Trump and America Win

Not only in the electoral college, but likely also winning the popular vote, President Trump had a very very convincing win yesterday, too big to rig as it were.

We still wait for my Democrat-run State of Michigan to get its act together and actually administer an election in a timely manner.  And also as part of that potentially more fraud out of Democrat-run Wayne County to try and tip the balance in the Senate race between Rogers and Slotkin, but that will not affect the overall outcome of a Republican victory.

I certainly wish President Trump and the country success.  

I hope that he has learned the lessons of his first term, including not to keep people in government offices that are actively working against him and stymieing his policies. I hope that he leads the country with wisdom and good judgment, and makes our nation  preeminent among the nations of the world and an example to all.

The Republicans in Michigan also wrested control of the state house from Democrat hands, ending the Democrat domination of all three branches of state government, which is a good thing.

It is hoped that the Democrats will learn some lessons from their loss.  The lessons include their error in the selection of a terrible and inarticulate candidate appointed more for her filling DEI check-boxes than for her actual ability; and their push to tilt the Overton window so far left that they left the American Middle, and even some of the American Left far behind among many other mistakes on their part.

And to my Democrat-supporting readers, as few of you as there may be: We survived 4 years of Biden-Harris, you'll make it through 4 more years of President Trump.

Flying: To CYTZ And Back

On Saturday I flew over to Toronto Island Airport to go visit the folks and celebrate my Dad's 80th birthday.

I did the electronic paperwork, called Canpass, filed my typical route and got my clearance to depart. Approved clearance was ADRIE T781 OLAMO CYTZ

I climbed to 3,000 as instructed and contacted Detroit Approach.

A beautiful day and still some fall color to see.

Detroit Approach climbed me to my filed altitude of 5,000 and then amended my clearance to just fly direct to CYTZ, which was nice.

Had a light tailwind and was cruising along at a nice 146 knot ground speed.

Crossed the border and it started getting a little overcast around Sarnia:

I got permission to climb above the layer to 6,000 and enjoyed the view.

Toronto Center then amended my clearance and had me go direct to OLAMO before heading to the airport.  I then did a practice localizer approach to Runway 26 and had a very good landing.

I had a nice time in Toronto with the folks, and the open house party on Sunday to celebrate my dad's birthday went very well.

Then yesterday, it was time to head back.  The weather would, unfortunately, not be quite as nice. Overcast, rainy, and windy it would be.

I had filed what I had done for the return on the last trip, which was accepted. Easy enough.

I got to the airport, paid my parking and fuel bill, did the preflight.

 I contacted Ground, and then was told my clearance had changed and was I ready to copy?

Yep, yet again I got the PERL.4 Departure, DERLO Transition, PICUP, OKLND ONE Arrival.  So next time I go, I'm  just going to file that from the outset to save time as they seem to like it a lot on Mondays.  Knowing it well from the last time made reprogramming the system a lot faster.

I then, just before takeoff, got a further amendment to the departure procedure and was told to climb to 3,000, on heading 210 degrees, so I did that and out over the Lake I went.

It was rather overcast and I had a pretty major headwind of around 30 knots so my ground speed was around 90-100 knots, most of the time so it was kinda slow going.

Toronto Center then got me on course to the next waypoint and I was told to climb to 6,000, and then once I reached that next waypoint ANCOL, I got an amended clearance to fly straight to DERLO which saved a little bit of time.

At DERLO the Overcast became more acute and I started getting some instrument time.

It was rather solid with some light chop and light precipitation.  Air Temperature up there was 15 degrees C due to the warm front that was moving in and causing all the winds and clouds, so no icing risk which was good.

The clouds opened up just a bit as I was crossing the border.

And soon closed up again, with even more rain and bouncing around and I was again in solid IMC conditions.

Then for a brief while I was right in between two layers of clouds which was kinda neat.  The air was smooth and it was all rather beautiful.

But soon it closed up again.

