Hambone v3.0

Wednesday Open Commentary

Waldrip, Texas 1936

Handbook of Texas:

WALDRIP, TX.Waldrip was an unincorporated rural community in northern McCulloch County twenty-two miles north of Brady and one mile south of the Colorado River. The site was part of Waldrip’s Ranch when the county was organized in 1876. A post office opened in 1879, and by 1884 Waldrip had a school, a church, and thirty residents. More families came to the area in the early 1890s and began to raise cotton. Several gins were built near Waldrip, but some burned, and others were soon moved to other towns. The population fell from 264 in 1925 to 150 in 1941. The post office was discontinued sometime after the 1930s. Waldrip reported forty residents in 1961. The population was fifteen in 2000.

Posted

in

by

Texpat

Tags:

Comments

64 responses to “Wednesday Open Commentary”

  1. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    I was resting most of  Tuesday, what with the headache and back ache and all.  So I stayed up to finally study my Latin, and got most of my homework done.

    So here it, is, 1:12 a.m. and I’m finally about to go to bed.

    Does this count as a firsticus or a lasticus?

     

  2. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    Does this count as a firsticus or a lasticus?

    Lasticus. I’ve not checked out Tucker’s speech from yesterday, need to do that.

    Great picture BTW.

    Mornin’ Gang

  3. El Gordo Avatar
    El Gordo

    Morning gang.  We’re not quite burning daylight, but it won’t be long.  68 degrees out here this morning, up from 48 just a couple of days ago.  Not exactly certain what is on the agenda for today, but I’m sure there will be something coming along that needs to be done.  Rough weather out there predicted, but looks to me like it might all stay north of us.  Here’s hoping that you all have a great day out there.  More later as it develops.

  4. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    How, exactly, would the Biden administration prevent most forms of private ownership of digital money? To best understand the answer to that question, you first need to know important details about the existing banking system.

    Currently, when you go to the bank and deposit money into a checking or savings account, you immediately cease to own the money. The cash becomes the property of the bank. In most situations, the bank is required to return the money you provided to it at your request, but the cash ultimately belongs to the bank until you remove the money from your deposit account.

    Under the current system, there is a way to regain control of your money, by withdrawing cash from a deposit account, and privacy laws prevent banks in many situations from giving away details about your financial accounts to third parties, including the government.

    But because CBDCs would only exist in digital form in a deposit account, and because they would be programmed to feed data to government, there would be no way for you to physically take CBDCs out of a depository account, store them privately, own them directly, or use them without being surveilled by a large institution.

     

  5. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    Good morning fellow couch critters, HAPPY HUMP DAY.

  6. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., issued a gloating tweet Tuesday in response to news that Chicago has been ordered to rehire and issue back wages to city workers who were fired for refusing to comply with Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in 2021.

    “Gotta love it when petty tyrants are given comeuppance,” Paul tweeted with a link to an article about the ruling from Administrative Law Judge Anna Hamburg-Gal.

    On April 19, Hamburg-Gal wrote on behalf of the Illinois Labor Relations Board that the city “failed and refused” to bargain in good faith with union leaders “over the effects of its decision to implement a COVID-19 vaccine mandate,” which she ruled was in violation of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act.

  7. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    Lat night there was talk about nothing to watch on Netflix.  We just binged 5 seasons of The Lost Kingdom and really enjoyed it.  There was an obvious strong bias against Christianity by the writers, however , that did not overly intrude into the story line.  Vikings (Danes) invading the British isle in about the year 900AD; and all the associated sword fighting and slaughter – lots of fun.

  8. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    Found another neat oldie on the Kubota site over yonder; Kubota G5200 HST Diesel Lawn Tractor.

  9. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    This world class prank would probably scare the crapola out of me.  I am amazed that the actors don’t start laughing at the reactions.  Excellent marketing for a new movie.

  10. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    I hear the movie Nefarious is well worth watching. It is a psychological thriller putting an atheist psychologist against a demon possessed prisoner.

    Exorcists say it is an excellent portrayal of what happens. The acting is supposed to be spot on. I watched an interview with the creators of the film and they say they suffered all kinds of spiritual attacks during the creation of the film.

    As Fr. Martins said, if you bring that kind of stuff on you, you must be wissing off the right entity. My phrasing, not his, but his sentiment.

    The two producers said they are getting people asking for refund on their popcorn because people forget to snack during the film, it is that intense.

  11. TexMo Avatar
    TexMo

    My aunts and uncles from Lindale drove down to see me yesterday. Unfortunately a wave of nausea hit me and I lost my breakfast before they arrived. I had to take a med for nausea that causes drowsiness. I could barely stay awake for their visit.

  12. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    #6 Super Dave

    /insert Tim the Toolman sound

  13. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    #9 TexMo

    Did one of them happen to be running buddy cousin’s parents?

  14. TexMo Avatar
    TexMo

    Mrs. TexMo has an appointment with a local cemetery/funeral home today. She told me that a single plot can run up to $17,000!!!! Who can afford to die these days? I have enough insurance that could cover the cost of an extravagant funeral, but I just balk at the idea. It’s Highway robbery. I need to tell my kids to consider this as a career.

    I’m also looking into a traditional Orthodox burial which among other things includes not embalming the body, having prayers chanted over the body as it is washed and prepared for internment, and burial at an Orthodox monastery.

  15. TexMo Avatar
    TexMo

    #11 GJT

    Who is running buddy?

  16. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    I have a cousin I grew up with, we were best buds growing up but grew apart as adults. She lost her husband a couple years ago (Katfish this was/is Chip’s wife) and just can’t get over it. I don’t know if my mom’s passing was a trigger but she attempted suicide when we found mom was not going to make it. Took a bunch of pills and drank a bottle of whiskey. They pulled her out of it but she has possible brain damage, she’s in and out of it, they don’t know if she will survive. I’ll go see her if she gets to the point she can communicate but I’m so angry she would do this to her mother who has had a tragic life loosing her two year old grandson who drowned in a pool many years ago, a daughter in a wreck and her husband due to cancer, and has been in bad health herself for many years. She and my mom considered themselves sisters, she could not bring herself to attend her mom’s funeral.

  17. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    #13 TexMo

    I was thinking you had a cousin you were best friends with.

  18. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    She told me that a single plot can run up to $17,000!!!! 

    In my death instructions, I specifically instruct my children NOT to spend more money than necessary on my funeral.  No need to bury the money with me, put it to good use.  I won’t care what kind of casket I’m in.

    Handyman has a plot, but I think he wants to be cremated and scattered.  He’s asked if we want to buy his plot.  Someone in the family bought it.  But both Hubby and I have options.

    His mother purchased 3 plots when Hubby’s oldest brother, who was severely retarded, passed away while I was pregnant with Lovely Daughter.  She decided to not use her space.  My grandfather purchased a family plot with six spaces, and only three of them have been used.  Mom thought she had the paperwork from her siblings to authorize her burial there, but it wasn’t the correct paperwork.

    What I learned from the funeral home people when I was dealing with Mom’s death is that if I were to try to claim one of those six spaces, I’d have to get every single heir to sign off on the transfer of rights to me.  I have eleven siblings (one of whom hasn’t been seen nor heard from since 1982), and all of them, their kids, their grandkids (of age), all of my cousins and their offspring…you can imagine the chaos that would ensue.  Especially with folks like BCS.

    But the rules change once I die – then it becomes an emergency and all Hubby or LD have to do is meet with the funeral home and point to an empty space and say “That one.”  It’s what I did with Mom.

    I’m not telling anyone else in the family that these are my plans, because it would create that same chaos. Once that happens, I guess it would be a race among the rest in the family to see who dies first to get the remaining two spots.

    Hubby has the same situation.  There is one spot left, since his mother decided to do something else with her remains.  He has one brother who probably wouldn’t care, but we’re still keeping mum.  Just to reduce the chance of trouble.

  19. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    TexMo, I hope you’re feeling better today. You sir, are a trouper.

  20. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    OK GJT, Put on your drool bib. 599 CC 3 cylinder Kubota diesel powers the neat little Lawn Tractor. FWIW; I asked about the number of cylinders and HP so he posted the motor but he doesn’t know the HP I guess I could look it up.

  21. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    RE: burial of loved ones

    Eldest Sis has an amusing story about burying Dad.  She managed Dad’s finances – or tried to – in his last years, being executrix of his will and all.  Dad was a gambling addict, and not a very good one.  He lost his funeral plot in a poker game.  My paternal grandfather was a better gambler, and used to play cards with the likes of Sakowitz, et al.  He won some grave sites at Rosewood Cemetery in a game and was smart enough to hold onto them.  My father’s parents and some of his other relatives are buried there.

    Dad effed up his relationships with all of his kids, scamming us for money at one time or another.  He was a fun guy to be around, but hold onto your wallet.  Hubby and I were talked into loaning him some money – a good chunk – and he never paid it back.  It was some time after that I found out he’d done the same thing to almost every one of his kids.  We knew he’d gambled away his funeral plot and cemetery contract, so when he passed, no one wanted to cough up the money to bury him.  His last remaining relative, his ever faithful sister (who managed her money very well) was asked if he could be buried with her.  Her response was a hearty “HECK NO!”  She had been his financial lifeline, bailing him out of various financial scrapes.  As much as she loved him, she was done with him. So Dad was afterlife homeless.

    He was cremated (Eldest Sis made sure she kept that contract intact), and Dad sat in her guest bedroom for several years, in a very nice wooden box.  She said she’d go in there to fold clothes, and talk to him.

    Finally, she decided to evict Dad, and she and her hubby made a trip to Rosewood.  They wouldn’t allow her to scatter his ashes, so they decided to plant some flowers on one of the family graves there.  She was digging the hole while her hubby kept watch on the maintenance guy, who kept driving his mower closer and closer, suspiciously watching them.  She managed to bury Dad’s ashes with either my aunt or my grandfather, I can’t remember which.  And they didn’t get caught.

    So, Dad is buried with his family, though he doesn’t have a grave marker.

  22. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    Lovely cemetery in Millheim. $400.

  23. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    Tucker Carlson’s recent interview goes VIRAL after departure from Fox News.

    If this has already been posted,….Sorry,……  😉

  24. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Oven repair guy should be here some time in the next three hours.  We’re waiting to see if the problem is computer or mechanical.  If the fan itself is bad, Hubby wants to try to get it fixed, if possible.  If not, we’re going to have to decide on a new oven.

    That little multi-use appliance I bought has come in handy.  I got it to supplement the oven, not wanting to heat up a large appliance for the smaller portions once it was just Hubby and me.  Between that and the cook top, I haven’t needed the large oven.

    But I love my nice double oven.  I’m hoping we can save it.  New ovens ain’t cheap.  And I love my current oven.

  25. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    Mom wanted to be cremated, her and stepdad had plots purchased, for some reason, way out on Westheimer so we decided otherwise. No one desired to keep her ashes anyway but we honored my Catholic sister and husband’s faith by not keeping or spreading the ashes. At Magnolia Funeral Home they cremate and hold the service for $3900 and did not attempt to upsale us on anything, matter of fact, informed us since stepdad is a vet, she can be placed in the wall at the Vet Memorial Cemetery. Magnolia Funeral Home will also bury the ashes in a small 12”x 12”or 24”x 24” plot for $690. That’s we want to be done for ourselves.

  26. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

     GOLD FINGERS ☙ Wednesday, April 26, 2023 ☙ C&C NEWS

    Roundup:

    Greetings and salutations, C&C, we’re halfway there, it’s Wednesday! Strap in, your hypersonic roundup today includes: the NYT runs a fabulous “sorry (not sorry)” article trying to shift Fauci’s fraudulent narrative, and makes a stunning mask admission; Tucker up, Fox News down; a mini-roundup on Sudan news: You’ll never guess what’s popped up there now; Russian forces fighting in Sudan, and so are British forces, but it is definitely not a Proxy War; Russia and China vacuuming up world’s gold; weird unexplained gold heist; germ bombs; handy-dandy Sudan timeline; mysterious Canadian gold heist; German media starting to view jabs skeptically; and a terrific development in that Chinese election-data stealing case.

    News:

    Even though the fawning media is still fawning over Fauci, stories are coming out about his massive failure.

    Couldn’t happen to a better (I won’t say “nicer”) guy.

    The NY Times interviewed the little cockroach, where he admits there are “excess deaths,” but it’s all because the anti-vaxxers and white supremacists got in the way.  It’s not HIS fault people are dying, having neurological failures of all kinds of flavors, losing their jobs because of health issues, etc.

