Thursday, April 17, 2025

A Terrible Boat Accident

Three people were killed and several injured after a horrific boat collision during a Major League Fishing tournament Wednesday on Lewis Smith Lake in Cullman County when one of the participants in the tournament collided with a guided charter "Stripper" boat with the captain and paying passengers. See more HERE.


I don't know if any of you fish bass tournaments or have ever seen the "start" of one of these bass tourneys where 150+ boats are sitting in the water near a boat launch/marina at an idle awaiting the start. The "go" signal is usually done with the blast of an airhorn, rifle shot, whistle, etc. On whatever signal is used, powerful outboard engines come to life and the water churns and rolls as the boats gain speed and "plane-off". Every fisherman is trying to beat every other fisherman to "the spot" and it is a wild-wild west scenario on the water and it is literally "boat at your own risk" (IMHO). A lot of people use this lake (and I imagine every other lake in the SE U.S.) for a myriad of purposes and interests. In the spirit of "never let a good crisis go to waste", there are those who will use this terrible tragedy to curtail the rights of others and further their ambitions as most on here know, but I detest knee-jerk reactions and .gov overreaches. Hang on bass fishermen.

Sunday, April 13, 2025

Beating the Patient Weapon

 


Landmine removal in World War II

The American T10 Mine Exploder, also known as the “Penny-farthing tank”
(Photo: U.S. Army)

Our previous article, written on the occasion of International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, was about the German landmines used in World War II. This article follows up by discussing the methods used in the war to remove mines. The belligerent nations of the war put their full range of abilities, from sheer human grit through electronic devices to heavy machinery to finding and removing or destroying the enemy’s minefields.

Thursday, April 10, 2025

Cockpit View Takes You For A Ride On "Doc" a B-29

 MORE HERE<<

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We May Need A Day Or Week Of Mourning....

 

Famous bourbon distillery suffers 'substanial' damage from flooding in Kentucky's capital

The Buffalo Trace Distillery is located along the banks of the Kentucky River in Frankfort. The river crested Monday at 48.2 feet, the second highest in Frankfort's history by less than an inch.









Wednesday, April 9, 2025

The Patient Weapon: German Land Mines of WW2

H/T to Robert in Cullman for sending this interesting article from Beaches of Normandy Tours

                                                        
                                                       

                               

Landmines have a long history of use in war, and an equally long history of indiscriminate killing after wars end. In 2024 alone, landmines took at least 5,757 casualties, 84% of them civilians – and that number was 22% up from 2022’s figures. Mines left behind after a war will keep killing innocents for decades, and finding and removing them is an equally long task. This article about landmines in World War II was first published on April 4, the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, and is dedicated to those who have fallen victim to these indiscriminate weapons and to those who risk their lives to clear them. 

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Honest Abe: Tariffs and Slavery

 H/T to reader James in Columbus




Lincoln Day Events: The Truth About 'Honest Abe'

By Carole Hornsby Haynes   

Lincoln Day events (sometimes Lincoln-Reagan Day), named after Abraham Lincoln, are held annually in February or March as the primary annual celebrations and fundraisers for the Republican Party.

Although revised history portrays Honest Abe as one of the greatest of U.S. presidents, the truth is he was a white supremacist, imperialist, and shredder of Constitutional rights even for Northerners. Lincoln was the first president of the new 1854 Republican party which had attracted socialists and admirers of Karl Marx.

Unlike its contemporary counterpart, the Republican Party of the mid-to-late 19th century favored big government, corporate subsidies, high protectionist import taxes, and monetary policies while Democrat and "conservative" were virtually synonyms.

The tale spun by the victor of the War Between the States, and aggressively promoted since the 1960s by progressive media, academics, and politicians, presents the war as a moral crusade against slavery. Yet people living during that era knew better. Five years after the war Lysander Spooner, a New England lawyer, scholar, and abolitionist, decried the North’s myth of moral crusade:

“All these cries of having abolished slavery, of having saved the country, of having preserved the union, of establishing a government of consent, and of maintaining the national honor are all gross, shameless, transparent cheats—so transparent that they ought to deceive no one.”

