Category: Guest Contributors

Guest Contributor – War Pig – 10JAN2025 – California, Then and Now

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war pig

I lived in Calfornia in the early to mid sixties. Nice climate. Cheap gas, but it was still horribly expensive real estate compared to other states at the time. There were enough reservoirs so that we never had a “do not water lawns” restrictions. No brownouts, no blackouts. There were fires but the shrubbery that causes major fires was controlled and sensible and sustainable forestry practices were the norm. I was young and paid zero attention to politics.

We lived not terribly far from Watts during the race rIots. I had no trouble as I knew the kids from school and their parents thought I was polite. Being biracial was also a boon. I had a foot in both camps and my parents had raised me to not separate people by exterior appearances. I also got along with the Hispanic kids as many of them had at least partial Native American ancestry, although most of it was South and Central American tribes such as Aztec. And since I never shunned Black or Hispanic or the growing (back then) Asian population, I was accepted in pretty much all camps. But since then the left has gone to extremes to create racial hatred. It began in universities then trickled down to elementary schools to the idiocy you see today. Any school administration thatallowed drag reviews in primary education back then would have been ran out of town on a rail.

The left follows the Marxist/Leninist doctrine of first infiltrating schools. California is their glowing success. Massive school systems, immense school budgets. Ripe for conquest. Then fund and incite civil unrest.

In the early sixties California was doing almost everything right. Now they are doing almost everything wrong.

 

 

 

 

Guest Contributor – War Pig – 09JAN2025 – More Africa

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war pig

Africa could do all the wonderful things the author says they can – IF Africans weren’t in charge. If Africa was still a colonial continent it could all be worked out. The colonial powers would not tolerate genocides as in Rwanda, Darfur, Central African Republic, etc, etc, in the nations they controlled by proxy. In my opinion Cote de Ivory is making a mistake in removing the French military presence. That is, unless they plan a little ethnic cleansing of their own, in which the French would interfere. If that is their aim, it makes sense.

Africa is a continent of headmen. The strongest gangster or despot rules until replaced/deposed. Even displaced Africans show tribal/gang behavior in the US, UK, France and elsewhere. There are bright spots. Botswana, Morocco, Tunisia and a few others. But they are bright spots only in comparison to other African nations. The best adapting and hardest working Africans I have known are Nigerians. Those I have known emphasized work, education and morals to their children. We have a very few in my rural, mostly White county and all I have met were good people. Neither they nor their children have any sorts of criminal dealings and as far as I know, none of their children are delinquents or abuse drugs or alcohol. Those are what Africa needs, but they emigrated to the US to escape tough situations in their home nation. One family’s kids work for the best family pizzeria in the County, which strange enough is owned by a Polish family.

Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 08JAN2025 – Africa Always Wins

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It appears to repeat history to say ” Africa always wins” referring to the continent not the people. Historically the only time the Africans continent is productive is when under a native or forgien rule that quelshes any discontent this has been repeated ad nauseum in almost every portion of that continent. Having to deal with the dictator dujoir is a fact of life, and the cost of doing business. China might just have to discover this for themselves, European nations did from the early 19th through the late 20th centuries, no matter how hard you tried the tribal influence overrode progress every time.

Guest Contributor – War Pig – 04JAN2025 – Vegas Bomber

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war pig

The Vegas bomber was active duty Spec Ops. Highly decorated. Even Tim McVeigh had a Bronze Star for Valor in battle.

The standards and selection process for Spec Ops is high. He (Vegas bomber) made Master Sergeant. He had seen a lot of combat. But being the best means you get more than your share of work/grief. Eventually it adds up. PTSD is cumulative. It can be sneaky. Each day we lose 44 active duty and veterans to suicide. Actually likely more as several can be called “accidents”. After the various 20th century wars, GIs would self medicate with booze.

When I returned from Vietnam I was called a baby killer and spat upon by a hippy. I had to spend the night in a holding cell until the judge, a veteran, turned me loose for self defense. If I had instead been jailed and discharged less than honorably, no telling what I may have become or done to myself.

This Vegas guy was with 10th SF I believe they said, in Germany. That means he has likely seen “advisory” roles in Ukraine. It also means he has likely seen close combat, been a throat stabber.

Eventually it all adds up. Some of the stuff I have seen and done still keeps me up at night occasionally. I don’t drink much, hardly at all. No drugs. I’m known as either Coke Zero or coffee at the VFW hall. But we do talk, drunk or sober, and talk among equals helps.

Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 03JAN2025 – It’s Her Turn … Again

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Even if the Dems run Kamala as a candidate, never underestimate the Republicans ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The best thing the Dems could do is continue to scold the Americans who disappointed them by not jumping on the EV Kamala bus, and voted against them. They have 4 years to bitch and moan about how they were robbed, and it’s all racist. That would make Vance have an easy run by building up a reservoir of resentment among the undecided. All Trump need to do is hold the stated course of deport, reinflate, and drill baby drill. This could swing the pendulum back to the right, the last election was indicative of a tidal shift against the left wing agenda.

Guest Contributor – War Pig – 03JAN2025 – It’s Her Turn … Again

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war pig

Hillary has a better chance than Kamala. But I can see the attraction for Kamala for the lefty bigwigs. She will do absolutely as told. Shove your hand up her butt and make her a puppet. She is mixed race so can claim to be Black. She is nominally a female and the left wants a miority woman in the Oval Office so bad they can taste it. Problem is, she is a terrible campaigner. This time around, when she got the marshmallow-soft question about her differences viz Dopey Joe, she froze like a possum in the headlights. She was roadkill. She HAD to know the question was coming, the media lefties would be sure to tell her campaign manager what questions would be asked. She still flopped. At least she doesn’t terrorize young girls and fall down or walk away with an extended hand pointed toward…nobody.
At least not yet. She has three years to practice, but my belief is they’d rather run AOC than Kamala. Some candidate may rise who is charismatic enough to lead the party and win. A lefty version of Trump – all piss and vinegar. But then, maybe not. Maybe the left has gone plumb loco, as Yosemite Sam would say.

Tom’s World – 29DEC2024 – Sandy Springs

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Tom | Flickr

TomD

Speaking of homogeneous ethnic enclaves, I grew up in Sandy Springs in the 50’s and 60’s, a North Atlanta suburb populated almost exclusively by what were known as WASPS. As far as we were aware, there was no crime at all until drugs started to come into the scene, which would have been the latter half of the 60’s. But, even then, there was no evident violent crime.

I assume that this idyllic period during my formative years is behind my conviction that the present world should somehow achieve that status.

But even Sandy Springs doesn’t exist any more except in name. The monster that metro Atlanta has become ate it decades ago. The woods behind the neighborhood containing the abandoned POW camp have been replaced by high rise offices; the quarry with the lake at the bottom where we kids used to take our .22’s to shoot water snakes is long ago filled in..

And I’m of an age where I won’t exist a lot longer either but that’s okay. It seems that my world is gone and some nightmarish creation taken its’ place.

Guest Contributor – War Pig – 26DEC2024 – Elemental

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war pig

Given the choice between kids with simple toys and physicists, I’ll take the children every time. There is something elemental about children learning a new skill. They have to understand trajectory, momentum, judging speeds & accurate distances, bound orbits; and then teach their bodies to react precisely to intercept a bound orbit vector at speed and to furthermore cushion the landing of the ball to prevent it bouncing out of the cup again.

Small wonder we have so much trouble programming humanoid robots to do simple things children can do.

Tom’s World – 25DEC2024 – Photography – Fast lenses

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Tom | Flickr

TomD

That (Sony 135mm f\1.8 lens) is a nice lens but, as you note, the range is sort of a “tweener”. But with that IQ, you can always stand a crop.

Like you, I’m still sitting on a collection of A mounts but will probably die with them leaving my heirs to wonder what the devil they’re gonna do with these.

My most expensive lens is an E mount, 24-70, f2.8, GM. I forgot the cost but it was in the low 2,000’s. I rarely use it because it is big and heavy. It is capable of stellar results but almost all the really good results were with my now gone A7R2 body with the 46 mp sensor. My current A7IV, almost always wears a Sony G series, 24-105, f4.0. It has a more usable range, I rarely need f 2.8, weighs half, costs half, and if there’s a difference in IQ (image quality), I’ve yet to discern it.

The main reason f2.8 (or lower) was needed was to gather more light or to increase bokah. These new cameras are astonishing in their low light performance. I limit my ISO to 12,800 but constantly come up with images at that ISO that need no “noise” reduction and are usable as shot. My old A850 (like yours) was getting to be unusable at an ISO of 1600.
Anything around 2400 and forget it. That’s why I am perfectly fine with f4.

Below is a photo that I think I recently posted here, it was shot at 12,800 and has had no noise reduction. It is perfectly clear but if you look at the blurred background, you can barely make out the beginnings of noise. I don’t need 2.8, this camera will almost shoot in the dark. This lens is the 24-104; read the reviews, it’s an incredible lens.

DSC07623