When Civil Order Fails

Seen at Instapundit:

These riots and lawlessness are hitting liberal bastions a whole lot harder than conservative areas.

"Do what you have to do" leaves a lot of room for individual interpretation.

Don't Play With Toys You Don't Understand

So, in the midst of all the rioting, there are some feel-good stories.  One comes out of Seattle where a news station was covering the rioting.  One police cruiser was set on fire, and we see an antifa-type (maybe BLM - who knows?) brandishing an AR platform rifle.

One of the news stations hired a "security" guy to oversee them, and he steps into the action, retrieves the rifle, sends antifa-boy up the street.



Good job!  Antifa-boy learned a valuable lesson.  There is nothing like posing that you're a bad-ass, then having your rifle taken, having a Glock put in your face, and being sent up the street to teach you that the real basasses are simply letting you have your temper tantrum.  But, when things started to get real, the professional stepped in and handled it.

Abandoned the Perimeter?

So, whoever is in charge in Minnesota sent riot police and National Guard troops to protect something, ehn those same cops and troops, (probably on orders) abandoned the perimeter, leaving the field to the rioters.

Am I reading that correctly?

Riot Police, National Guard 'Completely Abandon' Perimeter in Minneapolis, Chased Away by Protesters

Whoever is in charge in Minneapolis needs to make a couple of hard decision. Are you going to put troops in contact without giving them the ability to defend themselves and whatever it is they are supposed to guarding?    If you are not, don't send them in.  Cede the field to the rioters and let them have their fun. Then, when Minneapolis is a smoldering ruin, plow it under and be done with it.

What's going on in Minneapolis now is bulshit.

New Orleans Covid Update

It seems that the city of New Orleans, the ground-zero of most of our troubles, both covid related and in large part, societal, will remain in Phase 1 of the recovery for several more weeks.

Cantrell however then said that she is not prepared to move into the next phase of reopening the city's economy.

Did I mention that the New Orleans mayor, LaToya Cantrell is a Democrat?

 "We are only, again, in week two of Phase One.  We have yet to see the impacts of our busy weekend of Memorial Day that just passed where we saw large gatherings throughout the city, but mostly in surrounding areas and surrounding states that abut us. So we are going to be looking, of course, at that data."

She doesn't have to worry about me coming to New Orleans anytime soon.   Next, she will probably be crying that she's lost a lot of tourist dollars and needs assistance from the state or fed so that New Orleans can stay afloat.

Covid Jacket Patch

My buddy Termite sent me this image.

You can buy one here.  Yeah, it's a police supply store.

Louisiana Covid Update - Day 74

It's Friday, and just like clockwork, the LDH has put up the numbers.
,
Total Covid load is 38,802, which is the number they put up yesterday.  Odd.
Deaths are up a bit, to 2661.  They managed to update that number.
Hospitalizations census is down to 714 with 90 on ventilators.  That is a substantial drop.

My home parish of Rapides is reporting 703 cases, same as yesterday.

It seems that the Dept of Health is having technical issues.  Somehow, that doesn't surprise me at all.

I mean, it's not like thousands of people are checking these numbers daily, depending on those numbers to be accurate, timely updated, and transparent. 

Looter Man

We all remember this photo out of Hurricane Katrina, when looting ran wild in the New Orleans metro area.  Some defended the looters, saying that the stores were closed and food was short, and they had to provide for their families.  Like this guy, providing for his family.

Katrina Looter Man

Now, in Minneapolis, we're starting to see images of other disadvantaged, oppressed individuals ust trying to keep their family fed.

Minneapolis Looter Man

Three days ago, I was very sympathetic to what was happening inn Minnesota.  Now, not so much.

Minneapolis Still Burning

It looks like the rioters are at it again.  According to reports, they took out a police precinct building last night.  Along with several stores and other mayhem. If I were a store owner in Minneapolis, I might want to hire a crew of Roof Koreans.

It seems tat the unrest is spreading to other cities.

