Sunday Special: Kaine for VP – Of Mexico

That’d be the reason to campaign in Spanish when running for American high office, right?

We depart from our usual weekend of relaxation to spend hours upon hours reading the highly entertaining non-consensual sex play in the democratic party…which has been brought to light by Wikileaks.org.

It’s all about how to screw Bernie Sanders – whose team properly pissed – and it sets the stage for a fiasco for Hillary this coming week.  (We’re used to those.)

If you have the stomach for it, you can search any term you want over here:  https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/ 

Meantime I am scratching my head as to why Tom Kaine is running his VP campaign, speaking Spanish.  Once again to me its clear-cut evidence of abandonment of the Melting Pot to set up political fiefdoms beholden to the rich.

While media like this NY Times piece fawn the Clinton Kaine duo, we seem to remember NAFTA, lost jobs, Border 21, the 100 Mile “”Constitution Free Zone” and wonder if Kaine isn’t better suited to running for an office in Mexico, not America.

It is a real sore pleasure to see Kaine and Hillary to  the open (to non-existent) border while even the ACLU – long a hangout of liberals – has clearly defined the 100 mile “soft border” problem on pages like this one.

The lefxties love Kaine, but we just wish that if language is such a big deal to them, that they’d all move to a Spanish speaking third world country instead of working to turn this once Great Nation into one, thanks.

Even Ure skeptic admits there’s no lingering crap known about Kaine, though.

Still, as luck would have it, Texas is still part of the United States so we will hold our vote for people who can say (in the common language of the country) “One Nation, Under God….” and mean it.   I don’t think it’s this pair.

Remember which president sold us down the river on trade, NAFTA, super computers to China and whose spouse wants to bring in event more immigrants?

Yeah…I get why Bernie’s posse is pissed and wouldn’t be surprised to see him pull his support and head for a floor fight at the DNC this week…

We’ll have pop corn ready in case it happens.

I’ll be answering my cell phone “Buenos dias” for my liberal friends, just in case.

Oh, wait!  I don’t have any.

Best Places to Live

A couple of readers have asked for some thoughts on where to live from our travels so far. It’s a damn awkward question to ask because there is so much involved.

Let’s roll back a ways and you’ll see what I mean.

For almost 11-years I lived on a 40-foot offshore-capable sailboat. It was a 1987 Hunter 40 and it had every convenience I could imagine: Water-maker, wind machine and solar, high output alternator and so forth. There hasn’t been a week go by that I don’t miss living on the boat something terrible. Once the salt water “gets in your veins” it never leaves.

But living on a boat has some special problems that come along with it. First is the size, and you really learn to live your life in completely electronic fashion.

Once you get past the size, the other issues depend on where you want to live aboard.

In the Pacific Northwest, the main issue was weather. It was cold and even on the hottest days, a sail out to the middle of Puget Sound dropped the temp to something comfortable. Live-aboard moorage, however, was hard to fine.

In the South, the problems are different: heat being the main one. An air conditioner is almost a requirement, and even in the Bahamas or points south, until your blood thins out, living on a boat without a/c is an exercise for the sweat glands.

As you move up the Eastern Seaboard, along comes the bureaucracy: Living aboard is regulated in most places now so in terms of absolute freedom, bouncing around the Northwest is likely the best mix, but again, cold weather.

We lived in Boca Raton for a couple of years and I have to say that was great. But we also spent about $250 a month for air conditioning six months out of the year. Our rent was on the high side, too: $2,300, but the place wasn’t exactly a dump – tile shower, large living space all tiled, three or four sliding doors that opened into a screen porch and a great orange tree in the back yard.

Still, not an ideal situation: Not just the heat, mind you, but the “grays” – which in Phoenix would be the snowbirds. In south Florida, they are the grays and they are rude, don’t drive for crap and pushy? OMG they are rude.

Settling on Texas was something we took on after much consideration.

Over on our www.ruralpioneer.com website, there is an article from 2004 on how and why we settled on East Texas.

The important thing to note in this article is not the actual value judgments that we employed to get to the present home, but the process.

Process included things like taxes, water, climate, and so forth.

Even today, that list of “gotta have’s” is central to our thinking.

