Blogging – Page 5 – The Laughing Wolf

Short SITREP

Things go. Our winter storm was not as bad as feared. I liked that while it was snowing I didn’t hurt too much. Today is back to pain, and typing while wearing the wrist brace is, er, interesting. Really want to go take a walk but the weather is not cooperating.

Almost got to use some of the prep yesterday, as while I watched a limb on some type of fir tree out back snapped and fell. The way it did it was fascinating, as it broke, swung back as it started down, and fell almost at the base of the tree folded up in two or three sections. Not sure how much officially fell, but since the ground wasn’t frozen (sorta warm for this time of year actually), we didn’t get a huge accumulation. Really only about 2-3 inches most places.

Still working on trying to get the car fixed, get any response out of SSA, and other fun stuff. Sorry for the delay, but hopefully back to meatier posts soon.

Oh, in regards those air defense units in Moscow making the news: Still not sure if they are for defense from Ukrainian attacks, or are for defense in the internal political strife. Either way, the Kremlin now has overlapping additional coverage in two directions. Am picking up rumors that other steps are being taken, which is interesting given the anti-air and anti-missile defenses already in place. The rumors would seem more in place if I heard Mathias Rust had gotten another pilot’s license. Then again, the Ukrainians have gotten rather deliciously creative in terms of UAVs and the like. If such is being planned, I’m not sure it is a good idea, to be polite. Really would prefer to be moved before WWIII starts.

More soon.

Prayer Request

Sadly, I learned this morning from the wonderful Chris Muir at DayByDay that Gerard Van Der Leun is in hospice. I ask you for prayers for him, for Neo, and all the others in his life — including his readers.

To the best of my memory, I never got to meet him in person. I remember how welcoming he was to people in the early days of the blogosphere. He encouraged, prodded, and yes poked the rest of us. The blogosphere benefitted from him, and the world is the richer for all he did as a writer and beyond.

For me, I ask God for mercy on him; for care, comfort, and guidance to those who care for him in the days to come; and, mercy and comfort to those he is about to leave behind. Godspeed Gerard! You did good and left a mark few can equal.

Thank You, Record

Wow. Yesterday set a new record for readership here at LaughingWolf. While it may have gone higher 18-20 years back, when I was a top 100/500 blog, yesterday saw better than 7,900 readers come in for this story, the second in a series on the Texas shooting. Several hundred of whom apparently read the linked stories and/or other posts. There were a number of good and interesting comments. Thank you to everyone who linked to it and drove that frenzy.

Thank you! I also want to take the time to thank my regular readers, all five of you (grin), who show up every day and make good and productive comments. Your comments often flesh out and add substantially to my posts. Thank you.

For those interested, the first story in the series is here and the third story in the series is here.

Today may be a little slow. Weather changes have me down, and I am also cooking after grabbing fresh boneless/skinless chicken breasts and fresh ground chuck on sale for $2.99/lb yesterday. Freezing one package of chuck, cooking one in a few, and the chicken has been in the oven for about three hours already at 250 degrees in a mix of roasted habanero salsa (with cilantro and key lime juice), green enchilada sauce, and lime juice. Tomorrow I make a batch of chicken enchiladas and one of beef.

More soon, and we will be getting back to preparedness/Preparedness Pays here soon. Unless the politicians do something more stupid than usual, or a major disaster happens, posting will be lite today.

Want to share a joke just for the grins of it: Headline: World’s largest meeting of prostitutes underway in Davos. Large number of sex workers in attendance as well.

If I do a philosophical post here soon, it will be on the topic of which is the oldest profession. Think I can make a case for politics being the oldest, with prostitution being the second and far more honorable profession.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving to the SW, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Bleep The RLF!

Back, sorta. Even with the new fiber optic modem, we’ve been having some issues with bandwidth and service. On Saturday, the problems increased and by Sunday morning we had no service at all. I’m able to do a bit by cell phone, but not a lot. Really need to set up at least some emergency posting on the site from the phone…

Yesterday, we had two different technicians out, and found out we were not the only people in the area who lost our fiber optic service. The culprits are well known to the company: the Rodent Liberation Front. Turns out that their shock troops, the squirrels, are well known to the company to be active in this area with the chewing of cables and terminals. On the latter, they chew or claw enough for water to get it, which then freezes, which takes out multiple households.

