Item the 1st – In a recent comment thread, in response to a statement along the lines of America (US) is a Christian Nation, JI opined “I’m not a Christian, guess I’m not an American”. I think this is misunderstanding, whether real or deliberate to make a point, of what that sentiment means. It’s not that the United States is a literal “Christian Nation” in sense of a state religion. It is rather the idea that the foundational principles of governance established in the US constitution are Christian, if only because they are informed by the same base set of ideas – do they have a common ancestor or are they a direct lineage? I suspect it’s a mix of the two – at some level it’s probably impossible or at least challenging to separate. However, the United States as a Christian nation is a convenient representation as most people in the culture are familiar with the ideas, or at least their manifestation. Yes, yes, some people treat it as literal and will push it to the same point as e.g. Sharia – humans be humans, eternal vigilance and all that. But that doesn’t preclude the underlying reality. The largest religion in western culture
largely informed the ideas that generated the US and we can argue about whether it’s parallel or dependent though I don’t think that’s critically important. But the bulk of the population (at the time of the founding, perhaps to a lesser degree now) understand the religious framework inherent in Christianity, less so in political theory. So I don’t think it’s wrong to say that the US is a Christian nation, in that it is a political manifestation of the ideas incorporated into Christian doctrine – Again, one can wonder whether Christianity is the root or a parallel construction, but that’s largely irrelevant. One of the strengths of religious ideas is their ability to communicate complex ideas simply, without a need to re-invent them every generation. And that doesn’t exclude non-Christians from embracing that framework and being American. It’s a shorthand. You can and should be concerned about how that shorthand may be incorporated into social and legal systems and be vigilante. But I’m not sure that the reflexive “No were not I’m excluded” is any better, and in all likelihood worse.
Item the 2nd – This one is tangentially related to item the 1st and is, I suspect, a re-visitation of a previous item. Its the famous a pox on both their houses, left and right are different sides of the same coin. It’s reflexive – a sort of libertarian virtue signal. And I largely agree, especially in the age of the uni-party and well established “left” and “right” playing their roles in the service of the ruling classes power and authority – we are pretty locked into binary thinking as a species so we like to see opposites were there are none. Thanks evolutionary selection. While the labels should be and are to some degree, shorthand for a set of principles, that labeling starts to lose value in a well established and well functioning system (don’t laugh, it has been well functioning even if not ideal, it is a human system after all) where those who might self-identify with one label or the other for a variety of reasons, actually become members of different class. That class has minimal adherence or connection to the underlying principles but rather attaches to the principle of maintaining the status quo and their location in it.
However, that doesn’t remove the utility of the labels nor the underlying distinction.
The ‘left’ and ‘right’ in the US politically have become a single, different thing dedicated to maintaining the status quo and their position in it; They don’t in practice, reflect the very different underlying epistemology that ‘left’ and ‘right’ represent. That fact doesn’t make those differences disappear. Those generally attracted to the ‘left’ tend see all problems as amenable to human intervention. A very useful trait in adapting to changing circumstances. The ‘right’ on the other hand tend to see some things as outside the realm of human intervention and it is dangerous to continuously bring things into the arena of the political and change them all higgly-piggly. A very useful trait in preserving working systems in human cultures. Some things being outside the realm of human intervention is very neatly encapsulated in the Christian ideal of the divinity of man – some small part of the human is divine and hence outside the control of other humans. There are things between you and God that other people have no say in. Hence why I think saying the US is a Christian nation is not too far from the truth. There may be other systems of belief/thought that encapsulate that idea, but none as successful and robust as the Christian formulation. I might say that a Christian foundation is a necessary but not sufficient requirement for a government that foundationally respects individual autonomy; theoretical philosophical ruminations do not seem sufficiently robust in the face of human nature and how we “reason”.
