Category: Interesting

My dream for Martin Luther King Day is simple; namely, that people that follow Dr. King would believe him.

• Nobody praises him as a Christian and man of the Word.
• Nobody that claims his legacy talks about the fact that he was staunch Republican.
• Nobody that claims his legacy believes in his Dream.

Yeh, I just said that, “nobody that claims his legacy believes in his dream.”

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Almost all black folks vote for Democrats; a political party that only cares about their skin color and views them as a block of voters, just another interest group among many. These same Democrats created the KKK, Jim Crow, segregated schools, and everything they claim oppressed them in the past, yet despite all that, they cling to the Democrats like a baby to its mother. The black community seems to be suffering mass hypnosis, Stockholm Syndrome, or something even more diabolical.

If insanity is really defined as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”, then these folks are insane. They faithfully vote Democrat every two years, get nothing for it, and then do it again.

I would argue that Dr. King was telling his people to wake-up. Nobody is going to help you but yourselves. He also advised the protesters to work with others willing to work with them. He says it will be work but is worth the struggle.

I say to you today, my friends, though, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

King take the promise of John the Baptist and converts it into a metaphor of brotherhood and transformation.

I have a dream today … I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain; shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

In my opinion, King’s dream was highjacked decades ago and replaced with a stay on the plantation mentality (Mason Weaver’s words not mine).

The black community now looks to the government for justice not God. When government is your God, it only leads to slavery and oppression not freedom. Like Esau, they have forfeited their birthright–which Dr. King tried to remind them of–for a bowl of soup.

Its not too late to believe in King’s dream but clearly it requires, work, sacrifice and vigilance; things they will never get from Jackson, Sharpton, and Farrakhan.

Link: National Archives–text of I Have a Dream

Camp Fire map November 16, 2018

It’s a week since Paradise was Lost. I wanted to recap on what we think we know thus far and what’s next.

In a nutshell this is it:

At about 6:15 AM last Thursday (November 8th), Pacific Gas and Electric electrical sensors reported a fault in a line near Camp Road. At 6:33, a fire was reported in the area of this fault.

Thursday morning at 6:43 a.m., Butte County firefighters called dispatch after seeing flames across the Feather River from Poe Dam.

“It is on the west side of the river, underneath the transmission lines,” the firefighter went on to say. “Probably about 35 mph sustained wind on it.”

CBS13 obtained a report that PG&E made from the California Public Utilities Commission. It described an incident at 6:15 a.m., 28 minutes before that call from firefighters. It read: “PG&E experienced an outage on the Caribou-Palermo 115 kV Transmission line in Butte County.”

CalFire records show the Camp Fire started at 6:33 a.m., just 18 minutes later.

PG&E Could Be to Blame For Sparking Camp Fire In Butte County

Whether the fire caused the fault in the electric line or the line caused the fire will be determined first by investigators and secondly in some as yet to be filed lawsuit on behalf of victims.

It was a windy day. The wind was blowing from the mountains into the valley. Before noon that day, the city of Paradise—population about 28,000 souls—and the surrounding area were burned to a crisp. By sunset, 70,000 acres had burned.

The lands to the west of Highway 99 are agricultural and thus a natural barrier to further spread of the fire in that direction. Much of the area is used for rice production. Maintained lands have less fuel available to be burned. Also, the growing season is over and fields are traditionally plowed and left fallow during the winter months.

As of this writing, 142,000 acres have burned, 63 people are confirmed dead and over 600 are listed as missing. Most of the missing are elderly and were likely indoors going thru their regular routine when the fire struck their homes. They were not warned in time or unable to escape the flames.

Authorities searching through the blackened aftermath of California’s deadliest wildfire have released the names of about 100 people who are still missing, including many in their 80s and 90s, and dozens more could still be unaccounted for.

List Of Missing In Camp Fire Includes Many In Their 80s And 90s

For readers not familiar with this area, this part of northern California is rural and poor. Unemployment is chronically high. There once was a thriving timber industry in this area but it was run out of the area decades ago. Now, government is the only employer offering middleclass wages to most folks in this area. Paradise was the type of place folks could go to get more for their money in terms of housing. You could get a place with a view or at least some pine or oak trees on your property. Chances are that a house there had no sidewalks and is on a septic system not connected to a city sewer. Many driveways are gravel not paved. The pace of life is slower than the big city and folks like it that way.

