Month: May 2023

Summing It Up

Economics

The problem with large numbers is that most people can’t comprehend them.  Here, for example, is a summary of our national economy by John Hawkins:

When it comes to the deficit, this year the federal government is expected to take in 3.86 trillion dollars in revenue (which is iffy) and is expected to AT LEAST have a 3 trillion dollar deficit (it will probably be much higher). That’s on top of our current debt which is at $28.7 trillion. If you count the unfunded liabilities the government has such as payments for Social Security and Medicare, estimates vary, but it may very well be closer to 135 trillion dollars.

The problem with millions is that few people will ever be in direct contact with that number (unless they’re looking at the odds against winning a lottery).  With billions, that distance (and therefore ignorance of the scale) increases exponentially.  Trillions?  Fuggeddabahdit.

Fortunately, Hawkins comes to the rescue in his very next sentence:

To put this in terms that are easier to understand, imagine your Uncle Sam is making $100,000 per year, spending $200,000 per year, is already more than $700,000 in the hole, and has another $3,000,000+ that he’s promised to people.

Now that’s perfectly understandable.  And to make things worse, there’s the attitude of our beloved Gummint towards this looming catastrophe:

When you ask him about it, your uncle tells you that he’s rich and so he has no plans to EVER dramatically cut his spending as long as people will keep loaning him money.

So the Day of Reckoning approaches.

I wish I could offer some kind of solution or hope, but I can’t.  I can only suggest that we stock up on food and ammo.  Lots of both, but especially ammo.

Note:  Hawkins’s larger point in his post is that bankruptcy is a catalyst for revolution — and it may even be a larger catalyst than political differences.  He’s right.

News Roundup

Bad News

And in other Medical News:


...uhhhhh no.


...thus taking away the effectiveness of the “Eat shit and die” epithet.

In the latest Woke News:


...from your mouth to God’s ear, honey.


…just accept the fact that you’ve fucked your brand, hard, in the ass — just like your precious spokesthing does.  And speaking of this little asshole:


...you started it, darlin’.


…ummm is there any historical basis for the term “Minutewoman”?  Asking for a friend.

And speaking of hoplophobes:


...between P.J. and Beto, it sure seems like the wrong O’Rourke died.


...works for me.  Now let’s start killing a few, pour encourager les autres.  And speaking of pedophile organizations:


...which I’ll believe when His Assholiness points to where the term “couch potatoes” appears in the Gospel.


...looks like they want to start something they may not be able to stop.  Just sayin’.


...considering that Argentina’s total import business is lower than Alabama’s, this is ummm not significant.

And speaking of INSIGNIFICA:

  …


...I know, I’d never heard of Kayla Simmons either.  Does she even exist?  Let’s go to the gallery:

And that’s all the news that sticks out this week.

Ritual Humiliation

The Gun Thing

Last week I went to the range with the Son&Heir so that he could put rounds through his new Springfield 1911 Ronin:

…and mirabile dictu, he pronounced himself satisfied with its trigger.  Of course, he made me look stupid by putting all 8 rounds into a palm-print at 30 feet, one-handed, while I could only manage a side-plate-sized group at the same distance, two-handed.

Damn kids.

However:  when we stepped up the firing speed (all 8 fired inside 5 seconds, two-handed), I was pleased to see his group opening up considerably — about the same side-plate size as mine.

Of course, I shoot my well-worn and familiar 1911 every week, whereas he last fired a 1911 about three years ago, let alone a NIB gun with stiff trigger etc.

Anyway, I was able to satisfy myself in one very important aspect:  compared to the usual 230gr .45 ACP, my adopted 185gr practice ammo is far more accurate (and much less punishing).  I had found some inexpensive Defender 185gr FMJ reloads and (even better) some of Norma’s excellent MHP 175gr loads for a good price at Palmetto State Armory.  The latter really zips out the barrel (~300fps faster than ordinary 230gr FMJ), and from what I’ve read, the expansion in ballistic gel is impressive.

Neither of us experienced a single ejection- or chambering failure in either gun, for any brand of ammo (S&H was shooting Winchester White Box 230gr FMJ, and Hornady XTP 200gr JHP).

We’re doing it again next week, because I’m a masochist.

Who?

Celebrities, Journalist Scum

It’s not often that I comment on celebrity stuff, but this takes the cake:

The American people still hold a grudge against the Royal Family for how Princess Diana was treated, claims a senior journalist at ABC News.
The late Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997, captivated the hearts of people worldwide with her charm, grace, and unwavering commitment to humanitarian causes.
And she had a particularly strong impact in America – with rumours she even planned to give up her life in the UK and move Stateside.

What a load of bullshit.  I dunno where this “senior journalist at ABC News” conducted his poll — no doubt among his “senior” journo buddies, over several cocktails at some foul Manhattan bar.

I doubt whether the average American under age… I dunno, maybe 60 — even knows who the Virgin Princess was.  And among the over 60s (like me), the reaction is most likely in the “who gives a rat’s ass?” class.

Indeed, the whole Royal Family concept is treated with barely-concealed contempt Over Here, with only a few royalty groupies even aware of the dramatis personae  in Britishland’s little social soap opera.  (I know who most of these parasites are, but that’s only because my university degree is in Modern Western Civilization — such as it was — and it’s necessary to know these goofs only because of the part they played in European history prior to WWI.)

And as it turns out, Prince Charles only married this upper-class twit because he couldn’t marry Camilla — yeah, that worked out well — and even better, she wasn’t the saintly Lady/Princess Di, but a shallow little Sloane Ranger (Britain’s Valley Girl equivalent, named for their fondness for the shops and clubs of Chelsea) who won the ultimate Sloan Prize:  to marry royalty.  And that worked out well, too.  Not.

Anyway, there is no “grudge” Over Here towards the Royals.  I bet this “senior journalist at ABC News” only made that statement to create some controversy prior to Charles’s coronation next week.

Sic semper iournalisti (or however they would have put it in 100 AD).

Caught But Not Shot

Crime, Illegal immigrants

Seems as though that murderous Mexican illegal immigrant (discussed here) has been caught, but sadly, made no attempt to resist arrest and thus escaped being righteously shot to death.

Request to the trial judge:  please move him to the head of the Needle Line.  It’s even a Texas law — if you murdered someone and it was witnessed by others (as this one was), he can be placed as the very next candidate for execution.

Of course, the MexGov is going to piss and moan about this as they always do when we whack one of their citizens for being an asshole, but fuck ’em.