Now that’s a bush pilot.
North to Alaska II – Pinning It Down
Mrs. Animal and I have been planning this for twenty years. We’re now at the light at the end of the tunnel stage. Here is the continuation of the story of our planned move from Colorado to Alaska.
Narrowing Down Locations
We spent last week in the Great Land, further narrowing down exactly where we want to live. We chatted with several folks who lent valuable insights, including a fine dinner with the Glibs’ own 61 North. Thanks to 61 North for all the intel on locations and neighborhoods!
We’re still mostly looking in the same locations: Palmer, the Mat-Su Valley up as far as Willow, or maybe out the Glenallen Highway including the Soapstone and Fishhook areas. Big Lake we have kind of scrubbed after getting some information on that area.
New Considerations:
We have learned a little bit more about specific areas. What are we looking for?
Well, as I’ve said, we’d like to have a place outside of town, un-zoned, with a few acres of trees to play around with. I would like to have at least a pistol range and Mrs. Animal wants a greenhouse. We wouldn’t turn down a house in, say, Palmer, if the house was just right and if it sat on a big lot, but we’d prefer to be out in the sticks a way.
We do have to be within an hour or so of the VA hospital in Anchorage and the airport. That rules out much north of Willow, east of Sutton or (sadly) the Kenai Peninsula. But there’s a caveat on that last, which I’ll discuss in a bit.
The Areas
Big Lake, we have it on good authority, is a “good place to live if you want to get your house broken into.” On our one Sunday in the area we drove around Big Lake and were not favorably impressed with the look of most of the housing. Along the lake itself most of the properties looked well-kept and well-maintained, but away from the lake? Well, I suspect there was some meth being cooked in some of those places.
Just on the north side of the Glenallen Highway east of Palmer lay the areas of Soapstone and Fishhook. A local I was chatting with in the gas station said both areas were nice, “once you get away from the meth houses on the highway.” I’m not entirely sure why, but the woods in those parts have fewer conifers and more hardwoods (look like mostly ash and larches) than some of the other areas we’ve looked at. The country is rolling to hilly, with lots of big horse properties in the open valleys and parcels tucked into the woods in the hills. While turning the truck around on one narrow gravel road, a ruffed grouse burst from cover at the side of the road and buzzed off into the trees, which I took as a good sign. We like this area a lot. Some of the hillsides offer good views of the mountains, some of the Matanuska river valley, so even if you lack water access (a big draw in the Great Land) you can at least have a great view.
On our first Saturday we drove up to Talkeetna, thinking that it would be the northern limit of our home search, but we weren’t impressed with the town; it’s clearly a tourist trap and now, in the off-season, it was muddy, chilly and dead. I can imagine that in summer it might be a fun place, but not at the moment, and we’re looking for year-round digs. It’s a pretty area, though, a town along a river that flows through an impossibly vast pine plain; it looks like there would be some great hunting in the area. We’ll be spending some time in those parts.
On the last Saturday we were in the area we looked at an area called Butte, across the Matanuska River from Palmer. We’ve looked at the area before, in fact almost put an offer on a big house on a hillside lot a couple of years ago, but in that case we were beat out by another buyer. It has many of the same appeals as the Soapstone and Fishhook areas, but there isn’t much of the open horse country lots up there, and more of the hillside building lots.
Fishhook, Soapstone and Butte all seems to share one characteristic – crappy houses with rows of junk cars right on the highway, with properties very quickly becoming much nicer (and presumably more expensive) as you get away from the main road.
We looked at a few houses in Wasilla, where the same conditions would apply as for a house in Palmer, but Wasilla is a fast-growing town, and the possibility of getting enclosed is a little too concerning. To lure us into the Palins’ hometown, the combination of house, lot and price would have to be damn near perfect.
Right now the Butte, Soapstone and Fishhook areas are high up on the list.
Pictures are worth a thousand words.
Wasilla:
Along the Matanuska:
Talkeetna:
As It Stands…
A lot depends on November 3rd.
If Groper Joe wins the election, we may move up our plans to “as fast as possible.” While most of our reasons for wanting to move to the Great Land are not political, I can’t say that the current political situation isn’t a factor. If Biden wins, his handlers will have the country on a fast downhill course: Beta O’Rourke as a “Gun Czar,” Kamala Harris closeting up with Bernie Sanders on health care and Alexandria “Crazy Eyes” Ocasio-Cortez on the Green New Deal, and Corey “Spartacus” Booker on new Imperial diktats on residential zoning.
If that happens, we bail, to be as far away from the lower 48 as we can get and still be in the United States.
If Trump wins, then we have a reprieve, but I really think that’s all we have. The collapse will be postponed, not prevented.
So, our timeline now is for 24 months at the outside. Things are getting weird and I’m getting old. It’s time to go to the place we’ve wanted to go for a couple of decades now; we’re in the position to do so and the time is right.
Our intent is to found Glibtopia North. Join us!
That’s some awfully nice scenery. In concept, its very intriguing. I’ve just completely lost my tolerance for cold.
I’m just the opposite; I’ve completely lost my tolerance for heat. I can stand cold. I don’t even bother with gloves until the temps approach zero.
When I was younger, I could (re-)acclimate to cold in a year. The first winter would be rough, but the second would be fine.
At some point, that stopped. I have real doubts that I would ever not be miserable much of the year in a cold climate.
Not sure how you’ve tolerated Tucson this year – the heat being unrelenting.
Its actually very pleasant here, from roughly October through April.
Yeah, I heard there was no monsoonal relief this year – extra unpleasant.
Dumb question maybe, but what about all of the lost time people spend moving snow around?
I guess we have snow blowers now, but still, I would not want to live anywhere where I needed to dig myself out from snow daily or weekly.
what about all of the lost time people spend moving snow around?
DING DING DING!!!
Even if you hire a plow guy, you gotta pay him.
Also, heat must get expensive. Otoh, I’m guessing no electricity for A/C.
