Saturday, May 31, 2014

Who's Bowe Bergahl...

...and why did we swap 5 GTMO detainees for him?

Rolling Stone has a fine in-depth article about Bergdahl, his history, and whether he did in fact walk away from his duty post in Afghanistan with intent to desert (I'd say yes, myself).

I'm thinking that his best bet will be to trade all the information he has about his captors for leniency in any court-martial proceeding, maybe plead to a lesser charge of dereliction of duty or unauthorized absence.

Update: Soopermexican has a series of Tweets from a man claiming to be a comrade of Bergdahl's, refuting much of the Rolling Stone article. Take it for what it's worth.

Help I'm Lost On Deen Still Road and the Hogs Is After Me

Down in Chuluota, Florida, a thief with warrants called 911 when he was lost and being chased by hogs.

Now that's a Florida sort of story, right there.

Solo Survival Without Gear

Englishman Ed Stafford marooned himself on a tropical island near Fiji, surviving for two months only on foodstuffs he managed to gather from the island.

He waded ashore without any clothes, no knife, no food or water; only an emergency satellite phone, a single bandage and some antibiotics. He had to make fire using only what he found on the island, but managed to do so. He made a knife from a piece of metal he found, dug a trench to collect rainwater, and ate hundreds of snails, among other foods he foraged. A high point was the killing and roasting of a goat, the island being home to a small herd of feral goats.

Looks like a book resulted from the experiment. It is, of course, much easier to survive in a tropical environment than in colder areas, since food is more readily available and avoiding hypothermia is easier.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Meanwhile, Down In Bartow County, Georgia...

...a drunk began shooting at a rodeo. When he ran out of ammo, he was lassoed by one of the cowboys and pummeled by the crowd.

Shit, they had a rope, all they had to do was throw it over the gate crossbeams and they'd have had themselves an old-fashioned summary hanging.

Pic of the pummelled inebriate:



Better check his immigration status while you have him in custody. Just sayin'.

Quote of the Day

On moral dilemmas:

Suppose I am in love with Queen Guenevere, both because she is a total babe, and because Arthur is really too old for her anyway. Suppose I must decide between the delights of luscious and enthusiastic adultery with her on the one hand, and the treason against my liege lord, my sworn word, and all rules of friendship and fellowship on the other. And I am French.

Found here.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Headline of the Day

"Cebu City Zoo in the Philippines offering python massages."

Any of you old Navy veterans out there know you can substitute the word girls for Zoo and the headline will be just as valid. ;)

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Who Ya Gonna Believe...

...the Pope or the Jew?

President Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Pope Francis have a disagreement over what language Jesus of Nazareth spoke.

Devil's Millhopper

The Devil's Millhopper is a large sinkhole near the city limit of Gainesville, Florida, that is now a Florida State Park.

Way back before it was a state park it was a favorite playground for Gainesville's kids; I went there several times, including once as a Cub Scout. There used to be a walking trail down to the bottom, and a couple of shallow caves here and there. Back then the walls of the sinkhole were bare from kids playing (there were some rope swings) and you could see the entire sinkhole, wall to wall. Now, with access to the bottom restricted to the "official" trail, it's a leafy green rain forest:



Back in those days of the late 1960's/early 1970's when Evel Knievel was active as a daredevil motorcycle jumper, we had our own daredevil (reputedly; it may have been a rumor started by my wiseass sister) named Eebus Kneebus, who supposedly jumped the Devil's millhopper on his Schwinn bike. Well, if he didn't, it would have been nice if he had.

Meanwhile, In San Francisco...

...some rich dude is entertaining himself making the proles dance:

White envelopes containing sums of $100 bills are being left all over San Francisco by an anonymous real estate magnate who is sending out tweets to alert treasure hunters where they can find the hidden cash.

Concerns over San Francisco’s widening wealth gap has prompted the anonymous Samaritan to drop “Hidden Cash” – the name of the experimental project -- throughout various parts of the city in order to give back to the community that has helped make him so wealthy.

The anonymous donor, according to the Huffington Post, tweets out clues as to where the next stash of cash can be found from his Twitter handle @HiddenCash after each dropoff. In what he deems to be a social experiment, the donor plans to expand his largess to Oakland and San Jose. The drops reportedly have “no end in sight” and will continue to occur once or twice a week.


