Archive for the 'Humor' Category

One of the all time dumbest clown moments courtesy of @RepDianaDeGette.

P.S. You’ll ban nothing and enjoy it. https://t.co/1KbYY4zDk4 pic.twitter.com/ljkydYRXTM

— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) December 4, 2023

Next time you insult the FBI by calling them little girls, remember that you may actually be insulting little girls.

She has a good camera presence and an interesting presentation.

This image won an award by The New Yorker.

Folks have recently been having a bit of fun with it.  “How you react to this photo says ALL you need to know about American politics.”

The reactions are interesting, ranging from noticing the family man, to the bumper stickers on the truck, to the rusted body of the truck, to the fact that the truck driver is leaving his shotgun unattended, to these.

“Paddle guy gives me immediate disgust. Typical yuppie type who probably couldn’t even lift a finger to defend his family if the need arose.”

“Maybe he’s former special ops and decided to settle down and have a family. He met his wife and kids there after work. The truck is his, the car is hers (it’s safer for her and the kids). He’s looking over his shoulder because he’s still on edge from his previous life.”

“Pick-up owners kids are safer than those pictured.”

The clothing doesn’t interest me, and the fact that it interests some folks is weird to me.  I’ve seen squared away Marines with “high-and-tight” haircuts wearing shorts, tucked in tee shirts, and white socks with shoes.  That could be a former Marine for all I know.  If I could be around him for 30 seconds I’d know.  I have no idea what he’s supposed to be thinking.

But the artist apparently wants you to think that ownership of shotguns is somehow connected with the cross, Gadsden flag, and MAGA.  I’m not a Trump or MAGA person, but if they want me to connect ownership of weapons with the cross and Gadsden flag, I’m okay with that.

One woman calls the shotgun a rifle, and a another guy says the shotgun is okay if it’s a Mossberg.  I’m not a Mossberg guy – I’m a Beretta guy.  But the gun is clearly not a Beretta, or it would look prettier.  But the gun is also clearly a turkey or upland gun.  See, this is the sort of thing I think about, not politics.

Honestly, among my first thoughts were that the image is stupid.  I see no point in it and I simply don’t see how it won any awards.  My immediate reaction was everything is fine.  Pistols and Rifles are designed drop-safe these days as every gun owner knows.  Shotguns are not designed drop safe and never have been, even while on safe.  That’s why we carry the way we do and have designated fields of fire when we bird hunt.

However, the gun is not being moved, so there is no danger of dropping it.  So, what’s the big deal?

I guess I can’t escape being an engineer.

But since others are having fun with it, you can too in the comments in you want.

This is why you should always carry a big boar handgun. Seriously though, this is a failure at every level, even of the innate sense of danger posed by wild animals. It’s a good thing no children were present.

The Denominations Go Shooting pic.twitter.com/IrFL5SSqOP

— Keith Foskey (@YourCalvinist) January 21, 2023

America: “We can no longer afford to feed our children peanut butter sammiches!”

White House:

President Biden’s National Security Strategy outlines how the United States will advance our vital interests and pursue a free, open, prosperous, and secure world. We will leverage all elements of our national power to outcompete our strategic competitors; tackle shared challenges; and shape the rules of the road.

The Strategy is rooted in our national interests: to protect the security of the American people, to expand economic opportunity, and to realize and defend the democratic values at the heart of the American way of life.

[…]

In the early years of this decisive decade, the terms of geopolitical competition will be set while the window of opportunity to deal with shared challenges will narrow. We cannot compete successfully to shape the international order unless we have an affirmative plan to tackle shared challenges, and we cannot do that unless we recognize how heightened competition affects cooperation and act accordingly.

The most pressing strategic challenge we face as we pursue a free, open, prosperous, and secure world are from powers that layer authoritarian governance with a revisionist foreign policy.

While this competition is underway, people all over the world are struggling to cope with the effects of shared challenges that cross borders—whether it is climate change, food insecurity, communicable diseases, or inflation. These shared challenges are not marginal issues that are secondary to geopolitics. They are at the very core of national and international security and must be treated as such.

• We are building the strongest and broadest coalition of nations to enhance our collective capacity to solve these challenges and deliver for the American people and those around the world.
• To preserve and increase international cooperation in an age of competition, we will pursue a dual-track approach. On one track, we will work with any country, including our competitors, willing to constructively address shared challenges within the rules-based international order and while working to strengthen international institutions. On the other track, we will deepen cooperation with democracies at the core of our coalition, creating a latticework of strong, resilient, and mutually reinforcing relationships that prove democracies can deliver for their people and the world.

It’s not necessary to actually read this circular word salad; we’re simply posting the rest to make a point.

The Biden-Harris Administration has broken down the dividing line between domestic and foreign policy because our strength at home and abroad are inextricably linked. The challenges of our age, from strategic competition to climate change, require us to make investments that sharpen our competitive edge and bolster our resilience.

• Our democracy is at the core of who we are and is a continuous work in progress. Our system of government enshrines the rule of law and strives to protect the equality and dignity of all individuals. As we strive to live up to our ideals, to reckon with and remedy our shortcomings, we will inspire others around the world to do the same.

• We are complementing the innovative power of the private sector with a modern industrial strategy that makes strategic public investments in our workforce, strategic sectors, and supply chains, especially in critical and emerging technologies.

• A powerful U.S. military helps advance and safeguard vital U.S. national interests by backstopping diplomacy, confronting aggression, deterring conflict, projecting strength, and protecting the American people and their economic interests. We are modernizing our military, pursuing advanced technologies, and investing in our defense workforce to best position America to defend our homeland, our allies, partners, and interests overseas, and our values across the globe.

The United States will continue to lead with strength and purpose, leveraging our national advantages and the power of our alliances and partnerships. We have a tradition of transforming both domestic and foreign challenges into opportunities to spur reform and rejuvenation at home. The idea that we should compete with major autocratic powers to shape the international order enjoys broad support that is bipartisan at home and deepening abroad.

• Our alliances and partnerships around the world are our most important strategic asset that we will deepen and modernize for the benefit of our national security.
• We place a premium on growing the connective tissue on technology, trade and security between our democratic allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific and Europe because we recognize that they are mutually reinforcing and the fates of the two regions are intertwined.
• We are charting new economic arrangements to deepen economic engagements with our partners and shaping the rules of the road to level the playing field and enable American workers and businesses—and those of partners and allies around the world—to thrive.
• As we deepen our partnerships around the world, we will look for more democracy, not less, to shape the future. We recognize that while autocracy is at its core brittle, democracy’s inherent capacity to transparently course-correct enables resilience and progress.

The United States is a global power with global interests; we are stronger in each region because of our engagement in the others. We are pursuing an affirmative agenda to advance peace and security and to promote prosperity in every region.

• As an Indo-Pacific power, the United States has a vital interest in realizing a region that is open, interconnected, prosperous, secure, and resilient. We are ambitious because we know that we and our allies and partners hold a common vision for the region’s future.
• With a relationship rooted in shared democratic values, common interests, and historic ties, the transatlantic relationship is a vital platform on which many other elements of our foreign policy are built. To effectively pursue a common global agenda, we are broadening and deepening the transatlantic bond.
• The Western Hemisphere directly impacts the United States more than any other region so we will continue to revive and deepen those partnerships to advance economic resilience, democratic stability, and citizen security.
• A more integrated Middle East that empowers our allies and partners will advance regional peace and prosperity, while reducing the resource demands the region makes on the United States over the long term.
• In Africa, the dynamism, innovation, and demographic growth of the region render it central to addressing complex global problems.

https://mises.org/library/how-think-about-economy-primer

Seen in the wild this weekend: