A Fifth Wheel Joins The Fleet, Let The Adventure Begin

The Fleet in port. This by the way is my initial park job in my driveway. It is in straight but about 8 feet to the right of where I wanted to put it. This took about 1/2 hour and I was ragged so when I got it straight I quit.

The fifth wheel is a 2002 Titanium 28E33SB by Glendale. It measures, I think, 33 feet from bumper to pin. Then it goes on for awhile until you reach the nose.

It is an all weather unit built in Canada.

More pictures will follow but the last two days have been long and busy.

Rear picture window. I can't show the inside because the truck prevents me from opening the slide.

You can't really tell from the picture but the truck is wearing a new set of dancing shoes. Yesterday when we initially hooked up the fiver to the truck we found out the left inside tire would not hold air. So we unhooked and I spent half a day today at Tire Kingdom re-shoing the truck.

As the say, it looks bad. Tomorrow I will hook it up again and drag it around for awhile; perhaps I might even go over to an old Wal-Mart store and practice backing in to some parking spaces. I'm going to be running my own "flight school" for awhile before I actually go anywhere.

The number one task turned out to be new truck tires. The ones on the truck while only traveling about 19,000 miles were over 5 years old. The number two task will be to replace the trailer tires, they are 10 years old. Well inspecting them tonight, looking for the year date I found one has cracks in it, it may have been used with low or no air pressure. My "flight school" maybe on hold until the tires are replaced.

Questions Posed To His Fellow Americans By An Immigrant American From The Soviet Union

Dear Americans, these are some questions I have collected in 16 years of living in your country. Please see if you can answer them for me:

•If all cultures are equal, why doesn’t UNESCO organize International Cannibalism Week festivals?

•Why do those demanding “equal pay for equal work” never protest against “equal pay for little or no work”?

•Why has no politician ever run on men’s issues or promised to improve the lives of males?

•If all beliefs are equally valid, how come my belief in the absurdity of this maxim gets rejected by its proponents?

•Ever noticed that for the past thirty years, we’ve been hearing we have less than ten years to save the planet?

•Once a politician labels the truth as hate speech, can anyone trust him to speak the truth afterward?

•If a politician gets elected by the poor on a promise to eliminate poverty, wouldn’t fulfilling his promise destroy his voting base? Wouldn’t he rather benefit from the growing numbers of poor people? Isn’t this an obvious conflict of interests?

•How did the “war on poverty” end? Has there been a peace treaty or a ceasefire? Who is the occupying force and who are the insurgents?

•Why weren’t there demonstrations with anti-feudal slogans under feudal rule? And under Stalin, no anti-communist demonstrations? And under Hitler, no anti-fascist demonstrations? In a free capitalist society, anti-capitalist demonstrations are commonplace. Is capitalism really the worst system?

•If capitalism makes some people rich without making others poor, who will benefit when capitalism is destroyed?

•If the poor in America have things that people in other countries can only dream about, why is there a movement to make America more like those other countries?

•Why, on the rare occasions when Obama’s actions benefit America, does his base get angry? And every time his actions are hurting this nation, his base is happy? Who exactly are these people?

•If cutting out the middleman lowers the price, why are we paying the government to stand between us and the markets?

•If racial profiling is an abomination, what do you make of the last presidential election?

•After Eric Holder called Americans a nation of cowards, what has he done personally to help the situation?

•If diversity training benefits everyone, why do those classes mostly consist of white heterosexual males?

•Why is a huge poisonous cloud over a volcano considered magnificent — but a smokestack over an American factory is ugly and harmful?

•How many Kyoto Protocols are rendered pointless by one medium-sized volcanic eruption?

•Why is burning gas in my car hurting the planet, but setting fire to housing developments in California is saving it?

•Why does Hollywood glamorize drug addicts, criminals, liberal Democrats, and mentally challenged people? What do they all have in common?

•How come Hollywood can always find a good side in thugs, but never in businesspeople? What was the last movie that pictured a self-reliant, industrious man as a role model?

•If it’s capitalist greed that forces Hollywood to exploit the lowest human instincts, why didn’t the same greed force Hollywood to exploit America’s patriotism and make war movies showing the U.S. presence in Iraq and Afghanistan as a force for good? Wouldn’t one such film bring more green cash than all the anti-American flops in the recent years? Where was Hollywood’s capitalist greed then?

