Author: photog

Joe Rogan Made Me Think

photog Current Events, Trump , , ,

I know this is old news but I decided to watch this Joe Rogan podcast with Kash Patel that was taped I guess today and just listening at random almost, you hear that the people who were in charge under Obama and Biden were ruthless criminals who had no fear of being caught performing completely illegal operations against their political enemies.  Russia-gate is the supreme example but there is no end to how many crooked acts and operations they performed with complete impunity.

I think the stellar quote is that former FBI director Comey had a room where he stashed his worst documents and data.  When he left, he locked the room and removed all record of what was hidden in the room and from 2017 till 2025 no one outside of Comey’s inner circle knew about it.  Patel says he’s mining those documents and data files for proof of Comey’s crimes.

So other than a reason to be outraged by all of these Deep State criminals what is the take away from all this?  Well, to me, it’s just a reminder that this is government.  Corruption and abuse of power is what happens as soon as people get a taste of power and the money that comes with it.  And this will happen with Republicans in power almost as egregiously as when the Democrats are running things.  This is human nature.

So, from my point of view, we have to look at the present Trump agenda as an extreme anomaly.  Maybe it won’t happen again for a hundred years or maybe never again.  And that is why it must be embraced and ridden as far as it can possibly go.  When it’s time for Trump’s term to end we should select the man who promises to do the most damage to the existing system.  Whatever damage Kash Patel does to the FBI should be considered only a good start.  What is really needed are legislative mandates to eliminate the unconstitutional activities that the 9/11 attacks enabled.  The Patriot Act and the FISA Courts need to be eliminated.  Those instruments strip away our constitutional protections and render the FBI and the other intel agencies the equivalent of the Stasi or the KGB.

I don’t know if it’s Trump’s intention to push for these legal changes.  His Justice Department should right now be in front of SCOTUS with a brief declaring these laws unconstitutional.  And this isn’t even radical.  Even at the time they were enacted it was believed that they were unconstitutional but because of the public’s fear after the 9/11 attacks it was believed that these laws should temporarily exist.  Well, it’s almost a quarter of a century down the road and these laws aren’t keeping Americans safe.  They’re being used to put us in prison.  They need to be struck down as unconstitutional.

People seem pretty sure that JD Vance is going to be Trump’s successor.  Well, maybe Trump will make that decision.  But I want to hear from Vance’s mouth that he is going to continue the process of tearing out the Deep State by the roots.  FBI. CIA, IRS, ATF; all of these agencies are pointed like weapons at the American people.  Destroying them now will not make us permanently safe.  But it will buy us a respite from the worst of the surveillance state that has been built by the people who run our government.

That’s what that Joe Rogan podcast made me think.

07JUN2025 – Quote of the Day

photog Quote of the Day ,

I know that the conquest of English America is an impossibility. You cannot, I venture to say it, you CANNOT conquer America…As to conquest, therefore, my Lords, I repeat, it is impossible. You may swell every expense, and every effort, still more extravagantly; pile and accumulate every assistance you can buy or borrow; traffic and barter with every little pitiful German Prince, that sells and sends his subjects to the shambles of a foreign country; your efforts are for ever vain and impotent—doubly so from this mercenary aid on which you rely; for it irritates, to an incurable resentment, the minds of your enemies—to overrun them with the sordid sons of rapine and plunder; devoting them and their possessions to the rapacity of hireling cruelty! If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms, never! never! never! …I call upon the honour of your Lordships to reverence the dignity of your ancestors, and to maintain your own. I call upon the spirit and humanity of my country to vindicate the national character. I invoke the genius of the constitution.

William Pitt (the Elder)

June, Moon, Spoon, Tune

photog Current Events, Life in Dunwich, photog's Corner ,

What is it about the first really hot patch of summer weather.  Today was the first day where the inside of the house was warm enough not to require three layers of clothing.  The attic has absorbed enough heat so that it has finally heated up the leftover winter air.  It’s actually uncomfortably warm inside and I’m luxuriating in it.

And outside it’s ninety.  Butterflies and dragonflies are flitting around and the birds are tearing around looking for food for their hatchlings.  The moist hot grass is breathing water right into the air and you can smell the photosynthesis cranking away.  I love this kind of weather.  It rejuvenates me.  It makes me wax rhapsodically.  It makes me babble idiotically.  It recharges body and soul.

For the last couple of weeks, on and off, a hatchling milk snake has been sheltering under an old sheet of copper that I put out for snakes.  I have been hoping for years for a mouse eating snake to take up residence in the lower driveway wall.  We have plenty of mice and moles and voles around here and a milk snake (or even better, a black rat snake) would put a real dent in their numbers.  So, I’m cautiously hopeful that this little reptile is gonna stick around.  But currently he’s so tiny that nothing but the youngest pink mice could serve him as food.  I wonder if he’s presently surviving on insects, worms and maybe very small salamanders.  Well, it’s something to think about.

