Kavanaugh Goes Liberal

 Mister Justice Kavanaugh sided with he liberals in a 5-4 decision involving the CDC's moratorium on evictions.

While almost everyone agrees that the CDC had no authority to issue such a moratorium in the first place, Kavanaugh let it ride.

As he often does, Kavanaugh wrote to explain why he voted to allow the moratorium to remain in place. On the one hand, he said he agreed with the District Court that the CDC exceeded its statutory authority by issuing a nationwide moratorium.

 But, he said, because the CDC has said it will end the moratorium in a few weeks he would allow it to remain in place. He said the extra weeks will “allow for additional and more orderly distribution of the congressionally appropriated rental assistance funds.”

This is precisely the wrong decision.  If Kavanaugh believed hat the CDC over-stepped its authority, he should have  slapped it down.  But, he seems to have been hanging out with his liberal buddies too long, and now believes that his job is to do some sort of feel-good social engineering.

The Delta Variant

 Evidently, there is anew strain of Covid that is going to kill us all.  The Delta Variant.  Oh, it's bad, and we're all going to die.

Well, both those statements are true. although probably unrelated. We are all going to die, that is inescapable.  And, the Delta variant is probably bad.  All illness is bad.

If we've learned anything over the past eighteen months, is that government can't be trusted with the freedom of The People.  Just as we are starting to climb out of the economic disaster that was foisted upon us last year, we are being told of a new threat, much like the old threat.  While I do not doubt that there may be lingering problems associated with the virus, I also do not doubt that the government has no clue how to deal with it.  The government, in the form of the WHO, the CDC, and the other alphabet agencies who track such things, have simply become background noise, an incessant chatter that 

What they want, what they have shown over and over, is that they are simply unable to control the spread of any disease, so they will settle for controlling people.  It is all abut power, and they have shown that they are simply incapable of relinquishing power.  They have tasted it, and they are hungry for it.

As for me, I'm done with letting government have any more power.  I won't be controlled, I won't be demeaned, and I won't be ruled.

shooting on 87th and Dan Ryan

Okay, this is wild.  Instapundit highlighted it,and I clicked over to see it.  Supposedly a shooting in Chicago, some dude sprays traffic with full-auto.

Wow.

Constitutional Carry going to veto override session?

Louisiana adopted its current Constitution in 1975.  One of the provisions of the new constitution was a process to over-ride a veto by the governor.  As I understand it, when a governor vetoes a bill, that veto automatically triggers a veto session unless the individual legislators vote that a session is not necessary.

In the past weeks, our Governor vetoed two bills that passed with strong bipartisan support.  First, a bill that prohibits biological males from competing against biological females in high schools or collegiate sports.  Second,a bill that allows Constitutional carry in Louisiana.   Conservatives across Louisiana are outraged

Legally Armed America looks at the political dynamic in Louisiana today.

Are You Shitting Me?

 

Governor Edwards Vetoes Constitutional Carry

 During the recently ended legislative session, the legislature passed a constitutional carry bill with overwhelming bipartisan support.  WBRZ is reporting that the governor has vetoed the bill.

"I simply cannot support carrying a concealed carry firearm without proper education and safety training," the governor said in a statement released Friday.

Earlier this month, the governor also vetoed a bill that would forbid biological males from competing against biological females in high school and college sports.  This bill also had overwhelming bipartisan support.

The next question is when the legislature will meet for a veto session.  As I understand Louisiana law, a veto automatically triggers a veto session, but legislators can vote to not meet and allow the veto to stand.  By my understanding, the letters have already gone out to the legislators.

The legislature should meet at the earliest opportunity to rebuff the governor and pass both these measures into law.

On his facebook page, which I follow, the governor put up a statement concerning his veto,citing law enforcement concerns, to which I responded.

I spent 37 years as a police officer on the streets and roads of Louisiana and not once did I feel threatened by a law-abiding citizen carrying a firearm. This bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, and you, John Bel, are despicable.

My next actions will be to call my legislators and tell then to get their asses down to Baton Rouge and over-ride both these vetoes. 

Kennedy: ATF nominee a zealot

I like my senator, John Kennedy of Louisiana.

/

It appears to even a casual observer that there are a lot of zealots in the Biden administation.

Simon Campbell Calls Out Pennsbury School Board During Public Comment

This guy gets it right.  I saw it a couple of days ago, and thought it might be useful to leave it here so I can find it later.

