Kind of hard to ignore her when she's splashing her mug on TV screens every chance she gets

" 'We Black Women Are Ignored,' Says Multimillionaire Black Woman To Millions Of Adoring Fans".

Have you ever tried to ignore a bad toothache? Yeah, like that.

Classical corner

From Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite, here is "Morning Mood". The first time I heard this piece, it was on the soundtrack of an orange juice commercial. Why not? The perfect morning drink and the perfect morning music.

Well, he's more so than your running mate, Joe

 

Murder in Portland

 Some BLM rad-tard shot and killed a Trump supporter in Portland, and 4Chan - which catches a whole lot of grief for its role in promoting conspiracy theories, but seems to be pretty damned good at identifying leftwing thugs - has found a suspect. 

What did the squishy leftwing mayors think was going to happen in their cities when they let the rioters run amok? At an absolute minimum, I hope they get turned out of office, and I wish they could be prosecuted; however, such is the perversity of the population in these areas, that they'll probably get reelected.

And counter-protesters: arm yourselves. You are under no obligation to present yourselves as helpless targets.

Weird gun

Captain (later Colonel) William Allen Phillips invented a handgun that went up against John Brownings' 1911 design in trials to adopt a new official Army pistol. Close, but no cigar (actually, I don't think it was very close, either).

Sunday funnies

 

(H/T:  friend and commenter, JeffS)

That should take care of the germs.

Meaningless graphics (H/T: David Thompson).

Have you ever heard a humming bird snore? You have now! (H/T: Ditto)

How would you score that?

From Powerline's "The Week in Pictures".

Seriously, how is George Soros not a flat-out saboteur?

"Philly Got a Soros DA, Its Murder Rate is the 2nd Highest in the U.S. "

Joe Biden as performance art

 The funniest lip-syncing of a Joe Biden ramble I've ever seen (courtesy of the sidebar at Ace of Spades). This girl is a comic genius.

The crocodile does not care that you love him

Portland Black Lives Matter Have Chained Themselves Together in Lobby of Leftist Mayor Ted Wheeler’s Apartment.

This mayor's such a feckless leftist doofus, he'll probably let them in to use his bathroom. Whatever you do, it will never be enough, Ted!

It's the Hippocratic oath, Doc, not the hypocritical oath

 Yeah, I'd take this guy's medical advice, for sure:

Appearing Friday on CNN, Dr. Rob Davidson said that unlike President Donald Trump’s Republican National Convention speech on the White House lawn, the lack of social distancing during the March on Washington is not a major concern because participants are raising awareness for the “public health crisis” of “systemic racism.”

The dustiest, skull-crowned, most potion-ridden shaman in a parrot-feather cape practicing in the most remote reaches of the amazonian jungle just emailed to say, "That dude makes no sense whatsoever. Don't let him get near you with a knife or powdered chicken blood. Just sayin'".

Here's a good example of the kind of "Republican" who's endorsing Slow Joe Biden

 WILLIAM COHEN – A FORMER REPUBLICAN SENATOR AND CLINTON-ERA SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WHO ENDORSED DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOE BIDEN – RUNS A LOBBYING FIRM THAT EMPLOYS CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY OFFICIALS. 

And guess who else shows up in this news article as a pal of the Chi-Coms: that valiant warrior-monk  and former brass-hat, James Mattis.

Seriously: give your full trust to no one.

Happy Feet Friday

A stellar collection of musicians came together for a television program called The Sound of Jazz, broadcast on December 8th, 1957 on CBS. Here they are performing “Open All Night”. It's hot! How hot? At about the 1:30 mark, Joe Newman literally blows smoke out of his trumpet.

 

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel publishes stupidly-phrased propaganda as news, but is otherwise a great paper

 "Publication mocked for reporting Jacob Blake had knife in car but was 'otherwise unarmed'”.

Except for his Tommy gun, Sgt. Saunders went through WWII unarmed.

Sounds like it's working

What's one of the big things Donald Trump promised to do? That's right: drain the swamp. So, is it really any surprise that a hundred or more has-beens, never-was's, RINO failures, Bush cronies, and GOP grifters should come out in support of Biden?

Former Deputy Assistant Undersecretary to the Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of the Commission to Monitor U-Boat Activity in the Chesapeake Bay, Lancelot P. Boover III, makes his mark on a pro-Biden endorsement letter. Snooze at eleven.

The Salem witch trials used to serve as a cautionary tale

 Now, they're part of the leftist operating manual.

Info request

Updated and bumped  Steve Skubinna in the comments: "Simplest solution is to fart into the mattress, and then sniff around the outside.Or alternately you could fart in the room, and then sniff around the mattress until you get to a spot it smells clean."

Does anybody out there know how to find a leak in an inflatable air mattress? It's a kind of medium-slow leak (mattress gets noticeably softer overnight). We tried close listening for a hissing noise, sprayed it with water, just can't seem to find where the air is coming out. Mrs. Paco called the manufacturer and asked how to find a leak, and they just sent her a new mattress (maybe that's a bad sign; maybe they don't know how to find a leak, either).

