Bad Breath

Before Tic-Tacs.

Cute commercial for Pep-O-Mint life savers. Ideal for smelling good on a first date and after a pile of cigarettes.

Canine Comparison

A week ago doggo and I swapped out the SD cards on the trail camera trap line.

 

There was maintenance to perform.  Cam #1 needed a reboot. We can go back out to do that when we replace Cam #2 which has finally died after more than a half-dozen years of nonstop, 24/7 service.

 

More important was this.

 

These video clips were taken the morning of March 23, 2025 by Cam #5 (which is set to video mode). 

 

The first is of a coyote at 5:39 AM. 

 

 

The second is of my upland bird dog at 10:41 AM. 

 

 

Same day and same location.  Different times.  Because the cam is immobile it’s a terrific opportunity to compare stature between the two canines. Ruby tips the scales at 42 pounds.

Newtonian Physics

 

Newton's First Law of Motion, the Law of Inertia, states that an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

 

 

The Big Beautiful Bill

The Big Beautiful Bill is back.

In the run-up to the election candidate Trump and Congressional Republicans made multiple promises to cut multiple taxes for multiple constituencies.  They cannot deliver on all of it as a consequence of a $4.5 trillion limit on the amount of money the federal budget can devote over the next decade to tax cuts. So, if you're looking forward to tax-free tips, tax-free Social Security, tax-free overtime pay and state and local tax (SALT) deductions something is gonna give.

First-off, if the GOP-controlled Congress wants to simply reauthorize the last round of tax cuts implemented during Trump 1.0 that will account for almost all of the $4.5 trillion cap leaving roughly $300 billion for everything else. 

Secondly, the GOP plan is contingent-upon an additional $2 trillion in spending cuts.  Anything less than that and the tax cuts are jeopardized.

Source: Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget | Not all proposed tax cuts are shown. | By The New York Times

 The non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Government has tallied these estimates for the next decade :

• At least $100 billion not to tax tips 
  

• At least $250 billion not to tax overtime

• At least $550 billion to lower taxes on Social Security benefits

• At least $200 billion to increase the deduction for state and local taxes

The challenge is that the sum total of these promises blows-up the budget.  Sure, Congress could end the subsidy for electric vehicles and scratch together something from that.  The trouble is that's all it is.  Scratch.  Chump change in a voluminous budget.  

Senate Republicans have floated the notion that if Congress simply reauthorize the Trump 1.0 tax cuts it doesn't cost anything. Since the old Trump tax cuts are currently in effect then maintaining the status quo costs nothing.  It is free.  Or at least that is the thinking.  If you consider that really thinking.  Just between you and me I know this brilliant thinking will blow-up the deficit and balloon the debt that any rational economist would tell you is already too large.  But I digress. 

Meanwhile, the debt ceiling looms large.  The tax cuts expire at the end of the year.  Hard deadlines make for hard work.  Time will tell.

Molson Canadian

This brought a smile to my lips.  Hope you get a chuckle too.

Cheers!

Dark Sky On Tap

If you live in an urban environment with a plethora of street lighting and billboards much of the "light pollution" will wash-out the night sky and complicate your viewing of the nighttime celestial bodies.  Tonight offers a terrific opportunity to venture outside for what might be the last of the stargazing with skies that are clear and cold.  This is because it will be extra dark tonight.  The darkness is a consequence of the new moon.  

So dark that an object like the International Space Station will stick-out like a sore thumb. 

A new moon is the first of the moon phases and it occurs when the moon is located on the same side of the earth as the sun.  Tonight is that night.

Follow the moon phases here. 

Friday Music

Composed by John Prine this song was originally released on his 1986 album German Afternoons.  Covered by Kim Carnes it rose to number 70 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.  The song was further popularized when Prine recorded a duet with Nanci Griffith.

I suppose both are now singing this lovely tune for the angels.

Speed of the Sound of Loneliness... 

The Taco Revolution

Tostada Tuesday!

