Ashamed for my country.

Trump and his cohorts sell out Ukraine for Russian diesel. Who didn't see this one coming? Our word obviously means nothing. 

“70% of Americans support Ukraine. Propping up Putin’s war economy is morally wrong as he uses that money to bomb cities,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.)

Bravo to those on both sides of the aisle speaking out against this travesty. Putin must have something really big on Trump because he plays him like a fiddle. Pee tape, anybody?

The announcement comes just weeks after Trump signed a major Russia sanctions package ‒ legislation named after the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina ‒ that was meant to suffocate the Russian economy that is financing the country's war against Ukraine.

Russia has been allowed to strike Ukraine's energy grid but Ukraine can't hit back. Doesn't seem quite fair.

"Zelenskyy, in a lengthy post online reacting to the deal, said Russia would repay it “with further terror and perfidy.” He cast it as an investment in the war, allowing it to be prolonged.

“It plays into Russia’s hands — allowing it to kill more, wage war for longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world,” he said.

I believe our team is simply being used as a smokescreen. And that is certainly not fair. It is certainly not how partners should treat each other,” Zelenskyy said.

Witkoff and Kushner deserve to be keelhauled. I hope that my friends on the right will take some ownership of this one. Typical Trump, sell out an ally so he can save his own butt politically. He would sell out his own mother. But I don't think anyone here is that stupid to not understand this one. We used to stand for something. Remember?

You can have Trump, Putin and Kim Jong Un. We will take Zelenskyy. 

*

The tangerine toddler has been having conniptions about coverage of his rallies that are showing so many empty seats. After his Alabama rally crowd looked so poorly attended, Trump ranted that the event was actually sold out and "MAXED OUT," and that the upper sections were vacant because rallygoers "migrate down to the Main Floor."

Now this is ludicrous on its face. If a place is maxed out and people are migrating to the main floor, just where are they sitting? In other people's laps? This makes no logical sense whatsoever.

*

Postscript - Trump calls for a new Ukrainian President. Because high diesel prices are hurting his status with American farmers, a key MAGA voting block.

U.S. President Donald Trump says it's time for Ukraine to get a new president, suggesting current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not done enough to end his country's war with Russia.

Speaking at the White House Saturday, Trump said, "I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal,″ adding that "for some reason [Zelenskyy] never does."

Trump also suggested that if he had been U.S. president in 2022, "that war would have never started. There was no reason that that war with Ukraine and Russia started. It started due to incompetence."

Zelenskyy has "lost 30 per cent of your country and you've had over a million people go between the two of them, over two million people killed. That's a war that should have never started. And I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president."

From A.P:

The president, who on Friday struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy diesel from Russia in an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, has been urging Zelenskyy for weeks to stop strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. He has also sought to blame record U.S. diesel prices on Ukraine rather than the U.S.-led war in Iran, which has elevated world energy prices.

“He wants to make problems for the world. He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel,” Trump said, before departing for Tennessee where he was set to rally Republican voters.

*

James Carville's nsfw rant about Guilfoyle must be read to be believed. I love this guy.

Alice Cooper

Bloodsport

I have been watching the news regarding the upcoming live streamed public execution of Nidal Hasan with a little bit of shock. I don't really understand the purpose or need for this but it does seem to coincide with the long term retrograde motion apparent in our society. He faces the firing squad on December third. I'm not going to watch, he deserves everything he gets but I think I have something else to do that day. 

Not my cup of tea.

Perhaps Dana White or Vince McMahon could provide the color commentary? 

Or even the orange one hisself?

Who knows, this could be the next hit series on Fox.

Of course if they botch it up, like happened with the woman from Tennessee it could turn into a ratings disaster. 

I say let her go, third time is not the charm, she deserves a pass. But nobody is asking me.

I assume that kids will be watching too but is it really any worse than a five year old watching ICE shoot his dad in the neck?

Public executions are sort of passe´ globally right now. Amnesty International recorded at least 17 in 2025, including 11 in Iran and six in Taliban-run Afghanistan.

I was thinking of a corollary to this upcoming event. 

The last legally sanctioned public execution took place in our country in 1936. The man's name was Rainey Bethea. 

At least the Kentuckian found the lord first, no word yet on Hasan's religious inclinations.

Rainey Bethea's last meal consisted of fried chicken, pork chops, mashed potatoes, pickled cucumbers, cornbread, lemon pie, and ice cream, which he ate at 4:00 p.m. on August 13 in Louisville. At about 1:00 a.m., Daviess County deputy sheriffs transported Bethea from Louisville to Owensboro. At the Daviess County Jail, professional hangman Phil Hanna of Epworth, Illinois, visited Bethea and instructed him to stand on the X that would be marked on the trapdoor.

Bethea left the Daviess County Jail at 5:21 a.m. and walked with two deputies to the scaffold. Within two minutes, he was at the base of the scaffold. Removing his shoes, he put on a new pair of socks. He ascended the steps and stood on the large X as instructed. After Bethea made his final confession to Fr Herman J. Lammers of the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville, who had also supervised Bethea's conversion to Catholicism during Bethea's incarceration at the Jefferson County Jail two weeks prior to the execution, officers placed a black hood over his head and fastened three large straps around his ankles, thighs, arms, and chest.

Hanna placed the noose around Bethea's neck, adjusted it, and then signaled to Hash to pull the trigger. Instead, Hash, who was drunk, did nothing. Hanna shouted at Hash, "Do it!" A deputy then leaned onto the trigger, which sprang the trap door. Bethea fell 8 feet (2.4 m), and his neck was instantly broken. Afterward, two doctors confirmed he was dead. He wanted his body to be sent to his sister in South Carolina so that she could arrange for him to be interred next to his father, but against these wishes, he was buried in a pauper's grave at Owensboro Cemetery (also known as City Cemetery and "Potter's Field") in Owensboro.

