"Possession of Machine Guns"

It is a very strange casus belli, to claim that a foreign leader broke our laws in his country. Of course, the NFA is itself an unconstitutional violation of the Second Amendment which should have no legal force in any event: thus, there's even less reason to try to enforce it on a foreigner in his own nation.

The War Powers Resolution doesn't seem to forbid this since the action began and ended so quickly -- well within the timelines the law sets up. That ship probably sailed with the Libyan overthrow in any case; Secretary of State Clinton quite openly declared the Obama administration wasn't going to bother with it. 

This sets up a kind of loophole, I guess, presuming that you can win your wars quickly enough. Many a war has begun under the presumption that it would end quite quickly -- it is said that picnickers came out to watch the first battle of Manassas (also known as the first battle of Bull Run). Not every war expected to be short and easy has turned out so.

The Women of Iran

I’ll go to this war, if he means it. I’ll die in it gladly.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

It’s probably fine for Manhattan, collectivism instead of rugged individualism. Well, no, it’s not. But it’s their problem rather than ours. 

I was surprised to realize that I cared about New York City on 9/11. Maybe I don’t, still. 

Hogmanay

Happy New Year.

Imagining the Alternative

It's easy to complain about the things that a given administration gets wrong; they're actual, after all, and their mistakes therefore have consequences. Still, it's helpful to think on how things would have gone wrong had the other side won, too. I feel obligated to write in opposition to the many things I disagree with; but I would have disagreed even more, I expect, had things gone the other way. 

A mild self-reproof: it's hard to remember how much worse it could have been, since it isn't. It's important to try to keep it in mind all the same.

Requiescat in Pace, Ms. Bardot

Openness to New Experiences

AVI sometimes accuses me of this, with fairness. Today for our late Sunday breakfast I made applewood-smoked bacon and fried eggs, but I decided to try DL Sly's take on biscuits (see the comments to the Southern Biscuits post). Just to be fair to Lodge Cast Iron's Dutch oven cookbook, and because I was making bacon instead of sausage, I decided to try their recommended packet gravy as well. I baked the biscuits in a Dutch oven, pictured.

The chief difference in Sly's family biscuits and mine is the lack of any kneading or folding. As a result, the biscuits are very much like my mother's spoon biscuits: my grandmother, who taught me, was my paternal grandmother; my maternal grandmother never made biscuits because she made them for my maternal grandfather one time when they were first married and he laughed at them, so she never once made them again for him again in her entire life. (He taught me to make bacon; my paternal grandmother made it daily, but it’s his method of baking it in the oven that I use.) As a result, my mother's biscuits were learned after she married and was majoring in home economics in college (apparently a thing one could do in those days; she later transferred her major to education and became a career teacher).

These biscuits are excellent for gravy-and-biscuits because the zero kneading and folding means that they have almost no gluten in them. They are thus extremely tender to the fork. They are less suitable than mine for making an egg-and-bacon sandwich, as they lack the fluffy layers that keep them from falling apart as easily. Depending on the meal plan, however, they might be a great choice.

The packet gravy was not a good recommendation: I stand by my earlier condemnation of it, now on empirical grounds. It is not a third as good as the from-scratch sausage gravy, and it isn't even particularly easier to make because you still have to mix the packet with cold water before then stirring it into boiling water. If you're going to do that much, go all the way and have the full and delicious experience. 

Still, you know, you try new things and some of it works, some of it doesn't. The biscuits were great; the packet gravy was not. Live and learn. 

A Conversation at Whitewater

I met a British lady on the trail at Whitewater Falls. We spoke because she complimented my patience with her in taking photos of the thing, and I thanked her for her compliment and then told her the bit about the two overlooks being in different states even though they’re only about 170 yards apart just as a fun piece of trivia about where she was. 

She was struck by that, and then asked me where Cherry Point was. I was surprised by the question, since it is all the way across the state on the coast. “It’s very far,” I said, pointing east. “That way, about five hundred miles. The Marine Corps has an air station there.” 

