Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

We are not allowed to have yard signs here, but I wouldn't want one anyway. Same goes for my car and boat. I don't want/need the attention - negative or positive.

Things are generally quiet here, at this time of year. Snowbirds are gone (thank you) and we can get into restaurants quite easily.

Haven't been on the boat much lately. Seems like there is a lot of rain/storms on the weekends and nice during the week.

you fellas entertain yerselves however y'all like

I'm going to the golf course and then to the bar
it's a tough job but someone has to sell shit

spent yesterday the same way

tomorrow I'll spend the afternoon /evening with my brother.
He's visiting from Texas - enjoying the cool weather

Ever try to shoot a 44 one-handed?

Things aronud here seem pretty "normal".  It's hot of course, it's July.  I sometimes muse about Sherman's troops in 1864 marching around in dark blue wool uniforms in this kind of heat.  Many were from the midwest, and upper midwest.  Cincinnati was pretty bad in July and August as well, more humid generally.  I went running yesterday and it was tolerable around 11 AM, there was a breeze and the track is about a third shaded.  I run on the track because the sand is a bit softer than asphalt and I know where I am distancewise.  I usually see 4-5 other runners out there, but I noted only 1 yesterday other than me.

This is something I think about in a similar context.  I've mentioned before that my family published a diary that my 2-Great Grandfather wrote while serving in the 97th OVI during the Civil War.  We don't have any more copies but if you want one from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Joshua-DeWees-His-Civil-diary/dp/B0006P51OY

Anyway, your comment on musing about Sherman's troops reminded me of something that I thought when reading his diary.  Having lived in Cincinnati, I am sure you are familiar with that ENORMOUS hill as you head South after crossing the river.  I've driven up in many times, in a car, with air conditioning, at 75 MPH.  

Joshua's unit mustered in in SE Ohio then went to a camp in the Columbus area for training.  When the Confederates invaded Kentucky the Union commanders cut short training of units in Ohio and sent them South to confront the threat.  This was, or at least could have been, a VERY serious threat to the Union.  To put it in context, Lincoln once said that he "hoped God was on his side, but he had to have Kentucky."  

My 2-Great Grandfather and his unit took a train to Cincinnati then a boat across the river, then they marched to Perryville Kentucky where he helped turn back the Confederate invasion thus saving Kentucky.  

They did the march in blue wool uniforms in September while carrying food, ammunition, weapons, tents, etc.  Every time I drive up that hill on I75 I think to myself "they must have been a lot tougher back then because I'd have gotten half way up this hill and thought 'why don't we just let the South go?'".  

Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 and worked as a dietary aide at a nursing home less than a mile from his family's house. A colleague told CNN that he had never expressed political views at work and wasn't "a radical."

Both of Crooks' parents worked as social workers, CNN reported, citing state license records. His mother is registered as a Democrat, while his father is registered to vote as a Libertarian.

I'd guess the parents would be the ones placing signs in their yard, or not placing signs.  We have two reports published, one saying they had "MAGA" signs, one saying they had none.  I don't see why it would be of consequence.  Everyone would like for the individual to be "highly political" in the other direction, but that does not appear to be the case at this point. 

I've known some folks some might term "gun nuts", they were all pretty sane apparently, but had MANY guns in their possession, like 40+.  Two were coworkers, one of them taught the concealed carry course, he did a fine job I thought.  He had laid out about 30 handguns on his pool table for instruction purposes.  I'd probably term them "gun enthusiasts" rather than nuts.

I'd note in most states, being registered this or that meant they voted in that primary the last time they voted.

Jon Stewart had a hilarious part of his show about this, about everyone wanting this guy to be clearly and definitively a member of the "other team".  Stewart was honest about it and referred to him as pretty hard to pin down because there are a lot of conflicting indications such as being registered R but donating to a left-wing PAC, etc.  

Not only was that hill coming up from the river steep and tall, Kentucky is obviously quite hilly between there and Lexington.  

A lot of the Civil War battlefields are surrounded by hilly terrain.  Going up South Mountain to confront Lee at Antietam would have been a slog, and they were under fire.

Union forces somehow rushed up Lookout Mountain and dislodged Confederate positions in part because the Rebels couldn't shoot down the steep slope very well.

Kennesaw Mountain isn't much of a mountain, but it's steep.

Yeah, I'd have been thinking "Let'em go and I'll head home."

A person who is "insane" using the common definition may not have a rational motivation anyone could understand.  The Texas shooter in Austin had apparent brain problems that may have led to his actions with no political angle.  With all the emphasis on "assault rifles", I continue to note mass shooters often can do the same amount of damage with other firearms (and most mass shootings are done with handguns at close range).

Date: August 1, 1966
Firearm(s): Remington .35 pump rifle, Remington 6mm bolt-action deer rifle, .30 M-1 Carbine; .25 pistol, 9mm Luger pistol, Smith & Wesson .357 magnum pistol, and a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun