CBRent524

@viewsoff We just arrived back from Tuscany. Loved it!

Tuscany, Italy

@Supersonic_Red @KatelynTweeter @ChateauBaconLLC But Mikey is still your oldest child? 😁

@KatelynTweeter @ChateauBaconLLC I adopted twins, so yes.

If you are pro-life would you ever be willing to adopt an unwanted baby? Trying to prove a point.

@Supersonic_Red @MikeyDiMercurio must hate Stephen King. You know, the other writer from around here.

Legendary and my favorite DiMercurio story. He will tell you that I have yelled at him about this decades later. It was a small rant.

@4nt1p4tt3rn I just spent a week in Tuscany. Thats all I've been doing: bread, cheese and meat. Well, and some wine.

Best snacktime ever: Get yourself a big hunk of meat, a big hunk of cheese, and a big hunk of bread. Preferably something with a decent crust. You just tear off big pieces of each with your teeth. Chew, swallow, repeat. No slicing allowed.

@GuntherEagleman It has been time for years. Defund NATO *AND* the United Nations. I'd love to kick the useless bastards out of New York.

HOLY CRAP! Rubio just put NATO on notice and it's sure to send shockwaves across the world. While the U.S. finishes destroying Iran's navy, missile factories, and launchers, disappointing allies like Britain, France, Spain, and Italy are denying base access when America needs it most. The Strait of Hormuz is a global issue. Iran cannot be allowed to toll or block 20% of the world's oil. Other countries must step up instead of leaving it all to us. Rubio made clear: if NATO means we pay trillions and station forces there only to defend Europe, but cannot use our own bases when our interests are on the line, then why are we in it? A full reexamination is coming once the Iran mission is complete. It's TIME TO LEAVE NATO!

@Giantsfan014 @9mmsmg I saw that. Makes me so disappointed. He wouldn't have a George Floyd mural taken down - oh no! I hope a hundred more Iryna murals go up in protest.

@9mmsmg But a mural of her is “divisive” and not the message we want to send, apparently. Providence, RI, this week.

The fact that we still do not have a resolution for the stabbing of Iryna is a travesty. The sentence for Decarlos Brown Jr. should have been been carried out as soon as the video was seen. There's no reason this should be dragged on like this. We haven't forgotten and we want true justice.

@MikeyDiMercurio I enjoy the ABS on my big bimmer. I never noticed the billboards in NH or lack thereof in VT. (Spotted my bike in Italy yesterday while touring the Gothic Line in Tuscany. 1000 year old Roman bridge in the background. Obviously didn't use that guy from Pisa when they built it!)

