Ceremonial First Pitch: The Brutal Facts

Story.

Res ipsa loquitur, they say:

Nurse Needs To Watch Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few...or the one.

Election 2014: Return of the Son of Angry White Guy

Gee, whenever Republicans win these days it's laid at the feet of angry white guys.

Ultimate Prepper Home

Here.

Nation of Anteaters

"Almost three-quarters of Danish people 'want to ban circumcision.'"

*Imagines ban leading to back-alley circumcisions by Jews and Muslims*

Charles Barkley Slams Blacks For Not Valuing Achievement

"Charles Barkley: ‘Unintelligent’ Blacks ‘Brainwashed’ To Keep Successful Black Men Down."

The Australians have a name for this phenomenon: Tall Poppy Syndrome.

Jack Bruce, 1943-2014: R.I.P.

The bass player/singer for Cream has died of liver disease.

Graffiti Left On Transport Ship Tells a Vietnam Tale

Drawn on canvas racks - - bunks - - that soldiers and Marines travelling to Vietnam slept on.

The White House Guard Dogs

Story from The Navy Times.

You may be familiar with Sunny and Bo, the Obama’s family pets. But meet Hurricane and Jordan, two of the White House’s protectors.

Wednesday night, an intruder scaled the White House fence, but he didn’t get far. He was stopped by Hurricane and Jordan, two members of the Secret Service’s K-9 unit.

The service has been using dogs since 1975, specifically a breed called Belgian Malinois, according to the Secret Service. The dogs are gentle enough to be around children, but they are known for chasing people down. They take off like bullets to subdue suspects, can run up to 30 miles an hour and have a 270-degree field of vision. That’s why many Malinois dogs are used in the military, and one dog was even on the team to take down Osama Bin Laden.

Secret Service dogs, in particular, must complete 20 weeks of training with handlers before they can report for duty. On average, the dogs work until about age 10.

Click the link to read the rest.

Nassssty Black Paint All Gone

I have a Cold Steel Trail Hawk and a Becker BK5 knife (made by Ka-Bar) that came from the factory with black paint on the steel: the hawk just a single layer of glossy black, the Becker with a well-executed baked-on finish. Both of them had the paint removed early this morning, I'm happy with the results:

I think that the hawk needs a leather thong wrapping around the handle for a better grip.

The Most Transparent Administration In History...

...is withholding so many documents in the Fast & Furious gunwalking scandal that it takes a document 1,323 pages long just to list them all.

Former CBS reporter extraordinaire Sharyl Atkisson continues to do the reporting on Fast & Furious that the MSM won't do.

Hero

The Sergeant-At-Arms of the Canadian Parliament returns to work this morning to receive a standing ovation from the grateful MP's:

Post by Fox News.

Congratulations To Wilmington, NC...

America's #1 Riverfront City.

Gallery here. Why they didn't include a pic of USS North Carolina (BB-55) is baffling.

Update: Jack the Ripper Identified By DNA Evidence?

An update to this post from September 6th.

Looks like I was write to qualify my post with a question mark, because the DNA evidence is being challenged as incorrect.

Looks like the scientist involved in the DNA work got some calculations wrong, and is being called out on it. He's standing by his work at the moment, but if he's an ethical scientist he'll be willing to admit a mistake, if mistake it is.

Shipwreck Blog: U-576

Found off the North Carolina coast near Cape Hatteras, along with one of her victims, the tanker Bluefields.

The area in which the U-boat sank was part of the official record, but the ship itself had never been located exactly. Now it has. The location can be seen on Google Earth, if you have shipwreck locations turned on.

Headline of the Day

"MASTER DEBATER: Wendy Davis Attacks Abbott With Dildos."

From the Collection

My Swiss Army Knives. Those made by Victorinox are on the left, those made by Wenger are on the right. I like Wenger better, but they have been acquired by Victorinox, so their continued future is doubtful. With the plastic-handled ones I always try to buy models without the tweezers or toothpick, which I find annoying. I also have customised a couple of them with blade serrations.

For Campers & Hikers

Especially those travelling in south Texas: Woods Roamer.

It's a defunct blog, but only recently so. Jim Curtis, this should give you some south Texas reference material when you write your next Grey Man novel.

via Primitivepoint.

Meanwhile, In Lenoir City, Tennessee...

...where I lived for a year in the late 1970's and where I graduated high school from, a woman has been thrown in jail for keeping a messy yard.

Now Lenoir City is not a liberal, latte-sipping enclave of rich elites; it's a small town on the Tennessee River, 30 miles south of Knoxville, and is famous only for the Snail Darter, which prevented a dam from being constructed back in the 1970's when I lived there. These are country people, in other words. Sounds like the citizenry needs to rise up and throw out some politicians and hire a new police chief, one that isn't a shrubbery Nazi.

h/t Amy Alkon.

