Botched Execution?

Oklahoma executed a prisoner last night, and the news weenies are calling it a botched execution.  I'm not sure how it is considered "botched", because they intended to execute him, and he's dead.

After the failure of a 20-minute attempt to execute him, Clayton Lockett was left to die of a heart attack in the execution chamber at the Oklahoma state penitentiary in McAlester. A lawyer said Lockett had effectively been “tortured to death”.>
For three minutes after the first drugs were delivered Lockett struggled violently, groaned and writhed, lifting his shoulders and head from the gurney. Some 16 minutes after the execution began, and without Lockett being declared dead, the blinds separating the chamber from the viewing room were closed. The process was called off shortly afterwards. Lockett died 43 minutes after the first executions drugs were administered.

It didn't go as smoothly as planned, but they did plan to kill him,and he's dead, so I'd call that a successful execution.  The usual suspects are outraged, but I don't see a lot of outrage about his crime, just the fact that Oklahoma didn't execute him painlessly.  Not that he gave much thought to his victim.

From all accounts, his victim was visiting a friend, when the condemned man burst in.  He raped her, kidnapped, her, then shot her.  She was buried alive by accomplices and succumbed to her wounds.   He said that he killed her because he was afraid that she'd alert the authorities.

So, because this poor guy suffered for about 43 minutes on the gurney, the whole prison defense industry is outraged?  It's not like the Oklahoma DOC intended for him to suffer, and the end result was his death.  I don't see a problem here.  They intended to kill him, and he's dead.  They're trying to figure out what went wrong, and hopefully, they'll get it right the next go-round.

Some are arguing that we should abolish the death penalty, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.  The death penalty serves a valid retributive purpose.  (Although I don't see the guillotine coming back.)  I'm not particularly a fan of the death penalty, but I do see that it serves a valid purpose, in such cases as when a person is absolutely guilty and there is any chance that a lesser sentence might not preclude the possibility of the prisoner ever being released.  As in the case of Wilbert Rideau killing Sarah Ferguson.  Wilbert is now a free man due to the vagaries of the legal system, and Ferguson is still dead.

Armorskin

For the last couple of days, I've been wearing a new body armor carrier, the Blaeur Armorskin.  It's a polyester shell designed to look like a uniform shirt and designed to be worn as outer-wear.

Under it, I wear the base shirt, whith is a cool mesh shirt with sleeves and a collar, also designed to look like a uniform shirt, but hidden part of that shirt is a cool mesh that wicks moisture   Worn together the two pieces make a system that seems to work well for the mission of keeping an officer safe, while making the body armor that we wear more comfortable than the old method of wearing the armor under the uniform shirt.

I've only worhn this system for two days, but I can see that it's a big improvement on the way we used to wear the vest.  Anything that makes a street officer more comfortable is a big improvement, and this system, while fairly new, may be a good first step in keeping officers safe.  The big problem with body armor is that it is so damned hot, and anything we can do to make it easier for an officer to wear armor is a decided improvement.    I know that there are other systems, and as the technology shakes itself out, there will be improvements, but this is a big improvement over the way I wore armor, even six months ago.

Ball Park Franks

Yesterday, Milady and I were shopping for Sunday.  Normally, Sunday lunch takes place at our house after church, and we planned to let the grandkids enjoy the pool while I cooked burgers and dogs on the grill.  When we got to the hot-dog aisle, Milady picked up a couple of packs of Ball Park Beef franks.

I asked her if she wanted the less expensive franks, and she looked at me like an errant child.  "I think we can afford the good stuff."  So, today whilst cooking the burgers I put those franks on at the end of the grill.  After the grandkids had been served and while my adult children were fixing their plates, I grabbed a hot dog bun, added a little chili, some mustard, and put one of those franks on the bun.

Great Jumping Jehosephat!  That's the best hot dog I ever put in my mouth.  I'm a big fan of sausage, both smoked and country, andoille, and Italian, along with Polish, German and Cajun.  I love boudin, and all forms of sausages, but this Ball Park Beef Frank took my love of sausages to a whole new level.  Who knew that so much joy could be had from a simple hot dog?

