VERMONT WITCHES CAST A HEX ON DONALD TRUMP

A withc-in was held yesterday in Burlington, Vermont .  A call was issued to all crones to join in the mass hexing.

Check out the link below:

Double Bubble Trumpkin Trouble



OR:

http://qz.com/822080/feminist-witches-are-casting-hexes-on-donald-trump/

My wife could not attend, but cast her spells with her crone sisters.

the Ol'Buzzard

HOCUS POCUS

Casey was not afraid of ghost.  But, every night when she walked home she had to pass the City Cemetery and the thought of all those hundreds of putrefying bodies buried just a few feet away creeped her out.

Can a child die from fright, from his own…imagination?

‘Johnny, there is no monster under the bed.  I just looked.’

‘Yes, but Dad, he isn’t there until you leave!’

Molly is blind.   Her parents don’t believe her when she says that for the past two nights there has been tapping at her window and a voice whispers ‘Please let me in.’    Her mom says it is just wind and rain; but Molly doesn’t think so.   Tonight she will leave the window open.

How hungry do you have to be to eat the flesh of another human being?  Some might call it cannibalism, but I call it survival.
 

I knew grandma was dead when I opened the front door, but I still called her name as I climbed the stairs.  Outside her bedroom door I hesitated; I put my hand on the knob, but couldn’t turn it: that smell

Three days till Halloween
the Ol'Buzzard

use it you want.  You are welcome.O'B

SPLITTING WOOD THE RUSSIAN WAY

I have no idea how many cords of firewood I have split with an ax and a maul over the many years I have burned firewood - at least twenty, and probably more.   

I always balanced the log on a splitting stump and then smashed the upper end with a ax or maul.  The old saying is that firewood heats you twice: once when you cut it an split it and again when you burn it.  

Over the past two days I have split about a cord of wood with my new log splitter - and I love it.   It is a six ton unit and works just fine on regular size firewood.  The instructions state that you can split logs up to twenty inches long and ten inches in diameter.   I have cut my logs at sixteen inches length; but I also have some logs over ten inches in diameter.   When I first tried to split the larger logs the splitter didn't seem to handle them.    Then I remembered a video I had seen on YouTube of a Russian splitting firewood with an ax. 






It seemed worth a try so instead of putting the log longitudinally on the splitter I stood it up vertically.  

 It worked beautifully.  The logs easily split every time.   

Who says you can't teach an Ol'Buzzard new tricks?

the Ol'Buzzard

ELITISM

A theme I am hearing lately on the news pisses me off: comparing college educated voters to non-college educated voters in support of Donald Trump.   The newsroom pundits (who have all had the advantage of attending college) are inferring, without actually saying, that college graduates are smarter than non-college graduates, thus non-college graduates are more likely to support Trump.   

College attendance, for most people, has depended on income more than intelligence.   I spent twenty-two years in the military as an enlisted man, and many of the officers, who held their ranks solely because of a college degree, were some of the most stupid people I have ever known.  

When my wife and I attended college I was forty-one and my wife was in her late twenties.   I had more general knowledge and far more experience than many – if not most – of my college professors. 

I believe the voting breakdown is more a factor of demographics than education.  

The Republican hierarchy is always saying their party needs to be more inclusive.   Actually the Republican Party is extremely inclusive.  

It has been said – and I have repeated – that not all Republicans are racist, misogynist, gun nuts, white supremacist, militia morons, lobotomized fundamentalist Christian or Fox News troglodytes; but if you are a member of one of those groups there is a place for you in the inclusive Republican Party.    It just so happens that most people that fall into one of those group are poorly educated in general and likely on the lower slope of the IQ bell curve. 

So constantly breaking down voting statistics by college/ non-college demographics is a false equivalency, and disregards the millions of people who have never had the opportunity to attend college and are smart, experienced and informed people. 

You can prove or disprove anything you want with statistics – it is all a matter how you group the data.    

WHY THE OBSESSION WITH LEAVES ON THE GROUND?

I marvel at the obsessive compulsive behavior of people during the fall season.   As soon as the first leaf hits the ground they are out with rakes, yard bags and leaf blowers; and this behavior continues until the last leaf has fallen. 

