At the Hotel Tonight...

...I had this exchange of words with a guest:

Guest: I locked my keys and my wallet in my room!

Me: All right. What is your name?

Guest: Dinky McDoodle. (not his real name, to protect his privacy and my job)

Me: What is your room number?

Guest: Room 303.

Me: What is your company's name?

Guest: Spacely's Sprockets. (again, not his real company, same reason)

Me: What is the air-speed velocity of a coconut-laden swallow?

AND THE FOOL DIDN"T GET THE REFERENCE!

World's Oldest Bottle Message

108 years at sea. Tossed in 1906 or 1908.

The Diverse Seven - - But Are They Diverse Enough To Satisfy SJW's?

Probably not, since none of the Seven are a woman, a queer, or a tranny.

Which reminds me of the old joke that Michael Landon told on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show: "No, none of the Cartwright family was gay. Good thing Hop Sing was, though."

Musical Interlude.

Melody Gardot.

Basically she's lived two lives, one previous to and one after being struck by a car while bicycling. The accident left her traumatized both physically and mentally, but she's been able to overcome it through music. She's a good 'un:

Work Ethic x Generations = Privilege. Lack of Work Ethic x Generations = Burden.

A (presumably) black activist pays White America an inadvertent compliment:

“The racial narrative of White tends to be like this: Rugged individual, honest, hard-working, disciplined, rigorous, successful,” she said. “And so then, the narrative of U.S. public education: Individual assessments, competition, outcome over process (I care more about your grades than how you’re doing), ‘discipline’ where we care more about your attendance and making sure you’re not tardy than we care about your relationships … proper English must be spoken (which is just assimilation into standard U.S. dialect), hierarchical power structure, and heavy goal orientation.”

While the traits listed may simply be regarded as positive traits for success in the modern world, Hackman described them as specific cultural traits chosen and emphasized to favor whites to the detriment of non-white groups, who are forced to assimilate white traits such as good discipline and goal orientation or else be left behind.

Hackman’s natural solution, then, is to train teachers to move away from all these aspects of white privilege in education. She routinely touted the benefits of collective assessments (measuring student learning at the class level instead of determining whether each student knows the material), as well as eliminating all school grades entirely.

This is the dirty little secret about "white privilege" and black burden. If whites today are privileged, it is because they receive the benefit of the doubt based on the collective work ethic of generations of whites who lived before them. If blacks today are burdened, it is the result of collective lack of work ethic of blacks who lived before them. The Gods of the Copybook Headings will not be denied.

Mike Vanderboegh Is Dying.

The cancer is killing him. He has medical expenses and will be leaving a widow. Hope you'll consider helping out.

Mike was one of the two bloggers, along with David Codrea, who broke open the Fast & Furious gun-walking scandal by the ATF. That right there is justification enough for all gun owners to help out.

Happy Ruination Day!

When the Worst Happens

A fine article from the Wilmington, NC Star-News about how to deal with a gunshot wound.

I Finally Figured Out the Perfect Metaphor For the 2016 Election

It's between the Great and Powerful Humbug (Trump):

And the Wicked Witch of the West (Hillary):

Then there's Bernie, who hasn't got a clue...

Rota, Spain, Gets Some Stars & Stripes Love

I was there for three happy years and would happily go back.

Two Gays and a Goat

"The one gay guy fell out, he's back at the hotel room sick as a dog. Other gay guy's here with the goat."

(Karen, watching QVC sell "goat milk" products including a "wooden massager," a baby goat is on the set, along with a salesman, presumably gay)

Jack Russell Got Nougats

"That damned Jack Russell they have still has nougats. When I went over there, first thing it did was go over to my car and hike its leg on my car tire."

"Well, if you neuter them the still hike their leg up when they pee."

"Jack Russell don't need nougats!"

Stuff That Works, Stuff That Holds Up

I happened to join the US Navy during a period when enlisted men wore dungaree working uniforms - - blue denim bellbottom trousers and pale blue chambray shirts - - and I found them to be the most comfortable clothing I've ever worn. I also like the look of the pairing, so I have tended to buy similar clothes for casual wear as a civilian. Having said that, I'd like to draw your attention to the work clothing made by Key Apparel, an American clothing company that's been around for more than a century. I can't claim that the clothing is made in the US - - like most manufacturers, they've shipped the factories overseas - - but they are well made and well-priced. I just picked up a couple of their short-sleeved chambray shirts for summer wear, and they're handsome indeed, with Western-style yokes and pearlized snaps instead of buttons, stitched with the same sort of gold thread seen in Levis jeans. They come in sizes all the way up to 5XL.

Folk singer Guy Clark is also a fan of chambray work shirts, and even wrote a song about them:



Lyrics:

STUFF THAT WORKS


I got an ol’ blue shirt
And it suits me just fine
I like the way it feels
So I wear it all the time
I got an old guitar
It won’t ever stay in tune
I like the way it sounds
In a dark and empty room

I got an ol’ pair of boots
And they fit just right
I can work all day
And I can dance all night
I got an ol’ used car
And it runs just like a top
I get the feelin’ it ain’t
Ever gonna stop

Chorus

Stuff that works, stuff that holds up
The kind of stuff you don’t hang on the wall
Stuff that’s real, stuff you feel
The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall

I got a pretty good friend
Who’s seen me at my worst
He can’t tell if I’m a blessing
Or a curse
But he always shows up
When the chips are down
That’s the kind of stuff
I like to be around

Chorus

I got a woman I love
She’s crazy and paints like God
She’s got a playground sense of justice
She won’t take odds
I got a tattoo with her name
Right through my soul
I think everything she touches
Turns to gold

Chorus

The Prayer of the Order of St. Gabriel Possenti

This prayer is found in Rolf Nelson's mil-SF/space opera book The Stars Came Back. It's written as a screenplay, which is a bit disconcerting at first, but the reader quickly adapts to the format.

In the novel is an order of monks named after St. Gabriel Possenti, presented here as the patron of marksmanship, his unique version of the Cross being the crosshairs of a telescopic rifle sight. The all-male order of monks find their mission in ministering to soldiers with PTSD, Widowers and men who have been traumatized by divorce.