I would want to have AC anywhere just in case
I was thinking that the area with larch and ash would make supplying your own firewood more doable.
“We looked at a few houses in Wasilla, where the same conditions would apply as for a house in Palmer, but Wasilla is a fast-growing town, and the possibility of getting enclosed is a little too concerning.”
But you can see Russia from your house.
Join us! – No. First I don;t have US residency. Second Alaska is too cold and the public transport aint much. Furthermore the wine bars are not the best, and I doubt the quality of the erotic massage parlors.
Could we consider a Glibtopia South? MInne already deprives me of sun.
Nice article and great pics, Animal! Wish I could join you but mama wants to be close to the kids.
I notice that the Matanuska seems to have a lot of dead pine trees. Any idea what’s going on with that?
Beetles.
That’s what I suspected. The pinons in NM got massacred by beetles not too long ago. I think it was because of a drought.
Yep.
Just got a text that we are apparently suffering from a series of “power blitzes”. I immediately asked our facilities VP if that meant our generator plant was under attack from these Nazis I keep hearing about.
Turned out it was just autocorrect for “power blips”. Disappointing.
?po-wer blitz
po-wer blitz?
“Attack of the Electro-Nazis” sound like a 1944 Superman comic.
Animal, I really envy you, the scenery, etc. A lot of locals went north to work on the pipeline and never returned to MN. As I’ve said, my youngest g’daughter recently moved to Galena and it has been a little cultural shock but they are young. They have spent a bit of time in the bush already, with new friends that have taken them hunting and fishing and camping.
After my first visit to Alaska I wished I was 35 years old again. Those junk cars you see are local hardware stores, as required.
Friends in Anchorage, Eagle River, Seward (the Seavey Racing Team). Keep us informed as to your progress, the election is a bit of the scary problem. Thanks for the pictures and your travel highlights.
One of my hunting buddies went up to Alaska just to work for a summer.
That was 1997 and he’s still there.
All of the pictures are beautiful. Unfortunately, it’s a complete non-starter with the wife. Anywhere north of Chicago is a hard pass for her.
I believe Southern Alaska may have a climate comparable to Chicago, maybe milder. Compare, say, Juneau and Chicago.
Even Anchorage has a milder winter than Chicago, but a very short day and very long night br comparison. But in the summer you can mow your lawn at midnight, I saw a guy doing just that.
Talkeetna is a fun place to have a beer after taking a small plane around Denali and buzzing Mt. McKinley. Other than that, I agree, not much there.
Very nice scenery. I hope you find a good place to settle into.
When I leave New Hampshire, the plan is to go someplace where I don’t have to shovel snow. For family reasons, I’ll need to stay on the East Coast for at least a little while longer, so Texas or the desert Southwest are out for now.
I grew up here, (Northern MN), was gone for 35 years. I really needed to get back to the lakes and trees. Politically and demographically there have been a lot of changes and it isn’t the same but still, we can shoot and fish (not much catching) and the locals are nice enough to not bother us too much.
My perception of Minnesota has been colored by the various John Sandford novels. Flat land, rural blond whitefolks, crotchedy Indians, ignorant sheriff deputies, mosquitoes, serial killers.
I guess if I had to move somewhere, my ideal location would be Durango, CO.
I thought about heading back to PA, but there are problems.
Still has snow. More taxes. More gun laws.
On the other hand, getting a hold of Yuengling, shoo-fly pie, and funny cake would be easy.
And get good pretzels in PA too.
I wanted New Mexico to be my retirement place, up in the mountains outside of Alamogordo (Cloudcroft) in my 30s. Then, I thought, nah lets end up on a nice size of land up in Montana or the Dakotas. However, ever since going to Alaska, my wife isn’t not not opposed to the idea.
my wife isn’t not not opposed
*scratches head*
Heh. Triple negative, so strike that. She is willing to consider, which is all I ask.
My kids are halfway trying to talk me into the area around Cimarron or Jemez.
New Mexico is beautiful, but obviously has changed in the past 15 years since I lived there. I might be okay with Northern Nevada too. I want a crick, some trees and land for my inevitable grandchildren to get lost in.
@Pine: I live in the Jemez. Beautiful area but I live where people want to vacation and there are hordes of tourists in the summer. Forest fires are a yearly concern, three major ones nearby in the last 15 or so years.
@OBE: For the first 100 years of statehood we were very purple. We typically had one D and one R senator. Lately the state has taken a hard turn leftward and now is solid deep blue. Two gun-grabber laws were put in place in 2019 and 2020, for example.
We’ve got lots of trees and open space but water is hard to find. Even here in the forested mountains at 8000ft we have a desert climate.
We vacationed up there in ’18 and ’19. Did the hot springs up in the mountains north of Jemez Springs, and Gilman Tunnels etc. Also some time down near El Malpais. I was surprised at how (relatively) green and forested it was around Cimarron.
And we were there in the Spring, so probably missed the main tourist thing. Buncha Crackers dealing with a foot of snow in the woods in Cimarron Canyon and Valles Caldera.
I wish I could disagree with your last thoughts. This election is about when things get spicy, not if.
Concur. I think that’s close to a consensus around here.
Seems like Dems are interfering with judicial proceedings since they are trying to push certain positions on a nominee.
The few minutes I listened to was all about “Trump wants to take away your health care!” Sounds just like a Joe Biden commercial.
Yeah, a law that is constitutionally dubious and didn’t exist until 2010 might be struck down and the sky is falling. Everything they are “arguing” treats scotus as if it is a super legislature. “People don’t want ‘x’ to be overturned”. As if that is the proper framing.
This exactly. Here’s an idea. How about, if you want to have a health care bill, get some input from people outside your party, and then make sure it’s constitutional?
They are working from the assumption that a majority of people liked Obamacare. I think they are incorrect.
I lost the doctor I had since birth. So I’m not a fan.
