Interference

We have encountered some jamming in our signals, so we will have to go quiet the remainder of this week.  We'll try to catch up Monday. 

Insensitive Cheerleaders

Up in Saskatchewan at the University of Regina, members of the cheerleading team posted a picture on Instagram:

Some of the women in the Instagram picture are wearing plaid shirts and cowboy hats, while others have feathers, headbands and braids in their hair and dresses that are made to look like they're made from animal skin.

 
You can read the story and see the very innocuous picture at the link.  The women who perpetrated this horror will no doubt be subjected to diversity re-education. 

I wonder how badly it would mess things up if any of the girls turn out to be of aboriginal stock? 

One of the professors was disturbed:

"I was disturbed by the image, and I thought that the team, like all of us who live in Saskatchewan, likely need formal education on the topic," Sterzuk told CBC News, "because treating First Nations and Métis women as a costume objectifies them, and that behaviour, I think, contributes to their dehumanization, which is a larger problem that I think all Canadians need to be concerned about."

Really?  Is this just about the Indians?  Was it all right to "objectify" the cowboys?  What about everybody eating corned beef and cabbage on St. Pat's?  What about the elves at Christmas and witches on Halloween?  Patriots on the Fourth of July or Dominion Day?  Where does it end? 

If dressing up as somebody you are not "dehumanizes" what you dress up as, what does that mean for transvestites? 

If we were to ever start demanding consistency in thinking, I suspect these petty little despots would be immobilized, impaled upon the horns of their own dilemma. 

What these girls need to do is to "come out" and declare themselves as Trans-Racials, that they are really "First Nations" on the inside.  Just start up a chapter and demand their own student union where they only serve fish and caribou prepared in a traditional manner or something equally ridiculous.  Beat the education mafia at their own game.  

We don't need "formal education" on sensitivity -- not that such a thing is possible.  You can be indoctrinated or brainwashed to be politically correct, but you can't be a truly educated, thinking human and accept this hogwash.  The prigs and prudes of political correctness are in desperate need of an education in humor (or humour, for our Commonwealth friends).  If you can't take a joke, you are not fit to associate with civilized people.

The actual words Owen Wister had his character utter were, "When you call me that, smile!"    

Border Wars and Outlaws, History and Legend

Missouri outlaws loom large in both history and fiction.  The myth of Jesse James like that of Robin Hood, Billy the Kid, Dick Turpin, and Ned Kelly is apt to mix the factual with the fantastic.  In the case of the James brothers and the Younger brothers, open conflicts helped shaped both the legends and the reality. 

The question in the 1850s was whether the territory of Kansas would enter the Union as a Free or Slave state.  Northern abolitionists sent money and Sharps rifles to like-minded settlers.  As Missouri accepted slavery, some of its residents sought to spread the plague to Kansas. The result was the Border War which gave impetus to men like John Brown, James Lane, William Clarke Quantrill, and William T. Anderson. 

The fictional Missouri farmer Josey Wales rode with the very real Bloody Bill Anderson who was involved in two different events named for the small central Missouri town of Centralia:  the Centralia Massacre and the Battle of Centralia.  September 27, 1864 was not a good day to be a Union soldier in that neighborhood.  According to some stories, the guerrillas were shocked to see Johnston's troops dismount to fight.  The Union soldiers' muzzleloading rifles were no match for the mounted mobility and firepower of multiple revolvers and/or multiple loaded cylinders deployed by Anderson's men.

Quantrill's fictional protege Rooster Cogburn gained his famous eye-patch from a wound sustained in the Battle of Lone Jack.  Cole Younger, depicted as meeting Mattie Ross at the end of the 2010 version of True Grit, really was at Lone Jack for the battle.  

(My ancestors were not part of this.  They came in later from Indiana, Nebraska, and Tennessee and tended to be sympathetic to the Union cause, abolition, and Republicans.)

