Let's Talk

 Let's talk about Eric Swalwell, the California congressman who is recently the subject of an intense sex crime investigation. I believe that five women have provided evidence to the police recently.  Last week, Swalwell was the leading candidate in the California governor's race. Now, he has resigned from Congress and has dropped out of the race.  How quickly we fall from grace.

I would remind everyone that he is accorded the same presumption as any other accused.  He is presumed innocent until convicted in a competent court.

I would also remind everyone that I worked with sex offenders during the 1990s Everything I have heard this far fits a standard pattern.  Sex offenders are always serial offenders. If someone is convicted of only one offense, it is because the prosecutors can only prove one offense. This far Swalwell has five accusers.

But, he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

2026 HurricaneSeason

 Over the past several days, the usual contenders have issued their annual hurricane forecasts for the2026 season.  This year is supposed to be less active than normal with maybe nine (9) named storms and up to three (3) major storms.

We'll see.

The thing to remember about hurricanes is that it takes only one to completely screw up your weekend.

For those of you who take procrastination as seriously as I do, tax day is upon you.  This is the first year in many that I have not yet picked our my BAG day gun.  Perhaps because I already have my guns.  I have heard good things about Springfield Armory's clone of the Browning Hi Power.

Points, Plugs

 Someone commented on points, plugs, and condenser in an earlier post.  It took me down memory lane. When I started driving, that was considered a basic tune-up and I learned it at my grandfathers knee.

Every six or seven thousand miles, we would find a convenient shady spot, crack open the distributor and make sure that the points were okay. In my grab-and-go tool bag, I kept a small screwdriver and a point file. You could pick them up anywhere and in a pinch, your lady's emery board would suffice. File the points, set the gap, clean the rotor and inspect the contacts in the cap.

The first electronic ignition I ever owned was on q 1975 Ford that I bought new to go on active duty.  That car was never right, Ford simply had not figured out how to do electronic ignition. That car had a pre-ignition ping that simply could not be tuned out.  From that car and others I have known since, I became convinced that most of the cars from that era were simply pieces of shit. The cars from the 60s were pretty nic and the cars from the 80s were starting to get better, but the cars from the 70s suffered from a number of ailments fueled by rapidly changing technology that was launched too early.

Nowadays even my Briggs lawnmower has good ignition.

Beef Tallow

 I was hosting a lunch yesterday (chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, fried green beans, yeast rolls).  Talking with friends as I cooked the meal, one of my buddies said that his doc was trying to get him away from seed oils and go to more animal fats.

When I was growing up, my mom used white canned Crisco.  Grandma used lard. I keep a little bacon grease around for making roux.

We started talking about lard, and the flavor that it brings to fried foods, then talked about beef tallow.  I have no experience with beef tallow, but I have heard good things. My buddy, JT,  says that he can get it from a wholesale grocer, but has to order 50 pounds.  We decided to split a 50 pound order three ways. He is getting it for $1 a pound,  which seems like a pretty good deal.

If any of y'all have any experience with beef tallow, let me know.

Right To Repair

 John Deere, a giant in the ag sector, was having problems with technology.  Deere did not want to share the diagnostic software to repair their machines, which meant that farmers and third-party mechanics had to load the equipment on a trailer and take it to a dealership.

This caused huge problems for farmers.  Equipment has to run, and repairing it in the field is a lot easier than dragging it to the dealer.  Time is money.  Weather waits for no one.

Evidently, they reached a settlement in the long-running civil suit.  That is good news for everyone involved.

Raisin' Caine

 The Charman of the Joint Chiefs gave a briefing this morning, talking about the Iran mission.  He highlighted some states.  He said that during this operation (and I'm paraphrasing here) US forces consumed "950 thousand gallons of coffee, 2 million energy drinks, and a lot of nicotine". 

Those of us who have served, know that the military runs on caffeine and nicotine. It was true when I was a young tank commander, and I'm gratified to know that it is still true.

Hyperbole

 A lot of people are freaked out about President Trump's Truth Social post from earlier today.  I admit that it seems a bit harsh.

I wish that he had been a little more circumspect.  Threatening to kill an entire civilization in  one night seems a bit over-the-top.  It's dark over there now, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.