Know Your History

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed. Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

Quit'cher Snivelling!

I have some bad news for you.

If you are one of the people who look at Virginia's recent apology for slavery and expect the next thing we will be talking about is reparations, I'm talking to you.

If you wonder why the Islamists hate us, and think that if we can just open a dialog with them things will be happy joy joy in fuzzy bunny land, listen up.

If you think you deserve my money and attention because you aren't as "lucky" as me, perk up your ears.

I'm your worst nightmare. I am a man without guilt.

I never owned any slaves, and you were never owned as a slave, so I owe you nothing. Get used to that idea.

Islamists hate us because we have what they want, and if they can't have it then they are determined that we shan't have it either. While you are listening to them with your eyes closed, they are slitting your throat. And you deserve it.

They can't have it. I'll die first. But I won't die alone. My prayer will be "Lord, let them come at me in large bunches so that I can kill more of them at a time, Amen."

Luck is something you make, not something that happens. Luck is a combination of opportunity, preparation and timing. Every second there's an opportunity. If you aren't prepared for it you aren't unlucky, you are stupid.

Want an example?

If you are pregnant with your third child and you aren't real sure who the baby daddy is for the first two, much less the current one, you aren't unlucky. You are stupid.

If you never finished high school, and now you can't figure out why you can't get a job paying more than minimum wage (especially since you don't keep it for more than a couple of weeks), you aren't unlucky. You are stupid. (This is where the preparation comes into play.)

OK, that's two examples. Another opportunity.

I don't feel sorry for your poor choices and bad decisions. More importantly, I don't feel responsible for them. You have no right to welfare and SSID in my world. In my world, stupidity is not only painful, it's fatal.

I have no use for those of you who will "yeah but" my country's history. We are the greatest nation in all the world, period.

"Yeah but" what about all the things we have done on our way to becoming what we are? Can't make an omelet without breaking eggs. That's the way things work. If you aren't strong enough to hold, you get swept away by the tides of history. It's neither right nor wrong, it just is.

So might makes right? Yep. Cause that's the way it is. And if you don't believe it, stand on the tracks. Right here. Don't worry about that noise.

Fair? You want fair? Sorry, can't help you. Children's games have rules to make sure everything is fair. Life doesn't.

Did I hurt your feelings? Get over it. Nobody cares. I'm not your priest, and you aren't paying me nearly enough to be your shrink. I'm not interested in your pathetic problems, I have troubles of my own that I'm dealing with.

We have become a pansified shadow of an excuse of what we were. We are afraid of making people angry, the law is now our master instead of our servant, and we have gotten to the tipping over point where most of the voters have figured out they can vote themselves treasures out of the nation's coffers.

We have created our own group of masters, called politicians, who think they are above us, and we are letting them get away with anything.

Meanwhile, someone somewhere is going to be the world's biggest dog. Count on it. Nature and politics both abhor a vacuum.

The big dog that is currently the USA is acting more like a lap puppy. Somewhere out there is a bad-tempered junkyard mongrel who is going to rip out the soft underbelly we are showing them as we lay on our backs.

I have my lifeboat picked out.

The rest of you can go straight to hell.

No Cigar Yet

By way of PawPaw's House, Jim Zumbo has offered yet another apology on Ted Nugent's site.

In doing so, he demonstrates that he still does not fully understand the problem.

He has been fired from Outdoor Life. He has lost sponsorships and his television program. He says he can't understand how he could have been "so ignorant and out of touch with reality in the world of hunting and shooting".

He then goes on to say he didn't realize how many people used "black rifles" for hunting.

Large sigh.

Jim, Jim, Jim. It's not about hunting. There are many "black rifle" owners who have never, ever, so much as pointed their evil bad guns at any living thing.

It's about shooting, Jim.

It's about putting a large amount of lead a couple of hundred yards from where you are currently standing. It's about spending quality time with your 14 year old daughter, while incidentally teaching her a skill that may one day save her life. It's about getting together with your buds and swapping a few lies and making some noise.

