Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

Time for some R & R.......Rum and Relaxation. 

Happy New Year to you and yours from all of us here at the Chronicles!

Wings vs Blues 


New Years Eve tilt at the Joe.  Great way to segue into the evening.!!

Bawhahahahahaa!

We need to MAKE it a good year!!!!

 

I hear the TSA is expanding.....

It's Aloha Friday... 
 ...no work till Monday!!!

 

Doo de doo, de doo, de doo ....

Saturday is New Years Eve...Red Wings are playing the Blues!  Fireworks in the backyard. Should be fun.  Sunday we have the Lions vs the Meatpackers on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field!! All the best to you from us here at the Rumbear Chronicles......Let the New Year begin!

Doo de doo, de doo, de doo ....

"Get your island fix on the Internet with KPOA!"
Listen live to the island sounds from Maui!

Things that make you go hmmmmmm..? 

I was perusing the blogosphere today and came across this phrase....

I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words.
-W.F. Buckley Jr.

A little research lead me to the genesis thereof here.  Amusing. 

Yet, I am reminded of another phrase...Superfluity does not vitiate.

Feel free to discus.  Or not.

A Bunch of Oars 

SNO is in there.

As Joe Friday used to say, "Just the facts, Mam....."

Victor Davis Hanson

VDH once again postulates on the demise of this once great state.  More particularly, the Central Valley and it's downward spiral into chaos.  The water was saved, the crops are gone and the jobs....they left to.  What remains is simply a roving band of vandals.  VDH writes about the current situation in "A Vandalized Valley".


The state’s reaction to all this is a contorted exercise in blaming the victim, in both the immediate and the abstract senses. Governor Brown wants to raise income taxes on the top two brackets by 1 to 2 percentage points, making them over 11 and 12 percent respectively. That our schools are near dead last in test scores, that many of our main freeways are potholed relics from the 1960s, that we just passed the DREAM Act to extend state financial support for college-age illegal aliens, and that the overtaxed are fleeing the state do not register. Again, those who in theory can pay, should — and should keep quiet about why they must suddenly pay a 12 percent income tax that was not needed, say, in 1991, 1971, or 1961, when test scores were higher, roads better, and communities far safer.

There is, of course, a vague code of silence about who is doing the stealing, although occasionally the most flagrant offenders are caught either by sheriffs or on tape; or, in my typical case, run off only to return successfully at night. In the vast majority of cases, rural central California is being vandalized by gangs of young Mexican nationals or Mexican-Americans — in the latter case, a criminal subset of an otherwise largely successful and increasingly integrated and assimilated near majority of the state’s population. Everyone knows it; everyone keeps quiet about it — even though increasingly the victims are the established local Mexican-American middle class that now runs the city councils of most rural towns and must deal with the costs.

This is what you get in the utopia built by liberals.  Go. Read the whole thing.  

Fly Ing.

Today the South East Coast Editor went a flying and watched some people swimming.  (Note to Arlo in Accounting: How much are we paying this guy?)

Wow, not sure how to start this story other than to say I rented an airplane from NS Aviation at HWO (Hollywood North Perry Airport) and flew down the beach from Ft. Lauderdale to Marathon, Florida in the Keys. It is about an hour and a half one way, the weather was perfect, the ocean turquoise, the winds calm at 1500 feet. I stayed clear of the MIA and Homestead traffic and just enjoyed myself immensely tooling along at about 110 mph. 

As I got closer to Marathon, I switched the radio to the Unicom frequency (122.8) and listened to all the traffic from Marco Island, Pahoke to the Bahamas calling out their position reports....all quite boring and pretty much ignorable until a very calm voice says, "MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, Waco going down." This chilling message on the common frequency is about as rare a hens teeth and anybody who flies know this is an EMERGENCY. I heard the pilot say it again when he added "position one mile south of Marathon." If you look at a map ( I knew where he was because I was in the landing pattern at Marathon) and he was in the water, with sightseeing passengers.