In addition to Minneapolis, there are ongoing protests in St. Paul, Minn., Memphis, Tenn., Louisville, Ky., Denver, Colo., Columbus, Ohio, and Los Angeles California.

 The mayor of Minneapolis needs to grow a set, and take control of the city.  And, the commander of that police precinct needs an attitude check.  I cannot imagine a set of circumstances that would convince me to abandon a police precinct to rioters.

Minneapolis Burns

The death of George Floyd at the hands of the police is regrettable, lamentable. and probably prosecutable.  Everyone from the local police union to the US Dept of Justice is investigating it. Even the President of the United States has made the promise that justice will be served.

So, explain to me again why looting a Target store does anything to promote justice.  Explain to me again how burning buildings does anything to promote justice. 

Opportunistic looting is a crime.  Arson is a crime.  The people in the stores, the owners of the buildings, had nothing to do with the injustice that  two officers imposed on George Floyd.  Tell me again how mo violence does anything to promote justice.

I'll wait.

Louisiana Covid Update - Day 73

The numbers are up, so let's take a look.

The total covid count today is 38,802, or 305 more than reported yesterday.
Our deaths are up to 2635, an increase of 18 across the state.
Hospitalizations are down to 761, but the vent counts stand at 100.
My home parish of Rapides is showing 703 positive.  No word on local deaths or hospitalizations.

Our governor, the petty tyrant is supposed to make an announcement o Monday, June 1 relative to the state of Louisiana moving into Phase 2.  It's a no-brainer, so he has to make a big deal out of it.  We could actually skip Phase 2 and move to wide-open, but that would end the emergency and he wouldn't be able to soak the feds for covid-bucks.

Our governor is a scoundrel, and a West Point grad, but I repeat myself.  He claims to have been the chairman of the Honor Code committee, but evidently he's forgotten a lot about honor.  He's also a trial lawyer, if that tells you anything.

Good Morning

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Insty talks about a graph that someone put up, saying that since mid-April, Covid deaths have declined in Democrat congressional districts, but have remained relatively stable in Republican congressional districts.

That's true, until we actually look at the graph.

Yep, Covid deaths in Dem districts are declining.  Hopefully soon, they will get down to the relatively stable rate in Republican districts.

Louisiana Covid Update - Day 72

On this muggy Wednesday, the 72nd of the covid over-reaction, Belle went back to work today.  The office called her yesterday and asked if she would give a medication-administration class to new employees.  She said that she would be happy to, and tap-danced out of the house this morning to go to the office.

By all rights, this covid unpleasantness should be over.  Yet, Louisiana has a Democrat governor who thinks that as long as he can keep us caged, he can soak more money out of the federal government.  So, let's look at today's numbers.

Cumulative covid-load is at 38,497.  That is 443 more than reported yesterday.
2617 deaths reported today. 21 more than yesterday.
The hospital census stands at 798 with 100 on ventilators.  If what I've heard about ventilators is correct, about 80 of those souls will be added to the death toll.

Louisiana is still in phase 1, and are scheduled to be until June 5th. Our petty tyrant governor decided that 14 fays wan't long enough, and opted for 21 days.  Our church opened up this weekend, and I saw one congregant wearing a mask. 

Pretty much everyone in this state is "over it".  The governor can go around wringing his hands, and telling us that we're all going to die, but all he's doing is raising himself to ridicule and making scofflaws of most of the state. He's supposed to hold a press coference at 2:30 today, but I don't expect anything earth-shattering.

Culpable, Accountable

It seems that the Obama team may finally be coming to that time where their culpability will finally be exposed for all to see, and be forced to account for their malfeasance.  The idea that Obama had a scandal-free administration is both laughable and myopic.  Those of us who railed against government excess can remember the way that Obama and his minions played fast-and-loose with both the law, and the ethics of governing.

