General – Page 7 – The Laughing Wolf

Change Of Plans

I had planned a different post for today, but what I thought was a trip to the dentist for a simple bridge wasn’t. Turns out, my dentist isn’t doing a simple bridge or implants, but two crowns and a bridge.

Instead of impressions and such today, we did impressions, grinding of teeth, temporary “skins” over the ground teeth, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a partridge in a pear tree wasn’t involved at some point in all the scans and such. Numbness is fading, but despite a flavorful drink while downtown there is still a bit of the taste of burnt tooth/teeth in my mouth.

Not too bad, but also not great as my first dentist was rather cruel and brutal (slapped a little girl neighbor of mine because she cried, amazed he lived), which makes me a touch skittish on dental work. My current dentist is anything but, nice lady, but still caught me very off guard. Only soft foods on one side of my mouth for about four weeks as the “skin” is not that strong. So, have some soft food and think bourbon may be the order of the day. More soon.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. If you want to know some of what it is going for, read here. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Dreams

Finished up with physical therapy today, several weeks ahead of schedule because of good results. Mobility and balance are improved, working on getting strength back where needed, and making lots of progress. So much so, thinking a couple of things I would love to do may well be possible.

One is to do the bike rides previously discussed. Think Scottsdale is out of the question simply due to time (too close). Others, we will see.

The others involve travel. Not typical tourism travel; rather, there are some places I would love to go for other reasons.

The lowest on the totem pole is a trip to Vietnam. I’ve been reading about some amazing success the Russian Orthodox Church says it is having there. Not what I would have expected, and frankly I’m curious. That I also happen to like some aspects of the culture and love most of the food (Vietnamese spring rolls are the best in SE Asia IMHO) would just add to it. I would like to spend a few weeks, or even a month or three, seeing what is being done, how it is being done, and along the way practice/learn proper Vietnamese cooking.

Now, I would also love to visit the Holy Lands. Already have a good idea of where I would like to go including St. Catherine’s Monastery, burning bush, Jerusalem, etc. For a number of reasons, doubt it will happen, but can hope and am plotting it out just in case.

What I do think is doable is a trip to the Balkans. While most of it would be in Bulgaria, it would also include some time in Romania, possibly Serbia, and at Mt. Athos in Greece. If I had the money, have looked into going by cargo ship but it may be cheaper to fly. Romania has my interest because of a train trip into the Carpathian Mountains and a chance to spend a day cooking with a chef. That I could also work in some Churches and such is a bonus.

Most of my time would be spent in Bulgaria, where I’ve plotted out 20+ monasteries, ending with visiting the tomb of St. John of Rila. From there, I would go down into Greece and spend a week (if possible) at Mt. Athos. Now, I would do some other things while in Bulgaria, and am working with some natives to make sure I see the best things. Not necessarily the touristy things, but the right things.

My current plan is to use rail, bus, and other means, up to and including shanks mare, to get around. A number of the monasteries are clustered, which makes it easy to get between them, and they also can provide places to stay. Which makes the trip financially doable. With working out and continuing to do some of the physical therapy at home, it’s doable even if I have to walk a good bit.

To be honest, if I had the money, would look at hopping a cargo ship in Greece to Egypt, see some of the sights, hop a plane to Jordan to visit the Valley, then go back to Egypt and from there into the Sinai and Israel. A man can dream.

Just a crazy idea (ideas) to share with you. Who knows what will happen, but if it does happen, will be glad to post and share the adventure(s) with you.

To All The “Women”

On X, and sometimes on another anti-social media platform, I get followed by a number of attractive young ladies (quite often Oriental). At least to judge by their pictures. I generally ignore such, and figure most or all are bots or scammers (or both).

On the off chance that any of them are serious, I would simply note that if there is the opposite of a ‘Sugar Daddy’ I’m it. I’m old, not quite as well put together as I used to be, and poor.

So, if you really do want to meet, date, etc., know what you are getting into. I would also suggest you act soon, be direct, and accept that if told ‘no’ it’s not personal. You have been warned.

Dear New Readers

It seems that I may have some new eyes visiting the site, so I wanted to take a minute to get into some background that may (or may not) be of interest to new readers. Some of this may be of interest to established readers as well, as there may be some changes coming.

This blog got started more than 20 years ago thanks to a push by Joe Katzman of the missed Winds of Change blog and science fiction author John Ringo (with some assist by David Weber who pushed me a bit as well). It started as an anonymous blog to write about space, space exploration, and space politics. However, I was accidentally outed almost immediately which did cause some issues but I pressed on.

