BillyVance

Yeah, the mods didn't like it too much when I announced a blackberry BBM group over a decade ago. It has become a groupme group to accommodate different phones. The number of people in it has remained pretty much constant, 8-9 members, zero filters. We're all old friends shooting the shit on there. Bonfire used to be hopping a decade or so ago. Literally at least a hundred posts a day from a bunch of people. Now? Less than 5-10 posts, if that. I don't know what happened. Even then, I don't think the mods mind that much. Whatever. (shrugs)

Apparently, Quinnipiac University polling has found that only 26% of Hispanics approve of Biden's job performance, compared to 55% a year ago. Just saying...

Love him or hate him, he has gotten pretty adept at trolling the left, hasn't he? Pretty interesting to see a guy who grew up a progressive, with his father being an anti-apartheid politician in South Africa, and has voted mostly democrat. Problem is, the democrats have gone too far left. Waaaaay left. This is not even the same democrat party that it was 25 years ago. People are getting tired of them overusing the race card when they don't get what they want. The Republicans aren't infallible either but they have had to pull to the right to counter the left. I miss the days when both sides actually worked together to put out good bills. Lately, it's "fuck you" "no, FUCK you!" "Racist!" etc. As far as the 2022 midterms are concerned, the prospects of a Democrat party bloodbath (figuratively) are likely to happen. You're not going to convince a hard core Democrat to believe anything other than their party line, same with a hard core Republican. Rather, you're going to have to convince the independent voters, who make up a sizable chunk of the population. The way things are going, it's not looking good for the democrats. The average loss of House seats historically for a president's party in the midterms is about 25 seats.

Every school my girls have attended have required proof of vaccinations.

The dude also had a mental illness dating back to the previous year. Police was involved because he made threats. Either they didn't take it seriously enough or he fell through the cracks. Like the Parkland school shooter. The warning signs were there.

Closest one to me is Browns Ferry Nuclear power plant in Decatur, a 2 hour drive away. There is another one, unfinished for decades, near Scottsboro. They are extremely expensive to build for sure. But maintained and operated properly, it's a great source of clean energy. Even then, Browns Ferry dodged a potential catastrophe on April 27, 2011 when an EF5 tornado passed by within a mile of the plant. It did cut through the major power pylons that deliver power to Huntsville, so the entire city was in the dark for a week.

All they really have are nukes, which they would be stupid to use. Nobody wins a global nuclear war. The Russian military has been corrupted by greed, leading to shoddy equipment, poorly trained conscripts, inept leadership (how many generals have been killed so far?), etc. I guess the only question is how far is Putin willing to go, as far as military losses go, to get his objectives.

It certainly looks like the BLM group was maybe founded with good intentions (maybe I'll be proven wrong), but Patrisse Cullors is a self-admitted communist who has enriched herself and family members/baby daddies with BLM's money. If she didn't think she did anything wrong, she wouldn't have resigned and then blasted critics. Black lives should matter as much as any other race, but BLM barely does anything for black communities. The greatest threat to black lives comes from within, literally.

If you ever find yourself in western North Carolina, you might want to visit Asheville, which is not only home to the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, but there is also a hidden gem in downtown Asheville... A pinball/video game arcade museum! They do have a bar with beer. Took my family a couple of months ago. Had a few hours of fun playing 80s era games. They do have an occupancy limit so you might have an hour or more wait time to get in. And yes, we also did the Biltmore Estate.

I like using Duckduckgo. They don't track your internet history with algorithms.

Yeah, a result of the Cold War is what I'm thinking.

I didn't have any guns until my girls became teenagers, and we talked about it with them. They're fine with having the guns in the house. They don't have any interest in them now but understand what they're for. And there are plenty of examples of homeowners legally shooting burglars and home invasion suspects.

Until the US figures out how to keep guns out of bad people's hands, I'll keep my guns for self protection, thank you very much.

HI BV, from another BV. You doing good?

You bunch of slackers. Walt Appel said it was Funks.