Enough with the cheap dogs.  If Milady says we can afford the good stuff, I'm okay with that.  Ball Park Beef Franks have the PawPaw seal of approval.

Sunday Morning Dawg

Sunday morning, and the dog is looking for that cat.  Not much of a hunting dog, sometimes the cat is simply behind him.

Wonder where that cat went?

That cat is eating breakfast. 

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day.  The weatherman is calling for a chance of thunderstorms later today, but we'll take those chances.  PawPaw is going to fire up the grill around lunch and cook some hamburgers and sausage.

Y'all get out and enjoy this beautiful Sunday.

Drummer-Man

My sister in Knoxville sent me this video.  It seems that my nephew is the drummer for Laurel Wright in this new video.



Congrats, Jamie.  Very well done.

Dry Land Seaplane Launch

These guys store seaplanes during the winter and do the annual, then get them ready for the spring flying season.  Because there's no water, they launch them from a trailer.

For some reason the video won't embed, but here's a picture.

Link here to the article.

Just Damn!  Hat tip to Termite.

Leg Cramps

Mr. James, a contemporary of my father, who attends our church, told me last year that, "I can still do a hard day's work, it just takes me most of a week."  I'm starting to understand what he means.

I finished that sewer-pipe job yesterday.  Every day since the breakdown, I've been going over to the hole and throwing a little dirt into it, until I gave out from pushing a shovel.  My yard is mostly clay and pit run, a great foundation for a building, but absolutely hell for digging.  Putting dirt back in a hole isn't any easier, so I stretched the job out to a couple of hours per day and yesterday I got the dirt back in the hole,   Evidently, I favor my left leg for pushing the shovel into the soil, because my left leg started cramping last night and I'd get up and walk it off.

I know all the remedies, quinine pills, orange juice, bananas, pickle juice.  Twice that leg cramped on me, once about midnight and again just now, at 4:30.  After the 4:30 episode I decided to make coffee, as I was already up.  I think I'm going to take it easy today.  Getting old ain't for sissies, and this old man needs a break.

Land Grab

The bureaucrats at the BLM would do well to pay attention to signs that appear along roadsides in Texas.  Don't Mess With Texas.

Fox News is reporting that BLM officials are talking about a land grab in Texas, along the Oklahoma border.  It seems that the border between Texas and Oklahoma is the Red River.  The Red River is one of those rivers that changes course, and over the years the river moves and shifts, Sometimes those shifts are quite fast and dramatic.  Overnight.  We've seen it here in Louisiana, where the Red River carves across the state.  One day your land is on the river, the next day it's under the river.  We consider it the Hand of God, but when that river defines a border, it's easy to become confused about where the original border might have been.

Breitbart has background on the matter.

In 1922, the U.S. Supreme Court attempted to settle the boundary dispute in Oklahoma v. Texas and declared the boundary to be defined by wooden stakes set on the river bank. That boundary apparently lasted no longer than anyone could expect wooden stakes to last in the shifting sands of a meandering river. In 2000, Texas and Oklahoma’s legislatures agreed to a “Red River Boundary Compact” which defined the border between the states as the southern vegetation line. However, Congress must ratify agreements of this kind between the states according to Article 1, Section 10 (Clause 3) of the U.S. Constitution. Congressman Thornberry introduced House Joint Resolution 72 during the 106th Congress to codify the compact into U.S. Law.
The matter became somewhat of a national question drawing the attention of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, “The U.S. Supreme Court has tried twice to settle this dispute, which at one point brought the governor of Oklahoma to the border in a tank…However, true to the slogan 'One Riot, One Ranger,' the good governor of Oklahoma and his tank was held off by a lone Texas Ranger on his horse."

The long-standing dispute over the T/O border is a matter of long-standing debate, based on the twin facts that the river moves and wood rots.  As ornery and curmudgeonly as a rancher in Nevada might be, the BLM ain't seen nothing yet when they try to get into the Texas/Oklahoma border dispute.  This dispute pre-dates even the BLM, and they've got no business sticking their noses in it.