Headline of the Day

"Obama: Ebola 'SWAT teams' to respond to infections."

Just what we need, more militarized police to kick in people's doors and shoot their dogs. I can just picture it:

"Hey, that guy over there is sweating! He must have a fever! He's got ebola, SHOOT HIM!"

What's next, drone strikes on suspected ebola victims?

Happy Birthday...

...to the US Navy.

Fighting For the Culture

Sometimes it seems that surrendering to secularism and progressivism in US culture is the default answer, but it ain't inevitable by any means.

Hundreds of residents took to a high school football field Friday night to collectively bow down and pray — a massive response to atheist activists’ recent accusations that a local school district is guilty of at least two violations of the separation of church and state.

But the prayer event wasn’t the only noteworthy response to secularists’ complaints, as local resident David Hoover placed three large Christian crosses on land he owns across the street from Licking Valley High School in Newark, Ohio — 10 to 13-foot symbols intended to send a message.

As TheBlaze previously reported, a free speech debate touched off in the city after the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a secular activist group, accused the Licking Valley High School District of violating the First Amendment by allowing high school marching band members to wear T-shirts with the word “salvation” on them during a recent performance.

As the Chik-Fil-A kerfuffle of a couple of years ago showed, Christians and conservatives haven't fully surrendered to the forces of secularism and progressivism, but it takes a lot to motivate people, and the Left is nothing if not persistent.

For What It's Worth

Ebola: How It Spreads.

Buckle Yourselves In...

...the ride is about to start.

I'm thinking of a couple of things happening in the next month: the outbreak will get bad enough that it will cause an election massacre of the Democrats, who will be held to blame for allowing the outbreak to begin; or a conspiracy theory will start that President Obama will try to postpone the election for fear of spreading Ebola.

Mrs. Backorder

It's sad when a company you have done business with goes downhill. I have been buying knives and other products from Atlanta Cutlery Corporation from the early 1980's. Back then there was no internet or world wide web, and companies like Atlanta Cutlery sold their products through the mail, and once you had ordered from them they would send you catalogs regularly to encourage repeat business. The original owner, Bill Adams, sold whatever captured his fancy, or whatever he saw as a trend in the knife magazines of that period, also the Knives annual that was edited back then by Ken Warner. He also sold knifemaking supplies in a small way, and many a professional knifemaker probabably got his start with blades, handle materials and hardware from Adams's catalog. I made some knives myself from materials from the Atlanta Cutlery catalog; I still have one of them, an Ontario sticker blade with olive wood handles.

Adams sold the business to Hank Reinhardt, and Reinhardt sold it to the current owners, Windlass Steelcrafts of India, the suppliers of the British Army issue Kukris to the Ghurkha regiments. Windlass has changed the focus of the catalog to their own Indian-made products, as is of course their right as the business owner, but their customer service has suffered, along with innovation. While they have a website, the merchandise shown there isn't linked to inventory, so if you try to order online your merchandise is more than likely to be backordered - - and this isn't disclosed at the time of ordering, you'll be informed of it in an email you receive after you place your order. You're encouraged to call the company via its 800 number to make sure that the merchandise you desire is actually in stock.

When you call the 800 number you'll probably talk to an elderly lady I like to refer to as Mrs. Backorder. She will happily take your order, and just as happily inform you that the item you desire is backordered, so you have the choice of ordering and waiting for the item to ship - - from India, via ship - - or canceling your order.

Today I tried to order a Kukri. Now, Windlass Steelcrafts is the sole supplier of these to the Ghurkha regiments, so if anyone is going to have them, it would be Windlass, right? Wrong. Backordered. Likewise with the "antique" Ghurkha Officer's Patch Knife (are they really antique if they can be backordered, or are they manufactured to order?) That was backordered as well. Then I tried the replica German WWI Trench Knife, which I had unsuccessfully tried to order on three previous occasions (backordered), and it was actually in stock! So, a trench knife should be here by the end of next week. Still have to acquire a kukri, though.

Hey, I'd Go In a Heartbeat

"Navy Stations Sailors In Romania."

To live in the land of Vlad Tepes? Visit Dracula's Castle? Hell, yeah!

Is Your Son a Thug?

*Jeff Foxworthy voice* If your son has ever worn an ankle monitor...he might be a thug.

If your son has a felony gun conviction...he might be a thug.

And so on.

While On That Subject...

I'm Starting To Think...

...that Ebola 2014 will be the equivalent of the 2008 market crash that brought Barack Obama to power. Discuss.

Meanwhile, Over At CNN...

