America today is one WTF after another.
-Lexington Green
56 thoughts on “Quote of the Day”
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Some Chicago Boyz know each other from student days at the University of Chicago. Others are Chicago boys in spirit. The blog name is also intended as a good-humored gesture of admiration for distinguished Chicago School economists and fellow travelers.
America today is one WTF after another.
-Lexington Green
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I want that on a bumper sticker.
Enjoying my tropical refuge here in Rio, I couldn’t agree more. I wish I could trade citizenship with a Brazilian.
It seems that the best thing Amerika can hope for is deadlock in a federal legislature that keeps raising the level of looming crisis.
No whining.
There’s no WTF to it BTW..we’re simply being en-serfed. This is the story of man.
Which they the would be masters are well aware they’d better get done quickly.
The only WTF is attempting to re-orient normalcy bias.
I am thinking of patenting my solution of Cognitively Dissonant Taleb Distribution – whereas you scrabble for the pennies while ignoring the steamrollers existence, never mind its’ clear path. I suppose I’d have to whack Taleb some pennies. A lot of bother.
You could pray too. That seems to be popular.
I am a bit puzzled. I immediately went to the Google News page. I didn’t see much of interest. Are you referring to Hussein’s new tag team of Chuckles and Lurch, with their sidekick John Jones, the Man from Mars?
I’m not fond of Desperata Omnia ad Nazium. However…the pattern of causing continuous crisis, crippling the government with a hapless traditional opposition party [which defines the Republicans role] unable to comprehend the fundamental changes, never mind react or preserve the system of government or govern Constitutionally is similar. The Republicans are not “The Right”. They are very much the Center that cannot hold.
That’s as far as it goes however. What these idiots are doing is setting in motion a chain of events that they as people are not up to facing.
Bammu is no Hitler, and the Glee Club and street trash around him are certainly no SA, SS, what have you. Most of all he’s doesn’t have the backing of Der Volk.
When you’re Weimar you really don’t want to throw the rules out and live by shall we say your merit and your wits.
However your normalcy bias shall not be allowed any chance to right itself. He revels in Chaos and does not offer order, of any kind.
I was not talking about politics.
Downton Abbey? The NHL Strike? Illinois victory over Ohio State on Saturday afternoon?
I think it’s a sign of our impoverishment of spirit that we can live in a culture undergoing tremendous upheaval, and seemingly endless stress and strain, and when seeing that quote so many can only think of politics.
Bravo, Lex, bravo.
You cause us to re-examine how our knees jerk.
By the way, WTF’s the deal with the comments format all of a sudden?
Beyond politics, much in American life today is completely nuts.
Ah. I thought you meant the Trillion Gazillion dollars in revenue Nancy wants, as that’s all the buzz today.
You did put America together with WTF.
And you’re still being cryptic.
So..what has it gots in it’s pocketesses ??
Pick your own non-political thing that happened in America in the last few days that generated an unforced WTF? Yours will be as good or better than the the one that Jonathan and I were looking at.
Heinlein had it right – we’re living thru the “crazy years.” Except his timetable was off by about half a century.
Whaddaya think, Lex — should we share?
My Walther PPK is still jamming. Even after a new magazine. I spent $170 on new hearing protectors, now that I have hearing aides. Tomorrow the gunsmith and the gun store looking for a M1911. The indoor range is busy, even on a Monday.
It is all proceeding as he had foretold:
“Spengler’s Ominous Prophecy” by Robert W. Merry from the Jan-Feb 2013 issue of The National Interest.
January 2, 2013–http://nationalinterest.org/article/spenglers-ominous-prophecy-7878?page=show
Print it out and read it slowly.
Mike – unless you have your heart set on a 1911 I would look at the SIG P220. Double Action, decocking lever (no need for a safety)
On the PPK it is a classic design – I am sure a good gunsmith could fix it.
I also have a Beretta 9mm. I just like the 1911. I saw an M-1 Garand today at the range. I fired the carbine M-1 but not the Garand. I also have a couple of black powder pistols and a Winchester 30-30. Plus a couple of muzzle loaders, including a flint lock. Lots of fun to fire.
