Red States Doing Better

 Instapundit highlights an article in the Washington Examiner that shows that red states are doing better than blue states, economically.

In particular, the unemployment rates different states are experiencing are strongly correlated with the harshness and length of the pandemic lockdowns their state governments imposed. With a few exceptions, Republican governors rolled back restrictions on the economy much faster than their Democratic counterparts.

Louisiana is supposedly a red state, but we have a Democrat governor who absolutely adores Federal Money, and a group of RINOs in the legislature that Moon Griffon call the Fraud Squad.  These erstwhile Republicans vote with the Democrats on many initiatives and refuse to enact true reform.

I note that many self-identified Republicans are actually Democrats, but no self-proclaimed Democrat is ever a Republican.

Memorial Day Tribute - "Thank You"

David Chipman - Insufferable Fool

David Chipman is biden's nominee to head ATF.  In this video, Colion Noir has aggregated the absolutely embarrassing moments of his confirmation hearing. In this string of clips, it becomes absolutely apparent that this fool knows little to nothing about firearms, in fact, is woefully wrong on several occasions, and can't even seem to come up with a working definition of the phrase "assault weapon".  He acts as if he's never heard the term, although he worked as an anti-gun lobbyist for several years.

The video is 37 minutes long, and watching the whole thing is painful.  But, this is the state of the anti-gun lobby today. 

It's Sunday afernoon, and I have nothing better to do.  I think I'll pour myself a drink.

Beautiful Morning

 We awoke to a beautiful Sunday morning.  The temps are in the low 60s and the humidity is in the low 70s, which for swampy Louisiana is bone-dry.  The weather-weenies are telling us that the temps will climb into the low 80s today, but that the humidity will remain low.

I remember a morning much like this a couple of years ago  A friend from Odessa, TX was visiting, and in the mid-morning, he said that he was having problems with the humidity.  Those of us from Louisiana looked at hi like he was daft.

We have people coming over for lunch, and I'm cooking burgers, so I guess I'd best get out to the shop and start prepping.  Those tomatoes and onions aren't going to slice themselves.

ATF nominee says he supports ban of AR-15, Tucker reacts

Biden's nominee for the bozo he wants to run the ATF is a horrible example of an arrogant, lying prick who wil day anything to further his own goals.  He is neither to be trusted or believed.

This asshole is a threat to the Republic.

It's a Small Price To Pay

 We were told during the mask-wearing silliness that wearing a mask was a small price to pay for safety.  Well, one restaurant owner in Mendocino, CA has actually set a price on wearing a mask..  Five dollars.

Owner Chris Castleman is telling customers that they will be charged an additional five-dollar fee if they are seen wearing a mask inside the establishment

Heh!  T he money is going to charity, but it highlights what business owners can do to set the tone.  If you want to wear a mask in his store, pay the fee.  If you don't, go somewhere else. If you feel safer wearing the mask, ten by all means, feel free to wear the mask someplace else.

Saturday

 It's the Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend.  Belle and I were discussing plans over coffee, ad found that we had no plans for today, save a quick trip to the grocers.

Imagine that, an unplanned Saturday!  So, we decided to get the chores done, then slip off and have a little fun.

Y'all talk among yourselves.  My gal and I will be incommunicado till later this evening.

The Misery Index

 You may recall during the Carter presidency, we had something called The Misery Index, a quick-and-dirty measure of how the US was doing, economically.  It was simple addition, the current unemployment rate plus the current inflation rate.

Today, the unemployment rate is 6.1 percent.  The current US inflation rate is 4.2 percent. Adding those gives us a misery index of 10.3.  The last time the Misery Index was over 10.0 was during the last months of the GW Bush presidency.

Ol' Joe ain't doing us any favors.

The Tornado Brush

 In the wax bullet games, there is one brush that excels at getting wax our of a bore.  Hoppe's makes it, and I buy them by the dozen.  It's called the Tornado Brush, and Brownlls sells them.  Hoppe's makes them in a wide variety of calibers and gauges, but I use them mainly for .45 caliber.

I buy them by the dozen, because my club members use them at our club cleaning table.

You're welcome

LA Bill to Ban Transgender in Sports heads to Governor

 The Louisiana Legislature has passed a bill that would prohibit biological males from participating in high school and college women's sports.

A bill prohibiting trans athletes from participating in K-12 and college girl’s and women’s sports passes in the House 77-17. Jefferson Representative Laurie Schlegel said the bill seeks to protect biological females and ensure a fair competitive environment.

This bill protects girls and women from transgender athletes  It's about basic fairness.  Men should not be allowed to compete against women.  It's kind of basic.

The bill is headed to the governor’s desk where it’s expected to be vetoed.

It appears that Louisiana is going to have quite a veto session.  Louisiana's governor, John Bel Edwards is bad for Louisiana, bad for business, bad for basic fairness, bad for out-migration, bad for generally everything that should put Louisiana at the top of the nation.  Did I mention that he is a Democrat?

Irony

 It seems that an Atlanta politician and mayoral candidate, Anthony Brown, who voted to defund the police department, had his car jacked in broad daylight

In a classic case of "fate loves irony," Atlanta council member and mayoral candidate Antonio Brown, who earlier this year voted to strip $73 million from the Atlanta police budget, just had his white Mercedes carjacked ... at 12:30 in the afternoon ... by a bunch of children ... who fought him off and sped away in his whip.

Heh!  Karma is a bitch, especially when your car is stolen by a bunch of kids.  Some as young as 6 or 7.

