Sunday, August 31, 2014

Who Gets Shot In America?

Story.

Look at this chart:



It don't get more obvious than that.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

3rd Level Habib

We're experiencing problems with our cable and internet, and of course we're having to navigate Time Warner Cable's troubleshooting protocols; as my sister says, we are at the 3rd level Habib of customer service.

Meanwhile, In Burlington, NC...

...the local Sonic restaurant has a problem with decimal points on its street sign, leading to a windfall for a local charity:

According to WGHP, Sonic restaurants nationwide had a deal where they sold corn dogs for 50 cents each.

However, at the Sonic in Burlington, North Carolina, instead of advertising 50 cent corn dogs, they advertised “.50 cent” corn dogs, meaning each corn dog would cost half a penny.

One man decided to cash in on this amazing deal. He ordered 2,000 corn dogs to donate to Allied Churches of Alamance County.

Although the manager of the Sonic realized the sign was a mistake, he decided to honor the man’s order anyway.


Just Change Two Words...

...and this article could be about race relations in the US:

"God knows, the Scots have every right to be fed up with the English. But their big problem is their own sense of victimhood."

Just substitute blacks for Scots, and whites for English.

Not Often I Gloat Over a Death...

...but in the case of John Walker Jr., I'm willing to make an exception.

Enjoy your afterlife in the Ninth Circle of Hell, traitor.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Headline of the Day

"Lost chapter reveals Willy Wonka's room of fudge."

I always suspected that there was some fudgepacking going on in Oompa Loompa Land...

Oompa Loompa Doopity Doo, I Have Some Fudge To Pack Into YOU!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Doing Everything Wrong

Two white Mississippi men, one of them a Marine Iraq War veteran, were beaten by a black mob outside a Huddle House restaurant in West Point, Mississippi. One of them is in a coma, and might be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. The lamestream media is giving scant coverage to the story.

From reading the accounts of the attack, the two white men did everything wrong. Maybe they didn't know Derbyshire's Rules for interacting with black people, but when they first approached a Waffle House full of blacks, they were warned by an older black man outside not to risk going in. They ignored the warning, probably because one of them, David Knighten, had a concealed carry license and was carrying a .45 pistol at the time. The pistol probably gave them a measure of confidence to deal with problems rather than avoid them. An argument ensued with the blacks, police were called, and an incipient incident was avoided. The two white men departed for another restaurant, the Huddle House, apparently not realizing that the blacks were following them. At the Huddle House they were attacked by the mob of blacks. Why Knighten didn't use his .45 at this point I don't understand; that's the very purpose for which one carries a CCW license.

So, the mistakes made were:

1. Lack of situational awareness. They were apparently in Condition White the entire night. They didn't perceive a mob of blacks to be a threat.

2. When warned, they ignored the warning. A good man actually went to trouble of warning them that they were walking into trouble. They ignored the warning, and indeed walked into trouble.

3. When police were called and the situation apparently resolved, they went back into Condition White, thinking themselves safe. They drove to another restaurant, with apparently no awareness of being followed. Condition White.

4. The Huddle House is apparently so unsafe that they have to have a security guard. NOTE TO SELF: IF RESTAURANT NEEDS SECURITY GUARD, FIND ANOTHER RESTAURANT.

5. How quickly did the attack occur at the Huddle House? Did the two whites have time to call police? Did they try? Were they ambushed (again, Condition White, totally unaware, apparently)?

6. Wrighten doesn't deploy handgun. Was he unable to? Unwilling to? His friend is now in a coma because he didn't deploy that gun in a situation where it was desperately needed.

Try thinking of this in terms of Zombies. Imagine that you live in a world where brain-eating zombies exist, so many that you acquire a CCW permit to defend against them. One night, while about to enter a restaurant, you see zombies inside, and are warned by a man outside that hungry zombies are inside the restaurant. Are you really going inside that restaurant? Then, having escaped the clutches of the zombies with the help of the police, you drive to another restaurant, oblivious to the fact that the zombies are following, and are attacked in the parking lot. Rather than defend yourself with your handgun, you let the zombies devour your friend.

What the hell, dude? Did you buy that gun just to be a cool-looking accessory? SHOOT THOSE ZOMBIES!

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

I Guess They Just Racis', Huh?

President Obama got a less-than-enthusiastic reception at the National American Legion convention here in Charlotte.

