That Old Song

 What's that old song?  Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the nid-day sun.  Here's a picture I took yesterday.

That is the thermometer on the back porch.  100F in the shade. They are calling for 101 today and 103 tomorrow. I have a little grass cutting that I want to do, but I"m going to get it done before 10:00 then retire into the air conditioning.

Pore Ol' Joe

 Pore ol' Joe, that arrogant sumbitch.  You kind of have to put yourself in his shoes to understand the problems that he has right now.

In 2014-2018 he was a sitting Vice President of the United States under President Obama.  Hillary was the ideal candidate, and he knew that his career was about over.  But, he wanted a beach house and a nice mansion, and he knew that when Obama left the White House, his gig was over.  He could exist on his government pension, but he really wanted to cash in.  So, the thing to do was to use the power he had at his fingertips to make as much cash as possible before Obama left the scene.

Hilary was going to be elected, nobody was going to look into the finances of a retired vice president.  He had been around crony Washington politics his entire adult life and he anted that beach house.  Never in his wildest dreams did he even suspect that in 2020 he might be the nominee, and against all odds, actually ascend to the presidency. It was all a pipe-dream.

Today, be is the president, and his dreams are crumbling before his eyes.  He may be arrogant enough to think that he can still get away with it.  He has all his cronies in positions to help him.  Some of his crimes may even have passed the statutes of limitation.  But, his business partners are jumping ship.  His son's sweetheart deal has collapsed, and people are starting to ask questions.

If he had stayed retired, no one would have cared.  But, he forgot that in the presidency, the office itself is under a microscope.  And now, lots of people are looking.  He may escape prison, but he won't escape being exposed.

Cutting FUnding

 PJMedia is reporting that the Biden administration is cutting funding to schools with archery or hunting programs.

The Biden administration is interpreting language in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) passed last year that they say gives them the right to deny federal funds from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 for schools with hunting and archery programs.

They are assholes.  There is nothing unsafe about archery or hunting. 

Climate Deaths

 If you listen to the United Nations and other climate alarmists, you would think that climate related deaths are on the rise. It's hot, and cold, and people die from the heat and the cold. And hurricanes and tornadoes and floods, and onigod.  We're all going to die.

Except the alarmists are cherry-picking the data.  100 years ago there was no NOAA, very little rural electricity, virtually no television.  Very little radio.  People didn't know that disasters were coming,   If you go back to 1900 and the great Galveston hurricane, you'll find that those folks had no clue.  In the morning, they were leading their lives and by nightfall, the island was pretty much gone.

One researcher has done the hard work, and reports that climate related deaths have declined by 90% in the past 100 years.

This data shows that climate-related events—floods, droughts, storms, fires, and temperature extremes—are not actually killing more people. Deaths have dropped by a huge amount: In the 1920s, almost half a million people were killed by climate-related disasters. In 2021, it was less than 7,000 people. Climate-related disasters kill 99% fewer people than 100 years earlier.

Why is that?  Well, several reasons.  Electricity for one, and Willis Carrier's invention for another.  Then there is the information revolution, where virtually everyone has a cell phone and knows when a hurricane, or tornado is coming.   We're in better shape technologically, and we're more mobile than our ancestors.  

I sit here in my shop, typing an internet post on a computer, using wireless internet under air conditioning.  Many of those things were impossible in the 1970s.  We are better able to weather the storm, or to run from it if necessary.

Carbon Release

 Motortrend is reporting that there is a fire on a cargo ship.  Here's the headline.:

Coast Guard Suspects EV Source of Ongoing Fire Aboard Cargo Ship

I wonder how much carbon that is going to release into the atmosphere and/or water column? 

Judge Rejects Plea Deal

 It seems like the judge in the Hunter Biden case has rejected the plea deal.  She had a lot of questions about how this deal came to be and rejected it.

After much discussion and back-and-forth, a federal judge has declined to accept Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal. The deal would have allowed Biden to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax evasion charges and would have disposed of a felony gun charge. The president’s son was expected to get off with a couple of years of probation and a promise not to drink or do drugs and to enter a diversion program to make the gun charges go away.

I don't know what is next, but for sure this ain't going away.  Discovery should he a fun time, with the prosecutors licking their wounds.  And, make no mistake, they are wounded.  They thought this thing was about to be over and now they have had to back up a couple of steps.

Hunter's Deal

 It appears that Hunter Biden's legal team is in full damage control mode.  It seems that the House Ways and Means committee filed an amicus brief, and a member of Biden's legal team called the Clerk, asking that the amicus brief be removed.

