Category: Guest Contributors
Guest Contributor – War Pig – On Boys’ Books and Real Rocket Ships
Loved the book (Treasure Island) as a lad. In fact, I read it to my brother who was not old enough to read at the time and we played pirates for months on end. One of the greatest boy’s books ever written, true. I’d put it up there with Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn. Billy Bud, Call of the Wild, Johnny Tremain, Old Man and the Sea, Old Yeller (and Savage Sam), Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson, Red Badge of Courage, the Time Machine, War of the Worlds, White Fang, both Jungle Books, Have Space Suit – Will Travel, Tunnel in the Sky, Podkayne of Mars and Rocket Ship Galileo.
Along with the old Boy Scout Handbook, circa 1950-ish.
There was another series, the title/author of which I cannot remember, written for boys. The hero was a Poindexter-like young genius who solved issues such as he broke a case because the witness said they saw a squirrel backing down a tree. Squirrels always run down a tree head first, so the witness lied. A bit Sherlockian but set in Middle America. A bit like the Hardy Boys but better written, I thought. The hero used his brain and his studies and as a skinny young lad never resulted to violence or other like heroics.
One of my favorite Jules Verne novels was turned into a classic comic. “Steam House”, about a group of British nationals traversing India in a trailer thing pulled by a stem powered, mechanical elephant. I read all of Vern’s novels as well as a lad. I was amazed at seeing things he predicted in his novels come true.
I read Big Little books as well “Phantom”, “Mac and the Marines”, “Alley Oop” etc. Heck, I practically taught myself to read on the pulps like “Amazing Stories”.
“Rolling Stones” was pretty good. Castor and Pollux showed up again in “Number of the Beast” which was definitely NOT a children’s book. I preferred “Between Planets” until I learned what Venus was really like on the surface, which Heinlein could not have known at the time it was written. Blast you, Carl Sagan. 😉
I was an omnivorous reader as a child. Sci-fi, dad’s Zane Gray and Louis L’Amour books, anything written by Sam Clemens and Rudyard Kipling. I went through the child’s section at the local library in short order and then onto anything written about dinosaurs and aircraft/space. Dad worked for North American Aviation, later called Rockwell then Rocketdyne. He helped develop the X-15, OV-10, A-5, B-70 and others, as well as worked on the Saturn V boosters and Dino-Soar reentry vehicle and ICBM’s. He brought home color photos and posters for me to hang on the wall of the aircraft he helped develop. He also recommended many books on jets and space vehicles, as well as westerns (his favorite genre).
Dad and mom had rings made from a reentry missile nosecone that had been in space and suffered the fiery reentry. Whatever it was made from, only diamonds could cut it and it took them time. It was like white gold but never tarnished and no chemicals ever had any effect on it. It must have been some titanium alloy as it looked like white gold and easily survived reentry. It had his first name and hers on their rings, and the engraving took a week with a special diamond tip. Both were buried with them.
10APR2021 – Guest Contributor – TomD – Photo – Orb Spider
More Interviews – War Pig
As hoped we have another volunteer to take a crack at my questionnaire for our community. Thanks War Pig.
Here is my questionnaire and War Pig’s answers. Anyone who feels like commenting is welcome. I am interested in how other people got to where a lot of us are now. Watching as normal politics completely failed to prevent the progressives from destroying our country has been a powerful object lesson for me and probably many others.
1. How would you describe your political stripe? Libertarian, social conservative, fiscal conservative, civic nationalist? Feel free to elaborate with examples if conventional labels are not precise enough.
I would categorize myself as a rational anarchist. For the textbook definition:
*A Rational Anarchist:
Believes the state, society, and government are concepts which do not exist apart from the physical acts of self-answerable individuals.
Believes blame, guilt, responsibility, and answerability makes it impossible for a person to shift, share, or distribute blame.
Being rational, the rational anarchist understands not everyone shares his or her views; yet, he or she strives to live perfectly in an imperfect world; completely aware he or she is not capable of achieving perfection.
Accepts all rules society deems necessary to secure its freedom and liberty.
Is free no matter what the rules are in his or her society. If the rules are tolerable, he or she will tolerate them. If not, the rational anarchist will break them.