Some Links

 Courtesy of Instapundit:

Republicans Are Not Responsible for the Democratic Party’s Crime

To hear the press tell it, Democrats are facing a political conundrum (distinct from a genuine and organic problem of maladministration) in the form of rising violent-crime rates. And that problem is primarily a result of the fact that Republicans just won’t let the issue go.

There is no reason to let it go.  For the past year, the Democrats have fostered a climate of disdain for law-and-order.   The result is rampant crime in the larger cities in the country. 

Homicides Have Skyrocketed in These 6 Democratic Cities. Black People Are Disproportionately the Victims, Data Shows.

Democratic leaders of most of the cities examined voted to greatly reduce police funding amid widespread Black Lives Matter protests last year. In the wake of the death of George Floyd, who died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck in May 2020, thousands of protests and riots took place across the country.

 Experts tell New York Times’ Mara Gay that spike in crime is due to ‘trauma, grief … and just general upheaval’  Perhaps Gay needs to read her own newspaper..

The Democrats profited from mayhem last summer and now they have no idea how to shut it down.

That First Shot

 I didn't do as well as I wanted to in Kansas last week.  I'm not blaming anyone but myself.  It was a good match, run by good people.  I simply didn't hit the target enough to stay in the win column.  The CFDA uses an elimination system where if you win, you get a W in the scoring column, and if you lose you get an X in the scoring column.Generally, a sanctioned match will be a 4X match.  When you lose four matches, you are through.

The standard target these days is a 17-3/16th inch target at 15 feet.  The center of the target is 47 inches above the ground.  We shoot from 15 feet. The target is electrically powered, with both a start light and a hit sensor.  When the light comes on, the shooter draws, cocks and fires the revolver   If the wax bullet hits the target, it trips the sensor and give yo a time. Individual shots are normally in the half-second range. Three winning hits determines a match.

It's fast.  It's real fast, and the shooting is done from muscle memory. Sights are seldom used.

It is said that you cannot miss fast enough to win n the game, ad I proved that this weekend,

The first shot is vitally important, because it shows that you have set up properly on the target.  On the long drive home, I started thinking about that first shot in every match, and was intrigued enough to get our some old match score-sheets and do some digging.  When I got home this week, I took out the Monthly Match sheets from the last two club shoot, and the first two rounds from the Louisiana State Championship we conducted in April.

I asked the question, "If a shooter hits the target with his first shot, how often will that hit translate into winning the match?" The results were fairly compelling.  I learns that if a shooter hits the target with the first shot, in 63% of those matches, that first hit translates into a W in the win column.

There a number of things that might affect the outcome of an individual match,  Hitting the target with the first shot is not absolutely predictive, but I think that my limited analysis shows that if you hit the target on the first shot, ou are well on your way to winning the match.

Biden Announces DOJ Program on Gun Dealers

In his opening line, ol' Joe demonstrates his deep misunderstanding of current gun laws.  Yes, Joe, if I want to, I can buy a cannon.  I'm not sure I could buy an F-15, but I know I could buy a C-130.

This is the guy who believed that the January 6th stroll trough the Capitol almost over-threw the government.  Our president is a complete and total buffoon.

Fauci Lied To Us

An interesting clip about Fauci, funding, and how the media is malfeasant in their coverage of the Covid pandemic.

Most Americans don't have time to do the deep background, so they trust the media to learn the answers to the questions that need to be asked.

Follow The Science

 In this post-Covid world, science is starting to understand what we did during the pandemic, and what our response to it actually accomplished.  

A new Harvard study reveals that while leaving the elite relatively unscathed, the lockdowwns played havoc with the working folks.  This study examines the lockdowns mainly from an economic standpoint.

And, those who argued that the shelter-in-pace policy was designed to save lives have no data points to stand on.  People are going to die, and shelter-in-place orders increase the risk of death.

“We failed to find that countries or U.S. states that implemented SIP policies earlier, and in which SIP policies had longer to operate, had lower excess deaths than countries/U.S. states that were slower to implement SIP policies,” the authors explain. 

It's been sixteen months since Covid battered it's way into my consciousness  I railed against government excesses, regulatory over-reach, and how those policies limited economic activity, diminished personal freedom, and expanded government.. 

“Vaccinate!” Chorus

Okay, this is truly weird.  In either a poorly conceived parody, or an incompetently executed imitation, tese folks seem to be emulating North Korean propaganda.

They are neither dressed-right, nor covered-down, exhorting everyone to do something that should only be done in consultation with a physician.

This is my dose of weirdness for today.

Selling Weed

 Evidently, its's hard to make ends meet in the legal weed business in California.

