All the Other Stuff

Grow a spine, Governor!

You DO know that whole “Freedom of Speech” thing isn’t just limited to only aggrieved community agitators.

After recently engaging in security theater on a grand-scale, I didn’t really have a whole lot of respect for what passes law enforcement here in Michigan.

My thoughts on that issue echo those Benjamin Franklin made over two centuries ago.

And then they(/she) doubles-down on bad decision making.

Yes, this is becoming disappointing.

{Post continues after the fold}

You Betcha! (7)Nuh Uh.(0)

Imagine what these kids could do with a broom and some yard tools?

The circus never ends.

This weekend instead of doing something (anything) fun, entertaining and constructive over the weekend (we had an Air Show at Selfridge celebrating its 100th Anniversary, the Armada Fair, the Woodward Cruise and many others events here in Southeastern Michigan), a group of adolescent protestors with obviously way too much free time on their hands decided to go after their 15-minutes of fame and emulate their fellow Antifa comrades in Downtown Detroit.

And who did this bunch of rabble-rousers target its ire at?

{the comedy continues after the fold}

You Betcha! (9)Nuh Uh.(0)

2017 Solar Eclipse

Take A Break From The Left's Fabricated Race War, Have Some Fun On Monday

The 2017 solar eclipse will cover 70% – 85% of the sun across Michigan on Monday, 21 August. Long range weather forecasts suggest some cloud cover in the 2:00 PM – 2:40 PM (EDT) peak Michigan viewing time, but not total cloud cover or any rain. Peak coverage of the sun by the moon will occur from 2:10 PM – 2:20 PM (EDT) in the Upper Peninsula and 2:20 PM – 2:30 PM (EDT) in the Lower Peninsula. The moon will cover some portion of the sun from about 12:30 PM – 4:00 PM (EDT) across Michigan.

The view from Michigan will not be as spectacular as the total solar eclipse which will occur 300 miles south of us, but it will still be pretty impressive. Because there will be no totality in Michigan, everyone here who wants to view the eclipse directly will require serious eye protection – no exceptions. The only safe way to look directly at the sun or the partially eclipsed sun is through special solar filters, such as ‘eclipse glasses’ compliant with ISO 12312-2: 2015.

There has been a lot demand for solar eclipse glasses and many vendors are sold out. Even worse, there appears to be a lot of chicanery going on with unsafe counterfeits being sold. Even the compliant solar eclipse glasses are sort of cheesy. It is exceedingly difficult to tell that your are getting genuine eclipse glasses compliant with ISO 12312-2: 2015 in this age of cheap Chinese knockoffs.  Nothing here inspires confidence.

There is, however, an alternative.

You Betcha! (12)Nuh Uh.(0)

Radicals vs. republicans (and the radicals are winning by a long shot).

I don’t know what has been more infuriating this week; watching the one-sided coverage on what unfolded in Charlottesville last week or watching what passes for “leadership” in the republican party seeing who can get away from President Trump the fastest?

The sad part here is that I can easily see what happened last week spread to Michigan much sooner than people think.

{More after the fold}

You Betcha! (9)Nuh Uh.(0)

Is the media finally acknowledging something (without actually coming flat-out and saying it)?

So over the weekend, I’m catching up on some odds and ends like chores around the house, reading several websites and more than few e-mails.

Guess which order I tackled that list in?

Some of them I would categorize as the social ones with jokes and “gotta see this” images &video. Some of them asking me for my $0.02 on goings on. But one of them that stood out was a little bit of both.

A friend of mine sent me a link to President Trump’s Twitter feed where he posted a video of himself clotheslining “CNN”.

If you haven’t seen it yet, all it was, was a quickly done re-edit from Wrestlemania 23’s “The Battle of the Billionaires” which featured a pre-President Trump at the top of the card.

It was a short clip where, after the various “interferences” leading up to it, Trump clotheslines & pummels “CNN” in typical professional wrestling fashion and then just simply walks away.

I smiled, took it for what it was, replied to my friend and went about the rest of my day.

What surprised me, though, was how often I would come across that very same clip again and again, and again, and again…

{Continued below}

You Betcha! (10)Nuh Uh.(0)

Does Detroit need a lesson on the Fourth?

