Democrat Bloomfield Township Trustee Makes Public AntiSemitic Statements

The Oakland Press: Township Trustee Criticized For Calling Zionists scum

Of course, she's set her account to private. But, there's a screenshot, as can be seen in the article where she attacks Israeli and American "Zionists" (for Zionist just read Jews - as people like her do).  Stephanie Fakih is, to no one's surprise, a Democrat.

Now, she happens to be a Bloomfield Township Trustee and due to the outrage is apparently going to make a statement about her post tonight: C&G News Bloomfield Township trustee to address report of calling Zionists ‘scum’ in social media post.

She has the right to her opinion as she may wish, but there are consequences to racist opinions, and making her account private seems to be an acknowledgment that she got caught.

While she's not running for reelection, she should do the right thing and resign, but I suspect that will be not the most likely outcome. 

She instead seems to be calling on Muslims from outside of Bloomfield Township to appear at the meeting to support her, so the meeting could get interesting and it'll be fun to see how she tries to handle her mess.

I expect Rashida Tlaib will have a position waiting for her when she's done as trustee.

Quite The Impression There Gretchen

The Detroit News: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer feeds podcaster Dorito in 'weird' viral video

The video has the governor feeding the podcaster a Dorito chip (What Kamala has claimed is her favorite) while wearing a Kamala Harris / Walz cap, and a rather bizarre expression, to the kneeling podcaster in a rather bizarre tik tok video.

She's now walked back this rather weird stunt and apologized as to how it was perceived, after being called out on it especially as it appears to come across as either some weird dom/sub thing, or a bit of mockery towards communion celebrated by Catholics:

Mediate: Gretchen Whitmer Apologizes For Bizarre Doritos TikTok Stunt After Catholic Outrage

Not exactly a stunt a governor of a state should be participating in, really.

But that's our governor for you, when she's not killing the elderly with bad Covid decisions, she's all class (not) and ever eager to take a poke at those who don't get behind the Democrat party line.

Yom Kippur

Yesterday, I went to services for Yom Kippur.  The services were meaningful, as was the fast which I made through without issue or complaint.

After services at the mid-day I took a break and did a hike at Haven Hill in Highland Recreational Area.

The weather was absolutely perfect for a hike.

 Saw a swan on the pond there:

And then by the parking lot some Sandhill Cranes were wandering around the field.

Rather ungainly looking birds, and they seemed to be clowning around for the people watching them.

It was a nice couple mile hike under gorgeous conditions and rather meditative to be out in nature in between services.

Then had a very pleasant light break the fast meal.  It was a meaningful Yom Kippur.

Flying: Staying Frosty

I got up at a very unhealthy hour and made it to the airport by 7am today.

Joel and I were going to pickup the Dakota from the avionics shop as it was ready to be returned to service. Apparently a wire had chafed and it was sending bad signals to the pitch/trim servo.  

So we preflighted the Archer and Joel would fly me out then he was going to fly to Saginaw to pickup an item for his work and head back to Pontiac. So, Joel would fly, I'd handle the radios and then jump out, get the Dakota and fly back. easy and should be back before 9.

A gorgeous day and we got to see the sunrise.

 There were patches of fog over each of the lakes in the area tha tlloked like little baby clouds:

The air was very calm and cold so we had great performance

We arrived and Joel did a darn nice landing.

After landing we taxi'd over to the Dakota and we could see there was an issue.

Frost!  A thick layer of frost covered the wings, tail, windows, everywhere.

Frost is very much not a good thing to have on your airplane.  It badly affects the airflow over the wing and can easily cause a loss of lift and a loss of control.  

In short, if your plane is covered in frost, you're not taking off.

So, I borrowed some brooms from Huron Avionics and tried to get it off that way,

No dice, it just scraped the ice and made some snow, but a layer of frost still clung underneath it to the wings. The plane was not in a safe condition to fly.

So we did what any aviator would do.  We went to breakfast and waited for the sun to burn it off.

The small restaurant on the field in Owosso, Crosswinds Cafe, is amazing.

 We certainly didn't go away hungry.

By the end of breakfast the frost was all burned off and I was ready to go.

After a preflight, I started the engine and let the engine warm up for a bit as it was rather cold.

The day was absolutely beautiful, winds still totally calm, sunny, and not a cloud in the sky.

Pontiac was busy enough that they went to dual towers and two frequencies.   I contacted the tower position in charge of the north runway and let them know I had the ATIS.  They had me do a downwind entry for Runway 27R, which I did, followed by a very nice landing.

Sadly, the delay waiting for the frost to go away messed up my morning, so I'm scrambling a bit now trying to catch up, but that's fine.

That's 0.6 and a great landing worth of free flying.

If You Like Your Healthcare Plan - Well, You Can't Keep Your Healthcare Plan

Got a letter from my health insurance provider.

Due to Obamacare regulations, the grandfathered status of my health insurance plan expires in 2025, and I can longer keep my plan.

The plan that I had, while a high deductible one, had a $4,000 individual out of pocket deductible after which practically everything was covered moving forward.  I only hit that cap in two of the years I've had the plan.  Very simple - hit the cap and no copays for in-network care moving forward. As plans go, it did what it needed to do at a relatively (for definitions of relatively) reasonable cost, would cover what I needed, has a good network, and does provide some useful discounts.

But, as a result of this ending of the grandfather period I need to switch to an Obamacare-approved plan.

All of the approved plans have higher individual deductibles, around $7,200-$8,000 rather than the $4,000, and all now have copays or coinsurance after the deductible is met. And some have much higher coinsurance, up to 100% to be covered by me for certain tiers (whatever the heck a tier is) compared to 0 now. So I have a out-of-pocket cost that is pretty much 100% more than I had before add in the new copays and it's over 100% easily.

The new plans offer more costs and less coverage. But hey, they offer maternity coverage - which I really don't need.

On top of that, these compliant plans are at a minimum 20% (with  potential out-of-pocket costs that are staggering) to 60% more per month (with  potential out-of-pocket costs that are less staggering but much more than I need to pay now) to again get less coverage and have to pay more out of pocket than my current plan.

So under the new Obamacare plans, I will pay more per month for the insurance, and more out of pocket when health care is actually delivered.  

I will be paying way more than double my current costs for health care to get less, whichever plan that I choose.

What a really wonderful deal.

Monday Morning Ferry Flight

Got up rather early yesterday to go to the airport.

We were going to take the Dakota to the avionics shop in Owosso to get the autopilot looked at to figure out why we keep getting the Pitch/Trim servo message and the autopilot keeps disconnecting.

Got to the airport and met up with Brian.

I pre-flighted the Archer and he did the same with the Dakota.

I took off first and headed northwest to Owosso.

I didn't go direct to avoid Flint's Class C airspace but stayed clear and skirted around it.

Gorgeous day to fly, wind only 7-8 knots and the air was pretty calm.

After the annual inspection and the tune up our new mechanic did the Archer flew like a top. It flew so much smoother, and it took off and landed smoother too after he got the landing gear in tip-top shape.

He also worked on the engine and cleaned the plugs, and tightened everything up. I was getting 120 knots indicated at a power setting I used to get 100 at pre-annual.  Darn nice job on his part.

Clouds were at about 4,500 feet by Pontiac and disappeared north of Flint leaving a completely open sky.

I landed on Runway 29 at Owosso. First time ever going there.  Owosso has kind of a weird runway setup with two grass runways intersecting the paved runway.

Would be kinda bumpy landing on the grass and then hitting the paved taxiway and runway while rolling out or when taking off,  I would think.  It also makes for a weird taxi where you cross two runways on the way to the apron and back to the runway to depart.

I found where Huron Avionics was without much difficulty and waited for Brian and the Dakota to arrive, which he did very shortly thereafter, and he taxi'd in.

We met with Huron Avionics, good folks, and dropped off the plane.

I then flew us back to Pontiac, and had another good landing.

After putting the plane away I drove to work and was in my chair by 10:30, and I then had a really busy day, but it was well worth it.  An absolutely great day to get out and fly.

That's 1.2 with 2 good landings. 

Best of all, since it was a flight for the club, it was free, and there's no flying like free flying.

