Communication in Self Defense

 Sheriff Jim Wilson takes on the subject of communication under stress.

Mainly, the value of short concise communications with a partner in times of extreme stress, like a self-defense scenario.  It's worth the read, and it's worth considering.

Needlepoint

One of my past bosses, a full-bull colonel, had a needlepoint hanging on his office wall.  Small and tastefully done, framed and in a prominent location, it simply said "Never Let The Bureaucrat Win".

I took that message to heart, and I used it to guide my professional life.

Bureaucrats tend to be self-serving.  While they may be pleasant and personable, they also tend to believe their own hype.   It appears to me that Dr. Anthony Fauci, MD, has long ago fallen into the trap.  Say what you will about Doc Fauci; while he may be a credentialed giant in virus medicine, he is also a bureaucrat who believes his own hype. 

For example, several months ago, when asked abut herd immunity, he kept changing the numbers.  I can understand that science changes, evolves  over time, but in a later interviews, he plainly sated that he was fudging the numbers.

"When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75 percent," Fauci said. "Then, when newer surveys said 60 percent or more would take it, I thought, 'I can nudge this up a bit,' so I went to 80, 85."

That isn't science, that is bureaucratic bullshit. 

This past weekend, in another interview, he plainly said that if someone is criticized him, then they are criticizing science.  That is not science.  That is ego talking.  

It's time for Anthony Fauci, MD to go away.  His mountain-sized ego is making a mockery of the very science he presumes to represent. His admission that he "fudges" numbers calls into question his dedication to true science.  Science is what it is, not what Fauci would like it to be.

Covid By County - US Map

 Interesting map of covid infection over at the CDC.  This is their map, not mine.  I wonder what Ron Desantis did differently from all the other governors.  Oh, wait, I remember.  He protected his most vulnerable citizens, then let the rest of the state be free.

Interesting map, isn't it.  It is an official CDC graphic.  I wish Louisiana were as blue as Florida on this map, but we have a leftist, Democrat governor who follows Fauci and the CDC right down to the jot and tittle.

Sunday Projects

 My buddy Quincy is down-sizing.  Getting rid of stuff he doesn't use or need, and he brought me a gift last week.  His late wife had bought a table for some un-named hobby ten years ago.  For one reason or another, it was never assembled,  and wound up in his storage shed still in the box.  He brought it it me, thinking I might use it.  He was right.

It's a wooden table, suitable for a number of tasks, but I think it was designed as a wood-working table.  Grandson Quinton put it together today after our Sunday lunch.  Gumbo, of course.

That's the gumbo, before the assembled crew went through it.  I fed seven people today for lunch, a fairly light crowd for this place, but no one seemed to complain.

Then, Quinton and I got busy with the table.

The top is 60X20, and is just right for sitting on a small stool.  I believe it is going to become a gunsmithing table.  I believe I'll mount a small vise and a light, and maybe a magnifier on it.  For the next couple of weeks, it will be a work-in-progress.  But, I think it will be a useful addition to the club house.

In Excelsis Deo

Suddenly, it seems to be dusty in here.  I need to change the filters, I guess.

Projects

 Zach and his dad assembling an e-bike in the shop.

We use the shop for lots more than just shooting.

The Nu Variant

 The news is everywhere this morning.  There is a new variant of Covid on the screen.  The "Nu" variant, maned after the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet.

If nothing else, I'm impressed with the timing.  Coming on the heels of Thanksgiving, on the cusp of the Christmas season, they have to come up with something that will harsh the season.

If it hadn't been for Fauci dragging the goal posts up and down the field, we'd have been done with Covid over a year ago.  In truth, many of us were done with it a year ago.

Excuse me if I simply  yawn form boredom.  They are becoming entirely too predictable.  Of course there is a new variant.  How else would they keep a significant portion of the population scared?

Okay, No Problem

 It's an odd marketing move, but I'll go with it.  It seems that Heaven Hill distillery is asking people not to buy their signature Rittenhouse Rye in celebration of the verdict last week

In an odd marketing move, whiskey and bourbon distiller and distributor Heaven Hill posted a statement to its official Twitter account Sunday asking people who are buying its ‘Rittenhouse’ branded rye not to purchase the drink if they intend to use it to cheer the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.