California’s $100 Million Marijuana Bailout Tells You All You Need to Know about Its Government

The opening sentence tells you all you need to know.

 California’s legislature recently approved a $100-million plan to boost the Golden State's struggling legal marijuana industry, which is floundering under an oppressive tax and regulatory climate.

I bet that the botleggers are doing fine. 

I seem to recall a story where the fed.gov took over a brothel once-upon-a-time and failed at it.  Some sy it's true, some say it ain't, but it's a story of government regulation.

Audit Everything

 There is a lot about last November's election that didn't pass the smell test.  We should audit everything until we restore faith that our elections are free and fair, accurately reflecting the choices of registered voters.

Also, this:

If signature verification is a good thing, then it is always a good thing.

Bribing The Sheep

 Our Louisiana governor, John Bel (hack, spit) Edwards has come out with a new scheme to try to get people to get the jab.  Make it a game, with prizes.  Oh, yeah, if you get vaccinated, you can get a million dollars in cash or prizes.

This needle-prick lottery appeals to all the worst instincts.  Which is of course whey our Governor latched on to it. Medical decisions should be solely the responsibility of a physician and a patient agreeing on a proper course of action.

In full disclosure, I got the vaccine after consulting with my physician.  Last year, I also got a tetanus booster, after discussing it with my physician. I'm not anti-vaccine.  I was around for Dr. Salk's vaccine, which I believe was one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in human history.

Bribing people to get vainated, especially when the vaccine is still under an emergency use authorization, is simply bonkers, and may be evil, which describes our governor completely.

We're Home

We made it in last night.  Today will be dedicated to unpacking the car, washing laundry and scratching the dog.  It was a good shoot, and a fun weekend, but now we return to the mundane aspects of Monday.

Howard asks in comments:

Dumb question, does very hot temperatures affect your wax projectiles?

Short answer?  Yes, and No.  Wax melts, normally at temps between 160-200 F.   There are five brands of wax that are approved for sanctioned competition; Bandit, C&R, Deadeye, Royal, and Spitfire.  There are also hobbyists who make their own wax for practice.  Each of these manufacturers have their own proprietary blend to make their bullets.  One guy I am aware of mixes plastic shopping bags in his melt to give the bullets some perceived property.  These guys take their wax recipes very seriously, and protect their recipes very closely.

What we have learned is that wax bullet ammo, if let int he sun, will soak up heat.  The bullets won't completely melt, but they will start to get soft.  I have seen, in extreme conditions,  the bullets will simply drop from the casing.  But, these are extreme conditions, where the loaded ammo has been left in the sun for a prolonged period of time.

I remember one shoot in north Texas several years ago, on the 4th of July, where melting wax became a problem.  We simply stored the ammo in an ice chest until we were ready to take it to the firing line.

Our targets are made of mild steel, normally 11 gauge, and they soak up heat too.  Sometimes in extreme conditions, the bullet will simply stick to the target rather than bouncing off when it hits.

Kansas - Day 2

 Saturday dawned bright and pleasant in Wichita, KS.  However, the heat soon began to build and we were fortunate to have shade and an occasional breeze.  

I didn't realize until after I snapped the picture, but both gals in that photo have the same last name.  The lady in the hat is the inimitable Texas Rose.  She is the better half of Gentleman George, my first cousin.

Belle and I had a good time yesterday, but didn't shoot as well as we would have liked.  We both went out in the 6th round, and took that as karma to seek more hospitable temperatures.  We finished the day in a craft brewery.  Me with a French dip sandwich, and she with a big bowl of chip-and-dip.

We'll start home in another hour or so.  The car has A/C and Belle has to be at work tomorrow.  We're ten hours from home, and having all day to make the drive should be okay.

Day 1

 Today was Day 1 of Kansas State, under a hot, breezy sky.  We had shade, and plenty of cool water.  But it was hot, in the low triple digits.

Really, a beautiful venue.

I managed to find a spot in the shade to put Belle's chair, and shortly afterwards, the shooting began.

After the shooting was over, we went to find a rib joint.  We're back in the hotel now, soaking up the AC and getting ready for tomorrow.

Old Town

 We're in The Hotel at Old Town, in Wichita, KS.  We got here about 5:00 this afternoon.  Tomorrow morning, we begin the Kansas State Championship of Cowboy Fast Draw.

It's a nice hotel, in an old, historic building.  We were on the road for 19 hours today.  Just about what we expected.

