Monthly Archives: October 2022

Staying focused

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In Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers” one of the characters muses how civilians think things are ‘at peace’ because no one they know is involved in the fighting. As a military man, the character knows that there’s never really ‘peace’..there’s always a fight going on somewhere…it’s just that you don’t know about it, so you think everything is peaceful.

Right now, in my world, there is food in the freezer, the lights come on, the water flows, there’s money in the bank, clothes on my back, and gas in the tank. All must be right in the world, yes? Of course not. There are people in hurricane-ravaged areas eating MRE’s and crapping in portapotties, there are people overseas working to keep gas prices high, there’s morons in Washington blindly groping around for ‘mandates’, and there is always some idiot somewhere who is off his meds and on his way to a WalMart. So, yeah, it’s quiet in my immediate vicinity but does that mean it’s quiet everywhere else? Heck no.

So…gotta fight that complacency. Be conscious of the fact (and it is a fact, m’friends) that it can all change Just. Like. That. <snaps fingers> Yeah, its a nice day today and the sun is out….so what? You know life isn’t always gonna be like that. Go out and do something that you’ll thank yourself for later.

 

Outside of a Dog, a Book is Man’s Best Friend. Inside of a Dog, It’s Too Dark to Read

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I had to re-arrange things in my computer room, or what we used to call a ‘home office’, the other day. One thing I did was consolidate a couple bookshelves onto one shelf. What sort of dead-tree reading material does the Zero keep around?

Among other things, the collected works of Ayn Rand, my autographed collection of ,Rawles’ books, Gun Jesus’ books, a fairly decent amount of medical and gardening texts, a buncha gun boffin books, some American history,  and some fiction that segues nicely into my interests.

And, yeah, there’s thundertoys laying around all over the place.

A goodly amount of those books could probably be disposed of. Once I read something, I’ve got a pretty good head for remembering most of it. The fiction I should probably unload somewhere and make some space, but I’ll always keep reference books, tutorials, and ‘how to’s. Interestingly, a large portion of these texts are available from various sources as .pdf’s….Tappan’s stuff, for example…but I’m a bit of a dinosaur in that I like the experience of a book…the tangibles, the smell, etc. And, yes, I know that a book makes more sense in the post-apocalyptic world than a .pdf.

As Groucho Marx famously said, Outside of a Dog, a Book is Man’s Best Friend. Inside of a Dog, It’s Too Dark to Read.

Article – Keep it or toss it? ‘Best Before’ labels cause confusion

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Manufacturers have used the labels for decades to estimate peak freshness. Unlike “use by” labels, which are found on perishable foods like meat and dairy, “best before” labels have nothing to do with safety and may encourage consumers to throw away food that’s perfectly fine to eat.

“They read these dates and then they assume that it’s bad, they can’t eat it and they toss it, when these dates don’t actually mean that they’re not edible or they’re not still nutritious or tasty,” said Patty Apple, a manager at Food Shift, an Alameda, California, nonprofit that collects and uses expired or imperfect foods.

There’s a big difference between “Best By” and an expiration date. And, lets be real, those expiration dates are usually kinda bogus too. Here’s the simple truth: most canned food will be edible long past the dates on the can. Yes, there maybe some nutritional loss. Yes, there may be some loss of taste/texture. But will it be unhealthy or dangerous? Usually no.

I routinely eat stuff that is a year or two past the date on the can. (Non-canned food is a different matter. And, in this case, ‘canned’ means food in cans and jars.) I’ve had only a few bad experiences. Usually a can starts bulging and, as you know, thats theuniversal sign for ‘dont eat this or else’.

The ‘Best By’ hasnothing to do with food safety or an expiration date. I’d go so far as to say its just a convenient Jedi mind trick to make people throw away food that is past the date. Gyno-Americans are notorious for this. I have had arguments about using a can of corn that was two months past expiration, and I’ve had people absolutely aghast that I would eat meat out of my deep freeze that was more than six months old.

Hey, when youre hungry and broke you will discover rather quickly that those dates on the can are like Walk/DontWalk signs….you can obey them, but if you have half a brain you can ignore them and figure it out for yourself with good results most of the time.

Is there anything that I do get rigid about in regards to dates? Milk. Thats about it. And the people who actually observe the BestBy dates on bottled water are seriously in need of testosterone. it’s hydrogen and oxygen, fer Crom’s sake.

But…no one ever went broke underestimating the gullibility of the buying public.

Articles – Canadian police found in undercover operation at Great Falls gun show

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Two articles about a little Canuckistan/Federal op at the Great Falls gun show:

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – According to Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter, local county employees and people noticed someone with Canadian plates watching people at the gun show.

Once deputies and the sheriff arrived, the operation was shut down immediately.
….
The police officer was assigned to a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Task Force for gun smuggling and was working with ATF.

And

Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter on Saturday broke up an investigation carried out in apparent coordination between federal and Canadian authorities at a Great Falls gun show, saying those agencies had not contacted his office beforehand.

Although state law does not require federal investigators to obtain approval from local law enforcement to conduct operations, the agents left the fairgrounds “reluctantly” and without issue. Slaughter has positioned himself as a “constitutional sheriff,” which theorizes sheriffs are the ultimate authority in their county — above local, state and federal officials — raising questions in this incident about possible friction between layers of law enforcement.

I suspect sheriff Slaughter just won himself a re-election.

This sort of behavior was notorious from California law enforcement. Theyd hit the Nevada gun shows, and sometimes even Nevada gun stores, and look for cars in the parking lots with CA plates. They’d then follow the CA-plated car back across the border into CA and pull them over to search for guns and related items that were prohibited in the glorious peoples republic of California. (Ever notice all the socialist places start with C and end with A? California, China, Cuba, Canada, etc…)

Remember guys – if youre buying thundertoys and ammo,keep that situational awareness going. Put that FAL or AUG in a case or something when you take it back to your car if you think its prudent. What you buy is no one’s business but your own.

I suppose the cautious man might remove the plates from his vehicle once he parks at the gun show. And the more JamesBond-y might keep a spare set of plates off a wrecked car to quickly swap out. But, regardless of your level of paranoia, it seems it might be a good idea to always operate under the assumption someone is watching.