THE DAY I ALMOST DIED ON THE BIKE IN NJ People always ask me, "Mikey, why do you live in far north Vermont, a golf swing away from the border with Kanuckistan?" and I always answer, I'm glad you asked that question. You see, the primary reason is my love for the state of Vermont. It's green and lush and untouched in summer and spring. Unlike our brethren in LIVE FREE OR FOOKIN DIE country, across the river, here there are no billboards. Of course, there ain't much business either. You want groceries or an oil change, you must hoof it to New Fookin Hampshire with all their billboards. In Vermont in the fall, the turning of the leaves is spectacular. In winter, the snow makes the world like a snowglobe, or like a cozy Christmas card rendering of a snow-bound cabin, with warm lights burning inside, Grandma busy cookin' in the kitchen. The second reason is low population density. Where I live, there are more mooses than people per square mile (don't even think about lecturing me on the plural of "moose"). I like that. After decades of living in NJ and NY, fighting traffic and New Yorkers, it's very restful being in Vermont. The insanely high population density of New Jersey reminds me of a motorcycle story. So there I am heading south on Rt. 1 in the far right lane to merge onto I-295 south between Princeton and Trenton (pronounced "Treh un") and I'm on my 2004 Harley, pictured below. I'm riding at 50 miles per behind this kid in a black teensy pickup truck with blacked-out brake lights. You know, it is so impotent to look cool. Leading off to the right from this merging lane are a few businesses. Furniture store. A seafood restaurant, "Eat at Joe's" or some-such. One minute, we're all cruising along at 50. The next, that fucking pickup with the blacked-out taillights is right in my lap. The fucking kid driving it had braked hard to turn into "Eat at Joe's" and there were no visible brake lights. Because, you know. It's impotent to look cool. So I hit the brakes for a panic stop. In my situational awareness, I knew that there was a 2002 Buick right on my rear bumper. Fucking drivers in New Jersey leave zero room in front of them, because, if they do, some asshole from New York will cut them off and zoom in front of them. I've seen that a hundred times, since when I drive in a "cage" (dismissive motorcyclist's term for a car), I always leave a bubble of room in front of me for panic stops. Anyway, so there I am, with this pickup truck slowing to ten miles per, a Buick on my tail at 50, and if I don't hit the brakes as hard as I can, I'm going to end up in the pickup truck's rear bed. Probably wrecking the goddamned kids blacked-out taillights. I hit the brakes as hard as I can. As it does in emergencies, time slows down to a crawl. In slow motion, I detect my rear tire skidding and the bike is twisting. The rear tire, you see, is trying to pass me. I'm at about a thirty degree angle to the path of the road. If this continues, the rear tire will be so far ahead of where it should be that I'll be perpendicular to the road path, which will cause me to lay down the bike whether I want to or not. Now, laying down a bike at 50 is a really dangerous thing. You can crush the leg under the 700 pound bike. You'll be scraping along the pavement at 72 feet per second. That travel with you and the asphalt, with a heavy bike pushing you down, will likely take off half your skin. (Note, this is why bikers wear leather, yeah? Dress for the spill, not the thrill...) But while laying down the bike will bring me to a stop and avoid the fookin kid in the pickup truck, it will put me under the bumper of the Buick behind me. Now, who, you might ask, drives a Buick, an old one at that? I'll tell you who. Senior citizens. Old people. And just a quiz for you. How good are the reaction times of old people? Lightning fast? I think not, my friend. So if I lay down the bike to avoid the pickup truck in front, not only will I get torn up by the pavement, but the old lady in the Buick five feet behind me will run over me and smash me to pieces. Have you ever had one of those moments where you think, "this is it. This is the day I die. This is the famous hour of my death that is in the Hail Mary prayer - 'be with us now and at the hour of our death' - and this is the fookin hour." So I thought that. And, on balance, I reflected, in that millisecond before the crash, this was not a bad way to die. I would be dying while doing something I love, riding my Harley. You really can't ask for a better death, right? And think about it. The pickup truck kid would learn that blacked-out taillights are a stupid idea. The Buick codger would learn vigilance and the value of keeping distance in front of her, and to look out for motorcycles. Or she'd relinquish her drivers license, since she's probably too old to be driving anyway. So what do I do? Knowing I was going to die anyway, I made the choice to hit the pickup truck in front. Fuck it. He's causing the accident. He may as well be the one to answer for killing a biker. And in that moment, I release the brakes. Immediately, the bike straightens out. The rear tire starts behaving again and gets back behind me. And it was then a miracle happened. The pickup truck in front turned into "Eat at Joe's" so suddenly that there was a clear path ahead. I hit the throttle as hard as I can and accelerate away from Granny in the Buick. And I lived to tell the tale. But I'll tell you what I did after that. I traded in the 2004 Harley for a 2012 Harley. Why, you might ask? Because the 2012 Harley had...anti-lock brakes. And that, boys and girls, is a no-shitter.

@RSE_VB Has anyone mentioned "NOONER" yet? Female callsign for obvious reasons

Oh, Lordy. A callsign thread would be hilarious. The below #TomcatTails explains mine. Here's a few others: Skids - Blew both tires on his first landing (brakes) Splash - Passed out in his own puke on the floor Dumpy - Fell asleep on the toilet Pluggo - Tore off his refueling probe CIAO (Clothing Is Always Optional) - seriously built female RAG student that got drunk and shinnied up a brass pole at the El Centro O'Club fully nude for a free drink (standing tradition there for decades). Sphinx (Sphincter) - shat himself in the jet...several times. Krash - Crashed. Milt - Saltiest substance on earth (fish semen) Sticky (fingers) - Stole a bottle of booze. Trigger - gun went off at home and shot through three apartments. SAGE - Self Appointed Guru of Everything (he wasn't) I could literally go on forever and may throw a few more in the comments. Anyone want to offer their favorites?? x.com/RSE_VB/status/…

@stroupknives @CHIGGERDICK I like!

Tomahawks coming tomorrow!

@WeaponOutfitter It is a point of pride when our products make it into a game or movie. Prime time baby!

I think it’s funny that if you can design weapons for video games you can do that kind of stuff… IN REAL LIFE, it’s nearly a 1:1 transfer of skills. Guy I know used to get shit from his lib shit peers

@infantrydort Happened to watch that last night on the flight to Italy. I hated how true it was/is.

This isn’t even what I dislike about General McChrystal the most. When he was our commander in Afghanistan, he told us to practice “courageous restraint”. An ROE policy that largely gave the enemy the advantage and put us on the back foot. It was so ridiculous that Netflix made a movie about it starring Brad Pitt. The movie was a joke. It was meant to be funny. Sure wasn’t that funny to some of us who lived it. I’m uninterested in his advice here. Or his opinion about behavior.

@Supersonic_Red I raise young men. Not old boys.

Correct. I raised four men, not lifelong children. Other ways parents are guaranteed to fail is by overcommitting their kids, scheduling every minute of their lives, and giving them everything they ask for.

@4nt1p4tt3rn Gary Plauché

At what point to we burn it all to the ground?

@HavocTwoOne I would like one of those rugged toppers for my SuperDuty. I like my Diamondback cover - but there are times I wish I had a camper top. Good deal!

Truck topper gang. FB marketplace is wild sometimes.

@MikeyDiMercurio @RealJessica @MrAGanger Ha! Good luck with that!

@RealJessica @MrAGanger She is a communist dumb fuck.

New York Gov Kathy Hochul is begging wealthy people who have moved to Florida and Texas to come back to New York and pay taxes. 🤣 "I need people who are high net worth to support the generous social programs that we want to have in our state. Now, there are some patriotic millionaires who stepped up. OK, cut me the checks if you want to be supportive, but maybe the first step should be go down to Palm Beach and see who you can bring back home." "I have to look at the fact that we are in competition with other states who have less of a tax burden on their corporations and their individuals. And I would say remote work changed everything." "There were people who could only work in an office in Manhattan and work in New York state. And they were captives to our state, they were going to stay. We saw that that's not the case. Wall Street businesses looking at Texas, they're not going there because they have a nicer governor. They're going there because of the tax rate."

@MikeyDiMercurio I'm thinking you have done far scarier things than this - this should be child's play. I assume you are in Fabulous Manch-Vegas? Where else do we have enormous hospitals around here?

Scene: Gigantic Hospital in Live Free or Fookin Die 12-year-old Nurse: Are you claustrophobic? Me: Madam, I am a Navy submariner. Places chock full o’people make me crazy. O’Hare Airport, Christmas Eve. Shopping mall, Black Friday. Small spaces like my coffin-sized bunky? My only escape from that. Nurse: Well, there’s no other people in the chamber, so I think you’ll be okay.

@grey4626 I am looking forward to this travesty being rectified after so much time. Maybe in a few years we can safely vacation in a happy Cuba again. It would be awesome if we could visit Minneapolis/St Paul again soon.