This is a nice place, but like every other place in the country right now, they are short-staffed.  We'll get over it.  The weather is hot, and we're shooting outdoors.  When Belle and I crossed the OK/KS border the gauge on the dash said 102F.  Of course, the humidity is only 25%, so that's better than at home.

Quinton Goes Flying

 Grandson Quinton is a PFC in the Louisiana National Guard, and the other day, they told him that they wanted him to get a chance to fly in a Blackhawk helicopter.  Some sort award for being a super trooper. So, he showed up at the appointed time.

US Army Blackhawk helicopter.

He was able to get a door seat, and they didn't close the doors.

An areal view of Camp Beauregard, LA, just outside of Pineville.

Flying in helicopters is fun.  Most of the time.  He said they were in the air for a half-hour and he really enjoyed it.

One Upsmanship

 In the game of foreign policy, it's nice to know who is in charge.  From what I'm reading and hearing today, it appears that Putin was firmly in charge during his meeting with Biden today.

I love America with all my heart.  I fly the flag.  Today, Joe Biden revealed himself to be incapable of dealing with Russia's strong man.  It's like being in the Carter years again, with a weak, ineffective president who doesn't put America first.  

Watching The Tropics

 It looks like the disturbance they are calling 92L is gaining momentum.  

There seems to be some wind-shear in the northern Gulf that will hinder cyclonic activity, so this thing will l probably turn in to a rain-maker.  However, the next name on the hurricane list is Claudette.

It's Hurricane Season

 It's hurricane season, and we have o start worrying about such things.  There is a disturbance down in the southern Gulf that has everyone's attention.  It's not named yet, but they are giving it a good chance of ginning up into a named storm.

Most of the weather-weenies think it will be a rain-maker.  But, we've already had two named storms this year, so who knows what is likely to happen.    It's summer in the tropics, and here we go.

I am told that Montana is having a heat wave.  Can you believe it?

Vlad Makes A Point

Vladimir Putin makes a stunning opening point, just ahead of his summit with Biden.

 Ahead of his summit with Joe Biden in G7 in Geneva, Switzerland, Russian President Vladimir Putin implied that the United States government had ordered the assassination of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by Capitol Police during the Capitol riot on January 6.

It's an interesting take on the issue.  We still don't know who killed her, and we don't know the circumstances behind her death.  I'm sure if she were a black guy named George, we'd know all the details.  But, she was a white woman killed by a Capitol police officer, so we get ... crickets. 

It's way past time for the government to tell us who killed Ashli and the circumstances behind her death.

This Is Funny, Right Here

It's amazing what we couldn't talk about last year, but suddenly, it's showing up in left-wing comeday sketches.  This is funny right here.

It's also a sad reflection on our present culture that folks have been "cancelled" or called conspiracy types for saying the same thing that Stewart and Colbert are dealing with today.

Good Deeds

 I spent all day doing good deeds for a church member.  Nothing special, unless you are him.

And, I'l be helping him in he morning for several hours.  Hopefully, about noon tomorrow, I'll have time to catch up on posting.

I'm not ignoring y'all, I'm just trying to get an ox our of a ditch.

One-Third

 As we continue to recover from the horrible disease that the Chinese government, we're learning the long-term effects of the government imposed social engineering  that came with the virus.  It seems that over one-third of all small business in the US is gone forever.  According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science:

“Previous studies have claimed that shelter-in-place orders saved thousands of lives, but we reassess these analyses and show that they are not reliable. We find that shelter-in-place orders had no detectable health benefits, only modest effects on behavior, and small but adverse effects on the economy. To be clear, our study should not be interpreted as evidence that social distancing behaviors are not effective. Many people had already changed their behaviors before the introduction of shelter-in-place orders, and shelter-in-place orders appear to have been ineffective precisely because they did not meaningfully alter social distancing behavior.” 

There is some analysis at PJMedia, but what I glean from this is that the pandemic revealed that some governors are power-hungry and loath to give up emergency powers.  We also learn that more than one-third of US businesses are gone forever, and the portion of the economy most harmed was the hospitality and entertainment industry. 

The Narrative

 I'm sure that you've all heard abut the shooting in Austin early Saturday morning.  Some people were wounded when gunfire erupted on Sixth Street in Austin, which seems to be a nightclub/entertainment area. A bunch of folks were wounded, and a manhunt ensued.  But, the Austin paper didn't want to print a discretion of the suspect.  Because it was too vague.

Editor’s note: Police have only released a vague description of the suspected shooter as of Saturday morning. The Austin American-Statesman is not including the description as it is too vague at this time to be useful in identifying the shooter and such publication could be harmful in perpetuating stereotypes. If more detailed information is released, we will update our reporting.

