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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.

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

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

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.

Pictures to come. TN Resident only. Prefer HCP holder. I am in Oakland, TN (West TN). S&W Shield performance center with box, 1 mag, .40s&w - $gone Ruger police carbine, 1 mag, .40s&w - $400 Ammo negotiable

I pray you're right about his last part.

Just ordered a copy of the Baranca book !

Chattanooga is my hometown. As you went through the school system, your high school goal was college prep or technical. I graduated from Chattanooga High School and went on to college. The REALLY SMART guys who had the knowledge and ability (that I still do not have!) went to Kirkman Technical High School and learned a trade: welding, HVAC, auto mechanics. It was a great system that worked well; wish we would return to it.

Same here

Thanks @LEANDER, I try to be fair with pricing!

He ain’t wrong.

Message me about trades...

Howdy everyone. The name is Jon. I was fairly active on here in what now seems like a former life! Planning on being around a little more often once again. Too many good, likeminded folks around here not to! I'm glad to see some old friends are still around and looking forward to meeting some new ones!

Stop sending big bucks to Ukraine and funding Bidens tax gouging spending on green crap.

I don't care about squeegees or broken windows. I just care about results and during Giuliani's 8 years as mayor of NYC violent crime decreased by 56 percent, murder went down nearly two-thirds, robberies dropped 67 percent and aggravated assault shrank by 28 percent. Some say crack declining, social/demographic changes, sentencing laws, and economics were the "real" reason crime dropped at that time. I'd argue they likely contributed at best, but were more likely the results of his attack on low-level crime.

I don't know if there is a too late time but I think as long as you can have them out by May you should get some birds.

Their website says they have both. You want the one that my grandfather used for a tool box. Every time he wanted a tool he dropped the tailgate and dumped it all out. What I would give to see him do that just one more time.

Red flag laws are gun control. Period. They don't do anything to stop a person from obtaining a firearm through means other than retail sales. They don't do anything to stop a person from committing assault with an improvised weapon of another sort. The just control gun sales and give the false impression that a politician has "done something". If we really cared about stopping mentally and emotionally broken people from harming other people, we'd do something about the screwed-up person. I mean, if only we had some clue that the Covenant shooter was in need of geniune psychotherapy.

I called my State Senator Steve Sutherland's office & left a message with the person who answer's his calls. I told him what I was calling about, gave him my number if the Senator wanted to talk about this. An hour later Senator Sutherland called me & assured me he did not support this garbage Lee proposed. Big thumbs up for Senator Sutherland!!

I know I'm responding to something from 2009, but I just happened to stumble onto it. During the ten years I was a VP for Para-Ordnance, one of my jobs was to manage our Service Center in Sevierville TN. Jay was our lead gunsmith and was excellent at his work. I would not hesitate to use him if I needed repair or custom work done on a handgun of mine. He is also a fine human being and a pleasure to know.

…but the Ruger is a close second.

As classy as the Security Six is, I have to vote for the 686. This one is a -3 made about 30 years ago.