That’s why – when we go through various towns and cities on these economic pilgrimages – we whip out the checklist.

Since 2004, there is one additional factor that is on the list.

I don’t know if you have every read the National Commission on Electro Magnetic Pulse risk, but it’s available on the web (check it out here– and download the PDF and read it, too…) and it’s one more metric that I think a wise person would apply.

I had a funny phone call with my youngest daughter this week: She was calling to talk about her new-found interest in prepping.

“Should I buy maybe a few month’s worth of MRE’s?” she asked.

Not a bad idea, but in the longer term, I suggested seeds, learning about foraging, and so forth as well.

What really amazed me was that this was driven by her fear that should Donald Trump win, the US will somehow being plunged into chaos. Dad patiently explained that is really the Hillary risk, but we never did get to agreement on that.

Still, the matter of where to live is one of those Big Variables in life that a person can consciously make a decision on. Not that everyone actually empowers themselves to think in these terms. We live in a society where empowerment and nut job live right next to one another. It’s only your personal bias that defines which column (sane or nuts) you fall into.

With all this said, I don’t have much use for towns where the water is not plentiful.

That’s why Elaine and I are not too keen on looking at Arizona. Besides the fact that the Clinton presidency would continue to deconstruct hard borders and would turn the hard-fought southwest into a state of Mexico, there’s the genuine lack of water. Two strikes against anything closer than 300 miles to the border.

Still, it is a warm climate and worth a look, depending either on who is in the White House, or whether you have Spanish fluency. I stop at ordering a steak and red wine (vino tinto).

We have spent some time in the Branson Missouri area – which in addition to the upcoming stops on this trip – is worth a look. But even this region is not perfect.

For risks, it is in Tornado Alley, and there are the same snakes (rattlers, cotton mouths, and copperheads) as well as bugs like the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow.

It also gets cold up in Branson. When we first visited, I asked why so few trees were really tall. I look at trees as natural ham radio antenna supports. “Ice storms,” was the explanation. They happen with some regularity up there.

Still, the region (ArkLaTex) is pretty good on a number of fronts; low priced housing from trailers/modulars and you really can grow just about anything.

Denver’s biggest problem, that Elaine wrote about in an early Rural Pioneer article, is water.

There is still ample water for a shower (which we did in Fort Collins) but in terms of growth, water and a lack of free capacity on the Interstates is a real problem.

Wyoming doesn’t have much to recommend it until you get up to Sheridan, or so. Gillette, and places on the eastern side of the state are in rugged country and again, God-awful dry. Still, there is some coal and such, so there are resources and where you have those, long term someone will have to come get it in time.

Western Wyoming is nice, but so much of it is parks. Still, if you pick up a degree in something agricultural, it has potential, but not a lot of big city social amenities like visiting opera companies. The Rolling Stone’s 8-millionth tour is not likely to include Sheridan, or come to think of it, Caper, either.

Utah is just too much of nothing. Salt Lake and Ogden are pretty much built-out to near capacity. Traffic on the freeway is very heavy and the same road work we saw two years ago, is still going on today.

We talked about eastern Oregon this week.

Now that we are happily parked in our www.airbnb.com condo in Tacoma for 9 days, we are getting into the groove of what life would be like here.

I keep thinking about a boat again…but that is more a personal chemistry issue than anything.

I’ve told you before how some people are addicted to negative ions and they come from lightning, waterfalls, and rain. Friday morning it was cool – about 55 – and raining so when I took a quick walk outside, it was as mentally clarifying as a good shower.

But cold is not your friend when you age. Elaine is very sensitive to it, having a touch of Renaud’s Syndrome. When the temps get much under 65, the tips of her fingers turn white and she’s like ice.

It’s a strong case against going back to a boat. But in terms of a bug-out vehicle, there is little that’s better. A boat with 100 pounds of rice, a store of vitamins and some fishing gear – plus an acquired taste for seaweed soup – and you can do just fine for a long time without much money. Careen (*tip over for bottom cleaning) and being able to hand-sew canvas (you need a “palm”) and now you’re talking real location independence.

EXCEPT no matter where you go, government is – for now – all pervasive.

Gone are the days of easy border-crossing. And overstay your tourism welcome? Fail to give the US 24-hours notice of your intent to “come home” and you see how limited freedom has become.

It’s the ultimate in Obama administration discrimination against Americans: We the voters have to give a day’s notice when we cross a border. But sneak in from Mexico? Sure, come on in…no papers needed…just sign here and come back in two years for a kangaroo immigration court…

So when we’re done here, we will likely spend a bit of time along the front side of the Cascades in Oregon.

We have friends down in Creswell, just south of Eugene at the airport there. It’s not a great big field (3,500 feet) but long enough for the old Beech if it doesn’t sell. And parking is something we will look into.

That area has lots of college aged people – and young people give a place energy.

Oregon isn’t paradise, though: They have a typical big government attitude and will regulate anything that’s not nailed down (and there’s permits for that, lol) including rainwater that falls on your own land.

And that’s where Texas is still better: On the ranch we can do anything we want, including add or modify our septic as long as we keep it on a 10 acre or larger parcel and 100 feet from a property line. In Oregon? They have a lot of regulations over here that I haven’t had time to read yet.

Building Departments are another key issue. No, we don’t under-wire for electricity. We don’t allow #14 wire even on the property. Yet some gyp-o builders use it…sure it meets “Code” but it’s not right. Building Departments are in my view, the leading edge of government intrusion. Especially when comes to ham radio towers and such…but let’s save that discussion for another Sunday.

Property taxes are high in the Pacific Northwest. Montana and Idaho seem better, but remember about cold?

And being “near the children” when a serious health issue pops up? Well, we are just 7-hours from the kids almost anywhere in the country thanks to air travel, so what is the point of moving somewhere 6-hours away by car.

That’s why today, after I finish my critique of where to live, I will be doing drive-time mapping. There’s a good tool for that in Microsoft Streets and Trips as well as some of the online tools.

What will fall out of that will be a matrix:

What is six hours from the kids driving? Then, what is three hours of flying plus three hours of driving? Four hours of flying and 2 hours of driving?

It’s a big playing field…but more than anything, we’re trying to figure out what makes sense.

And in today’s world, I’m not sure there’s too much point to that, either.

Have a great Sunday…

George@ure.net

25 thoughts on “Sunday Special: Kaine for VP – Of Mexico”

  1. Okay, since this is a ‘one-off’, what’s with Trump saying that he ‘saved’ Cruz from being pulled off the stage at the Republican convention? I thought the meme was that the delegates were supposed to be thoughtful, responsible, etc. etc. – Trump is making his own party seem like rabble and a mob. Talk about an inflated ego!

    George, if you moved just a bit more east in Oregon, you would hit ‘the red area’ of the state . . .

    • Yes,

      Eastern Oregon is definitely less blue than the western 100 miles, but it’s still ruled by the idiots with tons of regulations and a meddler mentality. I don’t know if they are enforced or not, but they exist and can cause grief if you’re disliked by a local.

      At least they largely speak English. I’m studying the two other common languages in the world to improve my mind(LOL), not to gain the level of comprehension necessary to parse the fine print in a law or a contract. Americans who can’t or won’t learn to use English cannot fully deal with the fine points of civics and citizenship. I firmly believe that very few, if any people can learn a foreign language to the degree of facility that they can with their birth language(s).

  2. Nice surprise having a Sunday article to read with some real good DNC content and the hope there will be some turmoil within rather than a Democrats love fest.

  3. billarytimeupstrokeatconv.uowesteak&aerorideELMisnice,steakatDELMONICO’Ssyr!Bsandwinsall,picsunclejoe…bigtimesahead…

    • this gibberish makes it to your comments page, but you block coherent ones which run counter to your perspectives… hmm

  4. I think you guys brought the heat with you to the PNW this week….it is suppose to be one of the hotter weeks that we have had thus far this year….you know – all in the mid to upper 80’s! My invite still is here for you and Elaine for dinner at our place here in Unincorporated King County….tender bbq ribs with all the fixin’s…….

  5. George you’re still stuck in the binary repub thingie majigie. It’s a reality TV show. While repub and dem politicians come and go the interests of the PTB remain the same. Factually, there is very little daylight between Bush 43 and Obama. Nothing has materially changed.

    re: Spanish speakers. I remember seeing GWB give a speech more than once in Spanish. He even ran ads in Spanish. Same for Jeb.