    And way down in the article, Fauci admits that the masking we were all told was mandatory really didn’t work.  If you invested vast quantities in the touted (but useless, since the virus was wrapped in a lipid which went right through the mask) N95 masks, properly fitted and worn “religiously” – you might be protected.

    Get a rope.

  27. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    #18 SD

    Looks very similar to mine – D905, 22HP.

  28. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Now, for the latest in exciting biohazard news:

    … Those pesky biolabs are just popping up everywhere you look these days. …

    Remember all the news lately from Sudan? The country that just tried to give Russia a Red Sea naval base but then suffered a sudden and unexpected color revolution? The one that is conveniently-located in the near Middle East, directly south from Egypt, caddy-corner across the pond from Israel? You remember Sudan, where we just helicoptered all our embassy staff out in another embarrassing “tail between our legs” evacuation? You know, the African country that looks for all the world like the next convenient candidate to replace Ukraine in the Proxy War?

    /snip

    Reuters ran a story yesterday headlined, “‘High Bio-Hazard Risk’ in Sudan After Laboratory Seized, WHO Says.”

    /snip

    The World Health Organization said Tuesday that unidentified “fighters” in conflict-ravaged Sudan had occupied a government-owned biological laboratory:

    There is a “high risk of biological hazard” in Sudan’s capital Khartoum after one of the warring parties seized a laboratory holding measles and cholera pathogens and other hazardous materials, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

    Huh. “Other hazardous materials.” I wonder what they could be?

    /snip

    The reporter Laura interviewed explained why on Earth anyone in their right mind would build a high-tech biolab researching deadly pathogens in a country with no oversight and even less security. Well, that’s the point:

    “There’s generally less red tape, compared to labs in the West… the lab works with the W.H.O., whose largest funding comes from the US Government. That’s a data point worth keeping an eye on, especially if it comes out later that some of the lab’s work was… um … non-scientific in its application.”

    Non-scientific? Nice euphemism. I guess “non-scientific” means “military.”

    Childers went into research mode and discovered a 2017 story, in which a Harvard researcher accused WHO of covering up a Sudanese cholera event.  Was this another biolab leak?

  29. El Gordo Avatar
    El Gordo

    Good discussion on making arrangements.  I’ve made my family aware of my desires, but just to  be on the safe side, I should probably go ahead and take care of that myself.  In other news, I got out and treated any beds, filled the water trough, fed the feral cats, and generally straightened things up a bit outside.  Supposed to storm this afternoon, but I’ll be surprised if we get any rain at all.  Thinking of feeding the worms today.  I’m still have a hard time determining just how much and how often to feed them.  I’ve got 4 flat bins and 2 bucket bins, and not a single one of them operates like any of the others.  I’m considering just dumping the whole lot of them into a large bin and giving them free reign for the next year or so as they try to fill it up with new worms.  But not yet.

  30. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    There’s a lot more discussion on the Sudan situation.  The Brits are involved:

    Still not sure if it’s a Sudanese Proxy War yet? Consider that British troops are now landing in Sudan. From the UK Independent:

    Childers has a long discussion into the whys and wherefores of Sudan. I’ll not try to bring it here, but it is exceedingly worrisome.  

    We have a debilitated military, and weak “leader,” and now multiple fronts for war and proxy war.

    I think back to Tom Clancy’s books “Executive Orders” and “Rainbow Six”.  The guy was prescient.

  31. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Childers does point out that BRICS nations are hoovering up gold as fast as possible:

    Ah, so it’s not just Russia. According to the Daily Hodl article, according to recent reports, China — which corporate media keeps telling us is broke — has added 102 tons of gold to its stockpiles since the start of the year. TONS. Literally tons of gold.

    The BRICS countries are vacuuming all the world’s gold, presumably to make a currency backed by gold, which is exactly what the U.S. dollar is not, as critics have been pointing out since we left the sanity zone over fifty years ago. Would YOU prefer a currency backed by gold? Over the dollar?

    Just what is the Proxy War REALLY about?

  32. TexMo Avatar
    TexMo

    GJT, my mom has twin younger sisters. One of the aunts that visited yesterday is indeed the mom of my cousin whom I consider a brother. Fortunately Mom is close to her sisters. As a boy it seemed like two weekends a month were spent traveling to Lampasas, Brownwood, or Ft. Worth to visit grandparents or my aunts. This meant I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with my cousin who is only three months older than me.

