In the last weeks, the big school across town achieved a high rank in two enviable, practical areas – the amount of actual education (required core courses) and as a place to recruit for the work place. These are, I suspect, not unrelated. And partially we help – a good chunk of those core courses are taught and taken with us; our tuition is cheaper, class sizes smaller, and teachers of those basics more mature and often more degreed. Everything isn’t bad across town – nor here.
Personal Narrative
The Looming Numbers
On this day:
- 9 AD: Hermann marks the outer circuit of the Roman Empire.
- 1297: The English overload a bridge and get themselves walloped by a bunch of blue painted, skirt-wearing savages shouting “FREEDOM!!!” English driven from Scotland.
- 1609: The Reconquista is completed when the last Moors are driven from al-Andulus. Hudson finds his River.
- 1611: Turenne is born.
- 1649: The English bring peace to Ireland.
- 1683: Jan Sobieski prepares to drive the Turk from central Europe.
- 1697: Eugene of Savoy drives the Turk from central Europe.
- 1708: The cliché that starting a land war in Asia is bad for your health begins.
- 1709: The bloodiest battle of the eighteenth century: as usual, a French defeat.
- 1775: Benedict Arnold goes an entire march without betraying anyone.
- 1776: The American Revolution does not come to an end.
- 1777: The American Revolution still doesn’t come to an end.
- 1786: The overthrow of the United States of America begins, followed by the birth of the United States of America.
- 1789: Alexander Hamilton begins his destruction of the British Empire.
- 1814: The United States is not destroyed. No one outside Canada notices.
- 1829: Mexico finally wins its independence and celebrates by overthrowing a government.
- 1847: Susannah doesn’t cry for me.
- 1888: Being dead, Sarmiento can neither govern or populate.
- 1914: High tide of Australian imperialism.
- 1919: America invades Honduras. No one outside Canada notices.
- 1922: British Empire acquires a terminal case of indigestion. Hamilton smiles.
- 1941: The military industrial complex acquires its first of five sides.
- 1944: Americans reach Germany, like the looks of the place, and move in for the next 67 years.
- 1948: The father of Pakistan dies.
- 1950: The father of holism dies.
- 1965: The Great Ophthalmologist is born.
- 1973: Communists overthrown by monetarists.
- 1978: Land apparently brings peace. George Markov dies, killed by a poison umbrella.
- 1985: Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb’s career hits record.
- 1987: Lorne Greene dies.
- 1989: The Iron Curtain begins unraveling.
- 1996: The only successful government California ever knew becomes part of the Union Pacific Railroad.
- 1997: The Scots, inspired by a movie, drive the English from Scotland. Again. Hamilton smiles. Again.
- 2001: 2,977 Americans are murdered in cold blood as the centerpiece of a takfiri propaganda of the deed.
But What About Me?
The last few days have been nothing short of amazing here at ChicagoBoyz due to the work of Lex Green and the regognition it received on the Glenn Beck show. The posts and comments are some of the most insightful I have read in some time. Hopefully we will secure many of the new commenters for more sharing of knowledge in the future.
I am inspired and am learning a lot. I have learned that there seems to be a wave forming. A very large wave that may still be a long way away. It sort of reminds me of a vacation I just took to Michigan a few weeks ago. As I was enjoying a swim in the waters with my kids we would see a boat go by out in the distance. Several minutes later the wake from that boat would provide us with some waves to play on. Has America just seen the boat go by? I am not sure that I have seen it yet – because I live in Madison, Wisconsin.
Antique Tool Bleg
To our readers here at Chicago Boyz – I am looking for some information about a tool. For those not in the know, I am the proud owner of a working hobby farm. We now have five cows, three horses, six chickens, three cats, and a partridge in a pear tree.
We are raising our cows on pasture grass and hay only, no grain. I have been noticing a lot of thistles and burdoc out there in the pastures and I hate looking at it. The burrs also cause problems with my cattle as the breed we are raising is Scottish Highlands and they have a lot of hair.
I have been contemplating going back to the future and buying a scythe to cut this crap down. I cut a bunch of burdoc with a hand snips and it was drudgery – from what I have read a scythe would be a great tool for me. Our pasture is very uneven with a lot of rocks and dips – not good for a mower. Also, I like to exercise so the actual work doesn’t scare me at all, and my obliques could use the work. On top of this we have electrified fence that is constantly being grounded by high grass/weeds so I would use the scythe for that maintenance as well.
My question is to all of our readers – have you ever used a scythe and is there a particular design that I should look for? Any particular blade style that would suit this sort of work better? Most that I have seen have adjustable handles on the snath (the snath is the long handle part) so that should make most models fit my six foot frame. Is there a better wood for the snath? I plan on purchasing a wetstone to sharpen the blade while working, as well as a peening jig to peen the blade when needed. Any comments/advice are appreciated, especially from some of our readers who may have actually used a scythe back in the day for hay harvesting.
Poor Engineering
We just got a new phone system here at work and while the system itself is great, I am less than impressed by the engineering of the headset. Check out this photo: