Take the Gloves Off and Speak Up!

Sarah Hoyt posted a missive about Hate Speech which is worth reading.  My summary of Sarah's missive is that the Moonbats, SJWs, and similar subcultures spew it, the rest of the world more or less tolerates it, and we shouldn't.

Several social media platforms have come under fire (ha ha) for censoring hate speech, but especially hate speech directed at white males. Because, well... I can't think of just why, or even if they are.  Censoring, that is.

Keep reading for a politically incorrect, socially insensitive yet well reasoned communiqué about free speech, social media, and the Internet.  I recommend that anyone with a thin skin dose themselves with 1 milligram of Xanax before reading.

Book Review: Instinct by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

Instinct (previously published as Murder Games) by James Patterson (Author) and Howard Roughan (Author)

My Rating: * out of *****

File Size: 1922 KB
Print Length: 369 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0316273961
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (June 26, 2017)
Publication Date: June 26, 2017
Sold by: Hachette Book Group
Language: English
ASIN: B01M0CDHMG

insert your own standard disclaimer along with the caveat that your mileage may vary

PET Scan Results

In short, I'm cancer free.  I have no cancer.

A Truly Meaningless Post

I'm due for a PET scan tomorrow, which costs more than I could easily afford during the best of times.  Either stress, drugs, or the local environment has put me into a foul humor.  I don't want to talk to anyone.

Load Up and Get Ready

It's been over five years since the Zimmerman - Martin shooting.  Left alone, this event would eventually be remembered by those select few who study history these days.  And yes, that was a shot.  Sadly, there are a few people who don't want to let a sleeping dog lie.

So tonight we're off to the races.  Load up and keep reading for an opinionated piece grounded in cold facts.

Well, here we go.

In other news, 'they' canceled my CT scan.  'They' weren't 'comfortable' with giving 'me' a CT scan, given my allergy to CT Scan dye - even though I was premeditated (I'm using the past tense) with Prednisone and Benadryl.  'They' want to perform a magenta renaissance imaging (MRI) instead.

The pain in my throat, head, and neck is old news, and the side of my neck is no longer tender.  I'm reluctant to schedule this because of the cost.  No such thing as a free lunch, right?

A lot of this is in quote, deliberately.  They are the medical powers that be and remained nameless through the entire business.  The fact that they aren't comfortable (a truly annoying use of the word, as their comfort or lack thereof has never appeared on my list of priorities and likely never will) has a lot more to do with me, the consumer, cashing in my chips while lying on their table and undergoing a life saving test that they recommended.  I'm thinking that if they only knew that my own personal attorney is Johnny the Hammer, then they would fire me and take out a restraining order against me.

Disclaimer: In real life my attorney really is the notable Hammer, who really does specialize in medical malpractice.  He tends to win.  He also is dead set against the Second Amendment but will defend gun owners with the ferocity of a mama honey badger defending her kittens, and the tenacity of a Rottweiler with a band new rawhide chew toy.

As I write this, I'm so screwed up on Prednisone that I'm over-typing my own eyesight.  Or something.  I ingested two of the three Prednisone tablets before some nice lady called me early this morning to tell me my test was cancelled.  I'm glad she called before I took the third tablet and the Benadryl, which would have made me too tired to function and too nervous to rest.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow is the big day.  Tuesday morning at 9:00 AM EST I get my CT scan, then I have an appointment with the ENT doc to check the results and plan for treatment, depending on the phases of the moon and the lumps on Fathead's noggin.

I'm not all that worried.  The pain is mostly gone, and only annoys me at night.  I haven't taken more than one pain pill a day lately, and I could probably get along without that if I felt like it.

So we'll see what's up.  I'll post the results tomorrow.

Thanks for all your prayers and well-wishes, and I mean that.  It really helps.

Movie Theater Shooting

I wrote about the Curtis Reeves and Chad Oulson Shooting shortly after it happened, and have been waiting for something significant to happen ever since. Now it looks like we finally have a trial date. According to the Tampa Bay Times a February Trial Date Set in Curtis Reeves Theater-Shooting Case

From the article:

...the state passed a revised version of the law, which shifted the burden of proof in such cases to prosecutors. Previously, the defendant had to prove he or she was in fear when using deadly force.

DADE CITY — A judge has set a trial date of Feb. 25, 2019, in the case of Curtis Reeves, the retired Tampa police captain who claims he was acting in self-defense when he shot another man in a Wesley Chapel movie theater.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Susan Barthle scheduled the trial at a hearing Tuesday, declining a defense attorney’s request to hold off.

I want to see how this one shakes out, as I cannot for the life of me imagine how this case relates to a stand your ground law for more than five seconds.

Pick Another Letter...

This is the official follow up to Pick a letter..., as posted several days back. So all of you can pick another letter, any letter, just one out of twenty-six scintillating choices.

The Midnight Shooter and Craig's List

You may remember that I wrote about The Midnight Shooter and his hobby, which is torching off six at three in the morning, thus disturbing my sleep and causing me to wake up on the wrong side of the gutter.  Since the local constabulary took such an enthusiastic interest in this case (yawn), I took the law into my own hands.

The Midnight Shooter

On Sunday (7/8/18) at 4:12 in the A of M, some silly SOB decided to torch off a few.  This addled firearms aficionado kept this up last summer, generally on the weekend, and generally with his .38 revolver.  Near the end of summer he acquired a second revolver and would shoot them at the same time.

How do I know?  Sound and cadence.  He's fairly close to me - close enough to wake me up which I don't enjoy.  The Columbus PD has about as much interest in this as a dog with a ceiling fan.  He might want to catch it, but since it's always out of reach it's more fun to chase the cat, raid the trash can, or chew the Old Lady's brand new $649.00 shoes that she hasn't worn yet.

Today I took some action.  I posted on Craig's List.

Craig's List - Columbus, OH

The chance of the Midnight Shooter actually seeing this and respecting my wishes is slim and none.  Still, it makes me feel slightly better about the situation.

If it keeps up, I may buy a burner phone and report a shots fired call to Columbus 9-1-1.  Then hang up instead of answering the idiot questions they ask.

Pick a Letter...

Pick a letter out of the alphabet.  You have twenty-six attractive choices (32 if you count the optional letters that were eliminated by some group of bibliophiles back in the n^th century).  So pick one, and remember that your grade for the year does not depend you your selection.

The Death of Officer Amy Caprio and What Scares Me

On Tuesday, May 22, 2018, four young, violent criminals went to work very early in the morning - or late at night, depending on your perspective.  In an upper middle class neighborhood, three of these criminals started their search for a house to burglarize, while the fourth waited and patrolled the immediate area in a stolen car - a black jeep.

Quora Question: Do you have a younger sibling...

Some nameless fathead on Quora posted this philosophical interrogatory.  I hope my answer doesn't disappoint him.

Do you have a younger sibling who would pick on you when you both were children?

My younger brother. He’d do all kinds of stuff to get under my skin, and when I’d react my parents would yell at me, saying he’s just little, so if he breaks your (whatever) it’s just one of those things you have to live with.

We lived very close to a junk yard, so one day when no one was watching I put the snatch on him, duct taped his hands, feet, and mouth, and stuffed him in an empty dog food bag. I tossed the bag into the trunk of a stripped down car headed for the crusher, figuring that would be the last I ever saw of him. I don’t know how, but somehow the little plague got loose and escaped. He stopped giving me grief, though, and about all I can say is that as we got older family holidays and reunions got real interesting.

Nobody believed his wild story, even with the duct tape evidence.

I posted this little gem this morning around 9:30 or so.  Now we'll see what happens, although I expect the censors at Quora will simply delete it out of hand.  With the answers I give I'm probably on their watch list by now.

Quora Question: If I leave work early...

It gets better. Trust me.

Some nameless pinhead on Quora asked: If I leave work early, come home, find an intruder in my house, kill him, and he turns out to be my wife’s lover, who she let in the house, would I go to prison?

My answer:

A Trip to the Zoo

My thanks to CW Martin over at Tilting at Windmills - Thoughts on every subject, pc be hanged and his inspiration post Zoo 2018, as well as the photo I brazenly stole from him and am now using without permission.

Origins 2018 and the SJWs

It's official.  Origins Game Fair 2018 advertised Larry Correia as an official guest of honor, then rescinded their offer.  So far as I can tell, this troubles Larry about as much as a sky rat nailing John Ward during his lunch at the Club Columbus outdoor Jacuzzi.

Keep reading for a politically insensitive diatribe about the latest SJW attack and why it shouldn't go unchallenged.

Mother's Day Story

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there reading this. I know that some of you had your hands full getting your sons raised without giving in to filicide (I had to look this one up).  Not my own dear mother, of course.  I was a very low maintenance child, never any trouble to anyone, always acting with decorum, obedience, and deportment.

Stop laughing, you bums.

As I reminisce about my childhood, misspent and otherwise, I'm reminded of an event in kindergarten which I was a witness to.

Software Design, 101

The troubles with software design are legion, and are most often perpetuated by borderline idiots from the butterfly department who couldn't find their - well, click for more.

Boredom, Ennui, and a Plan for the Future

I'm really bored.  Inspiration just hasn't hit me this evening.

I was reading on the Internet in some Fuckbook writer's group that the preferred formatting for a sentence structure consists of a period and two spaces, not just one.  This is true for all sentences and punctuation marks, including the oft needed but never used interrobang.  This should be often seen as the terminus of the ubiquitous WTF‽ abbreviation.  Like I just did - see?

Meanwhile, I suffer.

Warning - the rest of this rant spares no ones feelings, political views, or anything else.  We use cookies to track readers.  Your mileage may vary, in fact it's almost a sure thing if you're driving like you usually do.

Elevatorgate

First floor telephones, gents ready made suits, shirts, suits, ties, hats, underwear, and shoes. Going up...

In a crowded elevator, resident DFC Simona Sharoni took command of the elevator buttons and asked SJW victim Richard Ned Lebow which floor he needed. "Ladies lingerie" he said, getting a laugh from everyone except (we are told) Simona Sharoni, who was immediately offended and filed a complaint against Richard.  But of course she waited a few hours to compose herself and withdraw to a safe location.

Standard Warning Officially Issued.  The following is politically incorrect, socially insensitive, and directly attacks SJWs somewhere.  Any micro-aggressions are accidental; all aggressions are meant to be of the macro category.  Your mileage may vary, void where prohibited, the sleeves will ride up with wear.

My Old Kentucky Home, Bourbon, and Derby

The Kentucky Derby for 2018 is officially history.  Justify (5-2) won it on the sloppiest track since Hector was a pup.  Race day had a record rainfall, dampening the crowd and making things a lot more interesting for the jockeys.

I like Derby Day.  I made myself a nice mint julep and a little snack, and enjoyed watching.  The only thing I don't like about the Kentucky Derby is the way the powers-that-be massacred the song, My Old Kentucky Home.

Spring Holidaze

Today we have two holidays.  It's  Derby Day and Cinco de Mayo (Fifth of May).  Derby Day is the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown.  Ladies get dressed to the nines, gents wear a suit and tie.  The hats on the ladies are really something to see.

Cinco de Mayo celebrates the victory of Mexico over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1868.  It was an all day fight, but the Mexicans kicked some serious froggy ass that day and sent the cheese eaters back to gay Pairee.  These days you'll see parades and a whole lot of drinking and dancing, with Mexican food to keep your energy level up.

Painting the Town

When Big Mike called an hour or so after civilized people's customary dinner hour, I wasn't surprised.  When he asked me if I'd tied on the feed bag yet (I hadn't), I started hoping for a night out.  Mike suggested the Grass Skirt Tiki Room, Columbus, which is a tried and true restaurant in Columbus.  His argument was that since California Dave was coming into town next month, we had to make sure the Tiki room was still good.

It was.

The Next Crises: Identity Theft

As usual, I was minding my own business, shopping at the local Kroger store for a basket of victuals and a bottle of attitude adjustment and thought provoker, when unbeknownst to my mother's favorite son, some no good son-of-a-door-knob-sucking-lesbian-two-dollar-whore ripped me off electronically for $69.58 (sixty nine dollars and fifty eight cents).  Then, before I even knew this happened, I found myself out in Golden, Colorado at an Amoco where I spent $12 and change on petrol.

Keep reading, but be aware that there is non-pc speak ahead.  Your mileage is not likely to vary, exists where prohibited, no moonbats allowed, this is not a safe space.  Therapy is likely to consist of guns, dogs, whiskey, erudite conversation, and women of questionable moral character.

Noisy Neighbor Problems Part 2

We just finished a meeting of the HOA Board of Directors, which turned into a civilized version of the Mississippi Free For All!

Noisy Neighbor Problems

I've got a noisy neighbor whom we'll call Tyrone.  He lives alone, plays loud rap music anytime he's conscious and the thought occurs to him, and likes to sit at the entrance to his garage smoking hand rolled cigarettes that smell funny and sucking on a 40.  He works on his car in the driveway with his bare ass hanging out for all to see.  I live in a condo and have a home owner's association, but the HOA would rather not get involved.  On several occasions they have outright refused to get involved.

Hate Crime in Sylvania and Equality

This just in via Toledo Talk and The Blade of Toledo.

