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Monday, June 30, 2014

Mrs. Xeno's Post for the Ladies

Okay ladies I hope you like the beefcakes that I found for you today.  ENJOY!






 
Reminds me of the song "MAN WITH A HAIRY ASS"

Corporations are people too

Which leads to some interesting problems for Massachusetts police* who claim they don't have to give up information on their use of SWAT teams, as they are 'incorporated' as a 501(c)(3).

On one hand, as police being paid with taxpayer funds, they ARE subject to Freedom Of Information requests, as a government agency. And are able to conduct raids and make arrests as warranted (got that 'warranted') under the law.

On the other hand, if they are a corporation, then they have no legal rights to make any kind of raids, flashbang a baby in its crib, break down doors of privately owned residences, or inflict gunshot wounds on animals.

So, come raid my house. If you screw it up, and you usually do..., I wouldn't let you get away with "qualified immunity", (Which is a fucking joke, as most of you aren't qualified to wipe your own backside) I'dl sue the corporation. And the individual within that corporation.

Even if cops think they are immune, corporations ain't!
After all, corporations are people too.

*Sorry for not giving anyone credit on the story. Seen this all over, and figured I'd have my say.

Use your camel wisely

A private in the Army gets stationed in this big sand pit in Afghanistan. After a couple of weeks, he's starting to look for some relief from the long, hot, boring days, and maybe get a bit of release in the bargain.

So he goes to his sergeant , and asks if there is any 'action' anywhere in this gods-forsaken hole, and the sergeant tells him there's a camel they use tied up behind the command tent. And there's a stool if he needs it.

So the private, not quite sure what to make of this, waits until that night, and makes his way behind the command tent. Sure enough, there's this camel tied up back there, and a stool. Well, a guys gotta do what a guys gotta do, so he pulls that stool up behind the camel, drops his sand camo fatigues, and starts 'humping'.

Just as he's about ready to explode, the sergeant walks around the tent and stares at the private screwing this camel.

As the private collapses on the back of the camel, the sergeant says "Damn, boy. Most of us just ride the camel to the whorehouse on the other side of those dunes..."

XenoBabes






Turn Here Rose (got out of bed to update this!)

