How to Make Perfect Ribs on the Smoker (Illustrated)

In an effort to branch out from the soul-crushing drudgery that is politics, I'm going to try and do a cooking-related blog post more often. I've always enjoyed cooking, as you have an actual, tangible result at the end. In that way, it's sort of like construction - you work with your hands to create something that you (and others) can enjoy.

Let's start with a classic American dish that everyone likes. Ribs. If you don't like tender, fall-off-the-bone, slow-smoked ribs, please discontinue reading this post. If you do, read on. I got you.

A father and son from Texas and 10 children are among the 84 people murdered Thursday night when a terrorist plowed an explosives- and weapons-laden truck into a crowd of thousands gathered along a seaside promenade in Nice, France, to watch the city's Bastille Day fireworks.

"Such a monstrosity," French President Francois Hollande said Friday morning. "France is deeply saddened, but it is also very strong. I can assure you we will always be stronger than the fanatics who are trying to attack us."

This got me thinking on the various ways to be strong. You can be strong in mind and your resolve. You can be strong in your physical actions. It's possible to be strong in one way without being strong in the other. Also, there's the idea of the "strong horse vs. the weak horse" which is attributed to Bin Laden.

Does the West seem like the strong horse?

Happy Bastille Day!

Today in 1789, the French people stormed a government fortress to acquire arms and powder to use in their own revolution.

Also, one of my favorite paintings by Monet depicts a later celebration of the French Republic, so this is an appropriate day as any to share it.

Claude Monet, Rue Montorgueil, Paris, Festival of 30 June 1878

First Date Questions - Don't be a Pop-Quiz Queen

My friends play a game on first dates now where it's ask men to name three books they've read by female authors.

It never goes well.

— holly wood (@girlziplocked) July 13, 2016

I mean, you signal what a strident feminist you are on the first date, and you are surprised that it "never goes well"? Fortunately, she's clearly doing most guys a favor by revealing this up front and letting them bail before the appetizers arrive.

If I had been asked this question on first date, I would have thought, "Boy, here's a real keeper! I can spend the rest of my life arguing with this harpy, or more likely, her lawyer. I wonder if I can kick out the window in mens' restroom and get out of here..." No one likes Pop-quizzes. It's not endearing.

Or, after I answer with "Harper Lee, Anne Frank, and Mary Shelley" I follow up with my standard first date question. If a girl doesn't get this right, you immediately know she's not the one:

What...is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

CDC Study Shows Firearm Homicides at All Time Low From 1993 Peak.

Facts are stubborn things.

The 10,945 firearm homicides in 2014 represented a 40-percent drop from the peak hit in 1993, when there were 18,253 firearm homicides in the country,according to CDC data.

You wouldn't know it from watching television, but there are actually fewer firearm homicides and more firearms than there were back in 1993. Weird, huh? It's almost like guns aren't the problem.

I bet if you took out all the data from large cities in the US, the rest of the country would have a firearm homicide rate similar to New Zealand or something.

Police Robots: Helpful Tools or a Precursor to SkyNet?

“This is not the beginning of killer robotics, domestically, but it is hard to distinguish this and a drone strike,” Calo said. “The police had exhausted their other options, they thought.”

I don't really have any problem with the police using a robot to kill the Dallas shooter like they did. The guy was cornered, but still a threat to innocent people, and it would have been a risk to storm his position. Just waiting the guy out wasn't an option.

I'm not really concerned with how the application of lethal force is applied. I think we should be concerned with the decision in applying lethal force. Once the decision to use lethal force has been made, the manner in which it is applied seems rather inconsequential.

What's the difference between killing a guy with a sniper's shot, blowing him up with a bomb, hitting him with a drone strike, or just knocking him in the head with a big rock? Assuming you're only killing the target and there's no collateral damage, then all of these things are equal to me. Killing is killing.

I actually applaud the Dallas Police Department for their ingenuity in this tactic. It ended the standoff quickly, probably saving lives. If the guy had been barricaded in a house in the middle of the woods and wasn't an immediate threat to anyone, I wouldn't want deadly force used.

I just hope the weaponized robots don't become self-aware.

Five Police Officers Killed in Dallas - The falcon cannot hear the falconer

A suspect who died after a standoff with Dallas police said he wanted to kill white people -- especially white officers -- and that he was upset about "the recent police shootings," and that he acted alone, Dallas Police Chief David Brown told reporters Friday.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Morning News Headlines 7/7/16

Just thought I'd put some headlines out there since I haven't done that in awhile. Here's the news that I've seen so far this morning:

1. No end to the Afghan war: Looks like the next President will be handed the war in about the same situation it was before.

2. Rare Thomas Jefferson letter discovered in family's attic: It's valued at over $300k and is from 1815. I'm amazed that it's survived. Very cool.

3. Drones reported flying over the Savannah Nuclear Site. I think this is against the rules. Hopefully, it's people just being extremely careless, rather than casing the joint for some sort of attack.

4. Another fatal officer-involved shooting. In Minnesota this time. Looks like a police officer shot a man who was legally carrying concealed. We've got to figure out a way to train police better.

Buying Guide to American Muscle Cars

Interested in buying an old American muscle car? Here's your primer.

Everyone wants a 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda so they’re very expensive. Meanwhile, a ‘Cuda powered by a 340 small-block V-8 will not only be much cheaper, but likely drive better than the temperamental Hemi. Don’t get hung up on a particular muscle model; that’s almost a sure way to get ripped off.