It was estimated that a crowd of about 20,000 people gathered to watch the execution. One man, 36-year-old Leonard A. Peters, was killed in a car accident while driving to Owensboro to witness the hanging. Three others, including his wife, were injured. Afterwards, Hanna complained that Hash should not have been allowed to perform the execution in his drunken condition. Hanna further said it was the worst display he experienced in the 70 hangings he had supervised. 

Hasan’s execution would be the first carried out by firing squad by the U.S. military since the 1945 execution of Eddie Slovik, who was convicted of desertion during World War II.

I have written before of Canton's Trade days, the first flea market in America.

When I was doing the show in Santa Barbara last month, my buddy Ted, who is a dealer and a promoter who has been in the business for a long time, was regaling me with stories of one of the most unusual flea markets in America, the First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas. This flea market started way back in the 1850's and was evidently originally known as "hoss monday".

The way he told the story is that the old circuit judge only rode through Canton one day a month. He would first adjudicate and then hang any miscreants on Monday.

The townspeople came from miles around to watch the proceedings and catch a few hangings and then the town fathers would raffle off the departed soul's horse and possessions.

In any case, this reminds me a lot of the late Saddam Hussein. He would hold executions and the occasional chopping off of hands in soccer stadiums and require the public to watch. 

Still happens all the time in Iran. Not like we are morally superior or anything.

Back in Roman times Caligula did something similar, 

Barrett describes some of the supposed equestrian offences punished by Caligula as "decidedly trivial", and their punishments as sensationalist. Dio claims that Caligula had more than 26 equestrians executed in a circus "fracas"; in Suetonius' biography "more than 20" lives were lost in what is almost certainly the same event, described as a violent but accidental crush.Some sources claim that Caligula forced equestrians and senators to fight in the arena as gladiators. Condemnation to the gladiator arena as a combatant was a standard punishment, doubling as public entertainment, for non-citizens found guilty of certain offences. Laws of AD 19 by Augustus and Tiberius banned voluntary participation of the elite in any public spectacles, but the ban was never particularly effective, and was broadly ignored in Caligula's reign. During Caligula's illness two citizens, an equestrian named Atanius Secundus and a plebeian named Publius Afranius Potitus, offered to fight as a gladiator and take their own life if only the gods would spare the emperor's life. The offers were insincere, intended to flatter and invite reward. When Caligula recovered, he insisted that they be taken at face value, to avoid accusations of perjury: "cynical, but not without wit of a kind".

So be it, if this is what Hegseth and Trump want, let the killing begin. Probably have a big hit on their hands, especially in the MAGA circles.

However I must point out that Trump got in hot water with the Pentagon before for taking photographs of soldiers' funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. No matter, the man knows ratings.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s campaign was warned about not taking photographs before an altercation at Arlington National Cemetery during a wreath-laying ceremony earlier this week to honor service members killed in the Afghanistan War withdrawal, a defense official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter concerning Monday’s events. It came a day after NPR reported, citing a source with knowledge of the incident, that two Trump campaign staff members “verbally abused and pushed” aside a cemetery official who tried to stop them from filming and photographing in Section 60, the burial site for military personnel killed while fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The defense official told the AP that the Trump campaign was warned about not taking photographs in Section 60 before their arrival and the altercation. Trump was at Arlington on Monday at the invitation of some of the families of the 13 service members who were killed in the Kabul airport bombing exactly three years prior.

So where do we stand? Going to fire up the air popper and watch Hasan fry with your family or are you going to sit this one out?

Taco Time

San Diego used to be known for having decent tacos. The first taco shop I remember as a kid was Azteca Tacos on Rosecrans, and maybe El Indio. Then in the seventies Roberto's came along and we were bombarded by a lot of very boring and mediocre shops of a similar variety, Albertos, Juanitas, etc.

They all pretty much tasted the same. Not great. Same offering, carne asada, pollo, pescado or carnitas basically.

I remember getting street tacos from Whittier around this time that were far better than the local fare, smaller but delicious. Loved Los Golosos in Torrance too. Great quesabirria.

We have several taco shops in Fallbrook but they are all pretty eh-h-h. Everything pretty much tastes the same at Robertitos although their rolled tacos are good in a pinch and they are open late. Luna smells funny to me and I stay clear of the place across from El Toro Market. Been through too many incarnations. El Toro is expensive. We won't talk about my beloved Jack in the Box, I don't want to argue with you. Dog meat or cardboard, I don't care, their tacos are a guilty pleasure.

I have tried one of the local street taco trucks but was not impressed. Loved the Birria food truck out on East Mission but they got shut down.

Anyway we found our new gold standard in Temecula at Los Tacos last year and really love the place. Best red and green salsas we have ever tried.

But I have been doing some research and there are some really good taco shops opening up, if you are willing to drive.

The new star getting all the buzz is Mesa Agricola in Escondido. Couple has a farm in Valley Center and grows their own vegetables. I guess it is only open a few days a week and the line goes around the block. I met someone who visited and he said that that was indeed true.

They specialize in guisados, which I get in Texas. They were named one of the 50 best new restaurants in the entire country this year by the New York Times. I look forward to visiting them once the buzz dies down and I can actually get in.

We had an emergency room trip to Palomar in the middle of the night this week. After six hours of wife in the hospital I decided to get breakfast and I went to a new place for me on East Valley Parkway, TJ tacos.

