The Faux Outrage And Political Theater...

...the AWFLs* and paid protesters and apparatchiks and useful idiots <using Signal Chats> to harass federal officers in the performance of their duties...I'm over it.

I'm done with morons in sub zero weather attacking federal agents who are trying to arrest and deport illegal aliens charged with murder, rape, sexual assault, child molestation and a host of other heinous crimes.

Yes, it's too bad when halfwits get themselves shot and killed, but what did they expect?

When you drive your SUV into armed federal officers, you get shot.

When you carry a loaded weapon and interfere with federal officers making an arrest, you get shot.

This is called Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes.

If brainless twits want to die defending rapists and murderers who are in this country illegally, if that's their idea of nobility and heroism, that's ok with me.

Just remember, it was the dems who created this disaster, letting millions of unvetted aliens cross our borders illegally during the Biden years.

They don't get to complain now when others have to clean up their dog's dinner.

Yes, it's messy at times, and no, the process isn't perfect.

Dems should have thought of that before creating this invasion of illegal aliens who have killed, raped, robbed and defrauded American citizens.

None of this would be necessary now if they had simply enforced the law then.

Y'know, like Obama did back in 2015 when he <awarded Tom Homan the "Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Service"> for deporting a million illegal aliens.

But the fake news bunch suffer from selective amnesia and that which was laudable then is despicable now, based solely on politics.

After four years of the disastrous Biden dumpster fire, Trump was elected to reinstate Law and Order and to deport criminal illegal aliens.

That's what the overwhelming majority of Americans voted for, and that's what he's doing.

*AWFL - Affluent White Female Liberals

Finally finished Jerry Kramer's book...

...Farewell To Football.

It took a bit to get past the recounting of 1968, his last depressing season in the NFL.

After being on top for so long, it was a tough way to go out, and it’s tough slogging through his retelling of it.

But then he switches to his life's story, from childhood through college and his career with the Green Bay Packers.

The mood lightens considerably and it becomes an easy and worthwhile read.

And I daresay it's well written and interesting even to non-football types.

That is to say, it's not a sports book, but rather a "life's lessons" book.

For younger readers it will probably be shocking in parts - children were actually disciplined in his day, and he disciplined his children.

(That's not to be confused with sitting Muffy and Biff’s dainty little behinds in a "time out" chair and hiring therapists to help them self-actualize.)

From his experiences - some of them harrowing - you come to understand how it was possible for a hick from Idaho to ascend to the pinnacle of his chosen profession.

It may not change your life, but then again it might.

He's honest about his struggles and open about his motives, inspirations and methods that helped him become a success.

(Hint: it involves a 4 letter word - "work".)

The last chapter is a bit of a muddle, but you can tell he's struggling with the all important question:

What next?

He's headed full throttle into business, or he might retire to Sandpoint, Idaho and enjoy an idyllic life of fishing, hunting, golfing, skiing, relaxing.

Then again he might give politics a whirl, but if Vince Lombardi - who left Green Bay for the Washington Redskins - asked him, he might just un-retire and play another year.

In the end, however, he seems to make up his mind because he states definitively:

"I'm retired.  I'm through.  I'm going to wear suits and ties, not shoulder pads and cleats...

"Goodbye Football!"

Worth the read; and now on to "Distant Replay" to find out what he - and his championship teammates - actually did after football.

I've mentioned this before - that instead of floundering around in hickory golf as I did starting in 2017 -

my original 1920's hickory playset

- I wish I had first read Harry Vardon's excellent book, "The Gist Of Golf" - 

- and then delved into pre-1900 golf.

my current pre-1900 playset

There still would have been a year or so of experimentation, trial and error and figuring out how it all works.

No matter what you're doing you've got to take the theory out of the classroom - or in my case, off the pages of a book - into the real world and get your hands dirty.

I've gotta believe - under the tutelage of Mr. V - there would be many more enjoyable rounds and far fewer lost balls in my past had I started that way.

But that's filed under the "water under the bridge" section; I'm where I'm at now, and we roll on.

Can't wait for <Spring>.

Gentlemen, hold onto your hats...

...it's time to 23 Skidoo:

Happy (I'll never tell) Birthday to my beautiful wife!

know what those are?

deer tracks...

lots of 'em

In light of all the chaos being ginned up by the party of slavery, segregation, killing babies in utero and insurrection, I thought it would be instructive to revisit a quote from General-turned-President, Dwight D. Eisenhower:

"Without God, there could be no American form of Government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first -- the most basic -- expression of Americanism. Thus the Founding Fathers saw it, and thus, with God's help, it will continue to be."

    - Remarks Recorded for the "Back-to-God" Program of the American Legion, 2/20/55

later, mcm fans...