“It appears that the caller misrepresented her identity and who she worked for in an attempt to improperly convince the Clerk’s Office to remove the amicus materials from the docket,” Noreika wrote, before ordering Biden’s legal team to explain why Noreika should not issue formal sanctions “for misrepresentations to the Court.”

The judge is pised.  And rightfully so. Lawyers can get dis-barred for that.

Biden's team insists that there was no misrepresentation.  No hanky-panky.

It will be interesting to see how the court proceedings go later today.

 

Monday Unpacking

 After a week of packing, loading, and getting ready, then two days of shooting, now it's time to unpack and unload.  I have a van full of electronics and range miscellanea, and a trailer full of range iron to unload and put back in storage. Honestly, it's easier to unload by myself because I know where all this stuff goes, and I only want to handle it once.

I'm going to take my morning medds, and get out to the shop.

CNO Affirmative Action

 It appears that our Commander in Chief has gone over the head of the Defense establishment and made an affirmative action pick for the post of Chief of Naval Operations.

Joe Biden is obsessed with “firsts” — especially when it comes to naming minorities to positions in his administration. Biden has prioritized “diversity” over almost everything else, including merit, experience, and judging by some of his choices, intelligence (we’re looking at you, Mayor Pete).

The president was given a slate of extremely experienced officers to chose from, including the current commander of the Pacific Fleet, a guy who has been facing down China for several years, but he went with Admiral  Lisa Franchetti.  I'm sure she is a fine officer, but she has been in her current posting for less than a year.

We're Back

 We finished Louisiana State yesterday, tore down the ranges and were home by 6:00 pm.  The only thing I unloaded were the money box and the computer I'm working on right now  The rest is either in the van or the trailer, and it will wait until later to be unloaded.

The shoot was a magnificent success.  No equipment glitches, no technical problems, no controversy.  It all went as planned.  We had 64 shooters from 8 states and everyone had a great time.

Jason Aldean - Try That In A Small Town (Official Music Video)

Some folks are calling this racist.  It's not.  It's truth. 

New Forecasting Tool

 It seems like the NOAA is rolling out a new high resolution forecasting tool that will provide more information on hurricane formations and tracks. That's good, I guess,.  We're still in the midst of the hrricane season, and historically it ramps up in August and September.

They are calling it HFAS, or the "Hurricane Analysis and Forecasting System".

The NHC said its new “Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System,” or HAFS for short, went operational on June 27 alongside older models for the 2023 hurricane season. The system is the first new major forecast model to use NOAA’s updated weather and climate supercomputers.

I hope it helps them help us.  Hurricanes ain't no fun. It's good to know what is happening, just before the lights go out and the fence blows over.

Tuesday Outrage

 I'm packing up the range, getting ready to move it to the venue where we will hold Louisiana State this weekend.  Printing out some last minute documents, and of course, the five-year-old range printer suffers a catastrophic meltdown.

So, I head to Wally World to buy a new printer.  I settled on an HP Envy 6400 series, which should do fine. Still, having to buy a new printer on the cusp of a major event is never any fun. It's white, which means it will show dust like crazy.

Driving around, I hear the talk-radio guys going weird.  It seems that Jack Smith, the special counsel in Washington, is going to indict Trump for something related to January 6th.  They are saying that the indictment could come as early as the first week of August.

It will be interesting to see what the indictments look like.

SOS Pads

 SOS or Brillo pads.  Your grandmother used them.  Basically, steel wool impregnated with soap, used to clean pots and pans.

Recently, I was watching Vise Grip Garage and he used SOS pads to take surface rust off of a car.  Derrick was doing what he called a "Rustoration".  We had an old refrigerator in the shop that Belle wanted to to get the rust off of it and repaint it.  So, I got sot some SOS pads, gave it a good scrubbing, then went to the hardware store and bought a can of paint they call Appliance White.  A little rattle-can, and the fridge came out looking a lot better, certainly good enough for the girls that hang out around here.

More recently, I had a cleaning job, getting permeant marker off of a dry-erase board.  A quick spritzing with Windex, and a light touch with an SOS Pad and the board came out clean.  Of course, they are still useful on pots and pans. Your grandmother used them because they work.

Gender Confusion

Fox News is reporting that a new poll finds that almost half of millennials think that misgendering someone should be a crime.

