08:34 – Greece is in the toilet. Greek banks cumulatively are down to less than €500 million cash, or about €40 per person. With the daily €50 withdrawal limit, that means the banks will run completely out of cash this weekend. Ambulances aren’t running because more and more of them have run out of gasoline and can’t get more. Not that that really matters, because hospitals have run out of many critical drugs and can’t get more. Foreign tourists have been warned that food and drugs are so short that there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to eat or get urgent medical care. Famously, one Greek newlywed couple in New York is living on the street and begging for food because their credit cards are no longer honored.
It would appear that the goal of the eurocrats is to drive Tsipras from office and force the Greeks to knuckle under, after which a trickle of aid will resume, just enough to keep Greeks from starving. One way or another, Greece is finished, a failed state.
Unless Greece tells the EU to get stuffed, defaults on its existing debt pile, and abandons the euro for a native currency. That’s their best option at this point. The new drachma would be introduced at parity with the euro, and would quickly loose most of its nominal value. Greeks would face at least another decade of grinding poverty, much worse than they’ve already experienced. But the alternative of giving in to the EU and continuing with the euro is worse still.
We’re working all weekend on kit stuff. I was hoping to find a Confederate flag to fly out front tomorrow, but there are none for sale anywhere.
10:29 – We’re back from a quick Sam’s Club run, where we picked up Coke, orange juice, and not much else, other than 35 pounds of soybean oil. Now, to work on kits.
” I was hoping to find a Confederate flag to fly out front tomorrow, but there are none for sale anywhere.”
Damn. That should have occurred to me earlier this week; I was in the local flag/passport photo store and noticed that among all the usual stuff they still had half a dozen Confederate battle flags for sale. The woman running the place told me the factories advised her they weren’t gonna make any more. I coulda sent one down to ya.
And now I’m gonna slide by there later and see if she still has them.
Mrs. OFD is off to schlep GG up to the northern Noveau Brunswick cottage, that was rescued by the Provincial nabobs with a sea wall this past year, or otherwise it would be sliding into the Atlantic pretty soon.
I’ll see how much I can get done over the next five or six days of the Honey-Do List and my own list, some of which overlap. And we have the preps underway for Bay Day here Sunday; with some kind of mini-triathlon thing, probably a band of some sort in the park behind us, and der feurwerken. Which may or may not take place off the pier this time, as it’s still mostly underwater. In that case, they’d light ’em off behind us here in the park and it’s not as great a show for me due to the trees in between. We shall see.
Barbara just told me that she doesn’t want to fly a Confederate flag. I guess she doesn’t want to offend our black neighbors.
I just watched (again) the final episode of Heartland S6, where they had one of the characters setting off serious skyrockets in the front yard. Apparently, Canada is more reasonable about this than most US states.
I just had a moment of enlightenment. Since SCOTUS has basically said anyone can marry anything and that nothing can be discriminated against, here is the plan.
If you do not already have an old dog, preferably 10 years old, go to the pound and get one. Get the critter a Social inSecurity Card, after all your new dog self-identifies as a person as all dogs do. Go to your Veterinarian and get blood tests (cheaper than an MD) then to City Hall to get a Marriage License. If there is not a Judge there to “marry” you and your new significant other just go to a Store Front Ministry and tie the knot. Now since your new significant other is now your legal spouse and 70 years old (you gotta recognize dog years) you go to Social inSecurity and your spouse applies for spousal retirement benefits. When you spouse passes to the great beyond, collect the death benefit and repeat the cycle.
Isn’t it wonderful how things always work out for the best in the end. 😉
Edit: Remember gender, or lack of it, does not matter and if your are already “married” that doesn’t matter, and you can marry as many things as you want,
Now maybe a turtle might be a good spouse, they live a lot longer and are lower maintenance. 😉
Mr. DadCooks wins the innernet already today! Nice goin’, Dad!
Seriously, this latest caper by the SCOTUS and Prez really pissed a lot more people off than were pissed off before. They’re just gonna keep pushing and pushing, I guess. Sooner or later somebody’s gonna push back. Hard. Real hard.
I’m afraid you’re right. We’re too old for this shit.
Apparently, Canada is more reasonable about this than most US states.
Or, the producers can afford the permits and insurance needed to stage a fireworks show for the cameras. Some quick google check show that they have laws similar to most US states. Online retailers have the same stuff available in Texas. Maybe less.
“We’re too old for this shit.”
I hear that five by five; we can’t be slogging around the landscape with the full ruck, the ballistic plates, and a battle rifle and pistol with all the ammo. Or, maybe we could for a couple of hours at a crack in our local AO, taking our turns with the hungry young commandos on the various watches and patrols. Other than that, it’s gonna be manning intel and comm operations back at the “base,” and cooking up some grub once in a while. Cluing the little ones in on some Murkan and Euro history, maybe. Showing them how to work all the gear and gizmos and defense nomenclatures. I’m OK with that; I did the other shit long ago in both steam heat, 112 in the shade, and the dead of a central Maine winter, with the winds howling from the forest and north Atlantic and chill factuh at 60 below. But of course I was 17-21 for those gigs. A lotta wottuh under the bridge since then, I’m afraid.
On the fireworks; a lotta peeps from northern New England cross the border to buy up their stuff; my guess is that it’s better than what they can get down here. And then there’s guys like Our Host who roll their own…
There isn’t a parking lot here that doesn’t have a fireworks shack up for the 4th and New Years. Various resorts have big shows and the streets will be littered with explosive carcasses Sunday morning. Hopefully Dirty Harry Reid will take a roman candle through the remaining mush he calls a brain.
The dogs will be sleeping in my bed Saturday night.
The mortar fireworks started around here a couple of nights ago and will will continue each night for a week. Our subdivision will have public fireworks show but a couple of people will join together and spend thousands on their own private show. We do not have any legal limits on fireworks out here in the county unless we have a burn ban. And there is no burn ban this year whatsoever.
I have seen 5 and 6 year olds operating their own mortar in my street. Fairly dangerous for the age if you ask me. And no dad anywhere around.
One of the SCOTUS arguments for same sex marriage was that 36 states respected same. Going on those lines of reasoning, why cant I carry my gun in New York City and DC? I am licensed in Texas, whose CHL law is respected by thirty??? other states. I see no difference here.
http://www.opencarry.org/
Remember that these are the same folks who can spend man-years arguing over the placement of a comma and if it completely changes the meaning of the law; while at the same time ignoring the plainly written ACTUAL words of the law to change its meaning completely, because they feel like it.
WRT fireworks, Harris County doesn’t allow their sale or use, but our surrounding counties do. So there will be a lot of illegal fireworks tomorrow night.
Unfortunately there will also be a sh!t ton of spent rounds coming down tomorrow night too, as some people just don’t care about shooting in the air. Someone always gets hurt. I had a round spang off the front of the house a couple of holidays ago.
We usually meet friends and watch the Katy fireworks at the mall in Katy. Good visibility, large lots (so people density is low), affluent city (so thug density is low), and easy freeway access.
And it’s a good show.
nick
Talking about inconsistency…
I don’t understand why there’s so much opposition to plural marriage. For example, the gay Chief Minister of the ACT (i.e. Canberra) is against it, although he’s in favour of gay “marriage”. So I should be allowed to marry a guy or a girl, but I can’t marry two guys, three girls or a combination, even if we’re all adults.
“Going on those lines of reasoning, why cant I carry my gun in New York City and DC? I am licensed in Texas, whose CHL law is respected by thirty??? other states. I see no difference here.”