Its been a hectic week. But, we have a building being delivered within the next 2 weeks! Its not what I want, but its more than I figured to start with.
Its a 14 by 36 foot 'portable' building that some guy used as a reptile house. The economy being what it is, no one has money for snakes, and if they do, who can afford to feed em? Rats ain't cheap.
Anyway, this guy, in order to keep his reptiles nice and warm, has completely insulated the walls and floor, installed lights and electric, and partitioned the ceiling into an attic, rather than just a loft.
Of course, there are some minor issues I can work around. 1. The fiber board he paneled the walls and ceiling with are warping, and some are water stained where he watered the walls along with his reptiles. 2. The 'ceiling' such as it is, being also paneled with warping fiber board, is only about 7 feet. Kinda claustrophobic for me, but I'll see about that when it gets delivered. 3. There are NO windows. There is a whole in the back wall where he had a heating/conditioning unit that he took out before giving up the building, and getting some natural sunlight is a priority for my sanity. I don't think I can deal being in a building without natural light available without losing what's left of my sanity. 4. There is plumbing, but it all runs along the ceiling, and has mist nozzles for the reptiles. Useless to me, and I'll have to plumb the whole thing myself, running everything under the floor. I'd have to do this anyway, but its a hassle having to remove the existing and fix the ceiling.
All this is workable as I planned on having to insulate and this has been taken care of. A toilet, shower, windows, and sinks are my first priorities at this point, but before any of this can be done, it has to be delivered. All I know at this point, is they will call me 24-48 hours before delivery, sometime in the next 10 days.
So this week, I have been trying to rush and level the site where it will be installed. I went out Tuesday night, as it was supposed to rain 'sometime' Wednesday, and did as much as I physically could to level the mounds of ash and dirt compacted over the last two years, moving the last of the crumbling bricks, and clearing out the few remaining trees in the way of the ingress for the building.
Well, it never did rain on Wednesday, but was now supposed to on Thursday, so I decided to just stay out and get as much done as I could on Thursday before the rain. This is also why my posts were messed up on Thursday, because Rose volunteered to take care of them for me, and didn't know she had to hit the "publish" button after scheduling. She did her best, and I appreciate it. They got posted late, but they got posted, so no harm, no foul.
Then it didn't rain on Thursday either! I was taking way too many pain pills for my liking though, and in order to move the dirt where I was leveling the site, I had to get on my knees with a military style pick/shovel, load the dirt on a tarp, then, making sure I didn't make the load too heavy, pull it to a lower area and dump/spread it. I can't use a full sized shovel without my shoulder screaming, and although it'd be faster, I'd be out of it on pain pills, which would defeat the purpose. All this shit is killing my shoulder, but I now have a time constraint and HAVE to get it done.
I didn't get back out on Friday. Basically couldn't move. On Saturday just pulled branches out of the way as Mrs. X cut them out with a reciprocating saw. Lighter and easier to handle than the chainsaw. Not going out today, but will head out tomorrow and get back to work. Once I get it done, I can go back to doing as little or as much as possible on my own timeline. And stop taking these damned pain pills!
Not many photos, as I just don't think of it until I'm back in town, and then its too late. A little focused on what I HAVE to do while I'm out there...
My Semi-permanent camp. Got tired of taking it down, putting it up. So now I just load and unload whatever I give a shit if it gets stole, and leave the rest there. The left flap is lowered in case it actually decided to rain sometime... That's my hearth on the left. I put a metal milk crate kinda thing on the top as a 'warmer'. And the open front can't be seen from any roads, so I have a degree of privacy.
One of the dead cedar trees that had to be removed. The stump is out of the way, but the branches had to be removed to allow ingress for my building. Still one left to remove at this point, but it has since been removed and turned into firewood for my hearth.
Speaking of which, here are what's left of the limbs, all ready to keep me warm during the cool nights.
The area still needing to be cleared. The front of this pic is where I have just started leveling. I know, it don't look like much. As it stands, I have finished about half of the length. The area is 15 feet from the row of remaining bricks on the left, to that patch of grass in the background. Which is where my pump is located. Plus I still have to remove those left side bricks to uncover the outer foundation header. What you can't see here is the buried pylon footers buried in the middle.
Some flowers to the left of the path from the driveway to the foundation. I also have some purple irises in my front field, black eyed susans, and morning glories along the left side where my camp is, along an old fence I'm going to leave up. Plus all kinds of wildflowers.
These, the irises, and morning glories are all to be left in place and cleaned out per marital decree. The black eyed susans and wildflowers will be allowed to flourish wherever the hell I ain't mowing...
 
So, that's the news from down on the farm. Join with us next week, same time, same channel for the next installation of the ongoing saga of  "Turn Here Rose farm".
 
Late addition: (I actually woke up after going to bed exhausted, and realized I hadn't update this. Hope the fuck it was worth getting my sorry ass out of bed. I'm beat!)
This morning I was on Craigslist looking to see if anyone was selling a cheap goat or two. Found some wethers, (Neutered males) for 25 bucks, (bucks. get it?) but the drive was way to far for it to be worth it. Even wethers smell something fierce when riding in the back seat!
But I did find an interesting opportunity. Some guy about 20 miles away was selling 2 mini potbellied pigs for 25 dollars each. Couldn't pass that up. So now I'm a pig farmer. And yes, I will eat a potbelly. They are bred for that purpose in Vietnam, and regularly slaughtered as a meat animal. I haven't yet butchered one, but know folks who have who say there is no difference in the meat quality. And here's a bonus: I got a breeding pair, and the sow is pregnant! So if I decide to recoup my original investment, it will only be between 2-4 weeks before she dominoes, and I can sell any extras. Don't know yet, but will see.
Now the fun part. This was a spur of the moment purchase, so I had to get some fencing and posts to keep them in. By the time I got the materials, the pigs, and made it out to the 'farm', (hmmm, its got pigs, it MUST be a farm now!) it was getting late. So I did the unusual and listened to some advice from my wife. So this is how they are set up for tonight, and I'll go out tomorrow and work on a more permanent (and hopefully still somewhat moveable) pen for them. Looks like I won't have to till my garden plot anymore!

Poppa Pig


Momma (to be) Pig

Enjoying an evening at the pool...
 

Yes, that is the defunct pool at the farm. I ran a double length of
fencing across it, used some old yard furniture pieces off the 'lawn' to
fill in the edges, (tied down with fencing wire) and put up a shade
for them. The pool is shaded on the wet end in the mornings, and I'll
be out there before the sun gets high to build them a 'for real' pen.
 


 Now I just need to get a goat...
 
 
 

Sunday, June 29, 2014

A salient point on survival

The following excerpt is from Cody Lundin, leading host of the TV series 'Dual Survival'. Although a survival tv host himself, he doesn't think much of the genre, and makes some very important points in this interview with The Master Woodsman. (Think how Doomsday Preppers is looked on by actual preppers...):

LUNDIN:  Remember when someone told you they were a doctor and that was enough? Now, it’s “what kind of doctor are you?” There are oodles of physicians in the yellow pages for my little town. There are foot doctors, eye doctors, skin doctors, heart doctors, lung doctors, bone doctors, allergy doctors, doctors for kids, doctors for older people, doctors for female issues, doctors for male issues, blah, blah, blah! While not as diversified, the survival profession is the same way. Modern survival is different from primitive living skills, which is different from urban preparedness, which is different from homesteading, which is different from wilderness living or “bushcrafting.” They all revolve around various aspects of self-reliance, just like all of the different doctors revolve around dealing with the human body. But one does not go to a foot doctor to remove a cataract. Even many survival instructors are unaware of the differences, and the media, not knowing the difference either, puts out whatever they think is valid. One of the biggest problems I see, even among the majority of survival instructors, is context. It is one thing to know a survival skill, it is quite another to recognize the correct context into how that skill should be implemented in an emergency scenario. This is critical if people want to live. The best way to have greater control of the context, into how to use hard and soft skills to defeat a survival situation, is through years of field experience and training. Many people have survived situations despite themselves, despite the mistakes they made, and fate, luck, karma, whatever you want to call it does play its role in whether people live or die. But training with skills in the proper context of the supposed emergency is always the best training option. Training intentions are very important when dealing with a professional in which people live or die based upon that training. How could it be any other way, right? A paramedic is trained in both how to maintain a patent airway and treat a lower extremity wound. Both are valid skills to know in emergency medicine. However, if the medic treats the nasty looking leg wound first, at the expense of gaining or maintaining a patent airway, their patient will die. The first-aid skills, although both valid in their own right, were done in the wrong order. The context was screwed up for the scenario and the patient dies. This lack of context is a huge problem not just on TV, but in all media regarding survival skills, including so called survival magazines. The author, producer, TV host or whoever, simply does not have the field experience to be able to put into context the survival skills they think they are teaching. This is true of many survival instructors too.


So the next time you think your the super survivor, remember: If you know how to find water to last three days, and get caught in the middle of an icy rain without shelter, you'll be dead before you have to worry about thirst. Kinda like stopping the bleeding when the patient can't breathe...

a confession

When I started this whole blogging shit, it was because I started following a few other bloggers out there, and quite honestly, wanted to be respected and liked the way they obviously were. Okay, so I'm needy. Screw you. I was recently disabled, couldn't get around, felt useless, and needed to do something or give in to the pending doom of depression.

