Latest Posts

Change Agent

Economics, Trumpism

…or, “Why are we continuing to act like the Cold War is still a thing?”

Four score years ago, the United States brought forth a new economic system, dedicated to the proposition that we would rebuild the world from the wreckage of the Second World War and stand athwart communism. For 40 years, that system worked. Germany and Japan, economically devastated, got rebuilt. In return, the United States accepted persistent trade deficits and the gradual hollowing out of our manufacturing base. The logic was coherent: we needed these allies secure and prosperous.

Then the logic expired in 1989, but we never stopped. For the past 30 years, we’ve been running the same policy for no reason at all. That’s the mistake.

See how Trump is undoing the years of economic mismanagement by the U.S. government.

If he (and his successors) can pull this off, it will be one of the most consequential (and beneficial) acts ever to grace this nation.

More Knife Stories

Guy Stuff, Marxists, Resistance, Tools

Reader Blackwing1 had some good things to say about his Leatherman CS4 Juice:

…and I must say it looks good for an everyday carry (EDC) function;  but it does lack a whole bunch of SHTF gear, which was the premise of the original post.

Unfortunately, I just can’t get past the fact that Tim Leatherman voted for Fuckface Kerry, back in the day.  So I’m reluctant to buy any LM products — and yes I know, it’s ancient news, but there it is.  (According to him, he’s not anti-gun — “I own a rifle and a shotgun” — but the fact that he was prepared to vote for Anti-Gun Fuckface really sticks in my craw.)

I was once given a Leatherman tool as a Christmas present, and I passed it on to someone else as soon as the occasion arose.

Feel free to take issue with me.

Dept. Of Righteous Shootings

Righteous Shootings

So this “teenager” decides to do a little amateur income redistribution, choosing some guy at random and then pulling a gun on the intended victim.

Whereupon said intended victim pulls his own gun and pops a quickie into the teenager’s chest, sending him towards an early grave.

This used to be an uncommon occurrence in Chicago, until the Supremes dragged the city (and its surrounding state) kicking and screaming into compliance with the Second Amendment.  Now it’s becoming a fairly common experience to find a choirboy with a ventilated corpse, with a righteous citizen standing over him with a smoking gun.  ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

However:  let’s just hope that the Chicago PD and the Soros-backed filth in the DA’s office decide not to go after Our Hero for doing the Right Thing.  Can’t say they won’t, though, because Chicago.

Sorry to end this happy news on a bummer note, but there it is.

Soros delenda est.

Wrong 10

Books & Movies, Crime

Yeah I know, it’s another piece of A.I. garbage, masquerading as thoughtful critique, but this take on the 10 greatest heist movies gets it wrong.

To save you the time of watching the video, with its fake voice and faker conviction, here’s its list:

10 – Oceans 11 (no argument;  the first and best of the Oceans franchise, and far better than the original Rat Pack version)
9 – The Italian Job (with Michael Caine;  also no argument)
8 – Inception (nope;  it’s not a heist movie, but sci-fi)
7 – Rififi (no argument)
6 – Inside Man (no argument)
5 – The Sting (nope, it’s not a heist movie;  it’s a sting, just as the title suggests)
4 – Reservoir Dogs (nope, it’s not a heist, just as the “narrator” suggests)
3 – Heat (no argument)
2 – The Town (haven’t seen it yet, so no comment)
1 – Goodfellas (nope;  it’s not  even remotely a heist movie)

You see, there’s a framing problem, here.  The definition of a “heist” movie is that it’s about criminals stealing stuff from an institution, not from people.  It has to be about the actual robbery, in other words, and not about the aftermath (Reservoir Dogs) or just an aside to the plot (Goodfellas), or about robbing an individual (The Sting, Inception).  That’s not to say that the above are not good movies — they’re all absolutely brilliant — but they’re not about heists, according to my definition.

So if we delete the unqualified, it leaves four spots open on the list.  Here are my modest suggestions for inclusion, in chronological order:

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951, Alec Guinness)
Charley Varrick (1973, Walter Matthau)
Thief (1981, James Caan)
The Score (2001, Robert De Niro, Ed Norton)
Heist (2001, Gene Hackman)
…and we could add either or both of the Thomas Crown Affair movies, with absolutely no argument from me.  Even Snatch could conceivably be included, as it begins with arguably the funniest robbery ever filmed.

To be frank, though, heist (or “caper”) movies are not my favorite genre, so there may be others that are worthy but that I haven’t seen, so feel free to add your own suggestions in Comments.

Afterthought:  I suspect that not many have seen Jules Dassin’s Rififi, but I would earnestly recommend that you do so.  When the entire spectacular heist is filmed without dialogue or music, you have to know… so that poxy A.I. list got at least one thing right.