So Mikhail Gorbachev est mort

The Press is falling over themselves to talk about what a guy he was, and how the Soviet system was (in the WaPo's term) "a seven-decade experiment born of Utopian idealism". Well OK then.  Remember, I did not read Pasternak but I condemn him ...

Oh, and the cartoon at that last link?  The one with two Gulag prisoners working in the snow and with the caption that said I won the Nobel Prize in Literature.  What was your crime?  You know, the cartoon that won a Pulitzer Prize?

Yeah, the WaPo would never publish it today.  Scratch a journalist, find a commie.

And so, here's a (err) toast to Mikhail Gorbachev, from back in the day when truth could still be spoken.

Dad Joke CCXXVII - special Lego edition

Did you hear about the Lego truck that crashed on the highway?   The authorities are still trying to piece everything together.

The Theodosian Walls of Constantinople in Lego

 This intersects my love of Lego and my Roman history Nerd.  Go check it out here.

Dad Joke CCXXVI

 I met a lady yesterday that has opened a small business selling batteries near the playground in the city park.

.

.

That's right, she sells C cells by the seesaw.

Music to unclench your fists

Sitting quietly, doing nothing,
Spring comes and the grass grows all by itself.

- Zen poet Matsuo Basho 

Aesop has a must-read post (riffing off of Francis Porretto) about refusing to pay attention to the panic porn:

UN. PLUG.

You'll add years to your life, and you won't spend most of them in abject fear and dread.

And so here's a Sunday Classical piece to help you unplug.  Relax.  The world will be here tomorrow but today the grass grows all by itself.

I also like the picture Aesop has.  It says this:

turn off the news.

go outside.

breathe.

you were never meant to carry the burden of the entire world.

The grass grows by itself.  It's said that plants grow better when you play music for them.  So turn up the music.

And make peace with God
And make peace with yourself, 
'Cause in the end there's nobody else

Have a great Sunday.  The World will be here tomorrow and tomorrow is time enough for that.

The best argument in favor if a Taurus Judge

Dragon's Breath .410 Flame Thrower shotshells. Now I always considered the Judge to be a bit gimmicky, and these incendiary shotshells seemed that way, too - until I watched this video and saw a unique application for property defense come the End Times:

So you put some gasoline in some metal bottles (Bud Lite, anyone?) and hit it up with one of these rounds.  It seems to me that this would be pretty effective against groups looking to loot your place.  Spread the bottles around where you expect two legged varmints to congregate.

This is a very specific use case for what otherwise seemed gimmicky.  The downside is that these rounds look like they're $5 per round (ouch!).  Still, it's a use case that seems hard to get any other way.

Thoughts?  Weirdly, this seems to be illegal in Florida and Alaska, as well as the Usual Blue States.  What's up with FL and AK?

Dad Joke CCXXV

Which animal is least interesting?

A boar. 

Security news

Not exactly a Security Smorgasbord post, but interesting and important stuff.

Lawrence has an post about a new sort of phishing scam pretending to be a Paypal invoice for a Walmart purchase.

There’s a new phishing scam making the rounds. I’ve received examples of this one twice myself over the last week, and since it’s a lot more sophisticated and polished than the average email phishing scam, I think it’s worth taking a look at.

You should go read - this is important.

Twitter's ex-Chief of security says that the company is entirely uninteresting in knowing just how many bots make up the Twitter user population.  What makes this really big security news is that the ex-Chief is none other than Mudge, one of the original L0pht guys.  He has big, big stature in the security community.  I don't know how this will play out, but this will be enormously damaging to Twitter's share price.  But it's hard to see this Justice Department go after the Twitter execs who helped the Democrats so much over the last few years.  

The Metaverse sucks, and you cannot have any privacy there.  I expect you already know that.

Sumd00d hacks his Hyundai car to change the smart screen software.  What uber 31337 'sploit does he use to find Hyundai's secret encryption key?  Google.  For realz.  Angels and Ministers of Graqce defend us.

Dad Joke CCXXIV

An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard, and a German were out for a walk when they stopped to watch a street performer juggle some balls.  The performer noticed the four men had a bad view from where they were in the crowd, so he climbed on a wooden box and shouted "Can you all see me now?"

"Yes."

"Oui."

"Si."

"Ja." 

Let the little children come to me

Well, let one particular little child come to Big Country:

He's posted a lot about his grand daughter and his fight to get her to safety.  Click here to donate to the Legal Fund.

Hector Berlioz - Dream of a Witches' Sabbath from Symphonie fantastique

I was raised in the Episcopal church.  It's been getting weird for decades and now seems to have pitched over the edge into the abyss of - dare we say it? - heresy: The Episcopal Church comes out in support of sex changes at all ages.

Sigh.

I don't know what a Chalcedonian christian can do these days.  I won't attend the Witches' Sabbath at the Episcopal church, that's for sure.  Although Hector Berlioz wrote some great music that would be appropriate for their so-called "mass".

 

Quote of the Day: Surf Rock edition

QOTD goes to commenter Matthew W in yesterday's post about The Ventures playing with their original drummer who had become a four star general in the intervening 4 decades.  His comment:

I like to tell people that I'm the lead singer in a Ventures tribute band...............

 Matt, The Internets you just won can be picked up at the Castle Borepatch drawbridge.  Use the usual password.