Nor do many others of us out here; what’s sauce for the goose, etc. But they work under that old rule that Nat Hentoff wrote about years ago; the paraphrase is “Freedom for me but not for thee.” So nationwide sodomy is legalized and given the same status as the historic concept of marriage, and done so by our meddling unholy State which intrudes in every aspect of our lives, from womb to tomb. But defensive firearms reciprocity ist verboten. Hey, get a CCW permit from Virginia and it’s good for 30+ other states; I think one or two other states out west have a similar arrangement; 50 bucks and a fingerprint card and a simpleton’s online course to take, about an hour long, tops.
“Someone always gets hurt. I had a round spang off the front of the house a couple of holidays ago.”
Very nice. I remember Worcester, MA being like that back in the 80s, and a lot of them spent rounds were falling from the sky thanks to all the off-duty cops up in Green Hill Park boozing and doping it up all night, while leaving the city basically naked, with maybe a half-dozen patrol cars for 180,000 people on the midnight shift. I saw howling mobs of revenants, no exaggeration, screaming and dancing around giant bonfires in the middle of Main South intersections, furniture, mattresses and tires all blazing merrily away, glass breaking, explosions, etc., etc. I saw it then, and see it now, as a little taste of what is to come in all the cities eventually.
“So I should be allowed to marry a guy or a girl, but I can’t marry two guys, three girls or a combination, even if we’re all adults.”
Well, what exactly did you have in mind? Gee whiz, you’re more of an exciting person than I thought….
Two things…
First, my take on polygamy is that it destabilizes a society. Too many young, horny men with no mates. Look at Islam – I would bet good money that polygamy is a huge part of the reason it is so violent. Mormons get away with it only because they are embedded in a larger Society.
Totally unrelated: I mentioned buying grow lights, and deciding to go with the one company that produces in the US, in order to avoid the vagaries of Chinese QA. So, I received an email today that my order has been shipped. Clicked on the link. DHL, dispatched from…… Hong Kong. :-/
I agree with Mr. brad on the main problem with polygamy, and its record has not been good throughout history. I dunno, maybe isolated old horndawgs up in the remote mountains might get away with it for a while, but not as a regular feature of modern homo sapiens sapiens cultures. I fail, in my admitted dotage and senility, why it is that the tens of thousands of years old Western institution of one-man-one-woman is no longer any good and that some other wacky chit is better and needs to achieve hegemony, because that is, in fact, the goal here, make no mistake. It has been a sustained and outright attack on all the main institutions of Western Christian culture from the beginning, and I locate that beginning with the Parisian revolutionaries of 1789, mostly.
“…Clicked on the link. DHL, dispatched from…… Hong Kong. :-/”
Wonderful. I’ve been considering grow lights also, and that is just ducky. We just can’t make a goddam thing in this country anymore, apparently, except perversion and fiat currency.
We just can’t make a goddam thing in this country anymore, apparently, except perversion and fiat currency.
Our new puppy just *made* a poop on the kitchen tile, so there.
I nominate Mr. Lynn for the Supreme Court. We should start a Kickstarter to take CC to the SC. How many peeps have been stopped transporting their *shooster guns* in their trunk to their new home in another state and were busted. That qualifies for the *harm* aspect of unconstitutionality.
Yeah, but is your new puppy really Murkan or an “undocumented alien”? Say, that wouldn’t be a chihuahua, would it?
“That qualifies for the *harm* aspect of unconstitutionality.”
Not the way this Court interprets things it doesn’t.
And in Merry Olde England the chit just gets worse and worse:
http://humanevents.com/2015/07/03/uk-sex-groomed-children-preferable-to-backlash-against-multiculturalism/?utm_source=hedaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
It’s better that their kids get serially raped than that the hadjis should get the least bit upset. Beowulf must be spinning in his watery grave. Along with King Richard the Lionhearted in his.
Ha! Daughter #3 gifted me with a dachshund pup. RAAAAACIST!!!!!
Here’s a Consumer Products Safety Commission video on the dangers of fireworks. Why is watching mannequins blowing up so damn funny.
I’ll chime in that grow lights are a major source of RF interference. They tend to wipe out ham comms on HF. The FCC completely fails to take action even if they have a sticker on them, which is clearly counterfeit or fraudulent.
