A term coined in the mid-2000s about podcasts that stopped releasing new episodes. A show that I listen to recently announced that they would stop making new episodes. I talk about what that means to me as well as some personal information going on in my life and how that effects AltF4.co.
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May 23, 2025 – In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, Chapters 6-9
**Note: May 26, 2025 is a holiday. I am taking one, you should too.**
This week gets into the tactics of concealed carry. It covers the basics of where you might possibly have or use a firearm. I do think what is conspicuously missing is our interactions outside of our own business, home, street or car. We are missing things like church, restaurants, stores and all the places we might be besides the four that he talks about. That being said, we were years away from ‘shall issue’ concealed carry when this book was written. As a result, it is understandable the focus and the omission.
I never knew this but apparently, Ayoob grew up in a family business. A jewelry store to be specific. Rightly so that he was exposed to potential conflict while at the shop. I don’t know but that is possibly as risky of a proposition as being a convenience store owner operator. For most of us, I would guess that having a firearm stashed at work is probably a no go. Likely, carrying concealed would be a better proposition anyway.
My grandfather was a sole proprietor in an shady business. He was a landlord that dealt in the lower tier of renters. As such, he was robbed several times in his career during office hours. Unfortunately, they did get away with his Purple Heart awards from World War II. I would say that he could have benefitted from a gun at his office.
A gun in your home is the most likely place that it will be. While there are many people that are permitted to carry, I suspect that few will actually do it. But, having protection around at home is much more likely which is what makes going into somebody else’s home so risky. Ayoob offers what I think are reasonable tactics still today for dealing with a home invasion and family protection.
When we were living in South Carolina, I don’t think concealed carry was a legal construct. I didn’t investigate thoroughly, but I was told by many residents that it was legal to have a firearm in the glove box. I do know that was the case in other states and so I had no reason to doubt that. This has never been a practice that I have ever been comfortable with or employed.
Today in Oregon, to have a firearm in the glovebox would require you to have a concealed carried permit. Surely others will do this as well but it still doesn’t make it a good idea. I was home a few years ago when the police rang the doorbell. They said that the neighbor had a firearm stolen out of the car and wondered if we had any doorbell footage. I told him I would check and didn’t see anything.
The point being, is that leaving a firearm in the car leaves it out of your control. Run of the mill break-ins can have your property ending up in the black market. It also would be hard to reach when you really need it too. That being said, I could see putting a firearm in the car when going on a road trip or something. Where legal of course.
I know that I skipped around a little bit but the last chapter I am going to talk about is the gun in the street. Ayoob really is focused on the tactics of deploying a firearm in the streets but this is really the run of the mill concealed carry. I suspect that it is pretty sound advice but I do think that it should be taken with a grain of salt. A lot of this has changed but you do need to be aware of the term brandishing.
Brandishing is flashing a firearm with the intent of intimidation. I am more than sure Ayoob is not implying that you brandishing is a valid technique, but the wording and the way that it is written kind of, sort of seems that way. Once again, in states where that is a crime you are only legal to display a firearm when you are legal to use one. States that permit open carry typically do not have brandishing laws. The point remains that you need to know your state laws down pat.
There is a concept in this chapter that is talked about but it also comes up later in the book in a big way. That is, it is cheaper to not get in an altercation than to be in the right. I will save most of that for next week. Suffice to say, carrying a gun is a tool in the toolbox. It doesn’t mean that it is the first or best or only tool.
End Your Programming Routine: Good stuff. I keep saying that with all that has changed in this landscape, the tactics remain good and legally defensible. It helps to know and understand the history and evolution to be able to pick out the nuances and changes. Reading this book has inspired me to get the updated book that Ayoob has published because I suspect that most of what is wrong here gets corrected. It won’t be the next book but it will be soon.
May 22, 2025 – Hiking the Oregon Coast Trail
This is the self proclaimed guidebook that you don’t need. I didn’t say that, Bonnie Henderson the author did. The Oregon Coast Trail is a route that runs the entire length of the Oregon Coast. It is also one that I have hiked a portion of in the early 1990s as it was being actively developed.
