Charleston, SC Vacation Pics

Here with some photos from our vacation to Charleston, South Carolina. I just got back a few hours ago and have been tweaking the pics.

Firefly Distillery, Home of Sweet Tea Vodka.

Tea At Charleston Tea Plantation.

Tea Harvester, Charleston Tea Plantation.

Melvin's BBQ. Great BBQ, Great Burgers.

At Melvin's BBQ, the Banana Pudding Is Nearly A Sexual Experience.

Replica of Confederate States of America Submarine H.L. Hunley.

Statue of Cacique (Native American Chieftain), Charles Towne Landing Historic Site.

Replica Gun Powder Magazine, Fort Moultrie.

Casemates With Cannon, Fort Sumter National Monument.

Charleston's Iconic Arthur Ravenel Jr., Suspension Bridge, Photographed From Fort Sumter Ferry.

Morris Island Lighthouse (Inactive), Seen From Folly Beach, SC.

Plantation House, Boone Hall Plantation.

"Avenue of the Oaks," Boone Hall Plantation.

Slave Cabins, Boone Hall Plantation.

Cooper River, Mepkin Abbey, Moncks Corner, SC.

Luce Family Graves, Mepkin Abbey Botanical Gardens.

Mepkin Abbey Entrance Sign, Mepkin Abbey, Moncks Corner, SC.

Brief Vacation Update

Today we went out to Folly Beach so I could photograph the Morris Island Lighthouse. The weather was beautiful: clear and sunny, but hot. Humidity wasn't too bad, so the heat was at least bearable. I took lots of photos of the lighthouse, not too sure how they'll look until I get them home and load them into the desktop computer there. In my netbook here the lighthouse looks out of focus in some of the shots.

The beach from which you photograph the lighthouse is easy to reach, but requires a few hundred yards of walking. You park at the last public beach access, then take the paved road (gated off from vehicle traffic, pedestrians ok) to the beach, walking the last fifty yards through a path in the dunes. There were several people out there fishing when I got out there, but no houses or other developement there. Some old house foundations can be seen in the area; I'd guess that they mark sites that were wiped out by Hurricane Hugo back in 1989.

After photographing the lighthouse I walked back down the beach itself to the area where we had parked the car, beachcombing along the way. Folly Beach is one of the better shelling beaches I've seen in the last couple of years; Sara actually found a complete sand dollar.

After leaving the beach we did some antique shopping in the area, then had lunch at a Greek pizzeria; I had a pizza, Sara had lasagne. Both delicious.

After lunch we drove back to Mt. Pleasant and visited Boone Hall Plantation, the most famous of the Charleston-area plantations. We toured the house and the grounds, took some photographs, and overall had a nice time; Sara had especially wanted to see a plantation while we were in the Charleston area, so this satisfied her desire.

After leaving Boone Hall, we visited a Barnes & Noble, then had dinner at Melvin's BBQ for the third time in four days. Melvin's has a great menu, folks, and you're missing out on something special if you don't eat here during a trip to Charleston. Today I had the hamburger that Emeril Lagasse has praised, along with great onion rings (they make them with a sweet fritter batter, so they are fat, chewy and delicious); Sara had the smoked turkey, and some more of the banana pudding that Melvin's does so well. Melvin's vegetable side dishes are also wonderful, Sara reports, although I was less than happy with the result of her eating the collard greens: chemical warfare would not be describing it inaccurately.

It's our last night, tomorrow we depart for home. We'll be stopping for a visit at Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery, on the way home tomorrow morning.

Vacation Update, Cont.

Monday was Fort Sumter day. The weather was mild and sunny, unlike on Sunday, where high humidity had ruined most of our plans. We drove out to Patriot's Point to catch the ferry out to Fort Sumter. Since the US Navy destroyer Laffey (DD-724) wasn't at Patriot's Point (she's upriver undergoing an overhaul/painting), we didn't bother with tickets to Patriot's Point itself, but simply visited the gift shop, where Sara found a few items to purchase.

At 10:30 the ferry began embarking the passengers (painful process, having glue and then tree bark blown onto you with industrial sprayers), and after having been embarked we got underway for Fort Sumter. It's out at the entrance of the Charleston harbor, and is quite small when seen on a map. It's not too much bigger when you actually arrive. Along the way we saw the usual dolphins (harbor porpoises, in this case), which were really too far away for good photography. The ferry had a snack bar active, but the young attendant had his nose in a textbook and didn't seem particularly interested in serving anyone; he looked fabulous in his sunglasses, though.

The fort is dominated by Battery Huger, an addition from the Spanish-American War, and it is in this area that most of the tourist areas exist; you can climb to the top, where a display of flags can be found, and where wide views of the harbor can be seen; it's breezy and cool up there. The National Park Service really needs to place a few benches up there so people can enjoy the breeze.

There are modern restrooms, a museum, and a gift shop within Battery Huger, and there are even lifts for wheelchair-bound visitors so that they can visit the upper areas of the battery.

You are given an hour to explore Fort Sumter, but since the ferry crew doesn't seem to count heads going back on to the ferry for the return trip, I suppose that it is possible to remain out there longer, if you so desire. I don't know if Park Service staff stay at the fort at night, so the feasibility of overnighting on the fort I can't speak for. I'd actually prefer to explore Castle Pinckney, which is a similar sort of fortification, but has been abandoned.

I took lots of pictures, and will post them on my return to Charlotte on Wednesday.

Vacation Update

Saturday was spent shopping in downtown Charleston, first at Marion Square, then at the Marketplace; we didn't buy anything, nothing caught our fancy. Lunch was at Noisy Oyster, which my sister had recommended. I had a rather ordinary oyster po' boy, Sara had a spicy chicken sandwich that she didn't much like. We also had crab dip, which Sara also disliked, but I had no problem with.

