MacGyver

The politician is every bit as scared of a single bullet as they are an army. John Wilkes Booth used a percussion .44 caliber Philadelphia Derringer. That said, most believe he fired a .41 caliber ball out of the pistol. McKinley was show twice with a .32 caliber Iver Johnson revolver. A Browning Model 1910 in .380 kicked off WWI when an assassin used it to kill Archduke Ferdinand. Practically a pocket pistol. Reagan was shot with a pot metal framed Rohm RG-14 in .22LR. This isn't about the guns. It's about checking power.

Nothing makes me quit listening to a presentation faster than having data not clearly match across rows and down columns.

203-205F is the sweet spot for me. That's right where all the fat on the brisket has rendered and the meat it as the peak of tenderness. In my experience, you start getting dry and tough from there.

One of these days I’m going to buy a KMG Grinder. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the best grinder in the business.

New Jersey Steel Baron is the best in the business for blade steel. Any big yard can get you about anything you want - but you run into minimum order limits. On common stuff like 1095 and O1, I’ve actually had really good luck buying small quantities on Amazon. They may not be the absolute cheapest - but the free two-day shipping for Prime members more than offsets the delta.

Got a good strop? With normal everyday use a strop ought to keep that CPMs30v in top form.

I was in a steak house in Houston one time where a party at a table next to us was making a big deal about everything - just to show what a big shot he was. He had complained about where they had been seated previously. He sent back an appetizer and rejected a bottle of wine. When the server came out with his steak, he asked for A1 and threw a fit when told they didn’t have it. The chef came out a minute later with the man’s jacket and kicked him out.

A typical shoulder shouldn’t take that long. But, with the electric you should be able to set it and pretty much forget it once you get a few smokes underneath you. I little iGrill mini is a good thermometer for under $50. There are better ones that you can spend a lot more on - but this is all you need to get started. Being able to put something in the evening before and not worry about it until you get up is convenient.

Cut into pucks with a saw. Whack then with a hammer? Bonus points for making your kids do it.

An electric smoker is a great way to get started. It’s forgiving and convenient.

Smoked meatloaf and smoked mac and cheese are amazing. I never soak my wood. I generally use chunks. I spent all that time building the fire. No need to put water on it.

I also like to do smoked pork belly burnt ends. Remove the skin. Score it just through the fat layer in inch squares. Use a good rub of your choice. I like to smoke up to 203F. Then I’ll pull it and let it rest. While doing that, I’ll open up the air on the smoker and bring the temperature up to around 400F. About 30 minutes before serving, I’ll cut it into inch squares, toss it in a sauce and put it back on the grill to caramelize the sauce. It probably needs a surgeon general’s warning. I did a 22lbs belly in the 4th that was gone in about 20 minutes

Brisket West Texas style: Trim hard fat. Rub half and half with salt and pepper. Smoke around 225-250. Use a water pan. I like to pull it out of the smoke around 4 hours and wrap it in parchment. Expect it to stall for while. A bigger brisket might stall around 160 and again around 185. I usually pull mine around 203. I let it rest in a cooler for a couple of hours. That’s important. If you’re on YouTube, Aaron Franklin is the master.

Here’s your regular reminder that at least up through 2012, there’s no evidence that points to voter fraud being either statistically or electorally relevant... The risk/reward scenario is lopsided.

You and I believe in the same economic theory in principle. The problem is the system that we have in practice - and where we've got the political capital to go. For all their free market talk, if you look at the healthcare lobby's spending - the GOP takes the bulk of the payoffs/campaign contributions from the industry. They're the ones benefiting the most from keeping the current system broken. All of this is fun to talk about. The sad part is that the system is still broken and likely to remain that way.

I often tell people that I can fix healthcare in America by lunchtime. Just tell me what something costs - and mark it up - say 20%. The system is structurally broken. The "competition" is rigged. Currently, the doctors, the hospital groups, and the insurance companies sort of play a game of round robin. Somebody gets to be the bad guy and take a haircut "this time" - but in the long run all of them still increase prices and make more money. I'd be all for menu based services. But, that in itself is going to require massive government intervention. Someone has to set those prices. Someone has to tell the companies, no you can't charge $5,000 for this injection that cost .$0.17 to manufacture. That is going to be a lot of government "meddling". How is this different than the other? I should say in my argument above, I'm not saying everyone gets it for free. I'm all for employee contributions and figuring out ways for the citizen to pay for it.