Leaves are a beautiful ground cover.  If left throughout the winter and then mulched with the lawn mower in the spring they fertilize the soil and prevent moisture depletion.

And did I mention they are beautiful?

 the Ol'Buzzard

SEASONAL TRANSITION IN MAINE

I feel sorry for the people in the deep south and south west where every day is the same – different strokes for different folks, I guess.  Here in the north-east the seasons move through changes – and these changes remind us that nature is still in charge.

The fall colors this year were gorgeous; but over the last two weeks the bright reds have gone and the world has moved to orange and brown, but still beautiful.  

  

Rain finally moved into the northeast last night dropping about two inches.  The prediction for today is continued rain with winds beginning this evening gusting to forty knots.  By tomorrow most of the color will be gone, and the stark transition to winter begins.

The frost is on the pumpkin and some snow is predicted for higher elevations – first of the year. 

I still have maintenance work to do before the temperature drops: winterize the well house, PM the snowblower and split and stack a cord of firewood (will be made easier with my new wood splitter.)    Then it is settle down with wood fires and reading and cats in my lap and making love to my wife – not a bad time of life – not a bad time of year.

The Ol’Buzzard

OLD BUZZARD DYI TIPS

I received my new log splitter yesterday; but haven’t had a chance to unpack it and check it out.   Since yesterday evening we have had about two inches of rain fall in western Maine.  Not complaining, as we are ten inches short for the season – not great for wells.

Maine is a rocky state, hence stone walls everywhere you look.  Every year farmers would plow their fields and plow up rocks, lacking a place to put them they bordered their fields because good fences make good neighbors (see Mending Walls by Robert Frost.)

The problem is that digging even a small hole in western Maine requires a pick ax or pry bar.   I ran across this (again) when I wanted to mount my stationary bird feeder.   The answer:

Place a chimney block where I wanted the feeder.  Brace up the feeder in the flue hole and fill with quick dry cement.   That feeder is not going anywhere and I didn’t have to dig a hole.

Another tip: If you are about to buy a new drill or have hinted to your other that want one for X-mas - beware.    I always wanted a battery operated cordless drill – so convenient not having to run an extension cord to every work sight.  I finally bought one, but not being a full time carpenter I only used it occasionally.  I found that every time I took out the drill the battery was low and needed charging.   I have gone back to a cord drill.

I come from a time that men were expected to be maintenance savvy.  I have done carpentry, electrical, I hate plumbing, and at one time could work on my own cars and motorcycles.   I think that time is past for young men.   The young people I know are helpless when something breaks.   They look for an app on their phone and call a repairman – or their father. 

Just my observation.

The Ol’Buzzard

SCREW THE ELECTION - I'M EXCITED

I just purchased a six ton log splitter from Home Depot and it is due to be delivered Thursday.    

I have over a cord of cut wood in my back yard that needs splitting and I am getting too old to heft a maul and ax for hours on end.  I have a couple or three more cord I can clear off the wooded land next to my house.  

The splitter cost $280, and a cord of fire wood split and delivered would cost over $200 dollars, so I will easily make back my output within a year.  And I have a new toy to play with.





  
It is suppose to rain on Friday; but stand by Saturday
the Ol'Buzzard

MILK - THE FIRST CHOICE OF EVERY MAMMAL

My wife and I began drinking Parmalat milk back in 1985 when we first started teaching in a remote Athabaskan Indian village in the Alaska bush, and it has been our milk every since.  

I have always been a milk drinker and we have cereal most every morning.   Parmalat taste like milk because it is milk.   We drink 2%, but in the whole milk product I have often found cream at the top. 

Parmalat is real milk; not reconstituted or powdered or some fake milk product.  The advantage of the Parmalat is that it keeps without refrigeration until it is opened.   We buy six or eight quarts and keep it in the cupboard until we need it, then shift it to the refrigerator.   Since it is just the two of us, if we bought fresh milk by the gallon it would probably go bad before we could use it all, and if we were buying by the quart we would have to make constant trips into the supermarket. 

Besides the convenience of not having to shop regular for milk, Parmalat is also great to take on trips, camping, or anyplace refrigeration is not available.