Anyhow, yeah, the company replaced it, but the thing is pretty nice and I hate throwing stuff away, so if you've got any ideas, send them along.

Rock around the Glock!

 

I picked this Glock 23 Gen4 up yesterday and took it to the range today.

Long story short: awesome. The .40 caliber cartridges obviously have a little more snap than  9mm, but recoil is totally manageable. The gun performed flawlessly, and, although I was using a pistol alley on an outdoor range that only allowed me about a 15-yard distance from the target, I got some bull's eyes on orange dots that were only two inches in diameter; made me feel like Sgt. York (i.e., sights are dead on). In terms of performance and enjoyment, it's almost as good as my Walther P99 (you can't beat Walther's feel in the hand). 

I'm glad I bought it. It came with three 13-round magazines, a neat loading tool, a cleaning rod and brush, plus five - count 'em, five - extra backstraps in case I wanted to change my grip (I didn't). Another good score from AIM Surplus.

It ain't a beauty queen, but neither am I, so we ought to get along fine.

Update  I also got in a shipment of .40 caliber ammo today (a mix of FMJ and JHP) from America's Gun Store. I've bought some nice holsters from them in the past, and lately I've been purchasing some ammo. The company includes a 4-bit pocket screwdriver set with each purchase. Just a knickknack, but a nice touch, I think.

Working-with-your-hands-Wednesday

 

All is revealed!

 

Nancy Pelosi: enemy of the Constitution

 "At the same time as violent democrats and their various funded and affiliated grassroot anarchist groups are engaged in riots, looting, mayhem and political chaos, the United States Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, goes to the microphones to declare President Trump and his supporters: 'Enemies of The State'…".

Time for this dynastic corruptocrat to go. There are few people I'd rather see being wafted to their eternal reward than Pelosi. But let us be patient a little longer; even this botoxed incarnation of the whore of Babylon is mortal and must pass on someday. 

If only this were true

 "Trump Tells RNC Attendees To Look Under Their Seats For A Free MyPillow And Can Of Goya Beans".

And now, a word from our sponsor

 

It'll make a nice belt someday

 Paco, Jr., for reasons known only to him, recently acquired a pet snake (a python of some sort). His brother, and his niece, Maggie, visited him yesterday, and Maggie seems to have hit it off pretty well with Mr. Skittles.

Public service announcement

 "Learn the Alphabet with Joe Biden".

Classical corner

 Here is the first movement of Manuel de Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain ("En El Generalife"). The work was inspired by de Falla's interest in Spain's Arabic past, and the love that the old emirs had for their gardens, which were frequently living works of art.

Kellyanne Conway is leaving the White House to spend more time with her divorce lawyer

Sorry, I meant to say that she's leaving to spend more time with her family.  I wish this devoted, loyal, and, thanks to her husband, long suffering advisor to the Trump administration well.

Her chuckleheaded husband, George "Whatever Flavor You've Got as Long As I Can Get Three Scoops" Conway is, interestingly, withdrawing from his laborious duties Tweeting fatuous anti-Trump agitprop from his comfy, although increasingly flat, beanbag chair at the Lincoln Project.

I presume these two have quite a few things to work out. As a start, here's some free advice for George...

Oh, Joe, I love to run my fingers through your hair plugs!

According to Jill Biden's ex-husband, Jill had an affair with Joe and lied about how they met. 

So, let's hear from the pearl-clutchers at the NeverTrump Society for Moral Uplift on this.

Haw!

Nothing like some blue on blue slap fighting - "America Is Polarized. One Thing Can Still Unite Us: Rooting for Joe Kennedy to Fail".

The intoxicating taste of power

Leftist politicians like Andrew Cuomo don't really care if their orders are coherent and consistent, so long as they're obeyed.

Looks like Cuomo and De Blasio and all the rest are cut from the same cloth as this guy...

From Roof Korean to Trump-appointed judge

 Meet Judge Kenneth Kiyul Lee.

Sunday funnies

 

Man scripts...

As long as the snake doesn't look over its shoulder, everything ought to be ok (H/T: David Thompson)

Two amateur entomologists study a caterpillar. (H/T: Ditto).

"Brilliant Trump Puts Himself On All Postage Stamps, Forcing Democrats To Push For Abolishing USPS"

From Powerline's "The Week in Pictures".

Joe Biden's nun

Biden's unofficial religious advisor -  Sister Simone Campbell (who, if we had a serious pope, would have been declared an apostate long ago) - doesn't really have any interest in abortion and couldn't care less about Biden's position on the matter, but nonetheless thinks Grope Boy would make a great president - a great Catholic president.

Update  A sterling recommendation of Joe Biden's honesty by...Hunter Biden.

Joe and Blow - just oozing integrity.