I got the weather at Pontiac with winds of 14 knots at 180 degrees for a very direct crosswind for landing on 27L.  I was passed on to Detroit Approach and clearance amended to fly straight to GUZVY for the 27L RNAV and was then cleared onto the approach.

Up to the Final Approach Fix it was IFR, as I followed the glideslope down and got lower I broke out of the clouds.

Not the best visibility, and I was kinda flying sideways in the wind following the RNAV guidance.  This was a tad disorienting, so I just kept on the needles, and it took a bit to find the airport as the nose was pointed into the wind left of the Airport, even as the plane was moving on a nice straight line right to the runway.

Then I had the runway in sight before the missed approach point, and still had to fly crabbed into the wind on the way towards final.

I then made a most excellent crosswind landing, even as it felt like a lot more than 14 knots.  The excellent landing was likely due to a lack of observers of same.

I then cleared customs, then headed to the hangar and got the plane refueled and put away, and that was the end of the weekend.

November 2 I had 2.0 out, and 1 great landing.

November 4 I had 2.4 back, .9 actual instrument time, an instrument approach and another great crosswind landing.

An excellent trip flying that sure as heck beats driving, and it was good to get some actual IFR time and a real approach in and plan for and deal with more challenging conditions.

A Safety Brief For Halloween

Remember witches, flying VFR into IMC will get you every time.

Happy Halloween to all.

So This Happened Last Night

Last night at Jitsu was leg lock wall drills.

Two (then three) people started out lying on the mat with everyone else lined up on the wall. Then two (later three) people came off the wall to face those on the mats.

When lying down you had your legs up in open guard and had to first let the attacker get your leg and begin a leg lock. 

Then you had to defend it.

If you defended it, you stayed on the mat and then next person came off the wall at you.

If you got submitted, it was the attackers turn to be on the mat defending.

To say this gets exhausting very quickly is an understatement.

I started out on the mat.

I successfully defended against the first two blue belt attackers off the wall.

Then I got toyed with by a purple belt and got caught in a fancy heel hook pretty darn quickly. I learned from this. 

The Main Lesson - do not meddle in the affairs of Purple Belts for you are squishy and can be folded into various uncomfortable positions rather effortlessly.

Then, I got to get to the wall and then rotate in as an attacker.

Sometimes I was back on the wall, sometimes I got to stay out on the mat defending.

Much more learning occurred.

This went on for an hour and was one heckuva workout.

After that, one of the purple belts was promoted to 4 stripes, and he's already so good that he's a brown belt in all but passing the test - which won't be hard for him.

My name got called and I was taken by surprise as I wasn't expecting it.

This happened:

 

It is amazing how a little piece of tape can both mean so much, and mean nothing at all at the same time.  Even as I didn't feel I was adequately ready to be a three-striper, my instructors determined that I was.  Feels rather good, and is  a sign of how incredibly much more I need to learn.

Another blue belt also was surprised by getting their first stripe.

After we were awarded the stripes we had a celebratory roll.

In this roll, the newly promoted blue belt 1-striper did his best to kill me, and I successfully defended his attacks, made it difficult for him to do so, and made some fun problems for him on the way. We ended in a draw.

Quite a great end to the evening.

The Rather Delicate Democrat Coalition

Is showing some further signs of fraying:

USA Today:  Devices used in Oregon, Washington ballot box fires had 'Free Gaza' messages, reports say

Considering the Democrats pandering to the Islamists, arson attacks on ballot drop boxes in Democrat strongholds in Oregon and Washington is rather ungrateful action on the part of the Hamas-niks.

Pity, that.

Do tell me again how ballot drop boxes are so secure secure, right?

It's Getting A Tad Sporty Out There.

So far, three Jewish students in three separate incidents at University of Michigan have been attacked for the crime of being Jewish. Perpetrators were the progressive and Islamic types - not a MAGA hat in sight.

