Category: General

Tab Clearing

April 15, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Work is insane right now, so I’ve got a bunch of articles I’d love to do more analysis, but I will have to just settle for letting my readers do their own.

National Review takes on the leftist view of a typical concealed carrier.

FEE discusses the humanity in the gun control debate.

An American Thinker article on whether or not the Second Civil War has begun. I think a Second Civil War will look less like the First Civil War and more like Beirut in the eighties or the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Reason discussing why the right going down the identity politics road is far more dangerous. Honestly, I worry about what happens if the Threeper continent is ever moved to true violence.

War Is Boring talking over the current Army program to replace the current small arms.

Finally, The Brother turned me on to this little site that prints pictures into glass. One of The Wife and me on our wedding day is hanging in my home office.

Thin Privilege

March 11, 2019 / / 0 Comments

ShoeOnHead put this video out:

Is life easier for thin people? In so many ways. Is it privilege? Nope. Any more than being mainstream is privilege compared to being a geek.

Weight loss is hard. It’s easy to get discouraged. It’s easy to get frustrated with all the looks of disdain, and not finding clothes that fit, and not finding chairs that fit, and the unasked for advice. And what do most of us heavy people do when frustrated? We eat. We eat because it’s a pleasure. It’s a moment of bliss in a sea of agony.

But Derek, why are you calling yourself heavy? Didn’t you lose a bunch of weight?

Yeah. I did. It was hard work for TWO YEARS. And the moment I stop doing the hard work of counting calories, I will balloon right back up. So, no matter how “thin” I get, I know there’s a heavy person screaming for me to just eat all the chocolate.

Could society be better towards heavy people? Maybe, but society could be better towards everyone. Does that let heavy people off the hook? No. We got dealt a hand of slow metabolism, which means we have to work harder to stay fit. It sucks. It took me more tries than I want to think about to find a plan and mindset that worked for me.

I won’t condemn someone for being heavy. I will condemn someone for blaming others for their problems without evidence.

And thin privilege has less evidence than acupuncture.

Tab Clearing

March 4, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Bunch of odds and ends I’m not going to have time to make full posts on, but you should RTWT.

A column from the New York Post on why people distrust journalists. Letting your political bias and disdain for fully half the country ain’t helping.

Surviving Your 15 Minutes of Hate I’m not going to lie and say that this does not worry me. It’s one reason I write under a pseudonym.

From Volokh Conspiracy, 3 Rules About Hate Speech This is one thing I dread is having to explain this to my niece and nephew.

From USCarry, 5 Types of People You Should Avoid While Concealed Carry A lot of don’t go stupid places with stupid people doing stupid things.

And for something completely different, how to cook perfect rice in an Instant Pot. Which is the main thing the Wife To Be and I use ours for these days.

Tab Clearing

January 21, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Time to clear out some open tabs on the browser.

You Think You Know Me looks like an interesting party card game. Particularly if you have people you’d rather not play Cards Against Humanity with.

Tam recommended Thyrm lens covers for your weapon mounted light. These are disposable covers for range time to keep the lens clear.

What do you call a guy who is a decorated Navy SEAL, a Harvard-trained medical doctor, and an astronaut? I’m going with “Dr. Kim.” The best comment I’ve heard is this is the kid who when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up answered “Everything!”

Issues with iOS 12.1.1

December 17, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I started having issues with my phone last week. Turns out that iOS 12.1.1 has some nasty bugs. In my case, my browsers and some of my apps don’t want to talk to the internet outside of WiFi. It may be causing some issues with my CarPlay.

If you haven’t updated yet, you may want to hold off until the next one.

The Dangers of Rescuing Big Cats

September 10, 2018 / / 0 Comments

True life never fails to bring the big stories. In this installment, an exotic animal keeper in Oklahoma was arrested in a murder-for-hire plot. Although not identified by police, the CEO of Big Cat Rescue, Carol Baskin, is saying she’s the target. On the Book of Face, Ms. Baskin sheds some light on why she was a target.

Maldonado ran, in our view, one of the most notorious cub petting roadside zoos in the country in Wynnewood, OK. Years ago he also operated a traveling exhibit that would bring cubs to malls throughout the Midwest and Southwest. When Big Cat Rescue educated the malls about the miserable life this created for the cubs and the malls started cancelling Maldonado’s traveling exhibit, Maldonado retaliated by renaming his traveling show “Big Cat Rescue Entertainment” in order to confuse the public into thinking the show was operated by Big Cat Rescue. In 2011 Big Cat Rescue sued for violations of its intellectual property rights and in 2013 was granted a consent judgment for over $1 million. Litigation to collect on the judgment has been ongoing since then in Oklahoma.

Yes, Big Cat Rescue gets some money from me in an annual contribution. I like the work they do, and I hate that they have to deal with shit like this.

If you’re coming to Tampa and have some time when they’re open, I recommend taking the tour. Or just check out their YouTube channel.