Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Post No. 2696, in E♭

Eight Bells - Winslow Homer
Sometimes coming up with post titles can be challenging.

So today I got clever.

Well, I thought it was clever. YMMV.

No, the painting has naught to do with the post. I just really like Winslow Homer's work.


I dumped another listing from the blogroll today. Even Lex thought the chap was slightly unhinged, but I followed the guy, retired naval officer, liked the Far East almost as much as I do. But his latest post really "jumped the shark" as far as I'm concerned. I think the dude hates being an American. I really do. So I had to let him go.



But on the bright side I added a new blog, fellow named Aaron. (Dang, does he pronounce it that way? Or is it A-A-Ron? Sorry, old Key and Peale bit.) I mean you have to love the title of his blog - Sticks, Stories, and Scotch. I think he's gonna fit in well here.

And yes, it's that easy, if you reciprocate, and you ask, and your blog is something I like to read. All ya gotta do is ask.


I don't like dumping someone from the sidebar, but damn it, I'm just about done with all the contrary types out there. I don't mind if you disagree with me (if we all thought alike, we'd be doomed, especially if everyone thought like me, I mean, who would do all the heavy lifting?) but I do mind if you decide that my opinion/Weltanschauung/what-have-you somehow makes me a lesser being. An Untermensch if you will.

A couple of times at my chosen place of worship (Baptist if you must know, but not the Southern variety, I'm not sure of the difference but there it is) our new pastor has semi gone off the rails when it comes to current events/politics.

When he does that, I try to hold my tongue (though that gets messy if I do it literally, and The Missus Herself will kick me if I do) but Sunday last I came close to losing it.

"We need to pray for our Nation, that new leaders will arise..."

Huh?

Bear in mind, this was the same pastor who was offering comfort to those distressed by the results of the Presidential election. The one in 2016. Yes, the rise of the anti-Trumpites. No, seriously, I know people who were quite literally "OMG!" freaking out over that.

Huh?

Okay, some people were really nervous, probably because they are fed a steady diet of lies, half-truths and fairy tales by the meejah (I have stopped capitalizing that, gave them too much gravitas it did). Both sides really, and since when does factual reporting have a side?

Well, you and I both know that it doesn't. Truth is truth, what happened happened. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and whoever holds the highest office in the land ain't the one responsible. Be it Trump or Obama.


The other day, Faithful Chanter STxAR referred to our own Beans as Señor Frijole. No, no, not this guy -

(Source)
Nope, our Bean, the Chanter/Blogger guy late of Kwajalein, currently dwelling in Florida. But the Spanish moniker is rather humorous, though our own Bean has yet to chime in on that. I mean once bestowed callsigns are almost never changed unless an event of such momentousness has occurred rendering the need to convene a callsign review board. Which for we simple enlisted was our sergeant, we went by whatever he wanted to call us, which is how I received first Bambi, then Chuckles. Yes, I did know a few guys who were called Numbnuts by their respective sergeants. I dodged a bullet on that one, rather narrowly on more than one occasion.

Anyhoo, as Juvat argued, Señor Frijole is just Mr. Bean in Spanish. Believe me, the same thing in German sounds almost rude. Glad STxAR doesn't speak Deutsch! So we can run with that.

But Faithful Chanter PLQ asked how does one do the tilde thing over the "n" on a standard U. S. of A. keyboard. So, as a public service, I have published a new page for your viewing and typing in foreign languages pleasure, Alt Codes. A resource to use as you see fit. It's been in my "Draft" pages for a while, I used it occasionally, now I make it available for tout le monde. Die ganze Welt, ya know, everyone.

So in parting, I'll leave you with this as well...



Blogging ain't for the faint of heart. Hey, you come up with new material every day!

What? You do? Okay then, never mind.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to...





62 comments:

  1. I was worried, when you said former Naval Officer, that you had gotten rid of HIS Defiant, who seems fairly sane to me. I am glad it was someone I don't read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That will never happen. I've met the good Captain face to face, he's good people.

      Delete
    2. I used to tussle with that guy all the time. I have never met a man so cynical and filled with hate and loathing for this country.

      Delete
  2. Would the dumped one be a noted peanut butter manufacturer? He IS a bit of a nutter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, for all his good stuff, and there was a lot, his bitterness became overwhelming. Classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw

      Delete
    2. Yes, I followed him for a long time, then it just became too much. He became unhinged at some point.

      Heh, O-Shag-Hennessy was my favorite.

      Delete
    3. He's been unhinged for a very long time. Almost since the founding of a certain FB group.

      He was one of the first defectors that showed himself the door by creating a very nasty stink attacking other members.

      Delete
    4. Yup, I tolerated him a lot longer than I should have, I don't mind a different point of view, but when no other point of view can be tolerated, then "Bye, bye!"

