Posts Made By: Rod Kaufman

Originally Posted by David Cotterell

I ordered an Askar 103mm APO refractor just now.  

So my mind isn't on this current debacle.

Now to find a ZWO AM3 or 5.

Carry on without me.

Dave

"Carry on without me."

I already did that, earlier in the week:

Highlights from my observations with my 16" astrosystems dob at the LAAS dark sky site with an SQM reading of 21.42 last Monday due to an inland cloud/fog bank moving in from the coastline and attenuating the lighthouse from LA:

1. NGC 6475-Three colliding galaxies known as "The Bird's Head" galaxy in Lyra:  No mistaking its bird-like shape in the barlowed 10mm ethos. Another one of those memorable take-away observations you don't forget.

2. Most obscure galaxy observation of the evening: While going through a number of galaxies in Coma Borealis, I happened to view NGC 6104 a 13.2 magnitude 30" circular haze when I saw another nebulous haze near it so I went back to the Observer's Guide and while the Guide generally doesn't include MGCs, it did include this one: MGC+6-36-12 and describes it as a "very faint 20" haze."
I found one reference to it on the internet because of a recorded supernova in the vicinity and it lists the magnitude as 15 but it's so diffuse and spread-out it's quite the challenge to see. In fact if you can see it in this image, then your computer probably has greater resolution than mine:
https://www.kopernik.org/images/archive/n6104.htm
Anyhow, I could see it directly on Monday evening.

3. The views of the Veil and Crescent were outstanding and that was with the DGM NPB without even having to resort to the O111. Just etched against the background of space.

4. Corralled the Blue Horsehead IC 4592 in Scorpio --definite capture.

5. Checkout Saturn later in the evening when it finally rises--ring system nearly edge-on and when I viewed it several of its moons were aligned on either side of the planet-similar to those commonly seen with Jupiter. Neat view!

I could see the usually prominent combined lightdome of SCV/LA to the south decrease in size and the corresponding improvement with SQM readings and that was with the milky way overhead.

Like last month, I had the place basically to myself with one other imager who's usually there on the other side of the site. I got a lot done...

Originally Posted by James Lacey

It's an isolated incident. There is no widespread evidence that illegal aliens are faking kidnappings in large numbers. So, yes, she needs to face justice for her actions, but drawing broad generalizations like, "Now ILLEGAL aliens are staging their kidnappings and faking them..." is a bit ridiculous. Besides, your thread titles are already long enough. Do you need to make them redundant by saying "staging their kidnappings" and "faking them?" Isn't that the same thing? I wonder how many faked kidnappings or abductions are staged annually by citizens? It doesn't take a genius to understand that whatever the number is, it's way higher per capita than those carried out by illegal aliens. In short, this is just another sensationalist clickbait right-wing headline, intended to whip the MAGA faithful into a frothing frenzy.

"In short, this is just another sensationalist clickbait right-wing headline, intended to whip the MAGA faithful into a frothing frenzy."

Of course it is but, when it comes to red meat, Davis, as we know, will eat anything. Never could get enough...

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

I'll bet Roddie still believes that the Russians colluded with Trump to steal the 2016 election, 

Yes, Roddie the Red really is that stupid.  

Not Trump dummy, his campaign manager:

"Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort worked closely with a Russian intelligence officer who may have been involved in the hack and release of Democratic emails during the election, the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded in a bipartisan report..."

"It’s the furthest U.S. officials have gone in describing Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime Manafort business associate, as an agent of the Russian government. The disclosure was part of the committee’s fifth and final installment of its investigation of the Kremlin’s interference in the 2016 presidential election."

"In particular, the committee’s investigation found that Manafort “represented a grave counterintelligence threat” due to his relationship with Kilimnik and other Russians connected to the country’s intelligence services — a bombshell conclusion that underscores how Russia developed a direct pipeline to the upper echelons of a U.S. presidential campaign."

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/18/manafort-worked-with-russian-intel-officer-who-may-have-been-involved-in-dnc-hack-senate-panel-says-397597

According to "Dr" Tommy Tuberville, the cause of Trump's chronic venous insufficiency " could be a result of his efforts in “fighting the radicals.”  "Tuberville repeated baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump and claimed that migrants without legal status were voting in droves for Democrats."

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5410255-tuberville-says-trump-health-issues-exacerbated-by-fighting-the-radicals/'

It's a safe bet Richie believes all of that...

Contrary to the lies pushed by Hamas and frequently unchallenged by MSM:


https://x.com/AvichayAdraee/status/1947023864157868520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1947023864157868520%7Ctwgr%5Eb4747dbb1413e53ec43a327c57a1b2b23168c655%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fisrael-news%2F2025-07-21%2Flive-updates-861693

Originally Posted by James Lacey

It will be interesting to see how this all pans out. The funniest thing about this controversy is that Trump's allies, like Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, and others, are the ones who perpetrated the conspiracy theory that our federal government was secretly controlled by a cabal of elites that were also pedophiles, and of course, Democrats. Remember QAnon and Pizza Gate from the 2016 election? Remember the Pizzagate gunman who went to a pizza parlor looking for a Democratic pedophile crime ring?