Not in the same league

 

Ruling class follies

Second City Cop has a justifiably furious post up about Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot's blatantly hypocritical move to see to it that her own home is protected by a police presence, while she brushes off the fears of the citizenry, who do not have the luxury of surrounding themselves with gendarmes. 

In addition to the main subject, however, SCC uses an honorific to refer (presumably) to Barack Obama that I had never heard before: Sparklefarts. Outstanding.

Australia: what a country!

" Lucky family of treasure hunters dig up a fortune after finding two giant gold nuggets worth $350,000".

So, are those things just sort of lying around over there? Do you grumble when you have to keep pulling gold nuggets out of the ground in order to plant your cucumbers? Do you stub your toes on those big nuggets when you take the garbage out at night?

I do not believe there is an incorrupt bone in Hillary Clinton's body

"Hillary Clinton Gave State Department Job to Epstein Pimp Ghislaine Maxwell’s Nephew – Gave Him 'Special Treatment'".

Alexander Djerassi, the son of Ghislaine’s sister Isabel Maxwell, was gifted a very powerful and prestigious position within her State Department and the US Government. “Secretary Clinton gave Alex a job in one of the most sensitive areas of Obama’s executive apparatus,” a source said. “The fact Alex Djerassi, fresh out of college, was put in charge of the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, covering the Middle East, was an interesting move."

Wasn't it, though?  Although "interesting" doesn't really begin to cover this dispensing of favors among the slimy inhabitants of Hillary's universe. I wonder if Cankles at least got a neck rub, in return.

Astonishing

Joe Biden proved that he could read a teleprompter for twenty minutes, and Democrats and their media puppets acted like he had just solved the riddles of the Sphinx, independently worked out Einstein's theory of general relativity and carried out pi to 500 decimal places by doing the division in his head. The whole absurd spectacle reminded me of the way young parents applaud and coo over a child when he (or she, as the case may be) first manages a solo turn on the potty.

In looking at all the toxic and destructive "isms" which plague our country, we must be sure to remember infantilism.

Happy Feet Friday

A small group with big rhythm, here's the Ollie Shepard Trio from 1947 with “Hey, Boogie Shewoogie”. The video includes lots of pictures of jitterbugs, and, if you watch closely, you'll see a photo of two Hollywood stars busting some moves.

 

Truth in advertising

Courtesy of the outstanding American Digest, let us take a tour of "Portland: Rose of the Northwest".

Update  Weasel Zippers has a hilarious account of The Trump Ad That Ate The Washington Post (H/T: Friend an commenter, Veeshir).

Update II  This idiot: "Oregon Dem Congressman Chains Self to USPS Drop Box to Save It From Donald Trump".

Extraordinary

Joe Biden's son, Hunter, does not, to put the point with facetious understatement, add gravitas to his father's campaign. He was kicked out of the Navy for doing cocaine, he is reliably reported to have been the financial beneficiary of his father's "diplomacy" in Ukraine and China, he had an affair with his dead brother's widow, and he fathered a child out of wedlock with a former stripper.

Now, if I were Joe Biden's chief bear-leader, I would have made sure that Hunter was stashed in a cabin in the remotest reaches of the Yukon, without landline phone, cellphone, or computer, surrounded by private security personnel who wouldn't let anybody in and, more importantly, wouldn't let Hunter out.

The DNC, however, has decided to let this scoundrel actually speak to the public over the airwaves in his father's interest. 

Truly amazing. Do the Democratic brass  really believe this is a good idea? Who knows, maybe it is. Perhaps this depraved Biden spawn compares favorably to the parade of socialists, racebaiters, corrutocrats and oily Vichy Republicans who have appeared thus far. It won't be for me to say, because I certainly won't be watching.

Assortment

Barack Obama shrank in office; he's still shrinking: "Barack Obama Reminds Americans Why He Was the King of 'I' in DNC Speech".

By the way, Barry, what was that about Trump using the military as props?

How...ironic: "Biden’s Final Nominating Vote Came From Dem Senator Who Admitted To Slapping His Wife In The Face".

Just say "No" to tyrants: "Why the Left Still Hates the Movie 300".

America is just a big box of Tinkertoys to the Democrats, and they really don't like the way it's put together.

Goodyear scores massive own goal: "Goodyear Bans ‘Blue Lives Matter’ and MAGA Slogans, Allows Black Lives Matter". I wonder how many law enforcement agencies have been buying Goodyear tires - up to now.

Former invertebrate Republican and now - I don't remember: Democrat? Independent? - Charlie Crist is up against a very interesting challenger in his Florida district.

This is the most surprising thing I've seen since I last looked out of the eastern-facing kitchen window and saw the sun coming up: "Biden’s Senior Advisor Once Said Chinese Dictator Mao Zedong Was One Of Her ‘Favorite Political Philosophers’."

For example, stuffed shirt Dem shill, Jake Tapper, who bemoans the absence of a place in the Republican tent for the likes of former Pennsylvania congressman Charlie Dent, a textbook example of a time-serving RINO.

