Narcissism used to be a mental illness. I suppose it technically still is, but what happens when it is actively encouraged? Depending on the source, the exact verbiage changes, but one of them states, “self-centeredness arising from failure to distinguish the self from external objects, either in very young babies or as a feature of mental disorder.” In other words, the person is the center of the universe.

This makes sense for very young children because they literally are the center of their family’s universe. It’s been awhile since I’ve taken child and adolescent development, but this changes somewhere around pre-school. There are other children which means there are others that have feelings. Children learn to share and learn that they can’t always do what they want to do.

I noticed something on Twitter/X. One of the things is that the algorithm wants me to see stuff I’ve never asked to see. Sometimes I follow these people. Sometimes they think I will be pissed off. A guy named Terry wants you to boycott Bass Pro Shops. You see, he wanted to go in and buy some magazines for his AR. They let him do it without an ID last time, but now they want him to produce an ID.

Let’s leave aside for a moment that no one should own an assault rifle. Let’s ignore that a magazine carries numerous bullets which means that someone can get off a round of more a dozen bullets in one sitting. Let’s leave aside the fact that it has no other positive utility other than killing human beings. Let’s leave aside for the moment that the AR-15 has been the weapon of choice in the vast majority of mass shootings in schools, shopping malls, and other public places.

Bass Pro Shops was not saying that he could not own an assault rifle. They were not denying him the magazine. They were simply asking for his ID. Keep in mind that these are the folks that want people to show multiple forms of ID to vote. Yet, something that could result in the deaths of dozens of people in one sitting should not even have that basic level of regulation. Just give me my damn bullets and let me live in peace.

I think we know what will bring down western civilization. It is narcissism. It is about me and what I want. To hell with what might be best for everyone else. The idea that I probably shouldn’t have that kind of firepower doesn’t enter their mind. The idea that we should be able to track something which is so frequently used to kill a lot of people doesn’t enter their mind. The 30 seconds of inconvenience is just too much.

Everyone needs a mascot. Everyone needs a symbol. They need a hero. Trump is their mascot, symbol, and hero. Every time he disses the left, center, military, or foreign leaders it gives them a warm fuzzy. He is sticking it to the man. It isn’t enough for someone like Terry (I am absolutely throwing him under the bus) to announce his jackassery to his friends and family. He has to announce it to the world.

Maybe this is what they want. Maybe they know full well they sound like an ever loving ass. However, I choose to think they have never progressed past the point of being a toddler. I want my damn bullets I shouldn’t have and I want them now. Screw you for making me actually responsible for them and what they may do. Freedumb. ‘Merica. Deep state. MAGA. Maybe next time they will get to multiple syllable words.

One thing Abbott said right after the shooting yesterday caught my attention and I’ve looked into it since.  In his first update, Abbott said the shooter, who shall remain unnamed, entered Robb Elementary School with a handgun and “may have had a rifle”.  It later came out that he didn’t use a handgun, but an AR-15 that shoots a 5.56 MM round, a standard caliber for an assault rifle, of which he had just bought 375 rounds.  He carried a bag with 7-30 round magazines which totaled 210 rounds, not counting what was already loaded.  He had another AR-15 in his truck.  There is no report that I’ve seen that he had a handgun.

I doubt seriously that Abbott doesn’t know the difference between a handgun and an assault rifle, so I can only assume that Abbott was trying to misinform/play down the fact that the weapon of choice for mass shooters was also used in this shooting.  You certainly call AR-15s rifles, but there is little resemblance between this rifle and the .22 bolt action rifle I pinged tin cans with when I was a kid being taught to shoot by my uncle.

Abbott leads Texas in gun nut insanity where it’s beyond comprehension that at age 18 you can buy an AR-15 and whatever amount of ammo you want, but you can’t buy a handgun.  This is the stupidity causing the deaths we endure in Texas today.

An odd piece of clothing for men developed in England and France during the late Middle Ages and on into the Renaissance period called the codpiece.  The codpiece was designed to cover and protect a man’s…uh…equipment, and is thought to have been developed originally to provide freedom of movement when tight hosiery was the in-thing fashion which covered the legs.  During this period of time, men’s jackets, or doublets, were made shorter and shorter making the codpiece an essential equipment-covering garment. During this period of time, virility was considered mandatory to be a successful warrior, so metal codpieces were made that exaggerated the size of…the equipment.  Then came Edward IV of England, who set the pace for exaggeration.  He made very short doublets de rigueur in merry Old England, enlarging the codpieces to greatly emphasize a man’s…equipment, as well as sparing no expense for the sometimes jewel-encrusted pieces.  Even though a man’s…equipment could not be mentioned by name, it seems it was very popular during the times to put the Renaissance version of a neon sign on it.  Here are a couple of examples:

Henry VIII was well known for the size and elaborate designs of his codpieces, but the odd garment disappeared by 1600 after the blousy pantaloons made popular by French nobility swept the English fashion world as well.

Since the codpiece became unfashionable 500 years ago, why in the world am I talking about it now?  Well, I’m talking about it because in very recent times it has re-emerged, this time in 21st century America, and here it is:

The AR-15, and its variants, have become the codpiece of the 21st century, normally carried by men/boys attempting to exaggerate their masculinity by carrying their firearm in front of their…equipment, or in place of it.  Putting aside the danger it poses to everyone near them, the black steel codpieces of today usually elicit giggles or gasps from normal people, probably not unlike the reactions of people to the more traditional codpieces made popular by hosiery-wearing nobility way back in the day, trying to bolster their own manhood.

Today’s codpieces look even more silly than those in the 16th century, but they are a hell of a lot more dangerous.  One can only hope that this codpiece ends up in the dustbin of history, much like its predecessor.