Vivcimization

Sarah Hoyt pens a powerful piece voer at PJMedia, about victimization and the current crop of abusers in the news.  A powerful piece.

The continuous denunciation carnival grows tiresome, much as we on the right are watching your cannibal feast with growing fascination.
The end result of it is to run men from public life as though women had no part in this system. And the abuses will go on, because women abuse power too, just not usually in a sexual way.
Take a good look in the mirror, ladies and gentlemen. If you were true ladies and gentlemen you’d know there’s a system of mutual obligation. Checks and balances, you could call them.
Women can’t abdicate their responsibility and not expect men to take advantage.
We’re racing to a system where women act like poor little flowers who have to be protected and kept safe.

Sarah is not blaming the victim, and neither am I.  But, silence is consent, and if you allowed it, then you acquiesced to it.  I've never, for example, considered Monica a victim.  She knew what she was doing, and if  Bill was able to take advantage, then it is only because she allowed it.

The current litany of exposed celebrities and politicians teaches us a cautionary lesson.  I'm sure that some of these victims are "pure" victims, but I'd suspect that a certain percentage of them were willing to go-along to get-along, for the sake of career, or power, or money. The point is; they were willing.

There is an old joke told about a rich man who asks a young woman if she would sleep with him for $200,000.  She ponders fro a moment and replies "Yes, for $200,000."

He asks "How about $20?"

She is outraged, "What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"We've already established, " he explains, "what kind of girl you are.  Now we're simply negotiating a price."

There are those women who find themselves the victim of sexual abuse, and my heart goes out to them.  No one should be subjected to demeaning treatment.  But, the time to object is when it happens.  NO means NO and and we should draw a bright line here.

One More Time

News this morning as I sip my pre-dawn coffee is that Matt Laeur of NBC News has been fired for "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace."

So, it might be instructive to go over this again.  What is "appropriate" sexual behavior in the workplace?  The short answer?  None.  There is no appropriate  sexual behavior in the workplace.  Unless you're a porn star, perhaps.  Otherwise, there is none.

I'm glad I could clear that up for you.

Pouring Concrete

We poured the slab today, on a cool Louisiana day with a high overcast.  It was sunny, but we were not getting the full benefit of the warming rays.

There are days when concrete just does not want to set.  The trucks arrived at 9:00 a.m. this morning and at 8:00 p.m., they were still working the slab, under lights.

They left at 8:40 p,m.  The slab looks to be as smooth as a baby's butt.   The beauty of working a salb with cross-light, like the headlights of a truck, is that every little wrinkle casts a shadow three tiems as big as the problem.

I talked to the builder late this afternoon.  He'll let the slab cure for two weeks then start up with the building.  The best part about this project is that everything that comes across the culvert is already paid for.  No loan officers involved.

Transgender Military Policy

Insty is reporting that a federal judge.... oh, hell.

BREAKING.  Federal judge rules that military must move forward with policy allowing transgender military recruits starting on January 1, 2018.

I don't believe that allowing a civil court to order the military to do anything is a good idea.

Taxpayer Funded Corruption

It turns out that taxpayer dollars have been paying settlements to his sexual harassment allegations in Congress.  Legal Insurrection reports:

Minnesota Democrat Senator Al Franken. Michigan Democrat Representative John Conyers. Who is next? It could be anyone! A Washington Post report from a few weeks ago showed that the “Office of Compliance has paid more than $17 million for 264 settlements and awards to federal employees for violations of various employment rules” since 1997. This includes sexual harassment.

That's utter bullshit.  Taxpayer dollars should not be a hush-fund slush-fund for Congressional wrongdoing.  That's wrong, and if a Congressman does wrong, let him (or her) pay it out of their personal pocket, not the taxpayer pocket. As the allegations mount and the corruption becomes more public, it seems that the taxpayer will be forking over a lot of cash.

The Practical Rifle

Wirecutter leads us to a post on practical rifles. It seems that the discussion continues,  it is instructive to think about such things, to revisit the discussion.  The author of the linked article makes a good point, that confidence is supreme.  The fundamentals of marksmanship must be there.  BRAS, breathe relax, align, and squeeze.  Once the fundamentals are second-nature, hitting becomes easier.

