Folks have you heard the words “defund the police lately?” Of course, you haven’t, since our inner cities are now crime riddled utopias, the idea of calling to removing police from the streets is toxic. Key word in my last sentence was “idea.” You see the liberals in the country don’t change their beliefs, they change a buzz word.
What is happening in big cities nationwide right now is a massive crime surge, violent crime especially. You don’t need to watch the news; you can see it with your own eyes. We have been releasing “non-violent” folks from prison. These folks mixed with reduced morale at the local precinct, and city councils who are pressuring the local DA not to charge on certain offenses. The result is a powder keg about to blow. The Democrats saw all this, and they know the suburban moms (aka the ones who supported Trump the first time, not the second) are having second thoughts on “defunding.” So, they changed the rhetoric, now it’s a vaccine mandate.
Cities got smart, why call it defunding when the word mandate works just as well? It’s not about your health and safety, right? That officer standing guard on the corner? The officer who pulled you over? Well, they better not be unwashed! So as a result, a mandate works here. Again, it’s a public health crisis, right? Most know the public safety workers voted overwhelmingly for Trump and are most likely to be resistant to a vaccine. The answer is simple, order a mandate, if they don’t comply fire them. Why not, we get to shrink to police force and blame the officers not elected Democrats.
This is playing out all over the country, there is discussion of entire firehouses and police precincts shutting down. Look at New York City a place where crime has skyrocketed…the answer is less police due to a mandate! Remember when NYC cut one billion in police funding.
San Francisco has become a lawless region, parts of LA have vigilante justice. The problem will be getting worse not better, as these mandates are set to go into place over the next couple weeks.
Do not kid yourselves loyal readers, defund the police is alive and well, it just exists under a different name. Calling it a mandate and invoking public safety is the new buzzword. This is playing out in all big cities, hopefully it won’t come to one near you. We used to believe in freedoms here, sadly since 9/11 we have given those up, and put them in the hands of bureaucrats and a media that selectively reports and edits as they see fit. The virus isn’t killing the masses, it seems like it targets specific groups. Also why is it that today we have entire generations who want to go after people’s livelihoods? I think some do not understand the loss of a job leads indirectly to a loss of housing, transportation, food and mental state. Aren’t those things what the Left and BLM argue so much that they are in favor of?
Hiring police is not easy, it costs a ton of money and time. The candidate pool for recruiting has dried up. Now we have mandates. What will they mandate next?
When we last left my wife, she was getting her potassium back into the normal band. Since then, about two more weeks have passed. She is still dealing with nausea and occasional vomiting. She is eating three small meals a day; think mashed potatoes, ice cream, oatmeal, and other fairly soft foods. In addition, she is getting saline added to her via the port about twice a week.
She says that it hurts to swallow many types of food but that it no longer is getting “stuck” on the way down. Speaking of down, she said that she is down 40 lbs. from the time of her first chemo treatment until now. Another symptom that she is now experiencing is that much of her hair has fallen out. Its not all gone but is very thin compared to what it was back in July. Ironically, the hair loss didn’t start until chemo and radiation were concluded.
In other developments, my wife wants to make a short road trip before her next PET/CT scan scheduled in mid-November. Yep, cancer patients get cabin fever too. Surgery is scheduled following Thanksgiving.
As I have previously mentioned, this procedure is not one I enjoy contemplating. It will forever change her lifestyle and maim her for the rest of her days. As a refresher, let me briefly explain the surgery.
The esophagus is about 9-10 inches (25 centimeters) long and less than an inch (2 centimeters) in diameter when relaxed. It is located just posterior to the trachea in the neck and thoracic regions of the body and passes through the esophageal hiatus of the diaphragm on its way to the stomach.
As previously blogged, the “height” of her tumor is 6 cm or about 2.4 inches. Per what I have read on medical websites, the upper incision of an esophagectomy is 3 inches above the top of the cancer.
If the cancer is in the lower part of the esophagus (near the stomach) or at the place where the esophagus and stomach meet (the gastroesophageal or GE junction), the surgeon will remove part of the stomach, the part of the esophagus containing the cancer, and about 3 to 4 inches (about 7.6 to 10 cm) of normal esophagus above this. Then the stomach is connected to what is left of the esophagus either high in the chest or in the neck.
Ok taking the above quotations, let’s do some simple math.
We know that my wife’s cancer is in the lower third of her esophagus. Let’s say that the tumor is one inch above her stomach’s sphincter. (This is a guess and the only part of my math that is an estimate.)
Length of Esophagus (10.0”) minus distance above stomach (1.0”) minus height of tumor (2.4”) minus additional three inches (3.0”) leaves 3.6” of esophagus.
Thus, the likely outcome of the surgery is that my wife will get to keep about 1/3 of her esophagus (3.6 inches) plus, the top of her stomach will be removed. The remaining parts will then be sewn together. This surgery takes about seven hours.
