Leaderboard

It takes a commitment to doing actual work to be an informed citizen these days. There's not a single source you can just turn to outright - but there are some that are better than others - and when taken in combination can be helpful. Here's some of what I do personally: I consume *a lot* of sources. I don't consume *any* Fox News, barely any CNN or MSNBC - these aren't news sources. At best they're opinion entertainment that sometimes parallels real world events. I don't consume *any* Facebook. They've shown over and over again that they can't be trusted with our data. They're an active threat whose business model incentivizes them to weaponize our data. Both of the above exacerbate the problem of Balkanization. That is - their algorithms really only present me with stuff they already know I'm interested in. Or, I only follow people who largely agree with me. I'm not right about everything. I need to be challenged on my beliefs - and give myself the grace to be able to change as we move into the future. I am on Twitter - for now. I do expect Elon to burn it down. But, I still use it mostly because a major part of my media diet is a group of people that I trust as reliable actors. Note, these are individuals not organizations. The more local you can get - the better. I don't take the Tennessean since it got bought out by USA Today - but their local reporters are great. They generally only stick around a few years - but they reliably live tweet the city council meeting every Tuesday night. Same for the school board meeting. Whatever. Don't discount the alt-weekly in your town. Papers like the Nashville Scene are great for local news. The New York Times is still the paper of record - but isn't as good as it used to be. The Wall Street Journal really shattered the wall between the news room and the opinion desk. It's just another piece of the Murdoch empire these days. The Washington Post is doing some great work - especially when you consider it as a paper reporting on local DC happenings. When talking local reporters - don't discount your local NPR station. They've got local beat reporters who are likewise a fixture at community events. One thing about NPR - you may or may not necessarily align with some of their worldview - but they always source their work. So, if you're interested - you can listen to a story on NPR and link back to a primary source. We live in a world where more data is public than ever. It's worth having a working knowledge of how to read datasets Sites like OurWorldInData are great for collecting publicly available data and putting it into forms that the average person can consume. In all of that - you probably also have to be comfortable knowing that you can't know everything about all the things. But, you can pick some things that matter to you and be well informed about them.

The last few springs I've been trying to lessen my use of Roundup for general weed killing. I have found a really good mixture that killed weeds better than anything last year. Thought I'd share if anyone is interested: 1 cup of salt 1 tablespoon Dawn dishwashing liquid 1 gallon of white vinegar Put all into a gallon sprayer and mix it up. A gallon took care of my needs all last summer. The stronger the vinegar you use the better it kills weeds. I ordered 30% vinegar from Amazon: Harris 30% Vinegar, Extra Strength with Easy Fill Funnel Included (Gallon (1-Pack)) - $24.99

Had a great day watching the horses on Corolla Beach in the Outer Banks today.

It has been said the first casualty of war is the truth. Make no mistake. War has been declared on Americans. Neither Russia nor China declared it. Prepare accordingly. You’re not going to get any factual news for the foreseeable future.

Not that sign, But this one...

We've pretty well out kicked our evolution at large when it comes to technology. When you think about it - society has changed more in the last 50 years than it has the last 50,000. Multiple things can be true at the same time -and actually we're seeing Gen Z'ers with better relationships with technology than the older generations. Especially amongst the oldest generations - there are some troubling patterns. But, with all that - we've documented the harmful effects that things like Facebook/Instagram have on kids. Facebook did the study - and then didn't release it because it showed such harms - especially to teenage girls. I'm convinced that in 50 years - assuming we're still here as a species - our grandkids will look at our use of social media much like many of us looked at our grandparents who smoked 18 hours a day. They'll look at us with a, "how could you not have known that was bad for you" mentality.

I’m looking to sell my like new staccato c2, has maybe 100rds though it, I’m only selling because I’m looking to buy a Harley I’ve found. Comes with a c&h precision adapter for rmr/holosun, 4 mags, trijicon rmr type 2, x300..Located in Athens $3200 as shown $3000 w/o surefire $2600 w/o surefire or rmr (It will also come with a magwell but it does not fit the c2, it will fit a p model gen 2 grip). (5 mags are shown but will only come with 4)

I don't know there is any "one source" to read news that we think is real. I have tended to read or watch different programs on all sides of the political spectrum and make up my own mind Take one story and examine it from more than one place and it's interesting how you reach your own perspective. One website I've found helpful is: https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news

Devalue it, Inflation….

Glock 48 with everything that came with it when I purchased it originally. Mags, box, papers, etc. Comes with 1 box of Winchester Silvertip 147gr JHP. $460 cash. Im located in Mount Juliet, TN, and can drive up to 10 miles to meet you. No holds (but will hold a reason amount of time for you to drive here), no trades, cash/zelle only, and must sign bill of sale. OWB holster from another ad for $10 more dollars if you want it.

Oh, and don’t discount your local investigative reporter. There’s not an elected official in the state of Tennessee whose breath doesn’t catch when they see Phil Williams’s name on their caller ID.

Sometimes a person needs to hear the "facts" from the left side and the right side, and the truth could/usually is somewhere close to the middle.

Our current educational system is a disaster. No child left behind, grades don't matter, everybody gets a trophy and you're so special. We have kids graduating high school who can barely read or write. They struggle with basic math and they have no comprehension of science or history. But they sure are woke! Our schools are little more than liberal indoctrination centers. School should be hard. It should be challenging. It should make kids work hard and think for themselves. Failure is the best teacher. Then they're suddenly thrust out into a real world that they're completely unprepared for. They soon discover that they aren't special and nobody gives a damn about them. You actually have to work to accomplish your goals. Some of them just can't handle it and fall into depression or worse. This has been going on for at least the last 30 years or more. Now we have a bunch of ignorant , liberal drones who vote. And that is what is wrong with this country today.

WELL DONE, GRANDDAD! Your statement, ". . . we don't pay close enough attention to our kids' emotional safety" is spot on! I no longer do therapy with kids but supervise those who do. So often a child is brought in for therapy when the mitigating reason for the child's issue is the failure of the parent/guardian to be emotionally present for the child.

That was very interesting, thanks. I especially found this last part interesting. We pay lots of attention to our kids' (or in my case grandkid) physical safety, but we don't pay close enough attention to our kids' emotional safety. Example: my 8 yr old grandson got in trouble for saying vulgar phrase on the bus and was suspended for 3 days. I KNOW for a fact nobody in my house says that phrase. Recently he started preferring to use headphones when he watches YT on my tablet when I'm near. It didn't take much sleuthing to realize what's going on. So, we had a sit-down to discuss it my expectations for his behavior and to explain why he has to listen out loud now. First words out of his mouth were please don't tell anyone at church. That alone tells me he's embarrassed and knows it's wrong. I hope we don't have to revisit this, but I was a kid once and it didn't take long to learn how you talk among peers vs what an adult might hear.

I was reading some research the other day about the correlation between adolescent screen time and depression. Lots of studies going on at present with no "100%" conclusion, but I found the following interesting: The researchers also looked to see if a child's present use of social media predicted a decrease of life satisfaction one year later. That data suggests two windows of time when children are most sensitive to detrimental effects of social media, especially heavy use of it. For girls, one window occurs at ages 11 through 13. And for boys, one window occurs at ages 14 and 15. For both genders, there's a window of sensitivity around age 19 — or near the time teenagers enter college. Amy Orben and her team at the University of Cambridge reported the findings in Nature Communications. This type of evidence is known as a correlative. "It's hard to draw conclusions from these studies," Gentzkow says, because many factors contribute to life satisfaction, such as environmental factors and family backgrounds. Plus, people may use social media because they're depressed (and so depression could be the cause, not the outcome of social media use). "Nevertheless, these correlative studies, together with the evidence from the causal experiments, paint a picture that suggests we should take social media seriously and be concerned," Gentzkow adds. Psychologist Orben once heard a metaphor that may help parents understand how to approach this new technology. Social media for children is a bit like the ocean, she says, noting that it can be an extremely dangerous place for children. Before parents let children swim in any open water, they make sure the child is well-prepared and equipped to handle problems that arise. They provide safety vests, swimming lessons, often in less dangerous waters, and even then parents provide a huge amount of supervision.