Incitatus for Consul

 Glen Filthie made an impassioned plea for Incitatus in the next election. Besides casting aspersions that Odin had bought my vote and my support, Glen Filthie's argument has some merit. Incitatus was a horse that was made a priest and a Consul around 37 A.D.. In today's configuration, I would think that would make Incitatus the Sec. of State or the Vice-President.

I would suggest some living horse, perhaps the winner of the next Belmont Stakes, but I await Glen's next comment to see if he was set on Incitatus even though the horse has been dead for over 1900 years.

When The Ventures played surf rock with an Air Force four star general

The Ventures are an interesting band. They're the most successful rock band in Japanese history (and that's not shabby, as Japan has bought more records than any country but the USA).  They're in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.  They have a Grammy.  Sadly, a lot of them are dead.  Interestingly for a rock band, the cause of death was mostly old age.

But their first drummer was when they were in High School.  George Babbitt was a drummer in the marching band, and joined them when they recorded this song, their very first hit.  Then he graduated and joined the Air Force.  Thirty-odd years later, he was a four star general.  When they played a gig for the Air Force, they asked him to sit in on drums.  He obliged, in full uniform.

This was 38 or 39 years after his days in the band, when he was Commander, Air Force Material Command (COMAFMC).  GEN Babbitt retired two years after this concert.  He seems to still be alive at the ripe old age of 80.

This post was inspired by one over at American Digest, which has a different (and more surf) song by the band.

Mmmmm ... that's some tasty mockery

Via Western Rifle Shooters, commentary on CDC's statement that they need to do a re-org to "do better":

 

Odin 2024

 I want our blog out front on this. We need effective leaders.

Well that was a real squeeker

Cheney got 70% of the vote in 2020.
 

Word

 

Via Some It's Just As Well, who has some interesting commentary.

I did not know that

Derek Ward posts a link that sort of undermines the whole "Florida is the Gunshine State" narrative: 

However, when you take into account the total population of both states, this gives Texas 21 gun stores per 100,000 people and only gives Florida 13.4 gun stores per 100,000 people. For comparison, most states on this list have well over 20 gun stores per 100k people.

C'mon, Florida - those are rookie numbers. 

On the converse side of things, Kentucky currently ranks the highest in terms of the total number of firearms purchased overall with the Bluegrass State purchasing more guns in the first half of 2022 than any other state in the union (a grand total of 2,094,787 firearms in the first 6 months).

Even ignoring the "Eastern Kentucky vs. Eastern Florida" mismatch, Kentucky is buying three times as many guns as Florida is.  Rookie numbers, indeed.

Dad Joke CCXXIII

Why didn't the Teddy Bear get dessert? 

Because he was stuffed.

Michel Legrand - Music from The Three Musketeers

The last two weeks have seen music from early swashbuckling films (from the 1930s).  Today closes out this exploration with what was probably the last really good swashbuckling film - 1973's "The Three Musketeers".  While the fencing scenes did not live up to the standard of Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone, this film has much to recommend it: an all star cast, a ton of comedy, decent menace at the right time from the right characters, and music from a very under-rated composer.

I have quite fond memories of this film.  Christopher Lee (the real Most Interesting Man In The World) played the bad guy to perfection, Oliver Reid in his greatest role just before alcoholism stalled his career, Raquel Welch is a surprisingly funny performance (for which she won a Golden Globe), and outstanding music that was nominated not for an Oscar but rather for a Grammy.

It's not the 1930s swashbuckling - it feels more "modern" and perhaps "gritty" but it's great fun, and great listening.

More Tab Clearing, of the Donald Trump variety

Isegoria has a nifty definition of class structure in America.  Donald Trump is about the only one who has the first class in mind:

Rob Henderson explains social class through the example of where your name goes:

Working class: Your name on your uniform
Middle class: Your name on your desk
Upper middle class: Your name on your office door
Upper class: Your name on the building

You will notice that the folks who own the Media are all in the last class.  Gosh, I wonder why they hate Trump's guts? /sarc

Mike at Cold Fury thinks that Ron DeSantis is wimping out:

DeSantis, Abbott, and any other non-Vichy GOPe governors with stones enough to do so could render all Real Americans a great service, as well as etch their names with honor and glory in the annals of American liberty forevermore, by announcing their firm intention to end all cooperation and/or contact with FBI goon squads currently skulking about in their sovereign States—effective oh, say, five minutes ago or thereabouts.

Srlsy, Mike really thinks he's wimping out:

The Leftard camel has been allowed to poke its big, ugly snout way too far into the tent already for my liking, and I can’t even begin to imagine that DeSantis is in agreement with those assholes on this particular topic. Any and every time they can be dealt a defeat, regardless of its perceived import, they not only should be, they must be, just as a matter of principle.

I don't know that I agree.  DeSantis has been an astonishingly effective Governor and gets the daily dose of hate in the Florida newspapers as his reward.  He is particularly effective in dishing out punishment, not a bunch of hot air posturing.  This is what has made the Florida newspapers to melt down on a daily basis.  DeSantis is establishing a reputation as a doer, not a talker - at least with me.

Scott McKay at The American Spectator thinks it's not Trump or DeSantis, it's Trump and DeSantis:

The issue isn’t whether Trump or DeSantis is the GOP nominee in 2024. Both would be fine. Seriously. Trump is starting to get to the outer edge of what you’d look for age-wise in a president, but he’s also been through the wars and he’d be able to leverage that experience to hit the ground running and efficiently do the things that are controversial until they aren’t early in his second term.

