From The Divine Sarah:
“I am slowly coming to the conclusion that Heinlein was right during WWII to only read the papers two weeks late, when it was pointless to get angry about old news.”
Me, too. I think that this has been at the heart of my current blogging malaise, of thinking that my writing is pointless and silly, not to mention (occasionally) harsh and anarchic. Like Sarah, I find myself reading headlines and thinking, “Ah, the hell with it” — hence the sometime-appearance on these pages of a “news summary” including a headline and at best a short, pissy pithy comment.
Thus, I read about the election/voting shenanigans in California, wherein non-Democrat mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt was doing pretty well in the polls, until an (unexpected!) flood of mail-in ballots found their way into the counting-houses which resulted in (surprise!) the promotion of the third-place (Commie) candidate into the second place — which, in the “top two” election system in California, means that the runoff election will be between Thing 1 and Thing 2, both Commies and either quite likely to hasten the Golden Shower State’s steady progress into the abyss.
And I don’t actually care, and refuse to get all worked up about it.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for a little trip to the range.
I’m pulling back on everything internet. I’m suffering from (fake) sensory overload and I just don’t need it.
Summer’s here and I’m doing more stuff outside and rediscovering old hobbies. I’m working on a .50 cal flintlock pistol kit and when it’s done I’m going to build a .50 cal flintlock rifle. I also want to build a 10″ killer knife from scratch from a nice piece of 1/4″ steel I’ve been saving for that purpose.
Good on ya, lad. Starting to get the itch myself, although it’s pretty much smokeless for me these days. Went through my black powder phase many moons back, and percussion at that, never got into flint ignition. About all I have left is a T/C Hawkin 50 cal that I bought used in Klamath Falls, OR in 1976. Back in the day, I enjoyed reading articles about/written by guys who were making flint locks from scratch that ran like Swiss watches. I also like watching this channel–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeAqLzUETTU
Thanks for that link, I subscribed. Might come in handy for future ref.
I’m with you Kim. My feed is filled with utter rubbish and rage bait. Like Groucho Marx observed about television, “television is very educational. when someone turns on a set I go into the other room and read a book.” I guess the modern corollary is to replace the word television with internet.
The weather is getting better so it should be off to the range or do some other outdoor project like Ghost mentioned. Flintlocks are very appealing but I remember cleaning the greasy residue from black powder left on my Brown Bess musket. Getting lands and grooves clean must be worse than a smoothbore.
I like your articles or essays on firearms and travel best.
I agree with Groucho, except I consider your website to be a bright and shining exception to that rule. I can still read, so if I’m up to date on your postings, I do read a book, but usually I check for something I’ve missed during the first go-round.
This is why I stopped listening to talk radio several years ago. I was a huge Limbaugh fan and generally liked a lot of the other hosts as well, and did NOT have a political change of heart, other than pushing commies out of a lower flying helicopter so they suffered more before death.
But nothing ever changed. The same shit-heels ran my life and the only thing it was doing was eating away at my own stomach lining.
In the end the benefits didn’t outweigh the costs.
Try some podcasts. They have podcasts on every subject. History, economics, art, odd tales, firearms, just about any topic you can think of has a podcast.
I’m at the point where a morning coffee on the deck, perusing Kim’s front porch, and a walk in the woods with the dog makes for a fine morning.
I come to your site because I find very often that I agree with you and the others that comment here.
Over the years, I’ve found myself backing away from challenging folks who disagree with me. I try to talk them into seeing the light, but most times I’m about as successful as talking to a doorknob. I find that most Liberals aren’t solid, hardcore Socialists or Commies, they’re just dumber than a box of rocks (public school union education) and happier than a clown college (drug induced, maybe) and have no desire to change, even though the world is burning down around them. I’ve been beating my head against the wall, and it seems that all I get is a headache.
It pains me to watch the politics happening today. Is there corruption in the vote in California. Technically, no, because they’re following the rules that are in place that allow the votes of honest citizens to be overwhelmed so that anti-American politicians can be elected to and kept in office.
One more thing. I am sick and tired of ALL the politicians getting their facetime talking about their commissions and hearings, and how they’re going to chase out all the corrupt and thieving politicians who are making things so much worse. WHEN? When do we see the indictments? When do we see the perp walks? When will we read the news about the convictions? I think the last one of any consequence might have been Spiro Agnew.
> not to mention (occasionally) harsh and anarchic.
Nothing wrong with that (spits on hands, starts raising the black flag)
As someone who obtained government contracts for several different Engineering firms ,both domestic and International I’ve always known that the entire system was corrupt, bottom to top. It’s the way it’s always worked. My father had exactly the same experience. What always did surprise me though was just how little $ it takes.
i believe you are correct. This is disappointing, because I want to know how small government has to be before people don’t go all apeshit because the wrong guy got elected President. Make the buggerers in Congress pass the legislation they let their favorite brand of dictator enacts through executive order so their names and fingerprints are all over the laws.
Now, I am not giving the Stupid party a pass here. It’s just that the evil party has been in office so long (since before the Dictator on wheels was voted into office by the likes of my grandfather who had been as he said, “An International Socialist in Europe before World War One”, and the programs have continued apace (IOW, at breakneck speed) ever since, so everything now seems to be crookedness that comes from THAT side of the aisle. A similar one-party state existed from 1860 through 1900, but with the progressives on the other side of the aisle, so at the time it looked much like it does now, but with a cast of characters from the other side demonstrating their utter venality.