I like rye whiskey, but when I reach for rye, I'm grabbing a bottle of Sazerac Rye. Sazerac is a Louisiana brand that is currently produced at Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky.

If Heaven Hill doesn't want me to drink Rittenhouse, that's okay with me.  Get woke, go broke.

Thanksgiving

 For this, dear Lord, we are thankful.

Prep Continues

 I estimate that we're feeding abut 20 people tomorrow.  That ain't no burden, we'll have plenty of food.

But, what does one do when the mixer craps out in the middle of Thanksgiving prep?  Allow me to introduce the Dewalt cordless mixer.

We'll buy a new mixer early next week.

Thanksgiving Prep

 The family is gathering, and we're prepping for tomorrow.   It's going to be turkey and dressing, and ham, and green bean casserole, cranberry salad, yeast rolls, candied yams, various deserts, it's going to be HUGE!

We have to feed the assembled today, and Belle is making a big pot of chicken and dumplings for lunch  I've got to put a couple of chickens on to boil, so I"d best get busy.

They Say It Like It's A Bad THing

 I've been watching the news, and I love the English language.  So, let's look at the word, Vigil.  According to the Google dictionary.

vigil (noun) - a period of keeping awake during the time usually spent asleep, especially to keep watch or pray.

That  doesn't sound so bad.  A period of time to keep watch or pray.   I have kept vigils during my lifetime, for either personal, family or community reasons.  So, the act of keeping a vigil makes one vigilant.

Vigilant (adjective) - keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties.

But, if we put an "e" on the end of the word, it becomes something totally different. 

Vigilante (noun) - a member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority

And yet, we see this being played out on the left-wing media.

 

I don't think that the description of "vigilante" describes what we saw at all.  Kyle Rittenhouse was keeping a vigil over a friend's property when he was attacked and forced to defend himself.  That does not make him a vigilante.

50 years of D.B. Cooper

Fifty years ago, tomorrow, a fellow we know as D.B. Cooper hijacked a plane, got his ransom money, and parachuted into infamy.  It is still an open case, and the only known airplane hijacker who got away with it.

Over the past 50 years, lots of speculation, lots of bafflement, and no one knows why he did it. if he survived the parachute jump, or where the money went.  It's all a mystery.

Dan Gryder says he has figured it out, and he's going to do a parachute jump tomorrow to kinda-sorta recreate the famous parachute escape.  Say what you will about Gryder, but he is an interesting sort of fellow, and I wish him a lot of luck.

Can you believe it's been 50 years since Cooper walked out the back of a Boeing 727 at night, in a storm, somewhere over the Pacific Northwest?

Spicy dirt

Got up this morning and had to replace an alternator and battery in Grandson Zach's car.  It's what PawPaw's do.  But, I made Zach turn a wrench, and I basically just supervised.

While we were finishing up, Belle made meat pies and we had a nice lunch.  Now, I'm in the mod for a little construction humor.  Have y'all met Breadstick Rick?

Mass Casualty Incident

 Evidently, there was a mass-casualty event in Wauseka, WI this weekend where some asshole drove  an SUV through a crowed gathered for a holiday parade.  Over 20 people were injured and some fatally.

Our condolences  and prayers go to the families affected.

Police are reporting that they have a suspect in custody.  He's a career criminal, the type that drives the criminal justice system stone-crazy.

“Brooks is a career criminal with multiple priors and was released from jail two days prior to the incident after posting a $1,000 bail for three misdemeanors and two felonies. He has a history of resisting arrest, obstruction, battery, statutory sexual seduction, strangulation and suffocation, property destruction, illegal firearm possession, bail jumping, domestic violence, drug related charges and is a registered sex offender.”

Now, he can add multiple counts to that list, some of them will be homicide. 

Shut Up, Gavin

 Gavin Newsome, you despicable troll.  Everything in the below tweet is demonstrably wrong.  Wrong on the facts, wrong on the message.  Let's look at it, shall we?

You can break the law: He didn't break the law.  A jury of his peers found him Not Guilty.  They found his self-defense claim both reasonable and justified.  No laws were broken

carry around a weapon built for a military:  No, by all reports, he used an  Smith and Wesson M&P.  It's a weapon built for the civilian market and has no relationship with the Colt M4.  The two look somewhat alike, but the M&P is not built for the military.  Educate yourself before you embarrass yourself.

shoot and kill people:  He was forced to do that by the activities of those people he shot.  He did not choose to do that, Rosenbaum and Huber were volunteers and initiated the action.

and get away with it:  The right of self-defense is as old as English common law.  He didn't get away with it.  He was jailed, tried in a court of law, and acquitted.