It was interesting watching the second technician back a bucket truck down the driveway (old and narrow) to get to the terminal, but he did it. Things are fixed, and it is nice to have full bandwidth back.

Posting may still be lite this week for a couple of reasons. First, the body and I have been having a series of disagreements. Part is weather, which is locking me up and making me very unhappy about the incoming winter storm. In fact, I’m having to change my plans and schedule in regards grocery shopping as my planned foray may not be able to take place. The other I’m not sure about but boy howdy has my body been cranky with me. Not a fun time at all.

Second, between the body being cranky and and some unexpecteds, I may be offline a bit. I really don’t have much family left, but will be reaching out to several and some friends over the next few days. If you have friends and family, do reach out. Remember, Christmas is a rough time of year for many, check in, check up, and reach out!

Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the RLF waited until the storm hit to send out a suicide squirrel to take out power to as many as possible. Be just their style.

Meantime, stock up and prepare, as it looks like winter weather is going to hit a large part of the U.S. here shortly. Be safe, be good, and survive with style no matter what the weather or the RLF try to do.

UPDATE: I saw something somewhere from someone letting me know my RSS feed may have issues. Thanks for letting me know, and I will be looking into that.

More soon.

PayPal Redux

Another day, another call to PayPal about closing my account. Been doing this multiple times since the 9th, which was (I think) the first day I called about closing the account.

Same thing as then. Technical error of some type is preventing the account from being closed. Technical is working on it and when (and if) they get it fixed someone will get back to me. Promise. Really. Pinky Swear! Yeah, right.

Taking it off has hurt. Badly even. Still don’t regret it though I admit almost tempted to put it back up until we can get it closed. That said, trying not to reward their behavior (any of it) on any level. Working on mail-in and more, now that I’m not wasting an hour plus with them, maybe I can finish getting GabPay set up. More soon.

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving to the SW, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo or drop me a line to discuss other methods. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

31 Oct SITREP

If the site is slow loading or you’ve had trouble getting through, my apologies. We are experiencing growing pains as I move from regular blog to high-traffic blog. Working on it, feel free to hit the tip jar to help me keep going and upgrade the site. Your gifts truly do make the difference. Working on adding a mail-in option, GabPay, others; if interested in mail-in for now drop me a line.

There will be more to come today, but for now a quick look at the world. Or at least parts of it.

First, this is my third time on Twitter. I was an early adopter back in the day, but have left it twice because it was such a cesspit on so many levels. I got back on just because of Elon and wanting to watch what happened. Oh my stars, I have laughed so hard this weekend it’s not funny. The flouncing, the overly-dramatic-hammy-exits (some of which were by actual C-list actors), the hysteria — it was magnificent. I’m almost glad my hearing is f***** by the lightning strike as otherwise I might have gone deaf from the REEEEEEEEEEEssssssssss. Not sure what will ultimately happen, though I suspect they are going to go after Elon on a level that surpasses Trump, but enjoying the ride right now.

Second, you may notice that I update my intel list on Twitter from time to time. Sometimes it is to add, sometimes I take off someone. In the latter case, it may mean they missed too much, but it can also mean that while they do good, even great, work in one area they don’t stay in that area. If I have to start double- or triple-checking work because of bias, it’s not worth it. Lots of good OSINT and related out there. That said, if you have anyone you would like to recommend for the list, let me know. Always glad to check out new and good work.

Third, speaking of OSINT, if anyone out there knows of a video compilation of all the launches that were done as part of GROM, please let me know. There are several things I want to double-check, and a comp would help with that. Also, everything I saw was pre-recorded. There was no live coverage of any launch that I can find. If you know of any that were done live, again, please let me know.

Fourth, the internal struggles are getting interesting. This may become a major post here soon, as what started as more normal in-fighting seems to be becoming something more. The removal of Lapin (and even the false reports of his death) is potentially huge. More on this soon.