Like I said, I don't like it. I would prefer market solutions - by far. But the reality is that we no longer really have a market economy. The government - somewhat dependent on what side is in power - picks winners and losers. It's gone on long enough now that enough people in both parties are sufficiently in corporate pockets that anything is unlikely to change. I'm a pragmatist. And, I'd love to believe my ethics have compassion in a way that scales. You know I believe that the church has ceded way too much to the government - but charitable organizations aren't going to pick up the slack that happens with 325 million people. All my argument above is saying is that you could probably make an economic argument for getting everyone a baseline of healthcare. How many people do you know in your own life who've delayed making medical decisions until they were eligible for Medicare? I know a bunch. The thing about poverty is that it charges interest. Someone putting off seeing a doctor about blood sugar issues, or hypertension, or other stuff that can be treated easily early on - become giant costly problems when they're delayed. Up until this year, I've paid more for my insurance for my healthy family of five than I have for my mortgage. I know the cost of people putting off healthcare - and think I probably pay for a chunk of it as I write that check each month. I don't like it. All I'm saying is that if you could get past the optics, you could probably make a compelling economic case for it. But don't worry - our political system is so bankrupt that i can't see us actually having a conversation like that at a national level.

Man... Does Newton get a say in all this?

So, I don't like making this argument, and I don't have time to do it this morning (because I'm too busy actually running a small business.) But, as someone who has filtered practically every business decision they've made in the last decade through healthcare, it is where we are right now. I'd be willing to make and support the argument that providing a basic medicare-type option for everyone would actually cost us less nationally - and be far outweighed by the economic benefit received than the system we have right now. I run a small business. I factor the decisions I make through insurance stuff. It weighs on every decision I make. I'm pretty privileged. I know folks push back against that word, but here's what I mean by it in this context. I have the support structures in place in my family and community to allow me to pursue this business without going into persistent, potentially generational poverty if I get something wrong. Everybody who has ever run a business knows you make some bad decisions every now and then. Mine are unlikely to put my children and grandchildren in poverty. I know a lot of us want to push back against this idea reflexively - because free stuff, socialism, whatever. Frankly, I'm in that camp, too. Or, at least I used to be. Here's the question I would ask you consider. How many people do you know who would love to start their own business - or would maybe like to change careers - or would like to leave that toxic workplace where they feel stuck - but don't because they need insurance? What economic opportunity are we missing out on because people with dreams stay somewhere making $14/hour instead of going out and pursuing their dreams, creating jobs, and making the economic pie much larger? Empire is hard, and late stage capitalism pretty much demands that companies take all the money off the table they can. Our broken system is running as it's intended. The problems are architectural in nature - even if you forget the ethical piece. This is a case where market solutions can maybe slow the bleeding, but they're not going to fix the problem. The empire is simply too big, and the companies in the space don't have our interests at heart - they have their shareholders to report to every 12 weeks. Like I say, I don't necessarily like making the argument, but it's squarely where I am now.

Truthfully, we might agree on several things. I just don't trust incompetent people with hard stuff.

Merrells are comfy - I've had Jungle Mocs since around 2000. They're great for walking around the house, but a shoe that soft just isn't going to provide much support if you've actually got issues. I love my Merrells - but man, sometimes I wonder if their soles are made out of chewing gum. I can wear clean through a pair in 6 months.

They're a small business - and you have to know going in that you're likely to pay close to MSRP for a pair of shoes. That's not what a lot of folks are used to who usually walk into Academy and buy whatever is on sale. Of course, that's why their feet hurt, too. I wear a set of orthopedic inserts in my running shoes, and for me just the fact that they opened up every brand in the store and let me try them until we got the right fit was valuable.

Larry, if there's a Fleet Feet near you, it would probably be worth your time to go visit. The folks at the one down by me in Brentwood are really great at getting people into a shoe that fits their need/stride/mechanics. I know a bunch of casual runners with injuries that swear by them.

And, that should be a criminal offense.

I think the problem is that members often post an ad - and then just disappear for a while. I wish there was an easy way for us to do this. We used to expire ads after 30 days. It kept things clean - but made it hard to go back and research price history.