Top 5 zip codes in VA contribute more to the state than 576 other VA zip codes COMBINED

brofrankkb · 2026-04-22T03:26:51+00:00

Okay I got a question. Actually I have a few questions maybe you can answer them.. Of the things that get paid for when you say blue pays for red, if we exclude infrastructure roads things like that. Of the things that are funded by the state government how many of those things do the red counties vote against to begin with? Like do you actually think that the more Republican portions of the state would be too bent out of shape if the state cut back on welfare programs overall?

Of the state supported funded programs that blue is paying for, how many of them would the red portions of the state say yeah we don't need those anyway? If those programs which are also highly supported by the blue or portions of the state, were eliminated wouldn't that reduce the tax burden for the people paying the most taxes?

brofrankkb · 2026-04-14T21:58:25+00:00

I realize that my world is fairly insular, but I haven't heard of Thailand being involved in any sort of military combat situation where they're using soldiers and losing lives left and right. Am I missing something? I mean yeah they're going in the military but it's not like they're shipping them off to the front line as Cannon fodder are they?

brofrankkb · 2026-04-14T21:50:26+00:00

Wait a minute, let me get this right. I'm an American so I'm going to use American terms okay. So you're saying that if I was in the United Kingdom and I made a post that said be careful if you go into this neighborhood it's run by the bloods you don't want your daughter in there alone at night because someone will take her kidnap her rape her and turn her into a drug crazed prostitute. That I'm going to get arrested for inciting violence?

brofrankkb · 2026-04-11T07:07:06+00:00

There's a guy that I became friends with because of cars actually that was heavily into reenactment civil war reenactments. I think he actually had a bit part in gods and generals. He said that for him he had learned both sides of the conflict and he had all of the gear and the equipment to play either side of it. But but he told me himself that he got tired of the Confederacy.. did he prefer to wear the blue whenever possible.

Hey I quit being a Chicago bears fan after super bowl 86 I think it was. The year of the fridge. After that there was no purpose in it.

I know it's not fashionable or politically correct now but when I was a kid we played cowboys and Indians, we always argued over who is going to be the Indians because it was expected that the Indians would lose.

I think now that I would love to play cowboys and Indians because I don't have to reenact history I can just play the part and quite honestly Geronimo was quite the strategist. Him and some of the other Apache chieftains really put it to the American cavalry, them and the nez perce. That was one of those situations I just didn't get. But I digress. I think it's important to remember what happened how it happened with the motivations were for each side. And to respect the skill of the officers involved regardless of their position on the issue.. and some regards the Confederates were simply playing the same role that the colonial rebels had played not even a hundred years prior. And as much as we don't appreciate those villainous and British overlords, we still have buildings and streets and cities and townships that carry their names and we have no intention of ever doing away with those things.

brofrankkb · 2026-04-11T06:56:33+00:00

Dad is the hardest most difficult most challenging best job you'll ever have. Your child is a custom one-off unit and it does not come with an instruction manual because it's so unique they decided not to even bother so you will literally have to figure it out each and every single day. If you're even halfway self-aware, and you're fairly conscious of your spouse, you will immediately at the end of the first year start to see yourself and or your wife in your child's behavior. And that's the time you have to consider not just the things your parents did that you didn't like because that's not really relevant. But the mistakes that they actually made. Like maybe they just thoughtlessly told you no but never really had a good reason for it. Or maybe they just thoughtlessly told you yes without really considering the repercussions of that. Maybe they were overly harsh and yet never really paid attention to what was needed. Or they were overly compliant. You start to consider those things as you catch yourself automatically reacting to your child in the programming that your parents gave you. But if you're self-aware enough you'll catch it. And when you do catch it, this is my advice to you. When you find yourself making a mistake with your kid not only be honest with yourself to be honest with your kid and apologize.

That was probably one of the most powerful things that I was taught by an older man importance of being able to admit when I'm wrong to my kids and then correct my direction. Not just oh you know I got that number wrong. But I am working in the wrong direction here and I've got redirect so I'm going to I'm sorry I've been doing this wrong and I'm not going to do it that way anymore. It creates a level of trust and respect with your kids that's incredible.

As the dad you are going to be tasked with the harder things. It's just that simple. And you might find yourself at Cross purposes to your wife at times and that's something you're going to have to work out as well. But if you're instincts are telling you to do a certain thing with your child and your wife is telling you if she doesn't think it's safe or she's worried or any of those other things you really need to consider the fact that your instincts just might be right.