So yes – “a pox on both their houses” with the realization that “both their houses” here actually means two rooms in the same house. But the distinction between the world-views underlying the concepts of left and right should not be ‘poxed’. In general, even as a non-religious person, I tend to favor the ‘right’ disposition, simply because I can always make the argument with a Christian that what they are trying to regulate or control is outside the purview of man; with someone of the left, it is more challenging to say ‘leave me alone’, almost impossible, because nothing is outside of the purview of man, we can make everything better/right. In a way, the logical, unchecked, progression of the ‘left’ will always be dystopian, because everything is amenable to human control. The logical, unchecked progress of the ‘right’ is dystopian because ambitious people will always find ways to pull more and more things outside of the divine and into the realm of man in the interest of their ambitions, becoming left in practice if not in disposition. The brutality of the left is a logical consequence of their fundamental principles, while the brutality of the right is a human corruption of the fundamental principle. Neither is good, both are necessary, but I think the mentality of the left, when implemented in state structures, is much less resistant to a decent into authoritarianism.
Item the 3rd – Ever have one of those days or sequence of days at work? Reading RJ and a few others recently, I bet you have. Several times this past week, I’ve been working on a particular task. One which I generally find largely performative and having lost connection to its original purpose/value, if it ever really had the value. But it is none-the-less a fairly regular task that people in my position are expected to do with some regularity. I was engaging in instance of this class of activity that was particularly egregious and found myself wondering – “If something was to happen to me on the way home this afternoon and this was my last day in this life [assuming I had some awareness after death; stick with me, it’s a thought experiment], would I look back and say that I was content that I spent the last couple of hours of my life doing… this?” The answer was an unequivocal “HELL NO”. Of course, that’s not necessarily the correct frame to look at it; this particular task is ‘necessary’ in the larger field I’ve chosen to participate in, even if it contributes no value. That larger endeavor is and has been rewarding and productive – for some value of the word productive I suppose, and, while I would have regrets – maybe I would have preferred to go down a completely different path if I had to do it over, grass is greener etc. – I would be, at least marginally content looking back. I suppose that it’s only if those sorts of instances come to dominate your interaction with work, that’s when you need to think “I have to stop doing this”.
I suppose that it’s only if those sorts of instances come to dominate your interaction with work, that’s when you need to think “I have to stop doing this”.
I’m currently embroiled in this sort of soul searching. I’m too old for a mid-life crisis, maybe a 3/4 life crisis?
I once had a really good heart to heart with another Black Rock Ranger over beers. I asked him “why do we do this”? His reply was “I try not to ask myself that very often”.
There are things between you and God that other people have no say in.
See, that isn’t entirely Christian, but it is entirely Protestant. This is one of my big beefs with many “Christians” – they only know a slice of the dogma of their faith.
Going back to the premise that we are founded on Christian ideals/values – again, Protestant Christianity – sure. As filtered through Locke and Jefferson, neither of whom were as interested in the faith as in the secular; in how to structure governance in the here and now, not the eternal.
I get loving some beautiful theory (or article of faith), that’s a pretty fundamental part of our humanity in one form or another. It is exactly why politics will always be a mess and a mass of compromise. We’d kill each other otherwise.
I suspect part of it is that you are being more precise than I. From my perspective, I don’t really distinguish between the various sects of Christianity, but am more interested in the base principles that will inform all the various implementations, to a greater or lessor degree depending on the development of the sect.
Kind of like James Lindsay being very precise about the various brands of leftist, communists vs fascist etc, whereas I see them as the same in their essential character. Which I recognize as perhaps not ‘accurate’, but I think is more ‘true’. It doesn’t really matter to me that the communists were an instantiation of Gnostic religious frame work and fascists are the dialectic – they end up at the same place, and understanding/diving into the minutiae of the various schisms, while ‘fun’ and perhaps shedding *some* light of understanding on their history, can obscure the fundamental issues. A very broad brush philosophical overview is, to me, a much more fruitful pursuit.
You, a Calvinist, obscure the doctrinal differences?!? Satan get thee behind me!
Which I recognize as perhaps not ‘accurate’, but I think is more ‘true’.
A story (or narrative) doesn’t have to be true to be useful. I kind of agree with not getting hung up in the cataloging of factions, but instead tracing back to what does unite them – Rousseau and Hegel. Then dissecting what is wrong in that foundation. For me, that also works with the western religious tradition. In short, the ret-conning and concomitant sanctification of the Locke/Jefferson secular argument.
All men are created equal is a very radical (and late) concept in western thought; and shedding the context of Anglo-American law, it becomes a very loose cannon.
Phrasing that idea as all men being created equal was effective propaganda, and literarily satisfying, but saying that law must apply generally to be just, would be a more accurate, and less dangerous way of expressing the thought.
Philosophically there is a world of difference between the world view of the Right and Left. Politics diverges from philosophy in several ways, partly due to a selection mechanic which disfavors constancy and rewards pandering, partly due to the opportunities for corruption, and partly due to the nature of political compromises. We here tend to see the political left as stalwart in it’s promotion of leftist ideology and the right as wishy washy sellouts abandoning principle every time. People as ideological on the left as we tend to be on the right see the opposite.
Bismarck was right, politics is the art of the possible. The nature of our system dooms any perfectly principled idealogue in Congress to the sidelines. Massie, whatever you think of him as a person or symbol of rectitude, does not actually advance our cause when everyone knows he will always vote no on any imperfect bill. It would be wonderful if Massie wrote every law, but his unyielding stance ends up meaning he writes none of them.
I’m not so sure. I think there is value in standing athwart Congress and yelling stop. And imperfect bills are how we got here along with downright wrong bills.
I don’t think we can get the ultimate libertarian bill but the issue that Massie and other people who are likeminded in Congress have run into is that Congress writes these omnibus bills that is basically an ice cream sundae sprinkled with shit.
“We’re lowering the tax rate by X percentage, but we’re going to increase spending by X percentage on top of continuing to fund our corrupt and bankrupt programs.”
At some point you just have to force Congress to produce single bills or just say fuck it all and say no.
The problem, for us especially, is imperfect for whom?
A gadfly in Congress serves something of the same purpose as a jester in the King’s court.
The most important member, then?
Ever since James Trafficant beamed up…
What am I saying? There’s no shortages of fools in Congress.
Ahh, but a jester is not just a fool, but a fool with the power to speak the truth…
Yes, but when the jester keeps talking to the thief, we end up with decades of shitty music.
It would be wonderful if Massie wrote every law, but his unyielding stance ends up meaning he writes none of them.
I guess the question is whether it’s possible to do both – e.g. maintain an unyielding stance (or at least unyielding set of principles) and still participate in the sausage making, ‘betraying’ those principles to get something else of value. Or do you eventually just become Part of the Machine?
I do not believe it is possible to both maintain strict principles and negotiate with people whose principles are a polar opposite of your own.
I think it can be if your actual goal is promoting those principles rather than displaying your purity. Massie has picked some fights that smell more like the latter than the former to me, but admittedly I am not a great judge as I have moved away from the libertarian position over the past years.
But I think Massie did negotiate to increase the debt ceiling once he got a guarantee from former Speaker McCarthy that they can put out an amendment to a spending bill. So, I think if these omnibuses had some safeguards against explosive spending, he would probably relent and vote for the bills.
The welcome music played as each new Congress critter is inducted.
Not Yakety Sax?
It is a law of nature that government will expand in scope until it reaches a point of functional collapse. Any attempts to limit the scope of government are delaying actions at best. If Congress, or the Executive, or one particular Kentucky representative, is resistant to government expansion, the government will either compromise them, route around them, or ignore them. The real-world examples of this are legion.
Rep. Massie’s highest and best purpose is occupying a congressional seat that could otherwise belong to some globalist progressive or populist MAGat. It’s not much, but it’s not nothing.
Indeed, (((. This is why TOS seems so… bad, for lack of another term. They are so close, and yet so far, but they are just Libertarians who have their basis in left wing politics, as opposed to many here.
Thanks PM.
Every day/night when I go to bed I worry that I haven’t finished the task(s) that I wanted to get done that day.
As you said, would anyone know or care? But what happens if I die and I didn’t/couldn’t find the car title? Those
are the sorts of things that bother me. I want to leave every thing in order for who ever has to clean up the mess.
What if Jimbo is right about me? That’s what is keeping me awake…
I don’t consider myself religious in any meaningful way, but I think it’s silly to pretend western culture and hence America as a nation is not inextricably entwined with the fundamental notions of Christianity. Has it been adapted/ Of course.
Are we less or more Christian than the country we were spawned from?
I think by any measure more Christian, and they have a State Church that is nominally Christian.
I was going to say less than the historical country we spawned from but that country has become less than we are now. But then there’s the Puritans/Separatists, Quakers, Catholic settlements. People who were more religious than those left in Merry Olde England.
