Renaming Army Posts

 Renaming Army posts was silly when they did it in 2023, and it's probably silly now.  Fort Johnson will be returned to Fort Polk, Along with Lee, Rucker, Gordon, and several others.

Fort Cavasas will go back to being Fort Hood, this time renamed after some WW1 colonel.  Okay.  I still think that the Army missed a sure bet by not naming it Fort Seguin in the first place.

For those who don't know who Juan Seguin was, he was a true Texas patriot, a military and political leader, and probably the only man to serve both at the Alamo under Travis and at San Jacinto under Houston. They should have named that post Seguin from the beginning.

As for Polk, they could name it Fort Armpit, or Camp Swampy for all I care.  I served there a lot in the 80s and 90s and never did like the place.

Network Down

 This morning, I made a call at 0913 that went through.  About 1300 I went to town to run errands.  At the grocers, I was told that their networks were down, and they were accepting cash only.  At another vendor, I was told the network was down, and an employee told me that her husband worked at a nearby federal prison, and all their networks were down.  Interesting.

I tried to text Belle and call her phone.  Nothing works.  That's weird, even in a hurricane, if voice doesn't work, we can generally get a text message through.  Evidently, something has seriously gone sideways at AT&T.  We're still connected through the cable modem, and the TV works, so that's something.  But,I wonder what happened to AT&T?

Over the Weekend

 I got distracted this weekend with the Isreal/Iran thing, and a club meeting, and family on Father's Day.

Completely forgot about that asshole in Minnesota who posed as a cop and started shooting local lawmakers. It looks like they caught him after a pretty intense manhunt and he's due in court today to start answering for his crimes. Initially, we were concerned that he was a MAGA because he was shooting Democrats, but that seems not to be the case.

The cops found a manifesto in his car, and they haven't released that.  Believe me, if the guy was a right-winger, that manifesto would be all over the news.  Listening to the news this morning, it seems that the guy was a registered Republican, but he had been appointed to some bullshit board by Governor Walz. If I understood that correctly.  At any rate, this guy seems to be simply a garden-variety nutjob. Not MAGA, not conservative.

In other news, I did get a new-to-me revolver this weekend.  A sweet little J-frame and we'll be talking more about that later. I've owned... I dunno, a half-dozen J-frames in my lifetime, and I've given them all away. Younger son took pity on me and gifted me one that he no longer uses. In the initial inspection I noted that it does not have a hammer-mounted firing pin. I thought that was odd, as all my Smiths have the firing pin mounted on the hammer.  A little research tells me that Smith made the switch circa 2015 to frame-mounted firing pins. That helps date the little gun to a fairly new revolver.

I have a holster on order from Simply Rugged.  Let me get the holster and become more familiar with the little gun and we'll talk about it more later.

Watching the Middle East

 Like many of you, I'm watching the turmoil in the Middle East, as Israel exacts retribution on Iran..  From what I've seen, Isreal has launched a series of precise surgical strikes on Iran, targeting military and IRGC leadership and command structure, along with the nuclear enrichment facilities.

As I understand it this morning, the leadership of the Iran Republican Guard Corps (IRGC) has been decapitated from at least two layers. Many of the top nuclear scientists are assassinated, and the head mullah, the Supreme Leader has fled the country and is in Mecca.  

Whereas the Israeli strikes have been precise and surgical, the Iranian response has been to launch area weapons toward Israel, targeting metropolitan areas.  The Houthis have chimed in, but their targeting is even worse than the Iranians.  I understand that some Houthi missiles have hit Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and most recently, have fallen into the West Bank, killing Palestinians. The Houthis are a side-show, if a lethal one.

At some point, Iran is going to run out of missiles. The end-game is not yet upon us yet, but we can hope that is is closer than it was two days ago.  The Iranian military is being systematically decapitated, the mullahs are in hiding, and the Mossad sleeper cells in Iran have been awakened.

