In Mecca, during the Haj, 650+ people we trampled in a "stampede".
The Pope visits and tens of thousands of Catholics flock to see him, and no one is trampled.
Odd, that...Wonder why?
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Perhaps because there aren't as many trying...
Viola Davis isn't a graceful winner
Her statement: "The only thing that separates women of color from everyone else is opportunity," Davis said in her acceptance speech. "You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there." is perhaps true...
But then again, Black people are less than 25% of the population...and I strongly doubt that that many bother to ;earn how to act, or even try to be actresses. And of that very low number, how many can actually, you know, act? How many have the talent (developed by training or not) to become Emmy award winning actresses...or can produce an Emmy award wirthy role?
Much like the fact that few black men and women choose to become olympic swimmers....the pool (pardon the pun) of olympic swimmers of any race is small enough....add in the fact the even fewer black people choose to give that level of effort, and you have nearly zero olympic quality swimmers who have more melanin that I do.
Stem fields....Few enough women choose to become engineers. Fewer yet for black (and Hispanic) women. Are they underrepresented in all of these fields of endeavor? Yes. Is it because of a lack of opportunity? Doubtful; Maybe a lack of motivation, or maybe a cultural issue that prevents them from choosing to take that path, but, really, I doubt that it is a lack of opportunity as much as a lack of people trying for those WHO ACTUALLY HAVE TALENT TO SUCCEED....
Yeah, I know, pointing this out makes me a racist....
Her statement: "The only thing that separates women of color from everyone else is opportunity," Davis said in her acceptance speech. "You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there." is perhaps true...
But then again, Black people are less than 25% of the population...and I strongly doubt that that many bother to ;earn how to act, or even try to be actresses. And of that very low number, how many can actually, you know, act? How many have the talent (developed by training or not) to become Emmy award winning actresses...or can produce an Emmy award wirthy role?
Much like the fact that few black men and women choose to become olympic swimmers....the pool (pardon the pun) of olympic swimmers of any race is small enough....add in the fact the even fewer black people choose to give that level of effort, and you have nearly zero olympic quality swimmers who have more melanin that I do.
Stem fields....Few enough women choose to become engineers. Fewer yet for black (and Hispanic) women. Are they underrepresented in all of these fields of endeavor? Yes. Is it because of a lack of opportunity? Doubtful; Maybe a lack of motivation, or maybe a cultural issue that prevents them from choosing to take that path, but, really, I doubt that it is a lack of opportunity as much as a lack of people trying for those WHO ACTUALLY HAVE TALENT TO SUCCEED....
Yeah, I know, pointing this out makes me a racist....
Monday, September 21, 2015
All must go! Blowout sale! Get 'em while they last!
Free shipping for the next 2 days!
Anyone in NWI need a kitten? Know anyone who needs a kitten? We are making deals!
We have 4 left to find homes for.
email TheMiddleOfTheRight@gmail.com for more info.
If yer not in NWI, but need a kitten, if you take two or more, Free Overnight shipping!!!.......(just kidding).
More pictures available on request.
Anyone in NWI need a kitten? Know anyone who needs a kitten? We are making deals!
We have 4 left to find homes for.
email TheMiddleOfTheRight@gmail.com for more info.
If yer not in NWI, but need a kitten, if you take two or more, Free Overnight shipping!!!.......(just kidding).
More pictures available on request.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Standards:
Can't argue with his:
"They're ivory. Only a pimp from a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would carry a pearl-handled pistol." - General George Patton
Friday, September 18, 2015
Many years ago:
The incident about the kid with the clock that was mistaken for bomb by an uninformed and ignorant school teacher brought this to mind:
So I was travelling to a class in Chicago...this was in, IIRC, the then Sears Tower. Long elevator rides...
I'm travelling with a buddy: we had carpooled to the city to save on gas and parking and such. He was pretty smart, and even more importantly to this story, quick on the uptake.
Now, realize, this was pre-9-11...a more relaxed, more sane age, less psychosis when it came to "security" and less unrealistic fears.
So you also have to realize that this was before cell phone service (and phone technology) was at the level that it is today. I was carrying a Star Tac phone by Motorola...Which was, while in it's time,a real whiz bang device, (not so much today) it had a battery life measured in 10's of minutes....So I was also carrying a pager....I would keep the phone off, and turn it on and call the number displayed on my nifty Numeric Pager....(See, kids, this is how we had to do it before the new cell services that you take for granted today was built)
My pager was a nifty device too. It had a user selectable set of something like 15 or 20 tones....not just the Beep-Beep-Beep that most pagers used. My choice (so it would wake me up no matter what) was a very raspy and strident alarm that one might hear in a nuclear power plant just before a soft voiced woman announced "Core Breach Imminent, please evacuate" or some other words of doom....
So anyway....Here we are, in an elevator in the Sears Tower..(I don't recall if it was still the tallest building in the world then, but were going to somewhere fairly near the top, so it was long ride) The elevator car was fairly full....And we were somewhere close to the middle of the herd...Something like 30 buttons were lit, and we were near the end, so we were going to have to wait through numerous stops....
And here, even in an elevator my magic Pager goes off with it's strident "the end is near"alarm...in my backpack. And I didn't remember which of the multiple pockets I had placed said pager....
Everyone looked at me and or mumbled expressions of displeasure...I had disturbed their serenity or something.
I looked at Jack and said "Oh shit, I think it activated".....
Quick on the uptake, he said "Fuck, find it quick! you only have 30 seconds".
Amazingly enough, the once crowded elevator car was now instantly uncrowded, as all the other occupants were pressed tightly against the outside walls, staring at the two of us with wide eyes.
I took the pack off and began rooting in the pockets to find the offending pager....He took it from me and held it "Here, let me hold it... you don't have much time...c'mon, hurry dude..."
After about 25 seconds, the door opened and the entire car with the exception of the two of us emptied out. As the door were closing, I yelled "Got it!". We laughed heartily at the joke that only we knew....
We continued on our upward journey, but were met farther up by two security guards....who held us (after removing the backpack from me, and relieving Jack of his briefcase) until the Chicago Police arrived.
They were, well, not amused, but professional. Didn't think it was very funny (at least officially, but they were both smiling broadly as they told us to behave better) and they let us go with a stern warning after searching us (I did ask about a warrant, but didn't push it as I had started the fun..).
We were late for the class.
Today, in the paranoid world we live in, we'd likely be shot...or at least incarcerated. But then, it was fun.
Don't try this at home kids.
So I was travelling to a class in Chicago...this was in, IIRC, the then Sears Tower. Long elevator rides...
I'm travelling with a buddy: we had carpooled to the city to save on gas and parking and such. He was pretty smart, and even more importantly to this story, quick on the uptake.
Now, realize, this was pre-9-11...a more relaxed, more sane age, less psychosis when it came to "security" and less unrealistic fears.
So you also have to realize that this was before cell phone service (and phone technology) was at the level that it is today. I was carrying a Star Tac phone by Motorola...Which was, while in it's time,a real whiz bang device, (not so much today) it had a battery life measured in 10's of minutes....So I was also carrying a pager....I would keep the phone off, and turn it on and call the number displayed on my nifty Numeric Pager....(See, kids, this is how we had to do it before the new cell services that you take for granted today was built)
My pager was a nifty device too. It had a user selectable set of something like 15 or 20 tones....not just the Beep-Beep-Beep that most pagers used. My choice (so it would wake me up no matter what) was a very raspy and strident alarm that one might hear in a nuclear power plant just before a soft voiced woman announced "Core Breach Imminent, please evacuate" or some other words of doom....