During a visit to the monastery, the book's protagonist, Helton Strom, hears this prayer being chanted, which I find quite touching:

Oh Lord, Give me the wisdom to understand what I have seen
The strength to carry on when hope fades
The honesty to be at peace and face what is
The forbearance to forgive those who have wronged me
The focus to forget the horrors I have been through
To be accepting of what I cannot change
The humility to follow the lead of those who have trod this path before
Grant me respect for those who try, but are imperfect as I am
The fortitude to lead others out of darkness
The clarity to understand the path I must follow
Please forgive me the things I have done
Give me the bravery to go where I am needed
The discipline to not be a burden on others

The novel was Nelson's first, he's writing the prequel, in which the founding of the Order of St. Possenti plays a major role. Available at Amazon.

Trump, and the Fate of the Nation

(posted first in Facebook)

Fundamental American fairness and decency would dictate that if Trump goes into the convention with sufficient delegates to win the nomination outright, the Republican establishment should shake his hand, look him in the eye, and say, "Congratulations and good luck, you have our support as the candidate of the Republican Party." Then let him succeed or fail without further attempts at internecine sabotage. If he loses, he loses. If he wins, let's see how he performs, bearing in mind that the Founders set up a good system of checks and balances to prevent him abusing his authority, and with the possibility of removing him from office via impeachment if he won't act like a grown man. Selecting a quality VP nominee will be critical.

Attempting to sabotage Trump at the convention if he goes in with enough delegates to win the nomination outright betrays the Americans who voted for him, and indicates that our votes count only so long as the elites agree with them. I don't think that's what the Founders had in mind.

Summer Jobs In NC, 1950's-Style

Working to preserve mothballed Liberty Ships that were moored in the Cape Fear River. For those not aware of it, US Navy ships that are not "mothballed" in shipyards are often moored in "mothball fleets" in various rivers and bays throughout the US. The Cape Fear River provided one such refuge for Liberty Ships (civilian-staffed cargo ships carrying military goods) after WWII.

Today's Usage Tip

"Witnesses say the hatchet-wielding man didn’t say a word during his grizzly attack, and although the clerk suffered minor injuries to his stomach, it could have ended much, much worse."

Really? A grizzly describes a large bear that is native to the western United States and Canada. It gets its name from its fur, which is a mix of brown and gray. A person who has a grizzly beard has a beard with a lot of gray in it. Not correct usage.

What about gristly? That means "full of gristle," as in a cheap cut of meat; lots of connective tissue, tendons and ligaments. Well, if the hatchet-wielding man had been able to execute a couple of murders and butchered both the clerk and the bystander, it might have been gristly, sure enough, but that is not what the writer intended, either.

What's left is grisly. This means "causing horror or disgust." This is the word that the writer was looking for. Synonyms for grisly include gruesome, ghastly, frightful, horrid, horrifying, fearful, hideous, macabre, spine-chilling, horrible, horrendous, grim, awful, dire, dreadful, terrible, horrific, shocking, appalling, abominable, loathsome, abhorrent, odious, monstrous, unspeakable, disgusting, repulsive, repugnant, revolting, repellent, sickening; informal "gross" "the grisly details of the crime."

grizzly, gristly, grisly. Learn the difference.

When the Irish Encounter American Barbecue

via Barbecue Brothers.

Big Ol' Dinosaur Teeth!

"Look at that kid shoot a hole-in-one in front of Tiger Woods! Look at them big ol' snaggle teeth! He's got big ol' dinosaur teeth!"

Justice Thomas Finally Asked a Question In Supreme Court Hearings...

...and his question concerned the Second Amendment.

In a question to Ilana Eisenstein, assistant solicitor general who was arguing about a federal ban on gun ownership for anyone convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence, Thomas may have lit a fuse. It was a question transcribed by the Huffington Post and it is a thorny issue for some civil rights activists.

“Can you give me another area [of law] where a misdemeanor violation suspends a constitutional right?” Thomas reportedly asked.

Wonder if he's been possessed by the spirit of his dead colleague Antonin Scalia?

They'd Be Disinclined To Acquiesce...

...to Trump's demand to have prisoners tortured:

The former head of the CIA and NSA said that if Donald Trump is elected president and follows through on certain campaign promises, the U.S. military would “refuse to act.”

“I would be incredibly concerned if a President Trump governed in a way that was consistent with the language that candidate Trump expressed during the campaign,” Michael Hayden told “Real Time” host Bill Maher on Friday night.

Hayden noted Trump’s statements that he’d authorize waterboarding as an interrogation tool and kill terrorists’ families.

“If he were to order that once in government, the American armed forces would refuse to act,” Hayden told the host, who seemed taken aback.

“What?” Maher shot back. “That’s quite a statement, sir. I thought the whole thing was that you have to follow orders.”

Hayden explained that the military is “required not to follow an unlawful order that would be in violation of all the international laws of armed conflict.”

Johnny Cash Would Have Been 84 Today.

Here's John from the end of his career, a heart-rending song from the Grammy Award-winning album Unchained:

The Protected and the Unprotected

Peggy Noonan gets the dynamic at work in the rise of Donald Trump:

But I keep thinking of how Donald Trump got to be the very likely Republican nominee. There are many answers and reasons, but my thoughts keep revolving around the idea of protection. It is a theme that has been something of a preoccupation in this space over the years, but I think I am seeing it now grow into an overall political dynamic throughout the West.

There are the protected and the unprotected. The protected make public policy. The unprotected live in it. The unprotected are starting to push back, powerfully.

The protected are the accomplished, the secure, the successful—those who have power or access to it. They are protected from much of the roughness of the world. More to the point, they are protected from the world they have created. Again, they make public policy and have for some time.

I want to call them the elite to load the rhetorical dice, but let’s stick with the protected.

They are figures in government, politics and media. They live in nice neighborhoods, safe ones. Their families function, their kids go to good schools, they’ve got some money. All of these things tend to isolate them, or provide buffers. Some of them—in Washington it is important officials in the executive branch or on the Hill; in Brussels, significant figures in the European Union—literally have their own security details.

Because they are protected they feel they can do pretty much anything, impose any reality. They’re insulated from many of the effects of their own decisions.

Read the whole thing. Along the way she invokes - - possibly inadvertently - - a Warren Zevon song title, bonus points for identifying it.

Still Discussing Hitler's 'Nads

"Hitler had a deformed micro-penis and only one testicle, medical records reveal."

Further research concluded that Goering had two testicles, but rather small; Himmler's were similar, and Goebbels had no balls at all.

Amontillado To Put a Sparkle In Poe's Eye

Versos 1891 Amontillado from Barbadillo.

