Definition of Opinion:  A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof.

Please be respectful to others with differing opinions. 

DeWitt Bacon

Nancy, let me add my words of gratitude for your grandson serving our country. Regardless of whether it is in the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, or Coast Guard, they all serve to make our country more secure. I salute him.

Greg Watkins

Jim Coats

Greg!!  Glad to see you back!  IF you get time, please give us some info on where you have been.  If we did something like that, we'd head N/W into CO, WY, MT and SD....staying away from "The Blue."  I need to live vicariously through you! 

Did/do you rent or own your motorhome?  Basically, I'm looking for what it is and the size, etc.  The Dutchess and I have passively considered an RV trip due to our hound and needing to find accommodations that would take him.  I'm pretty much done with flying.  

Bill Randall

   Great Veterans Day to all. Was able to enjoy the many "Free gifts for Vets". Starting on Friday morning Dennys' gave you a "Grand Slam" (2 eggs, meat & pancakes) which carried over to Saturday also. Then to Freddys for a Burger coupon good for the rest of Nov. Human Bean for a large Coffee, Next was Applebees for a Pasta lunch, Great Clips for a Pro Trim, Little Caesars for a box pizza to go. Golden Corral both Sat & Sun, Red Robin's Big Tavern Burger (3/4s went to a takeaway container for Tuesday). Got a Voncher from Red Lobster good till end of year. Buffalo Wild Wings for a 10pc plate, with a stop at Black Bear for their big burger (which both now sits on the top shelf of our refrigerator). Always got a beer or drink, tipped on the total. Finished Sat nite at Firebirds in Tempe for their New York Strip [buy 2 meals, one goes free]. Dave and Buster's  had their Vet Meal both Sat & Sun. As an interesting observation, there were many Vets at these places, and many sure went out of their way to shake a follow Vets hand. It was a fun packed weekend to get out and show your colors. 

  As a comment to DeWitt, need to add to your #11590 "Space Force". 

Greg Watkins

Jim Coats

Greg.  Sounds like a great trip, although it wore you out from time to time.  I think RV'ing is not for us, but I'm glad you had the opportunity.

The Great Smokey Mountains ARE beautiful.  When I lived in SC (going sophmore year to U of So. Carolina in '66, '67), my folks and I drove from Camden, SC (close to Columbia) in a pickup with a cabover camper and a dog.  We were all young then and bulletproof.  Drove thru Cherokee, NC up to Gatlinburg, TN and then turned around.  Great time.  I had never seen bears in such quantities in my life!  Someday I'll relate my "near death experience" with a black bear by the highway.  Quite a tale.

Michael Wetzel

Jim,

Black bears are just big puppy dogs ! They run like hell, when you holler at them. Now lions, are a complete different story. I have been trailed and stalked several times in my hunting life, makes your hair stand straight up, believe me............

Michael Kelly

All the talk about She jing  ping (Xi) coming here from China to San Francisco and Gov. Gruesome (Newsome) cleaning up the streets of Frisco frantically to get all the Hypo needles and mentally ill off the streets to impress ping. Why? biden is going to meet him here in Frisco so that they can "Impress ping" what nitwits. Leave it the way it is and berate always noodles for the Tragedy he has caused for importing FENTANYL TO THE USA VIA MEHICO OUR SOUTHERN BORDER "FRIENDS" WHAT A CROCK, CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER THEIR FAVORITE SLOGAN  TURN EVERY CRISIS INTO AN ADVANTAGE. WHAT'S  MORE OF A CRISIS THAN SAN FRANCISCO, WELL, EXCLUDING ISRAEL AND UKRAINE. SHOW pingy THE TROUBLE HE HAS CAUSED US AND HAND THE sweet and sour pork VENDOR A MULTIPLE BILLION DOLLAR BILL FOR ALL THE TROUBLE HE HAS CAUSED. DO WHAT TRUMP WOULD DO TO pingy wingy.  QUIT BEING COWARDS AND DOPES ON THE WORLD STAGE. TAKE ping AROUND THE PILES OF S      T AND RUB HIS NOSE IN   IT AND BLAME HIM FOR IT. 

