Month: June 2023

Let’s be very clear from the beginning. I agreed with Robert Gates, former defense secretary in the Obama administration, when he said that Joe Biden has “been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” (Aug 16, 2021)

Gates said that almost two years ago, and I think that JB has done nothing to break his streak. Since he has been President, Joe Biden has botched our withdrawal from Afghanistan, embarrassing the U.S. for the entire world to see. While Putin was lining up a myriad of forces along the Russia-Ukraine border, President Biden imitated Nero who historically fiddled … for you liberal Democrats this implies that JB basically did nothing to address the issue. As a consequence of his inaction the Russia-Ukraine War started on 2/24/22, and we have been involved in a proxy war ever since.

On 2/20/23 I read two things that just further entrenches my opinion that President Biden is trying to maintain his streak of “being wrong on nearly every foreign policy and national security issue.” 

First off from Coffee & Covid:

News emerged over the weekend that, after the Russians had nearly captured Kiev in 2022, the Ukrainians had agreed to a peace deal that would have kept their territory intact, but precluded NATO membership. A draft treaty had even been circulated.

But, according to newly-released documents, the Biden Administration interfered, and the Ukrainians were committed to endless war.

OMG? Biden kept his streak alive!

Surprised? … Not me!

Second from Daybreak Insider:

“Secretary of State Anthony Blinken gives China the green light to invade Taiwan during his visit to Beijing, China. “We do not support Taiwan independence.” What a pivot from Biden’s previous comments from just months ago. What happened? “Yes, if in fact, there was an unprecedented attack,” Biden said after being asked if he would defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion.”

OMG! Either Blinken is independently speaking his own mind, or Biden is waffling. FYI, the initial heavy betting is on “waffling.” 

Surprised? …not me!

6/21/23

californiacontrarian

Years ago, I had this desire to own a pickup truck, specifically a Ford, F-150. This would have been my passport to Adventure-Land, as I thought of all the stuff I could move in my F-150. Now granted, I wasn’t planning on moving around multiple bags of concrete mix, but it would have been nice to transport that large volume of pea-gravel instead of paying to have it delivered. This dream of mine was well before this present EV craze. BTW, I never did get my F-150, but I will survive.

Nonetheless, at the beginning of this Tomorrow-Land craze to make every vehicle an Electric Vehicle (EV), I think that it’s important to point out some warnings as why this will never come to fruition. The latest part of this Fantasy-Land is to mandate that all trucks be EV trucks, and this includes pickup trucks.

From the Epoch Times:

The range of electric vehicles can fall by up to a quarter when made to carry heavy loads, according to a study conducted by the American Automobile Association (AAA) on Ford’s EV pickup truck F-150 Lightning.

In an unloaded state, the 2022 Lightning had a driving range of 278 miles. However, with a payload of 1,400 pounds, the driving range dropped to 210 miles, a decline of 68 miles or 24.5 percent from the unloaded range, according to the June 13 study. Such payloads are equivalent to hauling around 20 bags of concrete mix. AAA advised that prospective buyers of EVs who are likely to carry heavy loads regularly should “consider the impact this can have to their driving range.”

Now granted, most buyers will typically use the Lightning F-150 with a lighter load. As such, even though there will still be a range reduction, it will be lower than the reduction at maximum load, as Greg Brannon, director of AAA Automotive Engineering, pointed out 

EVs not only lose range when carrying heavy loads, but they also lose range during winter conditions. In December 2022, EV insight firm Recurrent published research on range loss among electric vehicles during freezing conditions, finding that the loss of range can go up to 35 percent.

Comparing 13 popular EV models in freezing versus 70 degrees Fahrenheit temperature, Recurrent found that Volkswagen ID.4, Ford Mustang Mach-E, and Chevy Bolt all lost 30 percent or more range in colder conditions.

The Tesla Model 3, Model S, Model X, and Model Y lost between 15 and 19 percent of their range, depending on the model.

So as we move into the Frontierland of this nonsensical EV mania, I guess we will just have to forgo thoughts on any winter heavy construction, or get used to a multitude of abandoned F-150s on the roads leading to potential construction sites!

6/20/23

californiacontrarian

Late last week ago I came upon a piece that should naturally make those who live in Pennsylvania very proud. On 6/17/23 Senator Fetterman (D,PA) was on the stage with President Biden,  Rep. Brendan Boyle, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to discuss efforts to rebuild portions of Interstate 95 that collapsed on Sunday, 6/11/23. 

