Unforced Errors

 A couple or four decades ago, I was arrested during a traffic stop.  It was bullshit from the beginning.  I had made a small set of "jumper cables" (speaker wire and alligator clips) for my kickstart only motorcycle.  I stashed them under the seat.  That was a mistake.

The exposed metal bits made contact with a relay and would cause the engine to die.  The contact was not secure so, sometimes it worked fine until I hit a bump or braked hard or accelerated hard.  

I was leaving a friend's house after the dinner that was my reward for helping pick up heavy stuff and move it around.  The bike died on me a couple of times so I pulled over to the side and tried successfully to identify and fix the problem.  I was putting the seat back on when the cop car pulled in behind me and fired up the blue lights.  No siren was needed as I was already pulled over and stopped.

The officer seemed sure he was dealing with Al Capone.  Field sobriety test, breathalyzer, nightstick to the kidneys while being compliant, I experienced all of it and passed the tests.  

It was a Friday.  Since I had passed the tests, I was arrested, charged with reckless driving, and taken to jail where I spent the weekend.  

After getting out of jail on Monday, I got a lawyer and eventually we went to court where the judge essentially stated that it was all bullshit and dismissed the case.  All's well that ends well, right?   Yea, no.  The world is somewhat more complicated than that.

You see, several things did not happen, either at all or not to the best of my knowledge.  The first thing that didn't happen is that no one apologized for my wrongful arrest.  No one offered to remunerate this veteran of the USN who joined during an active war for the almost 3 full days of me being denied access to my stuff, my life, my freedom.  To the best of my knowledge, neither the arresting officer nor his nightstick wielding buddy were disciplined or held accountable in any meaningful way.  Hell, I even had to provide my own transportation from jail and to court.

You might be thinking that I appear to have suffered no permanent physical injury or really, any other permanent injury so, after several decades I should probably just let it go.  That is exactly what would have happened in a slightly different world.

In the last year in particular, there have been numerous incidents of individuals being detained without cause.  There have been individuals whose misdemeanors were treated like violent felonies.  Decorated non-citizen veterans of our military are among those who have been abused.  The non-citizen family members of some veterans who are citizens are among those who have been abused.  The abuses would be embarrassing to us even if the allegations were valid given the verbiage of our Constitution.  

Now, I am not what you call an important man.  An awful lot of things happen without being run by me first.  I'm fine with that.  Still, the fact that a news junkie with time on his hands has not heard one thing about apologies or any fiscal acceptance of accountability is telling.  This lack of accountability is the foundation upon which an entire panoply of LEO abuses are built.

Though I have not ever been in a prison, here or anywhere else, I have no trouble understanding that they are bad places.  They are not made better by being located in developing or 3rd world nations.  But then, the cruelty of the prisons, the cruelty of the LEOs, the abuses of humans by humans in authority are the direct and predictable result of the lack of consistently imposed accountability.  You might think that since you are not Black or Hispanic, that since you are legally here and following the law, that since you are a patriotic citizen, you or your immigrant wife or your children are safe.  I can guarantee that a significant percentage of those abused in the relatively recent past had similar thoughts.  It would appear that those thoughts suck as armor.

Something must be done to correct this.  I rather seriously doubt the LEOs with abusive tendencies will be deterred by me being taxed more to pay their fines or for the care of those abused.  The abusers will need to experience the punishment - whether it is financial or something else - directly.  If they have been trained to do things differently than what the published rules say is acceptable, then their training officers need to be held accountable as well.  None of this will happen as long as you are or appear to be accepting of the status quo.  You will have to contact your political representatives electronically or in person.  You will need to go to meetings and protests.  You will need to have facts memorized.

You don't have to get out and protest to protect me.  You don't have to go vote to protect immigrants.  You need to do those things to protect yourself and your loved ones.  Those who abuse the power will keep doing it even if every Black and Hispanic leaves the nation tomorrow.  If you would not be happy being treated the way you are seeing people treated on television night after night, now is the time for you to take action.

We call out unforced errors in sports.  I think we need to make a waaaaaaay bigger deal of them when made by anyone being paid with public funds.

Long Lasting Lies

 Any of y'all remember the Steele Dossier from around the time of Felon47's first run for office??  As I recall, the basics were that a British intel weenie had acquired the Russian "kompromat" they had on Trump.  Among the things it was alleged to contain was clear evidence of the Felon being peed on by a couple of Russian hookers.

I read or heard several times that the "evidence" had to be false because Trump is a germophobe and that his obsessive aversion to germs would have made sure that never happened.  TBF it was a pretty good argument.  If one accepts the premise that he was a germophobe, then the acts described seem pretty damn unlikely.

Back when I was in the Navy, we got briefings when we were heading to different countries.  We were told about local customs, places to avoid going and things to avoid doing to stay out of trouble.  Things like the idea that a thumbs up might not mean the same thing in a different culture than it does in the USA is but one example of that.

In one of those briefings (or possibly in a somewhat less formal setting) I was given a little bit of warning about Arab culture.  I was told that historically in that culture one used one's left hand to wipe one's ass and the right hand was used for everything else.  It was, I was informed, extremely insulting to offer one's left hand - to the point that it was a good way to start a fight (if not a war).

Soooooooooo, Felon47 is in the Oval Office with the Saudi Crown Prince - who ordered the killing and dismemberment of a legal American resident - and he reaches over with his right hand and grabs MBS's left hand while proudly proclaiming that he doesn't care where that hand has been.  Trump clearly and loudly stated that he did not care where that hand had been. I cannot accept the idea that was a random statement.  It seems to indicate at least some level of awareness of what he was doing/saying in reference to Arab culture.

What exactly am I supposed to believe??  Does the WH never brief the POTUS on culture issues?  Has Saudi Arabia issued a royal decree mandating the use of toilet paper??  Did they make the order retroactive?  (no, I do not have any idea how that might work)  MBS neither proffered his left hand nor attempted to reciprocate by taking the Felon's left hand. (I only watched clips so, in theory it could have happened and I missed it.) 

I know that some of you have limited experience with the generalized mental effects of an active erection or what one is willing to do in anticipation of having said active erection addressed so, I am here to help.  If he was willing to do unclean things sitting in the Oval Office with witnesses, it will be a tough slog to convince me that he was more restrained and circumspect in a hotel room with a couple of hookers and a hard on.

One does not get smarter whilst following an erection around.  One's decision making is not made more logical nor more moral through the stimulation of sexual desire.  Basically, if you want a guy to be dumber, turn him on.

So tell me now, which is the lie?  Why should I believe that the guy who grabbed the shit hand is a germophobe?  Why should I believe that he got over his obsessive behavior in just a few years out of office??  Is the barehanded taking shit from an evil monarch's hand really easier to accept than the idea that a hooker peed on him?

Felon47's actions in the Oval Office with MBS were clearly not those of an active germophobe.  Now you must ask yourself, did he ever have that particular brand of OCD or, is there any evidence of how and when was he cured?  I know what I think the answer is.

My Veteran's Day Post

 My Veterans Day Post

It may well be that adolescent and post-adolescent human males are the absolute dumbest things on the planet.  Far below rocks and paramecium in their analytical abilities reside these beings blissfully unaware of the scope of their lack of knowledge.  I was their king.

In consideration of the USA's observance of Veterans Day, I, and many others, have taken to putting up our baby pictures as our profile pictures.  The baby picture is the photo that they take of you in your dress uniform when you graduate from any of the military boot camps so as to become a full fledged member of the Army, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard or, as in my case, the United States Navy.  

That picture of me would be circa early December 1973.  I was about 5 months into being 18 years of age and could not be convinced that I was not a full grown man with all the knowledge of the world that anyone needed.  Yea, that ignored the fact that I grew 3" in the years after that photo was taken.  It ignored the fact that 10 years after that photo I had gained 70 pounds or so and still looked skinny. (I have gotten past that now)  It ignored the fact that up until that time I had spent the overwhelming majority of my time on the planet in one small neighborhood and when not in that neighborhood, I was in very tightly controlled circumstances i.e. church, school, church events, or school events.  But to hear me tell it when that picture was taken, I was ten feet tall and bullet proof.  Yep, I was an idiot.  The pertinent thing though, is that though I did not know it, in that I was completely unremarkable.  Our numbers were legion.  

Though I fought it with every fiber of my being, eventually reality set in and I learned some stuff.  Even before I had re-enlisted the first time, the Universe had conspired to teach me that I did not actually know everything.  There are to this day, frequent lessons made available to me that I am in fact mortal and more than pervious to pain.  The fact that I do not want or perceive an ongoing need for those lessons does not appear to impress the Universe and certainly doesn't seem to have diminished Her zeal for sending said lessons my way.