The description was not particularly vague.  The police said they were looking for a Black male with dreadlocks and a skinny build.   That narrows it down to a specific sub-set of the population.  The police were not looking for a bald, fat, white guy.  And, other folks are starting to notice.

In other words, the Statesman knew that the police knew who the suspects were. If police said the suspects were black, why didn’t the newspaper take the APD at its word? I’ll tell you why: the Statesman wants to perpetuate the fictional narrative that dangerous, gun-toting white supremacist rednecks are roaming the city of Austin, hunting black people.

As it turns out, the police in Austin have made an arrest, and it was a skinny black guy with dreadlocks who was busing caps on Sixth street. But this doesn't fit the preferred narrative and the Austin Statesman had to keep the narrative going or as long as possible.

Global Chip Shortage

 I have a buddy who needs a new pickup.  Needs, as in his was totalled this past week.  It seems that he can't find a new Chevy pickup anywhere. It seems that there is a global chip shortage that is playing havoc with pickup truck production.

GM isn’t the only automaker facing setbacks and even layoffs due to the shortage. In March, Ford said the chip shortage, along with weather conditions, left the company canceling shifts and building some vehicles without all their parts. Honda, Volkswagen, and Toyota have similarly warned of supply issues or reduced production in recent months.

Talking with the fellows in the club, it seems that everyone but me was aware of this.  It's a good thing that I'm not in the market for a new pickup truck. 

Out-Migration

 People are leaving Louisiana.  A poor business climate, coupled with a Democrat governor and a huge welfare population, and Louisiana is mired in the bad mix of poor roads, bad taxes and mo job prospects.  For many years we have bemoaned the lack of candor from our politicians.

There is an article that ranks the states for out-migration, and they have Louisiana listed as the 12th worst state for out-migration.  The other contenders are Massachusetts, Iowa, North Dakota, Michigan, California, Ohio, Kansas, Connecticut, New York, Illinois, and (drumroll) the state with the largest our-migration problem, New Jersey.

Lots of folks want to blame the hurricanes for the problem of people leaving Louisiana, but I note that both Texas and Florida have the same climate, the same hurricanes, and they're attracting people.  The weather has nothing to do with it.  It is the business climate and the politics, plain and simple.

Doc Fauci, Again

 Poor ol' Doc Fauci, the media darling, is once again the news, getting testier and testier as his work is revealed for all to see.  I was watching Fox Nation this morning, and listened to an interesting episode of Hannity, where I caught this screen-grab.

And, because I need a couple of sources, I went over to National Review and found the article in question.  It's got links and if you're interested, jump on over.

In a newly resurfaced paper from 2012, Dr. Anthony Fauci argued that the benefits of gain-of-function research are worth the increased risk of a potential pandemic-causing lab accident. 

Really, Doc?  How's that working out for you?  Millions dead worldwide from a lab leak that many people believe that you funded with American taxpayer dollars.

 

Aviation 101

I've been watching this guy's channel for a month of so, and I really enjoy it.  He's a general aviation enthusiast, and he tours the country in his Cessna Skyhawk, 80991.  He talks about safe, adventurous aviation.  Staying current and proficient.

If you like this sort of thing, enjoy.  It's a huge channel, and you could binge it if you're stuck out on a production rig somewhere.

Shooting A Tire

I didn't know that Widener's had a YouTue channel.  And, I didn't know that they had a blog.  Cool stuff

At any rate, they decided to shoot a tire for the fun of doing that.

Thanks, Jason, or the heads-up.

I'm Not Paying For That

Say what you will about Bill Maher, but sometimes he stumbles on to a real gem.  Like this rant about the current state of higher education.

Thanks, Termite.

Doing Chores

 I've been doing chores most of the day, taking care of domestic tasks that need doing.  Belle still works, probably will never fully retire, but I've become fond of retirement, so the household chores revert to me.  No matter, I didn't marry her for her house-keeping.

Between chores, Ill sit down at the computer (I said I was working at it, I never said I was working hard at it.) and surf the news.  It looks like that dick-head, Fauci has been lying to us.  

Dr. Anthony Fauci spent over a year publicly dismissing the theory that COVID-19 originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but more than a year ago he briefed world leaders that the virus may have leaked from the lab.