One of the things native Oregonians stake their claim on is the precedent setting legislation that happened in the 1960s. But it actually starts much earlier, in 1913. Governor Oswald West declared that the Oregon Coast was a state highway. The declaration claimed that the high tide line was the extent of guaranteed access.
In the 1960s, a bill was introduced to make all beach access public. This would be all the sand/shoreline above the high tide land. After a supreme court case was settled, all the beaches became public property. The book claims that there are 262 miles of beach, other sources say 360 miles. It probably depends on how you define beach as to which number you go with.
The reason that the author says that you do not need this guide is because 90% of the trail is on the beach and therefore no trail guide is really needed. I can say with my experience that we walked a lot of the beach, in my memory it was more like 50/50. Memories can be fallible for sure and I have no way of measuring or validating that number. I simply remember spending a fair amount of time in the coastal forest.
The selling point from the author is that this book will make the experience better. For instance, if you want to keep to 90% beach hike, then you will need to ferry across some rivers. If you opt to stay on the ground, then you will need to detour up to a road, likely US101 and cross in a standard fashion. This not only adds some extra miles but also potentially makes your hike more like a highway walk.
From the central coast north, it is relatively populated. What that means is that even walking the beach you can go out to eat or stay the night in a hotel. In theory, you could walk from hotel to hotel for the night making this a very different experience than very remote Pacific Crest Trail. But, if you are more inclined for the roughing it badge, there are tons of camp grounds that provide amenities like water, toilets and cell phone charging.
I have a lot less experience south of the central coast. It is farther from me and there are many less ways to get there. In other words, it is much more wild and rugged. While the beach is 100% open all the time, the author claims that hiking October through April is not recommended due to the amount of water draining to the ocean. I can say for a fact that most cities storm water drains are piped directly to the beach. This can easily become a deluge of water given how much it rains and all of the elevation there is on the coast.
I personally think it would be crazy to hike in the wetter months to begin with. While we don’t have many hurricane type storms, I have seen roofs ripped off of restaurants due to such storms. I can’t imagine being exposed all day in that kind of weather. Not to mention, who would enjoy a day of 4 inches of rain.
My sudden interest in non-PCT trails should be obvious. With my decision to delay my hike a year due to lack of physical fitness, I need to find some places to test my abilities. Being that I am only an hour to the coast, this seems like a natural fit for more exploration. The author also claims that this is a trail that can be done in about 30 days. I am thinking that this actually seems attainable rather than the six months for the whole PCT.
End Your Programming Routine: The recommendation to hike southbound seems tame enough. That is because northbound is into the prevailing wind (which is the way I did it). Those are the kind of recommendations a book like this gives. This is a local author who has done it more than once. Even if I never do the hike, I am proud to support people who are willing to help others with their experience.
May 21, 2025 – Country V. Country
Staying with the theme of keeping it light, I am talking about country music today. One thing that turns me off today is the phenomenon that I call ‘Bro Country’. This is the kind of music that splits the country/popular line. If you ask me, the lyrics are kind of deep country but the delivery (and the singers are not).
My theory is that popular music (Top 40) left the main stream. It is now primarily Hip Hop, Rap and R&B. So naturally, something is going to fill the void. That is country has evolved from it’s traditional roots into popular music. Artist such as Shaboozy and Carrie Underwood live on both charts. Former country artists like Taylor Swift and Leanne Rhimes previously were on both sides.
Blake Shelton is one of those that fits into that category. I want to like the guy because the lyrics appeal to my redneck side. But there is something about the guy that I just cannot quite trust. Maybe it was his humiliation of Miranda Lambert into the arms of Gwen Stefani. It is like he literally left country to go pop. If you are not familiar with Shelton’s work, watch below.
I was introduced to Chris LeDoux in my mid teens. It was definitely his shout out and subsequent song with Garth Brooks that brought Chris into the spotlight. Chris was the real deal, 1979 NFR Bare Back champion. When he sung about Rodeo, you knew it from living it. Unfortunately, Chris died in 2003 from the same liver affliction that killed Walter Peyton, basically no warning.
