My Arlington Adventure

One of the activities that my American Legion post is involved in is called "Washing the Wall," and it's an annual event where Legionnaires from all over SC get together, ride up to DC and help the US Park Service wash one of the many monuments they're in charge of. It started out as helping wash the Vietnam monument which is called "The Wall," but over time the mission has broadend out somewhat. This year we were scheduled to wash the Korean War Monument. 

The plan was to meet at the Bojangles in Lugoff, SC on Thursday, Sept 24th, and leave from there at 8AM sharp. The weather apps were all predicting rain for that morning, so when I went to bed Wednesday night I said a prayer asking for no rain. I was very pleased to see that when I got up the chance of rain had dropped from 65% down to 10%, and I made the 40 minute ride out to the meeting place with no problem.

Ten minutes after I got there it started to rain, so me and the other riders and their passengers started putting on rain suits. It had been at least 10 years since I had worn mine, and I was a little disturbed to discover that I had almost outgrown it. It was a snug fit, but I managed to get into it. (I bought a new one today, by the way, in a bigger size!) After we suited up we hit the road, riding down Route 20E towards Interstate 95N that we'd take all the way to Dumfries, Va. 

It rained on us for the next 2 1/2 hours, from Lugoff all the way to Benson, NC. At times the rain was coming down so hard I couldn't see further than 2 bikes ahead of me. During those intense downpours the leader (who was riding a trike and didn't have to worry about traction like I did on 2 wheels) slowed down to 60MPH, but the rest of the time we were zipping along in staggered formation at 70MPH.

To say it was an intense ride would be the understatement of the year.

We stopped at Kenly 95 Truck Stop in Kenly, NC for lunch, and then continued on to Dumfries. That was our initial destination because that's where we were staying. MUCH cheaper than DC! We finally made it to the hotel at around 5:30PM, having been on the road for nine and a half hours.  

The plans for Friday was for the group to head out to Arlington National Cemetery because my post was going to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. It was a 30 mile ride from Dumfries to Arlington, and traffic was a friggin' nightmare! The ceremony was supposed to take place at 11:15AM, but we were late getting there so it was pushed back to 1:15PM. I spent the time at the Tomb, watching the changing of the guard and the other wreath ceremonies, getting some good pictures and even better video along the way. The USS MAINE memorial was right across the street, so I went over there as well. As soon as the wreath ceremony was over we saddled up and rode to Mount Vernon for a very late lunch - or an early dinner, whichever. Then it was back to the hotel for the rest of the night.

The next day, Saturday, was the day we were going to the Korean War Monument to help wash it, but I'd had all I could stand of DC traffic. That, plus the fact that the weather was predicted to turn bad around mid-day Saturday due to the Nor'easter coming down the coast and was going to stay bad - meaning rain - all day Sunday, so I told the leader of the group that I wasn't going to deal with either the traffic or the rain again and would be leaving Saturday morning to go home instead of going out to the Korean War Memorial. I also wasn't too fond of the idea of zipping up the highway at 70MPH in the full dark, since we were supposed to leave the hotel at 5AM. I hated to leave the group and not carry through with the main reason for the trip, but my safety and well-being has priority in my mind, so that was that.

So I left Dumfries at 8:30AM on Saturday, riding to my sister's house in Angier, NC where I spent the night. The weather Saturday morning had already started to close in, and I didn't see the sun until I got to Emporia, Virginia - and I got sprinkled on coming out of Richmond, but nothing bad. This morning I got up to a clear sky and cool temperatures, with no rain predicted for the next 6 days either in Angier or in Lexington where I live. We had breakfast, and then around 9:30AM I cranked up the bike and headed for home, arriving a little before 1PM after traveling for a total of 4 days and 1,090 miles. 

It wasn't the best bike trip I've ever been on, but it wasn't the worst, either. I just don't think I'll be doing it again next year. If I never ride in DC traffic again for the rest of my life it'll be too soon.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

   Lunch break in Kenly, NC

 

 

Things That Amaze Me: Constitutional Ignorance, Part 2

 

If you've been keeping up with current events, then you probably could have predicted what today's blog topic was going to be.  Considering how much the ignoramuses on the libtard left have been screaming after President Trump revoked access to the White House for CNN, Politico, and MS Now, it kinda figures that would be my next topic in the "Things That Amaze Me" series.

Once again, the people on the libtard left are making claims about Constitutional rights, and are doing nothing but proving two things:  how much they hate ANYTHING that Trump does, and just how much they DON'T know about the United States Constitution.  The left is now screaming that Trump violated the Constitutional rights of those three news agencies, and that they have a Constitutional right to have access to the White House.  

Of course those of us with common sense and a minimum understanding of how the Constitution works knows that they're 100% wrong, as usual.

So let's take a look at exactly what the First Amendment says, shall we?

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Somebody please show me where access to the White House is mentioned in those words.  

Those on the left will tell you that Trump violated the Constitution  because he's 'abridging the freedom of the press,' and they are 100% wrong.  If Trump had come out and told them that they couldn't print something or couldn't report on something at all, THEN he would be in violation of the First Amendment.  But he hasn't done that.  He simply denied them access to the White House, which means they can't attend press briefings.

So if they can't attend the press briefings, then how are they supposed to report on what was said?  Simple - they use the White House Press Release that every news agency in the United States and several overseas agencies are sent after every single press conference.  After all, where do you think the smaller news agencies who don't have a representative at the White House get their information from?  Why, from the press release, of course.

No, the left is bitching because Trump did to those agencies what the Biden administration did when they barred a particular reporter from attending the briefings because he was asking questions that made Biden look bad (which wasn't hard to do).  After all, it's OK when a libtard does it, but when a conservative does it the world is coming to an end.  They're bitching because now those fake news agencies don't have a platform from which to spout their nonsensical questions which are intended not to get an answer or learn the truth but to make a veiled accusation against Trump.   

I learned a very long time ago that NO liberal news agency is the least bit concerned with getting at the truth.  All they want is something that they can twist and shape into something that fits their agenda, and if they can't make it fit then they'll just lie about it.  They do this safe in the knowledge that no one will do anything about it because, well, the First Amendment, you know.

