Mueller Strikes Again

Special counsel Mueller, on his witch hunt, has added another scalp to his war belt.  Once again another Republican, this one a counsel for President Trump.  Evidently, Michael Cohen has pled guilty for lying to Congress.

Huh!  It's against the law to lie to Congress?  Who knew?

When is the law going to catch up with serial prevaricators like John Brennan, James Clapper, Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, and James Comey -- all of whom have been caught in lies to Congress or the FBI with no repercussions?

If it is indeed against the law to lie to Congress, then that law should be applied in a non-partisan fashion across the board.   Selective application of the law is seldom seen as fair.

Cleaning Cast Iron

Evidently, there is a resurgence of cast iron cooking going on.  People looking for the old ways, and  using the old tools.  That's taken me by surprise because cast iron is my go-to cooking implement and has been for my entire life.  Between Belle and I, we probably have two dozen or more pieces, from small skillets to large dutch ovens. 

But, there is a fellow on the intertubes who is putting out good information.  Kent Rollins out of southwest Oklahoma is a cowboy cook, and he has the experience to talk with some level of e expertise.



I may not necessarily agree with everything he has to say, but I tip my hat to his knowledge.  I've enjoyed watching many of his videos and he might inspire me to make some short cooking videos of my own.  Kent specializes in cowboy cooking, and there is a whole wealth of Cajun cooking that fits right in with cast iron, We've been cooking with cast iron for decades, and there are some really easy one-pot meals that are staples of Cajun cookery.

If yo like Kent's stuff (and I do), flip on over to his channel.  One fo the things Kent turned me on to was Field cast iron, a fairly new US manufacturer.  Evidently, the Field stuff is made like the old Griswold or Wagner cookware.  After Christmas, I may be tempted to buy one of their #10 skillets.  It's kind of pricey, but good cast iron is a generational investment.

We'll see.

A Moment of Truth

Another great veteran's ad.



The tattoo on the older veteran's arm is the symbol of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, one of the most storied regiments in the US Army.

Are Civil Forfeitures Over

It seems that there is a case pending in the Supreme Court that may spell and end to civil forfeiture under the 8th Amendment.  According to Hit Air and other sources, the  Solicitor General of Indiana took a rhetorical beating yesterday over the practice. 

I've often wondered about "civil" forfeiture, because they always seem to be the result of a criminal action.  And, it seems that the 8th Amendment prohibits  excessive fines.  I admit that I have never been cognizant of the 8th Amendment, but it seems that it is going to play a big part in the arguments.

This is liable to be interesting.

The Empty Chair

Yeah, it's an oldy, but a goody.



In lieu of actual content, we may as well get a little teary.

Cold Cases - Another Serial Killer Emerges

From PJMedia.

WASHINGTON -- The FBI said today that a 78-year-old man currently imprisoned in Texas has confessed to committing 90 murders across the country from 1970 to 2005.
FBI analysts are working with federal, state and local agencies -- including the Texas Rangers -- to try to match Samuel Little's confessions to cold cases.

This guy was a transient, criss-crossing the country.  Apparently, he has a lengthy criminal record and they're trying to put together dates and cities and DNA evidence, but he's confessed to 90 murders.

These guys normally do a lot of damage before they are stopped, and this fellow might surpass the Green River killer, who previously held the record.

Speaking of That

Actually, a buddy and I were talking about this over breakfast.

A couple of these surprised me:
Hyde-Smith is one of six Republican Senators who used to be Democrats. Others will be Kennedy (LA), Cassidy (LA), Hoeven (ND), Braun (IN), & Shelby (AL). #MSSen
— J. Miles Coleman (@JMilesColeman) November 28, 2018

When I registered to vote in 1971 there were hardly no Republicans in Louisiana.  The Democrats had a stranglehold on the state, but there were plenty of conservatives.  We called ourselves Southern Democrats. In the '80s and '90s, the Democratic Party started bending so far left that it veered away from what many Southern Democrats saw as the proper role of a political party andn changed affiliations.  Both of Louisiana's Senators, Kennedy and Cassidy were once Democrats, and I remember those days. 

The band Alabama even wrote a bout it in their hit, Song of the South.

Daddy was a veteran, a southern democrat
They oughta get a rich man to vote like that

The stranglehold of the Democrats was so strong for a while that when I registered to vote, the check-block for the party was pre-printed as Democrat.  That was the default affiliation.  If you wanted to register with another party, you had to make an active choice.  Otherwise, you were a Democrat.

Insty Suspends Twitter

If you're surfing around, you'll probably notice some stories about Twitter, the social media giant so beloved of our President, who has taken it on itself to block conservative writers.  Instapundit noticed and deleted his account.  Even Politico has noticed.

Twitter has been around since 2006, and was adopted by lots of folks.  It grew over the years and became huge in the political sphere.  Like many of the tech giants, it employs folks who tend to the liberal side of the argument, and over the past year or so, folks have noticed that it tends to trend liberal.  But recently, it started giving conservatives problems.

If Twitter wants to be a liberal echo-chamber, that's fine with me.  As a free-market libertarian, I have no problem with them blocking whomever they want to block, to do business with whomever they want to do business with.  But, that ax swings both ways. 

I never used it, myself.I found the format to be generally unfriendly.  But, if people like it, that's okay with me too.

Climate Change

For those of you worried about climate change, the American Thinker offers an historical perspective.  I  recall, for instance, when the largest threat was glaciation.  We were all going to e ground to dust by ice.

1975 – “The threat of a new ice age must now stand alongside nuclear war as a likely source of wholesale death and misery for mankind” Nigel Calder, editor, New Scientist magazine, in an article in International Wildlife Magazine
1976 – “Even U.S. farms may be hit by cooling trend” – U.S. News and World Report

Just this past week, I have run both the heater and the AC at alternate times.  Weather changes, that's what it does.  I'm not a denier, I'm just old enough to remember when they were predicting the exact opposite, based on the same "settled" science.

Posse Comitatus

Thanksgiving is past, and we turn our attention tot he world around us, specifically to the southern border, where our military is deployed as part of the federal response to the (illegal) migrant caravan.

Belle asked the other day, what the military was doing down there, and I told her that the soldiers are basically providing support tot he civil authority.  She asked, basically, if the military could "repel invaders" and I told her that it's more complicated than that, and that the military is bound by something called the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law passed in just after Reconstruction that basically forbids the US Military from enforcing civil law within the boundaries of the US.

It's something that military officers learn about, and it's something I had to pay attention to during Desert Storm.  During that operation, I was federalized and found myself running the day-to-day law enforcement at Fort Polk, LA.  Coming from a civil law enforcement background, and being trained as a Military Police officer, I had to pay attention to the difference.  As an MP, I couldn't arrest civilians except under very limited and prescribed conditions.

Posse Comitatus protects the rights, privileges and immunities of US citizens from interference by the military.  This is generally a good thing, and the officers on the southern border are paying attention to it. 

Outlaws and Gunslingers

I'm going to leave this here so that I can find it later.  Don't have time to watch it right now.



We'll come back to this later.  Some of you might like to watch it this weekend.

Celebrations

A good friend donated a Turduckhen to the Thanksgiving festivities, and I had never cooked one.  But a Cajun is  nothing if not fearless when it comes to cooking, so I gave it a whirl.  Simple enough, you set the oven to 375 and let it cook covered for three hours, then uncover for the final hour.

A turduckhen is a boneless hen, stuffed inside a boneless duck, stuffed inside a boneless turkey.  Seasoned well in the bag, It's kind of a poultry meatloaf, and the one that was given to me weighed 10 lbs.  And, it's all meat.  When it comes out of the oven, you let it rest for a half-hour, then slice it like a meatloaf.

We fed 22 people yesterday,   The turduckhen was accompanied by all the Thanksgiving classics.  Cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, sweet pea salad,  sweet potato pie, home-baked yeast rolls, and a variety of cakes ad pies.

This is half of the reason that Belle and I built the shop.  We have a large family, and lots of friends and acquaintances.  The house isn't big enough for a gathering like this, and we love gathering like this  The grandkids are getting older and they want to bring friends, and we built a kitchen to serve a large crew.  As an aside, we didn't reach capacity.  I've been buying folding tables as we go along and there was one folding table yesterday that did not get unfolded.

Today, Belle and I are going to kick-back, take a break, and piddle around the house.  I have an errand to run later, then we're meeting a couple for supper at a local Mexican restaurant.  Tomorrow, I'm making a gumbo from the leftover turduchen and hosting the club for an afternoon practice.

Those "Survive Thanksgiving" Articles

In the lull between timed events, I'm surfing around for amusement, ad I come to one of those articles about how to survive Thanksgiving with leftists.  Heh!  I don't think I'll be feeding any today, but here's my take on it.

Have a Designated Safe Space Ready
Every place at my home is safe, and I"ll guarantee your physical safety, but don't come in here with any half-baked ideas.  The rule in my family is that if you come in as emotionally fragile, you're probably going to leave emotionally crippled.  We don't suffer fools.  Your ideas are welcome, but be prepared to defend them with logic and reason.

Emergency Vegan Meal
If you're coming here expecting some special dietary menu, you'd best bring it with you.  We're carnivores ad today we're eating poultry.    And lots of it.  Turkey, chicken, duck.  If someone is poultry averse, I might warm up some ham, or maybe some pork loin, but it's all meat, all the time.

Anti-Socialism Plan
You'll be ridiculed and mocked if you bring that shit up/  Can you say Venezuela?  We'll do it lovingly and gently, of course but ridiculed and mocked, nonetheless.

Anti-Capitalism Plan
Aah, the evils of capitalism, yet everything you wear was bought at a store?  The very chair you sit in the plate you're eating from and the food in your mouth was provided by capitalism.  Remember the first topic?  If you come in here mentally ignorant, you may leave emotionally crippled.

Practicing Gun Control
At our gathering today, there will probably be four or five people carrying, split evenly between the genders.  We're not shooting you are we?   That is what we call gun control.  Oh, you're afraid of guns?  No problem, after lunch we'll hold a quick safety class the start teaching you that inanimate objects only work with human manipulation.  We practice gun control every day, and no one has been hurt yet.

But, all that aside, the truth is that no one wants to spoil the holiday by talking about politics.  We're going to have fun, love everyone who comes in the door, and try to make sure that everyone is properly cared for.  Today is a day for thankfulness and camaraderie.    Y'all have a blessed day.

Happy Tnaksgiving

We should give thanks, and I give thanks for lots of things.  My wife, the blessings that God has bestowed upon me, my home, ad family.  I'm thankful for my friends and all the unsung people who make my community and country the best place in the world to call home.

If you'll excuse me, I have to get busy.

More later.  Y'all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Opportunity, Burden and Privilege

This guy, in the last 30 seconds of the video talks about what is so humbling when you serve as a commander of troops.

"As an officer, you have the opportunity, the burden and privilege to look a young man in the eye and ask him to go do something, and they know in all likelihood what you're asking them to do means they're not coming back.  And these American soldiers look you in the eye and they wink, and say "Got it, sir," and they grab their weapon and off they go.  And that is such a privilege, to wear that uniform and to be the Old Man, at the age of 23 or 24, and there is nothing in life that compares to that responsibility."



This guy gets it  Command is the ultimate privilege.  He says that he considers himself a visitor among heroes.

Cooking tomorrow.