Speaking of Garth Brooks, not every singer has been there and done that. I think that the difference is that they didn’t try to have an image that they had. Don’t get me wrong, I am not necessarily saying that the likes of Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton and Luke Combs are bad in their own right. But it seems like legitimacy is lacking.
Nepotism runs deep in country music. Go all the way back to Hank Williams Jr in the late 1970s. He of course has one of the seminal works of outlaw country, “Country Boy Can Survive”. But, largely his body of work were covers of his dad’s work. While he is still active in music he has largely been semi-retired since the early 1980s. He spends his time in Montana for the purposes of hunting and fishing. I would say that he hasn’t really been there, done that but he sure lives like a country boy.
Chris LeDoux’s son Ned has continued nearly immediately after Chris’s death. I seen both of them in concert and Ned sounds and looks like a spitting image. It looks like Ned is finally breaking out of his father’s shadow. Not that it is a bad one but I hate to see an artist’s entire schtick on the laurels of somebody else.
When I really started getting into country music, Bro Country really had not become a thing. While I love Alan Jackson, I think that he and Kenney Chesney started the transition with their Jimmy Buffet leaning island songs. While I regret that this happened, Chesney has some really good songs too. So we put up with it until it is too late and a new sound and topics had already been accepted. This of course rapidly spun new artists and groups and Bro Country began.
Not all is lost though. I was watching the ACM music awards with my wife the other night and I saw a new artist named Cody Johnson. While I watched him perform, he reminded me so much of Garth Brooks in his body movements. So, I looked him up and low and behold he was also a bull rider. As I was listening to this song while writing this, I was starting to get a little choked up. Music should connect with the soul.
End Your Programming Routine: I guess this is what is good about America. People can choose what they like. I largely stopped listening to the radio because I don’t like most of the music anymore. It’s not that I don’t like all the newer songs but some of them should have some steel guitar in them, thanks Cody Johnson.
May 20, 2025 – King Makers
This is going to be a light week this week. Tune into next Monday’s podcast to find out more details on why, if you care. I ran across this video a couple of days ago and I don’t know exactly why I watched it, but I did. It was a real eye opener.
Back when I was young, say the 1980s, we could know nearly everything in culture there was to know. If you had cable, listened to the radio and had access to magazines then you were in the know. Being out in the country, nobody had cable until the mid 1980s. But as access was available, some people had cable. That meant MTV and Disney.
I have certainly been aware that Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez came out of Disney programming. The thing that really surprised me was that today’s artists are still coming from Disney. Those would be the very contemporary Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo.
I am fifty now and my kids are in their late teens. It has been ten years since tween oriented shows were playing in my home. As kids do, they would binge watch show after show of some of these titles. I rarely ever paid much attention other than sitting down for 10 minutes to kind of validate that the content was age appropriate. What I am saying is that I pay little attention to what is hot in the grade school demographic.
That being said, I pay little attention to all popular culture other than the headlines I see in the news and what music my kids are streaming on the TV. What got me wondering about all of this is that does Disney just select extraordinary personalities or do those come from spending your youth working on Disney shows? When I think about it, I have to believe it is the latter rather than the former.
I want to say that most people grow out of Disney stars influencing their lives on what is ‘cool’. I want to say that. But, then again I know some adults that are constantly watching Kardashian makeup tips or things of that ilk. What that says to me is that this behavior is programmed from an early age with mechanisms like Disney series.
When we hear the term Oligarchy, I think most of us think drug company execs going into the FDA or at least buying influence. But when I think about it, isn’t this another form of it? Companies taking over brain space to influence future consumer behavior. It is not a conscious behavior but a subconscious one. ‘Experts say do this…’.
Clearly, not every cast member became superstars. Some did but then others didn’t want to go further, some flamed out with personal problems and others just remained in a supporting role. Honestly, I couldn’t think of a better start for an ambitious young person. A highly impressionable and rabid fan base with access to Hollywood’s movers and shakers. Think of the advantage Britney Spears had at the age of 18 compared to the run of the mill high school graduate.
It’s not that those people didn’t have talent. But talent alone doesn’t cut it it requires opportunity. It is the same reason people accel to the position beyond their capabilities. They had the opportunity to advance but not the talent/experience/education to thrive. Similarly, how many people could do the same or better job but are not known (and we never will).
