Ta sinn tuirseach

Posted by Greybeard on Dec 31st, 2008 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

Yes,  I am tired.     A week or so ago I paused this blog,  I just couldn’t bring my self to get involved with it.  I’ve found a few new (to me) blogs that I like to read,  and they write so much better than I.  But that’s not the problem.  The problem is, the shear overload of crappy stuff out there,  mis-information, lies,  political pandering,  etc, etc. .    I’ve finally learned that you can prove something,  over and over,  until the cows come home,  and if people don’t want to believe it,  they won’t.  Reason and logic do not seem to come into the equations these days.

Should I choose to continue,  look for fewer articles about news and politics.  There are thousands, if not millions of other sites where you can pick up your news/politics fix.   Myself,  I think I’ll shy away from both subjects.  The network news,  and newspapers are just insulting,  and the blog news,  is infuriating.   My meager offerings will change no ones mind.

~~~~>GreyBeard

A little more on Wild Bill.

Posted by Greybeard on Dec 27th, 2008 in Days of Old, Shootist | 2 comments

As promised in a previous post,  I have a bit more about the Ellis side of the family.   Wild Bill,  being the most famous Ellis, as a  Deputy U.S. Marshal, (previous post) had a decendent that wound up being a lawman in Arkansas.  In what must have been a fairly long tradition, his name was also William Ellis,  remembered as Billy Ellis.  This “Billy” was my Grandmother’s Brother.   At the present time,  the only tail I have of this relative,  is how he lost half of his left ear.

It seems that Billy had been the Sheriff for a while and had the reputation of being somewhat of a ruffian.  A kind of “my way or the highway guy”.   As the story goes,  there was a well known bootlegger running a profitable Still on a small island on the local fast running river.  Revenuer’s had tried a couple of times to bring him in, and shut down the Still,  but with no luck,  and at least one of them got dead trying.  Seems the old fart was mean,  and also a pretty good shot.  With the fast running river  between him and all takers,   it wasn’t easy getting the jump on him.

It seems that old Bill,  had closed up the town for the night,  and stopped by the backroom of the General Store (dry county) for a couple of night caps,  when another patron,  mentioned, that it was a shame about loosing that revenuer a week or so ago.  Well,  Bill had taken a bit of flack about this Still, being a dry county and all,  and I guess he got a bit worked up over it.   The evening ended with Bill heading down thru the sawgrass toward the river,  carrying his Winchester Rifle,  and everpresent Colt Peacemaker.

They didn’t get much snow in Northern Arkansas,  but it was still pretty cold.   Bill didn’t want to get his Rifle wet,  so he stashed in on the bank and waded into the darkness, Colt firmly in hand.  The current pushed him a couple hundred feet downriver of his entry point,  but he made it across, wet to his armpits.

Once ashore he picked his way back upriver,  to the point where he thought the Still was located.   It was dark,  but there must have be some bit of a moon,  because as he cleared a bit of undergrowth,  he could see a large bearded man tying a small barrell, between two logs.   He knew that this was the “Shiner“.   He stepped into the clearing,  Colt at the ready, and yelled.   The “Shiner” was quick and snatched up an old sawed off percusion double,  then rolled to the side out of the way of the .45 slug headed his way,  and pulled both triggers.  One barrell misfired and the other was off target enough that Bill was only grazed by a couple of pellets,  but the Colt was knocked loose from his hand by a more solid hit.   The “Shiner” charged him using the sawed off as a club,  but Bill got a hand on it when he swung ,  and they went down in a tangle.  They wrestled, bit,  punched and clawed until Bill whacked the “Shiner” a solid blow with a river rock.   Bill tied the “Shiner’s” moaning body to the logs and barrell,  then floated them back across the river,  leading the “Shiner” back to town at Rifle point.    Total cost of the adventure,  Bill got half his left ear bit off,  and had his Colt busted.  The “Shiner” lost his right eye to a thumb,  and his Still was smashed the next day, by, very enthusiastic Revenuer’s.  (I expect that was the least of his worry’s considering the previously murdered Revenuer.)

I don’t much have more about the elder Ellis’s,   just that my Uncle Billy was  a farmer in Northern Arkansas. 

ELLIS:  Sept of the MacPherson Clan,  HIGHLANDS,  SCOTLAND.

Athblian shona duit !

Is fear rith maith ná drochsheasamh.

Posted by Greybeard on Dec 14th, 2008 in Uncategorized | Comments Off

 

Average Tempurature for Au Gres  Dec. 3rd thru 18th

HI 24 degrees,   Low 15 degrees.

Dec.14th 

 Denver Int. Airport low -18 degrees, previous low -14 in 1901.

 White Sulfer Springs, Montana -29 degrees, previous low  -17 in 1922.

 Ice Storms ravage the NorthWest and upper Midwest.

 Hong Kong,  longest cold spell since 1885.

 Viet Nam,  40% of rice crop and 33,000 head of livestock destroyed by extreme cold.

 London,  first snow in October since 1934.

Quote from Associated Press:  “Rather than being evidence of some kind of cooling trend, this actually demonstrates how fast the Earth is warming.” ????????????????

I think it’s time for me to take a break.  ~~>GB

Nollaig Shona duit!

Speaking for the autoworker

Posted by Greybeard on Dec 11th, 2008 in News and weather, Political | Comments Off

Mitch Albon,  “If I had 5 minutes to speak to the hypocrites,  er,  I mean Congress”.

“You’ve already given hundreds of billions to banking and finance companies — and hardly demanded anything. Yet you balk at the very idea of giving $25 billion to the Detroit Three. Heck, you shoveled that exact amount to Citigroup — $25 billion — just weeks ago, and that place is about to crumble anyhow.”

How can we get ahead with bald faced Lier’s holding politcal office

Posted by Greybeard on Dec 11th, 2008 in News and weather, Political | 3 comments

From a Fox news Transcript:  “Sentors Dorgan, Kyl on Fox News Sunday”.

“The average hourly cost per worker in this country is about $28.48. For these auto makers, it’s $73. And for the Japanese auto companies working here in the United States, it’s $48. So you’ve got huge costs there.”

I’m suppose to hold my blood pressure down,  but it’s kind of hard with this kind of lies and misinformation floating around our government.   As a 30 year GM retiree,  I can positively state, that my hourly wage as a skilled tradesman,  never rose above $24 an hour before taxes,  after taxes the take home pay was reduce to about$14.50 an hour.   As stated by many people at many different times,  “You can make data,  say anything you want it to say, with the proper tweaking”.   BOTTOM LINE: I supported a family and put two kids through college on a take home pay that started a $69 a week in 1969, (as a janitor)  and rose to just under $600 a week,  (as a trained Machinist/Mechanic) in 1999.  (funny how when you make a higher wage,  taxes really start to make a difference)

This is the same type of misinformation, bandied about by the Anti-Gun crowd (and most liberals),  they all believe,  (and are probably correct) , that if you tell the same lie long enough,  the massed majority (sheeple) will believe you.

P.S.  We (the employee’s) were repeatedly told through the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s,  that even if we worked for free,   GM would not be able to lower the  prices on their cars.  Per hour wage was not considered a big factor in the cost of a car.

Just the facts,  take it or leave it.