It's about taking some time to hone a skill that may one day be of vital importance. It's about relieving the stress of a normal ordinary life. It's about the smell of cordite and the feel of a well balanced machine.

It's about competition. It's about cameraderie. It's about doing something that you enjoy, for no other reason than you enjoy it.

It's about spending some time with the Marine in your life doing something that you are both familiar with, and being able to say "I love you, son, and I'm proud of you" without speaking a single word at all.

It's about the Second Amendment to the Constitution of these United States.

It's about shooting, Jim.

The Hits Keep Rolling

I am really enjoying this counter. I get more visits than I ever imagined.

I have hits from Texas and California, Ohio and Florida, from all across these great United States. Welcome one and all, thanks for stopping in!

No offshore visitors so far, but hope springs eternal.

One of my visitors hails from "deep in the heart of" Waldorf, Maryland. I am familiar with Waldorf from time (mis)spent at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Lexington Park MD in the early 90's.

Another comes by way of friend (smile when you say that) James's website. Since the visitor is from Louisiana, I know it's not James himself visiting from the link on his own site.

And he thinks no one is paying attention.

UPDATE: As of 24 February I have had visitors from the UK and NZ, so paragraph 3 above no longer applies. Welcome to all my visitors! Does this mean I've gone international?

Hail To The Chief

I just found out on the news last night that the President is coming to town. It's probably the most exciting thing to happen to little Franklinton NC in it's entire history.

The President will be visiting Novozymes, a biotech firm that is involved in making, among other things, the enzymes to produce ethanol out of renewable energy sources from cellulose, found in such things as cornstalks and switchgrass. President Bush is visiting to support these efforts, since one of the goals he has set forth is weaning the nation from it's dependence on foreign sources of oil.

I think that ethanol mixed with gasoline will yield small benefits, if any. Ethanol doesn't have the energy content to directly compete with fossil fuels in our current internal combustion engines. Where I think ethanol, and other similar biofuels, will come into their own is with fuel cells, when that technology matures. One hundred years from now I see our primary energy source to be fuel cells, powered by synthetic fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

But back to the Presidential visit for a moment.

Of course you can't have a visit of the VIPs without having the usual collection of nitwits. One of my recent visitors came by way of a Google search for "protest march in franklinton nc". I hope he left disappointed. And I am happy to say that my own search came up with negative results as well.

The President's policies and politics are probably not much appreciated in heavily Democratic Franklin County NC, but I could wish that people would put aside politics long enough to appreciate the fact that he is visiting to support the reduction in dependency on foreign oil.

Unfortunately there are people who are professional bitchers, and to them this man can never do anything that will be right. If God himself came down out of His heaven and placed His hand on George W. Bush's shoulder and proclaimed him to be the right man at the right time, there are those who would not be able to see past the separation of church and state.

I was not a big fan of the last President, but I was always willing to give the man credit when it was due him. It's a crying shame that the "loyal" opposition cannot bring themselves to do the same for President Bush.

I hope he has a good visit.

What's That Smell?

By way of the Lawdog Files, it appears as if some fellow named Zumbo has stepped in it.

I must admit that it's been forever and a day since I've looked at an Outdoor Life magazine. I am a member of the North American Hunting Club, but the last time I went hunting was at least 15 years ago. For one reason or another I just haven't been.

That being said, it's not my place to say what type of gun you own or what you should use it for as long as you are not robbing banks or doing something just as stupid with it. If it pleases you to own an AK or an AR, I see nothing wrong with it. If you want to own a Howitzer, I see nothing wrong with that, either.

Much has been said against the Second Amendment regarding private firearms ownership, everything from "It's not an individual right, it's so the state can have a National Guard" (established about 140 years after the Second Amendment was ratified into law) to "You can't use one of those to hunt ducks". Every one of those arguements are disingeneous at best.