The fundamentals are there, along with my confidence. The foundation is laid. Optics of any type are a tool to enhance one’s capability, not a shortcut in training. If Joe knows he can ring steel with irons on his weapon at an average engagement distance, then an optic of any type enhances his capability. He now has confidence in himself and his weapon. And confidence is the difference maker above any piece of kit.

The author makes the points that rifles are better now than ever, and I've said repeatedly that we live in a golden age of riflery.  Better materials, better CNC machining, more manufacturers available, the simple fact is that we have much better rifles now than we had 40 years ago.

Still, confidence with a rifle is the main thing.  If you believe that you can make the shot, you'll probably make the shot,  And confidence comes with practice and training.  Get away from the bench after the rifle is sighted and practice position shooting.  Learn to make an expedient rest.  Get to know the rifle by shooting it.  A shooter who shoots a hundred shots a year will be more confident than one who only shoots ten shots per year.

I still think that my criteria on a practical rifle is valid.  If you recall, I defined it like this:

1. magazine fed repeating rifle
2. weighing between 2.5 and 5 kilos
3.The cartridge must be capable of striking a single decisive blow on the target likely to be encountered at a distance where the operator is capable of placing the bullet in the vital area of the target.
4. Maximum length of 43 inches, with the length of pull properly proportioned to the individual
5. Robust sighting system, properly fitted to the rifle and instantly available to the operator.

Once a shooter has a proper rifle, I'd recommend spending additional disposable monies on ammunition.  And, rather than stockpiling it, go the range and turn it into confidence.

Bernie Again

Politico speculates that Bernie Sanders might be making moves to run again in 2020.

From forging closer ties to the labor movement to shoring up his once-flimsy foreign policy credentials, the moves have provided the senator inroads into party power structures that largely shunned him in favor of Hillary Clinton last year. They've also empowered the progressive icon to harness his newfound political power and help Democrats fight President Donald Trump's administration.

According to my quick research, Sanders got 43% of the vote during the Democratic primary, a primary that was stacked against him.  He's further left than most mainstream politicians, but he sure energizes the socialist wing of the party.  His big selling point is universal health care.

Plus, he's in his late 70s.  If elected, he'll be 79 years old when he takes office (born 9/8/1941).

Interesting.

Hillary and the Slave Trade

Glenn Reynolds reports that Africans are actively being sold in Libyan markets.

Back in the 2012 presidential campaign, former vice president Joe Biden told a group of African Americans that the GOP was going to ‘put you all back in chains.’ But it turned out that it was Clinton’s policies that led to black people being sold. As some ponder another Hillary Clinton run in 2020, that’s worth pointing out.”

Clinton should have a lot of explaining to do, if anyone with character or an understanding of ethics would hold her accountable.  It is worth pointing out that post-Civil War, the Democrats were responsible for the KKK and the Jim Crow laws.  And now, in the early years of the 21st century, it is the disastrous policies of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State that led to the re-emergence oof slave markets in Libya.

Draw whatever parallels you wish to draw.

Another record

It looks like we bought a lot of guns on Black Friday.  According to the link, the FBI processed over 200,000 background checks that day setting a new record.

Just wow!  Let Freedom Ring.

LINKY HERE.

Saturday Notes

I'm boiling turkey carcasses for gumbo.  I smoked one and my brother-in-law smoked one.  I'll let them boil for an hour or so in salted water, then take them out to cool.  When they're cool enough, I"ll peel the meaty bits off of them, discard the bones and keep the meat and the stock for a gumbo that we'll eat tomorrow for lunch.I have some sausage in the 'fridge, but we'll pic up another pound at the grocer's later today.

Panning for Louisiana State continues apace.  I have to make a budget and intend to get that finished this weekend.  I have been poring over last year's notes trying to get realistic numbers, and Belle and I have a date tomorrow afternoon to sit down at the kitchen table and put numbers to paper.  I need to get this done so that we can move forward.

The Cross Branded Peacemakers are meeting later today for our final shoot for this year..  I intend that we're just going to practice for a while, then talk about planning for the State shoot this spring.

The concrete crew has one additional task to complete before the foundation and forms are ready to pour.  We're scheduled to pout the concrete on Monday morning.  I am ready to see concrete in that hole.

Christmas is upon us, and Christmas music is officially endorsed.  This is one of my favorites.



Here we go!

The Shop Project

The shop project is coming along nicely.  The concrete crew is putting the finishing touches on the form and foundation, and w'll pout the slab on Monday.