A notepad with a crude drawing of a swastika and a hate message was allegedly discovered in the cabin of an official city vehicle.  When the information was released, a cloud of moonbats rose into the sky intent on revenge.

Keep reading for a politically incorrect and insensitive opinion on the story and find out why I'm sick to death of white people getting blamed for everything.

Firearm Product Recall Notice

The The Gun Blog Black List has a product recall notice here - Lyman Recall. If you're a gun owner or shooter, this is worth reading.

My thanks to the folks at the Gun Blog Black List for posting this.  Recalling a firearm is rare, and always has been.  Finding out that the pistol you're about to shoot has been recalled is not all that easy.

SJWs - Kick 'em When They're Down

Moonbat Alert! Moonbat Alert! Eject! Eject! Eject!

I short time ago I wrote a blog post about the Starbust Kerfluffle. Read it here as it amuses you to do so.  My post attracted a moonbat (I have no idea how she found her way here, believe me.  I suppose she might have had one white wine too many and wandered into the Men's by mistake) and she left a little hate mail for me. I decided to fisk it because, well, I can.  And I'm a bit tired of the yammering without a few people shouting back - even if it's no more than shut the fuck up out there!

CNN and Starbucks: They Both Got it Wrong

Say you're a moderately wealthy motel owner.  You own The Blue Moon motor hotel, which consists of a detached office with living quarters and twelve individual bungalows.  The bungalows rent for $24 a night.  Business is good, especially on the weekends.

Two people arrive at your motel.  They make themselves comfortable in one of your bungalows (number 10, if it matters) and when questioned by the manager, they explain that they just want to sit a little while.  Fine, you say, but that will cost you $24.  They refuse to pay and refuse to move.  They just want to sit a little while and talk, and dirty the room, dirty the bathroom, and maybe make off with a few motel towels.

This scenario has been a real problem lately.  People wanting to sit and rest up, dirty the room, but not pay any rent.  You call the police to have them evicted, and suddenly you're the bad guy.  How dare you?  These people weren't doing anything wrong!  You're a racist, insensitive misogynist and we all hope you die in a fire!

Which is what happened to a hapless manager at Starbucks.  Keep reading for a racially insensitive, highly biased review of the entire Starbucks fiasco.

Patience is a Virtue

Ever since I was a little shaver, I was taught that patience is a virtue.  I never knew what a virtue was, exactly, nor did I discover patience until I was a good deal older and discovered that pounding on the back door with a hammer was not the preferred way to get the latch to engage.  Telling my father that he pounded on stuff to get it to work didn't help the situation any.

Joke Time: Unsafe at Any Speed

Caution: Open at your own risk.  Not Politically Correct, Socially Sensitive, or... Eff it.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  Any SJW, Snowflake, Moonbat, or other overly fragile oxygen thief who wants to leave a hate message and complain about me to the powers that be, feel free to do so.

Hope for the Next Generation

Joke Time! Not PC, Not Safe for Work

A Day Without Political Correctness

or 

How about let's piss off everyone and give political correctness a day off?

On Age and Aging

'I am old, Gandalf. I don't look it, but I am beginning to feel it in my heart of hearts. Well-preserved indeed!' he snorted. 'Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can't be right. I need a change, or something.'

- Bilbo Baggins, a literary device of J.R.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings

Incredible Ignorance on the Left

Maybe I should have titled this one, Moonbat Mayhem.  Read at your own risk.  Not safe for consumption if you're a thin-skinned liberal looking for a fight.  I don't fight fair and I like it.

The Advantage of a Crapcopter (Not PC, Not Safe for Work)

As intelligent and erudite as all of my readers are, I'd be surprised if you could guess the correct answer to this question the first time out.  People in the know claim it's common sense, and I guess it is once you see it for yourself.

From what little I know about aircraft, a helicopter's blade (in cross-section) is shaped like an airplane's wing.  Both catch air the same way, providing lift.

The Question: What is the primary advantage of rotary winged aircraft over fixed-winged aircraft?

Click for the answer below.

Fiction as Fact

My thanks to the Bayou Renaissance Man for this communiqué: Another anti-gunner falsifies her arguments.

Duck!

About three weeks ago the phone rang late in the afternoon.  I checked the caller ID and sent it straight to voice mail.

Migraine One.

She was wondering if I'd dropped off the face of the earth, if I was still alive, and by the sound of her voice she was sober.  This is not a good portent.  Were the cute little twist in her usual state, she'd fixate on someone else in fifteen minutes or so, and that would be that.  I let a week go by, during which time Nikolas Jacob Cruz allegedly murdered 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14^th, 2018.

Polite social convention dictates that I return Migraine One's phone call.  Common sense tells me to ignore it, and maybe she'll forget the whole business.  Then again, her trolley has been known to jump the tracks in the past, and if she's really having mental difficulties I would not want to deliberately ignore her, only to discover later on that she's finally managed to do herself in.  Guilt, you know.

I called her brother Sticks, who said he hadn't heard from her.  So, gritting my teeth, I call her at a time when I have reason to believe that most people with her habits are fairly sober.  My call goes to voice mail.  I left a cordial message and hung up.

Since I don't get a return call, I try again.  Again, no response.  Not even a 'Fuck you, Jack!  You godless Trump supporting gun owning bastard!! This is all your fault!!!'  The results of the last presidential election were entirely my fault, you see.  And yes, you're quite welcome.  I'm glad to be of service.

Today I got some voice mail from Migraine One.  She's alive and, at the time of the call, fairly sober.  Her reason for not calling?

'I'm very upset over the recent events, and I know that you and I don't agree on politics or civil rights, so I think it's best if we don't talk for a while.'

Saints be praised!

Anyone would think that Migraine One is just another screwed up anti-freedom moonbat.  She isn't.  She's intelligent, erudite, and articulate.  She spent most of her adult life as a west coast journalist (granolaville) and so has a warped vision of the world.  The trouble is, she isn't alone.

The Left is back to the old gun control issue, and the Right isn't handling it well.  What the political Right should be doing is hammering the Left on:

Abortion.  Read about the Kermit Gosnell case, if you have the stomach for it.  The Gosnell case did not get the kind of press it should have, and the reason is the Left.  Gosnell and his crew of murderous psychopaths were able to do what they did because of State and Local Governments staffed entirely by Democrats.

Violent Crime and Illegal Immigrants.  Check out what's going wrong in Jolly Old with their Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)/Islamic State (IS) refugees, then plan accordingly for the United States.  The reason we're not having more problems than we are is because of the sheer size of the U.S.  Just put a colony of those goat fuckers in Wyoming in the fall.  Next spring, collect the head rags and leave the rest as coyote bait.  While we're at it, produce a violence report on MS 13 and note how many of them are illegal immigrants.