The complicit media was no help.  By fawning over the first black president and failing to hold him accountable, they did themselves no favors.  The lack of scrutiny and journalistic curiosity about anything that the administration didn't want covered  is a huge stain on the journalist class. 

Victor Davis Hanson writes about all this in the National Review.

The remains of the Obama team (Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, Hillary Clinton, John Brennan, James Comey, Samantha Power) are not offering much of a defense for the Obama years — they are now too busy scrambling to hide their own legal culpability and exposure. The bending arc of the 2009 dream team finally ends in the platitudes of “I can’t remember” and “Not to my knowledge” that will eventually find their way from CNN and MSNBC into the court room.

I remember the Obama administration to be one big rolling scandal.  From the very start, terms like Fast and Furious, Lois Lerner,  and Obamacare entered into the national consciousness.  Now, it seems that the last scandal, Russia, Russia, may finally bring some accounting.  Perhaps if the media had been more curious about the earlier scandals, and less complicit in the cover up, the Obama team might have been less bold in trying to undo a national election. 

I have no expectation that Obama himself will ever face the docket, but his minions, Clapper, Comey, Rice, et al, feel the sting of handcuffs and are forced to account for their indiscretions, then perhaps America will know that the law applies to everyone.

Tuesday Louisiana Covid Update - Day 71

I didn't look at the numbers yesterday, but it seems that the LDH has put them up today, so let's look

Total Covid load is at 38,054.  With over 341,000 tested, that's just a bit over 11%.
Fatalities are at 2596.  That's 36 more than the last time we looked.  Sad, but not a huge number.
The hospital census is down again, to 831, with 103 of those o ventilators.

Here in Rapides Parish, the case count stands at 663.  I heard a church last night that the vast majority of those are in nursing homes.  I cannot attest to the truth of that fact, but that is what a congregant reported.  I don't doubt it, and I"ll pray every day for those people.

Leverage Is A Thng

Back in the late '80s, I was sent t a class put on by the Air Force, an Air Load Planning class.  They taught us how to balance loads in Air Force cargo aircraft.

If the aircraft is at rest and the front wheel comes off the ground, you're doing something wrong.

I stole this .gif from Wirecutter.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back.

It seems that the scientists at the National Lab have come up with a way to run a Tomahawk missile on corn.

Los Alamos National Labs has come up with a replacement fuel for JP-10 that uses corn bran and other feedstocks instead of petroleum products. The result is a fuel that can be sourced directly from America’s most plentiful crop, bypassing foreign sources.

That's interesting science, but recent events show us to be awash in petroleum, certainly not dependent of foreign sources of fuel.  At one time last month, crude oil sold for $-34/bbl.  They couldn't give it away without paying someone to haul it off.

If memory serves, the original diesel engine was designed to run on vegetable oil.  They got away from that when petroleum became more widely available.

It's interesting to know that we can make jet fuel from corn, but at this particular moment, I'm not convinced that it's particularly applicable to the markets, unless we're trying to subsidize corn production.

Covid, Essential, Eduation, Risk

Termite turned me on  to these three videos.  David Rubin is interviewing Mike Row, and they talk about what the Covid disaster means to Americans.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

In Memoriam

 In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

    That mark our place; and in the sky

    The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

Later today I'll raise a glass to absent friends.

Sunday Covid Update

It's Sunday, and the LDH gets sloppy with the numbers, but let's se what is reported anyway.

Today's total covid load is 37,169. An increase of 129 since yesterday.
The fatalities are at 2567,  and increase of only seven (7).
Hospital census continues to fall.  We're at 813 today, down from 836 yesterday.

My home parish of Rapides reports a total covid count of 606 today.

We did an easy lunch today.  Store bought potato salad, and I cooked a bunch of chicken wings with two sauces.  One a honey-barbecue, and the other a Louisiana brand wing sauce.  Both were good.  Some liked them spicy, some liked the sweet.

Now, the guests are gone and we're in the house taking advantage of air conditioning.  I may get in my recliner and do a little eye lid maintenance for an hour.