Biofuels

The fed.gov commissioned a study of biofuel made from corn residue (cellulosic ethanol) and the study concluded that the ethanol is worse for the environment than common gasoline.

A $500,000 study paid for by the federal government and released Sunday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change concludes that biofuels made with corn residue release 7 percent more greenhouse gases in the early years compared with conventional gasoline.

Of course, Big Ethanol is howling

The biofuel industry and administration officials immediately criticized the research as flawed. They said it was too simplistic in its analysis of carbon loss from soil, which can vary over a single field, and vastly overestimated how much residue farmers actually would remove once the market gets underway.

Of course they're howling.  Big Anything is furious when any study comes out that says what they do is a bad thing.  Big Ethanol, Big Wind, Big Solar, are all emerging technologies, and we're learning a lot about those technologies, but government subsidies are a bad idea.  They cost a lot of money, they're inefficient.  If you subsidize something you get more of it.  If it's a good idea, the market will take care of it, otherwise it should die on the vine.

I prefer non-ethanol gasoline.

**UPDATE** After posting, I found an article that says that the EPA admits that ethanol blends damage engines.   If you want non-ethanol gasoline for your engines, go to pure-gas.org and do a search for your area.

Pool Opening

For the past several years, we've opened the pool on grandson Quinton's birthday, normally the last weekend of April.  He'll be out of town next weekend, and today we celebrated his birthday, so the kids insisted that the pool be open, cool weather or not.  So, today we opened the pool.



They were cold as frogs when they came out, but the pool is open for the season.

Sunday Morning Dawg

The dog was playing "don't look at the camera" earlier this week, and I haven't had an opportunity to take a better picture.

He hasn't been here since Friday nite.  It seems that Milady has a friend who owns a dog that looks almost exactly like Beau, and she's a little girl, and Milady plotted with her friend for a weekend, hoping for puppies in two months.  He'll come home this afternoon, but it's been quiet around the house this weekend.

Swaging Bullets

Swaging bullets is a very common way to make bullets, but it's not as widespread as a hobby for the home tinkerer.  Most of the common jacketed bullets are swaged and many of the target bullets sold by Hornady and Speer (for example) are swaged bullets, but handloaders generally either use cast bullets or store-bought jacketed bullets.

However, the Corbin Co has been making dies that can be used for swaging, and some guys have taken to the hobby with an innovative approach.  This afternoon I was surfing around this forum and found some neat pictures of bullets that were made from discarded 9mm brass.

Yeah, those are bullets, made from discarded 9mm brass.  After being filled with lead, the bullets are formed in one of several forming dies, then loaded as usual, in .40 SW brass.  Who realized that discarded 9mm brass is the correct size to go down a .40 SW bore?

A pictorial view of the process, above.  I know just enough about the process to be mystified by it, but I think that it's a spiffy way to use discarded brass.  I know that a hobbyist can make 5.56 bullets from discarded .22 rimfire ammo, ad some wags have said that .30 cal bullets can be made from discarded 5.56 brass.

I see on the bottom photo, a photographer's mark.  I don't know who jonblack is, but if anyone can tell me, I'd be happy to give him a link.

Saturday Chores

It's amazing how fast your priorities change.   Yesterday afternoon I had every intention of working in the back yard today.  Then, about bedtime we discovered that I had a major issue with our sewerage lines, so this morning before full daylight I went out and diagnosed the problem, then called elder son who does this type work for a living.  By nine a.m. we had rented a Ditch-Witch and opened up the yard, then commenced to replacing sewer line.  As good as the machine was, PawPaw spent most of the morning in the hole, ripping out old pipe and replacing with new.  I was probably in-and-out of the hole thirty times, doing all the things necessary to make sure that water can flow downhill.  Two trips to Lowe's, muddy from head to foot with the type of mud that you really don't want to analyze.

