Saturday, November 12, 2016

Why were the polls so wrong?

Me.

And others like me.

We, for the most part don't do polls. Specifically for me and mine, we have caller ID, and if we don't recognize the number, we let the machine get it.

So, it appears that they are only reaching like minded people . . . . . coastal big city cliff dwellers who think the center of the universe is New York City or Los Angeles.

If callers to my numbers don't leave a message, I go and put their number on my naughty list. That means that the pollsters missed me, and can't get through to my number again. Now, others may not do the same exact thing we do, but I sense a pattern here. Anybody want to take a poll on that?

What about you? Do you talk to pollsters? How do you handle them?

Friday, November 11, 2016

Veterans' Day 2016

Forty-four years and five months ago, I joined the United States Air Force. I, like millions before and after me took an oath similar to this,
"I, ___name___ , do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
After Basic Training at Lackland AFB, TX, I spent a few months at Chanute AFB, Il, in training, to become a technician working on Minuteman Missile systems.

The Minuteman is a solid fueled intercontinental ballistic missile land based in remote underground silos. I was fortunate to be assigned to F. E. Warren AFB, WY.

Working with those birds engendered some philosophical thoughts, like, "Suppose we actually launch these things, won't the Soviet Union be sending some back our way?" Yes, that was the philosophy of Mutually Assured Destruction. So, we knew that if any were fired, we were pretty much assured of a nuclear holocaust. There probably wouldn't be a home to go back to.

Happily, all our birds sat there in the ground, just waiting, and we never saw a wartime launch.
Minuteman Missile at Air Force Museum, Dayton, OH
photo by Liston Matthews
Now, that cold war has ended, various hot wars continue throughout the world, and young men and women are volunteering, taking the oath, and pledging their lives, health and honor to defend the same Constitution.

Thanks to all who have served. From the earliest days of the Republic, through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and even today,


--all gave some, some gave all--

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Zoysia growth 2016

This photo, the last of this season, was taken October 13, 2016. In addition to watering every other day, the area was lightly fertilized  again in September.

Contrast the picture above with this picture from August 2014, about 2 years ago.

As I have mentioned before in this series, the soil is a heavy clay subsoil. The builder scraped all the topsoil away.

My original essay, found in the Tennessee Lawn Grass tab above talks about propagation of Zoysia grass.

This summer has been particularly hard on all lawns in this area. Most Fescue lawns near me have become mostly crabgrass. my Zoysia that has not been watered has dried up.

This winter, I will transfer more plugs from good Zoysia sod into bare or dead areas, and let spring rains bring them out.

If you have any desire to install a Zoysia lawn, check out my tab above.

Friday, October 14, 2016

Two choices

You may not like it, but you only have TWO realistic choices in this 2016 presidential election.

On the Left, you have Hillary Clinton.
Towards the Right, you have Donald Trump.

There are other contenders, but unless you've been smoking wacky weed, you know that they are not going to win.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Who, or what, is really on the presidential ballot in 2016

In Knox County, Tennessee, we are currently in the midst of an election that includes county commissioners, school board members, and aldermen in Farragut.

But another group on the ballot is judges. In Tennessee, high level judges are appointed, then in order to stay on the court(s), they undergo a retention vote. (read more)

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Musing on the 2016 race for the White House

It really is not about Clinton or Trump


Here are some points to ponder:
1. The next president will be one of those two. The third party candidate can't win.
2. That president will appoint some unknown number of Supreme Court Justices. They will have a profound effect on us for the next forty years. This includes your progeny.
3. That president will appoint various federal trial judges and federal appellate judges.
4. That president will appoint various federal prosecutors.
5. Undoubtedly, she will go far left in those appointments, if she is elected.
6. We don't absolutely know about him.
7. None of us has a crystal ball and we don't really know who (between those two) that president will be.
8. A vote for Trump is a vote against Clinton.
9. A third party vote, while it may make you feel better about yourself, will not help defeat Clinton.
10. It's not about picking a winner, it't trying to make a winner.
11. As John Richardson paraphrases Donald Rumsfeld: When you go to war, you go with the Army you have, not the Army you wish you had. (You don't have Ted Cruz, and the 3rd party can't win.)