Now I know I have somewhat overstated this, the CAPS and all that, but why do we continue to genuflect (bow) to china like the pear in a black suit Janet Yellen when she met with the chinese, boy, that was embarassing!!! What next? Abandon forks knives and spoons for Chop Sticks? Good Grief!

Mike Lorts

MW,

I have also heard that black bears are horrible shots, mountain lions are expert marksmen.

Jim Coats

This is a "Walt Disney True Life Adventure."  Remember those on TV?

Sometime in late '66 or early '67, my folks and I took a drive up through the Great Smokey Mountains.  As we were driving, we saw a bunch of cars pulled off the road to the right.  We correctly guessed they were looking at some sort of wildlife.  Soooo, we pulled over and I got out with my new, self-winding (film advancing) Kodak camera.  Sure enough, there was a black bear chomping on food thrown by the tourists.

Of course, I wanted a picture and looked through the view finder of my brand new self winding (film advancing) Kodak camera.  Some of you may recall that looking through those view finders made things look far away.  This fact is germane to the story.

I calmly crept closer and closer to the bear (he still looked far away) and took a picture, thereby triggering the self-winding (film advancing) feature of the camera.  I admit, it was quite noisy.  Well, the bear looked up at me and headed for me at a trot.  I took the camera down from my eye and quickly determined the bear was waaaay closer than I thought.  In my 76 year old memory, he was about 15' away.

Being 19 years old and in peak physical condition, I literally "river danced" away from the bear and around a car at which time, he halted his "murderous pursuit" and went back to his food.  I was a little shaken, but I received a considerable amount of applause from our fellow gawkers and some asked me to do it again so they could get more pictures.  I did not.  The End.

P.S.  This was meant to be humorous, even though true.

Richard Deshong

Try as I may, I cannot find any government statistics on the total amount of illegal drugs coming across our southern border. But there are tons of government statistics on how much, usually in pounds, of illegal drugs that are stopped from crossing the border. I find it very interesting that 96% of all the drugs stopped are at secured boarder crossings and only 4% are found on people crossing into the USA along less secured parts of the border.

Another interesting government statistics is that over 93% of all drugs stopped at secured border crossings are found in vehicles registered to American companies and/or American citizens, and that over 86% of the drivers of those vehicles are American citizens.

As for what sort of drugs are being brought across the southern border, it is mostly marijuana and methamphetamine and both of those have dropped significantly in the past three years.  Between cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin it is mostly cocaine then fentanyl far behind and heroin almost nonexistent anymore. I suspect that’s because fentanyl is cheaper to make than heroin and more addictive.

Yes, the USA needs to hit China, the main supplier of the cursory drugs for fentanyl, with heavy sanctions. But let’s not fool ourselves, if we make China feel pain the source of the chemicals will simply move to another country. No, we are not going to invade Mexico to wipe out the drug cartels and strain our relations with Mexico. But we can give Mexico incentives to form joint task forces that may help put a dent into the supply side.  How about doctors and pharmacies? The CDC says over 50% of all fentanyl deaths are people misusing prescribed opioids with fentanyl. Should the US medical industry be held accountable too?

Also, what should be done about the demand side? What should happen to companies whose trucks are found to be carrying illegal drugs, or for that matter, American citizens caught smuggling illegal drugs across the border? Can we pass laws that put company executives of these trucking companies in prison should their vehicles be caught carrying illegal drugs? Or should American citizens caught smuggling drugs from Mexico go to jail and automatically loose the vehicle they are using and any personal assets they may own that are equivalent to the value of the drugs? And, what about the users of illegal drugs. Are they to be considered a part of the problem? Is there a way their issues can be addressed that would make it unnecessary for them to seek out drugs of an unknown origin? Holland has government run clinics where their citizens can obtain free pain killing and mind-altering drugs if they are used on site. And should the user decide they want to kick the habit free programs are available to wean them off the addictive drugs and, if available, onto non-addictive drugs.

Some of you like to end your posts with the bumper sticker slogan “Follow the Money”. So why doesn’t congress pass a bill funding enough employees of existing government agencies whose specific task is to go after the money. It seems to me that is what the House and Senate should be doing and not simply throwing barbs at the Executive Branch. It’s call bi-partisan politics and we need more of it.