This is something that Belle and I have planned and dreamed about for ten years, and it's finally coming to fruition.  We can't wait to see the concrete down and steel standing on the slab, but we realize that this is God's project as much as ours and we have to wait for His time.

Good Luck With That

You gotta love the flat-earth folks.  If nothing else, they provide us with endless mirth.

“Mad” Mike Hughes is a bit of a conundrum. The 61-year-old doesn’t believe in science, but he plans to launch himself over a ghost town Saturday in a self-made rocket that he built over the last few years, spending over $20,000. He plans to one day create another rocket that can leave earth’s atmosphere so he can prove that the earth is flat.

He doesn't believe in science, but he's going to launch a rocket.  To prove that the earth is flat.  Good luck with that.

But, he's willing to put his money where his mouth is, and he's willing to entertain us in the meantime.  I wonder what he's going to do when he gets high enough and sees the curvature of the earth?

Progress

For the vast majority of the human experience, the workday was measured by the sun.   For the most part, artificial light was limited to burning oil, whether vegetable or mineral.   Whether the lamps that Jesus used, or the kerosene lights and candles that lit the evenings of the pioneers of our more recent past, artificial light was important.  Then, in the late 1800s, the electric light bulbs were invented, and human progress took a dramatic leap forward.  The electric revolution of the late 19th century made a huge difference in human life and spawned continuing progress that continues today.  Even this computer I use to communicate my philosophy on life can be traced directly to that simple invention.

I remember a conversation between my father and my sister.  She came into the kitchen holding an open textbook and asked, "How do light bulbs work?"

Dad made his living as a telephone man.  His working career spanned that time from rotary dial phones and twisted pair cable, through electronic switching, microwave technology and fiber optics.  He looked at the light bulb hanging from the ceiling, and pronounced.  "Battery on one side, ground on the other."

"Okay," my sister asked.  "So how does the television work?"

Dad chuckled.  "Basically, battery on one side, ground on the other."

The point is that artificial, electric light spawned a transformation of human endeavor.  And, for some progressives, that's a problem.  A recent NPR article says it's a problem.

Earth Is Lit, And That's A Problem

That's the title of the article.  Click on the link, but they're serious.  The earth is too bright.  They're worried about light pollution.  Seriously.

The rapid increase in night lighting has been a profound change, a kind of global experiment, that has happened in just the last 100 years. "My mum, for example, grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan, in a time before they had electrification," Kyba says. "So she grew up with an amazing starry sky, and now she lives, within one lifetime, under a very light-polluted sky."

This is called progress, something that progressives are adamantly against.  Much the irony.  Progressives won't he happy until humans descend into darkness, barely clinging to life.  For myself, than you, I'll put up with a little light pollution.

Californai

So, this California student steals a hat from the person of another and the video goes viral.  I'll show you the video.



Pure left-wing ire and angst because someone had the temerity to wear a hat that they didn't agree with.  At the end of the video, we see the police arrive, and it didn't turn out like she expected it to.

Legal Insurrection is reporting that the student has been charged and face a year in jail.

She's lucky that she didn't commit the crime in Louisiana.  From what I've seen of the vieo, that set of circumstances would be charged as Simple Robbery.

§65.  Simple robbery
A.  Simple robbery is the taking of anything of value belonging to another from the person of another or that is in the immediate control of another, by use of force or intimidation, but not armed with a dangerous weapon. 
B.  Whoever commits the crime of simple robbery shall be fined not more than three thousand dollars, imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than seven years, or both.  

She keeps yammering on in the video about having rights.  Yeah, I'd have told her.  "You have the right to remain silent.  You have the right to an attorney."  etc, etc.

Prepping

Putting politics aside, I've begun prepping for tomorrow.  Thanksgiving id s uniquely American holiday, and we make the most of it.  Turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, yams, green bean casserole and that's just the main course.  At 0800 local, I cranked up the smoker for the turkey.

It will sit in the smoker all day long,   About happy hour, I'll take it off  and refrigerate it, then it will go back into the smoker tomorrow morning to warm, along with the ham which will need to warm prior to the noon meal.

The concrete guys will be here in a few minutes, to complete the form, lay the steel, and prep for pouring the slab on Monday  morning.  I have a laundry list of things to do today, so I'd best start checking them off.