It's amazing how quickly your priorities can change when the commode won't flush and the bathtub won't drain.  Somehow, the growing grass in the backyard pales to insignificance   We finished up about 2:00 and I took another half hour to wash the rental machine.  Then PawPaw took a long hot shower and on clean blue jeans.  A quick nap, and it's now 4:00 and the grass in the yard will have to wait another day or so.

The Beer Locker

This morning, while running errands, I realized that the summer beers are out, and I wasn't sure of the state of my beer locker, so I stopped by the local purveyor and picked up a few items.

There''s some Tecate, and a couple of Dos XX, along with Boston Lager, Blue Moon, and Sam Adams Cherry Wheat.  I'll have to pick up some Coors Light for those who enjoy such things.

The weather is still cool, and the water's too cool for swimming, but springtime will be here shortly. Life's too short to enjoy it without beer.

Good Friday

Scouring around the internet, looking for something interesting, I realize that my muse is depleted.  Just not interested.  Today is Good Friday, and while I don't have to put on a uniform today, that doesn't mean I'm off.  In fact, I'll work more energetically today than I normally do when I'm protecting and serving.

So, it's time to put on tenny-shoes, gather tools, and get after it.  It's going to be a busy day, culminating at a fish-fry this afternoon at the church.  So, y'all have a blessed Good Friday.  For myself, it time to hit it hard and get it done.

Civil Disobedience

It seems that New York passed a law following the Sandy Hook massacre, and there are reports that as many as a million residents are refusing to comply with the law.  Courtesy of Instapundit.

New York gun owners shrug off tough new rules: What happens now?“The SAFE Act, passed in New York last year, had an April 15 deadline for owners of assault-style weapons to register their guns with the state. Some 1 million residents have refused to abide.”

From the linked article:

 For now, gun rights experts say, the outcome in New York is uncertain. Will the state take the initiative to seize unregistered weapons? If it doesn’t, will the new gun controls be exposed as toothless, even meaningless?

But others are clamoring for confiscation.

 “No guns are being taken away unless you fail to register your military-style assault weapon, if you happen to own one,” Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, told The Buffalo News. “If you register it, you can keep it.”

It looks like New York is standing on that slippery slope.  Register your guns or lose them.  Perhaps registration (or the lack thereof) does lead to confiscation. 

Fun Facts

According to the CNS News site, there are 86 million private sector workers today in the United States.  Those 86 million support the government and 148 million benefit takers.

The 147,802,000 non-veteran benefit takers outnumbered the 86,429,000 full-time private sector workers 1.7 to 1.

Lots more analysis at the link, but basically if you're working in the private sector, you're carrying the load for 1.7 people who aren't.  Milady and I are making good money, and our tax bracket is about 25%, so we're supporting with our taxes, a family of four somewhere.  It amazes me that in my autumn years I'm paying more in federal income tax than I made for lots of years as a young adult.

If someone asks me whether I'm paying my fair share, the answer is yes.  And I'm paying the share of someone else, too.  That's something to think about as we wrap up the traditional end of the tax season.

Heresy!

Surfing around today, I stumbled upon a news article that says my beloved sport, baseball, has adopted some heresy called an instant replay system.  What abomination is this?  It seems that league gurus are sitting in a room with various monitors, prepared to over-rule the officials on the field in the event that they make a bad call.

This whole idea is a bad call.  Baseball is bigger than technology.  It's a game played on a summer field, a ballet of players and sunshine and officials.  It's bad calls, and good calls, and strategy.  It's the roar of the crowd and the heckler in the box seat behind home plate  It's foul balls, or fair, but it decidedly is not a far-away league commissioner deciding whether the guy on second base is safe or out.

It's bad enough that baseball has adopted the designated hitter, but we should leave the game as pristine as possible.  Let tennis balls have boundary sensors, but leave baseball to the officials on the field.  This game isn't a technological marvel, this game is America's past-time.

If anyone from Major League Baseball reads this post, I'm ag'in it.

Remington 700 Recall

I found this at the GunBlogBlacklist, but couldn't read the notice so I googled around and found it on a Remington site.

Remington Arms Company, LLC (“Remington”) is voluntarily recalling Remington Model 700™ and Model Seven™ rifles which were manufactured from May 1, 2006 through April 9, 2014 and which have an X-Mark Pro® (“XMP®”) trigger. All product manufactured after April 9, 2014 is not subject to recall.

If you go to the Remington link, you'll find a block to enter your serial number to see if it's subject to the recall.  If you're shooting a Remington 700 manufactured in the past eight years, you might want to click on the link and take care of this problem.

That is all.

Pre-Easter Cool Snap

It's a truism in Louisiana that we always have a pre-Easter cool snap, and even when Easter is late, that seems to hold true   Accuweather tells us that we'll see a cooling trend this week, so don't put youir jacket away just yet.

Those basking in the warmth across the eastern half of the nation this weekend should not bury their jackets deep in the closet with dramatically colder air, and even snow for some, set to make a comeback.

I dount that we'll see snow, but there's a reason I still have a jacket hanging in the car.

 Spring will be here soon enough, and summer will be hot on its heels.  In another month, we'll be reminscing about cool weather.

Falcon Nesting in Tree

Very few people have seen a falcon.  While eagles have made a comeback since the '60s and the alleged  DDT problems with raptor eggs (I said alleged, okay?), falcons are still relatively rare, where early in the 1960s they were very common.  So, when my mother sent me a picture of a falcon nesting in a tree, I was immediately interested and clicked the link.

Mom said "I’ve received many remarkable nature photographs over the years but this photo of a nesting Falcon is perhaps the most remarkable Nature shot that I’ve ever seen. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Nature is truly breath-taking!
I've sent this to most of my older friends. The younger ones probably have never seen a falcon and wouldn't recognize it.

Yeah, that's a Falcon in a tree.  I drove a car just like that (mine was red) during high school and the fist year of college.  Thanks, Mom.  Ya got me.

Standoff in Nevada

I've been watching the standoff in Nevada at the Bundy Ranch.  Ostensibly, Bundy runs cattle on BLM land.  Bundy and the BLM have been in a pissing contest for several years, and the BLM was trying to evict his cattle, based on an endangered desert tortoise.  For a better rundown, Powerline has the goods, and Alex Jones Inforwars has been following the crisis since it began.  (Yeah, I know, it's Infowars, but even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while.  Get over it.)  However, just recently, there has been speculation (and a little fire under the smoke) that Harry Reid, the esteemed senator from Nevada had a deal working to make a bit of money from the land that Bundy was using to graze cattle.

The new head of the BLM, Neil Kornze, worked for Harry Reid as a policy adviser from 2003 to 2011. It is reasonable to assume that Reid got him the BLM job, and I would hazard a guess that Reid saw the situation turning into a public relations disaster–Nevada’s Governor and Senator Dean Heller, both Republicans, were more or less siding with Bundy–and told Kornze to give it up.
It still isn’t clear what the crisis was all about. Rumor has it that Reid wants the land for a giant solar farm that would be supplied by a Chinese company and, presumably, subsidized by the federal government. Reid’s son is apparently a participant in the deal. Whether that is true, I haven’t yet tried to figure out. One thing I will say with some certainty, however, is that tortoises had little or nothing to do with it.

Of course, the BLM over-reacted, and there were armed officers there, and plenty of good opportunities for outrage.  It seems that the BLM set up a "First Amendment Area" that outraged everyone.

 Which prompted this map for our officials to use when trying to decide where the 1st Amendment can be defended.

Yeah, I'd say that sums it up.  The Government doesn't get to say where we can exercise our 1st Amendment rights.

It seems that this weekend, the BLM decided to pack up and go home.  Someone with a brain in his bead decided that this thing was becoming a public relations nightmare.  What's interesting, though, is to understand that this is Harry Reid's state, and if there is money to be made, you can be sure that Harry has his hand in the pie.

Harry Reid is a despicable little man.  He's spent his entire life in public service and has amassed quite a fortune for himself and his family.  The very idea that Harry's son represents a Chinese firm that wants to use government land in Nevada for a green-energy project tells me everything I know about this drummed-up crisis.  If you think that this little debacle had anything to do with cattle, or with tortoises, you've been reading the wrong newspapers.

Sunday Morning Dawg

The Sunday Dawg is late this morning, but everything at this house is late this morning.  Milady and I slept in.  Overslept (as it were), and it was the dog who finally awakened us.  One of two things, he either needed to go outside, or he thought that perhaps we had died and wouldn't be available to feed him.  He's not comfortable with us being abed after daylight.

So, with morning coffee, I snapped this pic.

It's an overcast morning here and the paper is calling for rain this evening.  Seems like a perfect day to stay home and rest for the afternoon.  Tomorrow is Monday, and we all know what that means.

Mary Lies

On of my favorite blogs, Boned Jello, has a meme that it uses sometimes. 

"If you're trying to change minds and influence people it's probably not a good idea to say that virtually all elected Democrats are liars, but what the hell."

Our Senator, "Katrina" Mary Landrieu, is an elected Democrat, and she's been caught in a whopper of a lie by the Washington Post, who awarded her Four Pinnochios for a recent ad.

Turns, out, she's blasting those evil Koch brothers, the favorite target of the unhinged left, while failing to mention that she's taken over $50.000 from them.  As TownHall reports:

According to a recent Politico investigation into the Koch brothers and how they spend their money, it appears that the Kochs don’t just give to Republicans, like so many people believe, and in fact have given money to Senator Mary Landrieu. They found that since 2000, Ms. Landrieu has accepted $55,000 from the KochPAC.

So, it seems that in addition to be a lying politico, Mary bites the hand that feeds her.  Just one more reason to vote for anybody but Landrieu in the upcoming election.

Doin' Taxes

I'm normally not this late, but for some reason, life got in the way of taxes this year.  I normally have them done mid-February.

I'll be done later tonight and blogging will continue.  It looks like I owe the Feds money again this year.  Not much, but some.  Just dammit.  The Federal Government loves people who make good money and don't have kids.

First Flight

My buddy Termite made his first flight in the Hi-Max yesterday afternoon.  Beautiful weather, 73F and the wind socks were hanging straight down.  I  took video, but it's rough and I won't get a chance to edit it for a couple of days.  The little plane flew really well, and Termite learned a lot in the process, while being talked-through from an experienced bunch of tail-dragger pilots.

Here's a photo, just before he started his engine prior to taxi.  Afterwards, we went to a Mongolian grill and toaster Termite's success.  From all indications, the little craft flew really well.

Vance! Whazzup?

It seems that my new Congressman, Vance McAllister, has become embroiled in scandal a scant few months after being sworn in. This morning he's being sworn at. It seems someone leaked video of him lip-locking a married female staffer. The newshounds are all over it

The story surrounding Louisiana's newest congressman Vance McAllister, his affair with a married staffer, and a video purportedly proving the infidelity is only getting stranger and more complex.

Well, yeah, the story is getting stranger, but if Vance hadn't been smooching on the staffer, there wouldn't be any story at all.

Less than 24 hours after the video showing the newly-elected 5th District congressman kissing staffer Melissa Anne Hixon Peacock was first leaked, new reports allege the evidence was purposely released by one of McAllister's district managers. But although he admitted to the affair, McAllister said he will not resign and claimed this was the first time he strayed from his wife of 16 years.

Yeah, Vance, I'm sure that this is the first time you've ever fooled around on your wife. I'm sure that your wife believes it too.

Like McAllister, 40, who is married with five children, Peacock, 33, is married and has a child. Her husband Heath Peacock is devastated over the affair, he revealed during an interview with CNN. He said the two married couples were close friends and that he can’t believe this is happening.

Couple of notes, here, Vance. We didn't send you to Washington to swap-slobber and ruin marriages. We sent you there to work. You should have known that folks would be gunning for you, and you gave them all the ammo they needed. Not only did you betray your wife and kids, but you've disappointed us, the voters. We believed you when you said you were a devoted husband and family man. You lied to us, Vance. Being caught on camera, in what is ostensibly a public place, shows me that you're either stupid, or arrogant, or both.