So when Obama began by lecturing the veterans about cynicism and explaining his most recent foreign policy choices — instead of addressing the VA crisis — the audience clearly wasn’t pleased.

Fox News cameras captured a sea of blank or frowning faces looking silently back at the president as he paused for failed applause line after failed applause line.

Obama’s assertion of the indispensability of American leadership worldwide failed to merit a single clap. And when he outlined the “progress” made in Afghanistan, the president resolutely paused for several agonizing seconds until the veterans provided their tepid support.


Monday, August 25, 2014

Way Down Upon De Pee Dee Ribber*

A Pee Dee homeowner shot two home invaders, killing one.

That's down in South Carolina near Darlington, for those unfamiliar with the Carolinas.

*Stephen Foster's famous song Old Folks At Home, more familiarly known as (Way Down Upon the) Suwanee River, was originally considered with a Pee Dee river location in the lyrics.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Friday, August 22, 2014

Today's Biographical Sketch

Horace Kephart.

Kephart was an outdoor writer of the early 20th century. He's associated with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which he advocated to the US government when it was still just mountain wilderness. The Boy Scouts troop in Bryson City, North Carolina is named in Kephart's honor. His noteworthy books include Camping and Woodcraft and Our Southern Highlanders.

Pic:




Quote: "The scrotum of a buck, tanned with the hair on, makes a fine tobacco-pouch." (Camping and Woodcraft)

She Don't Whore Around

Been married three times, but she don't whore around.

Like some people we could name. *cough*(Madonna)*cough*

Man Gets Out of Gun Charge Using "Biden Shotgun" Defense Strategy

Thanks, VPOTUS!

The Brothers Scorn a Race Pimp

Help a brother out, Jesse.

Get some of those Rainbow Coalition dollars flowing the other way, Jesse.

Why the Need To Reassure Us?

"White House says a vacationing president is still president."

Kissed It On the WHAT?

"Fatal attraction? Man wades into water and splashes huge wild crocodile before KISSING it on the lips."

Note: crocs ain't got lips.

Pelted To Death With Oranges

Lest you think that is somehow akin to being nibbled to death by ducks, I should point out that a green, unripened orange is harder than a baseball.

Two Wongs Don't Make a Right

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid talks about Asians.

Can't wait until November when we toss you to the curb.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Well, They "Tried."

Tried to rescue Foley before he was beheaded, that is.

U.S. special operations forces early this summer launched a secret, major rescue operation in Syria to save James Foley and a number of Americans held by the extremist group ISIS, but the mission failed because the hostages weren’t there, senior administration officials told ABC News today.

President Obama authorized the “substantial and complex” rescue operation after the officials said a “broad collection of intelligence” led the U.S. to believe the hostages were being held in a specific location in the embattled Middle Eastern nation.

When “several dozen” U.S. special operation members landed in Syria, however, they were met with gunfire and “while on site, it became apparent the hostages were not there,” one of the officials said. The special operators engaged in a firefight in which ISIS suffered “a good number” casualties, the official said, while the American forces suffered only a single minor injury.

The American forces were able to get back on helicopters and escape.


Gee, why does this failed rescue attempt seem so familiar?

At least they tried.

What? Master Yoda has something to say?



Try is for Democrats. Do is for Republicans.

Another One Bites the Dust*

US Navy: USS Saratoga (CV-60) to be scrapped.

Any non-nuclear aircraft carriers left at this point on active duty?

*when I attended US Navy boot camp in Orlando, Florida, in the fall of 1980, Queen's hit Another One Bites the Dust was a hit song. It was appropriate as our company was reduced in size from nearly 100 young men to around 80 at graduation, would have been even lower than that but we picked up some sailors from other companies who had been held back for one reason or another.

Headline of the Day

"Obama: 'We will be relentless' against terrorists who beheaded American."

A few minutes after his statement he was back on the golf course.

Now watch this drive.

Obama White House Staff: Frankly, He Makes Things Worse...

...ever time he opens his mouth.

The problem is the White House no longer believes Obama can bridge divides. They believe — with good reason — that he widens them. They learned this early in his presidency, when Obama said that the police had "acted stupidly" when they arrested Harvard University professor Skip Gates on the porch of his own home.The backlash was fierce…

If Obama's speeches aren't as dramatic as they used to be, this is why: the White House believes a presidential speech on a politically charged topic is as likely to make things worse as to make things better. It is as likely to infuriate conservatives as it is to inspire liberals. And in a country riven by political polarization, widening that divide can take hard problems and make them impossible problems.


