I was recently talking to a friend of mine who stated that he is proud to have voted "no" on the question of legalizing marijuana by physician's order for medicinal purposes. He stated that he was against drugs and drug addicts. Of course, the last time he went on a cruise, he purchased the "all you care to drink liquor package" for $400 and bragged to me that he got his money's worth by drinking more than 50 drinks containing Jack Daniels during the seven day cruise.
Smell the hypocrisy.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Busybodies
This is busybody neighbors using stupid government rules to control their neighbors.
Apparently they have a neighbor that doesn’t like them very much and is sending the local authorities to harass them for whatever reason they can come up with. The guys in the video explain that the neighbor has called local fire, police and now some pencil pushing desk jockey from the the local government to come harass them.
Monday, July 27, 2015
The genius of the Second Amendment
The anti gunners frequently try to use convoluted interpretations of the law and of the founders to justify more gun grabs. Several years ago, I grew tired of all of the arguments and justifications and finally decided that it will boil down to this: As soon as the antis think that they can take our guns, they will.
Then the citizens will either let them, or they will fight. If they fight, then the antis have no idea what they are in for. You see, they claim that no citizen militia can possibly oppose the US military, what with its possession of fighter jets, Abrams tanks, and nuclear weapons.
What they overlook is the fact that a company of 14 tanks requires 1,000 gallons of fuel to travel 100 miles. Those same tanks must be repaired every 250 hours of operation. Keeping two F-16 jets in the air for immediate support of troops on the ground requires more than 3,000 gallons of fuel per day, plus each jet requires 12 man hours of maintenance for each hour of flight. A squadron of 18 such aircraft needs more than 400 people to keep 18 to 24 of those jets in the air, along with hundreds of other support personnel.
Each of these weapons systems are wonders of technological achievement. Therein lies the weak spot. The maintenance, arming, and fueling of these systems must, over the long term, be performed inside of fixed installations, using hundreds of personnel. Unlike our war in Iraq, the fuel and spare parts would be manufactured in the same nation where the conflict is occurring.
When a government declares war against its own citizens, the gloves come off. Convoys of fuel trucks and spare parts are easy to raid, and a tank with no fuel becomes a fixed pillbox. A jet fighter on the ground threatens no one. So the military has to spend time guarding the convoys as well as the bases. For each soldier who patrols the area, several are needed to guard their fixed bases.
Once the bases are thoroughly guarded, the citizens attack the factories that make the spare parts, the electric lines bringing them power, and the supply trucks and pipelines that supply the factories and refineries. Now the military has to use the high tech weapons and equipment to guard those.
So the citizens switch tactics again, and begin threatening and attacking the factory workers and their families at home. The troops cannot be everywhere.
This is why would be dictators are so afraid of an armed citizenry, even more so than they fear a foreign army. It only took 13 months for 309,000 coalition troops to defeat the 375,000 strong Iraqi Army. After that, an estimated 130,000 insurgents fought the 176,000 coalitions troops to a 5 year long standstill, and the coalition troops had the distinct advantage of having a secure pipeline of spare parts, fuel, and ammunition.
Extrapolate that to what would happen if even a minor fraction of the estimated 100 million gun owners decided to oppose a weapons confiscation, keeping in mind that there are less than 2.5 million in the entire military, plus another estimated 1 million police officers in the nation, and at least some of those cops and soldiers could be expected to join their friends, families, and neighbors in opposing such a dictatorial move. Even so, the balance of forces will ALWAYS favor an armed citizenry over their government.
In the case of the USA, assuming that only one in 25 gun owners opposes the cops, and all of the government's forces are in combat roles with 100% participation, the government is still at a 7:1 disadvantage. Factor in the number of troops who would be needed to maintain and guard the weapons systems and their support bases, plus the forces needed to maintain commitments elsewhere, and the forces available to actually oppose a citizen militia would fall to one soldier for every 40 or 50 citizens.
As for nukes, who cares? They are useless against citizen militias.
The anti gunners who think that citizen militias are worthless clearly do not understand reality, nor do they understand why arming the citizens was the incredible stroke of genius.
Possible BOL
In an earlier post, I mentioned considering a place in northern Maine as a possible BOL. This place was nice, because it is secure, fairly isolated, and is self sustainable. Here are my thoughts:
Shelter:
The cabin itself was nice. It has three bedrooms and a single bath, with a large common room that serves as kitchen, dining room, and living area. Eight people should have no problem living in it, if they get along. The place is about 800 square feet of interior space, with wood and propane for heat.
Food and water:
- The water is well water, with lake water as a backup.
- There is a large garden outside. Due to large amounts of snowfall, a winter greenhouse will not be possible. The hunting is great, with large numbers of deer and moose, along with other animals like beaver, rabbits, geese, ducks, and squirrel. The cabin is on a lake, and the fishing is spectacular.
