Incomparable illustrator Will Eisner created the character of "Connie Rodd" for the U.S. Army's P*S Magazine. A blonde bombshell, oozing sexuality and delivering double entendres at every opportunity, she drew young GIs into the dry subject of preventive maintenance. P*S is still around, available online even to us civilian types. And Connie continues to grace its pages -- sort of. Over the last few decades, political correctness has robbed the once-alluring character of her original appeal. Today's Connie Rodd (right) is patently asexual, shaped by hyper-sensitive ninnies from a tart into a token. Once again, we've lost more than we've gained. Today feels like a good day to annoy all those who prefer a less interesting world, a world stripped of humor, color and curves. To that end I'm pleased to offer a tribute (below) to the real Connie Rodd, in the form of P*S centerfolds from 1970 and 1972.
"The Lord has blessed me and cursed me with an ability to see over the horizon." (Glenn Beck, declaring himself a prophet)
"The Democrat Party base, fringe Alinskyite, Marxist leftists that they are, are the number one impediment to progress in this country." (Rush Limbaugh, ringing bells for his mindless poodles)
"Climate change, global warming appears to be in full effect. ... It was announced today that the cherry blossom festival dates have been moved up in Washington, D.C. by a month because warm weather has caused them to blossom that much earlier." (CNN's Erin Burnett, confusing climate with weather)
"Lately, we’ve heard a lot of professional politicians talking down these new sources of energy. ... If some of these folks were around when Columbus set sail, they probably would have been founding members of the Flat Earth Society." (Pres. Barack Obama, making the case for exacerbating our national economic crisis)
Mrs. KintlaLake and I were the first to arrive at our shop yesterday, as usual. When the first of our two co-workers strolled in a half-hour later I noticed that he was carrying some sort of flat parcel, wrapped in a white trash bag.
"I found this at my parents' place yesterday," he announced, pulling back the plastic. "I thought you should have it."
Without further fanfare, he presented me with his discovery: an original album cover from McGuffey Lane's self-titled 1980 recording, the band's first, complete with autographs. According to my co-worker, the members of McGuffey Lane were regular visitors to his parents' house, since (the late) Bobby Gene McNelly's back yard bordered theirs. The guys signed this particular cover while hanging out in the basement one day shortly after the album's release.
This is a bona fide keeper, of course. Preserved in a proper frame, soon it'll adorn the wall of my office.
Here are two more vintage Marble's advertisements, both from 1922.
"For Campers" (right) comes from the pages of Outing magazine. It was aimed squarely at families and young couples caught up in the out-of-doors movement sweeping the U.S. during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The products featured in the ad are familiar: Marble's Safety Axe and Woodcraft fixed-blade knife; compass, match case and fishing rod. And the company's longtime tag-line, "For every hour in the open," shows up at the end of the piece.
The second ad (below) touts "Marble's Outing Equipment, Preferred by Outdoor Men." It's a more straightforward pitch, appearing in a more narrowly focused publication (Hunter-Trader-Trapper). Again we see the Woodcraft and the Safety Axe, joined by a mechanical gaff and a gun sight.
Until this morning I hadn't browsed Google Books' collection of vintage out-of-doors magazines in quite some time, and it's been a couple of years since I last posted an old Marble's ad here on KintlaLake Blog. Marble's Safety Axe Co. placed an ominous pitch (right) in a 1908 issue of Recreation. It tells of a misfortunate whose broken knife (not a Marble's, presumably) kept him from repelling an attacking bear. Oh, if only he'd had a Marble's Safety Pocket Knife! More believable, I think, and certainly more conventional for the time, is an ad (below) for Marble Arms & Mfg. Co., found in a 1918 issue of Hunter-Trader-Trapper. It features the classic Safety Axe, along with two of "Marble's Famous Hunting Knives" -- the Ideal and the Expert. It's worth noting that in 1918 a Marble's Ideal cost between $2.25 (stacked-leather handle, five-inch blade) and $3.50 (stag handle, eight-inch blade). The cocobolo-handled Expert, offered only with a five-inch blade, was priced at $2.25.
Ten years earlier, a budding bear-slayer would've spent $4.00 to land a Marble's Safety Pocket Knife.