Folks, the above scenario and a “successful” surgery involve many things going right and none going sideways.
I’m not sure that my wife has the stamina to take a road trip in mid-November but I’m willing to let her try. I don’t think you will hear from me again on this subject until we get the scan results. Until next time…
On Monday night I was checking my ESPN app for no reason other than to see the status and score of the Monday Night Football Game, as a proud cord cutter that is how I get my sports fix. As you would imagine I was surprised by a “news headline” conveniently disguised as sports. See the photo sent to BlogFather (who was able to verify its authenticity).
Check out that exact wording “Texas law restricts trans students’ access to sports” Barf. Folks if you get your hard news from ESPN, you likely believe Joe Biden is actually running the country. The Texas law is simple, you play on the team associated with your birth-gender. So, to break this down for those related to Aaron or George Park, if you have interior plumbing, you play on the girl’s team, exterior plumbing you play on the boy’s team. If you are confused maybe you could just sit on the bleachers. It’s not about hate, it’s about safety. Something ESPN cares little about as they allowed an anchor of theirs, Sara Walsh, to have a miscarriage while hosting a live show.
So, at ESPN, if you are trans, play on any team you want. If you’re women, make me a sandwich, wear revealing clothing, let me hit on you, sexually harass you, or have a miscarriage live on air. Got it? Good.
Yeah, if you’re black, ESPN has your back, but if you like it from behind, ESPN say don’t have a Texas team in mind. Thus the Woke amongst us want you to boycott the Cowboys, Texans, Rangers, Astros, Mavericks, and Spurs. Keep in mind Mark Cuban is the owner of the Mavericks, and Greg Poppovich, the coach of the Spurs, are two of the wokest humans on the planet. Keep in mind this has to do with transgender sports laws, nothing else.
In closing I will say this, while the suits at ESPN think they are a hard news network, they ought to understand safety. Put me, a 6’2 205lb man, against almost any female and I would have a decisive advantage. For no other reason that the testosterone and muscle mass that I possess, I could beat a girl into submission. Think about it, almost all cases of domestic violence involve the male being the one arrested, it’s not by accident. I am not sure why it is so hard to play on the team of your birth gender, and why do folks want boys in the girl’s bathroom? Check out what is going on in Virginia right now in Loudon County. The school board, the superintendent and others are actively stonewalling and covering up the sexual assault of what could be 2 or more girls by a “trans person.” It’s not about hate for us at the blog, it’s about safety. Keep in mind a sitting Democrat senator was filmed while using the bathroom at Arizona State University, and no one on the Democrat side even seemed to care about her privacy. Mind you one of the “filmers” was male.
Rest assured ESPN still employs Adrian Wojnarowski who tweeted at senator Josh Hawley “F*** You.” So, it’s very clear if you are a Democrat or are just plain unhinged, ESPN has a spot for you. If you are a woman better watch you back, the men at ESPN are well protected when it comes to sexual assault.
ESPN has nothing going for it anymore, I am not sure why they try to push their far-left BS on the masses, maybe Disney executives will address this on the earnings calls? Wait, they did by showing falling subscribers and revenue.
Very few things in the world today make me literally speechless. I came across this article yesterday and was at a total loss for words. Yep, believe it or not folks, our all-knowing, America’s Favorite Doctor Tony Fauci is a puppy killer. Yep, I’ll let the article do the talking for me.
According to documents acquired by a government watchdog group, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — led by Fauci — funded research in 2018 allowing scientists to force-feed experimental drugs into 44 beagle puppies before killing and dissecting them.
The dogs — between six and eight months old — were also “devocalized,” according to the report. The procedure involves the slitting of a dog’s vocal cords as a means to stop barking.
In another instance, live-puppies in Tunisia were held in cages and exposed to sandflies. DeSantis lambasted the research while speaking to reporters in North Venice.
“They’re doing cruel experiments on puppies,” DeSantis said. “What they were doing with those puppies is flat out disgusting. It’s despicable. I cannot believe American tax dollars would go to treat those dogs the way those dogs are being treated.”
Barf. Yep, the innocent telegenic Dr. who claims the vaccine is just for you among other things, was doing heinous research on “man’s best friend.” Not only did he infect/kill the dogs, but he also instructed the researchers to cut their vocal chords. This is straight out of a movie like the Mummy where no one could hear them scream in horror. The photos are sick, this Fauci is a literal modern-day Dr. Frankenstein. This is so gross, its reprehensible. Does anyone now doubt us here at the blog who have been telling you this coronavirus was grown in a lab? The conspiracy doesn’t seem so far-fetched now, does it?
Dr. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Senator, has been all over Fauci from day 1. He knows Fauci is a dishonest, little man syndrome having prick. He gets on TV with that fake used car salesman look (when he isn’t wearing his mask) and tells everyone how self-righteous he is. By the way, did you see how his NIH institute has been funding gain of function research in Wuhan? Yeah, you likely missed that too on your favorite cable channel.