She said she knew that, because she had a son stationed there cross-training with the USMC in flying fighters. Her husband had been a Marine for 24 years— Royal Marines, of course— before he retired. When he died, she said sadly, indicating the Kabar on my belt, the government had made them turn in all his knives and shotguns. 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “We have a different policy here, as you might know.”

She then waxed positively about Trump’s rebuke of London’s mayor, a subject about which she had a great deal to say in agreement. I was surprised to hear someone from overseas speaking so positively about Trump, who doesn’t go out of his way to ingratiate himself with Europe. 

Just an anecdote, of course, but a striking interaction. I hope she enjoys the rest of her visit. 

Balsam Lake, Christmas Day

Lots of good motorcycle weather lately. A rare Christmas present! It’s ending soon; next week is going to have weather in the teens again. 

Balsam Lake in the Nantahala National Forest. Bald eagles nest here to breed in warmer weather. 

Whitewater in Late December

Whitewater Falls, as viewed from ~100 yards inside South Carolina.

The same waterfall about 100 yards back inside North Carolina.

Lake Jocasse far below in South Carolina.

Christmas

May God grant you all a fine feast and a peaceful celebration on this most glorious of days. Thank you for being my friends and companions, which is itself a great gift. 

“Contemplate This…”

UPDATE:

Told you (see comments to the post below this one):

Intel Alert, Christmas Eve

 

NORAD Tracker

Southern Biscuits and Gravy

An early gift I received this year was The Lodge [Cast Iron Company] Book of Dutch Oven Cooking. It's a very thoughtfully constructed book for the most part, with insightful tips on how to use a Dutch oven, how to build the best kind of fires for them, how to dig a bean hole the right way, what woods are best, etc. However, one page of recipes -- 'Southern biscuits and gravy' -- is ridiculously bad. Every part of the biscuit recipe is wrong, and the gravy recipe directs you to mix a package of a particular brand's gravy mix with water!

So, since I share recipes sometimes, here's my recipe for biscuits and gravy. This sort of thing causes fights among Southern cooks, as it is a matter of great pride to do it right, usually meaning -- as indeed I do mean -- "the way my grandmother taught me." Any of you who are Southerners whose family recipe differs are not hereby declared wrong; I have room for a diversity of opinions (and please leave your own version in the comments). This one is from the mountains of Tennessee, as you'll intuit from the brand recommendations: White Lily is located in Knoxville, and Tennessee Pride is from Nashville (their 'farmboy' character has appeared on the Grand Ol' Opry).

Southern Biscuits

2 cups White Lily Self-Rising flour (or White Lily regular flour plus baking soda and powder, if you prefer; but White Lily for certain because they are the only flour that produces soft enough biscuits because they use 100% soft winter red wheat, which will make tender biscuits).

1/4 cup bacon grease, reserved from the last time you made bacon (my grandmother made biscuits and bacon every morning)

3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk (i.e. whole milk plus a bit of lemon juice, wait five minutes after combining before mixing)

Combine until moist. On a well-floured surface knead not more than five-seven times, fewer if you can mange it. (Kneading produces gluten, the protein that makes bread stiff; biscuits are meant to be soft and tender.) I like to press the dough out into a layer, fold a quarter of it onto itself from each end, and then fold the two parts at the middle of the dough so it looks like you're closing a book; this will create layers. Cut into biscuits with a knife or biscuit cutter. Bake at 450 until they are golden brown on the top; remove and brush with melted butter (or I often use a refrigerated stick of butter, as they will be hot enough to melt it).

Gravy

First, make a pound of sausage (Tennessee Pride Hot is the family favorite here). In the grease thereof, make a roux; typically I mix two tablespoons of flour (all purpose is fine for this) with about a half a cup of cold water, then add it to the grease and mix. Thin with whole milk (not sour or buttermilk) and then cook until it thickens again. Salt and black pepper to taste. 

A Warm Day in December

Aggression

The discussion of the war crime of aggression has been long; it is still perhaps of interest. I’m going to post a series of photographs of philosopher Michael Walzer’s arguments about it.* I don’t intend this as an endorsement of his position, only an attempt to inform our discussion with what might be called the standard position of contemporary Just War Theory.