Islamic Muslims and Women's Rights.  Ever hear of female genital mutilation (FGM)?  Because if the Left hasn't, the Islamic Muslims sure have.  I'm not going to go into details, but the thing I cannot for the life of me understand is why this practice hasn't sent every single feminazi in the U.S. to their local gun store in search of a shotgun and a box of double-ought buck.

Attack the Left on all three issues.  Exaggerate, make ad hominem attacks, go off on screeds that have nothing to do with the topic at hand - unless that topic is one of the chosen three.  Then keep hammering.  Don't have civil discussions.  When the Left talks over you, raise your voice.  Stand up, swear, call 'em every vile thing you can think of.  Maybe a few of them will get the idea and shut up.  Maybe a few of those will begin to listen.

Quora Question: Who was the first person to show people how to dance?

I don't know what they're teaching in school these days.  You'd think a solid foundation of the history of social dancing would have been covered in Antediluvian History 101, but recent evidence suggests otherwise.  Someone who's mind is clearly troubled posted this question to the learned contributors of Quora (think in terms of Wikipedia rejects, neurotic amateurs, and consummate charlatans) seeking a bit of trivia.

Daze of Our Lives

It's 11:44 PM on Thursday, March 8th, 2018.  That means that it's still International Women’s Day, which we can read all about at International Women’s Day dot Com.  Won't that be funsy-wunsy?

Joke Time! Letters from Home...

Here is a little something or other that showed up someplace in my email.  It's not safe for work.

In fact, this entire site is not safe for work, nor is it safe for thin-skinned liberals, or even liberals with the hide of a rhinoceros.  Other left-minded types are likewise warned off, because some of things you may read here will permanently bend your fragile little perception of reality.

Domestic Terrorist Attacks: One Solution

What with the latest moonbat kafuffle about arming the school teachers as a preventative measure against domestic terrorism, I thought I might as well weigh in and offend a few people.

Trigger Warning: Betsy has a hair trigger, and you best have a fine bead on your target before you put your booger hook on the bang switch.

Nikolas Cruz, What Went Wrong

I was reading someone's blog today, and I can't remember just who the author of the post was, but it was pointed out that children are changing, and the change in behavior is most noticeable to old people.  Especially old curmudgeons, of which I am one.

Nikolas Cruz, the Shooter and the Solution

On Wednesday, February 14^th, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz (allegedly) perpetrated a terrorist attack on the students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.  Using an AR-15 rifle, Cruz murdered seventeen (17) people and injured dozens more.  The attack lasted seven minutes, after which Cruz ditched his rifle and other gear, and successfully passed himself off as a victim by temporarily joining the students fleeing the school.  He stopped at a fast food restaurant, and was eventually apprehended by local police over an hour later, more by accident than on purpose.  Cruz immediately confessed to being the school shooter that law enforcement was looking for, probably scaring the living bejeezus out of the uniform cops that initially stopped Cruz to question him.  Cruz is now in custody, has a public defender, and is on suicide watch.

A Democrat, a Republican, and a Southerner walk into a bar...

ARE YOU A DEMOCRAT, A REPUBLICAN OR A SOUTHERNER?

      

More Problems With Blogger

As some of you know, I've been having problems with blogger.  In particular, anything I post in the comments section at Filthie's Thunderbox tends to turn up in eastern electronic thombolia, never to be seen again.  Well, sort of never to be seen again, as both the owner of the blog, the inimitable Glen Filthie, and the owner of the comment, your humble host here at Mad Jack's Shack, both see the elusive comment echoed to our respective email addresses.  The comment itself, however, is gone.

I wrote about this before in Problems with Blogger, and found a similar topic over on The Silicon Graybeard who wrote about his tribulations in Any Fellow Bloggers Having Problems with Blogger Itself?.  I responded that I was, in fact, having problems, but no-one suggested a solution.  I tend to think that a few readers may think that I'm blogging in an impaired state, and so my observations are incredible at best.  I now have proof, in the form of a couple screen shots.

Here we see a typical erudite, cultured post by Glen.  I was inspired to write a comment, and did so.  Here's the proof. 

Thread with Comment by Yours Truly

I then clicked on the homepage for the Thunderbox, and much to my chagrin noted that my comment had vanished.

Missing Comment

This doesn't happen to all comments, and it doesn't happen all the time.  For a long while, things were working just fine.  Now this.

So if anyone has any suggestion about a way to fix this problem, or who to complain to, please sound off in the comments section.

President Trump and the State of the Union in 2018

I watched President Trump's State of the Union speech last night.  The moonbats refused to applaud or even rise when the President entered the room, and most of them looked too sour to make lemonade with.  Under other circumstances, I'd find their behavior funny.  This, however, is the federal government, and the rest of the world is watching.

Canada Gets Invaded

For reasons best known to my headshrinker, I accept questions from Quora in my email.  Occasionally I answer one or two, mainly for my own amusement, and mainly because questions asked on Quora are dumb - as are the associated inquisitors.

This one put me in mind of Glen Filthie, operator of Filthie's Thunderbox - Where Great Intelligence Goes To Be Insulted.   I can't say just why this association was triggered, but since I was out at Big Mike's house last night watching hockey, eating pizza, and drinking, perhaps it's just as well I move right along and get to the point for once.  At once.  Whatever.

The proposed question is: How could Canada defend itself against a hypothetical invasion by the USA?

Given that this is not one of the dumbest questions I've ever seen on Quora, I decided to decompose an answer. Here's my response, less the ad homonym attacks and personal insults based on heredity:

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

• Free beer. The invaders will drink it, and the hangover they get from that swill is guaranteed to kill the weak ones, and send the rest into the hospital with damage to the digestive system.


• Brutally cold winter weather in the middle of summer. Those that didn’t succumb to the elements during winter, spring, and fall will be killed and eaten by the black flies sometime during the three days of summer.


• The threat of electing Justin Trudeau into office. It doesn't matter which office, just the thought of Trudeau occupying an office in the government would be enough to send any sane, intelligent U.S. citizen back to Florida.  Or North Dakota.  Wherever.  Everyone who learns of this threat and remains in Canada as a part of the invasion force can stay there as part of the occupation.  Give 'em a year, and they'll be a burden to the Canadian taxpayer instead of the U.S.

And that’s how Canada would defeat a multi-trillion dollar U.S. invasion.

The Night at Natalie's

I went to Natalie's Coal Fired Pizza and Live Music last night.  The food and service were excellent, as usual.  The band was a little slow.

Problems with Blogger

Here's the deal.  Glen Filthie over at Filthie's Thunderbox will, occasionally, post something that isn't an obvious troll or click bait or... whatever.  Whenever I'm inebriated impaired enough to rise to the occasion and contribute my two cents, it's a crapshoot as to whether or not the comment will vanish.  I've noticed that the same thing is true on other blogger sites, although I Glen's is the only site I've really tested.  I think I've lost comments on Bayou Renaissance Man as well, although given my kind, considerate and sensitive nature I'm sure that no right-thinking blog owner would ever think of deleting my timely contribution.

