22 February 2021

Update no.997

 Update from the Sunland

No.997

15.2.21 – 21.2.21

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

 

         Tall,

 

Some of us witnessed the live coverage of another miracle of modern science and engineering this week—the landing of the Mars Rover Perseverance.  The spacecraft containing the rover had been launched on 30.July.2020. After six months of transit and the renowned seven minutes of terror from atmospheric entry to communication restoration, the assembly discarded components from its transit configuration that were no longer needed.  A rocket-powered descent platform hovered at about 30 meters above the surface and lowered the rover on three cables like a sky crane.  Once touchdown was confirmed at 13:55 [T] MST, Thursday, 18.February.2021, the cable attachments were severed and the descent platform flew away until its fuel was exhausted.  Perseverance landed on target within the Jezero Crater near the Mars equator after travelling about 293 million miles, or 471 million kilometers.  Given the current Earth-Mars orbital location, radio signals and commands took about six (6) minutes to travel each way.  Perseverance, affectionately nicknamed Percy, swiftly sent home a couple of surface photographs to commemorate the moment of its arrival.  The nuclear-powered rover will not be subject to Mars surface weather as other rovers are.  The rover has numerous new equipment items to explore alluvial plains in the crater for sign of prior life on Mars.  The samples will be stored for later return to earth for detail study.  Also on board is the drone helicopter Ingenuity that will performance low altitude surveillance around Percy like a loyal scout.  We look forward to great things from Percy and the discoveries yet to come. Congratulations to the NASA team that designed and landed this newest, most ambitious rover.

 

noticed an interesting article in Der Spiegel this week.

“Brussels Pushes Firmer Stance after Embarrassment in Moscow – After the recent humiliation of its top diplomat by Russian officials, the European Union may now be heading toward stronger measures against Moscow. Tempers are running high in Brussels, though the bloc doesn't exactly have a strong history of common foreign policy.”

by Markus Becker und Christoph Schult

Der Spiegel

Published: 12.02.2021, 18.01 Uhr

https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/foreign-policy-impotence-brussels-pushes-firmer-stance-after-embarrassment-in-moscow-a-af33daca-2c0a-4b57-a0e7-22111f55e19e?sara_ecid=nl_upd_1jtzCCtmxpVo9GAZr2b4X8GquyeAc9&nlid=bfjpqhxz

To me, the observations illuminated in the article reflect our current situation and the consequences of the last four years.  The Russian dictator Vladimir Putin came to power with the support of the political elite who were the Soviet Politburo before the disintegration of the Soviet Union (1991).  The buddy-buddy approach of the previous administration did not work, was never going to work, and to me, here is just one of the many consequences.  Putin is not interested in cooperating with his neighbors or anyone else.  He is only interested in Russian (Soviet) domination of the world in true Stalin-esque fashion.  This is how dictators treat their neighbors.  The last administration in the United States showed us how wannabe-dictators treat allies and friends.  Yes, best we put the sordid affairs of the last four years behind us as quickly as possible, for this reason and all the other reasons.

 

watched President Biden’s first town hall event as president on Tuesday.  His compassion and respect for people came through loud and clear.  He clearly connects with people far better than his predecessor.  From my perspective, he is doing all the correct things in trying to pull the country together and heal the wounds inflicted.  He is also trying to avoid taking on the MAGA faction directly.  What a delightfully refreshing change.  Peace and stability may not be very ambitious presidential objectives, but for me, they are far better than what we had.

 

         Comments and contributions from Update no.996:

“Thanks again Cap. What’s next then?  Is there another way in your law where this person can be punished for his dubious form of government?  Or perhaps any further action against him may cause some very unwanted further public disturbances.  What of the future?”

