If the following tweet posted yesterday evening by National Public Radio is accurate, the mainstream media is more out of touch than previously believed.
No one is really cheering on a guy named Brandon. Instead, the phrase is being used in conservative circles in place of a more vulgar message directed at President Biden. https://t.co/lDxJQ8YYZE
As “Mike” points out below in response to “Dayna”, the saying, the meme, the epithet, or whatever you want to call it of “Let’s Go Brandon” is everywhere. I get over 9 million hits on Google for that phrase. Moreover, the rapper Bryson Gray’s YouTube banned version of “Let’s Go Brandon” is the number one hit on Apple iTunes and has beat out Adele.
People don’t catch on to this story because their news sources won’t report anything negative about their party. It’s nuts how many people on this thread say they appreciate the explanation and I’m baffled because it’s fricken eeeeverywhere.
The number of breathless stories from the AP and other about the meme substituting for “F@$k Joe Biden” is hilarious. It is interesting that they have all appeared at virtually the same time. It is almost as if they have decided that reporting on us vulgar, unwashed conservatives, libertarians, and other non-Joe lovers being vulgar will distract from the reality of the abomination that is the Biden Administration and their policies.
Feel free to post your favorite Let’s Go Brandon meme in the comments. I have mine for sure.
A ransomware gang believed to operate out of Russiasays it hacked the National Rifle Association, the most powerful gun–rights group in the United States.
The gang, which calls itself Grief, published a handful of what appear to be the NRA files on a dark web site. The files, reviewed by The Associated Press, relate to grants the NRA has awarded. Ransomware gangs often post a victim’s files publicly in hopes of spurring them to pay out a ransom.
The Record posted the following screen shot of some of the items the Grief Gang supposedly has stolen from NRA servers. Grief Gang is reported to have posted 13 files from the ones that they illegally downloaded.
NBC reports that this is the same gang that are under sanction by the US government.
While paying any ransomware hacker is a risk, Grief is particularly tricky. Cybersecurity experts widely believe Grief is a rebranded effort by a group of Russian cybercriminals who previously used the nickname Evil Corp, which is currently under sanctionsby the U.S. Treasury Department.
“It’s the same group,” said Allan Liska, a ransomware analyst at the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Liska went on to say that given the troubles the NRA faces right now that he suspects their cybersecurity team is probably in disarray.
The only official response from the NRA is a tweet.
“NRA does not discuss matters relating to its physical or electronic security. However, the NRA takes extraordinary measures to protect information regarding its members, donors, and operations – and is vigilant in doing so.”–Andrew Arulanandam, managing dir., NRA Public Affairs
Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket is one of my favorite war movies. One of the enduring characters in the movie was Gunny Hartman as played by the late R. Lee Ermey.
I saw this on Twitter and couldn’t stop laughing. And replaying it.
As you put on your shoes this morning, remember St. Crispin who is the patron saint of shoemakers as today is the feast of St. Crispin.
You may know the name Crispin for another reason. It was the eve of St. Crispin’s Day when Henry V delivered his band of brothers speech to the English before the Battle of Agincourt. That is, at least according to William Shakespeare.
I think of the battle for the Second Amendment and the fight to secure our God-given rights. When you get down to it, those of us down in the trenches fighting for your rights are like the English before Agincourt. They were facing the French who had just had reinforcements. Likewise, we face anti-rights groups who are flush with cash provided by billionaires with their own armed security details. So if you are in the battle for the Second Amendment, you are my brother (and sister).
If you are of a certain age, you may remember the drug lord Pablo Escobar. He founded and ran the Medellin Cartel in Colombia. His cartel monopolized the cocaine trade in the US during the 80s and early 90s. The profits from his illicit activities made him a billionaire which funded his extravagant lifestyle. Part of that lifestyle included a private zoo with four illegally imported hippopotamuses.
Escobar with his hippopotamuses
After his death, these four hippos “went native” and have reproduced. Their numbers have grown to 100 plus. As a non-native invasive species, they have caused issues for both native plants and animals. Scientists at the University of California-San Diego have documented their impact on water quality.