Hard corn shells and frijoles from our friendly neighbors to the south. Homestead venison, sauce, lettuce, tomato and crumbly cotija  cheese.   Homemade guacamole too.

Pretty good chow if you can get it.

Trash Pandas

Whether they are coming or going there's no denying the facts.

My raccoons and bigger than your raccoons.... 

 

 

Making Crime Pay

Trump pardoned the J6 rioters. Now he’s open to paying them too.

That's right - reparations for rioters.

Sam Stein and Will Sommer talk about Trump's appearance on Newsmax. Trump floats compensation for January 6 rioters, plus new fallout from the leaked Signal group chat with national security officials—and how Jeffrey Goldberg ended up in it.

Put Moral Formation At The Centre Of Your Society

Put Moral Formation At The Centre Of Your Society

David Brooks' speech was challenging and thought provoking, calling for us to reassess what we think cultural renewal looks like and to reconnect to our spiritual roots.

David Brooks is a bestselling author, columnist for The New York Times, and a contributor to The Atlantic. He is also a commentator on The PBS Newshour. His latest book is How To Know A Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen.

Go deeper with ARC Research. Read reports, articles, and academic papers underneath our talks - all pointed towards advancing education, promoting research, and developing ideas about the keys to human flourishing and prosperity.  You can learn more here.

Hanlon's Razor

Photo - CNN

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Vice President JD Vance were caught discussing American Plans to attack the Houthis in Yemen when a senior editor for the The Atlantic was accidentally - and apparently without anyone noticing - added to a text conversation thru the messaging app, Signal.

If this was the case of a military officer or an intelligence officer and they engaged in this sort of behavior they would be fired. 

This is not a one-off or first-time error.  Sensitive information should never, ever, be discussed over an unclassified system.  This is another example of sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior, particularly towards classified information.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. 

Highway Patrol

The 1972 Mercury Monterey Police Interceptor was equipped with a 429 V8 producing about 209hp, with a four-barrel carburetor designed to run on regular, low lead or unleaded gasoline and a heavy duty automatic transmission - the only choice for the law enforcement model.

For 1972 there was a shift to lower horsepower as a consequence of new emission standards.  After 1974 the 429 engine was discontinued with later models equipped with Lincoln's 460 V8 as the top option.

Fun video....

The King's Speech

On Tuesday, March 4th President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress.  I do not begrudge our President the opportunity to take a victory lap; particularly on the heels of six busy weeks of cabinet hearings, executive orders, reductions in force, court hearings, spending freezes, tariffs followed by pauses, starts and follow-up pauses of the the latter.

The speech was exceedingly long however; meaning the volume of dubious claims or lies was target-rich.  Nothing new under the sun; nevertheless, worthy of truthful daylight.  Consequently, from time to time one of more of the King's gems will be featured here.

Enjoy. 

“But it was built at tremendous cost of American blood and treasure. Thirty-eight thousand workers died building the Panama Canal. They died of malaria. They died of snakebites and mosquitoes.”

The President is ignorant of history.  An earlier failed attempt by France to construct a canal resulted in 22,000 deaths, mainly a consequence of yellow fever and malaria.  The American engineering enterprise resulted in 5,609 deaths (out of 56,000 workers); mainly a consequence of injury and disease.  Most were Black workers from the Caribbean; only 31 Americans perished.

The Taco Revolution

If you like history and food - especially tacos - you' find spending seventeen and a half minutes watching this worth your time.

Tacos mean any number of things to many different people as this hand-held wonder of crunchiness or softness can be filled and topped with just about anything edible.  So whether you're having a taco or two for breakfast, after bar time or anywhere in between; the taco gets it done. 

Max Miller's Tasting History is one of my favorite YouTube channels.  He does a terrific job explaining the origins and history of various foods both ancient and recent.  This, on the origins of the taco, is an absolute delight.  It includes a recipe for all of us to try and Glen Bell - founder of Taco Bell is featured too.

Enjoy.....

