Temperatures are expected to fall to as low as -6C (21F) tonight after millions of people woke up to frost and icy conditions this morning – with snow falling as far south as Brighton and Devil’s Dyke in the South Downs of Sussex. The first flurries of snow hit high ground on hills in northern England, Wales and Scotland as November closes with an icy blast after the mercury dipped to below freezing overnight.
Saw this article via Insty, and had to add my thoughts.
Who are the kind of men who still carry pocketknives? They are the type of men who earn an honest living, work hard and stand fearless in a world gone mad. To put it simply, they are the type of men the world could use a lot more of these days.
To me, this whole idea is such a “duh” situation that I can barely articulate it.
Of course every man — not just the ones in the quote — should carry a pocket knife (and even more than one, maybe) on their belt or in their pocket [sic]. I for one cannot imagine leaving the house without a knife on me — as the writer’s father said, “I’m wearing pants, aren’t I?” — and other than when boarding a flight (don’t get me started) I can’t remember when last I went knife-less out of the house. (Yeah, I carried a knife even in Britishland, where it’s streng verboten, sorry P.C. Plod.)
Sheesh… next thing we’ll be talking about men not needing cars or trucks*.
*with apologies to the urbanites, who like me when I used to live in downtown Chicago, don’t need one.
Sometimes I fear for us all. In an otherwise-interesting article on the world’s “vanishing countries” which talks about how China’s population growth is slowing, we also see examples of foolishness such as this:
China is relaxing its one-child policy — but it may be too late. In addition to lacking workers, a fifth of China’s homes are empty, reported Bloomberg news — more than 50 million apartments and houses have no inhabitants.
Fertile countries have a far brighter future. They are a good place to invest your money, said Hans Rosling, a Swedish professor and demographic “prophet” who died in February.
“You will find an emerging China in Africa,” he told the BBC in a final interview. “Go there to invest if you want to earn money, if you want to have nice pensions when you retire, place part of your capital there because there you will see fast growth.”
Clearly, Rosling never set foot on the African continent, where there’s never been a shortage of workers, only a shortage of honest government. Allow me to revise his statement for you:
“Go invest in African countries if you want to lose money, if you want to have no pensions when you retire, and place part of your capital there if you want to see fast growth in African politicians’ bank accounts and not in yours, and to see no tangible results from your investment.”
That’s the reality of investing in Africa.
It reminds me of that old, withering observation: “Your suggestion is so stupid, so devoid of commonsense and logic that it could only have been made by an academic or intellectual.” (Note that the latter two are not synonymous.)
And these are the people who are regarded as the intelligent ones, who advise governments and tell us how to run our lives.
This idiot cartoonist was trying to make a point about how White men are bad, or hateful or something — only it kinda had the opposite effect, judging from popular reaction:
I’m trying to find what’s so bad about all that… can’t. He did omit “socialists” from the “NO” column, but he probably caught a good few of ’em anyway with the others.
Or am I missing something?
In this article, Rick Moran worries about Orange County Going Socialist, and What That Means:
Orange County Is Reagan Country No More
They used to vote Republican in huge numbers in Orange County, California. The county used to be one of the most Republican in the country, but with Democrat Katie Porter unseating GOP incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters, Republicans are beginning to look nervously at 2020 and wonder where all their votes have gone.
And Moran’s take is:
Is Trump accelerating the GOP decline? There’s no doubt that Trump’s antics as president have energized his base. They are, if anything, more loyal and enthusiastic today than they were when he was elected.
The rest of the country? Not so much.
As leader of the party, Trump is responsible for its growth or decline. Right now, it’s declining across the board. The answer is not goosing Trump’s base supporters. The answer has to be broadening the appeal of the party.
I’m not so sure. I think that the answer to the Orange County change is simple: I bet that Hispanic voters (i.e. Socialists) are moving in; but mostly, Republican voters are leaving California. And as Orange County has (or had) a huge number of suburban middle-class families — the people most adversely affected by California’s insane government — it’s a simple case of changing demographics.
I know that the plural of anecdote is not data, but not long ago I gave a lift to a one-time Orange County resident (a conservative Republican, by his own admission) who had moved to Plano because he was totally sick of California government’s effect on his small business. He told me that he wasn’t the only one; almost all his friends from his neighborhood (also Republicans) had either already left the state or were in the final stages of doing so. And he admitted to me that he voted for Trump in 2016, as had all those same friends whether still in California or not.
I likewise suspect (also from anecdote) that this is happening in Ventura County as well.
I would love to see the population-shift statistics from Orange County by party affiliation to see if that, and not Trump, has been the reason for the change in voting patterns. If that is the case, there’s nothing Trump (or any Republican) can do about it.
Oh, and one more thing: I think I persuaded my ex-Californian passenger to buy a gun and get his carry permit — and I’m pretty sure he’s going to do it because when I gave him the names of a few of our local gun shops, he keyed them into his phone. (I told him that he should do it just to stick it in CalGov Jerry Brown’s eye, and he laughed like hell at the thought.)
One at a time, folks; one at a time.
I actually did a little more than the bare minimum purchase this year, simply because Ye Olde Ammoe Locquer is bursting at the seams. Seriously. I don’t have less than a thousand rounds for any of my guns, and it’s usually five times that. (Forget .22 LR; it’s like asking me how much sugar I have on hand because as any fule kno, .22 is not ammo, but a household commodity.)
Only one caliber is “deficient”, and that is .22 Mag. As I’ve said on these pages before: FFS, when did .22 WMR become (so much) more expensive than .45 ACP??? The only thing that saves me us that I don’t shoot much .22 WMR nowadays, so having only a few hundred rounds on hand is probably excusable.
So what ammo did I get?
This year I did a little “forward” buying — i.e. buying ammo for a gun (or guns) that I don’t yet possess, yet plan to buy in the very near future. They are 1) .357 mag for the S&W Mod 65 (or similar) and its companion lever-action carbine, and 2) 9mm practice ammo.
I know: 9mm? Kim bought 9mm? WHAT IS HAPPENING? ARE WE FACING END TIMES?
Relax; early next year I’ll be buying back Connie’s Browning High Power from a good friend, as much for sentimental value as anything else. As Loyal Readers know, I’ve been complaining that the 1911 has been beating me up during practice, and even the lighter 185gr loads are a trifle wearying on the old wrist after 200 rounds’ practice. Will I carry the BHP instead of the faithful Springfield 1911? Time will tell; in the interim, however, I did buy a thousand rounds of El Cheapo FMJ practice feed, and a couple-three boxes of assorted anti-goblin types, for testing. That should keep me going till at least February.
As for the .357 Mag, I got a bunch of Winchester White Box 110gr (for practice), and some meatier anti-personnel stuff: Federal Fusion 158gr for the Mod 65:
…and some heavier Federal 180gr (for the carbine).
“Which carbine,” you ask? Well, I’m still saving up for BAG Day (April 15), so I’m a little undecided, but right now I’m leaning towards Henry’s Big Boy All-Weather:
…or if I’m in a sentimental mood, the case-hardened model (because I’ve never owned a case-hardened rifle, and so why not?):
If I get the stainless S&W Mod 65, I’ll go for the stainless rifle; if, however, I can’t find an acceptable 65 and decide to go traditional, then I’ll get the case-hardened Big Boy and a blued revolver, e.g. the Ruger Service-Six.
I don’t think that either pair would be a bad choice, n’est-ce pas?