New Year's Eve

My gal and I became engaged just seconds after midnight during the 2002-2003 New Years celebration, at a bar that has long since  closed.  She is the joy of my life and my best fried.

Several minutes ago, I asked her if she wanted to go out, and she demurred.  We are cocktail-ing early, she with her favorite wine, and I with my preferred bourbon.  Tomorrow, we are entertaining friends, with the usual black-eyed peas, cabbage, and corn bread.  We'll put the peas on to soak in another few minutes, and lock up. 

Happy New Year's y'all.  It looks like 2019 is going to be a lot of fun.  Y'all stay tuned.

Shutdown

We're in a government shutdown?  Who knew?

Evidently, it's already been on for a week.  And, I"m having trouble finding out how the shutdown will a affect most workaday Americans.

The new Congress takes over next week, ad the Democrats will have the majority.  President Trump is going to have to earn to deal with that.

It appears that the House passed a bill that Trump could sign, but Senate Democrats  threatened a filibuster.  There's the problem.  I'm a huge fan of the old-time filibuster, but nowadays, it's enough to simply threaten to filibuster to kill a bill.  If a Senator wants to filibuster, he should have that right, but he should be forced to stand-his-ass-up and actually talk nonstop for as long as he can. 

The way the Senate does filibusters these days is an ersatz, hollow, legislative trick.  It takes no courage, and it bears no risk.  It's a puny, watered down trick,   Schumer should retain the original  filibuster, but forbid the current version.  It's un-seemly, and it's certainly un-Senatorial.

But, to the original question:  We're in a shutdown?  Who knew?

Muscadine Shine

Son-in-law Greg brought this over today, it's a moonshine (or what passes for moonshine these days) flavored with muscadine juice.  Greg's dad grows muscadines annd makes jelly.  Hew jelly is fabulous and I don't know that the connection is to this hooch, but I'm glad to get it and I'll be happy to sample it.

At only 55 proof, it shouldn't have much "kick", but I'm sure it will be fine when we start sampling whiskeys in the shop.

Thanks, Greg!

Gumbo

It's a rainy, cool Sunday ad we had that leftover turducken in the fridge that we were wither going to use or throw away.  It's the Christmas bird around here, and I hated to see it go to waste.

So, I found a couple of pounds of good sausage, sauteed some onions and bell peppers, and made a roux.  It's Turducken gumbo for this Sunday, and I made a bunch of it.  Gumbo can be made from almost anything, and it's usually either poultry or seafood.  In this case it's three kinds of poultry (turkey, duck and chicken), with good Cajun sausage.

The basic recipe is here.

In another hour, we'll make a pot of rice.

Confusion

So there's this viral video making the rounds of a transgender guy who goes full nutzoid because the folks in the game shop refer to him as "sir".  He insists that he's a "Ma'am", even though it it quite plain to everyone in view (and now the whole world) that he plainly has both and X and a Y chromosome. 

The employee in the shop deserves full kudos for trying to de-escalate what is clearly a volatile situation.   I'll embed the video below, but I'll also tell you that there is some foul language from the confused transgender guy.



This entire episode is the logical outcome of political correctness run amok.  There is no reason why the mainstream workaday world should be expected to recognize a person's fantasy world.  Frankly, it's assuming a bit much to think that the entire society should comply with his insistence that he is a woman.  He is not entitled to anything, we don't owe him  anything, and he unreasonably assumes that the world should comply with his fantasy.

Finding Cast Iron In The Wild

Belle and I are entertaining out-of-state visitors, ad we took them crawling through a flea market today.  One thing I was looking for is cast iron and I found a dealer who had some very interesting pieces, but he knew what he had ad wanted full retail.

One of the things I was looking for was a nice, small #5 skillet to make a small pone of cornbread.  I saw w modern Lodge on the shelf and asked him about it.

"That's a modern Lodge," he said, "Give me $5 and it's yours."

Don't turn your nose up at Lodge cookware.  It's still being made today, ad many folks don't consider it collectible, but it's till fine cookware.

I handed him a five-spot ad tucked it under my arm.  Got it home, cleaned it and re-oiled it.

There is nothing wrong with that little skillet ad I bet that it will serve us well for cooking eggs, and making the smaller size pones of cornbread.  Yes, it's a modern Lodge, but I bet that it is older than some of my grandkids and might be as old as some of my children.

I don't know what the current makers-mark of Lodge is, but I'll bet that this thing was made before they started putting pre-seasoning on the cookware.  It'll do just fine for what we want to do.

UPDATE.  Just a little searching tells me that this logo came into use in 1973,

Devil's Cut

Everyone who has ever studied the distillation  and maturation process knows about the Angel's Share.  After caasking, a certain percentage of the whiskey is lot to evaporation,  In the distilled spirits business, it's simply a cost of doing business.

Some of the whiskey is lost to the wood barrel, ad Jim Bean calls this the Devil's Cut.  They've figured out a way to release some of that whiskey from the barrel, and they mix it with with their whiskey and release it in a product called Devil's Cut.  I've tried it in the past ad like it.   Because all bourbon is made from corn, ad aged in new, charred oak casks, that spirit in the wood has an intense flavor.  For me, I get leather, oak, and honey.  But, that's just me.  Whiskey tasting notes are very subjective and my palate may be missing something.

At any rate, I like Devil's Cut, and was privileged  to receive a bottle for Christmas.  What I did not know was the Jim Beam bottles Devil's Cut int he big, transmission shaped bottles.

I'm going to enjoy this one a bunch.

Merry Chhristmas

Belle ad I started a tradition years ago..  We do a big Christmas Eve cooking, with all the trimmings and feed all comers for a huge meal on Christmas Eve.  Yesterday we  counted heads after we blessed the meal, but a few more dropped by afterwards.  I figure we fed in the neighborhood of 25 people yesterday.

The gals decided that we should take pictures, and dragged us outside for the photos.  It was a beautiful day in these latitudes, so outdoor pictures seemed just right.

Everyone went home about 8:00 a so Belle ad I did some quick straightening, put the leftovers away, and fell into bed, exhausted..  Today, Belle ad I will indulge our personal Christmas tradition.  She has yeast rolls rising and in another hour or so I'll go out to the shop and find the leftover ham.  We'll stay in our slippers all day eat ham sliders for lunch.

Merry Christmas, y'all.

Just a Friendly Reminder

Semiautomatic firearms are based o technology from at least 1903.

 The Democrat Party is in open warfare against semiautomatic firearms even though the technology behind such weapons dates back to at least 1903.

I bet they've never heard the name John Moses Browning.  Very prolific firearms designer.  He dragged us kicking ad screaming into the 20th century.  Many of his designs are still being produced today.

The guy the Democrats really hate is Eugene Stoner, who finalized his design in 1955.   Yeah the basic design of he Armalite rifle was finalized 63 years ago.  It isn't anything new either.  It is probably the most common rifle in use in the US today.

The big news this week is that the Democrats are absolutely opposed to walls.  Also ancient technology that predates the semiautomatic firearm by several millennia.

I'm beginning to think that Democrats are simply at war wit reality.

Christmas

We're i full Christmas mode around here.  Joyeaux Noel.    We're prepping and makig it happen.  PawPaw and Belle are in fine form, ad getting ready for the family gathering tomorrow evening.

We've been  mildly busy all day and have called a cessation for Happy Hour.  We'll pick it back up in the morning.  Belle has to go to work or a coupe of hours tomorrow, but PawPaw will be here doing final prep and getting completely in the mood.

Merry Christmas, y'all.  Expect posting to be lighter than usual the next couple of days.

The McConnell Shutdown

I see this morning that our wishy-washy Senate Majority Leader can't seem to use the majority that the people gave him.  Mitch refuses to use the nuclear option to get things done.

"It’s been clear that from the beginning that two things are necessary: The support from enough Senate Democrats to pass the proposal at 60, and a presidential signature," he said. “As a result, the Senate has voted to proceed to the legislation before us in order to preserve maximum flexibility for productive conversations to continue between the White House and our Democratic colleagues."