Oh, bullshit.  If a person is confused about what their gender is, how an I supposed to know what their gender is. If you present as male, I'll call you a man. If you present as female, I'll call you a woman. If I'm wrong, you did a piss-poor job of getting dressed that morning. Don't make your confusion into my crime.

Wild Weekend

 We hosted a family reunion this weekend, and had a blast.  We have a great-grandchild, 11-year-old Brooke staying with us for a couple of weeks, so today, Belle took her to a local zoo, Gone Wild Safaris in Tioga, LA where they saw a variety of exotic wildlife, Camels and Lamas and ostriches and stuff.

It's a drive-thru zoo, and the animals come right up to the car.  Everyone had a good time, including the lamas.

We Will Wait and See

 It appears that the Louisiana legislature is calling a veto session to overturn some vetoes from our Den governor, John Bel (hack, spit) Edwards.  He's on his way out (thankfully) and after November wont be able to damage the state any longer.

Yahoo News is reporting that the legislature will meet in veto session to overturn a veto of several bills, that include a ban on the genital mutilation of minors.

Louisiana lawmakers riding a Republican super majority wave in the state Legislature are officially returning to Baton Rouge next week determined to override Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards' vetoes on anti-LGBTQ bills passed during the regular session in June.

Yahoo! exposes it's bias in the reporting.  This is not anti-LGBT.  Once you turn 18, you can do whatever you want.  This is a bill to protect children, and it is driving the pedophiles crazy. 

But, I have so little faith in the RINOs in the legislature that I'm going to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.  There is a sizeable percentage of out political class who have decided that it is easier to get elected as a Republican, so they switch parties for political advantage, then go to the legislature and vote with the Dem cronies.  People like that are despicable.

Sweating

 The heat and humidity are miserable out there today. So, of course, Brother Fred and I loaded our mowers and went to the church this morning to try to keep up with the grass.  It was a bitter struggle for three hours, but we got it done.  Fred on his tractor and bushhog.  Me on my zero-turn.  But, we got it done.  A person can walk across the church grounds now.

Our regular Thursday evening event has been cancelled.  The arena is a mud pit.  We have gotten about six inches of rain in the past week, a little every day.  We have a rodeo scheduled for tomorrow night, but the arena master will assess tomorrow morning.

Belle has scheduled a family reunion in out barn for Saturday  Lots of prepping there. The thing about having a wax bullet range is that wax bullets bounce.  I bet I have swept up a five gallon bucket of wax bullets that were under things we normally don't sweep under.  If you move something, it has wax bullets under it.

Family reunion this weekend, then the Louisiana State Championship next weekend.  I'll be busy all week.

This 'N That

UPDATE** The link is fixed (I think) 

Reading the news between chores, I see over at PJMedia where a Georgia legislator has decided to leave the Dems and come into the GOP camp.  More locally, our sitting sheriff, Mark Wood, ran as a Democrat last time and appears as a Republican this time. 

I was once a Democrat, because that's what it took to vote in Louisiana.  I switched in the early 80s, based on a sincere belief that the Republicans best reflected my libertarian beliefs that small government best served individual freedom.  Over the years I have railed at them when they erred, but I still believe that of the two major parties, they best reflect my values.

While I hope that the Georgia legislator and our idiot Sheriff have had a major epiphany, I suspect it is more of a crass political move.  I believe that if a person is elected under one party and opts to go with the other party, they should step down and not serve under false colors.  If they elected you as a Democrat, serve as a Democrat.  

Changing subject, I see where Chinese hackers have breached the US Govt emails using Microsoft Cloud.  Why is that not surprising?  The Cloud, when it was invented, was touted as a mystical place where personal files could be magically stored and accessed from a number of devices.  In reality, the Cloud is a server farm somewhere on the left coast. It can indeed be accessed by a number of devices, including Chinese and Russian hackers.  Be forewarned.

Finally, when I checked the news last night, the day was supposed to be sunny and hot.  We were supposed to have about three days of sunny and hot.  It has rained on my acre every day for the past week, and the lawn shows it.  As I type this, it is raining on my acre again.  The grass will not be mowed today, and it is a matter of clam whether it will be mowed tomorrow. It is not yet knee-deep out there, but the bahia is jumping.

Heavenly Hypocrite

 It seems that ice cream producers Ben and Jerry, did am Instagram post  on July 4th, saying that America was founded on land stolen from native American people. Link here,

The ice cream company chose to attack America as a country on “stolen” land with an Independence Day Instagram post. The company demanded land be returned to Native Americans.