Still shameless, still self-unaware, still lacking in honor, still absurd

Bill Clinton sounds off on Oval Office decorum.

Privilege with a capital 'P'

Michelle Obama sitting in her $12 million dollar mansion, with her $60 million dollar book deal, and Netflix deal estimated to be worth between $150-$300 million, is feeling depressed. If that’s not privileged, I’m not sure what is.

— Jevon O.A. Williams (@JevonWilliamsVI) August 17, 2020

Here are a few of Joe Biden's greatest hits

 I believe that this year's presidential election is going to be a cognitive test for the American people.

Snakes in a tree

" ‘Flying rattlesnakes?’ Idea they never climb trees is shattered by social media posts".

Mrs. Paco came across a couple of snakes in our vegetable garden, recently. In one instance, she found a skin, perhaps two feet long, that had been shed. In another, while she was removing some mesh that we had draped over the strawberries to protect them from birds, she was attempting to remove what appeared to be a stick that had become tangled in the material, and received a sharp jab to one of her fingers. On closer inspection, the object turned out to be the desiccated body of a snake, it was one of its teeth that had pricked her finger. Fortunately, both of these critters were corn snakes - I think.

Working-with-your-hands Wednesday

 

Sad news

 My Uncle Jack passed away a few days ago. Having beaten prostate cancer and throat cancer, he finally succumbed to kidney disease at the age of 86. 

Jack was the "baby" of his family, which, to some extent, probably explains all of the allowances that were made for him over the years. 

He served in the Air Force in the late 1950s, and later headed up the personnel department of a textile firm in North Carolina. The textile company shut down, however, and thus began Jack's career as a "self-employed businessman", in which his addiction to spending money - and he wasn't fussy; didn't have to be his, necessarily - turned him into something of a local legend of financial impropriety and mismanagement (he, himself, always found his reputation to be hugely amusing). Jack had a tremendous sense of humor, an infectious laugh and was actually a loving brother and son; his own children turned out to be remarkably successful. He separated from his wife decades ago, but they remained married. Jack said divorce was against his religion, although I imagine that it was alimony which most strongly triggered his religious objections.

Jack enjoyed his pleasures, particularly food. Once, perhaps 15 years ago, he began to feel chest pains and figured (correctly, as it turned out) that he was having a heart attack. He hadn't had breakfast, yet, though, so, driving himself to the hospital, he stopped on the way at the Do-Nut Dinette and ordered up a stack of pancakes and a side of bacon before proceeding to the emergency room.

Such was Jack's charm (and obvious lack of financial prospects), that even the IRS finally threw up its hands in despair and effectively (if unofficially) ended its pursuit of him. Jack said of his last interview, with a (no doubt) broken and defeated IRS auditor, that, as the T-man was leaving, Jack threw an arm around the man's shoulders and said, "Don't worry. I'll send you a dollar or two every now and then".

I don't believe his estate includes much in the way of assets, except for a chest-of-drawers filled with his old socks which sits on the front porch of my late grandmother's house, where Jack lived for many years (without electricity, a needless expense as he saw it).

 My father said something once that I think would serve as the perfect epitaph: "Jack would give you the shirt off his back - although he probably borrowed it from you in the first place - but he would write you enough bad checks to wallpaper your living room." 

In spite of everything, it was impossible not to like him. RIP, Jack. You have finally found a permanent refuge from the bill collectors and the tax man.

Update  One more uncle Jack story comes to mind. For awhile, he worked for a small company - I don't know what the outfit did - and he was, quite astonishingly, the treasurer. The company eventually failed, although not, to the best of my knowledge, due to anything Jack did. Anyhow, I was chatting with Old Paco in his office one day when Jack came in, laughing his head off. My father asked him what was so funny. Jack said, "I've got to put this in the mail, but I wanted to show it to you first". He handed Old Paco a check, and said, "See that? It's a check written to a collection agency drawn on the account of a bankrupt company and signed by Jack Carter!" We all laughed til we cried.

The occasional act of Islamic terrorism is nothing to lose your head over

 Enh, maybe I'd better rephrase that: "When Turkey’s ‘Hero’ Beheaded 800 Christians for Refusing Islam".

I gotcha covered, copper!

"GUMSHOE ROSCOES: CLASSIC FILM NOIR REVOLVERS & PISTOLS"

I've gotten in the habit of checking out the firearms used in old movies - not just film noir, but westerns, too. Westerns, unfortunately, at least the older ones, were often way off in terms of period accuracy. So, you might see a movie set in the immediate post-civil war period featuring characters carrying 1873 peacekeepers, or a sheriff in 1870s Colorado carrying an 1892 Winchester. Attention to historical detail is much greater now, obviously. 

Ronald Reagan: I feel your pain, Donald

 Jeffrey Lord has seen this show before.

I have no idea whatever in the world happened to John Kasich. But I understand completely the appearance at the Democratic Convention by former GOP Governor Christie Todd Whitman. Apparently the ex-Ohio Governor and once-upon-a-time conservative Republican Congressman has now abandoned his political roots and flipped to become an Establishment finger wagger, leaving behind every last conservative principle he once professed to have. Whitman, on the other hand, has never made a secret of her Establishment ties. And if the Fox News accounts are accurate that there are others besides those two who will be speaking at the Democratic Convention, one can be sure they will be lionized in the mainstream media. 

As a former Reagan staffer, I can only say that this all seems reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s rise in the 1960’s and on through to his election in 1980 and beyond.

The ease with which these skunks have changed their stripes is nauseating. I can't imagine that the appearance of these faux Republicans at the (virtual) Democratic National Convention will have much impact. I had to look a couple of them up; I either never heard of them before, or had completely forgotten who they were. Perhaps they are unaware that Benedict Arnold was scorned by many in England after the war (whatever the value of the service he provided to the Crown, his change of sides was seen by many as having been rooted in dishonor).

Probably not

 

Did the TDS Telethon last night raise enough money for a cure?

— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) August 18, 2020

And now, a word from our sponsor

 

LOL!

 The media has been trying to generate interest for the last couple of days in the upcoming endorsement by several Republicans of Joe Biden's run for the presidency. Turns out, the endorsements are from some of the lamest GOP losers and has-beens of the last 20 years.

Several former Republican leaders are slated to speak on the first night of this year’s Democratic National Convention, including former U.S. New York Rep. Susan Molinari, who once spoke at the Republican National Convention, and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a frequent Trump critic who ran for president in 2016. 

Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and former Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman are also on the list of GOP speakers expected to give remarks virtually on Monday night. 

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa told the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery” on Monday that the theme of the convention is uniting America.

 Interesting, also, that the DNC apparently is now being staffed by Aztecs.

My kind of weather

"Death Valley hits 130 degrees, thought to be highest temperature on Earth in nearly a century"

Death Valley is pretty much the only place in California I want to visit. Definitely on my bucket list.

Classical corner

 The late, great Jacqueline du Pré performs the Allegro Apassionato, Opus 43, of Camille Saint-Saёns.

 

Well played!

 Found this gem over at Ace of Spades: "What if people talked like Joe Biden?"

Know your gun history

Something interesting to me was the discovery that there were Luger pistols made especially for the American market (note the old photos of various Western characters carrying Lugers).

Speaking of guns, it's obvious that the buying frenzy has caused people to do some strange things. For example, I just bought a Glock 23 Gen 4 (a medium-sized .40 caliber pistol). Truth to tell, I never particularly liked Glocks. They have a reputation for being durable and reliable, but the look of the things always left me cold; however, I just saw the 23 for sale online at AIM Surplus, in "Battlefield Green", plus three 13-round magazines, and it seemed to be a good deal. I checked some of my favorite sites to do a price comparison, and they didn't have any Glocks at all, so I jumped on this one. Had to do it; would've been a crime not to. The gun, incidentally, which popped up Friday, is now sold out.

Sunday funnies

 

Wakey, wakey!

Haw! "Australia's cheapest Ferrari".

Hunk, a hunk of burning love.   H/T: David Thompson

Suffice it to say, Melbourne is not this fellow's cup of tea (strong language alert).

Ted Baxter: setting standards of journalism still followed today.

From Powerline's "The Week in Pictures".

I'll take Manhattan

 On second thought, maybe not: "Shocking Dystopian Video Of NYC Shows An Abandoned And Boarded Up 5th Avenue".

How disappointing

Why, I read just last week that New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, had been voted the kindest leader in the world (by some admittedly dubious group), and here she is, now, declaring mandatory quarantine camps. Out of the goodness of her heart, no doubt.

H/T: Friend and commenter Mike W.

More weird WWII history.

The two Irishmen who fought for the Waffen SS (sounds hard to believe, but alcohol was involved).

Given Kamala's ambition, I'm sure he could use a food taster

"Hillary Clinton Willing To Serve In Biden Administration".

Money can do a lot of good

 It can do an awful lot of bad, too - "George Soros: A Lifetime Fortune Spent on Liberal Influence".

I guess Joe used to be terrible with those "Spot the Differences" pictures in Highlights magazine

 

Via Stilton's Place

Happy Feet Friday

Some splendid jazz guitar from Wes Montgomery, with “Four on Six”.

 

Important step toward peace

 "Historic Israel-UAE Peace Agreement… With President Trump’s Help". 

How long before the antagonist media start to spin this as an anti-Palestinian maneuver?

If this is allowed to stand...

...in Texas, mind you...then I feel safe in saying that, as a country, we are finished: "Update: Judge Orders Texas Father to Pay $5,000 a Month So His Ex-Wife Can 'Transition' Son James Into a Girl Named 'Luna'" .

Adjudicated child abuse, that's what this is. 