Mitch, you don't have any Democratic colleagues.  They hate you, ad they generally hate President Trump.  They want you to fail.  And, so far, you've played into their hands.

 "I hope Senate Democrats will work with the White House on an agreement that can pass both houses of Congress and receive the president’s signature," McConnell added. "So, colleagues, when an agreement is reached, it will receive a vote here on the Senate floor.”

You hope?  Hope is not a plan, Mitch.  Hope lets the Democrats win.

So, Mitch, if you want this shutdown, you have it.  It's all on you.  It's up to you to make the Democrats see the error of their ways.    Ol' Harry Reid knew how to make the opposition howl.  Maybe you should have taken some lessons from him. 

Speaking Of That

Referencing my post below.  When I was in Natchitoches, LA, there was a little fire station that looked remarkably like the one in the photo below (there must have been a standard drawing for small firehouses).  It sat behind a student nightclub, on a side street behind the nightclub.

Folks would try to park in front of the fire house while they partied at the nightclub,, in spite of the large sign the firemen put on the roll-up doors.  DO NOT PARK HERE.  Occasionally, when they got a call during the night, they would roll up the door and find a car parked in the way.    They would simply put the front bumper of that big American LaFrance  against the offending vehicle and push it out of the way, normally into the ditch across the street.

Normally, the police department would get a call. "Somebody pushed my car into the ditch."

The response was simple.  "Too Bad, So Sad.  Can we call you a wrecker?"

Dreadful

I'm not sure what happened here, but it looks like  something went dreadfully wrong.

But, on the other hand, I"m home safe and off for two weeks for the Christmas break.  Belle and I are about to declare happy hour.  Y'all have a great evening.

In Praise Of The Lowly .22

I was surfing around YouTube last night and came upon this video.  One small segment on the evolution of ammunition reminded me about the ubiquitous .22 LR cartridge, how old it is and how archaic the construction, yet how widely accepted and beloved it is by American gunners.



Designed by the J. Stevens Arms and Tool Co. in 1887, by my math, it has been continuously in production for 131 years.  It's a rather archaic cartridge, having both a heeled bullet and rimfire ignition.  Estimates of annual production are hard to come by, but most folks agree that US production is more than a billion rounds per year.

Everyone has, (or should have), one good .22.  It's invaluable for training, it's a magnificent small game cartridge, and it's actually a lot better at some things than many people give it credit for being.  It has been used by militaries worldwide.

If you are not familiar with the .22 cartridge, your education has been sorely neglected. 

Trip Around The Sun

Well, I've done it again.  Made another trip around the sun.  This one makes 65.



Soon as I catch my breath, we'll see what happens next.

The Ten Best

I'm drinking whiskey tonight, for reasons that will become apparent tomorrow morning.

Of course my go-to whiskey is bourbon, because I'm an American and was stationed in Kentucky, when I was a young officer.  Kentucky is a huge bourbon producing state, and I learned to love it there.

Today I bought a bottle of 1792, knowing nothing about it.  It's a $25.00 bourbon locally, but I came home and researched it and the Whiskey Channel on YoutTube says that it's on their top ten list of go-to bourbons.  Evidently, it's produced by the Barton distillery, which is in Bardstown, KY, which is is just down the road from Fort Knox.



Y'all have a grand evening.  Belle is making pumpkin bread and peanut brittle, and I'm getting ust a bit unwrapped.

Funny, You Should Ask

Bob F asked in comments:

What, no cornbread fingers pan? :-)

Yeah, I have some of those, although I never could make cornbread in them.  Momma had one she used for cornbread, but I never had much luck.

However, my cornbread stick pans are used for a noble purpose.  Lead.  Specifically, ingots for bullet casting.  My cornbread mold is dedicated to wheelweight  ingots.  I have a square ingot mold that is dedicated to pure lead, and I have a round, breadstick pan that it dedicated to linotype allow for very hard bullets.  I wrote a blog post about it in 2010.