By the way, you should check out the rapidly rising statistics of the quantity of illegal drugs coming across the Canadian border.  Maybe Florida and Texas should send their national guards north.

Richard Deshong

While the exact date varies by who’s reporting (UN, CDC, etc.), it is generally agreed that we recently passed the 8,000,000,000 (eight billion) milestone of living souls on good old planet earth.  The causes of this increase vary, but people having more children is not one of them. It requires 2.1 births per couple just to maintain a stable population and it is estimated worldwide births are running around 1.6 per couple. Of the three largest countries by population, India, China, and the USA, both China (1.1) and the USA (1.3) have the lowest birth rates, and while India still runs at a rate slightly over 2.1 it is estimated this is beginning to drop and will do so rapidly as China’s work force shrinks and Indian families become more affluent.

People all over the world are living longer and infant mortality is dropping, both of which are the main reasons the worldwide population continues to grow, albeit at a slower rate than it has over the past half century or so. But there is another very interesting statistic that doesn’t get much attention – fewer people are dying due to wars, murder, and other people-on-people deaths. In fact, when it comes to killing one another, we are currently living in one of the safest eras since records have been kept. This statistic doesn’t mean much if you currently live in Ukraine or Gaza, or if you live on a block in a crime ridden, gang-controlled US city, but overall, it is encouraging.

The Social Security Administration estimates that without a continued influx of working age employees, by 2050 there will not be sufficient able-bodied US employees paying into the SS fund to pay those already retired or retiring in the next twenty-five years. They also publish reports that say either the amount of money paid into the fund needs to rise, or more workers need to be added to US payrolls. If the cap on earnings taxed by social security were to be raised from today’s first $137,000 per person to $500,000 per person, both social security and Medicare would be funded for another fifty years. And their figures show if the population of working-class people in the USA were to increase by 5 –6 million over the next few years the SS fund would be set for the next century. If US citizens aren’t having enough babies, where do you suppose we could get a boost to the population?

So, if you are someone who believes “I got mine and to hell with everyone else”, then you’re all set, and nothing needs to be done. But, if you have kids, grandkids, or even great grand kids, and you would like for them to have a safety net in their retirement, then I suggest you contact your Senators and Congress people and tell them to quit fighting over how the chairs on the deck of the Titanic should have been positioned and work together to do their jobs.

Frank Wiley

Rapinoe (the Gay soccer player) got hurt in her final game and then said, "It's proof that there is no God!"  I hope God reminds her that she said it when she's standing before him or her, whatever Gods sex is.  I'll bet the farm God, he or she, is not Bi!'  N.S.--Bears are Great animals but one thing for sure is that Mama Bears can get very mean if you get anywhere close to their cubs!!  Crime is getting so bad in the D.C. area that the crooks are trying to steal Secret Service vehicles??  N.S.--Myorkas admits there have been 250,000 got-aways.  But I guess none of them are carrying Fentanyl??

Richard Deshong

For the past twenty-four months, the USA has been a net exporter of oil and natural gas. Does this mean we are energy independent? No, but it does beg the question “why”.

To answer this question, one needs to understand the difference between varying types of oil. In the simplest forms there are “sweet” oils, those with a lower sulfur content, and “sour” oils, those with a higher sulfur content. Due to the way platonic land formation works, almost all oil pumped east of the Rocky Mountains is sweet, and oil pumped west of the Rockies is sour. And since it requires different processes to refine sweet and sour oils, refineries west of the Rockies were built to almost exclusively refine sour oil into gasoline. And there are not sufficient reserves of sour oil to satisfy demand of gas west of the Rockies so refineries must obtain additional supplies from other sources outside the USA –today  mainly Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

Okay, so why not switch west coast refineries from using sour oil to sweet oil and supply them from excess sources found elsewhere in the USA? Afterall, almost all the USA exports of sweet oil are currently going to Europe who already redesigned many of their refineries to eliminate their dependency on Russian and Middle Easter oils. Logic would say we could then reroute oil pumped in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, the Gulf, etc. to refineries in California, Oregon, and Washington and be totally independent on foreign oil for our gasoline needs. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But there are three major factors that make this difficult at best, and perhaps even impossible.