Their nominees are running maybe the worst campaign since the radio was invented. The Dems have put all their eggs in the fraud and lawsuits basket. Ginsberg’s dirt nap and a new conservative Justice will really jeopardize those plans – that’s why they are going crazy.
Ginsberg’s dirt nap and a new conservative Justice will really jeopardize those plans
Maybe. If the margin of fraud is exceeded by enough manufactured votes in the right swing states, there may not even be a viable court challenge. The traditional approach of waiting for the results to be 99% in, and then finding just enough votes to give the election to a Dem may need to go by the wayside, in favor of just dumping more than enough manufactured votes into the ballot harvesting boxes so a drawn-out recount/challenge seems pointless.
See, e.g., Sinema’s win over McSally in 2018.
Great article and photos on “pinning it down” on Alaska!
Will your next Alaska article include pinning for their fjords?
Fun fact: WSJ columnist Kimberley Strassel also lives in Wasilla.
When I was there in 2009 the Wasilla City Hall was a metal quonset hut. It was fun to imagine Palin holding court inside it. I only saw it from the outside, though.
OT: Another day, another rage-inducing email from corporate. this time, covid related.
We’re evidently assisting a university in a sentiment modification project that involves mapping social networks NSA-style, identifying covid/vaccine skeptical subnetworks, and targeting them with advertising designed to manipulate them into supporting covid vaccination. It was spelled out in excruciating detail exactly how they want to accomplish this, and apparently there is high level buy in at my company to do our part.
I had a serious conversation with my wife about where our line in the sand is, and whether this incident accelerates my departure plan. Ultimately, with a baby coming a month from now, I’m in no position to play whistle-blower/sacrificial lamb for a project I’m only tangentially aware of. Beyond that, wife was not convinced that it would even accomplish anything were I to do something about this highly unethical program. Best I could do is wash my hands of the company, but better to do that on my terms than in an emotional huff.
Still, this is orwellian shit, and adds yet another incident to the pile of reasons why I’m milking the company for all it has before finding greener pastures.
Well, emails have a way of getting leaked. I gather the best way is to take a photo of it, scrub the photo of metadata, and distribute through a secure method (printed and delivered, forwarded through a one-time email, that kind of thing).
Err, I’m told.
At this point it’s seems clear we are headed for a V for Vendetta society from the left. Only question is does our country break up before that happens.
On the plus side, COVID-skeptical networks are likely to be skeptical of targeted advertising as well…
Yeah, this. I don’t think their genius plan is going to work quite the way they expect.
Why do I get the feeling that targeted advertising is an optional part of the plan? Once you identify wrongthinkers, there are much more effective methods to make them comply.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they plan more than just some advertising. I wish I could post the actual text of this thing without fear of massive blowback against me and my family, but family comes first.
Let this be a warning to you all. They are pulling out all stops to identify the wrong thinkers. They are soliciting AI experts and supercomputing resources to track you down and identify you on social media so that you can be brought to heel.
You don’t have to be outspoken. You don’t have to be active. Follow the wrong person, like the wrong post, use the wrong phrase and you make “the list”. Oh, and the list is actually a graph based structure that captures how strongly associated you are with others in the movement. Depending on which layer of the onion you’re in, you’ll get hit differently. Get the hell off of social media.
By the way, I’ve been on my Big Non-profit hobby horse for a while. Here’s the one at the center of this initiative.
I was giving people shit about being laser focused on Soros, but whaddya know…
Only one answer for now, trashy.
Sabotage!
Sabotage!
What’s the steak situation in Alaska? Can you get good cuts of beef there?
Moose steaks.
Heh-heh-heh, he said beef, heh-heh-heh
Rebel is correct. If you live in a state where you can eat moose (and/or elk) steaks why would you bother with beef?
And reindeer…
Is reindeer tasty?
The elk I’ve eaten was always a bit on the lean side.
It is in the form of sausage, dunno about other cuts. One of the many highlights of anchorage was hot dog carts with reindeer dogs.
A few days ago, the ATF retroactively made made 4,000 people felons – maybe including the President’s son. They won’t supply their reasoning in writing or tell the company how to comply with their secret rules. My Trump will pay attention if they arrest Donnie Jr. If they argue that everyone who bought a Honey Badger Pistol has to pay the $200 tax on the SBR, will the $200 excise tax they paid on pistols be refunded?
It was going to happen sooner or later, with social media overflowing with photos and videos of people shouldering braced pistols (including a few of me, to be fair.)
I’m a little surprised that we got as long as we did.
WTF is Spartacus talking about?
https://twitter.com/CryptoParadyme/status/1315028386457157634
This is the creepiest thing I think I’ve ever seen.
If face to face is out, I guess that means anal is in?
Requim for a dream was doc for sex in 2020.
Be excited, be be excited!
Still gotta wear a mask.
So…you’re saying ATM is out? Asking for myself.
you can have doggy style vaginal sex you know… but a guy can dream I suppose
Stupidest thing maybe.
nah dude this is beyond stupid. Like I would find it funny to troll everyone at the homecoming committee with this idea because it’s so comically retarded but actually seeing it happen is horror movie shit.
it’s zombie mob mentality stuff.
Heh, so rather than ‘infecting’ just your partner, you face outwards, with everyone else facing outwards, and spray the whole room. Social conditioning is all we are doing now and we are just the lab rats to do it willingly.
There’s this concept called “quality of life” that apparently people have forgotten about in the past 9 months.
Wife told me this morning that most of her gym members are terrified of telling anybody that they worked out at a gym. Evidently, quality of life (and living life, generally) is seen as an urgent evil.
Funny, isn’t it that all the places where people go to build community are nonessential? These same gym members wouldn’t hesitate to mention a trip to Costco.
Fuck that.
TMITE eagerly participated in whipping up a panic. I have nothing but contempt for anyone in the media at this point. They have joined our public health bureaucrats and politicians in earning my maximal contempt.