So, yeah, I have a cornbread thingy, but it will be used in the kitchen.  It lives out near the smelter.

Old Cast Iron

I've been looking at cast iron cookware sites recently, ad a couple of nights ago decided to look at our personal collection, which is mainly a using collection of Lodge cookware. There is nothing wrong with Lodge cookware once you get past their current practice of pre-seasoning their cookware, which feels about like a truck bed liner.  Some of their earlier stuff is very slick indeed, and Belle had some pieces hanging int he rack which were crusty, from decades of cooking and baking.  With her permission, I decided to clean them using the oven cleaning method.

Using the oven cleaning method, you basically put the pieces into your oven and set it on the automatic cleaning cycle.  When it cools the cookware is clean, with all the crusty bits reduced to ash.  Wash it thoroughly and re-season it, ad it looks as good as new.  I did that, and sure enough, it worked fine.  I put them in the oven last night, and when I came home from work today, I washed them, and did one re-seasoning.

L-R.  Lodge #4, Birmingham Stove ad Rage #3, and Birmingham #5.

All the crusty bits are gone, and the lettering is now readable on each piece.  That little #3 in the middle is a post-'68 BSR, since it's marked "MADE IN USA", ad the #5 on the right is a pre-68.

Same skillets L-R.  The Lodge on the left and the BSR on the right are  smooth as glass and are Belle-s go-to cornbread pans whenever she wants to make a small pone.    I'll give them a another seasoning tomorrow when I get in from work.  I've heard that flaxseed oil is very good for seasoning cast iron, and I picked up a small bottle today just for this purpose. 

I've cooked on cast iron my whole life, it's generally my go-to cookware for frying, roasting or baking, but I've never taken the time to research it.  I have cast iron from small to large, and use it just like any other tool.  I won't go out of my way to get an old Griswold or Wagner, but I don't turn them down either.  It's just that my current collection is either Lodge or Birmingham Stove and Range (BSR), and I've never felt the need for anything  else.

I do have a nice Stargazer skillet on order, though.

The Tree Is Up

Belle ad I decided to put the tree up in the barn this Christmas, since that's where the festivities will commence.  She had the grandsons get it out of the attic today, and superintended the installation.

That tree took up half the living room.  It looks a whole lot smaller in the shop.  But, after Christmas, it will go into storage in the shop.  It's never going back in the house.

Shelves

This morning we did some re-arranging in the house, this afternoon I went to Lowe's to get some lumber for a project in the shop.  Shelving.  I wanted something narrow,  about six inches.  I don't like a deep shelf because things can get hidden toward the back.    Belle and I agreed on some nice, wrought-iron brackets that we found at Hobby Lobby.

I went with the plastic/composite deck boards at Lowe's.  The color is pleasing enough that I wouldn't need to paint them, and the color contrasts well with the color Belle painted the walls.

After I got the materials together, Zach and I put them up in just about an hour.

Saturday afternoon is done, and I've been doing home improvement all day.  I suspect that Happy Hour is just around the corner.

Major Re-Arranging

For years we've had a room called "the toy room".  The grandkids are getting older and as they got more years on them, the "toy room" went through some upgrades.

Belle decided that it was time to disassemble the toy room and make it into a proper guest room  Of course, every piece of furniture in two rooms had to me moved three times.  I'm amazed at the amount of debris ad  clutter that we found under each piece of furniture that we moved.  It's incredible.

I'm catching my breath, but I believe that we've turned the corner on this re-design.   Belle and Zach are still puttering around in the back of the house, but I think I"m going to sneak out on the patio and get a bit of fresh air.

Hush Money Payments

President Trump's erstwhile lawyer is now a convicted felon for various and sundry reasons, and he says that President Trump knew that hush money payments were wrong.