The rural lifestyle is part of the reason for the loss of life. Another is that communication with citizens is more difficult in today’s society. We get our information from a varied and decentralized network of sources.

In the wake of the political season, how many of you would answer a phone call from a number that you don’t recognize? If the sheriff’s office called me with a warning, I’d probably let it go to voicemail. We all know telemarketers can spoof the name and number of the call so caller I.D. has limited effectiveness. Plus old folks might not answer the phone because they didn’t hear it ring.

Anything short of a welfare check on your neighbor had limited effectiveness. Many people were heading to work or school when the fire struck Paradise. People didn’t know who was home and who was not. Often they didn’t have time to check on their neighbors. Often they grabbed the car keys and left with nothing.

Today, the south and east sides of the fire continue to burn. The area near Highway 70 and Oroville Lake is inaccessible and contains lots of fuel so it will be a while before this part gets firm fire lines.

Let’s talk about rebuilding.

·         Roads must be cleared and burned structures must be removed and disposed somewhere.

·         Land must then be surveyed to mark property boundaries.

·         Basic infrastructure—power, water, and sewer—must be restored before structures can be rebuilt. Concurrently, communication is also necessary whether that be cellular or land lines.

·         FEMA, CalOES, and insurance companies must get all their paperwork organized so money will be available to rebuild.

·         State, county, and local officials need to find a way to fast-track permits for all this to happen and of course winter is coming.

Unless you opt for a mobile home, you are probably a year or more away from occupying a rebuilt house. Even with insurance, who can afford a year in temporary housing waiting to get their life back?

I know people that have lost everything short of their lives in the fire and others that were evacuated and still don’t know if they have a place to return to when they are able.

I have more to say on this tragedy but I will refrain until a later date. Meanwhile my heart goes out to those suffering loss. Let the smoke be a reminder that whatever inconvenience you think it is causing, it’s nothing compared to what people in Butte County are experiencing now.

By Johnnie Does…

Greetings, if you don’t know me I’m actually a very good cook, as proclaimed by a former professional chef I know. Things took a rare turn this week and I felt the need to blog about it. As a Safeway club card member I received a free offer, or as the Blog Father would say…an offer I couldn’t refuse, for a PF Chang’s frozen dinner for 2 meal for a low, low cost of FREE. Free? Whoa! That’s weird! I perused the aisles and discovered about 8 choices for said free meal, there was a shrimp one (yeah no) an orange chicken one (basically panda express) nope, I finally settled on Mongolian Beef. The bag seemed small, but I returned to my dwelling, opened said bag and into the frying pan it went. Don’t know why it’s called a frying pan when it sits over a burner, but oh well, away I went. I took a gander at the ingredients; and was pleasantly surprised; beef with sweet and savory sauce, onions, string beans, and red bell peppers not a bad combination at all. I immediately recognized the beef, string beans and red bell peppers, I didn’t understand the odd brown blocks that looked like Lego’s. After a few minutes of cooking it all came into focus, the sauce was frozen into the Lego looking bricks.

After about 15 minutes in a “frying pan” again…whoa that’s weird, the meal was ready and transferred to a plate. I was not able to obtain the brown almost bamboo esque plate in the “serving suggestion” on the front of the bag, nor was I able to acquire the fancy looking chopsticks, so a generic white plate, and a small fork were used. All my large forks were in a cleaning device most call a dishwasher.

The meal was actually very good, sauce was great, the string beans and bell peppers had a nice crunch and great taste, the beef was right on point. I would go a solid 7.8 out of 10 on this meal. Again not an everyday staple but an every so often when the girlfriend or wife is gone and I need something quick and easy (other than a hooker) I would buy this one.

My big drawback was the meal is that it’s not big enough for 2, it barely fed me…….Blog Father will collaborate my story I’m an average looking (besides the face for radio) 6 foot 200lb man… and it barely fed me. Which is fine, but the branding of a meal for 2….unless you’re feeding Lindsay Lohan and yourself epic fail. The cost when not free didn’t seem too out of line, $8.99 for the meal. Every so often I see Raley’s advertisements saying $5 on certain Mondays. 310 calories per serving, which means 620 for me, because I ate the whole meal, not complaining, but yeah I would go for it again.

Johnnie Does

San Francisco coming this week.

“I see dead people walking around like regular people”
Haley Joel Osmen
The Sixth Sense

At work, occasionally I see dead people too.