 City Council Member Antonio Brown had just gotten out of his white Mercedes coupe to speak to fellow community leader Ben Norman in northwest Atlanta's Dixie Hills community Wednesday when he spotted four or five kids — the youngest only 6 or 7,

The greatest line in the story:  He filed a report with the police department.  Why?  He doesn't like the police, remember?  He wants to defund them.  Maybe he should have called a social worker. 

Joe Biden's ATF Nominee Can't Define "Assault Weapon

The nominee to run the ATF seems to have trouble defining the term "Assault Weapon".  When pressed, he comes up with a "sorta" answer that would seem to exclude any rifle in caliber .22.  We all know that the .223/5.56 is simply a .22.

The first senator questioning him is my senator, John Kennedy of Louisiana.   Kennedy is an old-school lawyer who doesn't suffer fools.  His style of cross-examination can be brutal.

Sinners

 Sorry for not posting yesterday.  I was trying to do a Good Deed, and I didn't take time to sit down at the computer to continue my scribbling. My Good Deed is something I am struggling with, and I pray that God will show me the light to do the right thing.

However, there is a post at PJ Media that says that only six percent of those who identify as Christian actually live a life with a biblical worldview. 

Most Christians Are Frauds, Chilling Study Suggests. Here's What You Can Do About It

I was talking with a congregant at Church the other night, and I mentioned that I loved our Church because it was filled with sinners, and I"d rather worship with sinners than with saints.  The congregant smiled, and said that he had been to churches filled with saints, and he didn't think that Jesus showed up there very often.

Our pastor, a man with advanced degrees in theology, freely admits that he is not a religious man, but is instead a Christian.  He follows Christ, wherever Christ might lead, and he admits that the he is still learning how to be a Christian.

I am a sinner.  I freely admit that, and try to modify my behavior when I sin.  I deplore my sin, but don't judge others for theirs. Being a Christian is a continuing process. Sometimes sin appears innocently, and requires discernment over time. But, if I have to choose between a religious perspective or a Christian perspective, I'll take Christ every time.

Sure! Defund the Police

It seems that defunding the police ahs lead to a spike in violent crime in those cities that are led by Democrat administrations.

Below, a young reporter reports from George Floyd Square on the anniversary of his death.  How's that working out for you?  Gunfire,, downtown, on the anniversary of George Floyd's death.  Priceless.

Cleaning the EDC

 In the midst of the chores today, when I took a break for lunch, I decided to clean the EDC.  My choice is a SW Shield in 9mm.  I bought it during the height of the pandemic, and during the height of biden's gun-run.  July of 2020.  It rides in a nylon Comfortable Holster from Craft Holsters.

Ten minute job, easy-peasy.  A brush through the bore, a drop of oil here and there, and inspect it as I re-assemble it.

It's a quick easy job and I try to do that ever couple of weeks. Just to make sure that everything is copacetic.  How often do you clean your EDC?

Chores

Today has filled u with chores.  Poison ants, weed the raised-bed garden, haul some trash, reload wax bullet ammo.  Later this afternoon, and old buddy is coming by to hep me with an electrical issue.  He's a retired electrician, and I trust his work. 

The news is the same weirdness, and while it is what passes for news these days, it certainnly doesn't bear repeating.

The New East Berlin

 Papers, Quickly.  It seems that Oregon is going to require a Covid passport to enjoy freedom.

Many might dismiss this by saying that it’s only one state, but I think we all know how this story plays out. There are many people in this country who’ve fallen in love with COVID oppression and it’s a safe bet that we’ll see liberal states and cities turning into New East Berlins and requiring citizens to show their papers to enjoy basic freedoms in public. As we are all painfully aware, liberals aren’t exactly known for governmental restraint:

The push-back on this should be fast, severe, and painful. 

Arrests

 Don McCollor says in Comments:

 Now that body/car cams are so common, it keeps police honest too. A cameras 'off' or video "missing" should be grounds for dismissal of all charges...

Yeah, let's talk about that.

When I left my last agency in 2019, less than half the officers wore cameras.  And, there is good reason for that.  Storing video is expensive.  It takes a lot of memory space, and it requires a substantial investment of equipment.  And, by far, the least expensive portion is the cameras themselves.  Storage of hours of boring video is part of the equation.  Probably the biggest expense, even higher than server space, is the personnel needed to catalog the video and maintain the equipment. If you have 200 cameras running 12 hours per day, the investment necessary to store and catalog 2400 hours of video every day is staggering.

And, the huge majority of arrests are quite routine.  Which is why we tell officers to not become complacent when making an arrest.  In my 37 year career, I arrested (conservatively) a thousand people.  And, I can only recall a half-dozen or so that went bad on me. I never killed anyone, (thank God), but I was awfully close on two occasions.

The vast majority of arrests are stunningly routine.  The suspect complies, we administer the cuffs and take him or her to jail.  Probably 95 percent, or higher, fall into that category.  Probably one percent or less is a resistive arrest, where the suspect actively resists.  That other percentage is an arrest that comes after an investigation.  Generally for a felony offense where the suspect was not apprehended at the scene.  In this case, the investigators have done their homework, identified a suspect, built a file, obtained warrants, and gone our to arrest the suspect.

Citizens make complaints for a variety of reasons, and in many such situations, there is no basis for the complaint.  I can recall two such complaints in my career where a citizen made a complaint against me, personally, by name. I was able to show, in both cases, that not only was I not at the scene of the complaint, but that at the time in question, I was not even in the parish (county) at the time of the alleged complaint.  One was a case of mistaken identity, where the citizen thought they recognized me at the scene, the other still baffles me.

So, to answer Don's question, should lack of body camera footage be grounds for dismissal of charges?  No, not as a blanket policy.  There is only a tiny percentage of cases where body camera footage calls the conduct of the officer into question.