We sent you, as a first-timer, to Washington to represent the people of the district.  Within four months you've shown yourself to be just another lying, cheating politician.  Don't ever ask for my vote again.  I don't care who leaked the video.  You did this to yourself.

Termite's Himax

Just a couple of pics of an airplane that I've been watching get built.  It's a Hi-Max, a single seat, high wing monoplane that a friend of mine is building.  It's about ready to fly, and I stopped by the hanger yesterday to look at it

There's a snout-on view of it  It's just a little single-seat airplane, but it looks like it would be  a lot of fun to fly.  Powered by a Rotax engine, it's got a pull-starter.

Weather permitting, he'll give it the maiden flight tomorrow afternoon.  More pictures then.

Hummingbirds

We saw our first hummingbird several weeks ago.  The feeders are hung, and I haven't been able to spend much time watching for the little speedsters, but we've seen them at several locations around central Louisiana.

What I didn't know is that there is a website that tracks the annual migration of the ruby-throated hummingbird.  Click here for the link.  It looks like they came ashore in Louisiana in late February, and they've been seen as far north as Missouri and Virginia.  We love watching them buzz around the backyard, and we generally have several in attendance all summer.

Jackie Speier - Dumbass

When I first saw this on a gun forum, I thought that it must be spam of some sort, so I Bing-ed it to see is I could find any other links.  Sure enough, some California Representative has called for President Obama to ban the import of assault weapons.  Here's another link, and the first paragraph tells you all you need to know.

Rep. Jackie Speier, a Peninsula Democrat, called on President Barack Obama on Wednesday to ban the import of assault weapons following last week’s high-profile arrest of state Sen. Leland Yee on gun-trafficking charges.

Uuh, Jackie, (you ignorant dumbass), Yee was planning to smuggle fully automatic rifles and rocket launchers.  Both of those acts are already illegal.  Of course, I wouldn't expect a California Democrat to make the fine distinction between one thing that's already illegal and another thing that's also already illegal.   If I were her constituent, I'd be bombarding her this morning with emails and tweets, revealing to the world her ass-hattery.  The woman is a disgrace, and deserves the jeers of the entire nation.

Sunday Morning

Rain, this morning, with thunder-bumpers.  I've got a pork loin in the oven and the house is quiet.  The dog is hiding from the thunder and the only sound in the house is from the oven, ticking itself quietly on an off to maintain temperature.  Milady left a few minutes ago, to the nursing home.  She takes over soon as Director of Nursing, and wants to spend some quiet time going over doctor's orders, familiarizing herself with the treatments we're providing for our residents.  I spent the day there yesterday; we were pressure washing the walks and hanging new privacy screens in the semi-private rooms. 

PawPaw is sore this morning.  Lots of time up and down ladders in a half-dozen rooms, measuring, cutting, installing, working over my head. Moving beds, arranging furniture (both so that we could work, and putting the rooms back when we were finished).  My legs ache.  It's good exercise, but my old body isn't used to that kind of work.  Like I told my nephew, I can still do a hard day's work, but it takes me most of the week.

It was nice, yesterday, doing physical labor.  It was also nice, talking to the residents and staff.  I believe that we've got a great bunch of folks, caring for a great bunch of folks and I'm proud to be part of the project. 

I'll head to the church about noon, carrying that pork loin.  We've got an eating-meeting at noon and I'll explain to them why Milady isn't with me.  It'll be good to spend time with my church family and marvel on the changes He's sent me in the last several months.

Sunday Morning Dawg

It's been a heck of a week, and the dog hasn't been getting a lot of attention.  Milady is tired and PawPaw is tired but the dog still likes the sun on the back deck.

It's okay, Pup.  Things will slow down soon, and start to get back to normal.

Saturday Morning

I'm going to leave here in a few minutes to meet my sister and some nephews and spend the better part of the day running a pressure washer.  It's time for a good spring cleaning at the nursing home, and we're going to try to make that happen.  Light blogging to follow.  It takes lots of hours to build a business, and while others have spent many more hours on the other end, it's my turn to get a little sweat equity into the pool.

At least I've got nice weather.  The local weather-weenies say that it should be partly cloudy and 66F today.  Not a bad day at all for working outside.

Casting Bullets

I've been casting bullets for over 20 years, for both rifle and pistol, and I know my way around a casting pot, although I admit that I don't know a lot about the subject.  I'm barely literate in alloying metal, and I'm pretty good at making pistol bullets.  If anyone ever tells you that he knows everything there is to know about rifle bullets, he's an arrogant bastard, because there are lots of questions still to answer about how a particular alloy works as it travels down a rifle bore.

Second son brought me some 9mm bullets tonight and told me he had cast his first bullets during the afternoon.  He brought me culls, but I told him that I'd lube them and shoot them.  A few wrinkles on the nose, but the driving band is filled out and nicely sharp.  The bases look good, and (after all) they're pistol bullets.

It's a helluva hobby, and I'm glad he's taking it up.  There is nothing more satisfying than shooting a nice, tight group with bullets you made yourself.  That's two sons I have now that are melting their lead and turning scrap into something useful. 

To Gain the World, but Lose the Soul

There's an article over at The Week, that tells us we lost, that in the battle for public opinion, Christians have lost the war, but that there might be a silver lining.

As I wrote last year, the culture war is over, and conservatives lost. For Christians, though, there might just be a silver lining.

Now, of course, it's understandable why many of my fellow cultural conservatives mourn the decline of Christian values in the public arena, inasmuch as they had a powerful influence on the rise of western civilization. Historians like Rodney Stark and sociologists like Mary Eberstadt (and many others) have chronicled this phenomenon. It's not simply about "losing power and market share," but mourning the very real downstream effects of secular liberal policies on issues such as defending the unborn.

Heh!  Some seem to think that in defending Christian values, I'm concerned about the culture war.  First, I didn't realize that I was in a war, and second, I take my solace from the Gospel of Mark, which asks us

 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

The pendulum of public opinion swings, and people swing with it.  I don't much care what other people think, I'll continue to try to learn the will of God, and I'm not nearly as certain of His will as I was twenty years ago because He reveals Himself to me in amusing and delightful ways.  I will set my (very metaphorical) sails and go where He takes me.

May the Peace of our Lord be with you all.

Fostering a Free Society

Charles Koch (yes, that Charles Koch) writes an article for the Wall Street Journal.

Instead of fostering a system that enables people to help themselves, America is now saddled with a system that destroys value, raises costs, hinders innovation and relegates millions of citizens to a life of poverty, dependency and hopelessness. This is what happens when elected officials believe that people's lives are better run by politicians and regulators than by the people themselves. Those in power fail to see that more government means less liberty, and liberty is the essence of what it means to be American. Love of liberty is the American ideal.

This is the same Charles Koch that our Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid loves to rail about.   In a recent quote, Harry said this:

I believe in an America where economic opportunity is open to all. And based on their actions and policies they promote, the Koch brothers seem to believe in an America where the system is rigged to benefit the very wealthy.

Well, Harry, the Koch brothers got rich by working hard and taking advantage of opportunities.  Whereas you got rich by pursuing a life of public service.  I still don't understand how someone gets to be a multi-millionaire while earning the salary of an elected official.  But, I'm sure that Harry will be happy to show us his tax returns.

When pigs fly.

New Computer

My old XP box was getting a bit twitchy, and it's been several years since I bought a new computer, so I did a little research, talked to my brother-in-law, and headed to Office Depot.  I bought a Toshiba Satellite C-55A and have spent the past hour setting it up and migrating the files from the old computer to the new one.

This is the first time I've changed computers before the old one crashed and burned, and I've got to say that the process is a lot easier when you can move files off a running machine.  This laptop is running Windows 8.1, and it's going to take a little while to get used to it, but the learning curve isn't as bad as I thought it might be.  I will say that the larger screen on this one is a lot brighter than the screen on the old computer.

Now, to install my favorite programs, and make sure that the printer is properly installed.