Manuel Barbadillo (1891-1986), poet, author and historian on Sherry and successful bodeguero was the director of Bodegas Barbadillo for many years. As a christening present he and his four brothers were given one each of a set of five butts known as “Las Botas de los Niños. Manuel’s butt contained Amontillado described as very old in 1891. As some of the wine was drunk the butt was occasionally refreshed with suitable old wine until the 1980s but it still shows massive concentration and is rich and nutty, given that some of it is 150 years old.

It is presented in a high quality leather gift box made by expert tanners in Ubrique (Cádiz) and the bottle is a hand-blown crystal decanter made by Portuguese crystal specialists Atlantis. Only 100 bottles have been filled and no more will be forthcoming for many years so this is an extremely rare wine, the second most expensive Sherry ever, but it will no doubt sell quickly to collectors.

If that's 8,000 UK pounds sterling per bottle I'd want it in a solid silver chest, myself. It's pretty, but only someone seriously rich and seriously into wine can afford it.

The Year Everyone Died

2016 is taking a toll, isn't it? I read today that not only has Harper Lee died, but just over the transom is the news that Umberto Eco, the author of The Name of the Rose, has also died.

Addendum: You know, if it were dictators and crap politicians dying instead of prominent musicians, artists and writers, we'd be cheering.

Part Of My Philosophy...

...is that my IRS refund should always be spent on firearms or firearms-related purchases. Thus:

1911 from Springfield Armory in .45ACP. It's a used gun purchased in a local pawn shop. As purchased it came with a full-length guide rod and black Hogue grips; I've changed it to a standard GI guide rod configuration and bolted on some coyote tan Dura-Grips with "wasp nest" checkering pattern. Three-dot sights, Commander-style hammer and beavertail grip safety. It doesn't have the locking mainspring housing that Springfield ships with its new 1911's, so a straight Series 70 setup.

I need to pick up some extras for the gun - - more magazines, a holster and magazine carrier. I'm pleased with the purchase, however.

White...Um...Well, NOT White Privilege

"Oh, it's a parti-colored Cocker. Let's see if it has a white asshole, too. All of these Cockers have white assholes!" - - my sister Karen, watching the Westminster Dog Show.

Restaurant Review: Johnny's Bar B Q, Rockwell, NC

I'd passed by Johnny's Bar-B-Q in Rockwell several times in travels around NC, and finally made a point of going in for some barbecue.

Here's the sign:

Note that barbecue shares pride of place on the sign with seafood and steaks. That's important, and not in a good way.

The outside of the restaurant is attractive:

The requisite pigs are in evidence:

The inside is attractive, too, with plenty of tables and booths, as well as a lunch counter (no pic of the interior, sorry)

Johnny's serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the menu is correspondingly extensive, barbecue being just one small aspect of it, with no pride of place. There is no smell of smoke in the restaurant, nor smoke issuing from any chimneys. Not looking good.

I order a plate of chopped barbecue, with red slaw (both white and red is offered, to Johnny's credit), hush puppies, and french fries.

The meat is cold when it arrives. It has no smoke smell whatsoever. So: oven-roasted pork, basically. And cold? Who serves barbecue cold? Johnny's Bar-B-Q of Rockwell, NC, apparently. I didn't ask the waitress, but my guess is that the barbecue is cooked off-site and trucked in; Johnny's might not even make their own, but sub-contract it. It's probably then kept refrigerated and pulled out as necessary, without even going into chafing dishes, warmers or microwaves. Just...cold.

The red slaw is really red. Suspiciously red. "Red" barbecue slaw is typically light brown in color and made with vinegar and a splash of ketchup; any color it gets is from the ketchup. This stuff at Johnny's is so very red that I suspect that red food coloring was used to color it. Taste-wise it is no different than any other red slaw I've eaten. It's just...very red.

The hush puppies are warm, not hot, are properly oblong rather than spherical, and are neutral in taste; no onion or excessive sweetness. The french fries, although advertised on the menu as "home fries," are in fact the standard barbecue joint crinkle cuts.

There are three sauces offered: Eastern-NC-style vinegar sauce, which didn't have much pepper or other ingredients in it, so mostly just vinegar; a red sauce I didn't try; and Texas Pete. The best of the three to perk up this cold, flavorless chopped pork would be the Texas Pete, if you happen to wander into Johnny's and are unwise enough to desire the barbecue, rather than simply driving past it entirely and eating at Wink's King of Barbecue or M&K's, both in Granite Quarry, just a short drive up US 52.

It appears that Johnny's Bar-B-Q is really more of a steak-and-seafood place (deco in the restaurant includes fishing nets on the walls) and offers barbecue simply because they got a lot of requests for it. Rockwell isn't a large town by any stretch of the imagination, and Johnny's likely serves as a regular watering hole/eating establishment for the locals, where they can get eggs and bacon for breakfast, a burger or other sandwich for lunch, and a steak or plate of seafood for dinner. Barbecue is just another menu item here, not the reason that the restaurant exists. Bear that in mind in your travels. If a place doesn't focus on barbecue, then likely the barbecue will only be mediocre, if not worse.

Service was reasonably attentive, tending toward desultory. I'll give Johnny's Bar-B-Q a 2 on my five-scale of restaurant ratings: 2 out of 5: edible, but no effort to impress; staff/management going through motions.

A WHAT On His Head?

Sister just got home, turned on the news, and announced "What's Cam Newton doing with that condom on his head?"

The Words Obama Won't Say

"Gun Control" joins the list of words that President Obama refuses to say.

Other examples include "Islamic Terrorism," "I'm sorry," and "My fault."

Angus Scrimm, 1927-2016: R.I.P.

The Tall Man from the film Phantasm has passed on at the age of 89.

Entertainment Weekly reported the news of Scrimm’s passing. “Angus Scrimm passed away peacefully tonight surrounded by his friends and loved one,” director Don Coscarelli wrote in an e-mail to EW. “[His] performance as the Tall Man is a towering achievement in horror film history. He was the last in a long line of classic horror movie stars. He was a terrific actor and an even better friend. He will be missed.”

Born Lawrence Rory Guy, he pursued acting for most of his life (he portrayed Abraham Lincoln in an Encyclopedia Brittanica short that appears on Shout! Factory’s PHANTASM II Blu-ray), but found steadier employment for many years as a journalist and author of liner notes for Capitol Records, winning a Grammy for the latter. He appeared in the early-’70s fright films SWEET KILL and SCREAM BLOODY MURDER, but the seeds of his greatest success were sown when he took the role of an abusive father in the 1976 drama JIM THE WORLD’S GREATEST. That movie marked the directorial debut of Coscarelli, whom he referred to, upon his induction into the FANGORIA Hall of Fame at our 1994 Chainsaw Awards ceremony, as “a magician of filmmaking, a man without whom there would be no PHANTASM, no Tall Man, and no ‘Angus Scrimm,’ ” the name he adopted for the 1979 hit.

