Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438

Ask and thou shalt receive:

Gunfighter: We do not disagree. I was perhaps too vague. The State of Arizona did not exist at the time of the War, and so could not have been a participant in the War (as a State). I was trying to point out that the drift of some of the prior posts seemed to have been that those nasty Yankees and carpetbaggers were again swarming South. I was trying to point out the movement of some stock traders from Washington State to Arizona has nothing whatsoever in common with the War or its aftermath. Certainly, there was military action, involving both the Union and the Confederacy, in and through the Arizona/New Mexico area. Sorry for the confusion. LL

The Founders would not recognize much about America today. Times change. The population grows. Technology advances, and challenges our ability to deal with it. The laws become more complex, in an attempt to deal with these changes. I don't think the Founders would think that we have done justice to their creation. But unless we have a way to dump 90% of our population, return to an agrarian economy, and still protect our people and our land from real outsiders, we have to find a way to function in our present society. LL

In a free country, there is no such thing as "intruders". There are, however, local folks who care more about making money than preserving their culture, and willingly sell large swaths of farm land to developers for strip malls, shopping centers, suburbs, car dealerships, and any number of other forms of spreading urban blight. They are not "wrong", but they are making a choice, and their neighbors will have to live with the consequences. LL

Well, as I read it, a bunch of Washingtonians are moving their business to AZ. Neither state was involved in the Civil War. The business is not connected to New York or the Carolinas. And there are no "Yankees", either plain or damnable, involved. As much as I resent certain social changes, I try to keep my eye on the facts, not the rumors or the made-up stories. Frankly, the fellows headed for AZ are displaying damn good judgment, getting out of Seattle while the getting is good. And I have no reason to point my finger and claim that they have "soiled their nest"; they may, in fact, be fine fellows. Will there be some folks moving from liberal cities and carrying with themselves a penchant for the same intrusive, high tax government style that they created elsewhere, and are now running from? Sure. But it's a free country, and they are entitled to live where they want. It's up to us to resist unfavorable changes, if we can. And show them the error of their ways. Vote. LL

We are (I think justifiably) proud of the Granddaddy of MLB stadiums, Fenway Park. Originally built in 1912, it is one of the best places in baseball to watch a game. With the Green Monster (the tall left field wall), the manual scoreboard (1934), and the retired numbers of Williams, Yaz, Martinez , Doerr, Pesky and others on the right field wall, history dominates. There is no dome or air conditioning here; night breezes off the harbor cool fans, or if blowing out, carry long balls over the wall and into adjacent streets. Small, but a gem. LL

Now, It's a rat writ, writ for a rat, and this is lawful service of same! LL

Drove down to Cape Cod this weekend. Normally, on a sunny Sunday in June, there would be a couple of miles of traffic backed up on the approach to the Bourne Bridge as daytrippers headed for the beaches would be out in force. Not so this weekend; we sailed over with no stopping. Very few boats in the Canal. Almost no traffic on the way to the cottage. Out for lunch at a local brewery. Per our Phase 2, restaurants could open outdoor eating areas, as long as we kept spacing. Beautiful day in the sun, staff sparse and masked, full disinfecting of furniture between seatings. Things were slow, but we didn't care; my first time out to eat since March. We are still wearing masks in public areas. Restaurant lets you take them off once you are seated. I feel badly for the merchants here; this is not going to be a profitable summer, and most of them have to make their full year's sales between June and September. LL

Mrs. received an unsolicited package from China in the mail. Despite being labelled as "Wire connector" , it actually contained a small quantity of some type of herb or seed or other vegetable matter. Concerned that we might be looking at a drug or other illicit substance, she swung by the local PD, who were totally non-plussed and not even interested in making out a report. They had no idea what it was. Note: the customer phone number listed on the address label is not ours; not even the same state. All I could think of was the scam where illegal materials are sent to the address of an innocent third party, and stolen from their mailbox by a party to the scam; if successful or not, no way for cops to trace. But such a small amount? Any ideas? LL

Correct. Except that some slant is probably inevitable; even Cronkite had his opinion moments. I dumped two Boston newspapers in favor of the Wall Street Journal; it had more factual reporting than any other that I could find. And editorials were clearly marked as such. I can't name a TV "news" show whose content I consider factual and trustworthy. They are all in the entertainment and politics businesses, not news. When I was in college, many journalism schools were following the Woodward and Bernstein school of investigative journalism; every story had to contain some spectacular disclosures leading to the indictment of some public figure; conspiracies were everywhere, just waiting to be uncovered; and factual support could wait until speculation and accusation "unveiled" the story. It was the beginning of the end of truthful, verified reporting. Remember the scene in the Watergate movie where Ben Bradlee is insisting that his reporters must have two independent verified sources before he will publish the story? I wonder if that kind of integrity exists anywhere in the news business these days. LL