It'll stop being funny when some Usual Suspect™ in Oakland gets shot fighting over one of the $100 bills. Watch and see.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Gun Control Works! He Complied With the Law!

The Santa Barbara County, California Sheriff reports that the gunman who killed all those people in California had passed all the necessary background checks and was using California-legal 10-round magazines.

During a May 24 press conference on Elliot Rodger's shooting spree in California, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said the guns Rodgers possessed "were legally purchased," which means he went through a background check, and that he used 10-round magazines.

President Obama and other gun control advocates also pushed to reduce legal magazine capacity to 10 rounds following the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary, suggesting smaller magazines would dissuade mass murderers. However, Breitbart News has repeatedly reported that, if magazines held fewer rounds, criminals would simply buy more magazines to commit their heinous acts.

On May 24, Sheriff Brown suggested that Rodger had done just that, as police found a total of 41 "loaded 10-round magazines" in Rodger's car.


Saturday, May 24, 2014

Arrival

Bark River Boone:



Bark River Knives are made in the USA. This one is an old pre-WWII design. It's made of A2 steel and has a handle of desert ironwood (absolutely gorgeous wood, truly), although dozens of other handle options are available. I show this one with a pilot's survival knife for comparison; the Boone is basically a deluxe version of that nice old pattern. The Boone will actually fit in the sheath of the survival knife, if you so desire, although the sheath supplied by Bark River is actually higher quality than the government contract sheath.

Bought at Knives Ship Free.

Book Excerpt

Aravan rode out of the dawn and into Mithgar in the early days of the First Era, coming to the youth and wildness of this new world, leaving behind the stately grace and beauty of ancient Adonar. When he emerged he found himself in a misty swale, the grassy crowns of mounded hills all about. He was not surprised by the cast of this terrain, for the crossings in between are fair matched to one another. But unexpectedly to his ears came the distant sound of shsshing booms. Intrigued, the Elf turned his horse toward the rolling roar, riding southerly among the diminishing downs. Upward his path took him, up a long, shallow slope, the sounds increasing, the wind in his face, a salt tang on the air. And he found himself on a high chalk cliff, the white bluff falling sheer. Out before him as far as the eye could see stretched deep blue waters to the horizon and beyond. It was the ocean, the Avagon Sea, its azure waves booming below, high-tossed spray gilttering like diamonds cast upward in the morning Sun. Aravan's heart sang at such a sight and his eyes brimmed with tears, and in that moment something slipped comfortably into his soul.

Dennis L. McKiernan, The Eye of the Hunter.

I like that last line, "something slipped comfortably into his soul." In this case it is the love of the sea, and I think that many of us share it. How many times in dating profiles do you see the hackneyed phrase "I like the mountains and the beach?" People are drawn to them. Stephen R. Donaldson wrote of this longing in his Thomas Covenant books, encapsulating it in verse spoken by a Giant:

Stone and Sea are deep in life,
Two unalterable symbols of the world.
Permanence at rest
And permanence in motion,
Participants in the power that remains.

Friday, May 23, 2014

If You Have To Be Held At Knifepoint...

...before you'll have sex with Romania's Angelina Jolie lookalike, you might be gay.*

And, after having raped a male cabdriver at knifepoint during the encounter, the woman now finds herself unable to get a cab ride anywhere. Go figure.

Of course, you have to question the masculinity of the male population of Romania, if no one is interested in having sex with an Angelina Jolie lookalike, at knifepoint or otherwise.




*to be said in a Jeff Foxworthy voice.

Yer Worrying Headline of the Day

"FORMER GERMAN CHANCELLOR CALLS FOR 'PUTSCH' IN EU PARLIAMENT."

It's déjà vu, and not in a good way.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

I Don't Recall Mealworms On Star Trek

"Space travel suddenly seems less appealing! Volunteers live off MEALWORMS for 105 DAYS to prove creatures could be the future of astronaut food."

"Mealworms yesterday, mealworms today, and blimey, if it don't look like mealworms again tomorrer," said one of the volunteers.*





*bonus points for identifying the slightly altered quote. Answer in comments.

Don't You Mean a BROWN Mark?

Assault by Fudgsicle.

Johnson said she told the man she did give correct change and then he assaulted her with a fudge ice cream bar. Police said they saw a red mark on the inside of Johnson’s arm.

Whitesnake? Really?

It used to be said that if you would know how a man thinks, look at the books on his bookshelves. I guess the modern version would be If you would know how a man thinks, look at his Google Search History:

Here's a map showing internet search history for all the 50 US states:



Click the link to read the details. North Carolina, where I am currently a resident, features the following Google searches: Barbecue / Charles Barkley’s Golf Swing / White Snake (band) / Your Mama Jokes.

It's Preston Brooks Day!

Otherwise known as "Take a cane to a Senator" Day.

Hypothetically speaking, which US Senator would you want to take a cane to? Answer in comments. I nominate Harry Reid.

Monday, May 19, 2014

I Wonder If Morgoth Was a General Motors Product?

'High elf' attacks woman's car with sword while battling 'the evil Morgoth.'

Konrad Bass was allegedly high on LSD when he used a sword to attack a woman's car and puncture it. Bass was wearing chain-mail with a helmet and carrying a shield during the attack, but the woman was apparently unable to recognize his costume and told a 911 dispatcher that "a pirate" was attacking her car.

Bass told police he was a "high-elf engaged in the battle with the evil Morgoth," not a pirate, according to KATU. He also had a staff on him at the time of the attack.


You...shall not...pass inspection!

President Clueless First Heard About the VA Scandal From TV...Again

Apparently his advisors don't tell him a got-damned thing, he has to learn it all from watching TV.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Headline of the Day

"Drunk Royal Marine bit off pigeon's HEAD... and was caught because police found his DNA on the bird's body."

Some hilarious photos at the link. The pic of him smoking makes me think he's James Bond's crazy colleague, 005150:




Oh, that's Karmali. He went swimming with the sharks...and ate one.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Monday, May 12, 2014

Shipwreck Blog: Columbus's Flagship Found Off Haiti?

The Santa Maria.

Found by Barry Clifford's team. Clifford is famous for finding the wreck of the pirate ship Whydah.

So Not Only Did the IRS Target Conservative GROUPS For Political Speech...

...they also targeted individual taxpayers who donated to those groups, as many as 10% of those taxpayers.

And the taxpayers were targeted from the donor lists of the conservative groups, which the IRS demanded.

Nosiree, not a smidgen of corruption at the IRS.

Arrival

Mora Bushcraft:



Made in Sweden, Mora knives represent one of the best knife values available anywhere. They are well made, they are sharp right out of the factory, and they are inexpensive compared to other knives. This one, purchased at Amazon, cost $27. It has a molded rubber handle and a hard plastic sheath, in this case a bright orange that is nearly impossible to lose, no matter where you might drop it. The synthetic rubber handle and stainless steel blade are impervious to being contaminated by animal blood and guts if the knife is used for cleaning game. They are easy to keep sharp, with a Scandi (Scandinavian) grind that incorporates the necessary sharpening angle into the blade itself: just lay the knife down on the stone so that the ground area is flat against the stone's surface, and your perfect sharpening angle is established.

This one comes with interchangeable belt carriers, one a loop style that is threaded through a belt, the other a clip style that can be clipped onto a belt or other object, e.g., strap of a backpack, gear harness, etc.

Mora. Try one.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Eleanor Clift: Christ Stevens Wasn't Murdered

He died of smoke inhalation, she says.

Um, Eleanor? How did the fire get started, exactly? If I came over to your house (NOT a death threat) and set fire to your house and you died of "smoke inhalation," what would the police charge me with?

Murder, that's what they'd charge me with.

Stupid bitch.

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Meanwhile, In Aberdeen, Scotland...

...the local Gypsies are going at each other with scythes.

Yes, I said scythes.




I'm sure some member of Parliament will propose a scythe ban in 3...2...1...

Bear Grylls: Let Kids Use Knives

Trying to roll back the nanny state that is UK.

Children should be allowed to play with knives because it can “empower" them by teaching them how to do something dangerous but safely, Bear Grylls has said.