Is Peoria on its way to becoming the new Chicago?

 "Illinois Boys’ Lemonade Stand Robbed at Gunpoint"

DNC Unfair to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez!

 I definitely think this distinguished progressive genius needs more than 60 seconds of air time.  How about a full hour?

Well, yeah, I guess she had better be

"Joe Biden: I Picked Kamala Harris Because She’s ‘Ready to Lead on Day One’".

Under the circumstances, I think this would make sense, too: "Report: Kamala Harris Already Vetting VP Picks".

Just spitballin' here

 

Admittedly, it would be nice to occasionally come across someone who knew how to spell "loose" correctly, but you've got to work with what you've got.

Working-with-your-hands-Wednesday

Seems counterintuitive

 Party Of The Poor And Oppressed Nominates Old, Rich, White Man And Cop

Every hundred years, like clockwork

"She beat the Spanish flu, and now 107-year-old New Jersey woman beat COVID-19". H/T: Mrs. Paco.

Joe Biden's ventriloquist finally picked his running mate

And it's Kamala Harris, Willie Brown's old sidepiece.

I have a funny feeling that the NeverTrumpers are going to drop "character matters" as one of their main slogans.

Update  Sing it sister!

And now, a word from our sponsor

Here's a commercial for Jarritos, a Mexican soda pop brand (which explains the Day of the Dead theme).

Have a little faith, baby

Kurt Schlichter says things are looking up.

There’s an enthusiasm gap that’s even wider than the yawning chasm between Bill Kristol’s self-image and the cheesy reality. Trump voters are willing to crawl over broken glass to vote for The Donald; savvy Dems are looking for broken glass to slash their wrists because they know their addled nominee is a senile old weirdo on an express train to McGovernville. Who, exactly, are the people saying, “I’m really excited by the dynamic possibilities of a Joe Biden presidency!” except the marketing guys at Ensure and Depends?

Later on, we're gonna hear him squeal like a Democrat

Uh-oh. I just got a call from a lawyer threatening charges of libel and defamation of character. Banjo Boy's lawyer.

Classical corner

From a composer who needs no introduction, here is Johann Sebastian Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.

How do you like getting the bum's rush, comrades?

Update and bumped An oldie but a goodie: Antifa self-defense training.




Residents in a Ft. Collins, CO neighborhood run off a small infestation of "commie scum".

It's good to see normal people pushing back.

Part of the cause of the ammo shortage...

...at least with respect to cowboy loads and other old-school cartridges, is that the ammunition plant belonging to Ultramax, which specialized in the manufacture of archaic, Old West calibers, burned down in May of 2018, and the company wound up going bankrupt and completely out of business.

Most of the cartridges I have in .44 Russian, .44 Colt and .38 special (cowboy load) are Ultramax. This is bad news, indeed (just learned about the fate of the company while searching for .45 Colt and saw a message on one ammo site that referenced Ultramax's demise).

No big surprise, there

I mean, who was going to tell a couple of hundred thousand bikers that they have to wear masks? "No masks required as 250,000 expected at 10-day Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Here's what to know."

Sunday funnies

(H/T: Friend and commenter JeffS)





You have to wonder if the guy would have screamed like that if it was just his girlfriend the bear was after (H/T: David Thompson)


The self-contained dog (H/T: ditto).

I have nothing to add: "German Nudist Chases Wild Boar That Stole His Laptop".

"Biden Campaign Cancels Trip Upstairs".





From Powerline's "The Week in Pictures".

Just amazing

Update and bumped Question: have any of you ever utilized the Guns International or Gun Broker online sites for making purchases? There are some interesting firearms out there, but I have no experience with either site (Gun Broker involves bidding on most of the products listed). I'm a bit wary, because the sites are essentially clearinghouses for a multitude of individuals and shops that are selling firearms and related items, which could make due diligence a little difficult.

.38 long Colt is an archaic caliber that has the reputation of being the worst cartridge ever used by the U.S. Army; it was employed during the Philippine-American War and proved to be a weak and ineffective round against Moro tribesmen (who were frequently juiced up with drugs during their attacks).

In any event, Colt made numerous revolvers in this caliber which it also sold in the domestic commercial market. I bought some .38 Colt in the past to use as low recoil target rounds at the range in one of my .38 Special revolvers, so I have about 50 rounds in stock. The ammo is only manufactured by a couple of companies, these days, mostly for cowboy-action shooting. Still, it wasn't hard to find until we got hit with the multiple whammy of the coronavirus/BLM-Antifa-violence/potential-Biden-victory run on firearms and ammunition. Today, I was astonished to see that, on the Gun Brokers online site, a seller has five full boxes of 50 rounds each, plus an incomplete open box, the whole totaling 285 rounds. The lot has been bid up to $455. That's almost $1.60/round. Before the panic, I could get them for about 69 cents/round. I saw an old Colt in nice shape for sale online chambered for this round, with really sweet-looking stag grips, but I can't afford to feed it on caviar-like prices. So, maybe I'll look around for a Colt chambered in .38 Special.

