Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving

A happy holiday to all of you.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Treasure Blog: 16th Century Coin Hoard, Lindisfarne Isle

Found by a workman in a clay pot, which he threw in the back of his van and stuck in a corner of his garage. Eight years later, cleaning the pot, gold and silver coins cascaded out of it.

Pic:



One of the coins is a gold scudo stamped with the likeness of Pope Clement VII, famous for refusing to permit the divorce of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, which resulted in England breaking away from the Catholic Church. The coin is the first of its kind discovered in the world, the news report says, so presumably it's quite valuable.

Update: inadvertently identified that old English king as Henry VII vice Henry VIII. Thanks to ProudHillbilly for pointing it out.

Monday, November 25, 2013

A 61-Year-Old Marine Veteran...

...tried to dissuade a suicidal woman from jumping from the upper stands during a football game, and when she jumped anyway, used his body to break her fall.

Semper Fidelis.

Musical Interlude

Eliza Gilkyson:

Laugh Out Loud Irony Alert

"I'm not a particularly ideological person," said President Obama, who immediately afterward called for voters to give him a House of Representatives controlled by Democrats and Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. He then went on to blame Republicans for all of his woes as President.

Only thing I can conclude is the dude sincerely believes the bullshit he spouts.

Probably Americans Wouldn't Do Much Better

"When it comes to trees, we're stumped! Survey shows nine out of ten Brits struggle to recognise Holly leaves and don't know where conkers come from."

(Note: "Conkers" is a game played by boys in the UK, it involves drilling a hole in a Horse Chestnut, threading a string through it, and swinging the chestnut against another chestnut wielded by an opponent similarly armed. The chestnut that isn't broken by the engagement is the "winner." The horse chestnut itself, as well as the game, answers to the name "conkers.")

How many of you out there can identify an Ash tree? A Black Walnut? An Osage Orange? For that matter, how many of you can recognize Poison Ivy when you see it? Stinging Nettles? How many of you have ever seen a Wild Turkey out in the wilderness? A coyote? Red Fox? Do you know which snakes in your state are venomous? Can you identify them? Ever found an arrowhead in the woods? What about a geode? Have you ever, just for a lark, panned for gold in a local stream? Can you identify birds without seeing them, just by hearing them?

There's a whole other world out there to discover, if you just push away from the electronic devices and go in search of it. Or take the electronic device with you, and use it to identify what you find out there; easier than carrying a half-dozen guidebooks.

Going To Be Hard To Justify...

...shooting a man to death because he was smoking in your bar.

You better have a bunch of righteous witnesses, a bunch of contusions and bruises, or maybe a videotape to justify the shooting, because otherwise self-defense is going to be hard to win in a case like this.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

You Can Relax Now

The New York Times has determined that the Knockout Game, in which gangs of blacks randomly attack vulnerable individuals of other races, is probably an "urban myth."

What was it Schopenhauer said? Oh, yes: All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. He might have added a fourth stage, which the MSM has engaged in in the case of the Knockout Game: ignoring it.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Prison Bounty Placed On Thugs

That would be the thugs that killed WWII veteran Delbert Belton, and the bounty was placed on the thugs by the Aryan Brotherhood.

Two Washington state teens accused of beating an 88-year-old World War II veteran to death are in the crosshairs of the Aryan Brotherhood.

The white supremacist group reportedly put a $10,000 bounty on Spokane teens Kenan Adams-Kinard and Demetrius Glenn, both 16 and black and both accused of murder, according to the Spokane Spokesman-Review.


h/t Allen West.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Yer Ancient Christian Lesson of the Day

In a UK Daily Mail article, the possibility of female priests in the Catholic Church is raised because of frescoes that have been unveiled in some of the Roman catacombs:



The central female with hands raised is theorized in the article to be a female priest. Sorry, but no. That is simply a form of early Christian prayer called orans, which is a prayer posture that replicates symbolically the posture of Christ on the cross. It was later supplanted by the folded hands posture that we are all familiar with.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Yer REAL Hunger Games

Kimono vs. Komodo:

"Woman with a slab of meat tied to her has to outrun giant lizard in bizarre Japanese TV show."