Can’t wait for Charles or William to be head of the Mosque of England. Or their head on a stake.
I can’t wait for British bureaucrats and islamists to suddenly be hanging from inexplicably non-functional CCTV camera trees.
I was trying to make the point at the time of our separation, not our respective subsequent evolution(s).
https://palmettostatearmory.com/beretta-92-elite-ltt-compact-9x21mm-imi-pistol-blk-j92gc9lttm.html
Anyone looking for a new pistol?
Pretty good sale, plus a $100 rebate.
I’ve already got a 9mm.
I don’t have any modern calibers. I need to rectify that.
I’m not sure I’ve got anything in a caliber invented in the last half century…
1872 – .45 Colt
1887 – .22LR
1891 – 7.62x54mmR
1898 – 38 Special
1901 – 9x19mm
1904 – .45 ACP
1934 – .357 Magnum
1952 – .308 Winchester
Just two from the past 100 years. And half from the 19th century.
If the Lego rifle is shown to be safe to fire, the 5.56 will be the newest in my collection.
If you become a gamer, you can use .40S&W to get to major power factor.
Just so you know, that’s chambered in 9x21IMI, not 9mm Luger. 9mm Luger might not function well in it…
Oh shit. I didn’t register that.
No wonder it’s such a good price.
That’s even worse.
9X21 lets you make major power factor*, so, its got that going for it, which is nice…
*ES will know.
Does it not? I thought that 9×21 had an identical projectile/charge/OAL as 9×19. That it was invented because Italy had the same “no military cartridges” law as Mexico.
And is there anything preventing a simple barrel swap?
Why bother – just get something that isn’t in a “9mm but just legally distinct enough to evade the ban”
In factory ammo, 9×21 IMI has exactly the same interior ballistics as 9mm Luger. It was designed by an Italian company (not IMI, they just commercialized it) for jurisdictions where military service cartridges are illegal for civilian purchase. Ironically, Italy no longer has 9mm Luger listed as a ‘military service cartridge’.
You can make Major PF in either 9mm Luger or 9×21 IMI. It might be a little bit easier in 9×21 due to the longer case, but the disadvantages (mainly the price of 9×21 brass) probably outweigh the benefits.
Just that swapping the barrel in a Beretta 92 series is kind of a pain in the ass. Although I know a GWOT-era MARSOC guy who claims to have done such a barrel swap with nothing but a Leatherman tool…I don’t think I’d try that myself.
The “LTT” bit. That gun starts at $1000 retail.
https://langdontactical.com/92-elite-ltt-compact/
Plus, you can get really spiffy engraved barrels that get shown off nicely by the open top.
Back in the day, ISPC didn’t have any real 9×19 that would make major power, but.38 Super could pull it off. And then some Euros started using 9×21 which spread over to the US.
Basically, it supposedly had less muzzle flip than .45 or.38Super. And competition shooters will try anything to get an edge.
Looks like the barrels are sold with the falling block pre-installed so it’s literally a drop-in part.
Already have a brick pistol.
Evil Sheldon:
I forgot to report back on that video of Lena and her dude practicing. I wonder how much fucking around time would have been there had there been no cameraman, and if that would have shortened the range session or just involved more practice. I found the dynamic between the two of them interesting, and it was hilarious how she talked aobut how flawless her gun was and then had the firing pin blown out.
Anyway, the practice itself was nothing unique. I actually found her later video of a dry-fire routine to be more useful personally as I didn’t break things down like she was doing, adding in forearm strengthening between repetitions, etc.
Oh, and her most recent video as the most catastrophic reloads I’ve seen.
Did it explode from too much pressure? Was anybody hurt?
…
or did you mean fumbling with a magazine change kind of reload?
Fumbling, but losing control of the magazine so it drops out of “bend down and pick it up” range. Twice in a row.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daOnce6Vt_A
I found the fumbled reloads kind of endearing, at least compared to the legions of GunTubers who shoot drills over and over and over again until they get that one perfect run for the ‘Grams…
I rarely practice with others, unfortunately, but based on my limited experience – the amount of fucking around increases exponentially as the number of shooters increases linearly. I think it’s still valuable to train with other people, but my round count per hour drops by about 50% when I bring another shooter to the range. Of course, that doesn’t really say anything about the quality of said training.