So, Gavin, every single clause in your hypothesis is demonstrably wrong. Wrong in fact and wrong in law.  Perhaps you should sit down, shut up, and put your mask on.  Newsome is a barking moonbat who has destroyed California.  

Now, we've heard from both California and New York, and they were both demonstrably wrong.

Well, There Is That

 Stolen from Aesop's page.

Thanks, Termite.

Redneck Science. How Does A Carburetor Work?

How does a carburetor work?  Physics.

The Moonbats Roar

 I've been watching the moonbats melt down over the Rittenhouse verdict, and I adnit that I am amused at the amount of stunning ignorance that is coming out.  Two different legacy news agencies said that the riots were al about the killing of Jacob Blake, an unarmed black man shot by police.

Only one part of that is true.  Jacob Blake was neither unarmed or killed.  He had a knife and he is still alive today.  Go watch Tucker Carlson's deconstruction if you would like.  He covers all the bases, and I don't have time to do it here.  If's worth a watch.

However, I would like to talk about Mayor Bill de Blaso's tweet.  It's so wrong, it's hilarious.

No, you poor, ignorant dumbass.  Huber and Rosenbaum were not victims.  They were volunteers.  As did Bicep Boy.  As we know now, and you would know if you bothered to do even he most basic research, Kyle didn't take his gun across sate lines.  And, he didn't just start shooting people.  He was attacked and defended himself.

Every person in the legacy media and in the Democratic party, and in BLM, and in all the other outrage groups are distorting the record of what happened in this case.  But, it doesn't fit your idea of an unarmed and helpless citizenry.

Justice was served in the Rittenhouse case and a stalwart jury stood in the breach and upheld  The People's right to defend life and property.  But, we must not relax our vigilance.  The forces of evil are lashing out in horror that a young man, a common citizen would demonstrate for us so completely what it means to a free citizen.

I'm sorry that Rosenbaum and Huber lost their lives, but they put themselves in that situation.  They are not victims, and anyone who calls them victims is not only wrong, but evil.

M2 Carbine Operation

Lessons Leaned

 So, what lesson can we take from the Rittenhouse verdict?  Several.  Let's take them one at a time.

Joseph Rosenbaum, the serial pedophile, should not have been there int he first place.  He should have been in prison.  For serial child raping.  But, he chose to spend his last night on earth chasing Kyle into a car dealership, cornering Kyle, and advancing on him, screaming "Fuck You".  Bad choices.  Lesson learned: Make better choices.

Anthony Huber, another guy there, ran up to Kyle and hit Kyle with a skateboard.  In many jurisdictions, that is considered Aggravate Battery, and can be answered with deadly force.  Kyle shot Anthony in the chest.  Lesson leaned:  Don't hit someone with a skateboard while that person is holding a rifle.

Gaige Grosskreutz, aka Bicep Boy, was shot while advancing on Kyle with a handgun.  Kyle refrained from shooting him while his hands were up, but changed his mind as Bicep Boy pointed the handgun at Kyle while still advancing.  While many think that Kyle made a good shot, and I agree that it was effective, I believe that Kyle missed.  In times of stress, we tend to shoot at the gun when one is pointed at us.  Our mind takes over and reacts to the threat, which is the gun.  Either way,  Bicep Boy learned a valuable lesson:

I note, after-the-fact, that each of these three miscreants had rap sheets.  While many have argued that Kyle should not have been there in the first place, I would argue that none of them should have been there.  

Justice was served today.

Not Guilty

 Kyle Rittenhouse was found Not Guilty on all counts.  The jury returned the verdict today at about noon.

Kyle should take the weekend off, then meet with attorneys next week to start suing all the public figures who defamed him. I'd start with Joe Bidden and those fools on The View.  Estimate what each of then are worth, and start with that amount.

Room Goes SILENT When Sen. Kennedy Calls Biden Nominee a Communist to He...

I love my Senator.  There is no way this gal needs to be the comptroller of the currency.

Want To Play A Game?