After a trip to the hotel to freshen up we headed south toward Hunting Island State Park, but were turned back not far from Beaufort, SC, by torrential rain and thunderstorms.

Today (Sunday) we headed south to Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site, which, after the rains of the previous evening, was extremely humid and unpleasant. Since most of the site involved walking, we had to cut the visit short, because we were both sweating and dehydrating. We then decided to cruise around Mt. Pleasant a bit, and found our way to Fort Moultrie, which we decided to visit. We again had to cut the visit short because of the extreme heat and humidity, both of us wilting. We made a trip to the hotel to freshen up, then went antiquing, which was indoors and in air conditioned buildings. After antiquing we drove around for a while, scouting likely supper locations. We're currently back at the hotel, preparing for supper. Catch all of you later.

From Charleston, SC

We're on vacation in Charleston, South Carolina until next Wednesday. The trip down was uneventful. On Friday we visited the Charleston Tea Plantation and the Firefly Distillery, where various boutique liquors are made, the most famous being the Sweet Tea Vodka. They also have lemonade vodka, plain vodka,mint tea vodka, a tea-flavored bourbon, and a couple of rums. We also visited Folly Beach to see the Morris Island Lighthouse, but that would have required a walk of 1/4 mile and we weren't dressed for it.

Dinner was at Melvin's BBQ, which I can recommend whole-heartedly; clean restaurant, great food. We ate so much that we nearly burst, and that's a good thing.

Today our plan is to visit the straw market/shopping district, then in the afternoon head out to Hunting Island State Park to photograph the lighthouse there.

My apologies for lack of photographs. I'm using Ubuntu Linux on my netbook, and I haven't figured out how to access my photographs after I load them in; some application called F-Stop has captured them, and I don't know how to access it to upload to Blogger. I'll work on figuring it out over the next few days and try to get them up, if not they will have to wait until we get back.

Best Check The DUI Records

Over in Gastonia, which is a podunk sort of place west of Charlotte, a man robbed a bank and made his getaway on a moped.

Yep, the getaway vehicle was a liquorcycle. He shouldn't be hard to track down.

Thus Renderin' 'Im 'Armless!

In Sweden, a man had to amputate his father's arm to save his life when it became stuck in machinery.

Bonus points for identifying where I got the blog post title.

It's A Funny Old World

It's a funny old world, ain't it, where the Constitution is in dreadful danger if we don't allow Muslims to build a mosque near Ground Zero, but the Constitution is perfectly safe if we forbid Christians from burning books that they purchased with their own money?

Not Tonight Dear, I Have Leukemia

She only married you for the money.

Sadly Enough, It's Probably True

Today's Jesus and Mo:

Big Brother Jails Abusive Cop

I rag on the UK a lot for its nanny-statism, its coddling of criminals and its criminalizing of self-defense and self-defense tools (guns), but I have to admit that they are far harsher on abusive and crooked cops than we are here in the US, treating them far more like common citizens than Angels In Blue, which happens all too often here.

In this case the abusive cop was only caught because of the pervasive Big Brother closed-circuit TV monitoring that goes on routinely in the UK, so I'm conflicted. The CCTV was employed in the cause of justice in this case, but all too often you hear stories of CCTV footage being used to harass citizens for minor infractions such as littering or failing to clean up their pet's waste.

Sheepskin Made of Naugahyde

At the University of Baltimore, they're offering a class on zombies.

Students taking English 333 will watch 16 classic zombie films and read zombie comics. As an alternative to a final research paper they may write scripts or draw storyboards for their ideal zombie flicks.

Yah, that'll help you out in the real world.

BBQ Update

For those of you who have missed my BBQ road trips, you'll have to be patient a little while longer before there is some new content in that category; in the meantime, Kathleen Purvis, the food editor of The Charlotte Observer, has been making a BBQ road trip recently: Part One, Part Two, Part Three.

Sara and I will be hitting the road Friday for a vacation to Charleston, South Carolina. We've already got some leads on good BBQ restaurants, as well as some seafood places. As a parrothead, I'll also be stopping in the local Margaritaville for a look around, and maybe a burger. Stay tuned.

Quote of the Day

Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, in a New York Times article discussing hiring practices at the Supreme Court: "“I won’t hire clerks who have profound disagreements with me,” he said at a luncheon in Dallas a decade ago. “It’s like trying to train a pig. It wastes your time, and it aggravates the pig.”

And a bonus quote, also from Justice Thomas, regarding the hiring of clerks from law schools other than Harvard or Yale: "I have a preference, actually, for non-Ivy League law clerks, simply because I think clerks should come from a wide range of backgrounds,” he said. “I don’t have that pedigree. I’m not part of this sort of new or faux nobility.”

Bravo.

When Hay Bales Attack

The results can be tragic.

I guess death by hay bale will now go into insurance company actuarial tables as something you can insure your life against.

The Door Just Spins, and Spins, and Spins

And the public is endangered by this government malpractice.

A Cure For Malaria?

Maybe.

Pat Caddell On The Midterm Elections

The pollster for the Jimmy Carter White House gives his opinions on the 2010 midterm elections.

Unlike President Reagan at his first-term midpoint, in 1982, “Obama is not able to go out there and say, ‘Stay the course.’ That’s just not possible. The Democrats’ hope with health care was that ‘people will like it after we pass it.’ Well, they hate it, and you don’t see any effort to promote it. The Democrats had a chance to do this right — most people supported aspects of reform — but because of the way it was passed, as a crime against democracy, the country has simply not accepted it. The lies, the browbeating, the ‘deem and pass’ — all of it was a suicide mission.”