 Well, things took an interesting twist when it was revealed Ben & Jerry’s headquarters in South Burlington, Vermont is on land previously controlled by the Abenaki people, and they want it back.

The only rational thing to do is for Ben and Jerry to title their land back to the tribe. Right?  I mean, since they brought it up.  Or, come up with a new flavor.  Heavenly Hypocrite.

It's hell, sometimes, when reality intrudes on idealism.

Shortage of 155?

Evidently, there is a shortage of 155 artillery ammo, and Biden let that slip during a recent TV interview.

155 is an extremely popular artillery caliber, it is a mainstay of NATO artillery and is used in the M777 platform and related systems.  And, according to our Commander in Chief, we don't have enough of it.  Nor do the Ukrainians.

An active shooting war will burn through ammo stocks in an unbelievable hurry  It seems that we need to start cranking out 155 ammo.  When you need it is not the time to start making it.

In a related note, I see that the Army is bringing out a light tank, the M10 Booker, It's main armament is the old 105mm cannon.  I used the 105 on the old M60 series tank and it is a very capable cannon.  But, it seems that our stocks of 105mm ammo is low, insufficient for training, much less combat.

When I was a young soldier, they taught us that amateurs think about tactics, professionals think about logistics.  If an Army doesn't have the logistical tail necessary to support the troops on the front, then the battle is already lost. 155mm and 105mm ammo isn't sexy, but it is an absolute necessity.  Bullets and beans is what it takes to win wars.

 Mas Ayoob talks about the race to the phone. I'm simply boosting the signal here.  If you have to point your gun at someone, call it in.

Busy Day

 We had a club shot this morning, then a fish fry at Belle's sister's place in Jena, LA.  It has been a very good day.

The political season is upon us here in Louisiana.  Campaign signs sprout like flowers after a shower.  I see that we have a Sheriff's race here in Rapides Parish, and another in LaSalle parish.  I didn't see any campaign signs in Grant Parish, but I may not have been paying close attention.

Battery Cables

 Folks have asked me why I keep that old F150 in the yard.  I bought it in 2003.  It's a 2001 and for ten years it was my daily driver.  It has about a quarter million miles on it, but the oil has been changed regularly and the maintenance has, for the most part, been done.

My daily driver is a Honda Odyssey van, but the truck is paid for, and sometimes I need a truck.

Last week, I noticed that the positive battery cable was loose, and when I tightened it, noticed that the little steel clamps Ford had put on it had finally, after 22 years, rusted through.  So, today I bought a battery cable clamp.  I changed it out this afternoon. Now that's done and one less thing to think about.

I do beed to put a squirt of Freon in the AC unit, but I'll get that done next week.

It's nice to know that when I turn the key on that old truck, it will fire up and do what is required for the mission of a pickup truck. I bought my first pickup truck in 1978, and I've had one ever since. I don't need a truck every day, but when I need one, nothing else will do.

Fingerprint and DNA Analysis

 So, the Secret Service finds a small baggie of cocaine at the White House, and now the FBI is going to do a fingerprint and DNA analysis to find the culprit.

Occam's razor seems not to be an investigative tool.  We have now descended into silliness.  The White House mouthpiece doesn't know how to react to it.  It's not Joe's.  He was out of town when they found it.

I collected a lot of cocaine during my career, but I never had it fingerprinted, much less a DNA analysis. We tagged it, bagged it, and put it in evidence.  Eventually, it was destroyed.  This whole brouhaha is a non-starter, but I am glad to see KJP stammer over it.

Not Too Bad

 The heat wave we have suffered through for the past couple of weeks seems to have moderated.   This morning, the temp is only in the mid 70s and the high today in only supposed to be in the low 90s.

We still have the rest of July, then August and September to live through before it will be gumbo weather, or until I feel compelled to make a pot of chili.  Summer ain't over by any means, but this morning it isn't too bad. The humidity is still at 90%, but that is fairly common in Louisiana.  

At the barber shop yesterday, the talk was all about the weather. Over the past few days we have had plenty of small, pop up thunderstorms that randomly traverse the area.  For example, this weekend, we had a locally severe thunderstorm that dropped about 2 inches of rain on my acre.  Down the road a mile to the east, they got less than one-tenth of an inch.  Last night, it drizzled here for an hour, but someone down the road got their full quota.  That is the way the weather goes this time of year.

Happy Fourth

From the Declaration. 

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Happy Fourth, everyone. 

Beer From the Past

 Reading an article about Bud Light and how they are having to cut production, I took a trip down memory lane to remember some beer from y misspent youth.

