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Being Ready

SHTF, The Gun Thing

John Walters has posted his list of 10 essential guns that will help you survive the time when civilization starts to crumble and fall over.  His conclusion says it all:

Ten guns.  Thousands of dollars.  Hundreds of training hours.  This isn’t hobbyism.  It’s insurance against hard times, written in steel and gunpowder.  My uncle understood what I’m only now fully grasping: preparation becomes necessity without announcement, and those ready sleep while others pace in darkness.

Acquire these tools.  Learn them.  Maintain them against the day when phones die and police stop coming.  That day approaches regardless of elections or economic indicators.

Civilization persists where force maintains it.  Ensure you possess sufficient force.

I think that everyone who visits my website with any regularity will be familiar with the concept, because I’ve been hammering on about it for over two decades.

As for his list, I have no problem with anything he says, because his rationale is well supported by common sense.  (I may disagree with a couple of his specific guns, of course, as may any one of you, but that’s absolutely unimportant:  the category and the need they address are well stated.  Also, some of the categories kinda overlap, but that’s also not a major fault:  there’s nothing wrong with a little redundancy, as any fule kno.)

  1. Pump Shotgun: 12-Gauge
  2. AR-15 Platform
  3. Service Pistol: .45 ACP Long-Range
  4. Hunter: .30-06 Springfield
  5. Rimfire Battery: .22 LR
  6. Concealed Companion: Subcompact 9mm
  7. Battle Rifle: 7.62x51mm NATO
  8. Revolver: .357 Magnum
  9. Tactical Shotgun: Semi-Automatic 12-Gauge
  10. Precision Instrument: Bolt-Action .308

One could argue that the “hunter” (.30-06) and “battle rifle “(7.62x51mm) could be addressed by the same rifle (e.g. an M1 Garand), and the “hunter” likewise with the “precision instrument” (e.g. a scoped Mauser in [pick one]  chambering).  As I said, there’s some overlap.

Interestingly, I am deficient in both shotgun categories — I don’t own a shotgun of any description at the moment — and I don’t really have a subcompact handgun either.  (If Clint Smith carries two 1911s, I see no reason why I shouldn’t, or else carry two .357 Mag/.38 Special revolvers, as I sometimes do.)  And really, those handguns are just there to buy me the time to get to the trunk of my car, where Hell Awaits To Be Unleashed™.

I am also somewhat leery of the “precision instrument”, mostly because my eyesight is becoming so crap that any shot needing to be made over 400 (300 even?) yards would see me seeking deep cover or retreating instead.  (I do have a decent precision/hunting rifle or two, of course, but I’m no longer confident of my ability to reach out and touch anyone further out than the above, with any degree of confidence.)

I’m getting to the point, in other words, where my “hunter”, “battle” and “precision instrument” categories will soon be blended into a .357 Magnum lever rifle (with an old Ruger/S&W revolver as a companion piece when it comes to halitosis-range combat).

But don’t let me be a downer:  get out there and do as the man says.  Practice till you can’t practice anymore, and then practice again and again, as often as you can.

Your life may well depend on it.

Simple Stuff

Old Fartism, Technology

Earlier on, I discussed technology and how it’s turned “nice to have” into “unless you have it, the thing won’t work”, such as the episode where Samsung fridges bricked because of a crappy “update”.

[brief 250,000-word rant deleted]

Now we’re always talking about appliances like fridges that last for yonks without breaking down, but I am reminded of one old stalwart that I used for (rough guess) about ten years before I got talked into something more “advanced” (to my everlasting regret).

Well, it wasn’t a fairy tale.

Take a bow, the venerable HP500 Deskjet:

I have no idea how many thousands of pages I printed using this old dot-matrix warhorse — remember, back then we couldn’t send any document of size through Teh Emailz, so we had to print stuff out and mail it (or hand-carry it) to the intended recipient’s office.

My memory is hazy after all these years — was it 2001 when I finally stopped using it?  I know it was post Y2K, because I was assured that it would not be affected by Teh Y2K Disaster!!! and carried on relying on it until the panic passed).  But honestly, I could probably count the number of printer jams on the fingers of two hands, no more.

Yeah, the quality wasn’t up to much.  But let’s face it:  how many times do you actually need photographic quality on your printer’s output anyway?  (In my case, it would be “hardly ever”.)

I’m telling you, right now I would be perfectly content with that HP500, even though it has no BlooToof™ connection and I’d have to plug it into my laptop every time I wanted to print something… which would be about twice a month, tops.

Of course, it would need a different cable connector because there’s no room for a 36-pin plug on the Lenovo, but I’m sure some geek could slap one together for me in about half an hour.  And I’m not sure that HP (or anyone else) even makes the ink cartridges anymore, either.

Whenever I think about the HP500, by the way, I’m reminded of this example of simple, rugged utility:

1969 VW Beetle

I’d probably be quite contented with this old thing too, even though like the HP500 it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of Cursed Modernity™ either.  OMG!!!  No electric windows, no automatic transmission, no ECM, no power steering, no anti-lock brakes, no remote disabling, no spy system (ADR), no “lane assist” and no “parking camera” (okay, I wouldn’t mind the last one too much, but it would be a simple aftermarket addition).

What it does come with:  simple and inexpensive maintenance, low fuel consumption and a full-size spare tire.

Translate the above into printer-speak:  hardly any maintenance, low ink usage, plentiful and cheap cartridge supply and an as-needed cable plug.  VW Beetle, meet HP500 Deskjet printer.

Go on, mock me I dare you.

Dishonest Innumeracy

Lies and Untruths, Marxists

Whenever some socialist asswipe attempts to use statistics to prove something, they inevitably end up looking like either a fool or else totally dishonest (mostly, both).