In Case I Need It

 I had to completely disassemble my Cimarron Model P today.  It's made by Uberti and is a Cot clone.  I had an ussue with it yesterday, so today I took it apart, gave it a good cleaning, and I think I found the problem.  But, if ir rears it's head again, then I may need a parts list.

The Cimarron Parts list for the Model P is here.  The bolt is part #12 on the schematic.

The Cimarron Parts list fo the Pietta models is here

The Uberti pars from Taylors and Co is here.

The Pietta Parts from Taylors and Co are here.

Sunday Morning Music

Zach Williams and Dolly Parton

Body Cameras

 I never used a body camera, not once in 37 years of police work,   They came at the end of my career, and the agency I worked for was just beginning to learn how to best use them (and store millions of gigabits  of video as I was nearing retirement.

I argued against body cameras, because I felt that a police officers word should suffice.  Yet, I've changed my mind, because people who want to mis-use or abuse the police will stop at nothing to achieve their aims.   If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a thousand sentences.

The last fifteen years of my career was spent inthe schools, as a resource officer.  I did good police work during those fifteen years, and there were some times when I did police work that could have benefited from the use of a body camera.  However, I knew that the schools had surveillance cameras and I knew that whatever I had to do was probably captured on one or more of those cameras.

I made good use of those surveillance cameras, saving footage that I thought was appropriate.  They added another layer to the files, and if there was any question, all we had to do was roll the tape.

The left is finding out that camera footage is a good thing.  But not necessarily in a way that they wished.

 Leftists are actually disappointed that body cameras show police officers are NOT oppressing people of color. What we HAVE seen is heroic police work while officers deal with horrific criminal behavior.

Yep.  Good cops should never be afraid of video footage. 

May Monthly Match

 The Cross Branded Peacemkers hosted their May Monthly Match at the home range.

1st, Squirrel Girl - 2nd Two Step Cookie - 3rd Blue Eyed Belle

1st Major D - 2nd Big Bill - 3rd Vovo

It was a good  time.  Shooting with friends and family, and everyone enjoyed Saturday at the range.

Pray For Lake Charles

 Lake Charles, in southwest Louisiana sits on the I-10 corridor and is home to refineries along the Sabine Pass, which is the border to Texas and Louisiana.  They've caught hell for the past year, with two major hurricanes, the brunt of the ice storm, and flooding rains last week.  Last Monday, Lake Charles got more rain than during the two major hurricanes from last year.  Seriously, it has been bad.

Now, the National Hurricane Center is reporting that an early tropical disturbance may be gaining steam and heading gor that same patch of ground that has been so frequently hammered over the past year.

That little yellow X now has a 60% chance of becoming a tropical storm.  And, it has Houston, Beaumont, Lake Charles square in its sights.

Pray for Lake Charles.  Those folks need a break.

Attempted Mass Shooter Stopped By Man With Rifle Ignored By Mainstream M...

Have y'all heard about this?  Ne neither.  It seems like it should be all over the news.  A man attempting a mass murder was shot by some guy with a hunting rile.  Seriously.

Hicks was shot multiple times inside of her apartment by Arnold who was armed with a semi-automatic rifle. Arnold continued to shoot his rifle at neighboring apartments. A resident at the apartments heard the gunshots and got a hunting rifle which he used to shoot and kill Arnold.

Of course, the left-wing media hasn't said a word.  It doesn't fit the narrative.  But, the fact remains, some guy with a hunting rifle got a clean bead on the shooter and stopped the killing.  That's the way it's supposed to work.

Bel-fare

 Louisiana is hurting, there is no doubt about it.  Huge job losses due to the government shutdowns, massive out-migration of college graduates, weather related disruptions, and many in the hospitality industry are decrying Governor Edwards lack of leadership in putting Louisiana back to work.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana business organizations Wednesday called on Gov. John Bel Edwards to join Republican-led states in cutting off the extra $300 in federal unemployment assistance going to the jobless, arguing it's harming employer efforts to rehire workers.

Many workers might well make a little more on federal benefits than they do when actually working a job.  It's hurting Louisiana.  Business owners in restaurants, bars, and small retail need workers, and the princely stipend from the federal government incentive's many to stay at home.

But Governor Edwards doesn't care.  It's federal money, and that's all he cares about.

The Democratic governor said he doesn't intend to immediately end the weekly federal aid, but he left open the possibility of doing so later.

John Bel Edwards is the worst governor Louisiana has had since Reconstruction.  He's anti-business, pro welfare state, and supports whatever the Democrats in Washington tell him to support.  I despise and deplore th man. 

Rain

 It has been a wet May.  More lately, it has rained every day since Monday. Not continuously, but enough every day that the rainfall totals keep climbing and the ground is saturated.

Here in central Louisiana, we don't have it as bad as in Lake Charles or Baton Rouge, where they are experiencing flooding, but everything is saturated and the creeks and bayous are backing up.  Our church has had to cancel the rodeo that was scheduled for tomorrow night because the arena is a muddy mess.  We've rescheduled for next Friday.

This type of weather is precisely why Belle and I build the shop.  We're able to shoot indoors and we don't have to cancel for inclement weather.  It's a blessing.  I do wish this incessant rain would stop and let things dry up a bit.  The ground is saturated, and I've only mowed once since the beginning of the mowing season.  And, I haven't been in the ditches yet.

Is this climate change?  No.  I remember other wet spring-times.  It's simply weather.

Israel Brushes Off Biden

 It seems that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has brushed off Biden's demand for a significant de-escalation in the conflict with Palestinians in Gaza.  Rightly so.