Buy what you like, and enjoy it. Don't expect to get rich off it, either. Personally, I wouldn't mind having an old Ford Bronco like this one:

1966 Ford Bronco

No it's not fast, and no it's no muscle car, but damn if ain't nice lookin'.

Random Quote of the Day: The Edge of No Return

I was talking to someone who had toured Gettysburg last week, and every time I think of that battle one of the links my mind brings up is this passage from Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust:

“It's all now you see. Yesterday won't be over until tomorrow and tomorrow began ten thousand years ago. For every Southern boy fourteen years old, not once but whenever he wants it, there is the instant when it's still not yet two o'clock on that July afternoon in 1863, the brigades are in position behind the rail fence, the guns are laid and ready in the woods and the furled flags are already loosened to break out and Pickett himself with his long oiled ringlets and his hat in one hand probably and his sword in the other looking up the hill waiting for Longstreet to give the word and it's all in the balance, it hasn't happened yet, it hasn't even begun yet, it not only hasn't begun yet but there is still time for it not to begin against that position and those circumstances which made more men than Garnett and Kemper and Armistead and Wilcox look grave yet it's going to begin, we all know that, we have come too far with too much at stake and that moment doesn't need even a fourteen-year-old boy to think This time. Maybe this time with all this much to lose than all this much to gain: Pennsylvania, Maryland, the world, the golden dome of Washington itself to crown with desperate and unbelievable victory the desperate gamble, the cast made two years ago; or to anyone who ever sailed a skiff under a quilt sail, the moment in 1492 when somebody thought This is it: the absolute edge of no return, to turn back now and make home or sail irrevocably on and either find land or plunge over the world's roaring rim.” 

Faulkner is such a master of capturing the history and ethos of the South.

NY Times Piece on the Law School Bubble

A law school classmate of mine brought this NYT article to my attention. It's an in-depth piece on the small law school that we went to back before the law school bubble burst.

Valparaiso was, in effect, caught in a deflating financial bubble, one most law schools were slow to heed because of the government’s role in financing legal education. Applications ultimately tumbled about 40 percent nationally between 2010 and 2015, and by a roughly similar percentage at Valparaiso.

Although the piece focuses on Valparaiso, it could have been written about any number of law schools around the country. Things that can't go on forever...won't.

Happy Independence Day Weekend

Yeah, we'll be phoning it in starting....now. Below the jump are some patriotic images (or just ones that I like for no particular reason).

NCAA Championship for Coastal Carolina!

The boys from Conway have done it!

Way to go, Coastal! Welcome to the promised land of college baseball!

Will Muschamp on Second Chances

"I know that at South Carolina, I'm replacing a legend in Steve Spurrier. I also know that I was by no means a sexy hire. I told my new athletic director, Ray Tanner: Let's not win the press conference; let's win football games."

Last year the Gamecocks won three games. It won't take much to improve on that. I don't think South Carolina will be in the race for the SEC East anytime soon, but we should start laying the foundation for it by getting better every day.

Do you even lift, bro?

Over the weekend, some friends and I lifted an approximately twenty-foot, 805 lb. steel beam, moved it about thirty yards, and then used a chain hoist to raise it up about nine feet.

Steel beam is pictured in the back.

We were helping my parents rebuild their house in the aftermath of last October's flooding, and this big steel beam is the new main structural support beam for their kitchen.

Thanks to the Workhorse Gym, friends, neighbors, and McBeal from F3Columbia for the assistance!

That's how you lift.

Coastal Carolina to Start Freshman in Elimination Game Tonight

"While Coastal Carolina now faces a must-win game Thursday night against Texas Tech if it wants to continue this unforgettable postseason run, the Chanticleers will not rush ace right-hander Andrew Beckwith back to the mound on short rest."

It's the biggest stage there is in college baseball. Looks like they are going to send a freshman to the mound to start the game, but I'm sure that all hands are on deck for this one.

I hope the Chanticleers can keep the magic going!

Read more here: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/sports/college/big-south/coastal-carolina-university/article85215092.html#storylink=cpy

Thoughts on the latest Game of Thrones Episode: "Battle of the Bastards"

Brad put his thoughts on the episode up over at his campsite, and my comment ran a little long, so I decided to make my comment a stand-alone post. Brad's good at getting me thinking about stuff, which is why I like his blog so much, even if I don't agree with him on everything.

In any event, I kinda figured that Rickon was not going to survive the episode, and for the reasons Brad mentioned, I didn't really feel much emotion when he died. I mean, I could barely remember anything about Rickon at all. He's Ned's son. Okay. Other than that, I got nothing. Did anyone really feel that bad when he died?

I was sort of surprised that Jon Snow did exactly what Ramsay wanted, but the Starks sort of have this streak of "damn the torpedoes" in them, so it's not entirely out of character.

Once the Bolton army had Snow surrounded, I was thinking "No, not like this! It's supposed to be the other way around!"

I was really hoping the battle would unfold like the legendary Battle of Canne, where a numerically inferior force defeats a numerically superior force by letting the Boltons attack, bending back, and then folding in the flanks. I really wanted Jon Snow to have a glorious victory over such an evil foe and reclaim his family's home.