It's Thanksgiving and as usual, I'm cooking tomorrow.  We divided up the side dishes and every kid is bringing something, and I'm on the hook for the bird.  No problem.  We invited a recent widower, a great friend of the family, and he donated a turducken, which is a turkey, stuffed with a duck and a hen.  It has some kind of dressing in there, and I'll put it in the oven tomorrow morning.  I've never cooked a turducken, but the instructions are pretty easy.  Bake it at 350 for four hours,   The last hour take the "tent" off to let it brown.  We'll use a meat thermometer to make sure it's done before carving

He also donated two stuffed hens.  I was looking at them earlier, and they are boneless hens, stuffed with a jalapeno baked potato.  Sounds spicy!  I recon I'll crank up the smoker in the morning and put those birds in there.  Let 'em smoke for several hours, until they get limp.

It's going to be great and the clan is going to show up here  for the noon meal.    Belle and I are taking off Friday, lounging around and being worthless.  Maybe there will be enough leftovers to keep us sustained.  Saturday, I'm cooking a gumbo for the club  We'll shoot in the afternoon the have some fellowship.

Y'all have a great Thanksgiving.

Late Lunch

After doing what I had to do, and what I needed to do today, about 2:30, I was getting peckish, so I went to the fridge to see what was available.  Found some pork loin that I had cooked Monday, so I sliced it and put it on the griddle with a little bacon grease to keep everything lubricated.  Then, when it was getting happy on the griddle, I drizzled a little barbecue sauce on it to add some piquant. 

It isn't ham and eggs, and it isn't bacon and eggs, but it went down good, ad I don't see any cabs on that griddle. 

More On Car Batteries

Jonathan says in comments:

I've heard that some cars have the battery under the back seat or in the trunk - not where I'd think to look.

The old Volkswagen Beetle had the battery under the back seat.  It was a snap to change, really easier than you might think.  Push the driver's seat forward,  fold it down, and lift the back seat.    There's the battery, easy-peasy.

I recently helped a friend with some kind of Chrysler POS that had the battery under the engine in the wheel well.  Obviously designed by an engineer who had never turned a wrench, or planned to quit Chrysler and was giving a big F-U to all the guys would would have to turn wrenches on the vehicle.

I don't know what the engineers are thinking sometimes.

Back in the day, some vehicles used to be a positive ground circuit.  That's right, the positive side of the battery grounded to the frame, and everything ran off the negative cable.  Those things would make you throw your hat in the creek.

A Warning to Socialists

If you want to see the basic, end-result of socialism, perfectly applied, we need look no further than Venezuela..  Venezuela is going down the tubes, descending into utter chaos. 

Do we need to intervene?  No, hell no.  The people of Venezuela need to sort this out themselves.  If we do anything, we'll only make Maduro a martyr.  This is up to them, and frankly the sooner they hang this sobofabitch and all his lackeys, the sooner they can start rebuilding their lives.



I'll bet that his Army will abandon him as soon as they can.

Putting In A Battery

We got up this morning and Belle's car was dead as a hammer.    With all the electronics on a vehicle these days, when the battery goes tits-up, it's a disaster.  We could't even use the fob to open the door, and the key is hidden i the fob.  We finally Googled how to get into the car so I could get the hood open.

Then I had to find the battery.  It's hidden under there, way back against the firewall.  Can't even see the negative terminal.  She took my car to work,  and I began the process of taking the old battery out so that I could install a new one.  Had to take the air box out to access the battery hold-down, then slid the battery forward enough to get to the positive terminal.  Cussed a little, then slid the battery out enough to get to the negative terminal.  Cussed a little more.

Went to the parts store, got a new battery.  Came home and reversed the process, muttering mightily at the design engineers who can't put a battery where you can get to it.  But it's done now, and the car starts o command.  She'll have to re-set all her pre-sets, but that's on her.For the record, she drives a Ford Edge Titanium and it has ALL the bells and whistles.

I"m not one of those guys who tells his lady what to drive.  I've hound that to be a bad idea.  Belle makes good money (better than I make) and she pays her own car note.  She likes bells ad whistles, and that's okay with me.  But, Lawd, when it dies, it dies quick, fast, ad in a hurry.

Only in Louisiana

The sign over the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, reminding people to use their blinker.

The causeway connects Mandeville, LA on the north shore with New Orleans on the southern shore.  The causeway is 23.8 miles long.  Back in the day, barges used to slam into it, knocking it into the water, although we only hear about that infrequently now.  However it still causes one helluva mess.

A Very Bad Day

Came home this morning from running errands, and found a State Trooper conducting a traffic stop in the road beside the house.  I watched for a while to make sure that the trooper was okay, then went inside.  It appeared that some redneck had violated one or more of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. 

I went inside to do check email, ten about 30 minutes later head the beep-beep-beep of a backup alarm.  Went back outside and saw this:

Yeah, the truck is getting towed.  The trooper was still sitting just out of frame at camera right.  Somebody is having a very bad day.  I didn't recognize the redneck, so I can't identify him.  Just another day in the life of a State Trooper.  From what I know about the traffic laws, I'd bet that there wasn't any insurance on that pickup.

Monday Project

A project that Belle had been lobbying for, a pathway from the bath house to the gate to the barn.  I've been meaning to do this for a while, but with winter approaching and two grandsons spending the night, I decided it was tie.

Rolled into Lowe's at 8:00 and we  finished before 11:00.  Not bad for a morning's work, and we finished in the rain.  We laid ground cloth, staked it in, added landscape timers for edging and staked them in, then laid down stepping-stones, and graveled the whole thing.  I could actually use another yard of gravel, but it's raining.  We'll get to that later.

That's not a bad morning's work.

New Lawnmower

My old Craftsman lawn tractor has been showing it's age for a while, but I kept limping it along during this season.  I'm loath to spend money on a lawn mower., even thought in semi-tropical Louisiana, the mowing season is 8 months long.

