Posts by Edward Neal

The problem as I see it is the adversarial attitude that we as both a people and we as countries seem to need to maintain with others.

For some damn reason the need to take sides and then impose what we believe onto others seems to be baked into our DNA.

Think about it, you see it in every aspect of our lives around us - from neighbors on a street fighting over what they are allowed to do in their own yards all the way up to countries thinking they have the right to tell other countries what they can or can't do.

We as a people seem to be completely incapable of letting others think and do what they want unless it is in agreement with what we think is right.

And it very clear in our politics where both Right and Left think it is their job to push their views onto those on the other side.

The concept of "live and let live" does not exist in the real world. In the actual deeds of people or countries its more like "if you do what I/we approve of then we will leave you alone"

All of my life I have been told - We are good - Russia is bad, We are good - China is bad, We are good - Cuba is bad, We are good - Iran is bad - - I mean the list goes on an on, sometimes an enemy gets added and sometimes one falls off, but nothing really ever changes its always preached from birth that we are the good guys and those countries and people that dont agree with our way of doing things and thinking are literally our enemy

Why???

Why are we so unable to live next to people without wanting to change them into our way of thinking and doing things?

Are humans simply incapable of allowing others to have different beliefs and different ways of wanting to do things? Is it some basic survival instinct that's baked in and can never be changed?

Why can't we be friends with all of these other countries and have a healthy relationship and accept that they dont want their countries to be a mirror image of what we want?

We all say we want peace - but do we really? - - is there a genetic need to be in control baked into our DNA that simply wont allow it?

Just venting my random thoughts. - perhaps the only real fix would be to give everyone in the world a slingshot at least then we could all get together for rides in between the wars

Anyway - I think I'll get my gun and go tell that ass hat down the street to trim his bushes and get that damn parked chevy off of his front lawn, house looks like shit! think I'll steal his Biden sign while I at it - - - - -

things keep getting deeper

For the first time ever, NATO deployed its Response Force for collective security amid threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin who said NATO can expect ‘military-technical consequences' if they don't respond to his demands.

"This goes far beyond Ukraine," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday. "This is about how Russia is actually challenging, contesting core values for our security. Then warning that NATO should withdraw all forces and infrastructure from almost half of our members.

"They said that if we don't do that, if we don't meet their demands, there will be what they call ‘military-technical consequences,'" he added.

the Ukraine is one thing, but if NATO forces get sucked into this thing I suspect that would compel U.S. military involvement

oh - and now Putin is threatening other countries with action if they try to join NATO - Sweden & Finland

Happy B-Day!!!

As an interesting side noteI have to wonder how much indebtedness our president feels towards the Ukrainian government for all of the millions they funneled to his son Hunter??

Also what leverage did this money buy?

Things that make you hmmmmmm?

Quote from Frankie55

My prayers go out to the people of Ukraine. It's a battle they know they can't win. I heard on the new this morning they're arming citizens.

"they can't win"??

don't you mean "we" can't win?

Ever since the breakup of the Soviet Union we have been trying to make inroads with former Soviet block countries. We have been constantly trying to get them to move away from their associations with Russia, we have been urging them to embrace democracy. we have been urging them to move their alignments over toward NATO and the United States and all of this time we have been reassuring them "don't worry about Russia! If anything happens we have your back"

no this is not a "they can't win" situation - - this is a giant test of us - - - this is going to show every other country in the world if the U.S. really does stand behind these countries when we tell them we will - If we let Russia reclaim the Ukraine as their territory every promise of protection the United States has ever made to any other country will instantly become worthless.

The World is watching - - - Will the U.S. actually help Ukraine as we have promised - Security Agreement

Reading that link it looks to me as if our government has agreed to support that goes well beyond "sanctions" - - so what will we actually do to support the Ukraine?

If its only "Sanctions" how will that impact the view of our commitments to protect other regions of the world like Taiwan?

If we go beyond "Sanctions" and fully commit to Ukraine giving them everything they need short of actual boots on the ground how will Russia respond to that?

the history of this area of the world really does not matter at this point in time - what matters now is our actions or lack of actions and how the rest of the world & Russia respond.

this is not some third world camel farm where we can send in some drone to take out their leader and hide thousands of miles away safe at home and its also not something we can turn our backs on and look weak to the rest of the world either. This is a full blown can of worms - - - - This administration has some very tough decisions to make and if they dont do it right this thing could get very ugly very fast

from Putin to Biden. “A couple of words for those who would be tempted to intervene. Russia will respond immediately and you will have consequences that you never have had before in your history,”

This shit could get seriously out of hand

Right now its 54 degrees here a bit overcast with an occasional sprinkle or rain and then a bit of sun. My house sits at an elevation of just about 500 feet above sea level at the base of Mount Jacinto. 9.4 miles to the west of me the elevation goes up to 10,837 feet where it currently is snowing and looks like this - - - thanks to the Palm Springs Ariel tram this is about a 15 minute ride from my house

screen shot from Long Valley web cam

Quote from DJohnson

83 today so took the SS to get my knee x-rayed and then a stop at the Holeshot my Polaris dealer to look at ATVs. That was yesterdays forgot to hit Reply. 83 again today and rode back to HoleShot and bought a quart of oil and put a down payment on a ATV that had to be ordered. There was 10 new Slingshots on the floor and I can say I am not impressed with the hood scoop or the flat paint jobs some of them had. I do like where they moved the battery a little farther forward. You can now get to the terminals. On my 2020 R it is nearly impossible to get to the terminals. Taking the wires off is not a problem but getting them back on is nearly impossible.