Timely look at the numbers:
THE PARTISAN SPLIT ON CORONAVIRUS IS EXTRAORDINARY
Not shocking, but shows pretty clearly who is buying into the media narrative. Thanks, NPR!
This came up at the shooting class I attended this past weekend.
We have been socially conditioned into false modesty to an absolutely horrifying degree, to the point where we can’t talk about our successes even when asked to. It’s awful to see.
Amy (the instructor): Okay, how did you do on that last stage?
Basil (the student): Dude, I sucked. I missed my grip out of the holster, was out of position, my transitions were slow, and I tagged a no-shoot on the last array…
Amy: Okay, tell me two things you did well.
Basil: Ummmm…
Seriously, how can you ever expect to be awesome at anything, if all you ever talk about is what a
Fair enough, I am Not Awesome at posting.
This came up at the shooting class I attended this past weekend.
We have been socially conditioned into false modesty to an absolutely horrifying degree, to the point where we can’t talk about our successes even when asked to. It’s awful to see.
Amy (the instructor): Okay, how did you do on that last stage?
Basil (the student): Dude, I sucked. I missed my grip out of the holster, was out of position, my transitions were slow, and I tagged a no-shoot on the last array…
Amy: Okay, tell me two things you did well.
Basil: Ummmm…
Seriously, how can you ever expect to be awesome at anything, if all you ever talk about or think about is what a fuck-up you are?
Being a recovering-perfectionist, I pretty much get where Basil is coming from. You’re right though, you got to work past that shit and be able to better perceive your own strengths (and/or receive positive feedback without discounting it).
Well, did he do at least two things well?
Sure. She* didn’t shoot herself, or anyone else. She successfully engaged every target, which means she had a stage plan that she successfully executed on the clock. She shot lots of A hits.
The point is, even if the only thing you did right was to avoid pointing the gun at your own head, that’s the first thing that goes in your self-assessment. “I managed to complete the course of fire safely.” All the negatives, on the other hand, should be framed as ways to improve. Don’t say, “I was slow.” Say, “I need to work on shooting faster.”
That’ll be $124.99. You can hear more at my self-help seminar!
*- Basil is a woman. Amy is a man. I use the children from Gorey’s Ghaslycrumb Tinies for arbitrary alphabetical names.
Not too confusing…
Was B. bears or stairs? I forget.
A is for Amy, who fell down the stairs,
B is for Basil, assaulted by bears.
C is for Clara, who wasted away,
D is for Desmond, tossed out of a sleigh.
E is for Edwin, who choked on a peach,
F is for Fanny, sucked dry by a leech.
Not bad, from memory.
that is not even top 10 creepiest. maybe crappiest
That is creepy Pie. That is fictional dystopia played out in real life. All that was missing were people in lab coats on the upper parts of the dance floor noting the interactions of their subjects.
Seriously, it’s like something out of one of those goofy contrived dystopian movies they make for teens. And yet, it’s real.
If only the women were all made to wear red frocks and white hats – to go with the facemasks. I honestly think if the right authority figures told them to, they’d do it.
If Groper Joe wins, the first thing we will get is a hard lockdown and that will include travel bans for any reason, including jobs, relocation, whatever, no one is going anywhere until the deplorables are taught a lesson.
Good thing we’ll have 2 months to get the fuck out before that can be enforced.
Lol. Get the fuck out where, exactly?
You don’t have a bunker out in the wilderness? Sad!
No, but I have a neighborhood full of decent people. We’ll have to make do.
That’s my plan.
Was just about to ask that, but in earnest. Some (((Glibs))) can move to Israel. Some others hold or qualify for foreign passports. Me, I got nuthin.
Anywhere in particular you’re looking at, Hyp? Or would you rather not say?
My wife can go to the Azores and stay forever. She’ll probably have to sneak me in.
I keep asking my partner, who is a EU citizen, when we’re moving to Sweden.
Sweden is out. They got the Kung Flu thing pretty correct. However their mass acceptance of middle eastern military age (MEMA) males has largely destroyed “Swedish society” . Even the UN admits that Sweden is by far the “rapiest” country (that is part of “The West”) with almost all the attacks by males of an unspecified background. In numerous cities the immigrant areas have large “police no go” areas. Curiously there are many grenade attacks in Sweden because a quirk in the law makes that less punished than using a firearm.
I have been to Sweden multiple times from the mid-1980’s to 2018 and the country of today is not the country of twenty, or even ten years ago. *
*If you way north into Sami territory there are very few MEMA around so public attitudes, not the laws, may still be more traditional.
I would love to move to my town of heritage in Norway, but I am one generation removed from claiming citizenship unfortunately.
Lol. Get the fuck out where, exactly?
That’s the question. There isn’t anywhere ideal to go. I’ve narrowed it down to two groups for myself:
Cold and isolated: Alaska, Wyoming, the Dakotas
Hot and a chance of pushing back: Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi
Texas would go with the second group, but I think it’s going to go Blue over the next decade or two.
As Animal said, a Trump victory won’t stop the inevitable but it will buy time. Time enough for me to move my family out of VA and to what’s looking like Alabama. There are other non-political reasons for us to move… mainly being no job opportunities around here for the kids when they grow up which also knocks out the “cold and isolated” state group. Regardless though, recent events have shown us what happens in blue cities or states where citizens defend themselves from thugs and I won’t live in such a place.
“Lol. Get the fuck out where, exactly?”
Out of blue cities and states.
Ironically? Joe Biden Hits Donald Trump for ‘Shutting Down’ Country over Coronavirus
“Get the fuck out,” covers a lot of territory.
Come to Romania! We are about to get a railroad all the way to the Baltic sea
https://thefederalist.com/2020/10/12/democrats-claim-republicans-are-the-ones-court-packing-by-filling-empty-seats-in-the-judiciary/
Joe Scarborough people: the “Conservative” that they allow on MSNBC
Why can’t Democrats constitutionally finish what FDR started back over 80 years ago
FDR presided over a much more unified nearly one party state, and he still got excoriated for trying.
This country is coming apart at the seams, and the sort of chicanery Joe is advocating further wipes away the thin veneer of legitimacy that is left.
Scarborough and his ilk cannot forgive the Republican Party for holding an actual primary election, and want to see it destroyed for “allowing” Trump to win. They’d rather we have no choice at all than be given a choice where a non-elite stands a chance of winning.
https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1315661161451446276
Once you have covid, you’re never allowed to enter public company again.
Ah, the IFLS crowd.
From the actual physician:
What a laughable excuse for not doing a test. Up until Trump caught it, they were testing the ever living shit out of anyone who was somewhat close to Trump, even if not a close contact per CDC guidelines, on a regular basis. Along with regular diagnostic screening also above guidelines.
There’s only one reason for not doing the testing now and it’s as clear as why Hilary set up her own server.
I must be stopid, cause i don’t get it.
Because they don’t want to chance the results of a continuing positive test.
That’s CDC guidance for everybody, not just People Who Matter.
Its good guidance, too. Pointless tests are pointless.
Sure it’s pointless, but they been running pointless tests by the thousands and not strictly following CDC guidance. Picking and choosing is picking and choosing.
They clearly do not want to run the risk of Trump having a positive test, regardless meeting the other guidance, which is quite possible.
They (media/blue checkmarks/whinny babies) are trying to keep alive the notion that contracting it is a death sentence. Its not hard to see all that bullshit through the dead bodies they have concocted in their heads.
Sheesh, do the Dems want ACB to get Covid or not?
He looks pretty good for a dead guy.
illegitimate committee process – Harris
The president is required to nominate someone to fill a vacancy and your party doesn’t control the Senate. Cry me a river.
But not so illegitimate that she boycotted the hearing. I mean, there are TV cameras there, right?
She’s not married to it? (Like Willie Brown)
Illegitimate process == things we don’t like today
What I am hearing from Commiela is that this nomination will “put y’all back in chains”.
Like back on her family’s plantations in Jamaica?
We are staying in Iowa until the end.
We have kids and grandkids here. There is no pulling-up-stakes and heading somewhere else.
I’ve been toying with the idea of looking into moving to Panama again. When we looked into in 2009ish, there was a lot to like. We are not overly burdened with offspring, and we have more money now. I’ll never shake the missed opportunity (couldn’t afford it) of that lot just outside Boquete (nice town) that had views of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Unless AZ is overrun by CA dumbshits, I don’t see a “lateral” move inside the US as having much point, once the Dems take control in DC and convert the US to a one-party state. Even if that happens, that will basically mean the entire US has been overrun by CA dumbshits.
“Boquete, Panama”
Choose your own climate. Beautiful there. Not cheap, dollar is the currency.
A google image search for “corn fed gingers” did not turn up what I had hoped for.
It’ll be hard for the zombies to track you down in all that corn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMYGbRO-jmE
At least in Iowa you get the chance for an F5 tornado before things get really bad. Comet 2021 probably ain’t coming for the rest of us. Also, corn fed gingers!
We are keeping the Iowa house for the long-term and unfortunately just listed the Chicago condo – no way we are purchasing any second homes or completely relocating in the foreseeable future.
My experience has been that kids/grandkids decide for themselves, to follow their own dream. Some tend to scatter with the wind, the same as my brothers and I did. I was lucky enough to get a chance to return, much like that proverbial bad penny.
The two grandsons are now 21 and 18. Not sure what their long term plans are.
The two granddaughters are in high school.
RUTHLESS BADER GINSBORG
https://www.reddit.com/r/Anarcho_Capitalism/comments/j8z2ri/ruth_bader_ginsborg/
Looks more like Larry King than Ruth.
LOL
Beautiful country! Thanks for the rundown!
Kristen, do you know about St. Helena’s Airport?
If you don’t, I posted a story in today’s morning links you might find interesting.
The airport that never was? I have seen a couple Youtubes on it. I’ll check out the article!
The airport came to be. A massive sink of UK taxpayer dollars. After its completion, it sat idle because of wind shear problems. Eventually the airport opened up to flights.
Meanwhile, here in the Big City, the closest maraschino liqueur is 26 miles away
You live in a “booze desert”.
Dessert booze not available because booze desert?
Gahhh! My nefarious plans have been foiled again!
https://twitter.com/CrimeADay/status/1314738864725131267
I need to go talk to my marketing manager:
https://twitter.com/CrimeADay/status/1315456565965717506
An elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, or tapir shall not be imported into the United States unless accompanied by a health certificate either signed by a salaried veterinarian of the national veterinary services of the region where the inspection and treatment required by this section occurred or signed by a veterinarian authorized by the national veterinary services of such region and endorsed by a salaried veterinarian of the national veterinary services of such region
Where would we be if not for ridiculous repetition of the genuflection to the credentialed elite?
Yesterday I saw some lady driving alone with a mask on, pulled down to her chin, while she smoked a cig in her car with the windows up. Made me laugh.
Have you seen this clip?
Eh, easier sometimes just to keep it on. Smoking in an enclosed car though, yuck.
Needs more tatts…
https://mobile.twitter.com/ShootyMcBeard/status/1315608342027476993
Uh…what?
that triggers the “That is horrifying” response in me.
OK, I’m never eating another eggplant again.
“Honey, the ratatouille tastes kind of weird”
Why would scorpions be in that?
To make a video
Love at first sting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it9bXaOYqVE
To rock you like a hurricane?
Aww, poor scorpions…
Here I Am
Rock you like an Aubergine
Staged. The lack of reaction from the person cutting it open is a dead giveaway.
Also, why would you cut something in that particular manner, in front of a camera? It looks like someone performing a magic trick.
I think it would be even more interesting to see how they stuffed that many scorpions into an eggplant.
