Author: admin

73, K5YPV

K5YPV

Everyone has friends, some that might be referred to as ‘close’ friends. If you’re fortunate, though, you’ll have at least one friend you might think of as indispensable. Wayne Ridge was that indispensable friend in my life.

We met when I was 15 years old. I was looking for someone who would help me get in to Amateur Radio, and Wayne was who was recommended to me. The story of my first meeting with him is humorous, but he instantly took me under his wing (he was 8 years older than me) and taught me what I was looking for, as well as a number of other things down through the years. He helped me get my Ham Radio license, and forever K5YPV and WA5TMC were linked.  I spent countless hours as his business; we traveled together; we enjoyed our hobby together; and I worked for him for a number of years. For over 53 years, I’ve counted Wayne as one of the closest of my friends.

Over the last three years, we both had health problems, then the Covid pandemic kept us apart, but I always saw a smile from him when I’d show up, and we’d still talk every so often. As his health declined, and the pandemic dangers loomed, it became harder to meet in person, particularly when he was essentially homebound.

Wayne passed away Thanksgiving Day, and one of my oldest friends has joined all the others we both had said “so long” to over the years.  Am I sad?  Yes, but from what I know of Wayne, we will see each other again. I’m sad because I can no longer just pick up the phone and call him, and his signal is permanently “off the air”, but I wouldn’t call him back into this mess from the paradise I’m sure he’s now in.

So, 73, K5YPV. I will certainly miss you from this place. But, we’ll meet again in a better place where the signals are always strong, the DX is coming in from all over, and it’s permanent Field Day. Keep the antennas tuned – we’ll all be along shortly.

Karl, WA5TMC

The Climate Change Liars Hall of Fame

Over 50 years, there have been at least 41 predictions of climate change catastrophe, not one – ONE! – of which has come true.  So, this big lie of the “science is settled” just gets bigger and bigger.  Remember, this is not – NOT – about saving the planet, or making things better.  This is about control and money – NOTHING ELSE!  That’s not to say that there aren’t some true believers out there, though.  Their problem, tnough, is that they’re either deluded or ignorant.  Well, let’s address the ignorant.

If you believe all this hubbub about climate change is true and that we’re doomed, it might be a good idea to understand how all these paragons of scientific truth have either been wrong, or just out and out lied before.

This first link details 27 previous episodes of junk “science”.  Following that are links to the 14 latest ones.  So, don’t be wilfully ignorant.  Learn!!
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Necessary Evil

What is “Necessary Evil”, and how does that affect me?

I have been perturbed lately by discussions I’ve had online and with actual humans in person about why we should or should not trust our government, and one thing stands out to me.  That is how little we understand the nature of government, and the pains our Founders went through to protect our nation from the problems governments and potentates had caused in the past.  First, and this is an important point, they collectively viewed government as a ‘necessary evil’.  The larger the government, the less necessary, and the more evil. But, let’s take a close look at the term “necessary evil”.  There are two operative and diametrically opposed terms here.  “Necessary”, and “Evil”.

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Daylight Savings Time – It really saves

You may have heard some of these, but here’s a couple

“Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket.”

or my favorite:

“Daylight saving time occurs because Chuck Norris hits snooze on his alarm clock.”

There are those who think daylight savings time is just a trick and we’re the victims.  Well, they’re only partially correct. The truth is, DST is there to correct the trick.  What is the trick that it corrects?  The clock.  Let me explain….

Before clocks became available to the average man, people kept time by the sun.  The day started when the sun came up, and ended when the sun went down.  Indeed, those of us familiar with the Bible read how the Hebrews reckoned time by the number of hours since sunrise.  The 9th hour, for instance, was sometime around 3:00 p.m. – or 9 hours after sunrise.  So, the workday began, depending on your particular activity, when the sun came up, and by the time the sun went down you were through with your daily work and it was time to get ready for bed.

Then came clocks.  Now we have a mechanical means of keeping up with time.  That was the first major change, and things would never be the same.
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Benevolent Government?

Governments do one thing and one thing only – wield power. There is no such thing as a benevolent government. Governments only appear somewhat benevolent because they haven’t yet completed their journey to tyranny, but they are all headed in that direction! So, be very afraid of any power you grant to anyone, and even more afraid of power given to a group of people.

What brought on this mini dose of absolute reality? The story of little Charlie Gard, a British infant the British government wants to kill. Despite the offer of a U.S. doctor to use a new experimental procedure that has some possibility; despite the raising of private funds to pay for it; despite the offer of Congress to grant citizenship to little Charlie to expedite his trip here; and despite some physical evidence to suggest there’s still “something there” inside little Charlie’s head, the British government wants to kill him.

Why? Two reasons: Them’s the rules, and because they can.

Still want the government to have a role in health care? Well, pardon me, but you’re an idiot.