Jon Snow was supposed to be the force in blue. He turned out to be the force in red. You never want to be the force in red on this type of map.

However, the battle goes exactly the other way, and Sansa had to give us the deus ex machina to save the day, which was sort of satisfying in the way a surprise ending can be. Before that, I was thinking, "This is Canne in reverse! GoT is just evil."

The ending with Sansa starting to get into all the intrigue and killing Ramsay seemed to be her moving from the character that had things happen to her to becoming the character that actively did things. It's also made her a darker character, which fits with the overall GoT ethos.

Overall, I would have liked to have seen a Canne style victory for Jon, and you could still have had Sansa ride in late and keep her character development the same. Daenerys needs to really move along to Westeros. I'm sort of getting tired of her foolin' around with all these slave holders. Let's get her into the fight. I'm sure the season finale will lead us up close to that happening, but not quite all the way. 

The Etymology of "The Devil To Pay"

Happy Monday, you lovely coves.

I thought I'd share an interesting passage from The Mauritius Command, which is the fourth book in the Aubrey-Maturin series that I'm making my way through.

One of the enjoyable things in reading these books is learning the etymology of so many figures of speech that have their origins in sailing. Here's one I came across last night:

"Stephen involuntarily brought them back by asking the significance of the devil, among those that followed the sea, as in the devil to pay, a phrase he had often heard, particularly of late - was it a form of propitiation, a Manichaean remnant, so understandable (though erroneous) upon the unbridled elements?
     'Why the devil, do you see,' said Jack, 'is the seam between the deck planking and the timbers, and we call it the devil, because it is the devil for the caulkers to come at: in full we say, the devil to pay and no pitch hot; and what we mean is, that there is something hell-fire difficult to be done - must be done - and nothing to do it with. It is a figure.
     'A very elegant figure, too.'"

Pretty cool.

The Gadsden Flag is Back and It's Super-Fabulous!

These posters appeared all over West Hollywood the other day. When you think about it, women and LGBT folks ought to be on the front lines of gun rights. Armed women don't get raped and armed LGBT folks don't get slaughtered en masse.

Maybe this is the beginning of something. A new group of folks realizing that they are responsible for their own safety?

Thursday Open Thread

My feelings today:

Talk among yourselves, I'm busy.

Deadliest Terror Attack Since 9/11 - What can we do?

By now, you've seen and heard what happened in Orlando on Sunday. With the death toll at "at least 50" it's now the deadliest terrorist attack in America since 9/11.

In the coming days and weeks, you're going to hear lots of people say that they have a solution to this problem.

Democrats and anti-gun folks are going to say that banning certain types of guns will solve this problem. They're wrong. Donald Trump and his supporters are going to say that banning certain types of people from entering the country will solve this problem. They're wrong, too.

The hard truth is that there isn't an easy solution to this problem, and anyone who tells you differently is lying to themselves or lying to you. So what can we do?

We can be prepared.

First, we're all responsible for our own safety. The police aren't able to be everywhere all the time. By all accounts, the police did everything right in this instance, but they aren't able to just instantaneously appear. What does that mean? Well, it means that we all need to do some thinking about how we're going to keep ourselves safe.

I'm not saying that we should live our lives in fear, but we should be prepared. For example, every school conducts fire drills on a regular basis. Now, school fires aren't very common at all, but we still conduct fire drills because we know that if there was a fire, we need to have school children leave the building in an organized manner to avoid chaos. In fact, I can't even think of an instance of a fire at at school, but I sure can remember all the fire drills that I was a part of.

We need to apply this same type of preparedness to our daily lives. So many people walk around in a blithe state of unpreparedness, the only thing that can save their lives when confronted with danger is dumb luck or the ineptitude of the attacker.

You don't need to go around armed all the time, but you certainly could. However, being armed isn't the most important thing. The most important thing is your mindset. You have to be mentally prepared to defend yourself. In fact, if you're armed, you need to be in the right mindset, or you're just going to be part of the problem.

I know it's not pleasant to go around thinking about the fact that the world is a potentially dangerous place, but it is. If you want to work on getting into the right mindset and believe that self-defense is something that you want to engage in, I would highly recommend this short essay by Jeff Cooper. It's only 41 total pages and you could read it over your lunch break. Here's a brief sample:

                                                Principle One: Alertness
"'A commander may be forgiven for being defeated, but never for being surprised.' This maxim is among the first to be impressed upon new lieutenants. It is equally applicable to individuals who aspire to a degree of physical security in today's embattled society. Alertness is, to some extent, an inherent personality trait, but it can nonetheless be learned and improved. Once we accept that our familiar and prosaic environment is in fact perilous, we automatically sharpen our senses."

The rest of the essay goes on to detail the other principles, which Cooper lists as: Decisiveness, Aggressiveness, Speed, Coolness, Ruthlessness, and Surprise.

There's no magic solution to violence, but we can at least try to be in the right mindset in the event that we find ourselves in a situation where you find yourself in a violent situation.

Intimidating Pre-Game Ritual?

Every country plays sports of some kind or another. We, as humans, love competition. In every sport, you'll find pre-game rituals that vary in type, but the main core of all pre-game rituals is to mentally prepare yourself for the competition, and possibly to intimidate your opponent.

One interesting pre-game ritual is the haka performed by the New Zealand National Rugby Team. Here's a clip of the New Zealand team performing the haka before playing the French in 2011.