Sure, they were cheesy movies, but tell me you weren't horrified the first time you saw one of those flying steel balls in Phantasm impale a man's head and drill into his brain?

So long, "Angus." Thanks for all the frights!

Faux Poe Toaster?

Apparently.

Looks like Baltimore, which lost one of its few tourist draws a few years ago when the Poe Toaster retired, is trying to bring back the magic by running in a ringer "faux Poe Toaster." This will end badly, because it is being done for commercial purposes, whereas the original Poe Toaster did it for free, for the fun of it, and for the tiny bit of fame that his anonymous tribute brought.

Myself, the next time I'm in Wilmington, NC, I plan to toast at the grave of Edward Hall "Ned" Adkins, the "Old Man" of Robert Ruark's coming-of-age classic book The Old Man and the Boy. That will probably be later this year.

Criminal Tactics - - The Good Samaritan Ambush

Using a good person's good intentions toward helping the helpless as a pretext to victimize them.

A person with a concealed carry license who is aware of this scenario and still stops to render aid might be looking to engage in a gunfight. Not wise. A better course of action is to drive a safe distance from the ambush sight, call the police, and await their arrival while remaining in one's own vehicle. The 911 dispatcher should be made aware of the possibility of an ambush, and inform the responding officers of that possibility. The Samaritan should remain in the area to give a report to the responding police.

Robert Ruark At 100

Tomorrow - - Tuesday - - would have been North Carolina author Robert Ruark's 100th birthday.

I only discovered Ruark a few years ago, but his The Old Man and the Boy and The Old Man's Boy Grows Older have quickly earned a place on my shelf of favorite books. They are a pure distillation of nostalgia for his upbringing in coastal North Carolina, specifically the Cape Fear region around Wilmington. I've spent a lot of time down there myself, seeing some of what Ruark saw, although the area is far more developed than he would recognize these days. He'd probably recognize the area around Fort Fisher, though, and maybe shake hands with descendants of people he fished with off of the Kure Beach fishing pier, and once into a boat and away from the crowds on shore he'd probably be quite happy revisiting the marshes, islands and beaches of the Cape Fear area. If you've never read The Old Man and the Boy, you're missing a great coming-of-age story and a primer on how to be a good man, even if Ruark himself often ignored the advice his grandfather gave him.

The Inevitable Salvation Army Christmas Gold Post

Story. Optimistic, romantic Bob thinks this is a cool story and wonderful tradition, but pessimistic, cynical Bob wonders if, perhaps, the Salvation Army is buying goodwill and free publicity for the price of a gold coin...

Ah, well. It's Christmas, not a time for cynicism. Merry Christmas to you all.

Dan Zimmerman, Intellectual Property Thief, Dead Hooker Magazine

via Roberta X.

Dan Zimmerman, widely held to be a longtime intellectual property thief and, I am given to understand, founder of Dead Hooker Magazine, has stolen Tam's "Fun Show Song" and posted the lovely video made as a Christmas present for Tam by Ambulance Driver and Squeaky and posted it over at TTAG, the other sink of iniquity and inequity with which he is associated, utterly without attribution to anyone but himself.

Other than polite reminders (already issued) and the distant possibility of lawyering up -- Tam's a writer and her stock in trade is the unique groupings of words she creates -- there's not a whole lot that can be done.

But there is one thing. Cato famously ended every speech he made in the Roman Senate with "Carthage must be destroyed," even if all he was talking about was proclaiming Junior Vestal Day. The phrase I'd like you to remember and to post all over the Internet is "Dan Zimmerman. Intellectual property thief. Dead Hooker Magazine." And good morning, search engines!

Headline of the Day

"Stun gun wielding scooter bandit on the loose."

Scooter Bandit is what I'd name my rock band, I think.

Gotta Love a Drunken Stripper

"A Rock Hill woman was arrested on Thursday after she was involved in a drunken-driving crash and then lifted her shirt to flash an officer."

Mindy Chandler, 28, an employee at the Crazy Horse, had been doing donuts in her vehicle before pulling the car onto Pursley Street and driving toward Richland Street, witnesses said. Chandler then backed up and crashed into a fence on Constitution Boulevard, according to the report, before locking herself in a bathroom. She was escorted outside to talk to officers.

Police said Chandler only had on one boot and was very intoxicated. When Chandler was being interviewed about the crash, a witness walked by and Chandler started making obscene gestures and yelling at the woman.

The officer then told Chandler she needed to pay attention to him. The woman reportedly responded by raising her shirt and flashing the officer.

The San Bernadino Terrorist Attack and the 2nd Amendment

Hugh Hewitt, the most intelligent and well-informed of all the conservative talk radio hosts, discusses the attack with his guest, Dr. Larry Arnn of Hillsdale College.

HH: Dr. Arnn, when we went to break, I was talking about Victor Davis Hanson and an armed citizenry. He used a term a lot, as did Robert Kaplan, another fine writer, about Indian country being that when the early American settlers from Europe moves westward into the continent, they went armed into dangerous country, and they lived on the frontier, and this culture developed, a culture of reliance upon self-defense which is embedded in the 2nd Amendment.

LA: That’s right.

HH: That is, I just can’t be, that can’t be contradicted.

LA: No, first of all, the 2nd Amendment makes reference to the militia, and that’s the able-bodied citizens who are expected to be prepared to fight for their country, and fight for their defense of their community and themselves. Thomas Jefferson makes the comment that you can’t go from town to town in England or France without being robbed by a highwayman, but you never see them in America, he said, because somebody will shoot them. And that’s, you know, that’s, America started that way, right? A bunch of people came over here to a wilderness they didn’t understand, and they found out in a hurry they were going to defend themselves or get killed. And that, it does look to me like, you know, I would mention three levels, right? First of all, people have a right to own a gun in America, and that is the clearest Constitutional right. And short of changing the Constitution, it is a Constitutionally-recognized right. And it’s hard to change the Constitution.

HH: That’s correct.

LA: That’s the first thing. Everybody can have a gun. If you’re afraid in your home, get one. And of course, I grew up in Northeast Arkansas, and what was I taught, except that that was a huge responsibility. And so how many hours have I been lectured about not pointing a gun at anybody, and about being safe with the use of a gun? I’ll tell you a quick story about my dad. We were bird hunting with one of his employers, a man, I won’t say his name, but he actually paddled my father when my father was in high school. Then he became my father’s boss, and he paddled me. Now that’s family brotherhood.

HH: Yeah, it is.

LA: And I inherited the patriarchy, right? And we went hunting with this man, and three were some quail, and they came up off to the side, and the man swung his gun over us. And I can feel at this moment my father’s hand on my shoulder forcing me down. And when it was over, and we got up, my father said to me quietly, son, we’re going home. And he didn’t say a word to his boss. We left the field and drove home, because you don’t hunt with somebody who is not safe with guns. Now you think that’s not a lesson I will always remember?

HH: Yeah, I have a similar story, not myself being qualified in riflery. My brother-in-law, retired Marine Corps colonel and owner of many weapons, instructed my boys in weaponry. And the patience required to do that is enormous. It takes a lot, and I have never seen anyone as careful as my colonel brother-in-law taking his weapons out of the gun safe and walking the boys through their first trip to the range. And the painful, painful passage of time to learn how to use a weapon the right way, it was, it just imprinted on my mind that these are serious things. But people can be serious about them. And isn’t it time we started doing that?

Read the whole discussion at the link. And if you like it, share it.

Stunning Pluto Satellite Footage

Found here.

Video:



I was intrigued by a crater off to the left of the frame that looks like a crater lake:

If This Ain't Worth a Blog Post...

...then nothing is:



I think this video should go viral.

I think we should rename O "President Otopu." O(bama)to(tal)pu(ssy).

update: Suspended by Fox News!

Shipwreck Blog: San Jose, 1708, Cartagena, Columbia

Galleon full of doubloons, pieces of eight, and emeralds.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A blessed Thanksgiving to all of my readers. As it happens occasionally, it is also my birthday - - 54th, to be exact. Here's a photo of the 54-year old fatman:

I make the skull beads in my hatband from the teeth of my enemies, incidentally. ;-)

New Wheels

Yet another Nissan Sentra. My last two cars were Sentras (1987 and 1993), this new 2015 makes the third:

Happy Veteran's Day...

...to my fellow veterans. Thank you for serving.

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

Shipwreck Blog: HMS John, 1652, Corolla, NC (Outer Banks)

Not a 100% certain identification, but a high likelihood. Ship washed up on the beach at Corolla in 2008.

Not for nothing are the Outer Banks of NC called "the Graveyard of the Atlantic."

Sympathy Needed

Mark, one of the co-bloggers at the Borepatch blog, lost a son under the most tragic of circumstances a parent can.

If you read the Borepatch blog, please go over and offer Mark some sympathy and prayers.

Aikido Founder A Sudden Amazon Bestseller

If you watch The Walking Dead, you know that this past Sunday's episode featured the book The Art of Peace, a collection of sayings by the founder of the Japanese martial art Aikido. As you might (or might not) expect, the book has suddenly become a #1 bestseller at amazon.com:

And just incidentally, as I was wheeling my trash bins up to the curb a few minutes ago, I saw two boys down the street clacking sticks together, and it's probable that they saw The Walking Dead on Sunday and were pretending to be Morgan and Eastman, practicing "Aikido." It brought a smile to my face to see them outside in the damp grey overcast, instead of inside playing at their gaming consoles.

Maybe there's hope for us after all.

“Muslims have the Right to Kill anyone who does Not Respect Islam”

Says a "moderate" Imam in Norway.

Pope Francis, would you stop dicking around and just call the Crusade already? I'm getting tired of listening to this shit.

Poll:

Should Pope Francis Call a Crusade To Wipe Out Islam?

Yes

No

I'm Offended

I'm too fucking stupid to decide

 

pollcode.com free polls

Great Guns-Oriented Interview With Larry Correia

Here.

Charlotte Cop Brought a Taser To a Gunfight

Luckily for her she had a gun, too, when the Taser didn't work out so well.

The incident occurred about 10:30 a.m. According to police, the officer is Michelle Brcik. Brcik had confronted the driver of a truck that broke down when she realized the vehicle was one that had been stolen from a home invasion the previous week.

The suspect, 32-year-old Darryll Douglas Clay, exited the truck with a gun and Brcik deployed her Taser. Then the confrontation escalated quickly into an exchange of gunfire, police said.

This one raises interesting questions. Why did she deploy the Taser first? Did she grab it from habit, having accustomed herself to grabbing it in other confrontations? Was she worried about shooting a black man? Is it department policy to only deploy Tasers first, and then guns? I hope there'll be more to the story.

Well, If You're Going To Declare Half the Country Your Enemies...

...then I guess you'd want their guns confiscated, huh?*

Clinton Praises Australian Gun Buyback Program: Confiscation 'worth considering' on a national level."

(*In case you hadn't heard, Clinton declared "Republicans" her enemies during the Democrat presidential debate earlier this week.)

US Naval Academy To Teach Celestial Navigation Again

I never knew that they dropped it, myself.

The same techniques guided ancient Polynesians in the open Pacific and led Sir Ernest Shackleton to remote Antarctica, then oriented astronauts when the Apollo 12 was disabled by lightning, the techniques of celestial navigation.

A glimmer of the old lore has returned to the Naval Academy.

Officials reinstated brief lessons in celestial navigation this year, nearly two decades after the full class was determined outdated and cut from the curriculum.

That decision, in the late 1990s, made national news and caused a stir among the old guard of navigators.

Maritime nostalgia, however, isn't behind the return.

Rather, it's the escalating threat of cyber attacks that has led the Navy to dust off its tools to measure the angles of stars.

After all, you can't hack a sextant.

And sextants aren't subject to EMP's or CME's, either. (ElectroMagnetic Pulse attack or Coronal Mass Ejection from the sun).

Finally a Movie Studio Cracks Down...

...on its lead actor disparaging the film just before its release, and thus hurting profits:

Daniel Craig Told [by Sony Films - - Ed.] To Quit B*tching About Being James Bond."

We see this time and time again, as a major star actor/actress feels it necessary to open his/her piehole and hold forth on whatever angers him/her during the round of interviews that accompanies a film release. Maybe it's Liam Neeson talking gun control, or Emily Blunt regretting taking US citizenship after watching the GOP debates. Just shut up! Pre-release interviews are to talk about how great the movie is, and nothing else. If you have some profundity to get off of your chest, wait a month until your movie is gone from the theaters, and then share it with the world.

You Can't Say He Didn't Warn You

"Stupid Crime of the Week: Man Arrested with ‘I Do Dumb Things’ Shirt."