Here’s one example:  Hair Gel Boy spouting some anti-Trump nonsense.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) reposted a chart on X Tuesday claiming housing prices are “the most unaffordable in history,” and that it was Trump’s fault.

The chart Newsom shared showed that the housing affordability gap actually widened during Joe Biden’s presidency, and X users noticed almost instantly, flooding his replies with screenshots of the very data he’d just posted as though it helped his argument. It didn’t take long for the pile-on to turn Newsom’s own post into a meme about his reading comprehension.

I’d like to ascribe this to (innumerate) reading comprehension, but if one heeds the old saying that a lie will make its way around the world before the truth gets out of bed, it’s clear that such a tactic was his intention.  (With X, of course, the effect is somewhat ameliorated because of Community Notes — thanks again, Elon — but still.  Now the lie only makes it a quarter of the way around the world before the truth comes out swinging a sledgehammer.)

Newsom’s not, of course, the only one:

In July 2025, the Democratic National Committee posted a chart that they thought proved grocery prices were spiraling out of control in Trump’s second term.

The chart told a different story. It showed a huge spike under Biden. The DNC had unwittingly undermined its own attack on Trump. Social media users mocked the party within hours, dissecting the chart line by line, forcing the DNC to quietly delete the post… not that that stopped us from making fun of them anyway.

I’d like to substitute “public flogging” for “making fun of”, but that’s just me.

We see this stuff time and time again, especially with the old Global Warming Climate Cooling Change© nonsense, where its adherents choose a point in time that oh-so conveniently “proves” their point about the above upward movement.

It’s one of the reasons why I’ve always preferred a “moving average” type of trend graph, because that smooths out one-time or extraordinary data points — which is why the alarmists and mountebanks (like Newsom) hate using them — if indeed they know what a “moving average” even is.

Ignoramus or outright liar?  I report, you decide.

Reader Response

The Gun Thing

Following yesterday’s post about staghorn grips, Longtime Reader Anthony B. has a suggestion — not just for the Single Six — and Altamont Co. looks like they know what they’re doing.


(Wrangler grips also fit the Single Six line)

I wasn’t actually planning to get new grips for my Single Sixes, but now that I see the options…. hmmmm.

It’s always good to find a “new” gunny vendor (i.e. one I’d never heard of before), so many thanks, Anthony.

News Summary — Special Britishland Edition

Bad News


...typical Socialist:  if you can’t win elections, change the voting rules so that you do.


...remember, comrade:  Marxism dictates that all property belongs to the State.

And for a parallel development in Krautland:


...typical Marxist playbook:  create a crisis, then “fix” it by stepping on the rights of others.

But back to Blighty:


...yeah, never mind all that “will of the people” nonsense;  the Party knows best.


...I’m trying to think when this wasn’t Labour Party policy — or the Conservative Party’s, for that matter.


...next step for Labour:  nationalize the bourgeois banking system, because that’s working so well for the ChiComs, after all.


...I’m struggling to think how it could get any worse than the current system.  And speaking of immigrants:


...begging the question:  “Why was he released in the first place?”


...as Labour’s “NetZero” policies come home to roost.


...keep milking the People to pay for the system:  once again, Marxism rules. Also:


...which would be most Brit city households, of course.  Both the above and this move have, as their unstated goal, the abolition of privately-owned transport.


...hard to see how Britishland will stop the next Argy invasion of Las Malvinas, isn’t it?
#GuttedMilitary

In Real Estate News:


...ah yes, Burnham’s “mansion tax” at work, in the world’s most overpriced residential market.

Finally, in the Police State of Britishland:


...ya think?


...because the Union Jack is a symbol of intolerance and racial hatred, you see.  Unlike the Palestinian flag.

And in the Colonies:


...because that patriotism stuff is so intolerant and racist, you see.

And to end this summary, a moment of sanity.

Tread Carefully, Yamo

Good News, Health

I read this story with great joy:

Up until four months ago, Lev was self-harming until he was black and blue, unable to make eye contact and keeping to himself in a corner all day. He was inching dangerously close to being confined by a punishing helmet and sedated with heavy antipsychotic meds to mitigate his severe autism that left him incapable of functioning by himself.

The outlook was bleak for the tormented tyke, who showed symptoms before he was a year old.

His parents, Gabriella and Matthew Bielski, chased every therapeutic intervention and specialist across the country for years, to no avail. The family desperately needed a lifeline, as no medication is approved to address the core symptoms related to autism.

That was until research led the anguished couple to Yamo Pharmaceuticals, a decade-old clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to treating the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder with its “miracle drug” called L1-79.

They managed to get Lev the therapy before FDA approval thanks to the FDA’s expanded-access program — and the results, they said, were immediate.

“It was the next day,” Matthew Bielski said. “It was right away and other people in all the phases said the same thing.”

“It changed everything for us,” he added, beaming over Lev’s “life-changing transformation.”

Overjoyed over his “miracle kid,” Bielski predicted the drug will be the “Ozempic of autism.”

Which is when my joy abruptly ended.

You see, it’s all very well to come up with a new miracle drug which helps perhaps millions of people.  That’s what Ozempic did — and promptly priced its product out of reach for many millions of people (like myself) who desperately need it.

So hooray hurrah and halleluya for this latest wonder drug.  Let’s just hope that Yamo doesn’t price it at $650 per dose*, like Ozempic’s manufacturer Novo Nordisk did.

Because otherwise this will all be for nothing, and only the wealthy will benefit.

*That $650 is what Ozempic would cost me after Medicare has paid the bulk of the pharmaceutical company’s price.  Needless to say, I don’t take it anymore — just can’t afford it — and the dolorous effect of diabetes on my health has recurred.  Bitter?  You bet your ass I am.