“With Carter, I would argue that his failures were not of the heart or of intent, but, perhaps, of execution,” Caddell says. “He was never inconsistent with what he originally envisioned. I can’t say the same for Obama.” Successful presidents, Caddell argues, “realize that it is not about them — that the country is bigger than their presidency. With Obama, it is always about him. It’s a terrible thing to have to say, but I think that it has become obvious.”

It's worth reading the whole thing. I've watched Caddell on round table discussions before, and have always been impressed by his knowledge and his ability to comment in a non-partisan way.

Treasure Blog: Lord Nelson's Order of the Bath Breast Star

Thought lost, but wonderfully preserved for centuries. Valued at nearly three quarters of a million dollars.

Pic:



And what it looked like when Nelson wore it:



I'm surprised that the UK government is allowing this relic of its greatest naval hero to even be auctioned.

Ha Ha Ha, I Was Just Joking

The usual practice, when confronted by overwhelming evidence of cruelty/insensitivity is to attempt to pass it off as a joke.

Thus, these hilarious examples:

'That b****y maid needs a good slap. Some ppl [sic] here have no idea what it's like having servants.

'I'm sorry but being on call 24/7 and not having a day off for months and not being allowed to leave the house DOESN'T make you a slave.'

Or maybe it was just taken out of context. That's a popular way to get out of taking responsibility for your actions/words.

Quote of the Day

Author, polemicist and atheist Christopher Hitchens, who is suffering with oesophageal cancer, on prayers offered by his many admirers: "A different secular problem also occurs to me: what if I pulled through and the pious faction contentedly claimed that their prayers had been answered? That would somehow be irritating."

TEOTWAWKI!*

via Say Uncle.

Now that is one fall show I'd be willing to watch regularly.

*The End Of The World As We Know It.

Fire Burns, Cold Freezes...

...and electricity will shock you to death if you aren't careful.

Really, how does someone get to be 18 years old and not learn these things? This is right up there with that idiotic lawsuit from the woman who was burned by hot coffee at McDonald's.

Headline of the Day

"Frankenstein cited over monstrous behavior in Ohio."

Abnormal brain, maybe?

Sea Glass

An article from the Wilmington, NC newspaper.

I used to have a pickle jar full of the stuff back when I was in the Navy, there was a pebbly beach over at the Norfolk Naval base and apparently lots of broken bottles in the harbor there (it was at the Marina where the Naval Base blends into the Naval Air Base), most of them brown beer bottle glass, as you might expect.

No Spellcheck At NC DOT?

Looks like they need one:



My Sara took that one here in Charlotte on her way home from work. (click to embiggen).

No Pigs Need Apply...

...at the 22nd World Kosher Barbecue Championship in Memphis, Tennessee.

That's a restriction I personally can live with, brisket being my favorite type of BBQ. A lot of people here in the south and especially here in North Carolina would be heartbroken, however.

I Wonder If It Was A '58 Plymouth Fury?

"Car strikes gate outside Stephen King's Maine home."

I Only Have One Question

How come no one has ever firebombed Westboro Baptist Church?

Please note that I am not advocating nor otherwise supporting such an act, but I'm curious as to why, if the Phelps clan has angered so many, that no one has ever acted upon such an impulse. 200 years ago Phelps would have been tarred, feathered, and ridden out of town on a rail, and that would have been it.

"I Love You," He Said...

...as he pushed her to safety away from the oncoming freight train.

The freight train that killed him.

Greater love has no man...

They'd Walk A Mile For...

...a Camel crab sex.

New US Navy Ship Museum In Lake Charles, LA

The Gearing-class were the first class of destroyers commissioned after WWII, and served into the 60's. I remember seeing one of them in Pensacola tied up near the USS Lexington (CV-16) back in the early 80's, but can't remember the hull number or name. I seem to remember it being a US Naval Reserve vessel used for Reserve training, though.

Anyway, the Orleck was just towed to Lake Charles, where it will be a museum ship; right now it is undergoing overhaul and clean-up to prepare it for its museum role.

Here's a pic; it's one of the old-fashioned "all gun" destroyers, with no missile launchers as found on more modern ships:


The USS Orleck (DD-886), a Gearing-class Destroyer.


And it's tiny, too, compared to more modern destroyers, which probably would have been classified as cruisers in the old days, if size it the criterion, rather than role.

Anyway, the Orleck is in the news because of some stowaways found onboard after the ship was towed to Lake Charles.

update: I note that the Gearing-class destroyer that I remember from Pensacola was the USS Robert A. Owens.

Volcano Blog: Sinabung, Indonesia

Awake after being asleep for 400 years.

Eruption appears to be minor, with a small ash cloud and some ejection of lava at the summit. Sinabung is a typical stratovolcano. No loss of life reported as of this writing.

More information on the volcano can be found here.

Survival Going Mainstream

Which to my mind can only be a good thing. Self-reliance is what made this country great, and the further we move from the tradition of self-reliance, the more that the country is hurt by it.

Can We Make Sure He Serves Ten Years, Next Time?

Since it's obvious he's too stupid to even spell rehabilitation, much less attempt to achieve it, there's no point in risking his presence on the streets for a minimum of ten years.

It Hardly Qualifies As News, Doesn't It?

"Obama, Democrats got 88 percent of 2008 contributions by TV network execs, writers, reporters."

You know, the MSM is always on the alert for a good diversity story when it comes to organizations run by Republicans or conservatives (or even white people); maybe, just maybe, they need to pluck forth that plank of wood in their own eye that prevents them from seeing the ideological uniformity in their own profession. And no, the existence of Fox News doesn't offset the overwhelming bias and lack of diversity in the rest of the MSM.

h/t Instapundit.

Maybe They Were Democrats...

...yelling Beat Righty!

But somehow I rather doubt it.

Hands Up, Motherstickers...

...this is a fuckup.

Don't laugh at the girl with the gun.

If That's A Zucchini In Your Yard...

...apparently it's very happy to see you.