The famous English author, Charles Dickens, a strong opponent of slavery, also weighed in about the fake claim,

“The Northern onslaught upon slavery is no more than a piece of specious humbug disguised to conceal its desire for economic control of the United States.”

Though Lincoln was said to support equality, he was an unapologetic racist – an unapologetic white supremacist as were others throughout the North. In the sixth of the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858 he stated,

"I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races--that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races...I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”

In a message to Congress on December 1, 1862 he stated, “I strongly favour colonisation.” He wanted to deport blacks to Africa, Latin America, and South America.

In his First Inaugural Address Lincoln said, “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.”

It was obvious the Morrill Tariff, not slavery, was his primary focus as he vowed during his address to enforce the tariff, even in any seceded states. Though this was to be all in the spirit of defending and maintaining the Union, Lincoln’s message was clear. Federal violence would be used to collect the tariff and protect the places of collection, such as Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

“In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it is forced upon the national authority. The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no use of force against or among the people anywhere.”

The tariff was a major issue because 95 percent of the federal government’s revenue came from a tariff on imported goods with more than 83% of that coming from the South, especially on imports from France and Great Britain. Yet the tariff came at the expense of the South with one out of every five dollars of this tax revenue spent on Northern public works and industrial subsidies. The Morrill Tariff pushed the percentage on Southern imports even higher than before and would protect Northern industries while impoverishing southern and western states.

With the election of Lincoln and the new Morrill Tariff, Southern leaders in South Carolina and the Gulf States began calling for secession with South Carolina seceding in December 1860; Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana in January 1861; and Texas in February 1861.

Lincoln remained true to his promise that he would enforce collection of the tariff on any states that seceded and in April 1861, after manipulating the South to fire on the tariff collection facility of Fort Sumter, issued an order for 75,000 volunteers to descend upon South Carolina to put down the “rebellion.”

Lincoln gambled that his threat would tamp down secession. Instead, along with South Carolina and the Gulf States that had already seceded, the Border States of Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina seceded in May 1861.

Needing cover for this unconstitutional action against Southern states, on January 1, 1863 nearly two years after the beginning of the war, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves only in states that had seceded, not in slave states that remained in the Union nor in northern states where slavery existed.

Northern Slaves

It should be noted that the 1860 census showed there were 1,387,000 slaves in the seceded states and 1,817,000 (or over 56 per cent of the total American slave population) still in the Union, including nearly 3,700 in the District of Columbia and 18 in New Jersey. Therefore, 56 percent of slaves were not freed by the Emancipation Proclamation.

Lincoln’s freeing of any slaves belied his inaugural address promise.

President Woodrow Wilson, in his History of the American People, explained the purpose behind the exaggeration of the issue of slavery:

“It was necessary to put the South at a moral disadvantage by transforming the contest from a war waged against states fighting for their independence into a war waged against states fighting for the maintenance and extension of slavery.”

“Total war” was unleashed upon the South at the hand of brutal Northern commanders. Kirkpatrick Sale wrote,

“That meant a war waged with full military mobilization not only against the enemy army but upon civilians in enemy territory and their property, stores and factories, with murder, looting, arson and assault from which neither women, children, the elderly or infirm were spared. It had never been seen before in the history of civilization, and it set a precedent for the all-out slaughters of the two world wars of the next century.”

General Ulysses S. Grant noted,

“Rebellion has assumed that shape now that it can only terminate by the complete subjugation of the South...It is our duty to weaken the enemy, by destroying their means of subsistence, withdrawing their means for cultivating their fields, and in every other way possible.”

At Grant’s order, General William Sherman moved on Jackson, Mississippi where the Union army left most of the city destroyed with the entire business sections in ruins, railroads torn up, supply facilities destroyed, and most of the better residences burned.

Sherman then marched on Meridian, Mississippi and boasted, “Meridian, with its depots, store-houses, arsenal, hospitals, offices, hotels, and cantonments, no longer exists.”