This place gets really top online love throughout the county as a people's favorite.

I had a carne asada and a lengua taco. They put the sauce on, do everything. You get what they give you. There are individual stations for each type of taco with separate cooks. I liked it but not as much as I like Los Tacos. The girl that works there told us that the adobado is her favorite and I will try it next time. Place is good but not exceptional, to my palate anyway.

I guess that there are some really great taco shops in Chula Vista, a long way to drive but I will make it down there, I promise. There are some that are way too authentic, no eyeball tacos for me, thank you. The place that intrigues me is Aqui es Texcoco, a place that specializes in lamb tacos.

Really want to check that place out. Their address is 520 Broadway. I saw a vlog on the place and the food looked fantastic. Barbacoa style lamb, my mouth is watering...

The best taco I ever had was the place in front of the Bullring by the Sea. My dad loved the bullfights and would take me down there as a kid to see Eloy Cavazos and Lomelin, his favorite toreadors. There was a taco stand out front that was heaven.

He made it a point to always sit on the shady side of the ring because as he explained, people got too drunk on the sunny side and people would get knifed. Very exciting prospect for a young kid. He told me that the vanquished bulls were cut up and fed to the poor and that that was what I was eating at the taco shop. Not sure if it was true or not but I believed him.

The tacos in Oaxaca City at the second mercado were also very good with the cotija and crema, quite healthy, helped by the fragrance of tuberose in the air. Greatest market I have ever been to.

Anyhow, if you know of a great taco shop around these parts, let me know.

*

I had to drive to City of Commerce to pick up something I bought at auction and ended up driving east on Telegraph to catch the 605. Might have been in Downey or Pico Rivera. 

I was hungry and needed something to drink and I saw Luna Maya Grill in my periphery. I pulled a youie and checked the place out.

It was El Salvadoran cuisine, something I don't get very often. Looked clean and nice. 

I started out with a chicken and cheese pupusa and some nice pickled cabbage or radish.

She said that the salsa on the right was muy picante, cuidado but she obviously did not know who she was talking to.

I said what the hell and followed up with a grilled fish and way more food than I could eat.

Food was good, server was nice and the best part of the meal was the super thick corn tortillas, very different and made like, right then.

If I ever make it back there, I am trying the chicharrone.

The storm approacheth...

SAN DIEGO, CA — Tropical Storm Rachel is approaching Southern California, bringing the prospect of dangerous coastal flooding, powerful surf, gusty winds and torrential rain this weekend as an unusual combination of weather systems threatens to create hazardous conditions along the Southern California coastline.

Although the storm has weakened from hurricane strength, it's still expected to reach landfall as a tropical storm - not something California has seen since 1939, according to Accuweather.

Now of course we don't know exactly where it will hit but be prepared, might get a little wetter than you think. Could be very close to home. Be prepared.

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac at the Boston Tea Party

My friend Gordon created a lot of light shows in the 1960's. We were discussing music and Peter Green and he told me that this 1970 recording at the Boston Tea Party was his all time favorite.

Peter Green

Danny Kirwin

Jeremy Spencer

John McVie

Mick Fleetwood

Reminds me of a story I heard recently. Someone asked John Mayall what he was going to do when Clapton left the Bluesbreakers. He said that he had somebody better.

Peter Green.

(Beware, this is over three hours long.)

Wow, Fallbrook is off limits, right?

 

This should do wonders for Republican candidates in California. Way to cheer him on, Nebraska. Screw you too.

KTLA :

U.S. President Donald Trump seemingly discussed the idea of foreign powers taking out California’s most populated cities while delivering a speech at a Republican rally at the Pinnacle Bank Expo in Grand Island, Nebraska Monday evening.

Trump was discussing the war in Iran and the price of gasoline before referencing the Southern California cities.

“With the war it’s just artificial, it’s a little bit high, it’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They could take out a city. Let ‘em take out Los Angeles. Let ‘em take out San Diego,” Trump said, drawing cheers from the crowd. “This is a very small price to pay and it’s going to be over very soon. It’s essentially almost over with.”

Trump’s appearance is the latest effort to rally Republican voters ahead of the midterm elections. Trump was there to campaign for Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), who faces an unexpectedly competitive race against independent Dan Osborn, polls show.

Get this

New ICE Challenge Coins.

 

Billy was a race car driver

The Fendermen

Calling B.S.

We have been hearing a lot about the scourge of voter fraud in this country. Something that by the numbers, hardly exists. 

We have a nation of approximately 340,000,000 Americans. Of these approximately 174,000,000 are registered voters.

The Trump administration has been doing everything it can to ferret out the scofflaws that vote illegally.

They have found a total of 160 voters in the last two years.

I am not a math whiz but if we put 160 over 174,000,000 in a ratio and then try to find x over 100 we end up with .0009195. Thank you to my old math teachers at Dwight York Preparatory School back in New York!

Now you can check my arithmetic but I think that is a shade under a thousandth of a percent. In fact it is nine hundred nineteen ten millionths.

Hardly enough to make a statistical difference, as awful as it might be. Beyond miniscule.

And I seem to recall that some of these miscreants voted Republican. Funnily, even anti immigration groups are in general agreement with this calculus.

Stop blaming your election losses on non citizen voting. It ain't happening. Statistically anyway. It is not an issue.

*

Daily Koz - Trump thwarted in hunt for rare noncitizen voters as midterms near

The U.S. Census in August identified about 24,000 instances of noncitizen voting in the 2020 election out of roughly 160 million votes cast, or 0.015% of all votes. One study of the 2016 election placed the prevalence of noncitizen voting at 0.0001% of votes cast.