...the hosts are touchingly concerned about the President's health:

Could the government be keeping a dose of Z-Mapp in reserve incase President Obama gets Ebola? CNN’s Erin Burnett really wants to know. The CNN host posed that question to guest Dr. Alexander van Tulleken. Burnett also asked van Tulleken if the medicine or even a blood transfusion could have saved the life of Thomas Eric Duncan.

“Now, what about the Z-Mapp itself. We’re told there’s just none of it left, and a lot of people say ‘well, of course there’s gotta be some of it left.’ If the President of the United States had Ebola, surely there would be a Z-Mapp dose for him?” asked Burnett.

*starts singing Save the Last Dose For Me.*

No Last-Minute Manufactured Votes In NC Midterm Election

US Supreme Court has spoken.

When You Open Carry, You Can Still Be Robbed

As happened here.

GRESHAM, OR (KPTV) - A man openly carrying his new handgun was robbed on a Gresham street by a man with a gun of his own.

Police were called out to the area of 172nd and Glisan Street at 2:10 a.m. Saturday.

Investigators said the 21-year-old victim bought a handgun earlier in the day and was openly carrying it while talking to his cousin.

They said a man approached them and asked for a cigarette. Talk eventually turned to the victim's new purchase, before the robber pulled his own gun from his waistband and said, "I like your gun, give it to me," according to police.

The victim handed over his gun and the suspect ran away.

The suspect is described as a light-skinned black man, 19 to 23 years old, 6'1" with a skinny build. He had black, wavy hair and was clean cut, except for a small patch of facial hair on his chin. The man was wearing gray sweatpants, a white T-shirt and flip-flops.

Open carry will deter the more timid of criminals, but a clever and confident robber will still be able to fool you into being complacent, which is what happened here. In fact, this is an Old West scenario: when everyone openly carries firearms, the focus shifts to deception and "getting the drop" on your victim by drawing first and when he is not expecting it. The victim here was relying on his openly carried gun as a magic talisman to protect him, and the robber wasn't impressed by its power as a talisman. The victim seems to have little knowledge of basic robbery techniques; asking your victim for a cigarette or asking the time is a standard ploy designed to distract the victim while you pull your own weapon out. And, of course, the victim ignored John Derbyshire's Rules and allowed a strange black man to approach him. Jeff Cooper would describe this victim as in Condition White: totally oblivious to his surroundings.

What should the victim have done, then? This: placed his hand on his gun, ready to draw, and told the man to go elsewhere, and if he didn't immediately do so, draw the gun and prepare to shoot him, all the time watching the man's hands, not his face. If the man at this point makes any move to reach into his pants or pockets, you shoot him, and if necessary shoot him again until he is no longer a threat. Then call the cops and get ready to deal with the aftermath.

Clean-Shaven Jesus?

If a newly-discovered 4th-century artifact found in Spain is anything to go by, yes.

The discovery of a glass plate depicting Christ that dates to the fourth century AD may lead to a new understanding of the history of Christianity in Spain.

“We were afraid to say what we believed at first, because it forces us to rethink the history of Christian Spain,” said Marcelo Castro, an archaeologist involved in the project that unearthed the plate from the ruins of the ancient city of Cástulo in southern Spain.

The plate is a paten used to serve the bread of the eucharist. Coins and ceramic items found at the site appear to confirm that it coincided with the rule of Constantine, Rome’s first Christian emperor, who ruled from 306 to 337. Prior to Constantine, Christianity was persecuted and the figure of Christ was presented allegorically, often in the form of a fish.

The plate, which is on display in the archaeology museum in Linares in Andalusia, is one of the earliest representations of Christ after his followers emerged from clandestinity.

The plate, 81% of which has been recovered and reassembled, depicts Christ and the apostles Paul and Peter, according to Castro. Unlike later Christian iconography, the men are all clean-shaven and have short hair. They are also wearing togas, in keeping with the Roman influence on early Christian art.

The fact that the paten shows Jesus, Paul and Peter as clean-shaven means nothing, as Jesus has been portrayed many different ways, depending on the art style in fashion at the time the art was made, and also depending on the whim of the artist involved, or the patron who commissioned the work.

165 Years Ago Today, In Baltimore, Maryland...

...Edgar Allan Poe died.

Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight

Actually, early tomorrow morning, near dawn.

And apparently this one has some extra tricks:

On Oct. 8, Interested skywatchers should attempt to see the total eclipse of the moon and the rising sun simultaneously. The little-used name for this effect is called a "selenelion," a phenomenon that celestial geometry says cannot happen.

Well, we'll see if it does...or not.

It's the Feast Day...

...of St. Bruno of Cologne, the founder of the Carthusians.