The attitude of the founders where private weapons ownership is concerned comes, as did many other views, from England where it was once the law for every household to own a longbow and a collection of arrows for it. This is the equivelent of owning a .50 cal BMG with 5000 rounds. The English longbow was the premier weapon of it's day, and it was not a suggestion that every household own one...it was the law.

Not only was it law to own one, one also had to maintain proficiency with it. The reason for this is simple, in a time of war a decent army of archers could be assembled in short order.

Fast forward to the present day, many libs will say that there is no longer any need for such a requirement (which gives you the "can't hunt ducks" anti gun school of thought). The founders intended us to be a nation of riflemen, and for good reason. I'll just leave it there.

As for Zumbo, others have taken him to task and he has issued an apology. Methinks he will have a way to go before he can work his way back into Lawdog's good graces.

But the Brady campaign seems to be happy with him. Nice work there.

Pappy used to tell me "Never miss a chance to shut the hell up."

Good advice from a true Virginia gentleman.

Photo from the North American Hunting Club

A New Toy

I have a new toy, a site meter from sitemeter.com.

Looking at my sitemeter I see that I have bugs. It's counting as visits the times I log in from my own computer. I had selected the option to not have it do that, but it doesn't seem to be working.

I have 3 hits from people doing websearches for Ron Paul. I'm humbled and honored that you took the time to stop in.

One of my visitors is from Bellevue, NE. Bellevue is just a bit south of Omaha and is the home of Offutt Air Force Base. I grew up in a little Iowa town about 70 miles east of there.

One of the tenant commands onboard Offutt AFB is Strategic Air Command, now called U.S. Strategic Command, or STRATCOM in MILSPEAK. SAC had clouds of B-52's at Offutt at one time. Not so much now. It was conventional wisdom in my neck of the woods that if the Rooskies ever launched their missiles we had just as well see if we could reach our lips to our backsides to kiss our butts goodbye.

When I joined the Navy I used to drive up to the recruiting station for the Delayed Entry Program meetings. I would cross the old one lane toll bridge and go through Bellevue to get there. Pretty little town.

Ah, the good old days.

Gen. Curtis LeMay building, US STRATCOM headquarters, Offutt AFB, Bellevue NE

Another One Down

Ron Paul, Congressman from Texas, is running for President.

Ron Paul, Congressman from Texas, doesn't get the Global War On Terror.

Ron Paul, Congressman from Texas, who's otherwise Libertarian stand on the issues I appreciate, has just demonstrated why he will remain a Congressman from Texas. If that.

Congressman Paul, if I can't count on you to fund the troops that are doing the President's bidding and killing terrorists, how could I count on you as President to protect my interests overseas?

Ron Paul will not be getting my vote. Duncan Hunter still looks pretty good though.

The Joys Of Socialism

Bill Lumaye, local radio personality, had a bit on his show a couple of days ago about a magazine that is being distributed by Wake County schools. In this magazine was an article about Hugo Chavez, current strong-arm dictator to be in Venezuela.

The article was a touchy-feely feel-good about Chavez's efforts to socialize the economy there. It talked about socialism being based on cooperation rather than competition. However, it failed to mention that this cooperation is coerced. This is the point at which Bill took offense.

Now I must admit that I have not read the article in question. I can't even recall the name of the magazine, for what that is worth. Everything I am saying here is based on Bill's paraphrasing of the article in question, so don't ask for exact quotes.

Along these same lines is a posting by His Imperial Rottiness about the predictable results of price fixing. It seems that as soon as Senor Chavez fixed meat prices, meat started disappearing from supermarket shelves. For those of you who don't understand why, go read the article. I found that it explained things quite well.

As I was discussing the issue with my associate, he came up with a good question. Since price controls inevitably cause the dearth of the product being price controlled, and given that the same people that try price controls also vehemently oppose private ownership of firearms, why don't they try price controls on firearms?