Pic:

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Monroe Abuse Case Update

Neighbors are shocked - - shocked, that abuse was going on.

As of this writing only 46 news sources show up in a Google News search. Looks like the female involved was in charge of the Union County DSS department that handles child protective services, irony of ironies. Her male companion is an emergency room nurse at the Monroe hospital. The house they live(d) in looks like a set from Hee Haw, with barnyard animals running around out front; the abuse was discovered because a hog was running loose and rooting up the neighbor's yard:

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Where'd She Go?

Beaumont, Texas.

In the haze of the Southeast Texas sky, the shape and color of the vessel is unmistakable — boxy and gray with a flat top and a superstructure perched on the right side of the deck.

The deck doesn't have quite enough room for a conventional fixed-wing aircraft, like a clunky old dive bomber from 70 years ago or a sleek and lethal supersonic spear of an F-18.

The ship, christened the Nassau, once served the country as a Tarawa-class helicopter assault carrier.

That class of ship is named for a grim island battle in World War II, which took a heavy toll on the Marines who fought it.

The Nassau was one of five of the amphibious assault ships and is now in the Inactive Ship Maintenance anchorage in the Neches River, where the Cape class of military cargo ships also are berthed.


I served aboard Nassau twice. First time we crossdecked from USS Belknap(CG-26) at sea, the Nassau sent an LCU to pick us up; we clambered down a netting ladder from the cruiser into the LCU, which sailed back to the Nassau and into her cavernous well deck. The second time I served on her as she went to relieve the USS Guam (LPH-6) in the eastern Mediterranean right around the time that the US Marine barracks in Lebanon got blown up. We crossdecked via helicopter on that trip, my only helicopter flight to date.

When the Tarawa-class LHA's were designed and built they didn't bother with fastening down the tables on the mess decks, using folding cafeteria-style tables instead, believing - - incorrectly, as it turned out - - that the ships wouldn't roll enough to require fastened-down mess tables. I remember eating chow more than once on the deck, with all of the tables roped off securely in one corner, as the ship rolled back and forth. Nassau and Saipan (LHA-2) both had probaby the best cinnamon rolls of any Navy ship I served on. I remember one sailor, though, a heavy smoker, who habitually carried a mini-bottle of Tabasco in his shirt pocket and I watched him put Tabasco on the cinnamon rolls one morning - - smoking had destroyed his sense of smell to the point where it as the only thing he could still taste.

Meanwhile, Just South of Monroe, NC...

...where they chain foster children to the porch with a dead chicken tied to its neck...

Later on, of course, they progress to tying people to trees and making them squeal like pigs:

A Union County social worker was one of two adults charged with intentional child abuse Friday after deputies found a child handcuffed to a porch with a dead chicken around his neck.

Dorian Lee Harper and Wanda Sue Larson, both 57, have been charged with numerous offenses after a deputy discovered the child at 4116 Austin Road, south of Monroe, authorities said.

Larson is employed as a supervisor with Union County Department of Social Services. She and Harper had adopted four children and were serving as foster parents for a fifth child, officials said.

A deputy was responding to an animal services complaint at a neighboring home Friday when he walked up to Harper’s and Larson’s residence and saw a “10-12-year-old child secured to the front porch at the ankle, by what appeared to be a pair of handcuffs,” officials said.

“The child also had a dead chicken hanging around his neck and appeared to be shivering,” the Sheriff’s Office said.

Larson was not present when the children were discovered but is accused of being complicit in the ongoing mistreatment of the children, the Sheriff’s Office said. She was also charged with willful failure to discharge her duty as a public official.

The child handcuffed to the porch is the 11-year-old Harper and Larson had been fostering, authorities said. The children are now in custody of an undisclosed social services agency outside Union County.


Well, that ought to discourage immigration to this part of North Carolina for the forseeable future.