Saturday Flyday

Got in a quick flight in the Dakota to Jackson on Saturday to meet up with Mr. B and his friend Mark.

I hand flew it all the way as the Dakota is still having the Pitch/Trim servo issue with the autopilot.

 I was making good time at 132 knots ground speed.

Wind was blowing from 120 degrees at Jackson so I got to land on Runway 14 for the first time.  I've now landed on all of Jackson's runways.  It was interesting as I was coming in from about 250 degrees and Jackson tower first was going to have me enter the downwind and then changed it to a leg base entry which was quite helpful.

The landing was excellent.

Mr. B and Mark arrived in the pattern as I was shutting down on the ramp.

As Mr. B's plane is having it's annual inspection done, they took Mark's Archer.

Mark has quite a nice plane.

We were soon seated at the restaurant and we all ordered  the Pilot's Omelette, as one does.

Had a great time chatting with them both and enjoying a nice meal, and it was good meeting Mark.

After breakfast, we got set to go, and I was soon holding short of Runway 14, waiting to take off.

Got clearance and Jackson Tower was excellent and friendly as usual, and even knew I liked flight following and they got that set for me without my even having to request it.  Great service indeed.

Great Lakes approach was kinda busy so they dumped me off flight following had me squawk VFR and said I could contact Detroit Approach if I wanted to do so.  I did and Detroit Approach, while they never gave me a new squawk or confirmed my request for flight following did give me traffic info as I was flying which was helpful on quite a busy day. How they kept track of me among all the other VFR targets with the standard VFR transponder code is a fun question.

Pontiac was landing on the 9 side, and I soon had it in sight. I let Detroit Approach know I had it in sight and they had me squawk VFR, which I was already doing, and call the Tower, which I did.

I then got assigned a straight-in approach following another couple aircraft, and did another darn nice landing on 9L.

A great time for breakfast with a great friend, and a new friend.

That's 1.4 (0.7 each way) and two great landings.

October 7, A Year Later

On the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack by Hamas in which over 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 kidnapped, Hamas' local anti-semitic supporters were rather active here in Michigan:

The Detroit News:  Vandals deface Jewish Federation offices on attack anniversary. Others report incidents

The Detroit News: Two UM leaders' homes vandalized on anniversary of Hamas attacks

In addition to the vandalism, hundreds of antisemitic flyers were distributed in Farmington Hills.

Meanwhile in New York,  on the anniversary of the attack by Hamas, Hamas supporters marched in Manhattan to celebrate it:

CBS News:  Pro-Palestinian protest marches through Manhattan, as world marks 1 year since Oct. 7 attack on Israel

These leftist Islamic supporting scum really are lovely people, eh?

Somebody Better Get Ahold Of John Wick

The Detroit News: Genesee County Jail inmate accused of assaulting support dog

Yes an inmate without provocation attacked a 13-month-old 15 pound puppy that was in the jail to act as a support animal, hitting her hard enough to cause a concussion and sending her flying.

 

The scumbag is facing a 4-10 year felony for the assault on the dog, which was caught on video. He was already in jail on an assault charge, and pretty clearly is right where he belongs. With luck, he'll get to rot in prison a while longer.

Happy Rosh Hashanah

Welcome to the year 5785.

This is the second day of celebration of the Jewish New Year.

Yesterday, I went to services and they were quite meaningful, especially with all that has gone on this year both locally and in the world.

To my readers, I wish that you have a sweet and good year and may you be inscribed in the Book of Life.

Iran Launches Over 200 Missiles At Israel

So far, Iran has fired over 200 missiles at Israel.

Most have been successfully intercepted by Israel's missile defense systems.

Some have gotten through, destroying a school in Gedara, Israel and destroying houses and wounding people elsewhere. 

Ironically, or more demonstrably to show that the Iranians, just like their puppets in Hamas and Hezbollah really don't care who they may hit with their missiles, an Iranian missile killed a Palestinian in Jericho.

The Jerusalem Post: Iran launches hundreds of rockets into Israel in massive aerial attack

We will see how Israel responds, hopefully quite severely.

