I noticed in the news this morning....Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and City Council Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty chatted up that they want a meeting Department of Homeland Security 'chief' Chad Wolf immediately. Topic? How to get federal law enforcement officers from the city of Portland gone.
First, will Wolf even respond. My guess is 'no'. Around about Friday....the Wheeler/Hardesty team will ask the Governor for 'help'. He'll pick up the phone and attempt to call Wolf....to find that other than a five-minute chat with Wolf, there's zero interest in Wolf's mind to meet with the Portland leadership.
So then you go to the big dynamic of this discussion.....does the mayor or city council chief have any control over their riot-squad? The answer? No.
Then you start to speculate....if Wheeler and Hardesty don't control anything, why bother even inviting Wolf to a meeting? Wolf's likely response would be that every single protester has to settle down and peace has to be seen for ten days straight before any federal law folks leave town. Wheeler and Hardesty can't deliver that.
The whole discussion here? I think the town revenue collection folks have added up the numbers and indicate that hotels are empty, bars and restaurants in the downtown area are conducting virtually no business, and there's this fear that chaos will reign on for another 100 days (until the election). For Wheeler and Hardesty....that's a dismal future to gaze upon.
The city budget for next year? Around a month ago, the council passed the next budget....5.6-billion dollars. Getting to that,with Covid-19 and the riots? Physically impossible. You would have to revisit property taxes and fees for the city.
My guess is that the budget folks have visited Wheeler and Hardesty....giving them a view of a budget shortfall occurring before the end of 2020.
In simple terms, if Wheeler and Hardesty fail to get the riot/chaos resolved, a massive problem in budget cuts will come by early 2021. Homeland Security has sat now at the poker table, and concluded the way to play this game....be the magnet to attract BLM/Antifa, and just keep them busy on the streets of Portland. This will bankrupt the city, unless it dissolves the mess.
Tuesday, 28 July 2020
Sunday, 26 July 2020
How 'Compound' Neighborhoods Work
Looking at the Seattle, Portland, LA, and San Francisco environment....homelessness....drug activity....police defunding...it's difficult to see the current home situation continuing 'as is'. In ten to twenty years, it wouldn't surprise if new neighborhood rise up out of the 'ashes', and become compound neighborhoods like you see in South Africa.
The way these work?
You leave the main road and go down a street where a guard post exists....typically with two or three armed guys. Behind the gate will be two jeep-like vehicles with two guys in each vehicle.....heavily armed.
You flash your entry badge and the gate rises. You go down the guarded street to your home....feeling safe and secure. You enter the home to find a gun locker near the front-door.
The regional laws are written in a way that should anyone cross the wire and enter the area....the guard crews can react with deadly force.
In South Africa, this is the accepted form of security. You as the resident....pay the neighborhood 'company' to survey the fence-line, monitor cameras, and control entry to the neighborhood. The police? They are not part of your security, and generally.....there's enough laws to make them more or less....the clean-up crew after the private security folks have done the job necessary.
All of this is coming to the west coast and probably Minneapolis....over the next twenty years. People will laugh about the first big secure neighborhood put up and the crew hired to protect people and property. But eventually.....everyone who makes 'real' money....will buy into such neighborhoods.
The way these work?
You leave the main road and go down a street where a guard post exists....typically with two or three armed guys. Behind the gate will be two jeep-like vehicles with two guys in each vehicle.....heavily armed.
You flash your entry badge and the gate rises. You go down the guarded street to your home....feeling safe and secure. You enter the home to find a gun locker near the front-door.
The regional laws are written in a way that should anyone cross the wire and enter the area....the guard crews can react with deadly force.
In South Africa, this is the accepted form of security. You as the resident....pay the neighborhood 'company' to survey the fence-line, monitor cameras, and control entry to the neighborhood. The police? They are not part of your security, and generally.....there's enough laws to make them more or less....the clean-up crew after the private security folks have done the job necessary.
All of this is coming to the west coast and probably Minneapolis....over the next twenty years. People will laugh about the first big secure neighborhood put up and the crew hired to protect people and property. But eventually.....everyone who makes 'real' money....will buy into such neighborhoods.
Consulate Discussion
For the record, because news organization never ask these questions....up until last week, there were five Chinese consulates in the US. With the Houston facility 'closed'.....there are now four left:
1. LA
2. SF
3. Chicago
4. New York
The Chinese reaction by the forced closure? They picked the US facility in Chengdu to close.
The rumor that the Chinese will shut down the US consulate in Hong Kong? Just a rumor. The Chinese would have to calculate that one of their consulates on the US west coast would then be picked for the next closure.
1. LA
2. SF
3. Chicago
4. New York
The Chinese reaction by the forced closure? They picked the US facility in Chengdu to close.
The rumor that the Chinese will shut down the US consulate in Hong Kong? Just a rumor. The Chinese would have to calculate that one of their consulates on the US west coast would then be picked for the next closure.
West Coast of Wasington
For 13 months, I was stationed and lived in the Tacoma area of Washington state in the early 1980s.
For years after I left, I had this 'desire' to return and live there. I'd call it more of an enchantment than anything else.
First, there was the weather. It was never truly hot in the summer, or bitter-cold in the winter. Total snowfall for that period there....just over 1.5 inches. I admit....it rained two-hundred-odd days out of the year (usually a 30-minute passing of showers).
Second, within a six-hour drive, you had probably fifty-different state or national parks/forest areas. If you just wanted to go to a beach and watch the sun go down....it was the perfect place.
Third, at least in that era of the early 1980s, you could go anywhere in the region and feel fairly safe. Even downtown Seattle, was this hub of no activity.
I think a lot of military people passed through the region and felt the same way. It had charm and character. It was quiet, and had all this landscape. Today? I'm not so sure about the charm or character.
For years after I left, I had this 'desire' to return and live there. I'd call it more of an enchantment than anything else.
First, there was the weather. It was never truly hot in the summer, or bitter-cold in the winter. Total snowfall for that period there....just over 1.5 inches. I admit....it rained two-hundred-odd days out of the year (usually a 30-minute passing of showers).
Second, within a six-hour drive, you had probably fifty-different state or national parks/forest areas. If you just wanted to go to a beach and watch the sun go down....it was the perfect place.
Third, at least in that era of the early 1980s, you could go anywhere in the region and feel fairly safe. Even downtown Seattle, was this hub of no activity.
I think a lot of military people passed through the region and felt the same way. It had charm and character. It was quiet, and had all this landscape. Today? I'm not so sure about the charm or character.
The Thing About Gun Safety
I noticed in the news this morning....one of these protest events....in Louisville, Kentucky, resulted in some BLM armed militia group making a 'show'.
The thing about the past BLM armed militia 'shows'....they seem to be dressed up for the occasion (cammo gear), and look remarkably 'fake' (like actors).
From this event in Louisville, an interesting thing happen. Somewhere in the handling of the weapons, one of the guys had the weapon of 'fire' instead of 'safety'. The weapon went off....couple of rounds...wounding three of his associates.
The comment by militia head guy? "Things like this happen".
In general, you have to rely on folks around handling their weapon properly. So the bothersome piece of this event is that you get the impression that some of these folks have never held a gun in their life, and never received true gun safety classes in their life. Yet here they are.....some might be true militia folks.....some might be actors for the day and holding guns.
So this brings me to the Barney-moment. Andy allows took away all of Barney's bullets, giving one single bullet for his pocket. It was good gun-safety that Andy applied. I look at the militia folks and think they might want to go the same way. Hand an empty clip to the guy to parade around in, and then hand him a filled clip for his pocket (should it be required).
The three wounded folks? No one says much, but I would imagine that their wives are asking some serious questions about where they were, and what they were doing yesterday.
The thing about the past BLM armed militia 'shows'....they seem to be dressed up for the occasion (cammo gear), and look remarkably 'fake' (like actors).
From this event in Louisville, an interesting thing happen. Somewhere in the handling of the weapons, one of the guys had the weapon of 'fire' instead of 'safety'. The weapon went off....couple of rounds...wounding three of his associates.
The comment by militia head guy? "Things like this happen".
In general, you have to rely on folks around handling their weapon properly. So the bothersome piece of this event is that you get the impression that some of these folks have never held a gun in their life, and never received true gun safety classes in their life. Yet here they are.....some might be true militia folks.....some might be actors for the day and holding guns.
So this brings me to the Barney-moment. Andy allows took away all of Barney's bullets, giving one single bullet for his pocket. It was good gun-safety that Andy applied. I look at the militia folks and think they might want to go the same way. Hand an empty clip to the guy to parade around in, and then hand him a filled clip for his pocket (should it be required).
The three wounded folks? No one says much, but I would imagine that their wives are asking some serious questions about where they were, and what they were doing yesterday.
Saturday, 25 July 2020
Math and Portland
Doing the math on Portland is a simple task.
You figure around 1k protesters. They stay at local hotels. You can figure around 500 rooms being rented in the local area, at $75 per night. So $37.5k is spent nightly, or $262.5k weekly.