And no. I don’t mean that thing where we exercise out "right" to set off large quantities of fireworks next month.

Last weekend, I spent some time with some friends who now live out of town.

We did the “usual touristy” things like Greektown and the Casinos.

They wanted me to go with them to the Grand Prix, but I’m more of a NASCAR Guy than IndyCar.

Afterwards, I insisted on changing things up and that we go down to Lafayette to eat.

I told them that it was part of the “Authentic Detroit” dining experience and that sort of thing.

They had never been down there and after initially scarring the hell out of them (along with equally confusing them with how the food was ordered/delivered), they settled down a bit and we started to catch up on things. They began to comment on local stuff, basically regurgitating what people like Gov. Snyder, et al, were shoveling to the rest of the country about how things have turned around since the bankruptcy.

I laughed at their comments and replied to the effect that, “Yeah! They wish!”

“Look at all of this new stuff downtown? How can you argue that things aren’t better?”, they replied.

I told them that “Yes”, the Downtown Area has improved. Large amounts of government money tends to eventually do that. “Yes” places like the Riverfront have gotten nicer.

But then I added, the same cannot be said for the rest of the city.

They didn’t believe me.

They couldn’t accept the fact that everything was as bad as I told them it was.

I told them, “Fine, want to go on a little trip?”

They were a little apprehensious to say the least, but we loaded up into their car and we went happy motoring…away from the freeways.

I took them in places where even Crowder wouldn’t dare to venture!

We went up and down places like Jefferson, and then Warren and Mack where it didn’t take that long to notice the large swaths of bombed out/burned out neighborhoods (at least I think they were neighborhoods at one time), large piles of trash and abandoned/stolen vehicles (along with boats…yes boats) strewn about, pretty much every other building covered with graffiti, I told my now visibly scared “driver” that I wanted to stop at the next party store because I wanted to get something to drink.

Yes, I did that on purpose.

So, while we parked across the street and started walking towards the party store, I got bombarded with a ton of questions (besides is this really safe) like why that particular store had a chain-link fence around the roof topped with razor wire, why there were thick metal plate doors next to the entrance and why was there a flashing green light on the sign outside of the building. When we went inside, they did a double-take at the walkway surrounding most of the perimeter of the inside of the building separated by 1-inch thick Lexan.

I casually grabbed a 2-liter of Rock N’ Rye, they didn’t get anything (I cannot imagine why) and we went back to their car. I still had more to show them.

Continuing our “tour”, they still couldn’t get over the flashing strobe light on the sign.

“Oh that? That’s Green Light.”

And here is where out story turns to next…

{More after the fold}

You Betcha! (7)Nuh Uh.(2)

State of the (19th Century) Art

"And it will benefit dozens of Detroiters..."

As if last year’s defeat of the RTA tax hasn’t discouraged Penske and the rest of the pro RTA tax crowd (not to fear…it’ll be back on the ballot in less than two years), they now find themselves in the sights of the (Not So) Pure Michigan crowd!

Hmmmmm, WHY hasn’t the republican legislature repealed the law authorizing this shakedown yet?

Anyway…just a little something to bring a smile to you this afternoon.

Submitted w/o any further comment

Some of the language isn’t exactly SFW, so turn down your speakers for about a minute.

You Betcha! (7)Nuh Uh.(0)

Setting the wrong priorities.

 

Some of the groups that I used to participate in when I had a little more free time, also involved some light maintenance and grounds keeping work. Those groups had an American Flag onsite and I would usually get chastised by other members (along with some neighbors) whenever I neglected to lower the flag to half-staff.

To Lansing’s credit, they eventually implemented a system in which they would notify anyone when the word came out to, which made this job a lot easier.

I’m no longer responsible for those duties, but still receive the messages and will pass the word along to those who are.

If anyone has been responsible for this, this has been, IMHO, overused over the past several years.

From my reading about it, it has gone from originally recognizing the passing former Presidents and major tragedies in our history (i.e. Pearl Harbor & 9/11) to literally anyone who catches the eye of the Governor while scanning the morning paper.

The last I’ve heard, there was talk of creating some specific criteria on when to order flags to half staff to honor significant events, but nothing has come of it yet.

Now here is where our story continues…

{More after the fold}

You Betcha! (7)Nuh Uh.(1)