But it’s not all fun and games.  I’m still so behind in the repair and maintain chores.  I haven’t even gotten to clean the really high gutters.  I’ve got a twenty-four-foot ladder and my guilt is slowly driving me to get busy on it.  Camera Girl thinks I should hire a handyman to do it but I scoff at this kind of defeatist talk.  And likewise, all the other chores.  They build character and spare the bank account.  So, I’m putting together my schedule and thinking through the order of operations and locating rope and other supplies to set up the ladder.

Today I saw the biggest spider I’ve ever seen around here.  Whether people call them fishing spiders or wolf spiders I haven’t done a close identification.  But it was a huge bugger.  He’s living close to where the exhaust from my heating system reaches the open air.  I’m guessing the heat is an attractant for insects in the colder months.  I’ll attach a photo here.

Camera Girl says she bought a red coneflower plant for me at Wally Mart.  I’m making a row of various perennials but especially coneflowers.  They attract butterflies and other insects for my photography.  And finally, the other three preying mantis egg sacs that I can still find have all now hatched out.  And they’re pretty evenly spaced around the property.  Nice how that worked out.  Of course, there were another six or eight of the things that seem to have disappeared.  Well, that’s on me.  Anyway, it’s an excellent day to be out and about.  Nothing exciting just the good old summertime.  June, moon, spoon, tune.  All that stuff.

Guest Contributor – Chemist – 05JUN2025 – The BBB

photog Chemist, Current Events, Guest Contributors, Trump , ,

Actually, based on the title, I thought this would be a political post.
I’m referring to Elon’s opposition to the BBB.
Is it perfect? No.
Will we get a better package with a razor thin majority in the house and the RINOs and squishes we currently have in the GOP?
Also no.
The BBB is just a stepping stone and will give team MAGA breathing room to win the midterms and, maybe, get rid of a few RINOs. Here in Texas, we are going to primary John Cornyn and replace him with a real conservative.
Trump needs time to show his economic policies are working and to get the right people in congress.
Baby steps, Elon. Baby steps.

And, yes. I would love to see a moon base. But its Elon’s money and if he wants to spend it on a symbolic trip to Mars, I won’t stop him.

Come On Elon, Baby Steps

photog Current Events, Science , ,

So, what to talk about tonight?  I’m kinda at a loss.  I’m not in the politics mood.  I haven’t figured out the next chapters in the stories I’ve been spinning.  Not much going on around the Compound today and even the First Selectman has been on his best behavior and hasn’t eaten anyone in a few weeks.  I guess things are in a lull right now.

So, I was thinking with all the talk about Elon Musk getting us to Mars was that really the space mission we need?  I think not.  What would be better and much easier would be to build a Moon base.  The space station we have now is a lame piece of junk that is more trouble than its worth.  And living in free fall is really bad for humans.  But a permanent base on the Moon is much easier than a Mars trip, much cheaper and much less risky for the astronauts.

Of course, the real reason why this base would be so valuable won’t appear until a magnetic survey is performed and a strange “anomaly” discovered.  Once this mystery is investigated and the signal is tracked back to a Jovian (or is it a Saturnian) moon the real exploration of the solar system will begin in earnest.  All we need to remember is not to drive the ship’s AI psychotic with conflicting mission requirements and also make a point of not teaching it to read lips.

But seriously (or semi-seriously), I think a Moon base is a much more realistic space project and putting stuff on the Moon instead of in Earth orbit is probably a good idea in general.  There’s just too much junk floating around up there.

As for the name, Luna City is one obvious choice.  I could be convinced that Sheepshead Bay would sound good.  After all there are a lot of Mares up there so a seaside name makes some sense.

But the most important thing that a lunar base would provide is a chance to see if space travel is useful at all.  Can a base on the close-by Moon come up with anything useful that can’t be done better and cheaper on Earth?

One thing I can think of are particle accelerators.  Maintaining a vacuum on the Moon will be a heck of a lot easier than on Earth.  And the lower gravity might have some advantages in certain kinds of construction.  And there are probably other scientific experiments that can be done better on the Moon.  Maybe the long lunar night would be a great time to do telescopic observations.  Instead of the Hubble and Webb space telescopes maybe we could build a really big telescope on the Moon and see right out to the edge of the universe.  Of course, we might not like what we find on “the edge.”  We might find that the galaxies are arranged to spell out the words, “TO READ BEYOND THIS POINT YOU MUST BUY A SUBSCRIPTION!”

Well, anyway, that’s what I was thinking.  The Moon’s the perfect compromise between the fantastically risky Mars mission and the useless and boring International Space Station.  Come on Elon, baby steps.