  33. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    And in Canada, there was a major gold heist:

    That dot connects, maybe, with this next one: another bizarre gold story from Canada that hit corporate media only a couple days ago: [insert headline of airport gold heist]

    That’s a ton of gold. Some stories say the amount of gold was “only” twenty million and not a hundred million, but either way the whole thing is pretty sus. It took a couple days to even figure out WHOSE gold it was, but reports are now saying the gold belonged to Canadian Toronto Dominion (TD) Bank.

    Why is TD Bank hoarding gold? And who stole it? Will we ever know? How do you “steal” 3,600 pounds of gold? Stuff it in your underpants? How many trucks would be needed to “steal” 3,600 pounds of gold? Were they disguised as ethnic food trucks or something? Did they haul it all out in an LGBTQIA++ pride parade? Did they use an army of trans smugglers that nobody wanted to pat down?

    Finally, if Russia has its Wagner Group mercenaries in Sudan scraping up gold, how much additional trouble would it be to snatch a U.S. bio lab or two?

  34. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    And True the Vote makes news – a lawsuit against them has been dropped.

    God bless those folks.  They’ve put themselves in the crosshairs of TPTB to protect our voting process.

    You may remember heroic elections investigators Gregg Philips and Catherine Engelbrecht, who were briefly jailed last year… They had alleged that Konnech, through sketchy California businessman Eugene Wu … provided software to US supervisors of elections allowing private data on millions of elections workers to be sent to China.

    Konnech then sued the two courageous activists and their company “True the Vote” for defamation, unlawful comptuter access, and other related counts.

    But Konnech dropped its lawsuit against True the Vote last Wednesday morning, one day after Engelbrecht Phillips launched their new Open.Ink website, which published key evidence supporting their side of the case. According to UncoverDC, last Tuesday morning, Konnech’s lawyers contacted True the Vote’s lawyers and said the lawsuit and all claims against them would be dropped.

    /snip

    It’s terrific news, another lawfare victory. Philips and Englebrecht have pledged to continue working to expose the wrongdoers, God bless them.

    Indeed.  Where would we be without our heroes?

  35. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    BTW – regarding end of life issues:

    I attended the funeral of one of my cousins, Carol Ann.  Her older sister, Sandy (who later passed away from cancer as well), let me stay with them overnight.  I was the only one of my family to make the trip to New Braunfels for the funeral.

    Sandy was one of those boyish women.  Today, she’d be transgendered into a man.  She rode motorcycles and did all of her own maintenance on them. She worked in the signage office of New Braunfels, along side of a bunch of men, from what I saw.  She and her husband owned acreage and cattle, so she also was a farmer.  Her body was of stocky build and she always had her hair cut short.  She looked very masculine, but was quite happy being a woman.  But I digress…

    I always liked Sandy.  She was one of my favorite cousins.  She was quite down to earth and practical.  We sat in her kitchen the evening after the funeral mass, and I learned a lot about my uncle and we caught up on family news.  I was driving an SUV at the time, so she asked if I’d help them take Carol Ann to Houston for burial.  Turns out that there was a plot there for her to be buried in, but Sandy didn’t want to pay the exorbitant fee for a hearse to drive the body from N.B. to Houston.  With all of the paperwork signed and Carol Ann securely sealed in her casket, Sandy and her husband put Carol Ann in the back of their vehicle and I loaded up the flowers.  We drove to the cemetery in Houston and the funeral home took care of the interment.

    I didn’t know this was legal, but Sandy told me it happens much more often than we realize.  “There are hundreds of bodies being driven around the U.S. every day,” she said, “but people just don’t know it’s going on.”

    I guess that since it involves death, it doesn’t get talked about.

  36. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    I posted a heads up link on the biolab seizure in Sudan yesterday.  My quote included the director of the lab calling the World Health Organization to tell them of the danger.  I didn’t realize the lab is actually run by them.  I think the American people should know the location of every biolab operated by our government around the world.

    Speaking of blunders and disasters in Sudan, remember this ?  Can you imagine if Trump had done this ?

    According to a well-researched article written by Richard Becker, Sara Flounders and John Parker in CAQ, the El Shifa pharmaceutical plant was responsible for over 50% of Sudan’s medicine. This included 90% of the most critically needed drugs. In their words:

    “…the bombing will inexorably cause the suffering and death of tens of thousands of innocent people all over Africa, many of them children, by depriving them of basic medicines against malaria, tuberculosis, and other easily curable diseases.”