And DeSantis is younger and smoother than Trump, having had a good deal more experience with politics and government.

But — and I’m going to harp on this, because it’s a point I make in my book The Revivalist Manifesto, which you should buy and read thoroughly — political eras are formed in America not on the basis of one election but rather five or six in a row. The Democrats kicked off the first era of our political history with Thomas Jefferson’s rout of John Adams in 1800, and they didn’t lose a presidential race until 1824, by which time Democratic politics was American politics. Ditto for the second era, which began with Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 victory; the GOP didn’t lose a presidential election until 1884. And the third era, which is coming to a miserable end, began with Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s rout of Herbert Hoover in 1932; it was 1952 before a Republican again won a presidential race, and Dwight Eisenhower was necessarily so timid when it came to domestic policy that by the end of his tenure the John Birch Society was convinced he was a communist mole.

The point being, it takes a generation for the concrete of a new political era to cure. And that means it’s less important whether Trump or DeSantis wins in 2024 than that one of them does. And furthermore, what’s more important than that is the standard both of them set for Republican politicians up and down the governmental food chain.

Trump is a wrecking ball, and knows where and how to start disassembling the Imperial Bureaucracy.  DeSantis is the guy who can put it back together in a way to cause even more pain to The Right Sort Of Folks.  Your mileage may vary, void where prohibited, do not remove tag under penalty of law.

The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Divemedic has a must-read post about the coming Civil War, Innocent People Always Die: 

The civil war that both sides seem intent on having will be ugly. War isn’t a game where two sides engage in some football game where the players, rules, and boundaries are clearly defined. Americans think that war is some sort of game, a crucible where masculinity is defined. It isn’t. It’s messy. It won’t just be players getting targeted. The combatants will be targets. So will the people who deliver food. So will their families. Women. Children. The side who refuses to participate in that will lose.

He has a telling Civil War 1.0 example of how civilians were explicit targets, and I've written for a long time about how Billy Sherman was America's first war criminal:

Moving [south] from Yankeeland has made me realize the extent that the history of [The American War of Southern Independence*] as taught today consists of little more than red, white, and blue cardboard.

The events are disconnected in a quite striking manner.  Events just sort of happened, you see?  But since the desired outcome was reached, there's no sense in dwelling on things, and those that do are sore losers.

For example, the charming town where I reside includes a monument:

The concentration camps didn't start in Nazi Germany, or even the Boer War (as is often presented).  They began right here on these shores, started by one William T. Sherman's personal order.  But this is just an isolated event in the colorful cardboard history.

Only 2 of the deported woman returned after the war.  It's unclear whether the rest died or settled down elsewhere.  It seems that record keeping was poor or non-existent, and modern day historians are curiously comfortable with their red, white, and blue cardboard history of that era.

But art can pierce this veil, and allow us to view (if darkly) through the glass to see what civil war does to non-combatants.  I suspect that this song will need no introduction to most readers.  I also suspect it will attract the usual comment trolls saying that the folks living in southwest Virginia "had it coming".  A lot of people are happily ignorant of the true causes of that war and have no intention of doing anything about that ignorance.  That same ignorance is seen in Divemedic's post describing what is propelling us at Flank Speed towards Civil War 2.0.

May God save this Honorable Republic.  At this point it looks like only He can.  I sure hope that Bismark was right that the Lord looks after fools, drunks, and The United States of America.

* It wasn't a "Civil War" because the south didn't want to conquer the north.  "The War Between The States" is unspecific as to motive.  Thus, "The American War of Southern Independence" which tells you everything you need to know about the causes of the conflict.

Dad Joke CCXXII

 Why does the Norwegian Navy have bar codes on the sides of their ships?

So when they come into port they can Scandinavian.

Finding Out

 Now that the U.S. is in some sort of escalating standoff with China, it seems like a good time to look back fondly to the country I grew up in. 

My grandfather sold Ford trucks, so we had a Ford. But all the major choices were made in America. As was the steel, glass, and rubber the car was made from. The only exception I remember were Volkswagens. Here's the parking lot at Disneyland in 1965.

The furnace, TV, the toaster, stove, refrigerator, washing machine, dryer, light bulbs, lamps, outlets, switches, faucets, silverware, dishes, and door locks were all made in America.

The towels, sheets, blankets, pillows, mattresses, rugs, chairs, sofas, cabinets, bureaus, and end tables were all made in America.

Shirts, t-shirts, underwear, socks, shoes, pants, belts, dresses, hose, coats, sweaters, and umbrellas were all made in America. 

Nike running shoes were made in America. I had a pair of the original waffle trainers in the late 1970s and they had this label.

The telephone wasn't much, it weighed as much as a bowling ball, was tied to a wire, and didn't even display who was calling, but it was made in America, along with the wires, switching equipment, and equipment racks that made it all work.

The tools hanging in the garage were all made in America, ours were mostly Craftsman. 

Tractors, graders, backhoes, cranes, big trucks. Made in America by companies many of us can still name.

When I was twelve years old and Americans landed on the moon, everything I owned that wasn't made in America could have disappeared and I think the only thing I would have missed was my Raleigh bicycle.

Now, in 2022, we are approaching the opposite situation. Except for the old furniture I have, everything I own is imported. It's isn't the electronics, but let's start there. 

No TVs, computers, cell phones, stereo equipment, or cameras are made in America.

Want a t-shirts, some boxers, socks, a pair of jeans, a towel, or some sheets? There's U.S. made to found, but it's boutique and priced to match, there's no mainline retailers selling U.S. made.