Hamas has launched more than 3,000 rockets at Israel in the last few weeks.  Israel has a right to defend itself.  I am told that the Palestinians in the Gaza strip have begun to see shortages of food, fuel, medicine, and power.  That is a natural consequence of launching rockets at Israel.

When the Palestinians want peace, they will have peace.  I don't feel sorry for them.  The Palestinians have a right to self-govern, just like everyone else.  They should quit trying to kill Israelis.

I stand with Israel.  It's a damned shame that our president doesn't.

CANIGLIA v. STROM ET AL.

 This is an interesting case that came out of the Supreme Court yesterday.  

Generally, it hold that the police cannot enter a home to seize firearms without a warrant.  The Cliff notes are here: 

Holding: Neither the holding nor logic of Cady v. Dombrowski justifies the removal of Edward Caniglia’s firearms from his home by police officers under a “community caretaking exception” to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement.

What strikes me is that it is a 9-0 opinion.  Even the liberal side agrees that warrantless entries to seize firearms  are unconstitutional.

The full ruling is here.

Autopilot

 I'm not an aviator, but I know several.  They tell me that having an autopilot in the stack is a remarkable device that saves time, reduces fatigue and improves efficiency.  But the pilot on the controls is still responsible for flying the plane.

I drive a Honda Odyssey, and it has some remarkable safety features.  Adaptive cruise control, lane-keep-assist, and road departure mitigation.  But, it's not an autopilot, ad while it will help me steer and keep me safe, I's not an autopilot.  If I release the steering wheel for 15 seconds, all the safety features turn off.  While these features reduce driver fatigue, improve safety, and increase efficiency, I am still responsible for driving the vehicle.

Tesla makes a remarkable vehicle which has a driving mode called autopilot.  I'm sure it's wonderful, but it relies on advanced technology to operate.  And, the vehicle still has a steering wheel and a brake pedal.

There have been two crashes recently, still under investigation, where autopilot may have played a role in the crash.  All drivers should remember, like all aviators, that the nut behind the wheel is still responsible for driving the vehicle.  Just like in aviation, the autopilot is a great tool, but it doesn't relieve the pilot from the responsibility of operating the vehicle.

Navy pilots describe encounters with UFOs

Interesting.

Without Comment

Okay, this is odd.  Maybe some of you sailor-types can shed some light on this.  It seems like the Navy has been getting some UFO sightings recently.

Don't Be A Target

 It seems that the IDF has razed a high rise building in Gaza that housed the intelligence arm of Hamas.  That sounds like a legitimate military target.  As it turned out, that building also held off ices of the Associated press and al-Jazeera.

The media is, of course, outraged.  They doth protest too much.

If I remember IDF protocols accurately, they probably called everyone and told them to get out, because the building was coming down.  If the AP doesn't want their offices bombed, perhaps they should seek more suitable accommodations.  Like, for example, a building that doesn't house Hamas offices.

I'm just saying.  

Turmoil

 The new CDC guidance says that fully vaccinated people can eschew the mask, and some folks are resisting the guidance.  Not for health reasons, but evidently, the mask has become virtue-signalling icon.  I've heard on some media that until yesterday, the liberals thought that NOT wearing a mask signaled that the person with the open face was selfish, or a *gasp* a conservative.

Well, I am a conservative.

Faucci, Again

 Pore ol' Doc Faucci.  He's now urging "Fully Vaccinated Americans To ‘Make That Transition’ And Stop Wearing Masks Outside."

Hey, Doc, I have news for you.  Many of us stopped wearing masks six or eight weeks ago.  We're done with them.  No one really cares what you think anymore, Doc.  We're done with you.  Please shut up, you are boring is.

In other news, I got the pool pump fixed today, then ran up to the butchers for some good ground meat.  I cooked Belle and I an Oklahoma Onion Burger for lunch.

She has now left the acre, taking the dog to the vet for his yearly rabies and heartworm shot.  When she returns, I'm sure we'll declare Happy Hour.

Y'all have a good weekend.

Funding Palestine

 Over a month ago, the Guardian reported that the biden administration would restore funding to the Palestinians.  

“[We] plan to restart US economic, development, and humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people,” the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said in a statement.

What did they spend it on?  Rockets.  They've been firing a lot of rockets into Israel.

The news everywhere is that Israeli forces are responding with air strikes and artillery. 

Why are we sending money to Palestine?  Everyone knows that they are not going to spend it on humanitarian aid.  They're going to spend it on munitions.  Anyone with a brain knows that.

Oh, wait.

Maricopa County

 Maricopa County, AZ is not in the news, and it should be.  The auditors have found some discrepancies that may suggest that the vote was rigged.  The audit is not complete yet, but they are finding things like databases being deleted, a lack of password protection on key systems, and discrepancies with the actual votes in boxes.

“Do you know how shocking that is? 17.5% discrepancy in a batch is beyond belief.” He added, “In one they’ve got 18 more than there’s supposed to be, which is a 9% discrepancy. Again, if we are to have any confidence in elections in this country, how can we possibly be okay with discrepancies of double digit percentages? It’s absolutely mind boggling, anything above a tiny fraction of a percentage is unacceptable, by the way, unacceptable according to the Federal Elections Commission.”

Elections are won, county by county.  It seems that Maricopa County officials have questions to answer.  There are now serious questions regarding whether of not Joe Biden actually won Arizona.  This won't change the fact that Biden is president, but it should provide a cautionary tale about vote fraud. It also raises questions about Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.  Those audits won't change the current result, but it should provide incentives for the next election.  Elections should be free, fair, and accurate.

As for the current election officials in Maricopa County?  Hanging might be a bit severe, but leading a coup has always been a hazardous occupation..

Death and Taxes

I'm not dead yet, not by a long-shot, so this morning I sat down to do my taxes.  I generally wait until the last minute, and with the deadline being Monday, May 17th, this is early for me.  I procrastinate because I know I owe them money.  No refund for PawPaw.  Bell and I are comfortable, but looking at my tax return I am appalled at how much money I am hit for each year. I am fully retired, and Belle is semi-retired, and our tax burden is north of $15K,,  I am also appalled at what the past administrations have done with my money.  Make no mistake, biden is spending like a drunken sailor, but Trump wasn't much better..

To my mind, the greatest disservice the United States ever played on the population was withholding for income taxes.  You miss a little bit out of each check, but many people use it like an old Christmas Club account.  They expect money back at the end of the year that they can use for luxuries or projects.  If every American taxpayer had to sit down each quarter, do his taxes and send the government a check, the outrage would be immediate and deafening.  It would put every American in the mindset of what Government Money really looks like.

My taxes are done, and filed.  I'll write then a check on Monday, because I understand a concept known as "present value".

Retired Flag Officers Speak OUt

 When you are in the military and reach that rarefied rank where your insignia is a star, you get a flag.  Generals and Admirals are considered Flag Officers and are assumed to have leadership and managrial ability beyond the normal standards.

Active flag officers are constrained by law and ethical considerations from criticizing their commanders publicly.  One simply does not talk bad about the President.  He is the Commander in Chief.  But, once those officers retire, they are free to criticize.   And, a group of such flag officers have signed an open letter criticizing the current state of affairs in the United States.  You can read the whole thing here.  Some of it is quite compelling.  For example.

Without fair and honest elections that accurately reflect the “will of the people” our Constitutional Republic is lost. Election integrity demands insuring there is one legal vote cast and counted per citizen. Legal votes are identified by State Legislature’s approved controls using government IDs, verified signatures, etc. Today, many are calling such commonsense controls “racist” in an attempt to avoid having fair and honest elections. Using racial terms to suppress proof of eligibility is itself a tyrannical intimidation tactic. Additionally, the “Rule of Law” must be enforced in our election processes to ensure integrity. The FBI and Supreme Court must act swiftly when election irregularities are surfaced and not ignore them as was done in 2020. Finally, H.R.1 & S.1, (if passed), would destroy election fairness and allow Democrats to forever remain in power violating our Constitution and ending our Representative Republic.

Boon!  That's not all they want to talk about.  They give a series of bullet-points.  Here's one.

• Using the U.S. military as political pawns with thousands of troops deployed around the U.S. Capitol Building, patrolling fences guarding against a non-existent threat, along with forcing Politically Correct policies like the divisive critical race theory into the military at the expense of the War Fighting Mission, seriously degrades readiness to fight and win our Nation’s wars, creating a major national security issue. We must support our Military and Vets; focus on war fighting, eliminate the corrosive infusion of Political Correctness into our military which damages morale and war fighting cohesion.

Go to the link above and read he whole thing.  It's certainly worth your time.

Cowboy Kent Gets His Cajun On

I've been watching Cowboy Kent Rollins on YouTube for a year or so.  He does outdoor cooking, chuck wagon cooking, and dutch oven cooking.

I first heard of Shrimp and Grits several years ago.  A bunch of Cajun and Creole cooks took it to heart, and made some fantastic dishes out of these two Southern favorites.

Here is Kent's take on it.  Bon Apetit!

Everything Old

 Everything old becomes new again.

I remember the gas lines of he early 70's.  While I earlier attributed it to Jimmy Carter, I was wrong, it happened during the Nixon years.

But, with last week's revelation of a ransom-ware attack on the Colonial pipeline, the east coast is fearing a gasoline shortage, which is fueling a run on the supply of gasoline.  Long lines, stations our of gasoline, it reminds e of the early 70s.

This shortage shouldn't last long.  The pipeline company will figure it out and the petrol will start to flow again.  But, the political operatives will never let a crisis go to waste.

Heh!

Miranda

 In the discussion below, Bob makes a comment that deserves attention.

If I understand correctly a POI does not have the same protections (wouldn't require Miranda, for instance) a suspect has, and once the genie is out of the bottle, I don't trust the system to protect that non-Mirandized (POI) information from being used. Just too tempting.

We generally Mirandize everyone in one form or another.  There is a misconception that  Miranda only applies if a person is being arrested.  That's not true.  Miranda applies to everyone, all the time.  A citizen is never under any obligation to talk with the police, and applies whenever.  While it is certainly true that each agency has a Miranda form that can be used to document the process, the absence of the form doesn't mean that a person does not have Miranda protections.

Sometimes it is in the person't best interest to talk with us.  Other times it is not.  But, we always start the conversation with "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to.", or words to that effect.

YOU ALWAYS HAVE YOUR MIRANDA RIGHTS.  You do not have to talk to the police if you  do not want to.

One example.  In the early 90s I was working a murder investigation.  We had a corpse in a kitchen, in a suburban neighborhood. The coroner set the time of death at Friday night about 6:00 pm.  We found the body on Monday morning.  During the investigation we did a neighborhood canvass.  We knocked on doors asking the neighbors if they had seen anything suspicious on Friday afternoon.  Some folks wanted to talk with us, some folks didn't.  They all had the right to tell us that they didn't want to talk with us.

Everyone has Miranda right, all the time.  The one exception is in what we call a Spontaneous Declaration.  If a person comes up to me, and tells me that they have committed some heinous offense, then I can arrest based on that declaration.  I didn't ask for it, I wasn't looking for it, it just dropped in my lap, and I can use it.  And, you can believe I am going to bring out a Miranda form.

Basic Investigative Terms.