My reply:

Oh my, yes; there are many (I have no idea how many but more than a few) criminal investigations ongoing with the [person who shall no longer be named] at the focus—New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia and federal.  Any one of those investigations could yield indictments, charges, trials, convictions, and prison time.  If he goes that far, he will produce a whole new passel of firsts.  Just yesterday, the Speaker of the House initiated a process to create an independent commission to thoroughly examine the facts leading up and including the insurrection of the 6th of January.  I have not seen the charter document for this commission, yet, but if it was me producing the charter, I would include his past criminal conduct as well, to include the Ukraine quid pro quoextortion events and expand the Mueller Special Report, since a commission will not have the constraints or limitations that Mueller had to operate within.  Anyone or combination of these investigations could lead to felony conviction and prison time. Lord knows, he certainly deserves it after what he has done.  His crimes are multitudinous.  I am not inclined to forgiveness for what he has done.

Yes, I suspect so.  The white supremacist faction among his supporters will undoubtedly cause more trouble when he is brought down.  It is just something we will have to endure and overcome.  We fought a bloody civil war 150 years ago over this kind of passion.  It may well come to that again, although the disparity in forces is much greater today.

All of those MAGA crazies keep chanting about taking their country back. Well, it is my country, too, and I am not alone.  This once grand republic was never a White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant (WASP) nation despite the myriad attempts to make it so.  Exclusion was never part of our founding.

The future, I am afraid, will get uglier and even perhaps bloodier before we realize improvement.  I just hope I live to see the day when the white supremacy factions the [person who shall no longer be named] unleashed on American society are once again relegated to the dark recesses of the political domain.

 

Comment to the Blog:

“I'll note that the Democratic Party management may be seen as the ‘lesser’ of the two evils, but not as other than evil.  This week's evidence: (A) they squirmed out of hearing important witnesses against King Baby and, (B) they took a vacation rather than pass a stimulus package.”

My response to the Blog:

I do not share your cynicism regarding the political parties.  I have no intention of defending either (or any) political party.  They all have faults and flaws.  The jury is still out regarding the new administration; thus, we must remain vigilant, attentive and critical.  But, from my perspective, the Biden administration is doing the correct things.  He must first undo the bad done by the [person who shall no longer be named].  The initial actions regarding the pandemic response, the economy, and stabilization of the country appear to be correct as well, although they have a very long way to go.

. . . with follow-up comment:

“I don't hold Biden responsible for the prosecution of King Baby.  That's not his branch.  It's a DNC failure.

“However, Biden is the one who promised "$2000 immediately" to the American people.  The BS detector says that was a lie, compounded daily.  The DNC gets their share of the blame for sitting around and for various other facets of the economic and vaccine crises, but the bottom line is the Democrats could act without the Republicans and they're not doing it.”

. . . along with my follow-up response:

POTUS is ultimately responsible for the performance of DoJ as well as all other departments, agencies, bureaus and units of the USG.  Unlike the [person who shall no longer be named], President Biden has so far stood back from prosecutorial decisions, and I trust he will continue to do so.  IMHO, the [person who shall no longer be named] has committed numerous federal felonies and should be fully prosecuted.  We shall see what comes.

Actually, it was the [person who shall no longer be named] who made that first promise; how did he do?  I am still giving President Biden the space he needs in his effort to achieve a bipartisan compromise law.  Yes, he could jam it down the BICP throats, but that would be the same mistake President Obama made in passing the PPACA.  Let’s give him some space.  I know there are a lot of American citizens who need that help, but there are far more citizens who need a functional federal government, not a tribal version.

 

         Mvery best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

15 February 2021

Update no.996

 Update from the Sunland

No.996

8.2.21 – 14.2.21

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

 

            To all,

 

            The follow-up news items:

-- The series of firsts attributable to the [person who shall no longer be named] continues to grow.  He is the first to be impeached twice [936992].  He is the first to be charged with insurrection against the government—his government.  Then majority leader Senator Addison Mitchell ‘Mitch’ McConnell Jr. of Kentucky chose to delay the impeachment trial of the [person who shall no longer be named] until after the inauguration of the new president, thus the first former president to be impeached.