    Has anyone seen commentary like this in the Washington Post or Baltimore Sun recently? Although the New York Times and Washington Post have each quietly admitted that the El Shifa plant was not what Clinton said it was, their silence regarding the potential civilian casualties from Clinton’s deed has been deafening.

    (Clinton said it was a chemical weapons-making facility owned by Osama bin Laden. He also claimed that the plant was an “imminent threat…to our national security.” Recall that bin Laden is widely suspected of having instigated the bombings of U.S. embassies in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. However likely that is true, no connection between bin Laden and the African bombings has been proven.)

     

  37. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    I’ve heard of some outrageous fees for the hearse ride from funeral home to gravesite – on the same premises!

  38. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Brace yourselves because this one is a doozy.

    Picture this: a British airline pilot is just doing his job, flying at 17,300ft when suddenly he gets sucked right out of the plane window!

    Yeah, you read that right. It’s like something out of a nightmare.

    Daily Star reported a British Airways flight from Birmingham to Malaga suffered a terrifying incident when two of the cockpit windows shattered due to the wrong bolts being used to secure the windscreen in June 1990.

    Captain Tim Lancaster was sucked out of the cockpit window after the glass windowpanes shattered, with a member of the cabin crew only able to hold on to him by his ankles until the plane safely landed.

    Cabin crew member Nigel Ogden was in the cockpit at the time and managed to grasp the captain’s legs just before he disappeared completely.

    He described Tim’s body as being ‘bent upwards’ and ‘doubled over round the top of the aircraft’, ‘in a U-shape around the windows’.

    The force weakened Nigel’s arms and he started to get frostbite. Believing he was going to lose his grip of Tim, a second flight attendant, John Heward, arrived at the scene and managed to grab on to Tim’s belt.

    Co-pilot Alistair Atchison took over control of the plane and instructed his colleagues not to let go of Tim.

    Alistair engaged in an emergency descent and managed to guide the plane to an altitude where the crew and passengers were able to breathe.

    Thank goodness they were able to keep him from certain death, but man, that is some scary stuff.

    This is just another reminder that flying can be a risky business, folks.

  39. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    USAID refuses to tell Congress how much of the $15 billion it doled out to foreign entities in 2022 was ultimately spent on items unrelated to humanitarian projects. The agency’s opacity could mask the fact that USAID grant recipients are wasting taxpayer dollars on frivolous expenses, a pair of lawmakers claim in an oversight letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

    and,

    The foreign aid agency has a history of misallocating funds. An inspector general determined in 2019 that just 43 percent of the agency’s awards “achieved, on average, just half of their intended results.” USAID, whose budget President Joe Biden increased by 10 percent after taking office, also has a history of supporting organizations that work alongside terror groups and maintaining links to militant organizations like Hamas. The agency’s spotty oversight record has long been a source of concern on Capitol Hill, and with Republicans now in control of the House, Congressional investigators are ramping up efforts to hold USAID accountable.

    Guess who runs the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ?

    Samantha Power, the object of my criticism and contempt going back to early commentary on Lone Star Times.  This woman is as sleazy and oily as they come and is world class Israel hater and anti-Semite.  Power never met a leftist or totalitarian thug she didn’t like, but she did insult Hillary Clinton and John Kerry so she has a little bit of credibility in that respect.

  40. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    Guilty all Counts!

    OZARK, Ala. (WTVY) – Dale County jurors on Wednesday found Coley McCraney guilty of brutally killing two Dothan teens.

    They delivered those Capital Murder verdicts after a 9-day trial 24 years in the making.

    Dothan teens JB Beasley and Tracie Hawlett died in the summer of 1999 when their assailant forced them into the trunk of Beasley’s car and shot each in the head.

    “Use your common sense,” Attorney General Steve Marshall begged of jurors during his opening statements. They heeded his advice, rejecting outlandish claims made by McCraney, 49, in a last-ditch attempt to save himself.

    On the witness stand Monday McCraney claimed to have met Beasley briefly a few weeks before she died and insisted the 17-year-old tracked him down at his mother’s house.

    Afterward, they had a brief sexual encounter in his truck as Hawlett waited in Beasley’s car parked nearby.

    That following day police found those classmates in the trunk of Beasley’s Mazda 929 about a half mile from McCraney’s home, estimating the bodies had been there since about the time McCraney claimed the teens dropped him off in Ozark after their rendezvous.

    McCraney’s testimony did not play out well and likely proved detrimental to the defense, desperate to explain how his DNA got on Ms. Beasley.

    McCraney may have dug a deeper hole when he testified that he did not know until his 2019 arrest that Beasley died, claiming he knew her by the name “Jennifer.”

    Though on the road with his trucking company, he regularly returned home to the Ozark area where the girls’ photos were prominently displayed and featured frequently on television broadcasts and newspapers.

    At least two attorneys hoping to file wrongful arrest suits on behalf of McCraney had jurors found him not guilty left the courtroom in disgust after hearing McCraneys testimony.

    The jury has only two options for punishment—life without parole or execution and should decide that punishment in the next day or so.

    So will he get the death penalty or life without parole?

    2 blacks on the jury BTW.

  41. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    It’s Afghanistan all over again.  Former member of Obama’s National Security Council and US diplomat rakes Biden over the coals for this inexcusable failure.  Trump comes in for some criticism too, but Biden is the worst by far.

    On Tuesday, new fighting tested a tenuous three-day truce, brokered by the U.S., between two heavily armed groups led by rival Sudanese generals.

    Hundreds have been killed and there’s no telling if this latest cease-fire will hold.

    Over the weekend, the U.S. military bravely evacuated our diplomats from the U.S. embassy in Khartoum.

    As a former diplomat, I feel an incredible sense of pride in our armed forces. Yet, I was horrified to learn that thousands of our fellow citizens didn’t make it out.

    They were abandoned by their government, while much smaller nations, like Spain and Saudi Arabia, were able to get their civilians to safety.

    It is a bitter irony that today, as Biden announces his bid to again represent some 330 million Americans as president, some 16,000 are stranded inside this troubled East African nation.

    In lieu of rescue, Americans are behind advised to undertake a treacherous trek – on their own – across a 500-mile battlefield to Port Sudan.

    Here is your Khartoum to Port Sudan 500 mile highway…Good Luck, stupid Americans !

  42. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    My #35 I can’t believe that they let McCraney testify. I guess it was just a Hail Mary, hoping he might come off as believable BUT his story was so convoluted and it contradicted the time line so I’m guessing the prosecution pretty much ripped him up. Sadly the local reporters aren’t smart enough to report on the pertinent information.

  43. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    Morning, gang. I got up with the idea I’d mow the front lawn today. There is a small chance of rain, and I can no longer get the front yard done in 2 hours. Well, we’ll see what happens when I finish breakfast and get moving…

    Oh dear: I wrote the above, had breakfast, then went out and did the larger side of the front yard. Was sad to see I hadn’t sent my heart-felt good morning…

     

  44. El Gordo Avatar
    El Gordo

    I got my nap in early since I was up early today.  The sun is out and it’s warming up nicely, but front is one the way again this evening I hear.  Bring on the rain – we never turn down a good rain.

  45. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    I’m at the theater for the matinee showing of Nefarious. I’m hoping it’s at least half as good as the reviews I’ve seen.

  46. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Read it and weep.

    Seriously, weep.

    https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Farticles%2F2023%2F04%2Fwhat_happened_in_hospitals_during_covid.html

  47. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Happy ending

    https://twitter.com/TheyCallMeTomO1/status/1650931827081900033/mediaViewer?currentTweet=1650931827081900033&currentTweetUser=TheyCallMeTomO1

  48. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    #41 – mebbe this one got Arkancided?

    Hmm…this page doesn’t exist. Try searching for something else.

     

     

  49. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    Good Afternoon Hamsters,

    Wow, plenty of posts already on most interesting news items we can’t find in US papers/radio/or TV, and who knows if Fox will carry it?  Fox needs to clean house pronto and decide just what its programming should be, and stick to it.

    Windy off and on here with mostly high overcast as we await the promised rain later today.  Or tomorrow.  Or whenever the wind  and rain gods take a notion to arrange some.

  50. El Gordo Avatar
    El Gordo

    Our afternoon tornado watch just got posted – good until 10PM

  51. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    I recommend Nefarious movie.