Is free because the rational anarchist knows only he or she is morally responsible for everything he or she does.*
Basically I believe that government is, at it’s heart, no damned good. Government, like a cancer, always seeks to grow. That was the great fear of the Founding Fathers. They put checks and balances in place but government, when it controls the military, police, courts and legislature does as it damn well pleases. The states should never have relinquished power to the feds. At the same time I realize that there are some things which government should do. Thereby rational anarchy. Settle disputes between the states, allocate bands in the radio frequencies, trade treaties, declare war, or peace, national defense, and a few more. If I could go back in time I’d hang the SOBs who proposed the 16th Amendment. My political musings were unformed until I picked up a copy of “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress” by Robert Heinlein. I thought, there is the government for me. I was further influenced by his “Starship Troopers”, both of which I read after Vietnam. Governments, to be controlled, need to be kept on the ragged edge of pecuniary strangulation. With each new tax, license, fee, fine, “fair share” and other means by which the gut-sucking parasites of congress try to keep us in penury, they engorge themselves at the public trough which they demand we keep filled.
2. What events or circumstances most impacted your political outlook? If more than one thing was responsible how do you feel they were tied together?
My parents were Democrats, they loved FDR. I, on the other hand, saw entirely too much of what happens on this planet when government is the Crown. Especially when the government calls itself a People’s Government/Republic. Look around. I saw it up front and personal. I have seen slaves auctions in the Middle East. I have seen the remains of Spetsnaz and KGB and GRU operations. I have seen what Castro did to people at his “Isle of Pines” torture prison. When I see the same tactics of restricting political speech, use of cancel culture, brown shirts militias under the name Antifa and BLM, etc, used by the Democratic Party and their hounds it makes my blood boil. As Orwell could say; “Goddamn them, I warned them!”
When the Democrats surrendered in a war they started it meant all those men and women who died or were maimed or psychologically scarred in Vietnam, died and continue to suffer in vain. I carry scars to this day, both outside and inside. Many have it worse than me. The left is the side of deceit. They have no morals (Cuomo still in his chair?) and no shame. They are dishonorable.
3. What aspect of the progressive attack on our culture do you find the most personally troubling?
The attack on the Bill of Rights. I hold the Bill to be inviolable. Without it we are just another mob of peasants to be ruled over by our betters. The attacks on the First Amendment and on the Second (the protector of the First) are but the beginning. There is a reason those two were the first two. They are the most important. As Orwell showed when you control the dialog, you control the actions. Funny, but I remember all the protests in the 60s over free speech and all. The very same Marxist-taught hippies of that day are the Nancy Pelosi clones of today. Demanding free speech, as long as it is their speech. I disagree with what Pelosi, AOC, et al, say but I will defend their right to say it. The reverse is, sadly, not true.
4. If one thing could be restored to the way it was in the old days what would you want it to be?
I agree with Tyler in that the nuclear family’s destruction is the main problem. But I want to see the states take back their powers under the Constitution. The bribery of federal monies has corrupted the states. The other one I see is overpopulation. I want to see our population reduced by forbidding immigration except for those with needed skills. With limited resources we cannot support our current population. I remember when our population was around a third of what it is today. Familiarity breeds contempt and overcrowding breeds unwanted familiarity. The lack of respect for just laws and the senseless making of new laws which few ever read once passed as part of a boondoggle spending bill are anathema to freedom. With the crush of people we have situations as in LA where homeless sleep on the streets and harass and endanger lawful citizens and especially children. Overpopulation also makes it harder to identify the wrongdoers by legal means. I knew every family on the block where I grew up. Even the adults with no children in the home. They all knew my parents, too, so I couldn’t get away with much. Now I know maybe two families on sight in my neighborhood. Look at the crime rates per capita in LA, then Idaho. Then look at the population figures. Detroit, LA, Chicago, Memphis, anywhere large numbers of people are crushed together, trouble brews. My great uncle, who traveled, told me that in the 1920s White people could walk the streets of Harlem in perfect safety. Look at the population of Harlem then and now.
5. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future? Why?
I am pessimistic in the short run. The rot has so great a hold it would almost take an armed uprising of civil war proportions to enact any near term change. On the long run, I am confident that Americans will eventually find a way. It may be painful, austere or even violent, but Americans as a breed are too tough and too ornery to enslave, even by each other.
14MAR2021 – A Short Interview with the Portly Politico
Here is my questionnaire and Tyler’s answers. Anyone who feels like commenting is welcome. I am interested in how other people got to where a lot of us are now. Watching as normal politics completely failed to prevent the progressives from destroying our country has been a powerful object lesson for me and probably many others.
My answers to Tyler’s questionnaire is linked at https://theportlypolitico.com/?p=7094
Tyler, here are five questions I came up with. Feel free to elaborate or even direct the questions in whatever way you think gives you scope to answer them in a way that you think is interesting. Also if any question doesn’t seem appropriate feel free to leave it out. I’m looking for this to be a positive experience.
- How would you describe your political stripe? Libertarian, social conservative, fiscal conservative, civic nationalist? Feel free to elaborate with examples if conventional labels are not precise enough.