"Our Government should be entirely and purely secular. The religious views of a candidate should be kept entirely out of sight. He should not be compelled to give his opinion as to the inspiration of the Bible, the propriety of infant baptism, or the immaculate conception. All these things are private and personal. He should be allowed to settle such things for himself and should he decide contrary to the law and will of God, let him settle the matter with God. The people ought to be wise enough to select as their officers men who know something of political affairs, who comprehend the present greatness, and clearly perceive the future grandeur of our country."
"Our Government has nothing to do with religion. It is neither Christian nor pagan; it is secular. But as long as the people persist in voting for or against men on account of their religious views, just so long will hypocrisy hold place and power. Just so long will the candidates crawl in the dust -- hide their opinions, flatter those with whom they differ, pretend to agree with those whom they despise; and just so long will honest men be trampled under foot.
"Churches are becoming political organizations."
"It probably will not be long until the churches will divide as sharply upon political, as upon theological questions; and when that day comes, if there are not liberals enough to hold the balance of power, this Government will be destroyed. The liberty of man is not safe in the hands of any church. Wherever the Bible and sword are in partnership, man is a slave.
"All laws for the purpose of making man worship God, are born of the same spirit that kindled the fires of the auto da fe, and lovingly built the dungeons of the Inquisition. All laws defining and punishing blasphemy -- making it a crime to give your honest ideas about the Bible, or to laugh at the ignorance of the ancient Jews, or to enjoy yourself on the Sabbath, or to give your opinion of Jehovah, were passed by impudent bigots, and should be at once repealed by honest men.
"An infinite God ought to be able to protect himself, without going in partnership with State Legislatures. Certainly he ought not so to act that laws become necessary to keep him from being laughed at. No one thinks of protecting Shakespeare from ridicule, by the threat of fine and imprisonment."
First of all, the list of Rush Limbaugh's fleeing advertisers, mentioned in yesterday's post, has grown by three -- Bonobos, Sears and Allstate also have pulled their sponsorship.
Limbaugh does a masterful job of raising the issues we should be debating and then obfuscating the hell out of them. He subdues relevance with red-meat rhetoric and births new bogies daily, crushing information with innuendo and ignoring facts at every turn.
In the second paragraph of his non-apology apology, he actually came close to hitting the real target:
"I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit? In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone's bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level."
After issuing that statement, true to form, Limbaugh slipped back beneath the surface of intellectual honesty.
Sandra Fluke has been misrepresented by ideologues on both the left and the right. It's been widely reported that the 30-year-old Fluke researched Georgetown University's student-healthcare coverage before enrolling, making sure that the Jesuit institution didn't cover birth control -- a committed activist, she engineered her opportunity to protest the policy from within the student body.
She's also on-record advocating that any healthcare plan that doesn't cover the cost of gender-reassignment surgery -- that's the politically correct term for what most people call sex-change operations -- is discriminatory and should be sued.
No kidding.
On the one hand, Fluke is neither a "slut" nor a "prostitute," as Limbaugh characterized her; on the other, she's far from the sympathetic figure she's portrayed to be by Nancy Pelosi et al.
She's an opportunist with a cause -- and her cause is, without a doubt, expanding the entitlement culture that's poisoned our society and crippled our government.
"What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex, what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. What does that make us? We're the pimps." (Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday, February 29th)
[After Limbaugh spent three days repeating and amplifying those sentiments, his radio show's sponsors began pulling their advertising. Six had fled by Saturday morning; the list now numbers nine: Tax Resolution Services, AOL, ProFlowers, Quicken Loans, Sleep Number beds, Sleep Train, Citrix, Carbonite and LegalZoom.]
"For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.
"I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit? In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone's bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.
"My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices." (Limbaugh on Saturday, March 3rd)
"Yes, I think he should have apologized. I had said he used very crude language. And I think he gets over the top at times. But it's in his best interest. That's why he did it. I don't think he's very apologetic. He's doing it because some people were taking their advertisements off his program. It was his bottom line that he was concerned about." (Ron Paul on Sunday, March 4th)
"Our numbers suggest that Rush Limbaugh has seen significant erosion in his popularity with Republican voters over the last week. The last time we polled on him nationally [in 2009] he was at 80/12 with GOPers. But now we find him below 50% in all three of these [Super Tuesday] states: he's at 45/28 in Ohio, 46/29 in Tennessee, and 44/30 in Georgia." (Public Policy Polling on Monday, March 5th)
"I want to explain why I apologized to Sandra Fluke in the statement that was released on Saturday. I've read all the theories from all sides, and, frankly, they are all wrong. I don't expect -- and I know you don't, either -- morality or intellectual honesty from the left. They've demonstrated over and over a willingness to say or do anything to advance their agenda. It's what they do. It's what we fight against here every day. But this is the mistake I made. In fighting them on this issue last week, I became like them.