The Wages of Sin

We all remember Al Franken, the comic from Saturday Night Live, who managed to parlay that celebrity into a seat in the US Senate.  In the current climate of politics and charges of sexual harassment, Hot Air says that the Democratic wagons are starting to circle around Franken.  He is a reliable Democrat at a time when the Democrats are in the minority, so the political establishment is protecting its own.

Contrast this with the case of a Louisiana politician who was elected to the Senate.  A staunch Republican, he ran on a conservative, family values ticket, and shortly after getting to Washington, was involved in a scandal that featured a brothel, and diapers.  There were no allegations of groping, or forcing himself on women, A brothel, after all, is a place where consent is considered a part of doing business.  The fellow's apology was both heartfelt and humiliating, but we in Louisiana felt betrayed.  We started calling him "Diaper Dave."

Several years later, after the brouhaha had died down, Dave made a run for Governor.  He had been a solid conservative for several years, representing the people of Louisiana capably.  Louisiana has a weird election system, where everybody runs in a non-party primary and the top two vote-getters move to the general election.  When the dust settled, and the votes were counted in the primary, Diaper Dave was in a runoff with a Democrat, John Bel Edwards.

Louisiana has a solid Democrat voting bloc, and we knew that if we sat out the election, we'd probably hand the governorship to the Democrat.  Belle and I agonized over the decision, and came to the conclusion that we wouldn't vote for Edwards, and we simply couldn't pull the lever for Diaper Dave.  It was agonizing and frustrating, but we had to face it.

Dave is now in private retirement and we wish him well.  His opponent, Edwards, is the governor, with all the nonsense, higher taxes, and bigger regulatory burden.  He thinks he won, and in a sense he did.  There is a lesson here, but I'm not really sure what to draw from it.

Tuesday Notes

The concrete guys are here, forming for the slab for the building we're constructing.  About lunch time, a passing shower drove them off, but they promised they'd be back after lunch.  Both of them are Baptist ministers, so I trust them.  They'll be back after the rain passes.  The form is looking good, and we have a footing inspection scheduled for tomorrow morning, hopefully we can pour the slab right after the inspection.   But, we're on God's time and we can only do what He wills

About 1:00, I heard a knock on the door.  A neighbor lady, soft-spoken, well dressed, informed me that she had just knocked over my mailbox.    She got distracted and the car wandered.   I went out to inspect it, and sure enough, she got it.  I stood it back up, tamped the soil around the post with my hell, and pronounced it good.  No harm, no foul. 

"Okay," she says, "but look what it did to my car."

So, I walk over to the car.  Front right fender dented,  long scratch down the side of an otherwise nondescript little four-door sedan.  When I looked back at her, she said that she guessed she'd have to find a shop to fix it, and I detected what we in law-enforcement describe as "an odor of an alcoholic beverage". 

But, who am I to judge. Probably a lunch with friends, and she didn't appear unsteady oh her feet.   She was almost home, on a quiet suburban street.  She'll make it home just fine. 

Old Ammo Ads

I love old ammo and firearms ads, although I don't remember this particular brand.

They were probably a short-lived brand.  With advertising like this, I can see why.

Monday Aggravation

I am reminded that Monday comes each week, whether I'm at work or not.  s it turns out, I'm off this week, and Monday has been simply one aggravation after another.

Don't ever try to buy air conditioners during the last week of November.  I went to Lowe's and had them drag two big 25K BTU units to the checkout, then learned that this was a heater too.  I don't want AC/heaters.  I want AC  units.  Tood bad, so sad.  Those are seasonal and won't be  available until spring.  I went to Sears and they had one 25K and one 18K.  I want a matched set.  So, I wound up ordering two 18K units.  They'll be delivered November 30th, which is okay with my construction timeline.

The thing about Lowe's is that they're trying to out-Amazon, Amazon.    And, they suck at it.

Then, I went to my tobacconist, and they were out of my favorite brand.  Really?  Yeah, there should be some on the truck tomorrow.

I may start Happy Hour early today.

Oklahoma

A photo of me, taken in Oklahoma last spring.  I know it was  Sunday, late in the day.  I'm wearing my white Sunday-Go-To-Meeting shirt and I'm not strapped, so I was already out of the match.

I'm still trying to identify that fellow to my left, but the Cav Stetson looks good.