so the total was nine and 33.

Nine dead and 33 wounded.

I was low.

Old NFO came close

I mean, on this date 160 years ago, a MAJOR solar storm hit the planet earth.

Known as the “Carrington Event” this storm caused havoc in the atmosphere and even affected and damaged the (relatively crude) telegraph systems of the day.

Think of what this would do today….

You’d have no internet, no telephone, no TV….(probably no national power to provide it anyway).

No distributed electrical power means:
No refrigeration….your food will spoil quickly, and your freezer will thaw after a few days.
No (or very little) food distribution…Fuel will run out quickly for those that don’t have any stored. No communication to order it even if it could be delivered.
No banking (part of that “No communication bit) to pay for it even if you could order it and had fuel to transport it….
No AC for those in the Southern states…..No heat for those in the Northern states.
If it is harvest time, no fuel for tractors to harvest the grains or fruits or vegetables, much less get it to people that are starving.

And it will take years to fix the infrastructure to make parts to fix the systems that are damaged.

Now, it hasn’t happened again in 160 years. Doesn’t mean it won’t happen tomorrow. Doesn’t mean it will happen again in your lifetime.

But if it does, can you survive for longer than a month? It happened once. It CAN happen again.

“So someone turns you in using the Red Flag laws and the cops come to get your guns.”

“Ok”

“Do you turn them in?”

“Of course…not worth getting killed over the guns they have on a list”.

SO they take…what? 25 guns?”

“About that”

“How many do you still have?”

“About 30”

And that is just ONE of my friends. 

Read:

There is being out of touch with your fan base, then there is totally not realizing what will alienate your market.

NASCAR seems to be doing their best to drive fans away.

And it isn’t like they are filling the seats at the Speedways, or that their viewership is growing….

At the end of this cycle, they won’t have any fans and no one will be watching their races.

One wonders how stupid the folks who make these decisions really are.

When, that is, it works.

Trying to get to anyone with a clue to fix the broken system, however, is well nigh impossible.

They don’t even post a contact number on their website.

When you finally do get to talk to a human (it takes greater than 40 minutes to speak to the FIRST level person) they are only slightly better at trying to fix things than my cats….

When (if) you can convince them to connect you to someone who has any actual abilities besides reading from a troubleshooting script tree and have waited the requisite amount of time, you may or may not get a technician dispatched to your home in 3 or more days.

Then, he or she may not actually know what to do….if they show up at the time chosen by the company to actually fix things.
All of which does NOT make for much in the way of customer satisfaction.

It does seem, however, that the neighbor was having issues….and in fixing their issue, the technician decided that the issue was MY modem in MY home (which, apparently was correct) ….rather than choose to knock on my door and fix the issue, he disconnected me at the pole. No notice….couldn’t even bother to tell me.

and it took 3 days for them to dispatch a tech to replace the modem (their equipment) and reconnect me to their network. The tech who was at the neighbors house could have fixed the issue and solved the problem simply by knocking on my door.

Instead it took me 40 minutes on hold, then another 30 to get transferred to someone with more than the IQ of an overripe tomato who could actually troubleshoot the issue…and dispatch someone (in 3 days) to fix things.

And the actual fix took less than 20 minutes. 

so in the approximately 80 hours from Friday night to Monday evening, we should place bets as to how many folks are shot in the greater South side of the Chicago area.

I’ll place my dime on 48 shot, 3 killed and at least 3 drive-by incidents.

Place your bets in the comments below. 

I was asked why I always carry….even in areas where the likelihood of “needing” a firearm is low (I try NOT to go places where I will “NEED” a firearm, but that is besides the point)…… Anywhere I can legally carry a firearm, I do. 

“Legally” is defined as anywhere where possessing a firearm will not get me tossed in jail.
Here in Indiana, outside of Federal or State or County or town government offices, Police Stations and Post Offices and schools, in nearly any other public place, if I carry a firearm where it is posted “no weapons” or “No Firearms” or “no Guns”, at worst I can be asked to leave. Failure to leave if asked is Trespassing and (generally) Disturbing the Peace, but are not Felonies. So I carry wherever my possessing a firearm won’t get me jailed.

Anyway, Here is the real reason I carry:

The average response time, nationwide, to an “active shooter” (remember, this is AVERAGE, Some will be MUCH longer, and “response time” means the time it takes from dispatch over the radio, not from the time someone calls 9-11, so add at least two minutes to that time…. until the cop reports “at the scene”… not the time it takes the cop (or cops) to actually DO something…decide what to do, enter the building, figure out what is going on, who is doing some shooting, make a decision as to what their response should be and actually react……) is 3 minutes…add in all the rest of the time and we are talking more than 5 minutes from the time someone responds….If they do actually, you know, respond, and not hunker down outside like the Parkland “First Responders” did in Florida…(Can anyone say “Coward of Broward”)

Start the timer. Count how many shots, or how many people could be slashed or stabbed in these 3 minutes. Or how many punches and kicks can be thrown in those same three minutes…. then figure another 3 to actually make the threat stop.

What if it were you…Or your loved one. Your kid, your parents, your friend? How about just plain bystanders….

3 minutes. Run this video twice to make sure you understand how long that is.

That is a LONG time, innit?

Gotta figure it is gonna take at LEAST those 3 minutes for the threat to be stopped. Probably at least twice that…maybe as much as 4 times. IF the cops react well, and quickly.
That’s why I carry. To stop a threat that I won’t know is there unless (and until) it happens. So I won’t have to wait that terribly long time…watch someone bleed or moan or even begin to die during that time. Someone to be beaten to death (or nearly so) by a group of young toughs.

I hope I never need my firearm. I hope I can use it effectively if chance should bring me to a place and time where I need to.
But I hope that I can stop a threat so that I don’t have to wait 3, or 6 or even 12 minutes before I can help those who are damaged or injured by a crazy homicidal person either.

Stopping threats earlier is the best way to prevent people from being killed or injured.

That’s why I carry.

Run the video again, just so you understand how long that time really is. Realize that that is the MINIMUM time for someone else to stop the threat. Likely 3 or more times that three minutes.

Found HERE:

Pretty much the truth. Especially the “Bad Personality” bit. But those kinds of girls always need an excuse as to why they fail in life, never have the introspectiveness to examine themselves for causality.

(BTW, didja notice how I gave credit as to where I got the image and meme from? That’s how you do it, not just steal it a day later and call it your own. It’s called courtesy and honor. You should try it. You know who you are). 

I mean, the fires are actually mostly farmers burning off their fields after harvesting….as tey ahve for many generations.  

Yes, there is some small part of the forest being burned, but that practice has been greatly curtailed over the past few years. In fact, it has nearly been cut by 2/3….

Even the NY Times has pointed this out: “Much of the land that is burning was not old-growth rain forest, but land that had already been cleared of trees and set for agricultural use.” 

Odd how that isn’t the message that most of the media is putting out. Why aren’t they telling the truth?

Why the lies….And what is the purpose of the media campaign?

And I have a simple solution: if they don’t want the rain forest burned, then people should buy it….Yep, buy an acre. Make it into a park, or a preserve, or whatever. BUT don’t tell other people what to do with land that is not yours. Pay them for the land, then You, as the owner, can determine what happens to the land.

Until then, shut the hell up