Against my own instincts, against my own knowledge, against everything I know to be right and wrong I descended to their level when I used those two words to describe Sandra Fluke. That was my error. I became like them, and I feel very badly about that. I've always tried to maintain a very high degree of integrity and independence on this program. Nevertheless, those two words were inappropriate. They were uncalled for. They distracted from the point that I was actually trying to make, and I again sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for using those two words to describe her. I do not think she is either of those two words. I did not think last week that she is either of those two words." (Limbaugh on Monday, March 5th)
"The left, folks -- the media -- are giddy that some advertisers have said they're leaving the program. And I'm sorry to see 'em go. They have profited handsomely from you. These advertisers who have split the scene have done very well due to their access to you, my audience, from this program. To offer their products and services to you through this venue is the best opportunity that they have ever had to advertise their wares. Now they've chosen to deny themselves that access, and that's a business decision, and it's theirs alone to make.
"They've decided they don't want you or your business anymore. So be it." (Limbaugh on Monday, March 5th)
"Hey, Rush -- who's the 'slut' now?"(KintlaLake on Monday, March 5th)
So-called "Super Tuesday," including Ohio's primary, is less than 72 hours away. Since I won't be voting to give Pres. Barack Obama a second term -- not on Tuesday and not in November -- I've been paying close attention to what the Republican Party has to offer. Not much, really. But because I oppose Obama, I guess I'm supposed to choose among Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Such conventional wisdom presents me with (respectively) an unprincipled dolt with deep pockets, a nutty professor who rises in the polls only when he quarrels with those who buy their ink by the barrel, and a Benedictine acolyte who campaigns as if Jesus is the answer to our economic woes.
Did you ever have to make up your mind?
Pick up on one and leave the other behind
It's not often easy, and not often kind
Did you ever have to make up your mind? *
At a time when government is both broken and broke, every one of those candidates would expand it. Gingrich's idea-a-minute approach to governing, for example, spends money faster than China could lend it to us. Romney doesn't seem to have an approach at all, so he'd choose "all of the above" to avoid offending anyone. And Santorum, the guy who's hailed by neo-cons as the only true conservative in the race, does talk about shrinking the scope of government -- that is, as long as it's allowed to invade our bedrooms. No, thanks. The biggest difference between the 2008 presidential campaign and this year's (so far) is that today we're hearing more about matters of constitutional principle. Things like individual liberties and personal responsibility, global interventionism and bureaucratic dinosaurs, states' rights and out-of-control entitlements -- these now are part of our national conversation. There's a reason for that, and his name is Ron Paul. No, he doesn't have a shot at winning the GOP nomination or even the Ohio primary, but that's not the point. Neither is unseating the incumbent -- it's absurd to believe that it's in the best interest of our country, short-term or long-term, to replace a bloated-government Democrat with a bloated-government Republican.
Did you ever have to finally decide?
Say yes to one and let the other one ride
There's so many changes, and tears you must hide
Did you ever have to finally decide? *
The issues that matter to Paul are issues that matter to me. His principles are, by and large, my principles. For the sake of our nation, the debate he's helped to shape must continue. If that's to happen, independent citizens must raise principled voices at the polls. On Tuesday, this citizen will raise his voice in support of Ron Paul.
"[The family of Jaylene Farrell, who died when a tornado struck Harrisburg, Illinois yesterday morning] want a song at her funeral that talks about praising God even through storms like this. And it just shows the incredible power of not general faith in something, but specific faith in Jesus Christ."
(Pastor Aaron Smith of the First Baptist Church of Harrisburg, speaking last night to CNN's Erin Burnett. The arrogant cleric exploits disaster, death and grief to take a swipe at anyone and everyone who doesn't share his particular religious beliefs, reminding us that only Christians are capable of coping with tragedy.)