Bob F asks in comments:

 Somewhat related: I have been skeptical of the term "person of interest" since I first heard it. My suspicious mind has always said it was an end run around legalities when a person is officially considered a suspect, the word "suspect" carrying certain obligations. If you would care to opine at some point down the road I'd definitely be interested in learning.

It's simple.  A suspect is someone suspected of a crime.  Why might we suspect that a particular person did a particular crime?  In this day and age, we have video camera everywhere.  Almost any violent crime a person ight commit is generally captured on a video camera of some type.

Back in the day it was a little harder.  For example, in the early to mid 80s I was an investigator, and I got to know the methods used by a certain portion of my criminal element.  There was one career burglar who always went in through the bedroom window, left the screen propped against the house, and always left through the front door.  He stole things that were easy to carry and easy to hock.  If I saw that set of circumstances at a crime scene,  I knew who my suspect was.  He was a guy named Deadeye.  Deadeye always committed burglaries the same way.

A person of interest is not the suspect.  A person if interest is a person who might know the whereabouts of my suspect.  For example, in Deadeye's case, my person of interest was Jerry Wayne.  Jerry Wayne always knew where I might find Deadeye.

In the current case, the cops were looking for a particular Jeep Cherokee.  They knew it was used in the murder of my friend, and they suspected that the vehicle might have evidence inside it.  When they found the car, and stopped it in a traffic stop, the fellow driving it became a person of interest.  As i turns our, he was arrested as and Accessory After The Fact.

As it turns out, I never personally arrested Jerry Wayne, my person of interest.  I arrested Deadeye several times over 20 years and the last I heard from him, he is living in his mother's house and staying out of trouble.  Jerry Wayne died in the early 90s.  Something about a drug deal gone bad and a bullet in his head.I don't know if they ever solved that one.

UPDATE - Jackson Arrested

 According to the Rapides Parish Sheriffs Office, the other suspect in the murder of my friend has been arrested in Baton Rouge.

Jackson was taken into custody without incident and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Jail.  He will be transported back to Rapides Parish to be booked on the 1st Degree Murder and Attempted 1st Degree Murder charges.

Evidently, the person I talked about this morning (the Person of Interest_ has also been booked on Accessory After The Fact, and Obstruction of Justice.

 Yesterday afternoon, Sheriff’s Detectives and Patrol Deputies were involved in a pursuit, which ended at I-49 south at the Broadway exit, of another person of interest in the investigation.  Cliron Demond Price, 20 of Alexandria, (pictured below) was booked on Accessory After the Fact and Obstruction of Justice in connection with the Liberty Arsenal homicide investigation.  Detectives say their investigation is still ongoing and more charges are possible.  

This is very good news.  Both of the prime suspects are in custody, and the investigation continues. 

Person Of Interest

 The Rapides Parish Sheriffs Office has issued an update on the homicide investigation related to the murder of my friend last week.

In the press release, they tell us that they have located the vehicle used in the crime, and that they have detained a "person of interest".  This confuses many people. A Person of Interest may of may not have participated in the crime, but may have information vital to solving it.  In this case, the vehicle was taken in a traffic stop, and the person behind the wheel is someone they want to talk to.  That parson may or may not be arrested, based on the interview that is sure to follow the traffic stop.

My prayer is that Jackson will be apprehended soon and safely.  The best of all outcomes would be for him to appear at the front door of the Courthouse with an attorney and submit to arrest peacefully.  Any other scenario might become very dangerous for everyone involved.

Obstructing Public Passages

 I'm sure that you all have seen the video from Plano, TX, last week, where BLM /Antifa assholes blocked a public street.  The video went viral.

That one poor cop on the scene, I'm not going to judge him because the video doesn't provide good context.  He was there by himself, and we can hear sirens in the background.  He was probably waiting for backup and trying to keep the protesters criminals separate from the citizens.  I've been there, and sometimes you just try to keep everyone safe until you get some help.

That cop aside, we've seen a great deal of blocking traffic by protesters criminals over the past year.  Most states have laws against obstructing a public passage.  While people have the constitutional right to protest, other people have the constitutional right to go about their daily business.

Louisiana law makes such activity a crime.

§100.1.  Obstructing public passages

A.  No person shall wilfully obstruct the free, convenient, and normal use of any public sidewalk, street, highway, bridge, alley, road, or other passageway, or the entrance, corridor, or passage of any public building, structure, water craft, or ferry, by impeding, hindering, stifling, retarding, or restraining traffic or passage thereon or therein.

This law was used to great effect several years ago during civil unrest in Baton Rouge.  THe police let everyone know that protesting was one thing, but obstructing public passage as a crime, and if they violated the law, they went to jail.  Baton Rouge PD arrested a few that got in the street, and the rest of them decided to stay on the grass.

I see that the Texas Attorney General has come forward, letting people know that such activity is a crime, and he intends to crack down on lawlessness.

These laws are on the books for a reason.  Enforce them.

Louisiana Constitutional Carry

 There are a couple of bills pending in Louisiana that would remove the requirement to have a concealed carry permit to carry a concealed firearm in this state.  Louisiana has always been an open carry state, so removing the requirement would make us a Constitutional Carry state.

On April 30th, the Louisiana Senate approved the measure by a vote of 27-11 (71%).

On May 6th, the Louisiana House passed the bill on a 73-28 vote (72%)

Our blue-state governor has said that he intends to veto such a bill.

Louisiana law says that a governor's veto can be over-ridden by a 2/3 vote in both houses.  Because the measure has already passed with more than enough votes to over-ride the veto, this should be an easy answer.

But, this is Louisiana, and who knows what might happen.

The Next Jimmy Carter

 Donald Trump, Jr., argues that the Biden administration is not so much he next FDR as the next Jimmy Carer.  I have to admit that there are some good metaphors there.

I remember the Carter years.  High fuel prices, raging inflation, spending out of control, a raging Russia, an ascendant Iran, a weakened military.  Those were not good years.  If fact, they were disastrous. Under Carter we had gasoline rationing, and interest rates over 10% at prime.  

Using The "N" Word

 In the past two days, I have deleted two (2) comments for the use of the "N" word as a racial pejorative.  This is not acceptable in polite society and has not been acceptable for the past 50 years.  If you cannot make your point without using that word, then keep it to yourself.

The two young men who murdered my friend happen to be African-American, but I don't attribute their actions to their race.  I deplore their crimes, but the justice system (with all its flaws) will deal with them.

That is all.

Bel Goes Full Leftist

 Our Governor, the guy that backed into the mansion not once, but twice, has decided that the biggest problem facing Louisiana is... you guessed it.... Climate Change.  He has joined a "bipartisan" group of governors to implement the Paris climate treaty.

“Taking action to address climate change can strengthen our communities and our economy,” said Gov. Edwards, “and I am proud to join this group of Governors in committing to uphold the provisions of the Paris Climate Agreement. Together, Louisiana and other Alliance states are demonstrating that there are different ways to decarbonize and that this can be done in a way that is balanced, implementable, and effective.”

In the minds of leftist socialists, Climate Change is the biggest problem we face.  And, it's the cause of those problem that truly need fixing.  In their twisted world, everything from illegal migration to early childhood education, to the burgeoning crime wave can be tied to Climate Change.

It's probably tied to federal money.  If there is one thing John Bel Edwards is addicted to, it's federal money.  He loves it, he adores it, he'd do anything for more of it.  During the Edwards administration Louisiana has suffered the greatest loss of personal freedom since Reconstruction.  Louisiana has many problems, the vast majority can be laid at the feet of the Edwards tenure.  

UPDATE

 The Sheriff's Office has identified two suspects in the murder of David Paul, our local firearms mechant.

These assholes haven't ben captured yet, but they are identified.  We hope they are caught soon and safely.

Praying

 According to local news, this morning, a person or persons unknown went in to my favorite gun store, murdered the proprietor and left.  Details are sketchy right now, and Crime Scene is at the location.  I learned about it when I went to town this morning and saw at least a dozen police cruisers in the parking lot.

I've been in that store dozens of times over the past year, it was a local stop when I was looking for something.  I've bought guns there.  The proprietor was a really nice guy who knew his trade extremely well.  He traded in antique and militaria, along with modern firearms.

I never looked, but I assume that he had video cameras in the store.  Hopefully, the perpetrators will be apprehended soon.  The entire community is in shock and mourning the loss of this fine man.

Jus' Wondering

I'm sure that you guys have sen this video that's been going around  Reportedly, it's about a woman who works for the CIA, and is told in her voice.

You have to wonder what is really happening in this video.  For someone who says that her life is not about checking boxes, she certainly checks a lot of boxes.  She claims to be an inter-sectional, cisgendered, female with a diagnosed emotional disorder.  Who works for the CIA.

During my career, I intersected with a few CIA guys, and I always wondered what the game truly was.  These are the "spooks" after all, the spies, the folks who focus on America's enemies. And today, rather than focusing on foreign threats, we know that the greatest threat to American security is an internal threat, the home-grown white supremacists.  So, we wonder why the CIA chose this time to put out this video, and what the game truly is.

That question should give everyone pause.  A psychologist once told me that paranoia is an irrational fear that someone is out to get you, and if they are really out to get you, you are not paranoid.

What's Fer Lunch?

 Feeling peckish about 2:00 pm, I told the boys that I was going to crank up the griddle.  I had some ground meat I needed to use, so we went out, lit the griddle, then started on the ground meat.  We added some eggs, salt and pepper, then a bag of bacon bits that we found in the cupboard.  Formed the whole mess into three, third-pound patties, and cut up an onion to saute.

I told the boys to claim a patty, so that we could individualize them.  I went with cheddar slices, while one teen went with pepperjack, and the other mixed shredded cheddar with pepperjack.

We had no buns, so had to make-do with a box of Texas toast I found in the freezer.

They were a bit ungainly, so we wound up eating them with knife and fork.  Still, that was a fine burger.

Civil Disobedience

 Mark Pulliam writes at Law and Liberty about compliance fatigue.

John Hinderaker calls for Americans to begin disobeying our feckless public health czars. He says “We need people to say, I’m taking this damn mask off. And if a harpy complains, to tell her or him to get stuffed. Seriously. The time has come.” I fully concur. The time for patience and forbearance is over. Let freedom ring.

I agree, and have felt this way for some time.  For the past several months, I've been quietly minding m own business in public, doing that I felt was necessary to do.  And honestly, no one has called me out for my lack of a mask.   However, if called out, I'm prepared o be both vocal and rude. I believe that no gentleman is ever rude accidentally, and in this case, it won't be an accident. 

The Camel's Nose

 There is a new rule being proposed by the US Dept of Education what would tie the teaching of Critical Race Theory to the awarding of federal education grants to local school districts.  I wasn't aware until I worked in the school system, bow much federal money comes to the local districts each year.  The amounts are mid-boggling.  For example, in my local school district, the Federal Programs budget is a little over $7 million.  This budget is targeted, but the loss of this money would be disastrous.

Multiply that $7 million by the number of school districts in the country and you get a idea of how muh money the fed.gov pumps into local education, and how far the camel's nose has been pushed under the tent.