•How come those calling Sarah Palin a “bimbo” often look like part of Paris Hilton’s entourage?

•If there are no absolutes and family is an antiquated tool of bourgeois oppression, why is having gay marriage an absolute must?

•Would you know from the media coverage that there are more sex offenders among public school teachers then among Catholic priests? How come the church gets the blame and the Department of Education doesn’t?

•Why is the media so outspoken about sex abusers being priests, but avoids calling them homosexual pedophiles? Who are they afraid to offend?

•Why do those who decry modern civilization never live far from shopping centers and why don’t they grind their coffee with a stone ax?

•If we are called a “consumer society” because we consume, why aren’t we also called an “excreter society” because we excrete? For that matter we also sleep, dream, talk, think, invent, play music, raise children, feel pain, get sick and die. Many of us work for a living. Why aren’t we called a “producer society” because we produce the things we consume? Who puts these labels on us and for what purpose?

•How come the unselfish Americans hate their country out of personal frustrations, while the selfish ones defend America with their lives?

•If describing terrorists as freedom fighters is justified by the journalistic principle of neutrality, what is the name of the principle that justifies describing U.S. troops as rapists and murderers?

•When the media portrays the killing of terrorists as “slaughter of civilians,” while slaughter of civilians is portrayed as “resistance to occupation,” is the media really being neutral? Whose side are they really on?

•If Hollywood types are so opposed to capitalism, why is there a warning against unauthorized distribution of their movies?

•Why is experimenting on animals cruel, but experimenting on human embryos compassionate?

•How come industrial logging is a crime against nature, but the destruction of forests by wildfires is a natural cycle of life?

•Why do those who object to tampering with the environment approve of tampering with the economy? Isn’t the economy also a fragile ecosystem where a sudden change can trigger a devastating chain reaction?

•Isn’t the latest economic crisis such a chain reaction?

•Aren’t most of today’s social ills the result of tampering with social ecosystems?

•Why is bioengineering bad, but social engineering good?

•If Al Gore is right and our consumption of the planet’s resources is a moral issue, doesn’t that make genocide an ethical solution? How about an artificial famine? What would Al Gore choose?

•If being a winner in nature’s struggle for survival is selfish, does being extinct make you an altruist?

•Since our planet’s resources are limited, wouldn’t the ultimate act of environmental activism be to stop eating and starve to death?

•How come those who hate humanity for its faults are called “humanists” but those who love humanity for its virtues are called “hate-mongers”?

•If economic ups and downs are natural cycles, why is the downturn always blamed on unbridled capitalism, but the upturn is the result of a wise leadership of a Democrat president?

•Why is there never a media story praising capitalism for the booming economy?

•Ever noticed that those who demand “power to the people” also believe that people can’t do anything right without government supervision?

•How exactly does dependency on the government increase “people power”?

•Why is there never a headline that says “Government program ends as its intended goal has been achieved”?

•How come so many anti-American radicals are wearing American brands, listen to American music, watch American movies, and play American video games on computers designed by American engineers?

•Why do advocates for higher taxes have accountants advising them how they can pay smaller taxes? Wouldn’t you expect them instead to seek advice on how to give away more of their income to the IRS? Or at least not to hire accountants at all?

•Can you name one person who paid the IRS more than he owed because he trusted the government to put his money to good use?

•Did it occur to any of the 9/11 Truthers that a government conspiracy to murder thousands of people would have also included a plan to rub out a few troublemakers?

•If U.S. oil companies own everyone in Washington, how come they allowed Congress to grill them for the alleged price gouging — and to broadcast it on C-Span?

•Why didn’t Congress also grill Hugo Chavez, Vladimir Putin, and a guy named Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Bin Abdulrahman Bin Faisal Bin Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Muhammad al Saud?

•Why are windfall profits a problem when they enrich U.S. companies that pay billions in taxes — but when Hugo Chavez uses the same windfall profits to fund Marxist guerillas in Colombia, it’s not a big deal?

•If George W. Bush was an oil-thirsty dictator, why couldn’t he in eight years get permission from Congress to drill in ANWR? And why didn’t that failure in any way hurt his dictatorial reputation with the media?

•If it’s true that the media emphasized bad news and harassed President Bush only because they competed for ratings, what changed now? Aren’t they worried that today’s emphasis on good news from the White House will destroy their ratings and make journalism irrelevant?

