Privacy

 This headline:

Facebook reportedly sharing private IM conversations with FBI as "leads"

If you think that anything that happens over the internet is private, I really don't know what to tell you.

Watching Fiona

 Here in the middle of September, we are approaching the peak of the hurricane season, and today we are watching Tropical Storm Fiona.  She is approaching the Caribbean but looks like she may make a turn toward the north.

This storm is something to keep an eye on as we come into the weekend.

Migrant Relocation

It seems that a busload of migrants was dropped off in front of Kamal Harris' digs in Washington.  So much for that whole "secure border" thing she has been talking about.

And, it seems that Ron DeSantis sent a planeload of migrants to Martha's Vineyard, much to the distress and disbelief of the uber-liberal residents.

Well played, gentlemen.  Well played.

Is Accuracy Final?

 My apologies to my regular readers, but the CFDA is considering a rule change that I think is bone-headed.  Read more, below the fold.

The Polls

 It seems that progressives and jounalists (but then, I repeat myself) are concerned that the national media polls don't accurately reflect the will of the people.  Well, they have been wrong before.

I remember going to bed one night, thinking that Hillary Clinton would be our president, but waking the next morning to learn that Donald Trump had won decisively in the race. Lots of folks were shocked at that result, and they haven't gotten over it yet.  Then, there is the old Dewey beats Truman example.

The Republicans can't get cocky.  They have to run right up to the finish line.  But, we're seeing some weird stuff this cycle and the only poll that matters is the one that takes place on election day.

I am no analyst, but I've seen the polls wrong before.  Stay the course.  Run the race.

Busy, Busy

It's been one of those days where you start off busy at daylight and stay busy until dark.  I did get one project completed, and I think that the club will like it

Shooting CFDA is a lot of fun, but hitting the target is a lot harder than it looks, and when you are missing the plate, you are never really sure what went wrong.  So, I set out to enlarge the plate.

Getting that done makes it a good day.  Now, for a sport of bourbon before I lay these tired bones down.

Do We Hate Woman?

 Sandy Cortez, the ditz that represents part of New York City, says that Americans hate women.

No, Sandy, we don't hate women.  We love women.  Strong, capable, educated women.  We laugh at dumb ditz women, but we don't hate them.  We find them amusing.  

You, Sandy, on the other hand, are simply stupid.  I don't hate you, but I do wish that you would quit seeking the limelight, illuminating your ignorance for the world to see.  You are not the dumbest member of Congress, but you're one of the more irritating.

An Interesting Anomaly

 Conversation on the interstate in St. Louis.  Belle:  "Look!  There is the arch!"

Me:  "Ain't that interesting?"

There were several gateways to the west.  Just west of here, Fort Jesup funneled settlers into Texas prior to the revolution.  Shreveport was a prime jumping off point after Texas was independent.  Farther north, Fort Smith was instrumental in opening the Oklahoma Territory.  St. Louis played its part and helped out, and now they have a big arch commemorating that fact.

It would have been cool if they had spanned the Mississippi with the arch, but they didn't, and now I've seen it.

We're Back

 We got in last night, after a seven-day vacation.  We left headed north into Arkansas, driving through to Missouri to visit with family. Then we headed east across Illinois and Indiana into Kentucky, where we shot fast draw for three days. We left Kentucky on Sunday, headed south into Tennessee and across Mississippi to home late last night.  It was a good trip.

I stayed mostly unplugged from the internet for the whole seven days. I did check email and things like that, but basically, I was unplugged.

Queen Elizabeth died.  England's longest reigning monarch, she was Queen before I was born.  By all accounts, she was a sincere, steadfast monarch who dedicated herself to her country and her people.

Joe Biden is still an asshole. Quite the opposite of the British monarch, everything he does is for short-term political gain. Or, his own personal enrichment.   He doesn't give a crap about the American people.

I did get to see the arch in St. Louis.  Impressive. Gateway to the West, and all that.  For some reason, I had lawys believed that the spanned the Mississippi River, but it doesn't.  The Mississippi river is not nearly as wide in St. Louis as it is down here in Louisiana, but the feat still would have been impressive.