Today, my sons presented me with a new (to me) lawn mower, ad I admit that it has a learning curve.  Second son has built a nice little part-time business buying used zero-turn mowers and refurbishing them.  He's learned the hydraulics, and he's always been a good small-engine wrench.

Elder son was using this one, but it really didn't suit his purposes, so he passed it on to me.  It's slow, but it's faster than the old Craftsman lawn tractor.

It's an old Cub Cadet zero-turn.  It's powered by a big Briggs, ad the boys have gone through it to make sure that everything works.  It needed a new battery and I put one in this afternoon then mowed the front yard with it.  It's going to take me some time to learn to do ditches, but once I figure out how to mow a straight line and a gentle curve, the ditches shouldn't be much problem at all.

Thanks, boys.  The old man appreciates it.

Those Little Acorns

Joe wanted to know how big those little acorns are.  While I didn't do a scientific mass measurement, I'll admit that they are small, about a 1/2 inch sphere.  Here's one sitting on a common dime.

That's a mall acorn.  Now it's time to go outside, turn on the shop and start browning meat.  We're having taco soup for lunch and I want everything to simmer for a couple of hours before lunch.

Y'all have a blessed Sunday, and we'll talk later.

Picking Acorns

Eaton Rapids Joe wants acorns from a water oak tree, and I happen to have one inn my front yard.  This morning is pretty, so after the dew lifted, I went outside to see if I could find a few acorns.  Yep, they're everywhere.  So, I got down on all fours and started picking acorns out of the grass.  After just a little while I decided that it was better to get down on my belly ad pick everything in a small area, then scoot over a foot and do it again.

So, anyway, I'm laying on my belly under that tree, sifting little tiny acorns out of the grass, and I hear someone holler at me from the road.  "Are you okay?"

"Yep", I reply, "I'm fine."  I get up off my belly, and dust off.  "I'm collecting acorns for a friend"

This guy is a neighbor, lives down the road, and he thought I had had a stroke or something.  So, I explained to him that Michigan needs acorns from a water oak tree.  We visited for a few minutes ad he went on with his morning, and I went on collecting acorns.  In another half-hour, vertigo had gotten the best of me, so I decided to call a halt for the time being.

Three pounds of water oak acorns fills just about half of a gallon zipper bag.  In case anyone needs to know that.  I don't know how many acorns are in that bag, ad   I may finish filling the bag, or I may not, or I may press grandkids into service when the come over this week.

Send me an address, Joe.  You have my email..  In another few days, those acorns will be on the way.

White Women Trying To Look Black

A friend and I were discussing this earlier this week, ad I started to post on it.  Rachel Dolezal, for  example.  A woman who is white, trying to be black, or Indian (our lily-white senator from Massachusetts, for example).  There seems to be some cachet these days to be anything but white.  And I don't understand it. 

I thought that perhaps my own perceptions were seeing something that wasn't really there.  But, evidently, I"m not the only one who is noticing it.  Ann Althouse, for example.

"In a trend that is not new or surprising, white women seem to be adopting the features of black women on social media in their quest..." "... to develop themselves as models and influencers. 

I remember a time when light-skinned black women would attempt to pass themselves as white, assuming that some sort of advantage would flow from it.  I don't know.   The whole thing confuses me, mainly because we're supposed to be i post-racial America, the great melting-pot of the world, and rankly I don't care what color anyone is.  At this stage of my education, I tend to judge people, but I judge them more by the content of their character than by the color of their skin.  I just don't care  what color someone might be.

I'm not sure if that education came from my time in Natchitoches, which has a vibrant, Creole community, and I had friends and associates of every hue, or if it came from my time in the Army, where I depended on every color and gender of soldier, and the only thing that mattered was professionalism and performance..

The whole thing confuses the crap out of me, and it's Friday ad time for my afternoon whiskey.

Whaddya Mean, Joe?

It seems that the election returns were submitted late from Broward County, FL, and the Secretary of State refused to accept them.  They were two minutes late, but they missed the deadline.

The secretary of state's office did not accept the new numbers and so, after days of painstaking work, Broward's count Thursday remained the same as it was on Saturday, when it submitted its initial unofficial election results.

 "Basically, I just worked my ass off for nothing," said Joe D'Alessandro, the director of elections for Broward County.

We can take two meanings from that, Joe.  Did you mean that the work you did was rejected?  Or did you mean that you failed to to flip the election to a Democrat?

In other news, the Democrat candidate in Georgia wants a do-over.  The election was ten days ago, and we're still counting votes?  That doesn't make any sense at all.

SWATTING

Swatting is the recent mischief of placing a hoax call to police, telling them that an horrific crime is being committed, and then watching the mayhem from another location.  It's a despicable act, placing both the police and the people at the called-in address in great danger.

As a cop, when you respond to one of these call and "go in hot",  adrenaline pumping, hopefully someone is able to figure out quickly that it was a hoax call and no one gets hurt.    But, sometimes things go horribly wrong.  Like in this case in Witchita KS.

Most of the time, the police respond and figure out that nothing was going on before anyone gets hurt, but it doesn’t always happen that way.
Now, a man responsible for a fatal swatting call has pled guilty to 51 charges stemming from his actions.

Fifty-one charges?  That prosecutor was busy in the books.  I can think of a half-dozen charges I could cite for making a prank call that resulted in a death, but 51?  And as a part of a plea deal, I wonder how many charges they dropped?

 Prosecuting U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister told The Wichita Eagle he will recommend that Barriss be sentenced to 20 years in prison, providing he writes apology letters to police, dispatchers and the family of Andrew Finch, a 28-year-old father of two who was shot by police who responded to the hoax call in December.

Twenty years is a long time.  He'll get lots of time to think about the consequences of his actions.