Spyderco's unusual designs first caught my eye back in the mid-'80s, and I've owned various patterns over the years. These days I have an Endura4, a Delica4 and a LadyBug3, as well as an Endura II that I bought used. I deploy a second-gen Chicago at work every day. Each of those Spydies is a keeper; all, as it turns out, were minted offshore, in either Japan or Taiwan. It wasn't until late last year that I picked up my first US-made model -- the Spyderco Para-Military2. Right out of the box the Para-Military2 is impressive. It doesn't inspire the same wow as, say, a Reeve or a Hinderer -- rather a nicely done, especially in light of its price (MSRP $175, street $100). The knife's fit and finish are excellent, with no evidence of shortcuts or sloppiness. The pivot is smooth and precise, best of the Spydies I've owned and rivaling my Benchmade 755 MPR. The compression lock -- a type of liner lock, this one featuring a release tab on the spine -- is solid and easy to use. The CPM S30V stainless-steel blade, sporting a full flat grind, came shaving-sharp and has stayed that way through three weeks of warehouse duty. The Para-Military2 falls between the Endura4 and the Delica4, size-wise -- not too big, not too small. Its textured G-10 scales feel just right and the handle shape allows for a variety of grips. I'm especially fond of Spyderco's choice to employ jimping both on the thumb ramp and on the integral choil. Together they aid in no-look indexing and make the grip that much more secure. Honestly, I've found nothing to dislike about this knife. And while that may sound like I'm damning it with faint praise, nothing could be further from the truth. The Spyderco Para-Military2 isn't flashy, nor does it possess the cachet of more expensive überfolders. But like certain other all-business/no-drama knives -- Benchmade's Griptilians come to mind -- it's easy to like a solidly built tool that just flat works. To boot, the made-in-USA Para-Military2 can be had for a hundred bucks. If someone were to call this Spyderco the idealEDC folder, I'd be hard-pressed to argue the point.
I urge readers of KintlaLake Blog to take 15 minutes to watch this video, "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore." I find it wonderfully touching, inarguably deserving of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film it won last night.
It's been the strangest of winters 'round here -- no snow to speak of, lots of rain and temps climbing past 50°F once or twice a week. A cold front came through yesterday, bringing only a trace of the white stuff but steady 30mph winds gusting to (reportedly) 60mph. Last night one of those gusts took down a long-dead 35-foot pine just east of our property. I've no idea what killed the tree or when, but it was dead and bare of needles when we moved in two years ago. I strolled out back this morning to survey this casualty of the wind, snapped off a foot or so above the ground. As I approached it I noticed the glow of heartwood at the center of the bug-eaten pine. I suspected that this golden core, which measures about four inches in diameter, might be what I described in an early installment of "Urban Resources" -- fatwood. Sure enough, I now have a resiny reservoir of natural firestarter, aromatic and hard as a rock, within a hundred feet of my back door. I expect I'll harvest as much of it as I can, practically speaking, if only to hone the skills required to do so. Stay tuned.
A proposed law, touted yesterday by Gov. John Kasich as part of Ohio's stepped-up drug-interdiction efforts, would make it a fourth-degree felony to own a vehicle equipped with hidden compartments. Naturally, law-enforcement agencies -- notably the Ohio State Highway Patrol -- love the idea. Law-abiding citizens, however, should be less than thrilled. Think about it -- should we expect drug traffickers to avoid Ohio, or to smuggle narcotics in vehicles not fitted with covert stashes, just because there's a law against secret compartments? Of course not. Any claim that such a law would be a deterrent is patently laughable. Citizens who cherish Liberty see a far more sinister effect. The simple act of modifying a vehicle to incorporate a secure place to stow emergency supplies or, for example, to (otherwise legally) transport a firearm or ammunition would earn us a felony charge -- even if the compartment doesn't hold drugs or other contraband. It's the definition of a political stunt. Gov. Kasich is desperate to curry favor with law enforcement. Sen. Jim Hughes, the bill's sponsor, wants to score points with Gov. Kasich. And patrol superintendent Col. John Born is doing what political appointees do. The ill-conceived secret-compartment proposal seeks to address the state's drug-trafficking problem by assaulting individual liberties. Ohio has plenty of anti-drug statutes already on the books without creating another that'd turn now-law-abiding citizens into criminals. This citizen will urge his elected representatives to squash the bill.