So anyway....Here we are, in an elevator in the Sears Tower..(I don't recall if it was still the tallest building in the world then, but were going to somewhere fairly near the top, so it was long ride) The elevator car was fairly full....And we were somewhere close to the middle of the herd...Something like 30 buttons were lit, and we were near the end, so we were going to have to wait through numerous stops....
And here, even in an elevator my magic Pager goes off with it's strident "the end is near"alarm...in my backpack. And I didn't remember which of the multiple pockets I had placed said pager....
Everyone looked at me and or mumbled expressions of displeasure...I had disturbed their serenity or something.
I looked at Jack and said "Oh shit, I think it activated".....
Quick on the uptake, he said "Fuck, find it quick! you only have 30 seconds".
Amazingly enough, the once crowded elevator car was now instantly uncrowded, as all the other occupants were pressed tightly against the outside walls, staring at the two of us with wide eyes.
I took the pack off and began rooting in the pockets to find the offending pager....He took it from me and held it "Here, let me hold it... you don't have much time...c'mon, hurry dude..."
After about 25 seconds, the door opened and the entire car with the exception of the two of us emptied out. As the door were closing, I yelled "Got it!". We laughed heartily at the joke that only we knew....
We continued on our upward journey, but were met farther up by two security guards....who held us (after removing the backpack from me, and relieving Jack of his briefcase) until the Chicago Police arrived.
They were, well, not amused, but professional. Didn't think it was very funny (at least officially, but they were both smiling broadly as they told us to behave better) and they let us go with a stern warning after searching us (I did ask about a warrant, but didn't push it as I had started the fun..).
We were late for the class.
Today, in the paranoid world we live in, we'd likely be shot...or at least incarcerated. But then, it was fun.
Don't try this at home kids.
"Sorry"...
So some kit named Ahmed Muhammed did a project for school....Built a clock that an ignorant person thought resembled their idea of what a bomb looked like...Or what fictionalized bombs look like in the movies...I mean wires and digital display mean bomb, right?
It was mistaken for a bomb. ...Of course, if you look at the pictures, there is nothing but circuitry...no actual, you know, explosives. Nothing that could be mistaken for explosives. But cops aren't very discerning......apparently even less so when your name is Ahmned...So he got arrested. Truly, anyone who after about 30 seconds of looking at the thing who thought this was a bomb is an idiot....
There is prudence, and then there is unrealistic fear and paranoia. You figure which this is.
At least the kid has gotten some fame from this.
It was mistaken for a bomb. ...Of course, if you look at the pictures, there is nothing but circuitry...no actual, you know, explosives. Nothing that could be mistaken for explosives. But cops aren't very discerning......apparently even less so when your name is Ahmned...So he got arrested. Truly, anyone who after about 30 seconds of looking at the thing who thought this was a bomb is an idiot....
There is prudence, and then there is unrealistic fear and paranoia. You figure which this is.
At least the kid has gotten some fame from this.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
No shit
And in doing so, you insulted every single previous recipient...and cheapened the prize for every future recipient.
Obama's award of peace prize was a mistake....
"The decision was based in a hope for the future rather than recognition of past accomplishments"....The big motivator was, of course that to the liberals in europe, at least he wasn't George Bush
Obama's award of peace prize was a mistake....
"The decision was based in a hope for the future rather than recognition of past accomplishments"....The big motivator was, of course that to the liberals in europe, at least he wasn't George Bush
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
For all you folks that think you can hide
From the Army, the National Guard, or even from some of your local cops when/if the Revolution comes...
Who thinks that those "Thermal Blankets" marketed by Max Tactical and others to those Militia minded folks who just don't understand FLIR....
I urge you to buy one of these add ons to your smartphone and learn just what FLIR can do...
You can see what a $250 thermal imager can do (IOS version available here)
....Now think about what the military has available. I worked with it 25 years ago, and it was bad-ass then. You could, under the right conditions, see a person's BREATH from a couple hundred yards away. And that was 25+ years ago.
You'll realize that your tactics will have to change.....drastically.
Who thinks that those "Thermal Blankets" marketed by Max Tactical and others to those Militia minded folks who just don't understand FLIR....
I urge you to buy one of these add ons to your smartphone and learn just what FLIR can do...
You can see what a $250 thermal imager can do (IOS version available here)
....Now think about what the military has available. I worked with it 25 years ago, and it was bad-ass then. You could, under the right conditions, see a person's BREATH from a couple hundred yards away. And that was 25+ years ago.
You'll realize that your tactics will have to change.....drastically.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Yep, way to make me happy Amazon.
So I've been a customer of Amazon's for ...a long time..longer than some of you have likely been out of high school (hell, longer than I was IN high school)..... I dislike their founders politics, but I do like their service enough to overcome that....
Along comes the smartphone. And the Amazon App.... A very handy tool. I can scan any barcode and see what the price is on Amazon compared to the price in the store right there IN THE STORE. (I especially like to check prices on books and music in Amazon while IN BARNES AND NOBLE!)....track purchases and such right there on the magic elf box in my hand....I even use it to BUY stuff once in a while...(OK, I use the amazon app to buy a LOT of shit...)
3 times, however,this year, I have turned the preference to "Leave me alone, Damnit" for the "Hey! let's send suggestions to B for stuff he might like or has previously bought!" ("Buy it again!"....even though the suggestions are likely one-off purchases like a stethescope). and clogging my notifications bar on my Android phone....and setting an alert which sounds just like my voice mail notification....which wakes me up in the middle of the night on the days that I am on call... And pisses me off when it is a false alarm....Now, I think that having the default be "on" for these suggestive selling thingies is maybe a good idea for the first time a person downloads the app.....but I am getting a bit peeved when they keep resetting the fucking preference to "ON" when I set the thing to "OFF" for a reason.
If this keeps up, I will decide that I don't need Amazon on my phone.... Which is going to impact my Amazon buying much more than their suggestive selling is likely to generate...the offset will be at least thousand dollars a year, if not more.
Ya hear me, Jeff Bezos? I already buy enough through you.. leave me the hell alone.
Along comes the smartphone. And the Amazon App.... A very handy tool. I can scan any barcode and see what the price is on Amazon compared to the price in the store right there IN THE STORE. (I especially like to check prices on books and music in Amazon while IN BARNES AND NOBLE!)....track purchases and such right there on the magic elf box in my hand....I even use it to BUY stuff once in a while...(OK, I use the amazon app to buy a LOT of shit...)
3 times, however,this year, I have turned the preference to "Leave me alone, Damnit" for the "Hey! let's send suggestions to B for stuff he might like or has previously bought!" ("Buy it again!"....even though the suggestions are likely one-off purchases like a stethescope). and clogging my notifications bar on my Android phone....and setting an alert which sounds just like my voice mail notification....which wakes me up in the middle of the night on the days that I am on call... And pisses me off when it is a false alarm....Now, I think that having the default be "on" for these suggestive selling thingies is maybe a good idea for the first time a person downloads the app.....but I am getting a bit peeved when they keep resetting the fucking preference to "ON" when I set the thing to "OFF" for a reason.
If this keeps up, I will decide that I don't need Amazon on my phone.... Which is going to impact my Amazon buying much more than their suggestive selling is likely to generate...the offset will be at least thousand dollars a year, if not more.
Ya hear me, Jeff Bezos? I already buy enough through you.. leave me the hell alone.
Such a surprize
I mean, whoda seen this coming?
Certainly no one with a functioning brain......
Iran has reportedly found an unexpectedly high reserve of uranium, following assessments that the country is running low on the nuclear raw material and just days after President Obama essentially secured an international nuclear deal with the country's leaders.
I am shocked, shocked, I tell you.
When the first A bomb goes off, it'll be Barry's finest achievement....Sadly, he (and most of the DNC) are not working for the good of the USA....
Certainly no one with a functioning brain......
Iran has reportedly found an unexpectedly high reserve of uranium, following assessments that the country is running low on the nuclear raw material and just days after President Obama essentially secured an international nuclear deal with the country's leaders.
I am shocked, shocked, I tell you.
When the first A bomb goes off, it'll be Barry's finest achievement....Sadly, he (and most of the DNC) are not working for the good of the USA....
Sunday, September 13, 2015
It just can't be.....
Apparently, Tam has put 300(!) rounds through a 1911 with no cleaning (and apparently, it started out not so terribly clean to begin with) .... and had no issues.....
Can't be. The only gun that can do that is, of course, a GLOCK. We all know that 1911's are Jam -O-Matics.... The only things worse are Kel-Tecs and Hi-Points....
Be interesting to see if it makes it all the way to the 2000 mark.
Can't be. The only gun that can do that is, of course, a GLOCK. We all know that 1911's are Jam -O-Matics.... The only things worse are Kel-Tecs and Hi-Points....
Be interesting to see if it makes it all the way to the 2000 mark.
Info Bleg:
Since the first rule is "Bring a gun" I am looking for a pocket pistol...I have, as my daily carry, (and wherever legal) depending on where I will be and the gun friendliness of the places I will be, one of the following:
General daily carry: Para LDA 3" It is a .45 1911-oid... is stainless. This is a 3" 1911 shaped (and manual of arms) firearm with a really long, but smooth and light double action trigger. Nice, but not as concealable as:
Social carry: Beretta 3032 Tomcat. Yeah, I know a defensive gun is supposed to have a caliber beginning with a "4" and all that....and a .32 isn't a real caliber ... But I can't always carry a .45 in some social situations, or for instance, when I am doing something like bowling or such....And modern loads for the .32 ACP approach the .380 in stopping power...not much, but a whole lot better than a sharp word....(if I could buy a Beretta model 86 today, in stainless, I'd buy one)
Around home/working in the yard, etc: A Taurus TCP in .380 ACP (is there any other size?). It is a last ditch thing, but the pistol is durable, tolerant of dirt and sweat, and is easily concealed and doesn't move around...and is easy to secure with an IWB holster and a belt, even when I am doing things like splitting wood or fixing a piece of machinery....If I am in the barn, there are other close at hand options. If I am out in the yard, well, again, better than a stick...
One thing that is very important to me in all of these guns is resistance to corrosion....I have sweat that eats carbon steel like acid. Anything carried IWB has to be either stainless or resistant to corrosion or it will be pitted in a week and inoperative in a month. Seriously.
I am looking at the DAO Bodyguard .380....anyone have any experience with this firearm? Durability, resistance to sweat, dirt, etc? Reliability? Other observations? Holster options for Concealed Carry?
General daily carry: Para LDA 3" It is a .45 1911-oid... is stainless. This is a 3" 1911 shaped (and manual of arms) firearm with a really long, but smooth and light double action trigger. Nice, but not as concealable as:
Social carry: Beretta 3032 Tomcat. Yeah, I know a defensive gun is supposed to have a caliber beginning with a "4" and all that....and a .32 isn't a real caliber ... But I can't always carry a .45 in some social situations, or for instance, when I am doing something like bowling or such....And modern loads for the .32 ACP approach the .380 in stopping power...not much, but a whole lot better than a sharp word....(if I could buy a Beretta model 86 today, in stainless, I'd buy one)
Around home/working in the yard, etc: A Taurus TCP in .380 ACP (is there any other size?). It is a last ditch thing, but the pistol is durable, tolerant of dirt and sweat, and is easily concealed and doesn't move around...and is easy to secure with an IWB holster and a belt, even when I am doing things like splitting wood or fixing a piece of machinery....If I am in the barn, there are other close at hand options. If I am out in the yard, well, again, better than a stick...
One thing that is very important to me in all of these guns is resistance to corrosion....I have sweat that eats carbon steel like acid. Anything carried IWB has to be either stainless or resistant to corrosion or it will be pitted in a week and inoperative in a month. Seriously.