As if.

I also posted on Old NFO's site: Nobody Asked Me... without a problem, but he isn't on Blogger.

The Internet in general seems to be slow, Blogger especially.  Posting a comment takes 30 seconds or more.

So if anyone can shed any light on this, by all means sound off.  If you'd like to post a test comment on my site to see what happens to it, help yourself.

Thanks in advance.

Worthy Read on Feminism

I occasionally read According to Hoyt, the blog by novelist Sarah A. Hoyt, who, by her own admission, is taking over the world and leaving it ruthlessly alone. Every once in a while Sarah really hits one out of the park.

It’s like Robespierre stopping at the top of the steps to the guillotine and going “how did things get like this?” - Hoyt
To which the executioner replied, "It's a long story, and we haven't the time. Now if you'll just step this way, please..." - Mad Jack

This quote is from Sarah's latest contribution to the war on weak minds, Wrong Battle, Insane Tactics. 

For reasons that are completely unclear to me, Sarah decided to read Am I a bad feminist?, an opinion piece by Margaret Atwood, which evidently inspired her to comment on the current state of Atwood's mind.  You see, an elite cadre of Atwood's fans mysteriously turned on her, surprising no one except Atwood, which causes her to wonder aloud - What would a Good Feminist look like, in the eyes of my accusers?

The narcissistic, self-evident answer is, literally, Margaret Atwood, but I suppose any notable anti-freedom zealot who lacks wedding tackle will suffice.

Sarah, being on the sunny side of the bell curve as well as being a gentlewoman and a scholar, puts the lie to Atwood's ramblings. I think it's a worthy read.

The Misguided Police Action on Drugs

Well, the war on drugs is back.  Since upper management of the United States never declared a cease-fire or offered to negotiate a peace treaty or terms of surrender, I would guess the war never really stopped. There was a kind of lull during the reign of the Ayatollah Obongo, but now that Grand Slam has taken up residence in the big white double-wide on Pennsylvania Avenue, the circus is back on the road again.

Wind Chill

This just in from the friendly, helpful folks at the global warming office, who, due to funding cuts, are not able to provide the residents of the mid-west the kind of temperatures we'd enjoy getting used to.

Five Biased Anti-Freedom Commercial News Media Sources

My thanks to Old NFO for posting this.  Here are two links to the top five worst fake news gun reports published by commercial media in 2017.  The sources are worth noting, along with the commentary.

Top five… by OldNFO, which includes a link to this article, Here Are the 5 Worst ‘Fake News’ Reports on Guns in 2017 by Emily Miller at The Daily Signal.


I stopped reading The Economist after their blatant anti-freedom articles appeared.  I'm saddened by this, as this publication was once an even-handed, reliable source of information.  I guess everything changes - and often not for the better.  Micro$oft Windoze, for instance, has been improved since version 3.1, but not all changes were obvious improvements.

The publication that really concerns me is Associated Press.  Virtually everyone on the sunny side of the bell curve reads and believes whatever the AP publishes.  Not good, and I note by their actions that the staff at AP feel no sense of responsibility.

On The Road Again

I've spent an inordinate amount of my lifetime traveling and living in different places.  My home is in Columbus, Ohio, but that wasn't always the case; I was born and raised on a horse farm in Sylvania Township, Ohio, near the Michigan line.

Old Grandpa Parsimonious had a very colorful life.  He served in WWI in the US Navy as a radio operator, and as a result learned how to repair a radio and could send messages in Morse code (actually International Morse, or International Code).  When he got home from the war, he went to work for the Kroger company, then opened his own truck line, which he later sold.  After the truck line he worked for the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).  If you were in the trucking business and you wanted to haul freight, the route had to be approved by the ICC.  Hence Grandpa Parsimonious got a collection of various items (and probably cash) with the idea that we're all pals here, and from one old buddy to another maybe you could see your way clear to approving this particular route.  The old boy spent a good deal of time in Washington D.C., and he used to be able to point out various elected officials and tell you what it would cost to buy them.  No, I'm not kidding.  When that little misunderstanding known as Watergate hit the TV airwaves, the old boy knew some of the people involved and knew they were crooked.

Humor

I found this one at Knuckledraggin' My Life Away, where bad choices make good stories.  I thought it was too good not to pass along.

Trigger Warning!  Not safe for Liberals or SJWs.

Men are from Mars, Women are from Somewhere Else

Reminiscing over my morning bourbon, I recalled that at some point in the 1990s I found a copy of the infamous Cooperative Writing Assignment.  The story goes that an English teacher pairs two students and instructs to write a story together.  One student will write a paragraph, then pass the work to the other student, who will write the next paragraph, and so forth.  This is done through email, with the instructor CC'd on every email.

Snopes lists this as a legend, but there's a certain amount of proof that it actually happened.  Check Tandem Story Writing Assignment from Snopes as you like; I've copied the text and republished it without permission.

Christmas Card

One man who really know how to write the blues is Tom Waits. Here is, I hope, a song I don't spend a lot of time listening to, Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis.

Latest News and Reviews

A few of you may have noticed that Mad Jack's Shack may have been a mite slow to load recently. The site is now fixed, thanks to the kindness and generosity of JR, SysOp of ToledoTalk and programmer extraordinaire.

 Thanks JR.

While I'm at it, I'd also like to thank the elite QC team over at ToledoTalk for their lightning fast response and succinct missives.

Thanks guys 'n gals, ladies and gents, madams and monsieurs. I really appreciate the help.

What have I been up to? Well...

Thanksgiving Day 2017: Survival of the Bourbon Lover

I've been gone a while, but I'm back.  For those of you who hoped that I'd finally met my demise, or at the very least suffered enough brain damage to render me illiterate, I'm happy to inform you that I'm alive and my mental faculties are as sharp as ever.

You guys in the back row can stop laughing just about any time.

Worthy Cause

On Thursday, November 16^th 2017 at 2:00 AM, the Toledo Police executed a search warrant on the residence of a piece of human garbage, Jamaine Hill.  When he heard the SWAT team outside, Hill shot through the door and managed to hit Detective Jason Picking in the face.  Detective Picking is in the hospital in critical but stable condition, and is scheduled for a long list of surgeries to repair as much of the damage as possible.

When she heard about the shooting, Danielle Dressel, officer Keith Dressel's widow, went to the hospital to give aid and comfort to Jason's wife Kristen and their family.  Having been through this experience before, Danielle knew what the family would need by way of support.

Here is a message written by Danielle, and reprinted here without permission:

Asking for help for Detective Jason Picking, his wife Kristen and their 4 children. What happened to them is completely tragic and devastating. Thank God he will eventually recover, but it’s going to be a very long and painful process. He is out of state at a hospital undergoing the difficult surgeries that his injuries require. That means lots of traveling and time away from home and family. If you would like to help ease their difficulties, you can do so one of three ways.

1. Give a donation at the Toledo Police federal credit union. There is an account set up for the Picking family.

2. Send me a gift card from gas stations, to help with traveling or restaurants so they don’t have to worry about meals. Suggested restaurants; Panera Bread, Starbucks, subway, pizza places, jimmy johns, and Tropical Smoothie. (Jason won’t be able to eat solid foods for a long time!) Gift cards to Amazon are a suggestion as well so Kristen can do Christmas shopping from the hospital. And

3. Simply send a card or note. Trust me when I say, those small gestures are so uplifting, appreciated and needed!

You can mail notes and gift cards to me at:

Danielle Dressel, C/O, The Toledo Police Academy, 30439 Tracy Rd., Walbridge OH. 43465.

One last thing please, say a prayer for Jason and Kristen. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this.

You can read about the story at these links, courtesy of WTOL:

Detective's wife comforted by widow whose husband was shot, killed in line of duty

TPD officer shot in west Toledo, in 'critical but stable' condition

I'm not a strong supporter of charities. I give financial support to my Church, the Salvation Army, and to a no-kill animal shelter.  I think this is a worthy cause.

Detective Jason Picking is facing an uphill struggle.  He has a wife and four kids, and being shot is going to leave him incapacitated for a long while.  Worse, some of the damage will be permanent.  If you can spare a sawbuck or two, please send it to the family via Danielle.  If not, take a few minutes and send a get well card with a few words of encouragement.  Your generosity and consideration will make a big difference to the Picking family.

Most importantly, if you're religious please pray for them.  Thank you.

Current Crises

This morning, right in the middle of the good old morning coffee, I detected the gentle strains of a jackhammer operating in the immediate vicinity.  Since there have been a few problems with the local water lines in our little enclave, I paid it no never-mind.

Big mistake.

Big, big, mistake.

In Support of the Right to Defend Yourself, Your Family, and Your Loved Ones

I think it's safe to say that everyone has seen or heard about this, the latest act of terrorism in the United States: At least 26 killed in mass shooting at Texas church. This is a truly terrible, cowardly act, and the first question everyone asks is, 'Why?'

I, personally, don't care why.  All I really care about is that the law abiding population - hell, even the gangsters - realize that it's going to happen again, and when it does there's only one real response: fight back.

Ignore the anti-freedom fascists who demand sensible gun control.  Pack your pistol with you, and when shit comes to sweat, pull out your gat and put some lead in the air.

This happened in a church building on Sunday during services.  There is no more unlikely time to encounter a terrorist intent on a mass murder than church on Sunday.  Yet there we have it, and I believe that it will happen again.

I have a CCW license for Ohio, but license or not, pack your pistol and make sure you can hit something with it.

I Support Intolerance

I support intolerance, and always have.  There are certain things in this world that I won't tolerate, won't accept, and won't make room for.  No, we can't just agree to disagree.  You're wrong, I'm right, and you can take your new social experiment and stuff it where the sun don't shine.  Use a bucket of sand to make it easier.

Death Penalty: Time is Everything

I found the straight skinny on the efficacy of various death penalty methods, although several methods are not covered. Being boiled in oil, for instance, is not even given honorable mention although there was a time when it was used often enough.  Here is a list of methods and the time it takes the prisoner to expire, courtesy of NBC.

Death Penalty: When it Should Be Permanently Removed

Enough verbiage about the death penalty has been written to fill a small building, assuming legal size paper and 12 point type, double spaced.  Maybe two small buildings.  I've read enough about appeals and new evidence to be convinced that our court system has absolutely no business sentencing anyone to death.  Too many exceptions exist, new evidence is discovered, and the courts often refuse to test DNA evidence.  Heaven help us all if one of these judges should assist in wrongfully convicting someone - which has happened so often that it's no real surprise anymore.  But I'm not going to write about that part, mainly because I have no good solution and I'm neither an attorney nor a doctor of philosophy.

Church Scandal in Toledo, Ohio

You just about need a program to keep the players straight in this holier-than-thou church scandal involving three Toledo area pastors and the Lucas County Administrator.  Keep reading at your own risk with the usual warnings about insensitive, politically incorrect vernacularisms, harsh criticisms and blatant insults (racial and otherwise).

Mark Your Calendar

Mark your calendar for November 4^th, 2017.  That's when the protest begins, if you believe Antifa anyway.  They've thoughtfully published a list of places to be.  Since Columbus, Ohio isn't on the list, I'm staying home and will watch the entire fiasco from the comfort of my living room.

A related group, the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement (RAM) have passed the word to Antifa groups nationwide to support them in a Deface Columbus Day event, where members and supporters plan to deface evidence of Christopher Columbus in their local neighborhoods.  By all accounts, RAM is a militant group that advocates for redistribution of property and for the abolition of gender (their words, not mine).  RAM members prefer to use violence to achieve these and other goals.

So I suppose this would be two days to be extra careful about where you go, and to remember to hold your pistol steady should it come to that.  Me, I'm staying inside.

Ethics Question: Answered

About a week ago I posed a question to everyone with abundant ennui and enough free time on their hands to read my blog.  For reference purposes you can read the original post here, at Ethics Question.

Not entirely my solution, I dropped a dime on her.

Las Vegas Shooter

As of this writing, Stephen Craig Paddock and the notorious Las Vegas shooting have been discussed and speculated upon until there is obviously nothing left to do but wait for factual results from law enforcement officials.  If we ever get any, that is.  I'm betting that some of the facts will never be released to the public for political reasons, and because law enforcement doesn't have to release everything.  They often play their cards close to the vest, and never show the hole cards unless they need to.

Ethics Question

Generally speaking, I'm a live and let live sort of fellow.  If my neighbors vote the straight moonbat ticket, that's their problem.  Ditto with the wingnuts.  Discounting violent crime and legislation designed to make my life more difficult than it already is, the one thing I have trouble with is copyright infringement.  Plagiarism.  Hot software.  Whatever it is, some poor schmuck (maybe figuratively speaking here) worked hard on this project, and if you can afford to buy it and pirate it instead, you're stealing from him and that bothers me.  Because, see, if you'll do it to him, you'll do it to me.

Which brings me to my current dilemma.  Keep reading or not as it amuses you to do so.