 Earlier this week, Fox News reported that rumors are swirling on the hill about the House of Representatives doing their due diligence on confirmation hearings.  

What?  The House doesn't d confirmation hearings.  Except for Vice President.

Two possible scenarios.  1) Kamala bails, leaving a vacancy to fill, or 2) Biden bails, making Kamala president, and a vacancy to fill.

So, the parlor game becomes:  Joe, Kamala, Nancy, or Chuck.  Who is still in office this time next year?

Kyle's Rifle

 The rifle that Kyle Rittenhouse used so capably, was by all reports, a bone-stock SW M&P.

As we ponder the unknowable, awaiting the verdict, one question came to my mind last evening.  If Kyle is acquitted, will he get his rifle back?  Every agency I ever worked for had a mechanism to return property after a case was concluded.  I suspect that Wisconsin does also.

Sequestration

 During my career, I'v seen a few sequestered juries.  Done as part of a high-profile trial, the judge would order that the jury be sequestered and rent a wing of a local hotel.  Remove the televisions from the room, turn off the telephones.  The jury was as locked up as they could be, short of housing them in a jail cell.

Sequestration was considered important, to keep the jury from being swayed by outside influences.  To keep their thoughts and ideas solely within the bounds of the arguments and evidence as presented in the courtroom.

I note that the jurors in the Rittenhouse case were not (at least at the time of this writing) sequestered.  I confess that I really do't understand why not, and I'm sure that the judge has his reasons.  The logistics of sequestering a jury in this digital age would be complicated by the fact that nearly everyone uses wireless communications on a near-constant basis.  I don't know if it is possible, today, to keep 12 free people insulated from outside influence.  It is also impossible today to put 12 people in a room and have them agree n a given set of facts.  I note that we have a Supreme Court of nine very intelligent people and they seldom agree on anything.

Still, we wait on the Rittenhouse verdict.

Waiting On The Jury

 Like so many other Americans, I'm waiting on the jury in the Rittenhouse trial.

I know how I think it should go, based on the evidence I've seen, but one of the huge truths of the American judicial process, is that we never know what a jury might do.  It's a crap shoot.

I have seen juries make some surprising decisions during my long career as a cop, and I am always comforted by the insight of Mark Twain on juries.

We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world; and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men every day who don't know anything and can't read.

- 4th of July speech 1873

I defer to the expertise of Mr. Clements, and hope that the jury makes the right decision. 

Binger Loses It

 It looks like Kenosha prosecutor Thomas Binger lost his mind today, pointing an AR-15 at the jury with his finger on the trigger.  I wonder if he cleared it first?  In the photo, the bolt is clearly forward, but there doesn't seem to be a magazine in the well.

That display, in open court, seems to violate all four (4) of the rules for safe gun handling.  If anyone needed any further evidence that this guy is a complete and total disaster, I don't know how to convince you.

How Often Do People Really Use Guns In Self-Defense? w/ John Lott CN Pod...

I'm i a bit of a rush this morning, so I'm going to leave this here to study it later.  Good stuff on defensive use of firearms in the US.

The Ultimate Work-Around

 Earlier, we talked about the 5th Circuit ruling extending the stay on the OSHA vaccine mandate.  We linked the opinion, and when I wrote the post I gave it a cursory reading.  I noticed, but failed to understand the significance of a particular footnote.  Link to the opinion here.

13 On September 9, 2021, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain retweeted MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle’s tweet that stated, “OSHA doing this vaxx mandate as an emergency workplace safety rule is the ultimate work-around for the Federal govt to require vaccinations.” See, e.g., Pet’rs Burnett Specialists, Choice Staffing, LLC, and Staff Force Inc.’s Reply Brief at 4 (emphasis added).

The Chief of Staff of former vice president Biden is learning the same lesson that former president Trump learned.   Twitter can backfire on you.

Got Woke?

It seems that Democrats, especially left-wing types are blaming us for the downfall of their term "Woke".

The term originally was used to describe the most egregious of the left-wing policy prescriptions on such wide ranging policies as the 1st Amendment, 2nd, Amendment, Critical Race Theory, Green Energy, and a host of other issues.

As liberals shy away from the word "woke," the media has blamed Republicans’ negative use of the term for its downfall. What actually happened to "woke" may be more complicated, and cause problems for Democrats in coming elections. 