Update: It's on Drudge, so now the whole world knows about it.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Well, If You Can't Dazzle 'Em With Brilliance...

then baffle 'em with bullshit:

I Hate That Word

That word would be but. It's a negative sort of word, and when it's heard it is usually in a way that brings no pleasure to the hearer. It's heard often in the case of gun ownership: even our beloved President has famously said that he supports the Second Amendment (the right to keep and bear arms), but... with a whole list that follows of the ways in which he doesn't support it.

But showed up in the news again this morning, in a news article from UK:

'Ya cor do that!’ Anger over 'snobbish’ school letter BANNING children from using 'damaging' Black Country dialect.

Angry parents have complained after their children's school banned pupils from talking or writing in their 'damaging' Black Country dialect.

Staff at the West Midlands primary have drawn up a list of ten offending phrases after introducing the 'zero tolerance' policy against the use of local words.

The controversial ruling was announced in a letter to parents claiming the harsh crackdown would 'get children out of the habit' of speaking the way their parents do.

The ban comes two months after a study was published claiming that accents from the Birmingham area make people seem less intelligent and untrustworthy.

Outlawed phrases now include 'I cor do that' instead of 'I can't do that,' and 'It wor me' instead of 'it wasn't me'.

The letter, which was posted to parents last Thursday, said: 'Recently we asked each class teacher to write a list of the top ten most damaging phrases used by children in the classroom.

'We are introducing a ‘zero tolerance' in the classroom to get children out of the habit of using the phrases on the list.

'We want the children in our school to have the best start possible: Understanding when it is and is not acceptable to use slang and colloquial language.

'We value the local dialect but are encouraging children to learn the skill of turning it on and off in different situations.'
Here's the entire list:

1. 'They was' instead of 'they were.'
2. 'I cor do that' instead of 'I can't do that.'
3. 'Ya' instead of 'you.'
4. 'Gonna' instead of 'going to.'
5. 'Woz' instead of 'was.'
6. 'I day' instead of 'I didn't.'
7. 'I ain't' instead of 'I haven't.'
8. 'Somefink' instead of 'something.'
9. 'It wor me' instead of 'it wasn't me.'
10. 'Ay?' instead of 'pardon?'


If you look at that list, you'll notice many of them are in common use by Americans. Now I commend the school for wishing to teach their children proper English, but...

It's nanny-statism. A child should be taught by parents the appropriate time for using local dialect and slang. That the school believes it necessary to impose this by fiat says that they don't believe parents are capable of instilling this lesson. And, if you haven't learned it by the time you get into the job market, you very quickly learn there that you either fix it or you don't get employed, at least not in genteel jobs, anyway. If you wish to have a career as a plumber or a dishwasher it's probably not that big a deal.

And I really hate "zero tolerance" policies. They're unnecessarily Draconian, and they remove common sense entirely from any equation in which they appear.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Shit Sister Says

"That's what you need to do, lady, buy a $100 pillow for your afflicted son."

From the Collection

EK Bowie:



Purchased in the mid-1980's, when EK first produced this great knife. USA-made in Richmond, VA. Used to carry it regularly when hiking until my Randall #1 arrived. It's been in storage for a bunch of years now. The sheath had clear plastic liner sheets that became brittle over time and fragmented when I was inspecting it, had to use tweezers to pull the broken remnants out. Without the liner sheets the nylon webbing sheath is a bit flimsy, if I were to begin carrying it again I'd want to get a new sheath made, probably in leather. The micarta handle feels really good in the hand, especially after I broke the sharp edges by sanding it with Scotchbrite.

At one time during the 1980's EK was a major competitor in the military knife market, right up there with SOG, Al Mar, Cold Steel and other knife companies of that period. They over-extended themselves and had to go into bankruptcy reorganization, and have been quiet (but not gone) ever since. They still make knives, their website is here. They're making some great-looking knives, I'd love to have one of their Fairbairn-Sykes models.

Monday, November 11, 2013

She Loves Cats...To Death

In Raleigh, NC, a woman who worked as an animal rescue leader has been arrested for hoarding cats.

Sort of like a pedophile working in a pre-school, ain't it?

