Category: Guest Contributors

Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 05JUN2024 – Clown World Headline

photog ArthurinCali, Current Events, Guest Contributors , ,

https://x.com/ArthurinCali/status/1798371419270898166

Meanwhile, institutional media such as The Washington Post continues to try and curry favor with the administration by putting out headlines like, “Biden seeks to cast Trump as would-be authoritarian.” Really? The same Biden & Co. that disregards SCOTUS decisions, abdicates their duty to defend our nation’s borders, has his political opposition charged and convicted by sycophant allies in multiple US states? A Hollywood screenplay couldn’t be written this good as a political thriller.

Guest Contributor – pie – 05JUN2024 – Unchecked, Unbalanced

photog Guest Contributors, pie

when the judiciary has become weaponized it is the house, senate and executive branch who is responsible for the check and balance of power. and visa versa. it appears the 3 branches of government have colluded to protect each other from the checks and balance. similarly the executive branch has allowed a foreign invasion with but whimper from the other branches. biden has outright negated the highest court ruling to the unconstitutional student loan forgiveness, working around the judicial branch of government. the 3 branches of government are a union of power bent on the protection of each other. this form of government will destroy the civility of america. after the trump communist court ruling to imprison the presidential election opposition, the house should have immediately called for shuttering of the judicial system. this is a weaponized government to further remove the voice of the people. wonder if we get a check on the balance of power if obama went to jail? the weaponized authority will continue for as long as we recognize this authority. recognition is the first step to repentance and politics. no need for any action but self preservation. the first step is “no thank you, i will not recognize your authority”. if the current executive branch “biden” does not recognize the authority of the highest court in the land “judicial branch”, why should we? follow the example. in a nationally civil country this a legally arguable point. beware of authority in these times until proven friendly.

Guest Contributor – Nostradumbass – 03JUN2024 – What’s That Sound?

photog Guest Contributors, NostraDumbass ,

I haven’t done this in a while
my apology to Buffalo Springfield, for what it’s worth:

There’s something happening here
But what it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a judge with a gavel over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it’s time it stops
America, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, we’re going down

There’s battle lines being drawn
is the constitution right if the socialists say it’s wrong?
Young people are losing their minds
Getting woke will make them go blind

I think it’s time it stops
America, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, they’re burning it down

What a field day for the deadbeats
Thousands of them living on the streets
Chanting crap and they’re carrying signs
Mostly say, “You’re not welcome on our side”

I think it’s time it stops
America, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, our president’s a clown

TDS strikes deep
Turns a liberal into a creep
It starts because they’re always afraid
Somebody will come and take their power away

I think it’s time it stops
America, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, they’re taking statues down

“New Arrivals” are coming every day
for which every American must pay
For health and food and everything for free
and all they say is “Give me, Give me, Give me”

I think it’s time it stops
America, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, they’re taking over your town

Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 18MAY2024 – 1914 and Now

photog Current Events, Guest Contributors , ,

1914 could have been avoided, the use of chemical weapons by the Germans brought the English, and other western countries into what was just another small expansionist move by Germany. They had been going to war appx every 20 years for almost a century, without getting anyone else drug into it, as they slowly nibbled away at the eastern border of France in the purpose of taking the mineral and industrial rich eastern sections of France one bite at a time. These wars were fought mostly to move the border a small amount at a time, in response to past Napoleonic incursions into German territories, and until the use of gas were ignored for the most part by the rest of the world. We have no more right to the Ukrainian conflict than the German had to the French attacks. We have violated all of our promises of no membership to NATO, and no Eastward expansion which would allow us to garrison adjacent to the Russians border. We almost went to war in 62 over Soviet weapons in Cuba, and that was with a 90 mile ocean channel between their forces and ours, would we allow China to build a military base in Vancouver BC, Russia to build a base in Baja California, without protest?

Guest Contributor – War Pig – 13MAY2024 – Who Can Replace a Man?

photog Guest Contributors, War Pig , , ,

war pig

Infantry will be necessary for the foreseeable future. Urban fighting is still beyond drones. Furthermore, you do not own or control territory unless you have a soldier standing on it with a rifle and fixed bayonet.

Drones are a fine tool for some fighting and reconnaissance. They make good suicide weapons and you save casualties by using them. Our 6th generation fighters will have in-cockpit pilots as an option, not standard. But because of the reasons you stated about quantum mechanics and the human mind, drones/robots will not replace infantry/special ops/guerrillas. Humans can be darned unpredictable. In fact we can be crazier than a squirrel on methamphetamine. One way Bobby Fisher beat the supercomputer at chess was to make wildly unorthodox and apparently random moves. Confused the computer and he won.

Having worked on the ground where making life miserable for the other side by misdirection, dirty tricks and random acts of sabotage, I can say that the more random you go, the more the other side tries to analyze your acts and tactics until it takes up more and more of his resources and drives him to distraction. If humans have problems with that, given we’ve had a couple million years to improve our internal programming; what chance does an inflexible machine have?