But Homeland Security has suggested large numbers of noncitizens may be registered to vote. In July, the department said it had identified over 250,000 potential noncitizens on the voter rolls in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

On Monday, U.S. Senate Democrats in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote that they couldn’t trust those numbers. For instance, DHS initially floated nearly 16,000 possible noncitizen voters in Nevada. In the end, the agency provided state officials with a list of 185 people that officials said were noncitizens. All turned out to be citizens.

Similar thing happened in Utah, generally a conservative bastion but not always so keen on Trump.

Utah released the results of a year-long audit of the state’s voter rolls, finding that the vast majority of its voters are verifiably US citizens, amid an escalating legal battle with the Trump administration over access to voter registration data.

The audit, launched in April 2025, found that 99.72% of Utah’s registered voters are confirmed US citizens. Of the more than 2 million voter records reviewed, 27 individuals were identified as non-citizens and removed from the rolls. Only 13 of those individuals had ever cast a ballot. The review, released on Wednesday by Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson’s office, also flagged 25 probable non-citizens, who have been given 30 days to provide proof of citizenship or face removal from the voter rolls.

Get it? 

Dirty Business

Bad day at black rock

 

It was a tough weekend for me.

Blazing hot.

Padres took an epic dump, first with a home run that was stolen from them by a roof girder in Milwaukee and then their ace closer blowing up in the ninth inning in the second game.

We will get them tomorrow.

Another body part went on strike and I spent a good portion of the weekend in bed, feeling like shit.

Tried to take a shower yesterday, wait, no pressure, ran outside to see the main line break in the air like I had sprung an oil well.

Bad day for a break as only Ace was open and you should see what they charge for a single coupling these days.

Finally got water back around six o'clock yesterday evening.

My friend fixed another break for me the day before and I have to completely re-do it tomorrow as it is evident he does not understand irrigation 101.

If you want the job done right do it yourself and after 45 years or so I have fixed miles of pipe. Problem is that the old gray pipe is now splitting so I have a lot more fun to look forward to.

I am tempted to ask what next but don't want to jinx anything and am afraid I will find out.

10-5

DeGoff sent me the Heather Cox Richardson substack for today. It is a great column always but I rarely have time to read it. I have gone over most of this ground myself but was not aware of the Epstein "302" material.

Wyden has been doggedly following the money trail connected to sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, noting that his operations, including human trafficking and sexual abuse, depended on the banks whose officers looked the other way as Epstein’s finances repeatedly indicated he was engaged in criminal activity. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has refused to give the Senate Finance Committee access to Treasury materials about those finances, including Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). When Wyden tried to get Congress to pass a law forcing the release of those files, Senate Republicans blocked it.

Now Wyden’s investigators have discovered that the FBI conducted an interview with a banker tied to Epstein, but the bureau did not release the transcript of the interview, known as a “302 report,” as Congress required when it passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Wyden suggested that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI “are withholding key documents from Congress and the public.”

“Furthermore,” he added, “the existence of this 302 indicates that it is likely that the FBI possesses additional, related, FBI 302s that have not been released” as they should have been under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

How many more 302 letters have they buried? They've got more dirty laundry hidden than the Cornell Police Department.

*

When will they ever learn?

*

Are you happy with your tax money going to a government funded propaganda campaign that infers that Trump was made by God?

‘God made Trump’ ad and at least 12 others are part of controversial taxpayer-funded ad campaign

The Trump administration has created at least 13 campaign-style ads as part of its controversial taxpayer-funded, multi-million-dollar effort to promote President Donald Trump and his policies.

Yet-to-be-aired spots include a trio of ads highlighting the US military and operations in Iran and Venezuela, one called “God Made Trump” and another recapping the UFC fight he hosted at the White House. Republicans and Democrats alike have questioned the wisdom of spending so much taxpayer money on the ads, which the White House has defended as public service announcements.

I don't do the god thing and even I am enraged at this. You hear any Republicans complaining about it? Not a one, they give him coverage for anything he does.

Of course after the midterms, the rats will all be scurrying off the ship and proclaiming all the things they covertly did to keep the orange one in check.

*

Read an interesting article the other day about Trump telling Blanche to go easy on the abortion stuff until after the elections. Probably smart to dial down right now but believe me, it is coming.

A senior White House official revealed to The Washington Sun that a message was directly delivered to Blanche by chief of staff Susie Wiles, suggesting an aggressive approach on abortion would generate unwanted attention, which might alienate voters in the already contentious elections. "No one wants us taking any real action before the midterms," the staffer told the outlet.

They will lock mifepristone down tighter than a drum. Just watch. ICE is dialing it back too.

*

I believe that the Dems will take back the house, not so sure about the senate at this point. Trump has hinted at triggering the Insurrection Act if the GOP loses Congress. Retiring Senator Tom Tillis thinks we might have another January 6th riot.

Of course, he was one of the people who let Trump off the hook.

The North Carolina senator said he’s still disgusted thinking back to that day of chaos on Capitol Hill, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Senate and House chambers.

“Look, this was the first time in the history of this country that we had not had a completely peaceful transfer of power on that day. And that was despicable,” he said. “The people that led the charge, the people that assaulted police officers, I wish they were still in prison and serving a very long sentence.”

Yet, Tillis defended his vote to acquit Trump on the charge of inciting insurrection, arguing that Democrats rushed the impeachment proceedings and pushed the charge to prevent the president from running for office again in 2024.