Season's Change

We had the first frost of the season this morning, with temps in the high 20s.  One small now flurry yesterday, which is unheard of in central Louisiana in mid-November.  The season's are changing, and I've even put the liner in my duty jacket, which doesn't normally happen till after Christmas.

One other change, is that I've switched from my summer vodka/tonic to my winter bourbon and coke. Y'all know that I love whiskey, but believe in moderation in all things, except loving a good woman, which should be done enthusiastically.

My to-to, day-in-and-day-out whiskey for mixing with coke (or diet coke, in my case), is either Jim Beam white or Evan Williams, whichever strikes my fancy at the time.  But I buy it in the transmission size.  You know, the big bottle.  When you turn it on its side, it looks like a transmission.

When I was a young'un, whiskey came in several sizes.  half-pints, pints, fifths, and half-gallons.  Those were good, imperial measurements that everyone understood.    I haven't seen a pint of whiskey in a while, and I imagine that they're still available.  The last time I saw a pint of whiskey, the counter-guy at an old country store kept a case of pints of cheap gin under the counter to sell to the winos who wanted to mix gin with grapefruit juice.  He sold a lot of Tex-Sun grapefruit juice out of that store.  But I digress.

I still buy my good sipping whiskey in the smaller 750 ml bottles, but my mixing hooch is bought in the larger bottles.  I understand those larger bottles are 175 cl, whatever in the hell that means. (I know that it means 0.46 of a gallon, which ain't a half, and we're getting screwed, but that's the world we live in.

Red Beans

Cold, breezy day today, and I was yearning for red beans.  So, on the way home, I picked up the fixings.  You can start with dried beans and those are great  Belle is the master of dried red beans, but my recipe is quick and dirty.  About an hour from the time you start until you're eating.

Red Beans

1 lb good link sausage
1 lb good bulk sausage
oil
flour
salt
3 cans (15 oz) red beans.

Prep

Cut up your sausage.  Drop the bulk sausage into a good black iron pot and fry it loosely, like hamburger.  Add link sausage and let it simmer with the bulk sausage.  Remove from fire, drain.

Add oil and flour to the pot, make a roux.  When the roux is done, add a little water.  Add beans ad sausage and turn the stove to simmer.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Make a pot of rice.  Bon apetit.

Beer, In Comments

Kamas Kid says:

Grainbelt was big up here. My Grandpa had a bunch of signs and paraphenalia with the logo on it when he owned a bar. I was watching an old football game on youtube the other day and they had a bunch of commercials for Schaefer Beer. I tried some once, and it wasn't for me. I remember my parents drinking PBR and Old Milwaukee when I was a kid.

In early 1976 I moved to Fort Knox, KY to attend the basic course for armored officers.  I remember Shaefer beer.  It was available at the Class 6 store for $16.00 a keg.  Shaefer was the beer that was served at company parties.I have helped to float several kegs of Shaefer beer.  One beer that I always thought tasted like stale horse-piss was Blatz (the fire-brewed beer).  But, my father-in-law, a Cajun, came up to visit us ad fell in love with it.  He took a couple of cases home and insisted that I bring it to him when I came home on leave.  I never understood his affection for that beer.

Old Milwaukee was the beer of choice when I was in high school and early college.  There was a local store, The Pak-N-Sak that sold it for $1.00 a six pack, or $4.00 a case.  Back in those days, it was legal to drink at age 18, and in places in Louisiana, the age limit was very flexible.  I'm pretty sure that the Pak-N-Sak was selling us "skunked" beer, but with Old Milwaukee,  it's hard to tell.

When I was at Riley, Coors was unavailable in Louisiana, but in Kansas, it was everywhere.  For some reason, it was not sold east of Texarkana.  My Dad loved Coors and I had standing orders to bring him four cases whenever I came home on leave.  As soon as Coors became available in Louisiana, he switched to Budweiser.  Go figure

The End of PBR

Pabst Blue Ribbon is a beer I remember well.  It was the brew of choice for my old friend Junior and he always had a six pack in his fridge.  I understand that nowadays it's a hipster beer (and one of the low-end bargain beers.  But, it had a following, but now it's in a lawsuit with MillerCoors over production capacity.  It seems that MillerCoors is brewing Pabst beer.

MILWAUKEE — Pabst Brewing Company and MillerCoors are going to trial, with hipster favorite Pabst contending that MillerCoors wants to put it out of business by ending a longstanding partnership through which it brews Pabst’s beers.

I know that nowadays it is fashionable to get into partnerships or for a strong company to buy a competitor outright, but it seems to me that if you're a major player, it's not a good idea to let a competitor control your production capacity.

But, the brewing industry is just like every other industry.  Beers come and beers go.  Who remembers Schlitz, Falstaff, or Pearl?

Water Oak?

I've got this tall oak tree in the front yard that makes very small acorns.  I call it a white oak, because that's what we call threes like this.  I can identify white oak, red oak, live oak, and post oak.

Eaton Rapids Joe emailed me recently and told me that he is looking for water oak acorns.  I never heard of a water oak, and wasn't sure quite what he meant.  Maybe we call it one thing in Louisiana, and they call it another in Michigan.

At any rate, here's the tree.

And  closer shot of the leaf structure.

And a small handfull of acorns.

Is that what you're looking for, Joe?  If so, I can probably find a couple of pounds.  The mast crop wasn't real good on that tree this year.

Military Photo - Keen Sword 2018

A great photo of military might, the joint exercise Keen Sword is the subject of this military photo.

PHILIPPINE SEA (Nov. 8, 2018) The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), left, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga (DDH 181), right, sail in formation with 16 other ships from the U.S. Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as aircraft from the U.S. Air Force and Japan Air Self-Defense Force fly overhead in formation during Keen Sword 2018. Keen Sword 2018 is a joint, bilateral field-training exercise involving U.S. military and JMSDF personnel, designed to increase combat readiness and interoperability of the Japan-U.S. alliance. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kaila V. Peters

Let's remember today that US forces are still serving all over the world, and as we take a moment to give thanks to our veterans, lets remember to give thanks to our deployed forces.  They are still going in harm's way.