First, on Tuesday [26.1.2021], 45 BICP members sought to dismiss the impeachment trial of the [person who shall no longer be named] before it even began [994].  On a motion to proceed, the Senate voted: 55-45-0-0(0).  Five Republicans voted in favor of proceeding with the trial; they were:

Susan Margaret Collins of Maine,

Lisa Ann Murkowski of Alaska,

Willard Mitt ‘Mitt’ Romney of Utah,

Benjamin Eric ‘Ben’ Sasse of Nebraska,

Patrick Joseph ‘Pat’ Toomey Jr. of Pennsylvania.

And this was only the beginning.  But, the BICP was not finished.

            One week later, the Senate considered the Motion: Is Former President Donald John Trump Subject to a Court of Impeachment for Acts Committed While President?  On this Tuesday, 9.February 2021, at 17:01 [R] EST, the Senate voted 56-44-0-0(0), one more Republican joined the five above:

Senator William Morgan ‘Bill’ Cassidy of Louisiana,

to say yes, he is subject to impeachment even after he was voted out of office by 81.3M citizens.

On Wednesday, the House impeachment managers began their presentation of the case against the former president.  The defense team for the [person who shall no longer be named] used a fraction of their allotted time to defend their client.  Senators completed their question time in accordance with the Senate rule.  They voted at 15:39 [R] EST, on Saturday, 13.February.2021, 57-43-0-0(0) {67 votes for conviction were required by the Constitution}, with seven Republicans voting to convict the former president—the [person who shall no longer be named].  Yet one more Republican senator joined the other six senators noted above:

Senator Richard Mauze Burr of North Carolina

The Senate vote yielded the most bipartisan impeachment conviction vote in the history of this republic—another first for the [person who shall no longer be named].

Now, with the official business out of the way, the [person who shall no longer be named] will do what he always does—declare himself vindicated and seek vengeance on those who defied him.  As nauseating as that man is, this is yet another burden we must bear.

 

Just for reference purposes, given the item above, 34 senatorial seats will stand for election in 2022 election—14 seats held by Democrats and 20 held by Republicans.  The list of Republican senators who will not seek re-election continues to grow.  As of this writing, the list includes:

Richard Craig Shelby of Alabama,

Richard Burr (as noted above),

Pat Toomey (as noted above),

Robert Jones ‘Rob’ Portman of Ohio.

I suspect the list will continue to grow.  The devastation in the wake of the [person who shall no longer be named] will get worse before it starts to improve—another burden we must bear.

 

            Comments and contributions from Update no.995:

“thanks for your remarkably restrained and accurate reply to the first response to Update 995, wherein you are correctly identifying the BIC’s limited but important contribution to today’s long-developing poisonous political atmosphere.”

My reply:

Thank you.  I do sincerely try to be balanced and reasonable, albeit moderate.  I strive to avoid being sucked into tribal politics and hope for a better day.  My faith in this once grand republic has been sorely shaken over the last four years.  I hold the [person who shall no longer be named] responsible and accountable, not because he was the cause or source, but rather because he was elected to the leadership position charged with serving and protecting the Constitution.  He failed to do his job, in my humble opinion.

 

Comment to the Blog:

“Note: I've had a few relatively busy days, so I didn't check my spam box until today.  Your post was in there.

“Elon Musk regularly airs his frustration with rules in general.  Too bad about him.  In the meantime, private space flight is still in development.  Overconfidence deters learning.

“I read about 500 pages of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William Shirer.  Certainly, there's a resemblance between Hitler and King Baby.  King Baby has less ability.  Why the charge against him isn't sedition mystifies me.

“I can only see two possible explanations for Marjorie Taylor Greene.  Either she's so easily led/delusional as to believe utterly unrealistic notions or she's so despicable that she'll say literally anything to hold onto her position of power.  Either of those explanations leaves her unfit for office.