What a bunch of lily livered cowards these people are. How will we ever clean up their mess? 

Shake that fat

Back at the trough

U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies

Surprised? 

The Trump administration’s talks with Russia about ending the war in Ukraine have expanded to include a multibillion-dollar oil deal that would benefit Middle Eastern business executives with ties to the two main U.S. negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

The deal, which is contingent on approval from the U.S. government and the Kremlin, is for a sprawling set of oil fields, refineries and gas stations around the world owned by Lukoil, one of Russia’s biggest energy companies.

The leading group seeking the deal includes an American investor, Todd Boehly, who has donated $2 million to President Trump’s political causes; two Middle Eastern groups that have done business with Mr. Kushner or Mr. Witkoff’s family; and an arm of the U.S. government itself.

First thing today, Trump tries a $90 bribe to win back American seniors during the failing midterms, with 5k soon to follow if and when Republicans win.

Trump Promises $90 'Checks' to 20M Seniors From What He Called 'Dumocrats' 'Pointless Slush Fund'

Right.

Smacks of serious desperation. Okay. But wait. Now Putin tries his own bribe, directed square at Trumpworld's wheelhouse, their wallet.

Who stands to win on the Russian deal?

Witkoff and Kushner, the son in law. And this guy with the shiny white caps who owns Lukoil, Todd Boehly:

Another reason to hate the Dodgers. 

Adios Mario!

I had to fix irrigation this morning and was late getting into town. I stopped off at the donut shop and told Terry who works there that I was going to go next door and get a haircut.

I saw a pained look in the Cambodian woman's eyes. "Mario is not there," she told me."ICE picked him up."

I hurried next door and talked to the other barber. He told me that Mario, my haircutter, had been picked up by ICE at the casino last week.

Not only was Mario a great barber, he was great to me, a kind, wonderful person whose life had turned around when he quit drinking. Everybody liked him. The Guatemalan was the son of a barber and gave me the best cuts I have received in years.

He had a Guatemalan word for me which I don't quite remember but it was like Jefe, a townsperson who commanded respect.

I will really miss the hardworking guy and hope to see him again one day.

Heighty hi

Afternoon Delight

I was thinking about just how fast old age rushes up on you. 

Everything is going along all hunky dory, free as a bird for so long and then one day all the systems decide to fail in unison.

I never signed up for this shit.

I took a minor detour down memory lane this morning.

Thinking about some of the things I miss from my youth.

Like being able to clip my own toe nails.

And my young prostate.

And non woke shampoo that would actually lather and clean.

Ditto hand soap.

Most of the soap I use these days is environmentally sensitive and fairly worthless.

Might break down and buy something old school, like a bar of Irish Spring. It actually works.

And they sure don't make triple XL shirts like they used to.

Damned if they aren't fitting snugger.

I saw that Minute Maid is now getting out of the frozen citrus market. Hey those cans were our telephones when I was a kid, all it took was a long enough string.

Do we really need a sticker on every piece of fruit in the market, no matter how small?

I miss cd players in cars, hate apple car play and plugging my phone in. Miss the superdrive cd on my desktop too. Bring back tangible media. 

I miss Fireball XL5. And Malto Meal commercials.

Allison Steele, the Night Bird.

I hate being asked to give an online rating for every minor interaction in my life. Failure to do so might cause some poor bank teller her job or wreak havoc in the Philippines.

I miss talking to a doctor now and then instead of only getting to see the nurse practitioner. Haven't seen my cardiologist in over four years. Well nowadays you only get thirty seconds at best with them anyway.

I miss fudgesicles for a nickel and the wintergreen lifesavers that would spark in the dark in the sixth grade.

I miss the slow dance at the skating rink.

Remember when they would check your car's oil and fluids at the gas station? When was the last time you saw that?

I miss ten dollar cans and sticky roaches. And every friend having an acoustic guitar in their house and everybody jamming. And dining room tables made from old SDGE wire spools.

Watching demo derby on Saturday and Gene Scott at midnight.

I went to Grangettos today to buy a top for a busted sprinkler. 

Twenty cent part. 

Or it used to be anyway before the state mandated that every fitting now sold in the State of California had to have a pressure relief valve. 

Two bucks now minimum.

Preposterous.

Thank you, Nanny State.

*

Speaking of getting my fluids checked.

I was thinking the other day about all the cool stuff from my life that I can't really share because it was so racy or possibly illegal and maybe the statute of limitations hasn't expired yet?

This is such a story. One of life's tender moments.

No harm in spilling at this point.

I believe we need to go back to 1978 for this vignette, might be 79 but let's say 78. 

I am all of 20 or 21, and in a hospital bed in Point Loma at Sharp Cabrillo Hospital.

I have just undergone a radical knee surgery which involved repairing my anterior cruciate, medial collateral and meniscus.

Would put me in a cast for the next five months. 

Horrible doctor, the late David Handler, wanted to tell me about_____, well never mind...

So I am lying in the bed, feeling a bit sorry for my self when there is a loud rap on the door.

"Who is it?" I asked.

A lovely and sonorous canary chirped from the other side of the door, "It's your Aunt Betty."

I was stumped. Aunt Betty? I didn't have an Aunt Betty. No matter.  "Come on in."

A comely young lass opened the door, gave me a large wink, turned around and then locked it behind her in a single motion. She gave me a big smile, then unzipped her dress and joined me on the hospital bed to engage in all sorts of absolutely delicious fragrant delicto or as much as I could muster anyway at that moment with a large cast on my leg.

I can't give you all sorts of the ins and outs of the proceeding at this advanced date but do remember it really elevated my general sense of well being as well as some other things.