The Sunday Dawg

Belle and I had some pulled pork left over from the shoot yesterday, so we warmed that in a slow cooker, and I decided that we had some taco fixin's that we needed to sue, so we put it all out and gave the kids a choice.  They could do "street tacos", or have a normal pulled pork sandwich.

We heated a bunch of corn tortillas on the griddle, and started the line through.

Elder son opted for the tacos.  Warmed corn tortilla, with shredded pork, sour cream guacamole, ad shredded cheese.  I opted for those too, and we probably didn't eat a dozen of those between us.

Grandson Quin opted to combine the two.  A taco is a bun.  He said it was quite tasty, but came back later for more tortillas.

The dawg, of course, got his ration.  Afterwards he decided to nap on the couch beside Belle, in his classic uncomfortable pose.

Later, he opted for a more conventional napping position.

We're back in the house now, getting ready for the week.

Passing Them Down

My good friend Russel has asked the question of what is going to happen to your guns, especially the ones that you filly intend to pass down to family or friends.

A decade or so ago, I started paying attention to guns in pawn shops.  Used guns, mainly, that wind up on the shelves of second-hand shops.  And I realized that these once belonged to someone and that, for whatever reason, that person decided to convert them to cash.  The simple fact of mortality means that eventually I'll shrug off this mortal coil, and whatever I leave behind will become a problem for someone else.  There are things that I cherish that will mean absolutely nothing to the people who follow me.  I get it.

But, some cherished possession might mean something to a particular person, and it's my job to find that person.  To that end, I've been giving away guns.  I still have a pretty good battery, but I've given away ore guns in the last decade than I've bought in that decade.  Each of my offspring and most of my grandchildren have a gun I used at one time or another.

There are some that I won't give up till it's done, but if I get notice of my impending demise, I fully intend to leave this world having given away my guns, and other cherished possessions.  Hopefully, I 'll give them to the person who likes them as much as I do, but we never know; they might be taken to a pawn shop and converted to cash.  It may sound fatalistic, but it is what it is.

Thorn Valley

We went to Thorn Valley to shoot with friends today.  Every 2nd Saturday in November, they have a invitational shoot, and it's a lot of fun.

Blue Eyed Belle came in 4th overall.  I came in 5th in the men, and Zach came in 7th.  Overall a very good day, and most important, we got to catch up on friends.

It was a very good day.

Count on the Democrats

You can either count on the Democrats, or you can count with them.  It's funny, that after an election is over and the votes are being tallied, you can count on Democrats to find a big box of "lost" ballots that will swing a tight race in the direction that they want it to go.  As Liz Shield points out.

Literally, you can count on them or with them. The Democrats in Florida, Georgia, and Arizona are continuing to "count" the "votes" in the 2018 election and, curiously, as they continue to "count," the Democrats either take the lead or close the gap. I wonder how this is going to end? (Not really.) This is ridiculous. Has there ever been an election or a special county where a bunch of Republican votes are always "found" or "discovered" that switch the fate of an election?

As a friend pointed out this morning over breakfast, "I see that the Democrats just found a bunch of ballots, and as soon as they're filled out, they'll let us know who won."

In this day and age of digital record keeping, the idea of "found" ballots is repugnant, and frankly, it's getting old.  Election officials should keep strict controls on handling of ballots.  And, if you notice, it always seems to favor the Democrats.

Governor Rick Scott of Florida is noticing the same thing.



Really, guys, this isn't funny any more.  We're in the 21st centtry, and it's not too much to ask for an accurate, timely vote count.  "Finding" votes after the fact smacks of fraud and incompetence.  No citizen of either party deserves to this kind of kind of nonsense.

Supper Time

Three egg omelet, laid on a toasted tortilla.  Even the dawg got some ham and tortilla.  He loves tortillas.

Now, I'm going to finish my digestif and lay down.

Cry Me A River

Back in the news, it seems that the life of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has been disrupted.

She’s had to move four times, she wrote last month. She has had to pay for a private security detail. She hasn’t been able to return to her job as a professor at Palo Alto University. 

If she had been treated properly by her Democratic Congress-critters, she might have avoided all this.  Or, if she had any real evidence, she might have avoided all this.  But, at least her story has a silver lining.  She's being paid well. 

The GoFundMe Campaigns That Have Raised $840,000 for Christine Blasey Ford...

$840K for three months work isn't chump-change.  Why are we still talking about this?

None Of The Above

It's done kind of tongue-in-cheek, but a Hot Air article points to the fact that the Democrats don't have a candidate that they can rally around for the upcoming Presidential election.

Poll – Dem Choice For 2020 POTUS Race: None Of The Above

Actually, I think that's a pretty good choice and shows good judgement on the part of the Democrats.

And, I'm not tongue-in-cheek.  I think that every ballot should have a None Of The Above block to check.  If None gets a majority, then all the candidates in that race would be disqualified from running in the follow-up election.   Likewise a candidate who qualifies with no opposition would face a YES or NO vote.  If the electorate voted NO, then that candidate would be disqualified from any follow-up election. 

I know a lot of times in local elections, a candidate will get elected simply because no one wants to run against him/her.  For a variety of reasons, some of them having to do with retaliation on a local level when someone runs against a political strong-man. 

I think it's a good idea, and might bring better people into public service.

Idiot Memes

In the past few days, I've been seeing idiot memes trying to deliberately misdirecting us about the way we elect leaders hip in the US.    It all started when someone noticed that the US President is not elected by the popular vote.  I mean... Hillary won the popular vote, but Trump spanked her good in the electoral college.  And the Dems wept because none of them took high school civics and did not understand that we are a republic, not a democracy.

