Dispatches from the (Second) Civil War

by Fred Ray August 23, 2017

Which, let us pray, never actually comes to the shooting stage. Nevertheless the madness continues unabated, with statues and images that everyone has ignored for years suddenly becoming threatening. It’s beginning to look like some Banana Republic where people are disappeared in the middle of the night. Speaking of which, the University of Texas disappeared […]

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The Volcanic Pistol

by Fred Ray August 19, 2017

Ian at Forgotten Weapons takes an in-depth look at the Volcanic pistol, or rather several of them. In the mid-1850s the company manufactured a ten shot pistol that was not a revolver (and thus had no patent worries from Colt). It also brought together three men who would become giants in the firearms field, whose […]

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Happenings in the Land of the Tarheels

by Fred Ray August 18, 2017

I mentioned earlier that a group of vandals had pulled down a statue of a Confederate soldier in Durham. The good news is that the local sheriff has taken it seriously, arresting one woman a few days ago. Yesterday more people turned themselves in to face felony charges, bringing the total to eight. They of […]

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Fast and Furious

by Fred Ray August 17, 2017

Things have been happening so fast it’s almost impossible to keep up with it all. By now everyone will have heard of the events in Charlottesville, VA, where one person died in a riot (and two more in a helicopter crash). The immediate cause was a protest march by far right groups over the removal […]

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Take ’em Down!

by Fred Ray August 11, 2017

The takedown madness continues, and seems to be spreading like an old-fashioned plague. But first let’s take a glance at New Orleans, just lately freed from the oppressive grip of Confederate statues. Even without a hurricane or a really big storm, the city is flooding. Seems that the pumping stations aren’t working, a bad situation […]

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Protecting Streets in Brooklyn, Shooting Cap & Ball Pistols

by Fred Ray August 8, 2017

The latest outrage is that are streets in Brooklyn, NY, named for Confederate generals. Actually they are on a small Army post there, Fort Hamilton. A local politico says “These monuments are deeply offensive to the hundreds of thousands of Brooklyn residents and members of the armed forces stationed at Fort Hamilton whose ancestors Robert […]

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The Economics of Industry in the South

by Fred Ray August 4, 2017

Alan Guelzo, a professor at Gettysburg College and Director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College, has an article in USA Today speculating about what might have happened if the South had seceded. On some things I agree with him, that the secession of Dixie might have spurred further secessions (notably the Old Northwest, […]

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