We got to talking later. It turns out that she had actually been a nurse once but found that her honest attraction and inclination was to making love to patients' bodies, not fixing them. Bless her. Have to find your place in this world.

Fair enough. Got to love it in fact. There is room for all sorts of personal interaction on god's good earth and she was an angel of heaven for me at that point. This Florence Nightingale was on a mission of mercy.

And just so happened to be an afternoon gift from my father and my heating and air conditioning man, George Morris and the boys at Poway Heating and Air Conditioning.

God bless you George. God bless you Dad. You were the best dad in the world, that week anyway. Will never forget that as long as I live. How could I? Just what I needed. Thank you too Aunt Betty, wherever you are. Appreciate the whole deal.

Kenny Burrell

Eternally Grateful

I looked at Padres Brewers tickets for next week and just don't think I can afford to go again. Anybody with a spare ticket that they don't want to eat, please let me know. I will certainly contribute.

Sizzling

Leslie and I needed a new nonstick pan. 

We have been doing our nonstick cooking with a teflon pan that has seen better days and frankly, is no longer safe.

I did some research and NYT Wirecutter really liked the inexpensive but super nonstick OXO Obsidian carbon steel pan.

The OXO Obsidian Carbon Steel Frypan with Silicone Sleeve is slick, lightweight, well balanced, and comfortable to grip. It’s one of the very few carbon steel pans we tested that were slick enough to fry an egg without sticking, right out of the box. It also produced a stack of fluffy pancakes, crispy-skinned chicken breasts, golden sautéed carrots, and a perfect soft scramble with ease.

This is an excellent carbon steel pan for all home cooks. But for those who are new to carbon steel and are looking for an alternative to nonstick-coated cookware, it’s an especially good choice because it comes ready to cook, no preseasoning required, and its silicone handle cover provides a comfortable grip.

Their favorite in fact. What the hell, why not? Carbon steel has been the European standard for a long time.

I would give it a shot. Under sixty bucks.

It showed up today. Just gave it its first rinse and dry. I have never used carbon steel before. Fried up an egg in it. Worked like a charm.

I had heard a false rumor that it was tough on glass cooktops but that was debunked. 

I know that you can't or shouldn't put too much overly acid things in them like lemon, tomatoes and vinegar. They get a funny metallic taste.

They should not be overheated or allowed to scratch the cooktop surface. This one is pre-seasoned and supposedly incredibly nonstick out of the box.

I had heard that it was a bit light but this 10" pan feels nicely weighted to me.

I don't think it will be much different than my Le Creuset skillet, although a bit more forgiving, I don't ever put soap in that one. Just baking soda in a pinch. Keep them oiled and seasoned. You can even use metal spatulas and tools with it.

If you are an old hand with carbon steel and have a good tip on its use, please comment.

Grifter in Chief

Immigration is such a hot button issue in this country right now. We certainly have the right to have secure borders but the immigration system that brought all of our forefathers (except you Native Americans) here is terribly broken and neither party has the political will and capital to fix it.

The Stephen Miller, Nazi like, let's throw the immigrant children out before they get any bigger attitude is beyond reprehension. Disgusting man.

Stephen Miller is leading an unprecedented and intense White House drive across a host of government departments to accelerate the removal of undocumented immigrant children from the US, using tactics that critics say are cruel and racist and, in some cases, flout federal law, the Guardian has learned.

As deputy chief of staff at the White House, focused on immigration policy, Miller is seen as the mastermind and enforcer behind Donald Trump’s hardline anti-immigration agenda.

He is directing a whole-of-government approach that has been ramping up throughout Trump’s second term and is targeting a vulnerable population of undocumented children. Many abruptly find themselves denied access to legal immigration pathways in the US, with their applications fast-tracked and then rejected before being forced out of the country.

Now the brutal and draconian nature of the Trump Ice Machine is starting to even rile his own base. 

West Virginia Senator Jim Justice serves on the Senate Ag committee.

He now complains that ranching groups are telling him that Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma are costing cattlemen millions of dollars and choking supply chains. And that might even mean he loses a key voting block, egads.

Now these people like to talk about Jesus but their real god is money and this type of enforcement action is going to be hard to sell when it hits their wallets. One thing to do it in Minneapolis...

Ice has struck hard at meatpackers in Kansas, especially Dodge City. Kansas Republican Senator Roger Marshall is trying to put the brakes on without ruffling Trump, saying that ICE has to now coordinate with local law enforcement before commencing actions.

This is hitting way too close to home for the longtime Trump ass kisser, who is real danger of getting defrocked and losing his job.

Kansas, which has not elected a Democratic senator since 1932 and has long been considered a GOP stronghold in federal elections, was recently moved from "Likely Republican" to "Lean Republican" by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

An Emerson College poll conducted September 15-16 found Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton leading Republican Sen. Roger Marshall 45 percent to 43 percent among Kansas voters surveyed.

Truth is that agriculture in this country will dry up and wilt without foreign labor, either temporary, legal or illegal. 

Sorry Republican heartlanders, neither poor black people or poor white people are going to pick your crops at this point, no matter how hungry they get. They have lost the ability to work hard at manual farm labor. I know that you are yearning for the dust bowl times but that just ain't happening at present.

Blame what you want, video games, ADHD, permissive parents, I could care less. We have tried that. And all the trades are now suffering, not just farming. Texas latinos are now deserting Trump in droves.

Farmers and ranchers, most of whom voted for the orange one, are caught in a triple quadruple whammy, tariffs, foreign imports, the cost of diesel and the cost of fertilizer, much of which comes from Canada, the new "worst" country on earth. 

