious chest beating is foolish. Sad. Patently Negative.

Seriously, explain to me how burning anything Tesla is productive? Explain, please, how violence and destruction of private property is beneficial? Explain how applauding a morbidly obese man running into Teslas with his fat-fuck scooter is positive. No, it is NEGATIVE in its entirety. Your sanctimonious BS does nothing more than inspire other sad, lonely wanna be modern heroes into foolish and dangerous action.

So… DNC faithful… Never Trumpers… explain to me how all this childish “acting out” benefits anyone, any where in the US system… Two Billion dollars were foolishly wasted by the DNC in the recent run to the White House. The DNC lied, bribed, lied and lied again for 4 years. Their prevarication in regards to the condition of Sad Sick Joe Biden was, remains criminal. Do you remember all the lies… He IS sharp. He runs circles around all of us. And now we know that was not true. It was all a premeditated lie. Aimed at misleading you, us, everyone – for nefarious reasons.

So why, may I ask, are all these, why all you supposedly smart folks banging Never Trump drums? Do you really think the past administration was good for you, good to you? Explain please how an extra 10-20 million illegal migrants assisted, benefited your life. Explain how the mismanagement of trillions of dollars and the accumulation of a death-strangle-debt is “good”, how it makes your life better.

I’ll wait…

One of my favourite BS taking points is this… The Oligarchs are taking over the USA… Trump and his Billionaires are taking over… allow me to bring some logic to the table:

As of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, based on available data up to March 29, 2025, here’s the breakdown of billionaire support for Donald Trump and Kamala Harris:
– Donald Trump:
Approximately 52 billionaires supported Trump, either through public endorsements or financial contributions. Notable backers included Elon Musk (who donated over $250 million across various efforts), Timothy Mellon ($150 million to MAGA Inc.), Miriam Adelson, and Diane Hendricks, according to analyses from Forbes (October 31, 2024) and Bloomberg (October 28, 2024).
– Kamala Harris:
Approximately 83 billionaires supported Harris, also via endorsements or donations. Prominent names included Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates ($50 million to Future Forward), Melinda French Gates, Reid Hoffman, and Mark Cuban, per Forbes (October 31, 2024) and The New York Times (October 2024).

Sorry, sore hola…

If I had one wish I could make, one wish to use… I’d wish for all those close to me to become more logical, less emotional, less foolish and misled. Open your eyes. Unless it is in your favour to be lied to and cheated by those you elect to Office. Open your eyes, please.

More later

Oh yea, 30hours of rain fall Wed-Fri this past week:

Big smiles

Damn! Another month almost shot. Time sure flies… when its bucketing down with rain…

So, as March ends, as the 1st quarter of 2025 expires, as the world sizzles and political rhetoric is turned to High Volume… I watch and listen. And am quite surprised by what I see…

I wonder why fiscal management in the public venue is such a bad idea. I wonder why raising the standard of the education system(s) is such a bad idea. I wonder why anyone would disagree with smarter, wiser, more effective (?) foreign aid. Less wars, less refugees, less pain and suffering… I am confused.

Lets look at a couple things…

Education:

In 1867, the Congress of the United States passed legislation providing ‘‘That there shall be established at the City of Washington, a department of education, for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems, and methods of teaching, as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country.’’ The department was to be headed by a Commissioner of Education. The Commissioner was to be paid a salary of $4,000 a year, and he was authorized to appoint three clerks, at annual salaries of $2,000, $1,800, and $1,600, to help him carry out his duties.

I have been trolling for info and found a pretty cool report: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs93/93442.pdf

A lot to consume. Its is dated but the past info stays pertinent.

The above blurb gives us a historic reference in regards to a “department of education”. I dont think the department of education in 1867 is what we have today.

In 2025 the DOE website offers this: The mission of the Department of Education (ED) is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access for students of all ages. Learn more about our mission, offices within ED, key initiatives, and more. https://www.ed.gov/about#:~:text=The%20mission%20of%20the%20Department,%2C%20key%20initiatives%2C%20and%20more.

So, in 2025…(from wikipedia) The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services by the Department of Education Organization Act, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law on October 17, 1979.[3][4] An earlier iteration was formed in 1867 but was quickly demoted to the Office of Education a year later.[5]

Ok, ok… what does the DOE do, and what does it cost?

More from Wiki… The Department of Education is administered by the United States secretary of education. In 2021 it had more than 4,000 employees – the smallest staff of the Cabinet agencies[6] – and a 2024 budget of $268 billion, up from $14 billion when it was established in 1979. In 2025, the department’s budget was about four percent of the total US federal spending.[7]

I found this… https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics
* Public education spending in the United States falls short of global benchmarks and lags behind economic growth; K-12 schools spend $857.2 billion total ($17,277 per pupil) annually.
* Federal, state, and local governments provide $878.2 billion or $17,700 per pupil to fund K-12 public education.
* The difference between spending and funding is $21.0 billion or $423 per pupil.
* The federal government provides 13.6% of funding for public K-12 education.
* Public postsecondary schools spend an average of $30,228 per pupil.

Hmmm… 17k per annum per student… Sounds like a lot… But Wiki tells us: In 2023, 28% of adults scored at or below Level 1, 29% at Level 2, and 44% at Level 3 or above.[1] Adults scoring in the lowest levels of literacy increased 9 percentage points between 2017 and 2023. In 2017, 19% of U.S. adults achieved a Level 1 or below in literacy while 48% achieved the highest levels.[2] Anything below Level 3 is considered “partially illiterate” (see also § Definitions below).[3] Adults scoring below Level 1 can comprehend simple sentences and short paragraphs with minimal structure but will struggle with multi-step instructions or complex sentences, while those at Level 1 can locate explicitly cued information in short texts, lists, or simple digital pages with minimal distractions but will struggle with multi-page texts and complex prose.[4] In general, both groups struggle reading complex sentences, texts requiring multiple-step processing, and texts with distractions.[4]

“28% of adults scored at or below Level 1, 29% at Level 2“…

“Anything below Level 3 is considered “partially illiterate”…

Over half the population of the USA is “partially illiterate”.

Damn!

878Billion$$s for less than 50% illiteracy… Damn!

I go back to where I started this… I wonder why fiscal management in the public venue is such a bad idea. I wonder why raising the standard of the education system(s) is such a bad idea.

I see and hear soooo many people righteously pound their chests, bang their keyboards with an outrage that foolishly says “don’t mess with the Dep of Ed, we’re doing just fine”… No, we’re not doing fine. We are paying more for less. We have allowed entrenched systems to become fouled, deformed.

Its no longer education if only 50% of the those processing through the system are functionally illiterate.

And the beat goes on, as the rain fall, as the river rises… My hand is healing nicely…

More later

Where are we… what’s happening, where we going, where we been…

Today is Thursday, my side of the planet. Almost 9am. A steady, even rain falling. Flora and fauna singing. A soft sigh can be heard from the Land. My dogs are comfortably curled up in their kennels. My hands are healing nicely.

Weather man predicts more and more and more of the same.

Dumped this out yesterday, before the rains settled in:

So I sit. Have a couple Magpies on the verandah singing their songs. Have at least 3 stags on the property bellowing their prowess. There are no less than 20 deer near the house. A stag on the hill behind us, a stag on the hill to the north, a stag in the yard. Does n fauns being gathered into herds. Soon the antler clashing shall begin. Its a circle of life sorta thing…

So I sit. Wrapped in a granny blanket. Watching and reading.

I love the fact that the ever principled folks that love their country and are good patriotic citizens and identify as “Democrats” are once again resorting to vandalism and terrorism. Sure, makes perfect sense… we dont get our way, we dont like the situation, we blame Elon Musk, attack anyone in a Tesla. Attack Tesla dealerships, attack anything Tesla. Sure, makes sense to me. Very mature, very sensible policy… alienate all those faithful DNC posers who drive a Tesla, who bought a Tesla as a sign of virtue, as a symbol of modern, wise, real, electric DNC support… sure, makes sense to me…

NOT!

Just like the idea, the ideal of masculinity in the DNC perverted world… Masculinity is TOXIC! cant have masculinity. Nope, not allowed. So we frame guys like Tampon Tim from MN as a tough guy, as an example of modern masculinity. Or Bonk the Babysitter Doug? A fine, prime, modern example of a masculine male. Exclude, remove, reject, eject all masculinity from the Party. Chase the masculine males out of the DNC. Redefine masculinity so a chick-with-a-dick is the Man of the Year. Or was it woman of the year?

I dont get it. The DNC either has changed beyond any recognition, OR, I was terribly fooled and misled and wrong for much of my young life when I claimed to be Democrat. Luckily, between 1970 and 1980 I was exposed to behind the scenes conning and corruption in politics generally, and in the DNC specifically, and figured out way back then that the DNC was not “my party”, not my friend. Of course, way back then, I viewed the RNC as corrupt and fat and despicable, which meant I didn’t have a political party.

The beginnings of my centrist position?

But I dont get it at all… “Take down Musk” has been repeated and bleated. But I dont get it… like crowing about a “made in America” product you want to see destroyed. Lets check a few facts…

Golly geee… sure, once again makes perfect sense as a political strategy… fight to destroy the livelihood of 125thousand folks. Great way to get them to vote for you next time.

Also noting that Musk only owns 13% of the enterprise.

What else does Musk own… Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), Neuralink, xAI and The Boring Company, 

Do the folks at the DNC strategic (tragic) head quarters really think this is a good plan? Or is it like calling Trump a nazi? Do it, do it, do it, do it and do it more… gotta work eventually???? !!!

I heard a discussion the other day about “Mental Illness” and TDS, and the status of emotion and angst and instability in the USA’s political scene… in the DNC’s base… The question is this: should we demean the real mental illness on the streets by granting unruly and misled children the status of being mentally ill? The excuse of being Mentally Ill?

There is no doubt that mental Illness is an issue. But are these often pandered and pampered left wing loonies that toss fire bombs or attack folks in MAGA hats, are they mentally ill or just fucking stoopid? Misled, stoopid, duped, fooled, and used. And criminal. They are acting in a criminal fashion. You try to snatch my red hat and I’ll stand my ground. I’ll make you think twice about your actions, as you nurse a broken arm for a month or two…

I can stand in your space, get in your face, attempt to assault you, attempt to steal your hat, chase you, threaten you… and its OK… On what planet?

We have the likes of MsCrocket from TX who openly, verbally advocates violence. Chucky the Jew Schumer, tells us they have people they “send out” to disrupt local discussions, local town halls. He is describing paid provocateurs that travel, say, to Iowa, to yell and disrupt and confuse. They pose as members of the community, they bring the press, and terrorise and threaten the locals.

Again, another good example of how to get folks to support your agenda.

NOT!

My coffee is done. Time to do some house keeping. Gracie has flown off for a tour of Greece. I’m on my own for a while.

Life is good.

More later

8am Sunday morning. Early blood sport on the tube. The morning thus far has been soft, gentle, very pleasant.

I can remember, as a small child, waking and feeling good. Felling happy. Felling content. I can drift back in my memory and relive the feeling.

But I dont have to, not today.

The muted morning sunlight does not offer a lot of warmth. The weather-y past week or two still lingers. The pastel coloured skies offer no indication; rain coming, a blistering hot n humid day… only time will tell.

As I have written, the past couple weeks have been bizzy, frenetic, fun filled. And a bit painful…

10days ago I got my hands, yes plural, stuck in my dog, Bella’s, mouth…

Bella is a 5yr old Maremma. What is a Maremma, I hear you say… The Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog (Italian: Cane da pastore maremmano-abruzzese), also known as the Maremmano, Maremma Sheepdog, or Abruzzese Sheepdog (Italian: pastore abruzzese), among other names, is an Italian breed of livestock guardian dog. It is indigenous to central Italy, especially to the Maremma region of Tuscany and Lazio, and to northern areas of Southern Italy, particularly to Abruzzo. It has been used for centuries by Italian shepherds to guard sheep from wolves.

She weights about 40kg/90lbs. I can attest to the sharpness of her teeth. She is beautiful and very even natured… so how did I get my hands in her mouth?

Folks always and all ways have post-event advice on how to… How to do anything… there is always and all ways cheap, peanut-gallery advice from multiple venues… Before I rant n rave a bit ( I have been given much post event advice here) allow me to explain what I am doing in my kennels…

My kennels are set up for breeding. I have three complete, fully sexed, large females. Each weight about 40kgs, two of these bitches are specially bred for their protective nature, for their defensive instincts. Bella, may be less dangerous, but too has been bred for her defensive instinct.

So how do you get bit by your own dog???

We are heading into breeding season. All three bitches are coming on heat. This makes them all a bit bitchy, hard to get along with, difficult and, yes, dangerous.

I accept the fact that my dogs are dangerous. All dogs are dangerous, no doubt, but my dogs first have not been desexed and second, are exactly what I want for my breeding. And third, Nia and Quel are specially bred mastiffs. When they bite on something, when they latch onto something, they do not let go…

So comments like, “…get a garden hose, they’ll stop when you put the hose on them…”, is false. Sure, your run of the mill dogs in your back yard may not like the hose but its a useless and futile exercise in my kennels. I know, I have tried. Mike’s Matiffs are different. The garden hose dont work.

It was the 11th, I was cleaning the kennels. Preparing to put the bitches in, thinking we’d be on heat soon, and, yes, I didn’t want them fighting. The kennels have been quiet for a few months. No dog in-heat, no puppies, we all live quietly together in the big fenced yard.

As I clean, the bitches are noticeably bitchy with each other.

Important to note that my main “breeding bitches” Nia and Quel are sisters. Its a known “thing” in dog breeding/ raising that pups from the same litter, if raised together, will trigger each other. Will cause trouble by instigating each other. One starts barking, the other joins in. One gets angry… yep…

So Quel and Nia jump on Bella. Both lock onto her. Its noise n gnashing of teeth time… I am not afraid or inexperienced. Been here before. Bella can take a bit of mauling. Nia is the instigator, if I grab her collar, put her in a choke, drag her to her kennel, we will be ok… I grab Nia’s collar, but get my left hand too close to Bella’s mouth. And Bella latches on…

She gets a good bite on my hand. I quickly grab her mouth with my right hand, get my left hand out. There is blood everywhere. Both hands lacerated. Dogs still fighting. Not good.

That lasted maybe 4 seconds… One second we’re ok, the next my hands are tore up.

It took a bit… I had to get inside and stop the blood. I know Im kinda ok, no arterial bleeding, no serious damage but a shit load of blood… I get inside, contain the blood by wrapping a snake bite bandage around the hand. I tie and tape dish-cloths around my fingers… It all took a bit of time, it was a struggle between bouts of nausea and in the throes of shock… but it all came together… I still need to go out to sort the dogs…

They had quit fighting. We’re still testy. I get them each in their kennels.

In between the bite and the return to the kennels I went through various levels of shock. At one point, hands roughly bandaged and blood sorta staunched, I stood in a cold shower. Id gone through feeling sick, shaking and sweating while dressing the wounds. Once the adrenaline slipped I felt very unwell. A cold shower was a winner, kept me from losing control, made me feel “better”.

Gracie had been in town. After I got the blood stopped I called her. She showed up and helped me bandage things up properly.

And here we are, hands healing nicely.

Life is good, interesting, exciting and fun.

More later

Big smiles

Been 9 days since I posted… There has been a bunch going on.

In chronological order:

A week ago last Monday I was cleaning my dog kennels when I got my hands caught on my dog, Bella’s, mouth. Not a good situation. Lots of blood. A big slice on my left hand, fingers on both Hands lacerated. Not a good situation.

Dog bites are never good.

As I was moving inside, aiming to clean the wounds, stop the bleeding, I stumbled and fell and stuck my ribs into a sturdy wooden stool.

So I end up with both hands impaired, a really sore, bruised area on my rib cage, and one of my longest serving Amigos showing up for a visit… and a Hemmer Girl party on the weekend.

Willis arriving for a visit is an event. A big event. The Hemmer Girl party, planned for months, is a huge event.

A lot to do. A lot to get done…

I first met Willis in the mid 80s. He and his wife, MsEllie, have been part of our big, glorious family ever since. They were around when our last child, Paul, was born. We were around when their daughter, Talia, was born. I last saw Willis in 2018 in the USA.

Also, if hands n ribs n old compadres aint enough to keep and ol fart bizzy… son, Don’s, wife and 3 daughters flew in from the Solomons for a long weekend of family fun. We’d planned this weekend for a months. The three Hemmer girls in the Solomons were coming to enjoy the Hemmer girls here in Aus. And, my brother’s 18yr old daughter is here going to Uni. So it was a week of Hemmer girl fun n games…

We had: Andromeda, Nova, Vera, Dawnie, Gigi, and Elora. Plus moms and grandma.

Plus Willis…

So, the plan had been to have a HillBilly vroom BBQ on the Saturday, and the Hemmer Girls had a date together on Sunday. Cyclone Alfie got us a week previous. The ground was still real wet so a big Vroom BBQ was not to be. A smaller “family” BBQ was more sensible.

Willis flew in 10pm Thursday, The Solo-Girls flew in Friday eve, Saturday we had Vrooom…

Also, icing on the cake, we had Angelo’s son, Andre come visit. He’s almost 1yr old.

Above we have: Angelo, Andromeda in the orange shirt, Angelo’s mother and sister in law, Vera, Andre, Ash, Maria, Lizza, and Elora. Joan is in the back ground. Dawnie sitting in the shadows.

It was a great day. Our tribe had four generations represented. A first for us, Andre is our first Great-Granny.

So we got wheels turning and fuel burning. Our youngest rider, Nova, 6, frightens her 10yr old cousins. Nove is a born rider, a born hell raiser.

Angelo’s in-laws are not versed in Vroom. This means that the Moms of their family worry and fret, all the noise, all the danger, all the smiles… not what Moms approve of… until that is, they get a good ride in the Beast. The Beast is fast and fun and noisy and flies high and long. Once you get a ride in the Beast you yearn for more, and more, and more…

About Willis: Life is filled with mysteries and occurrences both large and small that effect one’s trajectory one’s trajectory in life, like a magnetic pull on a compass certain meetings, mishaps, misunderstandings and events have life long, lasting, forever influence. Compatibilities, differences, shared interests and more are needed to make lasting relationships.

Willis and I have been gigging together for almost 40 years. I have worked for him. He has worked for me. We were partners in one business venture. We once had a gig where we attempted to get the Japanese government to fund a mini-nuclear plant on Guadalcanal. (I note here that this was a great, smart idea that simply went nowhere, but it should have and if it had, GCanal would be different, better, energy secure.)

In one incarnation, Willis was the boss of an engineering/ ship yard/ fabrication operation on the Island of Liapari. We decided to see if we could build a ground-effect-craft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-effect_vehicle It was very cool but not a great success.

In the past decade or so (I retired in 2023) we both are slower, less entrepreneurial, more involved with families and such than spreadsheets and bottom-lines. From 2013-2019 I was in there USA riding a fair bit, and saw Willis sorta regularly. He and MsEllie joined us for there notorious “Granny Does Vegas” trip in 2015. I rode up for an overnight to see Willis and Ellie in 2018. Last time we were face to face.

Somewhere in the last 10years or so my Big Boer Buddy, Gerhardus, got to know Willis. When covid struck BigG stored his bike with Willis. Saturday gave the three of us a good chance to catch up on quite a few years of billshitting…

Very good time had by all…

More later

Monday morning here. We saw 50mm/2inches of rain over night. Our little steam is now a biggish babbling brook. Another night (day) of rain like this and we’ll start seeing some flooding. The cattle show no interest.

Many regions round us have been hit hard by both Alfie and the aftermath. A lot of rain has fallen on the coast. South of us, into NSW, the rivers are up and the rains continue to fall. We have been very lucky thus far. Mamma said its better to be lucky, than good looking…

Here is today’s weather picture:

We can expect the weather to hang around for a couple more days.

Which means not much is going to get done. Schools are closed. Over 200,000 connections still without power. Trains, buses, airports, all are compromised, either not on schedule, or at risk of being cancelled. Rail-lines need to be inspected and potentially repaired before trains can run. I did check international flights into BNE and see quite a bit of activity. Im sure there are very many highly stressed travellers either looking to fly in, or looking to fly out.

This is the sort of weather event that leaves folks stranded in airports.

Makes me think of the many times Ive been stuck in an airport, in a city I didn’t want to be in. Some airports are better than others. Some cities are better than others. For many years I traveled with a pandanas mat, folded up in my carryon. Mostly for the baby that was usually traveling with, Id unfold the mat and the kid would have a nice space to be. The mats were big enough for mom and dad and siblings. Everyone could stretch out.

But any airport is better than your car stuck in a snow drift in Iowa. Always kept my sleeping bag in the back seat of the junker-car I was driving. Made for some cold, miserable nights but survived them all.

And the beat goes on.

Need to go out and check on the farm, maybe work on a stick. Have a couple very nice sticks on the table. This weather puts me behind in my mowing but it does mean I get to do a bunch of whittling…

Wood not war

More later

Weather is still happening this fine, grey, overcast, wet Sunday morning. The air is still. The deep, low roar that has been the storm brewing off shore, is gone. The tension in the air is gone. I think the storm is gone, has moved down south, is dumping heaps of rain there. It’s not over yet, for the folks south of us.

The past weathery week has meant a fair amount of reading, sitting and reading, sitting and reading and writing.

I am a bit stunned, amazed how so many of my very intelligent friends can be so blind, so pig headed, so stubborn, so stupid… We are months past the “election”, and 50 or so days into the 2nd DJT administration, and folks still bleat like sheep in a thunderstorm… still say dumbshit, meaningless nonsense, post completely wrong, false, incorrect and mindless drivel.

I reference this:

So, after a number of weeks since the election and the inauguration, we still harp on about Fox and Trump and Lies…

hmmm, Gold Fish Brain syndrome I suspect…

I suspect that it is selective memory and not forgetfulness that leads one to “not remembering’ that only 3 months ago we were being told that Biden was fine, the world was good, the border was secure and inflation wasn’t inflation. An array of talking heads all towed the DNC party line. As we watched the President of the USA dotter, and trip, and stumble, and mumble…

What lies does the above visual reference? It’s unclear, inarticulate. Designed to resonate with one that holds a negative emotion towards both Trump and Fox.

Again, my centrists position in life has me wondering what indeed is being purveyed herein? I dont get it.

Tho one dear old Trump-Derangement-challenged old friend of mine did blame the loss of the election on the fact that Americans are stupid and watch too much Fox News…

Makes me query if watching CNN, or MSNBC makes one smarter…

I have said before that I try to watch everything. I annoy everyone by switching channels a lot. Sure, Rachel Maddow is hard to take but my old stance remains… If I dont listen, how do I know what theyre saying?

I would be willing to wager my best bitch, Quel, that the person who posted the above, and the person that drew it, do not watch Fox.

So how do they know?

I know Al Sharpton is a misleading race baiter, at best, and quite an ugly, sad human, more than not. But I do listen to him. How else can I have an educated opinion per what he is saying?

Sure, Fox can be hard to take. Too much news in the form of entertainment/ comedy for my liking. A new caster that laughs and jokes, hmmm…. But CNN and MSNBC have blown their credibility by joining the DNC conspiracy to lie and dupe the electorate. For the past many years we have been knowingly misled. Knowingly told lies. Day after day after day.

Seriously, I am looking for someone/ anyone to explain to me how anyone can take what is heard on CNN and MSNBC with anything but a huge grain of salt. We know the DNC has been lying and deceiving for the past number of years. What makes them “worthy” of much attention now?

Or, is it that my dear, dear left leaning friends are seriously hampered in their ability to see fact, to see reality. Is the Trump derangement syndrome so severe?

I suspect it is.

And all this makes my simple life harder…

I simply do not understand… as above… After being lied to for years by the recent DNC driven agenda, how can anyone trust anything, anymore?

That why I read, study, listen and write, and why I am more and more of a centrist as time goes on…

My best bitch Quel:

more later

Saturday morning here in cyclone country. And, no, I dont mean Ames Iowa…

The scary heavy centre of the Cyclone is noticeably “less”, notably lighter, noticeably less menacing. Downgraded to a Tropical Depression, Tropical Cyclone Alfie is no more.

We’ve had weather around us for the whole week. Off shore weather has been blowing and roaring, but we haven’t got more than 15mm/ half inch rainfall, total, all week.

Which is good for us.

South of us, South of Brisbane and into NSW, more than 200,000 homes are without power.

Alfie ran the coast for days as a cyclone, stirred up huge seas and created huge waves and eroded the the shit outta the beaches. The Coast took a real beating.

Obviously the area Brisbane, south to NSW, took a big hit. But not a huge hit. I dont think the many rivers in that area got the rain fall expected/ feared. Nick and Salome tell me that the river at Lismore is up, but not too bad. They did not have to get up on their roof this time.

Most of the damage is from trees falling, power lines coming down.

The lack of rain allows cleanup crews to get to work sooner.

SO, TC Alfie, though an issue for the entire past week, ends up a mini-event on the meter of life.

Speaking of Iowa…

A while back I came across a “letter jacket” from the Iowa Hawkeyes… I had bought a couple of these many years ago while in Iowa. Not sure why, they were cool at the time. And a decade later I end up finding 2 in the closet. They are nice jackets…

So… my favourite coffee/ bakeshop makes the best 7.50 breakfast I know of… a fresh baked bun with an egg and a nice slab of bacon… for 7.50. I drop in when Im on the coast. A while back a gal waiting at the counter commented on my accent. I normally dont engage in such discussion, I normally laugh and tell Aussies, I aint got no accent, you do. But this gal was insistent. Where you from…

When I said Iowa she was excited… turns out she is from the Sunny Coast, and did an exchange student gig in Iowa. We had a quick chat. The next day I gave her one of the jackets. She was inordinately happy.

And life is good.

Smiles all around

More later

Cyclone Alfie is running south of us. The skies are clearing. Let’s see if we got lucky. I know that Nick and Salome in NSW are watching the river rise, power is off, and their prognosis is more wet, more wind…

The sun is now shining bright, making the place very warm. May have to turn the aircon on…

Gracie and I did a run into town. We hit both supermarkets (IGA and Woolies) and brought very little home. The shelves were pretty much empty. May be a few days before resupply comes to town.

Beast, beans and beer… I’m pretty well stocked up.

So I sit, watch a couple different news channels… the Storm chasing news folks are running out of things to talk about. As I sit and watch and listen and ruminate I think of a time long past that I got to hold a DOGE type position of power…

In 1989 I was a licensed consultant between jobs. A job with the US Gov I’d had lined up fell through. I was coming off a couple month spell between contracts. Id been living in Gizo, building my house, hanging with the family when I got the call. The next few months of work I was banking on was not to be.

My old saying, “the worse thing that can happen to you, may be the best thing that can happen for you”, was about to be very much tested.

So I hopped on a boat and went looking for employment in Honiara.

In 1989 I was a very modern, very cool consultant. I had a computer and a printer. My MacII went into a carry bag, my dot matrix printer went into a different case. I ran v1.0+ of MS word and xl.

I did number crunching, wrote reports. I was a DOGE dueller for hire.

I’d been doing this type of work for a couple years.

When I got to Honiara, my first stop was the Yacht Club, where I ran into Roger. He offered me a job to go clean the books up at their fuel depot in, Gizo. Yes, GIZO…

Roger’s company, Liapari Ltd, were the franchise distributors/agents for Mobil Oil in Gizo. I knew Roger well, I knew Liapari well. I lived in Gizo, what’s not to like?

I was given zero instructions. I was given access to a few years of dusty musty receipt books. I went to work. I was there to DOGE the entire business. To clean it all up.

When I started this work I realised there were many problems. I decided to start with Receivables. The books were confusing but the glaring issue/ priority I saw was the large sums owing. Every ship owner owed heaps. The SIGovernment owed huge. The books simply and been neglected. Mobil was taking legal action to get paid what they were owed for a couple years of fuels and lubes supplied. It was a mess.

I started by stopping all, ALL, credit sales.

SIEA, Ministry of Education, Marine Division, the local ship owners, even the airline raised hell with me. I had folks yelling at me. Making mad, mean phone calls. My boss wasn’t too sure. But I stuck to my guns. Each and every account had to be reconciled. It was a slow process. But my point here is this: Every single entity involved quite quickly came to the table. After a day or two of crying, we started scheduling meetings.

When I told SIEA (the electric authority) in Gizo they would get no more fuel until… you’d have thought the world was ending.

SIEA used about 2000 litres 500 gallons of diesel daily. And a large amount of lubricants. Technically SIEA was Mobil Oil’s customer. It wasn’t hard to manage the paper work, do the paper work that had been neglected for ages. In less than 48 hours SIEA was sorted and their supply restored. And Liapari owed Mobil several hundred grand less than thought.

No emergency. No power outages (out of the ordinary).

But damn, there was a lot of emotion.

The Marine Division was the same. Thousands of litres of fuel a week. Lost in those musty piles of old receipt books. It was a mess. Of course the slackness of the systems meant that both the staff supplying the product, and the staff receiving the product were massaging the system. Marine was a Mobil customer but the mismanagement saw guys on the ships opening up their own accounts and loading fuel on runs, to sell beach trader style. The guys supplying the product were on the take too.

The absence of parental controls saw every kid in the school play some kinda game, perform some kinda theft. The higher ups were making some serious money. Pretty much everyone on shore and on the boats were running a scam, large or small.

It was a mess. A number folks on different sides of the problem lost their jobs. There was much graft, corruption, mismanagement, misuse and abuse exposed. Cash and product was being misused, converted, stolen, pilfered, mismanaged.

For no less than 3 months I was regularly in verbal altercations, on the phone, face to face. I was threatened a couple times but my reaction to threats (in those days) was violence. I was always ready for a bit of a duel, had a couple scuffles. One guy (a good old friend these days) managed to get me to lift him off the ground by his neck. One guy, not a friend, I picked up and threw off the wharf.

Those were the days!. The Wild West days.

I originally signed a 6 month contract for that “job”. I had other things I was planning to do. 6months in Gizo was good. I got to finish building my house. Got to spend time with my young family. It was pretty good.

So when I was offered an extension of 12months on my original contract, I took it.

Despite my original cart-upsetting actions, my management style worked. the books were in order. The customers were happy. Mobil Oil was impressed.

So impressed they terminated Liapari as their Agents.

For the next number of years I was employed by Mobil Oil. I later became a direct-purchase-agent, meaning it was my show. My business. I bought the product and kept the profits. I was Mobil’s only customer in Gizo.

As of 2000, when Mobil decided to exit the Solomons, I bought the business out right.

My point of course is that the upsetting of The Apple Cart is probably not a terrible thing. Everyone gets comfortable with the status quo, can’t imagine it not being the way it is, corrupt, inefficient.

But once we clean it up, everyone is better off.

Remember, the worse thing that can happen to you, may be the best thing that can happen for you…

More later

7am Friday morning. I can hear and feel the pressure of Alfie. Twenty miles east of where I sit is the coastline. Fifty miles south is Brisbane. For the entire week there has been heavy off shore weather. Alfie has been taking his time getting to the front door.

The sky is menacingly grey. Thick, heavy, moving, alive in the sky.

The wind comes in gusts and flurries. Like a large fist, a gust will hit, shake the house, rattle the windows, make the wind chimes scream.

The dogs have a wary sense about them. When I woke early, they all came out to see me. Normally they’d laze around most the morning waiting for me to go outside. Today their nervousness was visible. I think the long night of gusts and flurries and creaks and groans has them unsettled.

My old house here is, for lack of better terms, flimsy. It is well built, but in standard QLD house building style, all houses here are not built for cold so no insulation and no double windows or thick door seals. Not like an old Iowan house at all. This old house moans and groans. Wind blows through the house, rattles the windows, shakes the walls. I tell the Grandkids it’s the ghosts, and some times it is, but most times its wind slipping through the plethora of cracks and openings.

We have spent the entire week waiting for Alfie to make land fall. I’m not 100% certain it has, yet. Nope, predicted for tomorrow, again… Info states landfall now for “later today/ early tomorrow”. After a week of getting wrong they aren’t predicting a time any more.

I know some places have seen over 100mm/8inches of rain. We haven’t gotten any measurable rainfall here, but then we are a-ways north of the system. I’ll be happy to not get dumped on, this time. I dont need the rain.

Early this past week landfall was predicted as far north as Bundaberg. At that time predictions called it a Cat 4 storm. Now it has been down graded to Cat 1-2. I think Alfie spent a lot of its energy spinning off shore. It’ll make landfall with less wind, but there will be a lot of rain. All that mass has to get dumped somewhere.

Not sure which is worse… hydrostatic forces or high winds? If the winds die down there will still be heaps of rain.

At times the wind simply stops. Things go clam, the air gets heavy and hot. Everything goes a bit quiet, then you hear it to the south-east, a rumble turning into a roar. It sounds like a train chugging up the valley. When it hits everything rattles and shakes everything.

The cattle appear unperturbed. I had expected them to head back to their home paddocks. I thought they’d feel the ‘something evil comes this way”. Must not be as bad as the dogs think. The cows leisurely do their grazing, mind their own business, have nothing to say today.

All makes me think of a song…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzgXx7Ol-Bg

more later

Golly, gee… damn, double damn… How sad and stooppiid and inhuman can the DNC faithful be/ act?

A kid was introduced by DJT at the big speech last eve, a kid that has been suffering from Cancer for all his life. A kid that is a survivor, a fighter, a human in need. DJT made the kid happy, brought tears to the eyes of the Nation, and those loser DNC dicks sat and looked glum. Sat and looked dumb…

No joy for a child in need, because he’s buddies with DJT.

Sure, shows your compassion and humanism.

We have been prepping for Cyclone Alfie to make land fall. Busy all day yesterday, so I had to watch the speech in rerun, later in the day. Lots of comments swirling by then so none of it was a shock. I was on the road and the local liberal newz source ran play-by-play on the speech as it took place. I was aware of what went on, but when I watched it I was a bit shocked. And buzzed. There was palatable energy in that room…

Half of Congress sat looking like the ugly kids at the orphanage that know they aint gonna be adopted…

They feigned disinterest. Adopted steely, fixed faces; insulated and insolent, they sat stoically, ruthlessly, sadly. No joy on that side of the room at all.

But the joy on the RNC side of the room was infectious.

D.J. Daniels has aged eyes, and when he heard what was happening his eyes grew wide and started to shine brilliantly. Damn, what an energetic rush, pure and unadulterated positive energy shone from D.J.’s eyes. How can you not smile, giggle, get teary, when met with such a positive rush of energy?

Damn! Those loser DNC dicks sure are… Dicks…

Cyclone still tracking south… has not made landfall yet. I am of a mind that we “have missed it”, but there is heaps and heaps of weather still coming. As a pilot buddy of mine said, “We may have missed the cyclone, but we’re in for some good thunder storms”.

This morning:

More later

Smiles all around

Cyclone bearing down on the eastern coast. Got gen-sets n fuel all ready for the power to fail. Will go to town n buy a bunch of grog, meat, and beans… We shall survive… It dont take much to survive.

Just a quick thought this fine blustery morning…

All my friends and family (and a few million others I am not acquainted with) appear to think the War in Ukraine should go on and on and on… until…

???

I see slogans like “I stand with Ukraine”… but I’m a bit confused… what does this mean?

? Does it mean you stand with Zelensky and his crowd? Knowing well these folks are diverting billions and billions for their own benefit. Zelensky needs to call an election. Lets see if his own folks stand with him. Why doesn’t he want to bring the death and destruction to an end?

? Does it mean you stand with the numerous Ukrainians that have already ran away from death and destruction and sit as refugees in Germany or France? What about these folks? Maybe we should Hera what they think, what they have to say?

? Does it mean you stand with the soldiers who are being conscripted and sent to die at the front? Both side are bleeding youth dry. It aint the old farts that go die in the War. It’s the youth of a Nation who pay the highest price for a refusal to negotiate. Are these the Ukrainians you stand with?

We’re in our 3rd year here. 3rd year in a war averaging a few thousand deaths a week…

Cant see why it’s such a good idea for this all to continue. Why all the noise and emotion…. is it the gouls who clamour for the continuation, or is the fools?

If there is a chance, even a slight chance, for settlement, for a cessation of death and destruction, shouldn’t we be taking it?

I don get it. All these nice well meaning bleeding hearts are saying they want this war to continue.

I dont get it….

Wood, not war…

915am, 2nd day of the 3rd month. My how time flies…

A thought, an idea, a phrase crossed my way last week… “Sorry If My Common Sense Offends You”…

I’m sure this isn’t new. I’m sure its been used for ages and ages… but this past week I kinda heard it for the first time, and it made sense for me…

There is soooo much that “Sorry If My Common Sense Offends You” applies to. There are so many situations where “Sorry If My Common Sense Offends You” works well. I like it a lot… “Sorry If My Common Sense Offends You”.

For decades, generations, for ever there has been conflict between the folks that trade a share of their toil for the safety and security and regulations a society requires to function. “Society” allows ‘Administration” to take a share of their production in exchange for certain securities. When the exchange becomes unfair, unacceptable we end up in civil strife.

No taxation without representation comes to mind.

For some strange reason people in general tend to forget that its their hard earned dollars, taxed by the Administration, that get wasted frivolously, spent foolishly, converted for personal gain.

Succeeding Administrations (world wide) campaign on fiscal management. Less taxes. Wiser use and less abuse of the public purse.

I have been fixated on the word “Liberal” for quite some time. Here is Aus the “Liberal Party” is in fact the conservative side of politics here. Liberal in this context supposedly means “loving liberty”, wanting less administration, less waste, less conversion , less corruption.

The left-leaning side of politics here belongs to the “Labor Party”. Labor = Unionist/ Socialist. And the Labor party here in Aus is very Liberal… with the public purse.

Liberal = liberty loving, or, Liberal = free with the $$$.

Here in Australia that middle class is being erased, methodically, with intent. From the Nut Zero insanity to the foolish granting of millions and billion to “start-ups” doing Green Hydrogen or AI or some other private enterprise stuff the Administration loves to “invest” in… The National Reconstruction Fund has taken a $32 million stake in artificial intelligence start-up Harrison.ai

The governments here in Aus, the past succession of governments, have tried to appease too many fringe groups, invest in too many “winners”, have made some really stupid choices… While enriching themselves… let’s check on Mr. Albo: I see Anthony Albanese has been in politics all his life, has been a member to Parliament since 1996 and has a personal wealth listed as $15million… https://www.networthmama.com/category/heads-of-state/presidents/anthony-albaneses-net-worth

For a guy that has been an elected offical for 20 years, on an average salary of under 250kpa… hmmm… not sure how it adds up, but… it dont add up for me… and its an age old story. How does an elected official on a set salary become wealthy? I’d say it all has to be, even a little bit, corrupt…

“Sorry If My Common Sense Offends You”

In the USA I recall a while ago where a road (I think in Oregon) was going to be laid with solar/ PV ability… at a cost of something stupid… https://www.oregon.gov/odot/programs/pages/solar-highway.aspx … I can’t find a cost here but I see something like 30million spent on it so far… ???? …. !!!!