Until Trump came along and said, "Nope, that bullshit ain't gonna fly!"  He has never been shy about calling out the fake news agencies, and now that he's in his second term and isn't eligible to run for a third, he can say or do almost anything he wants because he doesn't have to worry about alienating voters.  He knows this and man, is he taking advantage of it!

Do I support Trump's actions in this?  Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, but yeah, I do - 100%.  If I were President I'd kick all of the libtard news agencies out on their asses and let them get their news from the press releases just like everyone else.

Guess it's a good thing I'm not President, huh?

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

Things That Amaze Me: Constitutional Ignorance, Part 1

 

Thought I'd start a new feature on my blog, "Things That Amaze Me," and I can't think of a better topic to start off with than just how ignorant the average American citizen is of the United States Constitution.

This got started with a post I saw on Facebook which asked the question, "Which of these men is ineligible to become President?" and listed NObama, Trump, Clinton, and GW Bush as the choices.  Seems like a simple question, right?  

Uh-uh, it's not, and the people who responded to the question immediately showed just how ignorant of the US Constitution they truly are.  Some people said all of the, some said none of them, some said that they could serve 10 years as President, and other ignorant shit like that.  (I almost said 'stupid,' but that word doesn't fit.  Ignorance is not having the knowledge or experience, while stupid is just not having the brains.  Well, maybe it fits, you tell me.)

And the correct answer?  None of them, and here's why.

A direct quote from Article 22, Section 1of the US Constitution:  

"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term."

The key word here is "ELECTED."  A man cannot be ELECTED to the office of President more than twice, and if he's served two years of a term as President upon the departure of the previous President, then he can only be elected ONCE.   

What it does not address is a former President who has served two terms getting elected as Vice President and then succeeding to the office of President when the elected President leaves office before his term is over.  

Interesting, huh?  So what that means - and this is every liberal's nightmare - that Trump could run with Vance in 2028 as the Vice Presidential candidate, and after they win (which they would) Vance could resign and let Trump take over as President.

Sounds kinda far out there, doesn't it?  Well, it is in a way, but the truth is that there's absolutely nothing in the Constitution that prohibits this.  But to be reasonable (a word unknown to the liberal left) and realistic (another word unknown to the liberal left) something like this would never happen.  I don't think Trump would ever run for VP, and when Vance runs - and he most assuredly will - after he wins (which he will) he won't leave office until his term is over or unless he dies before then, God forbid.

But the point here is that a vast majority of the people had no idea what the Constitution says about this, and they showed their ignorance on Facebook.

So be honest - did YOU know this?  If you did, good on ya!  If you didn't, now you do.

And if you didn't, then maybe it's time you read the Constitution, huh?  And when it gets to the part about line of succession for the office of President, pay attention.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

My Life's Defining Moment

 

Regardless of who you are, where you live, or what you do for a living, everyone has defining moments in their lives.  Moments in which a decision is made that will have a significant (if not downright life-changing) effect on them from that point forward.  We've all had them, some of us more than others, but the fact remains that we've all had them.

We've also had that one defining moment in our lives that changed the entire course of our lives from that moment forward, one that affected every single thing we would do from that moment forward.  Mine came in January of 1975.

I spent my entire life from birth up until March 2021 listening to my father tell sea stories about the 5 years he was in the US Navy.  He enlisted in the Reserves in 1947 and went on active duty the next year, serving until 1952.  He was stationed on the USS MISSISSIPPI, an old battleship that served in both World Wars and had been designated as an Experimental Auxiliary Gunship after WWII ended.  That changed her hull number from BB-41 to EAG-128, and her mission from being a ship of the line to a ship that tested all manners of new weapons that were in development.  The "Missy," as she was called, was the ship from which the first Terrier missile was fired in 1952, an event that took place after my father had left the Navy.

                       USS MISSISSIPPI BB-41shortly after the conclusion of WWII

 

                                      USS MISSISSIPPI EAG-128 in 1946

In any event, to say that my father loved the Navy would be the understatement of the millenium.  The only reason he left the Navy was that by 1952 he was married and had a new baby, and he knew the life of a sailor was no way to raise a family.  So he left the Navy but talked about it for literally the rest of his life.

So it was only natural that, given the circumstances under which I grew up, I should want to join the Navy when I graduated from high school.  I was actually looking forward to it, carrying on in my father's footsteps and wearing the uniform of the Navy as he had so many years before.  I had been to the recruiter's office and done all of the paperwork; the only thing left for me to do was raise my hand and say "I will," and I would be a sailor.

Then in January of 1975 I made a very significant discovery, one that would be the driving force that would cause me to make a decision that would be THE defining moment of my life.  My father and a friend of his went deep sea fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, and I went along.  I had never been deep sea fishing before, and besides, my father told me that it would be "a good way to see what I was in for when I joined the Navy."

More prophetic words were never spoken.

The day we went was cloudy, cold, and windy as hell, and there were 6-8 foot waves on the bay.  Once we got out of the harbor and out into the bay, it took about ten minutes for me to make my life-changing discovery.

I get seasick.  REALLY, REALLY seasick.  As in 'hang-your-head-over-the-rail-and-puke-your-guts-out' seasick.  When I finally finished heaving my father suggested I go below into the bow and lay down, but that only made it worse.  I spent the entire trip in the bathroom in the bow of the boat, puking into the toilet.

Somewhere along the way I decided that maybe the Navy wasn't for me.  I was already in the Civil Air Patrol and had been for almost 4 years, and if I decided to enlist in the Air Force instead that would give me a leg up because I would enlist as an E-2 instead of an E-1.  Besides, I had planned on going into the Navy as an Interior Communications Electrician so I could get a job with the phone company once I got out, but what I really wanted to do was Law Enforcement.  The Navy didn't have a specific LE program but the Air Force did.  So that's what I did - I joined the Air Force instead of the Navy.

And that one decision turned out to be THE defining moment of my life.

If I had enlisted in the Navy as I planned, EVERYTHING about my life would have changed.  That would have meant I never would have met and married my first wife Mary, that we never would have had any kids, that I never would have gone to the places I did and met the people that I did (including my current wife Gina) - none of that would have happened.   

Now I've always believed that everything that happens to us in our lives happens for a reason, and this is no different.  Things happened the way they did so I could end up right where I am at this moment in time, which I believe is right where The Big Biker wanted me to be.  So who am I to argue with Him?

But I have to admit that I sit back sometimes and think about how drastically different my life would have been if I had joined the Navy, what I would have experienced, who I would have met, and whether or not I would have gotten married (which I seriously doubt I would have).  And I always thought I looked absolutely fantastic in Navy blues.  When I was 18 I was the same size as my father was at that age, and his old blue "cracker jack" uniform fit me, so I put it on one day just to see how I'd look.  And man, I looked GOOD!

So do I regret my decision to join the Air Force instead of the Navy?  Hell, no, not for a minute.  I wouldn't change a thing, because that would mean I wouldn't be where I am now, and right now I'm as happy as I've ever been in my entire life.

Besides - seasick, you know.  REALLY, REALLY seasick!

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

 

Pandora's Box

 

So let's talk for a few minutes about what's going to happen if the feminists get their way and Clancy is acquitted of murdering her three children due to "hormones."  

If this happens, it will open a Pandora's Box of bad shit that I know the feminists haven't even considered yet.  99% of the feminists I've encountered in one way or another are very short-sighted, never stopping to look past the initial victory to the long-term effects.  Believe me, if there's a case where they seriously need to do this, the Clancy case is it.  Here's what I think is going to happen if they get their way and that Pandora's Box is opened should Clancy be acquitted.

1.  No more female police officers.  If a woman can't be held accountable for her actions due to hormones and you never know when her hormones are going to go off-road, there's no way you can trust them with a firearm.  They would have the power to shoot anyone for anything at anytime and simply claim "my hormones made me do it!"

2.  No more females in the military.  For the same reasons listed above, only female soldiers have access to far deadlier weaponry than the average police officer.

3.  No more female judges.  If a woman's judgement is affected by her hormones and she can't be held accountable, then there's no way anyone could ever trust her judgement to be correct 100% of the time.  So erring on the side of caution, there's no way a female could ever be a judge.

4.  No more female elected officials.  And I mean at EVERY LEVEL of government.  Again, if a woman's judgement is affected by her hormones and she can't be held responsible, then she can't serve in an elected leadership position at any level of government.  Can you imagine - and I know this is way out there, but think about what we're talking about - if we had a female President and she hit the red button and launched a nuclear attack because her hormones were acting up?

5.  No more parental custody of children.  If you can't trust a woman's judgement because of her hormones, then how can you trust her to not murder her own children?  This means that in all divorce cases where children are involved, full custody would go to the father and there would be NO unsupervised visitation rights.

6.  Immediate loss of custody of children.  As soon as woman's hormones start acting up, the state needs to either lock the woman up until it's over or take her children from her because she can't be trusted.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

If Clancy gets off because of this bullshit 'my hormones made me do it' defense, that's going to do two things:  it's going to completely nullify the 19th Amendment, and it's going to set women's rights back at least 150 years.  The bottom line is this:  If you can't trust a woman due to her hormones, then you can't trust a woman with ANYTHING.

This is what's waiting for the women in this country if Clancy gets away with murder due to her bullshit defense.  And when it happens, the feminists are going to blame it on the men like they always do.

And don't even get me started on that asshole lawyer who dreamed up this bullshit defense.  I'll save that for another post in the very near future.

In the mean time, let's all pray for three things:  that the state of Massachusetts tries her again, that this time she's convicted, and most of all for the three little children she murdered.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

Hormones, My Ass

 

Let me make one thing clear right off the bat, because I'm sure there are some folk out there that will hit this one point first off when they disagree with what I'm about to say.

I'm not a woman, therefore I have no idea just how powerful a woman's hormones can be.  But I have, however, lived with a woman through two pregnancies and then menopause, so yeah, I get it.  I've seen what hormones can do to a woman first hand, so I get it about as much as any man can.  But just to be on the safe side and to get a woman's opinion, I talked about the Lindsay Clancy case with my wife, and she gave me some first-hand insight on just how powerful a woman's hormones can be.

And I believe her, I really do.  But there's still no reason in my mind that you can blame this woman's heinous act on hormones.  What this bitch did was premeditated murder, plain and simple, and here's why.

First and foremost, she sent her husband out to run some bullshit errand to give her the opportunity to kill her kids.  If that isn't the textbook definition of 'premeditation,' I don't know what is. 

Second, death by strangulation is not the quick event as is depicted on TV and in the movies.  While there is no set standard of time that it takes to kill someone by strangulation, on average it takes three to four minutes for death to occur.  The victim can lose consciousness in less than a minute if the flow of blood to the brain is shut off, but death takes much longer than that.  And if the victim doesn't lose consciousness, the pain and suffering they must endure for that three to four minutes is indescribable.

That's what she put all three of her kids through, by the way. 

Third, she called her husband while he was out and told him not to hurry home.

Fourth, immediately after she killed her kids she attempted suicide by jumping out of a second story window of her home.  If that isn't guilt talking I don't know what is.  (She broke her back in the fall and is paralyzed from the chest down; that's why she's in a wheelchair.) 

Now, I don't give a rat's ass what kind of reasoning you can come up with, you are NOT - repeat, NOT - going to convince me that this woman killed her three kids in this brutal, horrific way while caught up in a rush of hormones.  EVER.  No, this was a planned, calculated act, nothing short of premeditated murder, and for the life of me I don't understand how ANY woman could possibly say it wasn't her fault because of 'hormones.'

In 1994 Susan Smith strapped her two kids into their child safety seats in her car and then drove the car into a lake, letting them drown.  When she came to trial the sidewalk leading up to the courthouse was lined with woman screaming "Murderer!" and "Baby killer!" and demanding the death penalty.  But when Clancy came to court, the sidewalks were lined with women supporting her and screaming for her release.

Is this how far our society has sunk?  I'm afraid to say that yes, it is - at least on the liberal side of the population, that is.  How ANY mother can support what Clancy did is beyond the scope of my comprehension.

It is my fervent hope that the state retries her on the murder charges, and this time I hope the attorney for the prosecution does a much better job of picking the jurors.  I also hope that this time around she's convicted and sent to prison - not to a mental facility, but PRISON. 

Do I think she was temporarily insane?  NO, I don't, because of the obvious planning that she had to accomplish in order to carry out her crimes.  She's as crazy as Susan Smith was, which is not crazy at all, and she deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison for what she did to those three poor children.

And when she dies, I hope she rots in hell.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

Chain of Events

 

And this is the way it's gonna be unless the adults - meaning the conservatives - in this country get up off their asses and do something about it.  

You can start by VOTING RED.  We're in this situation now because more of "them" voted than we did, and if WE don't reverse this trend by getting out and VOTING RED, this is what's in store for us.

You have one of two choices:  vote, or fight.  And when I say fight, I mean fight as in armed conflict because if we don't stop the Islamification of America, that's what it's gonna come to.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

How It All Started

 

When I was in the Air Force stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, NC, I was assigned to the 4th Security Police Squadron.  One day in the summer of 1978 I was patrolling the base in my non-air conditioned pickup truck when I drove past the baseball fields.  I noticed a group of very young boys on the field that at first looked like they were playing baseball, but then I noticed something odd.  

There was no catcher and no umpire, and standing right behind the plate was a pole about two feet high with a baseball sitting on top of it.  There was an adult standing there as well, and as I watched a little kid (probably five or so) wearing a batting helmet, uniform, and carrying a baseball bat walked up to the pole with the ball on top.  Then he took aim and swung, swatting the ball into the infield where it died about the time it got to the pitcher's mound.  He took off to run the base while the pitcher ran to get the ball, and to make a long story short the kid hit a home run because non of the other players were able to throw the ball to the base - ANY base - in order to get him out.

Of course I parked the truck and walked over to the field where I talked to one of the adults that was there watching their kid play.  I asked him what was going on, and he told me that the kids were playing T-Ball.  Not baseball, mind you, but t-ball.  He then went on to explain the rules of t-ball to me, and I was dumbfounded to hear that they didn't keep score, meaning there were no winners or losers.  The goal of the game was to let the kids all hit the ball.

When I asked him why they didn't keep score, he said that it was because they "didn't want to hurt the kid's feelings" by having a winner or a loser.

"But if there's no loser, then how will the kids learn the motivation to improve so they can succeed and win?" I asked.  Silly me.

"That's not the point.  The point is to just let the kids hit and have fun," was the reply.

"Uh huh," I said.  Without another word I walked back to my truck, got in, started it up, and drove away.

In my opinion, this is how it all started.  This is how we ended up with the society of unmotivated, whiny, self-entitled adult brats we now have.  T-ball led to participation trophies, and the kids of that generation were taught that you don't have to work hard to succeed because it's not required that you succeed at all.  You just have to show up to be rewarded.  

No winners.  No losers.  No motivation.  No drive to improve and better yourself.  No sense of pride.  No sense of accomplishment.  No sense of how things are in the real world.  Just a world of pats on the back for just showing up, getting rewarded for basically doing nothing, and crying for your cookie when things don't go your way.

This is the society we have today, and I blame it all on t-ball.  I didn't really see this in our society until after I had retired from the Air Force and joined the civilian work force, but once I did that it started to show itself.  I worked with people who had no motivation to do the best job they could or excel at their job, then whined and complained when they didn't get a raise "like I deserve!"  They didn't care if they were late to work or not, we should all just be glad that they showed up at all.  And when they got fired for being late or not showing up at all, it was all so unfair!

Whine, whine, whine.  Just like a little kid who's so uncoordinated that he can't even hit a fuckin' ball sitting on top of a fuckin' post.  

And it's not only still going on, it's getting worse.  My wife is the district manager for a local dental firm, and she sees this all the time.  The people who apply to work at her firm don't have the drive and motivation needed to do the job, and they don't have ANY work ethics AT ALL.  They show up late for work, they spend their time texting on their cell phones instead of working, and sometimes they just don't show up at all.  And when they eventually get fired because of their total lack of work ethics, of course the first thing they do is complain and, in a lot of cases, throw the race card.  (But that's another topic for another time.)  

The really sad thing is that this philosophy of "Nobody loses, everybody wins just by showing up" has gotten worse over time.  The young adults who are flocking to the libtard left and the Demoncratic party and electing the socialist/communist morons to positions of authority are the GRANDCHILDREN of the society I saw, which means this shit has been going on for GENERATIONS.  And what's worse is that they're raising THEIR children to be just as self-entitled as they are.   

If you want to see just how much damage this kind of mindset can be, just look at Portland, or Seattle, or San Fransisco, or Chicago, or New York  City.  All of these cities are being run by people with what I call the "T-Ball Mindset," and that mindset is failing.  

But since they were never taught the difference between winning and losing and have no drive or motivation to improve, they're too ignorant to see it.

Note that I said 'ignorant' and not 'stupid.'  There's a difference.  If you're ignorant, you're lacking either the education or experience.  If you're stupid, you just don't have the intelligence.

Either way, if this kind of shit continues, then our country is royally screwed.  The Muslim invasion I wrote about a few days ago is using this "T-Ball Mindset" to invade our country, and once they get in power it's gonna be over for all of us, including those of the "T-Ball Mindset" who let this whole thing happen. 

And that's a day I hope I don't live to see.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

Houston, We Have A Problem

 

In case you haven't been paying attention, there's an invasion going on in this country and it's being conducted by Muslims.  If you want proof of this, then just look at how many Muslims we have in Congress; look at how many Muslim mayors we have in this country, and look at the city of Dearborn, Michigan where the police force patch is in Arabic, the citations are written in Arabic, and the street signs are in Arabic.  Not to mention that the mayor and city council are all Muslims.  And then there's the Muslim military group that is now patrolling the streets with the blessing of the police force, the Mayor, and the city council.

And to make matters worse, the morons in the Demoncratic party are not only allowing Muslim radicals to join their group, they're allowing them to take over and reshape the goals of the Demoncratic party.  I mean, they were bad enough with their open borders and free stuff giveaways, but the Muslims want to take it much further than that.  And the morons in the Demoncratic party are allowing them to do it.

You see, the invasion happens like this - the Muslims immigrate to this country bit by bit, doing it legally so they can't be deported.  They establish their own communities and their own laws, claiming to do it in the name of practicing their religion.  And the American people tolerate this because they don't see an overt threat (because they don't want to).  That allows Islam to grow, and pretty soon it's gonna get to a point where Islam will no longer tolerate Americans.  And when that happens, it's good-bye United States of America and hello United States of Islam.

And if you think that won't happen, you're both a fool and ignoring history.

See, it's like this:  once upon a time there was a nation called Persia that gave shelter to 4,000 Muslim immigrants.  100 years later every native Persi was wiped out because the Qu'aran calls for the murder of all non-believers.  When the Muslim population got large enough and had enough power, that's exactly what they did.

That nation is now called IRAN.

We need to do whatever we can and whatever is necessary to keep our country from becoming the next Persia.  But unfortunately, we have something standing in our way, something that the Muslims are well aware of and are using to their advantage.

And that 'something' is the First Amendment.  The Muslims know that the First Amendment prohibits the government from making a law outlawing their religion, and they're using this as the primary tool to facilitate their invasion.

So we need to do one of two things, and we need to do it quickly.  We need to either A) rewrite the First Amendment, or B) pass a Federal law prohibiting the establishment and/or practice of Sharia Law anywhere in the United States and its territories. Personally, I think it would be faster and easier to pass the law prohibiting Sharia Law than it would to rewrite the First Amendment.

But whatever, the point is that this country is being invaded by Muslims who want to take over our country and establish an Islamic state here, and that goal is being facilitated by the Demoncrats.  We need to do something about it, and we need to do it NOW.

Not tomorrow, fuckin' NOW. TODAY.

If not, you can kiss this country goodbye within the next 20 years.

And one way or another, I won't be around to see it.  I'll either die of natural causes, or I'll die in combat fighting the Islamic murderers.

If I have my choice between the two, I'd rather it be the latter.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

I Have These Old Boots...

 

These desert boots were issued to me in 1995 when I was sent on Temporary Duty Assignment back to Dhahran Air Base, Saudi Arabia, the same base I was at during the Gulf War.  The USAF Security Police set up a permanent presence at that base, and when the 1st Security Police Squadron (Provincial) moved out in March 1991 they sent other Security Police units in to fill the gap. Hence was created the 4404th Security Police Squadron (Provincial) which was in operation until the Air Force ceased operations at that location in 1996 after the Khobar Towers bombing.  They moved the unit to Prince Sultan Air Base, a more remote and much more secure location, operating there until they ceased operations entirely and closed the unit down.  When I was deployed TDY  in 1995 they issued me three pairs of Desert Camouflage Uniforms (DCUs) and this pair of jungle boots. 

This all came in handy when I was sent TDY to Jordan in 1997, and it was during that deployment that these boots earned their relevance to me.

I've always been a history buff, specifically about the War Between the States era in US history, but I'm also a fan of history overall.  That's why I found the TDY to Jordan particularly interesting, educational, and downright fascinating.  The Jordanian Air Force Base where we were stationed was close enough to both Agaba (yes, THAT Agaba, of "Alladin" fame) and the ancient city of Petra that the Morale, Welfare, and Education branch set up tours to both cities.  I made it to both, with one of the fascinating things on the trip to Agaba being that you could stand on the beach and see three different countries.  

But what I found the most fascinating took place on the trip I took to the ancient city of Petra.  We were told on both trips that we would be doing a lot of walking, sometimes in sand or on broken ground, so we should wear the appropriate footwear.  So naturally I wore my desert boots on both trips.  It wasn't too bad in Agaba, but Petra was another thing entirely.

My group took a walking tour of the ancient city, a tour that led us through dwellings carved into the sides of mountains, some of them very high up while most were at ground level.  Back in those days the higher up on the cliff you were the wealthier you were, so that was an indication of prominence and wealth.  We also saw what was called "Ceremonial Rock," a big flat rock elevated pretty high up that overlooked the road we had just come down.  This location was where the wealthy had their funerals, or more specifically, their cremations.  The flat top of the rock was still blackened from the countless fires that had been there during the countless cremations.  

Yeah, that was kinda spooky, but interesting at the same time.

We also walked past the ruins of a building that was identified as being built by the Romans around 300 BC or so.  It took 50 years to build, but it was still there two thousand years later!

The best part of the trip, however, came when my group arrived at the entrance to a narrow canyon that led to a temple.  We were all surprised to see that you could actually rent horses and ride down through the canyon, and we were blown away when the Jordanians told us that this was the canyon featured in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," and that the temple at the end was the one shown in the movie.  So naturally we all rented a horse and did our best Indiana Jones impressions as we rode down the canyon to the temple.

And the temple flat blew me away.  It was huge, just like in the movie, and the guide told us that it was hand-carved out of the solid rock of the cliff face.  You could see the hand holds carved into the face of the cliff leading up the sides where the workers had used them to get up that high.  It was absolutely beautiful and awe-inspiring to say the least.  The inside was vastly different than the movie, though - it was nothing but one big square room with a stone altar at one end with two smaller adjoining rooms, one on each side.  I later found my way up to the ledge where the distance shot of Indy and his group arriving at the temple had been taken, with a small plaque there telling me about it.  Of course I took a picture, but it's not a digital picture so I don't have it available to post here.

But here's the part about the whole trip that fascinated me most, and the part that explains why the boots play a part in all this.

Remember the road I told you we were walking down on the walking tour?  Well, as it turns out that cobblestone road was built by the Roman Legions, and was still in use.  When I discovered this it stopped me in my tracks.  I looked down at my boots and the road, pausing as I realized what was happening.

I was wearing US military issue desert boots while walking down the same road that the Roman Legions had built and had walked on wearing leather sandals - more than two thousand years apart.

Call me sentimental or overly dramatic, but that thought just blew me away and has stuck with me ever since.  Yeah, I'm that kind of person.

I use the boots now as my summer riding boots for my motorcycle.  They're very comfortable and a hell of a lot cooler than my leather biker boots, and I'll wear them until they wear out.

Then I'll tuck them away with my other military clothing I still have from my time in the service where they'll stay until it's time to let my son figure out what to do with them when the time comes.