“This unique species has a big impact on its ecosystem in its native range in Africa, and we found that it has a similar impact when you import it into an entirely new continent with a completely different environment and cast of characters,” said UC San Diego Biological Sciences Professor Jonathan Shurin. “It’s clear that this effect might include negative consequences for water quality and water resources by fueling harmful algae and bacteria.”
There have been calls to have these hippos eradicated as a non-native invasive species. As you might surmise, this has upset some animal rights activists. They much prefer that the hippos be put on birth control or sterilized to control their reproduction. Attorneys in Colombia have gone to court there to save them from being killed. A quirk of Colombian law gives non-humans such as the hippos legal status to bring lawsuits.
Attorneys in Colombia wanted to depose two American wildlife scientists who are experts in non-surgical sterilization of animals. The courts in Colombia cannot compel them to provide depositions so animal rights activists went to court in the United States. US law allows “interested persons” in a foreign litigation to go to Federal court seeking permission to take depositions for use in their case. The key words are “interested persons”.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund brought suit in US District Court for the District of Southern Ohio on behalf of the hippos. However, the ALDF was not the plaintiff. The plaintiffs were “Community of Hippopotamuses Living in the Magdalena River”.
Applicant Community of Hippopotamuses Living in the Magdalena River (“Community”) hereby apply to this Court ex parte for an order pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 (“Section 1782”) granting the Application to serve Dr. Elizabeth Berkeley and Dr. Richard Berlinski with the deposition subpoenas annexed to the Flint Decl. as Exhibits A and B.
“Animals have the right to be free from cruelty and exploitation, and the failure of U.S. courts to recognize their rights impedes the ability to enforce existing legislative protections,” says Animal Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Stephen Wells. “The court’s order authorizing the hippos to exercise their legal right to obtain information in the United States is a critical milestone in the broader animal status fight to recognize that animals have enforceable rights.”
This is a dangerous ruling. While probably not precedential, it will be used by animal rights and anti-hunting groups in the future.
Will hunters be arrested for killing deer, doves, or any other animal? Will it lead to hunting being banned in its entirety?
Will meat packers be sued by cattle and swine to avoid being made into steaks and bacon?
What about fish? Will a suit be brought by the Community of Rainbow Trout Living in the Madison River to compel the testimony of fisheries biologists?
The list goes on. As I said, it is a dangerous ruling. To give standing and recognition to non-human species is opening a Pandora’s box. I don’t know if a magistrate judge’s ruling in an ex parte order is reviewable by the District Court Judge to whom the case was assigned. It should be and these subpoenas squashed. If the scientists in question wish to give a deposition in the case on their own, that is fine and their choice.
The Complementary Spouse has never been one to toot her own horn. She much prefers to stay in the background and let her work speak for itself. So it falls to me to toot the horn for her.
Barb started out as a registered nurse in 1977 after graduating with her BSN from the Medical College of Virginia. She was part of a nursing fellowship program at MCV Hospital where new RNs would rotate through 2-3 departments. After a peds rotation, she moved to the burn center where she treated both children and adults who had been burned severely. She stayed there for five years.
Fast forward to the mid-1980s where she took a job in the PACU at Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville. During the intervening years, she had worked in home health and hospice as well as with an infusion therapy company where she treated some of the early AIDS patients. During her 25 years with Mission, she earned both her certification as a Certified Perianethesia Nurse (CPAN) and her Masters in Health Sciences. At Mission, she worked both the in-patient and out-patient PACU, provided clinical support for surgical services, and finally was a Nurse Education Specialist for Patient Education where she coordinated patient education hospital-wide.
She was named a Great 100 in 1996 for her commitment to nursing excellence. It is an award given annually to the top nurses in the state of North Carolina. One must be nominated by your peers for the honor and it can only be won once.
After leaving Mission during cutbacks in 2013, she moved to UNC Health – Pardee which she now works doing pre-anesthesia screening. She was their first and only Anesthesia Navigator.