You Know Which Republican Could Become President?

Whichever one would go on MSNBC and punch Chris Matthews right in the face.

Just black his eye, bloody his nose, maybe knock a tooth or two out. It'll mean an assault charge, but that's a misdemeanor in nearly all jurisdictions, and the Republican that did it would be a superstar that evening.

Rand Paul is totally missing an opportunity here. And if it happened more than once - - Rand Paul on one occasion, Ted Cruz on another, for example - - the MSM would start watching their filthy mouths a little bit, maybe, and show some respect - - or at least fear.

Happy Veteran's Day...

...to my fellow veterans.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

When They Won't Write the Word, You Know What the Word Is

Looking through my RSS reader this morning, I come across this New York Times story about a shooting at a party in Houston:

Two people were killed and at least 22 others were injured when gunfire broke out late Saturday at what police said was a “massive house party” in a suburb of Houston.

More than 100 people were inside the home in Cypress when the shooting started about 11 p.m. Saturday, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The injured, including some in critical condition, were taken to five different hospitals, by ambulance and by private vehicle. The police statement described the party guests as “mostly young adults”.


So I then do a Google News search on party shooting Houston. 26,200 results. Let's look at the first page of results:

Los Angeles Times: "Mostly young adults."

NPR (blog): "most of the injured were between 17-and 20-years-old."

Houston Chronicle: "More than 100 people, mostly young adults..." The Chronicle further quotes an "A. Henry" who was in the house. Wonder why they didn't print his first name? Would it have disclosed too much information, perhaps?

A more recent Chronicle story gives more information:

"It was my party," said Mariah Boulden, wrapped in a white sheet and standing on a sidewalk splattered with blood near her front door.

Saturday night, while she had walked out to invite some neighbors to the party, her brother and others continued with pat downs at the front door of her Cypress home. Two men refused to be searched and walked away, she recounted Sunday morning.

From what she's pieced together, the two jumped a neighbor's fence then walked through her back gate.

"They wasn't supposed to be here whoever they was," Boulden, 18, said.

Just as she was walking back to her house, Boulden said she heard gunshots. She ran to the front door, but it was locked. A cousin grabbed her and they ran down the street, calling 911.

"I didn't expect none of this to happen," she said.


If you didn't expect none of this to happen, why did you have your brothers searching partygoers for weapons?

Finally, a story from the local ABC affiliate includes a photograph, even while continuing to refuse to describe the partygoers in detail:



Well, that explains things, doesn't it?

There's No Holiday That a Liberal Isn't Willing To Condemn

In Binghamton, New York, a liberal Catholic pastor isn't willing to participate in a collection that honors military service, saying that it represents an increase in "militarism in our culture."

Meanwhile, in UK, an equally liberal Anglican vicar is condemning one of Britain's most beloved hymns as a paean to nationalism.

Folks, there isn't a holiday in the US calendar that a liberal won't condemn for one reason or another, save perhaps Labor Day, which holds special meaning for their little Red hearts. Christmas? Too commercial, not inclusive enough, endangers the sacred Wall of Separation between church and state. Thanksgiving? A celebration of our exploitation of Native Americans. Columbus Day, likewise. Easter? Christian (makes spitting noise). Memorial Day and Veteran's Day? Glorify war. Independence Day? Patriotism is for retards. Presidents' Day? Slaveholders and racists.

Here's the hymn that the vicar condemns:



The music is by British composer Gustav Holst, and is a reworking of the Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity theme from The Planets:

Saturday, November 09, 2013

Restaurant Review: Moe's Original Bar B Que

Went down to Moe's Original Bar B Que down in Matthews, NC this afternoon for lunch. Was supposed to have a lunch companion, but I got stood up. Nice location for a restaurant, in a safe, yuppified area. The Matthews branch of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library is just at the end of the little drive, there are shops on both sides.



Inside the restaurant was clean and well lit from numerous windows; there are actually glass-enclosed garage-style doors that can be opened in the warm season to allow people to eat in the open air. They were close on this cool November day, of course.