“My delay in reading your blog means the first day of Impeachment II has passed.  I sat through around 15 minutes of the defense presentation.  It looked incompetent to me.  Word is King Baby had a tantrum watching it.”

My response to the Blog:

My apologies for the communications problems.  It is an artifact of reality that I must use to protect the anonymity of my distribution list.  Hopefully, it is not too much of an inconvenience.

Well, we shall see re: Elon Musk & SpaceX.  Their extraordinary accomplishments cannot be denied.  I will continue to watch their evolution.

Shirer’s epic opus magnum is a must-read of the era.  There are many direct comparisons between the [person who shall no longer be named] and Hitler or any dictator for that matter.  You are, of course, quite correct; Hitler was a far more skilled dictator and leader than the [person who shall no longer be named] ever was or ever will be.  But, that does not negate the comparison.  He was a wannabe and that is sufficient for us to pay attention.  Worse, 74M citizens (good & bad) actually want the wannabe dictator to be the leader of this once grand republic.  Sedition may be ahead as he can and should face judicial criminal charges for what he has done.

I absolutely agree with your assessment of Greene.  I would say both.  The image I have held and continue to hold of Greene is she desperately wants to be the successor to the [person who shall no longer be named]; she is his eager novice apprentice and acolyte.

I am watching and listening to as much of the Senate trial as I am able—not all but a goodly amount.  Yeah, many reports of him raging at the television.  I cannot imagine the reasoning of those BICP members to vote against conviction given the magnitude of evidence.  Nonetheless, I gave up quite a while ago trying to understand them; they are what they are.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“The Republicans mostly won't vote against King Baby because they're not impartial jurors.  Most of them still hope to win the votes of the same hateful/fearful people that voted for King Baby.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

Agreed.  The numbers suggest he will be acquitted, or rather not convicted.  The [person who shall no longer be named] will then declare victory and vindication.  The odds of gaining 17 Republican senators, when some of them are accomplices to the insurrection, is unlikely.  But this is an exercise that must be done for history.  Once all that is done, we shall wobble on.

 

            My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

08 February 2021

Update no.995

 Update from the Sunland

No.995

1.2.21 – 7.2.21

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

 

            To all,

 

SpaceX is apparently feeling the frustration of educating the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  Some sources indicate SpaceX may have violated their SN8 launch license, prompting an investigation probably with respect to why?  Neither the FAA nor SpaceX have offered any details or information.  The dust-up as repeatedly delayed the launch of SN9, so much so that SN10 is already on the adjacent pad.  A week ago, Thursday, Elon Musk aired his frustration when he tweeted:

Unlike its aircraft division, which is fine, the FAA space division has a fundamentally broken regulatory structure.

Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities. Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars.

11:43 AM · Jan 28, 2021

At 14:25 [S] CST, Tuesday, 2.February.2021, the SpaceX SN9 Starship flight test vehicle launched successfully, flew to an altitude of approximately 10 km, hovered for a few seconds, and then belly flopped to its horizontal descent attitude.  All went well until the vehicle’s tried to transition to its erect landing attitude.  One of the two engines required for landing failed to light properly.  The video show one of the two required engines successfully lit off.  The second engine sputters and burps numerous times as it continued attempting to relight.  SN9 failed to erect itself and impacted the ground on its side.  The vehicle broke up and the remaining fuel exploded.

As an old fart, retired, armchair engineer, I am a little surprised they did not have contingency software to use the 3rd engine to replace the 2nd failed engine with sufficient thrust margin to compensate for a late start, or potentially use all three engines at appropriately reduced thrust to allow quicker compensation for a failed engine.  Unfortunately, in this instance, the 3rd engine was just along for the ride and a wasted asset.  Without the 2nd engine fully functional, the vehicle had insufficient control power to erect itself for landing.  The effort to erect itself produced an even higher sink rate resulting in the break-up of the craft at impact with the ground.  On the positive side, they hit the landing pad.  When they look at the data, I am certain the engineers will determine the root cause of the 2nd engine failure to successfully relight.  I am confident SpaceX will learn from this failure and improve the system.

