One of my kukris

This one has a name – Bone Snapper – and while yes, size does matter, I’m not compensating.

There are many styles of kukris made in Nepal and I own more than one, but this is my favorite. It’s constructed from a re-purposed automobile/truck leaf spring. A little grinding and there you are. The knife is not used in the kitchen, or for skinning rabbits. It only has one use and is a proven design.

An old friend of mine said that he would have no use for a knife like that. I used it to cut watermelon last 4th of July…It worked fine as a melon cutter.

 

Roman Arms/Armor

The Roman Empire was one of the greatest and most influential civilizations in world history. It began in the city of Rome in 753 BC and lasted for well over 1000 years. Over those 1000 years, the Roman army changed significantly in terms of arms, armor, and tactics.

Here is a snapshot in time, somewhere around 45 BC.

Here is a timeline of some of the major events in the history of Ancient Rome.

753 BC – The city of Rome is founded. Legend has it that the twin sons of Mars, the god of war, named Romulus and Remus founded the city. Romulus killed Remus and became ruler of Rome and named the city after himself.

Rome was ruled by kings for the next 240 years.

509 BC – Rome becomes a republic. The last king is overthrown and Rome is now ruled by elected officials called senators. There is a constitution with laws and a complex republican government.

218 BC – Hannibal invades Italy. Hannibal leads the Carthage army in his famous crossing of the Alps to attack Rome. This is part of the Second Punic war.

73 BC – Spartacus the gladiator leads the slaves in an uprising.

45 BC – Julius Caesar becomes the first dictator of Rome. Caesar crosses the Rubicon and defeats Pompey in a civil war to become the supreme ruler of Rome. This signals the end of the Roman Republic.

44 BC – Julius Caesar is assassinated on the Ides of March (March 15th) by a cabal led by Marcus Brutus. They hope to bring back the republic, but civil war breaks out. Brutus loses.

27 BC – The Roman Empire begins as Caesar Augustus becomes the first Roman Emperor.

64 AD – Much of Rome burns. Legend has it that Emperor Nero watched the city burn while playing the lyre.

80 AD – The Colosseum is built. One of the great examples of Roman engineering is finished. It can seat 50,000 spectators. The Roman Empire at its peak in

121 AD – The Hadrian Wall is built. To keep out barbarians a long wall is built across northern England.

306 AD – Constantine becomes Emperor. Constantine converts to Christianity and Rome becomes a Christian empire. Prior to this Rome persecuted the Christians.

380 AD – Theodosius I declares Christianity to be the sole religion of the Roman Empire.

395 AD – Rome splits into two empires.

410 AD – The Visigoths sack Rome. This is the first time in 800 years that the city of Rome has fallen to an enemy. There weren’t any “Roman” soldiers left by that time. True, they had some hirelings wearing period armor, but they had no stake in the outcome. I’m sure that they aided the Visigoths in their sack because they had a better idea of where to look for loot.

476 AD – The end of the Western Roman Empire and the fall of Ancient Rome. The last Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus was defeated by the German Goth Odoacer. This signaled the start of the Dark Ages in Europe.

2021 AD – Your favorite blogger writes about it on Virtual Mirage.

Let’s think about what causes empires to crumble in round numbers.

US Tax revenue: $3,900,000,000,000

more here

National Debt: $29,000,000,000,000

I rounded off the numbers. Refer to the debt clock for the depressing news.

The White House is just an overpriced nursing home these days. Many believe that Barack, current pretender to the throne, has returned with his minions and who am I to say otherwise.

Some donkeys are glad to have Black Jesus back in the driver’s seat. He’s a Chicago guy. He takes care of his friends and weaponized the government against people who take issue with his policies. We’ve seen this before. Barack piled more foreign debt than all of his predecessors COMBINED.

Nothing new here, move on.

 

Memes

 

 

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17 COMMENTS

  2. Lunch!!! As I age and apparently become more efficient with food, intake is now “less needed”…but ai would seriously make an exception for that platter, gladly suffering a postprandial coma for a day.

    Seems The White House isn’t being used much, but the fake sets are in full operation. The Leader of the Free World, Mr. MAGU, heads to Delaware every weekend, and our Less Than Veep is on Hollywood style movie sets or otherwise unobtainium. Only the Handlers operate inside. The real question is “Who’s sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom these days?”

    Bone Snapper…that’s some nice work. I have an old leaf spring and a bench grinder and found my bench after a shop straightening. Good snowy day project. (Note: Your mason did an exceptional job on the dry stack wall…not easy to get right.)

    • Yes, it’s a rather large stack, running about 15′ and incorporating a front for the fireplace and bins on either side – one for kindling and the other for quilts.

      The nation would be better off if Biden just stayed in his bunker in Delaware, and if Camela just jet-setted from set to set with child actors who validated whatever she said.

  6. I’ve got a Cold Steel kukri-patterned machete. Though I’d prefer a real real kukri, the CS one is good enough and came at a fantastic price – free. I’ve chunked wood and flesh with it and it keeps an edge.

    I see much in current America in what happened to Rome.

    Funny, when ‘alternate lifestyles’ were more vogue than being a man or a woman, that was the end of Rome.

  7. I’ll keep my K-Bar. Have somewhat trained with it and a M5 bayonet. Backup is a Estwing hatchet.

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