As fantasies go, this guy dreams big

"Liberal Professor Says He Would Assassinate Jesus If He Was Sent Back In Time".

Check out this clown's photo at the linked story. M'y-e-s, that's exactly what he would look like, no surprise there.

H/T to friend and commenter Gregory's excellent blog, The mind is an unexplored country.

How to be hep to the jive

Oh, I'm sorry - was that a racist thing to say? Let's check in with this expert and find out.

Hey, "practicing Catholic" Joe Biden, what do you have to say about all the vandalism of Catholic churches in the country?

Yeah, that's what I thought: nothing.


"How dare you question the sincerity of my religious, you know, thing, you lying dog-faced junkie!"

Happy Feet Friday

Before they were Bill Haley and the Comets, stars of rock 'n roll, they were Bill Haley and the Saddlemen, practitioners of western swing. Here they are with something of a crossover tune from 1951 called “Rocket 88” (originally an r&b/early rock 'n roll number recorded by Jackie Brenston and his band, featuring Ike Turner on piano).The pedal steel gives the song a bit of a lingering western swing vibe which I particularly like.

Working-with-your-hands-Wednesday

Bonus item! This is kind of cool. Is it legal to do this with a U.S. coin?

That's a great stride in efficiency

"Congress Members To Wear Barcodes So Lobbyists Can Scan Prices, Self-Checkout".

Ok, fine: 2+2=5

But don't ever ask me to fly on airplanes designed by these people.

Advice from the Devil

Elsworth Tooey, the cunning socialist villain of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, outlines the totalitarian approach in a brilliant speech that I have linked before, and link again now. A sample:

"Power, Petey. I want to rule. Like my spiritual predecessors. But I’m luckier than they were. I inherited the fruit of their efforts and I shall be the one who’ll see the great dream made real. I see it all around me today. I recognise it. I don’t like it. I didn’t expect to like it. Enjoyment is not my destiny. I shall find such satisfaction as my capacity permits. I shall rule."

"Whom...?"

"You. The world. It’s only a matter of discovering the lever. If you learn how to rule one single man’s soul, you can get the rest of mankind. It’s the soul, Peter, the soul. Not whips or swords or fire or guns. That’s why the Caesars, the Attilas, the Napoleons were fools and did not last. We will. The soul, Peter, is that which can’t be ruled. It must be broken. Drive a wedge in, get your fingers on it – and the man is yours. You won’t need a whip – he’ll bring it to you and ask to be whipped. Set him in reverse – and his own mechanism will do your work for you. Use him against himself. Want to know how it’s done? See if I ever lied to you. See if you haven’t heard all this for years, but didn’t want to hear, and the fault is yours, not mine.

There are many ways. Here’s one. Make man feel small. Make him feel guilty. Kill his aspiration and his integrity. That’s difficult. The worst among you gropes for an idol in his own twisted way. Kill integrity by internal corruption. Use it against himself. Direct it towards a goal destructive of all integrity. Preach selflessness. Tell man that altruism is the ideal. Not a single one has ever reached it and not a single one ever will. His every living instinct screams against it. But don’t you see what you accomplish ? Man realises that he’s incapable of what he’s accepted as the noblest virtue - and it gives him a sense of guilt, of sin, of his own basic unworthiness. Since the supreme ideal is beyond his grasp, he gives up eventually all ideals, all aspiration, all sense of his personal value. He feels himself obliged to preach what he can’t practice. But one can’t be good halfway or honest approximately. To preserve one’s integrity is a hard battle. Why preserve that which one knows to be corrupt already? His soul gives up its self respect. You’ve got him. He’ll obey. He’ll be glad to obey – because he can’t trust himself, he feels uncertain, he feels unclean. That’s one way.

Dems: Hey, you know what's been missing from the coronavirus stimulus bills?

Gun control, that's what.

Getting tiresome

This is the third year in a row we've experienced a hurricane. We only had minor damage - a piece of siding came off, and a couple of plants got uprooted - but, still, tedious.

Pretty sure this doesn't happen in Arizona.

And now, a word from our sponsor

Maybe Trump should pull an Eastwood and debate a chair

Or a cardboard cutout of Biden (which would probably produce results close to the real thing, anyway). Democrats are starting to wonder whether debates are really quite the thing - not because Biden wouldn't absolutely ace them, but because, um, mumble...mumble...mumble.

Classical corner

Here are two of my favorite movements from The Planets, an orchestral suite that is the best known work of Gustav Holst. The first is the stirring "Mars, the Bringer of War", and the second is the mysterious, hauntingly beautiful (almost Twilight Zone-ish) "Neptune, the Mystic".