Hopefully that won't be anytime soon.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

Let's Talk Holsters

 

Let's get right to the point, shall we?

Nylon holsters suck.  

I've been carrying concealed since 1993, and I've tried all different kinds of holsters.  Leather, nylon, Kydex, you name it, I've tried it.  And the one inevitable conclusion that I have come to is that nylon holsters suck.  Regardless of who makes them (but especially Uncle Mike's) nylon holsters suck.  

Now let me explain why.

First and foremost, they're not pistol-specific.  They're all generic, made to fit a certain size of pistol, not a certain style or model.  That means the pistol may or may not fit snugly in the holster like it should, and if it doesn't fit snugly then it's gonna move around in the holster - and that may lead to it falling out, even with a hammer strap.   

Second, the nylon material can't support the weight of a large pistol like leather will.  It will sag, lose its shape, and may once again let the pistol fall out (if it's a shoulder holster).   If it's an OWB holster (Outside Waist Band) the straps that your belt go through will lose their shape which will prevent the holster from sitting snug against your body like it should.  It will also allow the holster to flop around, and that's not good.

But IMHO the absolute worst kind of nylon holster is a shoulder holster.  These abominations are just that - abominations.  The whole purpose of a shoulder holster is to be able to carry a pistol concealed without letting anyone else know you have it, and a nylon shoulder holster won't do this.  Nylon shoulder holsters all have these large shoulder pads, and they're festooned with big, plastic buckles.  These buckles are needed because as with all nylon holsters, nylon shoulder holsters are generic.  And in a bid to make them more compatible with more pistols, the manufacturers make them infinitely adjustable - which means lots of extra strap left over to flop around, and LOTS of buckles.

And anyone who's worn a shoulder holster knows that buckles "print."  That means you can see the outline of the buckle under the shirt you're wearing, and that's not good.  It tells people you're armed, and that defeats the purpose of carrying concealed. 

There's only ONE nylon holster out there that I'll use, and that one is the ankle holster made by Crossbreed.  It's made of heavy duty Cordura nylon and is the most stable, most comfortable ankle holster I've ever worn.  I carry a .380 in that Crossbreed holster all the time, and it's so comfortable that I can wear it all day long.  It's very snug and won't flop around on your ankle, and since it has a retaining strap that goes around the top, thick part of your calf, it won't fall down onto your foot.  If you're gonna use an ankle holster, then Crossbreed is the way to go.

Now, about Kydex holsters.  I have several, and I like them.  But NOT for shoulder holsters!  IWB and OWB, yes, but a shoulder holster - NO.  And I say that for the same reasons I hate nylon shoulder holsters.  The straps and buckle system is the same as for nylon shoulder holsters.

So in case you haven't figure it out yet, my favorite kind of holster and the one I use most often is a leather shoulder holster.  I'm a BIG fan of Galco, and have been using their holsters since 1993.  I bought my first pistol, a Beretta Model 92FS in 9mm that year, and the first thing I did was buy a Miami Classic shoulder holster from Galco.  (The picture at the top of the page is a Miami Classic.)

33 years later the holster is still going strong.  I like this holster so much I bought two more, one for my Springfield Mod 2 .45 and another for my Springfield Hellcat 9mm.  

IMHO holsters are the epitome of the old saying, "You get what you pay for."  If you're gonna drop $600+ on a quality pistol, then why in hell would you cheap out and buy a $45 holster for it?  Spend the money and buy a good, quality holster befitting of the pistol you just bought.  Besides, a cheap holster just may cost you your life when it fails at a critical time.

And that ain't good.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

I Have This Old Hat...

 

Something that most of you don't know about me is that I'm an avid 'hat fan.'  I've loved and worn hats my entire life, and have quite the collection of assorted hats.  I'm sure by now that anyone who knows me knows that I'm also an avid American History buff, specifically the War Between the States and the events leading up to that tragic event.  

So what this has to do with my hat collection is that part of this collection consists of five hats (reproductions, of course) from that war; specifically, two forage caps and three kepis.  For those of you who don't know the difference between the two, the hat I'm wearing in the picture at the top of this blog is a forage cap; the picture below is a kepi.  The difference is in the height of the crown and the way the crown sits.

(No, that's not a Yankee kepi, it's a Confederate General Officer's kepi.  Confederate general officers and members of the general's staff wore dark blue kepis, and the number of quatrefoil braids denoted their rank.  One braid for lieutenants, two for captains, three for majors and colonels, and four for generals.  Some Confederate generals wore five braids, such as George Pickett.) 

I bought my first forage cap way back in 1974 from someplace in New Jersey, believe it or not, and I wore that hat until I outgrew it.  And when I say I wore it, I mean I wore it EVERYWHERE.  When I graduated from Air Force Basic Training in August of 1975 and had my parents ship my civilian clothing to me, I made sure they included my forage cap.  That cap is now hanging on a wall in my bourbon room under a picture by Mort Kuntsler named "Confederate Sunset."  When I went to Korea in 1979, a cavalry kepi I owned at the time went with me.  

Which brings me to the "old hat" I referred to in the title of this entry and the one picture at the top of the page.

I bought this forage cap in early 1999 from a company in Shepherdstown, West Virginia called "The Depot," and I think I paid $35 for it.  As soon as it arrived and I got my first look at it, I was blown away by the quality and the authenticity.  The cap was hand-sewn except for the leather bill, and it was absolutely historically correct in every way.  The first thing I did was put a pair of crossed sabers on the crown as I'm a cavalry fan, and that was the only modification I've ever done to it.

Well, that was 27 years ago, and the cap is still going strong.  There's a little bit of sweat bulging in the leather of the bill next to the sweatband, but that's to be expected.  The leather sweatband is holding up fine with no signs of deterioration or rot AT ALL.  (Usually the sweat band is the first thing to go.)  

So today I got curious about the company that made the cap since I wouldn't mind buying another one from them.  After about half an hour of research (thank you, ChatGPT) I discovered a couple of things the sorta blew my mind.

