You may have heard that Judge Andrew Napalitano got canned from his show, Freedom Watch, on Fox Business. The supposed reason is his support of Ron Paul. All that silly "constitutional" talk, and such.
The judge wasn't toeing the company line of "conservative" - talk about small government, low taxes. The judge - a libertarian or constitutionalist - also pushed for the social freedoms required for a truly free society. The ability to do as you wish as long as those actions don't infringe on the rights of another.
What the judge would point out is that, other than rhetoric, there isn't a wit of difference between Republicans and Democrats, and that didn't sit well with Fox management.
The judge put himself up on the ridge line, and took a head shot for his troubles.
I happened to be watching his last show, and was quite impressed with his professionalism during what had to be a very uncomfortable show. Like always, he ended the show with his, The Plain Truth, segment.
He hit one out of the park -
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I was originally going to do a spittle-covered rant about how Fox is a flaming pile of dog feces for silencing one of the few truly Constitutional thinkers on all of TV. Boycotts, letter writing, blah, blah, blah.
Then I realized most folks don't give a shit. That indifference - ironically - was part of the Judge's last show. Our country fought the most powerful monarchy ever built, and with the support of only 1/3 of the people, we prevailed.
Nowadays, I don't think we've even got that large a part of our society that cares. Bread and Circuses. With 50% on some sort of government payment, and most of the rest too self-absorbed in their own lives or distracted by the latest singer cum crack head to care, I think the Monarchy wins this time around.
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On the semi-prepping front, I've got two 5-gallon batches of mead a-brewin'. I cut a deal with a local hive owner where we're splitting the results. I provide the brewing expertise, and he provided the honey.
One batch is going to be a dry mead (not overly sweet) and the other is something called a melomel - a mead with fruit. Raspberry, in this case.
I had a bit of a problem with the melomel. I lost the entire batch.
I was transferring (racking) the mead from a glass carboy and I slipped. The carboy fairly exploded and my kitchen floor was covered with 5 gallons of honey/raspberry wine. I had to start all over with that batch - meaning I had to dig 15 pounds of honey out of my stores. Not happy.
Learn from my mistake - when brewing, use plastic. Always. Aside from putting yourself at risk of serious injury, the potential for loss goes up exponentially.
A few years ago, I had stopped using glass carboys with my beer brewing, because of a similar accident. The bee guy had given me an extra carboy when he delivered the honey, and I decided to use it.
Bad choice.
Mead takes a year from pitching the yeast to drinking the product, and I just suffered a two-month set-back.
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On the official prepping front, I'm reorganizing my preps to make them much more easily accessible. I've currently got most of my stores co-mingled. Rice with beans with sugar with pasta - all in the same tub. I'm putting like staples in the same tubs.
My only exception is our Bug Out Box. It holds food, water, shelter, etc., for 4 people for 11 days. It's the first thing grabbed if we have to get out quickly. Along those lines, I'm putting together a couple of 5-gallon buckets with enough food for one person for 30 days (see our 2010 post titled, "The One Bucket Per Month Challenge" [link] for ideas - be sure to read the comments for some awesome ways on how to accomplish this).
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Do me a favor: Get thee to the range.
I don't know if it's just happening in the SF Bay Area, but the lead stories for the past few weeks have had to do with shootings. Usually young folks.
PLEASE, practice with your weak-side hand. You're unnecessarily putting yourself in danger if you can only shoot well with your strong-side hand. Think about it: Bad guy enters your home. When you confront him, are you taking cover behind a left-hand or right-hand corner?
For instance, if you break into my house through the front or garage door, and I'm using a gun from my office, I'll be shooting you with my left hand, as the majority of my body will be behind a corner. If you come in through the sliding glass door in our backyard, you'll get shot with my right hand.
In the first instance, if I can only shoot with my right hand, I will have to expose my entire upper torso to you to get my gun around the corner. I'd rather do some range time and acquire new shooting skills than having my family attend my funeral.
(OK, nit pickers, I know that most walls don't actually provide cover, they provide concealment. Most self defense bullets will easily pass through the gypsum walls found in most American homes. Still, I'd rather that the bad guy is guessing where my vital organs are located rather than pointing them out to him.).
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I'm watching some male reporter on Fox Business jumping up and down in a bouncy house. With two adult women. THAT'S some hard-hitting investigative reporting there.
Reminds me of the old Man Show ending segment, Girls Jumping On Trampolines.
Crap like this makes it so much easier to turn them off after grabbing early market news.
They traded in the Judge for Bouncing Betty. We're doomed...
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Imagine trying to shoot with one arm in a cast and sling... or reloading under the same conditions... or swinging a punch in someone's face before going for your weapon under the same conditions.
ReplyDeleteThe reasons for learning to shoot with either hand are more numerous than fleas on a skwerel (aka squirrel).
There is a slight difference between Republicans and Democrats - Republicans buy their votes by lying to rich people and Democrats buy their votes by lying to poor people.
ReplyDeleteWonder if I can design my next house so that you have to come at me from my strong side :)
I like the judge, didn't always agree with him but in general I agree with most of what he says. I saw the show you believe was the cause for his dismissal and I have to say it wasn't that provocative or likely to get him fired. I suspect he got canned for the obvious and common reason, i.e. not enough viewers. I also suspect he knew his last show was an opportunity to say something and that is why he did the soliloquy in question.
ReplyDeleteShy, thanks for the reminder about loading one-handed. I haven't practiced that skill in a very long time.
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny when I tell my students to practice off-hand and one-handed shooting. The answer is ALWAYS, "I suck at it". Well no duh - there's a reason for it. People don't want to look crappy in the range, so they only do the stuff they're good at.
Cafe, I recently read a story about how castles were designed with just such a thing in mind. For instance, sprial staircases were built so that when going up, your left hand was to the outside - so when going down, your right hand was to the outside. Most people are right handed, thus you would hold your sword in your right hand. The attacker would have to use their sword - going up the stairs - in their left hand, and the defenders could use their right.
Gotta build me a castle... ;-)
Anon, I think it was the accumulation of his very public support, not a single show - though that may have been the last straw.
I don't believe I've ever heard a word out of his mouth that I didn't agree with in regards to the legal structure of the government. I may not like a portion of the Constitution, but that's irrelevant, IMO. If you don't like it, change it. His railing is that the authority of the Constitution has been changed by Rs and Ds via administrative action, not amendment.
He's right.