    Trump has a major problem with Latinos. He either better hope they don’t turn out to vote, which is highly unlikely seeing how many are registering in order to vote against him or Trump needs to get 50% of the Latino vote to win. It’s simple math.

    NB – I’m not a Trump, Hillary or Obama voter.

    • NB, Mao will not be running — and that’s what is ‘really’ needed. Wholesale liquidation of un-american, and bring back “borders, language, and culture.” Save US first before we’ll safe the world again!!

    • After 4 generations of servitude for Blacks in the legalized slavery system known as modern day welfare vis a vis Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society – Blacks are starting to awaken to the fact that they have been screwed mightily not to leave out poor and indentured Hispanics and Whites – it is refreshing to see that perhaps the greatest support and leaderships for Blacks is coming from our Black sheriffs and Police Chiefs who are essentially denouncing the Democratic party – that being said all Clinton is doing is pandering to the group that hasn’t been totally screwed as yet and grown exponentially and illegally the Hispanic community.

    • Trump has a problem with televised hand picked MSM Latinos , central Texas born ” Latinos “Tejanos who no one asks will vote a Trump landslide , they despise illegals .

  6. George,
    your observations of places to live are identical to what my views are, having worked all over the world but a little in most of the states. we found our place in NM, NOT the desert, it is high mountains with large firs and pines. low taxes and we have spring water plus a well. lots of game, ( if you can draw a hunting license. of course NO place is perfect, the winters can be cold and up to a few feet of snow, we are always on the look out for a new place, that is a little lower than our 7500 ft. as we get older. we also are going on vacation soon to look at other places will let you know IF we see something. we don’t take main roads we travel in the back country as much as possible for many reasons.
    enjoy your trip!

  7. George:
    Microsoft Streets and Trips is no longer being sold. Do you have any suggestions for a comparable substitute? Thanks, always enjoy your comments. Glad to hear the eyes are getting better.

  8. Oregon property taxes are high but no sales tax. Also, gas is pumped for you which is nice because no getting rained on nor getting hands dirty.

  9. Same thoughts here. We bought a house North central Arkansas last year to retire to. Year round water + well. 10 acres 3 bedroom ranch house on top of a mountain and so far in the pine forest even Google earth can’t find it. We live in Kansas City now, very familiar with climate and the local “situation” down there. Now, if I can just hang on a few more years up here……

  10. You should check out Camas or Washougal,Wa
    There is a marine in Camas on the Columbia river and only about 30 minutes to Portland.
    We moved here from Mckinney,Texas 6 years ago.

  11. Didn’t see New Mexico mentioned. Never been there. But I had two couples move there lately.

  12. Stay in Texas. You seem to have everything you need there.

    Like my grandparents, dad, and soon to be my mom I will be taken from El Rancho de Chaos feet first.

  13. Relocate to Pennsylvania. Once the pineapples drop on Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia, you’ll find a totally self reliant state. Food, water, talent and a winter to give you at least a little peace from the golden horde.

  14. Hey George, just stay in Texas with the rest of us old hard heads. Besides, if Hillery gets elected you can look for a BIG push for Texas to leave the Union of craziness and form our own Republic again.

  15. George, after 50 some years in western Oregon (which I now think of as WhOregon due to the Soros affect because of PERS consuming the state), we are moving to Homer, Alaska.

    Honey’s Naval stint gave him a taste of the world, and my travels and experiences left us both with the need for ocean, rain, snow/capped mountains, wood stoves, seafood, gold and more freedom from blue mentalities.

    Our use of coconut oil for cooking and abundant preference for chilies have made hot weather unbearable, even in old age. We enjoy the snow, we know the multi-purpose value of full spectrum grow lights, value the rain that is captured for our use there, and need the sea before us as our siren call. We’ll still be less than 6 hours fly time to our children that love camp outs, so we’ll be home base for some new camping turf.

    Learning the Russian language is on our to do/bucket list now that we are retiring from raising cattle to pursue other interests again.

  16. North Georgia is semi tropical and slightly farther north Georgia is Elijay, which is perfect and has a nice airport…I believe you’ve visited once or twice.

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