The Carthusians are the Catholic order of hermit/monks who are known for the liquer that they manufacture, called Chartreuse. The Carthusians are hermits who live in community; each monk spends around 20 hours per day in an apartment-like cell, and the other few hours are taken up with a daily Mass and a few other functions. The Carthusian spends most of his time in prayer, but also working, either at a craft, gardening (each cell has an enclosed, private garden) or, if he has no skill at a craft, at processing firewood. They have almost no contact with the world outside the Charterhouse (the name for a monastery of Carthusians), and their devotion to their way of life is so unswerving that the order has never had to be reformed since it was first begun by Bruno in 1084 - - over 900 years.

Anyone wanting to see how Carthusians live should watch the documentary Into Great Silence. The filmmaker had to wait over a decade for the Carthusians to decide whether to allow him to film them going about their daily life. Filmed without extra lighting or special effects, what you see is basically what life is like inside a Charterhouse. Warning: 9 out of 10 people will be bored to tears by this movie.

St. Bruno of Cologne.

Victor Davis Hanson: Fantasy Island

Professor Hanson notes how President Barack Obama lives in a place where what has taken place in the world and what takes place in the President's rhetoric are two very different places.

In the make-believe world of Barack Obama, the American financial system melted down hours before he took office due to the crimes of others. He then quickly saved it, and devised an economic plan that has made Americans far better off than when he entered office. Obama next went on to revolutionize the energy sector to lower gas and electricity prices, brought stability to Iraq only to see it destroyed by others, and crafted a unique outreach to the Islamic world that has lessened the threat of violence and cooled passions in the Middle East. The net result, as the president reminds us, is a more secure, quieter world than anytime in history and unprecedented good economic times at home.

Ooookay.

(earlier in the piece Prof. Hanson makes a common error of usage when he mistakes a tenet for a tenant:

) John Brennan not only trashed his former boss George W. Bush, but also in a series of astounding statements over the next few years assured us that jihad was a normal, peaceful tenant of Islam and the idea of an Islamic effort to recreate the caliphate absurd.

Have You Ever Said To Yourself...

...I think I'll run across the Atlantic Ocean to Bermuda in a plastic bubble that operates on the hamster wheel principle?

Me neither.

What To Do In a Mob Attack?

In the aftermath of two mob attacks in Memphis, Tennessee, people are asking how far they are permitted to go in attempting to preserve their lives against a mob. As is always the case, the law offers little help, and actually threatens your freedom.

So if the law offers no help, and an act of defensive violence on your part is the only way you see out of an act of offensive violence by a mob, you're on your own, especially if you're white and the mob that attacks you is black. You'll be painted with the Mark of Cain by the mainstream media and the race hustlers, and we have a President who has shown in the past that he puts racial solidarity above justice. What, then, do you do?

In the end there is nothing to be done but to state clearly what has been done, without shame or regret, and say: Here I am, and this is what I am. Now deal with me as you see fit. That is your right. Mine is to stand by the act, and pay the price.

You do what you must do, and pay for it. So in the end all things are simple. - - Ellis Peters, Brother Cadfael's Penance

And get the best lawyer you can afford, of course.

"Alcohol Played A Factor In Man’s Shooting Death..."

...at the Johnny Walker mobile home park in Alexander County, NC.

Well, of course it did.

Headline of the Day

"COLOMBIAN WOMAN PLANTS POTATO IN HER VAGINA AS A CONTRACEPTIVE."

Medical staff at a central Colombian hospital were shocked after they found a potato wedged in the vagina of a 22-year-old woman, according to Cosmopolitan.

The girl reportedly sought medical attention due to severe abdominal pain. She was given a pelvic exam and a nurse discovered a germinated potato with roots growing inside of her uterus.

Apparently, her mother advised her to use the spud as birth control. "My mom told me that if I didn't want to get pregnant, I should put a potato up there, and I believed her," said the unidentified patient.

Gee, thanks, Mom.

An Unkind Thought

Somewhere in the US at this very moment, a black girl is about to give birth, and she's seriously considering naming the little tyke Ebola.

He's Missed 60% Of His Intel Briefings...

...but never misses a tee time.

Who is President Barack Obama, Alex?

Um...It's Not In the Woodpile...

...it's in the sperm vial.

A white Ohio woman is suing a Downers Grove-based sperm bank, alleging that the company mistakenly gave her vials from an African-American donor, a fact that she said has made it difficult for her and her same-sex partner to raise their now 2-year-old daughter in an all-white community.




h/t Gay Patriot.

NC BBQ Doyen Bob Garner Has New Book Out

Story.

The book is called Foods That Make You Say Mmm-mmm, and appears to be based on the weekly restaurant reviews he does for UNC-TV:

It should be good. Garner will be appearing in Charlotte on the 25th.

Gallery: Walrus, Alaska.

via the UK Guardian.

More at the link.

Tar Poochy

Only way you could tell he was alive was that his eyes moved - - and his chest moved as he breathed.

Here's a video of the cleanup: