Politics

I am politically conservative with a very strong Libertarian bent, and this is how I became that way...  My greatest influence was my father who was a United States Marine and he served in the last few months of WWII in the pacific theater.  He had a limited education and only made it to the sixth grade. He joined the corps when he was 16.  He was a child of the great depression and one of eleven children.  He was raised in a Irish Catholic home, he was a Teamster and he had extremely high moral and ethical standards for a person of limited education; he did his best to teach me right from wrong, and he always expected the best from me.  My father worked hard his whole life and he never received a dime from anyone, and he never ever complained. He walked to work in a snow storm once, about six miles, with a broken leg in a cast and he was the only guy to show up that day. I grew up in a strict home with a picture of Pope Paul and of John Kennedy on the wall, we never knew who to genuflect to first. We went to Mass every Sunday and said the Rosary every Thursday night. Flash forward, I am now eighteen years old.  All my life I was told that I had to be self dependent and I am responsible for my own actions, no one owes me anything. Jimmy Carter is running for president and he is saying stuff and I'm not really paying attention but I live in an area that is heavily democratic, in fact there are no republicans. My dad is a democrat, my mother, my grandmother and everyone who I know is a democrat and they all hate republicans, but I ask why? So, who do I vote for? Jimmy Carter.  Now, I start to work, pay taxes, and I really start to pay attention to politics.  Some of the stuff does not match up to what I was taught; in fact it is 90 degrees out of phase.  My dad is a democrat, but he does not talk the way I'm hearing liberal democrats talk.  My grandmother is a democrat and she tells me that "these new democrats" are full of shit.  I love to hunt, democrats want stronger restrictions on guns, and this drives me further to the right.  The church tells me that abortion is wrong, they want abortions.  On and on, the stuff that I learned is a complete 90 degree turn from what they are saying, I listen to Jimmy Carter and he is full of shit.  I listen to Ronald Reagan and what he says moves me.  It stirs my heart and it makes me think I can do what I want and I can be what I want, there are no limitations, it is up to me, the government is not my daddy.  I start to read everything I can get my hands on.  I read the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.  I read Thomas Jefferson, the Federalist Papers, Thomas Paine, I read the Magna Carta and I think, I think about what I have read a lot. Even though it would be easier for me to be a liberal democrat, I cannot do this for I am far too gone, the genie is out of the bottle and I do not believe the lies any longer. The liberal lies are withering away with the disinfectant of knowledge.  I find out too much, and I am no longer just being fed garbage, I am awake. I find out the truth and I am thinking for myself.  I am not a republican.  I am a conservative and there is a difference.

My philosophy on what a man needs to know.

It is not like it was when I was younger. I guess plenty of people have said these exact words for the last few thousand years.  I'm not telling anyone how to live their lives, this is just how I tried to live mine. From working with guys all my life I have found out through life men need certain life skills to make their life easier and to prosper in life.  In his personal life he needs to be clean.  If he is clean about his person his life will be much easier. What do I mean about clean?  If you want a beard by all means grow one, but keep it trimmed. Get a haircut once in a while, use shampoo instead of soap to wash your hair. Change your socks every day, more if you sweat, put on clean underwear everyday. Put on a clean shirt everyday. Brush your teeth if you want to keep them, visit a dentist every six months. Use deodorant, shower everyday. Wash your hands after you use the bathroom and before you eat.
            If a man is single he should know how to take care of his house. A man should know how to make his bed and know how to wash dishes if he makes them. He should know how to change the sheets twice a month, or more if he needs to do it. He should know how to do laundry and how to iron a shirt. He should know how to make more than TV dinners. Watch a few cooking shows, it will not kill you, plus you may learn something, and it will not make you gay. If you are married or have a girlfriend, clean the house once in a while or offer to clean the bathrooms this does amazing things.  A man should know how to do basic electrical such as like fixing lamps or outlets.  He should keep his tools in perfect working order. He should own the basic tools: screwdrivers (both Phillips & Standard), Crescent wrench, adjustable pliers, WD40, duct tape, socket set (both metric and English), hammer, drill motor & drill set, and tape measure. Learn how to compute square footage of a room.  Every time you do a job buy a new tool. This is sort of like payment for doing the job. A man can never have enough tools, and you can always make money with tools. Keep your tools neat and clean. Buy the best tools that you can afford.  When someone talks about how to do a job listen to them, then use your own judgment on how to do it as you learn. By doing things yourself you can save a boatload of money.  Money: Never spend more than you make.  Try to pay for things with cash. Do side jobs if you can. Don't use your overtime money to live on.  Buy stuff only if you need it. Buy used American tools from garage sales and flea markets. Learn how to write a check, keep a check book ledger.  Learn how to say no. Make things last by fixing them (clothes washer, etc.) Start a 401K, save 10% of your paycheck in a rainy day fund.
Now this is the important stuff: Bait your own hook. Kill something, gut it, skin it, cook it, and eat it. Nothing is more satisfying than feeding yourself from start to finish. Everyman should do three things in his life, 1) Kill a deer and drag it out of the woods.  This gives you an appreciation for what people had to do to survive.  2.) Dig a stump out of the ground.  This gives you an appreciation of hard work. 3.) This is the most important: Hold a newborn baby in your arms.  This makes everything you do worthwhile; all of the work, labor, and sweat.
Read the classics, read the newspaper; think about what you read and just do not absorb what you read. Grow a garden.  Bake a loaf bread just to see how it is done, learn how to preserve vegetables.
Sometimes it takes courage to do the right thing. Take a kid fishing.  Make something instead of buying it. Volunteer just because you are able to, not because you have to do it.
There is never a reason to hit a woman and there is never a reason to hit a child.  Always stand up for someone weaker than you. Being kind does not make you weak, it just makes you a better person. Have the courage to say you are sorry if you are wrong, and have the guts to take a stand if you are right, and hope you have the wisdom to know the difference.  If you extend a hand out to someone make sure it is to help them up off the ground.  If you say you are going to do something, do it. Keep your word.  Never bet more than you can afford to loose. Keep your words sweet because you might have to eat them. The last thing?  Always be nice to the doorman, because you never know when you may need a door opened.