I’m quite sure whoever pulled the stunt has never been stung by one of the little fuckers, either.
Two words: Neuro. Toxin.
It is why I don’t own a black light. You bastards stay outside and I won’t bother you or hunt you down and we will all live in harmony. Only had one in the house, 3 years ago, little baby bastard. First time I ever got to see my terrier mutt go into hunt mode and become stiff as a board once he found it.
They seem more seasonal around our house. We’ll see them in the house every few days for awhile, and then not see one at all for awhile. I, too, have declined to get a black light to go looking for them at night. Ignorance being bliss, and all.
True story – the one that stung me was crawling on my arm while I slept. When I tried to brush it away, it nailed my arm in a couple of places, then got onto my face and nailed me again just outside my left eye. It is not like being stung by anything else I have experienced – there is a persistent shooting pain that feels like you are being zapped with electricity.
Been lucky on our side. Hoping the dog/cat combo at least alerts us to them even in our sleep. Its been a few moons since I been stung by anything and would like to keep it that way.
This year we have about 1-2 Tarantula Hawks that have been roaming the backyards. Must be a tarantula near by.
They say in the desert, three things can kill you. A Rattlesnake can kill you, a Mountain Lion can kill you, and an Eggplant Stuffed Full of Scorpions can kill you.
But only with an Eggplant Stuffed Full of Scorpions is death assured to be silly.
unrelated: https://desertenvironmentbescared.weebly.com/index.html
Items to bring in your backpack: Water, Food, Sunblock, m1911 colt pistol,sunglasses, com. equipment, knife, blanket, boots, big tarp.
If only that site gave advice even a fraction as useful…
Oh I guess I missed that.
I almost too and thought, man, this is a virus site I know it…until I found the links to the other things.
Thanks. We had a long long thread a long time ago wherein I posited that I would abandon a heroine in the desert to try to get out alive, but I cannot find that thread for anything.
The premise: Heroine is famous and abducted by an obsessed fan who wants to “harden her through adversity” and turn her into a kick-ass heroine. She is a coward. She is a runner and avoider who hates confrontation and anything that interrupts her cushy life. (BTW, this doesn’t change just because she barely survives the ordeal.)
Anyway, I want him to drop her in the desert with the idea that she find her way out. He drops her just exactly so many miles from civilization and gives her X many things so that she (barely) won’t die if she uses them right.
She does kinda sorta make it out (I’m debating whether to have someone find her or not). My idea is that she is more terrified of the pain of dying than she is the pain of getting to a hospital.
What does the villain give her and what basic skills can she use to survive as long as it takes to get rescued/get herself to a hospital?
Note: Stalker does not intend for her to die, because that is not the point of the exercise.
“How to cook food: make a fire with sage bush and get three twigs to put in the ground and hold the third stick with the food in place to slowly roast is like a grill.”
Much depends on how far from civilization he drops her.
And the time of year. More than a (couple of?) day’s walk in the summer in the Sonoran desert, and carrying enough water to stay alive gets gets to be hard to do. And finding water, if its even possible, is simply not practical without training.
Unless he has set up water stations/caches, water will be an issue. Also depends on the desert and time of year.
Heroine has to learn to relax also – conserve energy. It goes with the water and shade thing. Busting your butt to get out (or do whatever) sounds all impressive, but it’s a good way to get dead.
Questions:
Are there places where she can take shelter from the sun during the daytime?
And can she walk at night?
I’m thinking he drops her around the Four Corners area.
The desert is brutal.
Death from dehydration comes very quickly.
There is no place to get away from the sun.
We took the boy scouts hiking in the Az mountains during the dry season. We made them carry 2 gallons of water each which was more that 50% of what many of them could carry in a pack.
As an alternative, drop her along the Mogollon Rim during Monsoon season. It rains ever night or every other night.
I can only speak for the Sonoran desert, but:
Are there places where she can take shelter from the sun during the daytime?
Yes, there are brushy trees that provide shade.
And can she walk at night?
Leaving aside the nocturnal wildlife (mountain lions, rattelsnakes, javelinas, coyotes) that could cause trouble, the chances of getting cut up or injured by cactus are excellent. Walking into a cholla would be a disaster. I am constantly amazed that anyone could travel cross-country in the Sonoran desert, given how much hostile plant life there is. And the terrain can be pretty broken; it would be dead easy to wreck an ankle or knee in the dark.
Which of the two (day or night travel) would be less bad? Tough call. i’d probably try it during the day.
But the Sonoran desert is not what you see around the 4 corners.
That is quite helpful, thank you. I’ll think about the monsoony bit.
I went on a day hike in the Sonoran Desert and climbed a small hill. About halfway up, I slipped and put my hand out to break my fall–right into a cholla.
The next half hour was a painful re-enactment of the comedic scene where the comic tries to wipe slime off a hand, only to get it on the other hand, and then progressively make everything worse and get the slime everywhere. At one point I had both hands stuck to the cholla burr. I finally managed to get my Leatherman off my belt without snagging my clothes, and cut the spines off the piece of cholla one by one. Then I had to pull them out of my hands individually.
Other than that, it was a great hike. Even though I didn’t see any need for it, I was glad I brought my compact 1911 with a mag of hollow points and a mag of snake shot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogollon_Rim
High county. Pines. Terrain is not terrible; it’s walkable. And you can still be miles and miles for anyone.
Not as deadly as the desert, but still very challenging.
In monsoon season, you have some options in the Sonoran desert. Namely, she can resupply with water at the author’s convenience during a storm. You could also throw in a flash flood. And the storms themselves are dramatic as hell.
People will occasionally comment on how violent thunderstorms can be in the midwest (in Iowa in particular). But I have never been in a louder storm than on the Mogollon Rim. Very dramatic indeed.
I assume it was pre-planned that the video ends that way, but I’m guessing this is a legitimate issue that can happen to eggplants, yes?