By the by, the New Zealand "All Blacks" are the pretty much the best around (basically since the invention of rugby) when it comes to international rugby. It's kind of what they do.

Also, how cool of a nickname is "All Blacks"? It's just a no-nonsense kind of nickname, where you sort of think: Hey, these guys don't even have bright colors or anything. They just show up in all black like this is a business meeting for them.

I bet the New Zealand players sort of kid the other teams for their colorful uniforms. Hey France! That blue looks adorable, or is it cyan? We picked black because we were too busy practicing rugby to worry about silly little things like colors. (but I digress)

What do you think about the pre-game haka? Intimidating, or not so much?

Trump Supporters Assaulted by Lefty Protesters; Riots, Destroying Property, and Physical Violence Short of Murder is Encouraged by Vox Editor

NBC has the report.

Everyone is complaining that Trump is a fascist, a strongman, and doesn't care about the rule of law. If you're one of those people, then guess what, buttercup? Don't go 'round assaulting people, rioting, and trashing things. That's what actual fascists do, mmmkay?

You can't call Trump the second coming of Hitler and Mussolini, and then act like a Brownshirt when you see people who support him. Direct violence against people who disagree with you politically isn't acceptable. Stop it.

The other thing is that for every event like this, these violent, rage-filled idiots are helping Trump. The people who do this are doing more to help Trump win votes than a whole week of Trump rallies will ever do.

And apparently, there are people (credentialed people) who are encouraging this. From the deputy editor of Vox:

Advice: If Trump comes to your town, start a riot.

— Emmett Rensin (@emmettrensin) June 3, 2016

Oh, and in case you weren't clear on what he meant, he meant, do anything short of actually committing murder.

@michaelbd Destroying property is legitimate. Shouting down is legitimate. Disruption of all events is legitimate. Murder isn't.

— Emmett Rensin (@emmettrensin) June 3, 2016

Seriously? Destroying property is legitimate? Hurting someone, but you know, just not killing them, is legitimate?

Time for the obligatory quote:

Blue Angel Pilot Killed in Crash; Thunderbird Crashes, Pilot Unhurt

F/A-18s in the Missing Man Formation

Sad to hear about the Blue Angel pilot who was killed in a crash yesterday. In a bizarre coincidence, a Thunderbird crashed the same day. Luckily, the pilot was unhurt.

We all go to airshows and can easily think these guys are invincible flying around at high speeds far above the enemy, but it's important to remember that these guys are doing a dangerous job. Keep all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines in your thoughts and prayers.

These two incidents are only a drop in the bucket of what the men and women of our armed forces endure on a routine basis.

Why did America fight the Korean War?

If you don't know the answer, here's a quick primer from Victor Davis Hanson.

Memorial Day 2016

Today, we remember Americans who are not here to thank.

In searching for words that expressed the spirit of Memorial Day, I found them in a passage from Ronald Reagan's First Inaugural Address.

"Directly in front of me, the monument to a monumental man, George Washington, father of our country. A man of humility who came to greatness reluctantly. He led America out of revolutionary victory into infant nationhood. Of to one side, the stately memorial Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence flames with his eloquence. And then, beyond the Reflecting Pool, the dignified columns of the Lincoln Memorial. Whoever would understand in his heart the meaning of America will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln.

Beyond these monuments to heroism is the Potomac River, and on the far shore the sloping hills of Arlington Cemetery, with its row upon row of simple white markers bearing crosses or Stars of David.

They add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom. Each of these markers is a monument to the kind of hero I spoke of earlier. Their lives ended in places called Belleau Wood, The Argonne, Omaha Beach, Salerno, and halfway around the world on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Pork Chop Hill, the Chosin Resivior, and in a hundred rice paddies and jungles in of a place called Vietnam.

Under one such marker lies a young man, Martin Treptow, who left his job in a small town barbershop in 1917 to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division. There on the western front, he was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire.


We're told that on his body was found a diary. On the flyleaf under the heading "My Pledge" he had written these words: 'America must win this war. Therefore I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully, and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone'."

We remember that spirit today.

Carpooling With Adele (and a Note about Memorial Day)

It's the Friday before a long weekend, so a lot of folks are phoning it in this afternoon. I'm doing the same thing with the blog today. Yes, this is a blog-post, but we're going to be fairly content light today.

Here's something that's pretty entertaining.

Everyone have a good Memorial Day Weekend. Have a few beers, cook some BBQ, and get outside. But in all the things that you do, set a side a moment or two to reflect on the men and women of our armed services who aren't here to celebrate with you.

Oh, and don't thank veterans for their service on Memorial Day, either. Memorial Day is the day that we set aside to remember those who aren't here to thank. My family and I are extremely thankful for all who have served. Let's take Monday to remember the ones who gave the last full measure of devotion.

The Trailer for "USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage" looks...not horrible.

So they made a movie about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. If you don't know the story, it's one of the worst disasters in US Naval history.

The world's first operational atomic bomb was delivered by the Indianapolis, (CA-35) to the island of Tinian on 26 July 1945. The Indianapolis then reported to CINCPAC (Commander-In-Chief, Pacific) Headquarters at Guam for further orders. She was directed to join the battleship USS Idaho (BB-42) at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines to prepare for the invasion of Japan. The Indianapolis, unescorted, departed Guam on a course of 262 degrees making about 17 knots.