Now, courtesy of Instapundit, we learn that this weekend in Chicago,  an Orthodox Jew being shot by an illegal immigrant from Northwest Africa who shouted "Allahu Akbar" before shooting him. The illegal was here due to the Biden-Harris administrations' weak border policies crossed our open southern border a year and a half ago and made his way (or was he transported by the feds?) to Chicago.

Civic Duty Done

Went and voted early today.

It was a rather large line as the early voting location is handling everyone form West Bloomfield, Sylvan Lake, and Keego Harbor.

Waited in line just a bit over a half hour but it moved along rather reasonably.

Did get in after being in line just before closing which was good.

Voted in split ticket fashion after researching the candidates ahead of time. 

Quite a turnout so far in the area.

So if you haven't voted yet, get informed and research the candidates, know who you are voting for and why -- and go do it.

Is Their Election Slogan It takes A Criminal To Catch A Criminal?

The Detroit News: Oakland, Wayne Co. sheriff challengers hope voters will overlook their criminal records

When all you have to run on is your criminal record, you might as well run on that:

Amrit Kohli said he's qualified to be the Oakland County sheriff because he's been an Oakland County Jail inmate and knows what needs to be fixed.

Wayne County sheriff candidate T. P. Nykoriak said his federal conviction for stealing from a Detroit church should not prevent him from being elected as the county's top law enforcement official.

Ok then.

Kohli is a very progressive  Democrat who is on the Democrat ticket running in Oakland County against the highly popular and effective Republican Sheriff Bouchard. 

"I want to get elected, so I can disrupt the policing of the Sheriff's Office and try to make a mark of what policing can do when they're not about guns and oppression," said Kohli, who was convicted of drunk driving in 2003 and malicious destruction of property in 2004. "Police are the apparatus of oppression and have committed genocide, in my opinion."

Yeah, he's the perfect progressive Democrat defund-the-police-type to run for the position with no law enforcement experience aside from being on the criminal end of it. He is also, of course, given his everything-I-don't-like-is- genocide,  pro "ceasefire" for Gaza.

This is part of why straight-ticket voting is dumb - he'll likely get votes from Democrats in the County who do a straight ticket and don't know any batter.

We'll note that while T. P. Nykoriak is nominally on the ballot as a Republican in Wayne County, he actually has a long history of running as a Democrat for the Sheriff slot, and other positions, and possibly changes party affiliation like others change their underwear.

Both should use a white circle on a red background as their campaign flags - They both have a snowball's chance in hell of winning.

No, We Can't Trust Kamala

Got a mailer from Kamala t'other day.

Except no, you can't trust her.  

Because at the same time she's sending this out, as well as some TV ads in this area claiming she is pro-Israel, she's saying something else to pro-Hamas types and to the population in Dearbornistan: 

NBC News: Harris targets digital ads spotlighting her words about 'human suffering in Gaza'

We will also note that Harris said the following publicly when interrupted by a pro-Hamasnik claiming what is happening in Gaza is a "genocide".  She declared that what the protestor was saying was :"real":

New York Post:  Kamala Harris publicly agrees with protestor accusing Israel of genocide: ‘What he’s talking about, it’s real’

For the last time, and for the simpletons who swallow Hamas propaganda wholesale in between licking the windows on the short bus, what is happening in Gaza is not a genocide.

Let's use a picture to help get this across:

It is not a genocide when you attack your neighbor, massacre civilians, kidnap others, and then you start losing the war you started as you choose to fight in urban areas while hiding behind civilians in those area and those civillians get killed along with your combatants.

That Kamala would even say "it's real" shows she either is dumb enough to believe there is a genocide going on - contrary to reality- or she's willing to pander to idiots in order to get the Muslim vote to help her win Michigan and some other battleground states. 

Given the demonstrated pro-Iranian and pro-Hamas bent of the Biden-Harris administration, and Kamala choosing to surround herself in office with pro-Hamas types,you absolutely cannot trust her when it comes to Israel, or much else for that matte.