The adventurer said a “mega-sharp penknife” is a great tool for the young, even though his six-year-old son, Huckleberry, recently had an accident that would have led many other parents to take the opposite view.

“Sometimes in life we get cut. My six-year-old recently cut himself on a knife, and came in with blood pouring everywhere, but, you know what? He’s not cut himself again.

“He learned how to handle a knife,” said Grylls, who is also father to Marmaduke, eight, and Jesse, 10.

“When I say to budding adventurers, ‘Listen – a blunt penknife is a dangerous knife. Make sure it’s really sharp’ – the kids’ faces light up. Like all kids, they want a mega-sharp penknife – great, but teach them to respect it and use it properly.

“Two hundred years ago, I doubt there was a six-year-old in Britain who couldn’t start a fire with a knife and a flint. It would be like a six-year-old today using a fork to pick up a fishfinger. Kids were taught to be resourceful and practical.”


I can't but agree. If you go out of your way to infantilize your children, then don't be surprised if they turn out to be infants when they should be adults.

The Hermit As Tourist Attraction

Applications currently being taken for the position of official hermit, to live in a cave in a Swiss gorge.

A Swiss council is looking for someone 'more outgoing' to become its official hermit - after the last one left because she didn't like the attention she was getting from visitors to her cave.

The successful applicant for the position at the cavern at the Verena Gorge, to the north of the city of Solothurn in Switzerland, will need to 'get joy out of meeting people', according to an advert posted by the local council.

They must also have a desire to tend a small garden, to 'dispense wisdom' to anyone that might pass by, and be willing to give courses in meditation three times a week.


Pic:




That has always been the paradox of the religious hermit, starting in the Egyptian desert with St. Anthony. Anthony wanted to be alone with God, but he found that as his fame grew crowds of people would come to visit him and interfere with his solitude. And few of the Christian hermits were truly solitary; they usually had at least one helper to fetch food and other necessities, and to carry messages. Probably the fur trappers and long hunters of early US history were as close to being true hermits as anyone could be.

Monday, May 05, 2014

Enemy Action

The Bible is under attack in our public schools.

Officials at Broward County Public Schools banned a fifth grader from reading the Bible during “free reading” time, according to lawyers from the Liberty Institute who are threatening to sue the school for violating the First Amendment.

Giovanni Rubeo is a fifth-grade student at the school, who had been given a Bible at church as a Christmas gift. It’s his favorite book, so he decided he’d like to read it during the time in class where students are allowed to read anything they choose.

Swornia Thomas is Giovanni’s teacher. On April 8, Thomas told Giovanni he’s not allowed to read the Bible in her class and ordered him to put it away. Giovanni asked her to call his father, Paul Rubeo, about the incident.

Thomas did so, leaving a voicemail that included, “I noticed that he [Giovanni] has a book—a religious book—in the classroom. He’s not permitted to read those books in my classroom.” Rubeo then contacted the school’s principal, Orinthia Dias, who brought in the school’s legal department. None of them are willing to acknowledge that Giovanni has a constitutional right to read the Bible.


This is about the third time this has happened in recent months. The linked article mentions two of the instances, and I seem to recall there was a third instance in South Carolina, as well.

Remember what Auric Goldfinger once said? Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

Sunday, May 04, 2014

Florida's Indigenous Tortoise

The Gopher Tortoise, now endangered.

I played with them often as a child in Florida. The dig burrows in the sandy soil, which are also used by snakes, particularly Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes and the endangered Indigo Snake.

Gallery: Gorgeous UK Beaches

via Daily Mail.

Sample:




Click the link to see the rest of them.

Saturday, May 03, 2014

Figures

Ben Affleck, the millionaire leftist actor who thinks governments should rig economies to benefit the poor, apparently likes to rig the game in his own favor when playing blackjack in Las Vegas.

Ben Affleck has been banned from playing balckjack at a Las Vegas casino after allegedly being caught counting cards.

The 41-year-old actor was gambling at a high rollers table of the Hard Rock Casino, close to the Las Vegas strip, when he was allegedly confronted Tuesday night for being 'too good'.

Staff are said to have accused him of the tactic, which is not illegal but is a ground for being banned.