A man in Clackamas County with an extensive criminal history was who was caught after stealing a car Wednesday was wearing a shirt that said, “Warning, I do dumb things.”

Pic:

Update: I am informed that the pic shown above is not of the suspect, who has been identified as Roshawn Garrett. H/T to Sean Sorrentino for the correction.

I Suspect Hank Hill

"Man Assaulted with Propane Tank Remains in Critical Condition."

Fire Ant Survival Technique

Endangered by the flooding in South Carolina, fire ants form floating "rafts" to keep the queen and workers of the colony alive.

NC Coastal Flooding Floats Battleship North Carolina

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the WWII battleship USS North Carolina (BB-55) spends most of its time stuck in the mud in its berth across from downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. Rains and flooding that caused by hurricane Joaquin have caused the battleship to float out of the mud.

Oh, the ship is still secure and didn't go floating off down the Cape Fear River, no worries there, but it's a good thing that the ship is still intact enough to actually float, although it certainly needs (and will be soon receiving) attention to rusting problems to the hull below the water line.

Crime? That's Not a Crime, That's a Public Service

"Man Charged For Hitting Daughter's Boyfriend With Shovel."

Gonna Teach Those Lessons Yourself, Bill Maher?

"MAHER: TRUMP IS ‘A LITTLE HITLER-ADJACENT,’ ‘TEABAGGERS’ SHOULD BE RE-EDUCATED."

I view the first clause of that headline as containing some truth, the second clause a personal challenge. Trump is definitely a demogogue, but I think that the US government, combined with a liberty-minded military and a militant citizenry, are a sufficient block on any Hitlerian aspirations on the part of Trump.*


*standard disclaimer I'll be using a lot when speaking of Trump: I personally don't like him and think he is a bully, but no other GOP candidate is willing to fight the leftists and the MSM (redundancy alert there, I know) the way that Trump does.

Trump Wants Universal Reciprocity For Concealed Carry

Donald Trump just released his official stance on 2nd Amendment issues, and he couldn't be more perfect on it. Click the link to read the whole thing and see if you don't agree.

Meow You're Going To Jail

"Intoxicated Man Tells Rock Hill Police His Name Is “Meow."

A fan of the movie Super Troopers, I'd guess.

"The Husband's Behavior Was Heroic...

...but what we expect of a husband toward his wife: his right, and his proud privilege, to die for his woman."*

In Houston, a father died at the hands of a robber while defending his wife, but not before inflicting fatal wounds to the robber.


*quote from Robert A.Heinlein, "The Pragmatics of Patriotism," the 1973 James Forrestal Address to the US Naval Academy midshipmen.

Son of the Year

A Rock Hill man has been charged after assaulting his mother with a Chia Pet plant and spitting in her face, the York County Sheriff’s Office said.

She Fell Off Mt. Nope

Trolltunga.

Meanwhile, In Burgaw, NC...

...some fastidious neighbors don't want you gutting your deer in the back yard where everyone can see it.

We're not talking a major metropolitan area here, folks:

South Carolina Civil War Site To Be Refurbished

The site of the Battle of Honey Hill, which took place near Beaufort, SC will receive some tender loving care from the town of Ridgeland, SC.

Sounds like a good place to take a metal detector, if you ask me.

Bergdahl Charged With Misbehavior Before the Enemy

A charge not often seen in modern times, it was common during WWII:

RALEIGH, N.C. — Military prosecutors have reached into a section of military law seldom used since World War II in the politically fraught case against Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier held prisoner for years by the Taliban after leaving his post in Afghanistan.

Observers wondered for months if Bergdahl would be charged with desertion after the deal brokered by the U.S. to bring him home. He was — but he was also charged with misbehavior before the enemy, a much rarer offense that carries a stiffer potential penalty in this case.

"I've never seen it charged," Walter Huffman, a retired major general who served as the Army's top lawyer, said of the misbehavior charge. "It's not something you find in common everyday practice in the military."

Bergdahl could face a life sentence if convicted of the charge, which accuses him of endangering fellow soldiers when he "left without authority; and wrongfully caused search and recovery operations."

Here's the pertinent article under the UCMJ:

899. ART. 99. MISBEHAVIOR BEFORE THE ENEMY

Any person subject to this chapter who before or in the presence of the enemy--

(1) runs away;

(2) shamefully abandons, surrenders, or delivers up any command, unit, place, or military property which it is his duty to defend;

(3) through disobedience, neglect, or intentional misconduct endangers the safety of any such command, unit, place, or military property;

(4) casts away his arms or ammunition;

(5) is guilty of cowardly conduct; (6) quits his place of duty to plunder or pillage;

(7) causes false alarms in any command, unit, or place under control of the armed forces;

(8) willfully fails to do his utmost to encounter, engage, capture, or destroy any enemy troops, combatants, vessels, aircraft, or any other thing, which it is his duty so to encounter, engage, capture, or destroy; or

(9) does not afford all practicable relief and assistance to any troops, combatants, vessels, or aircraft of the armed forces belonging to the United States or their allies when engaged in battle;

shall be punished by death or such punishment as a court- martial may direct.

So it's a serious charge, fully as serious as desertion, and a signal that the Army wants to send a signal to other narcissists that aren't serious about their duty.

I've Never Denied That Climate Change Occurs...

...I've just questioned how much of the change is mankind's fault.

In the sherry wine-making region of southern Spain (where I lived for three years), the grape harvest is coming sooner, and affecting the wine that results.

Suggestion For My Friends Upset By the Results of the 2015 Hugo Awards

If you are a fan of science fiction and are upset at the results of the 2015 Hugo Awards - - if you believe that the Sad Puppies were treated with contempt and despite - - then, the next time you wish to purchase a book by one of the SJW's who behaved in such a fashion, buy their book used instead of new, and deny them their book royalty. Amazon sells nearly all book titles used as well as new - - so why buy a John Scalzi, George "Rape-Rape" Martin, or Marko Kloos book new, when you can just as easily buy it used?

And, if you think this is a good idea, mention it on your own blog - - let the word go out that when writers treat their colleagues like dirt,that the fans notice it, and will take action.

I Coined a Phrase On Twitter Last Night.

Anchor Fetus.

My reasoning is that, in the current immigration fight, Democrats and the MSM (redundant, I know) profess to hate the term "anchor baby" as used to describe a baby birthed by an illegal alien woman for purposes of "anchoring" her family onto US soil (and benefits). And, of course, Democrats when speaking of abortion never use the term baby, preferring to call it a fetus. Thus, the anchor fetus. A way to describe a child born on US soil to the mother of an illegal alien, phrased in a way that a Democrat should approve of.