Old Man Winter Has Dropped The Gloves...

...and decided to get serious:  

Yep, the red needle is south of the zero this morning, registering 10 below.

Believe it or not it could be worse.

We're nestled by that great big thermal insulator known as Lake Michigan...

...which definitely helps moderate things.

Twenty five miles east of here they're more like 20 below with wind chills even lower.

That's starting to get dangerous.

In those temps without proper clothing, hypothermia can happen within 10 to 15 minutes, and death follows in a couple of hours.

And in the "Can You Say Ironic?" department, there's this bit of news:

The Grand Rapids World Of Winter festival has been canceled due to, well, winter:

Can't make this stuff up.

Now if you live in Maine like I used to, or here in Michigan but in the Upper Peninsula...well, this may not be shirt sleeve weather, but it's just another day in the salt mines.

10 below zero is nothing unusual; you expect it, dress accordingly and go about your business.

But down here?

All area schools are shuttered and we're busy burning the furniture to keep warm.

Really shouldn't have to say this, but...

Kids!  Do NOT try this at home!

If we ask politely, can it please be <spring now>?

When I was a kid in the 60's, a constant in both print...

...and on TV was cigarette commercials.

Naturally, all of them made smoking look fun, sexy and cool.

The slight drawback that cigarettes are highly addictive and will eventually kill you was, of course, never mentioned.

By the early 70's and continuing into the late 90's a series of laws were passed that effectively banned all cigarette adverting across all media in public spaces.

The result over time has been to greatly reduce the percentage of people who regularly smoke cigarettes...

In the early 50's almost half the population smoked; now we're down to 11%.

As a general rule I'm not in favor of government sticking their nose in the people's business; smaller government is always a good thing.

However, you can't argue with these results, even though people will always find new and exciting ways to ruin their lives via addictions:

But if we are going to restrict advertising for harmful and addictive activities, can we please give the gambling industry the cigarette treatment?

I am sick to death of the constant, never ending onslaught of gambling ads any time I turn on the TV.

Celebrities and washed up pro athletes are used as shills for these slick and blatantly dishonest ads.

Everything is exciting, glamourous, luxurious with the tantalizing lie of getting rich dangled in front of you.

One particularly annoying but ominously accurate one involves a bunch of mindless idiots on a massive tandem bicycle riding headlong into a burning vortex:

The cult like soundtrack in the background endlessly repeats "calling all thrillionaires..." as the zombies disappear into oblivion.

Lessee...thrillionaire rhymes with...oh yeah, that thing you're NEVER going to be by pissing away your money in a casino.

These are not just sheep; they're sheep actually lining up to pay for being sheared.

So, government overreach aficionados:

I may not agree in principle with your motivation...

...but in this case I am in favor of the objective.

Climb onto your high horse and BAN GAMBLING ADS.

Mentioned recently that I re-read Jerry Kramer's "Instant Replay", the hugely successful diary he kept during the 1967 championship season of the Green Bay Packers.

He ended up playing one more year in the NFL, then retired.

Shortly thereafter he published his second book...

...Farewell To Football.

Not finished yet; it's slow going for me, but not because it's a bad or uninteresting book.

Quite the opposite, actually.

Kramer is an insightful writer (with Dick Schaap's help, of course) and he led a fascinating if difficult life up to that point.

It's just melancholy.

After overcoming great medical trauma and reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he and his teammates suffered a precipitous fall and reversal of football fortunes which color the narrative.

So I'm biting it off in small chunks, a few pages at a time here and there, but I will finish it.

And then I will definitely read his final book in the trilogy...

...Distant Replay, published in 1985.

This is a reunion of sorts where he catches up with his old teammates, sharing the victories and losses of life since "the glory days".

More to come.

In deference to Ol' Man Winter who's currently imposing his iron will on us, his unwilling subjects, today's 23 Skidoo will contain only winter scenes:

our telescoping flag pole has been lowered due to recurring high winds

this morning around 9 am

a painting in a local dr's office...I like the farmhouse; the barn, not so much

note the lonely leaf...his many fellows are still buried beneath the snow that began falling before we finished raking leaves in November

oops...how did this get here?

At the risk of being redundant, I'm looking forward to when this is our current reality:

11  For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

12  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come...

    - Song of Solomon 2:11,12

later, mcm fans...

Beware The Ides...

...of January. 

Pretty grim stuff, but Karen reminded me of what we have waiting for us just up the road a bit:

Both encouraging and depressing, all at the same time.

Yes, it's something we look forward to, but until then we're still unhappy subjects of...

Old Man Winter

...yeah, him.

The birds don't seem to mind too much...

...if only I could tap in to their attitude.

In the meantime I'll keep doing this...

...while dreaming of this:

C'mon, <Spring>!