During his famous “March to the Sea,” Sherman employed scorched-earth warfare with looting, pillaging, and destruction. Moving across Georgia, 60,000 Union soldiers terrorized the citizens for two months,

“...looting and burning homes, shops and warehouses, setting fires across the plantations that grew to 60 miles wide at some points, confiscating all foodstuffs for Union use, leaving white and black near starvation. Sherman estimated that his army did $100 million worth of damage to the countryside (more than $1.5 billion today), destroying 300 miles of railroad, capturing or killing livestock, and leaving most of the state’s population of a million, black and white, destitute.”

In South Carolina, Sherman’s march from the sea was even more brutal than that in Georgia, even an occasional murder.

“The destruction of houses, barns, mills, etc. was almost universal….a majority of the Cities, towns, villages, and country houses have been burnt to the ground...Day by day our legions of armed men surged over the land, over a region forty miles wide, burning everything we could not take away.”

The crazed Union soldiers purposely left the people – white and black – in starvation. A Union officer wrote, “The sufferings which the people here will have to undergo will be most intense. We have left on the wide strip of country we have passed over no provisions which will go any distance in supporting the people.”

Lincoln’s response after his second inauguration? A promise to continue the war.

Impact of the War On the South and the Nation

Lincoln recklessly started an expensive and savage war at the hand of a Northern army that went after civilians and their property while pillaging and destroying cities, infrastructure, and businesses.

Then followed a military occupation led by radical Republicans – Reconstruction – and “carpetbagger” state governments that continued the exploitation and impoverishment of the South, stifling economic recovery.

The South was left as an agrarian society of sharecroppers in dire poverty with ongoing federal tariffs and discriminatory railroad shipping taxes that continued the exploitation of the South and favoritism of the North for generations.

Black anti-slavery orator, Frederick Douglass in a 1888 speech in Washington on the 26th anniversary of emancipation in the District of Columbia, described how the Negro was "nominally free" but “actually a slave.” “I here and now denounce his so-called emancipation as a stupendous fraud-- a fraud upon him, a fraud upon the world.”

Politically, there was a tsunami backlash by Southerners as states organized Democratic clubs and overthrew the carpetbagger state governments, resulting in a Democrat stronghold for generations.

The issue of slavery continues to be mainstream as Neo-Marxists use it to further their ideology and incite racial violence and division among Americans.

One example is the Project 1619 launched by the New York Times to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first arrival of African slaves to the American colonies. The project which has been pushed out to thousands of public classrooms claims that the lives of blacks have been shaped by the history of slavery and Jim Crow. To counter this fatalistic narrative that continues the culture of victimhood in the black community, black leaders have launched an initiative, 1776, with “aspirational” and “inspirational” essays and educational resources.

Monuments that were intended to be community memorials honoring the Confederate dead are being removed from the public domain in Southern states with Neo-Marxists using them to create hatred and division among Americans. Although none of the Confederate monuments appear to mention slavery, the radical left claims these monuments are symbols of those who fought to keep slavery intact in the South and, therefore, are “racist.”

Northern Confederate Monuments

It should be noted that the North also erected many community memorials to the war dead yet Neo-Marxists are ignoring those.

With more written about the U.S. “Civil War” than any other topic except Christianity and the Bible, there are many excellent scholarly books and essays written from primary sources to educate one’s self. It is imperative that we learn our true history and stop compromising with the devil who intends to destroy America by destroying our heritage and culture. Our Western civilization is at stake.

Finally, the Republican Party must totally separate itself from Lincoln and the false narrative about the War Between the States if it is to remain relevant to conservatives. 