One Very Remote Bed & Breakfast Place

The Frying Pan Shoals light tower, off the coast of Southport, North Carolina.

It was just purchased from the Coast Guard for $85,000, and will require much more than that in repair work to bring it up to current safety specifications. It's 25 miles out to sea, so it's a long boat ride or a shorter helicopter ride (the roof doubles as a helo pad). I myself wonder how they're going to power it - - solar and wind power only go so far. Still, it would be a marvelous place in the winter for stargazing, and sitting there on a clear night with the sea all around would be awesome and spooky at the same time.

Here's a pic of what the tower looked like a few years ago:

Forty Years of a Stereotype

James Dickey's infamous novel Deliverance celebrates its birthday.

This book, much like Erskine Caldwell's novels Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre a generation before, did much to perpetuate the stereotype of the rural southerner and the hillbilly as inbred degenerate buggerers. Dickey's novel was evil enough in this role, but the movie made from it established images that burned into America's memory:



And, of course:



The rape scene was written by Dickey in his novel, but the "squeal like a pig" section was improvised by the actors, Bill McKinney and Ned Beatty. I'd have to think that Beatty never did a more brave thing in his entire career than consent to doing this scene, which for its time (1972) was truly horrifying.

I guess that, if the mark of a successful book is how well it drives the reader into a frothing, hate-filled rage, then Dickey wrote a successful book,and helped make it into a successful movie.

Meanwhile, At Wikipedia...

...the Chief Inquisitor responsible for enforcing orthodoxy on the subject of Climate Change has been removed from his high position for abuse of his authority.

via Borepatch.

If the science is settled, why is a Chief Inquisitor needed, anyway?

Reporting From Afghanistan...

...it's P.J. O'Rourke.

How can we know what America should do in Afghanistan? I’ve returned fully informed on this subject as well. We should stay. The member of parliament who dismissed the clash of civilizations said, “It’s like buying a beautiful home somewhere and letting your neighborhood deteriorate.”

Really, seriously, we should stay. Otherwise, Ramazan Bashardost said, “You’ll see Chinese soldiers in the street. We have a border with China. They’re a very rich country. We’re very poor people—in a most strategic region.”

We should leave. The Pashtun tribal leader said, “We don’t have war. What we have is instability. Armies create instability. If you try this for 20 more years you’ll never succeed.”

We should do both. One of the Radio Azadi journalists said, “There’s the same feeling in Afghanistan as there is in the U.S. We worry about the U.S. staying, and we worry about the U.S. leaving.”

The Afghan people are pro-American. The woman MP said, “We say, ‘Our enemy is their enemy.’ ”

The Afghan people are anti-American. Ramazan Bashardost said, “Frankly, people are generally against the U.S.” But he tries to argue with them. “I say U.S. troops are in Afghanistan for values, not for oil—there is not enough of it.”

We should talk to the Taliban. The Pashtun tribal leader said, “Accept the fact that we cannot eliminate all Taliban from Afghanistan.”

We shouldn’t talk to the Taliban. The governor said, “Talks further strengthen the enemy’s position.”

The Afghan government can be reformed from within. The governor said, “Blaming corruption is just a way to put blame on others for our own shortcomings. Internal strategies are needed to strengthen military and civil society.”

The Afghan government can’t be reformed from within. Bashardost proposed something like General MacArthur did in Japan after World War II.

Poverty is the root of Afghanistan’s problems. Bashardost said, “We are ready to support you for three hundred years. If we have electricity. If we have a life.”

Poverty is not the root of Afghanistan’s problems. “Or Haiti would be the most terroristic country in the world,” the governor said.

Read the whole thing.

Hitchens On Ground Zero Mosque and "Tolerance"

Story.

Emboldened by the crass nature of the opposition to the center, its defenders have started to talk as if it represented no problem at all and as if the question were solely one of religious tolerance. It would be nice if this were true. But tolerance is one of the first and most awkward questions raised by any examination of Islamism. We are wrong to talk as if the only subject was that of terrorism. As Western Europe has already found to its cost, local Muslim leaders have a habit, once they feel strong enough, of making demands of the most intolerant kind. Sometimes it will be calls for censorship of anything "offensive" to Islam. Sometimes it will be demands for sexual segregation in schools and swimming pools. The script is becoming a very familiar one. And those who make such demands are of course usually quite careful to avoid any association with violence. They merely hint that, if their demands are not taken seriously, there just might be a teeny smidgeon of violence from some other unnamed quarter …

From my window, I can see the beautiful minaret of the Washington, D.C., mosque on Massachusetts Avenue. It is situated at the heart of the capital city's diplomatic quarter, and it is where President Bush went immediately after 9/11 to make his gesture toward the "religion of peace." A short while ago, the wife of a new ambassador told me that she had been taking her dog for a walk when a bearded man accosted her and brusquely warned her not to take the animal so close to the sacred precincts. Muslim cabdrivers in other American cities have already refused to take passengers with "unclean" canines.

Click the link to read the whole thing. Hitchens' argument is basically a "plague on both your houses" sort of thing.

h/t Amy Alkon.

Was I Prescient, Or What?

The President does his worshipping on the golf course.

Why, it's almost as if the MSM reads my blog.

And see, they even include a pic of the President stuck in a sand bunker to disprove my theory that they won't publish such pictures:



Who knew I wielded such power in the blogosphere? Certainly not me. I. Whichever it is.

h/t Drudge Report. Again. I need to find my own material again and stop stealing from Drudge.

Why, It's Just Like a...

...foreign language.

It's really too loaded a topic for me as a white southerner to cover. I'll just say, then, that if a white southern accent sounds ignorant and bigoted to the rest of the US, so too does Ebonics sound ignorant to many white southerners, and probably others in the US as well. I'll say further that the New York/New Jersey regional accent also sounds ignorant, and I associate it with arrogance and rudeness, as well. There's probably a reason that obnoxious US tourists in movies are usually given the NY/NJ regional accent.