I’m no scorpionologist, but I see absolutely no reason to believe that they will colonize eggplants, especially in numbers.
For starters, they are carnivores who hate each other and are highly territorial.
That was a Japanese eggplant. They’re growing in my garden this year. They aren’t hollow inside, they are solid and the core is full of seeds. Even with something like a watermelon or pumpkin that’s hollow, there would have to be some kind of major break in the skin to allow something to crawl in, and with that kind of damage it would be wilted and rotten pretty quickly. My guess is they drilled a hole at the opposite end and used a funnel to put the scorpions in.
I am enjoying my paid “Health and Wellness” day off. What is that you may ask? It is what a company institutes a few weeks before a National Holiday after they set up a “Diversity Task Force” during the summer. Until two weeks ago we did get all the national holidays off, so just taking a paid holiday back would fly like a lead arrow shaft. Now we don’t get Columbus Day off but we do get the H&W day to use whenever we want instead. Like today.
I wonder how well it will go over if I would suggest instituting a second health and wellness day in January. Maybe on a Monday with a National Holiday. Of course the timing will be a coincidence.
I can see what the messaging is going forward.
SenatorDurbin on Biden not saying if he’ll pack SCOTUS: “It’s a common question being asked because the American people have watched the Republicans packing the court over the last three and a half years. And they brag about it. They’ve taken every vacancy and filled it.” …
Sen Hirono, asked about Biden packing court, echoes Durbin: “I’m really concerned about the court packing with the ideologically driven nominees now sitting on the court, some 200 of them, that Trump has been putting on the court, aided and abetted, of course, by Mitch McConnell”
Trump and McConnell “packed” the courts with “ideologues” because Republicans had the audacity to win elections to control the requisite government bodies to fill court vacancies…
An acute example of the way the left assembles a narrative that redefines a pejorative away from what they want to accomplish. Classic postmodern leftist tactics.
A lot of those vacancies only existed because the Obama administration was arrogant and thought the Dems would retain power in 2016.
“How dare the President and the Senate discharge their Constitutional duties to nominate and confirm judges to vacant seats! Its an outrage, I tell you! An outrage!”
And at least 40% of the country is stupid enough to fall in line.
“SenatorDurbin on Biden”
I first read that as ‘Senator Dustbin Von Biden’.
That hot, hot Durbin-on-Biden action
Yes they set that narrative over the weekend right after Biden’s “you don’t deserve to know” comment. Usually a word or political term takes years to morph but with all of the media behind you, it changed in an instant.
“So, Senator, if “court packing” means filling every available vacancy as quickly as you can, with nominees that have agreeable judicial philosophies, I take it your opposition to court packing means you will not support a Harris, pardon me, Biden administration filling every available vacnacy as quickly as it can, with nominees that have agreeable judicial philosophies?”
If only there were journalist out there to have the testicular/ovarian fortitude to even ask that question.
It’s easy when 1) No one knows what is meant by Court Packing, because American schools are made to enrich unions, not educate, and 2). It’s a fairly easy semantic shift. The Right has been packing the court with it’s own people (to fill vacancies), we just want to restore the balance.
It’s a pretty good move, though one that isn’t that hard to dismiss, if a reporter actually wanted to. “No sir, what you are talking about is changing the way things have been done. There is a difference between filling vacancies, and creating new seats.”
It’s a stupid term even if it’s the “technically correct” one. And I’m not certain I would expect the average high school to teach kids about “Court Packing”, maybe as some quick aside in a government/history class about the New Deal, but “define court packing” wouldn’t make the cut for final exam questions.
Agreed. Normies think packing = stuffing the current space available, not making the package bigger.
I’ll agree that it is a pretty dumb term. I do remember learning about it in High school, but i was a history nerd. I do think, however it is something that as a “Technical Political Term” deserves a part of the story around the New Deal, as it is what ended up getting the SCOTUS to not disqualify more New Deal programs.
Meanwhile, in S.A.D.town, the long winter nights and short winter days would make me have to quadruple my dose of antidepressants. If for no other reason, I would decline Alaska because of that.
Lunch today: pork chop rubbed with sea salt, rosemary, and pepper, seared in butter and minced garlic, with Hollandaise. *lights KK signal*
Heh, you can have some of my peach sauce that I mistook for butternut squash soup…
No thanks. Can’t stand peaches.
That is okay because it doesn’t make for a good soup even after I dumped the apples and sausage into it thinking it was, well, soup.
Ben Sasse and Civics 101
Civics is what we decide it is today! Living Civics, it’s the only way forward and it has nothing to do with being civil, fuck the patriarchy, Barret is a fascist! /prodlodytes.
I was pleased he called out Special K for her “I think I am still running for president” speech she went on about and has nothing to do with what is at hand.
Opinons: If Bernie had somehow won the primary do you think he would be doing better/worse against Trump?
I’d think worse. 1. He’d have far less corporate support, and 2) he’d be much easier to tie to Antifa and the riots.
That being said, if he was able to win the primary, he’d 1) be more active than Joe Biden, and 2) be way better at getting people to support him enthusiastically, to the point that he was somehow able to overcome the challenges that he faced in the primary.
I don’t think you would have seen the level of Antifa co-op with BLM. Wasn’t it a Bernie die-hard that threatened that they had things in place if Bernie doesn’t get the nod?
I am astonished at the complete lack of a campaign by the Dems, outside of a wall of TV ads. I don’t even think I’ve gotten any mailers, although I might have and just missed them on their way to the trash.
I’ve gotten tons of texts… For my wife. I finally blew up and told them to stop contacting me.
I’ve gotten texts from both sides, including from my old “friends” who were on the Wendy Davis for TX governor campaign.
They’ve all quieted down over the past week or so.
It’s the absolute worst campaign in history, at least since I’ve been watching, and that started with Carter and whoever he was running against.
It’s against an incumbent who has a very enthusiastic voter base, and we’re supposed to believe that Biden is way ahead in the polls.