 The airwaves got a little crowded with pilots and ground ops responding and somewhat cluttered with unusable chatter and guessing. I stayed out of the fray and when I heard, "they are all okay, swimming beside the plane," decided not to circle and rubberneck. I landed at Marathon and when I got to the FBO, everyone was a twitter with the news...nobody hurt, plane intact, resting on the bottom. 

So naturally, I had an ice cold Diet Coke, visited the lav and took off for a look before I skedaddled back home....

 

UPDATE: Aero News Network picked up on the story from our intrepid editor.  Hat tips all around!

 

 

Range Time. 

Headed out to the local range today to try out some new loads I had cooked up.  Got to P2000 around 12:30 and found a thousand or so others had the same idea.  2 hour wait on the 25 yard range.  Skeet slots backed up and the counter was three deep.  Who are all these peoples??


I have been noticing a tremendous upswing in gun ownership of late. I have to echo Gator about those who use this as a sport and those who seem to think a Visa card and ten day wait will make them "safe".  Far from it.  Get out there and take some courses.  Join the NRA....check out their programs. In short order you to can be a Certified Firearms Instructor. Check out Gunsite Academy for some great courses.

Be safe.

Shootin.


As in, the South East Coast Editor went a shooting.

Going to the shooting range today....some thoughts about why Americans have and buy guns.

I grew up in a family that used guns for sport – competitive shooting and hunting. When I was about seven, I started spending summers with my grandfather and when we went to the range 2-3 times a week, it was from 8:00 till 5:00…..all day. We built up our own target backboards from 5ft x 5ft cardboard so we had many, many bulls and 1 inch center boxes to help us make one inch ten shot groups at 100 yards. My grandfather reloaded, making the practice rounds for range shooting out of lead, yes solid lead melted and poured into molds. A day at the range included eight or ten rifles, a couple of 5×5 target boards and hundreds of rounds fired, all bench rest, all day. (smile)

When I read articles about people crowding the gun stores, it is obvious to me that there are two very different motives. I never shot, reloaded or went to the range for personal protection reasons, I always was thinking of that big eight point buck in November after sitting in a blind out in the woods.

The fabric of our nation has always included guns and at first it was for protection against enemies. After the civil war and WW 1, civilians owning guns, at least in my family, was good clean fun and something that was fashinable to be very, very good at. Some families had boats, we had guns and shot on competitive teams at Camp Perry, Ohio.

Today, the bad guys are no more present than they’ve been in the last 100 years. The mood has changed about them however and I’ll be the first to say, with very high confidence, that if one of them comes within a hundred yards of me or my family, I’ll use deadly force and the bad guy with criminal intent will get the worst of it.

I am no more afraid of the bad guys (criminals, psychotics, terrorists, druggies) than I have been all my life and I’m damn glad I have guns and know how to use them. I am not in panic buying mode as described in the articles. New gun owners ought to take the time to gain confidence in their skills, learn gun safety and for god’s sake, figure out why they want to carry a concealed weapon and be sure of their intentions with deep conviction, not just because it’s fashionable or they saw it on some reality TV show.

Let's Talk Turkey. 

(No not those two Bozo's....I just had to use the photo.)


Cooking a turkey is a lot like making a Martini....begin, and someone will show up to tell you how your doing it wrong. 


Well here's how the Olde Rumbear handles the task around Rumbear Manor.  Yeah that's right, moi.  See, Mrs Rumbear, she does not like turkey......at all.  Particularly the two in the photo, but, I digress...... from the festiveness of the post.

Turkey on the Weber

Use indirect heat.  (that means put the coals off to the side)  Go to the Weber site, they have rails for the coals. Prepare an aluminum foil drip pan to go between the rails. This provides basting stuff for later. Start the coals so they are grey when you place the bird on the grill.  Use Mesquite if you want heavy smoke flavor. Finally, prepare an aluminum hat for the turkey. This is a 8 x 8 inch piece of foil that rest on top of the turkey while cooking. Think warm moist breasts. 

Still thinking? Get your mind out of the gutter, we have work to do.

Now it's time to prepare the turkey.  Make friends with your turkey.  Give it a name.  More importantly, give it a bath.  Cold water.  pull out the packages of innards from BOTH ends. Flush with cold water. Rinse off all of the feather residue.  I likes my turkey clean.  Place the turkey on a rack and let drip dry.

Grab your ingredients and get them lined up. In no particular order:

Olive oil

Garlic salt

1/4 to 1/2 stick of butter. (yeah butter, get over your bad self)

Chopped garlic. The more the merrier

Diced onion.  The dried stuff work well

Black pepper

Sea salt

Chopped bacon (bacon?)

Now back to old what's his name.  Stand him on his head.  Yup, hold em by the legs and add some cubes of butter, garlic, garlic salt, black pepper, onion, and a touch of sea salt.  I have no idea what a "touch" is so just add the right amount and you will be fine. The goal is to get the ingredients waaaaay back in the bird.  Do not add all ingredients because you're going to do it again when the bird is laying in the rack.   

Now place the turkey face down and grab some olive oil.  Pour it on the back and use your hands to massage it all over the bird.  Then flip the bird over and do the same on the top. Now you all slimy and feeling good.  Put the bird in a roasting rack and wash your hands.  Now add the rest of your ingredients to the interior of the bird.  That's right more butter, garlic, garlic salt, black pepper, onion, and a touch of sea salt.  Next sprinkle some on the outside of the bird and rub it around to spread evenly. (our dog will love the crisp skin of the bird) Wash your hands and last, but not least, add one heaping tablespoon (is that the big one?) of bacon bits.  Throw it in with flair.

Now carry the rack out to the grill with the grey coals.  place the bird in the middle of the grill, cover with the hat, and let er go.  I check mine every 40 minutes or so.  More frequently as the cooking goes on.  I use a turkey baster for it's actual purpose to grab the drippings out of the foil pan and spread them on the bird. I cook a 11 lb bird around three hours.  Use a thermometer to check.  You mileage may vary.

When the bird has reached optimum temperature.  Take it off the grill and let it sit for 10 minutes or so.  Carve up the bird and enjoy.

Next time we will discuss turkey sammiches.

Monday's Post Christmas Pun(s) !!!!!!!

Nothing like a good groan to help you through the day after Christmas!!

Christmas is the time of year when women get Santamental.

Christmas is the time of year when mother has to separate the men from the toys.

Christmess: Five minutes after the gifts are opened.

Scrooge loves all the reindeer equally, because every buck is dear to him.

What did Adam say the day before Christmas?
It's Christmas, Eve!

What does December have that other months don't have?
The letter D.

What do Christmas trees and bad knitters have in common?
They both drop their needles.

BONUS PUN!

"Why don't we ever hear about 'Olive,' the 10th reindeer?" asked Bert.
"What 10th Reindeer?" asked Scott.
"You know. Olive, the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names."

 

 

Mele Kalikimaka

 

 

Christmas.......

Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rummmmmmmmmmmmm

Silent Night, Holy Night...

Merry Christmas to You and Yours

from all of us here at the Chronicles!!

It's Aloha Friday... ...no work till Monday!!!

 

Doo de doo, de doo, de doo ....
Saturday is Christmas Eve...Chargers are playing the Lions!  Should be fun.  All the best to you from us here at the Rumbear Chronicles......Let the Holidaze begin!

Doo de doo, de doo, de doo ....

"Get your island fix on the Internet with KPOA!"
Listen live to the island sounds from Maui!

Holiday Fun with Achmed!

Get It? 

Yule........

(I stole it from somewhere....maybe the Lumberjack)

Heading for my happy place.....

Ummmmm......

Mad Magazine.

Seen the new cover yet?

Another Christmas Card!!  


Awwww.......................

A Christmas Card!

I.....I got nothing.....

Be Still My Heart.... 

Guess I missed this little missive.....


Tea Party champion Sarah Palin, who has already ruled out a 2012 presidential run, on Monday attempted to dangle her name anew as a possible Republican candidate, although it's probably too late.


In an interview to air on Fox Business Network's "Follow the Money" program, the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president was asked whether she would still consider a run for the White House.