I'll venture just a little further and theorize that abandonment of Ebonics marks the point at which an African-American leaves the lower class and migrates to the middle class and upward mobility, just as weeding out a "white" regional accent marks departure from the lower class by whites.

h/t Drudge Report.

Southern Algebra

One of the lesser-known generals of the Confederate States of America was Daniel Harvey Hill. Hill was born in South Carolina, the cradle of secession, and entered West Point to become an officer in the US Army. As an army officer Hill took part in the Mexican War, showing initiative and courage on several occasions, resulting in battlefield promotions to Major.

After the Mexican War Hill resigned his army commission and became a college teacher, first at Washington College (Now Washington & Lee University) and Davidson College here in the Charlotte, NC, area. During his time at Washington College Hill wrote and had published an algebra textbook that was unique at the time because of its southern perspective. Hill took delight in skewering Northern sensibilities in his textbook with word problem exercises such as these (taken from this website, as I wasn't about to root through Hill's textbook myself to find them):

1. Milk sells in the City of New York at 4 cents per quart. A milkman mixed some water with 50 gallons of milk, and sold the mixture at 3 cents per quart without sustaining any loss by the sale. How much water did he put in the milk?

7. In the year 1853, a number of persons in New England and New York, were sent to lunatic asylums in consequence of the Spiritual Rapping delusion. If 14 be added to the number of those who became insane, and the square root of the sum be taken, the root will be less than the number by 42. Required the number of victims.

8. A man in Cincinnati purchased 10,000 pounds of bad pork, at 1 cent per pound, and paid so much per pound to put it through a chemical process, by which it would appear sound, and then sold it at an advanced price, clearing $450 by the fraud. The price at which he sold the pork per pound, multiplied by the cost per pound of the chemical process, was 3 cents. Required the price which he sold it and the cost of the chemical process.

11.A northern railroad company is assessed $120,000 damages for the contusions and broken limbs, caused by a collision of cars. They pay $5000 for each contusion, and $6000 for each broken limb; and the entire amount paid for bruises and fractures is the same. How many persons received contusions, and how many had their limbs broken?

12.A Yankee mixes a certain quantity of wooden nutmegs, which cost him 1/4 cent apiece, with a quantity of real nutmegs, worth 4 cents apiece, and sells the whole assortment for $44; and gains $3.75 by the fraud. How many wooden nutmegs were there?

13.At the Women’s Rights Convention, held at Syracuse, New York, composed of 150 delegates, the old maids, childless-wives, and bedlamites were to each other as the numbers 5, 7, and 3. How many were there in each class?

When a friend pointed out that such disparaging examples would hurt sales of the textbook in the North, Hill replied with equanimity that it didn't much bother him if it did.

Hill, of course, went on to become a Major General for the Confederacy in the US Civil War, distinguishing himself in battles throughout the course of that conflict, but an unfortunate propensity to criticise his superior officers (he had harsh words for both Lee and Braxton Bragg, who were at various times in command over him)caused Jefferson Davis to sideline him in support roles for part of the war. After the conflict he again returned to teaching at various colleges throughout the south, until returning to Charlotte just before his death.

Here's a photo of Hill; he wore his hair and beard close-trimmed, so would not be out of place on a college campus even today:



Sara and I went up to Davidson today and I visited the General's grave:





The cemetery is a quiet, peaceful place, part of the Davidson College campus. Hill lies surrounded by his family.

What Religion Is President Obama?

Tobin Harshaw of The New York Times tries to puzzle it out.

I think it's obvious. Based on the devotion toward it and time/money spent on it during his presidency, it's safe to say that President Obama's religion is Golf.

Shhh. Show Respect, This Is A Holy Place!

And you know what? Just now, while searching 30 pages of Google Images for photos of the President golfing, there was not one photograph of the President in a water hazard, sand bunker or even in the rough. No stories of him bonking spectators like President Ford did. The man must be one hell of a golfer.

Are the JournoListers conspiring on the President's golf game? I wonder...

Michael Moore To Donate $5K To Wikileaks Traitor Defense

Imagine that.

Is anyone surprised? Sean Penn will chip in a few bucks too, I'd imagine.

US Military: OK, NOW We'll Screen For Terrorists In The Ranks

The results of the study ordered after Major Nidal Malik Hasan went Jihadi at Ft. Hood have been released.

In the wake of the deadly shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, last year, the Pentagon is devising new methods to identify terrorists or other dangerous people working inside the military community, according to a new report.

That includes revising mental health screening tests to add factors correlated with violence, such as “work, home, financial, legal and interpersonal stressors,” according to the Defense Department report released Aug. 20.

In addition, commanders will soon receive better instructions on how to “distinguish appropriate religious practices from those that might indicate a potential for violence or self-radicalization,” the report said.

In addition they're going to upgrade 911 phone systems on military bases to modern standards.

Yet another example of the reactive close the barn door after the horse escapes thinking by the military. The military received an earlier wakeup call in the Hasan Akbar fragging case that Muslim soldiers could turn Jihadi and did nothing at the time.

Diving For Helldivers

Down at the bottom of San Diego reservoir, where it has rested since 1945.

Here's what a Helldiver looks like:

A "Loser Leave the Race" Wrestling Match?

Looks like it:

Well, it ain't kissing babies.

In unusual twist on campaigning, Tristan Patterson, the Republican candidate for the state House District 20 race, will enter the wresting ring Saturday night with his political future on the line.

Patterson has agreed to fight Donald Brower, a wrestling promoter and owner of Wilmington-based United Pro Wrestling Association.