Food and beer money? Some suggest that pizza is bought in bulk fashion, or that 'gift-cards' from the burger operations are handed out. So you can figure from the 1k protest kids....$30k daily is spent in this fashion. That's $210k per week.
Then you come to the question of some 'upper' pills being handed out (milder forms of meth) and weed. My humble guess is that for the 1k kids....roughly $30 a day is spent on the pills and weed....equaling $30k a day, or $210k a week.
So to assemble the protest crowd....it's in the range of $700k a week.
Cash? In order to deny the Feds any tracking information....I would go and suggest that virtually all of this is being done (even at the hotels) in the form of cash. Some guy is walking around in the interest of the protest crowd, and probably carries $100k a day in cold hard cash in his pocket. He probably gets 'loaded' every morning, and that's his job.....walk around and settle up with pizza bills, buy weed and pills, and cover hotel costs.
So a month is costing $2.4-million? Yep.
You can watch the videos and this is mostly done at night....to confuse you on numbers. I don't think there's more than 1k.
Covering this from day one....to election day? You would need in excess of $14-million....in cash.
It just begs the question....who walks around and has $14-million being dispensed into cash?
You figure around 1k protesters. They stay at local hotels. You can figure around 500 rooms being rented in the local area, at $75 per night. So $37.5k is spent nightly, or $262.5k weekly.
Food and beer money? Some suggest that pizza is bought in bulk fashion, or that 'gift-cards' from the burger operations are handed out. So you can figure from the 1k protest kids....$30k daily is spent in this fashion. That's $210k per week.
Then you come to the question of some 'upper' pills being handed out (milder forms of meth) and weed. My humble guess is that for the 1k kids....roughly $30 a day is spent on the pills and weed....equaling $30k a day, or $210k a week.
So to assemble the protest crowd....it's in the range of $700k a week.
Cash? In order to deny the Feds any tracking information....I would go and suggest that virtually all of this is being done (even at the hotels) in the form of cash. Some guy is walking around in the interest of the protest crowd, and probably carries $100k a day in cold hard cash in his pocket. He probably gets 'loaded' every morning, and that's his job.....walk around and settle up with pizza bills, buy weed and pills, and cover hotel costs.
So a month is costing $2.4-million? Yep.
You can watch the videos and this is mostly done at night....to confuse you on numbers. I don't think there's more than 1k.
Covering this from day one....to election day? You would need in excess of $14-million....in cash.
It just begs the question....who walks around and has $14-million being dispensed into cash?
Thursday, 23 July 2020
Seven Things That You Realize About People in 2020
It's been one of those years, where you sit and analyze a lot of things that have happened, the character of people, and how screwed up things are. Then you gaze at people and realize:
1. A lot of people can't perceive the bigger or smaller of their problems....they just juggle them around like they were something they were proud of and wanted people to respect.
2. A lot of 20-year old 'kids' seem to be thinking they are some kind of 'Einstein' and deserving of respect. Then you kinda hint to them that their behavior is that of a 7-year old 'brat'.
3. About a third of the nation are unable to sit on a porch with three random guests and conduct a reasonable Sunday afternoon discussion.
4. If you are in the middle of seven-year-old 'brats'....realizing that you can't educate, teach, or discipline them....what will their lives be in a dozen years?
5. Some babble about bringing the end of capitalism about, yet these are the same folks who flew in on passenger jet to 'guest' on some show....dressed in $300 Italian shoes, and will be eating off a $75 dish of food at the hotel after the interview.
6. We are reaching a point where most trailer trash 'whores' seem more likable and personable....than Marxist-ideology folks pepped-up on Mountain Dew.
7. People seem to spend a huge amount of time....in some fantasy dream of who they are, or what they are.
1. A lot of people can't perceive the bigger or smaller of their problems....they just juggle them around like they were something they were proud of and wanted people to respect.
2. A lot of 20-year old 'kids' seem to be thinking they are some kind of 'Einstein' and deserving of respect. Then you kinda hint to them that their behavior is that of a 7-year old 'brat'.
3. About a third of the nation are unable to sit on a porch with three random guests and conduct a reasonable Sunday afternoon discussion.
4. If you are in the middle of seven-year-old 'brats'....realizing that you can't educate, teach, or discipline them....what will their lives be in a dozen years?
5. Some babble about bringing the end of capitalism about, yet these are the same folks who flew in on passenger jet to 'guest' on some show....dressed in $300 Italian shoes, and will be eating off a $75 dish of food at the hotel after the interview.
6. We are reaching a point where most trailer trash 'whores' seem more likable and personable....than Marxist-ideology folks pepped-up on Mountain Dew.
7. People seem to spend a huge amount of time....in some fantasy dream of who they are, or what they are.
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