Hard Data, Hollow Protests

John Tierney, over at Istapundit, links to an article that highlights the FBI crime data for 2016.  It appears that the Black Lives Matter bunch had best do their homework.

Granted, every death is a tragedy, but the statistics of police related shootings are very interesting.

In 2015, a police officer was 18.5 times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male was to be killed by a police officer. Black males have made up 42 percent of all cop-killers over the last decade, though they are only 6 percent of the population

The data available classifies only 16 black male victims of police shootings as "unarmed", and if so those are 16 too many.  Still, the problem is not nearly as big as many people want to think it is.

Go read the whole thing at the link above.

Cleaning Brass - Wax bullet edition.

My family is amazing.  I can't think of a single area in which one member or another doesn't have the expertise that expertise that we can apply to any problem.  From basic plumbing to advanced medicine, we've got it covered.  Someone knows the answer, or the technique, or can point us in the right direction.

For example, my youngest son's wife is a scientist, currently in veterinarian school at LSU.  She's taken all the "ologies".  So, one day last year during our Sunday get-togethers I posed the question; "What will dissolve wax bullet residue from cartridge casings?"

She took out her smartphone and asked the question, then scrolled around for a bit.  "A volatile hydrocarbon."  Then she launched into this explanation with multi-syllable words that started to sound like yada-yada-yada.

I stopped her.  "Break it down for me, sweetie."

"Charcoal lighter fluid.  Soak them in charcoal lighter fluid."

So, I did.  I found an empty "butter bucket,", dropped the cases in and covered them with charcoal lighter fluid.  I sat it in a sunny spot and over the next three or four hours, swirled them around every time I thought about it.    Later that afternoon, I drained the lighter fluid and put the casings in the sun to dry.  They came out clean as a whistle.

I've since passed this on to other shooters and it seems to work just fine for everyone who tries it.  Better living through chemistry..  Being the frugal sort that I am, I funnel the lighter fluid back into the bottle and use it as usual for lighting charcoal.  You can't taste in on your burgers.

Chortling Here, Boss

Insty sends us to a link about Top Twelve Male Grooming Myths Exposed.  Lets look at some, shall we?

1.  Shaving makes your facial hair grow faster.
I don't care, I shave every morning.  It doesn't matter how fast it grows, I'm going to slice it off at daylight.

2.   Using multiple skincare products gives you spots.
What?  Men use skin care products?  Who knew?

3. Too much exfoliation damages skin.
Huh?  Men don't exfoliate.  Or, rather, no one I know exfoliates.

4. You have to stick to skincare products marketed at men
When I was in the Army, I'd keep a bottle of medicated powder in my duffle to ward off jungle rot.  Other than soap, that is the only skin care product I've ever used.

5. Beards don't need to be washed as much as other hair
You go ahead with that, stinky-beard.  How does one wash their face without washing their beard?  I don't grow beards, so I'm not sure about this one at all.

6. It's necessary to moisturise after every shower
HAHAHA.  Seriously?

7. Barbers understand your trimmer's grading system
As long as my barber understands what a #2 haircut is, we'll get along just fine.  I don't own a trimmer.  That's why I go tot he barber shop.

8. Home trimmers don't require any maintenance
Every mechanical device requires maintenance.  Period.

9. Hair grows faster on holiday
Heh! Okay, if you say so.  Which leads us to:

10. The difference between a $10 haircut and a $50 haircut is a cup of coffee
No, the difference is $40.  And the culture that lets someone charge $50 for a haircut.

I could go on here, but what's the use?  I have no idea what these people are talking about.

This Bears Watching

I've never heard of this volcano, but it bears watching.  Apparently, Mount Aguing on the island of Bali is showing signs of eruption.

The island has cleared people from within nearly 8 miles of the volcano, with the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation noting that heightened activity sent tremors through nearby areas and pushed smoke out of the mountain's crater.

Of course, when a volcano erupts, it tends to cool the earth as ash and  vapor get into the atmosphere.  They don't know yet what the volcano is going to do, but it certainly bears watching.

Nonsensical

The big news this morning is the spreading NFL protest and the fans reaction to it.  Talks of boycotts and fans burning NFL memorabilia.  It's all quite controversial.

And, I admit that I'm a bit confused.  Evidently, it's about blacks being repressed, although I'm hard pressed to understand how overpaid, muiti-millionaires can say that they're being oppressed.  So, I did some Googling and found the article.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

That seems to be a nonsensical reason to take a knee during the national anthem.   It looks to me like it is protest for the sake of protest.  Some folks defend it as a First Amendment right.  I aslo note with some amusement that the guy who started it doesn't have a job this year.

