Odds ‘n Sods:

Next on my reading pile is Richard J. Johnson’s book Redoubts: Paleopopulism at Twilight. Though ranty in spots, this looks like a cogent collection of essays.

   o o o

Several readers mentioned a propaganda piece in the Washington Times that quotes Chinese military planners boasting about their nuclear strike capability on the United States. In my estimation this blustering is more about China’s economic goals than it is about actual military plans. China aims to crush the United States economically in the long term, but in the near term they need the American consumer market, to keep their many factories busy. Their immediate goal appears to be undermining the reserve currency status of the US. Dollar. (And as long as the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve are using Ma and Pa Kettle math through Quantitative Easing, they are contributing to the demise of the Dollar.) The latest nuclear braggadocio of the Chinese plays into this, subtly boosting the gravitas of their Yuan/Remnibi. A recent $57 Billion Chinese currency swap agreement with the ECB is further evidence of a coming sea change, as is China’s very aggressive buying of gold.

   o o o/

I heard about a company called Hidden Hybrid Holsters. By neatly blending Kydex with a comfortable leather backing, their concealment holsters are some of the best on the market. My query to the company confirmed that their holsters are made in Ohio, with local materials and craftsmanship: Their leather pieces are made in Ohio by the Amish, and they make their own Kydex shells and assemble everything in house, in Ohio.

   o o o

The Second Amendment Trumps (at least in Florida): Sheriff Reinstated After Jury Acquits. (This appears to be a good example of Jury Nullification.)

   o o o

Study: Bat-to-Human Leap Likely for SARS-Like Virus

   o o o

File Under: Ironic Surnames: Woman on Phone Drives Jeep into Herd of Cows