Physics is a beautiful science.  Why the required 2nd engine failed to relight remains the salient question?

SN10 is on the pad, being prepared for launch and the next flight test.  How the SN8 and SN9 failures will affect subsequent flight tests is yet to be made public.

 

do not usually offer book reviews in this forum, as most folks do not care what I read or what I think about what I read, and I respect that reality.  I used to publish a “Books I’ve Read” section on my website, but I do not recall ever receiving a comment, contribution, or opinion, so I dropped it (along with other sections, e.g., movies).  That said, in this edition, I shall make an exception to the rule.

 I recently finished an important non-fiction book that I strongly recommend to anyone who is interested in such topics and especially to those among us who are Holocaust deniers or QAnon believers—“Masters of Death – The SS-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust” by Richard Rhodes, published by Vintage Books (2007).  The book is available in both print and digital formats as you may choose.  I must say that the topic is not for the faint of heart.

One important assessment provided by the author has applicability to contemporary politics.  In trying to understand the genesis of Nazism, he draws comparison to other autocratic systems, namely Soviet Communism and Chinese Communism.  All of them have commonality not least of which is they all murdered millions of people—dissenter, non-believers, and other not to their liking.  They also parasitically commandeered the full resources of a modern nation-state or co-opted instruments of state to its will and ideology.  The [person who shall no longer be named] tried mightily to do just that as well compromise the independent democratic agencies like the press and medical establishments.

The [person who shall no longer be named] did not cause the COVID19 virus, so we cannot say he murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent citizens.  However, his laissez-faire response and cavalier attitude toward the pandemic caused the virus to spread far wider and far deeper than it might have otherwise been.  He did not cause the deaths of nearly half a million American citizens so far, but he sure as hell contributed to their deaths.  He deserves to be remembered by history for that outcome – half a million people dead all for his very tepid action.

 

On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on and passed H.Res.72 - Removing a certain Member from certain standing committees of the House of Representatives [House: 230-199-0-2(4)].  The “certain Member” that was the object of H.Res.72 was Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia—the female version of the [person who shall no longer be named].  I wanted to use a descriptor that was far more vulgar and profane, however, my gentlemanly restraint compelled me to withdraw my less than gentlemanly preferred choice of words.  Eleven Republicans voted with the majority and against the BIC-Party line.  They were:

Mario Rafael Díaz-Balart Caballero of Florida,

Brian Kevin Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania,

Carlos Antonio Gimenez of Florida,

Christopher L. ‘Chris’ Jacobs of New York,

John Michael Katko of New York,

Young Oak Kim, née Choe, of California,

Adam Daniel Kinzinger of Illinois,

Nicole Malliotakis of New York,

Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida,

Christopher Henry ‘Chris’ Smith of New Jersey,

Frederick Stephen ‘Fred’ Upton of Michigan.

Greene has offered all sorts of really lame excuses to justify her extreme opinions.  As a private citizen, she is entitled to say what she wishes as long as no one or anything is harmed or damaged.  Unfortunately for her, she chose to run for and was duly elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and as a consequence, she assumed the mantle of the House.  Her words reflect upon the House of which she is but one member.  Apparently, she does not understand Article I, Section 6, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution; she is feeling a hard lesson on constitutional law.  I doubt she will learn or modify her behavior, because as a disciple of the [person who shall no longer be named], she cannot possibly be wrong, or need to apologize or change.

Several different news organizations interviewed voters in the Georgia 14th District that Greene represents to appreciate why they voted to elect a QAnon mouthpiece over a respected medical doctor.  Several of those interviewed said, “We wanted to throw a grenade in the room.”  Well, they accomplished their objective, and we are left with the consequences.