I'm sorry I failed to communicate my thoughts clearly enough. The distinction I intended to make was between service-connected injury and non-service-connected.

I keep wondering to what degree putting cell phones into the hands of kids at younger and younger ages is rotting their brains. I worry that all the focus on STEM and Vo-Tech in the world can't hold a candle to what FB, Candy Crush, and TikTok are doing to their brains.

FWIW - from someone who teaches a couple of times a year at the graduate level. First - while it's generally considered impolite to say it out loud - it's really hard to run a $23T economy without either a. having tons of kids die in industrial accidents or b. by finding a way to keep them safe and occupied while their parents are engaged with the various engines of the economy. Primary and secondary schooling serve a critical societal function in keeping kids alive while their parents are at work. (It's worth pointing out that we lose enough kids to school shootings that it would probably get into #s/100k that OSHA would start to care about if it were an actual industry.) Second, primary and secondary schools - and to some extent colleges and universities in the last generation serve to make cogs that fit into the above engines of the economy efficiently. People have always liked to argue "kids these days" - but the schools generally perform the above function within parameters that are acceptable to industry. Third, empire is hard - and across the empire you'll have better and worse implementations. For better or worse (maybe better and worse) this American Republic kind of incentivizes that. It's built into our federalist system. Fourth, every kid is different - and those differences are probably more pronounced right now than they ever have been in history. We need educational options for all of those kids. I know some kids who at 13 - via what they've already learned in school and on their own could fit right in as a junior developer in a whole bunch of shops. At the same time, not every kid is going to be interested in or be capable of going down that path. We need options for everyone - and for the last generation (as student loans have become easy to get as they're backstopped by the government) we've kind of shoehorned everyone down one path. Fifth, there is dignity and respect in the trades - and we need SO MANY MORE people in this space. If I could change one thing in our schools today - it would be to incentivize more people down this path. It's a great pathway into the upper middle class - and we need it as a nation. A great opportunity for the next generation is to take things like coding - that to this point have required some type of college degree - and make it a reliable blue-collar job that can be done from anywhere. Last, don't discount today's kids. I work and teach in STEM fields. The kids I work with today are absolutely the smartest, most capable kids I've ever met. They have so much opportunity in front of them. I kind of envy them

Awesome beach ! The Outer Banks were my favorite weekend get away ,when I lived in Virginia. The fishing, surfing and the history , Grave Yard of the Atlantic.

Spaniards brought them in the 1500s. Wild Mustangs. https://www.visitcurrituck.com/places/corolla-wild-horses/

Any one see the trades left to go oversees and as well as left out at schools about the same time?

I used to live in New Bern, south of there and would go fish off Atlantic Beach and enjoyed watching the wild horses off Shackleford Banks. Loved their beauty and freedom.

https://www.harborfreight.com/metal-030-caliber-ammo-can-57767.html Popped up as 18% off on my feed. They honor rain checks if you do in store to save on shipping.

LOL! Is that picture supposed to be a veiled threat? I thought this forum was for discussion. You could always put me on ignore. Nearly everything you post mentions race in some way. No one else here does that. Only you.

It's a terrible thing that servicemen were blamed for poor political decisions during the Vietnam war. Besides our thanks you probably also deserve an apology for being sent into a no-win situation by politicians who were unwilling to do what was necessary to win.