Initially, we used the term to describe the entirely foreseeable economic consequence of following "woke" policies in the business world.  The meme "Get Woke, Go Broke" was used to illustrate companies who adopted left-wing policy and suffered financial loss when consumers rejected those policies.  Nowadays, the meme "Go Woke, Get Smoked" describes the changing mood of the electorate when it comes to left-wing policies.

The idea of being "woke" describes an intellectual laziness and political obtuseness that simply begs for mockery.  They have no one to blame but themselves.

US 5th Circuit Upholds Vaccine Mandate Stay

 It seems that the US 5th Circuit has upheld stay against the OSHA vaccine mandate.

In part, from the ruling.

The Constitution vests a limited legislative power in Congress. For more than a century, Congress has routinely used this power to delegate policymaking specifics and technical details to executive agencies charged with effectuating policy principles Congress lays down. In the mine run of cases—a  transportation department regulating trucking on an interstate highway, or an aviation agency regulating an airplane lavatory—this is generally well and good. But health agencies do not make housing policy, and occupational safety administrations do not make health policy. Cf. Ala. Ass’n of Realtors, 141 S. Ct. at 2488–90. In seeking to do so here, OSHA runs afoul of the statute from which it draws its power and, likely, violates the constitutional structure that safeguards our collective liberty

Oh, Snap.  Biden's vaccine mandate is in bi trouble. 

Thanks, Termite.

Language Skills

 It seems that using mechanical tools can improve our language skills.

I'll say.  I learned many of my language skills while helping my Dad work on the family car.  Those skills were sharpened during my years working in the motor pool on tanks.

Savage Scout Update

Back in 2015 I bought a Savage Scout, Model 10FCM.  I had been enamored with the Scout concept, and wanted to play with the concept.  I was pleased, and still am happy with the rifle.   This rifle was bought as new-old stock. IT is a 2nd generation scout, with the Accustock.  Because it was built three years before I bought it, I got a screaming deal on it.

Time goes on, and I still like the rifle, I still have it in the safe.  I don't hunt as much as I did ten years ago, so don't do much centerfire rifle work.  But, the last time I took it out, I noticed feeding problems with the 10-round magazines.  Mags wear out, and I know that.

Surfing around, looking for new magazines, I couldn't seem to find what I was looking for.  I called Savage customer service and they tell me that the 10-round magazine for the 10 FCM is no longer in production and hasn't been made in quite a while.  They still offer the 4-round magazines.

Well, crap.  I may have to start looking for custom magazine builders who make a magazine to feed my now out-of-production rifle.

Miranda and Kenosha

 I have been following the Rittenhouse case now playing out in Kenosha, WI, as time allows.

The case centers around the riots that occurred last year at the height of the BLM protests.  This case has become a cause celebre for differing viewpoints, but it seems to especially be a defining moment for the Second Amendment, and the absolute right to self-defense.

I'm no attorney, but during my career I've been involved in hundreds of court  cases, and I cannot believe that this set of circumstances ever came to trial.  Every witness the prosecutors called have supported the defendant's claim of self defense.  The prosecution has crumbled into disarray.  There is no case here, yet they struggle to retain their dignity.  This case should never have come to trail, but the left-wing outrage of a person actually exercising the Second Amendment has then in a froth.

Yesterday, prosecutors attacked the Fifth Amendment rights of Rittenhouse and were severely admonished by the Judge. The defendant's right to remain silent is a bulwark of our criminal justice system, and has been since 1966.  It is taught in every law enforcement academy and (I presume) every law school since then.  Tons of jurisprudence support this right, and yet the prosecutors attacked it.  The judge, rightfully, blew his stack.

All that I can figure is that the prosecution is looking for a mistrial as their only way out.  My reasoning follows.  1) If they drop the case, the left erupts. 2) If the case goes to the jury and results in acquittal, the left erupts. 3) With the evidence at hand, this case will not result in a guilty verdict.  The best they can hope for is a hung jury.  In that case, the left erupts.

The prosecution is in a bind. Their case is in taters, with no prayer of conviction.  The best they can hope for is a mistrial.  But, a mistrial is not in their hands, it must be ordered by the judge, so they have to behave so egregiously bad that the judge has no choice.  It is a horrible choice, but it may be the only ay that they can keep BLM, Antifa and the radical left from burning Kenosha.  Again.

