3rd World California

Posted on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 by Post Scripts

by Jack

I’m not sure of the real reasoning, but yesterday 60,000 homes in 5 counties had an extended blackout until the win died down.   In some cases this could last for over 24 hours until PG&E turns the power back on.

This reminds me of some 3rd world country where the power goes out 20 times a month, but I never expected CA to become like that?

After decades of improvements, after all the rate hikes (energy costs doubled in last 10 years) and all safety advancements in the power industry,  we’re suddenly at the mercy of a little wind?  That’s the best we can do?

It’s not like that in Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho and other western states where the weather is more extreme than in CA.  So, what’s up?   Could this be PG&E’s way of “educating” the public, so they might get some relief in court from all the lawsuits, like the Camp Fire?   I think there is a connection, but what do you think?

P.S. CA now ranks 46th out of 50 states for the most costly energy.  Next door to CA in Nevada it is half what we pay.  That’s why we’re called Corruptofornia.

Posted in Environment | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Impeachment Hearings Begin!

Posted on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 by Post Scripts

by Jack

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has long been hesitant to initiate a formal inquiry for the impeachment of President Trump.  However, today all that changed.  It was due to the hearsay statement of a whistleblower allegedly close to President Trump and because of mounting pressure from her democrat colleagues, Pelosi has initiated the first step in the impeachment process.  Impeachment is on for real and if they don’t produce the goods this will derail the party and halt any possibilities of controlling the White House in the coming election.

Pelosi spoke of the alleged incident as fact when she said, “The actions of the Trump presidency have revealed the dishonorable fact of the president’s betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections,” Pelosi said in a brief statement before a backdrop of American flags, repeatedly invoking the nation’s founders. “Therefore, today, I am announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.”  For a complete transcript of her press release, click here.

Pelosi further stated, “On Thursday, the Inspector General testified before the House Intelligence Committee, stating that the acting director of national intelligence blocked him from disclosing the whistleblower complaint. This is a violation of law. The law is unequivocal. It says the DNI, Director of National Intelligence, shall provide Congress the full whistleblower complaint.”

At issue are Trump’s actions with Ukraine. In a summer phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he is said to have asked for help investigating former Vice President Biden and his son Hunter. In the days before the call, Trump ordered advisers to freeze $400 million in military aid for Ukraine – prompting speculation that he was holding out the money as leverage for information on the Bidens. Trump has denied that charge, but acknowledged he blocked the funds, later released.

Biden said Tuesday, before Pelosi’s announcement, that if Trump doesn’t cooperate with lawmakers’ demands for documents and testimony in its investigations the president “will leave Congress … with no choice but to initiate impeachment.” He said that would be a tragedy of Trump’s “own making.”

The Trump-Ukraine phone call is part of the whistleblower’s complaint, though the administration has blocked Congress from getting other details of the report, citing presidential privilege. Trump has authorized the release of a transcript of the call, which is to be made public Wednesday.

Trump has characterized the Ukraine phone call as totally appropriate and cordial.   He said he will release a full transcript Wed.   He called the democrats conduct a witch hunt that he has endured before he even took office.

What do you think?  Has President Trump really violated his oath of office or has he been the victim of a political conspiracy to remove him from office by any means, legal or otherwise?  Or is there a 3rd option?  Has Trump just played the democrats and set them up for a scandal that could destroy their party?   The coming days and weeks are going to be extremely interesting.   In addition to the Trump allegations, I’m especially looking forward to hearing more about Hunter Biden and how he landed a $50k a month job in the Ukraine for which he apparently has no qualifications?

40 Comments

Oregon Blazes Trail for Legalizing Another Drug

Posted on Tuesday, September 24, 2019 by Post Scripts

Thomas and Sheri Eckert found a friend in Dr. David Bronner, CEO of the top-selling natural brand of soap. Dr. Bronner is matching up to $150,000 in contributions to the Eckert’s campaign to pry open the door for using “magic” mushrooms recreationally in Oregon.

The scientific name is Psilocybin mushrooms, a Schedule 1 drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act. That means they are illegal throughout the 50 states.