Cohen: 'Of course' Trump knew hush money payments were wrong

We can all agree that hush money payments are wrong.  In a moral sense, we shouldn't be doing things that require hush money.  But, there are lots of things that are wrong, without necessarily being illegal.  To wit:

Drinking good Scotch with Pepsi is wrong, but it's not illegal.
Having an adulterous affair is wrong, but it's not illegal.
Prying a nail out of a wall with a pen knife is wrong, but it's not illegal.

Cohen should know the difference.  But, as it turns out, he's just another sleazebag lawyer.  And, you know that it's the sleazebag lawyers who give the other five percent a bad name.  The vast majority of people couldn't care less whether Trump paid off a couple of whores.  The vast majority of  sources I've seen says that what Trump may or may not have done is not illegal.

Oh, the IRONy

I'm reading about some clueless Democratic Socialists who decided to get sweet matching tattoos.

I wonder if they know that symbol is associated with decades of  genocide, oppression, and tyranny?

During the early part of my military career, I was taught to get bearing and range data whenever I saw that symbol.  Now, I'm just LOLing at the cluelessness.  But, they've finally come out and identified themselves as the enemy of a free people.  Perhaps they they should be treated as such.

Historical Photo

A cool photo from 1965.

A U.S. Marine sniper seeks out Viet Cong with a high-powered rifle and scope near Que Son, Vietnam, Dec. 13, 1965. (AP Photo)

That rifle looks to be a Winchester Model 70.  I seem to recall that's what the Marines were using at the time.  During Desert Storm, my snipers used a mix of Winchester 70s and Remington 700s.  But, our rifles had been worked by the Marksmanship Unit at Benning and were very, very nice.

Sniping, like nearly every facet of military life has changed drastically since then.

Cashew Brittle

Belle has been making brittle recently.  Tonight, she experimented with cashew brittle.  OhmyGod.

I actually think that I like peanut brittle better than the cashew  candy. But, we'd never know if we never tried it.

The Great American Ponzi Scheme

With the 65th anniversary of my birth approaching rapidly, Belle has been nudging me to get down to to the Social Security office and make sure that I am  covered.

It seems that there is this socialized medical plan that everyone has to apply for before age 65, and if you don't apply for it, there are penalties.  So, following the advice and gentle nudging from my lady, I went down today and visited the nice folks at the Social Security Administration.  It irks me as a small-l libertarian to sign up for any government program.  I earned my military retirement, and take great pride in it, but being told that I have to apply for government insurance simply irks the hell out of me.

Because of my date of birth, I also qualify for a high percentage of my full-retired SSA payment benefits, and because Medicare Part B costs money, I went ahead and signed up for that too.  They consider the piddling retirement check that I get from the State of Louisiana as a "windfall", which further reduces the mail-box money the SSA is going to send me.  (Which I also earned through lifetime of work), so how is that a "windfall"?  It sounds to me like I'm being penalized for working hard all my life and taking advantage of retirement plans that come my way.

The nice guy at SSA also told me that I could make up to $40K per year without affecting my SSA retirement check.  Really?  If I get lucky, continue to work hard, and make a decent living, that's going to cut into my mailbox money?  That doesn't sound fair.  Although it explains all those folks I know who are past 65, are self-employed, and work for cash.

At any rate, when I launched myself some 45 years ago, I never thought that I'd actually be signing up for Social Security.  I figured with dual careers in the military and law enforcement, I'd either die gloriously on a battlefield, or ignominiously in a dark alley.  But, I made it this far, against all my expectations.  I'm going to enjoy Christmas, catch my breath and start plotting my next great adventure.  I can't talk about it just yet, but it's going to be a doozy.  I promise y'all.

Go Navy!

They're getting a new boat. (or ship, or whatever they call thse things).

SAN DIEGO (Dec. 7, 2018) The Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) arrives in its homeport of San Diego. The future USS Michael Monsoor is the second ship in the Zumwalt-class of guided- missile destroyers and will undergo a combat availability and test period. The ship is scheduled to be commissioned into the U.S. Navy Jan 26, 2019 in Coronado, Cailf. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Nicholas Huynh)

So, the Navy is getting a new guided missile destroyer.  Disclaimer:  I know absolutely NOTHING about current naval design.

