Chuck's Common Sense

I am starting to feel something similar to the depression I felt during the first several months of COVID. I feel like the entire world is going bat guano insane all around me, and there is nothing I can do about it.

This Presidential election has ZERO good people in it. It doesn't even have any MEDIOCRE people.

Maybe we don't deserve to be saved.

1. Please read this wonderful feature story from Showcase Magazine on my good buddy Clarke Whitfield and his retirement from calling G.W. football.

2. The story refers to me as "a local broadcasting legend." Usually you have to die before being called a legend, so I will tally this one in the Positive column. :)

From Sidelines to Press Box: Clarke Whitfield’s Journey Through Two Decades of High School Football Broadcasting – Showcase Magazine August 2, 2024 From Sidelines to Press Box: Clarke Whitfield’s Journey Through Two Decades of High School Football Broadcasting by Paul Seiple If you love local high school football, you may be familiar with a voice that has been painting vivid pictures of every thrilling play for over two decades...

(Hmmm, how can I be delicate here? I don't know, but I am going to try...and probably fail.)

In reference to the controversial performance at the Olympics opening ceremony that has received such a reaction.

After the explanation was made this should have been over. Finished. A forgivable mistake.

Yes, I could understand HOW someone might mistake an artistic rendering of a famous French painting of a Greek Bacchanal for a blasphemous interpretation of Da Vinci's "Last Supper." I get it.

And yes, if I saw something that I construed as blasphemous, I would have a similar reaction. The Olympics are supposed to be an institution where we put aside political, religious and other differences for a couple of weeks so we can celebrate the fruits of discipline and achievement. Anything that mocked ANY religion has absolutely no place at the Olympics.

But once this was explained, that should have been the end of it. The explanation is 100% plausible and kinda funny, in its own way. "Oh! Egg on my face. Sorry about that!" Then we have a good laugh and tune in to a thrilling Water Polo match.

But no. When people get that SWEET dopamine rush that comes from righteous indignation they will do ANYTHING to justify it. And they will react like a dog does when you try to sn**ch their bowl of food from in front of them if you try and take that feeling away from them. Or if you try to invalidate that feeling.

Recognizing the error does not invalidate your initial feelings upon seeing this. Yes, if you saw it as an affront to your religious views, then you are most certainly entitled to be upset. But after the explanation was offered you have a chance to continue to tap into Mount Offended; or you can recognize the honest and somewhat funny misinterpretation. It is entirely up to you.

I usually use this explanation in referring to people on the far left. You know the type. The ones who scour the internet, looking for comments or photos from forty years ago that they can call "racist" today to get a serotonin rush. That type.

Once the explanation was offered then the choice was up to you. But remember, accepting the explanation does NOT invalidate your feelings at the time of viewing. Those were legit. If you want to ignore the explanation and continue to be offended, that is entirely your choice.

This is why I don't have a political home...and don't really want one.

You will find no greater example of "teamwork" than the mainstream media circling the wagons once a new talking point has been delivered from on high.

VP Kamala Harris was given broad authority on issues related to the US/Mexican border. A "Border Czar," if you will. The problem is that most Americans know the border situation has been terrible the past three years. But now that Harris is your Presidential standard bearer, how can Democrats separate her name from being associated with possibly the greatest failure of the Biden Era?

Easy. You go Full Svengali Gaslight and assure the people that Harris was NEVER the "Czar." And they are counting on you being stupid enough to nod your heads and move on.

If you could get the military to instantly and thoroughly follow orders like our Mainstream Media does from their masters, your nation would never lose a war.

"OK here's the plan. We hire a guy to shoot me...but not mortally wound me. Just graze an ear or something. From 150 yards. Now, they can plug a couple of people in the crowd just to make it look good. Oh yeah, and the person who shoots me? They have to agree to be killed by police and Secret Service. I'm sure we won't have any problem finding someone willing to go along with this. This is PERFECT!"

To summarize...those who think this past weekend's assassination attempt on Trump was "staged" need to take a long hard look in the mirror and evaluate how they got to this point in their lives.

Maybe a bit melodramatic, but I cannot stop from thinking that we were a couple of inches away from something resembling a Civil War being ignited this evening.

We have GOT to bring the temperature down, folks. This is not sustainable.

That's OK. We never paid too much attention to the prohibition around here anyway.

Federal Judge Finds Americans Have Constitutional Right To Distill Moonshine In Their Bathtub A federal judge struck down an over century old ban on home distilling Wednesday as unconstitutional.

People often ask me "what is woke?"

My answer for years has been that woke is what happens when you're so open-minded that your brains fall out.

But it is better simply to share Woke in action.