I do like Lena’s dry fire routine as a warm-up – I’ve been using it myself for the past week or so. Even more than any specific training value, I like her routine as a tutorial for *how* to dry-fire. In the shooting community, everybody knows that dry-fire is important, but only a handful of people really understand how to do it in a useful way. It’s nice to be able to tell my students, “Check out this YouTube video from Lena Miculek. Do that routine every day for two weeks, then come back and we’ll evaluate your improvement and make some adjustments.”
I do have some differences of opinion on her specific techniques – for example, pressing your palms together. I don’t find that to be a useful bio-mechanical cue for gripping the gun. But then, Lena is a multiple national champion, and I’m just a dude who usually doesn’t even win at locals.
You know when you are flying over the country, and you look down from the 40K foot level, and all you see is variations of color? You know that there are vast, important differences between desert and forest, mountain and river, but they are only different in shade from that height?
This is like the idea of the Uniparty. It sounds good, but in reality it only shows how far away you are from grounded political thought and process. Or, so far away from the Overton window as to be left out of the house, shivering in the cold.
I am not accusing you of anything, but just, in general, it is a bad way to move the needle in the cause of liberty.
There is a clear difference in the ideology of the left and the right. The true believers on each side are actually committed to those ideologies. So politicians pander to those crowds during the primary. After winning the primary, the candidates turn their backs on the true believers and pander to the unwashed masses in the center. And after winning an election, the legislators fuck over the entire population to benefit themselves. The legislators from the left and the right do prioritize who they are willing to fuck over and in many cases actively look to fuck over certain groups of people they don’t like. This does turn into a left/right bias regarding who is getting fucked the most depending on who has the most votes in the legislature at any point in time.
I’m just looking for a reach around at this point. I’m resigned to lack of lube.
The way things are now, they only reach around with a scalpel to reassign you.
The left and right do share the common belief that government exists to enrich the select few and to control the lives of the tax cattle that inhabit the country.
I would say that’s a pretty fucking important belief. By itself, that belief makes the ‘uniparty’ concept a valid one.
That common belief means there is a lot of mutual backscratching going on when the pragmatists on both ends of the spectrum are in control of their parties.
Is that a meaningful difference than the definition of uniparty? Beats me.
Coke and Pepsi are fundamentally the same product.
But the true believers will tell you they are vastly different.
They’re carbonated beverages, so they both suck.
The terrible flavor comes from the sugar. The carbonation is fine.
I haven’t had either in a long time. I recall Pepsi tasting like spill over water from an old car battery, while Coke was milder.
coke
Pepsi
It feels like the Dems stopped pandering to the “center” a few elections ago. All those 80/20 issues they’re taking the 20 side on lately, for example.
The left is being replaced by the new left. After fucking things up for a generation of so, the new left will settle into being the old left and lining their pockets.
They’re always lining their pockets either way.
Yeah; the new left run a lot of those grifter groups like “tenants’ rights” organizations.
The new left is certainly lining their pockets. But they do seem to prioritize fucking over “unwoke” groups to making money.
You could make an argument that fraudulent programs for ‘disadvantaged groups’ seriously fuck those groups over, and you can make an ironclad case that welfare and disability programs as conducted in the US have done vastly more harm to the Black community than anyone else.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/07/middleeast/kharg-island-us-assault-risk-trump-intl
The US said it struck military targets on the key Iranian oil export hub of Kharg Island, although the strikes did not target oil facilities, according to one US official.
Vice President JD Vance acknowledged the recent US strikes on Kharg Island but said they did not mark “a change in strategy” ahead of President Donald Trump’s 8 p.m. ET Tuesday night deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Another click of the ratchet.
I’m wondering if he threatened “Bridges and Power Plants” to draw attention there with an intent to hit elsewhere.
You don’t generally announce your intention on the world stage, and contrary to some pundits, he has not been running this war in a stupid manner. It’s all been planned out insofar as such things can be planned.
Agreed. Now all the citizens are chained to those infrastructure by gleeful Iranian soldiers. Time to git something else as a surprise.
Git=hit. Kind of works anyway.
9×21? Go with 9×23/.38 super.
I have .38 special +P as my primary. A delight to shoot. It’s not a popular round in the modern day.
My dad had a 38 super.
The five or six people who are still shooting Open division are all using 9mm Luger loaded to major power factor.
Back in the ’90s and 2000s, when the power factor cutoff for Major was still 175*, something like .38 Super, 9×23, .38 Supercomp/TJ, or even 9×21 made a lot more sense.
* – Power Factor (PF) is bullet weight in grains, multiplied by muzzle velocity in feet per second, divided by 1000. So a common 9mm Luger load of a 124grn. bullet going out at 1100fps. has a power factor of 136.4.
How do they enforce this?
Glad you asked!
At local matches, they use the honor system because it’s a local match and no one cares.
At majors, there’s generally a chronograph stage, where they take your gun and a few rounds of your ammo, weigh one of your bullets, and fire a few rounds over the chrono to check the velocity.
Appendix C2!
https://uspsa.org/documents/rules/current/2026/USPSA-Competition-Rules-2026.pdf
Honestly, running the chrono station is one of the more wacky jobs you can have. All sorts of weird edge cases and rules interactions to consider. I’ve only done it once, and fortunately it was at Race Gun Nationals, which only had 4 divisions and those were all very unrestricted so I didn’t have to know how to test out a bazillion different manufacturer’s safeties to verify functionality.
In the days before cheap chronographs, they would use a “ballistic pendulum.” They’d suspend a tree stump, and shoot it with a 5″ 1911 loaded with US army surplus .45ACP. They’d mark how far back it swung. That was the dividing line between “major” and “minor.”
“Back in the ’90s and 2000s, when the power factor cutoff for Major was still 175*, something like .38 Super, 9×23, .38 Supercomp/TJ, or even 9×21 made a lot more sense.”
This is what I was referring to above. Although I was thinking of the ’80s, when my father was dipping his toes into this.
https://x.com/hradzka/status/2040836643553526112?s=20
Small chuckle.
https://www.modbee.com/news/local/article315328322.html
Oops, they did it again.
“On April 7, 2026, ICE officers were conducting a targeted vehicle stop in Patterson, CA to arrest Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, an 18th Street Gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection to a murder. As officers approached the car, the wanted gang member weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer over. Following their training, our officers fired defensive shots to protect themselves, their fellow agents, and the public. The illegal alien was taken to a local hospital. The FBI is on the scene. This is a developing situation and we will update the public when more information is available.”
“Weaponized his vehicle,” might be the gayest turn of phrase since, “I love sex with other dudes!”
I was an alternate juror on a burglary case, were the definition and identification of Burglars Tools was a major factor.
When is a door not a door? When it is ajar!
Which is worse? A toaster that requires firmware updates or the price of the toaster?
https://x.com/briandstone/status/2041212880985411719?s=20
https://www.amazon.com/Revolution-High-Speed-Touchscreen-Technology-Connectivity/dp/B0D5MHPSFY?th=1
That’s more expensive than a Misubishi!
https://www.amazon.com/Mitsubishi-Electric-ST1-T-Toaster-ultimate/dp/B07PHLN9DD/
Yes.
https://www.joke-archives.com/?p=756
I think I first heard this joke back when I was in college.
The real Toasters!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkWx8PTlBXQ&list=RDWkWx8PTlBXQ&start_radio=1
My buddy will be playing bass for them this summer. It makes him one of about 100 former members, but it’s very cool for him. Even better he is a fellow traveler/Glib adjacent.
https://x.com/alphafox/status/2041505018226905449
A BMW driver in NJ. ‘Nuff said.
I wanted to leap out of the car just from watching that.
Nice automatic jerk off, also a gas can and trash in the trunk next to cheap ass oil. I’m not saying there ought to be a law, but boy I’m very judgmental in some cases.
Definitely a BMW – note the lack of signals for all the passes.
I just feel badly for the poor person he hit.
I was kinda hoping that the video would end with the BMW drivers micropenis getting slammed in the car door…
What’s the difference between a porcupine and a BMW?
.
.
.
A porcupine has the pricks on the outside.
What’s the difference between a vacuum cleaner and a Harley Davidson?
.
.
.
The vacuum cleaner has the dirt bag on the inside.