One day we were fishing for about two hours, and we caught 30 white perch, three large pickerel, and a 4 pound bass, along with numerous yellow perch, which we threw back. It made for one heck of a fish fry.
A diet consisting largely of fish is not sustainable in Maine, due to high Mercury levels in the water.
Security:
There are six cabins in the camp, with a year round caretaker. The caretaker is related to my girlfriend, and can be trusted to not stab us in the back. This is important, so that we know our storage is safe while we are not there.
The cabin is very remote, and this is a significant security feature. It is difficult to find, and is off the beaten path. This is good for security.
Communications:
The place is so far removed from civilization that there is no cell phone signal in the area. Landline telephone and internet are available, but unreliable.
When the phone an internet lines get knocked down during frequent winter storms, communication with the town of 5500 is possible for HAM operators, thanks to a VHF repeater that is located 16 miles away. The 2 meter radio in my truck had no problems reaching the repeater anywhere I went, and my 5 watt portable was usually able to reach it, as long as I was not deep in a valley.
Weather:
The winters are tough, with residents telling me that the ice on the lake is frequently more than 3 feet deep, and the temperatures dip to more than 35 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, and there is frequently three or more feet of snow on the ground.
Assistance:
The town has only 30 residents, and 25 of them are more than 50 years old. The next closest town is 15 miles away down a small road that is rarely plowed clear of snow. This town is larger, with nearly 500 residents, and the next larger town is another 20 miles away, with 5,500 residents. The nearest city is Bangor, nearly 100 miles away.
Many residents own trucks with plows on them, so they can clear their own snow. This means that you are on your own if the SHTF. Almost everyone has a boat and a snowmobile. Boats won't get you far, however, as the lakes and rivers have large numbers of rocks in them, creating lots of rapids.
Other thoughts:
The mosquitoes and biting flies are incredible. The area is overrun with them.
The biggest problem is distance and difficulty in getting there. The cabin is 1,300 miles from my home, and the shortest route has you passing through New York, Maryland, and New Jersey, as well as skirting Washington, DC. As far as I am concerned, it would be safer to travel to a foreign country than to those socialist utopias. When the SHTF, as bad as those places are now, they will likely be no-go zones at that point.
I will keep the place as an alternate relocation site, and perhaps stage some limited supplies up there, but my search for a BOL continues.
Shelter:
The cabin itself was nice. It has three bedrooms and a single bath, with a large common room that serves as kitchen, dining room, and living area. Eight people should have no problem living in it, if they get along. The place is about 800 square feet of interior space, with wood and propane for heat.
Food and water:
- The water is well water, with lake water as a backup.
- There is a large garden outside. Due to large amounts of snowfall, a winter greenhouse will not be possible. The hunting is great, with large numbers of deer and moose, along with other animals like beaver, rabbits, geese, ducks, and squirrel. The cabin is on a lake, and the fishing is spectacular.
One day we were fishing for about two hours, and we caught 30 white perch, three large pickerel, and a 4 pound bass, along with numerous yellow perch, which we threw back. It made for one heck of a fish fry.
A diet consisting largely of fish is not sustainable in Maine, due to high Mercury levels in the water.
Security:
There are six cabins in the camp, with a year round caretaker. The caretaker is related to my girlfriend, and can be trusted to not stab us in the back. This is important, so that we know our storage is safe while we are not there.
The cabin is very remote, and this is a significant security feature. It is difficult to find, and is off the beaten path. This is good for security.
Communications:
The place is so far removed from civilization that there is no cell phone signal in the area. Landline telephone and internet are available, but unreliable.
When the phone an internet lines get knocked down during frequent winter storms, communication with the town of 5500 is possible for HAM operators, thanks to a VHF repeater that is located 16 miles away. The 2 meter radio in my truck had no problems reaching the repeater anywhere I went, and my 5 watt portable was usually able to reach it, as long as I was not deep in a valley.
Weather:
The winters are tough, with residents telling me that the ice on the lake is frequently more than 3 feet deep, and the temperatures dip to more than 35 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, and there is frequently three or more feet of snow on the ground.
Assistance:
The town has only 30 residents, and 25 of them are more than 50 years old. The next closest town is 15 miles away down a small road that is rarely plowed clear of snow. This town is larger, with nearly 500 residents, and the next larger town is another 20 miles away, with 5,500 residents. The nearest city is Bangor, nearly 100 miles away.
Many residents own trucks with plows on them, so they can clear their own snow. This means that you are on your own if the SHTF. Almost everyone has a boat and a snowmobile. Boats won't get you far, however, as the lakes and rivers have large numbers of rocks in them, creating lots of rapids.