At 14 minutes past midnight, on 30 July 1945, midway between Guam and Leyte Gulf, she was hit by two torpedoes out of six fired by the I-58, a Japanese submarine. The first blew away the bow, the second struck near midship on the starboard side adjacent to a fuel tank and a powder magazine. The resulting explosion split the ship to the keel, knocking out all electric power. Within minutes she went down rapidly by the bow, rolling to starboard.

Of the 1,196 aboard, about 900 made it into the water in the twelve minutes before she sank. Few life rafts were released. Most survivors wore the standard kapok life jacket. Shark attacks began with sunrise of the first day and continued until the men were physically removed from the water, almost five days later.

Only 317 sailors made it out of the water alive after five days. If you'd like a more dramatic recitation of the story, I would refer you to Robert Shaw's great soliloquy from Jaws.

It's too bad Robert Shaw isn't still alive to make a cameo in this new movie. Judging just from the trailer, the pros look like there is some genuine drama, but the cons are that Nicolas Cage is in the movie, and the CGI looks...meh.

However, it's a great story, and if they tell it well, it has the chance to be a great movie.

Is Our Government an Old Forest?

Over time, old forests build up with dead trees, decaying plant matter, and old vegetation that chokes out and prevents new growth.

When a forest fire breaks out, it destroys all these things and returns them (and the nutrients they’ve been harboring) back to the soil in the form of ashes. The underbrush is cleared so sunlight can reach the forest floor and new growth can emerge. Invasive weeds are gone, insects are eliminated, and newer, younger growth explodes.

I have to say, I’m not totally opposed to it.

IG Report Confirms Hillary Clinton Intentionally Broke Laws and Lied

I know, I know.

I'm as surprised as you that the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy includes the State Department.

Here are some of the highlights:

1. Her private e-mail account was in violation of State Department rules. These rules were made to give specific effect to law. So...she broke the law.

2. She claimed to have turned over all her "work related" e-mails. The IG found work e-mails that Hillary never turned over. These e-mails were recovered by other means.

3. Hillary kept claiming that she was cooperating with the investigation, but guess what...she (along with most of her staff) never answered the IG's questionnaire. Sounds like super cooperation to me!

I'm hoping for an indictment and the rule of law, but I'm expecting neither. In this day and age, when you break the law and compromise national security, you don't get indicted. Apparently, you get promoted.

Just a good ol' girl
Never meaning no harm
Been in trouble with the law since the day she was born
Usin' servers
Hidin' e-mails
Some day the mountain may get her
But the law never will

The best pilot anyone has ever seen.

Who was the best pilot I ever saw?

Ace Pilot Henry Caskey stands in front of a P-51 Mustang at the 2016 Shaw Air Expo

Well, you're looking at him.

The NRA endorses Trump

I can't say I'm really surprised, given how anti-gun Hillary is. I mean, what where they going to do, endorse Hillary?

I'll say this, though. I don't join the NRA in endorsing Trump. I just can't.

EgyptAir Flight MS804 Likely Victim of Terror Attack

But hey, before you get on your high horse, don't forget about the Crusades.

This is all going to get worse before it gets better.

Sigh.

Tom Cotton calls Obama's Advisers a Bunch of Slapfighting Nancy-Boys

He singled out Ben Rhodes as a "chump".

“You know, most of who’s left in the administration now are all these yes men and fan boys who were van drivers or press flaks for Barack Obama in Iowa and New Hampshire in 2008,” Cotton added, recalling Obama’s first presidential campaign.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      “As if any of them have ever seen anything more dangerous than a shoving match when they were playing beer pong in the back of a bar in Georgetown.”

Boom. The only way you can up that insult is to say they were playing beer-pong with Zima.

Art Open Thread: The Battle off Cape St. Vincent

I'm on the fourth book of the Aubrey-Maturin series, The Mauritius Command, and enjoying the entire series immensely. Accordingly, the Art Open Thread is inspired by my reading.

The moonlight Battle off Cape St Vincent, 16 January 1780 by Francis Holman, painted 1780, shows the Santo Domingo exploding, with Rodney's flagship Sandwich in the foreground.

Enjoy.

Sports Update - Big Hits Edition

I haven't had a sports update in awhile, but there are a a few sports items that bear mentioning:

1. South Carolina is on the bubble of being a National Seed. Personally, I think that South Carolina will end up being left out of the national seeding, but that's fine. All that matters is winning games. Being a top seed just means you play games at home. Win anyway. It was nice to see the Gamecocks salvage the last game against Texas A&M yesterday. Getting swept would have been a huge blow to the team.

By the way, Dom Thompson-Williams hit a mammoth home run yesterday. Not only did it go over the fence - it went over the outer fence of the stadium. He hit a ball that landed somewhere in the vicinity of Sumter. When you hit a ball that far, you get to admire it and flip your bat like a boss, regardless of what the unwritten rules say.

2. Speaking of huge hits, Jose Bautista took a huge hit to the face in yesterday's Blue Jays-Game. We all know that there's no crying in baseball, but Jimmy Dugan never said that there's no hay-makers. Here's the video.

3. And finally, to a guy who's a big hit in Columbia (and all of Gamecock Country), Marcus Lattimore talked with ESPN about his career-ending knee injuries, his path forward, and his life now. He's currently an assistant coach with a local high school here in Columbia.