The terms:

If Brower wins, Patterson has to drop out of the race and endorse his Democratic opponent, Rep. Dewey Hill. Hill, the incumbent for the district that covers Columbus County and part of Brunswick County, was hospitalized earlier this week in Wilmington for bypass surgery. The election is Nov. 2.

If he loses, Patterson also has to wear a New Jersey Devils hockey jersey and condemn the Carolina Hurricanes, said Brower, who hails from northern New Jersey.

If Patterson wins, Brower has to declare southeastern North Carolina the best place to live in the country and back Patterson on the campaign trail.

Click the link for the rest. This is an idea that could really catch on.

Happy Birthday...

...to Fred Thompson.

Shipwreck Blog: Westmoreland, Lake Michigan

Lost in 1854, the passenger steamer Westmoreland sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan.

Article says the Westmoreland was carrying a cargo of whiskey, brandy, and possibly even gold. Ship appears to be in good condition, according to the finder. Click the link for more information.

Three Ships, Ailing and Perhaps Dying

USS New Jersey, USS Olympia, and the SS United States.

USS Olympia: Dead In November?

Even Democrats Think He's Muslim

President Obama, that is.

Among Democrats, for example, just 46 percent said Mr. Obama was Christian, down from 55 percent in March 2009, two months after he took office. As to the issue of his birthplace, a CNN poll released this month when the president turned 49 found that 27 percent of Americans doubted he was born in the United States. A New York Times/ CBS News poll in April put the figure at 20 percent.

I'd guess that high-level discussions are going on at the White House this very moment, deciding which local Christian church the Obamas will join. Presumably the President will hold out for one with its own golf course.

Those Are OUR Rocks!

Japan and South Korea can't agree on who owns rocks formed by the peak of a volcano in the sea between the two countries.

Bill Whittle On The Ground Zero Mosque

One of my favorite pundits gets to the heart of the matter:

Shelby Eagle Scout Saves Drowning Girl

The little girl was caught in a rip current at Edisto Beach, SC.

Well done to 19-year-old Alan Riggs.

Now THIS I Find Imaginative

A plan to anthropomorphize electrical pylons across the barren Icelandic landscape:

Funniest Thing You'll Hear All Day

Arlo Guthrie singing The Ballad of Reuben Clamzo.

Sorry I can't embed it, you'll just have to click the link. I actually have the studio version of this on LP.

Now Liberal Wackos Even Attacking Democrats

Senator Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, was attacked with a pie by a liberal wacko.

The Tea Party gets the reputation for violence, thanks to the machinations of the MSM, but when political figures are attacked physically, it's almost always a liberal wacko who was responsible for the assault.

Best Burger?

According to the Fast Food Survey by Zagat, it's Five Guys.

Here's the burger results:

Best Burger

1. Five Guys
2. In-N-Out Burger
3. Wendy’s
4. Burger King
5. McDonald'si>

We have Five Guys here in the Charlotte area, and frankly I don't see what the excitement is about, they aren't all that memorable, being comparable to Jack In The Box, and their french fries just totally suck, usually being overcooked to the point of discoloration. I have found Fuddrucker's to make better hamburgers than Five Guys. Of the five listed, I'd prefer Burger King, if I could guarantee getting a freshly cooked burger. Too often, though, Burger King's fine flame-broiling goes to waste when the burgers are wrapped and stored, allowing them to get soggy and lose freshness. Burger King would benefit by storing their patties and buns separately and assembling the burger after it is ordered, but cooking to order would be much preferred.

How about you guys? What chains are your favorites? (We're talking chains, not locally-owned places, no matter how memorable).

MY Favorite Country Songs?

Borepatch is asking for readers to disclose their favorite country songs. Here's a few of mine:

First, from the forgotten songstress of the early 80's, Gail Davies:



Next, Alabama's first hit, and still my favorite of all of theirs:



From around the Bicentennial, John Conlee and his first hit:



The beautiful late-80's harmonies of Baillie and the Boys, and their first hit:



After Gail Davies disappeared and broke my heart by doing so, I consoled myself with another beautiful lady with similar deep, rich voice: Kathy Mattea and one of her earliest hits:



I didn't like a lot of songs by The Judds, but I liked this one, even though it was probably responsible for keeping Gail Davies' Jagged Edge of a Broken Heart from climbing higher in the charts than it did: Why Not Me?



I can't forget Don Williams:



That's probably enough for now. You'll notice I prefer the girl singers, and I love beautiful vocal harmonies. A lot of these were first or very early efforts by the artists involved, when their work was fresh and they weren't tired or jaded.

When Lighthouses Retire

A fine New York Times article on what happens when the US Coast Guard retires a lighthouse. Hint: If you have enough money, you can have one of your own.

A slide show also available at the link.

Arrival

This:





Distilled wisdom from the Master. Found it for about $3, I notice it's hard to come by, Amazon sells used copies for over $50.

This One Sounds a Bit Suspicious

"Unlucky for some: Lightning strikes 13-year-old boy at 13:13 on Friday the 13th."

Take it with a shaker grain of salt.

First We Builds Them Up...

...then we knocks 'em down.

The inevitable happens, and Jet Blue flight attendant "hero" Steven Slater is the subject of a CBS story detailing the stories of some passengers on that Jet Blue flight who describe Slater as rude and obnoxious.

Often these scenarios are partisan in nature, as in the case of Joe the Plumber, who was a hero to Republicans and a fraud to Democrats. Probably the only recent hero who hasn't been besmirched is Captain Sullenberger of the "miracle on the Hudson." I haven't heard anything derogatory about him.

Musical Interlude

How many Steve Forbert fans do we have out there?

Scientists Discover What Makes Teh Funny

So they claim, anyway.

It involves smoking children and pork-selling rabbis, apparently.

Japan: Where Have All Our Centenarians Gone?

They appear to have misplaced 200 of them.

“It is impossible to keep a check on who is alive or dead, unless somebody registers a person’s death,” said Midori Kotani, a senior research director at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute Inc. “The pension system is founded on the premise that people are good, not that they kill family members at home, and bury them.”

Answer Me This

Why is it that the US government is willing to ram such things as Obamacare down our throats, but balks at lesser intrusivenesses such as switching from dollar bills to dollar coins or switching to the Metric measurements system?

In the case of the dollar bill coins it even saves the government money in the long run, so it's something that fiscal conservatives can get behind.

When Hacker Met Lawyer...

...hilarity ensues:

Q. Is there a certain language that is commonly used for users of 4chan?

A. In what sense?

Q. Certain terms, have a meaning unique to 4chan?

A. Yes.

Q. Like "OP," what is "OP"?

A. OP means original poster.

Q. Are you familiar these terms, having been the founder and administrator of the 4chan site?

A. Yes.

Q. What would "lurker" mean?

A. Somebody who browses but does not post, does not contribute.

Q. What do the words "caps" mean?

A. Screenshots.

Q. And is there any significance to "new fags"?

A. That is the term used to describe new users to the site.

Q. What about "b tard"?

A. It's a term that users of the /b/- Random board use for themselves.

Q. What about "troll"?

A. Troublemaker.

Q. "404"?

A. 404 is the status code for not found. It means essentially gone or not found.

Q. Not found on where, the 4chan site?

A. 404 is the http status code for not found, a page not found by the Web server.

Q. In what about "peeps"?

A. People.

Q. "Rickroll"?

A. Rickroll is a mean or Internet kind of trend that started on 4chan where users -- it basically a bait and switch. Users link you to a video of Rick Astley performing Never Gonna Give You Up.

[...]

Q. And the term "rickroll" you said it tries make people go to a site where they think it is going be one thing, but it is a video of Rick Astley, is right?

A. Yes.

Q. He was some kind of singer?

A. Yes.

Q. It's a joke?

A. Yes.

The whole testimony of 4chan founder Christopher Poole, testifying at the trial of the Sarah Palin hacker, can be downloaded as a .pdf at the link.

"Now I Can Have Caviar Every Day"

Florida's infant farm-raised caviar industry.

Quote of the Day

"It was probably a bad idea, in a state whose water supply depends directly on mountain runoff, to appoint a man namedLes Snow as director of Water Resources."

That's some weapon-grade snark right there, folks.

Hello, Pleasure Island Towing?

We need you to tow a shark off the beach.

It's possible the shark was in an undertow zone, but doubtful that it was in a tow-away zone.

Sometimes the Plane Goes Down In Flames...

...other times it's just the flight attendant.

The argument began when one of the 100 passengers on the flight, got up early to get her luggage from an overhead compartment, according to sources. Slater told the passenger to sit back down -- but, as he approached, the woman continued to pull her belongings down and struck him in the head with her bag, authorities said.

Slater asked for an apology but the woman cursed him out, saying in effect "go f--k yourself" and calling him a "mo-fo," according to law enforcement sources who are still sorting out the specifics. Then Slater got on the flight's announcement system and allegedly cursed out everyone on the plane -- especially the person who mouthed off to him, according to law enforcement sources.

When his tirade was through, he then took

a some beers from the galley and pulled the emergency chute and slid off the Embraer 190 plane. According to police sources, he threw his luggage down first and said something to the effect of "there goes 28 years," before he took the plunge.

After getting down the slide, Slater took off into the terminal, law-enforcement sources said.

The steward was "having a bad day," sources said.

Slater was later arrested at his home in Belle Harbor, Queens by Port Authority officials. Police sources said that when authorities found Slater he seemed to be in the midst having sexual relations.

Johnny Paycheck certainly would have approved.



h/t Drudge Report.

Damned If'n We Ain't Just Got Us One Hell of a...Symphony Orchestra

Over at Reason, Nick Gillespie snarks on those decaying cities whose civic boasts include world-class symphony orchestras.

Folks, if classical music were really as popular as its fans make it out to be, then you'd regularly see symphony concerts scheduled on regular advertising-supported TV channels, not just taxpayer-subsidized PBS and NPR outlets.

Battleship North Carolina Attendance Record

And in July.

Folks, I've been on board that ship a couple of times, and believe me, you don't want to be onboard during the warm months because of the poor A/C and ventilation. Sara and I went in early spring and found it nearly unbearable; I can't even imagine how hot it must get in July, especially the ultra-humid and steamy July just past. There seems to be one really well-ventilated place on the ship, near the mess decks, and when you reach it you just stop and stand there, letting the cooler air dry off the sweat on your soaking clothes. Then you move on.

I myself probably wouldn't ever visit it again unless it's fall or winter.

It's 8/9/10.

One of those cool dates.

Rant of the Day

Not by me, but by Ace. He skewers the MSM for exploiting that little man-whore Levi Johnston in their quest to prevent Sarah Palin from becoming President of the US:

So much of the media's behavior is dictated by its partisan sympathies and regard for social standing amongst their own. The Clintons are beloved by most in these institutions, so no editor with any concern for his future career or future standing among his peers would ever take this assignment; no house would sign a check.

But for a woman they hate -- a woman they've dehumanized as The Other -- then a provable scumbag gets signed up to talk his ignorant lies to an also-paid-for ghostwriter.

Remember how quickly the Reverend Wright story faded? ABCNews finally broke the story (after it was available for years, and after Obama had taken care of Hillary Clinton), and was attacked relentlessly by the left. JournoList, for example, schemed about how to punish ABCNews for reporting genuine news. (Belatedly, as hell.)

Those schemes on JournoList were not some aberration -- that was the shared sentiment of the entirety of the corrupt leftist media.