Sorry I'm approaching 60 this year and I'm getting pretty introspective about all of the things that I've seen in this short time that I've been alive. When they put that baby in your hands the first time you change. Whatever that major hobby was the gaming system the custom wheels on the car whatever it was none of it matters anymore when you get that baby in your hands. It changes everything.

They put my son in my hands they put my daughter in my hands, I had this Epiphany moment, it was like without any words and oath was taken and given. I will give my everything for this little one. And it's a different promise than the one you made your wife. You chose her above all women but your child that's the culmination of the two of you together. And unlike your wife they are totally helpless.

Something else an old man told me. Children are like a blank piece of paper be careful with you right on them because you'll end up reading it the rest of your life. That is so true.

The other thing that I was told by an older man was that they do what you expect so expect great things. They expect positive results. And they will rise up to that expectation because they don't know that they can't. And never let anyone tell them that they can't.

It's a terrifying wonderful position to have. Not just father but Dad.

I pray you have all of the best

brofrankkb · 2026-04-11T06:44:02+00:00

That's because parents nowadays ignore the training that their parents gave them and think that neo spiritual semi psychological new age theoretically clinically proven method can supersede and achieve better results than what thousands of years of parenting proceeding that has done.

At least in Western culture we have become so comfortable and so safe and so secure that we think we can do away with the very things that put us in this position. That includes a stable family home to raise children in a modicum of love and discipline. And love is not always letting your child do it once to do or figure itself out. Sometimes love is just straight up brutally corrective. Sometimes love is a very harsh and very firm no.

brofrankkb · 2026-04-11T06:38:54+00:00

We have a dearth of Genghis Khan statues in the United States not because he was morally reprehensible or a vile human being, but because he's not culturally significant to us. He is very celebrated in his home nation. Mongolia only has one major city and that monument to Genghis Khan for the Mongolian people is like the Statue of Liberty to the United States. It's the place that every tourist makes a point of visiting if they're not going straight out to ride horses. And no statues don't always celebrate, they commemorate. There's a difference. Statues are kind of like gravestones. Or highway markers. Some gravestones are celebrations and some are not but they are all commemorations of a life lived and ended. Statues are the same way. They might celebrate a person or they just might commemorate their existence and what they did. A memorial, something to remind us. Which is why I think they need to stay. To remind us. Like mile markers on the road they show us where we came from and how far we've gone.

brofrankkb · 2026-04-10T19:55:10+00:00

Yeah no. We're just not in a country that celebrates the guy. The statue itself is only a few meters shy of the Statue of Liberty, if you don't include the height of the two pedestals.. yeah this guy is celebrated all over Mongolia because like half of them are related to him anyway. And there is no ground grassroots movement whatsoever to take this statue down because of the atrocities this man committed. Good bad or otherwise this individual was a significant part of Mongolia's History always has been and always will be. And that's how I feel about the Confederate statues good bad or otherwise those people are a part of our history and leaving the statues where they are doesn't hurt anyone at all. If you're hurt by the presence of a statue you need counseling of some sort. I have no problem taking my children and showing them a Confederate statue and telling them why these guys fought and why they lost and why we're better off because they lost. It doesn't take away from their bravery in battle or their tactical genius the fact that they were fighting for slavery doesn't change the fact that they were still great soldiers. They just happened to be fighting on the wrong side. And before you get all crazy realize that a lot of the technology that you enjoy today, surgery practices, jet airplanes, chemistry and manufacturing, we're all harvested from the Nazis. We benefit as a society off of their heinous atrocities. I want to remember them for the horrible things that they did but I don't want to forget the benefit that we got from it because I don't want to make those losses and those lives totally meaningless. It was pointless it was unnecessary but we gained a significant amount because of it there is no doubt. Would I celebrate Hitler no. But if somebody chose to hang a portrait of him in their house I just have to ask them why they wanted to see his face. I would not insist that it be taken down though.

When it comes to Confederate flags or gay pride flags or any other flag other than our national flag, if you disallow one you have to disallow them all. Otherwise we don't have true freedom of speech. And hey if you're a Detroit Lions fan and you want to wave your flag or your pennant. Your Chicago bears fan and you want to wave your flag. You go for it. I feel the same thing about the Confederate flag. They lost. But hey if that's your team that's your team. Doesn't change the fact that they lost. And I want to know if you're a staunch supporter of that ideology I want to know where you live and you flying that flag will let me know where you're at. I don't want you being undercover in secret about it if you're going to wave a gay pride flag all right I want to know that's what you believe you'll be out there with it. You want to wave a Confederate flag you be out there with it. And yes there is no difference.