There's your sports update, campers.

Obama administration directs schools to accommodate transgender students

All schools. Everywhere.

The directive comes from two top administration officials: Catherine E. Lhamon, the assistant secretary of education for civil rights, and Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. It put state and local officials and higher-education institutions on notice that they risk losing federal education aid if they limit students to areas or teams based on their gender assigned at birth.

"Risk losing federal education aid" equals; Hey, nice school you got there. It sure would be a shame if, you know, something happened to it. 

So now all the bathrooms in all the schools everywhere are going to be equal opportunity for boys and girls, if...you...feel like a different gender, I guess. I'm sure this will lead to zero problems at all.

On a practical level, what will happen when some boys decide to just go in the girls locker rooms? Can a teacher tell them to get the hell out? And the bathroom thing is just gross, especially if you're a girl. I mean, the girls have the nice bathrooms. There's usually a lake of pee on the floor of the boys' bathroom, so I see girls as the total losers of this arrangement. The ladies are losing the exclusive use of the nice bathroom.

So much for your "safe space".

And sports teams? Great. Just wait until some guys want to join the girls basketball team. I'm sure that will go over really well. Hey, if you don't make the high school basketball team, slap on a pair of panties and go try out for the girl's teams. Have fun!

This country is losing its ever-lovin' mind. We've got serious problems to address, and this is sort of nonsense that our government has decided to fool around with.

Clinton: The FBI is merely conducting a "security inquiry"

FBI Director: I've never even heard of the term "security inquiry".

The Citadel maintains their dress code standard. Legal battle looms.

After consideration, The Citadel has declined to alter their dress code to allow an accepted student to wear a hijab over her cadet uniform. So it now looks like this student will be suing.

Because of course she will.

Recapping a Great Vacation

Last Friday morning, I departed Charlotte International Airport for the Dominican Republic with my wife and three other friends. We were all taking a vacation without the kids for the first time in over five years. We arrived back in Charlotte today, refreshed, rested, and completely relaxed.

For those of you with kids, you know that children are wonderful. Children are a blessing from God. But hey, sometimes it's nice to wake up in the morning and not have your first thought be about making breakfast for your toddler and changing diapers on your littlest one. Every five years, it's not too much to ask to have a long weekend.

Each morning, I would wake up, realize I had nowhere to be and then go back to sleep for about twenty minutes. When I did get up, I made a cup of espresso in our room, and then drank it on our patio overlooking the beach while reading my new favorite book series.

It was glorious.

Here are some photos.

This was the view out of our room on the patio. We're about 80 yards from the beach.

My beautiful bride and I pose on the beach.

The view overlooking the restaurant that overlooks the pool that overlooks the ocean. Lots to see.

At one point, I ordered a banana daiquiri, and they made it with actual, fresh bananas. The resort was absolutely phenomenal in almost every respect. We had a great time with our friends, enjoyed reading books in the shade on the beach, and did mostly nothing.

And it was everything I thought it could be.

Back to being a lawyer tomorrow. 

Ferrari F1 Pit Stop Perfection

Enjoy.

"I did nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be."

On the beach.

This is a stock photo, but I set this blog post up to come online at a scheduled time. I'm in the Dominican Republic, doing absolutely nothing.

And it's everything that I thought it could be.

Blue Peter is a flyin'

Traditionally, Blue Peter is the nickname given to the nautical signal flag that represents the letter “P.” When communicating with signal flags, each letter of the alphabet has a specific meaning. The letter “P” means “All persons should report on board as the vessel is about to proceed to sea.”

I'm leaving for the island of Hispaniola first thing in the morning with some good friends. I'll be gone for a little while, and although I will be unplugged from all communications, I've got some pre-selected blog fodder ready to auto-post.

New Red Line for Obama in Syria?

This time, they mean it. Seriously, you guys.

Secretary of State John Kerry imposed an August deadline for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to transition out of power, warning the Damascus-based government and its Russian and Iranian backers that non-adherence to the ultimatum will prompt a new US approach to ending the five-year-old war. "The target date for the transition is 1st of August," Kerry said in a press conference at the State Department on Tuesday. "So we're now coming up to May. So either something happens in these next few months, or they are asking for a very different track."

Here's the very next sentence: (You're gonna love it.)

It's not clear how much weight Kerry's ultimatum has.

It's not clear how much weight the ultimatum  has? Yeah. How about none? I'm sure Assad is really really worried that Obama and John Kerry are going to start pushing him around. If only someone would let our President be clear on this issue.

Our foreign policy in this region is a freaking clown-show. 

"When the fall is all there is, it matters."

So yesterday Cruz dropped out, and today, Kasich did the same.

So we're left with the Idiot Orange Carnival Barker against the Hillary. I ain't voting for either of those people. Neither are worthy of my vote, as neither is qualified to be POTUS. I know lots of traditional Republicans are going to eventually fall in line and support Trump because "He's better than Hillary", but we're not grading on a curve here.

I'm not going to surrender my principles and integrity and support Trump. I'd rather just die honorably, like Prince Richard in The Lion in Winter, who, believing that he's about to be killed refuses to beg for his life.

Richard: He’s here. He’ll get no satisfaction out of me. He isn’t going to see me beg.

Geoffrey: My you chivalric fool… as if the way one fell down mattered.