"I am convinced that if you get into these social issues and just stay in there about abortion and homosexuality and even mental health they bring up, somehow they're going to take us all to Alaska and float us out in the Bering Sea or something. If we're going to do that, and here's a party that believes in government out of your life, the precious right of privacy and the right to be left alone. How then can they be the hypocrisy of fiddling around in these social issues? We won't have a prayer."
Rick Santorum:"I have to admit, I voted for ['No Child Left Behind']. It was against the principles I believed in, but, you know, when you're part of the team, sometimes you take one for the team, for the leader, and I made a mistake.
"You know, politics is a team sport, folks."
Ron Paul:"Once again [Santorum]...was for 'No Child Left Behind' -- but now he's running for president, now he's running to repeal 'No Child Left Behind'....and he calls it 'a team sport.' He has to go along to get along and that's the way the team plays. But that's what the problem is with Washington. That's what's been going on for so long.
"I don't accept that form of government. I understand it. That is the way it works. You were with the majority. You were the Whip and you organized and got these votes all passed. But I think the obligation of all of us should be the oath of office...and it shouldn't be the oath to the party. I'm sorry about that, but it isn't the oath to the party -- it's the oath to our office.
"To obey the law -- and the law is the Constitution."
[Ask yourself, please, if this is what we want from our government. It had better be, because it's what we're begging for.]
Preschooler's Homemade Lunch
Replaced with Cafeteria 'Nuggets' State agent inspects sack lunches, forces preschoolers to purchase cafeteria food instead Sara Burrows, Associate Editor Carolina Journal
RAEFORD -- A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because a state employee told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious.
The girl's turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the agent who was inspecting all lunch boxes in her More at Four classroom that day.
The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs -- including in-home day care centers -- to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.
When home-packed lunches do not include all of the required items, child care providers must supplement them with the missing ones.
The girl's mother -- who said she wishes to remain anonymous to protect her daughter from retaliation -- said she received a note from the school stating that students who did not bring a "healthy lunch" would be offered the missing portions, which could result in a fee from the cafeteria, in her case $1.25.
"I don't feel that I should pay for a cafeteria lunch when I provide lunch for her from home," the mother wrote in a complaint to her state representative, Republican G.L. Pridgen of Robeson County.
The girl's grandmother, who sometimes helps pack her lunch, told Carolina Journal that she is a petite, picky 4-year-old who eats white whole wheat bread and is not big on vegetables.
"What got me so mad is, number one, don't tell my kid I'm not packing her lunch box properly," the girl's mother told CJ. "I pack her lunchbox according to what she eats. It always consists of a fruit. It never consists of a vegetable. She eats vegetables at home because I have to watch her because she doesn’t really care for vegetables."
When the girl came home with her lunch untouched, her mother wanted to know what she ate instead. Three chicken nuggets, the girl answered. Everything else on her cafeteria tray went to waste.
"She came home with her whole sandwich I had packed, because she chose to eat the nuggets on the lunch tray, because they put it in front of her," her mother said. "You're telling a 4-year-old. 'oh. your lunch isn't right,' and she's thinking there's something wrong with her food."
While the mother and grandmother thought the potato chips and lack of vegetable were what disqualified the lunch, a spokeswoman for the Division of Child Development said that should not have been a problem.
"With a turkey sandwich, that covers your protein, your grain, and if it had cheese on it, that's the dairy," said Jani Kozlowski, the fiscal and statutory policy manager for the division. "It sounds like the lunch itself would've met all of the standard." The lunch has to include a fruit or vegetable, but not both, she said.
There are no clear restrictions about what additional items -- like potato chips -- can be included in preschoolers' lunch boxes.
"If a parent sends their child with a Coke and a Twinkie, the child care provider is going to need to provide a balanced lunch for the child," Kozlowski said.
Ultimately, the child care provider can't take the Coke and Twinkie away from the child, but Kozlowski said she "would think the Pre-K provider would talk with the parent about that not being a healthy choice for their child."
It is unclear whether the school was allowed to charge for the cafeteria lunches they gave to every preschooler in the class that day.
The state regulation reads:
"Sites must provide breakfast and/or snacks and lunch meeting USDA requirements during the regular school day. The partial/full cost of meals may be charged when families do not qualify for free/reduced price meals.