      Delete
  3. Well thanks for the Alt Codes info, always wondered how to do those. And it might actually be " get to da chopper" considering his accent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, me too.

      I use the Alt codes often enough that it's nice to have around.

      Delete
  4. Man, the world is beautiful this morning.... Faithful Chanter.... wow! Funny what a few letters strung together can make a guy feel...

    My first foray into ASCII codes was at work in 1988. I had to find a way to put a degree mark after the numbers on a spreadsheet for the boss. I spent 3 hours in a library at college digging my way through the books. I found it, made a Xerox and I still have it in my file.... somewhere. I got a big attaboy for it at the time.

    My work laptop and my home laptop don't have a 10 key pad. Not the same result on the top row....

    Thanks for the early morning handshake buzzer. Made my day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, you did come up with the whole "Señor Frijole" thing. Which was, BTW, brilliant.

      Yup, drawback to the Alt codes is that many laptops don't have a number pad. Which is one reason I don't like laptops.

      Delete
  5. I have quietly unfollowed a few people and have been quietly unfollowed by others, and my blood pressure is the better for it. Often these people are not "off the rails" it is just that this blog, Facthing, Internet is a lousy venue for political discussions, not sure why, it just is...that and yes a few out there are "off the rails" to the point that they can not even fathom another point of view.

    I listened today to CNN for about 20 minutes and the only news today is Trump hating MSM and "Fake News", I had to wonder, CNN constantly calls FOX lying and Trump mouthpiece, do they then say FOX, as Obama did many times, consider FOX to be fake news? Apparently on both sides, the definition of "Fake news" is news that does not fit your narrative. I remember when news reported the news without slant or spin.

    Oh crap, I seem to have gone "off the rails" I need a safe space.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The concept of reporting fact has been lost by all of the major players in the meejah. They all have an agenda to sell. I'm not buying anymore and I question the sanity of those who believe any of them. But that's just me. CNN has been unreliable and a joke for quire some time now. Again, that's just my opinion.

      Delete
    2. I stopped with the tv and cable news ages ago. I have found that if I want the real facts the Daily Mail usually conveys all that are available and if they put a slant on it, they have at least furnished the facts. I think they're about the last left on the planet. As with internet searches. If I want it without partisan I used to use Yandex. I'm not so sure about them anymore because algorithm.

      Delete
    3. Same here. I want facts, not slant. Daily Mail is closest to that.

      Delete
    4. Well, under the previous regime, FOX news was denied access, constantly not called on, made fun of, put down, treated like the weird kid with full headgear and bad allergies in a room full of jocks.

      As to CNN, well, they lost any credibility when it came out after Gulf Wars: Free Kuwait that CNN had been basically serving as Baghdad Bob's mouthpiece. All in order to freeze out all other news agencies so they could get exclusive access to Sodamn Insane's inner circle.

      I think Al Jazeera has more validity than CNN or NPR or MSNBC.

      Delete
    5. I would not argue that. Al Jazeera surprised me on more than one occasion with the truth.

      Delete
    6. Heck, Pravda, during the Cold War had more credibility than those networks do now.

      Delete
    7. Sodamn Insane! I love the Capitol Steps! They are a hoot!

      Delete
  6. Most certainly, your blog is not one dimensional. Usually makes me think. that is why I never read it until I've had coffee.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Multi-dimensional? I like that! ;)

      (Sometimes that's due to me having either too much, or not enough, coffee. 'Tis a fine balance which I have yet to strike.)

      Delete
  7. I have "Unfollowed" lots of people--including several relatives. We actually had an article in our local "News" paper celebrating an anti-Trump pastor.That bird cage liner has been steadily going full lefty for a while now. SWMBO likes the local news part, but the rest is pretty hard to stomach.The established religions (Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist etc.) have long since gone off the rails IMO. Their congregations are deserting in droves, and when you attempt to explain to them why, they won't listen. So be it, I say.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You're definitely on to something there Cap'n as regards the major religious denominations.

      I have reached for the ejection handle more than once over the past few months.

      Delete
    2. OBTW: Was that E flat minor or major? :-)

      Delete
    3. Good point! As I was in a snarky sort of mood, let's go with E flat minor.

      Glad someone was paying attention, Lord knows it wasn't me!

      ;)

      Delete
  8. Okay, either Blogger or my combonculator ain't working well today, maybe both. So, well, OldAFSarge, could you send me an email with the name of the person you unfriended so I can understand who exactly you are talking about?

    As to not reading bloggers who have gotten unhinged, well, there's a certain fellow who was kinda interestingly funny but who moved to Mexico and the really started railing against the evils of the USA. While in Mexico. Admittedly, under the previous regime we seemed like a bad banana republic (the nation type, not the clothing store type) but come on, dude, saying that while living in Mexico, because it's cheaper? Yes, also more crime ridden (well, except for Washington DC or Chicago) and filthier (well, except for LA or San Fran or Portland or Seattle) so, well, he's gone from my to-read list.