To see articles, click here; http://drcarolhhaynes.com

To hear podcast, click here;  http://drhaynesreport.com

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Monday, April 7, 2025

Patton


Someone posted a comment mentioning Patton and reincarnation in the last post. Most of what I knew about Gen. Geo. Patton growing up came from stories from a few veterans and the 1970 movie classic Patton. I was probably in my mid-thirties when I read Patton: A Genius For War. The book really opened my eyes and made me aware of a several inaccuracies, myths, and lies regarding the very complex and often times misunderstood General Patton. One of the things the movie did get right was the General's belief in reincarnation. It was not just George Patton who believed this, but most of his immediate family. The Patton's would regularly commune with dead relatives. Seances were a regular practice, but not a necessity. The story of Patton and his outfit pinned down on WW1 battlefield when he credits his dead Confederate ancestors appearing out of the clouds mounted on horseback for urging him to get up and lead the charge forward for getting him and his men out of pickle (plus many other like instances). I found all of this very interesting and still read most anything of interest regarding the General and/or his family. I tried to go back and find an interesting story I once read about Patton who had taken some foreign military dignitaries to a nearby Washington CW battlefield for a tour. During the outting, Patton abruptly stopped the tour guide and corrected him (seems like it was correction of which hill was occupied during the battle). The tour guide asked, "how do you know that Sir?" to which Patton replied, "I was there". A very old gentleman in the tour group who was a veteran of that battle chimed in and said, "what he is saying is right. I was there too". I think this was in the 1920s. I did a quick Google search and found this:


In the 1920s, a story circulated about General George Patton correcting a Civil War battlefield tour guide, with a veteran present who confirmed the guide's inaccuracies, which Patton then corrected. 
Here's a more detailed account: 
  • The Incident:
    A story exists of George Patton, a future World War II general, interrupting a Civil War battlefield tour guide in the 1920s.
  • The Accusation:
    The tour guide was allegedly giving inaccurate details about the battle, and a veteran who had fought in the Civil War was present to confirm the guide's errors.
  • Patton's Intervention:
    Patton, known for his military knowledge and sharp wit, reportedly stepped in to correct the tour guide's inaccuracies.
  • Verification by Veteran:
    The veteran present, who had actually fought in the battle, is said to have confirmed Patton's corrections, adding weight to the story.

  • The Story's Circulation:
  • This incident, or variations of it, has been recounted in various historical accounts and articles, becoming a part of the folklore surrounding George Patton,

 I would be interested in hearing of any other sources of similar or stories regarding Patton's maternal family, the Hereford's.

Monday, March 31, 2025

The kind of headlines I enjoy seeing

 

How to purchase 1911s through the restarted Civilian Marksmanship Program


The Trump Administration will begin allowing sales of 1911 pistols Through the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), announced U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks, AL) announced last week. Story HERE.

Friday, March 28, 2025

Sorry Kids, No Free Ice Cream Tonight

 


It’s been a long and busy week at work, which is good. 


On the other hand, I was awoken at 3:30am for a priority bathroom run.  Since then it’s been bed and bathroom. I went to our local office for about an hour and had to come home.   I ain’t got much left to give Mr Hopper.  I’m going back to bed and hoping it’s only a 24 hour bug. 

Enjoy the weekend. We are looking at rain , snow, ice and shitty conditions from midnight tonight until noon on Sunday   Oh , joy.    


Irish




Sunday, March 23, 2025

Ready The Popcorn!

 







Why are "these people" so obsessed with children?

 

Hoover elementary parents "furious" after Vulcan Park and Museum led by                apparent cross dressing male guide



Read more about how parents and teachers felt "uncomfortable" around this unannounced male dressed like a woman who acted as their tour guide during a school field trip last week. Story


Friday, March 21, 2025

Friday Femme Fatale Farrago...... Check Your Mints....

 

 


 

"Florida Woman" drowns dog in airport commode

I wonder if it ever crossed her mind just to let it loose in the bathroom. A cute dog like that wouldn't have been without a human very long and any fate would have been better than the one the dog received. Based on the investigation, police say a warrant was issued  for Alison Agatha Lawrence who apparently drowned her dog in an Orlando airport toilet because she lacked the proper paperwork to take the dog on her flight. Some people's kids, I swear. Story



A couple of weeks ago there was a story out of Birmingham where a group of four men threw a live Australian Shepheard inside a garbage bag into a trash dumpster. Someone saw this happen and retrieved the dog. It found a new home almost immediately and is "living happily ever after". In the following weeks, the local media ran that story into the ground, (literally 24/7 as a filler) while barely mentioning several "Amish" shootings and homicides...just saying.

The Left and Liberal Politicians

  

  Each day it seems like they are paid assets to destroy America.


Imagine hating a car company that was once the golden child of the green movement.

Imagine seeing said car and feeling enough hatred to destroy or damage it.

For what?

Because the owner of the company is trying to shut down government overspending?

It's mental illness, and they all appear to be infected.



( as seen on twitter )

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Remembering Kenneth Pluhar Jr.

 

Kenneth Joseph Pluhar Jr.
1961 - 2023







Kenneth Pluhar Jr. Obituary

Published by Legacy Remembers on Mar. 10, 2023.

Kenne died in ICU at St Anthony’s after losing a battle with sepsis - at the age of 62, after 50 years of crap-starting with everyone and everything he could find to fight in Alton, IL, this hard as nails, redneck, SOB finally found something meaner and more stubborn than himself. Like any good card-carrying, ray ban wearing, camo coverall lovin’ redneck, Kenne had 3 true loves: hunting, fishing, and drinking. He liked “both kinds of music - country AND western”. Like every sad cowboy song, he couldn’t stay married, but that didn’t keep him from trying. Again. And again. He had a total of 4 legal marriages (and divorces) and one common law marriage under his belt - that we know of. His first marriage, to Tara (Gomez) Berry, produced his one and only child (again, that we know of), Halliea Milner, of whom he was extremely proud, mostly because she is almost as big of a pain in the ass as he was, and she kept the pain-in-the-ass line going by giving him his only grandchild, Sidnee Milner. He was preceded in death by his mother, Connie Mckinnon Donnelson, who, til the day he died, he called “his mommy” - proof positive that even the biggest assholes (jerks) have a soft side, you just may have to dig deeper to find it. His father, Kenneth Joseph Pluhar, Sr, is still around, though, and was sure to teach Kenne the best ways to be emotionally unavailable and yet overly sensitive, all rolled into one. It’s a strong family trait passed down generation to generation. Sharing in the Pluhar family heritage are Kenne’s siblings - all of whom managed to out live him, which is no surprise seeing as he was equal parts dare devil and lush - I mean, seriously, he probably invented the phrase - “Hey, y’all, watch this”. From first to last, they all loved him til the end, which is a miracle seeing as he took the idea of being “hard to love” as a personal challenge: Diane Meyers, Eddie Pluhar, Amy Eernisse, Susie Bizaiillion, and step sister Claire Weygandt who was fortunate enough to grow up completely separately, so she is likely messed up in other, non-Pluhar ways. He is also survived by a plethora of nieces and nephews that he terrorized and traumatized in countless and original manners - truly, it was survivorship when it came to Uncle Kenne.
Originally from Oakridge, TN Kenne had a green thumb, was outdoorsy and was a skilled carpenter - this meant that he was great at growing his own weed and was champion of “hide and seek for $2k a week” when he worked for the union. He actually was a halfway decent carpenter - people bragged about his “craftsmanship” - if you could convince him to show up and work, which most people weren't capable of accomplishing. Kenne spent an inordinate amount of the last 5 decades on his buddy’s farm, and if you didn’t pay close attention you may have missed the fact that his non-sexual-life-partner AKA best friend AKA Mike Norris actually owned the farm, not Kenne. He didn’t allow details like that to get in the way of a good story, like that time he actually saved someone’s life by being prepared for the end of times and commie attacks. Kenne was good at just about anything he tried to be good at and was wicked smart - but that didn’t stop him from trying his best to do absolutely nothing except drink, smoke, and listen to music.
We will be celebrating his life the good old fashioned Kenne way - with a party at the Woodriver Moose 730 Wesley Drive, Woodriver, IL. Friday, March 24. Doors open at 5:30, there will be food & beer that you don’t have to pay for (Kenne’s favorite) at 6:00 and people will start talking crap about Kenne and his life around 7. Although there will be music and mayhem, don’t plan to stay too long; we are going to kick you out at 10pm. Save your money - please don’t send anything (flowers, donations, etc); take a trip to the Dollar Store in Kenne’s honor instead.