Speaking of winter fun, I just finished re-reading Jerry Kramer's "Instant Replay".

It's a fascinating inside look at the old NFL: its players, coaches and attitudes.

Did you know Kramer's salary as a rookie in 1958 was $7,700?  He, like every player, negotiated directly with the coaches.  Agents were unheard of then.

(As a point of reference, the NFL players' collective bargaining agreement mandates a minimum rookie salary of $840,000 today.)

Coaches drew up game plans, but quarterbacks were the "field generals"; they called the game.  When they said "Starr led the Packers to a win", it actually meant something.

In the 1962 Championship game the Packers beat the Giants, 16-7 in the old Yankee Stadium ("The House That Ruth Built").  In that game starting right guard Jerry Kramer scored 10 of Green Bay's 16 points:  3 field goals and an extra point.  Teams didn't carry field goal kickers; one or two of the regular players handled the kicking duties.

The Packers were the first team to win 3 NFL championships in a row, 1965, 66 and 67; and they won the first 2 Super Bowls held in January of 67 and 68.

Before and after every game, win or lose, the Packers recited the Lord's Prayer, led by coach Vince Lombardi.

One of the best chapters deals with the most (in)famous NFL championship game of all time:

The <1967 Ice Bowl between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers>, played on December 31st in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

No championship game has been played in harsher conditions: 15 below zero, with wind chills as low as 48 below zero.

(Check out how one fan kept warm at the 9:55 mark of the video.)

The defining play in the waning seconds of the game went down in history as "The Block":

Right guard Jerry Kramer and center Ken Bowman moved big Jethro Pugh just enough for qb Bart Starr to plunge into the end zone with the winning touchdown.

That's #64 Kramer on the ground after blocking #75 Pugh; #15 Starr has made himself at home on the frozen paydirt.

The video of the game is about an hour and 13 minutes and includes commentary from many of the players; well worth your time if you're an NFL history fan.

As you're putting on your coat and just before you flee the premises, let's play a little game.

Try to guess which political party, in its long and checkered history, has championed the causes of -

* slavery:

hint*

Opposed by democrats, Republican president Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves with the <Emancipation Proclamation> on New Year's Day in 1863;

* segregation:

hint*

democrat Governor George Wallace of Alabama famously stated in his inaugural address on January 14th, 1963, they would have segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever;

* killing babies in utero:

hint*

A <2025 Gallup Poll> shows 83% of democrats are pro-killing babies, while that same poll shows 77% of Republicans are pro-life:

* and insurrection:

another fun filled night of anarchy in the lawless state of Minnesota

hint*

President Trump, who won the 2024 election in a landslide...

...promising to secure our borders and deport criminal illegal aliens, <recently warned them their end is near>.

Time for your answer!

Which political party has proudly embraced slavery, segregation, killing babies in utero and violently opposing both the rule of law and deporting rapists, murderers, child abusers, thieves and fraudsters?

If you answered "the democrats", congratulations!

You may award yourself 10 points.

The good news?

You can use those 10 points any way you want to.

And remember:

21  Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.

    - Proverbs 11:21

Alrighty...time for you to 23 Skidoo:

not a great pic from our doorbell video, but that fuzzy critter on the left is a mangy fox that's been hanging around.  we've set a havahart trap with some chicken in it as bait...hopefully we get him before he gets our pets.

lately I've been enjoying smoking my corn cob pipes...the light colored one is "the chesapeake", the other is "the shenandoah".  the chesapeake has a slightly larger bowl and is good for a 15 minute smoke, the shenandoah for 10.  love the bamboo stems; all I need now is floppy straw hat (note: not gonna happen).

we didn't mean it literally

sing it with me:  "I'm dreaming of some warm weather, just like the kind we used to know...when the sun was shining, and we weren't pining, because we have to shovel snow..."

ok, I'll stop now but yeah...I've got it bad

When you divorce freedom from its moral underpinnings of godliness, you're left with license:

the unbridled desire to do whatever you want without natural consequence.

Ultimately, that's both a moral and practical impossibility - in God's universe there's no such thing as "getting away with something", there are only delayed consequences.

The time inevitably comes to pay the piper, either here on earth, or -

27  ...it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

    - Hebrews 9:27

- when we stand before our Creator.

When pleasure and greed become our <raison d'être>, rather than God and duty, the end of our freedom - indeed, the end our nation as founded - is assured.

We're at a crossroads - massive fraud is being exposed, billions of taxpayer dollars stolen - and so far, with little to no accountability or consequence.

A free country cannot survive this way.

There must be a reckoning.

As our founding fathers warned more than 200 years ago:

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom...(otherwise we will) end in Despotism...when people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other."

    - Benjamin Franklin

later, mcm fans...