The University of Missouri and the University of Kansas, which is in Lawrence, KS, were, until Missouri left for the SEC, conference rivals in the Big Eight and Big Twelve.  The meetings, especially on the basketball courts, between the two teams were considered a (usually) less bloody continuation of the Border War. 

If you want to read a little more about the strife that foreshadowed the death and destruction of the American Civil War, I can suggest a couple of books --  War to the Knife:  Bleeding Kansas by Thomas Goodrich and Bleeding Kansas:  Contested Liberty in the Civil War Era by Nicole Etcheson.  I have read Goodrich's book, and, though the Amazon reviews are unfavorable, I thought it was good.  I have been trying to get hold of Etcheson's book, but I never order anything from Amazon. 

Another book, primarily about the Youngers, which I read and enjoyed is Marley Brant's The Outlaw Youngers. 

It is good to know the past events and pressures that helped to shape the present.  I don't know if those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.  Perhaps if we know how we got here, it might help us figure out where we are headed.  At least we might recognize where are when we get there.

History is always a sifting of facts that become a narrative, depending, often, on who is better at wholesale bloodletting.  Thus, the sacking of Osceola by the despicable and cowardly James Lane gets a lot less play than Quantrill's retaliatory Raid on Lawrence.

While hardly historically accurate, I still enjoy something like Warren Zevon's "Frank and Jesse James".  History is the chronicle of what happened, sometimes through wisdom and courage, just as often through foolishness and perfidy.  Legend is the way it should have been, and, unlike the accidents of history, legends may tell us who we are.   

I Won't Be Planting Potatoes Today

I wasn't going to anyway, but no one around here will be.  I did plant potatoes on St. Pat's in 2012 under very pleasant conditions.  Not only has it been possible the last few years, but it was often possible when I was a boy, though we usually waited until closer to the end of the month.  One year that it wasn't an option was 1960 which had a fairly normal winter, to the best of my recollection, until about the 22nd of February.  We had a month of snowy, icy, frozen mayhem before the ground became visible on the 22nd of March.

I think they used to call it "weather". 

By the way, one of my neighbors dropped by last fall to share some heirloom "vining okra" seeds (which I will try out this year and report on, the Lord willing).  He told me that he had seen a hornet's nest in one of his fruit trees that was very close to the ground.  The ones I've run across are usually eight to ten or twelve feet up.  I think he said this one was around five feet off the ground. 


"You know what that means?" 

"Bad winter?" I ventured. 

"Yep," he said.  I saw him a couple of weeks ago and reminded him of that exchange, acknowledging that his sign had proven accurate. 

Another Glimmer of Hope in America

Carey Wedler explains where the real "gun" problem lies:

This young woman voted for Obama in 2008 and is probably not a person who agrees with my views on social issues, but she is for liberty and comprehends the dangers of an out-of-control government.  I respect and appreciate that.  We can debate and disagree, but we have to stand together against tyranny.  She gets it.

Why Not A Battle Rifle?

First, an AR or an AK is not a battle rifle, nor are the civilians versions “assault weapons”  -- but you knew that.   When someone who purports to be an expert shows a picture of an AR and says to the average prepper or student of prudence that a “battle rifle” is the most important firearm in the survivalist/prepper arsenal, I shake my head. 

I know a lot of good ol’ redneck boys and girls who own and regularly shoot AR-type rifles.  They are excellent firearms in many situations, including predator hunting.  They are great platforms for customization.  You can put good optics and accessories on them.  There are a plethora of after-market products for personalization.  They are accurate, tough, reliable weapons.  Buy one. 

I don’t have one, and I don’t have any plans to buy one, but that’s a personal thing.  I appreciate black rifles; I like them; I just don’t have any urge to have one myself. 