Space politics, along with defense and national security writing, led into more general politics. On some levels, I loathe politics and am not always good at institutional politics as I tend to be bluntly honest more than I should and I’ve not always had the patience I should. My being a sarcastic smartass on occasion is likely to get me killed if I’m not careful. Responding to a typical Captain Obvious with ‘No bleep! Really?!?’ is not always the best approach even if it is therapeutic.

My own political journey is interesting. My Dad raised me to be an independent, and taught me to vote for the person, not the party. My Uncle James (AL National Commander 63) was a Republican who tried to get me to go Republican early but didn’t meet with the success he might have hoped for. Sad to say, I worked very briefly on Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign, which is ironic since I’ve spent time since then trying to clean up some of the messes he made.

My thoughts on communism/socialism (two sides of the same coin), are best left unsaid as they can get the blog suppressed. Part was shaped in elementary school when I met (and had a crush on) a Cubanita who’s father was a political prisoner in Cuba. Started meeting survivors of communism from around the world, and cordially loathed such for most of my life.

For all that I found Thomas Jefferson fascinating, I’m probably more Jacksonian in many respects these days. I used to be what would be described as a ‘classical liberal’ though I’ve always been something of a defense/fiscal conservative. I am a small-l libertarian, though I admit that if I had to pick a fictional universe to live in I would quite probably go with the late (and much missed) L. Neil Smith’s libertarian universe (The Probability Broach universe). Had a great time talking with him at WeaponsCon I, where to be there you had to be carrying one or more weapons openly. That was a fun, enjoyable, and well-behaved science fiction convention and I was honored to be a guest there. Need to raise a glass to him and to Irv tonight.

These days, I choose to describe myself as a cranky individualist and independent. The current progressive democrat party is what it is (socialist/communist), and the Republican side isn’t much better. I’ve been amused watching Trump/Maga take over the republican party and wear it like a skin, and the reactions both within the party and without as people realize what is going on. The times are a changing…

I think the worst president in our history was Woodrow Wilson, who started us on the path of rule by the credentialed elite (technocracy for all intents and purposes), followed by FDR, then the Peanut, with Johnson/Obama/Clinton sorta tied. Waiting to see exactly where I put the Biden Regency, but for now will put the Peanut ahead. All of them make Andrew Johnson, Pierce, etc. seem good. I’m willing to entertain discussion on such, as there are a few darkhorse candidates out there as well and a good case can be made for Franklin Pierce just being mediocre.

My political desires are to see the massive growth of the federal government undone, and a return to the Constitutional Republic as intended. The government that governs least, governs best IMO. Within that, I want maximum individual liberty, which happens to coincide with a central point of my religious beliefs. A man (male or female) can’t make a truly free choice if constrained. It’s why Free Will is such a thing in Christianity, and I think that it also applies to our governance. Which begs a good discussion one day soon to get into how the common definition of “freedom” has changed over the years. One is free to do what is right versus one is free to do whatever one wants.

All that said, there may be some changes here as I grow into a new life. Getting hit by lightning ended my old life, and I have a chance to make a new and better life. I honestly do feel I’m alive for a reason, and trying to figure out what it is I’m supposed to be doing is a matter to which I have been paying some attention. After all, if lightning didn’t get my attention, what might come next?

If my health was better and I was younger, monastic life has some appeal. That said, I don’t see it as a viable thing given age and health. As it is, a semi-monastic routine does work for me, in that right now I do best with structure and routine. I suspect some form of lay ministry could be in my future, which also means I may need to not be as blunt, and sarcastic, as I can be. Patience most definitely is a virtue and I need to practice that as well. I also need to work on my use of invective, though I have been working to reduce it for a while now.

This doesn’t mean some of the word play is going to go away, or that I plan to pull punches in discussing situations. It does mean, however, that I want to be/need to be perhaps a touch more diplomatic. Or at least a little less pugnacious. Then again, not sure where the whole thing about priests and saints being milquetoast came from, as I seem to recall more than one time two (future) saints got into fistfights at some of the early councils, and wasn’t it reported that St. Nicholas punched Arias?

We will see what happens. I do feel that some of my work on disaster and emergency preparedness is something I’m supposed to be doing. It may be I concentrate more on that and some other topics than politics. But, the future is unwritten, and it is up to us to write it. For me, I hope and plan to do a lot more writing, with God’s help and guidance. Meantime, I wanted new readers to have a bit more background on myself and the blog. Discourse is welcome and good, and I value the great comments and discussions so many of you regular readers bring to the site. Let’s keep that going.

Onwards.