I would describe myself as a social conservative. When I was younger, I would have been (essentially) a Christian Libertarian, but then I actually experienced life and realized that pure Libertarianism cannot work; indeed, it can only work with traditional, moral, Christian (inherently or explicitly) values to underpin it. I very much agree with Tucker Carlson’s notion that capitalism is a tool to be used to better our lives, not a god to be worshipped. I would add that the trust necessary to maintain capitalism requires Christian ethics and a high-trust society. A high-trust society can’t work without some moral framework, and the only enduring moral framework must come from God; otherwise, there’s no foundation for morality.
Essentially, live your life as you wish, but remember that you exist in a community, and your actions impact your neighbor. The family, not the individual, is the principle unit for organizing a healthy society. Also, stop killing babies.
- What events or circumstances most impacted your political outlook? If more than one thing was responsible how do you feel they were tied together?
Richard Weaver’s Ideas Have Consequences was a transformational moment for me. Reading that book was like reading prophecy that had come true–it was electric. His diagnosis of the pitfalls of modernity really opened my eyes to the shortcomings of our secular worldview, and the soul-crushing nihilism and existential crisis it has wrought.
Trump’s presidency was another galvanizing moment. Trump may have been a flawed vessel, and he was ineffective at times, but he helped drop the scales from the eyes of many conservatives, myself included. Economically I moved much more in a populist and economic nationalist direction thanks to Trump (and Pat Buchanan’s Death of the West–a must-read), questioning for the first time the dogma of unbridled free trade (which, when you talk to free trade absolutists, it really is almost an article of faith–even if America is losing in trade, they argue, it’s worth it because it pleases the god of efficiency).
Trump also made politics fun again. Notice how boring it is now? The Biden-Harris administration is a disaster, but I can barely make myself care.
- What aspect of the progressive attack on our culture do you find the most personally troubling?
The whole normalizing of pedophilia and transgenderism, LBGTQ2+ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ thing makes me scared for my niece and nephews, as well as my hypothetical future children. The whole “let sixteen-year olds vote” project of a couple of years ago served two purposes: overtly, it would have put more immature idiots onto the voter rolls, helping Democrats; covertly, it would make it easier to argue that sexual relationships with minors is acceptable. Essentially, “If a sixteen-year old can vote, she can consent to sex with an adult” (H/T to my younger brother for realizing that first). As we’ve seen with the Left, they’ll keep pushing and pushing until eventually sex with babies will somehow be okay (the argument will be, “well, a child isn’t really a person until the doctors say so, so what’s the harm?”). This sounds insane now, but mark my words: child-diddling is going to be mainstreamed fast.
The other would be the continued insinuation of progressive craziness into every institution. Even at my little country private school, I’m seeing the tentacles of social justice wheedle their way into the curriculum. That’s something incredibly difficult to fight while still maintaining job security. The Boomer admins seem all-too-happy to go along with it, too, I think largely out of cluelessness.
- If one thing could be restored to the way it was in the old days what would you want it to be?
The preservation of the nuclear family. The destruction of the nuclear family is destroying American society. The Great Society went after blacks first, who were starting to do pretty well economically and socially until the government incentivized divorce and single motherhood. Now nearly 50% of children are born out of wedlock to mothers under thirty, regardless of race. Look, there are good single moms out there, but just plain commonsense tells us that being a single parent is harder than being part of a two-parent household. With a mom and a dad, parents can shoulder the load.
I also increasingly believe that pushing women to enter the workforce was a terrible idea. Sure, you have your high performers like Nikki Haley, Margaret Thatcher, Phyllis Schlafly, etc., but those women are, at best, the 5%. The rest–if they were honest with themselves–would much prefer being at home raising children, or maybe working a little part-time gig. But we’ve lured women into the soul-crushing atmosphere of the workforce with vague promises of “fulfillment” and “empowerment,” when really they’re just maintaining some strange man’s schedule (instead of their husband’s) and posting to social media–or, even worse, issuing edicts from the HR department.
I’m not saying we should ban women from working–that’s a bit much–but a healthy society would encourage domesticity and motherhood for the vast majority of women, while still allowing a pathway to the workforce for that alternatively talented 5%.
- Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future? Why?
On a macro scale, I am always a declinist. Trump was an all-too-brief reprieve, and didn’t accomplish enough–either due to his own lack of effort or due to intense interference from the Deep State (I’m inclined more to the latter–to turn things around long-term. History does suggest that these fevered periods of revolution and upheaval burn themselves out, but that doesn’t mean they can’t do incredible amounts of damage in the meantime. I don’t think we’re the Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D., but we’re definitely the Roman Empire in, say, the 3rd or 4th Century A.D.–the glory days are over, there are more and more problems, but we’re largely coasting on the accomplishments of generations greater than our own. The ultimate collapse might not be for another 100 years, but it’s coming.
On a micro scale, however, I am optimistic. We still enjoy many freedoms. We still have a window of opportunity to learn to grow our own food, to stockpile our weapons and preserves, and to build our own institutions outside of the mainstream. I always rejected Rod Dreher’s “Benedict Option” as cowardly, but I see some wisdom to it–rather than waste our time trying to fight an unwinnable culture war, let’s build our own culture. I can’t do much about Biden’s senility, but there is much I can do to improve my land, my neighborhood, my town, my county, and even my State.
Ultimately, God is in control. I believe He is, or will soon be, visiting a judgment upon us for our wickedness. Sodom and Gomorrah look like a weekend at a Free Will Baptist Bible college compared to the United States in 2021. Prayer is our greatest weapon, and we need to be on our knees daily praying for some relief.
A Questionnaire For Our Community
Here are the questions I sent to Tyler over at the Portly Politico. I’ll post his answers tomorrow (Tuesday 3/16 at 6:30 am). Tyler came up with a similar set of questions that I answered and he will post my answers at the same time tomorrow on his site the Portly Politico.
If you would like to give your own answers then attach them to the post tomorrow.
- How would you describe your political stripe? Libertarian, social conservative, fiscal conservative, civic nationalist? Feel free to elaborate with examples if conventional labels are not precise enough.
- What events or circumstances most impacted your political outlook? If more than one thing was responsible how do you feel they were tied together?
- What aspect of the progressive attack on our culture do you find the most personally troubling?
- If one thing could be restored to the way it was in the old days what would you want it to be?
- Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future? Why?
Guest Contributor – War Pig – Worth Thinking About
I get some pretty wild rumors on the old boy network sometimes. Other times I hear ones which are wild on their face but when investigated, become more rational. The latest is that Pelosi and the Democrat leadership (along with the loonies such as AOC) instigated the “riot” in DC and made it possible. A false flag attack. After all, the left has tried that tactic before, claiming a democratic HQ was shot up by MAGAs when it turned out they did it themselves in a false flag attack.
Hear me out. Who was responsible for making changes to capital policing and security of the capitol itself right before the protest? Pelosi. The changes made it much easier for the protesters to get into the building and to do what they did. Why would she so change the security arrangements when she said she feared such a protest? How did they know just where to go? Who benefited more from the protest, the left or the right? (hint: the left) Why did AOC claim near rape and murder when no protester got within eye-shot of her and when she was, indeed protected by Capital police with drawn weapons? I know AOC’s a serial, compulsive liar, but still. Why did this look like so many Antifa and BLM riots?
Not all of the participants, or even most, have been positively identified as Trump supporters. Nor is there any real connection to White supremacy, despite the claims of the left. What is apparent from the footage is that the Trump supporters for the most part did no harm. It was the unidentified ones who did the damage. Who are they? Who paid for them to be there? Remember, Trump supporters are supposed to be subliterate, cousin f-ers who barely have enough money for trailer payments, beer and the NASCAR channel. To travel from Waycross Georgia or Bugtussel Tennessee all the way to DC, then find their way around that rabbit warren of a town, get past the normally quite efficient guards of the Capital police, and wreak havoc by knowing just where to go in that large and maze-like building? Hmmmm…doesn’t seem right.
Why did the police only draw their weapons to protect the House chamber, and not the Senate? Why was an unarmed woman shot when trying to climb through a broken window to the House chambers? If she had been a BLM rioter stealing televisions the cop would be in jail by now. Why were the supposedly gun crazy Trumpers not armed? The only shot fired was to the aforementioned unarmed White woman. True, one cop was beaten so severely he died, and I mourn his loss. If cops can shoot unarmed protesters who are not looting, does that mean that the Congress is an oligarchy who deserve better police protection than the rest of us, where cops are forbidden to shoot looting BLM rioters? That seems orthogonal to the constitution.
This appears to be orchestrated political theater of the highest sort. No members of congress injured or even touched. The one responsible for weakening security has her congressional chamber guarded with drawn weapons and a young woman was murdered by the gun-toting royal guards.