Other thoughts:
The mosquitoes and biting flies are incredible. The area is overrun with them.
The biggest problem is distance and difficulty in getting there. The cabin is 1,300 miles from my home, and the shortest route has you passing through New York, Maryland, and New Jersey, as well as skirting Washington, DC. As far as I am concerned, it would be safer to travel to a foreign country than to those socialist utopias. When the SHTF, as bad as those places are now, they will likely be no-go zones at that point.
I will keep the place as an alternate relocation site, and perhaps stage some limited supplies up there, but my search for a BOL continues.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Travelling, not dead
I spent the summer travelling. I am a Diamond member of the Royal Caribbean Cruise lines' Crown and Anchor club. I have been taking 4-5 cruises a year for the past couple of years.
In June, I took a week long cruise from Puerto Rico to St Thomas, St Kitts, Aruba, and Curacao. I had a great time exploring the islands, and I even won about $500 playing Craps in the casino. This was my first cruise of the year. We went on five cruises last year.
I returned home on the 4th of July, and left two days later on a 4,000+ mile road trip. I left from Central Florida and went to Nashville. I spent two nights there, during which I ate at a restaurant, only to discover that Lewis Black was sitting at the next table over. We left there, crossed the border into Canada, and then went across Canada to Niagra Falls. I was amazed at the large numbers of wind turbines. There were literally hundreds of them on both sides of the road.
I did all of the typical tourist stuff, and even had time to hit the casino for an hour, winning another $150. After that, we drove on to Montreal and Quebec. I really enjoyed the old parts of Quebec.
Crossing the border again, we spent a little over a week in Northern Maine. We were in a small cabin that I am seriously looking at making a BOL. More on that in a future post.
We finally packed up and headed for home, so we could prepare for the coming school year. It took us 8 hours to reach New York City, where we stayed the night with some friends in Brooklyn. It was our intention to drive the 1100 miles from there to home in two 8 hour travelling days, stopping in Fayetteville, North Carolina for the night, but circumstances prevented that. It took us 6 hours to travel the first 300 miles, and by the time we reached our stop in Fayetteville, all of the hotels were full. We tried four different hotels at two different exits, to no avail.
We decided to travel through the night. I slpet in the passenger seat for about three hours, and then drove until I couldn't stay awake. I then took an hour long nap in a rest stop, finished the drive, and arrived home at 9 o'clock this morning. The 110 miles that should have taken a total of 16 hours of driving time wound up taking 21 hours, plus a pair of hour long stops for a meal and a nap.
I will be teaching Chemistry and Biology this year, and our first day back at work is during the last week of July. Time to begin working on lesson plans and getting ready for work. I am already looking forward to my next trip, when I will be spending the last weekend of October in the Bahamas.
In June, I took a week long cruise from Puerto Rico to St Thomas, St Kitts, Aruba, and Curacao. I had a great time exploring the islands, and I even won about $500 playing Craps in the casino. This was my first cruise of the year. We went on five cruises last year.
I returned home on the 4th of July, and left two days later on a 4,000+ mile road trip. I left from Central Florida and went to Nashville. I spent two nights there, during which I ate at a restaurant, only to discover that Lewis Black was sitting at the next table over. We left there, crossed the border into Canada, and then went across Canada to Niagra Falls. I was amazed at the large numbers of wind turbines. There were literally hundreds of them on both sides of the road.
I did all of the typical tourist stuff, and even had time to hit the casino for an hour, winning another $150. After that, we drove on to Montreal and Quebec. I really enjoyed the old parts of Quebec.
Crossing the border again, we spent a little over a week in Northern Maine. We were in a small cabin that I am seriously looking at making a BOL. More on that in a future post.
We finally packed up and headed for home, so we could prepare for the coming school year. It took us 8 hours to reach New York City, where we stayed the night with some friends in Brooklyn. It was our intention to drive the 1100 miles from there to home in two 8 hour travelling days, stopping in Fayetteville, North Carolina for the night, but circumstances prevented that. It took us 6 hours to travel the first 300 miles, and by the time we reached our stop in Fayetteville, all of the hotels were full. We tried four different hotels at two different exits, to no avail.
We decided to travel through the night. I slpet in the passenger seat for about three hours, and then drove until I couldn't stay awake. I then took an hour long nap in a rest stop, finished the drive, and arrived home at 9 o'clock this morning. The 110 miles that should have taken a total of 16 hours of driving time wound up taking 21 hours, plus a pair of hour long stops for a meal and a nap.
I will be teaching Chemistry and Biology this year, and our first day back at work is during the last week of July. Time to begin working on lesson plans and getting ready for work. I am already looking forward to my next trip, when I will be spending the last weekend of October in the Bahamas.