Richard: When the fall is all there is, it matters.

It matters how you handle Trump being the GOP nominee, especially if you're a tradtional GOP voter. Do you stick with your principles, or do you cast them aside? Brad had some thoughts on this and went with a WWII metaphor of the Nazis marching through Paris and how Churchill refused to surrender. I think that's appropriate.

Other thoughts I have on not giving in or giving up would be best embodied as follows:

and

Never give up.

Feel Good Story of the Day

From Huntsville, Alabama.

Smith is the founder of Raising Men Lawn Care Service, a group that's lending a hugely helpful hand to neighbors in need. They do free lawns for the elderly, disabled, and single mothers. Smith says Raising Men Lawn Care Service is "the union of an ordinary yard maintenance service and the commitment to establish an inspiring program to keep our young men and boys (young women and girls) on a positive path while learning and understanding their value in society.

Nice.

Are universities eroding masculinity?

Camille Paglia on gender and masculinity.

The problem right now is that the masculine has no honor whatever in our culture. We’re in a period now where young people are being processed for the universities, and the gender norms are said to be that gender is a construct. It is simply the product of environmental pressures on people. There’s no nothing in the body — .
COWEN: We have a big culture. Not everyone goes to university, thank goodness. You can go to a NASCAR race and a few of the people there have not been to the Ivy Leagues.
PAGLIA: Working class culture retains an idea of the masculine. There’s absolutely no doubt about that. But, with that, comes static. So you have to have strong women in order to deal with masculine men.
That is why masculinity is constantly being eroded, diminished, and dissolved on university campuses because it allows women to be weak. If you have weak men, then you can have weak women. That’s what we have. Our university system, anything that is remotely masculine is identified as toxic, as intrinsic to rape culture. A utopian future is imagined where there are no men. We’re all genderless mannequins.
The movie The Time Machine is like one. We’re moving toward that, the Eloi. That’s how I see the upper middle class graduates of the Ivy League. They’re the Eloi.

Michigan Public School Creates Separate But Equal Music Class for One 4-Year Old Child

All because her father exercised his legal rights.

A Kalamazoo mother says her daughter has been isolated and bullied all because her father followed the law. As Newschannel 3 reported, the KRESA West Campus was locked down after the father of a 4-year-old legally open carried his gun on campus. Now, the man's wife is speaking out for the first time about the ramifications of that decision. The mother says her daughter refuses to go back to the music class, because she's alone. All of the students have been transferred to another class on a different campus.

So...because a parent exercised his legal right to carry, the school decided that it was going to isolate the child from all of her other classmates. Because...feelings or something.

I remember back when schools created separate but equal facilities for some kids. I guess we're doing that again, huh. Maybe they'll start making this little girl drink at separate water fountains, too.

Forty years ago, Rick Monday saves Old Glory

On another slightly more serious note:

Rick Monday played 19 seasons in the big leagues, made two All-Star squads, appeared in the World Series two times and was a member of the Dodgers' 1981 World Series championship team. He was the first player selected in the first Draft in June 1965.

And Monday is best known for saving an American flag from being burned by two protesters on the outfield grass during a game at Dodger Stadium 40 years ago on Monday.

Rick Monday snatches the American Flag away from two protesters who were about to light it on fire at Dodger Stadium in 1976.

The Perfect Date!

Happy Monday, campers. It's the perfect date!

Chelsea Clinton has this idea that the Supreme Court will "next time" issue the "definitive" ruling.

I guess according to Chelsea, the Heller ruling wasn't "definitive". It must just be sort of a temporary ruling of some sort until the left can come out with the newer, more permanent ruling that is the opposite.

If the individual right to bear arms is important to you, Hillary ain't your candidate.

Prince is Dead

Wow.

I was never a big fan of Prince, but I do acknowledge he was a big time music icon. I'm not saying I didn't like his stuff. I"m just saying I didn't go out of my way to listen to it.

He was legend, though.

 He is pretty damn good at playing the guitar.

Harriet Tubman to Replace Andrew Jackson on $20 Bill; Alexander Hamilton Gets to Stay

So, okay. 

So Andrew Jackson is getting the boot. Not that I really care who is on my paper money, anyway. For what it's worth, I'm all in favor of a gun-toting, Christian, Republican woman getting some face-time on some currency.

Also, as I mentioned on Twitter, I'm sure that Ol' Hickory is probably glad to be off currency issued by a central bank, as he wasn't a big fan of central banking.

I guess now the Federal government will start the removal process and Jackson will just have to pack up all his stuff and march off to some other less desirable place without any sort of say-so in the process...

I doubt many tears will be shed for him.

20 Photographic Highlights of the Luftgekuhlt Porsche Show

Luftgekuhlt means "air-cooled", which is what every pre-1999 Porsche was. Enjoy.

I do love the classic lines.

70% of Marine Corps Hornet Strike Fighters Aren't Ready to Fly

Out of 276 F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters in the Marine Corps inventory, only about 30% are ready to fly, according to statistics provided by the Corps. Similarly, only 42 of 147 heavy-lift CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters are airworthy.

Thirty percent ready to fly is a statistic I would expect from some third-world country, not the United States Marine Corps.

The Marines are the tip of the spear for our armed forces, but that spear is starting to look rusty and dull. You can't have a well-trained fighting force when only 30% of their aircraft are ready to fly.