Saturday, May 14, 2016

Restroom deja vu


When I was a child in the deep south, the Democrats were in power, segregation was the law, and service stations  had three rest rooms.

  • On the side near the front was the LADIES
  • On the side further back was one labeled GENTLEMEN
  • Around back was a third restroom with COLORED on the door. This was for blacks of both genders.

Reason eventually prevailed, and the third restroom was eliminated. HIS & HERS, as it should have been all along.

Now the Democrats are telling us again we need only one restroom.

XX's, XY's, and whatever are all supposed to share.

How, in the name of common sense, with the history of politicians and coaches preying on boys, can we as a society enhance opportunities for pedophilic men to prey on little girls?

Do we really want that voyeur who was watching the female sportscaster in the next stall because he says he is getting in touch with his feminine side today?

Gimme a break!

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Zenith Zoysia growth summer 2015





In previous posts, I have shown photos of the covering of Zenith Zoysia over time. 

Here is the original post: Tennessee Lawn Grass

Here is an update from June 2014

Here is another update from September 2014

These three photos show how the bare patch got progressively smaller from August 2014 until May of 2016. The top photo shows that the grass has greened up for 2016. During 2015, the grass got rain water and very rarely got watered.
May 11, 2016
Jun 5, 2015
Aug 23, 2014

All these photos were taken from approximately the same place. The orange pin has been in the same spot since I started this.

There is for all intents and purposes, no top soil here. This area was scraped by the builder to create a drain swale. It was seeded over with Fescue in 2012, but the Fescue had completely died by October that year.

Zenith is difficult to get started, but I outline my methods in Tennessee Lawn Grass. But unlike Fescue, once it is established, there is no need to go back and re-seed every few years.







Saturday, May 7, 2016

How to stop a fight

or a war. . .

B-29 BOCKSCAR at Air Force Museum photo by Liston Matthews

There was a recent article in the Knoxville News-Sentinel about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There is even speculation that the president may apologize . . .

If there is any apology due, they should apologize to us.

They started it.

As far as I'm concerned, no apology is now needed from anyone. That is, as they say, HISTOIRE!

But take note, whether on a national level or a personal level (such as an unprovoked criminal attack), sometimes the only effective response is overwhelming force!


Wednesday, February 17, 2016

How to score cheap gas at Kroger

If you buy groceries at Kroger, you are probably using the fuel points. Getting extra points requires some planning and watching Kroger's ads - -

When Kroger offer 4X fuel points,
  1. Buy gift cards to restaurants, such as O'Charley's, Cracker Barrel, Texas Roadhouse, etc. Use these for eating out.
  2. Buy gift cards for birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, etc.
Complete the cash register receipt survey for 50 extra points.

Do you know of any thing I have missed?

Why gun rights advocates should support Ted Cruz

From Paul Valone of Grass Roots North Carolina----

Paul Valone, 22-Year Gun Rights Leader,
Endorses Ted Cruz For President
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why gun rights advocates should support Ted Cruz

Perhaps jaded by twenty-two years as a gun rights leader, I’ve never thought much of presidential politics. We’re usually instructed to endure the “lesser of two evils” by centrists who don’t want you to consider that the lesser of two evils is still evil.

So I didn’t hold high hopes, last year, when a fellow conservative activist told me the Ted Cruz people wanted to meet me. I expected to meet a candidate who would “speechify” for thirty minutes, wave to his adoring fans, and leave.

Photo with Ted Cruz.jpgInstead, Senator Cruz sat down at a table of perhaps two dozen activists and said, “Okay, what should I be doing?” What followed was nearly two hours of give-and-take which convinced me that Ted Cruz had the potential to be the next Ronald Reagan – convinced me so effectively, in fact, that I agreed to be a state campaign co-chair.