I figured, once I was getting a whole hundred hits a day, that I may as well make a little pocket change while I was playing around. So I started with adsense. I made a total of just over a hundred dollars in three months if I recall right. Not a lot, but a couple of sixpacks or a pack of smokes I didn't have to worry about... (I have been struggling to quit smoking, and have gone about a month. I thought this shit was supposed to get easier with time...)

Well, me and adsense had a falling out. I'm not going to be told that this post or that picture is too risqué or downright crude to put on my blog. I admit to posting naked wimmen. I LIKE naked wimmen. And I try to make them 'decently naked' if such a thing exists. More Playboy than Hustler, and you guys get to say you come here to read the articles!

I do have 'this space for rent' options available, but have to date had one sponsor for 4 months. And ya know what? I could give a crap! Would I like to make some money here? Damn right I would. Is it why I blog? Hell no!

I absolutey HATE doing this blog. And I absolutely LOVE doing this blog. I know people I would never have (electronically) known, and call them friend. I have "met" people who I know beyond any doubt would have my back. And if called, I would have theirs. Unconditionally.  I have seen generosity and community here that is seldom seen in the 'real' world.

I have been getting over a thousand hits a day for almost a month. Not a big deal for some of the bloggers I follow, but I feel acceptance and yes, that I am respected and liked, and my opinions are valid. So I'll probably keep this shit going. Damn.

So, thank you to all those who have accepted me into this community. And damn you to all those who have accepted me into this community!

I appreciate you all.

An article from a reader

Wild River sent this into my email this morning. No wonder cops have to shoot Chihuahuas to 'protect themselves', they cant even handle a 58 year old woman. And what is it about white broncos and slow-speed chases?

This happened in Southern Oregon...



Woman in Custody after Downtown Standoff-UPDATED
58-year-old Cathy Jo Kukoski, of Grants Pass is in custody after becoming involved in a standoff with police after her mother reported she had made suicidal statements and left the house armed with a handgun about 4:00 a.m.

An off duty dispatcher spotted Kukoski’s Ford Bronco and notified 911. Responding officers were unable to evaluate Kukoski because she kept driving off and leading police on a low speed pursuit. She voluntarily stopped at the intersection of 4th and “D” Streets, but refused to comply with officers commands essentially barricading herself in the Bronco.

After calling in the SWAT team, spike strips were placed at the front and rear of the Bronco. Negotiations were begun then and lasted for two hours at which time the Growers Market was attracting citizens and police expanded a protective perimeter.

At 9:05 Kukoski drove over the front spike strips and quickly accelerated east on “D” Street, crashing into a Public Safety Fire Engine that had been deployed to cordon off that area. SWAT vehicles immediately moved in trapping the Bronco against the fire engine.

Negotiations continued for another hour. Then officers began spraying the woman with pepper spray and using a bull horn to order her to comply. She refused and just before 10 a.m. the bullhorn went quiet followed shortly by an explosion as police employed a flash bang grenade to confuse and disorient the suspect. Then they successfully took her from the Bronco and to the ground.

She was taken to Three Rivers Hospital where she was treated and released to officers who then lodged her in the Josephine County Jail on charges of attempt to elude, resisting arrest, reckless driving and criminal mischief. Further criminal charges may follow.
Posted by Chuck Benson 6/28/14 5:06PM

XenoBabes






Saturday, June 28, 2014

My most abject apologies to Irish

I just realized I had not linked to him in my "best of the voices in my head" roster.

I am deeply shamed, as he is one of those I steal borrow from often. I read his blog daily, and have added him to my list. If you read this blog, you will assuredly enjoy The Feral Irishman!

Hopefully, most have followed the link when I post something stolen borrowed from his blog.

Sorry, Irish. It's fixed.

PS: If I use your material, trust me, I read your blog. If your not on my list, its due to my inadvertent and unforgivable forgetfulness. Let me know! I will apologize and fix it post haste. Or post toastie. Whatever...

Just wondering...

Anybody hear about that traitorous deserter who walked away and was 'captured' by terrorists lately?
I haven't heard a damn thing since he was brought back to the U.S., and was wondering if he had been charged with desertion yet...

well said.

Because freedom is scary. Responsibility is scary. It’s easier to blindly follow and not have to think, because if you do, you might bear some responsibility for your actions.

The above comes from Farm Wars.
Its a great post. Sensitive, insightful, well said. Read it.

Nixon?

I am sitting here listening to Fox News in the background, and heard a female reporter (No clue who she is, wasn't paying that much attention) saying "Obama is the president Nixon wishes he was".

Nope. Nixon had the final dignity to step down rather than be impeached. Obama won't quit unless he is physically stopped.

I don't see the difference.

I just read an article concerning the militarization of police in America. The article was titled Walking the Line Between Freedom and Security and made a good point about all these recycled military vehicles going to small town America. Why not use them to secure our southern border?
But I digress. This post isn't about the police, or what vehicles they have. Its actually about that title.

'Walking the line between freedom and security'. I don't see the difference. I don't understand how you can have one without the other. To me, freedom means having security. And the right to defend it. And the reverse is true. If I am not secure in my home, then how am I free?
I don't mean that I expect to never face adversity, as I stated in my Tips, Tricks, and Tools post yesterday, I camp out. I feel freer there sleeping under a tarp on the ground, than I do in the house I rent in town. Yet I am more vulnerable to the elements, animals, and the occasional stray vermin. (By which I mean people...) I don't have locks on my doors out there. Hell, I don't HAVE any doors yet. When I do, yes, I will put locks on them. Because I have the right to protect what is mine. But locks do not secure your items. They just make it harder for others to get to them. And gives you the opportunity to personally secure these things while they fiddle with your defenses. Make no mistake; locks are a defense, they are not security. It doesn't matter whether its my person, my wife, my dog, or a single sheet from a roll of toilet paper. Its mine, and I have the right to protect it. And am free to do so.
Because I am free, I am able to be secure. Because I can be secure, I am free.
I can be free to starve. I can secure myself by growing, raising, preserving, and storing food. I am free to freeze, or die of heat exhaustion. Or, I can secure the means to heat my home, or pump my own water to cool off. It is my choice and my right to thrive or die. When government steps in and says you can not grow your own food, you can not eat your own stock, you cannot produce your own energy sources, or use the water that falls on your own roof, then you (and I) are NOT secure, nor are we free.
I actually believe in the 'kindness of strangers'. I feel that if we as Americans are left to our own devices, able to govern ourselves without laws designed to protect us from ourselves, we will thrive. Americans are innovative. We are resilient. We still have the blood of our revolutionary forefathers within us, we still feel the pull that spurred on our settler and pioneer ancestors. Albeit our blood has become pale and watered down in our current existence. Granted, there is no great frontier left in America to conquer. Yet the spirit is still within us. In emergencies, we band together to survive. We confront adversity, and those with the strongest of this spirit rise up and lead the rest through to restore order. Humans in general are orderly creatures. We as a species like routine. And we like things easy and comfortable. So we overcome adversity working together as needed, and being responsible for our own actions and the results thereof. WE secure our own freedoms in order to be left alone to pursue our own happiness.
Big government would take that from us. No freedom, and no security, unless the PTB provide it. Which means we are neither free nor secure.
That's the only difference I see.

XenoBabes






Saturday Funnies

 
 
 







 
From some of the Voices In My Head:

 
 
 
 

 
 

Friday, June 27, 2014

Friday's Tips, Tricks, and Tools

Security. A must have for peace of mind. Maybe if we get rid of Obama, it won't be such an issue, but as that is becoming increasingly unlikely as he fortifies his kingship, we must do what we can to ensure our own safety and that of our loved ones.

So, as I camp on some empty land I'm trying to fix up, with no protection from either two or four legged varmints, I take some measures to ensure an early warning system for intruders. In other words; Security.

1. A dog. I always take one of my dogs with me (or more). Now one of my dogs, and my favorite to camp with, is Scooter. Only ten pounds, and lazy as hell. And if it came to an encounter, he would do his best to not run away until he had too. Like as soon as someone or something got into camp!
But he has a lot keener senses than me. Which is not surprising, as my wife tells me often that I have NO sense.... and he notices varmints even when asleep. The smallest noise brings him instantly awake, and he will look in the direction of the disturbance and start growling. If he starts to feel threatened, which granted doesn't take much, he barks.
A threat known is a threat halved. If I know I'm about to have company of one type or another, I have a small amount of time to prepare if a defense is needed. Always take a dog if you have one. If you don't have, let me know, I'll rent you one of mine. Cheap.

2. I take a generator with me. It weighs only about 35 lbs, as its a fairly small one, but I don't like to have to lug it around more than necessary. Quite often, I'm using it away from the camp, and if I need a break, or a quick trip to the jakes, I ain't carrying it to camp just to have to carry it back out a short time later. I place the generator next to a stump, log, heavy rock, something that will take a bit of pulling to move, and tie one end of a pull-activated fire cracker that sounds like a gun going off to it. The other end I secure to one of the feet of the generator, with the 'cracker placed out of sight. If someone were to try a snatch and grab, its unlikely they would notice the small strings, and I get notice that my shit is trying to walk away. I trust I can run faster than someone carrying a 35 lb generator. (Also see tip 3 below.)

At night, I also use these with 10lb fishing line tied to each end string and around the perimeter of my camp, about 15-20 feet out. I usually have at least four spread out around the camp, with the fish line between them. You can not see these at night. Trust me. More than once, I've damned near caused my dogs to have a heart attack when I make a trip to the jakes and forgot where I put the line...

(For a high tech version of this: From Brite-Strike Technologies comes the Camp Alert Perimeter Security System (CAPSS), a 135dB audible alarm unit with red lens flashlight and blue flashing LEDs. The CAPSS comes with two rolls of trip wire, two nylon zip ties, eight inches of adhesive mounting tape, and two blue all-purpose adhesive light strips (APALS). Contained in a box the size of a bar of soap, the CAPSS takes up little room in a pack and retails for about $35.)

3. I am always armed, or have a purely defensive weapon (or more) within arms reach. What they are, I ain't saying. I'd hate to give anyone a fair advantage in knowing what they face. That would be telling. Suffice to say, all of them are lethal.

Hopefully this post gets you thinking of not only protecting your house, but protecting your area. If you fail in protecting yourself when you're here, getting there is moot.

Any other ideas? I'd love to hear them. I need all the help I can get!

An excellent perspective. With graphs and everything!

Thanks to RobAllen at Sharp As A Marble for the link to this article at The Sacred Cow Slaughterhouse titled appropriately enough, 'Rape':


It's true that armed force might not matter, either.  But it is has been proven tremendously more effective.
 
Right now, those who don't understand this field are bleating the myth of the gun "Being taken away from you."
 
Please provide a cite on this happening. I'm not going to say it's never happened, but it's a vanishingly rare occurrence. And, even if it were true, if the proven most effective means of defense could be bypassed so easily, then no means of less effect would be of any value at all.
 
In which case, YOU are advocating, "Shut up and take it, bitch."

Maybe I just missed it

I remember someone (but I can't remember who; guess I'm gettin' old) suggesting that the 'contract rustlers' from the Clive Bundy cattle thieving be named.

Has anybody done this? If so, I must have missed it.

Just curious.

And what was the local police take on all this?

Not trying to beat a dead horse here. Or dead cow as it were. Just came across another video of the event, and these questions popped up amongst the various voices in my head...

XenoBabes