The first is that The Depot is no longer in business.  It was a family-owned business which had a reputation for making THE BEST forage caps and kepis on the market at the time.  They took pride in using the exact same historically correct shades of fabric, and constructed their caps the same way they were constructed in 1861 - namely, by hand.  The cotton liner is also historically correct, as is their company logo stamped on the inside of the crown.  The chin strap, buckle, and side buttons are also historically correct.  I had stumbled on the Crown Jewel of forage caps and didn't know it.

The other thing I discovered is what kind of blew me away.  The Depot had such a good reputation among re-enactors and history buffs due to the quality of their caps that, since the company no longer exists, the caps are now considered collector's items and can sell for anywhere from $100 - $150! 

Well, shut my mouth!

So am I gonna sell mine?  Oh, HELL NO!  I love my forage cap and wouldn't think of selling it!  (I'm actually wearing it right now as I'm typing this out!)  

But there is this reproduction of "Stonewall" Jackson's forage cap out there that I've got my eye on...you can never have too many hats, y'know!

Deo Vindice

IHC  

 

 

 

Nothing To Brag About

 

First and foremost, let me say that the medal depicted in the above meme is NOT an official decoration/award issued by or approved for wear and use by the Department of War.  It's a "feel good" award - or rather, a participation trophy - created by a civilian company that I won't name to accomplish two things:  make former military members who didn't serve in a war zone feel good about themselves, and to make money off of those feelings.  But mostly to make money.

But I digress.

As I said in my Facebook post (for those of you who may have seen it), I realize my opinion on this topic is gonna hurt some feelings, but I can't help that.  I call 'em as I see 'em, and how I see 'em in this instance is clear as a bell - to me, anyway.

Bragging about being a Cold War Veteran is like bragging about going to a whorehouse and not getting fucked.  It's nothing to brag about, so why do it?

I did a bit of research as I always do, and what I discovered about the military conflicts that the United States military has been involved in from 1947-1991 (the Cold War years) kinda surprised me.  The US has been involved in a lot of conflicts during that time period, everything from police actions to wars to interventions.  Some of them lasted for only months, some a year, some for 20 years or longer.  But here's the part that surprised me.

The longest time that the US went without being involved in a military conflict of some type was ten years, specifically from the end of combat operations in the Vietnam War in 1973 to the Grenada Invasion of 1983.  I would have thought it would have been a longer time period than that, but apparently not. 

So what this means is that if you served in the US military from 1974 through 1982, you didn't have the opportunity to serve in a combat area, and that's not your fault.  If you served from 1984 to 1989, you also didn't have the chance to serve in a combat area.  Other than that, if you served in the US military in a time period outside of these two, you had the opportunity to serve in a combat area.

If your unit didn't deploy, then that's not on you.  If you wanted to go but couldn't, that's not on you either.  But if you had the chance to go and chose not to, then that IS on you.  And I speak as someone who had the chance NOT to go, but volunteered to go anyway.  That was why I joined the military to begin with, and when the opportunity came along I took it.

So let me ask all of you who fit in the category of which I'm writing a question:  isn't the fact that you served in the first place enough to brag about?  Why not be proud of that and brag about that instead of bragging about being a "Cold War veteran?"  After all, only around 10% of the US citizens will serve in the military, and out of that amount only 3% will serve for 20 years or more.  So just by putting on the uniform you join the elite of American society.  Why not be proud of and brag about that?

I have the utmost respect for anyone who has served or who is serving in the US military (with the exception of the National Guard) and will support those folks for the rest of my life.  You and I are brothers and sisters in service, and I admire all of you.  Thank you for your service.

Bragging about being a "Cold War veteran" only denigrates your service and makes you look like a chump, so don't do it. 

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

 

Time to Close The Door

 

The last time I reopened my Facebook account after closing it down for a few months, I did it for a reason and posted the reason here.  I wanted to see just how many of my so-called "friends and brothers" from the Masonic lodge would contact me after the unfortunate events of last year, and I'll admit that when I started this experiment I didn't have very high hopes.  I had a feeling I knew what would happen, and I'm admittedly disappointed that time and events have proven me to be correct.  I can count the number of so-called "friends and brothers" who have contacted me over the past 14 months on one hand and have a couple of fingers left over.  

To those select few - and you know who you are - thank you.  As you have proven to be there for me, I will always be there for you.  That's the kind of person I am.

For the rest of you, talk to the hand.  You've proven to me to be nothing but a bunch of hypocrites with a select few of you being outright liars, with a Past Master unfortunately being one of them.   All of you have broken your obligations as a Master Mason, and I have no further use for you.  You have no place at my table, so from here on you can just go hungry.

So now it's time to close that door for good and get on with the rest of my life.  The Life Clock is ticking, and I don't intend to waste a single second of it on people and things that aren't worth it.  I have places to go, roads to ride, and new friends to meet, and I don't intend on letting anything or anyone get in my way.

And now it's time to ride.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

Mass Immigration - What The Left Won't Tell You

 

Illegal immigration has been the hot topic ever since Trump took office for his second term, and ever since then the Demoncrats have been doing everything they possibly could to stop his deportation of these criminals.  (And yes, if you enter this country illegally you are a criminal.)  But there's a lot of bad things about mass immigration that the left won't tell you, and they won't tell you for two reasons:  first, they're all true, and second, it exposes them for the liars that they are.  So here are those truths, and get ready because a couple of them will take you by surprise.

1.  Mass immigration brings rapid demographic replacement.  When immigration remains high while the native-born population ages and records low birth rates, the local population inevitably becomes the minority in their own country.

2.  It increases housing demand almost immediately, while new homes take years to plan and build.  When population growth outruns supply, prices for new homes and rents rise and housing becomes more unaffordable. 

3.  Mass immigration weakens social cohesion.  Large immigrant conclaves allow people to live, work and socialize without adopting the local language or customs, leading to lower trust.   

4.  Violent crime increases.  When non-English speaking immigrants enter this country and can't find a decent job, they turn to crime in order to survive.  Additionally, the moral standards in most third world countries are either so low or completely non-existent that crime is the norm and the only way they know how to survive, so they bring that way of life with them.   

5.  It forces taxpayers to fund more public infrastructure, like roads, railways, schools, hospitals, water systems and electricity networks.   Much of this spending merely maintains existing service levels that are now over-taxed by the flood of immigrants rather than improving standards.