I got an M1 for $65 and a day long qualification at a 1,000 yard range. I doubt they have the DCM program anymore.
But at 1,000 yards I was hitting the target – heck the black circle was 3′ – looked like the head of a pin – but I was impressed with its capability.
When they sent to to me from some arsenal in Alabama – I had to wonder where that rifle had been …
Nothing wrong with a 1911 – John Browning knew gun design, that’s for sure.
Jonathan, no. I like how it turned into a detailed gun discussion for no particular reason. Just leave it as it is.
Bill, the DCM is now CMP and it’s not $65 anymore.
Doesn’t it always boil down to politics, one way or another?
My own “WTF nomination is Boehner getting reelected as Speaker
Jonathan – on M1 Garands I was surprised at how little it kicked – considering the same 30-06 in a bolt action will really hammer your shoulder. I think they are up to $600-$700 now.
Should have had a portfolio in guns ;-)
The Garand and M14 are works of genius, as are the Browning designs. Many boys and young men are interested in such things and in engineering topics in general. It’s a great failure of our educational system that the history of such developments is generally ignored in schools. This is partly due to political correctness, dumbed-down curricula, and to the fact that the schools tend to be dominated by women and some topics that are of disproportionate interest to men get short shrift.
The M 14 did not work as intended. It would fire on full auto but the 30-05 cartridge is too powerful for autofire. The BAR is very heavy and had a bipod. The M 14 was for should fire and was too powerful. The AK 47, based on the German StG 44 had a smaller cartridge. The purpose included carrying larger amounts of ammo and the recoil when fired on full auto. Even today, the M 16 is usually fired in burst mode of 3 rounds.
The small calibre of the .223 or 5.56 mm round is high velocity but fairly short range. The military has gone from shooting at traditional targets at 1000 yards to pop up targets at short range Only sniper training includes long range marksmanship.
The fools on TV and in politics who pontificate about these :high powered” assault rifles show their ignorance here, as in most subjects they try to discuss. I’m not particularly interested in buying a Bushmaster or AR 15 but my rifle hunting days are over. I’d rather shoot my flintlock rifle or my cap and ball pistols.
Mike – the original M16 (A1) was capable of firing full auto as long as you held the trigger.Later versions – the A2 – would allow only bursts of 3. I considered it silly because that barrel would rise so fast I thought the only purpose of that was to stop a group of charging elephants. But in the hands of an expert they could control the lift. I also saw – in basic training – a demonstration at “maximum range” of the M16 – 460 meters – you watched the tracer arc something fierce and like a guided missile homed in on the target.
The M1 garand (as opposed to the M1 carbine which shot a different cartridge) was good to 1,000 meters – and beyond. But it was a lot heavier – both the cartridge and the rifle.
The M14 didn’t stay in service long – maybe 1957 to the early 60s?
One of the Army’s most decorated soldiers – the late David Hackworth – wrote in his book About Face of the problems with the M16 in Vietnam in jamming due to dirt – and finding an AK47 buried in a bog for some time – the AK fired with all the dirt. They even had to incorporate in the M16 – I forget what the component was called and a cursory Google search didn’t help – but something that you pushed – if jammed – that would hopefully free the bolt.
Yes, the M14 failed as a mass-issue infantry weapon. However, it is superb for sniping and target shooting, particularly at longer ranges.
The media people, including conservatives, are generally clueless about guns and shooting. There is a real class divide on such issues between them and ordinary people who own guns.
Jonathan…” Many boys and young men are interested in such things and in engineering topics in general. It’s a great failure of our educational system that the history of such developments is generally ignored in schools.”
It strikes me that history of technology could/should be taught alongside social history…for example, the social conditions of the industrial revolution could be studied in the same module as the basics of the steam engine, the spinning frame, and the power loom.
This would be less threatening to the eunuchs of both sexes who run our public school systems than teaching a little about the weaponry of WWI along with the history of the war and its social consequences, but is still most unlikely to happen in the typical American government school.
I think the current educational system selects against people who are actually interested in *knowledge*…getting it and transmitting it…because such people are not likely to submit themselves to the intellectual stultification of the typical ed school.
I agree. Also, they do not teach the economics or business angle, which are inseparable from the technology. Browning made a lot of money from his inventions. Early explorers were attracted by the high ROI from importing spices to Europe. Inventions such as the loom and steam engine were adopted because they increased productivity and investment returns. You can’t understand the history without understanding the economics and incentives that drove the tech developments.
@Jonathan – while at school I had this professor of diplomatic history. Now one would think – the study of treaties – would be one of the more boring classes offered.
Not so.
So many people wanted his class – he started assigned to a normal class and always ended up in an auditorium.
He would go into the economic forces primarily – and even sometimes the personalities of the principals – to the point that by the time the treaty was signed one knew it was just a logical outcome of the process.
History and math – 2 subjects most teachers are terrible at…teaching.
“Doesn’t it always boil down to politics, one way or another?”
Nancy! NO! No, no, no!
Love, books, friendship, beauty, art, happiness, music, literature, poetry, punk rock, carousing, brawls, sports, poetry, seduction, making out on the couch, copulation, marriage, children, grandchildren, gardening, exploring, building, discovering, inventing, making, hunting, spelunking, swimming, fishing, nature, art, birthday cake, loyalty, magnanimity, kindness, God, faith, revelation, sacraments, woodworking, drinking scotch, drinking a Manhattan cocktail, seeing a friendly face after a long time, forgiveness and a handshake, finding someone who loves the same things you do, finding new friends, finding the best book you ever read, kissing the girl you really love, seeing the best band ever saw and dancing and getting sweaty, finding out something that makes many things click into place, winning, triumphing, surviving, prevailing, being there for the sick, being there for the dying, dogs, horses, bracing cold days, brilliant moonlight, spring breeze and soft clue skies and a barracuda jacket, blazing suns and squishy asphalt underneath your feet, the most badass car you ever drove, being out on the highway at the crack of dawn and home still 18 hours away and your favorite song comes no the radio, having the tool you need when you need it, figuring out how to fix something yourself, memories, nostalgia, recollection, a picture of your elementary school classmates, your high school yearbook, finding out that someone grew up and turned out all right, seeing your sister marry a terrific man, coming home after two weeks of hard work and having your 2 and 4 year old leap into your arms and kiss you, talking to someone who actually understands you, finding out that the person you were not sure of loves the book you love so he is OK, hearing I Can’t Get No Satisfaction for the first time, hearing Mahler’s 1st for the first time, hearing Rockaway Beach for the first time, walking across the room and talking to the girl despite the concealed fear, getting on the bike and getting out of the house and staying out until you are really tired, finishing the race when you thought you never would, walking into the church on a midday afternoon and the faint smell of incense and candles, and you and a few old ladies and God are the only people there, reading the memoir and feeling it and seeing it and hearing it as if you were there, getting on stage and counting off the song and it is blaring and the girls down front are dancing and you are kicking ass, getting Mom on the phone, getting old mannish emails from Dad, signing up the big client, filing the big lawsuit, winning the big motion, finishing the book and sending it to the publisher, the Mod polka dot shirt, the paisley tie, the Pop Art shift dress, the chukka boots, the brown wingtips, the woman’s earrings and her hair up and the smell of her perfume, hearing Wouldn’t it be Nice in the car when the world is cratering and getting choked up, picking up the six year old, and carrying him upstairs kicking and screaming for a bath, befriending a man you know is a hero, the saints and angels and the holy souls in purgatory and the Blessed Virgin Mary, the rosary, the priest saying I absolve you, standing on Lexington Green where the minutemen stood and where the Redcoats filed onto the green just over there and hearing the muskets fire and the screams and and the blood and the second volley like a single roar and the bayonets and seeing it all like it is all happening agains and will always happen and freedom is never free and it is a gift we don’t deserve and swearing without words to yourself and the world that we will never give up.
That last one is political. But you get the idea.
Nancy, never accept the lie that the personal is political.
The personal is INFINITELY more important than. Politics is the way we clear a space so we can LIVE.
We fight the political struggle so we can have, in the immortal words of Roy Batty, “more life, fucker!”
We know that life is worth living and we want the state and its cement cells and boots and handcuffs and clubs and rubber-coated caterpillar treads to get the fuck out of our way.
