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?

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--

Four Justices

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.

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.

Dear America

A video by Ray Stevens.

Enjoy!

>

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)

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.)

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!

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.

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!