Pooped

If you are a sporting breed  and have been running around, burying the needle, at full tilt then eventually the Off Switch gets flipped.

And because you are still a puppy there is one of your favorite plush toys - Mr. Fennec Fox....

 

Pump And Dump

On the evening of January 17 president-elect Trump and his family started selling a block chain crypto meme token featuring an image of him lifted from the July assassination attempt.  

Disclosed mere days before his second inauguration this venture is the latest in a long line of hustles to monetize his followers and enrich his family.  It is yet another sign that the Trumps will take every opportunity in his second term to push the edge of the self-dealing envelope. 
The Trump meme coin is his latest and likely most successful yet.  

You're likely wondering why the President is laughing all the way to the bank.

photo credit - Al Jazeera

That's because if you borrowed against your 401K, mortgaged your home, cashed-in all your frumpy, dumpy, boring stocks, bonds and mutual funds and purchased as many Trump meme coins as you could get your hands-on there's a possibility you made a killing.  As well, there is a possibility your got your ass kicked.  Further evidence that PT Barnum was prescient.  

Only moments following the president-elect posting on his social media account that his family had issued a crypto currency named $Trump a trade was placed.  In the amount of $1,096,109, from a crypto wallet with a unique identification code beginning with 6QSc2Cx, someone acquired a boatload of the Trump tokens - 5,971,750 to be exact - at the opening price of 18 cents apiece.  This launched a run up in the price of $Trump that would swell to $75 a token.

With a balance of only 25 tokens remaining this anonymous trader pocketed as much a $109 million according to an analysis performed for The New York Times.

The front-end profits for the unidentified early traders, including possibly some from China, was at the expense of the much larger number of schmucks late to the game who lost more than $2 billion following the crash of the token's price. 

While trading in the meme coin space is relatively new - what is described in the preceding paragraph is as old as the hills.  In the vernacular of the stock-trading world this is known as Pump and Dump - with early traders pumping-up the price and them dumping their positions as less sophisticated individuals get in late to the game.  Illegal in a regulated market this scam is all to common in the unregulated crypto world. 

It is one thing for the Trump family to profit from crypto trading; it is also worth noting that the President holds executive sway over the relevant federal regulatory world.  Rolling-back victim protections and enforcement is one thing; leaving the fox to guard the hen house is altogether another.  

Coincidentally, only ten days ago The Lever reported that the Trump administration issued a blanket ethics waiver to venture capitalist David Sacks, now the president's special advisor for artificial intelligence and crypto, clearing him to work on regulatory issues directly related to his financial holdings.  The waiver comes a month after President Trump fired the Senate-confirmed director of the Office of Government Ethics - the independent agency responsible for enforcing federal ethics laws. 

'I am granting you a waiver...of any conflict of interest regarding particular matters of general applicability concerning the digital asset industry' - reads the March 5 memo from White House Counsel David Warrington.

The creation of a financial instrument facilitating the transfer of money to the president's family in connection with his office interests me.  The Trump meme coin is ideally suited as a mechanism for, hypothetically-speaking, special interests or a foreign government to influence the President and his family.  

The fact that his office's regulatory actions may now shield or insulate him from both scrutiny and consequences interests me even more.

How about you?

March Madness Stir Fry

Following breakfast with a buddy in Sturgeon Bay I ran into one of my neighbors at the big grocery. She was with her granddaughter (who I didn’t immediately recognize) but the opportunity for small talk ensued. 

Something about my cooking. Hmmm. I was unaware  people talked about my cooking.  Nevertheless, in the off season us few permanent peninsula denizens have to talk about something; and I suppose cooking is better than current affairs. Or gossip. 

Anyway, and more importantly, the conversation turned to my neighbor’s granddaughter and the impending great grandmotherness.  How cool is that?   That’s an achievement worthy of shouting from a rooftop.  I would be damn lucky to live long enough to become a great grandparent.

So for now I’ll stick to cooking. Namely, March Madness Stir Fry.  

If you have a Bluetooth device you can stream a game or two while chopping veggies, peeling shrimp, prepping stock and cooking rice.  Prep work is Zen-like. Sip a Guinness Harp before the new taxes set-in. 

And once you have sipped a martini and your mise en place is ready you can let the gas turn and burn and let’er rip. 

Figuratively-speaking. 

Everything comes together in a matter of moments.  Positively sublime. 

 

And pretty good chow if you can get it.

 

The Red Rocket

One more video for today.

Our Red Rocket rocketing on our daily walk.....

 

Southern Door Rocks

Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin is well known as a Great Lakes shipbuilding hub.  It’s also mistakenly known as the gateway to Door County.  But when you’re driving up the peninsula to Door County and you get to the steel bridge in Sturgeon Bay, you made it! You’ve found fish boils, light houses, orchards and tranquil scenery. 

You readers are smart enough to already know that if you've arrived in Sturgeon Bay you've left the VERY CONSIDERABLE entirety of Southern Door County behind you in your rear view mirror.

I live in Southern Door.  Pastoral farmland.  Flyover country.  East to ride a bike from the Lake Michigan coastline ti the coastline of Green Bay.  Anyway, this is a rather nice compilation of stuff worth doing; and you'll find it all about 20 minutes from The Platz.  

If you're in the neighborhood give us a heads-up.  You might just get a guided tour and if you're lucky there might be room at the inn. 

Ruby

Living in the country has all sorts of advantages and consequences.  On the consequence side of the ledger it goes beyond simply brown bats getting into your HVAC system.  There are external forces at work too.

Everything from deer, ring-neck pheasant, bunnies, possum and turkeys in the yard.

And if you're a red-golden retriever hunting dog it sometimes becomes a wee bit overwhelming....

Friday Music

I suppose you cannot get enough Beatles.

Composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney this song was recorded in October of 1963 and released in the UK the following month.

It also launched the British Invasion in the states and rose to number one on the Hot 100 chart in February 1964  and stayed there for seven weeks before being replaced by She Loves You.

Selling more than 12 million copies this song went on to become the Beatles' best-selling single in the world.

I Want to Hold Your Hand......

Getting Away From It All

More action photos of our Red Rocket - Ruby the Golden Retriever.  

Red River K9 offers boarding, grooming, training and daycare.  And because our red bundle of energy is in her formative years an opportunity to be away from us, socialize with other dogs and run with her pack is good.  She burns-off some energy, learns to make new doggie friends, get along with others and we catch a break for a day to square-away a class, projects and chores.

 

Dropped her-off Saturday morning for an overnight; photos from the kennel's Face Book page.....

Astronomical Arrival Of Spring

Happy Vernal Equinox.   

The astronomical arrival of spring is a consequence of the earth’s tilt on its axis as it orbits around the sun.  Equinox from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night) means the the earth’s two hemispheres are receiving the sun’s rays equally.  On this date the sun rises exactly due east and set exactly due west with sunlight striking both hemispheres of the earth equally.   Night and day are approximately equal in length. 

As you observe the movement of the sun across the sky each day you will note that it is shifting toward the north.  Birds and butterflies begin their northward migration as a response to this change in daylight following the path of the sun.

 

Stonehenge View West

 

It would be premature to pack-away your winter outerwear, return the snow shovels to the shed or plant a garden.  Nevertheless, this is a harbinger of the arrival of astronomical spring for those of us in the northern hemisphere.  

 

The official start time will be today, March 20 at about 4.01 AM CST.  Where I live at mid-northern latitude today the amount of daylight added to each day peaks at three minutes.

 

Astronomers base season cycles upon the position of the earth in relation to the sun.  The beginning of Astronomical Spring or the Vernal Equinox marks the time when the sun passes directly above the equator.  Meteorological spring is based-upon annual temperature cycles.  Your weatherman will tell you that meteorological spring begins March 1 and goes thru the end of May.

 

No matter how you slice it the days will grow longer, the temperatures warmer and mud season is in full swing.

компромат

It is fascinating to me how what goes around comes around.  Again and again.  I first blogged about Russian meddling as long ago as 2017.  And here, and here, and here and finally here.

When I started blogging further about the pro-Putin caucus, Marjorie Taylor Greene and other fringe GOP sympathizers of the Russian dictator it cost me a couple of relationships.  Those posts are all still out there and easy to find using the search tool (upper left corner) or the tags in the left margin.

Maybe there's something to it after-all.  A guy that knows more about it than I do is certainly speaking out....... 

Honestly, I should hope there's nothing to any of this.  But it sure makes you think...

The Cliff Notes for everyone watching these episodes. 

1. Nashego Cheloveka - Our Man In

2. Krot - Mole 

3. Verbovanniy - Recruited 

4. Rezident - Facade of Independence 

5. Nashego - One of Ours 

6. Vliyaniya - Agent of Influence 

7. Polezniy - Useful Idiot

Big Brown Bat

This critter met a terrible end.  With the start of the new year I swapped-out the furnace filter at its predetermined schedule and found this mummified surprise waiting for me.  

Meet Eptesicus fuscus - the Big Brown Bat.  Most of the time I find these occupying a songbird nest box or spot them flitting-about on a summer evening.  It's likely they hang-out (pun intended) from the rafters in the granary.  This critter likely found its way into the house via the fresh air intake for the furnace last fall following the October filter swap.  This species of bat likes to roost in houses over winter.

An insectivore this critter inhabits woodlands, farmlands and urban settings.  Maternity colonies can be found in hollow trees.  Their vocalizations include high-pitched clicks and the squeals of pups calling to mom.  They mate in August - September before hibernation and give birth to 1-2 (usually 2) pups from May to July.  Pups are capable of flight by 18 to 35 days.     

I feel badly for this one. Bats are good critters to have around, mice not so much.  Memo to self to install screens on the air-intakes this spring.

 

Polezniy*

Astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) safely returned to earth today.  This tidbit has been floating around on the cesspool of Face Book misinformation.

The truth is easy people. And as AI Technology evolves it might possibly inject thought into social media. Thanks to the ChatGTP and other AI sources it takes only a couple of taps on a device to reveal the facts. 

Besides, do the people that re post these lame and lazy memes understand they're largely regurgitating content served-up by Russian and Communist Red Chinese troll farms?

You’re welcome…..

NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore returned safely to Earth today, March 18, 2025, after an extended mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Their mission, initially planned for eight days to test Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, was prolonged to over nine months due to technical issues with the Starliner capsule. Consequently, their return was facilitated by SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, which successfully splashed down off the coast of Florida.    

During their extended stay, political figures, including former President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, alleged that the Biden administration had neglected efforts to expedite the astronauts’ return. However, these claims have been refuted by NASA officials, who emphasized that the astronauts were safe throughout their mission and that the delays were due to technical challenges rather than political decisions.   

Therefore, the assertion that President Biden abandoned the astronauts is unfounded. The delays in their return were primarily caused by technical issues with the Starliner spacecraft, and NASA ensured the astronauts’ safety and well-being during their extended mission. 

*Translation - Useful Idiot
 

FOIA

The DOGE has penetrated the IRS, Social Security and Medicare.

 

The DOGE now has access to all of my financial info and personal identifiers. I did not consent-to nor authorize Elon Musk’s access to this privileged and confidential information.

 

The DOGE has not disclosed what they are going to do with this information; or how they will protect me from identity theft or fraud.

 

Nobody has been able to explain how Elon Musk’s possession of this information makes me safer, more prosperous, improves my lot in life or makes my government more efficient. To what purpose is it they have my bank account and routing numbers, brokerage accounts, charities, medical records and more?

 

Come to think of it, if my former employer allowed a data breach on this order of magnitude they would be out of business.

 

 

So, last Friday I figured what the heck; I'll make an inquiry under the Freedom Of Information Act.  Maybe I can ascertain what DOGE has on me.  I figure there are three possible responses:

 

1. We have nothing.

2. We have something and here it is

3. Get lost.

 

An attorney pal tells me that all of the FOIA officers at federal agencies have been terminated; but to let him know if I get a response that is other than claimed exemption from disclosure.  A retired acquaintance informs me that FOIAs are the language of government procurement; that they have been for many many years.  Furthermore, they often go unanswered.  And a non-reply is standard and customary.

  

Stay-tuned.

 

And if anybody can answer paragraph four I'm all ears.  Even the most brilliant of my MAGA friends cannot.

A Wee Bit O'Blarney

Clonmacnoise, Ireland

The Feast Day of Saint Patrick has taken-on more significance for me since we traveled and visited the Old Sod of my ancestors before COVID.  Unless you are oblivious it is obvious that the Republic of Ireland is most assuredly a bastion of the Roman Catholic tradition of the Christian faith.  And I suppose more than a few visitors are left with the impression that Ireland is - in some official capacity - a Catholic country.  While Catholics significantly outnumber all other faith traditions in Ireland, there is no reference to Catholicism in the Irish Constitution.  Ireland is officially a secular state and tolerates all belief systems.  Of course, on my visit not even once did I spy a Lutheran church.  But I digress.

Getting back to the Feast Day the story of Ireland’s Patron Saint persists and you readers are likely wondering if St. Patrick really did chase the snakes out of Ireland.  Or is that tale just a bunch of blarney?        

According to the tale way back in the fifth century the legendary priest raised his staff and banished the reptiles into the seas surrounding the Emerald Isle.  Save for those in captivity it is true that Ireland has no snakes.  But this current condition has less to do with religious tradition and more to do with geologic history and events dating many millennia ago.  Following the retreat of the last glaciers some 15,000 years ago Ireland was devoid of snakes.  Surrounded by icy waters to this very day snakes cannot swim or find their way there and as a consequence Ireland remains snake-free.         

That’s too bad because if my recreational DNA test is to be believed I am becoming more Irish with every passing year.  And I have a particular fondness for snakes. The bigger the better.   

Like this dandy five foot long Western Fox Snake.  I also like a good saint when I see one and St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish.         

Patrick was born of aristocratic blood in Britain probably around the year 390.  The legend says that he was not particularly religious.  At age 16 he was kidnapped into slavery was forced into life as a sheepherder in Ireland.  It is held that it was during this time that he found God and became a believer.         

As the story goes he began hearing voices and the voices instructed him to flee.  Which he did.  Patrick eventually found his way back to Britain and his family.  Alas, the voices returned commanding him to return to Ireland.  He was ordained a priest, went back to Ireland and spent the balance of a rather difficult life converting the pagan Celts to Christianity.  He died on March 17, 461 and was promptly forgotten.      

Nevertheless, over many years faithful conviction and belief in the story of Patrick grew.  And he grew ever larger after his death than he did in real life.  Hundreds of years after the fact he was honored as Ireland’s patron saint.         

So on March 17th we gather to pay homage to this saint who - ostensibly - banished the snakes from Ireland.  It is said that on this one day of the year everyone is Irish.          

Since I have real Irish blood coursing through my veins I intend to raise a glass of Guinness and toast my ancestors and Saint Patrick.  I will ignore the part about the sketchy British and Western European connection.         

Speaking of Guinness - according to the Guinness people somewhere around 5.5 million pints of Guinness stout are consumed world-wide each and every day.  On St. Patrick’s Day this will grow to 13 million pints.     

Drink responsibly people.         

Sláinte!

Leftover Pork Chop

Cooking with flame. 

 

Pork fried rice tonight.

 

Out of fresh scallions? Sub toasted onion.

 

Finish with a couple splashes of Thai fish sauce for umami and a couple of locally-sourced eggs.

 

Pretty good chow if you can get it…