Check out the photos of the crowds in Greece tonight. In particular, scroll down to the pictures of the “flag poles.” Those are some seriously prepared euro anarchists right there…..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3148785/Violence-arrives-streets-Athens-Protesters-attack-police-flagpoles-tear-gas-sprayed-demonstrators-rallies-ahead-Greece-s-debt-crisis-referendum.html
And the news out of San Fran just keeps getting better. Random guy shoots and kills a young woman, apparently for no reason in a crowd of tourists on the pier. While taping stories for TV, 2 news crews are robbed at gunpoint and pistol whipped (on the same pier!) Now it turns out the guy is illegal alien, multiple felony arrests, multiple deportations, out on bail, etc. Think that will help Trump or will this all vanish down the memory hole in a day?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3147942/Woman-randomly-shot-death-popular-San-Francisco-pier.html
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/NBC-Bay-Area-News-Crew-Mugged-Pistol-Whipped-at-San-Francisco-Pier-311452221.html
nick
Just got almost 1/2 inch of rain in 20 minutes, and it’s sunny out again. Saves my watering the garden I guess, but it sure is humid.
nick
91 deg F, 71% RH, feels like 104 deg F
Think that will help Trump or will this all vanish down the memory hole in a day?
Trump 2016! “an illegal (good ones) for every yard”
“State Silences Bakers Who Refused to Make Cake for Lesbian Couple, Fines Them $135K”
http://dailysignal.com/2015/07/02/state-silences-bakers-who-refused-to-make-cake-for-lesbian-couple-fines-them-135k/
As Pournelle says, “but we were born free!”. I am so glad that I do not live in Oregon. First, they try to force this couple to work for something they do not believe in. Second, they try to remove their free speech rights. This is crazy!
Note that they didn’t TRY they succeeded.
nick
So what’s new? The government forces me to work constantly to fund their activities, which I do not believe should be done at all, let alone funded at gunpoint.
So why shouldn’t the baker go ahead and take the commission for the wedding cake, but then do a terrible job at it? “Gee, it’s hard to be artistically inspired when I’m forced to do this under threat of fines that will put me out of business. You don’t have to pay for it if you don’t want it.”
We do not have any legal limits on fireworks out here in the county unless we have a burn ban.
WRT fireworks, Harris County doesn’t allow their sale or use, but our surrounding counties do.
In the US, there are a couple of classes of fireworks. There are the consumer ones that are available at roadside stands to anyone, and there are “professional” versions that require a certification to buy and use. As far as Harris County goes, unless there is a burn ban, they can’t prohibit fireworks as counties in Texas have little to no ability to make laws. Even though they prosecute crimes, it’s under Texas law, not local. Cities have the ability to make ordinances, and Houston bans fireworks. However, the city of Houston has certain “extraterritorial” rights in unincorporated areas which include extension of some ordinances into that area. It included billboard regulation and fireworks bans.
MrAtoz: “There isn’t a parking lot here that doesn’t have a fireworks shack up for the 4th and New Years.”
Kiddingly, I was discussing with my grandson’s dad about going to Pahrump for some fireworks, but is dad said “no”. In the past, I’ve taken him to LA Chinatown for fireworks, but they are not as good as in Pahrump, I expect.
Regarding Pahrump, haven’t been there in a few years but really enjoy a night at the Stagestop.
Mr. CowboySlim next time you’re in Pahrump, check out the Pahrump Winery for lunch and wine samples. Pretty good.
@ech, that is interesting to know.
I no longer feel the need to buy Black Cat and shoot bottle rockets, but I think every kid should. We used to stop in TN on our way to FL every year and dad would pick up a brick of each.
I still love the way those Black Cats smell. I like the ‘snakes’ too, and sparklers. I guess that’s why I like gunpowder too.
Remember “snap caps”? They were little paper teardrop shapes filled with some kind of powder, and if you threw them down hard enough they would explode with a “snap”. We spent a lot of time throwing those at each other’s feet.