I can understand the science changing.  But, telling us one thing, and telling Europe health leaders something else is called lying.   Like mush of America, I've been watching the revelations coming out of the intelligence from China, and I'm convinced of a number of things.  One, it is entirely possible that Chinese scientists were fiddling with the genomes of that virus to make it more lethal.  Two, it is also entirely possible that Fauci was knee-deep in funding that research, simply because it is illegal to do gain-of-function research in the US and he thought that the knowledge gained was valuable to know.  Third, it is entirely possible (indeed, probably beyond any reasonable doubt) that the virus accidentally leaked from that lab. Fourth, and most damning, I believe that everything that Fauci has done in the past year was to reduce his visibility as to his deep knowledge and funding of  that research.  He may not be guilty of the crime, but he is certainly an accessory.

Fauci should be immediately fired, discredited, and his medical license (if he has one) revoked.  But, that will never happen. Fauci fits in perfectly with the Biden administration.  He's just another lying prick with a huge ego.

To Kill A Mockingbird

 No, not the novel.

Belle has been having a running battle with a mockingbird that thinks our backyard is his/her personal domain.  That bird harasses the cats, swoops down on Belle, and generally makes herself a nuisance.  Belle doesn't like mockingbirds to start with, and this one has gotten on her last nerve.

Yesterday, that bird was being a pest, and Belle says, rhetorically, "I need a BB gun."

I looked at her, and asked, "Really?:

"Yean", she says.  "That bird can't take a hint.  I need a BB gun."

When I was a stripling youth, I had a Crossman pellet rifle.  It was a wood-and-steel model, and it pumped up and I shot all manner of varmint with it.  Squirrels, blackbirds, starlings, that sort of thing.  I carried it and shot it for years, until it was completely worn out, and I had graduated to bigger weapons.

So, today I hied myself down to Wally-world and found a Crossman.  The Legacy 1000.  It comes with an el-cheapo scope. Really, a horrible little scope.  While my old Crossman was wood-and-steel, this one is plastic-and-plastic.  I suppose there is some steel in it somewhere.  And, I picked up some pellets.

It works like my old rifle.  Pump it to the desired level and load a pellet.  I checked the manual and it tells me that two pumps is about 550 fps, which should be sufficient for an errant mockingbird.  

Then, because I was in the shop and couldn't help myself, I took down an old campaign sign, put it against a steel backer, and let fly.  Three shots at 30 feet.

That's one ragged hole.  Not bad for a cheap rifle, a horrible scope, and an old man with bad eyes.

I'll teach Belle how to use it this afternoon.  I believe that the mockingbird just got a whole new set of problems.

Electric Cars

 Eaton Rapids Joe has a post up about electric cars.  It's a good read, and while not comprehensive, it highlights the problems we're going to have when we finally make the switch from gasoline to electric. The problems with that switch are legion.

It's bad enough that the batteries are expensive, and will surely wear out.  They use rare-earth minerals that are hard to dispose of, and the supply chain is simply not set up to deliver the amounts of raw materials and finished batteries that the market will demand.  On the other side of the supply chain is the question.  Many experts tell us that we will have to increase the capacity of our electric grid to deliver the kilowatts that the widespread use of electric cars will demand.

The short answer is "much more of everything".

These challenges are not insurmountable, and eventually we'll get there, if the market demands it.   My hope is that the next big leap will come, not from a big corporation, but from some dreamer tinkering in his garage.  Someone who has an inspiration and the perseverance to fail a thousand times before he finally gets it right.

The most common, most vital substance on this earth is water, and it is composed of two elements with high energy potential.  Oxygen and hydrogen.   My grandfather tinkered for years on an engine that would run on the hydrogen and oxygen generated from a bank of batteries.  He could make it run, but he could never generate enough power to make it pull itself.  He finally abandoned the project.  But, it worked, if not in the fashion he wanted it to work.  

We may get to electric cars one of these days, or we might have a tinkerer who has an "Ah-ha" moment and leads us in an entirely new direction.  Somewhere, someplace, and at some time, a Dr. Brown will invent a Mr. Fusion.  Then, we'll be off and running.

Systemic Racism

 Fox News is reporting that president biden released a video calling systemic racism "one of the greatest crises of our time."

President Biden in a video released told the class of 2021 they are graduating at an "inflection point" in history and described systemic racism as one of "the great crises of our time."

I'm calling bullshit, here, joe.  If there is such a ting as "systemic racism", then you are duty-bound to name the system that is racist, and take steps to cure it.  I'm not racist, in fact, I will rail against racism at every turn, but if the system is racist, then we need to know which system?  It's time get specific.

Now that we have identified "the system" as racist, it is time to start getting specific.  Which system?  The education system?  The banking system?  Which system?

The grand boogeyman of "systemic racism" is utterly worthless until we start talking about the individual system.  Until then, it is an un-defined term, and it is way past time to get specific.

Until then, I'm calling bullshit.

Surely, It Will Be Appealed

 News is breaking everywhere that a US Federal District Judge has overturned California's assault-weapon ban.

(CNN)In a ruling that compared the AR-15 to a Swiss Army knife, a federal judge overturned California's longtime ban on assault weapons on Friday, ruling it violates the Second Amendment's right to bear arms.

Yes, he did compare the AR platform rifles to the popular Swiss Army Knife, saying that it is a multi-role rifle, suitable for both hoe defense and homeland defense.

I haven't had a chance to plow through the decision to dissect it, but it is online here as a .pdf.  Go read and enjoy.  I do like the opening paragraph.

Like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment. Good for both home and battle, the AR-15 is the kind of versatile gun that lies at the intersection of the kinds of firearms protected under District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) and United States v Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939). Yet, the State of California makes it a crime to have an AR15 type rifle. Therefore, this Court declares the California statutes to be unconstitutional. 

Let Freedom Ring. 

No! Really? (Snark)

 According to an article at PJMedia, the US has a high-ranking Chinese defector who has knowledge of special weapons programs in China hat include bio-weapons. 

In an exclusive story at RedState, Jen Van Laar reports that sources inside the intelligence community say a high-ranking defector from China has been working for months with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). According to Van Laar’s confidential sources, that high-ranking defector claims to have knowledge of special weapons programs in China—that include bioweapons.

Ya think?  Of course China is studying bio-weapons. 

There is a viral interview with Dr. Faucci where he says that he doesn't believe "the Chinese deliberately engineered something so that they could kill themselves".

Well, maybe not, Doc, but you are showing your ignorance of communism in general and of the Chinese Communist party in particular.  Some scholars believe that Mao alone was responsible for the deaths of between 40 million and 80 million Chinese.  And that's just Mao.  The history of China's communists show that they are entirely capable of killing thousands, if not millions of heir own people if it suits their purposes.

I don't think that anything is beyond the Communists if it suites their agenda.  There is the possibility that the Wuhan virus was an accidental leak. There is also a possibility that Faucci and the NIH were witless pawns in Chinese bio-weapon research.

The Old Rebel

 Back about 2000 I bought my first 35mm SLR camera, a Canon.  in just a very few years, they had come out with digital technology, and I upgraded to a Canon EOS.  According to the blog, I got it at Christmas 20009.  

A couple  of years ago, I bought a small pocket camera.  It's okay, but the photo quality isn't as good as the SLR.  The SLR has a view-finder and you can't use it by holding it at arms length and looking at a screen.  You actually have to look through the view finder.  It takes great pictures, and I've taken some fine shots with it.  I do wish it would let me take video, but alas, this one was purchased just a year or so before that was available.

Belle and I are taking a trip later this month, to Missouri and to Kansas, and I will want to take photos.  I charged the battery on the Canon, and everything seems to be working just fine.  Of course, I have a camera on my cell phone, but a good camera takes good photos, and the SLR will be in the car when we leave.

CDC Gets Something RIght

 According to this article, the CDC is saying that the defensive use of firearms is an "Important Crime Deterrent?.  How about that?

“Studies that directly assessed the effect of actual defensive uses of guns (i.e., incidents in which a gun was ‘used’ by the crime victim in the sense of attacking or threatening an offender) have found consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies,” the CDC study, entitled “Priorities For Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence,” states.

It was a $2 million study, which seems to have come to a rational conclusion.  I could have told them that for a whole lot less than $2 million. 

FaUCI'S eMAILS

 It seems that Fauci's emails have been made public (because he works for us and his official emails are public record), and he's on the defensive.

He says that science evolves as we learn more about things, and that science is never settled.

The question becomes when he knew something, and when his advise changed.  And, just exactly what the scientific community knew about the virus and how they skewed the message to affect public behavior.

Why anyone listens to Tony Faucci anymore is a huge question of Stockholm Syndrome.

The .30 WCF

 In 1895, Winchester introduced a new, whiz-bang center fire cartridge, the .30 Winchester Center Fire.  Oh, it was a modern wonder, throwing a 170 grain bullet at 2200 feet per second with newfangled smokeless powder.  It was a modern marvel, and the American shooter took to it like a duck on a june bug.