Schlitz - Schlitz used to be a big player in the South, although my Dad didn't allow it in the house.  He drank Budweiser or Coors (when he could get it).  However, there was one store who would sell skunked Schlitz at a discount, and didn't care who you were. Four bucks a case and haul it off.  We drank a bunch of that stuff at teen parties, and I thought that was what beer was supposed to taste like.  When I got legal and bought a real beer in a bar, I was amazed.

Falstaff - I had one Sergeant who drank Falstaff beer almost exclusively.  He was a Special Forces Master Sergeant who became sort of a mentor to a young Armor officer.  What he was doing assigned to me was always a bit of a mystery, but looking back, his undiagnosed PTSD and borderline alcoholism may have had something to do with this assignment.  He was short, skinny and mean as a rattlesnake.  But, he took care of me, and the troops.  I remember Falstaff fondly.

Stroh's - We had a lot of this at Fort Knox.  They sold it in the Four Seasons store. A half-keg was only $12.00.  We called it "The Pale, Stale Ale, with the Foam in the Middle".  It was a hit at backyard cookouts.

Those are three that come to mind.  They may still be produced and consumed in some other regions, but I don't see much of them around here.

In Defense Of Freedom

 It seems that there is a new controversy brewing inthe sports world.  Someone I've never heard of is basing America.  Okay.  Fox News reports.

WNBA champion Natasha Cloud doubled down on her criticisms of the United States following the Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action and a case involving artist Lorie Smith.

Well, she has the right to her opinion, just like everyone else.  The first thing I thought when reading the article was "Who"?  Never heard of her, don't watch the WNBA.  I'm assuming from reading the article, that Ms. Cloud is in some sort of women's basketball league, which is totally irrelevant to my entire existence.

The only thing that this article does for me is to reinforce my belief that basketball is a woman's sport and that no men should participate it it.  Leave it to the women.  Take up a manly sport, like football or baseball.

But, Ms. Cloud has a right to her opinion.  I will defend that right.

Let Freedom Ring.

Biden Oversteps

 It's been a great week for freedom, and another blow to the Biden agenda has come in, From Instapundit.

This comes from US District Court Judge Reed O'Connor of Texas

“This case presents the question of whether the federal government may lawfully regulate partially manufactured firearm components, related firearm products, and other tools and materials in keeping with the Gun Control Act of 1968,” wrote O’Connor. “Because the court concludes that the government cannot regulate those items without violating federal law, the court holds that the government’s recently enacted final rule … is unlawful agency action taken in excess of the ATF’s statutory jurisdiction. On this basis, the court vacates the final rule.”

It looks like the ATFs "ghost gun" ban just went the way of affirmative action and student-loan forgiveness. Joe Biden has had a very bad week.

Let Freedom Ring.

Big Pig

 I've been watching Davis Ellis' YouTube channel for a year or so. He's a nuisance trapper based in northern Mississippi.  Catching hogs is his bread and butter.  Feral hogs are a problem all across the South, and guys like David help control the populations.

Recently, he caught a big one.  It weighed 300 pounds on the scale.  

That is a screen grab from the video.  The guy cranking the handle looked to be about six feet tall.  That is one large pig.  Link here to the whole video.

That is not as big aw my largest pig.  I was fortunate to shoot one that pegged out a scale that would weigh 350 pounds.  Still, a 300 pound hog is a beast.

The Strawberry Julep

 Belle was talking about a summer cocktail she used to imbibe at a favorite restaurant, long since closed.  It is called the Strawberry Julep and was served a the Cock of the Walk in Natchez, MS.  According to her it requires fresh strawberries, simple syrup and Southern Comfort.  It requires a blender.  

So, I got out the blender, mixed 1 oz simple syrup, 1 oz Southern Comfort and 1 cup of fresh strawberries.  Blended it all in a blender until smooth, then topped it with canned whipped cream.

I'm still playing with proportions, but she says it goes down real smooth.

Woman Face

 Tyrus made a good point on Gutfeld last night.  Tyrus, as you know, is a professional wrestler who contributes on Fox. He has coined a term, Woman Face.  You can watch the clip here.

Basically what he is saying is that if a guy shows up at your party wearing black face and pretending to be black, everyone would he uncomfortable.  Likewise, a guy shows up at your party dressed as a woman, pretending to be something he is plainly not,   That is Woman Face and those people should get the same level of treatment as someone wearing black face.

It makes sense to me.