Guided missiles are fine, but I don't see any guns.  I'd figure that they might want a few bullet-launchers for close-in defense.  Again, I'm no sailor-man, but I've heard that the "Prepare To Repel Boarders" crap is dangerous.

It sure looks angular, doesn't it?  I wonder what the radar return on that thing is like.

Pineville Liquor Elections

I was busy cooking yesterday and didn't even look at the computer till long after dark, but we had an important election on Saturday, the much anticipated wet/dry election for the City of Pineville, LA.

I live in and serve the people of Rapides Parish, LA.  Central to the state, Rapides parish is dominated by two cities, Alexandria and Pineville.  Alexandria is the larger of the two, and they are separated by  the Red river.  As long as I can recall, Alexandria has been wide-open wet and Pineville has been bone dry.  It worked for many people, most especially the temperance movements of the local churches.  I'm Southern Baptist, and I understand the dynamics of church membership.

Alexandria was wet, and Pineville was dry, and that's the way it's been in my lifetime.  If you lived on the Pineville side of the river, and wanted a drink, you crossed over into Alexandria. Several times in my memory, there were movements to bring the north side of the river out of Prohibition, but they all failed, either because it was political suicide to even bring up such a thing,

But, demographics change, and people move around, and recently some of the merchants thought that maybe it was time to bring Pineville to the wet side, so some of those merchants started a petition drive and succeeded in getting enough signatures that the law forced a local option election.  We voted on that Saturday.  There were five (5) options on the ballot, as required by law.  The options were worded kind of strangely, but we all figured out what they meant, and the voting was fairly overwhelming.  On Friday, Pineville was dry.  On Sunday, Pineville became wet.  Very wet.  The results are graphed below.

It would appear that The People want liquor in Pineville.  They voted for both low alcohol, high alcohol, package sales, liquor by the drink, and restaurant sales.  This election applies only to the city of Pineville, and the rural areas in the north side of the parish remain dry, but I won't have to drive nearly as far to buy a bottle of hooch.    It will be interesting as well, to see how the tax revenue moves around.  I suspect that I won't be the only person who no longer crosses the river to buy beer, wine, or whiskey. 

The People have spoken.  Let freedom ring.

White Bean Chili

With the weather predictions dire, we decided to cook white bean chili for lunch on Sunday.    On Saturday afternoon, we went out to the shop, put two pounds of Great Northern Beans in the slow cooker and covered them with chicken broth.  Then we set the pot to LOW, and went back int he house for happy hour  This morning we went back out to the shop, added a (very) little liquid, and then Belle began the transformation from beans to White Bean Chili.  I'll let her tell you about it.



Oh, damn, it was good, either with cornbread, or with crackers (I had a bowl of each.  We cook lunch for the family every Sunday and there was enough left that I might get to take a bowl to work this week.

Peanut Brittle

Belle's making peanut brittle.  Just because she wants to.  And, because grandson Lucas said he's never never had a piece of peanut brittle.

She's making pecan brittle, too.  And, I was wondering how cashew brittle would be, and her eyebrows raised.  Stand by for cashew brittle.

This looks like something I should make a You Tube video of.

Saturday Piddling

We woke this morning to one hellacios rainfall, but since I happen to have an indoor range, that didn't affect the shooting at all.  This is exactly why I built the shop.  I may not be able to control the weather, but I can be climate-controlled.

The shooters showed up about 10:00 and we began shooting, the last session of this calendar year. 

Seven shooters this morning and we shot until folks started drifting away, about noon.

After the shooting was over, I started to get a bit peckish, and decided to cook.  I had a can of bacon-flavored Spam in the pantry and decided to give it a go with some eggs-to-order and toast.  One of the club members snapped a photo o me standing over the griddle, taking egg orders.

That bacon-flavored Spam wasn't half bad, and since it does't require refrigeration, I'll pick up another couple of cans when I go to the grocers later today.

We're planning to do some big cooking tomorrow.  Belle wants a big gumbo for an office party on Monday, and we'll cook it tomorrow afternoon.  As for myself, I've been jonesing for a white bean chili, and we're going to put that on tonight for lunch tomorrow.

Generational

Good cookware is an investment.  Not only an investment in cash, but an investment in the generations that will follow.  We can;'t take it with us, and those who follow on get to use it.    Stories abound about heirloom cast iron, like this anonymous commenter.

I inherited it after her death. We were allowed to pick out two items for memories, and I was lucky to pick the Wagner an the stove top Dutch oven she used. My Aunts get misty eyed when they come to our house and eat and see those still in action.

My cast iron has served my family well, and continues to serve.   I know that when I finally keel over, the first things they're going to divvy up are the guns, and the cast iron.  That's okay, that's why I have it.

But, I'm always on the lookout for good paces, and I admit that I'm smitten with this one.  At roughly $120,  I could buy a half-dozen Lodges, but I think I want one anyway.



The link to the Stargazer website is here.

Lodge Cast Iron

I own a lot of Lodge cast iron and cook with it almost every day.  The only gripe I have with Lodge is that damnable pre-seasoning they put on stuff these days.  It's rough, like truck bed liner ad you don't want that on your iron.  You want it smooth as a baby's butt.  But, the pre-seasoning is easily defeated with a sander.  Get it smooth, re-season it, then cook with it.



The best thing about Lodge is that it is available darned near everywhere.  It is probably the most available cast iron cookware in America.  And, it's made in the USA.

Perplexitites

J. Christian Adams, over at PJMedia examines the federally mandated drinking age and  argues that it should be lowered to age 18.  He has a good discussion of the issue, and I agree that it deserves a second look.

I have long held that we should have one age of majority.  If, at some point, the state decides that a person is competent to enter into contracts, buy and sell property, enter into marriage, obtain the right to vote, and serve our military, then that person should also have the right to walk into a bar and buy a beer.  It's a simple concept.  Either you're an adult or you're not.

Other arguments can be made that the states are more properly the custodian of the question, that it is simply not the province of the federal government to decide such issues.

Interestingly, one of our local municipalities is this weekend,  deciding a local ballot measure that would change the city from basically dry to basically wet.  There are five options on the ballot that voters will address, basically from a strict prohibition, through low-alcohol package sales to high-alcohol package sales, to drinking in restaurants, to wide-open bars.  Historically, this town has been "dry", but enough citizens got together a petition that the city was required to put it on a ballot.

These are interesting questions, indeed.  Let freedom ring.

If It's A Problem

If it's a problem, act like it's a problem.    Various sources are reporting that Bernie Sanders, the aged socialist from Vermont, and climate hawk, spent $300K on private air travel in October.

So, Bernie, if my carbon footprint is a problem, then your carbon footprint is a problem, too.

I'll start to consider climate change a problem, when you start acting like it's a problem.  Until then, you should just shut-the-hell up about it.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality, whatever the hell that is.  Evidently, it's a scale of how privileged you may or may not be.  With "social justice" being what it is, I figured I'd do poorly.  After all, I am a fairly well educated white male who supports himself and pays a butt-load of taxes.

The test did not disappoint.  Evidently I am more privileged than 90% of all the other critters in this country.

Heh!  You can take the test here if you'd like.  Linky to the test.  Do I feel poorly about having such a low score?  No, not at all.  We can't do anything about race or sex, but if you get educated, work hard, pay taxes and have good income your score will drop.  It's all utter bullshit, anyway,

Lessons Learned

Eaton Rapids Joe talked about it yesterday.  In 1986, eight FBI agents got involved in a shootout with two very bad actors, and changed the way police look at firearms, tactics, ammunition, and equipment.  The aftershocks of that fight were seminal to how law enforcement looks at fatal encounters.

At the time I was a young peace officer and I remember reading the reports, following the FBI testing and trying to digest the data that came out for several years There were some interesting things that came out of that event and the subsequent reassessment.