Pretty sad, when your only acknowledged skill is making speeches. Click the link to read the rest.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Fossil Shark's Teeth

A fun hobby, and interesting to science.

I used to find them often as a boy in Florida. The banks of Hogtown Creek, which flows through the middle of Gainesville, abound with shark's teeth and other fossils. I've also found shark's teeth at the beaches of Rota, Spain.

Pic from the article:



The teeth I used to find at Hogtown Creek were usually in good shape, having just been washed out of the banks of the creek. They usually were polished like gemstones, and in the case of the Carcharodon teeth, they were razor-sharp. Biggest one I ever found was three inches long, shiny as a new penny, and I cut myself when I ran my finger along the edge of it. Wish I still had it.

Day Late and a Dollar Short, David

"David Gregory Slams Obama: ‘Big, Expansive Terrorist Threat Amassed On His Watch.'"

You had years to bash the Obama administration, David. A little late to show even-handedness now that you've lost your job at Meet the Press.

Professor Attacked Protester Because...Wait For It...Slavery!

"If I'm lyin' I'm dyin'," as Jerry Clower used to say.

The saga of University of California, Santa Barbara feminist studies professor Mireille Miller-Young has taken yet another bizarro twist after her defenders urged a judge to excuse the criminal allegations against her because of the “cultural legacy of slavery.”

A bunch of her Social Justice Warrior fellow professors come to her defense, offering various excuses, including pregnant woman fury.

Click the link to read the pathetic rest. Since it's California she'll probably get a slap on the wrist, if not a medal.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Yet Another Historic Ship Destined For the Scrapyard

USS Williamsburg, once a presidential yacht used by Harry Truman, now sits quietly rusting in an Italian shipyard.

She's a pretty thing:



At a cost of $55M to spiff her back up, though, there won't be too many willing to take on the project. A shame.

They Also Serve Who Only Have a Club*

"101-year-old veteran pays visit to Museum of the Forgotten Warriors."

First, I didn't know that there was a Museum of the Forgotten Warriors, and the article doesn't do a very good job of explaining why they were forgotten. I had to go to the museum's website to discover that:

MISSION STATEMENT: The Museum of the Forgotten Warriors and Library Center is dedicated to all veterans. TO REMEMBER, RESPECT AND HONOR VETERANS.

Well, that is indeed a worthy mission.

I was tickled by this passage in the article:

As a doctor, he wasn't allowed to have a gun, so for training they issued him a club.

While on guard duty, he had to use the club instead of a gun and ask, "Who goes there?"



*I paraphrased this from a line from a famous poem. Points awarded for guessing the poem and poet.

Friday, August 15, 2014

World War I In the Back Yard

Gotta love those British eccentrics.

Sample pic:

Viking Ship Unearthed In Memphis*

Story.

Ship dates from between 990 and 1050 A.D. To put this in perspective, William the Conqueror didn't invade England until 1066, and Columbus didn't "discover" America until 1492, nearly 500 years after this Viking ship came to rest on the shores of the Mississippi River.



What this means is that the ship probably hugged the coast of what is now the US, rounded Florida, and followed the coast to the Mississippi, where it headed north. The article suggests that the crew fought the local indian tribes.

This latest discovery might give authenticity to the Kensington Runestone and other purported Viking artifacts found in the US.

*Update: The story is a hoax. I apologize to my readers for the error.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Throw Us In That Briar Patch, Please

"Major Democratic Donor Supports Southern Secession: South ‘dumbing down’ America, donor declares."

His proposal is to let the South have its own country AND relocate the Usual Suspects™ up to the Great Liberal North.

When do we start?

h/t Free North Carolina.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Treasure Blog: Coins In the Walls

St. Cloud, Florida:

Police in Florida have seized 60 pounds of silver coins that had been stashed for decades inside the walls of a recently demolished home. According to officials in St. Cloud, Fla., glass pickle jars holding more than 2,000 coins shattered while city workers were leveling a 1915 bungalow, turning the demolition into a momentary slot machine.