"When children bring their own food for meals and snacks to the center, if the food does not meet the specified nutritional requirements, the center must provide additional food necessary to meet those requirements."
Still, Kozlowski said, the parents shouldn't have been charged.
"The school may have interpreted [the rule] to mean they felt like the lunch wasn't meeting the nutritional requirements and so they wanted the child to have the school lunch and then charged the parent," she said. "It sounds like maybe a technical assistance need for that school."
The school principal, Jackie Samuels, said he didn't "know anything about" parents being charged for the meals that day. "I know they eat in the cafeteria. Whether they pay or not, they eat in the cafeteria."
When someone asks me where I live, chances are I'll say "Columbus, Ohio." That's not my postal address, of course, but it's easier for most folks to fix on their mental maps. So, in a sense, Columbus is my adopted hometown. And today, February 14th, marks the bicentennial of its founding. As a kid growing up in the northeastern part of the state, making the two-hour drive to Columbus qualified as a trip to "the big city." We'd come down for Ohio State's home football games and, several times a year, to shop at Lazarus. The city today bears only a passing resemblance, really, to the Columbus of my childhood. The changes owe to progress as well as decay, and I'm prone to getting sentimental about what's been lost to both. It's still a good place, though, the hub of a region that I call "home," and this is a birthday worth celebrating.
I believe it was Holiday Inn that coined the advertising slogan, "The best surprise is no surprise." Myself, I'm a fan of pleasant surprises. I'd put off sampling Zero Tolerance Knives for years, judging them (from afar) shamelessly "tacticool." Then, on something of a whim, I decided to take ZT's 0350 folder for a spin. Color me pleasantly surprised. The Zero Tolerance 0350 (MSRP $175, street $100) is a downsized-and-detuned version of the 0300 (MSRP $340, street $220), which is a higher-end folder designed in collaboration with Strider. The made-in-USA 0350 features a 3.25-inch recurve blade of coated CPM S30V, thick stainless-steel liners incorporating a beefy liner lock, textured G-10 scales and a four-position pocket clip. The 0350 is equipped with Kai-Kershaw's SpeedSafe assisted-opening system. Pulling back with an index fingertip on the "flipper" protruding from the spine snaps the blade open with authority. Ingeniously, the flipper becomes a guard when the blade is deployed. Now, if you read the maker's description of SpeedSafe, you'll see that the blade also can be opened "with a manual push on the blade's thumb stud." Problem is, when the blade is closed the ambidextrous stud nests very close to the frame. It's virtually useless as a natural and reliable means of opening the knife. The stud functions primarily as a stop-pin, it appears. And since the flipper works so well, not having the thumb-opening option is no loss. It took a week or so of EDC (and a few drops of Benchmade BlueLube) for the 0350's pivot to get over its initial stickiness. Since then it's been smooth and precise -- no wiggle whatsoever. This ZT's handle fits my large paws perfectly, and the G-10 slabs are wonderfully grippy. The CPM S30V blade takes and holds a scary-sharp edge; quick touchups, rarely necessary, have been easy. That's a good thing, since it's trickier to hone a recurve than a straight edge. After carrying and using the Zero Tolerance 0350 for several weeks, I'm not just pleasantly surprised -- I'm damned impressed. It's a hell-for-stout tool and, with the exception of that vestigial thumb stud, very well designed. Best of all, considering the street price, it's a whole lot of knife for the money.
[The following analysis, published on Monday, should be required reading for every citizen, especially those who pretend that we can continue to cater to an entitlement-hungry populace.]