Gail Herriot at Instapunit talks about this process, and provides a link to help boost public comment in opposition to this new rule.  A quote from Gail's post:

Adam Smith is remembered for (among other things) his quip, “There is a great deal of ruin in a nation.” In context, he meant that it takes a whole lot to bring down a great and prosperous nation. Alas, no nation’s storehouse of “ruin” is infinite.   I can think of no more effective way to bring down the United States of America than to teach a generation of American children that their country is racist to the core.

 A direct link to the comment page is here.  If you are so inclined, go to the link and voice your opposition to Critical Race Theory being taught in our schools.

I'm Hearing Stories

 Shooting with my out-of-sate buddies a couple of weeks ago, I was talking with a resident of Zapata, TX, who told me that it's getting crazy down there.  Some of the stories are fairly alarming, from a personal safety standpoint.

Texas is a place that takes personal safety and security of their property very seriously.  It wouldn't surprise me if the Castle doctrine down there starts to result in some o these migrants getting a quick-and-dirty lesson in external ballistics.  And, terminal ballistics.

I see that 12 South Texas counties have declared a sate of emergency over the continuing (and escalating) wave of humanity that is sweeping across them.

I'm just saying.

The Problem With Epidemics

 The problem with epidemics is that they usually aren't.  As we lerned with the Covid pandemic, the experts were usually wrong. Completely wrong, horribly wrong.  Now, in early 2021, many of us look on the experts with a jaundiced eye (see what I did there?).

It's bad enough that they were wrong about Covid, they are trying to couch social problem sin medical terms.  For example, the CDC now says that racism is an epidemic, which is plainly wrong.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky called racism an “epidemic” — a claim frequently made by leftist academics.

No, it's not, not by any rational standard.  And, I would expect the CDC to use a rational metric before claiming that something is epidemic.   Which makes Director Rochelle Walensky a damn lair, and a flunky for the left.

Racism is not an epidemic.  It appears in far less than 1% of the population.  Dare I say less than 0.1% of the population.  To paraphrase Ben Shapiro, if you can show me one concrete example of racism, I'll stand beside you and protest it.  If you make the claim, and cannot show a concrete example, you are simply a jackass.

Keep Austin Weird

 Something strange happened in Austin, TX this weekend, but not like you would suppose.  The left-wing mayor had several propositions o the ballot, and one moderate group had a proposition to ban camping on public property in an attempt to clean up the homeless problem.

Austin is known for being a strange place, and the unofficial motto; Keep Austin Weird has been around for several years.  The city is considered a Democrat strong-hold.

But, the voters went to the polls, rejecting the mayor's left-wing agenda while simultaneously supporting the ban on public camping.  And, it wasn't even close.

One political analyst breaks down the voting.

Texas political data expert Derek Ryan laid out the facts of the election on social media Saturday night: “Here’s what you need to know about the Austin camping ban proposition as it heads towards victory. Only 20% of early voters were Republican Primary voters. 55% were Democrat Primary voters. The remaining had no primary history but based on modeling data, 75% of that group skewed Democrat.

If I'm reading that correctly, Democrats in Austin overwhelmingly rejected the mayor's left-wing proposals and decided to push back against an agenda that they didn't like.  That is good news for Austin and Texas, generally.  I hope that the movement for responsible government spreads across the whole country.

Horse Manure

 Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis says that critical race theory is a bunch of "horse manure".  I'm sure that he was trying to stay within the limits of polite conversation.

“And here’s the problem with things like critical race theory that they’re peddling.,” he continued. “They’re basically saying that all our institutions are bankrupt, and they’re illegitimate, okay so how do you have a society if everything in your society is illegitimate. So it’s a very harmful ideology and I would say really a race-based version of a Marxist-type ideology. So we’ve banned it in our schools here in Florida, and we’re not going to put any tax dollars to critical race theory. And we want to treat people as individuals and not as members of groups.”

Even VP Harris admits that America is not a racist country.  But, she claims, white supremacy is still a problem.

I don't know any white supremacists, do you?

Without the bugaboo of white supremacy and systemic racism, the Democrats really don't have anything left to run on.  The whole issue is a smoke-screen designed to separate people into discrete groups for the purpose of power and control.  Free Americans should reject those arguments at every opportunity.

That Old Expresson

 You've heard the old expression, "He couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written o the heel."

Well, that's me, when it comes to gasoline cans.  These safety experts have made it so hard to pour gasoline (or diesel, or whatever) out of a can that I am now reduced to looking for the instructions on the heel.  It's damnably sad.  I bought a can last year that was complex, but I finally figured it out.  I bought another one last week that seems to require three hands and a string of invective that would make a sailor blush.

Amazon to the rescue.  They sell normal, old-school spouts that will actually let a fellow pour gasoline into a tank without danger of losing his Christianity.  A pack of three spouts for less than $20.  It's a small price to pay for a sane result.  They'll be here Monday or Tuesday, and I'll refit my cans to something that should work.

Delicious 1794 Roast Beef! - Dutch Oven Cooking

I've been watching this guy's videos for a while, and I"m struck by how similar this particular recipe is to how I cook a roast today. I vary the seasoning some (I've never stuffed a n onion with cloves), but the process is remarkably similar to how I cook a roast today.

I've been a fan of Dutch ovens for as long as i can remember.  My grandparents used them, my parents used them, and I have several, with legs for outdoors and without legs for indoors.  Each of them gets used in their turn, for roasting, baking, and frying.

Sometimes I'll cut up potatoes to simmer in the mix, other times I'll boil the potatoes separately to make mashed potatoes.  It's simply a matter of daily preference.  Either way, this is one of my go-to recipes when I want something hearty that I don't have to watch carefully.  It takes about three hours, and requires very little between the time you put it in the oven and when you take it out.