Category: Rants

The Pledge of Allegiance

I have a problem with the Pledge of Allegiance, quite aside from the facts that it was written by a Socialist Minister, that the Republic no longer represents the People, defends the Constitution, nor promotes the general welfare. Read the Pledge’s history here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance

The Pledge, with comments.

I pledge allegiance to the flag* (a cloth symbol which can be, and has been, changed over time)

and to the Republic* (which no longer exists, having been usurped by unconstitutional Federal acts)

for which it stands, one nation* (The United States is not a nation, it is 50 sovereign States, united for their common defense and protection of Rights)

under God* (God is nowhere to be found in our schools, and increasingly, in government)

indivisible* (The union is not a suicide pact, and nothing in our Constitution prohibits a State from leaving the union. The Declaration of Independence is quite specific about the Right of the People to sever ties with a repressive government.)

with liberty* (most of our Constitutional liberties are severely curtailed by federal, State, and local governments, as clearly demonstrated during the Pandemic of 2020.)

and justice* (When some people are held in jail for months without bail or trial, for the crime of Trespassing, and others are allowed to riot, loot, burn and kill with no consequences, Justice does not exist.)

for all.* (Except for those who are connected politicians like the Clintons, Bidens, Obamas, and most Democrats. They get a pass.)

So forgive me, but the Pledge is completely out of sync with the reality of today’s world, and I will no longer recite it.

A Question for my Government

Have You Lost Your Minds?

I know that there are limits to how much credit I can afford, what level of debt I can “service” without losing my home and cars. I am well aware that I cannot keep borrowing money forever. I realize that it is insane to borrow money to pay monthly expenses as a normal way of life.

Yet for some unfathomable reason, the President of the United States, his advisors, the US Congress, and apparently about half the people of the US don’t understand that simple fact. I’m bewildered because the President, his advisors, and the Congress are all supposed to be smarter than the rest of us. If you doubt that, just ask them.

I heard on TV news that the interest on the National debt would soon be more than $1,000,000,000,000.00 per year if the US does not stop borrowing and spending money like a drunken fleet of sailors. That is not a typo. It is, though, incorrect. Drunken sailors stop spending when they run out of money.

One Trillion dollars.
In interest.
Per year.

That is money we cannot stop paying without bringing the whole system crashing down around our ears. That is money that has to be paid before the first dime goes to national defense, foreign aid, school lunch programs, bank bailouts, and Social Security checks. About the only thing we can be sure will be paid ahead of the interest payments are Congressional salaries.

There seems no end to it. No one in government is even talking about reducing spending, much less paying off the debt. Are they all insane? Is there any other possible explanation?

The $400.00 Fuse

The $400.00 Fuse

The A/C fan in Nora’s car stopped working. It was intermittent and making noise so we knew it was the fan motor. We took it to the shop which has been doing excellent work for years on different cars. The first warning flag went up when the “technician” told Nora that they could replace the fan without taking down the dash, but there was a danger that the brakes might accidentally lock up afterwards, if it wasn’t done properly. That sounded very bogus to me, but she was assured by a manager that the shop knew how to do it properly without taking down the dash. As it turned out, the fan is accessed by removing the glove compartment, but unfortunately, I didn’t learn that until after. This repair cost almost $400.00.

The replacement only took a couple of hours and everything was fine, until a couple of days later, when she turned the A/C on “High” and the fan stopped working. Nora took it back to the shop, and they found a blown fuse. The “technician” also informed her that one of the two engine cooling fans was not working, and since we had spent more than $5,000.00 replacing an overheated engine last year, we decided to have the motor replaced. That cost another $400.00, but hey!, better than a $5,000.00 engine, right?

So, the next day, we went for a test ride and turned the A/C to “high”. Bam, the fuse blew. So, we bought some replacement fuses, and finally remembered that when we first bought the car in 2008, we bought a repair manual on CD, and I proceeded to trouble shoot the system, myself. Though I suspect that the two-speed cooling fans operate at separate temperatures, the manual is not specific on that point, and since we did not get the old motor and I can’t test it, I have no way proving my suspicion that the “technician” replace a perfectly good fan motor. What I did discover is that the A/C blower circuit uses two 15 amp fuses in parallel, and when the car left their shop, it had only one in place. I added the second fuse, and now, a week later, we have had zero problem with the A/C.

This was an expensive lesson (I believe), but now we fully realize that not even people with whom you have successfully done business for years can be trusted.