Psilocybin makes the Schedule 1 list because it does not have any medical use. And further, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sees a high potential for abuse and dependency in Psilocybin.

These are the mushrooms that produce hallucinations, panic attacks, psychosis, nausea and vomiting, muscle weakness and lack of coordination, with overdoses resulting in psychosis or death.  -Death?  That’s no reason to make something illegal!-

 Continuing….

People are still trying to make “magic” mushrooms legal, if only in small ways.

The first victory came last May in the first state to make recreational marijuana use legal. Denver voters approved by one percentage point Initiated Ordinance 301. It decriminalizes the possession and use of mushrooms that contain the hallucinogenic compound psilocybin.

“To the greatest extent possible,” the new ordinance says Denver shall “deprioritize” enforcement of personal possession of psilocybin mushrooms on people 21 and older. It further prohibits the City-County government from spending any money imposing criminal penalties for mushroom possession and use.

“Decriminalize Denver,” which successfully campaigned for I-301, said the intent was to put possession and use of psilocybin mushrooms as the lowest enforcement priority, not to legalize it outright.  For more information use this link.  

Leave a comment

The Attack on Saudi Arabia

Posted on Sunday, September 22, 2019 by Post Scripts

by Jack

The public has most of the evidence available in this recent attack on ARAMCO inside Saudi Arabia.  And that evidence points to just one culprit, Iran.   They had the ability, the opportunity and the motive.  They also have a bad record for attacking their neighbors.

The Houthis from Yemen claimed they did the drone attack and they have a strong motive, but they have no ability and no opportunity.

Who else could it be?

The obvious answer points to Iran.  (see debris from one of the cruise missiles that failed to deteonate)

Iran is a rogue nation, diplomatically isolated by their fanatical Islamic theocracy that embraces terrorism and war.  To understand Iran’s motives you need to look at history and at the Shi’a religion.  Of course they (Iran) share some of their Islamic ideology with Arab nations, but make no mistake, they are not Arabs – they are Persian.  They don’t speak the same language even though their writing is similar.  Speaking Arabic is frowned upon in Iran as socially unacceptable.  It’s a cultural thing for Persians who consider themselves a cut above the Arabs.

Persians and Arabs have long had a strained relationship that has ranged the gamut from a peaceful coexistence to protracted war.

For the last 6-700 years they are separated from the more traditional of Sunni version of Islam by their belief in a non-Sunni dynasty that they claim was intended to rule after the death of Prophet Mohammad.   That dynastic division is a flash point for religious war today because it involves two incompatible, yet foundational beliefs that make Shiites and Sunnis as different as Muslims and Jews.  Both sides predict that only one religion shall survive to become the true version of Islam and the sooner the better.

Politics really can’t be separated from the Islamic religion which is highly political, but aggressively so in Iran.   This is why Iran is exporting terrorism to North African states and into the West and has done so since their revolution in 1979.

Iran’s politic hierarchy is only a false front for the religious leader and he holds absolute power.   Nothing happens in Iran without the approval of this one man, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  He succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of the Iranian Revolution, upon Khomeini’s death in 1989. Khomeini and Khamenei are the only two men to have held the office since the founding of the Islamic Republic.   You know the old saying, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  It’s no different in Iran.  This is why Iran is a dangerous rogue nation, even though in many ways it looks like modern western nation – don’t be fooled, it’s not.

We’ve witnessed and we’ve also been victims of the border clashes between Saudi Arabia and Iran, particularly in the Straights of Hormuz; a vital oil tank shipping corridor for much of the world’s oil.  A few weeks ago a Saudi tanker at anchor was hijacked by Iranian special forces in response to the seizure by the British of an Iranian tanker as it attempted to smuggle oil.  This was followed by the downing of a US drone.    But, the missile attack on the ARAMCO  oil refinery was the most aggressive and damaging to date.

Iran took a calculated gamble that this attack on Saudi oil production would bring pressure on the United States to lift the sanctions that are crippling Iran’s economy.  But, Iran’s audacious plan had a big flaw.  It involved a weak alibi – their pals in Yemen, the Houthis who claimed responsibility.

Houthis are the proxy fighters for Iran in Yemen’s civil war.  But, their claim of responsibility is almost comical because they don’t even come close to having the sort of technological expertise needed to build and deploy cruise missiles. The best weapons they have are limited to rifles and RPG’s, cruise missiles are the weapons of only a handful of nations in the Middle East.

Iran lied about the attack, no doubt hoping their cruise missiles could not be tracked to a  launch point, but they were wrong.  Investigators from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have officially declared the missiles came from inside Iran and they have the evidence to back it up.  The exact location may be disclosed at a special meeting in the UN.

Trump has shown surprising restraint by not using our military to retalliate against Iran  after the downing of our drone over international waters.   But, this act of war on an ally that threatens to destabilize the global oil market and Trump is turning to the United Nations.

If this refinery attack happened 10 years ago, you can rest assured it would have dramatically impacted our economy.  However, thanks to Trump and our new found oil independence, the effects have been modest save for a little price gouging at the pumps.

The big question now is what do we do about Iran?  What will it take to bring Iran’s military adventures to an end?   What would you do if you were President?   I look forward to your replies.

 

Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

Russian Doomsday Weapon

Posted on Saturday, September 21, 2019 by Post Scripts

Posted by Jack

Just when you thought we were past all that nuclear war stuff, come this!

The Russians are said to be conducting sea trials for a new nuclear torpedo-carrying submarine in June 2020 and have plans for it to be commissioned by the following September.

Project 09852 Special Mission Submarine KC-139 Belgorod, the nuclear torpedo-carrying submarine, is reportedly the first nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying the nuclear-capable underwater drone Poseidon, the Diplomat reported Tuesday.

The Poseidon drone is referred to as an intercontinental-range, nuclear autonomous torpedo, as it can be fitted with nuclear armament.  “The vessel has already begun trials,” Sevmash shipyard Director General Mikhail Budnichenko said in an interview on Monday, quoted by the Russian news agency, TASS. “Besides, we have a schedule approved by the Defense Ministry, and the work is being carried out in strict compliance with this schedule.”

Budnichenko said tests of the Belgorod, which is based on the 949A Oscar II-class of nuclear-powered guided-missile submarines, are scheduled for June 15, 2020. “In line with the schedule, the acceptance act is to be signed in September of the same year,” he added.

The advertised speed for the new Russian torpedo is about 70 mph, however other experts say the real top speed is closer 90 mph and it can dive to depths exceeding 3000 feet.  If we have a counter to this weapon it’s a closely guarded secret, but I doubt that we do.  This is truly a doomsday weapon and just one torpedo could wipe out a carrier taskforce, if not from the blast, then from the tsunami that follows.   And just when you thought we were past all that nuclear war stuff, come this!

 

Posted in Military | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Poke Berry – Makes Good Ink

Posted on Thursday, September 19, 2019 by Post Scripts

by Jack

Public Service Post:  Natures Poison, the Poke Berry aka Pokeweed, as found in Chico, CA. See picture below left.

I sure hope the local homeless don’t start brewing up this attractive looking berry hoping it  has some medicinal properties or that it might get them high.  It’s does have a powerful effect, but not that pleasurable.  Read this true account:

In Tennessee, a 68 year-old man was found by his wife sweating profusely, drooling, vomiting, and without any control of his bladder or bowels, before becoming unconscious.

At the ER everything was basically normal, save for a blood pressure of 75/54 mm Hg and general weakness with inability to stand. Liver enzymes, ECG, CT scans, and “the works” were normal, and by the following day the patient was fine and discharged.

What caused this man’s insides to want to go outside? Pokeweed. He was suffering from a bout of constipation and remembered what his mother would make when he was a child: pokeweed tea. He picked pokeweed leaves and stems from a plant in his yard and boiled them up. He placed the concoction in the refrigerator for several days, until he was tempted by the ice-cold liquid on a hot, sunny day. Ten minutes later, fluids were exploding from every orifice. Safe to say, he was cured of constipation.