I used the term several times last night in various Twitter conversations, one of them being in response to radio host Mark Levin, and hey presto!

"MARK LEVIN ON ‘ANCHOR BABIES:’ THE LEFT PREFERS ‘ANCHOR FETUSES’"

(and yes, I did do a Google search to see if the term was in use prior to my Tweets last night: nope).

Arrival

My old Asus Eeee Machine netbook finally kicked the bucket at the end of last week, I ordered a replacement/upgrade from Amazon; an Acer Chromebook:

A little longer and thinner than the old netbook, lighter, and possibly more fragile. We'll see how it works out. Never used Google's Chrome OS before; setup was dead simple, and since Google stores all of your information in its cloud, even your web brower bookmarks, just logging in with my Google account info has it ready for instantaneous use. The fact that the Chrome OS is Linux-based means I won't have to load the machine up with antivirus and other anti-malware apps. It doesn't necessarily mean that the machine isn't vulnerable to hackings or viruses, but it's far less likely than with a Windows box.

Well, Of Course He Does...

...it's a communist dictatorship:

Kerry In Cuba: "I Feel Very Much At Home Here."

Wild Foods In My Neighborhood

NC Wild Muscadine Grapes:

Goodwhites and Badwhites

John Derbyshire explains the difference, as seen through the lens of the "Cecil the Lion" shooting.

Because, inevitably, the whole incident became refracted through the lens of current public discourse in the U.S.A. into a skirmish in what I call the Cold Civil War: that is, the everlasting struggle between, on the one hand, the Progressive goodwhites who dominate our country’s mainstream culture—the Main Stream Media, the universities and law schools, big corporations, the federal bureaucracy—and, on the other hand, the ignorant gap-toothed hillbilly redneck badwhites clinging to their guns and religion out on the despised margins of civilized society.

Dr. Palmer is, of course, a badwhite. The evidence for this in in his actions. Hunting charismatic megafauna for sport is a thing only badwhites do. Big game trophy hunting is in fact as typically, characteristically badwhite as shopping at Whole Foods, or patronizing microbreweries, or listening to NPR are characteristically goodwhite.

I, myself, am a badwhite. Some of my readers here qualify as goodwhites, and some of my erstwhile Facebook friends are goodwhites, also. I say "erstwhile" because a couple of them unfriended me during the Sad Puppies campaign for science fiction's Hugo Awards, as I had the temerity to suggest they try reading the work of a particular individual (Vox Day) rather than dismissing him unread simply through SJW solidarity.

"Are You a Goodwhite Or a Badwhite?"

Restaurant Review: Queen City Q, Matthews, NC

Ate at Queen City Q's new Matthews location for dinner, along with me was George "Mad Ogre" Hill. Got there at 5, before the dinner crowd arrived. We both ordered combo platters: mine was pulled pork, brisket, and ribs; George had pulled pork, brisket and sausage.

The pulled pork was a bit dry, but had a good flavor, and with six different sauces offered, it didn't stay dry. They had Lexington-style dip, Eastern NC-style sauce, South Carolina mustard-style sauce, a rib sauce, and a proprietary tomato-based sauce. All were good, particularly the Lexington dip and the Eastern NC-style sauce, which was appropriately hot and vinegary. (we tested the sauces out on the hush puppies, which were round and golf-ball sized, properly fried, just a little bland.)

The brisket was a bit tough and looked like steak slices, since it was cut incorrectly across the grain. It was okay rather than good.

The ribs were served properly dry (no sauce), had plenty of flavor, and were properly cooked so that they didn't fall off the bone, but didn't have to be gnawed off, either.

George said that the sausage closely resembled Carolina Pride hot sausage that is found in area groceries.

Side items were mac-n-cheese and bbq beans (George) and sweet potato fries and "corn maque choux" (me). George pronounced the mac-n-cheese ordinary, and the beans probably from a can. Sweet potato fries were rather blah, I only ate a few of them, and the corn maque choux was similar to creamed corn, with the corn itself probably from a can, but overall rather tasty.

Service was rather indifferent, could have been more attentive, as drinks weren't readily refilled and George had to ask for his credit card back as we waited to leave.

Rating: I'll give Queen City Q a 3 on my 5-scale of restaurants: 3 out of 5: average; reasonably good food, moderate effort by staff/management.

The place was hopping as we left, most tables and the bar were occupied. High noise level due to reflective ceilings and a single large room. Good ventilation, so no smell of smoke or BBQ - - a minus, in my opinion, at least for a BBQ restaurant. A few TV's were placed in the corners, but sound turned down too low to hear.

Pics:

Random Complaint

I sure wish that grocery stores would sell cornbread in the bakery like any other bread. Our local places won't even sell corn muffins on a regular basis.

Treasure Blog: 1715 Treasure Fleet Coins

Story.

The 1715 Spanish treasure fleet that wrecked off the Florida coast during a hurricane is probably the most famous of all US shipwreck treasures, with the possible exception of the Atocha hoard.

Pic of the new finds:

Those are what pirates called doubloons. By contrast, a piece of eight was a similar coin made of silver instead of gold.

I have a coin from the 1715 fleet myself, it is a silver 1-real coin:

I purchased it back in 1979 for $75, as I recall.

Labor For the Border Fence

You want amnesty for all of the millions of illegal aliens in the US? Fine, put your labor where your mouth is and volunteer for the Fence Corps, a project to build a secure fence system along the southern US border. Illegal aliens that register as laborers for one year of Fence Corps will be given amnesty upon successful completion of their year's contract. Once the fence is built there will still be volunteers needed for maintenance and guard duty.

While you're at it, amend the Constitution so that there is no longer automatic birthright citizenship except for parents of native US citizens. In other words, no one whose parents are illegal aliens are to be granted automatic US citizenship simply by the fact of being born in the US. No anchor babies, to put it bluntly.

Guess What Day It Is?

National Hot Dog Day.

I'll be putting the hot in hot dog with my very own special andouille sausage dogs:

Meanwhile, In My Home State of Florida...

...leprosy is on the rise due to people messing with armadillos, which carry the disease.

It's not enough that we have to deal with Florida Man, but Florida Leper Man? That's too much.

Leperdillo.

Not the Hapless Victims They Seemed At First

They violated regulations to carry their own firearms, risking court-martial for wanting to be able to defend their lives. It appears that they might have gone down fighting, at least a couple of them.