I have not seen any of the new slingshots in person, but from what I have seen online I have to agree that I am not impressed with the new hood with the scoop and vents

my roll hoops on my 2016 are starting to get areas where the black anodizing has started to wear off and the bare aluminum is starting to show. I know that many people here have removed the hoops and had them powder coating, but I am wondering if there is something simpler that can be done to restore the black - - has anyone here tried anything that they have found can restore or at least improve this?

I have seen products like this - Casey Aluminum Black

has anyone tried anything like this?

thanks

Quote from KZ1

Since this pipeline has not opened, the sanction means nothing. There are 3 other pipelines from Russia into Europe that currently are running wide open and NOT being sanctioned.

Typical paper tiger politics

Would anyone seriously expect much more?

Next thing we know the U.S. will be sending financial aid to Russia if they promise to be nice

Quote from Red

So is Biden going to call the Russians entering Ukraine a minor incursion and do nothing or an invasion and do nothing?

They are going to do sanctions - which of course will mean nothing - - - - Putin is more than willing to trade "sanctions" for land

I would also suspect that Biden and the Democrats in congress are very happy to have this as a nice distraction from their failures here at home - - - probabally loving it that every time someone brings up crime or inflation or any of the other failures they can simply change the subject with "look! over there at what Russia just did" "Look at what Putin is doing" like having a bigger bad guy automatically will make them the good guys

and now that this crap is happening I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see other countries taking this opportunity to try to take advantage of our obvious weakness under this administration

Quote from BKL

I didn't get my first tattoo until I was 51 years old and couldn't find a replacement Star Wars Darth Vader baseball cap and got Darth Vader tattooed on my shoulder. Shocked my Family and co-workers and even my Wife who watched me get it! I'm 69 now and would still consider a fourth tattoo if I found one I really liked.

I have thought about a tattoo a few times, but could never think of anything I was 100% sure I wanted on my body for the rest of my life - - heck every guy I ever knew who had a who had a tattoo of a woman's name never ended up with that woman

Quote from DJohnson

I think it is a wonderful idea. I think I am just a little to old for ink as all I have to do is bump my arms into something and I bleed. I guess I will just have to stick with Polaris and Slingshot stickers on my Jeep and helmets. Right now I am looking to buy a Polaris Ranger EV.

Got to agree, at 67 years old I think my time for tattoos or piercings has long passed

Happy B-Day!!!

heck - I have been working to remove all of the "Polaris" and "Slingshot" badging from my slingshot - - I sure as heck won't be getting any ink with it on me

It’s a good question. If the shipper drops it on your front porch and takes a picture as proof are they still responsible if someone steals it off that porch? I don’t know the answer to that. I do know my last 2 purchases from slingmods I did pay the extra, but then again in both cases it was under $5 and seemed worth it

Sent from my iPhone using Polaris Slingshot Info

Gold and silver have great value in a normal economy, and even in an economy that is just temporally out wack, but in a true SHTF moment when the economy and any idea of normal banking and finance have completely collapsed things can and will be very different. On the other hand under these same conditions ammo can become very valuable - with ammo, you can hunt and feed your family and you can protect yourself and your family from those who would try to take your food and your shelter, and if by some chance you still want gold and silver, with ammo you can protect that as well - - - gold and silver and other precious metals are nice, but in a collapsed economy they are nothing but pretty paperweights that have no function that people need - - - ammo on the other hand - - that shit can keep you alive.

Empty brass? - - I am not sure it would be of much value, if there is no economy up and running where do you get the supplies to reload that brass? - - with no functioning economy no one is selling smokeless powder or primers, - - - personally I say if you do have brass, load. it up now and keep it loaded - - - - when the time comes - - - and I do think it will eventually come - - it might be too late

To my way of thinking on the idea of a true SHTF moment having a gun and a good supply of loaded ammo for that gun is like having fire insurance on your home - - - its something you never hope you have to use, but if a time comes when you need it, you better damn well have it - - - if you wait until you need it it will be too late.

when the shit hits the fan I suspect bullets will carry more trading value than gold or silver

Quote from VV11B40

I'm sitting thinking about how easy it opens. But how hard does it close?

actually a very good question - - do these springs in any way make it less likely to latch properly at all 4 latches? - - - right now I always have to give a little extra push up by the latches near the windshields, but the lower latches always engage perfectly - I would not like it if these springs caused the lower latches to require the extra attention like my upper latches do.