But a letter from the NIH to Ranking Member Rep. James Comer of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Wednesday admitted to a “limited experiment” conducted in order to test if “spike proteins from naturally occurring bat coronaviruses circulating in China were capable of binding to the human ACE2 receptor in a mouse model” – contradicting Fauci’s previous claims.
Folks allow me to remind you, this would not be the first time the good doctor has lied to Congress. A move that if made by any of us unwashed would lead to jail time. Yet somehow this evil man is able to continue to peddle his bullshit while telling us to get vaccinated or else.
This is exactly what Donald Trump fought against his entire presidency. The Bureaucracy in the country has too much power. These folks just wait out the leaders they do not like. Fauci needs to be gone yesterday, he helped create this virus and now he wants to keep it going. He cares only about power. How else does one describe the endless changes in policy from him? Mask, no mask, tinder hookups are ok, Christmas is not, Halloween is ok, church is not, take-out is ok, indoor dining is not, vaccine passports, corporate mandates. Let’s end this. It’s time. Fauci is a dog killer and a liar, the worst kind of person. Just remember Michael Vick got jail time for an illegal dog fighting operation. I wonder the punishment for literally maiming and killing dogs in the name of science?
In the meantime, back to your cable watching, and be sure to get the booster shot. Because? Science, and you better go along or else no Christmas for you!
The Chief
Oh, lest you think The Chief has left the reservation on this one, even the MSN is appalled by his puppy torture.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, NIAID and the National Institutes of Health as a whole have been under intense scrutiny in recent months over what types of animal testing should be funded with taxpayer grants in light of questions about gain of function experimentation at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“According to documents obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by taxpayer watchdog group White Coat Waste Project, and subsequent media coverage from October 2018 until February 2019, NIAID spent $1.68 million in taxpayer funds on drug tests involving 44 beagle puppies,” the Thursday letter reads.
Loyal readers I’m late on this one, but as you know, I’m a card-carrying Oakland…eh Vegas Raider Nation hater so I have to weigh in. Jon Gruden aka the Messiah of Aaron Park’s loser squad was “axed to resign” circa 10 days ago. Yes, during the middle of the season, he got caught up in a scandal involving the Washington Football Team…. yeah, that’s a real name.
Gruden apparently sent quite a few emails when he was out of work to his former GM friend Bruce Allen, the President of the “Football Team.” These emails were uncovered during an investigation of “Football Team’s” owner Daniel Snyder. Snyder is a dirt bag accused of all kinds of stuff, but this blog doesn’t focus on him.
Gruden was the collateral damage. This was because in said emails he called NFLPA (Players Association) leader Demaurice Smith a racially tinged name. He basically said Smith had large lips and was taken maybe out of context. Smith was about to be removed as player association leader, so these emails had to drop. This saved Smith’s career, as he has been a do-nothing bozo as player association leader.
However more came out; Gruden basically went after every single protected class. He went after trans people (Caitlyn/Bruce Jenner), gay people (Michael Sam) woman, and Jews. I understand the language he used flowed freely at one point to describe people, trust me, I played football at an all-guys high school, that language was used daily. Not just by players, it was coaches, teachers, and administrators too. But it’s not 2004 anymore. This gets you fired, it’s not just Cancel Culture. Gruden went after every single protected class.
Here are the actual words; mind you it wasn’t one email it was a bunch.
What did Jon Gruden say in emails?
Gruden used racist, sexist, homophobic and transophobic language in the emails, which the Times reports dated from 2010 through 2018, before Gruden was hired by the Raiders for his second stint with the team. Per the Times, he often called NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a “f—t” and a “clueless anti football p—y.” He also used homophobic slurs to describe NFL owners, coaches and reporters who cover the league.
Gruden also reportedly exchanged emails with Allen and others that included photos of women wearing only bikini bottoms. One photo reportedly included two Washington Football Team cheerleaders. Per the Times, Gruden and Allen also sometimes included Ed Droste, the co-founder of Hooters; Jim McVay, an executive who has run the Outback Bowl; and Nick Reader, the founder of PDQ Restaurants, in the emails.
Per the Times, Droste in 2017 shared a sexist meme of a woman refereeing in the NFL, with Gruden replying, “Nice job roger.”
Gruden also criticized larger issues that surfaced in or otherwise had platforms of discussion in the league. For example, he reportedly criticized former President Barack Obama during his 2012 reelection campaign and called then-vice president Joe Biden a “nervous clueless p—y.” Gruden reportedly also denounced the league for attempting to reduce concussions, adding that Eric Reid — who demonstrated during the playing of the national anthem as a form of protest against police brutality — should be fired.
In 2015, Gruden condemned a congressional bill that attempted to force Washington to change its name from the Redskins, which many Native Americans view as a slur. Gruden received a link, also that year, detailing how players wanted Goodell to support them in efforts to promote racial equality and criminal justice reform.
“He needs to hide in his concussion protocol tent,” Gruden said.