I found something called a tenderloin sandwich in Missouri.  A pork tenderloin sliced thin and hammered flat, braded and fried.  I admit that I had never heard of such a thing, but the result is quite tasty, although I do believe that I can improve on it with a little Cajun ingenuity.

Out Of Pocket

 Belle and I are traveling, first to Missouri to visit family, thence to Kentucky to participate in the Kentucky State Championship.  We'll be back on or about the 12th.

I have two young men living in the house, so I'm not worried about that.  I'm pretty sure that there will be nothing left in the pantry when we get home.

The 21 Fatal Plane Crashes of August - God Bless The Broken Road.

My buddy Termite (who is an aviator) turned me on to Dan Gryder, who is pushing something called ATP for General Aviation.  I am not an aviator, but my brother is.  He lives in Vermont, and when he is not working his day job (what he calls the "salt mines"), he is out at the local airport teaching students to fly airplanes.  When l'il brother was in town last month, I talked to him about this channel, but we were catching up after several years.

Anything we can do to reduce the number of fatal crashes in general aviation is a good idea.

Loss of Pressurization Citation Crash Baltic Sea 4 Sept 2022

Jackson

 I have two sons who run water districts.  One for a small town in Louisiana, one for a large manufacturer in New Mexico.  They both know how to do the maintenance, run the tests, effect repairs, and keep water flowing to their customers.

There is nothing more vital to basic human civilization than access to clean water.  The Etruscans knew that, the Babylonians kew that, the Aztecs and Romans knew that. Access to clean water is the basis of human civilization and the most basic necessity of human life.

A successful government does not defer maintenance on a water system.  There is nothing more basic. Yet, the mayor of Jackson, Mississippi forgot that. Young, progressive, some say radical.  In his quest for social justice and equity, he forgot that clean water is a basic human need.  Under his watch, the water system has collapsed, unable to provide water.  They have no timeline for repairs.

This should be a cautionary tale to mayors everywhere.  Listen to your folks down at the water treatment plant.  Buy the pumps and the pipes and whatever else they need.  Everything else a mayor may want to do is secondary to providing clean water.

Sunday Morning Dawg

 

NY Governor Says Her Rights As Governor Trumps Constitutional Rights To ...

Some Guy Steals Plane.

A Modest Gift

 A club member dropped by yesterday to present me with a gift.  A cartreidge box.

Cut from one piece of solid mahogany, it's a beautiful little box, especially when we open it.

Routed and drilled for 30 CFDA cartridges, it's a cartridge box that any shooter would be proud to own.

A Dark Hour

 I watched it this morning on CSPAN.  Last night, our President gave a primetime speech.  It was dark and disturbing.  Lit by blood red floodlights, with uniformed Marines in the background, Biden railed against half of America.

Evidently, MAGA Republicans are a huge threat to democracy.  Biden claimed to be the president of ALL Americans, excerpt, you know, for those MAGA Republicans.

It was bizarre. 

Not Chili Weather

 It's 92 degrees out there, and the wind chill is 104.  And I was hungry for chili.

So, I made a pot.

This ain't Texas chili.  I don't live in Texas. However, once upon a time I did eat a bowl of white chili in Texas, and it was full of beans.  White beans, sliced jalapenos, and finely chopped pork.  Great stuff.  I may make a pot of that when the weather cools off in late November.

That Staged Photo

 With the legal basis for the raid on Mar-A-Lago crumbling like a stale cracker, the DOJ knows that the public is turning against them.  SO, they staged a photo of all the kinds of docs that President Trump had stored in a box.

When I saw that photo, I was horrified.  Recalling my training on classified document handling while I was in the Army, I saw that the FBI had hoist themselves on their own petard.  If President Trump had not declassified those documents, and those pages were in fact still classified, taking a photo of them is itself a crime. We don't photograph classified documents.  It's against the law.

I understand that there will be a hearing today to determine a number of things, to include whether a special master will be appointed to oversee these documents.

PJMedia has a full rundown of the DOJs arguments.  It's a doozy.