Parmalat comes in 1%, 2%, whole milk and chocolate.  Parmalat is available at our supermarket in the baking isle and at Walmart in the baking isle.   

I have no connection with Parmalat other than I buy it and drink it.   Just thought I would post about it because it is a quality and convenient product that we used.   If you are a milk drinker you might want to try it - compare it to your fresh milk.   It has the Ol'Buzzard stamp of approval.

the Ol'Buzzard

   

THE THIRD DEBATE

Hillary should drop out of the third debate.   She has nothing to gain by attending,   She can use the excuse that everything has already been said and she is not going to get down in the mud with Trump.   
Let the news medias air Trumps laundry - she doesn't need to attack or defend.   It is all already out there, and more to come.

the Ol'Buzzard

BOB DYLAN

For over thirty years I have been telling my wife that Bob Dylan is the greatest poet of my generation.

Bob Dylan was just awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature

ONE MORE TAKE ON SENSIBLE GUN CONTROL

The argument that the Second Amendment was to allow citizens to have guns to protect themselves against their own government is blatantly false.  

I know this bothers some gun supporters that have heard this from the NRA and used this as their argument for no gun laws.  But, in 1791 when the Amendment was past, America did not have a standing army and the intent was to guarantee citizens could own guns so in time of crisis a militia could be quickly raised – not armed for an insurrection against the government.

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

In 1792 the Congress went one step further, passing an act requiring all male citizens to arm themselves in order to be able to quickly raise a militia:

Each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia… every citizen so enrolled and notified, shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or flrelock, and sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than twenty-four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball: or with a good rifle, knapsack ,shot-pouch and powder-horn, twenty balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder; and shall appear, so armed, accoutered and provided, when called out to exercise, or into service, except, that when called out on company days to exercise only, he may appear without a knapsack.

Today we have a standing army and the requirement for all citizens to arm is not necessary – neither is the argument that we must arm ourselves so we can overthrow our own government.  

We fought a Civil War against the idea of anarchy – the point should be well established. 

The need to line up at Burger King with assault rifles and pistols defies common sense and places the general public in danger.

The Ol’Buzzard

CITY 40

If you have any interest in Russia, this should be required reading
The Blog Fodder

http://dablogfodder.blogspot.com/2016/10/ozersk-city-40-russias-secret-closed.html

the Ol'Buzzard

A SENSIABLE STEP TO CONTROL GUN VIOLENCE.

 Maine has always been a wilderness state, and back in the 1960’s most Maine men owned guns: deer rifles and shotguns for hunting.

  

There was no killings epidemic going on back in those earlier days.   There were no military assault weapons, the country was not flooded with handguns and there was no open or concealed carry for the average person.   Occasionally a man might be shot by his brother-in-law while out deer hunting, and later you find out he beat his wife - and there would be suspicions.   That was pretty much it for gun violence.

 

It is not just about the availability of guns.   Today there is also a kill mentality, a kill mania that goes along with the purchase of military style assault weapon and hand gun.

Most of the people that buy guns today are not hunters; they are buying a gun with the specific intent to be able to kill other human beings.    Many of these people live in a mindset where they fantasize a situation where they could use their weapon on another person, believing it would make them appear macho.

  

So how could we control this gun mania without confiscating guns?

Back in the sixties, in most New England states, you could not transport a gun unless you had a valid hunting license and there was an open hunting season.  If you wished to transport a pistol or rifle to a firing range, you had to drop by the police station and pick up a transport chit for that specific activity.   There was no open carry and you could not get a concealed carry license without a specific need.    You did not have to register you guns and you could have as many as you wanted in your home; you just could not carry or transport them in public without a reason. 

An assault weapon band sounds logical, but there are already too many assault weapons in circulation; and gun confiscation is not an option.   What we need is a federal law limiting the carry and transportation of firearms.   It would not be popular but it would solve the problem.

Why do these men need to carry their weapons in public?   They don't.

Kids dying in elementary school is a step too far.   We need serious federal gun control on the transportation and carry of firearms.

the Ol’Buzzard

  

WORDS FROM AN ELDER – TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

Unlike Natives Americans, I have always said that age doesn’t necessarily confer wisdom. 