End Your Programming Routine: I think that this kind of programming can be broken. It simply requires becoming conscious of the behavior and draw. I don’t hate Disney nor am I against teen programming. I am not surprised or amazed by their alumni, who else would take command of popular culture but people that have defined it their whole lives. Like all things moderation is the key.
May 19, 2025 – Tunnel Vision
When I look at the calendar, things are pretty booked through late July. This is only a season and I am hoping that with kids starting their own journeys that I can look forward to future years of a more controlled fashion. All this being said, too much focus on the present can loose track of steps to prepare to future projects that need to happen now. I share my tunnel vision and encourage you to take a step back so that you don’t miss the opportunity.
May 16, 2025 – In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, Chapters 3-5
I know that I keep saying this but I feel like this group of chapters is another where time has probably changed prevailing attitudes. For one thing, the deregulation of concealed carry has created an industry of specialized civilian training. And with that, has come a plethora of resources that didn’t exist in 1980 like the internet and podcasts as two examples. I think that those resources have spread a broader net of better information.
I remember as a kid, we would say things like ‘shoot bad guys in the knee’. Of course, I grew up under the shadow of the early westerns and every TV show with a bad guy had a good guy. There was no such show concepts like Breaking Bad where the good guy was also a bad guy or you couldn’t quite draw clear lines. As such, we wanted to do the proverbial ‘shoot ’em in the shoulder’ because the thought of taking life would put us in the bad guy category.
With that strong desire to be a good guy, there was also the idea that we would put the bad guys away with a citizen’s arrest. This is probably the result of too much A-Team or MacGyver. Ayoob did a pretty good job of cautioning the bad guy could turn the tide from captive to captor. That is a pretty valid point because the best practices today would say you shouldn’t draw a gun unless you are justified to shoot in the first place. Holding a perpetrator at gunpoint changes the force equilibrium.
More so than the risks of a captive, if a third party calls in a 911 call, how do the police distinguish between a good and a bad guy? We assume that we are talking about the good guy holding the bad guy at gunpoint but it could be just as easily the other way (for lots of reasons). For reasons of both safety and liability, it is just best to not emulate TV shows with a Citizen’s Arrest.
Regardless of what the police would do, what are you going to do? There is probably a 95% chance that a man beating a woman in the parking lot is the aggressor. But what if you were wrong? What if it was two men fighting, now who is the aggressor? What if one is stabbing another, is that assault or self defense? We just don’t know. It is sad and selfish but it is best for self preservation to not try to pick.
An active shooter is a different story. In that case, there is a clear aggressor. When I talk about concealed carry, I am also talking about a handgun. If you are unfortunate enough to be around an active shooter event the best you are going to do is have a loaded handgun. Handgun against handgun and you have a chance if they are an average marksman. Handgun against a rifle and you are going to need some luck.
Every person needs to make the calculus on what you would do. My values are to get myself and anyone with me away from the shooter. That means that I am not typically looking to engage. If you did, what if the shooter is dead but you also hit a bystander? Are you legally prepared for a lawsuit? It doesn’t matter if the victim should be thankful, he might be looking to cash in or maybe he can no longer work. These are all of the tough choices that need to be made.
Really the last chapter I want to talk about today does not fit into the first two nor next week’s so it ended up here. One of the largest growth factors in firearms has been women. I have to say that his suggestion of a snub nosed 38 special is superseded by many, many better choices today. As an owner of one, it is difficult to shoot well. It also recoils like a getting kicked in the hand. That was probably the best you could do in 1980.
You all know that I am not a woman (even in today’s culture) so it is hard for me to really identify with those particular struggles. That being said, the number of products for women’s concealed carry is a lifetime away from where it was when the book was written. I know for a fact that 5.11 makes yoga pants with integrated holster as an example.
End Your Programming Routine: The fundamentals are definitely 1980s sound. There isn’t much that has changed from the legal standpoint. We are really talking about legal standards that go all the way back to middle ages England, what is another forty-five years? It is the gear that have made exponential improvements. From bullets, holsters, laser aiming devices, flashlights, red dot sights, glow in the dark (tritium) sights, magazine capacities, new calibers, etc. The one right choice in 1980 has a bunch of potential better choices today.