Rifle Question

In an attempt to make me start drinking earlier than usual, Glen Filthie (owner and operator of Filthie's Thunderbox, where great intelligence goes to be insulted) posted a picture of this antique rifle, then refused to identify it.  Glen claims he doesn't know what it is.  I think he's mangling the truth.  I think he does know, and is deliberately, and malicious aforethought, withholding the information because he knows it makes me nuts.

It seems to me that I saw this on some history show recently, but my memory isn't what it should be.

Mystery Rifle

If anyone reading this piece knows what this rifle is, will you please post the make and model?  Thanks in advance.

Morning at the Range

Big Mike called me last night at quarter to ten, identified himself (overreacting to the Experian data heist, I imagine), and informed me he was going shooting at 9:00 in the AM tomorrow, the implication being that if I could drag my fat, hungover, old ass out of bed that early then I could join him.

Caution and trigger warning: politically incorrect, insensitive, and profane language ahead.  Read at your own risk, and if you whine about anything I'll make fun of you.

Anthony Lamar Smith, Victim and Drug Dealer

There's a hot time in the old town tonight, and for the past three nights, if you live in St. Louis, MO that is.  Anthony Lamar Smith, street level heroin dealer and general all around criminal was shot to death by St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley after a high speed chase.  Hint: Anthony wasn't driving through St. Louis at 90 mph because he was late for choir practice.

All that being said, here are my objections to this particular circus.  Trigger warning: profanity and racial slurs ahead.  Proceed at your own risk.

Automobile Question

Mystery Car

I found this over at Filthie's Thunderbox - The Art Of Speed. Can anyone tell me what kind of car this is?

Unpopular Opinion

My Internet friend Got A Beating Over At WC's..., which, in my own arrogant opinion, he didn't deserve.  Over half of the guys that post over there are bullshit artists anyway, and one reader actually called 'em on it.  He was ignored.

Idiocy Online

During a moment of inebriated ennui, I subscribed to Quora.  People (presumably people, although after you read a few of the questions you begin to wonder) pose questions that they desperately want answered, and as fate would have it, I am often unassigned for the ten minutes or so that a fairly dry answer requires.

Councilwoman Yvonne Harper Behaving Badly

Toledo city Clowncil Yvonne Harper open her fat mouth to the wrong person, and now she's on the ropes.  Again.

Charitable Donations

As I remember it, I was 21 when I was first pressured into donating money I didn't have to the United Way.  Now that I think about it, it may have been MDA, but no matter.  My manager attempted to coerce me into making a sizeable donation, then attempted to shame me into making a donation.  His tactics didn't work.  The only charity I supported then is the same one I support now, the Salvation Army.  I also support Planned Pethood, which I consider a worthwhile charity.

Gun Question

I got this photo from Glen Filthie over at Filthie's Thunderbox. I think it's cool looking, but when I asked what kind of gun it was all I got was dead digital silence - not even crickets.  I suppose it's possible he's ignoring me, but it's equally likely he doesn't know, and rather than admit his ignorance and have everyone know for sure, he's elected to remain silent and leave some room for doubt.

As if there is any.

Mystery Gun

I have no idea what sort of pistol this is, but I'd like to know.  Would someone please enlighten me?

Why I Left Toledo - One Reason, anyway...

I'm living in Columbus these days, and the more I hear about my old home town, the better I feel about leaving.  Just look at the latest idea from Mayor MacCheese of Rossford (look it up on a map), who wants to build an aerial gondola from Rossford, a town no one has ever heard of, to Toledo, a gravel pit many people wish they'd never heard of.

Extended Election Casualties

Anyone not interested in the trivia of my daily existence can skip this one.  The rest of you, don't say you weren't warned.

Election Casualties Continue

On November 8th, 2016 Donald Trump won the popular vote election for our next president.  On December 15th, 2016, the Electoral College did what they were supposed to do (surprising me slightly) and elected Mr. Trump to the White House.  On Friday, January 20th, 2017, Donald Trump was ceremoniously sworn in as President of the United States.  Anyone with any sense at all poured themselves a stiff one, either in celebration or dismay, and listened to the dulcet voice of the fat lady as one era closed and the next act was ushered in.

Charlottesville, Peaceful Protesters, and Our Government

Two blogs that I read on a regular basis are Bayou Renaissance Man (Peter Grant) and Nobody Asked Me… (Old NFO).  Both wrote about the situation at Charlottesville, VA.  Peter wrote Racial and extremist violence in Charlottesville, VA, which I'm in disagreement with, and Old NFO posed a good question in Thoughts on Charlottesville…. Read them or not as it amuses you to do so.

Happy A-Bomb Day!

On December 7^th, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked Pearl Harbor without warning. In plain old English, we got japped.

Wakey Wakey!

Wakey wakey! Hand off snakey!

CCW Reciprocity and The Crime that is Never Reported

A relatively short time ago, Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Representative Richard Hudson, R-North Carolina, introduced the S.446 - Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017.  The anti-freedom moonbats instantly had a severe mental breakdown, which was unfortunately cured by government funded mental health services, some involving primal scream therapy.

Film Review: Dunkirk (2017)

Film Review: Dunkirk (2017)

Trigger Warning: No spoilers ahead.  The safety is on, so it can't go off.  See?

The Murder of Justine Damond and Dealing With My Own Prejudice

On Saturday, July 15^th, 2017 around 11:30 PM, two Minneapolis MN police officers responded to a 911 call reporting a possible sexual assault.  The caller, Justine Damond, met the officers in an alley behind her home.  She approached the patrol car and started talking to the driver, officer Matthew Harrity.  While she was talking to the driver, officer Officer Mohamed Noor, who was riding in the passenger seat of the police car, shot her to death.  Noor fired at least one shot, possibly more, across officer Matthew Harrity's chest and out the open window.

Busted Chops in Columbus, or, Tooth Number Four Where Are You?

On Wednesday, the nineteenth day of the month of July in the Year of Our Lord two-thousand ten-and-seven during the day season, and in particular the hours of the mid-late-morning, I was passively gathering wool, slowly succumbing to the inanity of the talking heads on the idiot box, and idly wondering if anyone took any of their jejune notions with sobriety and a straight face, all while enjoying a leisurely breakfast consisting of a marinated portabella mushroom, onion, and cheese omelet, whole wheat toast with butter, black coffee, and a mildly strong bloody mary, when it happened.

An Interlude, or Reminessing about the Bad Old Days in 1957

I graduated in 1970 and a half, mainly because the school system was sick and tired of me and most of officialdom hoped that I'd get drafted and sent to Vietnam, where I'd get shot and killed, or blown up by an anti-personnel mine, or burned alive, or something.  Sadly for them, none of that happened.