The State Agency for which I work is carrying debts owed by former state employees that have gone to their eternal reward; often, their demise can create an accounting legacy that lasts for years. You see, we have no ability to go after the estate of decedents to collect on the debt but we also have no way to write-off such debts even when we know we cannot collect them.

Back in the day, this was called a Mexican Stand-off (somehow, I think the plastic bag straw police will decide to make this term politically incorrect soon).

If you die before we tell you that you own the State money due to overpayment, then our legal department determined that you were not notified in a timely manner and we can write-off the debt. This risky and brilliant legal determination was committed to writing just last year. Note to readers, our unit has been dealing with this issue since 2011; thus it took six years to extract this legal opinion.

However, if we notified you prior to your passing then welcome to purgatory. Much like the infamous Hotel California, you may be checked-out but your debt may never leave.

We have no guidance on what to do in such cases. Managers are so risk-averse that they are fearful to put the debt out of its misery. The usual reason stated eventually goes to having proper documentation to withstand the dreaded accounting audit.

For those not familiar with accounting, the function of the auditor is to come in after the battle and bayonet the wounded. ( -:

Example, one guy met his maker in 2012 and the debt which is less than $500 is still on the books in 2018. We have had a copy of the obituary in our office for four years now. In fairness, last month we came up with a way to write-off the debt but as of this writing, it is still in limbo.

Eventually these uncollectible accounting items will be laid to rest but whether they stay buried is out of my control. Should they be uncovered by the dreaded auditors then it may require more silver nitrate, garlic, salt, stakes, or other assorted remedies for fighting the undead than we can muster.

Yeah, the way government accounting rolls they may be back but hopefully not on my watch.

Reports are in this morning that the Thailand soccer team is saved from the cave they were trapped in for several weeks. The twelve boys and coach are all safe. Some rescue workers remain inside and must still find their way out. The fact that only one rescue worker lost his life and the whole group was recovered alive is a miracle.

The dramatic three-day rescue of a Thai youth soccer team that had been stuck in a flooded cave came to an end Tuesday when the last boy and the team’s coach were plucked from the underground cavern—more than two weeks after they became trapped, Navy officials said.

The Thai Navy SEALS said on Facebook all 12 boys from the team and the team’s coach were out of the cave. Four rescuers, a doctor and three Navy SEALS remained inside.

Entire Thai soccer team, coach freed from cave after daring rescue, Navy says

The linked article is worth a read just to see the illustrations of what it took to get the kids out.

As this drama has been unfolding over the last several days, I began wondering about children’s safety in a different sort of cave. One that was warm, and actually has a steady supply of food and water. Sadly, in our supposedly civilized and medically advanced country, the fatality rate for these children during most of my lifetime has been over thirty percent.

I think a death rate from any cause approaching one in three is unacceptable. Doubly so when it is totally preventable by just letting nature take its course. But herein is the problem, folks don’t want to do that.

That’s where a guy like Donald Trump comes into the picture. You see, Trump is concerned about this issue and would like to do something about it. That’s why last night he nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. Kavanaugh may not be the first choice of many conservatives but he has a strong track record of reigning-in the power of the federal bureaucracy.

In the first, he found the Consumer Finance Protection Board (CFPB) violated the Constitution because it vested all power over consumer finance in the country in one person, but insulated him from removal by the president.

In the second, he struck down a new federal accounting board, because it too was insulated from presidential control, even though Article II of the Constitution vests the president, and the president alone, with the duty to see that “the Laws be Faithfully Executed.”

In both cases, Kavanaugh has made clear that he would put the text and history of the Constitution first, and mistaken precedent second, which should cheer the hearts of conservatives.

Trump’s Supreme Court pick: Democrats will fight hard to stop Kavanaugh but he has few vulnerabilities

With at least two more picks left (replacing Thomas and Ginsberg), Trump will fundamentally reshape the Court so that children are safe and protected in their mother’s womb. Yes, California and New York may not be safe for unborn children when Roe is toppled but for many, there will be states of refuge where life and not selfishness are the values of the land.

Ruling against a radical abortion claim. In his one foray into the abortion arena, in a very contentious recent case involving a pregnant unaccompanied-alien minor being held in HHS custody, Kavanaugh objected to his court’s grant of relief to the minor. In his dissent, he complained that the majority concocted “a constitutional principle as novel as it is wrong: a new right for unlawful immigrant minors in U.S. Government detention to obtain immediate abortion on demand.” The majority’s decision, he said, “represents a radical extension of the Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence.”