I might have to try to make vinyl stickers with this image:
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/wp-content/uploads/bake-the-cake.jpg
I might add the words “you will” or maybe bake the “f-ing” cake.
The image works, but I’m not convinced the words are right.
nick
Here is a review of a new pistol from Walther, the “CCP” (Concealed Carry Pistol). If I ever decide to carry, this would be one I consider.
http://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2015/7/1/walther-ccp-9-mm/
@ech,
I’ve shot the Styer GB that the article talks about as a forebearer. It was a nice pistol, with a HUGE handgrip. The fixed barrel made for some real accuracy (even though you are giving up some on this shorter pistol.)
I like the idea of easier pull to rack the slide. There are a number of techniques and add ons that can help someone with limited hand strength rack, but reducing the force needed is nice.
The key will be how well it fits your hand, and how it points naturally for you.
The grip angle on a Glock is perfect for me, ditto on the S&W M&P Shield. MANY other pistols don’t point naturally for me.
And some stuff you don’t figure out until you’ve had it for a while. I initially liked the Ruger LC9. But the trigger pull is significantly different from my Glock, and it is TALL so it wanted to rotate up and jump out of my hand.
I’m a bit concerned about the reviewers aside comment about ‘aggressive thumbs’ interfering with the slide release. Modern technique puts your thumbs stacked on the left side, and I’ve found pistols where my THUMB interfered with my trigger finger.
It sounds like an interesting pistol, worth renting and shooting a couple boxes thru it. And it’s about $100 more than the Shield, which sucks. You may have trouble finding holsters made for it too…
There is something to be said for carrying what everyone else is carrying. Lots of accessories, easy parts availability, gunsmiths familiar with it if needed, etc.
If you get it, post a review…
nick
added- didn’t notice that was Tam doing the review. For some reason, lots of people like her blog. http://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/ you might too.
[snip] First, my take on polygamy is that it destabilizes a society. Too many young, horny men with no mates. [snip]
In far too many societies that have polygamous histories, those young men were used for cannon fodder / arrow stoppers / etc. Given the use of abortion for sex selection in China in the last 40 years, that might or might be a scary thought.
Point of order: polygamy =/= polygyny
Yes, polygyny commonly leads to many problems because of two factors: richer or more powerful men grabbing up lots of women (especially young women), combined with cowardice in not killing off the excess young men.
Polygamy, the more general sexual grouping of more than one person, does not have that problem. There’s no real reason several men couldn’t be with one woman. It’s not as closely in line with male instinct as several woman with one man, but it’s probably more satisfactory to most than killing or neutering the excess men or forcing them to do without entirely.
I do await with interest the appearance of “good enough” sexbots, however. I foresee major societal changes if straight men do not need human women for sexual gratification.
“Guns & Ammo’s Single Stack 9mm Shootout”
http://www.gunsandammo.com/handguns/compacts/single-stack-9mm-shootout/
Glock 43, Taurus 709 Slim, Walther PPS.
Me, my favorite carry gun is a S&W Model 629.
“Oregon launches program to tax drivers by the mile”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/03/oregon-launches-program-to-tax-drivers-by-mile/
Am I the only person who sees this as a plan to track us everywhere we go? I also see this spreading like wildfire to the other 49.
Polygamy, the more general sexual grouping of more than one person, does not have that problem. There’s no real reason several men couldn’t be with one woman. It’s not as closely in line with male instinct as several woman with one man, but it’s probably more satisfactory to most than killing or neutering the excess men or forcing them to do without entirely.
So the guys would have to take a number? I’m not sure that I know any women that want to join that party. However, one supposes that it has happened many times in the frontier places such as the West and Alaska.
@Lynn,
I’m pretty sure I know a family that had one woman, 2 men. She was pretty extraordinary and from a very odd childhood. Because it was none of my business, I never confirmed it. They were quite happy for a long time and raised several kids who are all normal and well adjusted.
