iron mule

IRON MULE

I don't know what but something has gone wrong with the gadget that links Amazon products to this blog. Until it is fixed, I've added a daily links page to my web page. I'll give you the link and when you are ready to buy from Amazon please go through that page first. Just like if you'd gone through a link in this article, I'll get credit for your purchase. You pay no extra, I get paid from commission to keep writing. Here's today's link:
www.bisonpress.com/dailylink030611.html

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As I keep reminding you, I am as a love scorned. For over ten years I evangelized the Low Price Leader, Wal-Mart ( China-Mart, Wal-Fart ). They were a one stop shop for all the poor trailer trash out there. And then, having made so many quadrillions of dollars that they had no earthly idea who they originally had served, the sons of whoring bastards turned on us. They attacked the very demographic that had made them rich. The scum sucking ass pukes tried to devour the poor. Screw ‘em over! That will keep the profits rolling in. Now, some of you, all superior because you never needed to shop there, think that we got our just desserts, that we profited off the demise of the Mom And Pop stores and we now had to pay the true price. There is an element of truth in that, but remember that Wal-Mart was just the most successful of the Big Box Store-ization of America. Wal-Mart just benefited from the hollowing out of industrial America, they didn’t cause it. And, yes, while I still shop selectively at Wal-Mart because those savings still add up, I’ve come to hate them more than FemiNazi’s, wealthy seniors still sucking on the SS/Medicare tit or any politician/lawyer. I still hate the ex-wife and all bankers more ( I’ll continue to hate the ex with all my being until I die, no forgiveness possible, and the bankers have pretty much single handedly destroyed this country ). What have the oozing anal sores done now to incur my wraith? I make my daily nuke bread on plastic disposable plates. The thick red ones last three months. Wal-Mart replaced the red plates with much thinner green ones. They were square instead of round, so they didn’t fit as well. They were thinner so they tore apart in one third the time and from day one the dough sticks to the plate ( the red ones don’t ). And of course they were the same price. You might think this isn’t a big deal. Certainly not necessitating close to four hundred words of ranting. But it is these kinds of small cuts and insults added together that form a larger picture of abuse. Yes, I feel violated.

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I haven’t watched a DVD in months. I finally got around to one, “The A-Team”. Let me just say, I pity the fool that doesn’t like this movie. Okay, casting a Limey as Hannibal was a bit off, and the movie was at least thirty minutes too long. But if you loved the original TV series, and what red blooded American male wasn’t going to love explosions, lots of gunfire and quasi-military posturing, you should enjoy the feature film version. It captured the original quirky humor and infectious love of cartoon violence. It didn’t take itself too seriously. Now, let me just go off on a tangent here. What the hell?!? As the movie started, they posted the rating for the movie. PG-13 rating because of violence, profanity and smoking. Smoking??? I swear to all that is holy and just. A movie gets a rating for parents to avoid letting their child watch it because it shows smoking? Are you humping for real?!? Is this the depths to which we have sunk? JOHNNY!!! Oh, my god!! Cover your eyes, COVER YOUR EYES!!!!! The evil man is using tobacco products!!!! EVIL, BE GONE!!! I EXCORCISE YOU, DEMON WEED!!!! Lord, Baby Jesus, help us!! Help us, oh lord!! Don’t let our innocent chillins fall to such wickedness!! Save them!!! I swear to Christ, this is the epitome of weak minded, politically correct, mamby-pamby bullcrap. Man might be the most intelligent animal ( my vote goes to the dolphin, but I keep that under my hat so as to avoid being shunned by my fellow ape-men ) but the idiots that came up with warning us against smoking are all time dumber than a box of rocks stupid. Anyone with above room temperature IQ knows drawing smoke into your lungs is unhealthy. I’ll just stop there before I blow a gasket.

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Vlad, long suffering original minion, has had long success with no-flat bicycle tubes. The squishy foam type. He has shared the specs with us for years. He is politely aghast as I warn against them. So, I should qualify my stance. I was warned against them by my mechanic because they could damage the bike frame. Without a cushion of air acting as a shock absorber, the frame could take quite a bit of damage. Now, in my case, the reason for this caution is that I commute twice a day down a two mile stretch of mediocre maintained dirt road. Oh, I don’t blame the county. There is only so much in the budget. And they do as great of a job as possible with money and time constraints. But there are still a lot of washboard rutted areas to traverse. So, I pass along to avoid the no-flat tubes thinking that in the future, your asphalt and cement roads will start to look like my dirt road due to lack of maintenance. This is still good advice. Tubes are cheaper than frames. HOWEVER…

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Due to our climate out here in the west, future transportation will face two great challenges. One, farming is limited to a few small areas ( which will be hotly battled over constantly until a superior force can withstand challenges ). And two, there ain’t much water. So you can’t grow a surplus for bio-diesel. Not that many areas can until the population drops off/dies off, but even in good times the West can’t support that activity. And because water is so scarce, animal transport, even that using 100% wild grass, is going to be problematic. So what else are your choices? You need some kind of trade transportation. You must get goods from farm areas. This will require a way to haul goods back and forth. The only reasonable alternative is a bicycle. And come a collapse, the only realistic way to keep a bike going is to use no-flat tires. The inner-tubes will be a weak link. They might not be available for sale or trade. So your only choice is to chance damaging your frame. Now, I am talking about using a bicycle here as a dismounted push platform. While you are using a bike for personal transportation, before trade breaks down, inflatable tubes are what I would advise using. To avoid frame damage ( or, possible frame damage-it isn’t guaranteed ). But once tubes are no longer available, go to non-flats. Once the chain breaks, once the spokes start breaking, you can use your bike dismounted. You can run it into the ground with only the tubes as a weak link. So use the no-flats. Then the bike will last a lot longer, useful for hauling goods. Bikes will not be around forever if we head back to the Stone Age, but enjoy them while you can, for as long as you can.

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My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
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