The current occupant of the Oval Office and his spokestoken this week chided “extreme MAGA Republicans” for using using “woke” as an epithet. I know this’ll probably shock you, but they whined that “woke,” unless it’s invoked by a genuine wokester, is “hate speech.”
The term, though it was seldom used, had been around almost a hundred years before radical progressives resurrected it a decade ago to signal their virtue, most often accompanied by dealing a flaming Race Card from the bottom of the deck. Since then it’s become a proud symbol of all things Left.
Pussy hats. Men having periods. Censorship. Race-indoctrination in schools. Kneeling for the national anthem. Citizen disarmament. Biological males competing in women’s sports. Anti-capitalism and anti-cop. Pro-entitlement, pro-pandemic and pro-panic. Looting and burning cities. Vandalizing monuments and toppling statues. And universally, hatred of America and true Americans.
To be “woke” is to be an irredeemable assclown, of course. Calling these unserious people what they call themselves, with as much derision as possible, is the right thing to do. Whatever shame they harbor, they deserve. Whatever hate they feel, they bring on themselves.
In short, fuck woke.
I won’t lie to you. When I said that a month ago, I meant to convey that what you read here will be straight truth. More important, it’ll be factual. The point was to draw a clear distinction between my integrity and that of the pathological liar who occupies the Oval Office.
Before posting information, I do my damnedest to corroborate it. When I quote someone, whether a political pundit or a Founding Father, I make sure it’s accurate. If later I discover that I’ve erred, I correct the error. You should be as confident about the accuracy of what you read here as you are about my fidelity to principle.
By the way, I hold you to the same standard.
I don’t care who you are. I demand that you tell the truth. I insist that you be factual. If you’re irrational or fail to employ reason, I’ll question whatever else you might say.
Given the opportunity, and depending on my mood, I may call you on it. I tend to keep my mouth shut far more often than not (unless you count pointing it out to Deb).
Mis-quotes and mis-attributions are pet peeves of mine. Ditto narratives that result from ignorance — like the canard that the previous VPOTUS had the duty or the constitutional authority to overturn the Electoral College. (He had neither. Get over it.)
The other day one of my social-media acquaintances, a woman who articulates political views generally similar to mine, posted a graphic that contained a glaring factual inaccuracy. And that false statement served as premise and basis for the case she presumed to make.
I called bullshit.
The woman reacted like a neo-liberal (though apparently she’s not), executing a classic delete-and-block maneuver. She expected good intentions and decades of experience with the subject — which, by the way, had nothing to do with politics, ideology or culture — to excuse her perpetuating what she knew was demonstrably untrue. Honestly, I expected that reaction.
It’s what happens when a person works hard to appoint themselves an authority, but lacks the intellectual curiosity to corroborate information and the humility to deal with the consequences of being wrong. Ego kills credibility, deader than dead.
And yeah, facts matter. Don’t expect me to give quarter on that.
If you made it this far, congratulations — your reward (or your punishment, depending on why you’re here in the first place) is an update about what’s happening on The Mountain. Our contractor began sending photos to me shortly after noon.
So yes, work on the foundation has begun. Rain overnight and this morning was no impediment to moving dirt (at this stage) or busting rocks. Damp conditions actually were a benefit, allowing the crew to start burning some of the brush and trees downed when the site was excavated.
What will get in the way of progress is that the “stinger” on the rock hammer broke before the guys got as far today as they hoped they would. It happens. Reportedly that native dolostone is pretty stubborn stuff, harder than run-of-the-mill limestone.
Deb’s cousin dropped by later this afternoon to observe, reporting that it’s “a muddy mess.” Naturally — but it’s our muddy mess, and work is underway again.
From time to time I’ll talk about a tool or a gadget I’ve acquired, with the promise to let readers know how it works or if it works out. Usually I make good on that. Some things get by me and I don’t. Today I want to pay off on three items I’ve mentioned in recent months.
The first is the Tractive® device that our Smudge puppy wears on her collar. In a couple of months’ experience with it, it’s definitely worked as-advertised. We haven’t had to use the tracking function to locate her, of course, but it’s done an accurate job of recording and reporting her whereabouts.
There have been very few signal dropouts. I’d characterize it as rare, like we might expect from any device that uses cellular technology.
We charge the gizmo’s battery every couple of weeks, typically, when the app shows less than 50% remaining. And according to the activity sensor, Smudge remains the most dynamic dog among the 50 nearest to her — it’s not even close. That’s cool.
I’d have to say that at this point we’d recommend the Tractive.
Next up is that Rayovac headlamp recommended by Dave Whipple of bushradical.
I’ll admit that I bought this light for two very superficial reasons — it was cheap and I was curious. I didn’t have high expectations, beyond Whipple’s testimony that it’s durable. And though I haven’t tortured the Rayovac to see if it lives up to its “virtually indestructible” billing, I’ve used it at least twice a day since it arrived five weeks ago.
Specifically, I wear it whenever I dig into the basement bays or take the dogs out before dawn or after dark. The light it throws is decent — I’d call it adequate. (That’s a compliment.) It’s definitely a chunky thing, as I observed originally, but the fat, rugged build turns out to be strangely satisfying.
The big yellow button is easy to operate even with gloved hands. The tilt feature has come in handy. It’s seen sub-freezing cold and heavy rain and hasn’t failed me.
I have no complaints — recommended.
Finally, the Kubey Tityus folding knife. If the headlamp was a superficial purchase, buying this knife was downright shallow — I was jealous of Deb’s new Kubey and wanted one of my own. Again, I didn’t expect much, figuring it was kind of a throwaway.
I was wrong about that.
The Tityus has held up fine in moderate use — nothing extreme, just everyday tasks around camp and on The Mountain. The blade holds its edge well and responds nicely to a few strokes on a crock stick. (I’m not looking forward to re-sharpening that D2 if I ever let it get dull.) The action remains smooth and the pivot is still wiggle-free.
I’ve carried the Tityus all day, every day, for over two months, never really considering going back to my venerable Benchmade Griptilian — and that surprises the hell outta me. The only thing I don’t love about the knife is that it was made in China.
In functional and practical terms, and acknowledging the relatively short time I’ve used it, I can’t recommend the Kubey Tityus highly enough.
And it’s still fun to say: Tityus.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB
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