Why is Pelosi mad at Trump for not calling up the National Guard to disperse the rioters? Do you have any idea how long it takes to recall, muster, uniform, arm and equip a Guard unit made up of civilians with dispersed jobs? Then to lecture them on rules of engagement? Why call the National Guard at all, when you have a very highly trained, motivated and professional infantry regiment at your side? I speak of the Old Guard. Those who do ceremonies, guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and escort the President among other things. People forget they are also the 3rd United States Infantry Regiment and are a fully trained, well-practiced and thoroughly professional infantry regiment with the full armaments and ammo an infantry regiment possesses. Plus, they can be called out much quicker than the National Guard. Since DC is a federal city, the Posse Comitatus Act is not in effect.
Given all those “curiosities” I can see why the retired veterans are suspicious.
Guest Contributor – The Fat Man – 11FEB2021 Photo – Christmas Lights on 5th Avenue
Guest Contributor – The Fat Man – 09FEB2021 Photo – One Hundred Seventh Infantry Memorial
New York City – WW I Monument
One Hundred Seventh Infantry Memorial
History
Sculptor Karl Illava (1896–1954) created this dynamic bronze figural group depicting seven larger-than-life-sized World War I foot soldiers in battle. The piece, set on a massive stepped granite platform designed by architects Rogers and Haneman, was donated by the Seventh Regiment New York 107th United Infantry Memorial Committee and was dedicated September 27, 1927. Taking advantage of its position at the end of East 67th Street at Fifth Avenue, Illava’s “doughboys” are in active poses, advancing from the wooded thicket bordering Central Park, as if mounting a charge. Illava drew from his own experience serving as a sergeant with the 107th, and even used his own hands as models for the soldiers’ hands.
One Hundred Seventh Infantry Memorial Details
- Location: Fifth Avenue at 67th Street
- Sculptor: Karl Morningstar Illava
- Architect: Rogers & Haneman
- Description: Group of seven figures (over life-size) with integral plinth, on a pedestal
- Materials: Bronze, North Jay granite
- Dimensions: Group H: 9’11” W: 15’8′ D: 10′; Pedestal H: 7’7″ W: 32’8″
- Cast: 1927
- Dedicated: September 29, 1927
- Foundry: Fond. G. Vignali, Firenze
- Donor: 7th Regiment and 107th Infantry Memorial Committee
- Inscription: SEVENTH REGIMENT NEW YORK / ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH UNITED INFANTRY / 1917 IN MEMORIAM 1918
Guest Contributor – Jack Strawman – Old White Guy Wins Another Super Bowl
Editor’s Note: Not that the readers here need the warning and reality gets scarily close to parody, but for any folks from the Left, THIS IS SATIRE!
In an era marked by extraordinary, if not completely manufactured, racial tensions, the NFL once again finds itself in the spotlight as a 43-year-old white guy won his unprecedented seventh Super Bowl title last night. Reaction was swift on Capitol Hill, where the yearly festival of cavorting with underage prostitutes that coincides with the Big Game was cut short so Congress could quickly form a Special Committee to investigate the issue. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tapped Adam Schiff as the Committee Chairman; but while Schiff has never engaged in an actual sporting event, it is said that he used to enjoy watching pee-wee football games from the parking lot in his car.
The white guy in question, Tom Brady, was finishing his first season with his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His former team of 20 years, the New England Patriots, immediately put out a press release, signed by the two egregiously wealthy old white guys who both own and run the franchise. “We are aghast at what transpired this evening. With each successive title Brady won here, we grew more horrified by what this meant to a country whose entire history is marred by systemic racism. After the sixth title, we knew we could no longer retain Mr. Brady; we relinquished our rights to his services, and will be content to now take our place in the middle of the pack for the foreseeable future.” New England is also hoping that their fan base will be content with the new Participation Trophies intended to assuage the feelings of the other 31 teams that do not win the title each year.
The NFL itself has also opened an investigation, led by their Chief Executive Panderer, Roger Goodell – another old white guy under contract for some $35 million/year. “The NFL is simply horrified by tonight’s results. We have done everything in our power to level the playing field; not the least of which has included overlooking every instance of domestic abuse and violent crime committed by our players. In addition, we have mandated that each team practice solidarity kneeling throughout the season, and continue to pay for the choreography lessons required so every physically gifted black player can relentlessly showboat after basically doing what they are paid to do.” Goodell went on to say that the NFL is now considering adopting the Golf scoring system, where the lowest score wins.
The outrage has also affected Brady’s wife, top fashion model Gisele Bündchen. Within an hour of the game’s end, all of her contracts were canceled; the majority are being awarded to Aunt Jemimah, who has been out of work for a number of months now after her lucrative high fructose corn syrup-laden pancake syrup deal was abruptly canceled with the PepsiCo Corporation, which also sponsored yet another Luciferian Halftime Show. PepsiCo had no comment.