That kid in the picture who looks all of 12 years of age from this distance, that ignorant trusting idiot, was able to voluntarily join the military in time of war.  As a matter of fact, without that uniformed moron and his ilk, wars would be a lot more scarce.  The fabled powers that be need me and those like me because everyone else intuitively understands that being cannon fodder is a bad thing.  Everyone else gets that there are those in positions of political influence that simply do not have their best interests at heart.  It is those young fools unaware of, among other things, their real potential who get sent by every nation to futility's proving ground wherein we fertilize it with our sweat, blood, and bodies.

Even though I sometimes find it hard to believe that I was indeed that kid in the picture, I want you to know that I was.  I want you to look around the social media sites and see all the pictures of those youngsters and know that that is who you send to war.  I want you to know how little we know and understand when we look like that.  I want you to know how much we trust that you are doing your jobs as citizens, being critical of such information you are given, and that is what makes us comfortable doing your bidding, as expressed by the civilian leadership of the nation.  I do not need or want you to look back.  I do not need or desire verbal appreciation for what I did largely out of ignorance.  What I need is for you to live up to the trust that those whose baby pictures are a couple of years old, a couple of months old or, yet to be taken - I need you to live up to the trust that has been bestowed upon you.  I need you to not waste the life, limb, psyche or time of a single young man or woman just because you can.  I need you to look past the platitudes, past the bumper stickers, past the manufactured outrage, past the manipulative efforts and ensure that your representatives, the civilian leadership of the military and the nation are indeed working in the best interests of those who currently look as young as I do in that picture and those who recently did.  Don't thank me.  Protect them.  Appropriately honor their sacrifice.  Give them the care and support that they need and deserve.  That will be thanks enough.  That is the way you honor veterans, by showing them that when they went to class, you learned the lesson.

Not Unique

DEI and diversity have gotten a bad rap of late.  Some of us who should know better saw it as behavior that is out of the blue.  All of a sudden, programs and policies that had been in place for years or decades with the goal of muting or reversing some of the damage caused by our nation's history of racism and misogyny were being described as prejudicial to white guys rather than corrective for everyone who isn't a white guy.

It wasn't out of the blue.  It was the open admission of the belief of white guys in their superiority.  Not every white guy but yes, every one of them that complained or wanted to complain.  

The proof of the truth in this post is Andrew Mountbattan Windsor.  You see, Andrew was a close associate of Jeffery Epstein.  He was a frequent visitor to the island and apparently, a frequent user of the children Epstein kept around for him and his friends to use.  The punishment Andrew is receiving for his participation in the rape and abuse of children is that from now on, he will have to live like most folk in the Western culture live.  He is no longer Prince Andrew.  

(from Perplexity.ai)

"Andrew can no longer use the title “Prince” and is officially known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.​

He forfeited the titles:

Duke of York

Earl of Inverness

Baron Killyleagh.​

All rights to the style “His Royal Highness” were removed.​

Ceremonial honors such as the Order of the Garter and the Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order have also been rescinded.​

His name was erased from the official Roll of the Peerage and other royal lists.​

Other Consequences

Andrew was served notice to vacate his home, Royal Lodge at Windsor, and will be relocated to another, less prestigious royal property.​

The palace emphasized this was done in sympathy with victims and survivors of abuse, regardless of Andrew’s continued denial of the allegations against him.​

Andrew Windsor, as of October 31, 2025, holds none of his previous royal titles or honors, has lost the right to his former ceremonial styles, and has been removed from official peerage listings and his royal residence."

You know who else can't use royal titles??  MOST OF US!!!  His punishment is that he will have to live only somewhat more privileged than your average first world citizen.  That's it.  AFAIK there are no plans to have him drawn and quartered.  Nor is there any indication that prison might be in his future.  He isn't to the best of my knowledge, restricted from driving or attending concerts or dining at restaurants or adopting a dog.

It would appear that the USA is not unique in our white guys believing in their own superiority.  The more powerful white guy in Great Britain decided that the proper punishment for raping and abusing children was the less powerful white guy would have to restricted to level of living that is more comfortable than most but, less comfortable than some minorities and women experience.

Oh the horror!!!!!