The political slant of all "news" programs is most likely a reflection of the political affiliations of the owners (who set policy and hire staff) and of their target advertisers and audience. Follow the money. LL

Mental midgets trying to rewrite history in SF......even when they have no idea what that history actually consists of. https://www.foxnews.com/us/ulysses-grant-statue-toppled-san-francisco It can only be a matter of time before they build a guillotine and get started on the living unwoke. LL

I'm still stuck on the nearly colorless liquid in the glass....no amber hue, no trace of peat.....has UB switched to (gasp!) lemonade???? That's a whopper of an ice cube, too. LL

The Constitutional prohibition against warrantless searches exists for good reasons. If the police have probable cause, let them present it to a judge and get a warrant. If they don't, there is no reason to let them shuffle around in your bedroom looking for something illegal. If they go back to the school looking for affidavits in support of the warrant application, let the teacher and the administrator go on the record, under oath, about what they saw that caused such great concern. Someone will end up looking silly, and it won't be you. LL

Without rubber tires, very few folks could get to a match...... LL

Say "No" when the police ask to search without a warrant. And kill the video on your end for the on-line classes; audio still works, and your kid can still see the teacher. LL

Just spreadin' the gospel, Pat. By all means, contribute to your own charities as you see fit. I too have some pet charities that I regularly support. The thing that attracted me to this program was the chance to tell Amazon how to spend its own money. I use Amazon a lot; I hate to shop in stores, and I'm basically lazy when it comes to running out to shop. Amazon was made for a guy like me. And after the stories I've seen circulated about how Amazon does not support the 2nd, there was something delicious about telling them to contribute their funds to a 2nd non-profit to help defend gun owner's rights. Now, if I could just figure a way to get EBay and Chase Bank to do something similar.... An even bigger score would be to persuade the ACLU to take on a 2nd Amendment case; it frosts my gonads every time I see their claim that they stand up for and defend the Bill of Rights...except for that messy 2nd. LL

Amazon Smile is a charitable giving program, in which Amazon donates to certain charities that you designate. I designated the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund, When the NRA steps up and offers legal assistance to a person wrongly charged with a firearm offense, or takes on a case involving 2nd Amendment rights, very often some or all of the funding comes from this Fund. I have to chuckle at the irony of money generated by Amazon (a company with a leftist slant to its politics) going to this Fund. This is a message I recently received from the Fund: This is your quarterly AmazonSmile donation notification. Your charity, NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund, recently received a quarterly donation of $6,300.47 thanks to customers shopping at smile.amazon.com.To date, AmazonSmile has donated a total of: $104,163.96 to NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund $183,120,221.33 to all charities Thank you for supporting NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund by shopping at smile.amazon.com. You can track your impact throughout the year at your My Impact page.AmazonSmile is also available in the Amazon Shopping app on iPhone and Android phones. See how to activate here. Give some thought to designating the Fund as a beneficiary on your Amazon account. LL

Grand Cherokee has a rated towing capacity of 7200. Hope they had a crane to lift those weights, and a spare transmission on hand. LL

Even the Cape Cod Baseball League, which features some of the most promising college players from across the country, has cancelled its 2020 season. Watching games on a warm summer evening, with the ocean breeze blowing in from Falmouth Harbor, is as close to Field of Dreams as you can get in this part of the world. Fingers crossed for next year. LL

Ah, the costs of aging. Ophthalmologist forbids cigar smoking, given my diagnosis with macular degeneration. Back before such limits, I smoked Cuban Upmanns in Bermuda (1970s), and smuggled Cuban Cohiba Esplendidos (1990) later, I went to CAOs, the quality of which which started slipping around 1998. I really don't miss them much except on a summer evening, while listening to a Red Sox game on the back porch. LL

FKCGG: Sorry, but there's something creepy about someone spending that much time and effort to track a cowboy's posts..... LL

Beneteau 37 draws a bit too much water for my area. Too bad you can't carry on; I know that day will come for me, sooner than I want. But in the meantime, I'll sail as much as possible. LL

I can't imagine living at 4000-5000 feet. I live at 10....yep, 10. And as far as view, I can see to the horizon except for one island that lays 7 miles offshore to the Southeast (Martha's Vineyard). There are pluses and minuses everywhere, I guess, I'm just one of those folks that needs to be on or near to the sea. Luckily, Mrs. LL feels the same way. LL

We learned from our Depression-era parents. Retirement home is paid off and waiting for us to move in full time. Cars are paid off. Jr.'s college is paid for. No credit card or other debt. Not bragging. It's just a matter of doing without unnecessary expenditures, watching your credit spending, and planning ahead to stay within your means when retired. Even with all of that, it's a bit of a shocker, after years of having the ability to buy stuff on credit, when you need to realize that you do not have 10 or 20 years of earning in front of you to cover the cost of a car or boat or a home addition. LL LL