"In a democracy (‘rule by mob’), those who refuse to learn from history will be the majority and will dictate that everyone else suffer for their ignorance."
Just another Olde Pharte rumination.
During college years, when I had occasion to drive home, for whatever reason, without a rider, I kinda liked starting late for the 600-*something-mumble* jaunt, because I enjoyed pulling over near the Guadelupe Mountains so I could sit back and enjoy a night sky completely devoid of light pollution. Good stuff, Maynard.
You may never know what effect you have on someone, but sometimes. . .
Interesting guy I met one day back in 2010, here in America’s Third World County™ – just barely here in the county; the town he lives in is about 1/2 in a neighboring state. But anyway, interesting guy. Likes to talk mostly about music, his American Indian heritage (he refers to himself as an Indian, not a “native American” or whatever the current buzz term may be), religion in general and also specifically relating to his heritage, and more.
One day when we had met again by chance, as is our wont, he started asking questions about the Bible and Xian theology as he saw it represented in society, and one of his questions spurred me to pull my lil pocket New Testament out of a pocket in my ADC (All Day Carry) vest in order to use a direct quote from scripture to answer his question.
The last couple of times we have interacted, we began as usual asking how each other was doing. His top answer both times was, “Reading my Bible.” Now, discussions about religion/theology have been more oriented toward him contrasting and comparing observations about Xianity in society as against scripture, demonstrating on his part a serious inquiry.
Ya never know. . .
Nope. “Practice makes perfect” is common misconception. Practice makes PERMANENT. Only perfect practice can make perfect, so BETTER practice simply makes being BETTER a permanent stepping stone on the path of improvement. Sooner or later, though, one meets one’s physical or mental limits (or both) and consistent best practice just makes permanent the best that one can be.
I am constantly amazed at folks who just see no benefit from even such simple maths as algebra, trig, geometry, etc., in their daily lives. There was a brief point in my life, college calculus classes, when I could pretty much just look at a simple math problem and know the answer. (Gave my prof fits, ‘cos I rarely wrote down the steps to achieve the answer. . . cos I hadn’t thought of ’em.) But. . . word problems in that class that attempted to use semi-sorta “real world” situations where different calculus functions could be used to solve things were not so much my metier at the time.
Time passed, as is its wont, and everyday circumstances took on “math meaning” in my perceptions more and more often, until not a day passes that something doesn’t trigger algebraic, “trig-ic” *heh*, differential. . .-ic ?, or whatever thoughts.
Yeh, it’s probably just me. *heh*
Lil hitches in a sci-fi (or really, any) story stand out when the rest is well-written (especially if it’s “hard” sci-fi, which must meet a stricter standard for suspension of disbelief). Here’s a marginal blip: in order to “blend in,” a Chicom operative orders a cheese pizza. . . and eats it. The thing is, while lactose intolerance among those of northern European ancestry has generally been around 5%, among the Chinese, especially the Han, it’s around 90%. A cheese pizza just doesn’t seem normal. To me, that would stand out, not blend in.
*shrugs* My Wonder Woman chides me sometimes about being a bit too detail oriented, so maybe this is just an idiosyncratic problem.
The best thing about being a libertarian is not caring what anyone else thinks is the best thing about being a libertarian.
(IOW, you do you as long as you mind your own business and don’t infringe on others’ rights. If you stray from that, the consequences are all on you.)
Reduced to dry fire exercises for a bit. Still useful. Fortunately, my new CC jacket makes this time even more useful. I don’t much care for the holster than came with the jacket, but I was able to stretch it over another holster, so the Velcro works well and everything fits and retains safely.
Unfortunately, with fewer pockets, I’m having to pare down my ADC contents for the jacket. Still have my “doody belt” *heh* ADC contents for pants pockets and belt carry, so that makes up for some. Have a slightly bigger FAK for my offside carry pocket. Both FAK and cell phone easily fit there. New slim wallet (TY, Son&Heir!) slims down jacket carry contents a bit, so there’s that, but since I need two slash pockets for Fall/Winter gloves (yeh, it’s already freezing temps here in America’s Third World County™), that further limits my ADC jacket carry contents.
Still, the warm flannel lining on this denim jacket and the corduroy facing on cuffs and collar hint at more possible durability than the worn out jacket this replaces (and it lasted me more than 20 years, given me second hand – I have nothing against wearing dead men’s clothes 😉 ) I do think I’ll Scotchguard® it – or some similar treatment – since I want it to shed water/stains well.
And practice draws and dry fire exercises with the jacket on are smoother than IWB practice sessions, at least so far.
Would be better with live fire, but not here in town. *heh*
I recently had someone leave a key under their front door mat for me because their keypad was malfing (was so could “sit on” grandson after school). They returned, we visited, left. Got a phone call: “Where’s the key?” Well, I had not left it EXACTLY where instructed, but since THEIR keychain was on the bookcase where I’d been told to leave the key, I simply put the key on it.
Hiding in plain sight can work, but there’s “hiding in plain sight” and its idiot cousin, “Take me; I’m yours.” Don’t be the idiot cousin.
Writing down passwords can have the benefit of having them available when needed (and forgotten, but unless that list is under physical lock-and-key security, it’s “Take me; I’m yours.” Better: a secure password service, perhaps.
Better still: use passwords you can remember. No, not your dog’s name or your wedding anniversary date. (Oh, wait. That’s not somethining you’ve forgotten before, is it? *heh*) or ANYTHING ELSE derived from personal information about you. No, while easily remembered (except for the anniversary thingy), those kinds of things are available to others and so make easily “crackable” passwords. No, select a pass phrase that is memorable – title of a fav book, an aphorism, a line from a poem or song, etc., and construct your pass word using that in a way that is sensible and memorable for you.
For example, I took the “punch line” as I “misremembered” it! – from a Smothers Brothers parody of a song that was popular back in their heyday and constructed a password from that. VERY memorable for me, but since it’s from a parody of a song that’s not in the “Top Five Million” nowadays, and the line I used is NOT as it was performed in the parody, the password I constructed (an easy one) only used the first letters of each word (as “misremembered”), a “Massive Cracking Array” could take a couple of days to crack it, so not seriously secure. But then, as I said, an easy password. . . on a “Junk Mail” account designated as a SPAM catcher.so. . . *heh*
You have one knife on your person. Good for you. Two is better. Three is better still. More, if you want to have self-defense options that include edged tools/weapons. No, really. Close range knife “fights” mean BOTH will be wounded. If not defending against a firearm, ranged knife defense – practice throwing knives? Sure – can be an exceptionally effective option.
Note: knife wounds are more likely to result in fatalities, so make absolutely certain you cannot remove yourself from danger without seriously wounding an aggressor.
Aside from self-defense options, knives are pretty close to being the ultimate “frustration-free packaging” tools, among many, many other uses, and the right knife for the job can make a big difference.
Saw a posting for what is quite likely an otherwise worthwhile event, but even if I were to desire to attend, I could not, because I have a firm policy against exclusion of knives (and by extension ANY exclusion of items that can be used for self-defense, because such is an inherent right). And, guess what? The venue not only excludes ALL knives (no matter size, design, or purpose) but excludes a lot of other things that, well, only Koolaid drinkers would approve of.
Yeh, I don’t fly, either (and I’d have to to make the event. Or rather, I will not, because Thugs Standing Around are just Security Kabuki, laced with cover for Official Thievery. Sure, it limits some of my options, but not any that are really important.