    I've also stopped reading an opinionated female gun writer who doesn't allow comments on her blog. I am tired of someone who can regularly attend gun classes, regularly shoot buckets of ammo, and plays with guns like kids play with Legos, whining about how we lower people who can barely afford to go shooting once a year are a detriment to 'gun people.' Sorry. That's like a Formula 1 driver saying the lowly guy who only drives once in a while (like me) should give up driving and just take the bus. Nope. I'll coon-finger my guns and dream about having a place with a range, thank you.

    As to politics and religion, isn't that what brought us the 30 Years War? Or the English Civil War? Or the French suppression of the Hugeonots? Or some of the worst excesses of socialism/communism in Central and South America? Please, pastors and fathers and clergy all, be concerned for our spiritual souls, and stay out of Ceasar's matters. Ya bunch of jerks.

    My only comment on 'Senor Frijoles' is that a callsign or warname or whatever should be short, so that one can shout "Beans, behind you!" which takes no time at all while "Senor Frijoles, behind you" takes more time. Even the dude callsigned "Dictator" was probably shortened to "Tator" when being called to on das radio.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Email has been dispatched. I don't read the guy in Mexico anymore either. He descended into douchbaggery.

      I hear you about the lady gunner, long story on the no commenting policy. She had an infection of nasty trolls. As to the "serious" gunner thing, yeah, I don't have the time, the money nor the inclination to spend half my waking life at the range. Those who do tend to look down on those who don't. Sigh, and oh well. I still read her, just skip all of the "at the range" and the "I put 10 million rounds through my .45 yesterday" posts. But that applies to most gun blogs.

      Roger that on the politics and religion question. Reddite Caesari quod est Caesaris.

      Beans thou art and Beans thou shallt remain. So let it be written, so let it be done.

      Remember what I said about sergeants and nicknames/callsigns? Applies here.

      I'm guessing that Dictator was shortened to something else, because, reasons...

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the email. Explains so much.

      I understand the lady gunner not allowing comments. But, well, if you don't allow people to poop on your lawn, don't go pooping on their lawns either. She said some rather un-fun things about some people who are trying their best to fix a bad situation (mainly due to too many leftist yankees moving into our backyard and screwing up our politics.)

      I don't mind reading about someone pew-pew-pewing to their heart's content. Just my tolerance stops when a constant shooter looks down their nose at an inconstant shooter, or actively says douchebaggery comments like "I support 200 hours of required classes a year to keep your concealed permit" or somewhat equally douchebaggery. Sorry. The 2A says "Shall not be infringed" which means, well, get the hell off my gun lawn, even if you are a paid gun-hack or a paid un-gun-hack.

      Yeah, when a church rails against the pres, but supports the cult of Bael, well, enough said on that subject.

      Glad to be Beans. Don't wanna culturally appropriate the Tejanos culture. I wouldn't be able to get away with all those tats.

      What? They called him Richard? Or the Third?

      Delete
    3. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Beans was asked to join our merry band of bloggers!

      Yup, even the gunners seem to forget the wording of that amendment. Safety is good. Classes are good. Using them to determine who gets to carry what? UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

      Just like, I don't like hate speech, it should be banned. Sorry Charlie, see the amendment preceding the 2nd.

      Sigh...

      Delete
    4. I didn't mean to insurrect the nomenclatura here. I like to play with the tiny parts of the spanish lingo that I'm familiar with. Like, Como Usted Frijole? (How you bean?) stuff like that.

      Glad you are sticking with the musical fruit. Dad used to call them 44's. There are times when you get rolling that I figure that fits, too. You can pop and snap with the best of them....

      Keep up with the "the funny meter to the roar of his repeater."

      Delete
  9. AW/SF always has good things to write. I do enjoy reading him. This blog was great before him became a co-bloger, and has only gotten better since.

    Thanks for the post.
    Paul L. Quandt

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Make my head swell any bigger and I'll never get it out of my ass. Landlady is already having problems with me having a donkey...

      Delete
    2. "...I'll never get it out of my ass." No one ever wrote that you had gotten it out. I only wrote that I enjoy reading what you write. Well, also that the blog had gotten better; but that doesn't necessarily mean you get the credit. That A equals B does not have to mean that B equals A.

      Paul

      Delete
    3. Beans - I have that problem as well. The Missus Herself keeps the sharp point of her wit at hand to deflate my ego when it gets too big.

      Delete
    4. Paul - Math, first thing in the morning? Oh, never mind, comment was from last night.

      ;)

      Delete
  10. I remember this one guy stopped by the blog, made a reasonably sane comment and linked to my blog. Great! I thought and linked back to his. A day or so later I visited his blog and OMG! Does he really believe THAT? First impressions aren't always the best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True dat.

      I check first, then link. I learned my lesson in a similar fashion.

      Delete
  11. Oh, goodness....where to begin....

    I sometimes feel bad when I drop a blog. I put it there for a reason, which is usually that I know the person, or have gotten to know them, or enjoy their writings, or all of the above.

    I read lots of blogs found on other people's blogs, and when I find one I like, I add it. Sometimes they go stale, and don't get updated, or the person passes away, or they close the blog. I'll let it stay on the blog roll for a while, watching it slowly sink to the bottom, and make a keep/delete decision after some months.

    FecesBook is a different matter.....

    The pastor that married my sweet little wife and I is a 100%, Full Retard, Barking Leftist Moonbat. She's also my wife's BFF from forever, and I have to respect her. She's a lovely person, but so far Left she makes me look like Ghengis Khan.

    We do NOT discuss politics, and get along fine. I see signs at a local church claiming "We Love {insert minority/ethnicity/religion here} And You Should Too", which is distressing, but hey, 1st Amendment.

    And as a side note, after escaping Kommiefornia, I now see Fort Collins is considered by Colorado Peak Politics as a "Liberal Enclave", lumped in with Denver and Boulder ( ! ).

    heh...go live in SoCal for a few years....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh dear! I might add Full Retard, Barking Leftist Moonbat to the Acronym Page as FRBLM. Has a nice ring to it.

      I try to avoid talking politics with anyone. A sound policy in recent times.

      Delete
    2. Ghengis Khan was a liberal. Really. He believed that his people could believe just about anything, as long as they acknowledged him as Khan.

      If you attacked him, and lost, but put up a good fight, well, he wanted you on his team.

      He applied his punishments equally across the board. Some subjugated Rus steals from him, gets the same treatment as one of his actual clan brothers stealing from him.

      He openly invited all the world's religions to send delegations to his encampment and then allowed all of them to openly discuss, debate and go so far as to wrestle, but he put his foot down on open assassination.

      Old school Liberal. Before the leftists stole that title and puked on all of it's many correct meanings.

      Washington (George, that is) would have gotten along with Ghenghis. Pretty much every one here would have gotten along with the big GH. Some of his followers and follow-up leaders? Well, not so much.

      As to talking politics with strangers these days, well, I am to the point of being the weird crazy dude in town. Just I don't stand at street corners, I take baths, I don't have a pet flea or lice collection...

      Delete
  12. Thanks again for the link, and the mention. I should have written this yesterday, things got away from me (and I didn’t write down to do it).

    Some days I think I need a checklist on the bathroom mirror where the first item is “Make daily checklist.”

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sorry I missed this post yesterday. Lots of great comments. Nothing like a "I dropped this guy" comment to get me more curious than I've ever been about who a particular blogger is, same for the schmuck that asked twice to be added to the roll. I guess it's kind of like a car wreck on the side of the road- it's hard not to look. I do a good job of it nevertheless so I guess I'll try to avoid this guy too- just too much negativity in the world today, and in our churches apparently.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The negativity is a real bummer. I'm may "harrow" the blog list in the new few months. Many have ceased to post, some have become a PITA, some I'm just tired of.

      But I will ask the Chanters for their suggestions as well. I am, after all, a benevolent dictator. (Tator for short, got that Beans?)

      Delete
    2. So you know. I use your blog just as I used the blog of Lex. He had all the links. You have all the links. I use your page to jump off to other blogs. I don't put them here because you got it. I had 14 links. 2 have gone to the almighty and one is lying fallow and hopefully will return in one guise or another and I will find it when it does return. I would have added 'Free Market Fairy Tales' but he went dark at the urgent demands of his solicitor when he took on a directorship and before I even had a blogroll. That said, I do try to link to any page that links to me. It's just that there are very few discerning readers out there. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

      Delete
    3. The Harrowing of the Shire, er, blogroll, won't happen anytime soon. May not happen at all.

      There are bloggers who walked away or at least haven't posted in years. I may lose 'em just to reduce clutter. But now that I know that you use them, I will no doubt poll the readership if I ever get around to doing anything.

      Your comment went into moderation as I adjusted the time period. So I wouldn't miss comments.

      Seems like I did both here. Sorry, Cap'n.

      Delete
  14. "...dictator..."

    Reminds me of the joke about the guy's halloween costume.

    PLQ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Huh?

      (In other words, do tell, or give us a link. Haven't heard that one I don't think.)

      Delete
    2. It is a very old joke and one that is not only NSFW, but one that I would not write on a family friendly blog. The only things I can write are that it involved a potato and string.

      Paul L. Quandt

      Delete
    3. I'll have to break out the Google Fu!

      Delete
    4. You could give me a call; I know that I've given you my phone number before.

      Paul

      Delete
    5. True, I've got that somewhere.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

NOTE: Comments on posts over 5 days old go into moderation, automatically.