Month: September 2021

News Review

Bad News

Today’s Roundup is as long as John Holmes, so let’s get stuck in like he did.


…so in other words, just like it was before we invaded the place twenty years, thousands of American lives and a trillion dollars ago.  How nice.  And in related news:


…yeah, when we get round to compensating the families of American people mistakenly killed by our own cops raiding the wrong address, then we can talk.  So sorry to sound heartless, but fuck you.

In Election News:


…oh what the hell, why should we be the only North Americans to suffer from a shit government?


…who do they think they are?  Michigan Democrats?


…“return”?  What’s Angela Merkel, bread pudding?


…under what definition of “cowardice” does “one man attacks three cops” fall?


…why would the Magyars be listening to Romney?  Nobody in the U.S. does.


…and the results soon follow:


…nice one, Gammy.


…we all agree, except that you live in Britishland so you’re wasting your time.


…in the spirit of Anglo-American friendship, we should send FBI-has-been James Comey Over There to help out.  He’s marginally better than a stuffed donkey, although some opinions differ.


…fuck off, Boris.  The Green bullshit is only to divert attention from all your other cock-ups, and you’re not fooling anyone.  And by the way, trouble is looming:


…and wind power isn’t going to save you, you Etonian shit-for-brains. [redundancy alert]


…well, I guess that technically speaking, 2% is less than half.


…this is a “dog bites man” report.

Time for some INSIGNIFICA:


…she tricked you, not him, Toots.


…in a follow-up report, the doctor was found beaten to death by a caffeine-deprived lunatic.  And I have an alibi.


…is this a great country, or what?

Now pick two of the following that you’d invite to an airborne threesome:

A:

B:

C:

D:

E:

F:

G:

Remember:  only two.

Classics

The Gun Thing

I often get promo emails from Classic Firearms, and occasionally a couple items will jump off the page, so to speak.  Yesterday’s was one such example:

That’s not the Lee Harvey Oswald version, but the earlier 6.5mm one.  I’ve fired several of these before, and although the bolt is a little clunky, there’s nothing at all wrong with it as a fun gun, or even, dare I say, a truck/trunk gun.  And ammo, thanks to Prvi Partizan (may they stay in business forever), is actually not too spendy, as seen at Graf & Sons:

The only problem with the Carcano rifles (of any chambering) is that their condition is often questionable — and I’m not talking about beat-up stocks, either.  Sometimes, the bores are almost smooth or else pitted like the surface of the Moon.  So caveat emptor.

The above is certainly not true of the next offering, the fantastic Schmidt-Rubin 1911 rifles and carbines:

As I’ve said many times before, this rifle is one of the unsung wonders of the modern age:  made to Swiss-watch tolerances, just about every one I’ve ever fired has felt like ball-bearings on velvet, with accuracy to match.  I prefer the longer 1911 over the K11 carbine simply because it’s better-made, but either way, you’re going to get a fine rifle. There’s hardly a day goes by without me looking back with regret at having had to sell my 1911 rifle because Poverty.

Now, about the 7.5x55mm ammo:

I am delighted to see that RUAG has restarted manufacture of their superlative mil-spec ammo, and Graf assures us that they’ll have it back in stock within a month or so.  And at 62 cents per pull… yikes.

And just for the hell of it, here’s the last item:

I don’t know anything about this little example of Central European gunny goodness, but given the exorbitant cost of the HK / SIG offerings, this might be worth a look.

Man, I love this Gun Thing.

Oz Reich (4)

Gummint, Mocking Furriners

Looks as though the worm is starting to turn in Oz:

Wild scenes broke out in Richmond as a group of hooligans clashed with police trying to contain the violent ‘freedom rally’ march.

…with predictable results:

Police arrested 235 people and while most were taken away for breaching health directions, some were charged with assault, riotous behaviour and weapons and drug offences. Each will be fined $5,452, with 193 infringements handed out so far.

Naturally, police blamed the Deplorables:

‘Angry aggressive young males (were) there to fight the police, not to protest about freedoms,’ he told the media late on Saturday.

Then again, I myself might have turned into an “aggressive male” (i.e. man) had I witnessed thuggery such as this:

An elderly woman was shoved to the ground and doused with pepper spray by two policemen during the Melbourne anti-lockdown riot. The woman was bowled over by the two cops before they fired the spray directly on her face as she lay defenceless on the road trying to shield her eyes.

Because this is Oz, public opinion was divided into two camps, i.e. “bastards” and “she deserved it for breaking the law”.

Please join me in a couple minutes’ silence to allow the RCOB to subside.

Note to the various OzGovs:  “breaking the law” means things like murder, robbery and violence towards the undeserving.  Protesting against totalitarian government is NOT breaking the law except in totalitarian countries like Iran and Communist China.

And now, it seems, Australia.

Plus One

Entertainment

John Nolte provides a list of Clint Eastwood’s “offbeat” movies and characters, and I can’t really argue with any of them.

I just wish he’d made it a “top six” and added the much-ignored but superb Tightrope, wherein Clinty plays a New Orleans cop who is nothing like his Harry Callahan forebears:  he’s a single dad, vulnerable, a below-average cop who makes mistakes almost every step of the way.  He doesn’t even carry a .44 Magnum, but some teeny little .38 snubbie.

But the best part is that his investigation takes him into the murky world of deviant sex — which at first repels him, but after some time, and despite all his better instincts, starts to attract him and in so doing, draws him into his prey’s world, making him the hunted.

One of the most attractive features of Clint’s typical movie personae  is that he is strong in his beliefs, and when he straddles the line between right and wrong, he’s always aware of the line.  Not in Tightrope.  And his portrayal of the moral confusion and temptation to which he begins to succumb makes it, I think, one of his most compelling performances.

Watch it if you can get it.

Yikes

Drive Time

In a tangential post to the Goodwood Revival, I see the following bit of news:

Each California Spyder Revival will be built by hand from a donor car, using parts produced by GTO Engineering; the company is a renowned Ferrari restoration specialist, and aims to equal or better the quality standards of the original car. The iconic Scaglietti-designed body, for example, will be hand-formed from sheet aluminium using GTO’s own, bespoke tooling.
Despite the focus on authenticity, the California Spyder Revival will also be highly customisable. The customer can choose between three versions of Ferrari’s Columbo V12, from a standard 3.0-litre engine to upgraded 3.5 or 4.0-litre units. The original four-speed gearbox can also be swapped out for a five-speed item, and bespoke exterior paint colours can be specified. The interior is trimmed in leather of the buyer’s choosing, with the option of a smaller wooden steering wheel than the original car.

The purists may wail and shout a bit, but I think it’s fantastic.