The 10mm cartridge.  The 10mm is a direct result of the FBI testing that followed the shootout.  The problem is that most people can't handle it, it's a high energy cartridge designed for semi-auto handguns and is more demanding than the vast majority of folks find it uncomfortable.  That, and it beat the early guns to death.  Handguns designed for it seem to do okay, but it is tough on handguns.  Interestingly, the .40 SW cartridge is the little sister of the 10mm.  Many cops carry a .40 SW today, and we never heard of it before the shootout.

Better bullets.  The FBI tested a lot of bullets in the aftermath, and the bullet manufacturers paid attention.  There were some startling things learned, and for a while, it seemed that everyone was testing bullets.  We started learning about things like tissue displacement, penetration, wound cavities and how bullets acted when shot through various mediums.  The result of all that testing and evaluation is that we have a better understanding of terminal ballistics and we have much better bullets, across the board, than we had in 1986.

We also learned that the old things work.  The fight, with all its savagery and horror was ended by a determined FBI agent shooting a revolver.  Probably using the FBI standard load, which was a .38 Special +P load.  Sometimes good enough is good enough.

It's been over 30 years since that fateful day in Miami, and lots of things have changed in police work and in the gun community in general since that time.  A lot of it came out of  that day in April 1986.

Those Poor Migrants

The American Thinker has a piece about how the migrants in the caravan have been duped by their organizers.

News accounts said that the organizers were promising the migrants easy entry to San Diego, and the Sunday Tijuana border charge came when the migrants felt frustrated.  With that a failure, too, that's got to be rather bitter for some, a question we raised the other day, wondering why the migrants didn't turn on the caravan organizers after what they did.  Migrants can see that they've been dumped to their fate, and the caravan is now breaking up, with many going back home (with Mexico offering free bus rides) or taking the well paid jobs Tijuana is offering them.  But the organizers' promises continue to stand as fake, because anything too good to be true always is.

It's a shame that people were duped, taken advantage of, but often times that is the way these things happen.  It looks like the organizers have skipped town, now that Tijuana's mayor is calling for their arrest.  This thing has become an abject and utter failure, much like what most left-wing projects eventually become.  And, of course, the people who needed it worst are the ones left in the lurch.

Beef Stew

Sometimes nothing will do but an old-fashioned beef stew.  We cheat and do it easy.

Beef Stew

3 lbs good stew meat
brown gravy mix
bag of "baby" carrots
5 lbs potatoes.  Choose your favorite.
Salt
Pepper

The night before.  Drop that stew meat into a large slow cooker.  Mix up enough brown gravy mix to half fill the pot.  Dump inn the carrots.  Turn the pot on LOW, and go to bed.

When you wake  up, after coffee, peel those potatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces.  Add them to the slow cooker.  Let it simmer till lunch time.  Make a pot of rice.

That's how we rolled today, with  yeast rolls and soft drinks.

Broiled Oysters

Once a year or so, m buddy Termite brings me oysters from the Gulf.  This is Saturday and these were laying on the bottom of the Gulf on Thursday.    Fresh oysters.  The only way to eat seafood.

Belle decided to broil them with garlic butter and top them with cheese.  Served on saltine crackers.  Rather than give you a recipe, I decided to go with a video.



Son Barrett just happened to stop by and was able to share in the treat.  We made about our bathches and wound up eating that whole quart of oysters.

Thanks, Termite.

The Caravan Route

I've seen this meme on the Book of Face, and find it interesting. 

It makes you wonder why they took the long route to California, doesn't it?  Could it have something to do with California's liberal sanctuary policy?

RIP George HW Bush

I learned this morning that my wartime President has passed away.  I was trying to think how many presidents I served during my military career, and I believe that it's five.  Ford, Carter, Reagan, GW Bush, and Clinton.    President GW Bush was the one that called me to active duty in 1990 for Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

That operation was some of the best times I ever had in the military.  It was adventure from start to finish, and frankly, I had a ball.  Those were good times.  We knew who the enemy was and we had clear objectives.  Soldiering was great during that operation.

We've pretty much been fighting in those same God-forsaken deserts ever since.