Many moons ago, as a business-dude in the Solomon Islands, I got involved in building roads for the World Bank… sure seemed like a good idea at the time… the money was stoppiiid… Back in 2005/6 the cost of building a road, a standard tar sealed road of a decent engineering standard was, let’s have. look…. Damn!!! … According to data from the BITRE (Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics), the average cost of a road construction project in Australia is around $5.1 million per lane-kilometer. However, this cost varies significantly depending on the road type, with urban and rural freeways costing closer to $6-6.5 million per lane-kilometer, while rural arterials are around $3 million per lane-kilometer. 

When I was doing this work, the cost per kilometre was roughly 5times the average cost in developed lands. I forget the numbers but they were impressive… Sure, isolation, material availability, expertise, etc, etc add to the cost… but 5times? Much of the cost was to cover the World Bank big-shots that flew in to “help”. These folks always fly 1st class. They always stay in the best hotels, eat in the best restaurants, etc, etc. We could have done the work without their help.

During this project I consistently made noise about the money being wasted. I could build a road for way under 5milUSD per-mile. But I wasn’t allowed to. The food-chain, the money-chain owed too many people, too many NGOs, too many Govt Offices too much to make it economically sensible. There was more than enough money to do a high class job. But the waste and corruption only allowed for a rather mediocre job.

This project eventually got many things wrong, made many mistakes. In the end I was told to simply “get it done” so the project managers could close the project out. Certain materials (culverts for drainage) had not been ordered, had not arrived. We were told to complete the road work without the drainage.

In my opinion this project may have started out as good idea, but turned into yet another example of waste, mismanagement, and corruption. The people involved, in charge were often overly qualified but not invested enough to make it be a good job. They were more interested in the project looking Good-On-Paper. They were chasing a feather in their cap. How positive the project was on the ground was of minor concern.

So, as the USofA rationalises its waste and corruption, and as many many many folks bleat like sheep during a thunder storm, I ask everyone to consider the end result of a positive world that is less greedy, less wasteful….

What is sooooo terribly wrong about shutting off the spigot that fills the trough of graft and corruption?

here is the DOGE report so far… DOGE’s total estimated savings are $65 billion, which is a combination of fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings … https://doge.gov/savings

A lot of people are not happy, a lot of people are scared, a lot of people have a lot to lose, a lot of people have their snouts in the trough…

Fiscal prudence all ways makes sense. To be foolish with your $$ is a short term gig. It does not hold much of a future. We have all been financially frivolous, foolish. Short term may be OK. But we have allowed, fostered an Administrative practice of being wasteful.

The US debt is insane. The world-wide domestic debt is foolish.

Time to end the era of fiscal mismanagement and waste. It simply cannot be allowed…

“Sorry If My Common Sense Offends You”

Smiles all around

More later

1st of March, a Saturday morning here. Nice day so far, a bit blustery. Not much rain this week (20mm/less than an inch). The dogs are all content, relaxed. Bird life is prolific this time of year. I lie in bed in the mornings, dozing and dreaming to the sound of the birds. Its nice.

Sunrise has slowly come back from 4am to 530/6am. In another couple months we’ll end up still being in the gloaming until 8am. And it’ll be much cooler out. Makes morning sleep-ins easy. This 4am wake up stuff gets rough.

Ive been out of sync with myself for quite some time… the past year, 2024, has been a very hard slog… I have intentionally been less antsy these past two months. Ive perhaps relaxed my forward vision and taken my foot off the gas-peddle. Not going to stress as much as I did last year… And I’m going to take some time to fix my broken ankle…

I dont do doctors all that much. PRN “As Per Need”, is the attitude I take with doctor visits.

Here in Aus we have top, top shelf medical services available all around us. One of Austarlia’s biggest export businesses is medicine. The largest hospital complex in the Souther Hemisphere is an hour east of here. We have very, very good medical attention. And, as a card carrying Aussie, I have access to all of it.

I had both my eyes fixed late last year. Day surgery for each eye, took a number of weeks for recovery, all up, but the result is fantastic. I can see again. So I’ll now let the Docs fix my broken ankle…

Going back decades… Ive sprung my ankles more than once. In the past years, as a farmer, I have had 2 major incidents where I ended up hurt, damaged, laid up afterwards. The first one involved a day old calf… Id lost the calf, moved the mother, and had to go back and find and get hold of and move it… day-old calves are swift as deer. Normally a mother will hide the calf so she can graze. The calf, only a day old, will lie and sleep all day, waiting for mom to call for supper.

I kinda knew where this calf was, and managed to find it easily. I knew from experience you cant just talk it into following you, noooo…. I walked up to the sleeping calf and fell onto it. Covered it, held it down as it kicked and struggled. I gathered it up, held it tight, stood up, and promptly turned my ankle. And I could do nothing but hold on, struggle through it, and take the calf to its mother. It took me a while to get home and get my bruised and swollen foot out of my boot…

That was in late 2021. Since then my ankle has done nothing but deteriorate. The Dr said the X-ray showed only mild degeneration thus the problem was probably is ligaments.

As is, my right leg is not dependable. Just the other day, working in my machine shop, I turned to move and my foot didn’t move with me. I went down hard on my knee…. not guuud.

So I decided to get it fixed. Ive tried braces and sole inserts and tight high boots… And my ankle does not get better. So I’ll see what they can do for me. Go in and tighten some of the rubber bands that keeps my foot from flopping about.

This getting old bullshit aint for sissies… thats what my Mom always said…

More later