 

 

 

 

Guest Contributor – TomD – 03MAY2024 – Guns

photog Guest Contributors, Guns, Photography, TomD , ,

Tom | Flickr

TomD

Gun shows aren’t the best place for gun photography. I say this knowing your environment is totally alien to mine but do you have gun clubs there, competitions? The competitors usually love talking about their weapons and showing them off.

Here’s one of my competition rifles, the others are bolt actions. I’ve used this one for F Class matches. Shot from the prone (laying down) position at 600 yards. The target is the size of a paint can lid and, to be in the running, you have to hit it every time, 60 times in a row. No matter what the wind is doing.

Most rifles like this are chambered in .223 or 5.56 Nato (essentially the same thing) but this one is 6.5mm Grendel. It has quite a bit more “punch” than a 5.56, especially at range.

DSC00067.jpg
DSC00067.jpg

Pistols too.

S&W version of the 1911

SW 1911 3.jpg
SW 1911 3.jpg

This one is for home defense.

I live in farm country with no visible neighbors but you can hear them shooting every Sat and Sun afternoon. With the nearest neighbor being a good piece of a mile away and 911 a good 15-20 minutes if you’re lucky, I do admit to a certain degree of comfort of having something like this handy but reality is that I don’t need it.

Everyone here is armed. A burglar would have to be suicidal to try breaking into homes around here and since, burglars don’t tend to suicidal, they don’t.

About 12 years ago, some druggie in Pensacola killed a couple of his “co-workers” and dumped the bodies a couple of miles from my house. The only crime here originates from family members of people known to the victim. And it is exceedingly rare.

The home invasion robbery, the kind that gives people nightmares, does not exist here.

The Benelli Nova shotgun below is modified to contain 7 rounds up to 3-1/2 magnums. I keep it loaded with 3” Buck. I hope I don’t have to shoot it, the recoil is brutal, even to someone not particularity recoil sensitive.

Benelli Nova.jpg
Benelli Nova.jpg

Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 28APR2024 – Jewish Identity and the Left

photog Guest Contributors, Milo Mindbender , ,

If I remember correctly the “Jewish” voting block has always been almost monolithic in its support for the democratic party. Now they get paid back in the coin most commonly used by that party, “What have you done for me lately?” It’s amazing that after 75 years of on again off again support, when the Israeli government tries to settle an issue that has been festering on its border, and is self-inflicted by the residents of Gaza, that we scream as a nation “What about the children?” The Gaza population chose their leaders once upon a time, the Palestinians are less welcome in every middle Eastern country than they are in Israel, due to their track record of disturbances in search of power, and easy money. They have been exiled from everywhere else, and now pissed off the last place they were allowed to make refuge.

I don’t like violence, but understand that weakness is fatal in that region, and only by being stronger than your neighbors/enemies can you survive.

Hamas leadership picked this fight, and now seems to be regretting it, kinda weird all the casualties are women and children, no uniforms, and no military aged males. Maybe we are not getting the whole story.

 

Guest Contributor – Glenn W – 26APR2024 – Power to the People

photog Current Events, Glenn W, Guest Contributors , , ,

I used to think that the wealthy in this country recognized that a healthy middle class was good for business, literally that a strong middle class is a “win-win” for everyone. I have now come to the conclusion that I was terribly naive. The uber wealthy want both money and power.

Once a person hits a certain level of wealth they no longer need more money. Sure, a bigger villa in Tuscany or a larger yacht may be nice but does it really matter? What’s an ambitious person to do? It looks like the answer is power. Sure you own a lot of nice stuff but look how many serfs I have.

I remember a few years back, Tucker Carlson was in a discussion (maybe with Ben Shapiro?) where he said that driverless trucks should be banned. He wanted the ban because so many American workers with only high school diplomas work as truck drivers that much of the middle class would be impoverished. I agree with Carlson on that. We need policies that encourage a strong middle class even if it hurts economic efficiency.

Economic efficiency is another thing I have become very leery of. I always liked Milton Friedman and at one time he had me convinced of the righteousness of completely free trade with no tariffs or import quotas. His argument went something like this: if American manufacturing goes to cheaper overseas manufacturers those products will still be sold in the U.S. The dollars generated from those sales will ultimately need to be spent in the U.S. thereby encouraging formation of new, more efficient businesses here. How did that work out? Well, all the manufacturing from the Midwest was relocated overseas and the profits generated did come back to the U.S. as bond sales. The Midwest was sucked dry but New York city (where the bond trading takes place) profited handsomely. Thanks but no thanks. Milton Friedman was wrong.

I also agree about encouraging direct participation in our own governance. I’m not sure what the solution is but I’m willing to hear anyone’s ides on the topic.

ArthurinCali Has Some Stories from the GWOT

photog ArthurinCali, Current Events, Guest Contributors , ,

Arthur has a very nice illustrated tale from his days in the Navy off the coast of Iraq.

Stories from GWOT: Iraqi Oil Platform Defense

Here’s a sample:

“The next step in deterrence was (admittedly) very fun to watch. A helicopter would be launched (or directed if already airborne) to intercept the Dhow. Seeing the hapless fishing boat get engulfed by rotor wash from the helicopter directly above it looked kind of fun.”