Fifth, I may be a bit pre-occupied this morning because of the press conference in regard the Delphi murders. That one hit home for me, not sure why. I almost located in Delphi when I first moved to Indiana many years ago, and it seemed a wonderful and relatively safe little town. Over the years I’ve shared the sketches, audio, and other information/requests from LE on the case. I really hope this is not just another edge-of thing, for while it is good to get what is under those rocks, it’s not justice. I want Justice for those girls. Really wish there was an option for short-drop, long-dance, for whoever did it and/or was involved.

Sixth, while Vladimir seems to have backed off a bit for now, prepare. Looking at things such as diesel (which if they would let the markets work would not be an issue), railroad strikes, etc., now is the time to stock up as much as you can. Please hit my tip jar, as after I take care of bills I want to stock up more. Again, I suggest not only staples but also get your imports (coffee, tea, chocolate, etc.) first. Get as much as you can and start working to rotate that stock. After than, look to light, cooking, and heat alternatives. Think it’s going to be a rough winter and year even if the demented meat puppet doesn’t talk us into a nuclear exchange (that may also be the subject of a column this week).

Finally, let me know what preparedness or other subjects you would like me to cover. I have ideas, but I want to provide information that you want and/or need. If you have questions, sing out. Will do my best to answer them.

More soon.

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PayPal Update

Since first asking that the account be closed on the 9th, nada. Despite multiple requests, they keep saying that it can’t be closed because of an unspecified technical issue that affects myself and others. No word from them, no updates, nada.

So, this afternoon I went online to the State AG’s site and filed a formal complaint. As resolution, I want my account closed and the AG (and the SEC if needed) to be sure that this mysterious unspecified technical issue was not by any chance an effort to influence or mislead investors or others. Surely it is not, but better to check in an abundance of caution.

PayPal And Donation Update

For the record, PayPal still hasn’t cancelled my account. They are still claiming that a ‘technical issue’ is preventing them from closing a number of accounts including mine.

Yes, it has been a hit taking them off here. There has been a significant drop in donations, the gifts that keep me going and will hopefully get me on out to the SW here soon. So much so I’m in a bit of a bind.

So, I’m in the process of jumping through the hoops to add GabPay as an option, and am exploring others. Any suggestions for a good alternative that isn’t going to play woke games?

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving to the SW, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Posting Later?

There is a LOT going on, and it would not surprise me to see Belarus cross the border this week. Could be next week, but pretty sure it is going to happen. Meantime, I have to go visit a doctor this morning for what I hope is strictly routine. Hoping to be posting later, will see what happens.

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

PayPal

Yes, PayPal is gone and I am in search of another service for donations. I want one that actually is focused on providing service, not servicing people with politics and totalitarianism. As soon as I find such, I will put a link up in The Bard’s Jar.

I suppose it could be argued that deliberation and patience are in order, given that using PayPal has helped me survive financially after getting hit by lightning. Many of you have shown me the extraordinary kindness of sending me gifts via PayPal that have allowed me to eat, pay bills, move my hosting, and more. I am now limited to just the fundraiser, until I can find a replacement. So be it. I would rather risk missing a bill than to continue to use them. I would rather live in my car under an underpass somewhere than give those authoritarian goons a single dime more.

By the way, if you sincerely believe the statement they have issued walking back their draconian policy: Do I Have A Deal For You! Bridge. Guaranteed moneymaker. Cash Only.

The only reason they have backed down is the lights being shined on them and the number of people closing their accounts. More need to cancel. More lights need to be shined. Because unless that happens, anyone want to start a pool on how long it is before they try this crap again? Social credit systems are all the rage in China and with the WEF crowd, but have place in a free society. Anyone pushing such is in desperate need of a tar and feather spa day.

And, that is exactly what PayPal was doing: trying to bring a social credit system to the United States. I’m doing what I can by closing my account, a process they apparently have decided to make as difficult as they can. I hope others join me, as until PayPal is in the grave with a wooden stake through it’s heart and a sharp blade over its neck like that “vampire” corpse they just found in Europe, the danger remains. As I said above, they will try this crap again.

So, let them know what you think with your wallet. Take your business elsewhere. Shine a light and be sure to note the regulatory environment they have. The more of us who do that, the better. For it is time to raze and salt the ground so they nor anyone else is foolish enough to try to do this ever again.

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