I am looking at the DAO Bodyguard .380....anyone have any experience with this firearm? Durability, resistance to sweat, dirt, etc? Reliability? Other observations? Holster options for Concealed Carry?
Friday, September 11, 2015
So today is 9/11....
and leaving the historical significance of the date aside, it is likely to be a lively day.....
Seems that bunch of "Black Lives Matter" type folks are planning some demonstrations and other rallys promoting violence and mayhem.
I'd be careful. Be on guard. Stay away form predominantly poor black neighborhoods on 9/11 and 9/12.
This might be (most likely will be) a fizzle. But maybe not.
Plan accordingly...
Best not to be there, if ya can arrange it....You can't fight a mob, if and when. You can't carry enough magazines...
Seems that bunch of "Black Lives Matter" type folks are planning some demonstrations and other rallys promoting violence and mayhem.
I'd be careful. Be on guard. Stay away form predominantly poor black neighborhoods on 9/11 and 9/12.
This might be (most likely will be) a fizzle. But maybe not.
Plan accordingly...
Best not to be there, if ya can arrange it....You can't fight a mob, if and when. You can't carry enough magazines...
14 years ago:
'Twasn't christians, nor Bhuddists, not Wiccans nor Hindus nor Jews... 'Twas Muslims. Supported by Muslims. I don't care if it is politically correct to point that out or not. Not all Muslims are bad, but again, it wasn't Christians, nor Buddists, not Wiccans nor Hindus nor Jews who did this terrible deed......
I won't forget.
Will you?
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Oathkeepers jumps the shark
Yeah, they've either gone insane, or decided they have become irrelevant...
Oathkeepers send armed guards to protect Kim Davis from US Marshalls.
They've obviously lost their minds.
Monday, September 7, 2015
1 Adam-12: End of Watch
Martin Milner, star of Adam-12, has passed at the age of 83.
I believe I have watched every single episode over the years. His character, Pete Molloy, was, to me, what a cop should be.
I believe I have watched every single episode over the years. His character, Pete Molloy, was, to me, what a cop should be.
Y'know....
Every major Holiday I am amazed at the actions of people. Why in the hell some people leave home, and drive 1200 miles in a car that a sane person wouldn't drive across town (a small town, like on with 274 people in it)....and with $27.43 in their pocket for gas, food and ("unexpected") repairs.....I'm talking cars with oil leaks, rotten hoses and belts, bald tires, rod knocks, bad lifters, weak fuel pumps, cracked distributor caps, bad wires, and missing exhausts..... Cars that you'd be afraid to dive past the end of your block.....
Yet they drive from Arkansas to upper Michigan and (they hope) back.....
Or not....as I find out every major travel Holiday.
Yet they drive from Arkansas to upper Michigan and (they hope) back.....
Or not....as I find out every major travel Holiday.
Looks like Barry
Has the race/culture war he wanted...
Someone is stirring up a segment of that Demographic. I wonder who it is?
And once they get the cops on the defensive, then what?
Are they gonna go after Whitey? It'll probably work on the liberal city dwelling metrosexuals and the other liberals who really have no clue...who can't defend themselves...
But not elsewhere....Some targets are harder than others.
And if they do start killing cops and others, it will once again set relations between the races back. Just like the DNC wants so they can keep stirring the pot and garnering votes from the "disenfranchised"...
How many lives is that vote worth to these people?
Someone is stirring up a segment of that Demographic. I wonder who it is?
And once they get the cops on the defensive, then what?
Are they gonna go after Whitey? It'll probably work on the liberal city dwelling metrosexuals and the other liberals who really have no clue...who can't defend themselves...
But not elsewhere....Some targets are harder than others.
And if they do start killing cops and others, it will once again set relations between the races back. Just like the DNC wants so they can keep stirring the pot and garnering votes from the "disenfranchised"...
How many lives is that vote worth to these people?
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