This. This right here. This is "woke." It is racist, reductive, poisonous and absolutely incompatible with our western tradition of liberal democratic ideals.

There is absolutely no good that can emerge from a philosophy that ascribes racist motivations to the very concepts of hard work, linear thinking, cause and effect, objectivity, self-motivation, tenacity, and basic manners.

If some drawling Georgia lawmaker said these things were “white” attributes, they would be rightly condemned. But in their zeal to dismantle all-things-Western-Civ, Woke actively ostracizes those essential qualities. In short, the woke mindset assigns widely admired human characteristics to a single race—then suggests those who disagree are bigots.

Woke must be destroyed.

Expecting people to be on time is part of ‘white supremacy culture,’ Duke Medical School claims “CRT scholars note that the social construction of race and racism is a regular component of American society; it is embedded in structures such as law, culture, and economics, which supports…

One thing I've noticed over the past six days is that people are not uniformly pillorying the press for jerking our chain the past three years about Biden's obvious decline.

If this happened ten years ago, the press would be front and center for their role in perpetrating the BS. But there are a minor consideration in this latest drama. Why?

Because we EXPECT the mainstream media to run interference for one of their favored politicians. It is what they do. Very few truly see them as unbiased sources of information any longer. The fact that they so obviously shilled for Biden the past three years is no longer remarkable. We fully anticipate it.

That is both good news and bad news. Its good that we are not pretending like we have unbiased sources of media any longer. But it's also sad that we have no unbiased sources of media any longer.

I guess it's nice to know I am no longer a federal felon. At least not for THIS reason.

Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump Bump-Stock Ban | National Review Justice Clarence Thomas, in his majority opinion, wrote that simply modifying a semiautomatic rifle does not turn it into a machine gun.

"Some falsely argue that the government is telling people they cannot purchase gas vehicles. The compact does not prohibit the sale of new gas combustion engines until 2035"

So it is NOT false to say the government is telling people they cannot purchase gas vehicles. What a sub-moronic statement from Sen. Surovell.

I have covered the Virginia General Assembly for over thirty years and this was the most odious piece of legislation I have seen. The very thought the California lawmakers could determine Virginia policy is repugnant.

If Sen. Surovell loves California's policies so much, Delta is ready is when he is.

Youngkin’s autocratic decision moves Virginia backwards on the transition to EV’s Some falsely argue that the government is telling people they cannot purchase gas vehicles. The compact does not prohibit the sale of new gas combustion engines until 2035 — eleven years and three governors from now.

***BREAKING***

Pittsylvania County’s first data center would be the most expensive economic development project in local history. But it's a few votes away from being official.

The County's Planning Commission Tuesday got their first information on what will be called the 58 East Data Campus. It'll be built on nearly 900 acres on the south side of Route 58, just east of the Danville city limits.

The 58 East Data Campus is an estimated $4-to-5 billion investment and will include up to 500 high-wage jobs. Once fully operational, the data center will generate between 120-and-200 million dollars annually in direct tax revenue to Pittsylvania County.

Industrial Development Authority Chairman Doctor Joey Faucette says that is the equivalent of about a dozen Caesars Casinos like the one in Danville.

The Pittsylvania County Planning Commission Tuesday recommended the Board of Supervisors approve the rezoning. The Board will take up the issue next month.

The developers will eventually have to get a Special Use Permit from the county's Board of Zoning Appeals. There will also be a traffic study from the Virginia Department of Transportation.

We'll have more information on the Data Center proposal in tonight's edition of Southside News Today.

The recent unrest on college campuses has ticked me off and stirred my writer's soul.

Read if you want. Don't if you don't.

Every picture tells a story This photo and story perfectly encapsulates the recent unrest on college campuses

We've watched the past couple of weeks as pagan religious rituals, disguised as "protests," take over major college campuses, it is VERY easy to become disillusioned by the entirety of higher education.

But there is another side which doesn't get NEARLY enough ink.

Today, my beautiful niece is graduating with a degree from Virginia Tech. She was profiled in a story this week in the school's online zine.

For every smelly miscreant shouting anti-semitic epithets, there are ten Kambers who are studying hard, overcoming obstacles and are now ready to make a positive impact on this planet.

I think it's important these days to remember that.

(Kamber Lee is going to KILL me for using her in a quasi-political post! :) )

https://news.vt.edu/articles/2024/04/cnre-persistence-award.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3_kkJlG7LJK44rsgVUZuvgBtAsvuGQ0aSTpZ5E_z8ePTTCGuzeF7Ez6B8_aem_Ab74L_o75f-Dp6drRS_ObsdEC5cgurggNs6e1koXPREmNTuTRu8Z-Ku8N4PLOn91zraHqHqR9ZH36UgTXSgMD-rL

Finding the chemistry in persistence Kamber Lee is the 2024 recipient of the Persistence and Commitment to Success Award in the College of Natural Resources and Environment.

I wrote more words today. Read or don't.

"If I despised women and feminism and wanted to undo many of the societal gains they had made in the past two generations, I'm not sure I could do a better job than these new Title IX rules."

You've come a long way, baby! The same corner of the political spectrum that created and later championed Title IX for fifty years has now made it obsolete.

It was a history-making day in Virginia. For the first time, the state legislature has passed an Assault Weapon Ban. On a party line vote today, the State Senate 20-19 passed HB2 from Del Dan Helmer.

Unlike previous versions of the AWB, this one makes possession of so-called "assault weapons" an initial Class One misdemeanor and not a felony. But it is still repugnant to the Constitution.

I don't have the energy to get into all of the reasons why this bill is odious. I'm kinda pi**ed off. Maybe I will break it down later, but this debate is beyond logical appeals. It is about pure power now.

I would NEVER tell anyone what they could or could not possess to best ensure the safety of their person and the people they love. And I expect that same courtesy in return. When I do not get reciprocated in like manner, the number of morally-justifable actions increases by quite a bit.

If this bill is signed into law by Governor Youngkin, I will defy it. You will have to put me in jail. It's that simple. I refuse to live the life of a subject. I am a *citizen*.

I can do no less.

I'm not sure I am ready for this.

Police investigating first case of girl’s virtual gang r**e in metaverse The victim may have suffered the same trauma as someone who had been r**ed in real life, police and politicians suggest.

This is the summary argument that Donald Trump's attorneys filed today in his Colorado case.

It takes a tremendous amount of chutzpah to claim that a former President of the United States "never took an oath to support the Constitution." Some might call it "unmitigated gall." I have a different set of words that, if I shared, would end my Facebook account.

My God.

And more than half of people who fancy themselves conservative support this poisonous Son of a Bitch.

I will never cease to be amazed at the gullibility of the American voter. This is all just a damned game to most people.

I cannot imagine a simpler task than nominating someone better than Joe Biden, but the GOP is going to nominate this clown and I will once again be forced to vote for someone who has zero chance of winning.

I am sick of Donald J. Trump. But I am sicker of the people who act like he is the only acceptable alternative. If that is true, then we deserve to perish as a nation.

Fall 2022: “The President never discussed business with his son.”

Last Week: “The President was never in business with his son.”

Today: “It is a preposterous premise to say President Biden shouldn't be talking with Hunter's business associates!”

Tomorrow: “You can’t expect the President to remember everyone he’s talked with!”

Next week: “You’re racist!”

Taking a sober look at the many missteps our leaders made in managing COVID will be an infuriating process for freedom-lovers. It will make us angry. Very angry. But it something that absolutely must be done.

Gorsuch is my spirit animal Libertarian-leaning justice goes scorched earth on COVID abuses

Well, let's see. Since the pandemic mania has died down we've learned that skeptics like me and many others were FAR closer to the truth than were the "experts" about crucial issues like...

1. The efficacy of masks.
2. The costs of lockdowns/stringent restrictions
3. The questionable benefits of vaccines.
And today...
4. The likely origin of COVID-19.

I am constrained to point out that, for our doubt and our nagging questions, we were called Granny Killers, had people wishing COVID and death upon us and those we love, had our jobs and livelihoods threatened, had people who wanted to deny us medical care for holding skeptical views, were muscled off of social media platforms, and saw people shrug their shoulders as our businesses went under while monotonously intoning, "We're all in this together."

So no...I am not in a forgiving mood. I doubt I ever will be. My solace is that the "experts" and those who worship them, will wield a lot less authority the next time anything like this comes down the turnpike. In short, a lot MORE of us will ignore you.

WSJ News Exclusive | Lab Leak Most Likely Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic, Energy Department Now Says The Energy Department joins the FBI in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory. Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that it was likely the result of a natural transmission, and two are undecided.

Absolutely outstanding.

The most useless GOVT agency (and that is saying a lot) is getting a hefty raise, along with collective bargaining power.

That means the same people not qualified to change oil at Jiffy L**e will soon be making three times more than they are worth.

TSA Gets $400 Million for Pay Raises in Omnibus Spending Bill The TSA ought to be privatized or abolished. Instead, it's getting more expensive and further cemented into the federal bureaucracy.

And the Mainstream Media continues to scream that they are "real news."

"If it weren't for a maddening pay disparity, Brittney Griner almost certainly would not have been in Russia."

Opinion | Brittney Griner should have never had to be in Russia in the first place WNBA players can earn upward of $1 million by taking their talents outside the United States. Brittney Griner shows us how perilous this can be.