The other players joining the protest should remember that.  Your protest might cost you your job.  When you start hurting the bottom line of your company, you're likely to find yourself protesting in the unemployment line.  I firmly stand with the players right to protest.  I also firmly stand with the owners right to run their sorry assess up the road.

I also stand my my right to laugh at the whole thing.  It's silliness, a protest without any real goals.  It's controversy for the sake of controversy.  No one expects anything to change, and I can't see that the players are taking any actions that would lead to change.  Yet, that's their right.  In America, you have the right to be nonsensical, but you don't have the right to expect me to take you seriously.

As for myself, I boycotted the NFL twenty years ago.  I had better things to do on a Sunday afternoon than watch a bunch of overpaid athletes screw up a good game.  I'm glad to see that more of America is taking up my boycott.

September Shoot

The Cross Branded Peacemakers held their September shoot at the backyard range at Major D's place.  We opened a four-lane range and held a 3X match, using the Nevada 8 format.  After you've lost three rounds, you have three Xs and you can go sit down.  You're done.

The Nevada 8 is an interesting format that is becoming more familiar as clubs adopt it.  It's nominally a five-shot match, and as in all CFDA matches, three winning shots wins.  But, in the Nevada 8, whoever is ahead after five shots wins it.  If the shooters are ties after five shots, then they have three additional shots to break the tie.  If, after 8 shots they are still tied, then both shooters get an X.   I've been shooting this format for a year, and in that time I've only seen one match where two Xs were awarded.

We started shooting at 4:00 pm and were finished by 6:00.

L-R Squirrel Girl, Blue Eyed Bele

L-R Cajun Greg, Gator, Maor D, Akarate Zach, and Big Bill.

We didn't stress pure CFDA attire at this shoot, we bowed to the weather.    Even though we're a club affiliated with the CFDA, we're a church club first and foremost.

From the comments I received, it appears that folks like this venue.  My back yard is my little slice of heaven and I try to make it as comfortable as the weather allows.  I have plenty of shade awnings, a nice big fan, and readily available restroom facilities.

I think we;ll shoot there until we get a bigger, more permanent venue.  And that is inn the plans.

Saturday Shooting

We're hasting the Peacemakers over here this afternoon for our bi-weekly meeting.

It's a whole lot easier to do it here than it is to load everything and take it to the church.

Everything is set up and tested.  Now, we wait until the shooters arrive at 4:00.

When the Water Recedes

I've seen a couple of these around, but this is one of the problems of getting people out of flood zones.  You're never really sure what's under the water, especially in a residential area.

I took this one off of Wirecutter's site, but I've seen several of these.  The car is already totaled  but running an outboard prop down the roof doesn't do any good to the vehicle, or the outboard motor.

It does make an interesting pattern going down the roof line.

Barber Shop

Court went well yesterday.  I ran into some people I had worked with 20 years ago, the testimony was easy and I got out of there early.

Early enough that I got home, put on a uniform and went to work.  Got there before noon and finished the day.  Decided I needed a hair cut and stopped at the barber shop on the way home.

A good barber shop is a thing of joy.  You never know what might be the topic of discussion, and when I got there a young man was in the chair talking about his studies.  He's studying religion at the local preacher college.  To finance his studies he's managing a coffee shop not far from the college, and was talking about marketing strategies.

It came my turn to get a chair, and the barber asked me what I wanted.  A standard Number 2 has served me well for years.  It's quick, an efficient use of my barber dollars, and hard to screw-up..  I opted for that.  Afterward, she shaved my neck, then applied a hot towel.

That hot towel is one of the great things about going to a barber shop.  It drained all the tension out of my body, made me feel loose as a goose.  It took great effort to stand up so that I could pay the lady.

A good barber shop is a treat to the body and soul.

Floral Engraving

My boy has been playing with floral engraving.  Click on the picture for a larger image.

Oh, my.  I don't know where he got his artistic talent, but that's fine floral engraving.

Geez, that's pretty.  I blew the pic up as large as I can get it and the detail is amazing.

Good work, son.

Court

Court is the bane of every police officer.  Over the years I've spent countless hours in a courtroom, testifying to one thing or another.  Court is not where we make our living, but it is where justice is served and we have to be there to testify as to the actions of ourselves or others.

Since I've been a school resource officer, I've spent very little time in court.

Tomorrow, I have to be in Court in Natchitoches, LA, to perfect the record on a case that was settled in 1999.  These things happen sometimes, and I have to testify not to my actions, but to the record.  So, I've refreshed my memory of the record and gone back through lots of old memories of that particular case.

I won't be in uniform.  Back in the past century, I wore plain clothes, and m current agency has nothing to do with this particular case, so I"ll put on a coat and tie.