A Navy officer and a Marine fired their sidearms hoping to kill or subdue the gunman who murdered five service members last week in Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to multiple military officials familiar with internal reporting on the tragedy.

It remains unclear whether either hit Muhammad Abdulazeez, who was shot and killed Thursday after he gunned down four Marines and a sailor at the Navy Operational Support Center in Chattanooga. It's also unclear why they were armed, as it is against Defense Department policy for anyone other than military police or law enforcement to carry weapons on federal property.

A report was distributed among senior Navy leaders during the shooting's aftermath saying Lt. Cmdr. Timothy White, the support center's commanding officer, used his personal firearm to engage Abdulazeez, Navy Times has confirmed with four separate sources. A Navy official also confirmed Monday's Washington Post report indicating one of the slain Marines may have been carrying a 9mm Glock and possibly returned fire on the gunman.

Good for them for not being willing victims and dying like heroes. Click the link to read the rest.

How To Arm Military Recruiters

When I was in the Navy and serving on ships, the in-port quarterdeck was where all access to the ship occurred. When a visitor crossed the brow (gangplank, civilians call it), (s)he was confronted with at least one armed sailor whose job was to prevent intruders from gaining access to the ship. This sailor openly wore a pistol on a web belt, and during the hours he was on duty the gun remained belted around his waist. Remarkably, no accidental discharges occurred (/sarc). It would be quite easy to designate an NCO at each military recruiting office to be officially armed, prepared to deal with situations such as the shootings in Chattanooga. Such an NCO would hand the gun off to another NCO when going to lunch, and take it back upon return. At the end of the working day the gun could be locked in an on-premises safe, or taken home by the NCO in charge of it.

Problem solved.

Yet Another Menace

"Are American Bullfrogs Taking Over the West?"

Bullfrogs are hopping across the West and compromising the health of local ecosystems as they go, The Spokesman-Review reports. Experts worry that the frogs—with an abundance of food and few natural predators in the region—may have lasting negative effects on species that inhabit the same ponds and marshes, potentially driving some to extinction.

In Idaho, in particular, in the 1940s, the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) released bullfrogs into area waters for residents to catch and eat. Unfortunately, frog gigging didn’t catch on, and the bullfrog population has flourished in the past 70 years, feasting on an array of aquatic creatures.

Earlier this month, in an attempt to combat the invaders, biologists and wildlife managers spent a day catching and killing bullfrogs near the Canadian border; however, workers managed to kill only 20 of the 116 bullfrogs that they spotted.

“They’re hard to catch,” says Michael Lucid, a DFG biologist. “If you get close to them, they’ll go ‘EEEP!’ and all you’ll hear is a splash in the water.”

Click the link to read the rest. It reads like a parody, doesn't it?

Headline of the Day

"Trump: I’ve Never Asked God For Forgiveness For Anything."

Given Trump's ego, I'm sure he feels that God is required to ask The Donald's forgiveness, I expect.

Will Military Personnel Defy Gun Control Orders That Endanger Their Lives?

Since the attack at the Chattanooga recruiting station by a fucking muslim I have been pondering if, or when, military personnel will become so disgusted with being targeted while disarmed that they begin defying their orders and carrying guns unlawfully. The penalty for doing so is a court-martial and loss of career, so there is a natural disinclination to make an example of oneself. But what if these attacks continue, will potential danger to life outweigh career considerations?

It could work out a couple of different ways, I think: one is by passive defiance, i.e., service members begin carrying concealed secretly, hoping both not to be caught and not to be put in a position of having to use the gun for defense of self and comrades, but accepting the consequences if they occur.

The other approach is active defiance, i.e., openly carrying sidearms and forcing military authorities to respond via arrest and court-martial. For this tactic to be effective it would have to wide-spread, which would bring charges of collusion and possibly even mutiny, but it has the advantage of forcing the military and civilian authorities to address the issue sooner.

What say you, readers?

Acquisition

This:

Sorry about the crappy pic. It's a Ruger SR9 full-sized 9mm semiauto pistol with a stainless steel slide. Between the polymer frame and the stainless slide the gun isn't going to be subject to much corrosion in the NC heat and humidity, a good thing. It's less fat and blocky than a Glock, and has a thumb safety, which Glocks don't, so the chances of accidental discharges are reduced.

I purchased this pistol specifically for acquiring my CCW license, I wanted a pistol to take to the qualifying shooting class instead of a revolver, and this one has modern 3-dot sights that will make it easier on my aging eyes than the sights on my S&W revolvers. Better recoil control too, I'm thinking.

Shipwreck Blog: NC Coast, US Revolution Era

Story.

Headline of the Day

Alabama Man Is Sick Of Hearing About Caitlyn Jenner, Shoots TV."

The more peevish and less crazy cousin of Florida Man, I guess. :-)

He's From North Florida, But He Ain't No Redneck

"Tom Petty regrets promoting Confederate flag."

Proudly waving his freak flag, instead.

C'mon, Tom. You don't have to live like a retardee.

Bletting Your Medlars

Adding to my vocabulary, courtesy of my current book.

For those of you who don't wish to look up the words yourself, a medlar is an Old World fruit that isn't fit to eat until it is overripe. Thus, to blet your medlars is to allow them to stay on the tree until they are nearly over-ripe, at which point you can eat them. In the US, eaters of persimmons can tell you the importance of bletting.

Volcano Blog: Colima, Mexico

Known as the "volcano of fire."

Brown Truck o' Tragedy

"UPS Truck Hits Horse and Buggy in Central Pennsylvania, Killing Mother and Her 8-Year-Old Boy."

Treasure Blog: Thomas Cromwell's Ring

Discovered by a treasure hunter with a metal detector on the grounds of Launde Abbey, UK.

Valued at £30,000:

NASCAR To Fans: Knock It Off With the Confederate Flags, Rednecks

Florida rednecks to NASCAR: fuck you.

My people. :)

A Story of Pure Horror

Remember the boy who was found chained in the yard of a Monroe, NC home with a dead chicken tied around his neck?

The details of the boy's story are utterly horrific.

Jesus wept.

Good News and Bad News

The good news is that Google's photo software no longer tags photos of African-Americans as "gorillas."

The bad news is that it now tags photos of gorillas as "niggas."

Insane Wingsuit Stunt

via Daily Caller:

Pass Hate Crime Legislation, What Do You Get?

Fake hate crimes, that's what.

Fake gay hate crime.

Fake black hate crime.

Police probably got suspicious over the last one because the purported KKK racists used the inflammatory word "blackmen" instead of the usual "nigger."