Trump Picks Brett Kavanaugh

Judge Kavanaugh is admittedly a “safe” choice for Trump but he should be more solidly conservative than Anthony Kennedy. The real fight will be to replace Ginsberg and give conservatives and constitutionalists a super majority on the Court.

At the end of his administration, Trump will leave the country better off than it was when he took office. If his Court picks are as good as I hope then perhaps the scourge of surgical abortion will go the way of slavery. As the good doctor once said, “A person is a person no matter how small.”

The house that I live in was constructed in1989. It was decorated by the builder’s wife. The predominant color of the interior is pink. Light pink walls and matching trim, pink tile, pink carpet, and pink is a dominant color on the wallpaper too. The house was originally purchased by my wife’s grandparents. My wife came into possession of the house and was living there when we were married. Since she had no intention of moving into my one bedroom apartment, we opted to live in her house; thus I didn’t have a choice in the color scheme.

Anyway, the wife decided that we needed to paint the hallway and living room. She requested that I take a week off in June to help her with the task. Folks, any opportunity to purge pinkness from our home is too good to pass-up. So I jumped at the chance.

My budget was $500 for paint and supplies. We knew that we needed a special primer because the trim work in the house was a glossy oil-based paint. We both spent much time searching on the Internet for just the right primer. Sadly, like any other buying decision, what we found was lots of opinions and anecdotal stories but very few facts. We decided to go with an oil-based primer that claimed it could go over any surface-latex or oil—without sanding. Once applied, the product also said we could cover it with either oil or latex paint.

Zinsser® Cover Stain® Oil-Based Primer is an all purpose oil-based primer designed for interior or exterior applications where an oil-base primer is desired. CoverStain provides excellent penetration and flexibility and has excellent adhesion and stain blocking properties. CoverStain has excellent adhesion to dense, glossy surfaces such as enamel paints and varnishes, paneling, laminates, and ceramic tile without the need for sanding or deglossing.

Cover-Stain is recommended for application on interior and exterior surfaces that have been damaged by fire, smoke or water.  Interior surfaces include new or previously painted drywall, cured plaster and cementbased coatings, wood (including pine fir, cedar, redwood, and plywood), metal (including aluminum, iron, steel, and cooper), vinyl, PVC, masonry (including stucco, concrete block, poured concrete, and brick).

Cover Stain Technical Data CVS-03

Based on the description above, we went with Cover Stain. However, being that we live in California finding this product was our next obstacle. Per internet information, we found two gallons in Ceres California. That was all that was available from the big box stores in the northern part of the state. It was cheaper and available in large quantities at all Reno Home Depot stores and at a lower price than anyone offered in California. My wife wasn’t keen on me driving to Reno and wanted me to wait. We found that Kelly-Moore Paints had some buried in the back of their store. Eventually we bought a five gallon bucket from them.

The Cover Stain that we got was more like syrup than paint. It also dried a light brownish green color not white as we were led to believe from their internet information. After applying, we had to use at least two coats of latex paint just to cover it and get a white color on our walls. We painted the wood trim after finishing the walls. Because we were painting our hallway, almost every door jamb in the house received paint as part of our project.

Once the hallway was done, we began putting hinges back on door jambs and removing the Frog Tape that we had used to control where paint was applied on door jambs. We weren’t painting both sides of the door jambs, just the part visible from the hall. The rooms connecting to the hall were being save for future projects or had been done previously.

It was at this point that our best laid plans and internet research all confronted reality and the results were ugly.

Here are photos of the results.

Remember all the claims of sticking to any glossy surface with no sanding, yeah right. Dream on baby. So guess what? We had to scrape and sand every door jamb; all ten of them. We took them all down to the wood, primed them, and then painted. This took two sanders because we killed the first one, lots of sweat equity, and five days of labor by two people. We spot checked some of the base trim and had to redo a few of them also.

We spent twice the amount of time on this project as we had estimated and three times the money. We ended up spending $500 with Kelly-Moore Paint, and split the paint supplies between Home Depot and Lowes. As the color went on the living room walls, mama began wanting to make other changes so we had to buy a new ceiling fan and lights. Since the walls were now white and not a dark pink color, we needed to change the plugs, switches, and cover plate colors from almond to white.

Finally the carpet installers arrived to replace our 29 year old floor coverings.

The finished product looks nice.

Sadly, the front room and entry way don’t match the new paint job so guess what mama wants us to do in July. Now that we have more experience working with the pink paint from hell, I hope we knock this out quickly.