May 15, 2025 – The Luck of the Draw
It definitely remains a fact that we had a great experience while hosting an exchange student in 2019-20. We have subsequently been to Spain as a family and in a few weeks we are hosting his family here. I don’t know how many times we will go back and forth here but I am sure that the invitation is open for years to come. In a chance of fate, our former student will meet our current student in June.
It is also no secret that my son was an exchange student last year. One thing the Rotary strongly encourages is a one for one exchange meaning that we are on the short list to host given that our child was in the program. Due to many extenuating circumstances, including cancer we did not host last year.
One of the things that we have been wary about is that not every exchange experience is a good one. I have stories, trust me. I won’t go into at this time. But, then sometimes you have to take a chance. We did and it has been another good one.
For the sake of privacy, I won’t use his name or show his face. I will call him David as an alias. The photo above is on the way to prom. His date is a class mate that they have several interactions a day with.
It is weird from the standpoint that I have a high school Senior that chose not to go to the prom and then I have an exchange student that really wanted to go. Here I am being a father to a kid that I really don’t know that well. He was dealing with emotions and things that I am not really the best with and nobody else to really get advice from. My wife was in Las Vegas for a girls week, I was all alone in this.
Apparently, there is a little bit of a spark between the two. The first time I heard her name was several weeks earlier from another teenager when they were talking amongst themselves. David decided to go for it. But, he was extremely nervous. He didn’t sleep at night. He called his parents for more advice and then the next day she wasn’t at school. All that played over again and she said yes the day after.
David was on cloud nine. That night he was running around the house yelling and throwing his shirt around. He even poured himself a glass of milk, set it down and jumped up and down promptly spilling his milk (Sshhh… mom doesn’t know, we cleaned it up).
Trying to communicate courting norms to a person that does not speak the language perfectly is challenging. For instance, it is customary to match your accessories to the dress. Not knowing the young lady, we had to rely on him to interpret our message and communicate with her to get this ironed out. It was also very late into the game so we had two days to get the flowers ordered. And because he was gone the rest of the week on a Rotary trip, I had to pick up the flowers and go get David early so that he could get back to prom on time.
There were a number of other things that we had to work our way through to make prom happen. That being said, we did it and he was happy, very happy. Truth be told, I am glad that everything went right and I feel more appreciated by someone that was grateful for the kind of help that we provided. Had it been my own kids, I would have definitely expected some kind of attitude to go along with the preparation. I have a feeling that they would have wanted me to pay for everything and stay out of the rest.
Prom aside, David has taken to doing something that I would consider odd. If I see him when he leaves to go somewhere, he walks out the door saying ‘Love You’. The first time I heard it, I was taken aback. Part of me wonders if he knows what he is saying or at least the context. My boys don’t do that so that makes me wonder if he really does know what he is saying.
It really did get me thinking about things. To host an exchange student really does require a love. It is of course not a romantic love and it is not really an unconditional love that children get. But it is a love a kid that is totally vulnerable and largely alone navigating a foreign land out of faith alone that some people are looking out for his best interest. I have to say that it is totally humbling.
End Your Programming Routine: There is no doubt that we are on the hosting hot sheet. I always imagined that that hosting was a family activity with kids in the home. But, the truth of the matter is that most Rotary hosts are empty nesters. It would seem a little strange to me given that all of my exchange experiences have been with minors in the home but maybe that is what keeps us young. I know that we will probably take a break but I wouldn’t be surprised that this isn’t the last.
May 14, 2025 – What the F*** is a Neo-Con?
One of the podcast in my feed is The Dangerous History Podcast. The host has an unholy obsession with certain figures like Woodrow Wilson but then he also stumbles into some real jewels as well. This episode is one of those. I never even knew that neo-conservative was a thing until I listened to this.
For sure, it is a thing. Wikipedia has an in-depth article that lays it all out. Neo means new and Con is short for conservative. As the story goes, neo-cons originated from the left side of the political spectrum that splintered off from the mainstream left over disapproval of counter-culture and a very hawkish stance on foreign policy in the 1960s. Think JFK/LBJ and the escalation of Vietnam.