Eventually one male left to be with someone else, but that happens to 1 out of 2 marriages anyway.
I’m willing to bet it’s more common than you might think and this was outside a large city.
nick
One woman, multiple guys: the only place I know of where this is fairly common is in the, ah, Himalayas.
One woman, multiple guys: the only place I know of where this is fairly common is in the, ah, Himalayas.
Or the Moon, “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress”:
http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Harsh-Mistress-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0312863551/
Ah, never read much of Heinlein…
What I say above about plural marriage isn’t what I’d like to see implemented. I just say that to highlight the inconsistency of the gay “marriage” people. I’d be happy with just one wife – I don’t know how people can juggle two or more… 🙂
I remember reading that the Chinese pictogram for “trouble” is two women under one roof.
Still this isn’t a question of societal stability. It’s a question of marriage being none of the government’s business. All kinds of horrible things have resulted from attempts at social engineering. I’ll take my chances on a shortage of marriageable women before I’ll take another chance on the government “fixing” things.
“I’ll take my chances on a shortage of marriageable women before I’ll take another chance on the government “fixing” things.”
There it is.
Speaking of male-female relationships; we’ve decided to take a pass on having the live-in bf from the place next door work on our yard stuff; Mrs. OFD was reading on the porch last night and overhead the two of them yakking at full volume about what a bitch her mom is, etc., etc., and her mom lives on the other side of us. This daughter is about 30 pounds overweight, smokes, and has at least a couple of toddlers with no sign of the dad. My neighbor guy is the stepdad and he and her mom busted their asses working on that place and making it nice for the daughter after his own mom died a few months ago. So we are staying way the hell out of that mess from now on.
BF may also be a former jailbird, possibly from DUI; I’ll check on that, too. Looks better and better, don’t it?
My neighbours in Canberra had a daughter whose language would make a sailor blush. I avoided her although they had a son who was quite okay. I’ve never liked potty mouthed women.
I think you’ve avoided trouble Dave, if you need work done get someone you know and can trust, preferably at arms length.
Well The Derb offers an explanation. Maybe they’re FUPs….
http://takimag.com/article/dont_sup_with_a_fup_john_derbyshire
“I’ve never liked potty mouthed women.”
Ditto, and foul-mouthed men ain’t too great, either; I’m guilty of still using naughty words from all my time spent on high skool sports teams, the military, the cops, and quite often in IT, all those fields being heavily male, of course. Back then. And then I saw an interview recently with Tom Hardy, the English actor, who’s been in some good stuff, one of my very distant cousins, lol; jeezum, he’s got a mouth on him.
Just saw my neighbor guy and his wife mowing and weed-whacking not only their own yard but also the daughter’s on the other side of us. I guess our neighbor’s wife must have allowed this deal to happen and I think she’ll probably regret it. Apparently neither daughter is a day at the beach and like too many of that generation now, this one feels entitled to whatever without lifting a finger and then trashes her own mom and stepdad behind their backs.
I’ll pop out now and do a bit of trimming out front but screw busting my butt on the back yard today; I’ll mess with that on Monday when it’s quieter around here.
FUPs? Yeah, I strongly suspect that the daughters and the live-in BF next door are FUPs. And sad to say, my own sister probably is, too. Partly not her fault, but hey, enabled in it for decades and presently. And I worry about our own daughter, but I’m probably just being too paranoid on that score.
Lots of wild and wacky family dynamics up here over the past 48 hours, with me only being very peripherally and accidentally involved. Temporary estrangement now between our own son and daughter, via long-distance texting yesterday, and of course their mom and grandma in the middle of it, too. I caught some stray flack here last night, but have survived.
And now the house is nice and QUIET again.
Until they kick off das feurwerken tomorrow night; which I’m thinking is gonna have to be done again from the park in back of us and not the pier, which is still mostly underwater, lol.
Now to set up the concertina wire, trip flares, pungi pits and land mines….