What devilish chemical, or chemicals, are responsible for this, and why would nature do this to us? Phytolaccatoxin is thought to be a main contributor, as well as various saponins – similar to solanine in green potatoes. There are countless other natural products, but given pokeweed’s history and cultural significance, there is surprisingly little known about them. I would be remiss, however, if I failed to note that there are multiple studies investigating the naturopathic properties of pokeweed, for indications such as cancer and HIV. Nothing has panned out, but hopefully these last two sentences will cut down on the deluge of emails I get from angry readers. Yes, even I get hate mail.

From the symptoms of our older gentleman, there seems to be a cholinergic effect with pokeweed, stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, which you all remember as SLUDGE:

☑   Salivation
☐   Lacrimation
☑   Urination
☑   Defecation (or Diaeresis)
☑   GI upset
☑   Emesis

The pokeberry plant is all over Bidwell Park and can be found yards too.  It’s an interesting looking plant, very colorful, but please don’t eat the berries unless you want a good cleansing of your intestinal and urinary track.  This is another one of natures poison’s to be avoided!

Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Solving Homeless Problem

Posted on Tuesday, September 17, 2019 by Post Scripts

by Jack

Being homeless because you can’t afford to live in the community you work in is one thing, moving to a community that you can’t afford is another.   The latter is at the core of the so-called homeless crisis, yet few in authority will admit it.  It appears the progressives running this state are as oblivious about who they are trying to help as they are how to go about it.  Therefor they keep failing to find a solution.

The homeless population is a composite of many social problems.  However, the vast majority of homeless can be found in 4 groups or divisions, the mentally ill, the addicts,  the dropouts and the disabled.

In the first category, (mentally ill)  we find a large percentage who can’t make wise choices and really need to be in a mandatory care facility.   They represent about 15-20% of the homeless population.  This is a significant number, but it’s manageable from a custodial perspective.  And at least they would have a [chance] at rehabilitation in custody, but living on the street they have zero chance.

Next, those with substance abuse issues, i.e., alcohol or drugs, make up about 25% of the total.   The addicted are headed for the mentally-ill group unless they get some sort of public forced rehab.   As it is, they spend their days trying to score booze or drugs, mostly through a host of criminal activities, that includes, but is not limit too, theft, prostitution and robbery.   This group has little or no concern about the damage they do to themselves or to the community, it’s only about staying high and that’s why they need forced rehab.

The above are not necessarily true predators by nature, but they behave that way to satisfy their addiction and so I lumped them in with the criminal group because their criminal behaviors are similar.  The non-addict, habitual offenders/predators, are a serious problem because they attracted to areas with high concentrations of homeless encampments.  Homeless on the street and in encampments provides them with cover as they blend in.  Additionally, there is generally abundant charity they can take and this helps subsidize their criminal behavior.

This whole group, from the addicts to predators, has a high rate of recidivism and they cost us countless millions in property damage and tax dollars while clogging the criminal justice system.   They  consume the most public money and our efforts to place them in affordable housing or work training has to date been a costly and pointless effort.  Lock-up (prison farms) and the opportunity for rehab is about the only viable answer.

The next group are the homeless that are either temporary travelers by choice or they don’t want make the changes necessary in their lives to be… not homeless.  Or due to age or disability they simply can’t be self supporting.  Vagrancy laws have worked well on the travelers and those just gaming the system for a time.  However, for the truly infirm and elderly, they require public assistance as found in our traditional safety nets, low income housing, food stamps, etc., this is a shared burden to be shared by all the states, not just CA, Ore and WA.

Of course there are many other sub-groups and combinations thereof that have not been mentioned for the sake of brevity (otherwise I would be writing a book).  However, simply identifying the major categories of homeless is a good first step towards finding a remedy.   And speaking of a remedy, two things that are already obvious.  There will be no one size fits all solution and no one state should be burdened to care for more than their fair share, according to their population.

Posted in Police, Crime, Security | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Insider Look at San Francisco

Posted on Monday, September 16, 2019 by Post Scripts

Thanks to Joe for this dandy…

 

31 Comments

CA Black Listed Iowa and 10 Other States

Posted on Monday, September 16, 2019 by Post Scripts

by Jack

Did you know that liberals in Sacramento passed a law to black list certain states for travel and trade?  Yep, it’s true and today they just added another state to that list….Iowa!  What did Iowa do, you may wonder?  Well read on…

“California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) announced a ban on state-funded travel to Iowa on Friday in response to an Iowa law that prohibits Medicaid from covering gender transition surgeries, according to The Sacramento Bee.  Gov. Newsom (left) likes this law and can’t wait to use it.

Iowa becomes the latest addition to a list that also includes Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas under a 2016 law, Assembly Bill 1887, which bans state-sponsored travel to states that enact laws perceived as discriminatory on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

From the website of the California Office of the Attorney General:

In AB 1887, the California Legislature determined that “California must take action to avoid supporting or financing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.” (Gov. Code, § 11139.8, subd. (a)(5).) To that end, AB 1887 prohibits a state agency, department, board, or commission from requiring any state employees, officers, or members to travel to a state that, after June 26, 2015, has enacted a law that (1) has the effect of voiding or repealing existing state or local protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression; (2) authorizes or requires discrimination against same-sex couples or their families or on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression; or (3) creates an exemption to anti-discrimination laws in order to permit discrimination against same-sex couples or their families or on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. (Gov. Code, § 11139.8, subds. (b)(1), (2).) In addition, the law prohibits California from approving a request for state-funded or state-sponsored travel to such a state.

Watch out Texas, they’re coming after you next.      

Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

UN-ELECTABLE!

Posted on Saturday, September 14, 2019 by Post Scripts

by Jack

Unelectable is the summary for my post presidential debate analysis.  Biden was the only guy there who was not a flaming socialist, but his problem is his age is showing… and not just a little.

Even Chris Mathews had to admit that he was “shattered” and “shook up by tonight’s debate” and their too far to the left proposals.  Nobody had any real substance, it was all this pie in the sky socialist baloney,  free this and free that, just vote for me!   Maybe that junk still works in California, but the people elsewhere in this country are smarter and they don’t want any part of socialism programs that will shove us right into bankruptcy.

I can’t believe this line up is the best the democrats can do?   Sleepy Joe is their only viable candidate, that’s pretty sad.  You can’t watch his performance without thinking at any moment he’s going to stumble and forget the question.  At one point he accidentally referred to Senator Bernie Sanders “the president.”  Then he followed up on his gaffe by accusing Sanders of being a bad socialist.  No Joe, he’s a great socialist – that’s the problem.

The audience didn’t like cocky Julian Castro for criticizing old Joe’s memory, they booed him and I have to admit, it was rude.  That’s no way to treat a senior citizen!

Kamala Harris came off like the phony she is, stilted and overly rehearsed.  She’s done.  Another big loser in the debate was Beto O’Rourke.  Remember this, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15!”   Okay, let’s see if he can take away legally owned AR-15’s from Texans, that ought to be good for a laugh.   If he said that in CA I would be concerned! lol

Next, Castro is as gone as his namesake.  Booker, Klobuchar and Yang – they’re toast too.  It’s a case of being out of time, out of ideas and out of supporters for all them.

What we have remaining is grumpy old Bernie, sleepy Joe Biden, “I’ll Promise Anything” Warren and last by a huge margin we have Mayor Pete Buttigieg.  You don’t go from Mayor to President, never gonna happen Pete.

So, now its really just between Biden and Warren.  Granted, Warren is a good talker, but her socialist policies, yuk, namely major energy cutbacks under the guise of climate change.  It did not work before under Obama and it will not work now.  It would through us into recession or worse.

If this is their best lineup,  then it’s safe to say, Donald Trump is being handed the election and the only person who can defeat Trump is Trump.   He’s doing a pretty good job at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but he will have to try much harder if he’s going to lose to these goobers.

 

Tagged , | 22 Comments