Gruden also singled out individuals as targets of his hateful language. That includes Caitlyn Jenner, whom Gruden mocked when she won an award in 2015 after transitioning. He also asked Allen to tell Bryan Glazer, whose family owns the Buccaneers, to perform oral sex on him. Allen reportedly responded that Glazer would “take you up on that offer.”
Gruden coached Tampa Bay from 2002 through 2008.Gruden also targeted Michael Sam, who came out as gay before attempting an NFL career, and Smith.
Michael Sam
Per the Times, Gruden criticized Goodell for pressuring former St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher to draft “q—rs.” That was a reference to Sam, who came out as gay ahead of the 2014 NFL Draft and was selected with the Rams’ second-to-last pick in the seventh round. He spent the 2014 season on St. Louis and Dallas’ practice squads, later spending time in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes.
The email that initially got Gruden in hot water was a 2011 email to Allen in which he used a racist trope to describe Smith:
“Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin (sic) tires.”
Jon Gruden’s second coming to save the Raiders
Jon Gruden’s comments after emails leaked
Gruden, perhaps in an attempt to soften the comments he hurled at Smith, told ESPN on Friday that the NFLPA executive director wasn’t the only person he insulted in 2011 during labor disputes that led to a lockout: He said he also insulted Goodell:
“I was in a bad frame of mind at the time (in 2011), and I called Roger Goodell a (expletive) in one of these emails too,” he told ESPN. “They were keeping players and coaches from doing what they love with a lockout. There also were a lot of things being reported publicly about the safety of the sport that I love. I was on a mission with high school football (in the Tampa, Fla., area) during that time, and there were a lot of parents who were scared about letting their kids play football. It just didn’t sit well with me.”
Folks the Glazer family owns the Tampa Bay Bucs, the team Chief cheers for, Gruden has since been removed from the Ring of Honor aka the teams Hall of Fame. Gruden was erased, he is gone. Going after Smith could be explained away possibly. Jenner? Well, no one likes a transgender Republican so ditto there. Going after women in the NFL is bizarre as they now make up 55% of the viewership, and it’s growing quickly. Going after Goodell and gays did him in, Goodell has a gay son. Gruden has officially ended his coaching/broadcasting years. He worked for ESPN for a while in between gigs. It was brought to my attention he could coach in college…. are you kidding me? They are more woke than the NFL.
The real lesson here is this, while some possibly share Gruden’s beliefs, it’s always best to do so verbally. Gruden not only emailed these thoughts, but he also sent them to Bruce Allen’s work email. A work email folks is not protected, and for most, you see a pop-up when you log into your work computer saying “they know every click”, or” any emails sent are property of the entity you work for”. Hence Gruden has no leg to stand on in regard to any sort of wrongful termination suit. Worse yet, he back loaded his 10 year 100 million contract, he is currently in year 4, and up words of 85 million could be lost. Gruden was not the target here, but he is the scapegoat. Collateral damage was needed as the scandal involving the Washington Football team is big. I call it a PHD lawsuit, since its Piled High and Deep.
The Chief
PS Troll emailed me saying “Why did they find Grudens 10-year-old emails but cannot recover Hillary Clinton’s emails.” Just a thought on this.
BTW Troll continues his quest for a date with Jen Anniston or Hope Hicks, his commentary will resume soon.
Unless you live under a rock, think Joe Biden is a good president, or are related to one of the Park Brothers, you likely have heard our supply chain is in dire straits. Our Commander in Chief is obviously bothered as well. I saw the Clinton News Network hosted a “Presidential town hall” with Biden last night to give him a chance to explain away all his failures.
Joe Biden does CNN Townhall
Anderson Cooper was a great host as he cherry picked questions from 15 folks in the “audience chosen at random.” Like any Biden Q and A session, the participants were carefully vetted and handed a softball question to ask. Of the 15, 10 were registered Democrats, 3 were Republicans and 2 were Independent. Definitely a hostile crowd for Ole Slow Joe. This campaign event, I mean propaganda event, I mean town hall was based in Republican voter rich Baltimore. Biden basically said he had no answers for the fuel crisis. But he was considering calling up the National Guard for the shipping crisis. And…. Yeah, thank god my hour on the treadmill at the gym was done, because that was torture to watch. Shame on CNN for airing that, and shame on us for electing this fellow to be President.
Anderson Coper asks hard hitting questions
I will sum up clearly and succinctly what the supply chain issues are really about. They are not just the doing of Joe Biden’s failed presidency; this has been going on since Bill Clinton. Believe it or not, NAFTA aka the North American Free Trade Agreement was a major catalyst. The goal of NAFTA was to create a free trade zone, free of tariffs, to allow a flow of goods and services across borders. In theory this is a good idea, it tears down borders and disputes and creates “friendly neighbors.” However, NAFTA has evolved and not in a good way.
NAFTA in the last 15 years has become a catalyst for corporations to reduce expenses and outsource jobs. One of the most argued points cited by myself and others are “we used to build things in the USA, now we no longer do.”
The reasoning here is we used to have factories to assemble the parts imported from Mexico, but with increased expenses here domestically, we now build it in Mexico. Furthermore, Mexico sends it here and we “finish it,” in essence we put the stickers and decals on it, and a few other accents and can still call it “made in the USA.” In many ways this was palpable because expenses were cut, and our producing workforce could transition to a “paper pushing” workforce. Workers were mostly happy, shareholders were trilled, and executives bonused out at year end. Win. Win. Win. Right?
Incorrect. As time went on, more and more jobs were sent to Mexico, and Mexico has become a developed country. I say that in a sense that the workers there now want more money and benefits. As a result, the job merry go round has started again. Jobs from Mexico have migrated to China, and neighboring countries. Many of which employ slave labor, child labor, prison labor or just flat-out deplorable conditions. But that’s ok, because you need your new TV, iPhone etc. and you ain’t paying full price. So, you ignore that part of the supply chain.
Enter the virus.
I’m leaving the political BS out of this blog in regard to the Corona Virus. We locked down in the USA, and other countries followed suit. It was supposed to be 14 days, which has turned into almost 2 years. The vaccine was the end all, cure all…. not so much. It didn’t affect the US that much because other countries produce most of what we consume. But over time, the virus spread to countries we import products from, and this has exasperated the issue. Most recently Vietnam has locked down its factories; don’t believe me look it up yourself, most of our clothing is made in Vietnam. With those countries locked down, we get no additional clothing sent here. Contrary to the belief of some, we here in the US are not able to build a factory to make said clothing here.
Furthering my point, the lockdowns here taught us one thing, the workers have the upper hand. Currently and recently, we have seen striking workers for; Nabisco, Frito-Lay, Deere, Kellogg and parts of the healthcare sector. These workers were ordered to work during the pandemic, most given mandatory overtime and restrictions on time off requests. At year’s end they were given a small bonus of a few hundred, maybe a thousand if they were lucky. Management got far bigger bonuses and shareholders got even richer, keep in mind the former stayed at home during the pandemic because it was safer for them and their workers. We are now seeing a revival of unions, don’t believe me, but look around.
The problems at the port are another issue. However, we are focused on the cranes and the operators, what we need are semi-trucks and trailers to move those containers once off loaded. We don’t have those, so the containers are stacked on shore. Running the port 24/7 as senile Joe suggests isn’t the problem. Corporations for years have mistreated the drivers of said trucks, so now we are unable to find workers to do that. Most corporations, especially Target made the drivers contractors, and required them to bid on a route, and pay for the gas, lease payment, insurance et. Al. This resulted in truck drivers making close to zero when expenses were paid. Don’t believe me, look it up. Again, Target is one of the worst offenders here, but that’s ok, because they told Biden they want to help.
Editor’s Note:The Federal government and California in particular has also punished truck drivers in a number of ways including limiting the number of hours per day that they can drive and outlawing independent operators via AB-5, diesel engine regulations, and other restrictions.
The long blog short here is the workers in factories are burned out, and years of consolidation are partly to blame. Look at Campbell Soups, they used to have a plant in California, but due to costs they shut it down, production moved to Texas. This is a no-brainer, until Texas is snowed out. Pretty hard to get soup from Troy, Ohio to California. In addition, try building a plant in the USA to make something, forget for a minute the ungodly amounts of red tape (unless you want to build a basketball arena downtown, somehow the red tape vanishes for that) you also have to build it, hire, train workers, and have production lines set-up and built. This is not easy, and it’s a tough sell to shareholders who expect you to beat last quarter’s earnings and lower your expenses. American workers get breaks, lunch, benefits, and extra time, these are federal and state laws.
While Senile Joe may have won the day yesterday, he has lost long term. The issues of years of outsourcing and production cuts, met with lockdowns have created a toxic cocktail. Sadly, for people like Jorge Riley, this isn’t a cocktail that you want to drink. The problem is going to get worse. Here are a few examples of just what we are facing here.
I bought a jacket on sale $22 marked down from $44, I ordered the wrong size, I shipped back for a return. The company I purchased from said due to supply chain issues I could not exchange unless I paid the difference. Another package I ordered sat in a FedEx office for 7 days in Sacramento prior to making the trip to the world headquarters of reallyright.com. Keep in mind we live about 15 miles from Sacramento.
The Chief
Editor’s Note:Our family has been buying gift baskets from a company that ships from Oregon to California. Every order that we have placed in the last year starts with an estimated delivery date of about a week but in reality, it takes 6 to 8 weeks before it actually ships to our Sacramento suburb. Ditto for our new Samsung phone order. Delivery keeps getting delayed.
Yep, I bet you missed that headline last week, but it was there if you could connect the dots. I mean what else could you conclude when you read that beginning in 2024 California will outlaw electrical generators.