I often complain on this blog about global warming, the stupidity of the masses, the destructive nature of the human species and even about technology that has left me behind. 

But, I do not let any of that carry over to negativity in my life.  

As I get older I realize that life is short and finite.   The years I have left I do not intend to squander with a sour attitude and defeated outlook about things I can’t control.

If Donald Trump is elected President, it will be a disaster for this country.  His appointments to the Supreme Court will set back social justice sixty years.   Cognitively, I am as exasperated at the thought that there are enough people in this country who find him an acceptable candidate that we face a chance he might be elected.

But, the reality is, I have no control over the election so I am ready to move on regardless of the outcome.  

If Trump becomes the next President I will continue to enjoy sharing my life with a wonderful woman and two Maine Coon cats, feeding the birds behind my house, marveling at the changing seasons, spending the snowy winter reading in front of my wood stove; and keeping a Buddhist serenity – changing the things that are necessary and accepting those things I cannot change.

I will still bitch; but I will bury it on the internet and not carry it into my life.

the Ol’Buzzard

BUBBA BLUNDER

KEEP BILL CLINTON AWAY FROM A GOD DAMN MICROPHONE FOR THE NEXT FIVE WEEKS!

I'm just saying
the Ol'Buzzard

NEW AND MORE POWERFUL STORMS.

Did you ever wonder the specific cause for the new ocean weather patterns?

Between 1985 and 2007 I have personally witnessed the melting of glacier ice and the recession of the glaciers in Alaska.

Adding salt to water when you cook changes the boiling point (and freezing temperature) of the water.      Taking salt from water also changes the temperature parameters of water. 

As the polar ice caps melt the oceans are cooling, but also salt water is being diluted, which changes the way water behaves.   The result is that ocean currents that have existed for centuries are changing course and bringing a permanent change to weather patterns.

We did it – we will have to get use to it.

The Ol’Buzzard

SCIENCE FICTION OFTEN LEADS REAL SCIENCE BY DECADES

From Buck Rogers’ space suit, to the flip phones where the message was usually, ‘Beam me up Scotty,’ science fiction has been the catalyst for many scientific developments. 

One of my old man diatribes is that cell phones have become a grafted appendage on the human race.   Whether running from a terrorist attack, walking down the street or sitting in a restaurant, people can’t ignore their cell phones.

 

Stephen King wrote an apocalyptic novel titled: Cell.   The story line begins where every cell phone provider is hacked and infected with a virus that causes people to turn into murderous psychopaths when they try to make a phone call.   The only people that aren’t affected are people that have forgotten their phones or old buzzards like me that rarely use one

We know that the human brain is effectively a biological computer chip with circuits and wiring that determine our intelligence and actions.   We also know that when certain sections of the brain are desensitized or damaged, behaviors can be modified.   

The brain gives off electrical pulses that can be measured, and for years, scientist have been trying to decode these voltage readings.  

If you could modify these voltages could you reprogram the brain? Will the time come when the brain could be reprogrammed by downloading an app?  

It might start out as a medical research to repair brain function for Parkinson or Alzheimer etc.     But let your mind conceive programmable humans.   

Is this a possibility or a probability?      And how far in the future?

the Ol’Buzzard

WE SHOULD ALL SING THE CROW ANTHEM

WE EITHER GO WITH A RACIST NARCISSIST 

THAT COULD RADICALLY ENDANGER THE WORLD

OR GET MORE OF THE SAME 

MY VOTE WILL BE FOR MORE OF THE SAME.

Nothing will get through Congress, but at least we will see the first female elected President of the United States
the Ol'Buzzard

AGEING

On my last post I commented on how old I look.  As I said, I had not seen a picture of myself for a couple of years and I don’t look at mirrors except in passing.   Like Trump, I hardly feel my age at all – except for a lack of stamina and some creaky joints.  

The thing is, we all age incrementally and are not conscious of the age changes that others who have not seen us for a while politely register without comment.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy this time and place in life, though grudgingly accept my limitations.  

Old age, in itself, is a winter landscape: a time to cut back, to read, to relax by the fire, to be content with a cup of tea and a cat in your lap.  It is a comfortable time – and I enjoy it. 

But damn, when did I start looking so fucking old?

the Ol’Buzzard