Bicycles. Schwinn frames didn't say made in America, the logo just said Chicago. Schwinn is still a name, but it's a low end import bike from China. Giant, Trek, Specialized, and the high end bike store bikes are all imported and all the components from tires to handlebars are as well. 

Craftsman's gone. The name's was sold along with Kenmore in the giant train wreck that Sears became, but it's all made in China.

Starting in the 1980s, the U.S has bled off it's manufacturing. Steel, glass, textiles, consumer goods are gone. It took 40 years to sell it all, move it offshore, and shut down the plants here. How long would it take to bring it back? If you started, who would do the work? Who knows how? There are YouTube channels dedicated to exploring abandoned factories, they illustrate the impossibility of reopening, it would have to be built new from scratch.

We made this bed and we climbed in it, to a large extent with China, although I recognize that imports do come from other countries as well. When Covid hit, we all saw what a "just in time" global supply chain looked like under stress. Which brings me back to the opening of this post. 

If we get knotted up in a conflict with China, they don't have to go to military force, they can just restrict their exports to the U.S. It would hurt them some, and they might feel some economic consequences, but we would be hamstrung. Think what every Wal-Mart in the country would look like if everything made in China disappeared. We can't afford to do it.

Which means that very likely we won't. I can't account for some moronic behavior like we've seen recently, but I expect we'll huff and puff and then claim that it all worked out for the best. China knows it. We know it. Taiwan knows it, too. They are on their own when it comes down to it, and they would do well to make the best deal they can. We aren't going to war on their behalf.

Tab clearing

Here's a selection of what I've been looking at.  There's no connection other than I found each fascinating, even if I don't agree 100% with all points.

John Michael Greer (the artist formerly known as The Arch Druid) looks at the Georgia Guidestones (recently blown up) and connects them to Klaus Schwab and his Great Reset - and brings ancient Mycenae along for the ride.  Here's a flavor from a loong and thoughtful post recommending some modesty from today's "elites".  I expect he will be disappointed by their lack of humility moving forward:

Grant for a moment that modern American society crashes to ruin over the next few centuries, following the usual trajectory of civilizations on their way to history’s compost heap. Grant that the decline and fall has the usual effects: population drops to 5% or so of the precollapse peak, most technology and information resources are lost, literacy becomes a rare skill, and a long and bitter dark age settles over the land. The people of that future time will use storytelling the same way every other illiterate culture has done—it’s apparently hardwired into human brains at this point, after so many generations of evolutionary selection in its favor. What stories will they tell about us?

If you think the stories in question will be the sort of thing that would allow us to preen our egos if we happened to hear them, think again.

The Bitter Centurion echos this in a very personal way.  If the "elites" think that they will be remembered as Gods they don't understand just how much people hate them today:

I've never truly hated anyone the way I hate these 'elites'. These corrupt politicians, corporate oligarchs, and central bankers. The people who have gotten obscenely rich and powerful on the backs of the regular, common folks who are constantly forced to do more with less just to provide for their families.

The entire globe is on the cusp of a Third World War with the Russians, not to mention the internal strife and turmoil in several nations around the world we are seeing as a result of this 'Build Back Better/ESG' bullshit, cooked up at the World Economic Forum. All the major conflicts and problems we are seeing in the world today, every single one of them, is entirely THEIR fault. It is all their doing.

Why can't America build anything?  Basically elites and government bureaucrats.

What Edward Gibbon got wrong about the fall of the Roman Empire.  This is a good overview but Gibbon really needed someone to take him aside when he started blaming it on Christianity.  After all, the Eastern Roman Empire was much more devoutly Christian than the Western portion and survived the West by a thousand years.  A millennium isn't exactly a rounding error, Eddie.

A modest proposal to the Governor of Florida

Item the first: no Florida Law Enforcement personnel are allowed to work with the Gestapo FBI, under penalty of being dismissed from Florida employment, unless authorized by the Florida Governor.

Item the second: any Gestapo FBI Agent executing law enforcement actions on any citizen of Florida without authorized (by the Governor's office) are subject to arrest by the Florida State Police and prosecution under Florida law.

Actually, it would be nice if instead of "Gestapo FBI" it was "any Federal law enforcement employee".

Sure, sure, the Fed.Gov will fight this in (Federal) court.  Maybe the Federal Court will (shockingly!) rule in favor of the Fed.Gov.  This will just give the Florida Governor another bite on the same apple.  A Federal Court might issue a ruling, but (in Andy Jackson's wording let them now enforce that ruling).  Florida law enforcement will of course not enforce it, and for any Federal law enforcement you would need to refer to Item the First and Item the Second.

Next step, look at how many illegal aliens are apprehended in Florida and then released: these all need to be bussed to Washington D.C.

The Next, Next step is to look at all Federal property in Florida and seize sufficient property to compensate the citizens of the State against Federal impositions.  

This is a dance that can play out over years, to the detriment of the Democrats.

Dad Joke CCXXI

I could tell you that a zebra is a carnivore but I'd be lion. 

A musical interlude

It seems that today is my birthday.

They also had another song about this:

But that's clearly wrong.  Why, I'm in my prime ...

Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Captain Blood

In a comment to last week's music selection from the Errol Flynn Robin Hood film, Aesop (who knows something about film) left a comment:

If Errol Flynn is in a movie with an Erich Korngold score, I'll be sitting twelfth row center, waiting for the overture to begin.

Yup.  And so to today's selection.  Captain Blood was the very first film to star Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland.  It essentially founded the genre of swashbuckling adventures.  It began a long collaboration between Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone (later famous as Sherlock Holmes) who appeared together not only in Robin Hood but also in The Dawn Patrol.

And this film established the reputation of Erich Korngold, not as a great composer (he had already established his chops) but as a great film composer.  Shockingly he was not nominated for the Academy Award for this film; he got more write-in votes than almost any of the actual nominees.

He almost didn't take the gig, feeling that pirate adventures wasn't very interesting.  But the producers invited him to watch some of the filming.  Impressed, he signed on.  The problem was that the entire score had to be finished in three weeks.  To get the entire score complete he had to include a number of symphonic poems from Franz Lizst (remember, he was the first Rock Star).

Both Flynn and Rathbone were accomplished fencers, and justly famous for the well choreographed fight scenes.  Certainly Rathbone's fencing was more convincing than his french accent:

And the music is quite dramatic:

Next week we will close out our exploration of swashbuckling film music.

Bootnote on the actors:

Basil Rathbone was decorated for heroism on the Western Front in The Great War.  He was also the British Army's fencing champion (twice) and taught Errol Flynn much of what he knew.

Olympia de Havilland was cousin to Geoffrey de Havilland of aircraft manufacturing fame.  She only dies two years ago at the age of 104, the oldest winner of an Academy Award.  She is probably most famous for her role as Melanie in Gone With The Wind.

Errol Flynn got in a fist fight with his director during filming of Charge Of The Light Brigade.  A horse lover, he was infuriated by the intentional crippling of dozens of horses during filming.  He was a notorious womanizer and it is said that the expression "in like Flynn" originally referred to a successful seduction.

Gone shewtin'

I'm meeting Big Country and Wifey at the range for some recoil therapy.  It will be something like this:

And The Queen Of The World got me a nifty spotting scope so I can see just how rusty my marksmanship is.  Need to get out to the range more often.

Rest In Peace PFC Simanek

Awarded the Medal of Honor in Korea for falling on a grenade to save his buddies.  Lived another 70 years.  As you'd expect, Dwight has the details. 

Semper Fi, Marine.  Ave atque vale.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold - The Adventures of Robin Hood

 Erich Wolfgang Korngold won the Oscar for this score in 1938 - the very first composer to receive the Academy Award.  Before that, the Oscar went to the head of the Studio's music department.  A child prodigy in Vienna be was a professor at the Vienna State Academy when the Nazis began their rise to power.  Invited to Hollywood, he became one of their standout composers, writing the score for some of Errol Flynn's great swashbuckling epics (this one and Captain Blood).

Back at State U the Fencing Club did a fundraising movie series of swashbuckling films.  They were all packed, and everyone had a great time.  Check them out on NetFlix or Prime (or you can probably score a DVD on the cheap) - they're still great fun.  And the music is top shelf.

Dad Joke CCXX - Special Space edition

The Queen Of The World says I need to get back to posting Dad jokes.  OK, to make up for the hiatus, here are two.

When we have a Moon Base someday there will be a restaurant there.  I don't think I will go, however.  Even if it has great food, there will be no atmosphere.

When we have a Mars Base someday there might be a riot.  The Government would have to declare Martian Law. 

Good shoot or bad shoot?

I had missed that Denver prosecutors dropped all charges against Matthew Dolloff in the shooting death of Lee Keltner in October 2020.  Who is Matthew Dolloff, I hear you ask?  The dude holding the heater here:

This was a protest where two sides stood off against each other.  Words led to shoving and Dolloff shot Keltner graveyard dead.  You can see Dolloff's slide pushed back and smoke from the propellant making a bee-line towards Keltner's head.  If you zoom way in there's a black dot that may or may not be the bullet right above Keltner's wrist.

So was this a good shoot or a bad shoot?

To answer this we need to put aside which "side" each was on.  Keltner was Patriot Front, Dolloff may or may not have been Antifa but does seem to have been BLM.  But quite frankly none of this matters.  From the DA's statement:

As the case progressed - and a full analysis of the case details including materials provided by defense counsel was made - prosecutors realized that they would not be able to prove that Mr. Dolloff did not have the right to use deadly force to defend himself and others pursuant to Colorado law.

...  without provocation, Mr. Keltner verbally threatened and physically assaulted Mr. Dolloff and was the initial aggressor before being shot. Under Colorado's law, Matthew Dolloff had no duty to retreat and was legally justified in his actions. While I do not agree with Mr. Dolloff's decision to use lethal force, the fact remains he had the right to do so under our law.

This may be some of the reason that the DA said that (images from the UK Sun newspaper):

Just a face slap, right?  Well, maybe - Keltner had a can of bear spray in his right hand here.  Mace may or may not be considered Deadly Force (some places it is, some places it isn't).  But here's the thing - look at the vertical chain link fence support right behind Keltner in the picture immediately above, then look at where that same fence support is in the first picture: clearly both men had stepped back.  While Colorado law says you have no duty to retreat, both men backed up.

So bad shoot?

Maybe not.  Look at the position of both men as Dolloff was drawing his pistol:

Kelter has taken a step back as he sees Dolloff drawing, but Dolloff has stepped way back.  Kelter seems absolutely to have been the aggressor, physically assaulting Dolloff and holding what may (or may not) be considered a deadly weapon in Colorado, but which is definitely considered a deadly weapon elsewhere.