California became the first state in the nation to outlaw the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and lawnmowers in an attempt to curb emissions, a move met with both positive feedback and frustration.
Signed Saturday, the new law orders regulators to ban the sale of small off-road engines (SORE). While this is a broad category that includes generators, lawn equipment and pressure washers, it comprises a type of small engine on pace to produce more pollution each year than passenger vehicles.
Try this article for a more comprehensive understanding of the law.
California just banned the sale of gasoline powered backup generators, lawn mowers, small gas powered fire fighting pumps, and other small stationary engines, as part of their drive to reduce CO2 emissions.
The text requires regulators to consider “… (E) Expected availability of zero-emission generators and emergency response equipment. …”, so there is no doubt they plan to cover backup generators and emergency fire fighting equipment if they can.
This is beyond serious. Imagine trying to fight the fire approaching your house, only to have a low battery light start flashing on your fire fighting water pump. Or someone who requires powered medical equipment, like oxygen generators or sleep apnea devices, struggling through an extended power outage without proper treatment for their health condition.
Gasoline powered equipment, barring a mechanical failure, works as long as you can keep it supplied with gasoline. But battery equipment needs power to recharge it. Where do you get more power, if the sky is covered with smoke or clouds, or the solar panels are covered in dust, snow or ash, and the power lines are down?
Yet, with startling shortsightedness, the state assembly has sent Governor Gavin Newsom a bill that will effectively eliminate a go-to backup: gas-powered generators. The bill (AB-1346) lumps gas-powered generators in with the offending landscaping equipment and all other “small off-road engines,” referring to them as SOREs. It “encourages” the California Air Resources Board (the state’s own sort of EPA) to “adopt cost-effective and technologically feasible regulations to prohibit engine exhaust and evaporative emissions from new small off-road engines” and to consider “expected availability of zero-emission generators.”
When the power went out last August, says Collin Blackwell of Eldorado Hills, California, “We went out and bought an $800 generator, so that way we could have the fridge powered up in the garage at least and be able to have food and everything in the house.” Mark Galloway of Cameron Park said he lives in a mountain community where losing power is fairly common. “You should have something, so having the backup generator and things like that—I think it’s on you to really take care of that,” he said. “It’s not like it’s something that you can’t plan for.”
Californians who have been seen power supplies become more unreliable in recent years have increasingly turned to gas-powered electric generators to keep the lights on during “public safety power shutoffs.”
According to the industry trade group, there are 1.5 million portable generators in use in California today. The average gas-powered generator can provide 10-12 hours of power to run lights, phone chargers, refrigerators, microwaves and more, with a simple refueling keeping them powered another half-day.
Ok, given the above, can you start to see why Newsom must think he has or will soon fix PG&E?
I mean, what utility has the most voluntary power disruptions?
What utility starts half the major conflagrations that California experiences in their service area?
What utility is driving the sale of portable generators in their service area?
What utility is responsible for the homeowner’s insurance crisis in rural areas?
What utility is even less popular than our state legislature?
So, if Newsom and his brothers under the dome have the stones to ban private sector electrical generation and portable fire pumps, then a reasonable person can only conclude that he will fix PG&E, solve fires in our mismanaged forests, and replace the current system with a more reliable and redundant electrical grid.
If Newsom has failed to fix at least these problems, then Newsom and his fellow big city Democrats have said that they are willing to forfeit the lives of everyone in rural areas. Folks this law prevents you from protecting your life and property. It hits the elderly and poor the hardest. People that need to refrigerate insulin or keep the 02 flowing or the AC on when it’s 115 outside, will have to do without. Generators are about more than preserving the stuff you bought at Costco, but shouldn’t you have the right to keep it cold when PG&E’s lawyers tell them to pull the plug on your neighborhood?
San Francisco Waterfront homes burning 1989
Can you imagine the fire department showing up and letting your place burn to the ground with grandma inside because they can’t use their portable fire pump? Or the emergency workers can’t cut you out of the car with their portable equipment because their equipment relies on gasoline?
Portable equipment in use by rescue workers
Does Gavin really not remember all the gasoline powered fire pumps used to keep San Francisco from burning to the ground after the 1989 earthquake during the World Series? Or the emergency equipment used when the elevated portion of the MacArthur freeway collapsed? Why is Gavin the only one that doesn’t have vivid memories of where he was on that day?
Portable equipment used to free trapped folks and recover the dead
So, either Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrats have fixed all the problems mentioned in this blog or they are willing to kill a lot of people to save us from the myth of global warming. Also, this policy has the effect of preventing poor and middle-class folks from leaving the big cities that Democrats control. Guess rural living is only for the very wealthy—kind of like dining at the French Laundry.
This week started out where the last ended and much on the same downward trajectory. Even though chemotherapy is over, we spent several hours at the infusion center on Sunday trying to get hydration and potassium into my wife. After about 3 bags of potassium solution and some saline, we headed for home; however, we did schedule a return trip the next day for more hydration. While this sounded like a good plan, Monday found a way to go off the rails.