 

            Comments and contributions from Update no.994:

“Thanks Cap- some interesting comments supporting the person we don’t mention-I guess he perhaps is typical of those supporters?  But then, hey, that’s the function of democracy.”

My reply:

Yes, they are.  The [person who shall not be named] is a symptom of a very serious societal problem.  He is/was not the cause—never was.  His conduct and personality flaws accentuated and amplified the problem like pouring petrol on smoldering embers.  The flames roared to life and raged.  The insurrection of the 6th of January was one of many consequences.  There are many contributing aspects of the root problem, including but limited to distrust of government, dissatisfaction with the service of government, convulsions of a declining minority, and the intransigence of desperation.  Swirled into this odd admixture are factors like frustration with the impingement of the federal (and other levels of) government on our freedom of choice and fundamental right to privacy.  We have allowed government to intrude upon our private lives for decades and a growing number of people are lashing out—often at the wrong cause.  Yes, democracy is not pretty . . . kinda like making sausage.  No one wants to watch how them make sausage, but more folks sure do enjoy sausage.

 

Comment to the Blog:

“As much as I’d like to see King Baby impeached, convicted and barred from further office-holding, I have higher hopes for the civil and criminal legal systems than for Congress.  In the meantime, three Republican Senators have decided not to run again in 2022.  Also, Senator Grassley is 87 years old and counting.  Nancy Pelosi is not aging especially well, either.

“I’m glad you’re back in your study and on the equipment that works best for you.  Actual winter weather has arrived here, late but still unwelcome.  I’m prepared for it.  I have acquired an actual desktop computer, but the logistics of desk space, cabling, etc., have me back on the old reliable Linux laptop.”

My response to the Blog:

I am with you.  The [person who shall not be named] {AKA King Baby} deserves to add to his list of firsts by being the first president convicted under impeachment and prohibited from holding any public office.  However, as you note, an impeachment conviction is not likely.  Like you, I remain hopeful that criminal indictments, charges, trials, convictions, and imprisonment for the [person who shall not be named] are looming.

Yeah, we have seen the weather reports.  I do not envy winter in the east.  I am so glad you are prepared for winter weather.  I hope you get your desktop up and running soon.  Laptops are essential for some circumstances, but a big desktop (as I am using at the moment) are so much easier and convenient for a writer and author.

 

            My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

01 February 2021

Update no.994

 Update from the Sunland

No.994

25.1.21 – 31.1.21

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

 

            To all,

 

 Forty-five BICP senators voted to dismiss the impeachment trial, but their attempt failed.  My question to those 45 senators: what if Barack Obama had done just a few of the things the [person who shall no longer be named] has done, as I documented [991]?  The BICP would be screaming treason, not just insurrection.  The BICP has declared the laws do NOT apply to our guy.  They apply to everyone else, but not our guy.  The Senate trial is NOT a criminal prosecution (that comes later); it is a statement of acceptable conduct—a political decision.  So, it is pretty clear that the [person who shall no longer be named] will not be convicted in the Senate.  It is not clear whether he can be prohibited from holding future office without a conviction.  Stay tuned.

 

The [person who shall no longer be named] repeatedly and publicly claimed in the weeks prior to the 2020 election that COVID19 Pandemic was fake news, a product of his political opponents.  The [person who shall no longer be named] said:

"Covid,  Covid,  Covid,  Covid.  By the way, on November 4th, you won't hear about it anymore."
-- Lumberton, North Carolina; 24.October.2020.

Has the viral infection pandemic magically gone away?  The statement was not the personal opinion of some John Q. Citizen.  It was a public statement of the president of the United States.  It was not a new statement; he had said virtually the same thing more than 40 times since the pandemic began.  And, he wonders why few people do not believe what he says.  Well, a question to all of the believers and consumers of his magic snake-oil elixir: Has COVID19 gone away?