And those at ABC News who'd finally done their jobs felt the heat, felt the not-so-subtle social pressure, got the message from their peers that they were doing a Great Evil by doing their jobs.

Read the whole thing. And remember: comes the revolution, the propagandists need to be purged, also.

Headline of the Day

Sean Penn 'suspicious' of Wyclef Jean's bid for Haiti president.

Ain't that a laugh?

Sean probably isn't sure if Wyclef is Communist enough to suit him. If Wyclef gives indications of being a true leftist dictator, or hell, even a garden-variety Saddam Hussein-style dictator, I'm sure Penn will break out his kneepads and fellate Wyclef just as readily as he does Castro or Hugo Chavez.

Not to put to fine a point on it.

OK, Don't Do This

An Okinawan diving instructor died after stepping on a stonefish.

It's the worst pain known to man, you know:

UK General: Oh Bugger, The Taliban Are Learning To Aim Their Rifles

Instead of using the "spray and pray" firing method typical of peasant soldiers everywhere.

OK, Class, Quiz Time!

Today's test question: What happened to 21-year-old Detron Jenkins when he went riding down the middle of the road at night on a bicycle without reflectors or lights, wearing all-black clothing?

Detron done got his ass run over, that's what.

And this was after a sheriff's deputy pulled him over earlier that night and warned him about riding his bicycle in such conditions.

Why, yes, it did happen in South Carolina!

It Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Man Sings

How Republican governor Chris Christie is taking back New Jersey from tax-and-spend Democrats.

It's a long article, but well worth reading. A similarly courageous Republican will be needed in California for the same reason, and yet another will be needed to stop the spending spree as President.

Pinhead's Pistol

Here.

From this:



To this:



Perhaps, if it were featured in a Hellraiser movie, it might be called the Browning Configuration.

h/t Breda.

"If I Am Spared"

Christopher Hitchens writes of his transition from a healthy man to a dying man with grace and clarity.

He holds out the possibility of more writing, but can't even promise that:

Against me is the blind, emotionless alien, cheered on by some who have long wished me ill. But on the side of my continued life is a group of brilliant and selfless physicians plus an astonishing number of prayer groups. On both of these I hope to write next time if—as my father invariably said—I am spared.

His father, by coincidence, died of the same esophageal cancer that Hitchens now struggles against.

White Devil Made Me Do It

An African-American employee of a beer distributor went on a rampage and killed 8 people before turning the gun on himself. His family blamed his racist coworkers for causing the rampage.

Imagine that.

And it didn't happen in the South, but in Connecticut! Hoodah thunkit?

Payback, Like War, Is Hell

The Rolling Stone reporter whose story about General Stanley McChrystal ended that officer's Army career has been denied a subsequent request to embed with US troops in Afghanistan.

“There is no right to embed,” Lapan said. “It is a choice made between units and individual reporters, and a key element of an embed is having trust that the individuals are going to abide by the ground rules. So in that instance the command in Afghanistan decided there wasn’t the trust requisite and denied this request.”

I wonder if the reporter is surprised? I also wonder if he'll try and sue to force an embed?

I Always Preferred Ted Williams, Anyway

Newly revealed records indicate that Joe DiMaggio was a poor example of a soldier during WWII, even though he never saw battle and was assigned to duties that most men would be happy to have. He performed his duties grudgingly and tended to malinger.

Hey, Chaplain, Got a Sympathy Chit and a Key To the Weep Locker?

Headline of the Day

'Lemurs are a bit like Hollywood stars: beautiful, but a bit stupid.'

*snort*

Assault Heels Must Be Banned!

They serve no useful purpose, and are only good for putting people's eyes out.

Kudzu Pie For Dessert?

The state of Florida wants people to start eating lionfish, an invasive species of saltwater fish, in an effort to reduce their numbers.

An even better idea would be to let the Chinese know that lionfish, when eaten, make your dick hard. A Chinaman will eat anything if he thinks it will work as an aphrodisiac, even if it is an endangered species.

He Needs More Time For Golf

"Barack Obama Offers To Stay Away From Mid-Term Campaign Trail."

It's a tough job, being the Golfer-In-Chief...

What Caliber For Beavers?

It's to the point where a man can't engage in a bit of quiet fishing without a beaver swimming up and commence to chewing on his leg.

Probably your typical j-frame Smith or Ruger LCR would work fine if you're a revolver carrier, or a Ruger LCP if you're into semiautos.

Feel free to make with the beaver double entendre jokes, ok?

Arrival

Bird & Trout Knife from Northwoods Knives. D2 steel, cocobolo, and nickel silver:



The guard and pommel appear to have been made from poor quality castings, and finished in a half-assed fashion, with pits showing in the metal and not much effort at sanding or buffing them out. The blade is well-made of D2 tool steel, one of the better knife steels you can use for a working knife; stain-resistant but not fully stainless, it will rust if neglected.

$59.95, via Knives Ship Free.

Son of the Year

Roger Paul Brown of Morristown, Florida, pawned his 81-year-old mother's wedding ring and other jewelry while she was hospitalized.

The article doesn't say, but I'm guessing he snorted the proceeds up his nose.

Boy Scouts In The 21st Century

How do they stay relevant? An article from The New York Times.

The Times, of course, seems to come down on making the Boy scouts less "exclusionary," which means admitting girls, gays, and atheists. From what I've read in Scout-oriented blogs, the most difficult thing about the tradition in the 21st century is finding adults willing to take the responsibility of becoming Scout leaders. It's a responsibility few want to take on.

As for girls entering Boy Scouts, I'd think that the preferable course is to reform Girl Scouts to make it more comparable to Boy Scouts, rather than force change on Boy Scouts.

Let's Build Us A Castle!

Arkansas could certainly use one.

Joking aside, it's an interesting idea, and would be fun to visit.