There are a couple of other key identifiers of neo-cons. The movement was started by former World War II OSS operatives that have exclusive, educational pedigree. This would be people none other than the likes of George HW Bush. If you follow my work, then you will be familiar with my generational analysis and how the GI generation remained in power until the early 1990s. This means that the neo-neocons are the new neo-cons since there are not too many WWII generation people around, let alone in power.
I have to hand it to CJ. This is some of his best work (that I have heard at least). I do think that it is worth a listen, but I must warn that it is almost four hours long. It is also very detailed and so you might find yourself lost if you are not sharp on mid-century politics and history as well as political science definitions.
If you want to know about the term ‘deep state’, this is a good place to start. CJ does a good job linking the institutions to the administrations. In some cases they are one and the same (GHW Bush) while in others they are a series of stair steps of succession. But generally speaking, the deep state are shadow organizations that fluidly move and interact with the ruling political groups.
The neo-con heyday was post WWII through the Vietnam era. Pure public pressure unseated their influence temporarily (Ford/Carter) but to be restored via Reagan. Reagan was not specifically but his VP GHW Bush was. They retooled and continued their reign through Obama. While the name contains the term conservative, it is important to know that this is not a left/right descriptor.
Many socialist leaning thinkers have solidly adopted the idea of the neo-con. Think about it, if you have the balls to think that you know better than society of the social order and economics issues, why wouldn’t that be the same with foreign policy? Really Clinton, GW Bush and Obama were all neo-cons. All you have to do is look at the historical actions to know.
In my mind, neither Biden nor Trump were not a neo-cons. However, the president does not necessarily have to be if he turns over actions to others that are. So while I would say that Trump is not a neo-con, we will have to wait and see how all of this plays out because Ukraine, Gaza, Iran/Huthis are all sort of teetering on the brink of meddling foreign affairs. While the individual may not be neoconservatism, the legacy certainly might (Biden).
This is a deep and complicated topic. In my mind, this completely explains why GW Bush’s presidency was one of the worst in the two term era. That is not an endorsement of Clinton or Obama but to say the campaign promises and party platform seemed to have no influence whatsoever on the actions once in office. At least we knew that Obama was a race baiter when he was campaigning.
Why is this important? I will tell you why and it comes down to this. Candidates outwardly label themselves in one ideology or another. We think that allows us to process their beliefs and actions. Neoconservatism does not side with Republican or Democrat. It also doesn’t distinguish any sort of domestic economic policy other than to say that if America is top dog internationally, that will work itself out economically. Consequently, it really doesn’t matter which party is in power.
Trump is a disrupter and not a neo-con because he comes from the outside. As much noise that has been made about tariffs and DOGE, very little is different. Neo-cons do not want a Gaza paradise, they are more interested in continuous war. This benefits the military industrial complex and provides the smoke screen for test operations, weapons and political scape goats. This by no means means that we are safe. Rubio is a neo-con and so don’t be surprised if by the end of his term we collectively feel like another dose of the same.
I would say this, the people that have Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) would do well to cast this aside. If they want a real outsider to break the stranglehold of the deep state, this is the best chance there has been in my lifetime. An economic win in Ukraine to end the conflict certainly benefits both sides and is very anti neo-con. I cannot eloquate how ignorant fighting against him solidifies the status quo. That my friends is by design of the deep state, they wouldn’t have it any other way.
End Your Programming Routine: This is the missing link for me. This is what I have not understood about US politics in my entire life. It is the reason that both parties are the same and it is a large reason why I have given up on election hope. Even if we elect a non neo-con, there is no guarantee that a neo-con won’t be installed in an influential position. In fact, it would be highly likely that we will get one especially because we cannot seem to see the forest from the trees.
May 13, 2025 – Fix Your Refrigerator/Freezer Shelf
I have made these shelf fixes more often than I would care to count. Fortunately, the parts are often still available. Search the internet for your model of appliance and you will hopefully get a number of vendor options. You may find OEM options as well as secondary markets. While this fix is easy, it unfortunately is not cheap with OEM parts.
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