It's been 125 yers and the cartridge is now known as the .30-30.  And, we're neck deep in an ammo crunch.  I was sorting through the stocks yesterday and came upon a bag of spent .30-30 brass. I have't counted, but it was about half of a gallon zipper bag.  I have primers, and IMR 4895, and a mold that throws a 170 grain .309 bullet. I even found a bag of gas checks in the stocks.

My old Antique Carbine is still in the safe.  It's not an antique, that's just what Winchester called it when it came out in the late '60s.  Some say 1965, some say 1967, but everyone agrees that it is Winchester's first "commemorative" carbine.  One wag described it as "Winchester's ttempt to put lipstick on a pig.", but it works, and it's tight.  Mine carries a Willians peep sight.

The .30-30 Winchester brass has a long, lovely neck, perfectly suited for cast bullets.  The case has more neck than Audrey Hepburn, which is great for supporting a cast bullet. My notes tell me that I can drive it to a bit over 1900 fps with good accuracy, and everything I shoot with it will stay shot.

This should give me a pronect to think about this summer.

No Fraid

 It seems that an audit of votes in one New Hampshire election were wrongly counted by a machine, and wrongly assigned to the Democrat candidate.  But there was no fraud.

"We found no evidence of fraud or political bias," Mark Lindeman, one of the three auditors and the acting co-director of Verified Voting, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, said. "I have heard no one actually articulate a credible hypothesis of how fraud could account for what we found."

It was simply a machine error that assigned votes wrongly to the Democrat. 

The town used the machine to fold the absentee ballots before sending them to voters. After they were returned, the ballots were fed into a counting machine. Because the folds on some ballots went through a Democrats name, the ballot was either not counted or a vote was wrongly given to the Democrat.

It seems that the recount and audit were requested by a losing Democrat candidate.  What they found was that the machine counted some votes for the Democrat, but the Republican won anyway. Now that the audit is complete, it appears that the Republican won by a wider margin than was originally reported. 

Jeff Sadow: Edwards Killed More Than He Saved

 Jeff Sadow is a long time political commenter in Louisiana.  He has an article up on The Hayride with this title:

Edwards Killed More People Than He Saved With His COVID Policy

Oh, snap!

But because it wasn’t – because Edwards’ restrictions went far beyond that for an extended period time, human dignity suffered a major affront in that overly-restrictive rules needlessly attenuated people’s liberties. Worse, data show his heavy-handed approach probably cost more lives than saved them. 

Go read the whole thing.

This is Cool

 Over the weekend, our garage door opener capped out, so I had to run to Lowe's yesterday and get one.  The low-end Chamberlain.  Until Belle and I were married, neither of us had ever had a garage door, much less the need to operate it with a button, but I've spoiled Belle and she wants a working garage door now.

For my entire adult life, pre-Belle, I never had a carport, much less a garage, but Belle now insists that not only must the door open by button, but that her parking place is one step from the door to the house.  It's a first-world, rich man's problem.

Looking at the box today, I saw that the garage door opener is wi-fi enabled, so I downloaded the app, and set it up.  Now, I can check on the status of my garage door from anywhere in the connected world and open or close it, as I desire.  Oh, the raw power of the intertubes.

Do The Maintenance

I'm a big fan of both Mark Novak and Eric at Iraq Veteran 8888.  In this video they pair their platforms to talk about collecting, maintenance and how to preserve guns that we all love.

Mark has made the point many times that no one can tell him when rust becomes patina.  That is a point well taken.  They also talk about the guns that are found in closets or attics, and how to bring them back to life.  

What struck me is looking forward, 50 years from now, the guns that folks will be fining in closets will be AR15s, or that old SKS, or some AK variant.  And, at that point, my 1964 Winchester 94 will be over  100 years old.  I need to make firm plans to get the safe queens out and do a little basic maintenance.

When does rust and grime become patina?  That is a very good question.

More Loop Dumb-Assery

 There are any number of reasons to put a loop in a rope, cable, or piece of string.  Loops are useful.

Just because a cable has a loop, doesn't make it a noose.  But, when you go looking for nooses, you'll find them everywhere.

A construction company building a parking structure at Central Connecticut State University had hoisted an American flag at the end of one of its steel cable loops to mark Memorial Day — but a complaint that the cable was a noose prompted campus officials to apologize and pledge to take down the cable as soon as possible.

That is not a noose.  That is a safety loop. It's used in rigging.  We would think that the administrators at Central Connecticut State University would know the difference and educae whomever made the complaint.  Either by a rational explanation, or by pointing and laughing.  Sometimes mockery is a powerful education tool.