My personal opinion – that’s all it is – as a complete non-expert is that the one firearm I would encourage every person to have is a centerfire handgun.  The reason for a solid, dependable handgun being high on my list is that I can have it with me a lot of places a lot of the time.  I don’t care if it’s an autoloader or a single-action revolver, .45, .44, .40, .357, .38, 9mm, .380 or something more exotic, it’s not going to make that much difference.  The difference will be if, in a threatening situation, a person has both the will and the means to protect life and property.

My situation may not be typical, but I’m outside around my property, away from the house quite a bit, especially in the warmer months when we are gardening or mowing or working on this, that, or the other.  I can usually carry a handgun of some kind without it interfering with my movements or the work I’m doing.  Home invasions and hot burglaries are generally confined to more urban settings and are most often drug-related.  For now.  That’s slowly changing and some two-legged predators are seeing rural residents, especially the older ones who might have some valuables on hand, as being more attractive targets.  The last time the county deputies came out this way in a hurry, I think it was at least forty-five minutes before they arrived. 

The situation is not going to get better as the economy continues to flounder and budget constraints cause jurisdictions to cut back on personnel and hours.  Firearms themselves, electronics, farm equipment, supplies and materials, tools, or rumors of precious metals might draw in the jackals.  It may get to the point where food and fuel become attractors.  Cattle rustling has become a major crime around here.  A gang that will steal cattle might resort to violence if someone inadvertently interrupted them. 

I’m not really expecting to be involved in the Battle of Helm’s Deep.  My grandfather was born in 1863.  As a young man, he worked for a gentleman who had been a victim of bushwhackers during the Civil War.  The old man had been in bed when the raiders showed up, and he and his wife had offered no resistance to their plundering.  When, though, one of the thieves picked up the man’s trousers which were hanging on the bed frame, the victim protested, “Now, boys, please leave me my britches.” 

In response, one of the bushwhackers shot him, the ball passing through his throat.  He fell and flopped like a beheaded chicken while the bushwhacked departed, presumably triumphant, having secured the pants.  His wife fetched the local doctor who found that the bullet has passed completely through the man’s neck without doing fatal damage.  The wound was cleaned and bandaged and the old man lived for many more years with naught but a scar.  According to the doctor’s assessment, had the ball gone to either side of its path “the thickness of a piece of brown paper”, the man would have died. 

That’s the kind of thing that Ferfal reported happening in Argentina and the kind of thing that happened in Bosnia during the upheaval there in the ‘90s.  It’s the kind of thing that is most likely to happen anywhere that the rule of law begins to lose ground to tribalism, criminality, and violence.  Most of us are not going to want to join up with a gang for protection, even if the gang calls itself a militia.  We will try to get through challenging times without resorting to tribalism and living under garrison conditions. 

Personal arms that can be carried on one’s person are the best defense in such a situation.  Nobody really wants to get shot, and predators look for prey not opponents. 

So, as I said, get a “battle rifle” or whatever you choose to call it, get a shotgun, get a sniper rifle, and whatever else you like while the getting is good, but have a handgun that you can carry and keep close for when you need it most. 

And practice.

Copper Is Acting Funny Again

Right now in the middle of the afternoon, 3/13/2014, copper is at 3.02.  The five-day chart here shows the 3.12 plateau from which it has fallen.  It seems that just a few days ago, it was 3.40.

Most likely it will recover some.

What I was thinking about last night was how China has stockpiled USDs for years and years, using them to fund all their industrial imports and infrastructure projects, including their alleged ghost cities.  I don't believe in the Chinese miracle.  Central planning and a government-controlled economy eventually result in catastrophe.  China has used its economic boost to fund a massive expansion of its military.  It's the military they will use when the spinning plates of the global economy stop spinning and start crashing.  If they want to be the Pacific power, there are not far from being able to make a move.

One more thought on the Ukraine, I don't think it will go much farther.  Putin needs to sell his oil and gas in western Europe as much as Germany and the rest need to buy it.  I'd be surprised if that market is jeopardized.  Most likely Russia will back off a little and let Obama save some face.