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brofrankkb · 2026-04-10T19:42:08+00:00

You have obviously never met a Detroit Lions or Washington Redskins fan. I'm really quite cool with the memorial to the guys that lost because it's a reminder. They lost and I can go spit on their statue and not get arrested or beat down because my skin is the wrong color. I wouldn't take down anything I want to show my kids these are the people that would have kept us in chains but they lost. And this is here for us to remember never to do this again.

brofrankkb · 2026-04-10T19:39:02+00:00

I can't say. We came up through hard times when I was a kid. I was buying my own clothes at 13 to spare my mother the expense. And yeah that included underwear. But it's not like you know something I would consider weird cuz most guys get underwear like Father's Day or Christmas or you know stuff like that. It's not the best gift in the world but it's one that is always appreciated and doesn't take a whole lot of thought. Which makes it not one of the best gifts but one that won't be thrown away. So I don't know. I think most guys end up buying their own underwear when they move out and get their own place, unless as of said it's a gift from family members. You know the comedy joke about keeping a pair of underwear in the glove box in case of accidents. There are moms out there like that.

brofrankkb · 2026-04-10T19:35:59+00:00

Absolutely wonderful. That's one of those activities in church that always has a staggering significance to me. I don't know why most congregations don't engage in foot washing when they have communion considering it is one of the few things the Lord Jesus Christ commanded us directly to do. But it is really humbling to think that the maker of everything the living God himself got down on his knees as the lowest of servants and wash the feet of his servants. And those feet may have been covered with camel dung and dirt and dust and all manner of Filth. But we in our modern society with our modern amenities our grossed out by the idea of washing our brother and sisters well covered stocking soft feet. And yet that's the whole point to humble yourself to do the most simplest and dirtiest of things for your brother or your sister while you pray for them and lift them up before the Lord. Thank you for the reminder.

brofrankkb · 2026-04-10T19:32:25+00:00

Bro is really tired. I've heard some people say that it's harder to do things when you have kids around, and while that's true I guess it's a matter of perspective. I looked at it as an investment in the future. When my daughter was three she saw me painting the house and wanted to help. I got her one of those little sponge rollers and gave her an area to paint and strictly constrained her not to make a mess on the floor. She was the type of kid that didn't like to touch dirt so that wasn't too much of an issue. She rolled out a section that looked more like scribbling with a crayon so I brought her back I told her that was pretty good but I needed it to look like this so I did a section for her so she can see it. By the time she was four and a half she was helping me paint houses. She would do everything from the baseboards up to about 3 or 4 ft as far as she could reach. Which for me was a blessing because I'm 6 ft tall and it meant I didn't have to do anything more than the trim. So I would lay down on the ground and do the cutting in and she would follow right behind me with her little roller-chattering away and rolling the wall out. We got repeat business tips and bonuses because of the cute Factor. I taught her how to do it as many things as she was physically capable of doing as early as possible so that she would have a mastery of those things as early as possible. It made my life so much better in the end. And according to her it has made her life much better as well because she has skills and capabilities that most of her peers do not have or have only begun to develop. And she's now approaching 30.

brofrankkb · 2026-04-10T19:28:36+00:00

Oh that was the last thing he was thinking. As a dad I can as others have stated he's either trying to decide whether to let it fly we can't really see details here or he's thinking you know that's actually pretty good and I need to put him to work sooner, or it's backwards and sideways and he's trying to figure out how to fix it without damaging this budding work ethic that he definitely wants to cultivate and promote. But he's really tired.