First, there are no oil pipelines of sufficient size to move sweet oil over or around  the Rockies and no stomach to build them. It is easier to simply complain that the Keystone pipeline was stopped so “Canadian very high sulfur” oil destined to non-US buyers couldn’t cross America’s largest freshwater aquifer than it is to ask for the hundreds of billions of dollars it would require to build new east-west pipelines.

Second, reconditioning west coast refineries would cost tens of billions of dollars to process sweet crude versus sour crude, and the big oil and refinery companies don’t want to spend the money at a time when the advent of electric cars is on the rise, especially in more progressive west coast states.  The return on investment just isn’t there to make it profitable.

Third, and what I personally find the most ludicrous, is it is against the law to ship oil, gasoline, or even liquid gas pumped anywhere in the USA, or for that matter any product made in the USA, from one US port to another by ship. It seems in 1920 the Merchant Marine Act was passed to give a boost to US ship builders and shipping companies. This law, also known as the Jones Act, named after a Republican Member of the House of Representatives, made it illegal to ship from any US port to another US port using anything other that a ship built in the USA, by a US company, flying a US flag, and manned by US citizens. Perhaps this law had some merit in 1920, but in today’s world where no seagoing oil tankers are made in America, are owned by American companies, fly under American flags, nor are crewed by Americans, it makes it impossible to reposition oil pumped east of the Rockies to the West coast.

Add to all this that to reduce air pollution many parts of the US, including major population centers in California as well as Maricopa County, are required to use specially blended fuels during hotter summer months, the price of a gallon of gas is kept artificially high except in times of extremely low demand, such as existed in 2020 during the pandemic.

Here again, I believe we all should be screaming at our respective representatives in Washington to get off their collective asses and to their jobs. Instead of trying to pass bills in the House of Representative that don’t have a snowballs chance in hell of passing they should be trying to negotiate bipartisan bills to address real problems effecting real Americans. Likewise, in the Senate, if they insist on requiring a super majority to get anything done, enough Republicans need to grow a pair and put their country ahead of their party and do what is best for most Americans, especially the working class.

Sorry, all this won’t fit neatly on a bumper sticker, but life is too complicated to be left to the simple minded.

Jim Coats

Richard.  Since you've got it all figured out....go ahead and get it done.

Not at all surprised to see your special brand of snark in the last sentence.  It's 100% YOU.  Can't honestly say I've missed it though.  Go eat your porridge now.

SECURE THE BORDER!!

ENFORCE THE LAW!!

AMERICA FIRST!!

PARENTS RIGHTS!!

FOLLOW THE MONEY!!

Mike Lorts

Sorry Jim but Richard has suggested possible solutions to complex issues. Listing problems (in bold print) our country face is not helpful in correcting these serious problems.

Michael Wetzel

Jim, 

Since he has all the answers, maybe we should elect the boy president !!!...And why hasn't he sent all these solutions, to our government  officials, so they can implement them immediately, instead of wasting his time here ........

Richard Deshong

Jim, thanks for your prompt reply. The people who communicate offline from this forum to swap original ideas and debate ways to get things done had bet me I couldn’t’ even get you to admit you even read my posts, so thanks for proving them wrong.

What you and the others of your ilk seem to be unable to grasp is that until the MEGA crowd stops spending all their effort regurgitating opinions and bumper sticker slogans and use their brains for something other than keeping their ears apart, nothing can be done. But for now, that’s the way it will have to be. As your heroes continue to piss more and more liberal and moderate republican voting blocs off, the far right will continue to lose more and more local, state, and national elections until it is completely marginalized. If last Tuesday’s elections proved anything its that Americans are sick and tired of not getting any real governance from the right. Biden may be old, but he is getting things done. And have you been following Trump’s mis-speaks lately? The best thing that can happen for next year’s presidential election is he is the Republican candidate. If he is it will be due to the lack of effort by MEGA Republicans like you and your dominion that hang on your every word on this forum.

So please, don’t respond to the facts and statistics I and others post to get meaningful conversations going. Just keep posting your slogans. But at least be honest when you do:

SECURE THE BORDER!!

All the borders and fund the places where the most bang for the buck can be had.