My wife started hydration at 8 AM at the infusion center. While there, she also had a blood draw for lab work. Then shortly after 10 AM hydration was stopped, and she got her usual radiation treatment. Having completed her business at the hospital, my wife got in her car to head home only to get a call from her oncologist instructing her to check herself into the emergency room and get her potassium levels up.
At the ER, they did another blood draw for lab work. Her potassium level was in the basement. They hooked her up to an EKG machine and started pumping more potassium into her. The doctor also decided to add magnesium to the mix as well. After many hours they did another blood sample for lab work. Finally, my wife was .01 below the normal band for potassium. The doctor made her promise to fill a prescription for a potassium supplement at a local 24-hour pharmacy and take it immediately and then sent her home. She got home sometime after 7 PM. After a few minutes to refresh, we jumped into the car and set off to get the prescription filled.
The potassium supplement “tastes like the strongest orange whiskey that you can imagine. It is very salty and burns all the way down.” My wife vomited this stuff up several times over the course of the week.
Nevertheless, the remainder of the week was better for my wife. She had another IV bag of fluid on Tuesday and was feeling even better on Wednesday. She was able to eat mashed potatoes and ice cream in addition to “smoothies”. Her favorite treat this week was a concoction of ice cream and lemonade from Chick-fil-A. On Wednesday, she even broke out the Cricut Maker to craft t-shirts for the radiation crew since the next day was her last radiology treatment. This week, the radiological oncologist warned her that the full effects of the radiation treatment will not be felt for another two weeks. My wife has to take several medicines to ease the pain enough so that she can swallow anything. It hurts from the throat to her stomach and without the medicine, eating and drinking would be almost impossible.
My wife has been in good spirits this week and tried to eat several new things; however, it was not unusual for her to be unable to keep them down. The sores in her mouth have gone away.
Saturday, we had a family gathering at the house to belatedly celebrate her birthday. It was a fun time, and she did very well. For much of the gathering, it was hard to tell that she was even ill.
While this week started badly, it finished in a happy Norman Rockwell sort of way. Sunday (tomorrow) is the next blood draw and I expect that it will show improvement in her lab results.
This week started out with a bizarre but happy twist to my wife’s chemotherapy regiment. On Monday, she met with the Oncologist who informed my wife that she’s done with chemo. Our understanding of what was going to happen was upended by this announcement. So, no more pumps or all-day trips to the Infusion Center each week.
We were left wondering why? If you recall, the chemotherapy was supposed to be done concurrently with the radiation treatment. My guess is that the new chemo drug was so strong that users need to take a break before having another round of treatment. Since the next round of treatment would be after the radiation, there is no need for more.
Meanwhile, my wife is having much difficulty keeping anything down, even water. She is miserable much of the time. As a result of her treatment, she has developed sores in her mouth and pain in swallowing. As expected, her esophagus also hurts because of radiation and acid reflux. Coughing fits were common during this week. Several nausea medications were given to her along with mouth rinses and other concoctions. While not having infusion this week, my wife did go to the infusion center on Friday to get some saline because she thought she might be dehydrated.
A few times during the week, she was able to eat scrambled eggs—many of which were from the local Costco. Specifically, she likes Three Bridges Egg Bites which come in Eggs Whites with Bell Peppers and Scrambled Eggs with Cheese and Uncured Bacon. Of the two, the egg whites were her preference as the bacon bits in the other “were like little pebbles as they were going down.” By Saturday morning she was able to eat two pancakes for breakfast and about 1 ½ more for lunch. This is the most solid food she has had in about eight days.
Without a doubt, this has been the toughest week thus far. My wife even had me drive her to radiotherapy one day due to dizziness. I expect next week to be better because she only has four radiation treatments left. Then the long and probably quiet pause before we start gearing-up for surgery. The only new appointment is one with an allergist to document the reaction to whatever was in the IV bags that affected her.
Lastly, the wife is still in great spirits and clinging to the belief that she can return to the classroom in February and complete the school year. However, …
A few hours ago, I was in the midst of explaining to my son what the treatment path was for his mom once the radiotherapy is completed, when she walked into the room. When I mentioned that if the tests prior to surgery showed that the cancer has spread that there would be no surgery then she got very angry and said, “That’s not going to happen.” If nothing else, it showed us that she is not willing to opening discuss the seriousness of her cancer. Flowers and unicorns are all she wants in her world right now. In addition, saying “No” to her about making long term financial obligations has also become a thorny topic but one beyond the scope of the current post.
A “Friend” of this blog, Urban Meyer found himself in a bit of a pickle this past weekend in Ohio. Urban Meyer, if you can’t recall, is the former University of Florida/Ohio State football coach, and currently employed as coach of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Meyer is a classic example of a true scumbag. At both college stops, Meyer stepped down from coaching due to “heart issues.” On the surface most would believe this, coaching is very difficult at the highest levels, and between the practices/workouts/games, and recruiting there is no offseason. Stress is a big thing.