OK?
Let us all now go forward together!
copulation… fishing… forgiveness and a handshake
My goodness.
A guy could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.
And Jonathan’s goodness! Don’t forget that! Come on, ladies and gentlemen, let’s have a big hand for our proprietor! Come on, folks! None of us would be here if it wasn’t for Jonathan! Yes, more like that! Let’s really give it up for him! Yeah, standing O! That’s it! Woo hoo for Jonathan and the blog and all the fun we’ve had all these years!
A guy could have a great seventy-five years in the United States of America with all that stuff!
And as a matter of fact, I am most of the way there and I plan to keep it going!
Some good insights about brown wingtips.
A Pop Art shift dress.
Do not go to sleep without praying for the holy souls in Purgatory. Make this a daily practice.
Here is Lexington Green, sacred ground, not the profane blogger. Be sure to make a pilgrimage there.
Don’t quit your day job.
You need to have more legal problems in Chicago.
I can’t make a dime off of you. Year in, year out, you never call me with a billable job.
And the blog? Feh! Giving away my screeds for not a penny, not one stinking penny all these years. Someone is crazy in this relationship and I am afraid it’s me!
You’re cute when you’re angry. But seriously, folks. I give you Lexington Green — author, blogger, man of the world. A big round of applause, please.
Bill, “Misfire” has the story pf the A 15 to M 16 transition, The AR 15 did not require cleaning. The inventor put something like 15,000 rounds through one without jamming. BUT, the army changed the powder specs for the M 16 and did not issue a cleaning kit. As a result, jamming was a problem and, according to Hack, many dead troops were found with jammed M 16s.
Eventually, cleaning kits were issued and everybody got used to the M 16.
I was out today looking for a Colt M1911 and was told by one knowledgeable store owner that Colt has a contract for 50,000 M1911s for the Marine Corps and no new ones will be available for 3 months,. Another brilliant decision by our betters to replace the .45 ACP with the 9mm, thus repeating the Philippine experience with the Moros when a .38 round would not bring down an attacker. We have relearned that with the 9 mm and are going back to John Browning’s 100 year old design.
I dunno. The 9mm holds twice as many rounds. That isn’t obviously a bad tradeoff.
Lex, that comment was absolutely supurb and deserving of a ten-minute long round of applause!
I am even cuter when I am happy
But seriously folks, remember, we want to win this thing and cheerfulness is a force multiplier!
And now back to our regularly scheduled gun talk!
Thanks Sgt. Mom! Forgive me for leaving out barbecued brisket on brown paper with pickles!
And don’t forget the borracho beans and the coleslaw! They’re important side dishes to the brisket, too! At least as important as the pickles!
Slaw. My favorite thing. Next to the Ramones and making out on the couch.
Mike3 – unless you hqave to have a Colt 1911 there must be an easy half dozen manufacturers making the 1911 – on the .45 a Marine Sgt once told me, “Like throwing a brick through a plate glass window”.
That about describes it.
I agree but the bureaucrats wanted to standardize with NATO.
Yeah, there are copies around for half of the Colt price. First, I’m going to get my PPK fixed.
Mike K
If you get a Colt 1911A you basically have two choices, outside of nickel etc, a full size or a Combat Commander. The full size gun is a bit more stable as it’s a bit heavier and has a bit more barrel. Most of the people I know, and some are experts, recommend the full size gun. The Commander is about 3/4″ shorter so a bit easier to conceal.
It’s that big hole 9mm guys. It’s huge when you are looking down it.
Bill – it’s called a forward assist [the button you slam to seat the bolt so the M16 or derivative will fire].
uh no, the M16 FAILED as a mass infantry weapon.
“…. Next to the Ramones and making out on the couch.”
Big couch?
Oh, any old couch will do. It’s the girl that is the real focus.
If you were planning on using all these non-couch devices, I recommend these gentlemen…
http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/
Lex, regarding your link on brown wingtips (which needs to be fixed, BTW): I fully agree that brown wingtips paired with a dark blue or dark grey suit is a WTF, and probably deserving of federal prison time.
[fixed, thx. J]