Rich & Rowe - Santa's Gotta Dirty Job (Official Music Video)

Didn't Have The Ability

 Comedian Ron White has a great set where he describes being thrown out of a bar.  The police were called, and Ron says: "At that point I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability."

We saw much the same thing n display last week, when actor Alec Baldwin gave an interview on ABC news about the death on the set of the movie RUST.  A noted cinematographer is dead, another wounded, and Baldwin had the gun in his hand.  Baldwin states in the interview that he is not facing criminal charges, but for the life of me I cannot understand why Baldwin's lawyers let him sit down in front of camera and discuss this tragedy.

From the perspective of a criminal investigator, that interview is a gold mine.  Were I the lead investigator on that case, I would already have a subpoena being drafted for the full, unedited video of that interview.  With what Baldwin admitted in the published, edited interview, I can't imagine what riches exist in the unedited raw files. Watching it would be a criminal investigators wet dream.

All that aside, what Baldwin describes in the interview is what we in Cowboy Fast Draw call a "slip-cock"  This condition occurs when the hammer is not fully cocked and is release inadvertently by the shooter's thumb before reaching the full-cock notch in the hammer.  The gun WILL NOT discharge in a slip-cock unless the finger has depressed the trigger.  If the finger is outside the trigger guard, the hammer falls into the half-cock notch.

There are a set of mechanical conditions that might have combined to allow the gun to discharge as described by Baldwin, but those are so unlikely as to stretch credulity to the breaking point.  And, that set of conditions is so easy to check and routinely used that any rationally competent shooter should identify it when checking the gun.  If the revolver won't hold half-cock, it is unsafe to use and should be repaired.

The death of Ms. Hutchins was a cascade of unsafe conditions that would have been avoided.  While Mr. Baldwin may escape criminal liability, he cannot escape the fact that he killed her.  His handling of firears was unsafe and he is responsible for the discharge.  No amount of distraction will change that.

Mr. Baldwin has the right to remain silent.  He should stand on that right.

Ruger Blocks

If you are a fan, as I am, of Mark Novak's Anvil gunsmithing channel, you know that he uses tools to do a job, to make his life easier, and that he often makes tools for a specific purpose.  Sometimes a workman will have an idea for a specific tool that he needs to finish a job.  My grandfather and my dad were notorious for making tools.  My grandfather had a small collection of homemade tools that filled a specific function.  It might be a bent brazing rod with a loop of a hook on it, or it might be a screwdriver that he had ground for a specific purpose.

One of the tools I keep on my bench are a set of wooden blocks that I call Ruger block.  I call them this because when I built them, I was working on a Ruger revolver.  As it turns out, they fit Ubertis and Piettas just fine.  They are simply two blocks of red oak that I took from the firewood pile and put on the table saw.  I use them to clamp a revolver in a vise so that I can work on it without needing three hands.

They are marked with an R so not to be confused with scrap wood.

Of course, the first thing we do is check to make sure the revolver is clear and safe, then remove the cylinder.  Fit the blocks into the space where the cylinder was, then clamp it in the visse.

I clamp it like this for working on the bottom

Or, I clamp it like this to remove the backstrap.

The point is that these two wooden blocks, which cost me about an hour of my own labor, are invaluable when I am working on a revolver.  They are an extremely useful piece of my kit,  as important as a vise, or my bench, or a good set of screwdrivers.

Dobbs v Jackson's Women's Helath

 The left is going stone-crazy in the matter currently before the Supreme Court, Dobbs v Jacksons Women's Health.  We don't know how they are going to rule yet, and we probably won't know for six month.  Your guess is as good as mine, and while I know what I am hoping for, it's too soon to tell.  I've been disappointed many times by a ruling that comes out of Robert's court.

However it comes out, I'm certain that Justice Thomas' opinion will be a fun read.  Of all the people on the court, I really like the way his mind works, and he might be a major player in this decision.

It could come down to a 3-3-3 decision, which would be interesting to say the least.

It's too early to tell.  I might suggest to my friends that they not worry about what the decision might be.  They can do nothing to affect it.  If anywhere in the US, the elite, Ivory tower of the US Supreme Court will make up their minds in their own sweet time.

Gunsmithing Table

 I made a trek across the river to Harbor Freight to pick up a few items for the new gunsmithing table.  Mainly a good light and a pack of floor mats The floor mats were easily cut to fit the top of the table, and the light was installed.

This is better.  Cowboy Fast Draw is hard on guns, is as all of the sped sports.  Invariably when the club gets together someone needs work done.  This table will be set aside for such work, and as it is adjacent to the cleaning table, it is convenient, yet out of the way.  I'll put a set of pin punches and screwdrivers in the drawer and we'll be ready for whatever fixes are necessary.

The Chinese Sneeze

 Like many of you, I a watching with some small interest the various depictions of the politically=minted Omicron variant of the Wu-flu.  I say politically, because they skipped right over the Greek letter Xi in naming it.

It seems that this variant was first identified in South Africa, a country known for breakthroughs in medical science.  Educated readers may recall that the resounded scientist and physician  Christiaan Barnard conducted he first heart transplant in South Africa.  South Africa ain't no slouch, medically.

The doc from South Africa who identified this variant says that it's not much to worry about.

“Dr. Angelique Coetzee, the South African doctor who discovered the omicron variant of COVID the Chinese sneeze, released a statement telling the world to hit the Bat-chute on the manic panic response to the new variant. Especially England.”

Here in the United States, our homegrown bureaucrat and panic-merchant is telling us that the first identified patient is in San Francisco and recently returned from South Africa.  That patient was fully vaccinated, has a mild case and is recovering nicely.  His advice on this matter?  Get vaccinated.

So, who to believe?  On the one hand, we have a highly respected physician who is actually studying the virus and treating patients.  On the other hand, we have a career bureaucrat who loves Sunday morning talk shows.  For myself, the choice is clear.

Flyover at Titans Stadium

It seems that the Army has raised the ire of the FAA after a flyover at the Titans-Saints game a couple of weeks ago.  Not that the Army cares.

I'm no aviator, but I am a solder and I know that we routinely did dangerous things while playing with our toys.  Tans, f example, are designed to kill people and don't much care what people they kill.  It's all in the training.

I am aware that the FAA regulates civil aviation in the United States, but I don't think that Army helicopters are civil aviation.  The FAA is a huge bureaucracy, and you know how I feel about bureaucrats.

Regulatory Agencies

Representative Jordan is right.  Congress should remove power from the regulatory agencies.

Communication in Self Defense

 Sheriff Jim Wilson takes on the subject of communication under stress.

Mainly, the value of short concise communications with a partner in times of extreme stress, like a self-defense scenario.  It's worth the read, and it's worth considering.

Needlepoint

One of my past bosses, a full-bull colonel, had a needlepoint hanging on his office wall.  Small and tastefully done, framed and in a prominent location, it simply said "Never Let The Bureaucrat Win".

I took that message to heart, and I used it to guide my professional life.

Bureaucrats tend to be self-serving.  While they may be pleasant and personable, they also tend to believe their own hype.   It appears to me that Dr. Anthony Fauci, MD, has long ago fallen into the trap.  Say what you will about Doc Fauci; while he may be a credentialed giant in virus medicine, he is also a bureaucrat who believes his own hype. 

For example, several months ago, when asked abut herd immunity, he kept changing the numbers.  I can understand that science changes, evolves  over time, but in a later interviews, he plainly sated that he was fudging the numbers.

"When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75 percent," Fauci said. "Then, when newer surveys said 60 percent or more would take it, I thought, 'I can nudge this up a bit,' so I went to 80, 85."

That isn't science, that is bureaucratic bullshit. 

This past weekend, in another interview, he plainly said that if someone is criticized him, then they are criticizing science.  That is not science.  That is ego talking.  

It's time for Anthony Fauci, MD to go away.  His mountain-sized ego is making a mockery of the very science he presumes to represent. His admission that he "fudges" numbers calls into question his dedication to true science.  Science is what it is, not what Fauci would like it to be.

Covid By County - US Map

 Interesting map of covid infection over at the CDC.  This is their map, not mine.  I wonder what Ron Desantis did differently from all the other governors.  Oh, wait, I remember.  He protected his most vulnerable citizens, then let the rest of the state be free.

Interesting map, isn't it.  It is an official CDC graphic.  I wish Louisiana were as blue as Florida on this map, but we have a leftist, Democrat governor who follows Fauci and the CDC right down to the jot and tittle.

Sunday Projects

 My buddy Quincy is down-sizing.  Getting rid of stuff he doesn't use or need, and he brought me a gift last week.  His late wife had bought a table for some un-named hobby ten years ago.  For one reason or another, it was never assembled,  and wound up in his storage shed still in the box.  He brought it it me, thinking I might use it.  He was right.

It's a wooden table, suitable for a number of tasks, but I think it was designed as a wood-working table.  Grandson Quinton put it together today after our Sunday lunch.  Gumbo, of course.

That's the gumbo, before the assembled crew went through it.  I fed seven people today for lunch, a fairly light crowd for this place, but no one seemed to complain.

Then, Quinton and I got busy with the table.

The top is 60X20, and is just right for sitting on a small stool.  I believe it is going to become a gunsmithing table.  I believe I'll mount a small vise and a light, and maybe a magnifier on it.  For the next couple of weeks, it will be a work-in-progress.  But, I think it will be a useful addition to the club house.