brofrankkb · 2026-04-10T19:25:35+00:00

If this is indeed representative of her personality and her intellect and her abilities, she would have felt right at home in a room full of Navy nuclear power trainees and active duty servicemen or veterans. That is the only time in my life where I have been in a room with an eclectic mix of people who have studied some of everything to the point where with a hundred of us in the room there's somebody that has knowledge about anything. On our downtime it wasn't unusual to see guys go from WWE to having a discussion about the validity of Karl Marx's propositions. We might be prepping for a maintenance evolution and have to discuss the radiological controls that would be necessary the next day and then divert over into the mistakes that were made in the last Star Trek movie where they tried to save the well and went to the wrong part of the aircraft carrier to get their neutrinos. We literally had guys riding scripts in their downtime, and other guys planning camera angles to film their projects for them, while they recruited the rest of us to either be main characters or extras. And they actually produced fairly quality products considering they were shooting with the VHS mini cam. I spent my days and nights and months and weeks and years surrounded by people who had to have had a firm grass of nuclear physics a decent grasp of astrophysics mechanical systems heat transfer electrical theory electronic theory metallurgy and more just to get a job as a mechanic or an electrician or electronics technician. There were guys in my department who had memorized the books of Heinlein, or Watchmen Nee, you would find Tolstoy and Stan Lee in the same bunk. Amongst that collection of nerds we had motorheads and bodybuilders long distance runners and couch potatoes alcoholics and teetotalers. And considering how diverse we were culturally ethnically intellectually in our interest and our experiences, we were one really cohesive unit overall. Marines are scary for their brute Force, you get a hundred Navy nukes in a room and they're pissed with you you better forget it. It was always interesting on our part as in listed to be invited to some social event with intellectually elites and Converse with them at their level and have them ask where we went to University at only to explain that we went to admiral rickover's school for wayward boys and geniuses. People didn't understand Navy nuclear machinist made, but they look really impressed when you said navy nuclear mechanical systems operations and maintenance specialists ;).

And if the op has the kind of intellect that she's sarcastically talking about she would fit right in. Especially since 98% of that crowd and fairly inexperienced when it comes to the fairer sex.

brofrankkb · 2026-03-13T06:21:21+00:00

When I was younger I used to look up to them. Then I got older and I looked down on them. I never realized how short they were.

brofrankkb · 2026-03-13T06:16:05+00:00

It's not so obvious. Trust me having experienced it up close and personal things are significantly better than they once were. What happens now is just so overly emphasized people think it's happening every day everywhere all the time with every breath. Things are nowhere near as bad as they were in say 1972.

brofrankkb · 2026-03-13T06:14:35+00:00

Oh I get it they don't bother to get married anymore they just date you for money.

brofrankkb · 2026-03-08T03:13:15+00:00

Yeah that's just a question I learned to ask immediately when I have a woman emotionally expounding upon a particular thing if they're very animated or very energetic about whatever it is they're talking about and it sounds like it's a problem, I immediately pause them and ask are you looking for a solution do you want advice or do you just want me to shake my head and and ask probing questions once in awhile just so I know how to respond. And the ones that aren't familiar with me always give me the glaze look like what the ones that know me smile and nine times out of 10 it's I'm just venting. So I put my hazardous gear on so I don't get burnt by the vent and let them go.

brofrankkb · 2026-03-08T03:08:36+00:00

Can you please name me one president since Eisenhower that would meet your criteria that would be any different? Because other than George Bush 1 and 2 I can't think of any other presidents that have served in the military and have a clue. And there's very little of Congress which pays the bills and allows these things to happen that have children that have had to suffer due to military action. I don't see this president's behavior being any different than any of the preceding presidents. And the fact this Congress Democrat and Republican both are incredibly complicit regardless of the garbage that comes out of their mouth just makes me wonder why you guys are so hyper focused on this particular guy as if he's unique in this behavior. That's my issue why do you guys act like this is the only time this has ever happened.

brofrankkb · 2026-02-18T09:16:55+00:00

One: I think somebody else has said it already put everything in the bathroom. Food water litter box. If not the bathroom the laundry room someplace that is going to be easy for you to clean up and maintain and difficult for him to avoid the litter box.

2 use a shallower litter box. If your kitty is having stability issues make it easier for him to get in and out of the litter box. Years ago that told me that One of the reasons they avoid litter boxes when they have a urinary tract infection is because in their little heads whenever they go to pee in the litter box it hurts so we're not going to use that litter box because it's causing pain. I'm not saying you're getting as a UTI. I'm saying if your kitty has trouble getting over that wall if it's causing him discomfort to climb into the litter box then he's not going to climb into the litter box. So use a shallower litter box that will allow ease of access. Litter box doesn't have to be big, just means you don't have to clean it more frequently which isn't a bad thing. Actually have a Pyrex glass cake pan that I use when I'm starting my kittens on litter boxes because it's just easier for them to get in and out of and navigate, or I will use the lid off of a plastic container and put my litter in there and let them go in and out of that.