Monday, March 17, 2025

From World's Fastest Ocean Liner To World's Largest Artificial Reef


                                                          The Tugboat Trip of a Lifetime   



It is a long journey from buying a dilapidated tugboat and spending ten months getting it seaworthy to owning a trustworthy fleet that is sought after for difficult tows.

That is the life journey taken by Mike Vinik of Keyport, N.J. His present fleet of tugboats couldn't be more different than that first derelict tug. Read the entire story HERE.



Happy St. Patrick's All!!

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, March 15, 2025

Blood Moon

  

Images shared by CD.  Taken around 2am at Hampton Beach. Thanks!










Monday, March 10, 2025

Meet Weiner.....

 

When you hit rock bottom and keep digging.....




Nude Man Arrested Walking On The Highway In Dover

Troop A

DOVER, N.H. – A Somersworth man was arrested after fleeing the scene of a crash, naked, and disrupting highway traffic.

At 3:15 p.m. on Sunday, March 9, 2025, the New Hampshire State Police Communications Unit received several reports of a man causing an interruption to traffic on Route 16 in Dover. Multiple passing drivers reported that the man was naked and running or walking within the travel lanes of the highway. 

State Troopers assigned to the Troop A barracks responded to the area and quickly located the naked man. With the assistance of officers from the Dover Police Department, Troopers were able to take the man into custody and identified him as Shawn P. Weiner Sr., 35, of Somersworth. Weiner was transported to an area hospital for treatment of minor injuries suffered in the crash. 

The preliminary investigation determined Weiner had been involved in a crash on Varney Road in Dover and left the scene of the crash on foot. Additional information revealed the vehicle involved in the crash had been reported stolen in Somersworth shortly before the crash. It was further determined that, while fleeing the scene of the crash, Weiner discarded his clothing on the shoulder of the highway before crossing all lanes of travel. 

As a result of the investigation, the New Hampshire State Police charged Weiner with indecent exposure and lewdness, reckless conduct, two counts of disorderly conduct, and littering. In connection with these charges, Weiner was issued a summons to appear in Dover District Court on May 13, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. 

In addition to charges filed by the New Hampshire State Police, the Dover Police Department investigated the crash that preceded the incident on the highway, filed separate charges, and retained custody of Weiner. Additionally, the reported theft of the vehicle involved in the crash remains under investigation by the Somersworth Police Department. 

Troopers were assisted at the scene and during the subsequent investigation by members of the Dover Police Department, the Somersworth Police Department, and Dover Fire & Rescue. 




Friday, March 7, 2025

Friday Femme Fatale Farrago.... Some Of This, Some Of That, and Some Pillow Mints....

   

 Life threw me a break this afternoon. 

It showed up in the form of a power outage at work.

So, I decided to loose myself in the webz and put this together.  


Here ya go.....


  

  


Click the pillow mints....


Thursday, March 6, 2025

Feel Good Video Of The Day


For now, we can only dream of an investigation, prosecution and punishment for this power hungry megalomaniac. I wonder if she thought about that time she ripped up all those papers behind Trump's back while she and her comrades were getting "lit on fire" by DJT Tuesday night. 

 

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

.........marinated in liberal tears too

 


It was Trump's barbeque and he roasted enough democrat-ass to feed "Coxey's Army". 



I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Trump stand up to these America hating assholes and call them out for what they are. 


Best line of the night below


Like 'ol Charlie used to say, "we're walking real proud and talking real loud again"


Sunday, March 2, 2025

Earlier Today I Saw A News Story About A Nutjob, With A Knife , Trying To Attack Some People In Boston....

 

I see that Divemedic already did the heavy lifting so you can read about the retards running Boston.

 

HERE<<<< 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Re: The Ukraine War....

  This was sent in by one of our blog readers.  He lays out some interesting information regarding

the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.