"It was like a treasure hunt — the more you dug the more you found," one of those workers, Melissa Howes, told the Orlando Sentinel. "We thought we might be able to keep it like finders keepers, but it was city property."

The most recent owner of the 776-square-foot house, Lamarr LoMax Lowe, a former Walt Disney World employee, abandoned it after racking up $511,500 in code-enforcement liens, the paper reported.

The seizure included 861 half-dollars, 1,016 quarters, 202 dimes and three nickels, police records show. Some of the oldest coins were dated 1917, officials said.


Either Stay Out or Go Full Roman

Don't think you can get away with practicing imperialism on the cheap:

Friday, August 08, 2014

Um...Could Y'all Start Smoking Again? Thanks.

"Scientists Say They Can Transform Used Cigarette Filters Into Superconductors."

Doin' yer part to advance science. *coughcough*

Meanwhile, The Utterly Corrupt US Attorney General, the Contemptible Eric Holder...

...saw his attempt to force North Carolina to abrogate its Voter ID law slapped down by a federal judge.

The left trumpeted a voter ID decision in Wisconsin as if it were the end of the issue. Let’s see what they do with this one. A federal court today smacked down the Holder Justice Department and refused to enjoin (block) North Carolina’s voter ID law, curtailment of costly early voting and end of fraud-infested same day registration. This means the state’s voter ID law will be in place for the midterm congressional (and Senate) elections in November.

The Justice Department had actually argued that even if black voters turned out at higher rates under voter ID (which they do), because blacks have to take the bus more and their life is generally harder, then voter ID and curtailing early voting violates the Voting Rights Act.


That high-pitched screaming you hear? That's Senator Kay Hagan (D), realizing that voter fraud won't be an option available to save her senate career.

*Coughcough*(Sore Losers)*Coughcough*

The moral of this story is don't commit crimes Don't show up cops.

North Carolina man arrested after beating police in doughnut-eating contest.

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Arwa Likes It Rough

CNN foreign correspondent Arwa Damon gets a little wild when she's liquored up:

The State Department has now launched an investigation after one of CNN's foreign ​correspondents ​allegedly bit two medical workers​ ​during a drunken fit at the US Embassy​ in Baghdad​.

Senior international correspondent A​rwa Damon was said to be drunk and abusive to medics stationed on the grounds of the embassy.

Tracy Lamar and Charles Simons, EMTs working for a private contractor in Iraq, say Damon chomped into each of their left arms as they tried to help her.


Pic:

Just Call Her "Chompy."

Monday, August 04, 2014

Cottage In Cadfael Country

Over on the Welsh side of the border.

A cottage on the borderland of Wales and England, in the Shropshire countryside made famous by Ellis Peters in her mysteries featuring a 12th-century Benedictine monk, Cadfael:




For those of you who have never read the Cadfael books, the BBC filmed a bunch of them, featuring Derek Jacobi as Cadfael; here is a scene from the best of the films, and the very best of the books, The Leper of St. Giles:



That scene has me in tears every time I watch it.

Saturday, August 02, 2014

The Sign Said Clearance To the Twelve-Foot Line...*

...but the giraffe's head was right at thirteen-nine...

A tragedy in South Africa.

*reference to obscure 70's country song.

You Don't Shoot To Kill Or Shoot To Wound...

...you shoot to stop the threat.




Well, that's for the first shot, anyway. Every shot after that is to stop that horrible screaming.

h/t David Burge (Iowahawk).

Friday, August 01, 2014

Arrival

Jack knife, of the type used by soldiers during the US Civil War:



This one is very similar to period jack knives: bone handle scales, carbon steel blade. The only modern touch is that the bolsters are made of stainless steel instead of period iron or brass.

When the war started soldiers were over-loaded with gear, and many carried huge Bowie knives, thinking that knife-fighting would be an integral part of battle. The weight of the huge knives on forced marches soon became apparent to them, and very often those Bowie knives were discarded along the roadside, or traded to someone who didn't have to hump the weight themselves, cavalry or artillerymen.

Available for purchase at World Knives, LTD.

Arrival

The Great NC BBQ Map:



The map features over 400 NC BBQ restaurants, with addresses, phone numbers and hours of operation. Also a calendar of NC BBQ events and other NC BBQ facts. There's even a graph showing the differences between Eastern-style and Lexington-style BBQ, for those of you who didn't know that there was such a distinction.

Get yours here.