Oh Pennsylvanians, you must be so proud!

Sen. Fetterman was wearing a steel blue Carhartt hoodie, athletic shorts, and sneakers to the “Rebuilding I-95″ event. The other members of the delegation were dressed more formally, in suits, with some foregoing ties. 

Fetterman has regularly been seen in wearing outfits similar to the one he wore that day while on the job in Washington, D.C.

Oh Pennsylvanians, you must be so proud!

As expected the Pennsylvania Democratic Senator gave a speech.

From BlazeNews:

At the beginning of roughly 85-second speech, he noted he had stood beside President Biden ‘ a little over a year ago’ when a different structure, Fern Hollow Bridge, collapsed in the western portion of the Keystone State in January 2022.

“That bridge was built in less than a year, well well in front of time.”

“President Biden] is here to commit to work with the governor and the delegadation [sic] to make sure that we get this fixed quick, fast, as well, too,” Sen. Fetterman said, referring to efforts underway to repair a portion of Interstate 95.

“This is a president that is committed to infrucsure [sic], yeah, and then on then top of that the jewel kind of uh, uh law,” he said, apparently struggling to pronounce “infrastructure.” It is unclear what he meant by “jewel 

“The infration [sic] infruc [sic] yeah infration [sic] bill that is gonna make sure that there’s gonna be bridges all across like this all across America getting rebuilt,” he said, possibly referring to the infrastructure bill signed in 2021 or the Inflation Reduction Act signed in December 2022..”

Oh Pennsylvanians, you must be so proud!

He ended the very short address by introducing “my friend Congressman Boya Bile [sic],” at which point Rep. Brendan Boyle took the podium.

Oh Pennsylvanians, you are probably growing more proud by the minute!

6/19/23

californiacontrarian

As is my custom on Sunday I write about individuals who should inspire us. Donal Walsh was such an individual. The story about Donal Walsh is amazing to me as it is the real life personification of the saying,

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

(From Wikipedia: Although the expression was coined by Elbert Hubbard in a 1915 obituary, many modern authors attribute the expression to Dale Carnegie who used it in his 1948 book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Carnegie’s version reads: “If You Have a Lemon, Make a Lemonade.”)

We all know that this phrase is meant to inspire one to convert life’s downturns and disappointments into something good, and Donal Walsh did that in spades. Donal Walsh died on May  12, 2013 at the age of 16, and ten years later his legacy lives on.

From EWTN NEWS:

“On May 11 of this year, more than 2,000 Irish students gathered at the Knock Basilica and Shrine in County Mayo, Ireland, to honor Walsh’s memory. The students listened to several speakers who spoke about different issues that affect the world today, especially mental health.”

The background from CNA:

Born and raised in County Kerry, Ireland, Walsh was diagnosed with bone cancer in his tibia at the age of 12. He endured nine months of chemotherapy and an operation to give him a prosthetic knee. After two years the cancer returned, this time to his lung. The young boy underwent surgery again to have half of his lung removed and endured more chemotherapy.

In October 2012, Walsh was diagnosed for a third — and final — time with tumors in five different locations in his body.

“When we were told he was terminal, we turned around and started to say, ‘Why us?’ And he [Donal] changed his question to, ‘Why not me?’” Fionnbar Walsh recalled in an interview at the event with EWTN News In Depth, which aired June 2. 

“Donal was very upset for the first few days, but it only lasted a few days,” Elma Walsh added. “And he decided he wasn’t going to let cancer dictate. Whatever was left of his life, he wanted to do something.”

His mother shared that he had a “remarkable” faith. He loved to pray the rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Walsh asked his mother to ensure he received holy Communion every day and that he die with a “clean spirit.”

During his final months, Walsh took to writing about his battle with cancer and how his faith allowed him to persevere in what he called “climbing God’s mountains.” He also wrote about his frustration at seeing a rise in teenage suicide.

It was then that he decided to go on national television to encourage young people to value life.

With only a few weeks left to live, Walsh went on the Irish talk show “The Saturday Night Show” with Brendan O’Connor hoping to emphasize the value of life by sharing his own story.

“If I’m meant to be a symbol for people to appreciate life — it might not be just suicide — but just to appreciate life more in general, then I’d be happy to die if that’s what I’m dying for,” Walsh said during his television appearance.

Donal Walsh passed away four weeks later.

He spoke for 19 minutes, and those 19 minutes inspired a country. Months later, the coroner of County Kerry reported a decrease in suicides after Walsh spoke out.

After Walsh’s death, his parents, Elma and Fionnbar, started the Donal Walsh Live Life Foundation, which has raised more than half a million euros to date for various charities, all of which promote life. And once a year, students meet at the Basilica of Knock to celebrate Mass, to be inspired and encouraged by guest speakers, and to be reminded of the value of life.

Indeed Donal Walsh was dealt a lot of lemons, and from those he figuratively made gallons of lemonade!

6/18/23

(This is originally from my blog on 6/21/22)

Should the Nincompoops Pay ?

The answer to that question depends on which nincompoops you are referring to. If politicians decide to institute a policy that is obviously unconstitutional, should then these same politicians pay for the legal fees when their “enlightened” new policy ends up losing in court. For example when our esteemed California Governor, Gavin Newsom, unlawfully kept churches closed during Covid, while allowing big chain stores to remain open, he was obviously in the wrong. The courts ultimately found for the plaintiffs, and the state of California’s taxpayers have to pay over $2 million in the plaintiff’s legal fees. Come on, man, Gavin Newsom is loaded. Why doesn’t he pay the $2+ million?

On 6/29/21 “city leaders” in the city of San Jose did something equally obtuse. In an unprecedented move that is sure to be challenged in court by gun-rights advocates, city leaders in San Jose voted Tuesday to require gun owners in the city to pay taxpayers for the public costs incurred by criminal gun violence.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

“In a unanimous vote Tuesday night (6/29/21), the progressive San Jose City Council passed ordinances to “require every gun owner to buy liability insurance coverage for their firearms” and “pay a fee to compensate taxpayers for the emergency medical and police responses to gun-related injuries and deaths.”

Democratic Mayor Sam Liccardo praised the measures and reportedly argued that gun owners who refuse to comply with the new rules would have their weapons seized.

At least one gun-rights group, the Firearms Policy Coalition, is already planning legal action. The gun-rights group went on to refute each piece of the 10-point plan, explaining why each specific measure of the ordinances is unconstitutional.

Let me get this straight:

The nincompoops in San Jose, including the City Council and the Mayor, passed an obviously unconstitutional ordinance. This ordinance will go to court, and the plaintiffs (the Firearms Policy Coalition) will win. In all likelihood San Jose will be required to pay court costs. In a situation as obvious as this, should the nincompoops pay? But who are the real nincompoops here? Is “nincompoopedness” limited to just these elected officials? What about those in San Jose who voted to elect both the City Council and the Mayor? Are they also nincompoops?  I say, ‘yes!’ However, in the future, those in San Jose who vote to re-elect these same uber liberal nincompoop politicians, who think that it is okay to waste the taxpayers money – these future voters will be the real NINCOMPOOPS.

7/5/21

6/17/23

From the beginning, let’s be clear, only rarely, do I ever buy a cup of coffee. When at the airport for an early morning flight, I may buy a cup of “Joe,” however, even that is unlikely if Starbucks is my only choice, because I do not really care for Starbuck’s coffee. For me, Starbucks’ Joe is too bitter, but to each his own.

Form BlazeNews:

“On 6/12/23 a federal jury  awarded Shannon Phillips a whopping $25 million in punitive damages and an additional $600,000 in compensatory damages after members unanimously agreed that Starbucks had fired her on racial grounds. “I was terminated because I am white,” Phillips said in court documentsfiled in 2019. “If I was black, I would not have been terminated. I was terminated because I complained of and objected to race discrimination.”

The circumstances surrounding Phillips’ termination began five years ago, when two black men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, were infamously arrested at a Starbucks store in Philadelphia after employees told them they could not use the store restrooms unless they first made a purchase. The men refused to leave or purchase anything, insisting that they were still waiting on a third party. Because of their intransigence that day, an employee eventually called the cops, and the two were arrested, though they were never charged with anyone crime.

Shannon Phillips was not present when all of this happened. In fact she may not have even been in the dame state as she was a regional director responsible for overseeing 100 stores spanning parts of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and had little input in the day-to-day operations of those establishments.

According to Phillips subsequent to the described Philadelphia incident white employees became scapegoats. Soon thereafter, Phillips claimed she was ordered to place a white manager, who had been with the company for 15 years, on administrative leave for supposed racial discrimination, even though Phillips did not believe the man had done anything wrong.”

Phillips was then fired. Subsequently, Shannon Phillips filed a civil rights lawsuit claiming that she was fired because of her race. 

In the trial Starbucks claimed that Phillips was fired because she was incompetent. The jury disagreed, and decided that Starbucks was in the wrong. ($25 million in the wrong!) 

Is this another example of going “woke” leading to going broke? Be that as it may, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer Joe!

6/17/23

californiacontrarian

I am a “wannabe,” as I aspire to be a writer of fiction. With that in mind I am always attempting to improve my vocabulary. Just today I came across a word which I had vaguely heard, but was not confident that I knew what it meant.

That word is ‘chyron.’  I looked it up. A ‘chyron’ is “an electronically generated caption superimposed on a television or movie screen.” If one watches any cable news there are usually chyrons across the bottom of the screen. These chyrons are left on the screen for a minute or so, before being replaced by another chyron. In addition a chyron is often repeated or more typically alternates with a second chyron.

If a chyron is only shown once and for only less than thirty seconds … Hmmm!

But that’s what happened the other night on Fox News. At close to 9pm eastern time, Fox News had split screen. While the left side was showing Joe Biden speaking to some group at the White House, the right side of the screen was showing Donald Trump speaking to his supporters in New Jersey, after returning from his indictment proceedings in Miami. However that was far from the interesting part. The interesting part was the chyron on the bottom of the screen which read,:

“WANNABE DICTATOR SPEAKS AT THE WHITE HOUSE 

AFTER HAVING HIS POLITICAL RIVAL ARRESTED”

Wow! This chyron lasted less that thirty seconds (twenty-seven seconds to be exact), and was not repeated. Apparently heads rolled at Fox News, and many Democrats were apoplectic! However, there was one person who took full advantage of this possible malaprop, and that was Tucker Carlson. In his fourth Twitter soliloquy, he took full advantage in explaining what a dictator does and how a dictator acts. Over this thirteen minute clip Tucker Carlson compared Joe Biden’s policies to those of a dictator … eerily, many similarities! In addition, Carlson compared the special privileges bestowed by the media on the Biden family to those bestowed by the press in the country of a dictator … again, eerily many similarities. Initially this thirteen minute clip was poorly disguised as satire, but as it moved along it became very apparent that it was clearly not satire

BTW: I loved Carlson’s third Twitter monologue, but this most recent one is better … a real monster!

www.californiacontrarian.com

6/16/23

This week there has actually been some good news as Tucker Carlson just put out his third free Twitter monologue on the evening of 6/13. On the morning of 6/14, I watched this entire monologue. In fact I watched it twice, as it was amazing and very daring. 

Although I am usually not a believer in conspiracy theories, I found Tucker Carlson’s basic premise to be intriguing. 

 Carlson feels, like a lot of us similarly feel, that President Biden is using law enforcement to attempt to lock up his main political opponent.

He dates these multiple  prolonged Trump accusations over the years to something that he said during a Republican Presidential debate back on 2/16/2016 about the “weapons of mass destruction in Iraq” … at that time he said, “they lied,” and worse they knew they were lying. “They” being the Washington warmongers in the federal government complex. According to Carlson, this accusation put the bullseye on Trump, and that they will not be satisfied until the former President is in prison. Since then Donald Trump has been one who has consistently dissented from the Washington war agenda, and for this he has been and still is a marked man!

Carlson talks about other things in this approximately thirteen minute video, and he especially takes off after Mike Pompeo. I found this part of Carlson’s dialog to be especially entertaining.

Carlson admits that Donald Trump has flaws in his character. However, this is not something new, as many of Trump’s followers, including myself, say the same thing. Be that as it may, character flaws are not a reason to try to throw someone in prison … unless they cannot make that individual go away any other way!

The fact that Tucker Carlson speaks his mind on Twitter is good news, although it could well turn out to be a reason to try to throw him in prison.

Will Tucker Carlson’s 2/16/2016 turn out to be 6/13/2023? That would not be good news!

www.californiacontrarian.com

6/15/23

About a month ago CNN had a Town Hall with Donald Trump. The CNN interviewer was Kaitlin Collins. When Donald Trump alluded to voter fraud in Wisconsin during the 2020 election, Ms. Collins tersely cut him off, and said there was no voter fraud in Wisconsin. I guess that because she works for CNN, she is an expert on such matters!

Meanwhile in Racine County, Wisconsin the sheriff has conducted an investigation into suspicions of voter fraud involving patients in nursing homes. And despite the strong statement by CNN’s Kaitlin Collins, there was fraudulent activity not only in Racine County, but also in neighboring counties that have high populations. In three of these counties, 100% of nursing home residents voted. In two others 95% and 97% of nursing home residents voted.

In addition it turns out that a substantial number of these voting individuals are demented. As confirmed by subsequent videotaped interviews, many could not answer even the simplest of questions concerning the 2020 election. So how did these individuals vote? They voted by absentee ballots which they did not request. These ballots were then fraudulently filled out by nursing home staff, who were given the fraudulent okay by the Wisconsin Election Commission.

Note here that I am not flippantly using the term, “fraudulent,” as what the Wisconsin Election Commission did was blatantly against prescribed Wisconsin law.

So to be clear, what President Trump said was TRUE, and what Kaitlin Collins said in response was FALSE.

Indeed it seems that voting fraud was rampant in the 2020 presidential election specifically in Wisconsin, and I would guess that Wisconsin was not the only state that was decided fraudulently.

(For those who are interested in more detail on this issue, watch “Facts Matter” with Roman Balmakov on Epoch TV.)

californiacontrarian.com

6/14/23

The state of Kansas near the top as far as wind power is concerned  in fact Kansas is #7 on the list of states with highest wind speeds, tied with Virginia and Missouri.

The western and central regions of the state are much drier and have less rain than the eastern regions. Some cities are windier than others, but Kansas is, overall, a very windy place! At first glance Kansas would be a good locale for wind turbines, and the consequent generation of cheap wind generated electricity.

Since Kansas is basically flat and very windy, it should be the perfect locale for wind turbines. Land owners get paid big bucks to allow these wind turbines to be erected on their land, but what about their neighbors who are livestock producers and farmers.

Kansas livestock producers are a major outlet for hay, silage and feed grains that are produced within the state’s borders.

Today approximately 90% of the land area of Kansas is devoted to agriculture production. Besides wheat,the most important crops in Kansas are corn, soybeans, grain sorghum (milo) and hay.

Okay, so far, so good unless there is a problem with a turbine, like there recently was in Marshall county.

From the Epoch Times:

For Kansas state Rep. Carrie Barth, the broken turbine in Marshall County and its fiberglass debris scattered across farmland has confirmed one of the many loopholes industrial wind companies have to distance themselves from, namely responsibilities to the residents who live in their shadow.

“We have all of these bureaucracies to deal with health and environment, yet there’s no plan for remediating any problems that arise from these structures,” Barth told The Epoch Times.

The wind turbine, which is a part of the Irish Creek Wind Energy Center (ICWEC), was found broken on April 16.

The break caused fiberglass to shatter and spread onto the property of those who didn’t want the turbine there from the start; however, Barth said it’s now ruined the farmers’ crops. One farmer, she said, can’t bale his hay, and his cows aren’t able to safely graze the grass.

“I have a chunk of the fiberglass that I put in a Ziploc bag, and when I opened it, shards flew out of the top of it, so you can imagine what’s coming off the remaining portion of the dangling blade today compared to one little piece,” Barth said. “If this goes into our food supply, that is a huge concern for me.”

She said the farmer on the adjacent property has found chunks of fiberglass in his grass and won’t be able to use his hay when he bales it.

Ellen and Bob Koch own land a mile and a half away from the property where the turbine fell. Their cattle drink from a stream that converges along their farm from three smaller streams.

“A big rain will wash that fiberglass into the stream and float right down to our place,” Bob told The Epoch Times.

Every time they go along the county road on the property, they find a new piece of fiberglass, Ellen said.

NextEra, the company that built the wind complex, has yet to fix it or provide a thorough cleanup, though a blade remains hanging, which is a safety hazard, Barth said.

“It’s still dangling as we speak,” Barth said, sharing a video of the broken turbine.

According to Barth’s research, there are 4,000 wind turbines in Kansas.

So let’s see if I have this right. If I own a farm in Kansas, and my neighbor’s wind turbine blade comes crashing to the ground, and basically ruins my crops for the year, or perhaps forever, because of fiberglass particles, at present I do not have any recourse.

At present, NextEra itself issued no apology or immediate formal written plan to fix the turbine or offer environmental cleanup.

After speaking to a weeping constituent all Barth could think was, ‘This is wrong.’

6/13/23