"It's not too late for folks to jump in," Palin said. "Who knows what will happen in the future."

Had enuff of Mitt Ginrich or Newt Romney yet? Maybe the best man for the job is ....a woman. 

Happy Birthday Sis....

May your time with the Lord bring back your smile. I miss you.  

R.I.P

Yeah....I'm Back.

Trial.  One case.  Fifty - sixty hour weeks.  Moving fast. In court, outta court. Depositions. Ex Parte hearings. Entire office consumed as the date in January approaches.  No time for family, friends, pets etc.  

Hearing with Judge today...and trial date VACATED.  Gone. Off Calendar. 

Balloon deflating......rumor has it there is some Holiday approaching.

Redistricting 

Every ten years the great folks that run Kallyfornia get together to re draw the district lines of Congress to alolow for adjustments in voter migration.  Seems every time they do this, the Democrats wind up with more seats and the Repuiblicans stand gazing at their navels wondering what happened.  So this year the Wizards of Smart had a new way to redraw the lines.  Its was to be completed by Citizen Commission of local folks who had the interest of the common peoples in mind.


As this article documents, for the get go the Democrats set out to rig the selection process of Commission members and thwart any attempt at objectivity.  Thus, once again, Kallyfornia remains staunchly Democrat with horses behinds like Pete Fortney Stark & Nancy Peelosi entrenched in Congress. 


The question facing House Democrats as they met to contemplate the state’s new realities was delicate: How could they influence an avowedly nonpartisan process? Alexis Marks, a House aide who invited members to the meeting, warned the representatives that secrecy was paramount. “Never say anything AT ALL about redistricting — no speculation, no predictions, NOTHING,” Marks wrote in an email. “Anything can come back to haunt you.”
In the weeks that followed, party leaders came up with a plan. Working with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — a national arm of the party that provides money and support to Democratic candidates — members were told to begin “strategizing about potential future district lines," according to another email.
The citizens’ commission had pledged to create districts based on testimony from the communities themselves, not from parties or statewide political players. To get around that, Democrats surreptitiously enlisted local voters, elected officials, labor unions and community groups to testify in support of configurations that coincided with the party’s interests. 


Thus, California remains in a perpetual state of ....suck.

It's Aloha Friday....   

...no work till Monday!!! 


Doo de doo, de doo, de doo .... 

Christmas lights are up, some lead downrange along with the Wings vs Kings Saturday, Lions vs Raiders on Sunday, whew!!!  Y'all have a GREAT Weekend!! 

Doo de doo, de doo, de doo ....
 

"Get your island fix on the Internet with KPOA!"

Listen live to the island sounds from Maui!

  

Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011 

 

Damn.  Just damn. The cancer finally took him away.  

Ole Hitch was one of my favorite atheist, commie bastards.  May not have agreed with everything he said, however, he was an engaging, articulate rascal.  I once described him thusly....

Christopher Hitchens may be a English socialist/commie bastard, however, he is a bright articulate English socialist/commie bastard. Thus, he presents an engaging read whatever the topic.

His name has popped up at the Chronicles on several occasions through the years. 

Here, here, here, here, here & most recently here.

Want some background?  Read the Two Part article on him by David Horowitz from 2010. 

 His brother Peter has a retrospective here entitled: In Memoriam, my courageous brother Christopher, 1949-2011

Rest in peace Hitch.  You will be missed.

 

Rick Perry

Hard to count this ole country boy out.

Just saying....

Enjoy Newt Romney while ya can!

Blago is Off to Jail... 

....let the fun begin.

Overheard


DEAR ABBY:
‘I have always wanted to have my family history traced, but I can’t afford to spend a lot of money to do it. Any suggestions?’

Carl in California .


DEAR SAM:
‘Register as a Republican, and run for public office.’

Abby

Monday's Pun(s) !!!

The sardine factory reeled job applicants in by promoting a can do atmosphere.

Why did the capacitor kiss the diode? He just couldn't resistor.

My new theory on inertia doesn't seem to be gaining momentum.