The iron curtain of lies that has shrouded Cuba for sixty-six years is finally burning away in the flames of Ciego de Ávila tonight. Crowds...flesh-and-blood Cubans, not the regime’s rented mobs...have seized the Communist Party headquarters itself, that grotesque temple to a dead ideology, while twenty-hour blackouts choke the island like a noose drawn tight by history’s own hand. This is the eighth consecutive night of open rebellion in Morón; it is spreading to Matanzas, Santiago, Havana’s pot-banging symphonies of rage. The senile dinosaurs in Havana, those parasitic thieves who have cannibalized three generations of Cuban blood and marrow, are now facing the one force no amount of machete-wielding thugs or imported Russian ammunition can suppress: a people pushed past the psychological breaking point where fear itself dies. Understand the psychology with lethal clarity. For decades the regime weaponized scarcity and terror to fracture the human spirit...classic Pavlovian conditioning on a national scale: keep the lights off, the stomachs empty, the children indoctrinated, and the population remains docile livestock. But Maslow’s hierarchy is not a suggestion; when survival itself is threatened, the primal override detonates. Blackouts are not mere inconvenience; they are the regime’s own Frankenstein turning on its creator, stripping away the last illusion of control. The psychology of the oppressor collapses first: watch how quickly the commissars pivot from smug propaganda to gunfire and machetes. That is not strength; that is the terrified spasm of a dying animal whose fangs are rotting in its skull. Geopolitically, this is the masterclass in asymmetric warfare that President Trump has executed with the cold, surgical precision of a Clausewitz who studied Sun Tzu and then improved on both. Cuba was never a sovereign state under Castroism; it was a forward operating base for successive empires...Soviet, Venezuelan, now the desperate patronage of Beijing and Moscow. Trump understood the single artery that kept the corpse animated: Venezuelan oil. By neutralizing that lifeline through relentless pressure and blockade...post-intervention realpolitik that severed the flow at its source...he applied the oldest strategic truth: starve the beast and watch it devour its own. No invasion. No American blood. Just total economic asphyxiation, amplified through information dominance and the quiet amplification of internal dissent. The regime’s foreign patrons are stretched thin; Russia bleeds in Ukraine, China calculates its own Taiwan ledger. Havana is now a strategic orphan, and orphans do not survive sieges. This is not protest. This is the terminal phase. The same ideological cancer that felled the Berlin Wall and the Soviet colossus is now metastasizing in reverse...turning inward with ferocious velocity. Trump’s strategy was never about negotiation theater; it was about creating the conditions for endogenous collapse, then offering the Cuban people the only exit ramp worth taking: freedom or extinction of the regime. The psychological venom he has injected is exquisite...maximum pressure calibrated to the exact tolerance where the population’s survival instinct finally outweighs decades of learned helplessness. The machetes and gunfire you see in the videos are not signs of regime resilience; they are the death rattle. The parasitic elite who have ruled through lies, torture, and exile are watching their house of cards ignite from within. President Trump has the endgame mapped with lethal exactitude. When the final domino falls...and it will fall in days or weeks, not years...the rebirth will not be chaotic; it will be guided, decisive, and irreversible. Communism does not evolve. It expires. And tonight, in the firelight of Ciego de Ávila, the expiration date is written in the blood and courage of a people who have finally remembered they are not slaves. 🗡️💀🪖🗡️

@9mmsmg Don't forget the Berlin Crisis at Checkpoint Charlie in 1961. I think that was dicey too.

I'd say that little thing with the Cuban Missile Crisis and Soviets probably edges it out. You know, that 13 day period where the world was at the brink of destruction. The Soviets almost launching nukes from a torpedo. That was probably a little closer.

@adamcarolla Meh, they showed up in Concord NH a few months ago dressed as faux neo-nazis. They just aren't interesting and/or effective.

Good question

@scs_real @TommyFaceOnFire

Air Force in 1959: Let's build a skinny wing bomber with massive engines so we can bomb the shit out of the Soviets. Oh, by the way, put a tail gunner on it.