So good (justified) shoot?  Remember, these pictures are from the video which means that the first and last are separated by a second, maybe two.  When things go bad, they go bad all of a sudden.

I don't know whether this was a good shoot or a bad one, but the DA seems to think so.  Maybe the DA in on the side of the "bad guys" but I don't think we should "flip the scrip" because Kelter was "on our side" and Dolloff wasn't.  Rule of law is a street that runs both ways - or should, when the range goes hot.

Feel free to comment with your opinion.  

So where did Roman Emperors die?

This is pretty cool: A Death Map Of Roman Emperors. 

Click to embiggen or even better click through my link which talks about a bunch of the Purple Toga set.  It also breaks down just how few ended their life due to natural causes (note: it has the Divine Augustus dying of natural causes, rather than being poisoned by Livia; take THAT Mr. So-Called Expert Michael Grant!).

Also, This post introduces a new tag,, "Not The News",  There's too much anger from the news, so let's all roll around in 2000 year old Imperial Murders, shall we?

Quote of the Day - Combat Mindset edition

Bitter Centurion posts about the Combat Mindset, amplifying my thoughts on the matter and getting QotD: 

Because at the end of the day, it's all well and good to have the gun on you. It's even better to get the trigger time and put lead down range and be able to hit gongs on demand with razor sharp speed and accuracy. But if you don't have your mind right when it's time to slay the dragon, that gun is nothing more than extra weight on your belt that doesn't do you or anyone else any good.

You really should read his entire post which has a lot of practical experience.  And you should read the comments which are a good - if dismaying - view into the Reindeer Games being played with police forces by Woke politicians.

Do Want

Underbarrel Picatinny mounted flame thrower.  $699 at Classic Firearms.

"But Borepatch," I hear you ask.  "What would you do with this?"

Beats the heck out of me.  Why do people want 600 HP cars?  Why do they want Faberge Eggs?

Alas, it's a lot of denarii for something whose only selling feature is that it's awesome.  Well, or fighting the Alien Ecomorphs ...

This is how it works but in the hand-held version.  It seems that Youtube doesn't like people embedding the videos of the under barrel version.

When I pointed this out to The Queen Of The World, she didn't even give me The Look.  Rather, her whole face said WTF?

Oh, bother.

(Want)

Combat Mindset

Jeff Cooper wrote about the Combat Mindset in his excellent book To Ride, To Shoot Straight, and ToSpeak The Truth.  While he taught this at Gunsite, it's not clear that it can really be taught.  Certainly the Special Forces selects for this mindset among its applicants.

Glen Filthie has an important post related to this: Not Bourne - It's Basic Pistolcraft:

Not to take anything away from the kid - under the circumstances, with the lead flying and people panicking - the young man showed a coolness and proficiency most veteran cops don't have. That is a condemnation of our police, more than anything else. The kid did well, and deserves the accolades he got.

However - 40 yards is not a long shot. Back when the Old Guard still were with us, guys like Bill Blankenship was dumping 12" gongs at 200 yards.

I agree and disagree, although I don't really disagree.  In a sense, 40 yards isn't all that far.  I recall the time that ASM826 hosted The Queen Of The World and me at his shooting range.  It was raining and so we set up a steel target at 100 yards.  TQOTW had a ball shooting the AR and ringing the gong all day.  Feeling a little sporty, I took my 1911 and squeezed off a shot - the sound of bullet hitting steel was quite gratifying, and I did an entire magazine ringing the bell.  And I'm not a particularly good shot.  So Glen is right that 8 out of 10 at 40 yards isn't exactly Annie Oakley shooting.

Except ASM826's range wasn't hot in both directions.  This is where the combat mindset comes into play.  It seems that those who can suppress their emotions do well - that's certainly what the young man at that Mall did.  And so my only disagreement with Glen is that it's only basic pistolcraft if you have the combat mindset.

I don't think this is common at all.  I don't think it has been common in ages past.  Roman military manuals discuss this: The Praecepta Militaria from around 965 AD talks about the fear that soldiers felt in combat and ways to organize the units to help maintain good order.  The book uses the term "in good order" or its equivalent dozens of time, showing the importance - and difficulty - of maintaining the Combat Mindset.

That was 1000 years ago.  I think the problem is the same today, which is why so many applicants wash out of Special Forces training and why the young man in Indiana stands out.  As Napoleon said the mental is to the physical as three is to one.  Or Clauswitz: in battle everything is simple but even the simplest thing is very difficult. That's just different ways of saying the lessons from the Praecepta Militaria.

Me, I have no idea how I would have reacted in that situation.  Quite frankly, I hope never to find out. 

Quitting the news

Chris Lynch has an interesting post up about the mental health benefits of quitting the news - ignoring the feeds rather than obsessing on them.  I did that last weekend in Key West and felt MUCH better.

Quitting the News is the new Quitting Cigarettes. 

Cows shut down Florida Turnpike

No, really:

Florida’s Turnpike was shut down Monday in Central Florida as dozens of loose cows were “moo-ved” off the roadway.

The Florida Highway Patrol said it first responded around 11:40 a.m. to a vehicle fire on the northbound turnpike at mile marker 226 near St. Cloud in Osceola County.

According to troopers, a cattle hauler was carrying about 70 cows when the cab caught fire. Troopers said the driver, a 47-year-old Alabama man, then pulled over to the outside shoulder, got out and opened the trailer door to allow the “udder-ly” frightened cows to escape due to the smoke and flames.

Crews extinguished the fire, and the cattle hauler was towed from the scene, troopers said.

Florida is one of (perhaps the largest) beef producing states so well done to everyone for their quick thinking and patience.  A grateful State of shoppers looking for bone-in Rib Eye thanks you.

Security chicken guards ur stuff

Duval St. 

Playing Hookie

In Key West. May blog more, make that not. 

Dad joke CCXIX

I was accused of being a plagiarist.  Their words, not mine.

Shamelessly stolen from Chris Lynch

 Yup.  This is why he's a daily read.

Dad joke CCXVIII - Special Astronomy edition

Orion's Belt is just a big waist of space.

And while it's not Orion's Belt, here is one of the first images from the Webb Space Telescope.  It's the Ring Nebula, in our own Galactic neighborhood at only 2000 light years away.

 You can see more cool pix from space here.

Shamelessly stolen from Glen Filthie

Because it's awesome:

 

He has more, so get you on over there.  I love the guy who put a couple of plastic eyeballs on his suppressor.

Dad joke CCXVII

What vegetable needs a plumber? 

A leek.

Alfred Newman - Overture from "Camelot"

Alfred Newman won more Academy Awards for Best Original Score (nine) than anyone in history.  He was nominated 45 times, a record that was finally topped by John Williams in 2011.  Newman's long career in Hollywood spanned 40 years, and included such one-off compositions as the fanfare to the 20th Century Fox Lion logo:

Camelot wasn't his last film score (that was Airport in 1970) but it was his last Oscar.  Camelot (the film) was based on Camelot (the Broadway musical).  It actually didn't have anything to do with Jack Kennedy - the musical dates from 1960 and the film rights were acquired in 1961, so there was no Kennedy nostalgia then although Jackie said that it was his favorite.  When filming started the producers couldn't get Richard Burton and Julie Andrews who starred on Broadway.  Burton was asking too much money, and so they considered Gregory Peck and Marlon Brando.  Richard Harris heard about the film and started pestering the producers for the role.  He hired a team to do a screen test, and got the role of King Arthur.  Vanessa Redgrave beat out Audrey Hepburn and Ann-Margaret.

The score is very Hollywood Golden Age, meaning it was Oscar-worthy from a time when that meant something.

Nice turn of phrase

 So how many political genders are there in the GOP?

Gregg Allman - Midnight Rider

I rode the Harley today, for the first time in months.  I didn't ride it far.  The problem is that the drivers in Florida are simply terrible about running over motorcyclists.  Every week or two there's another biker that gets hit, either by some elderly resident of God's Waiting Room or some punk-ass kid looking at their phone.

Damn, I used to love riding.  We'd go from Castle Borepatch to Gettysburg by back roads, 3 or 4 times a year plus lots of regular rides with the HOG chapter.  It doesn't look like there's a good chapter down here and so we just haven't gotten out much.  Heck, I don't think The Queen Of The World has even been *ON* the bike since we moved here.

Le sigh.  As buddy Eagle likes to say there are old riders and bold riders, but not many old, bold riders.

But we need a song for Saturday and I don't think I've ever done Gregg Allman.  His brother Duane was killed on a bike (damn, can that have been a half century ago).  

Obsolete from the beginning

One classic problem with weapons systems is that the march of technology renders them obsolete, and the faster the technology advances the shorter the useful life of the system.  Via a wikiwander I have found perhaps the ultimate example of this: the SMS Hessen.

The German Kaisar was a big naval enthusiast and so built up a fleet of cutting edge battleships (including the Hessen).  Then the Royal Navy introduced the HMS Dreadnought which completely changed the game.  All existing battleships were instantly obsolete - including the Hessen which had only been commissioned a year previously.

Interestingly, the SMS Hessen remained in one form of service or another in the German fleet and then later in the Soviet fleet until 1960 when it was scrapped.  That is 55 years of obsolescence embodied in one warship.  That has got to be some sort of record.

There's some interesting stuff on the Wiki page for WWII Battleships.  One that caught my eye was a ship with an even longer life than the Hessen: the Turkish battleship Turgut Reis which began its service as the German battleship SMS Weissenberg in 1894 which was sold to Turkey in 1910 but wasn't scrapped until 1957 - 63 years later.  At least the Weissenberg wasn't obsolete for the first 12 years of its service.

To close out this post, Glen Filthie found a lego stop motion video of the hunt for the Bismark.  Recommended.

Dad joke CCXVI

A pirate walks into a bar with a paper towel on his head.  The bartender asks, "Hey, what's with the paper towel?"

The pirate says, "Aaaaarrrr, I've got a Bounty on me 'ead!"

What on earth is going on in the UK.Gov?

Boris Johnson on the way out?

Anyone been following this and can explain in the comments?  I know that BJ is pretty unpopular but it seemed that he weathered the PartyGate scandal.  This must be something new.

It's time for some Common Sense Media Control laws

So the Highland Park shooter recorded rap songs about doing a mass shooting.  Gosh, why would he rap about that?  Could it be all the media coverage about mass shootings?  Could he be motivated by the chance to be famous?

Every time there's a mass shooting, the media carpet bombs the airwaves with coverage.  It's easy to see why they do so - if it bleeds, it leads and all that.  It's about ratings, which means that they're in it for the money.

The Supreme Court has been clear that commercial speech has less First Amendment protection than political speech.  And we're constantly reminded by the liberals in every Second Amendment case that "no right is absolute".  Well, allrightee then.

It's high time to restrict the ability of the media to report on mass shooting events, because they are clearly encouraging this sort of behavior.  Some Common Sense restrictions seem to be pas due here.  For example:

• Waiting periods before publishing, to discourage "copy cat" killers.  A 1 or 2 week wait will allow information to get out to the public but will provide a "cooling off" period.
• A one story a month limit on stories will allow publishing the story to the public but will prevent the saturation of the airwaves that leads to copy cat events.  I mean, nobody needs an arsenal 24x7 never ending wave of stories.
• Licensing of news media, to include showing of "Good and Substantial" reason for publishing.

I could go on, but you get the idea.  I mean, no right is absolute - especially when it's not political speech but rather commercial speech.

Feel free to leave your suggestions for Common Sense Media Control laws in the comments.

Man, that was some hack!

 

Pretty dastardly fixing those critical security bugs.

Hmmmm

 

From the Book of Faces via The Queen Of The World

Boldly Going Where NPR Fears To Tread

 

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

---

Georgia

Button Gwinnett

Lyman Hall

George Walton

 

North Carolina

William Hooper

Joseph Hewes

John Penn

 

South Carolina

Edward Rutledge

Thomas Heyward, Jr.

Thomas Lynch, Jr.

Arthur Middleton

 

Massachusetts

John Hancock

Maryland

Samuel Chase

William Paca

Thomas Stone

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

 

Virginia

George Wythe

Richard Henry Lee

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Harrison

Thomas Nelson, Jr.

Francis Lightfoot Lee

Carter Braxton

 

Pennsylvania

Robert Morris

Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Franklin

John Morton

George Clymer

James Smith

George Taylor

James Wilson

George Ross

Delaware

Caesar Rodney

George Read

Thomas McKean

 

New York

William Floyd

Philip Livingston

Francis Lewis

Lewis Morris

 

New Jersey

Richard Stockton

John Witherspoon

Francis Hopkinson

John Hart

Abraham Clark

 

New Hampshire

Josiah Bartlett

William Whipple

 

Massachusetts

Samuel Adams

John Adams

Robert Treat Paine

Elbridge Gerry

 

Rhode Island

Stephen Hopkins

William Ellery

 

Connecticut

Roger Sherman

Samuel Huntington

William Williams

Oliver Wolcott

 

New Hampshire

Matthew Thornton

Memories of July 4th past

ASM826 posted about a July 4th from living memory.  But there are other things about July 4th that make you think that Divine Providence  did, as Otto von Bismark remarked, look out for the United States of America.

Lots of people know that fifty years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was signed in Independence Hall, both John Adams (President #2) and Thomas Jefferson (President #3) passed on to that Undiscovered Country from whose borne no traveler returns.  But they weren't the last.  five years later, James Monroe (President #5) joined them.

With 45 Presidents (not counting the current pResident of the office), you would expect 0.12 Presidents to have dies on any given day of the year.  But today, there are 3 - that's 25 times the number you would expect.  I don't know what the standard deviation is here, but this has to be ten or twenty sigma from what you would expect.  Yes, I'm a nerd here, but those of you who Get This will feel the hair on the back of your neck go up.

Divine Providence is not done with this Republic.

July 4th, 1960

You don't have to go back to 1776 to find history. Here's 1960 in Stow, Ohio. A world so completely removed from ours that it would require a historian to explain it to a high school class. And a world so familiar to those of us old enough to have lived there.

Happy 4th of July.

Happy Birthday to The Queen Of The World!

If you want to celebrate with some fireworks she won't mind at all.

And Then There Were None

 Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams, the last WWII Medal of Honor recipient, has passed into the clearing at the end of the path. 

In a desperate four hour battle, accompanied by a handful of other Marines with rifles, Corporal Williams used six different flamethrowers and satchel charges to eliminate a series of interlocking Japanese pillboxes on Iwo Jima. Here's a part of his story in his own words.

 

Hershel Williams' Medal of Honor Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as demolition sergeant serving with the 21st Marines, 3d Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 23 February 1945. Quick to volunteer his services when our tanks were maneuvering vainly to open a lane for the infantry through the network of reinforced concrete pillboxes, buried mines, and black volcanic sands, Cpl. Williams daringly went forward alone to attempt the reduction of devastating machine gun fire from the unyielding positions. Covered only by 4 riflemen, he fought desperately for 4 hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flamethrowers, struggling back, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out 1 position after another. On 1 occasion, he daringly mounted a pillbox to insert the nozzle of his flamethrower through the air vent, killing the occupants and silencing the gun; on another he grimly charged enemy riflemen who attempted to stop him with bayonets and destroyed them with a burst of flame from his weapon. His unyielding determination and extraordinary heroism in the face of ruthless enemy resistance were directly instrumental in neutralizing one of the most fanatically defended Japanese strong points encountered by his regiment and aided vitally in enabling his company to reach its objective.

Cpl. Williams' aggressive fighting spirit and valiant devotion to duty throughout this fiercely contested action sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. 

Semper Fidelis, Corporal Williams.

Wisdom

From Filthie's Thunderbox comes great wisdom today."Don’t trust the guys at the gun shop when making important financial decisions."

That being said, the new Springfield version of the classic Browning HiPower sings a little song. 

Here's old and new side by side.