Friday Musings

The Ring of Fire continues to be sparky. There are likely to be hundreds, if not thousands of aftershocks from the 8.8, though many are likely to only be noticed by the seismologists. There is a lot of volcanic activity around the rim, which is not unexpected but spectacular. The eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki in Indonesia featured some spectacular volcanic lightning. Given all, if you are on or near the Ring of Fire (including the San Andreas), double check your preparations as what you plan for never happens…

Here, the weather has moderated a bit and I’m glad. Makes it easier to use the bike to get around, and to get out and walk. One thing I’m keeping an eye on in regards the ring of fire are underwater volcanic eruptions, as the last big one (Hunga Tonga) did a number on the weather. I really would hate to see more water vapor added given how it did last time.

Today got consumed by paperwork and related. The state has decided to re-verify information even though I have been on disability for less than a year. So, have been jumping through hoops so I can get all the forms and printouts mailed out to them next week.

I realized I’ve talked about going to physical therapy a bit, but not about some of the core (pun intended) issues. When I was hit, most of the charge seems to have gone down the right side of my body. When I finally got to PT this year (as noted previously, original neurologist was pretty useless), gee, we discovered weakness and other issues in various parts of the right side. Who could have figured. (/sarc). There are also balance and coordination issues, vertigo, and a few other delights. PT is helping, and I’m also gearing up for what comes next.

One of the errands I ran today was to a gym I’ve been interested in. Seems my insurance includes something called Silver Sneakers. This gym is part of that network, and net result is that through Silver Sneakers my membership is covered. Which is good as I need to get serious about working out and continuing the PT after the current sessions stop. Nice thing is, I can take the bus close; ride my bike to this gym; and, get rides there as needed. Got a lot of work to do to build back from the lightning and this should be a huge help.

And to the anonymous donor who helped with the Bosu Ball: Thank You! I’m having to get a few other things for use at home, but I’m hoping soon to be able to match everything at the PT shop, even if some of it may be a bit rougher. Yes, I am improvising. I don’t care about the looks nearly as much as function. Anyone wanting to help, hit that tip jar please.

Lot of things going on in the world. Keep your eyes open, your friends and family close, and your things where you can find them in the dark. Preparedness always pays.

Re-Thinking Thinking About The Unthinkable

The good CDR Salamander has just put up a must-read post about nuclear war, nuclear theory, and preventing ‘the unthinkable.’ It is very well written; very well considered; and, refreshingly honest about where we are in terms of deterrence.

There are several points he makes with which I fully agree and endorse fully. We’ve been stuck in a mindset that is indeed “stuck in aspic” (LOVE that whole paragraph!) with the mouldering corpse of Kahn-ic thought for far too long. The so-called elite thinkers have little touch with reality that I can find, can’t agree on definitions to save their lives, and given that he is right (very) and they have not gotten a single non-nuclear war right in more than fifty years is less than re-assuring. I would also note that the times nuclear launch was averted it was not by the elites; rather, good and unpretentious men who saw the data didn’t add up and didn’t act to launch. In fact, of the times of which I am aware, it was the elites (and the politicians they advised) who had pushed things hot.

He’s also absolutely right about war games and war gaming things out. Remember, I wasn’t allowed to be OPFOR because I didn’t play the war game game. I played to win. I played to try to use them to figure out problems and solutions; which is a sin in the eyes of some for whom the games were a way to game pet theories into acceptance and use.

Two other points to make. First, I’ve never been comfortable with a triad. Remove one and it’s no longer stable. You need multiple legs. Second, I have always thought MAD was an abomination to God and to Man. It was and is morally, ethically, socially, and philosophically reprehensible. MAD is countervalue and gives you Philip Wylie and Triumph, or On The Beach. Disgusting concept and we can and should do better.

Sal gives a LOT of good food for thought. I would like to add the following to the mix, however.

First, while not nuclear, we should be looking at adding KEVs to the mix. If we can drop a deep penetrator down air shafts, we can drop a KEV. Which also means we need to consider weapons in space, which is a can of worms but one I think has already been opened. KEVs are flexible and yield can be adjusted via speed. When I say flexible, look at what Jerry Pournelle wrote about Project Thor, which was basically a crowbar with a semi-smart guidance package. Then look at some more recent work. Thing is, a range of options with a lot more flexibility than a nuke is likely to.

Second, we need to be looking at defense. Yes, Trump has announced Golden Dome and I have some hope for it. However, keep in mind that politicians on the left have done everything in their power to stop any and all work on defense against nuclear attack. We need layers and options, and the thing is some of what was done for SDI is still out there and works. The more layers, the better. Also, keep in mind those politicians who pushed for no defense were happy for you to die, though they would likely be secure and safe in their shelters.

Third, we need to look at civil defense options. I don’t think the program of the 50s is needed; but, we do need some civil defense. As I’ve noted before, there are aspects of it that are useful in other situations such as storm, fire, etc. It’s a concept that needs to be explored if we are going to have a serious talk on nuclear reform (including ways to keep the genie in the bottle).

Finally, I do think we also need to consider the need to transfer nukes to safety when portions of Europe fall to the invaders. Along with building a bulkwark in the East as discussed here with related discussion here.

I know some of you have experience and made some good points before in previous posts on nuclear war. Sound off here and there, keeping in mind this is a public forum.

Some Oddities

Sorry for the longer-than-I-want silences, but life has been busy and interesting. One of the things I’ve been dealing with are computer related. About six weeks ago, I discovered somone had “fingerprinted” my main browser. What this means is that even with VPNs and such, if you use that browser you can be tracked.

Now, lots of people try to fingerprint systems these days, as the data on where you go and what you look at makes them money. Governments can do it to track what you do online for investigations. Some governments (and others) do it gain dirt and leverage. The question always is, do you let on you know or do you take immediate action.

I chose to wait in part because I wanted to see if I could gain any data; have some fun via false trails (was tempted to take them to the worst photos on the net, such as fake nudes of Mad Maxine or Bella Abzug in a tutu); and, see if I could detect any intrusions.

Thing is, there may have been some penetration of my systems. Can’t prove, but have been going through and trying to check some things. I also realized I was off schedule on backups and such, so I’ve been working on that and trying to secure my system. Going to have to dump the main browser and get a new one. Secondary browser is fingerprinted, but it is a fingerprint shared with about 20 million other computers so not too worried about it.

So, things may be a bit spotty for a while longer as I continue to try to deal with this. And, yes, I am doing this off the main, compromised browser. Sometimes you just have to say “hi guys” and see if any cockroaches scatter. It’s probably nothing, but this day and age why take chances? I’m not on Sharyl Atkinson’s level, but things do happen.

Hang tight, because I see some interesting things on the horizon. Some political, some social, and some otherwise. Keep your guard up, be prepared, keep your family and friends close, and your things where you can find them in the dark.

Better Than MilSpec

A few days ago, in an author’s forum on an almost deserted corner of anti-social media, a fan posted this.

I pointed out (as has the author, who’s fan group this was posted in, has said many times) that the colonists had better than milspec, and that is part of what made the difference in the American Revolution. The usual group of pedants came forth then (why do you hate potatoes, they had potatoes back then, you didn’t write an encyclopedia entry outlining every possible variant, etc.) and missed two key points. One, I wasn’t out to write an encyclopedia entry (though I have written the firearms sections for a major technology encyclopedia back when there were still such things) but a one line response; and, that the technological superiority extended beyond the obvious.

It’s one of my big problems with the NFA and other “taxes” and open regulations: it limits the ability to innovate and the ability of the average citizen to have not just milspec (which frankly often sucks in base form) but better than milspec. The colonists had rifles as they were accurate and made it a more sure proposition to be able to feed their family. Their muskets could also be rather innovative. If you are not familiar with the term “lock, stock, and barrel” then you are not going to understand how and why the colonists tended to buy the best they could and got delightfully innovative as soon as they could do so.

Fact is, most firearms innovations have come from outside the government. Take a look back around the Revolution, then move forward and while many hoped to make their money selling to the government, the innovations came from outside the government. Even today, that still holds true in my opinion. Note, however, that the government through the ATF and other agencies does all it can to hamper such development and innovation these days.

Me, I don’t want milspec, I want better than milspec. That holds true for firearms, communications gear, and more. I want rugged, dependable, reliable (which, yes, can be different from dependable), and cost effective. Why buy stock when you can often get far better “add ons” and custom for the same cost or less. Milspec is a best a good place to start. It is very easy to make it better in many cases.

Which is why I have a serious question for Elon and the new third party (more on that soon): don’t tell me you support the 2nd amendment and expect me to take you at your word. You’ve said more than once that you believed in regulating and restricting. I want specifics out of you, and in particular I want to know where you stand on repealing the NFA and other “taxes” and open regulations. I want it spelled out in detail.

I also want the NFA and such gone. It’s time to ensure that the Citizens of the Republic not only have milspec, but better than milspec. If you are proud that you have milspec, good on you you’re special. If you have made sure you have better than milspec, whether you admit it or not, you’re my type of people. I don’t care if it’s a better iron sight or using a 2-cent O-ring to improve the water resistance of an electronic device (versus the $2k special container sold to the government), you’ve still improved it and made it better than milspec.

The Revolution wasn’t all rifles versus muskets. It was much more complex and frankly far more rich from a technological standpoint than the pedants will ever truly realize. I think they fail to realize some of the true importance of Saba, but that’s for another day. What matters is that in more than one way the colonists had better than the milspec of the day. It’s what we need today as well. Just a thought.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Medical And General Update

Sorry for the silence, but this has been a medical week with re-opening for one-day-only Brother Juniper’s. On the latter, some of you may be old enough to remember a “chain” of restaurants called Brother Juniper’s. It was run by a religious order, and to cut a long story short, most of that order converted to Orthodox Christianity and the restaurants (save one) closed. My Church location came about because of this conversion, and once a year in connection with the Talbot Street Art Fair they re-open the restaurant for one day only doing certain favorite sandwiches. We actually still have some of the equipment and signage from the ones in Indy in our basement, which we bring up and use for the event. I’ve been working cleaning and prep most of this week in between doctors and dentist and other delights.

The great news is that I finally was able to get the latest round of neuropsych/cognitive testing done this week. As I mentioned in this post, I wasn’t expecting much out of it directly other than the data. My goal was to use it as a springboard to testing and therapy I think could do some good. I ended up surprised in that I did get something unexpected out of it.

I’ve had some of the standardized testing before (in fact remembered some bits of it as we were doing it), but they hit me with a couple of new tests. Turned out, the doc had actually read up on my case, listened to what I said instead of the usual, and thought some additional data would be good.

He almost blew it at one point, stating that he wasn’t sure it was a direct hit because of the lack of burns/blast injuries on the outside. If he had studied up a bit more, he might have known that many/most do not have those injuries. It’s a bit of ignorance that I’ve grown to ignore as doctors, more than most, hate to be told they are wrong (and can make interesting notes in ones file that are not helpful long-term). This one seemed a little irritated that some therapists had made suggestions/statements rather than doctors on high, but hate to tell him the therapists in my case have been like conspiracy theorists: they are well ahead on points, by about 63-2. I further note that I had no burns or scars EXTERNAL. No one, including the useless first neurologist, thought to do any imaging to try and determine if I had burning (or scarring) internally.

I did ignore that because of what he brought up next. If you did just the basic standard testing, my results still clock out high and there is no major sign of impairment. However, with the additional tests and looking at it not straight on, but from a different perspective, two things came up.

I won’t go into all the details, but the problems remembering things/learning new things most likely stems from the conditions not being met to form new memories. Several factors, but it did remind me of something I had been advised to try at the LSESSI conference: play with a pencil, stick, heavy bookmark, etc. when reading or trying to learn something new. Need to remember to share this with someone else at Church having some issues.

The second part was that I don’t do well in “noisy” environments, figurative that is. My ability to handle multiple levels of information and stimuli is not good. In fact, my ability to react to all of it and make good, swift decisions is not good at all. Add in my reduced reflexes, balance, etc. and I am off point. In fact, I am off point on several levels/operations. I can still work through things (and do) but it takes me a lot longer than it used to. I may no longer the the point on any team, but I remain one who can gather, interpolate, evaluate X-order effects, and plan accordingly with sufficient time.

Which is frustrating, as I remember when this was not so. Which adds its own issues to the mix. I can still do, but structured, ordered environments are best for me.

It’s good to have this, and/or to have some of this confirmed. It also should help with trying to get physical therapy and more approved out of the neurologist. We will see, but it gives me the data to amend my action plan/experimentation on myself so as to refine some of the methods and goals. It may or may not help with the insurance game, but if I have to fund things it lets me know where to invest my funds first.

It’s also good, and in this doc’s favor, that he brought up intermittent issues. Most docs automatically assume that anything intermittent is psychological because they can’t see and/or study it in a steady state. Since a lot of lightning strike/electrical shock survivors have intermittent issues that are physical, it creates a tense situation with the docs. This doc did not dismiss, but noted that some of the issues above could and likely did contribute to the intermittent issues.

So, glad it is done. Glad to get more out of it than expected. Now to fold that new data into the action plan and continue to move out. Want to make the most of this new life. Onwards.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Heads Up

No definitive intel, but I would suggest increased alertness for the next little bit. Iran is likely to try and strike back against both Israel and the U.S. Even if they don’t (or better yet they go the way of the dodo soon), you have the possibility of sleepers/cells taking independent action. Given all those military-aged males from various parts of the Middle East that came across the Southern Border under the Biden Regency…

If I hear anything definitive, will post it; but, I suspect that if the sleepers/cells go active, booms will be our first notice they have done so.

Fear no evil; be prepared; keep your family and friends close; and, keep your things where you can find them in the dark.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.