It's an interesting case, from a variety of viewpoints.

Home Free - God Bless The USA

Lee Greenwood's version of this was our anthem during Desert Storm.

I Refuse

I refuse. 

I refuse to atone for a sin I did not commit.  I have enough sin of my own to account for.

Those who would try to put me in a collective shame are doing that for their own reasons,  likely to assume some power over me.  I can deplore the horrors of slavery, racism, and terroristic activity without guilt or shame.  The idea that I hold any guilt simply because I am white,  male, straight, and middle-class is both laughable and intellectually dishonest.

Matthew 7 cautions us about judging others.  Those who accuse me would do well to study it.

Leonard Nimoy Predicts An Ice Age Back In 1979. Fascinating!

People wonder why I am a climate skeptic.  

Below, a clip from a documentary produced in 1979 when they were predicting a global ice age.  The threat of exreme glaciation was going to grind us all into sausage and our cities into dust beneath mountains of ice.

They've been so wrong for so long that it is hard to take them seriously.

5th Circuit Stays Vaccine Mandate

 The US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has stayed the OSHA regulation requiring employers with 100 or mre employees to require that those employees either be vaccinated or tested weekly.

A number of suits have been filed in several US Circuits and these will work their way through the legal system.  

Jacob Sullum, at Reason magazine looks at the legal arguments put forth by the plaintiffs in this particular suit.  I tend to take a simplistic, textual view of the Constitution, but I realize that some folks are more nuanced, and that precedent plays a big part of he legal system in the US.  I am not an attorney, although I do have a working knowledge of the English language.

However, I do like the language in the 5th Circuits order.

Because the petitions give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate, the Mandate is hereby STAYED pending further action by this court.

Grave statutory and constitutional issues. That seems rather straight-forward.

I Hope He's Right

 “This [New York State Rifle & Pistol] case signaled not only the court’s growing hostility to restrictions on concealed carry—the subject matter of today’s case—but reflects the view of some justices that there are too many gun control laws and that we need to start striking gun control laws down,” UCLA law professor Adam Winkler told Newsweek.

Full article here.

Where Is The Crime

 When I was a cop, I often disappointed people who wanted me to take some enforcement action, without evidence of a crime.  If the complainant could not allege a crime, I  could not take enforcement actin.  That is pretty basic Police 101.  If I took enforcement action without being able to articulate Probable Cause, I opened myself, individually, to civil or criminal penalties.

Yet, we have the curious case of the FBI raiding Project Veritas over the weekend.  It seems that Ashley Biden, the daughter of the president, keeps a diary, and she left that diary in a room somewhere.  Subsequently, someone took possession of it and offered it to Project Veritas.

Project Veritas did their own due diligence and determined that they could not independently verify the provenance or accuracy of the document, so they declined to publish it.  They notified law enforcement.  The FBI raided them over the weekend.

It appears that the FBI is now the enforcement arm of he Democratic Party.  We can cite the Tucker Carlson unmasking, or we can point to the Hunter Biden Laptop.  Or, we could cite the curious chain of events over the gun that Hunter Biden discarded behind a restaurant.

Or, we could go farther back to the insufferable actions of the FBI during the period I call Comey's Disgrace.

At some point, the good agents (if there are any left) will have to stand up and demand that the FBI return to the core mission of protecting the American people, not merely protecting the Biden family or the Democrats from their own sense of entitlement.

Keeping Time

 This morning, we all switched our clocks back to Standard Time, a concept that came to be used during the 19th century to regulate weather observations and train schedules.  Prior to that, each town had someone who would note the precise instant that the sun reached its zenith, and that became noon.  However, as the world turned under the sun, the concept of astronomical time led to some interesting variations as the sum moved across the landscape.  Noon in Norfolk, VA is decidedly not noon in San Francisco.

It took telegraphs and railroads t start setting what we know as Standard Time.  Railroads run on schedules, and if every little whistle-stop has a different time standard, that is no way to run a railroad.

Here in th Deep South, we synchronized our clocks by the mill whistle.  Alexandria had a whistle that would blow at noon and 5:00 p,m.   Natchitoches had one that would blow at 5:oo, Jena had one that would blow at 5:00.  If you didn't want to wait until 5:00 to set your watch, many banks had time services you could call.  In Alexandria, our bank had such a service, and the number was 442-4411.  It is amazing that I can remember that after all these years.