R.I.P. Zeus

Mister Zeus, my little tuxedo cat, hasn't been doing well lately.  His digestive system wasn't working the way it should; he'd eat, but there would be no weight gain.  He'd be hungry all the time, but feeding him whenever he felt hungry was a bad idea, as he'd end up regurgitating the food.  He also had trouble getting around.  His joints were too stiff and sore to allow him to groom himself.  He negotiated the stairs on step at a time, pausing to rest about halfway up.  Although he hated being picked up and carried, he enjoyed it when I carried him up the stairs.  He'd lost so much weight that he was little more than fur and bones.  And he could no longer play with Danté, his buddy cat.  Danté would offer to play with him, and Zeus couldn't.

Gaming Night

I'm a gamer.  Board games, traditional games, FRP - I've played a lot of it.  When I moved to Columbus, Big Mike was kind enough to include me in the Bored Gamers, a group of men that meet on Monday nights to play games and have a good time.  Last night was no exception.

We congregated at Lash's house around 6:00 PM.  I was a bit late, coming in at 6:30.  Anyway, Big Mike, Lash, Marky-Mark, and yours truly ended up at a table playing Catan, while the rest of the players were at another table trying in vain to colonize Mars.  About an hour into the game, one of the players from the other room (followed by two others) comes in and asks Lash if he's got any beer.

"Yeah, in the fridge." Last replied.
Player One rummages in Lash's refrigerator and comes up with a bottle of Miller.
"Miller?  That's all you've got?"
"It's not mine." Lash starts to explain.  "Some guys left a six pack here last week."
"Miller?" Player One continues to complain.  "I can't believe it.  I drank this swill back in high school."
Big Mike looks up from sorting his commodities into promising groups, and addresses Player One.
"Let me get this straight," Mike begins. "You come into this man's home, you accept his hospitality, then you raid his refrigerator looking for beer, and then you have the audacity to complain about the brand of the free beer?  You, Sir, are a Dick."
Other players start to laugh.
"Yeah," I say, "Just put a six of Miller down on Short North and see how long it lasts."
More laughter.  I felt that Lash was vindicated.

I won Catan quite neatly, by the way.  Big Mike was counting on Lash to keep me in check, and he didn't.  So right out of the blue, surprise-surprise, I won one.  Driving home, I reflected that I don't win all that often.

A Brief Interlude

Main Lady had just announced that she was leaving for St. Louis just as soon as she could sell the familial palace in Sylvania, Ohio, and pack the six over-loaded moving vans full of crap that she'd accumulated over the past ten years, more than half of which she inherited from her dear old mother's estate.  So I'm not only single, I'm single and completely unattached.  Moreover, I have no baggage - I'm not going to let her rent space in my head.

Happy July 4th - 1776 to 2017

On Thursday, the 4^th Day of the Month of July in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred Seventy-and-Six, a group of erudite, audacious, white men assembled and with all due ceremony, signed the United States Declaration of Independence.  You can read about it at this link: The Declaration of Independence from US History.  I claim to be distantly related to one of these men -  Thomas Jefferson, who drafted the Declaration of Independence, became the third U.S. president, and was responsible for the Louisiana Purchase.

We can only imagine the thoughts that were running through the minds of the men who signed this document, which amounted to a strongly worded shout of defiance to King George III, coupled with a coarse gesture generally reserved for divorce lawyers, rude drivers, and I.R.S. agents.  They knew they were in for it, and they knew that a significant portion of the local populace was against them.  Being fairly intelligent, they likely also knew that the vast majority of people didn't give a tinker's damn one way or the other.  Looking back, that may be hard to believe, but that's the way it was.

The good guys won that one, and it wasn't easy, and it wasn't any fun.  Most times it was pure misery, and Lord help you if you stopped a rifle ball, because if the ball didn't kill you, the doctor would.  Those that the doctor missed or couldn't get to often died of infection.  You could also cash in your chips from exposure, meaning the environment killed you.  Some people froze to death, a few drowned.  Then there was good old fashioned, everyday illness.  The common cold could advance to pneumonia, which was often fatal.

Right in the middle of this hard life, people got together and started a revolutionary war with a larger country.  I can't help but think that they had to be pretty tough.

So today I'll raise my glass and toast those tough men and a few women who prized freedom from oppression so much that they were willing to suffer for it.  Any fool can die for it; but to get up every morning and get right back to working on the revolution took a rare type of individual, and that's what I admire most.

Here's a tip of the old fedora and a hoist of my afternoon bourbon glass - here's to freedom!

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, a Prince once asked a beautiful Princess, "Will you marry me?"

Coffee

I've mentioned before that Big Mike doesn't just make a cup of coffee; he buys green coffee beans, roasts them himself, and proceeds from there.   Glen, the proprietor of Filthie's Thunderbox heard about this and was on it faster than a Jack Russel Terrier after a big, fat, rat.  What follows is a link and a second hand lecture about coffee beans, roasting, and brewing your own coffee.

Security and Shooting

Some time back, Big Mike attended a public event of some kind (maybe a hockey game, but who knows?) at a major stadium in Ohio (notice how vague I'm being - it's intentional).  The promoter of the event decided for reasons of sanity to shake everyone down with a metal detector prior to allowing them inside.  Any recreational substances or prohibited items found during said shakedown would become the property of the shakedown artist private security personnel.  Mike was carrying a nice, razor sharp Spyderco knife that he didn't feel like giving to some dumb rent-a-doughnut-muncher, so he cheated and smuggled it in.  I should note at this point that as a result of Mike's timely defeat of the so-called security system, nothing bad happened.  Well, who would have ever thunk it?

His LAST Round of Golf

While golfing, I took a quick turn to avoid hitting a chuck hole, and accidentally overturned my golf cart.

A very beautiful and attractive golfer, who lived right there on the edge of the golf course, heard the noise, came running out of her villa and shouted, "Are you okay?"

As I looked up I noticed she was wearing only a silky see-through bath robe which was partially open, revealing what appeared to be a VERY nice figure.

"I'm okay I think," I replied as I pulled myself out from under the twisted cart.

She said, "Please follow me to my villa so I can clean and bandage that nasty scrape on your head, then you can rest a while, and I'll help you upright the cart later."

"That's mighty nice of you," I answered, "but I don't think my wife will like me doing that!"

"Oh, come on now," she insisted. "We need to see if you have any more scrapes and treat them if so."

Well, after all, she was really pretty and very, very persuasive. Being sort of shaken and weak, I finally agreed, but repeated, "I'm sure my wife won't like this." We walked to her place just a 100 yards away, and after a couple of Scotch and waters and the bandaging, I thanked her and said, "I feel a lot better now, but I know my wife is going to be really upset, so I'd better go now."

"Don't be silly!" she said with a smile, letting her robe fall even more open. "Stay for a while. She won't know anything, and by the way, where is she?"