  52. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    Unless radar is just teasing, we got a red and yellow blob coming right at us about 11PM.

  53. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    The guy who plays evil in the movie did a great job. Both of the main characters did.

    Nefarious got almost orgasmic at the time of the girlfriend’s abortion. It was horrifying. Again when he denied his host his final meal before the execution. How cruel is it to deny the condemned his last meal? When “Edward” was allowed to manifest, you could tell how tortured he was.

    A battle of wills. The psychiatrist reminded me of Jim Caveziel.

  54. El Gordo Avatar
    El Gordo

    Last time I got into a battle of wits I discovered that I was unarmed.

  55. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    So I got a proverbial wild hair at the HEB last weekend.  I decided that I’m gonna smoke a duck. I figure it’s about the same level of difficulty as a chicken

    I guess we’ll find out on Friday.

  56. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    Went on our regular Costco trip today, it was $$$ as we had ran out of about everything.

    Love their frozen pizza, it’s what for dinner right now.

  57. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    Wow, thunderstorms after midnight and till 9 a.m., when my alarm goes off — whether I pay any attention to it or not. (Note: by IT, I mean both the weather and the alarm clock.) BUT I am very glad I finished mowing the front yard today. After I had a late lunch, I had to grab a nap. It grabbed me back, so when I got up at 6:30 pm, I was initially thinking I’d put the equipment away and finish the yard tomorrow. But I got lured outside when I saw Billie cat had turned up, first time I’d seen him today. I got him some chow, then sat out back and watched him for a while. Got to thinking why waste the remaining daylight, so I did the last 20 minutes in the front, then put the tools away and got the trash out for tomorrow.

  58. El Gordo Avatar
    El Gordo

    Our little storm just passed through.  Looks like I got about 1 inch or rain which is nice.  Some small hail right there at the end, but not damaging.  My back yard is full of water right now, but it will all drain off in about 5 minutes.  I was wanting to go to bed and sleep with an all night rain, but looks like that’s not happening.  These barometric and temperature changes have the worms climbing the walls of their bins and languishing in the condensate collected there.  I went ahead and fed the flat bins today.  I’m so concerned abut over feeding that I think I’m underfeeding, but they still have plenty of bedding and other nutrients to much on for some time.  Seeing quite a few baby worms showing up, so that’s a good sign.  My eyesight is so bad that I have to have a strong light focused on the subject for me to make out a lot of detail.  One of these days I need to go on a cocoon hunt and round a bunch of them up.   Don’t have any idea how I’m going to separate the worms from the castings when it gets to be time to actually start new bins and use the leftovers in the garden.  Of course, YT has a hundred different methods for me to try, but that exercise is still a ways in the distance.

  59. El Gordo Avatar
    El Gordo

    Here’s a 2 minute message from Tucker (for real, not a joke)  https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1651376097349578753

  60. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    We’re looking at replacement ovens.  I decided to look at scratch and dent places, and I found an oven with French doors (two doors that open from the middle out).   I never knew that was an option, but knew that I wanted it.

    Trying to lean over my open oven door that folds down, lean and reach in for food, is becoming more challenging with age, and especially with a back injury.  Manipulating a heavy dish while in “slight lean” mode is not a good thing for me to do.  Having French doors will take away that problem.

    Those doors are only offered on high end appliances, though. This S&D place only has one and another couple has taken a look at it along with Thermador appliances.  Hubby’s gonna run out tomorrow and take a look at it.  It looks like I’ll be giving up my dehydration mode dangit, and I don’t give a rat’s you-know-what about the smart WI-FI connection that I’ll probably never use, but it has what looks like a good self-cleaning system and special roll-out racks.

    But those doors are gonna be a game changer for me.

    And the S&D store has it for about half price.  Usually the damages at those stores are very minor.  I got Fred at a S&D price, and I can’t even find the “scratch”.

  61. El Gordo Avatar
    El Gordo

    Oops.  Nookie Haley let her true colors show.  https://redstate.com/bonchie/2023/04/26/nikki-haley-nukes-her-campaign-sides-with-disney-in-ridiculous-attack-on-ron-desantis-n737243

     

  62. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    I surely hope Tucker is right. I’m not as optimistic.

  63. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    Busy day. Just checking in. All quiet on the western front.

  64. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    Meanwhile in Poland….

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.