A Nation of Government Dependents? 49% of U.S. Population Lives in Households Receiving Gov't Benefits Veronique de Rugy
Mercatus Center at George Mason University This week Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugyexamines the share of the U.S. population that live in a household with at least one member receiving government benefits using the Census Bureau's data from the third quarter of 2010. The red bar represents the percentage of the population living in a household receiving benefits from one or more federal and state programs. The green bar represents the share of the population receiving benefits from at least one means-tested program (a program that targets low-income people with non-welfare income) for food, housing, or children's aid, etc. The blue bars give a breakdown of the population living in households receiving benefits from various federal programs. (Note that the bars do not add up to 100% because it is common for people to receive benefits from more than one program.) In 2010, 49% -- or nearly half -- of the U.S. population lived in a household receiving government assistance. According to Investors.com, this percentage of the population has gone "up from 44% the year before Obama took office, and way up from 1983, when fewer than a third were government beneficiaries." Spending on entitlement programs is one of the main drivers to U.S. debt as such programs have the most recipients. Specifically, 16% of the population lived in a household receiving Social Security benefits, and 15% in a household receiving Medicare benefits. Medicaid benefits had the largest share of dependents, with 26% of the population living in a household receiving such benefits. About 35% of Americans in 2010 lived in households that received benefits from at least one means-tested transfer program. Out of these programs, more than 46 million -- or 15% of all Americans -- lived in households receiving food stamps, 2% unemployment compensation, and 6% supplemental security income. The percent of the population living in a household receiving benefits for low-income families with children reached 8%, and those receiving temporary assistance for needy families reached 2%. Means-tested welfare spending at both federal and state levels has grown faster than any other category of government spending. Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation found that annual spending for means-tested programs increased by nearly 300% between 1989 and 2008. According to Rector, the growth in means-tested aid "greatly exceeded the growth in government spending on education (143%) and defense (126%)" during this same time period. The more people receive government assistance, the more difficult it will be to reform these programs. The majority of future federal spending will be to finance this growing nation of dependents.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors made it a crime, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, to throw a ball or a Frisbee on any beach in the county. What's more, these nannying nutjobs also made it illegal to dig a hole more than 18 inches deep in the sand. I swear I'm not making that up -- click on the image (right) to read the most abominable passages, or check out the entire ordinance here. Truth is, the decimation of individual liberties throughout the People's Republic of California is reason enough to keep me on this side of the state line. But this latest sandy insanity is beyond the pale -- and, thanks to LA County officials, it even goes beyond the (plastic) pail (and shovel). What the hell is wrong with these people?
Each of my favorite Super Bowl commercials, posted here yesterday, promotes a venerable American brand. Chevy. Chrysler. Budweiser. None of those corporate icons represents what it once did. Chevrolet (founded in 1911) and Chrysler (1925) survived Chapter 11 thanks to billions in taxpayer-funded bailouts and, in the case of Chrysler, because an Italian carmaker bought almost 60% of the company. Budweiser (1876) is the flagship brand of a brewer headquartered not in St. Louis, but in Belgium. Ever since the commercials ran on Sunday, pundits have been cranking out commentary after ironic commentary. The Chrysler ad has come in for special criticism. Pres. Obama's backers see the spot as supporting his approach to our national economic crisis. Conservative klaxons view it the same way, accusing Clint Eastwood of being a shill for the administration. When you're a hammer, as it's said, everything looks like a nail. Of all the perspectives I've read and heard, only three ring remotely true with me. The first came from Jay Leno:
"One of the most talked about [Super Bowl] commercials was the one with Clint Eastwood, where he said, 'It's halftime in America, and our second half is about to begin.' "The bad news? China has the ball and we're down $15 trillion."
"When the next Republican assumes the Oval Office, whether in four years or eight, he or she will find that the political culture is set up to destroy rather than build. Unifying the nation absent an urgent crisis is increasingly difficult, if not impossible. The organized activist class from your own party will not tolerate dissension from ideological purity, even in the face of real-world responsibilities. The opposition will have been conditioned to reflexively attack, demonizing the duly elected president almost regardless of what policies he proposes. This cannot be good for the country."
Last, here's what Eastwood himself said to FOXNation:
"I just want to say that the spin stops with you guys, and there is no spin in that ad. On this I am certain.
"I am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message...just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was ok.
"I am not supporting any politician at this time.
"Chrysler, to their credit, didn't even have cars in the ad.
"Anything they gave me for it went for charity.
"If...Obama or any other politician wants to run with the spirit of that ad, go for it."
Now permit me, please, to offer my own view: Attacking Chrysler's "Halftime in America" commercial because it's somehow pro-Obama is intellectually dishonest and ideologically crippled. There's nothing so patriotic as (to quote Avlon) "making the case for American resilience." That's what the ad did, simply and with the conviction of an independent citizen, and that's why I love it.
P*S is still around, available online even to us civilian types. And Connie continues to grace its pages -- sort of.
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