Eat our peas ...

Sometimes a President will coin a phrase that sticks in the memory. The notably verbal President Obama will be quoted for 10,000 years on "eat our peas".

Teddy Roosevelt did the same with "Speak softly and carry a big stick."

Then there is JFK "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what can you do for your country."

It is pleasant to recognize history in the making.

Drones and Pirates

Here is a link to the use of drones to combat Somali pirates. It is a good article, but fails to mention that a limited number of drones have also been deployed that are capable of accurately shooting the powerful .338 Lapua cartridge. These are typically shot by snipers for especially long range sniping, but putting them aboard a drone provides a significant capability not previously available.

It is sometimes claimed by the pirates that they are forced to take revenge for foreign fishing in their waters. That claim, believed only by gullible westerners, is both false and specious. The pirates are not the people harmed, the ransom money goes to wealthy patrons. Further, the foreign victims of piracy are innocent and are almost never fisherman nor dumpers of pollution. The entire claim is just an excuse for greed by the wealthy patrons. The low level pirates are indeed unemployed otherwise, but so are many people who don't engage in crime.

Updated Adventures of Jon and Jake

Already a gypsy pickpocket tried to get Jon's wallet. He foiled them somehow. Pickpockets are ubiquitous in Europe. They almost don't exist in the US.

Jon and Jake are now on the way to the south of France. I sent Jon an email with this pickpocket advice.

Avoid kids with signs, they use them to hide their hands. Likewise swaddled infants in mom's arms.

ATM machines: they insert a sleeve into the slot so your card jams, then observe you enter PIN. They retrieve the sleeve with its tab and your card.

If someone in a uniform asks to count your cash, its a scam. Ask to see their ID.

Keep your passport especially safe. Below the belt money pocket is better than above the belt. They razor it out.


Another good idea is stitch the bottom of all pockets to the clothing. Pickpockets don't reach into your pocket, instead, they lift up the lining until they get what they want.

Applies to both Corporate Handouts and to Poor

This sounds like a good quote to put up re the bailout:

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”

~~~The late Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931- 2005