6.  It negatively effects elections.  Immigrants from non-English speaking backgrounds are more likely to vote for left-wing parties, shifting electoral outcomes and encouraging politicians to court ethnic voting blocs rather than serve a shared national interest.  But of course, this is exactly what the Demoncrats are hoping for with their stance on immigration.

7.  It undercuts local workers by increasing competition for jobs, weakening wage growth and reducing incentives to improve the skills of local workers.  It also exposes migrants to exploitation, allowing dishonest employers to undercut businesses which pay proper wages.

8.  Mass immigration brings in far more people who end up in low-skilled work.  Instead of tightly selected quality intake, countries end up with a swollen intake of Uber drivers and fast-food workers.  This is because most immigrants who enter this country illegally do so with no marketable skills, or skills of any kind.  And because they don't speak English and refuse to learn the language they can't be trained for complex tasks.

9.  It erases a nation's story.  When large migrant communities identify more strongly with ancestral homelands than with the country's heritage, history and traditions, continuity between past, present, and future is destroyed.  

And in case you haven't been paying attention, the Demoncrats are all in for bringing in as many immigrants to this country, both legally and illegally, as they possibly can for one simple reason - they know that the immigrants will vote for them and give them the power they crave.

But of course the Demoncrats will tell you that illegal immigrants don't vote, something that we all know is total bullshit and a complete lie by the recent revelations concerning just that.  This is why the Republicans want the SAVE Act, and why the Demoncrats are fighting it.

Teddy Roosevelt said it best way back in 1919:   

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.” 

 

I believe this with all my heart.  Too bad that half of the country doesn't.  There was a time when the Democratic party was indeed the people's party, and had the best interest of the people in mind.  All that changed when LBJ took over as President after he had Kennedy killed (yes, I said it), and now it is my firm belief that the biggest threat to our nation's safety and security is the Demoncratic party.

 

Prove me wrong.

 

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

This Is Why

 

If you've ever wondered why me and others like me insists on being armed everywhere we go, this is why.  The shootings yesterday at the In N Out Burgers restaurant in Idaho - and every mass shooting ever, to be honest - are why.  This is a picture of Jordan Salinas returning fire on the asshole who started shooting at a fast food restaurant in Idaho yesterday.  And by Jordan's own description, the shooter was "shocked" that someone was actually shooting back.

And THAT is the whole point of average citizens carrying a gun everywhere they go.  The shooter wasn't expecting anyone to shoot back; if he was, I doubt if he would have done it in the first place.  

Jordan began training on firearms use in 2021 after he witnessed a mass shooting, vowing to never be a victim and to help if he could.  So he started training, posting videos of his training on YouTube.  And he got good. He got VERY good, and his actions yesterday prove it.  (And just for the curious, the pistol he's using here is an FN/FAL fitted with a laser sight and a suppressor.)  The police are crediting him and an off-duty state police officer who also returned fire with saving untold lives by driving the shooter out of the area and into cover, preventing him from shooting anyone else.  He then took his own life, as most mass shooters do since they're all nothing but fuckin' cowards to begin with.

What I'm gonna say next is going to be controversial and some people may disagree with it, but that's fine.  Disagree all you want, but what I'm going to say is fueled by the truth.

We live in a dangerous world, a world where the decay of society and moral standards has reached the point where it's no longer safe for people to walk the streets without fear of being shot by some deranged asshole.  The police can't help you because they're not your personal bodyguards, something that the SCOTUS has already said.  The police are, by the nature of their jobs, reactive instead of proactive when it comes to things like this.  So don't expect the police to be able to help you, because they can't.

And NO, the solution is NOT to ban firearms.  That won't work, and anyone with an ounce of common sense knows it (which leaves out every leftist moron on the planet).  Banning guns will work just about as good as making drugs illegal did with the drug trade, so don't even go there.

The ONLY solution is to make people afraid that other citizens will start shooting back.  (Here's where the controversial part comes in.)

Criminals don't fear the law.  They don't fear the police.  They don't fear jail.  So they certainly don't fear the average citizen.  And we as a society need to change this.  We need to start making the criminals fear the public instead of the other way around.  And the ONLY way to do that is to fight back - which means to start shooting back.

It is my humble opinion that every man and woman in this country should be trained on how to use a firearm, and then carry that firearm with them everywhere they go.  I'll go so far as to say it should be required by law that every adult citizen both male and female take that training and then be armed at all times.  When the perceived 'helpless victims' start shooting back, THEN and ONLY THEN will things change.

Can you imagine what would happen if a deranged person (and I say person because there have been female mass shooters as well as male) walked into a public place and started shooting, and then EVERY ADULT IN SIGHT pulled a firearm and started shooting back?  I think it would only take once, maybe twice, for that to happen before mass shootings became a thing of the past.

And don't even start with the "Gun Free Zone" bullshit, because that's what it is - bullshit.  97% of the mass shootings that have taken place in the past 20 years have taken place in a 'gun free zone,' so just STFU with that shit.  They should be called "Unarmed Victim Zones" because that's what they are.  Anyone who thinks that a criminal is going to give a shit that they're in a gun free zone is a fuckin' moron, especially Nancy Pelosi.  (She's the one who said that if a criminal saw the gun free zone sign that he'd just put his gun down and go home.  Fuckin' moron.)  

So how can you make it easier for people to abide by the law that they take the training and be armed at all times?  Easy - make both the cost of the training and the purchase of the firearm, ammunition, and holster tax deductible.  Easy enough.  The hard part will be getting our do-nothing Congress off of their fat asses to get the legislation done.  But that's another topic for another time.

In the mean time, as was just proven by Jordan Salinas, training and carrying a firearm with you is the solution to the problem of mass shootings.  That's why I carry a firearm with me everywhere I go, unless prohibited by law.  (And don't even get me started on why I can't carry a firearm in church, on school grounds, or at the doctor's office.)

I sincerely hope and pray that I never have to do what Jordan Salinas did, but know that if I ever find myself in his situation I absolutely won't hesitate to do what he did.  Only it's gonna be a lot louder when I do it because I don't own a suppressor.

Yet.

Deo Vindice

IHC