I am not a SciFi/Magic/Supernatural fan. Star Trek was fun in a popcorn sort of way. I could not stand Picard so that did it for Next Generation, Voyager was meh! and I could barely stand Enterprise because I am a fan of Scott Bakula. I have no idea what Serenity is all about and I think Cylons are the modern cousins of the Wizard of Oz’s Tin Man (The Tin Man miniseries was cool though.) I think I own no “traditional”  SciFi books and the only thing redeeming from the fires of SciFi Fan Hate is that I have actually watched 2001: Space Odyssey over 20 times and the best SciFi ever made for TV is a tie between Quantum Leap and Babylon 5.

So here comes Larry Correia with MHI and I love the darn book. Still I will not give up and call myself a SicFi fan but a Correia fan. The MHI books are fast, funny and can’t-put-down. But if you are expecting another episode in the M.H.I saga, you’ll be disappointed. Hard Magic is a monster of a totally different species,  standing all on its own and even in a tract of history that is alternative to what you should know if you paid any attention in school. It is alternative history where Magic has thrown a monkey wrench on what we know and the world is now dealing with it. It is much darker than MHI and also slower and with good reason: this smells like a series of books around a theme that cannot be just explained and resolved in 500 pages, maybe not even in 5,000 pages. Hard Magic is a preamble of things to come and told from an era where Good and Evil were clearly defined and not the blurry “everything is relative” B.S. so cherished by modern authors. It was time when you might be wrong, but the fixing of the wrong was important thing and not making excuses for it.

Get your copy of Hard Magic. Book I of the The Grimnoir Chronicles, a good sofa and isolate yourself from this world since you will be needing all your concentration reading about that world.

FTC Warning: The only thing I got from this book is the satisfaction of a good reading. Larry refuses to gimme any goods or services for my reviews.

One would think that in Gun Free Chicago, the absence of guns and crime makes for a beautiful world were no violence is to be found. Yet outgoing Mayor Richard Daley is demanding five bodyguards to take care of him at taxpayer’s expense.

I’d say let him have them but only after the last Chicago Resident who wants it is allowed to legally carry and own any firearm for his protection. Till then he should be forced to live like the rest of the citizens of the city: unarmed.

And the Violence Policy Center defecates rectangular solids made out baked clay.

In the meantime and totally unrelated, the Bradys have their ticket menu for the upcoming June 2, 2011 Gala.

Giving money to the NRA is evil! Giving money to an anti gun organization that awards their top honor to an antisemite is righteous.

Yet, somehow we are the ones accused of being racist. Go figure.

It’s been 9 months since Constitutional Carry became law here. Our opponents claimed it would lead to the Wild Wild West, but so far, the only Gunfight at the Ok Corral happened in 1881…

Found at Say Uncle

Amen!

Forgive me for I have photoshopped.

Hehehe

Brothers and Sisters, I come here to testify about the miracle of a Gun Culture. It cures the Blind! Praise the Lord and Pass The Ammunition!

OK, so it sounds a bit ( a lot) sacrilegious, but it is true. I have not met yet anybody who has come to partake the Gun Culture seriously and not see him or her have her eyes open to the harsh reality that we are alone when things go terribly wrong. And once they have realized that, go ahead and take preparations to minimize the horrible consequences it might bring.

This goes farther than just the act of defending oneself if attacked by a criminal with deadly intentions or possible grave bodily harm results. That is the first step.  Soon after people start to realize that preparation is key not only to survive an attack but as good yardstick to use in every day life. they inquire, learn and prepare for what could happen instead of trying to figure out what to do. Once they realize how unprepared they were, their eyes open wide and spare no time preparing for eventualities.

Modern life gives us many choices in the way we live. If our neighborhood food store is out of milk, you can rest assured the gas station half a block down the road is sure to have at least an overpriced half a gallon of it. I have the choice of either drive to a Big Block Bookstore and get the latest release from my favorite author or order it on line from many sources. I love it. I am lzay by nature and enjoy having more time for other pursuits than wasting time moving from point A to point B searching for an item.

I am adult enough to know all these modernism rides in precarious balancing act that will come crashing down if enough pressure is applied. We in the Gun Culture jokingly call it The End Of The World As We Know It or TEOWAWKI and deals with what to do in the event of the collapse of normal social services and protections. What are you going to do when that gallon of milk is not available? Or the grocery store is no longer there because it was erased by a major natural event or even human intervention? How much water and food do you have on reserve? How much do you depend on refrigeration and how a major power failure that is going to affect your food supply? Are you taking any medication? How many days of medication do you have in case the local pharmacy is out of business? Do you even have a First responder kit other than the $5 plastic box you got at the checkout of Wally World? Can you offer first aid? Can you give yourself first aid? Do you have the implements to defend your family and yourself against those that decide to take your provisions because they did not prepare for it?

These are not irrational questions. Just last Winter many parts of the US were hit by gigantic blizzards and some families were stuck out of reach for days in their homes. Some died in their cars because they had not prepared for the eventuality of being trapped. Anybody with a lick of sense in the Southern coast of the US will have Hurricane Kits and preparations going right now as we enter the hurricane season and the smart ones will remember the lessons of Andrew and Katrina specially when dealing with unhinged unprepared survivors and runaway government authority overwhelmed by the events.

But apparently if we think and plan ahead we are “dangerous,” somehow we are a threat to society because we dare not to depend on the “kindness” of government to get us out of trouble.  We are called “insurrectionist,” “militia-types,” “Paranoid” and eschew our lifestyle . I really do not care what they call me as long as they do not try to make my preparations illegal so we are forced to suffer alongside them when things go bad. I really do not care if you have one bottle of water and a can of tuna to endure the 5 week-long time for society to recover, you made your choice and you must live with it, But when in your pettiness and jealousy try to make illegal my preparations to survive the bad times, you are directly threatening my life and the life of my loved ones. I do not take kindly to that stupidity and I will fight you for as long as it is necessary.

And may the Lord keep you and your family safe, because He knows that if something happens and you are not prepared, in the most un-christian manner I will not raise one finger to help you or mourn your passing at the hands of evildoers, sickness, accident, thirst or hunger.  As a crotchety friend of mine is fond to say: “You made your choice, you died, you lost. Fuck you, I win.” Or words to that effect.

Stay the hell away from my life.