At this point, I have to wonder if Trump will never release the Epstein files and instead pardon Ghislaine Maxwell in exchange for her just listing his political enemies. Probably, even if they do release the files, they will be edited, redacted, or limited in scope. Or it could be they can't release them in a limited scope, since they know some other party has gained access to them (Musk?) and could publish objective evidence. So, they have no choice but never to release them. Isn't it obvious that Trump is doing everything in his power to avoid releasing them, since he is mentioned in them? They claim none of it is incriminating, but if it were me and I were mentioned in the files, and releasing them would show that nothing was incriminating, I would release them. As I said, it will be interesting to see how it all pans out, but what I find most amusing about it is that Trump is caught by the conspiracy theory he and his allies first started spreading back during the 2016. MAGA and other former and current Trump allies would not be clamoring for the documents otherwise.

Now Trump has left the country, something politicians do when the heat is on:   https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/26/politics/trump-scotland-golf-epstein-scandal

They've tried virtually every distraction tactic they can think of (Davis believe's 'em all): 1. Denying the list exists--nothing to see here. 2. Re-investigating Comey and Brennan for a bogus deep state conspiracy. 3. Investigating Obama for election interference. 4. Pulling Mike Johnson's strings to call for a summer recess on a vote to release the files---still on the agenda for September by it's by-partisan supporters. 5. Rallying MAGA influencers like Steve Bannon behind Trump.

Thus far, none of the above has worked with the base and the ultra right MAGA nuts: Laura Loomer, Marjorie Taylor Greene and the more moderate ones like Joe Rogan.

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Undoubtedly, they'll be signed by Donald Trump!

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/trump-rebate-checks-tariff-revenue-debt/?intcid=CNR-02-0623

If it happens, it's tacit acknowledgement that everybody's costs have gone up because of the tariffs. 

Tariffs have cost GM and VW Of America more than a billion a piece thus far. I'm sure their management and their shareholders are loving the tariffs, don't ya think?...

Here comes the senate bill to do it! And, of course, it's "blamed on Biden"!

"Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has introduced legislation to provide $600 tariff rebates to almost all Americans and to their dependent children, meaning a family of four would receive $2,400.:"

"Hawley said in a statement that “Americans deserve a tax rebate after four years of Biden policies that have devastated families’ savings and livelihoods.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5425288-hawley-tariff-rebates/

I wonder what Rich Davis will do with his big, beautiful bounty? My guess?, restock on TV dinners, perhaps splurge on an extra big mac or two or three per week, or refill the beer keg  for tailgate parties in support of his active MAGA lifestyle (burp)...

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

Don't confuse me with your regular schedule.  I've never had a beer keg or a tailgate party.

How often DO You enjoy that kind of partying?  Is it often, every week during the summers, or just occasionally?

Nada, I just routinely jog by the local MAGA's in the neighborhood, smell the meat burning on the barbe, hear the burping and the usual and customary F this and F that which comprises their conversation and try to avoid looking at their Trump flags...

This should make Rich happy:

"US to burn $9.7 million worth of USAID-purchased contraceptives rather than deliver them to women overseas"

"The Trump administration has just sent $10m worth of birth control to be burned – rather than donate it as aid"

https://www.the-independent.com/news/health/trump-birth-control-contraceptive-burned-aid-us-b2797930.html

Originally Posted by James Brown

You guys a couple of prudes?  I definitely enjoy grilled meat in the summer, along with grilled fish, shellfish, and peppers too!  And yes, I love a decent beer, wine, cocktail etc.  Everything in moderation, said the moderate Rino!

Well, despite our differing culinary tastes, I think your conversation would definitely be more welcome than the usual and customary Trump folk dialect of F this and F that! 

That said, I'm merely just trying to cheer Rich up a bit since everybody seems to be picking on him. It addition to my prior post on the Trump administration destroying more foreign aid, I thought he'd appreciate what Trump's tariffs are doing these days:   

"Trump’s tariffs could squeeze US factories and boost costs by up to 4.5%, a new analysis finds"

"There’s going to be a cash squeeze for a lot of these firms,” said Chris Bangert-Drowns, the researcher at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth who conducted the analysis. Those seemingly small changes at factories with slim profit margins, Bangert-Drowns said, “could lead to stagnation of wages, if not layoffs and closures of plants” if the costs are untenable."

"The latest estimate from the Budget Lab at Yale is the tariffs would cause the average household to have $2,400 less than it would otherwise have."

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-factory-costs-manufacturing-4c928842b57c7f36db9d5ca26a84108b

Now, that ought to cheer him up, don't ya think?...