•And finally, if all opinions are equal, how come a liberal who disagrees with a conservative is open-minded, but a conservative who disagrees with a liberal is a bigot?

I hope you will find my questions handy. Feel free to pass them around and propose some of your own in the comments below.

Oleg Atbashian, a writer and graphic artist from Ukraine, currently lives in New York. He is the creator of ThePeoplesCube.com, a satirical website where he writes under the name of Red Square. He is the author of recently published Shakedown Socialism.

Are Liberals Who Disagree With Obama Also Racist?

Since 2008 when Barack Hussein Obama was selected by the Democrat Party to run for the White House many Conservatives have been labeled as racist for disagreeing with the candidate and later when disagreeing with President Obama. Now that Obama has "compromised" with the Republicans over taxes many Liberals are challenging him. Are they also racist or do different rules apply? Hmmmmmmmmm.

Obama Has Identified The Enemy In Washington, DC

A quick review of definitions of "compromise" using various definitions on the Internet lead me to believe that a "compromise" is an agreement between two or more persons, who settle their differences, on such terms as they can agree upon.

Unless of course you are the Great Uniter, Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States of America who refers to his Republican opponents as "hostage takers". To be called a Hostage Taker in this day and age is serious business and does not contribute in any way to a compromise.

The really sad part is the Democrats wasted almost two years of their political control of the House, Senate and Presidency by doing almost nothing. They have not passed a budget, nor have they solved any of the myriad of problems they were elected to do even though they controlled the House and Senate during this time.

They did pass a health care bill they can't pay for. Their good deeds led to a shellacking defeat on November 2010 yet they continue acting like they won the elections.

I want my Republican Representatives to remember when they take over the House in 2011 they were sent there to stop spending money and get control of the government. I would also like to remind those elected to the senate they were not sent there to support Obama's spending and increased government.

I can assure my representatives that the other side has no attention in working with them as indicated by Obama's description of them as "hostage takers" so they need to do their job in spite of Obama and make him veto everything they send him. Stand fast and keep plugging there will be another election in 2012, help will arrive.

Great Quote

My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.
Indira Gandhi

First Amendment To The Constitution

The First Amendment to the Constitution is written as:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


Soap Box Ravings says the a key word in the First Amendment is "Congress."

The Muslim desire to build a memorial mosque to those who died at ground zero and those who would deter them has nothing to do with the First Amendment. The first Amendment applies to Congress.

In my opinion, the mosque will be a memorial to those 16 Muslims who attacked the United States on 9/11.

Soap Box Ravings would like to add that our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have been fired on from Mosques, many many times. Mosques are also known to stow arms and ammunition. Their Imams have been known to incite their "flock" to attack both believers (who either don't believe enough, or believe the wrong type of Islam) and infidels.

It takes very little imagination to foresee an Iranian supplied dirty bomb that would eliminate the financial areas of New York.

Of course all of the Democrats who did not want Dubai to run our ports because of the possibility of terrorists all support building a Muslim trophy mosque on ground zero.

I say ground zero because the landing gear of one of the aircraft used on 9/11 went through the Burlington Coat Factory building that will be removed to construct the mosque.

Soap Box Ravings looks forward to using all of his talents this November to shut out as many liberals as possible before they complete their destruction of this country.

Obama Supports Allowing Mosque Near Ground Zero

Soap Box Ravings says with his usual grasp of the situation and his lack of concern for public opinion, to say nothing of the direct insult intended by the Muslims lobbying for this mosque, Obama said "As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country."

The full story can be found here: http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/obama-backs-building-mosque-near-ground-zero/19593493

Hundreds Of Millions More Dollars Down The Crapper

Obama signs $600M border security bill into law

Soap Box Ravings would like to point out that on Friday the 13th our "Illustrious El Presidente" signed a $600 Million Dollar border security bill which will be a lot more expensive and a lot less effective than the Arizona Border Bill his Justice Department minions are fighting in federal court.

If all states passed and enforced laws regarding illegal immigrants and their employers the U. S. Treasury would have saved $600,000,000 dollars.

Obama's Real Reason For Suing The State Of Arizona

Signs Of The Times

Soap Box Ravings says there is no need for comment. These pictures speak for themselves.

Lest We Forget How They Really Think

Soap Box Ravings says now that this General has been tasked with saving President Obama's ass, moveon.org has removed the above ad from their website. Like Muslims, many progressives will say or do one thing while believing and holding true to values that are not in tune with the deeds they may have been coerced into doing; such as hiring Bushes General to try and win Obama's war.