But hey, we got women on the front lines. That ought even things out, right?

"Sort of 1776 in reverse"

A rising number of Britons say they are offended that the U.S. president will try to persuade them to stay in the European Union, just as a poll indicates the “Out” forces have pushed into the lead in the national vote. “If the American people aren’t happy with foreign heads of state or politicians telling them how to vote, then they shouldn’t be happy with their head of state lecturing other countries,” said Rory Broomfield, director of the “Better Off Out” campaign to leave the European Union.

He described Mr. Obama’s pressure as “sort of 1776 in reverse.”

What It's Like To Be A U.S. Marine Watching Over The White House

This video breaks down a day in the life of the most badass doorman in America.

Some Thoughts on Self Defense and the Bible

As someone who is an advocate for self-defense, and therefore carrying arms, I am obliged to think about self-defense and when it's appropriate and when it's not.

Certainly, it makes sense for anyone who carries arms for self-defense to think about these things before they are in a situation where quick action is needed. You can't call time-out to sort out your thoughts on self-defense. You need to already have though about what you are willing to do, or not do.

To avoid thought on this topic is in itself poor preparedness, as having the right mindset is a significant part of self-defense, as much as being armed.

In that regard, one source of thought that I turn to (among others) is the Bible. I was having a back-and-forth over at Brad's Bar and Grill about self-defense and someone brought up the admonition in the Sermon on the Mount to "turn the other cheek". I see that admonition as not resorting to violence in the face of an insult or a rebuke. Simply being insulted is not grounds for violence. If you're insulted, simply allow that person to insult you again.

As I see it, an insult or a slap in the face is not the same as a serious attack on your life. Accordingly, I don't agree with the old ethics of having a duel to defend your honor like they had back in the Napoleonic Era. Dueling for honor isn't something that I would have participated in. You simply turn the other cheek.

At a later point, Brad brought up the question of what Jesus would the say about Good Samaritan, if he had encountered the robbers in the act. Should the Good Samaritan have intervened, or should he have waited and then helped the man. Apparently, someone thought this was a difficult question. It's not. You help people. Need some controlling authority?

Psalm 82:4 "Rescue the weak and the needy; Deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

However, I don't think we mere mortals should get too carried away with ourselves. Having the means to defend yourself does not necessarily make you all-powerful. Don't trust your tools too much. At the end of the day, you have to realize that you're not in control. Even David, before he killed Goliath said:

“All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

My thoughts on self-defense put these two passages from the Bible together. Do what you can to protect the weak and the needy, but realize that you’re not in control of everything. Don’t trust yourself and your arms to the exclusion of God and his plan.

Your mileage may vary.

Trump's Comments on Abortion

His comments on abortion illustrate one of the (many) horrible things about Trump, and regardless of what your position is on abortion, I think you'll agree with me on the following:

It’s painfully obvious that Trump has not really given more than 1.6 seconds of thought to the abortion issue, and he just sort of made things up on the spot.

Leaving aside the substance and the abortion debate itself, it’s clear that Trump has never actually studied the issue, read anything about all of the metaphorical cease-fires and truces that both sides of the abortion debate have sort of worked out in the larger context of the debate. He hasn’t thought about the issue at all, so he’s reduced to sort of just winging it. And he does that with everything.

I see it as both arrogance and laziness. He’s arrogant enough that he just assumes that he can get by without really having a deep understanding of an issue, and he’s not intellectually disciplined enough to actually take time to come to a deep understanding of an issue. I find both of it terribly offensive given the enormous magnitude and power of the office he’s running for.

He just doesn’t care to study that hard. But hey, maybe that’s part of Trump’s appeal to some people. Maybe the thing I find to be a bug is a feature to others.

There are lots of people out there who don’t think hard about the issues and just sort of make stuff up on the spot. Maybe Trump doing the same thing appeals to them on some level.

But hey, I’ve given up on the 2016 election. It’s really very freeing.

I kind of feel like Lt. Spears when he runs through all the fire when E Company takes Foy. He’s just already accepted that he’s a dead man.

Gun Sales Continue to Set Records

March 2016 sets another record for gun sales.

(And I didn't even buy any guns in March!)

Book Review: Master and Commander

For the last few years, almost all of my pleasure reading has been non-fiction. I really enjoy reading about military history, and inevitably, reading a book focused on one topic sparks my interest in an ancillary topic, so I've sort of being going from book to book in an odd method of free association.

For instance, I read some books about General Patton, which led me to want to read about him more as a young man in WWI, which led me to read more generally about WWI, which led me to read more about MacArthur (who also fought in WWI), which got me interested in his rivalry with Halsey, which sparked my interest in reading something about Admiral Halsey.

However, I wanted to take a little break from all the non-fiction, and I have a few friends how really like the Aubrey/Maturin series, and since I was trending toward naval warfare anyway, this seemed like a good fit.

I was heavily advised to start at the beginning of all the books, which seemed natural enough to me. The first is Master and Commander, which I have just finished. (Note, the movie Master and Commander: Far Side of the World is sort of an amalgamation of many different books.)

My review of the book is below:

April Showers [Art Open Thread]

Happy Friday. Please return your seat-backs to their locked and upright position, as the pilot is on final approach to the weekend.

Rain in Belle-lle, Claude Monet - 1886

April showers...