Hopefully tomorrow, I can put this particular case to bed forever.

I'm A Rascist? Really?

According to Ashley Shsckelford, I'm a racist and always will be.  Yeah, really.



This offends me on so many levels that I hesitate to enumerate them.  I'm not sure where to begin, but if you watch that video and look at the makeup of the audience, you'll note that it is pretty much white.

It's bullshit like this that has caused the accusation of racism to lose its sting.  If there is nothing I can do about being racist, then there is no real reason to try to change my thoughts.  According to Ashley, I'll always be a racist, so I will also be evil.    Unworthy of redemption,

Now, we all know that I'm not a racist, and therefore not evil, but if we wanted to define evil (and racism) it would be a simple matter to define a racist as someone who groups people based on skin color and ascribes certain attributes to that group.

Ashley Shackelford is evil.  She divides people by race.  Then she tries to intellectually explain those divisions.  She's probably a graduate of a racial studies department at some liberal university.  Worse, Ashley is a direct by-product of the post-racial Obama era.

But, if I'm racist and always will be I have no hope of redemption, I have no reason to change.  That message is evil to its core.

Principled Realism

I'm told that President Trump gave a speech at the UN earlier today to outline his philosophy of "principled realism" in US foreign policy, but I doubt that the assembled diplomats were prepared for how real it would get.  Somehow, I don't think that they've ever heard a speech quite like that.

He laid into Iran pretty good:

Pres. Trump: "It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran's gov't end its pursuit of death and destruction."

But, he saved the best line for North Korea's fat little dictator

Trump on Kim Jong Un: "Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime"

Rocket Man!  Heh.  I like that.

Update**

“The problem in Venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented. It is that socialism has been faithfully implemented."

That has to be the best line in the whole speech.  I see that the Dems are going crazy about our plain-spoken President, but for myself, I think he did great.

Heros

I've seen this around, but it bears repeating.

Hundreds and hundreds of small boats pulled by countless pickups and SUVs from across the South are headed for Houston or Florida. Almost all of them driven by men. They’re using their own property, sacrificing their own time, spending their own money, and risking their own lives for one reason: to help total strangers in desperate need.

Most of them are by themselves. Most are dressed like the redneck duck hunters and bass fisherman they are. Many are veterans. Most are wearing well-used gimme-hats, t-shirts, and jeans; and there’s a preponderance of camo. Most are probably gun owners, and most probably voted for Trump.

These are the people the Left loves to hate, the ones Maddow mocks. The ones Maher and Olbermann just *know* they’re so much better than. These are The Quiet Ones. They don’t wear masks and tear down statues. They don’t, as a rule, march and demonstrate.

But they’ll spend the next several days wading in cold, dirty water; dodging gators and water moccasins and fire ants; eating whatever meager rations are available; and sleeping wherever they can in dirty, damp clothes. Their reward is the tears and the hugs and the smiles from the terrified people they help. They’ll deliver one boatload, and then go back for more.

When disaster strikes, it’s what men do. Real men. Heroic men. American men. White men, Black men, Asian men, Hispanic men. And then they’ll knock back a few shots, or a few beers with like-minded men they’ve never met before, and talk about fish, or ten-point bucks, or the benefits of hollow-point ammo, or their F-150.

And the next time they hear someone talk about “the patriarchy”, or “male privilege”, they’ll snort, turn off the TV, if they have one, and go to bed.

In the meantime, they’ll likely be up again before dawn. To do it again. Until the helpless are rescued. And the work’s done.

They’re unlikely to be reimbursed. There won’t be medals. They won’t care. They’re the unsung heroes. And it’s what heroes do, get the job done and move on to the next job, or go home and resume their daily lives.

They started out as the Cajun Navy, a group of volunteers out of Louisiana during the Denham Springs flood last year.  Since then, they've gotten a little better organized, and they can put together a team on short notice.  These guys are fishermen, or hunters, and know how to operate small boats in congested waters.  They can launch anywhere, even in a flooded roadway (which is nothing more, really, than a nice bat-launch ramp).

  Other folks, who don't have boats, bring outdoor cooking ear, big pots, and set up kitchens near the launch ramps.  The volunteers are going to need food, and the victims are going to be hungry, and if Cajuns know anything, it's how to feed a crowd cheaply and serve a hot meal in almost any conditions.  Beans are cheap, and with just a little meat, some onions and bell pepper, and some flour, I can whip up a gumbo in a couple of hours. It may not be the best I've ever made, and I may have to serve it in Dixie cups.

The Cajun Navy (and the Texas Navy, and I'm sure now, the Florida Navy) are better equipped than the federal government, more nimble than a bloated bureaucracy, and a whole lot less expensive.