Nowadays, our computers and mobile devices synch themselves from the central server, so wondering what time it is, your device can tell you, accurate to the thousandth of a second.  But, what I've noticed since I retired, is that I go to bed about three hours past sunset, get up about an hour before sunrise, and eat in the middle of the day when I get hungry.  I still wear a wrist watch, but I really don't care what time it is.

Well, Damn

 Four years ago, I gave my daughter a Ruger American rifle in .308 Win.  She has deer hunted with it, and he frequent quote is, "I love my rifle."

She and her husband are out at the camp, doing a little shooting, and she texted me today that she has "blown the trigger guard off the rifle."  I doubted that initially, because one just doesn't "Blow" the trigger guard off a rifle.  So, she sent a photo:

Sure enough, that trigger guard is broken.  The Ruger American uses a one-piece, synthetic stock.  Her Husband will call Ruger next week on how to proceed.  But, my initial thought is to use a good glue or epoxy and glue it back on, at least for the rest of the season.

Anyone out there have any experience with Ruger Americans shedding their trigger guards?

Speaking The Truth

 It seems that Twitter has locked the account of PJMedia, simply because they described Rachel Levine as a man. That sounds rather harsh.

Described as the first female four-star admiral, this person still has a penis and testicles.  Describing this person as female is simply un-scientific.  Twitter knows this, but has bowed to the progressive gender terrorists.  Calling Levine "female" is simply medical misinformation, which will also get you locked out of social media.

Which is why I don't use Twitter.

How Tone-Deaf Can Yu Be?

This broad is so tone-deaf that ... I can't find an appropriate metaphor to describe it.  She thinks that it is hilarious that the Biden administration has crippled our domestic energy sector, and is simultaneously asking OPEC to increase production.

Under President Trump, the US was a net-exporter f energy and in one short year we are dependent on foreign oil.. It's hilarious.

Fall Back

 Tomorrow, we go through that twice-yearly exercise that ceased to make sense a long time ago.

Heh.

Just Wow

 Instapundit links to an article about the damage done to the USS Connecticut, an attack submarine in  our Pacific Fleet.  It seems that sometime in early October, the boat hit an uncharted seamount somewhere in the South China Sea.

Despite a virtual news blackout, information on America’s damaged Seawolf Class attack submarine, USS Connecticut (SSN-22), is starting to leak out. While details are scarce, the Pacific Fleet’s latest operational debacle has left the U.S. without a key undersea combatant. At a minimum, the USS Connecticut will be out of service for years, and there is a creeping realization that the damage may be significant enough to force the USS Connecticut into a premature retirement.

According to USN News, the CO, XO, and COB have all been relieved following an investigation into the accident. 

Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, relieved Cmdr. Cameron Aljilani as commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Cashin as Executive Officer, and Master Chief Sonar Technician Cory Rodgers as Chief of the Boat, of Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22), on Nov. 04, 2021, due to loss of confidence. Thomas determined sound judgement, prudent decision-making and adherence to required procedures in navigation planning, watch team execution and risk management could have prevented the incident.

There is nothing I've seen about loss of life, so that is good.  But, I can't imagine what it must be like to slam into an underwater seamount.  If any of you Navy vets have any insight, then let me know. 

Vax Rebel

I just saw this kid on Sarah Gonzalez The News and Why It Matters.  Sara is a daily watch for me, at Blaze TV, and I've seen Chandler Crump on several other media.  He's a conservative and an artist, and 

a rapper.

I'm not a fan of rap, but this kid has a message that is making waves in pop culture.

Heh!

 The Bee has interviewed McAuliffe, who blames his loss on the low turnout of 3:00 a.m. ballots.

RICHMOND, VA—Terry McAuliffe’s loss in the Virginia gubernatorial race has sent shock waves through the Democrat establishment. Some are blaming the rise of racism, domestic terrorist parents of public-school students, and lack of understanding of true Marxism for the loss. After careful study of the results, however, the campaign determined the true cause was a shockingly low turnout among 3 a.m. ballots.

What I heard was more of a supply-chain issue. What I heard was that the 3:00 a.m. ballots had been contacted to a printing house in China, but were stuck on a ship, somewhere off the coast of Long Beach, CA.