But in the last few days I've been seeing an increase in the idiocy.  To wit:

Before you believe that this guy is simply stupid, according to the link above, he is a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin.   So, he understand, or should understand how this stuff work.  If he doesn't, he should go back to is undergrad university and demand a refund.

No, this is misdirection.  Mark knows how it works.  He's simply being obtuse.  And, despicable, which is the main conduct of Democrats lately.

The Worm Turns

They haven't even been sworn in yet, and they're already making plans for mischief.

Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., revealed plans for House Democrats to investigate and impeach Justice Brett Kavanaugh for alleged perjury and investigate and impeach President Donald Trump for alleged treasonous collusion with Russia.

The Kamikaze Wing.  Heh!

Looking At Election Returns

One of the cool things that we can do i n this day and age is to look at election returns and try to detect trends.  I live in Rapides parish, LA, and and it's interesting to note how people vote.  For example.

In the 2012 Presidential election, 58,019 voters cast ballots in Rapides Parish.
In the 2015 Governor's race, only only 28,503 people cast ballots in Rapides Parish
In the 2016 Presidential election, 56,844 votes were cast in Rapides Parish.
Yesterday, in Rapides Parish, with several important things on the ballot, 40,880 people voted.

The US Census tells us that Rapides Parish has 131,648 people, and that the population has been really stable since 2010.  But, if you look at the disparity between the '15 Governor's race and the '16 Presidential race, we see that only half as many people cast ballots in the Governor's race as cast ballots in the Presidential race.  That's odd.

Yet, yesterday in the midterms, over 40,000 people cast ballots.  This certainly bears more analysis.

A call this morning to the Registrar ofVoters reveals that we have approximately 86,400 registered voters in Rapides Parish.

I Voted

This morning after Belle left for work, I piddled around for a bit, then went to vote.  We have voted at Philadelphia Baptist Church for the last 12 years, but when I got to the church, the doors were locked and a sign directed me to the new library at Libuse, LA.  No problem, that's on the way to the barber shop.

Went to the library and voted.  Thence to the barber, then next door to the grocer, where I picked u some corn tortillas, chorizo, eggs, baconn, ad other incidentals.  Went home and cranked up the griddle to make hurvos rancheros.  Basically, warm corn tortillas, with cheese, chorizo, fried eggs and more cheese.  It may not be heart-healthry, but there is very little carbs in that meal, and I'm watching carbs. I added bacon, because I needed the bacon grease to warm the tortillas, and why not?

I fed Zach and I lunch, then straightened up the kitchen.  One thing I'm learning about that griddle is that the longer I use it, the easier it is to clean.  Nothing sticks to it, and while it is warm, a quick rubdown with paper towels is sufficient.

Don't Be Creepy

Instapundit notes that one Pennsylvania Democrat is reminding voters that voting is public record.   If you go to the linked article, you find this:

Democratic candidate Scott Wallace, who is running against incumbent Republican representative Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania's toss-up 1st Congressional District, is distributing door hangers in the area that oddly inform voters that "who you vote for is private, but whether or not you vote is public record" and adding that the campaign "can't wait to see that you voted on November 6!"

Well, that is all true, but it takes a special kind of stupid not to see the hidden threat.   It's Orwellian, and implies that people who don't vote..... you figure it out.  I know that voter rolls are public record, and I know that Louisiana is (supposed to) purge voter rolls if a citizen doesn't vote in five years.  Lots of good reasons for that.  You might have died, or moved, or any number of things. 

But, being reminded by a candidate that voter records are public record is just downright creepy.  I believe I would have to vote against any candidate who sent out that message.  In this case, he's a Democrat, which is another reason to vote against him.    I hope Wallace loses big today.

It Works

I think I have the stealth cam set up.  Still testing, but I did the basic setup while working a detail tonight.  This was a professional development for teachers, and while I was watching the lobby, I set it up on a table to see if it would take pictures.

A pic of a fat deputy walking out to his car.

And here's another.

That's one of the teachers moving between classrooms.  So, inn light, it works pretty well.  I cropped both of those pics out, it seems that this camera has about a 60 degree field of view.  And, I have the date/time stamp set up properly.

I have it set up in the back yard right now.  We'll see how it does in low-light or near-total darkness.  I'm sure that it will get pictures of cats moving around tonight.  We'll check it in the morning for feline activity.  But, so far, so good.

Monday Update - Go Vote

Nothing much to report today.  I've been playing for the last hour with a new trail cam, the Stealth Cam PXP36NG, a no-glow camera that I bought today for a project.  I picked it up an hour ago at Academy Sports for less than the MSRP you see at the link.I just finished setup, which was kind of tricky, but YouTube videos will show you things that the instruction manual doesn't, so there's that.  I'm testing it right now and may or may not review it later.  I simply hope that it's easier to use than it was to set up.  I'm probably over-thinking it.  We'll see.

But, I've been doing some reading today about the upcoming election.  They don't know what the hell is going on.  Even Larry Sabato, over at the Crystal Ball, isn't sure.  He thinks that the Dems have a pretty good shot at a majority in the House, but that the Republicans will keep the Senate and maybe even puck up a few seats   But, he admits it's too early to tell, and all the pollsters are hedging their bets.  After the polling debacle that gave us President Hillary Trump,, the pollsters aren't real sure what the electorate is thinking.

Personally, I think that the US is redder than the pollsters measure.  I know that some times I'll answer a poll and screw with the pollster just for giggles.I suspect that a lot of people are doing the same things and that the only poll that matters is the one we'll participate in tomorrow.  Get out and vote.