What most impressed me was his point that we should never listen to what politicians say, but rather pay attention to what they have done. For example, Donald Trump makes all the right noises about supporting the right to keep and bear arms. His website contains the following verbiage: “The Second Amendment to our Constitution is clear. The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed upon [sic]. Period.”

That sounds great until you consider what Trump said a few years ago: “…I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun.”1

In truth, Donald Trump’s beliefs are most accurately summarized in one of his more recent statements: “I’m very capable of changing to anything I want to change to.” Therein lies the real Donald Trump – a snake oil salesman with enough smarts to know what you want to hear.

When I studied the voting histories of Sen. Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio, at first blush they appear quite similar. But where was Rubio in 2013, after Sandy Hook, when Barack Obama attacked the Second Amendment with a massive gun control scheme parading under the misnomer “universal background checks”?

It was Sen. Cruz, along with Sens. Mike Lee and Rand Paul, who solicited a letter from Senate Republicans vowing to filibuster S.649. It was these three statesmen who forced Democrats to get sixty votes for cloture on S. 649 – and the long list of horrific amendments proposed to the bill, including semi-auto and magazine bans – instead of simple majorities.

But for the efforts of Sen. Cruz, today we would be living under a massive gun registration scheme disguising itself as “universal background checks.” Just today, after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Cruz promised to filibuster whichever nightmare Supreme Court nomination Obama sends to the Senate.

Beyond Cruz’s perfect 100% pro-gun voting record, he is, to date, the only presidential candidate to return Grass Roots North Carolina’s presidential survey – scoring a perfect 100% and securing Grass Roots North Carolina’s highest four-star (****) evaluation.

Some US senators, such as Richard Burr and Lindsey Graham, reportedly hate Ted Cruz. But they hate him because he has held their feet to the fire over issues as diverse as Obamacare, the budget, and gun-control. In fact, Cruz practices exactly the same type of confrontational politics to which Grass Roots North Carolina attributes its twenty-two years of success.

Grass Roots North Carolina does not endorse political candidates. But for these reasons, among others, I personally endorse Sen. Ted Cruz for President of the United States. Anyone who supports not only the Second Amendment, but the American ideal of individual liberty should join me in electing a president who has not only memorized the Constitution, but who lives it each day.

Armatissimi e liberissimi,
signature scan-cropped2.jpg
F. Paul Valone
President, Grass Roots North Carolina
Executive Director, Rights Watch International

Sunday, January 31, 2016

The Hawkeye Cauci*

I am forever amazed at the number of people the media interview who don't make up their minds until the last minute.

If you are one of those, the first thing you must do if you are going to cast an intelligent vote is to examine your own core beliefs.

  1. Do you believe that life begins at conception?  YES  or  NO. If your answer is yes, then that will help eliminate some candidates.
  2. Do you believe that we are a constitutional republic, and that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land; including the Bill or Rights?  YES  or  NO. If your answer is yes, then that will eliminate some candidates, too.
  3. Do you believe that the Bill of Rights is a package deal, and not a smorgasbord to pick and choose from?  YES  or NO.  Again, the process of elimination.

Now, of those that are left, which candidate's actions and statements align most closely with your core beliefs?

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Why give that man enough money to burn a wet dog?

The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that embattled Knox County School Superintendent Jim McIntyre will be receiving
a lump sum of $227,256 in February, if his separation agreement is approved by the school board.

School Board, from its web site, in the public domain
That makes it sound like the Super is asking the Knox County taxpayers to bribe beg him to stay until July.

If you agree with me that it is ridiculous to give him such an exorbitant amount, call these School Board members today, and if you can make it, attend the called meeting on January 19, at 5 pm. to voice your concern.

Karen Carson 865-675-0236
Lynn Fugate 865-566-7414
Gloria Deathridge 865-329-9949

Go ahead today Big Mac. I won't be greedy. I will fill in for you until July 1 for half that much.