The answer (and of course he understood this when he asked the question) is that the same fuzzy heads that like price controls and dislike firearms don't understand the effects of price controls. They want to fix prices so that everyone can afford to buy the product, damn the manufacturers who unfairly expect to make a bit of filthy lucre off of their labors. Since they don't like guns, they don't want anyone to be able to afford them, therefore they would never institute price controls on them.

In Venezuela some sort of compromise seems to have been reached, as supermarkets promise to have meats back on the shelves within a few days. It appears as if Hugo is going to subsidize with oil dollars.

That will work for a little while, I guess, but things are not looking good for Venezuela's oil industry, either. It seems as if there's a brain drain going on as the smart people that run the oil company in Venezuela are looking for more posh (and less restrictive) digs elsewhere...like Mexico or Canada. Details on Tom Delay's blog.

What I just can't figure out is why these people have so much influence.

Dragonwatch link

Just took a look at Dragonwatch and found this little gem.

My favorite parts of the post would be the Navy's gunfighting rules.

1. Go to Sea
2. Send the Marines
3. Drink Coffee

Oooh. Rah.

That's gooooood coffee.

Dragon picture shamelessly stolen from Dragonwatch.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I have switched (under protest) to the new blogger, at the insistance of Google who now refuses to let me sign in under the old blogger.

They say I'll like it better.

Their bat, their ball. We will see, and if I like it I'll stay.

That's the beauty of a capitalist system. If I like what a company or organization has to offer, I'll join; if not, not.

At first I must admit that I was disgruntled, equating the forced switch to helmet and seat belt laws. Maybe it's a good idea, but I don't like being told to do it.

Unlike helmet and seat belt laws however, it's much easier to get out of the Google/blogspot arena. If I don't like it, I quit.

One thing I think I will like is the ability to label posts, and this will assumedly lead to the ability to link like posts under easy to find tabs, so to speak.

One thing I already dislike is the need to constantly "accept the terms of service" whenever I try to do things. Hopefully once I get everything set I'll no longer have to go through the hassles.

Change is the only constant.

That Was Fun

You Are 37% Misanthropic

You're a little misanthropic - but who isn't? Your reactions to other people are pretty normal. You enjoy being friendly with people you encounter, but if you're having a rough day, watch out!

How Misanthropic Are You?

Keep-Alive Posting

Not a lot going on at the Refuge. Nothing of interest at least.

There seems to have been some sort of flap about John Edwards hiring two blogsters for his campaign. Seems as if they are potty-mouths, but since they have promised to mend their evil ways he's going to keep them on. Good for him.

Anna Nichole Smith has died. Sorry to hear that.

My sister and brother in law are coming out for a visit next month. They want to see the races at Darlington. I tried to talk them into delaying for a week and seeing the race at Lowes instead, but they already had everything set. Looks like I'll be online for tickets.

Which reminds me that I haven't been home in quite some time. A fact that my mother is always bringing up.

Which brings to mind a conversation I had with my seven year old son recently, about how he is going to stay at home forever and take care of his mother. I recall telling my mother much the same thing. Soon after I graduated high school I joined the Navy and haven't been back, except to visit occasionally, since then.

Which is another factoid my mother can't resist reminding me of.

Life is good.

The Rise And Fall Of Civilization

I wrote a while back about the barbarians at our gates, and how "civilized" society inevitably falls to the mongol hordes. This is because the mongol hordes have no problems employing uncivilized behavior to attain their goal, which is domination, while "civilized" society flounders about the edges.

My thoughts on the matter are perfectly summed up in a post on the American Thinker. Lost of good stuff there, I highly recommend it.

Hat tip to His Excellency who has a word or two of his own on the subject.

The current struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil (depending on your viewpoint) is once again an arguement over who is going to be in charge. If we have become too soft and weak to enforce our will, we will lose, plain and simple.

If we all can see what the problem is, why can't we come up with the solution? There is a thing as too civilized, after all.