Here’s a little secret though. Trump is up in those same polls by about 1pt over where he was in 2016 against Hillary at this same time. And the polls have to be way less accurate this time if only because of the voters who will not admit they are voting for Trump, but will.
100% of the mailers I’ve received have been Dem. Even the ‘get your vote in’ with no candidate support.
Oh No!
Sen. Blumenthal Whines ACB’s Views on the 2A Could Overturn Gun Laws Across the Country
Federalism matters when it allows leftist states to be more tyrannical than others.
Sure, bub. There aren’t nearly enough Justices who aren’t urban intelligentsia to every take gun rights seriously. And never will be.
Once again “Activist Judge” just means “issues orders i don’t like” rather than, one like RGB who actually created laws and such out of thin air to defend her positions. Emanations and Penumbras.
Sure, in a libertarian’s wildest dreams.
Blummy…she isn’t and you know that, and besides, SCOTUS keeps turning down 2A cases anyway, what the hell you worried about?
I’m a hopeless dreamer, and kinda hoped that with her, they might take more 2a cases and expand the right further, slap down the lower courts that have been giving bullshit scrutiny to any law that states come up with.
I assumed they were turning them down because they know Roberts is a fink.
This is very likely true.
I had a few interesting whiskey-fueled bull sessions with a dude who clerked for the USSC. The takeaway I got was that the Supreme Court, as a whole, has all the professionalism and maturity of a typical third-grade elementary school classroom.
They’re worried that when they start saying that in order to really ensure social distancing, the herd must be culled, that too many of the herd will have guns.
IOW, forced abortions decree must be > rednecks with guns.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/2020_elections_electoral_college_map.html
I don’t know if RCP has a policy of not “calling” the expectations early (as opposed to 270towin, which has had biden winning since Aug), but i find it hard to believe that there are still 187 votes on the floor.
Go to their no toss-ups map, and it shows a crushing Biden victory. An EC landslide, even.
Maybe I’m just all comfy in my bubble, but that seems nuts to me.
Can’t believe i didn’t see that one.
If the GOP did suffer such a crushing defeat (i don’t think it will be _that_ bad) i wonder if any of the “Never Trump” GOPers try to come back to the party after manufacturing the defeat of the party at the hands of biden.
They’ll be welcomed back by the rest of the GOP that is tired of pretending to be conservative.
I think their RCP map is a realist view that there are states that they just cannot predict within certainty. Looking at it, I would say it was a close to realistic view of where the EC is at right now.
It’s because the RCP is averaging made-up polls that are weighted to give Biden +14. The methodology used is nonsensical for getting accurate data but makes perfect sense if you are trying to show a crushing Biden win.
I’m fairly certain this is being done in lockstep with Dem party leadership. Either Pelosi or Hilary already released a statement that with the polls showing such an overwhelming Biden win, a Trump win must be due to illegal tampering and needs to be considered illegitimate. The poll numbers are just setting the stage for continuing an illegitimate refrain for a second Trump term (e.g., the new Russia-Gate).
They are willing to burn it all down to beat Bad Orange Man. Makes me wonder why they are so desperate.
Because progressives fought for more than 100 years to get utopia. But their first true love, the Soviet Union had to shut her doors because fascists were interfering with utopia. Then the capitalist killed their love.
Then the proggies put all their continued efforts into resurrecting the Soviet Union right here at home. And they were right on the verge of it, and then came this BAD ORANGE MAN and ruined it all!
I don’t have a link, so take it with a grain of salt, but i thought Biden said this. That they have the poling numbers, that any win by Trump would be illegitimate.
Which is not ironic, but some similar word. Isn’t that what the media has been concern trolling about Trump the last 3 months?
Unfortunately it looks like no matter what, one side will refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of the president.
Unfortunately it looks like no matter what, one side will refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of the president.
I am struggling not to pre-judge a Biden win as the result of fraud, I’ll admit.
I find it difficult to believe that Trump does not win TX, IA, and GA.
And them having TX, IA, and GA not even leaning Trump? Bullshit.
Take that into account, Biden is losing and then you have the toss ups in which Trump is polling higher right now than he was against Hillary.
RCP has a pretty wide margin for calling something “Toss Up”, thats why you see some, what i would call “leans” in the toss up category.
More oh nos!
Poor lady went to school for six years to be a “Diversity and Inclusion Trainer” and now bad Orange Man is ruining her grift!
6 Years? Fuck. I got a degree in Economics in 6 years and i was on a leave of absence for 2 of them.
She wanted to take all the classes that the university offered to ensure she was diverse and inclusive?
Her pic is exactly what I expected.
And beauty school dropout evidently.
6 years? This a master’s degreed position?
Don’t worry, scrote, you can still offer that racket to the private sector.
I’m going to laugh at her now because I probably won’t be legally allowed to later.
HA HA!
Also, i mean i get Fed Gov was probably a big customer for her offering, but she does realize that the ban only “applies”* to the Fed Gov.
* In quotes because Trumps Order won’t change anything, they are still going to have these trainings and just call them “racial sensitivity” trainings.
Xe tried to complete it more quickly, but Xe was manterrupted! /that’s my fave fucking word now, I’m a use it a lot
She should file a police report! No one should be manterrupted.
And someone saw a section of rope dangling near her old office!
How is that possibly a 6 year degree?
You can’t just let anyone teach about diversity and inclusion.
Music!
https://youtu.be/BLONWy46gIE
Love the series Animal. The wife is very amenable to moving there in the abstract.
I’d recommend Kodiak, Kenai or Homer. You can get a really nice spread and still be 20-30 mins from all of the necessities. ALso, my brother has a house for sale in kenai if you’re interested. Nice place, large lot, somewhat in town a few miles from the airport.
As a side note, there’re a couple of planes that taxi from the Kenai airport to anchorage for really cheap. I’m sure if you talked to them they’d be willing to set up commuter fees.