It should be no surprise to anyone that he lied, and he was demonstrably wrong.  The viral infection has not gone away, and we are approaching half a million dead from complications of COVID19 infection alone.  His incessant false statements is not a news flash; he has lied all of his life; he simply never grew up, but that is not a news flash either.  One the positive side of this item, he is rapidly disappearing from public awareness, although we have his second Senate impeachment trial coming up week after next.

 

Several dissimilar news sources reported that the entire impeachment legal defense team for the [person who shall no longer be named] resigned on Saturday.  They reportedly disagreed with the [person who shall no longer be named] or rather refused to participate in his lie.  The former president wanted the lawyers to parrot his false claims of massive, conspiratorial, election fraud.  What a surprise!  I suppose the consumers of his magic snake-oil elixir will claim those lawyers were all Democrats who wanted him convicted.  For all we know, this little dust-up may be just another lame ploy to delay his inevitable impeachment trial in the Senate as long as he possibly can, hoping for another insurrection by in his believers to grant him a reprieve.

 

            Comments and contributions from Update no.993:

“Good day Cap-all received this side, thanks.  Hey, sorry to hear about your water leakage.  But what excellent service you received.  Trust you are all dry now.  Galvanic action-yes familiar with that activity, a good explanation.”

My reply:

Thank you for your sympathetic words.  Into every life a little rain must fall.  Yes, our insurance company began as a support collective to military officers; it has expanded to now include all military personnel—past, present, and future—as well as descendants from service personnel.  I cannot sing their praises enough.  Through 50 years of membership and the myriad trials of life, I have never been disappointed or slighted.

Yes, as I write this morning, the house is dry . . . and quiet, thank goodness.  We have an appointment later today with the repair company to estimate, approve and repair the damage from the extraction process—mostly baseboards and a little drywall.  We must replace our main bookshelves, so I am without my array of reference books.  But hey, I must say, I love the quiet.  And, for the first time in a week, I am back in my disheveled study on the big desktop—a welcome step toward normalcy.

Thx mate.  I try to get the physics correct.  Now, I just need to solve the problem and install moisture alert devices.

 . . . Round two:

“‘morning young man.  What a superb service you are receiving, nothing like that for serving or ex serving personnel this side.  Not familiar with moisture alert devices.”

 . . . my reply to round two:

Yes, the USAA insurance company is a great service company; never a complaint yet.  Several friends have told me they have those devices installed for the exact same reason.  I’m still looking into them.

 . . . Round three:

“It’s good not to hear you not mentioning the someone we don’t wish to know about.  I fear, as I suspect you do, that he will re-surface through the slime of his life.

“Hey, stay well both-we’ve both had our Covid inoculation, part one.  Part two in April unless the troublemakers in Europe divert our orders as we’re not EU anymore.  The drug we’re using is produced in Belgium.”

 . . . my reply to round three:

Yeah, I’d just as soon never hear another peep from or about that disgusting man.  But that peace shall have to wait a bit longer.  We have his impeachment trial in the Senate scheduled to begin in a couple of weeks.

Congratulations.  We are still struggling t00o gain an appointment for our inoculations.  Hopefully, the UK-EU divorce does not get in the way.

 

Comment to the Blog:

“Skunk cabbage has popped up here in Ohio.  Traditionally, that’s the earliest sign of spring in our ecosystem.  Winter will pass.

“I hope the recovery and reimbursement process with your water issue goes well.

“I posted to my Facebook page a fivethirtyeight article from this morning that discusses the polarization in this country.  It’s a bit long for general audiences, but it’s calm, supported by facts, and looks deeper than Mar-A-Lago’s disreputable owner.

“The censure of Cindy McCain continues the trend discussed in the article. Today’s USA is not, at heart, about constructive policy or respect for anyone.