ENFORCE THE LAW!!

All the laws and stop trying to use political gimmicks to go after people you don’t like.

AMERICA FIRST!!

“American’s” first – all Americans.

PARENTS RIGHTS!!

Hold parents responsible for the way they raise their children. If you don’t like the way it’s done, home school them.

FOLLOW THE MONEY!!

All the money. And, if you can’t prove corruption after two years, move on. Surely there is low hanging fruit just ripe for picking.

And finally, I can’t wait to hear what kind of motor home you decide to buy. I still remember all the comments you had on my travels when I first joined this forum. I’ll have to come up with a whole new set of snarky just for the occasion.

Jim Coats

Mr. Deshong.  I don't read your posts....or Katie's, or Earl's.  NWMFT.   At best, I scan for words like "ilk."  I simply know from past experience that you love to pontificate and endeavor to show lowly Conservatives how they are wrong in every imaginable way and why we should fall in line with your unassailable pronouncements.  Hence, my post.  Personally I would rather discuss the plusses and minuses of venereal disease with Dr. Fauci than join you in a mental joust.  Again....NWMFT!  Maybe look at my VERY short post #11520.

The only thing WE can do about our miserable state of affairs is VOTE....but if you think you can change the world, be my guest.  Do it.

I have already cleared up RV'ing for me.

If you deign to read this post, maybe read my last one about my bear encounter in the Great Smokey Mountains.  I thought it was kind of funny....but then a sense of humor is required to "get" what I was saying.  That's difficult for rabid left wingers who are always Looking For Something to be Offended By and who can't take, or understand a joke.

Now, go back under your bridge and eat your porridge.

P.S.  It's MAGA....not MEGA.

Michael Wetzel

Jim,

I for one, really enjoyed your bear story. I could picture it happening perfectly, having been in similar situations. I don't believe a narcissist of his stature, would understand, or relate.........

Bill Randall

   Golden Corral had a Vet Meal Night (Monday) from 5 to 9. At 5:30p Me & Marianne got in-line which was behind their building. Over 200 Vets stood the hour wait whilst other Vets finished their meals. It was great to see how proud they were. Some wore shirts, others a hat. Interesting was the Air Force R.O.T.C. was helping at keeping tables clean and finding seats for people. The Corp Golden Corral claims over 5 million free meals have been served. Good rememberance of our Veterans.

Frank Wiley

Schumer, and some House Democrats seem to be open to Mike Johnson's proposal on funding the government.  Bill Randall--I'm glad you enjoyed your Pre--Day of--and Post Veterans Day Events, and I'm happy to see all the businesses that honor Vets, but I very seldom stand in a line so they wouldn't be for me.  N.S.--I Hope nothing bad happens at the Demonstration in D.C. today supporting Israel but I have a bad feeling that something could go wrong.

Patty Meyers (Anderson)

Spring and fall we frequently have black bears wandering between my house and the river, about a 15 foot path.  My favorite picture is of a mama and two babies walking down Main Street.  The picture below is my backyard.

Jim Coats

Beautiful, Patty.  Thanks!

DeWitt Bacon

She, (Xi) Jen Ming, should feel right at home in San Francisco with his buddies Biden and Newsome. It will be almost like his home away from home. He knows how dirty the streets there are and will probably thank them for cleaning all the Sh*t and needles off the streets for him.

I will not weigh in on the feud between Jim, Lorts, and Deshong, but I see some quick solutions to our problem. Some of which Jim has already reiterated.

1 CLOSE THE BORDER.

2 DRILL BABY DRILL

3 BUILD OUR MILITARY STRONGER AND WITHOUT WOKNESS.

4 PUT AMERICA FIRST

   AND IN DOING SO,

5 MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.

Biden has to go in any way possible. Impeachment will never happen even if it passes the House, and we definitely do not want Kamala in the Oval Office, which means we will have to endure another year of the Obama/Biden Presidency. We need someone strong enough to beat whoever the Dems put up in 2024. Everyone here knows that I support Donald Trump to fill that position. DeSantis is a good governor for Florida. He needs to keep doing what he has been doing there. I don't trust either Haley or Christie any further than I can throw them, And I am pretty weak right now. And it goes down from there.