I'm looking for one of these in 308 (will look at others) and I'm willing to drive just about anywhere in TN for the right deal, please pm me what you have. https://www.sigsauer.com/sig-cross-rifle.html

sold

Phil Williams has an agenda and he’s a pekkerhead of the highest order. He does serve a purpose, however. The days of the investigative reporter are pretty much dead. I miss that. Whatever happened to Michael Turko?

Apparently, east coast islands are silly with wild horses. Assateague Island in a national seashore is what I was actually thinking of.

That's fair. I did notice how they try to present left, right, and center articles for each media story. At least they're trying and I commend that.

Depends on who you ask, right? I'd argue there dozens of major news outlets that spin the news one direction and one major outlet that spins the news the other direction. None of them can be trusted completely.

We come for 2 weeks every year. I have a diesel pusher motorhome and a 4 Dr Jeep Rubicon we tow. So many natural Wildlifeand history areas to visit, we are never bored.

I've used diesel in the past, but it so killed the ground that you could never get anything to grow there again.

The manes and talls are very long, I guess brushing by human owners pull the hair out so "kept" horses have shorter hair. Thanks so much for sharing!

Message me about trades...

I’m not a Carlson follower and have no idea if he is a racist (he probably is because well, everybody is nowadays), but I doubt he would get along with the Russians. I would enjoy seeing him host the View, however.

Gun shows are a great place to pick them up.

So, I'm going to briefly veer into the political just to back everyone off the cliff a bit. Bottom Line Up Front - there's a *ZERO* percent chance this becomes law. So now the details - roughly from memory - I can source it if people are interested. These proposed "cuts" are part of Kevin McCarthy's bill last week to use as a part of the negotiation in raising the debt ceiling. It calls for a $130B cut to non-defense discretionary spending below 2010 levels (which was the high-water mark if you will) by 2033. If you look at the federal budget like a pie - it's divided up into three major pieces: There's a big chunk that's "mandatory" spending. This is defense spending, entitlement programs like social security and medicare, farm subsidies, and veteran pensions. This is sort of a third rail of budgeting - that is there is law surrounding it - so it's not a part of the annual appropriations process. This is roughly 70% of the federal budget. Then there's "defense discretionary" - these are all kinds of military-related projects that fall outside the DoD's budget above. These are the weapons programs, ship building, raises for the military, etc. This was about $800B last year - or roughly 15% of the budget. Then there's "non-defense discretionary" - this is everything else. Education, transportation, and homeland security all fall into this category. Veteran's healthcare sits here as well. This is likewise about 15% of the total budget. This is the part they're willing to play with. To get to the levels proposed above you'd need to cut all of NDD by about 22%. Take VA-healthcare out of the mix and you'd need to cut the rest of it by about 58%. This is not a serious proposal for a lot of reasons. First and foremost - McCarthy can't get 218 votes amongst his caucus to pass it. For what it's worth - I doubt he can get 218 votes on anything budget related as there are some members of the caucus that seem pretty dead set on voting against any raising of the debt ceiling. Second, this is a non-starter everywhere else. Even when the GOP has been in power, they haven't even been able to come anywhere close to meeting these kinds of cuts in the past. They know this - that's why they're not proposing specific cuts or a path to get there. I could go on - but I'm going to step back out of the political and just reassure everyone that this isn't something that has any chance of becoming law in the immediate future. I do find it interesting that the VA is messaging like they did above. Call your representative, I guess. Two more notes on the way out. First, remember that the debt ceiling has nothing to do with future spending. It's about paying the note on debt that past Congresses have already incurred. Second, my prayer is that one day our country does at least as good a job of taking care of our veterans as it does making new ones.

If you buy something online, do you mail an envelope of cash? It's getting harder by the day to find ANYTHING I want at a brick and mortar store. Not just firearm related....ANYTHING!

The Marlin Owners Forum is a great source of knowledge regarding all things Marlin. You might also try posting the issue there. https://www.marlinowners.com

I am not a gun smith, but I am thinking the firing pin spring is binding and not letting the firing pin move forward enough to hit the primer every time. I would buy a new spring and try that.