“Also, I’ll note that the mistrust in this country goes far broader than the federal politicians.  You and others seem shocked that much of the public is not following Federal officials’ instructions about the virus, but this is surely part of that.  So is the fumbling and mercenary medical industry.  Don’t ask me to trust doctors that are political appointees and don’t even practice medicine.  Then vaccines begin to come out, developed and sold by pharmaceutical companies we know are greedy and merciless, promoted by the Federal government.  Give us all a break.”

My response to the Blog:

Indeed!  I’m not a cold weather person, but ‘tis the season.  This too shall pass.

Thank you for your supportive thoughts.  One among many advantages of our insurance company is they pay the contractors directly, so we do not have to handle money.

Yea verily!  The [person who shall no longer be named] was simply a symptom, an aberration of the moment, albeit a terribly destructive artifact.  We will repair the damage done by that man (and I hesitate to refer to him as a man), but it will take many years.  The remedy for the corrosion that has set into the structure of this once grand republic will take far longer to remedy.  The white supremacy undertow will not just go away.  It is the inverse of the racial injustice illuminated by Black Lives Matter and has infected this country for centuries and many generations; it will not be remedied anytime soon.

I absolutely agree.  The censure of Cindy McCain is yet another symptom of the corrosion we must address.

I can and will agree in general and in the main.  Distrust of government took on rampant proportions in the 60s.  While it tends to cycle, the trend line is in the wrong direction.  We witnessed the terrible consequences of that trend line on the 6th of January, and it could get worse.  Whether it is recoverable is debatable.  Time shall tell the tale.

 

Another contribution:

“Only had a minute to read your first insult to President Trump (he’s still the legal President or did you not realize the country is being run by the military at present?) Amazes me at how with the DEM control of the MSM they are able to act out this whole debauchery still .. now I see how false flag events are so easy to play out and be believed by the general public.  Trump wasn’t being childish.. like so many others ‘in the know’ he wasn’t acknowledging an illegitimate President.  Interesting how they used The 100,000 violent rioters at the Capitol as an excuse to call in all the National Guard for the Inauguration?  I think not.

“Sorry to hear about the flooding .. I better check my fittings.

“PS not even 1 percent of the attendees on Jan 6 participated in the breach .. it’s known the breach was planned for at least a week before the event so President Trump did NOT incite it .. there’s radicals in all sectors and YES Antifa was present that day just like they are STILL present during faux President Biden’s stay in the White House. The breach started before President Trump even finished his speech.. fact !! They are using it as yet again an excuse to impeach.. the DEMS are such liars and cheats.”

My reply:

OK . . . a bridge too far for me.  Please help me understand your parenthetical dual statement.  The [person who shall no longer be named] became a former president at noon Eastern Time on the 20th as required by the Constitution.  How is he still president?  Second, I think the professional military would disagree with your statement, but I would like to hear why you believe the military is running the country?  You continue to parrot the BICP mantra, which is your choice, but that does not make those words facts.

What would you suggest the USG have done when faced with the insurrection of the 6th?

As I tried to point out in my citations in Update no.991, I do believe the [person who shall no longer be named] had been plotting the insurrection since at least September—well before the election.  He saw the handwriting on the wall and prepared his response for what he saw coming.

I am sorry you and many others were so deeply disappointed in the results of the 2020 election, but that is how elections work.  Oh yes, the insurrection had been planned well ahead of the 6th.  The [person who shall no longer be named] pulled the trigger; that is the definition of incitement.  If the protest had remained at the Ellipse and only the assault force appeared at Capitol Hill, the outcome would have been different, but that is not what the [person who shall no longer be named] wanted.

We shall respectfully disagree.  I am truly sorry you put so much credence in such compromised sources, but that is your choice.  I am fairly certain you will say exactly the same thing about me.  None of that alters the facts; the facts are the facts, period, full stop.

Thank you for your kind words.  Yes, you should check your fittings.  If you have metal-to-metal connections, and especially dissimilar metals like steel & brass, I recommend periodic replacement of the hoses.  Hey, at least the house is dried out and quiet—small steps on a long journey.

 

            My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)