Not An Assasination Attempt, Just A "Normal" Crazy Democrat

The Detroit News: Michigan man charged after claiming he had bomb, fleeing police outside Trump rally

A Sand Lake man was charged with a false threat of terrorism after claiming he had a bomb and speeding through a security checkpoint near President Donald Trump's rally Friday in Walker.

Steven Nauta faces four counts in Kent County: Making a false threat of terrorism; possession of bombs with unlawful intent; fleeing a police officer; and assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer.

He was stopped at the checkpoint outside Trumps rally on the west side of the state, and then threatened he had a bomb and tried to flee police before his arrest.  He apparently had multiple bags of fertilizer in the car and a device he claimed to be a bomb.

He was arrested and now faces multiple felony charges.

Trump Derangement Syndrome certainly makes people do stupid things, as does the regular and rhetorical encouragement of violence (dare we say stochastic terrorism?) against Trump.

Back From Gainesville

Had a great weekend in Gainesville. Good to catch up with the kid and see her settled in her new element.

We had a great time, getting her away from dorm food and taking her out to brunch and other meals; going to a bookstore; and going to a movie theater see Deadpool and Wolverine, which is hilarious and well worth watching if you haven't seen it yet.

Aside from power still being out in spots, and lots of trees being down you couldn't tell a storm had come through.

 

Utility linemen were out in force clearing fallen trees and restoring power to the city and then did a very good job of it. Gainesville missed the bulk of the storm for sure, and thankfully got off easy.

Weather during the visit was beautiful being nice and sunny.

The sunset while in the plane flying home was stunning.

It was a pleasant journey home, not nearly as rough as the outbound leg as turbulence was minimal. We actually arrived in Detroit early and I then made decent time getting home, which was nice.  A great weekend trip.

Meanwhile, In The Red Sea

On Septemebr 27, US Naval forces in the area came under attack from a "complex"  attack from the Houthis.

Stars and Stripes:  Navy ships shoot down ‘complex’ barrage of Houthi missiles and drones in Red Sea, Pentagon says

Navy ships intercepted a Houthi barrage of missiles and drones launched from Yemen at the shipping lanes of the Red Sea, the Pentagon confirmed Friday, while also denying reports that any ships were hit in the attack.

“We did see a complex attack launched from the Houthis that ranged from cruise missiles and [unmanned aerial vehicles],” said Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary for the Defense Department.

The Iran-backed Houthi claimed Friday to have damaged three U.S. Navy warships in a bombardment of 23 missiles and bomber drones. The Navy destroyers, the Houthis’ military spokesperson said in a televised speech, were targeted as they transited the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea. The Bab al-Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen.

Sure would be nice if instead of passively and simply absorbing attacks (with rather spendy anti-missile missiles, not to mention the risk of an enemy weapon getting through and killing or injuring Americans), the rules of engagement were changed to allow the US Navy to proactively engage the launchersand those firing them before the weapons were fired at the ships.  

I daresay some renewed deterrence and an application of Finding Out to the Houthis of the consequences of flinging missiles and drones at the US Navy would be most appropriate at this time and is long overdue.

From De-Ballification To Decapitation

Hezbollah has now confirmed what Israel has already announced - that their leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has been killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit his bunker placed under a civilian residence in the Dahiyeh district in Lebanon.

That makes almost the entire command structure and leadership of Hezbollah being eliminated in this action, leaving the terrorist organization effectively decapitated. Thousands of their middle management have effectively been paged out of action as well.

I wonder if Hezbollah is regretting firing thousands of rockets at Israel since October 7 of last year, as well as regretting the rocket attack that killed 12 Druze children in Israel that really got Israel understandably cross with them.  Not to mention their plan for a mass rocket attack on Israel that Israel preempted, leading to this current battle.

Apparently, Iran, the puppeteer behind Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, has just announced that their leader Ayatollah Khamenei has decided to go hide in an undisclosed "secure" location.

Onward to Gainesville

I had planned to go to Gainesville, Florida to visit the younger heir at U Florida.

A little thing like a hurricane wasn't about to stop me. 

I flew into Jacksonville after an hour delay due to aircraft repositioning to avoid the hurricane yesterday.  Overall a good flight with a decent amount of turbulence even as the pilots routed around the remains of the storm. Jacksonville appeared practically untouched and it was an easy drive to Gainesville.

Gainesville didn't get hit by much except for winds that have knocked down trees, power in areas, and many traffic signals.

Aside from that, luckily the area is pretty unscathed, unlike other areas in Florida that took the brunt of it and some serious damage.

London Trip 18: What Is The Capital Of Assyria?

If you don't know and get asked by the Bridge Keeper, it is Assur, at least it was until 879 BC, when it was moved to Nimrud, then it was moved to Dūr Šarrukīn and thence to Nineveh, which remained the capital until the Assyrian empire fell to the Babylonians/Medes in 612 BC, so any of those should suffice to let you cross.

The Mespotamian collection is rather impressive at the British Museum.

 Two colossal statues of winged lions with human heads that used to stand at the entrance to the royal palace of King Ashurnasirpal  II (883-859 BC) in Nimrud

The Museum in its Assyrian exhibit has a display containing the world's first known library.  The Library of Ashurbanipal, King of the Neo-Assyrian Empire:

 Clay tablets, with many still in their clay envelopes, as they would have been at the time. The envelope both kept the tablet secure from being read by the unauthorized, and also had a label describing what was on the tablet within. The library contains many tablets works, including an archive  of  royal communications including one demanding that rare tablets to be sent to the library.

Quite cool.

The Assyrians were less famous for being librarians than their fame, if not infamy, for the warfare that led them to expand and control their empire, and their extremely brutal treatment of all who resisted them.

An Assyrian carving showing an attack:

The next carving shows them removing enemy deities from a captured city while they sack it:

This carving shows an arms-bearer of Tiglath-Pileser III

An Assyrian iron helmet from the era is also on display:

The Assyrian exhibit at the British Museum is extensive and quite impressive to see. Just standing beside one of the huge lions gives you quite an appreciation for the grandeur of this long-ago empire that at its height dominated much of the Middle East.

An Awful Lot Of That Going Around: Democrat Corruption Edition

Quite a few Democrat Mayors getting indicted and convicted for accepting bribes and other financial malfeasance.

We have the now well-known indictment of New York Mayor Eric Adams for wire fraud, conspiracy and bribery charges.

Locally in Michigan, there is the conviction of the Mayor of Inkster, which took place yesterday, also for bribery, but he was bought for much less in bribes than Adams: The Detroit  News:  Former Inkster mayor pleads guilty in bribery case, U.S. attorney says

Meanwhile the Detroit Riverfront CFO is going to plead guilty after stealing millions from the Riverfront program.  And there's a further Federal case filed against him.

On the federal level while not a mayor,  Senator Bob Menendez  is still awaiting sentencing for his conviction for accepting bribes.

London Trip 17: You Can Do Numerous Successful Commercial Transactions With No Recognition

But, you get caught shipping lousy quality copper, and your name endures forever:

Yes, that's the tablet that has the complaint about Ea Nasir - right there in clay and cuneiform, inscribed in 1750 BC.  Ea Nasir was a merchant that helped put the mess in Mesopotamia.

Located in the British Museum in Room G56, display case 24, if you're looking to go see it in person.

Hezbollah Home Depot

Hezbollah, as Arab and Islamic terrorist and military groups tend to do stores its munitions in homes, hospitals, schools, and other locations that normally would be protected under the Geneva Convention,

However, once you use these sites for military purposes such as storing weapons, launching weapons, or as a military headquarters, they lose their protected status and are valid military targets.

Here for example is a nice home south of the Litani river in Lebanon used by Hezbollah as a weapons depot. Since Hezbollah isn't supposed to be south of the Litani - they've been violating the ceasefire agreement and UN Resolution 1701 since the day it was written in 2006, these are certainly valid military targets, especially as Hezbollah has been using them to launch rockets and missiles at Israel on a daily basis.

Get a load of all those secondary explosions. They had that house packed to the gills.

But wait, there's more:

 

Lots more:

So, the next time someone claims Israel is bombing houses and thus committing war crimes you may want to point out they are not bombing houses but home depots.  That is not a war crime by Israel but the result of a violation of the laws of war by Hezbollah.