Either way, it sucks to be McAuliffe.

Someone Else Notices

I wish I had found this before I posted my rant below.

I'm Over It

 I spent part of yesterday trying to dissect the tsunami that hit the Democrats in Virginia.  And New Jersey, and a Texas House seat.  Virginia was he big news, but New Jersey was a very close race that should have been an easy win for Democrats, and Democrats lost a long time House seat in San Antonio.

This was not just about Virginia, although Virginia is hugely important.

If you look on the left side of the aisle, they are taking the wrong message from what happened to Tuesday.  According to the woke crew, it was all about white supremacy.  For example:

Or maybe this:

I'm over it, and have been since the early 70s.  It's true that I was born in deep-South Louisiana, but I've been over the racial divide since I became an adult. Since When I was a child, I did childish things, but when I became an adult, I served with magnificent black officers and NCOs  who I trusted with my life and who I counted as brothers. As a civilian police officer, I served with countless magnificent black officers who I trusted  with my life and counted as brothers. and sisters.  I've been over race for fifty years.

The Democrats in general, and the left in particular, needs to get over race, and catch up with a broad swath of the country who judge people by the content of their character.  We've been over race for years.  

Maybe, just maybe, some of the ideas that the Democrats espouse don't fit the ideals of many Americans.

Perhaps, calling whole segments of the electorate "white supremacists" isn't a good idea.

Perhaps, pushing transgender policies while covering up rape in a bathroom isn't a good idea.

Perhaps calling concerned parents "domestic terrorists" is not a good idea.

Perhaps allowing huge populations of illegal migrants into the country is not a good idea.

Perhaps lockdowns, mandates, and vaccine passports are not a good idea.

Perhaps raising taxes is not a good idea.

I could go on for a while.  Call me a racist if you like, of a trans-phobe, or a sexist, or any other of your labels to divide us.  But don't expect me to vote for you.  I am over your labeling.

Virginia Speaks Out

 It's all over the news, but it appears that Virginia's parents spoke out yesterday, electing a Republican governor who focused o education and parent's rights.

From what I understand, the battleground was the suburban parents who were disgusted with the way the local school boards were educating their children.  The race seemed to become a referendum o Critical Race Theory and the arrogance of local administrators who dismissed the concerns of parents.

In a wider perspective, this may be problematic for the Biden agenda.  The urban centers went Democrat, but by a fairly narrow margin, while the suburban and rural counties went Republican, often by huge margins. I'm sure that the political scientists will be studying this map for a while.

In down-ballot races, Republicans claimed the Lt. Governor, the Attorney General, and may have flipped the House of Delegates.

Just wow!

Glasgow Conference

 It seems that most of the world's leaders are in Glasgow, Scotland for a UN Climate Conference.  Good for them.  I bet Glasgow is nice this tie of year.  Our addled president is there, I'm sure with a huge retinue of syncopates from his administration, along with  cadre of hapless Secret Service Agents who would really rather be somewhere else, and a coterie of support staff.  

They are talking about renewable energy and getting away from oil and gas, and making the world less reliant on carbon.  Which is all well and good until you consider that the world's larger emitters of carbon are not at the conference.  Russian, China, and India have chosen not to attend.  RSVP with regrets, etc. 

Louisiana's idiot governor is in Scotland, trying to position Louisiana as a good place for renewable energy.  Of course, oil and gas has been a major player in the Louisiana economy for as long as I can remember.  It seems odd that our governor is in Scotland, but I'm sure that he's holding Biden's sippy cup while the president naps.  

I do wonder what the total carbon footprint of the Climate Conference might be, and observe that they burned a lot of Jet-A to moan and groan about something that they can do noting about.

When they start  acting like it's a problem, I might start believing that it is an actual problem.

Rodeo

 Our church does rodeo, and last Friday night we held a Christian Youth Rodeo.  You gotta have a concession stand at this All-American contact sport, and you gotta have  crew running the fryers.

The guy in the flag vest is an old submariner who is doing what he can for the church.  The guy in the PBR jacket is a professional musician who loved rodeo until it got to painful to climb on a bull.  Now, he is working the fry station and cheering on the kids who ride barrels and rope steers.  This is what small-town Friday night looks like.