The real fun will come when General Petraeus runs into the President in conducting the war. Our present President seems to be very thin skinned and does not accept feedback that differs, it is the old fantasy/reality conflict we all run into during life.

Terminology, It's So Important

New Public Health Medication

Internet Fable, With Pictures, Illustrate Reality

California:

The Governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A Coyote jumps out and attacks dog.

1. Governor starts to intervene, reflects upon the movie "Bambi" and then realizes he should stop; the coyote is only doing what is natural.

2. He calls animal control. Animal control captures coyote and spends $200 testing it for diseases and $500 upon relocating it.

3. He calls veterinarian. Vet collects dead dog and spends $200 testing it for diseases.

4. Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting bite wound bandaged.

5. Running trail gets shut down for 6 months while wildlife services conduct a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is clear of dangerous animals.

6. Governor spends $500,000 of state funds implementing a "coyote awareness" program for residents of the area.

7. State legislature spends $2 million investigating how to better handle rabies and how to possibly eradicate the disease.

8. Governor's security agent is fired for not stopping the attack and for letting the Governor intervene. A cost of $75,000 to train new security agent.

9. PETA protests the coyote relocation and files suit against the state.




Arizona:

The Governor of Arizona is jogging with her dog along a nature trail. A Coyote jumps out and attacks dog.

1. Governor shoots coyote and keeps jogging. The Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge.

2. Buzzards eat dead coyote.

And that's why California is broke.

If Soap Box Raving's knew the originator of this fable, he would be happy to extend recognition.

Again I Say You Have To Love The Press/Media For Their Reporting Fairness

Critics Blast British Petroleum (BP) CEO for Attending Yacht Race as Oil Spews

Full story at: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/19/critics-blast-bp-ceo-for-attending-yacht-race-as-oil-spews/?icid=main|htmlws-sb-n|dl1|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2010%2F06%2F19%2Fcritics-blast-bp-ceo-for-attending-yacht-race-as-oil-spews%2F

Here is the first paragraph to set the tone of the article: Critics slammed BP's embattled CEO Tony Hayward for leaving the United States to attend a yacht race while the company's ruptured oil rig continues to disgorge thousands of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.



Stressed Out or Tone Deaf? Obama Chicago Vacation Raises Eyebrows

Full story at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/27/stressed-tone-deaf-obama-chicago-vacation-raises-eyebrows/

Here is the first paragraph to set the tone of the article: Presidents are never really off the clock, even when they go on vacation. But President Obama's decision to skip the traditional Memorial Day ceremony in Arlington while on his second vacation since the BP oil spill began has some wondering what the schedule says about his priorities.

Soap Box Ravings points out that prior to Tony Hayward's vacation, he was relieved of his day-day control of BP Petroleum. It is interesting that Hayward is vilified by the press and media while Obama is excused by the same people.

Congressman Grabs Citizen Asking Him A Question And Demands Identification

Congressman Ethridge physically grabs a man on the street by the arm who questioned him about his support of Obama's policies. Congressman Etheridge repeatedly demanded to know who he was talking to during this interaction. A few minutes later, after the man asked that Etheridge let go of his arm, Etheridge grabbed the man by the back of his neck and twisted him around so that Etheridge had one arm around his questioners shoulder.

I don't know about Washington, DC law, but in the State of Florida, Battery is basically defined as any unwelcome touch by another.


Soap Box Ravings is shocked that a Democrat Congressman would demand to know the name of his questioner when many of his Democrat peers including President Obama believe the Arizona Immigration Law in which an Arizona police officer will be allowed to ascertain the nationality of people they are dealing with.

Etheridge's behavior makes me believe you have to identify yourself to a Congressman before asking a question, but police officers in Arizona can not ask for your identity.

He Still Says He Is In Charge, What Is He Waiting For, The Spill Continues To Flow

Soap Box Ravings asks, "How much oil has flowed into the gulf in the 56 days before The man in charge asked for assistance. Whatever delay time in help arrival that existed before the request for help still exists. In fact now it may be worse, because much of the help was in standby ready to come to help. By now much of it has more than likely stood down since they were initially turned down.

56 days into the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, Diane Sawyer announces the federal government is now actively seeking help from other nations.


Soap Box Ravings says we have learned that He will have His foot on the throat of British Petroleum (BP). He is going to ensure BP pays. He talks like a lawyer, but his inaction speaks volumes. I heard on the radio today that He compared 9/11 2001 with the Gulf Oil Spill as major disasters. The difference would be that in the days after 9/11, the sitting president exhibited leadership. Since we have a community organizer as President, He is trying to manage the glory with no idea how to solve the problem. Anyhow, that's a thought from the fleet.

I say to you, stand by for the cap and trade that will be forthcoming in His rush to make sure this disaster does not go to waste.

By the way, as I finish this post, the ABC Evening News announced that the oil sucked out of the ocean is being held in barges. This begs the questions, how many empty, non-leaking barges are available for oil storage and where will they park during this hurricane season? Even better, the tar balls being picked up off the beaches are going to landfills.

Remember, He is in charge, or so he says.

Remember, He Says The Government Is In Control. It Is, It Is, Really It Is.

NASA photo, but the spill is larger today than it was yesterday

Spill Response Group Holland, story at:
http://home.kpn.nl/ascc0000/Members.html, or
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/dutch-oil-spill-response-team-standby-us-oil-disaster

U.S. not accepting foreign help on oil spill, story at:
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/05/06/us_not_accepting_foreign_help_on_oil_spill

According to State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley "These offers include experts in various aspects of oil spill impacts, research and technical expertise, booms, chemical oil dispersants, oil pumps, skimmers, and wildlife treatment."

Democrats want to know, story at:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=printer_friendly&forum=389&topic_id=8402501

This is a picture of a ship (either the VALDEZ STAR or the SHEARWATER) designed to remove oil from ocean waters. Most of the boats seen on the evening news are towing oil retention booms to contain the oil floating on the surface.

OIL SKIMMERS VALDEZ STAR AND SHEARWATER, story at:
http://tris.trb.org/view.aspx?id=439690

Soap Box Ravings says a real leader would have suspended federal EPA Regulations in order to capture as much oil as possible as early as possible. Now, over 40 days into the crisis oil has mixed with sea water, dispersants have been used to sink the oil (remove it from sight) and every passing day the continuing oil flow increases the magnitude of the disaster. And as I write this, I still do not think the oil skimmers have been called for. Why you ask? Because EPA Regulations say no amount of oil can be allowed from the skimming ship back into the water. So these ships, used all over the world are only 75-99% perfect. Ergo, all of the oil is left in the water instead of removing 75-99%.

One of the oil spill's immediate victims

Obama Says Bush Started It

A Intelligent Voice In The Wilderness

President Obama with his personally selected Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (No intelligent voices here)

The oil spill continues off the coast of Louisiana and British Petroleum (BP) with all of their oil well specific knowledge does not seem able to contain the spill or stop the leak.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano vowed today that the Coast Guard would take greater control of the response and ensure that "every federal resource that can be deployed is being deployed."

President Obama with his personally selected Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (No intelligent voices here)

Over the weekend, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar indicated the government might somehow replace BP as chief responder to the spill.

USCG Admiral Thad Allen (An intelligent voice in the wilderness)

The Coast Guard's Commandant today contradicted Salazar's statement, by saying there is no plan to remove BP. "To push BP out of the way would raise the question: Replace them with what?" Allen said.

Soap Box Ravings says here you have it laid out right in front of you. The Liberal response made by Secretaries Napolitano and Salazar is to "scream, shout and run about." They want to use more government to save the Gulf; to turn the full weight of the government loose (whatever that means).

Any fool can see that the US Navy and Coast Guard are not equipped to stop an oil leak 5,000+ feet under water. They have neither the equipment, knowledge or experience. The US Army, Air Force and Marine Corp also do not have any of the prerequisites.

Soap Box Ravings would think those in government at the Secretary level would understand these facts. Therefore, Soap Box Ravings believes these statements are made by these Secretaries to make the ignorant and uninformed believe the problem is being taken care of while the situation continues. Our present government is interested in blame, not necessarily problem resolution. As they say, never waste a good crisis.

Soap Box Ravings says Thank You to Admiral Allen for saying out loud the obvious. Your voice, which will probably be over run or ignored until he can be replaced by a proper fellow traveler is refreshing. This Retired Master Chief salutes you Admiral Allen for the way you are doing your job. Duty, Honor, Country; some folks out there still believe.