RECCE ROOM

  It was 65 degrees when I stepped out onto the farm in Mercer, Tennessee. Not a cloud in the sky. The kind of late afternoon where the sun lingers just long enough to remind you it won’t be here forever. Birds were calling to one another across the open land, and for a moment, it felt like nothing had changed. But everything had. It was a little after 5 p.m., and the quiet hit differently than I remembered. Not empty. Not lonely. Just… still. The kind of stillness that doesn’t ask anything from you, but quietly invites you to notice it. There was no movement from the neighboring property. No distant machinery. No voices. Just the land, breathing slowly under a soft sky. I didn’t walk the whole 18 acres. I didn’t need to. My feet carried me toward what used to be the center of everything—the place where a house once stood, where a garage once echoed with the sounds of work, where life once gathered in predictable, meaningful patterns. That’s the thing about land like this. You...

Rifleman.  noun - "a person skilled at the use of a rifle" The pistol is a tool for daily carry - to prevent others from imposing their will on you. A shotgun is a hunting tool and a home defense tool - and in home defense, it dominates the handgun distance fight. A rifle, however, is different. It is a tool that can be used to impose your will on others. History is filled with examples of force used without moral governance. Therefore, if you are going to be a Rifleman, you must strive to act with righteousness!  A warrior and a Rifleman are not interchangeable terms, though they are often spoken as if they are. The key difference is that a warrior may or may not act in righteousness, depending on to whom he is conscripted. A Rifleman must must strive to act with righteousness . At the center of this distinction stand three commitments that define the Rifleman’s place in the world: Life, Liberty, and Responsibility. These are not slogans or borrowed phrases, but guiding ...

Seen in the wild. This individual has some interesting takes on training. Of note, he lists himself as a former firearms instructor for what appears to be a law enforcement organization. Note the word former . That matters. PICTURE 1 In the first image, he rails against training facilities that use words like “tactical,” “defensive,” “special,” or “advanced.” He declares that you cannot teach anything of value in a few hours or in a single eight hour day. He also insists that anything “tactical” or “realistic” cannot be trained in an air conditioned environment. That is a remarkable stack of absolutes. He goes on to say it took him four hours to properly teach nomenclature, and another four to teach grip and stance. If that is his baseline, that tells us more about his methodology than about anyone else’s. Yes, the photo he criticizes shows an imperfect grip. That happens. It happens with brand new civilian shooters. It happens with military personnel. It happens with law enforcemen...

A reader writes in: "You have been married so long, but you do not advise men to get married? Make it make sense!" Here’s the truth: this author has been married 27+ years at the time of this post. One more fact matters: between 1997 and 2002, this author attended many weddings. And yet, only one of those marriages is still intact—and this post comes from the husband in that singular anomaly. Firsthand experience shows how many marriages do not work...  Statistics show the most likely outcome in marriage is divorce: 75%+++ Imagine paying for a skydive and the worker saying, “Hey, 75% or more of the parachutes do not open.” Would anyone do it? Of course not. Insane. The fact that one of the few parachutes actually works proves only that it’s possible—not that it should be tried. Looking back at all the weddings attended from 1997–2002, this remains the only one still intact. This is a scream from the rooftops: “Don’t go skydiving—the parachutes do not work! This was the only ...

What did we learn last week? Well, we learned two key things about "Law Enforcement" that this blog has been shouting from the rooftops for years.  Police have no duty to protect you... and they won't.  But Police do have a "duty" to arrest you for DUI - even if you are sober.  From the news: Jury acquits ex-officer of charges he failed his duty to confront gunman in Texas school shooting . In the article, it is mentioned that another officer is also charged, and that it is expected the prosecutor will drop those charges. Why? Well, the article states it a bit further down, plain as day:  "Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers."  Yes, a particular instance is cited, but no, it really does not matter the charge - police are rarely charged and even more rarely convicted, often despite overwhelming evidence. Also from the news:  THP colonel defends DUI arrests amid wrongful arrest allegations . Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) has ...

I recently learned of the passing of a professor of math. Ossama Saleh taught mathematics at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He passed on November 30, 2024.  I took two classes from Saleh - Math 135 (Pre Calculus I) and Math 145 (Pre Calculus II). I made easy "A's" in both classes. This was in 1993 and 1994.  I thought he was a decent enough teacher at the time. Although his ratings at "Rate My Professor" would indicate a different story. Perhaps I did well because I had a better foundation from high school. I do remember that I had seen all of the material (or at least the vast majority of it) prior.  My son had a class with him the same semester he passed - Fall 2024.  30 years apart, we both had the same instructor. That is longevity. I wish the man no ill will, may he rest in peace.