If you're not sure who to vote for, pick the first (R) on the list and vote for him or her.  What very you do, don't vote for the Donks.  They don't deserve to hold power.  I'd love to see a red tsunami tomorrow night when the polls close.  It may be a pipe dream, but after the way the Donks acted during the Kavanaugh debacle, none of them showed any inclination at fairness.

For myself, tomorrow morning, I'm going to get up, drink coffee, then go out to the shop to cook breakfast.  I'm thinking huevos rancheros.  Then, put on my hat and go vote.  Afterwards, find a barber shop and get shorn.  Then, spend the rest of the day piddling.  I'm off tomorrow, and I intend to enjoy it.

Sunday Afternoon Dawg

Here lately, we've been cooking in the shop.  Today was chili dogs, by request, but Belle stepped it up a notch.  The buns were flattened by roller ad brushed with garlic butter before being toasted on the griddle, the franks (Ball Park, of course) were split in half and grilled alongside the buns with onions, also saude'd in that same garlic butter.  Of course, everything was covered in grated cheese and good chili.  But, that's not what we're here to talk about.

After lunch, we repair to the conversation area in the shop, a nice circle of comfortable  seating, where we discuss the week past ad the week ahead with family.  I happened to notice the dawg napping, He had snarfed his ration of chili dog and decided that a nap was in order.

He looks like he's in great distress, doesn't he?  Yeah, there's a cord in that photo, but it is not hooked to his sweater.  That's a random USB cord the kids use to charge devices.

So, just so y'all know, the dawg is doing well, and he's still hanging out with us.  I swear, he's a Democrat.  He doesn't work, he loves handouts, and he naps constantly in very comfortable places, but he does it all like he's extremely put-upon.

Spirit of Northwestern

We traveled to Natchitoches, LA today to watch a high school bad competition.  Grandson Zach was marching with his high school band,   Northwestern is my alma mater, ad another grandson, Michael is a drum major in the Northwestern band and I wanted to see him on the field.

He's a great kid, and we're very proud of him.  Frugal, a great student, and he loves music with all of his heart.    He'll graduate with a  bachelor's in May, and we might never get to see him on this particular field again.  This afternoon was a bittersweet moment for Beel and I, and we thoroughly enjoyed our day in Natchitoches.

The finale of the competition was the college band taking the field, and our grandson was directing the  band. 



I'm so proud I could pop.

Despicable

The #MeToo movement has once again revealed itself as a false-flag operation.  This headline says it all.

Woman Who Accused Brett Kavanaugh of Rape Admits to Judiciary Committee She Lied

Really.  It's despicable to commit rape.  It is likewise despicable to lie about rape.

 She admitted to Committee investigators that she “just wanted to get attention" and that “it was a tactic" and "a ploy,” according to Grassley. She also told Committee investigators that she had called Congress multiple times during the Kavanaugh confirmation process to oppose his nomination.

Senator Grassley has, of course, forwarded a referral to the Justice Dept.    And, you won't read any of this in the mainstream media.  It's simply not important that an "attention-seeking" woman makes the most horrific accusation possible about a man, simply because she doesn't like his politics.

Concrete Finishing

Concrete finishing gone wrong.  Stolen from Wirecutter's place.

I hope they got control of it.

We'll be in Natchitoches all day at a band clinic.  Y'all have a great Saturday.

About That Pot

MSgt Anthony says in comments, from this post yesterday: I hope that's a Lodge.

No, Master Sergeant, it's not.  Neither is it a Griswold.  It has no markings whatsoever.   I picked it up several months ago at an auction.  What it IS, is a good cast iron pot.  The side walls are uniform, the bail is securely fastened, and the lid fits properly.  When I purchased it, it was in fair shape and needed only a good cleaning and re-seasoning.  The seasoning isn't quite right yet, but that will come with time.

Lodge makes pretty fair cookware, but I don't like their "pre-seasoned" coating.  It's rough and the last thing you want on the bottom of a cast iron pot or skillet is roughness.  You want the bottom of cast iron to be as smooth as glass. If I get a piece of Lodge cookware, the first thing that I have to do is sand the interior with good wet-or-dry sandpaper until it is smooth, then re-season.  Most Lodge cookware is good cast iron, but you look for the same things in a Lodge that you look for in all cast iron ovens.  Uniform sidewall thickness, a flat base, a sturdy bail properly affixed, and a lid that fits properly.  I have been known to coat the lid/pot junction with valve grinding compound and rotate the lid against the pot until it fit properly.  We want a good seal and sometimes that is the only way to get it.

Good cookware is where you find it.  I find mine at auctions or garage sales, and I'll pass on about half of what I find because it's either over-priced or damaged inn some way.  But, there is nothing magical about the brand name on a cast iron pot as long as it is well constructed.  

Temps Dropping

The temps have been dropping all day long and I decided to make a small pot of chili.  However, my pot is a lo larger than the chili I was making.  That's not a problem.

That's one sure way to take the chill off of the day.  Recovery continues from the tornado that our area experienced last night.  Thankfully, all across the area, I haven't heard any reports of fatalities or injury.  Lots of property damage, but it seems one was hurt.  God bless us this time.

Still no word if schools will be open tomorrow.  I'm sure that they'll make an announcement soon.

Accidental Holiday

I awoke this morning to find that my cell phone had exploded (figuratively) i the pre-dawn hours.  We had a run of severe weather last night, thankfully after all the children were home from Halloween.  Evidently we had high winds and at least one tornado.  Roads are closed and power outages have prompted the powers-that-be to close schools today.

I've been in touch with my minions and it seems that everyone is okay.  The electricity is working at my acre, and we're okay, but the day stretches before me.  While Belle is at work, I'll do some laundry, do some general housework, and take the opportunity to do some of those things at leisure that we often have to wedge between workaday hours.

It's going to be a good day to stay in jeans and sneakers.