What is the best weapon for a zombie apocalypse?

I love zombie movies, and books. I know that they are not real, but it is fun to think about it in a problem solving way.  I'm not much into vampires all of that erotic mambo-jumbo annoys me. Vampires are date nights gone wrong.  Since in the zombie  mythology all you have to do is shoot them in the head you need something that holds a lot of ammo and is quick to reload. Nothing really says anything about firepower, an arrow to the head works fine. I know, I know, we are not talking about man stoppers here, we are talking about zombie droppers. You do not need a 12 gauge slug to drop a zombie (or so I have read)  I'm going to go on the assumption that a .22 cal. round to the noggin of a walker would be enough to drop one of those bad boys. One problem you have with a firearm is sound, according to the myths if you shoot a zombie the noise will attract more zombie boys and girls and therein lies the power of zombie forces. They overwhelm you by swarming and by the weight of shear numbers they win. So, if we accept the idea that a .22 cal. round to the head will drop a zombie you need to decide which .22 gun is the right choice.  A revolver is too slow to reload, and at the most a .22 revolver will only hold 9  rounds so, cross it off. A .22 target semi-auto pistol is a step in the right direction, perfect for back up, quick to reload, most will hold about 10 rounds, some more, it is reliable, and accurate. And if you have a .22 rifle the major benefit is that both the pistol and rifle will shoot .22 LR (long rifle ammunition). You can carry a lot of .22 rounds, 500 of them only weigh a few pounds, and they are cheap and every gun or sporting goods store sells them.  Plus, in a zombie apocalypse you are more likely to fined them in a closet of an abandoned house. So, now what kind of .22 rifle?  A bolt action rifle is way too slow and it will only hold about 10 rounds.  You have the same problem if you use a lever action, you can load more rounds but it is too slow to reload. A perfect gun is the Colt or S&W .22LR built on an AR type frame. You can hold 30 rounds and you can reload fast.  I think I would use a Ruger 10/22. It has been around a very long time, extremely reliable, and it will hold 30 round after market magazines, although it comes with a 10 round mag.  They sell accessories galore such as tactical stocks, and it is very affordable, they even sell silencers for the rifle (you need a class 3 license for the silencers). So, if the shit really hit the fan would I stick to my story here and use a puny .22cal against a hoard of human meat eaters? Nope.  I would use a Rock River 5.62 (.223) Remington M4., and for my sidearm I would use a Browning Hi-Power 9mm. The main thing is you need a lot of rounds.  With a 5.62 any police station would have them, the same as gun stores, the round is common, and so is the 9mm. I think I would find a place such as a Costco and hold up there, but then again, so would a lot of people, I going to have to think about this one.  Let's hope it never happens.