I ordered a pork plate, which comes with two side items and corn bread; I chose mac 'n cheese and Brunswick stew. The mac 'n cheese was oven baked and good, although not very cheesy. The cornbread had a good flavor. The Brunswick stew was tasty, although most of the small bowl was taken up by a couple of huge potato chunks, which I had to cut apart with my spoon. The pulled pork was moist but without much in the way of smoke flavor or evidence of a smoke ring; I guess it was cooked on gas or in an electric smoker (there is a woodpile at the back of the restaurant, which was covered by a tarp, for what that's worth). The pork came from the kitchen with some barbecue sauce on top, a red tomato-based sauce; once I determined that the pork itself didn't have much flavor, I helped myself to the sauce bottle to add some additional flavor. The sauce was undistinguished, also. Here's what the food looked like:



All in all, although it's a great location and is a clean, attractive restaurant, the BBQ isn't all that memorable; I'll give it a 3 on my 5-scale of BBQ restaurants: 3 out of 5: average; reasonably good food, moderate effort by staff/management.

Sowin' Those Wild Oats

In a pickup truck at a Waffle House parking lot, so drunk you mistook a cheeseburger for a sandal.

This article made it to the UK Daily Mail, probably the most popular paper in the UK. So this is how the Brits form their stereotypes of US citizens.

Friday, November 08, 2013

Strange Fall Leaf

Found it this morning as I walked into the house:

Thank You, Mr. President

Because for the next three years, there will be nothing you can say that cannot be inserted into the following sentence:

If you like your (fill in the blank), you can keep your (fill in the blank).

Correct Usage Pnemonic

Travelling in Spain, where King Juan Carlos reigns, I reined in my horse and scanned the plain. "Hard to see in all this rain," thought I. "Are those giants I see in the distance?" Alas, they were only windmills. "Shut up, Sancho!"

Meanwhile, Down In Wilmington, NC...

...the Usual Suspects declare war on the Wilmington Police Department:

Members of one Wilmington gang are "committed to engage in shootings," possibly focusing on law enforcement, after the shooting death of Brandon Devone Smith, according to an FBI memo sent to the state's police chiefs.

Smith was shot to death Oct. 13 by two New Hanover County Sheriff's Office deputies and an ATF agent three days after allegedly firing on Michael Spencer, a member of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and sheriff's office detective, in Creekwood.


Click the link to read the rest. I guess you could call this a "travel advisory."

Thursday, November 07, 2013

Another WWII Veteran Murdered

This one not too far away, in Richfield, NC.

His daughter was also beaten severely. No description of the murderer until she's awake and able to communicate, I guess.

Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Musical Interlude

Slaid Cleaves, Voice of Midnight:



You can look at the film footage if you like; pay attention to the lyrics, though.

Monday, November 04, 2013

"Obama Strikes"

He's really good at killing people:

Whether uttered in jest or in resignation, the Obama quote will only add to the concerns of those wondering whether the president has embraced the Godlike, life-and-death power of the Oval Office. After campaigning against the intense interrogation procedures pursued under President George W. Bush, Obama has vastly expanded the drone program. Despite its intense unpopularity overseas, in part because of civilian casualties and in part because of its unclear, secretive mandates, the Pakistan drone program continues as it has since 2004.

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the CIA has conducted 378 strikes in the program’s 10-year history. Of those, 326 are classified as “Obama strikes.” The total number of people killed by drones is estimated at 2,528 to 3,648. Civilian casualties are estimated at 416 to 948, with 168 to 200 of those being children. As many as another 1,545 are estimated to have been injured in those strikes.


Uh-Oh

The US Navy is in the news - - and not in a good way.

Friday, November 01, 2013

It Pierced His Widdle Heart!

A man in Moyock, NC, had to be hospitalized after he was attacked by four escaped monkeys.

"Police captured two of the monkeys. Two others were shot with tranquilizers, one of which died after the tranquilizer pierced his little heart."

It pierced his widdle heart! ROFLMAO!

The mehnkey, c'est mort!