However it always seemed his “stress levels” would elevate around the time his teams no longer would be competing for a championship. Meyer always had a charm to him, and because he coached Tim Tebow he was viewed as a great molder of young men. This is not correct, Tebow was an outlier, Meyer’s teams always had plethora of players on the police blotter. Some for heinous crimes, such as gun possession or armed robbery.
Meyer retired from Florida to work for ESPN. He denied any rumors of him being interested in the Ohio State job, and low and behold, when the season ended, he was named head coach at Ohio State University! Stunner. No way would Urban Lie!
After a few years and a championship at Ohio State, once again health issues forced him to “retire for good.” He was hired at Fox Sports. Then he took the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL job. He is being paid around 12 million a year.
Here is where the trouble comes into play.
His team played Thursday 9/30 and lost to the Cincinnati Bengals. After the game, the team customarily flies back to Jacksonville. Meyer stayed behind, this is unheard of. Seriously, it never happens. Meyer had an excuse; he is from the area and wanted to stay out to see his grandchildren and some friends. Not a crime but a bad look for a first-year coach of an 0-4 team. However what happened next was a way worse look and a PR nightmare.
A cell phone video came out showing Meyer at a bar/dance club sitting in a chair and receiving what basically amounted to a lap dance from a young co-ed. I would put the girl around mid to late twenties.
Meyer is in his fifties. Meyer said “”They wanted me to come over and take pictures, and I did. They were trying to pull me out on the dance floor, screwing around, and I should have left.” Wrong answer. It likely could have worked, but Urban is all about being holier than thou. A separate video dropped, one of Meyer grabbing said female’s rear end, cupping it, and squeezing it. He does not appear to push her away or tell her stop. The grabbing of her behind just further exemplifies Urban plays by different rules than we do.
Editor’s Note: Its worse than The Chief thought because Meyers has “known” the woman since June.
It only took a few days for Twitter to figure out who the young lady is and her name is Cayman Nebraska. She put her IG on private after a 2nd video of her saying someone got a video of Meyer sticking his fingers up her butt.
To make things worse, Twitter dug deeper and found out that the two have seemingly known each other since at least June.
By Tuesday, he seemed a bit more contrite, apologizing to the team’s owner and the players. Depending on who you read, the plyers do not seem to buy his line of garbage. (Some players are famous for having a different girl in each city they play in; home and away.) Urban was out trolling for booty and he most likely got some or got what he wanted. It appears Mrs. Meyer and the Jaguar’s owner Shad Kahn are none to impressed. Meyer is likely toast after the season ends. In reality he should be more worried about his marriage and home life. I doubt Mrs. Meyer was impressed by the first video, and likely was even more upset after viewing the second; especially after seeing a comment from said co-ed, “I love how someone got a picture of Coach Meyer sticking his fingers up my a**.” We call that game over folks. Meyer cannot run now.
Check out some of these quotes from Urban the Liar and others,
“It was stupid, so I explained everything that happened and owned it. Just stupid. I should not have myself in that kind of position,” Meyer continued.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan released a statement on Tuesday saying that Meyer will have to “regain our trust and respect” after the videos surfaced over the weekend.
“I have addressed this matter with Urban,” Khan said in the statement, via NFL.com. “Specifics of our conversation will be held in confidence. What I will say is his conduct last weekend was inexcusable. I appreciate Urban’s remorse, which I believe is sincere. Now, he must regain our trust and respect. That will require a personal commitment from Urban to everyone who supports, represents or plays for our team.”
Khan also called Urbans behavior “inexcusable.”
His players said this, “He even canceled the team meeting. He was too scared,” a player told Silver.
Meyer reportedly “only apologized to position groups individually.” Meyer said the woman in the video was a random person who was “just there dancing.”
“We looked at him like, WTF? Right when he left everyone started dying laughing. And he knew it,” the unnamed player told Silver. “It’s bad. I don’t know how he’s gonna function.”
One Jaguar’s player said the head coach “has zero credibility in that stadium” and “he had very little to begin with,” according to NFL reporter Mike Silver.
This is a tale as old as time, Meyer has always had folks making excuses for him. The heart issues were a crock of crap, he never likes facing consequences. Now he has lost the locker room, and his boss. His wife likely knows by Urban’s actions in the videos that was definitely not his first time. Actually he looked quite comfortable doing that. Not even trying to be sly. Meyer showed the world his a** and now he feels depressed, small and alone. Look for health reasons to be his reason for moving on.
By the way Meyer was also accused of cutting players from the final roster who were not vaccinated. He was later kind of exonerated, but knowing Urban I doubt it.
The Chief
PS word to the wise, everyone has a camera phone, even the elderly, be careful out on public. Marriages, careers, and even lives have been ruined since the invention of these devices.