Barb has always been active with the North Carolina Association of Perianesthia Nurses and helped found the local chapter in the mountains. Even this morning, she got up before 6am to head to their state conference being held in Asheville to help work the registration table. It was going to be a busy day with many speakers plus awards for both 2020 and 2021.
What she didn’t know when she left for the state conference this morning is that she was going to get a major award. I did know and have kept it secret for almost two months. Thanks to the president of NCAPAN, I was able to sneak in the back the room as they were reading out the history of her career and her service to both the state and local chapters. I watched as her hand flew to her face as the realization dawned on Barb that the president was speaking about her.
So congratulations are in order for Barbara Richardson aka The Complementary Spouse for being the NCAPAN Nurse of the Year for 2020.
As she retires in early December, it is a fitting way to bring a long career to a close.
Thank to a tweet from the US State Department, I learned yesterday was the International Pronouns Day.
Today on International Pronouns Day, we share why many people list pronouns on their email and social media profiles. Read more here on @ShareAmerica: https://t.co/gWhoItvGvo.
It is so good to see that our diplomats are keeping us abreast of the really important things going on internationally. Without their tweets, we might be stuck thinking about American citizens and our non-US allies still stuck behind in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan or the new hypersonic missile just launched by the ChiComms.
A friend just passed along the list of official nominees for the 2022 NRA Board of Directors.
I count at least four former NRA Presidents including the odious Marion Hammer, one sitting congressman (Don Young of Alaska), one former US Senator who didn’t run for re-election due to scandal, and two former congressmen. Then there is the Spiro Agnew of the NRA, 1st VP Willes Lee, who only first got on the Board in 2017 when he filled an open position.
The rest of the list is filled with people who can be depended upon not to make waves nor cause problems for Wayne. I wish I was wrong on that but I doubt it.
The only North Carolinian on the list is Cathy Wright of Chapel Hill. About all I know about her is that she won an award from NRA-ILA for grassroots activism in 2018 and is active with the NC Rifle and Pistol Association. From what I understand, she is their Publicity Chair.
UPDATE: I went back to check my 2019 ballot and it is interesting to see who was elected then that did not get re-nominated. The most obvious person missing is Ollie North. While the leading vote getter in the 2019 Board election, his attempt to rein in the Brewer expenses among other things led to Wayne’s sabotaging him for re-election as President. While still officially a member of the Board of Directors, he hasn’t been around since that Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.
Others current board members on that 2019 ballot who have not been re-nominated include Karl Malone, Mark “Oz” Geist, and Bart Skelton. Malone has been on the board for a number of years but has not been actually sworn in to the best of my knowledge. I don’t know what Oz Geist was left off the ballot. However, Bart Skelton obviously ran afoul of the Friends of Wayne aka the Nominations Committee when he joined Judge Phil Journal is calling for the appointment of an examiner in the bankruptcy case.
I also have learned that Andrea Cerwinske of Gainesville, VA served as the top assistant to former NRA President and former head of General Operations Kayne Robinson. She is now a VP with Aimpoint according to her LinkedIn profile. Another role she had at the NRA was as special assistant to Wayne for two plus years. I guess that says everything you will ever need to know.
My first draft of this post made mention that the North Carolina Rifle and Pistol Association could not be bothered to testify at the General Assembly hearings on the repeal of the NC pistol purchase permit. As I didn’t have confirmation of that when I first posted this, I left it out. I have since gotten confirmation. That, of course, didn’t stop them for taking credit for the repeal which is par for the course.
It looks I will be doing some traveling in January in an effort to bring you interesting news and posts.
The Complementary Spouse and I both got our credentials for the SHOT Show today as well as for Industry Day at the Range. It did come with a lot of legal language and waivers of responsibility as you might well imagine. I had booked our hotel reservations back in June. I still need to book our flights.
Yesterday, I also applied to the Safari Club International on behalf of both of us for media credentials for the SCI Convention which will start a day later than the SHOT Show and go on to Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed that we get approved.
Finally, I booked my room and flight today for the Dallas Safari Club Convention which is being held January 6th through 9th. As soon as they open registration for media I will be applying. I did speak with the person who has coordinated it in the past yesterday and gave her my information.
I have a couple of goals in attending both the SCI and the DSC conventions. First, they are different and I want to be able to provide a comparison between the two. Second, as I am intending to take my first hunting safari to Africa in 2023, I want to be able to give the perspective of the first time attendee as he or she goes about planning that trip of a lifetime. As my friends David Cole and Michael Bane have said, once you’ve been to Africa it gets in your blood and you have to go back.
I don’t think Big Pharma nor Dr. Fauci have come up with a vaccination for that. Thank god!
The Safari Club was supposed to have their 50th annual convention in Las Vegas in January of this year. However, with Nevada shutting down and virtually every major convention canceled, it got postponed to 2022. As I noted back in February, both the SHOT Show and the SCI Convention will be held the same week in Las Vegas. So on one end of Las Vegas Boulevard you will have the SHOT Show in the Sands Expo Center and on the other end you will have the Safari Club Convention at the Mandalay Bay.
I have attended a number of SHOT Shows now as media but I have never attended a hunting convention like the Safari Club Convention. As my goal is to go to Africa on a hunting safari in 2023, I think it is way past time to do it. I applied today for media credentials for the Safari Club convention and, fingers crossed, it will be approved.
One of the things that makes hunting conventions like that of SCI different is that they hold banquets with entertainment and auctions every night of the convention. These are meant to raise money to support wildlife conservation here and abroad. As such, they are not exactly cheap to attend nor are they meant to be. The cost to attend all four banquets is $450. That said, they do have some big hitters from the entertainment, political, and hunting world.
From a release I received at the end of September on the banquets.
Blue Collar Comedy legend Larry the Cable Guy will kick things off at SCI’s grand opening dinner and auction on Wednesday night. The multi-platinum-selling and award-winning artist is one of the top comedians in the country. He’s starred in films like Delta Farce, the Cars franchise, and numerous stand-up specials. Laugh out loud with Larry the Cable Guy at the Mandalay Bay Ballroom on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, from 6:15 pm – 9:30 pm.
Thursday evening is the Night of the Hunter Awards and will be hosted by professional hunter and TV host Jim Shockey and writer and outdoorsman J. Alain Smith. At the Night of the Hunter Awards, SCI honors the individuals and organizations dedicated to conservation. SCI will recognize its achievements during a banquet and auction at the Mandalay Bay Ballroom on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, from 6:15 pm – 9:00 pm.
Friday night’s dinner and auction will be packed full of some of the greatest defenders of American freedom. These include retired Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient Master Chief Petty Officer Edward Byers and political leader, businessman and avid outdoorsman Donald Trump, Jr. The event will be held at the Mandalay Bay Ballroom on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, from 6:15 pm – 10:00 pm.
Country music star Craig Morgan, with such hits as “Redneck Yacht Club” and “That’s What I Love About Sunday,” will start off Saturday evening’s entertainment. The grand finale event features television host and conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson, of Tucker Carlson Tonight and Crossfire. Tucker will close out the convention celebrating SCI’s 50 years of freedom at the Mandalay Bay Ballroom on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022, from 6:15 pm – 9:30 pm.
However, what really interests me will be the exhibits and the chance to actually meet PHs from various African countries to discuss a possible trip. I understand there will be a number of seminars as well.
Being that we are gluttons for punishment, the Complementary Spouse and I are going to try and cover both the SHOT Show and the Safari Club International Convention. We have our room booked and need to book our flights. To top this off, I am probably going to go to Dallas little more than a week earlier to attend the Dallas Safari Club Convention. I understand that they are much different and I want to experience the difference.
You can accuse me of being a Fudd but really I am rediscovering some of my earlier interest in hunting from my late teens and early 20s. I really consider myself Gun Culture v1.5. Besides, I really did go a paper in college for Non-Western Civilization on Robert Ruark’s Something of Value.
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