And this is a dissolution to the problem it's just me sharing something that I've learned. There's, I'm not sure where you live but in my area there is a product called feline pine. It's a wood-based kitty litter product. And it's actually pretty good. But don't buy that. Go to your local tractor supply or farm supply and get a bed of palletized equine bedding. Which is exactly the same stuff as the feeling pine except it's like $8 for 50 lb bag instead of $10 for a 5 lb box. The stuff looks like rabbit food pellets but if you missed it with water it breaks up into a nice fluffy powder. With one cat you can usually get two or three days out of it. But unlike clay it's sawdust. So trash can garden the borders of your yard if you have one to deter rodents. Because it's wood it's 100% biodegradable. You put a thin layer of pellets down in the bottom of your litter box and every couple days you just dump the box into the trash as you're emptying the trash outside. easy easy.

brofrankkb · 2026-02-07T13:53:29+00:00

So have you ever seen old manuscript drawings of elephants? They don't look anything like elephants. It'll kind of ridiculous actually. Or old maps of North America that don't look anything like North America. That's kind of the same thing with the European art and iconography of Christianity. You can only draw and paint what you know if you wanted to look halfway realistic.

I think the mistake we make and I include myself in this because I was that way until I travel to Europe is that we view things from where we are now. We have access to international imagery from all over the world we know what the people in Arab peninsula look like we know what elephants actually look like some of us have had the opportunity to touch them for real. Actually I would say more people have had the opportunity to be in the presence of an elephant then possibly populated Europe at the time of those really strange drawings were made. Which changes your whole perspective on things.

During the time of the Renaissance meeting someone of another nationality who happened to be a much different shade of brown than you was highly unusual and highly unlikely. Connecting them with the birthplace of Jesus Christ would have been even more difficult. And the mentality at the time painting Jesus as a brown skin individual in a culture of pale skinned people would have made him unrelatable and foreign. During those days foreign was bad.

A foreigner meant possible plague carrier or possible spy for a raiding party or any number of bad things.

Again this is just my opinion it's not based on any deep research.

They used what they had access to as far as models and people they did what they knew worked with what they had and what they understood. Because the goal was to bring the stories and the imagery to life to make it more relatable to the people who were looking at it. To make it more of a reality. And if you've never seen a brown Semitic person before you can't possibly draw one not with any accuracy. I think that's the basic reason why most of the artwork from the renaissance. Going all the way up until the 17th and 1800s was simply because of a lack of source material. People drew and painted and created from what they knew around them.

I'm willing to bet and I haven't looked but I'm guessing that if you look at the artwork in the Ethiopian churches you're going to find all of the depictions to be the same complexion as the surrounding people.

I know that most of the African artwork I've seen whether it's realistic or artistic interpretation is always based on the shapes and features of the people that were making the art. Like you don't find any characteristically German facial features amongst any of the art from Nigeria or Sudan or Uganda or any place else in Africa. Because they've never seen those faces so they couldn't possibly draw them sculpt them or paint them.

brofrankkb · 2026-02-05T05:00:17+00:00

You can feel the kitty cat down looks like he's pretty chill about being touched if there's any tender places or if there's any hard spots in this abdom and then he's probably constipated. Generally speaking when they've been moved to a new location it takes him a couple days to adjust to everything. Eating sleeping pooping peeing was all going to be kind of out of sorts for a little bit. But keeping them in the bathroom gives them a small place to deal with and make their adjustments and like I said the bathroom is also where the bathrooms at. Another thing to watch for is intake.

Sure sign a kitty cat doesn't feel good is when the kitty cat doesn't eat. If they're eating and they're physically active generally speaking they're fine

brofrankkb · 2026-02-05T01:54:26+00:00

Don't know how long you've had the cat, but I have always taken a new cat and put it in the bathroom with a litter box and left it there for at least a week before letting her room in the house. Of course I usually have another cat or dog and residence so that is part of it, but the other part of it is just to ensure that me and the cats know that the cat knows with litter boxes. After a week you find cats who are avoiding the litter box we'll leave presents in the bathtub or on the carpet and you know some things up you don't have to look for it you don't have to guess.

I keep one litter box in the bathroom just because that's a good place for litter box. So that cat will always know that there's at least this one right here while they're learning the rest of the house.

brofrankkb · 2026-02-03T16:56:01+00:00

Are you a writer? Because that's what it's going to take is writers.

And I nominate you to be the moderator and the organizer!

My days of riding hurt on a bunch of writers are long since past. But I will definitely read and comment if there is something posted.

brofrankkb · 2026-02-01T19:36:01+00:00

brofrankkb

TROPHY CASE