The Chinese are in no mood to buy soybeans from a man who demonizes them in such a public fashion, rightly or wrongly. And the American farmers mostly shut their mouths and those that don't go bankrupt can wait for the next fat government bailout check.

What I find funny is that for all the talk about immigrants, Trump wants to sell a card for umpteen dollars that will let them come to this country.

For a mere million bucks you can get a Trump Gold Card that will give you free passage. Plus fees of course.

Or you can go platinum if you are in the higher tier. It is almost comical but unfortunately true.

Foreign nationals can sign up now and secure their places on the waiting list for the Trump Platinum Card. When launched, and upon receipt of a $15,000 DHS processing fee and $5 million contribution, they will have the ability to spend up to 270 days in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.

Immigrants are all criminals, degenerates and subversives except of course for the ones that stick big money in our pocket. Come on in!

*

Yesterday Trump was miffed about the court’s ruling on birthright citizenship in June, which upholds the Constitution’s guarantee that those born in the U.S. are U.S. citizens. In the 6-3 decision, Coney Barrett ruled that Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship violated the 14th Amendment. Kavanaugh concurred while Gorsuch dissented.

“It’s unfortunate what they did—not to me, to our country,” Trump told Time.

“Birthright citizenship. It’s becoming a major industry now,” the president claimed. “People are making millions and millions of dollars, and we’re losing trillions of dollars. And it’s become a corrupt business, all because of the Supreme Court decision.

Listen too him, he is not upset that about babies getting born here, he is sad that he is missing out on the grift. Someone is making shady money without him. Horrors!

And that is something he will not stand for.

*

The Trump administration is facing growing questions over whether it illegally used taxpayer money to air television ads promoting Donald Trump five weeks before the US midterm elections.

*

This is my favorite - Trump Reprograms Government AI Chatbot to Stop Fact-Checking His Lies

After the tool’s launch on Tuesday, if you asked whether there was “widespread voter fraud” in the 2020 election, the chatbot would state that “No. Official findings did not show widespread voter fraud that changed the 2020 presidential election result.” On Wednesday, however, the chatbot refused to answer, CNN’s Daniel Dale wrote on X.

“I help with official U.S. government services and information. I do not provide political commentary. If you have a question about a federal program, benefit, form, or how to use a government service, ask that and I can point you to official sources,” the chatbot now replies.

The platform provided the same answer to a question about whether Trump had truly inherited the “worst inflation in history,” even though it had originally stated that inflation was not at a “historic high,” Dale posted on X.

Facts are so inconvenient, so political. So are lies, evidently. 

Bad behavior

There's a good article at the New York Times on settlers in Israel not letting Palestinians back into their homes on the West Bank. The far right settlers are supposedly stopping Israeli soldiers from helping the Palestinians return.

The military said in a statement that soldiers had been unable to permanently return the family to their home, but also noted that troops had stopped a more serious incident from taking place. After the family entered the home, the military said, more than 100 “rioters” arrived and “severe violence” started, with rocks thrown at security forces, roads blocked and tires set on fire. The military said that additional personnel had been called in to try to disperse the settlers and that those forces had intervened to prevent the family from being harmed.

Settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has soared, according to U.N. data, especially since the start of the Gaza war, which was ignited by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. So far in 2026, at least 23 Palestinians have been killed in incidents linked to clashes with settlers, according to the U.N. humanitarian office.

Netanyahu is continually minimizing settler violence but I think it is perpetuated by a handshake deal and a wink with the Israeli government. And I for one, think that it is disgusting. 

There are some very good comments here but this one caught my eye particularly:

I believe Wally knows exactly what is going on here. And we all know that if the roles were reversed and Palestinians kept Jews from their homes in Israel they would be shot dead on the spot. They wouldn't put up with it for a second.

Israel is losing diaspora jewry on many fronts. This disgusting behavior only amplifies our disgust at the over reaction in Gaza that killed so many innocent people. Lose 1200 and kill 50,000 sounds so biblical. I feel no mandate to regain Judea and Samaria because we lost it two thousand years ago. 

Tel Aviv and Haifa were fine.

Israel's close tryst with Trump will alienate many previous backers of Israel in the United States in ways that also can not be overstated.

You are losing us, Netanyahu. This may work with your supporters in certain parts of Brooklyn but you are alienating huge numbers of previous supporters of Israel who belong to reform and conservative Jews who know exactly what you are doing here.

And there are way more of us than there are of them.

Midnight Blue

Brown Bombers

Nice to see the Padres win the division last night. 

I watched it on Peacock. 

Looking forward to the Brewers series. 

Everything seems to be clicking right at the moment.

As for the Cubs:

Crow-Armstrong, who could be the unanimous NL MVP, went 0-for-7 across the two games against San Diego, striking out four times in the process. Bregman, the veteran leader in the clubhouse, went 0-for-8 with four strikeouts as well.

Hey Chicago, don't focus on that. Be happy that you actually scored a run.

*

That loud noise you hear in the background? That's all the Cub fans who have suddenly become South Siders. Go Sox.

*

Some faint but snarky praise from up Dodger's way.

Ultimately, it's bad news for the Dodgers that the Padres are moving on (though we can probably trust Milwaukee to make quick work of them), but it's still delightful that they helped to silence a common enemy.

Quick work of them? We swept Milwaukee at home this year in three games, 4-2 overall.

*

No way Palencia didn't intend to hit Cronenworth in the back last night after the Sheets home run. What an a-hole.