Note I first heard The Planets back in the 1980s. It was during Reagan's first term, and, in spite of Reagan's tough stance against the Soviet Union, I did not anticipate seeing communism dismantled in my lifetime. "Neptune, the Mystic" formed the soundtrack for the last scene of a story I contemplated writing (although I never did). The yarn featured a liberal do-gooder journalist who hears of a dark right-wing conspiracy against the U.S. government, and he throws himself into investigating the plot; however, as he gets deeper into the weeds, he finds that the whole thing is a lie, a massive disinformation plan cooked up by the Russians, with obvious help from inside the U.S. government (and this would have been a time when there were a few liberals, including our hero, to whom personal integrity and honesty mattered more than ideology). As his fellow "investigators" become revealed as communist operatives, and as it becomes increasingly clear that they are suspicious of his reliability, the journalist realizes that his changes of survival are shrinking rapidly. In desperation, he decides to turn to an old family friend - a senior official with State Dept. Intelligence, or FBI Counterintelligence (something like that). The official professes great interest in what the journalist has uncovered, and arranges to meet him at night in a Washington park.

In the last scene, it has been snowing, and the street lamps throw little pools of bright light on the ground, punctuating the darkness. The journalist arrives and waits, nervously, for the official to arrive. The latter does finally materialize out of the darkness, walks up to the journalist and embraces him in an avuncular sort of way. They proceed to walk through the park (this is where I can hear the eerie, somewhat sinister music playing in my head as the soundtrack behind the conversation), and after the journalist gives a brief description of the plot he has discovered, the official picks up the thread of the conversation and, to the surprise of the journalist, begins to fill in numerous details of the disinformation scheme. As they stroll slowly along, the journalist finds, to his consternation, that the official is not simply explaining the scheme, he appears to be doing so with enthusiasm, defending it, oddly bragging about it. All the time they have been walking, the official has been stealthily guiding the journalist to a secluded section of the park that abuts a service road. Distracted and panicked by the realization that the official is actually one of the masterminds of the Soviet plot, the journalist does not notice that they have suddenly come upon a black limousine parked in the road. The official smiles broadly at the journalist, takes him gently by the arm and leads him to the car. He opens the rear door, and there, siting in the gloom of the back seat, are two stolid, shadowy figures. The official offers some final words - something along the lines of, "I have, really, always been fond of you and your family. But surely you can see that there's no place for sentimentality in a war zone. I am genuinely sorry". The journalist, in a kind of trance brought on by the hopelessness of his situation, gets into the car. The official closes the door and begins walking back through the park. The car pulls slowly away, carrying the journalist to his death.

In any event, it's interesting how a musical piece can trigger the emotions and the intellect, and spur the creative process along lines that can surprise even one's self.

Assortment

Joe Biden and his arrest fantasies.

"WILL JOE BIDEN PUT CASTRO-LOVING COMMUNIST KAREN BASS A HEARTBEAT AWAY FROM THE PRESIDENCY?" If he doesn't, it won't be because she's a Castro-loving Communist. UPDATE I guess that makes everything ok, then : "Karen Bass, VP contender for Biden, renounces her praise of Fidel Castro". Well, that ought to sew up the Cuban-American vote.

"Biden Campaign Says He Is So Close To A VP Pick He Can Smell Her".

I had no idea that Dr. Fauci had been making a dangerous nuisance of himself in public life for decades. Why is he still on the government payroll? Does he have some kind of life appointment, like a Supreme Court justice?

“John Lewis makes final journey across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.” Pettus, incidentally, was a Democratic Senator back in the day. For some strange, inscrutable reason, the WaPo didn't identify his party affiliation.

Hey, who knows a man better than his own family? "Barack Obama’s half-brother rips ‘cold and ruthless’ ex-president".

Three cheers for the Unwoke!

Common Cents has video of VP Mike Pence's powerful speech in support of the police.

It seems as if the Austin police might not be entirely down with the city's hip, lefty ethos (I've frequently referred to Austin as Texas' liberal concentration camp, but even so, it still ain't Portland - where burning bibles is now all the rage).

Ah, those were the days, when Hollywood liberals (some of them, anyway) saw the dangers of communism: "Olivia de Havilland, Cold Warrior".

The Minneapolis Department has some good advice for the city's new second-class citizens: "Minneapolis Police Department Advises Residents to Give In to Criminals".

Joe Biden is now being advised by various Democrats to avoid debating with Trump, ostensibly because the president doesn't play by the rules and he's just too big a liar, but in reality because everybody knows that Biden's brain is about the size of a Milk Dud and he will inevitably cover himself in embarrassment, possibly unmasking himself as someone too dumb for even Democrats to stomach.

You know what to do.



Not get woke, but wake up.

Sunday funnies

(Courtesy of Stilton's Place)








"Founding Fathers Strapped Down In Graves To Prevent Further Spinning".


This might come in handy for dealing with minor neighborhood squabbles.


When you've got the munchies, and you don't want to take the long way around.


For the first time ever, all your Nazi General stereotypes are gathered in one room.




From Powerline's "The Week in Pictures".