Speaking of Sheets, everyone is acting like the home run was a surprise. He did the same thing four days ago against the D-Backs. Guy is so strong.

Ahkbar loses a round

Those evil Israelis are at it again. 

They beat up a poor Omani co-pilot on the Dubai to Tel Aviv run who was merely trying to make a political statement.  

By stabbing the Indian pilot and several passengers and seeking to crash the plane that had 174 people traveling on it and to kill all the Israeli passengers on board.

The plane was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when it plummeted 17,000' in less than two minutes, before being diverted to Saudi Arabia.

The descent was so steep that most of the rudder was ripped off the tail and experts were confounded by the plane's ability to even land.

Israeli passengers ultimately stormed the cabin to subdue the perpetrator. Israeli passengers tied the poor and misunderstood attacker up with zip ties and iphone cables. 

Footage shows the injured pilot lying on the cabin floor with several stab wounds, and a passenger with a bloody wound to the head. 

He was trying to disable the controls so everyone on board would die.

Purportedly he screamed "Alahu Ahkbar" before sending the plane into a tailspin.

Isn't this a freedom of speech issue? Since when is it illegal to make a political statement and invoke Allah?

Can't wait for the U.N. to take the passengers to the I.C.C. and try them for interfering with the co-pilots self expression and religious rights. We must of course evaluate him first and see if he is indeed an actual jihadist or perhaps just the victim of an unhappy childhood? 

Bet you it was the jews fault. I also bet Tlaib will want to give the guy a hero's welcome and sanctuary in Michigan.

All the small things

Go Pads!

My friend BigDave flew down yesterday from San Francisco. I picked him up at the airport, we had a nice dim sum lunch and then proceeded to the ballpark for the opening game of the Padres and Cubs Wild Card series.

Dave is a Cubs honk but likes the Giants equally well, although his favorite team of course is the one currently winning. 

That is certainly not the pitiful Giants right now.

Anyway I was reluctant to have Dave come down because I don't think I have ever seen a Cubs Padres game with him where the Padres have won and I just can't take all that glee anymore.

Gets tiring of being on the wrong end of the stick.

He booked the Hotel Indigo, a mere two blocks away from Petco Park. 

We found a metered parking space on Market and stuck his handicapped placard on the mirror, saved me a bunch of money.

We checked into his room after lunch and chilled for an hour.

We get down to the game on a warm evening and Dave is not alone, there are a lot of Cub fans representing.

Padres fans being quite San Diego friendly, for the most part.

Dave of course has his special Finally Cubs jersey, Cubs hat and who knows what else on?

Probably his Cubbie jockstrap.

I had of course foreseen his sartorial choices and that it was perhaps wise to publicly differentiate my choice of teams from his.

I went to the local discount store, C &C, and found the cheapest Padres shirt I could find, which had the largest logo imaginable in my very large size.

Probably could spot me from space.

I really wasn't sure how the game would go? 

The Padres are playing the best baseball in the majors the second half of the season and all cylinders are firing perfectly right now.

Great hitting top to bottom, great relief corps, some great starters.

But they have a history of getting real quiet with their bats in the playoffs.

I predicted 6-4 Padres, mostly predicated on their home team advantage.

We had good seats on the third base side, Loge section 112.

Not cheap.

The game was amazing. 

I am not going to do a full re-cap but I have never seen anything quite like it.

First pitch changeup - Tatis puts it over the fence. 

Crowd goes nuts.

Soon after Machado does the same and we are off to the races, never looking back.

Michael King is pitching like Koufax, no hitter through seven and then King gives up a close one to Machado at third.

Nothing hit out of the infield.

Matsui come on, they give up another hit or two, still no runs.

The rally towels are flying, place is going berserk. 

Tatis gets a hit, steals second and then comes all the way home on a throw to second.

The whole place starts singing a song in the seventh and I realize that I am the only guy there who has never heard it, let alone knew the words. Was it Taylor Swift? Turns out to be Blink - 182. I guess there are serious holes in my music game.

The other thing I realize is that there is now a name for a pitch which I have no idea of, a sweeper. Sinker, cutter, curve, splitter I got, but what the hell is a sweeper?

The best came last. 

San Diego hometown boy Joe Musgrove, out for two years after Tommy John surgery, just named to the roster, comes in in the ninth and gets the final three outs.

Place went wild, emotion at a fever pitch, people were crying. It was epic.

Not counting debuts, only one player had previously appeared in a playoff game directly after not appearing in any game of the two prior regular seasons, according to the Elias Sports Bureau (relayed by MLB.com's A.J. Cassavell on Twitter/X).

That player — Chicago Cubs catcher Clyde McCullough — missed the 1944-45 regular seasons due to military service, then struck out in his only at-bat in the 1945 World Series.

Dave took it all very well, like a man. It was one game, might be a different story tonight. 

But it was sweet.

*

I should mention that I go back a long way with the Padres. When I first saw them it was at Westgate Park, now Fashion Valley Mall. They were a Coast League farm club for the Phillies.

This is somewhere between 1964 and 1967. Tony Perez was on the club but my favorite player was the now forgotten Roberto Pena.

We had season tickets and I was there with my brother when Buzzie Bavasi had his famous meltdown on the field. 

I remember Clay Kirby and Cannizarro, Ollie Brown, Cito, Nate, Enzo, all the old guys. Grew up with this team, a lot of pain mixed in with the great Gwynn and Caminiti years. Had drinks with Randy Jones and Rollie Fingers on a wild plane ride back from Vegas once.

Wishing the Padres the best here on in.

What a special night.

Thanks for coming down Dave and being a good sport.