The timing is most interesting.  The American team who was conducting talks with Iran had given them 60 days to come up with a plan to end their nuclear ambitions.  The Israelis struck on day 61. That sends a powerful message to not ignore deadlines. When America gives you a drop-dead date, ignore it at your peril.

Stryker

     A new bottle of whisky, courtesy of my daughter and son-in-law. Stryker, a Texas single malt from the Andalusia Whisky Company.  Three years old and bottled at 100 proof.  The heat in Texas does good things to whisky.

It's billed as a smoky whiskey, and I admit that I took a taste right out of the neck of the bottle. I'm intrigue.  Not sure what they smoked the grain with.  Maybe mesquite?  I'm not sure, but the flavors that bounced off my tongue were interesting. I'll have to try this in a Glencairn or maybe in a rocks glass over a little ice. This one ain't a mixer, it's a sipper.

250 Years

 Happy Birthday, US Army.

Bats

 It's common for me to go outside on the back porch and enjoy a cocktail in the evening.  Recently, about the time the afternoon sky loses its luminosity and the neighbors' dusk-to-dawn light comes on, I'm seeing little creatures up across the sky.  Darting, turning, aerobatic creatures, doing impossible flights over the yard.

Bats.  We have bats.  Cool.   Occasionally, when they zoom close to the neighbors' light, I'll catch a flash of brown. Small critters, the common brown bat.  I've lived here for over 20 years and I've never seen bats. Yet, there they are.  I don't know if someone nearby has put up a bat house, or if they have just decided to take up residence.  It doesn't matter.  They are welcome hang out around here.

Senator Padilla is an Asshole

 So, did you see today that DHS Secretary Kristi Noeem was giving a press conference and some asshole comes charging in,, creating a disturbance.  The security detail pushes him out of the room, face-lants him in the hall, and applies the cuffs.  Just like they should have.  You can see the clip here.

Turns out, this asshole is a US Senator, Alex Padilla from California, and he's all butt-hurt about the troops restoring order in Los Angeles.  Now, this asshole is all like, "If this is the way they treat US Senators"

No, dickhead, this is the way they treat assholes who don't identify themselves and disrupt press conferences where the DHS Secretary is speaking.

Alex Padilla, the senator from California, is a dickhead, a complete asshole, and deserves to be treated just like he was treated.  He's a California Democrat and deserves that kind of treatment every day.  Just for being a dickhead and an asshole.

Thunberg Theatrics

 Greta Thunberg, the climate activist, staged another misbegotten stunt, this time to take a relief mission into Gaza.  She and a bunch of likewise underwhelming activists got on a sailing vessel and tried to sail to Gaza to mount a "relief mission". This ill-advised journey was predicably met by Israeli naval forces who boarded the boat and shut down the thing.

Thunberg and crew were taken into custody, processed and deported.  She, on a flight to France.  She is perpetually outraged, but this is the best possible outcome for her little misguided cruise.

What might have happened had she actually beached the boat on the Gaza shore?  One distinct possibility would be that she would be taken captive by the terrorist, forced to wear a burka, and put to work giving "comfort" to the brave Palestinian fighters.  A 22-year-old blonde?  Or, she may have simply been sold to the highest bidder.

At any rate, the Israelis did her a huge favor.  She should be eternally grateful.

New Knife

 I'm one of those guys who carries a pocket knife every day.  Since high school, I've had a knife in my pocket.  Back when we were living on the farm, it was necessary for cutting baling twine and opening feed bags.  I still open the occasional feed bag, for the cats or the dog, but today my knife is more often used to open Amazon boxes.

The knife I have carried for the past 15 years was getting worn. The spring had broken out of the bolster and opening it was sometimes an iffy proposition. It was time for a new knife, so I went to Amazon because I knew what I wanted.

A Case Sod Buster. It's a good knife with nice steel, easy to sharpen.  The handle is as smooth as a lightly used car of soap, no sharp edges to damage the pocket.  At this stage of my life, it is the perfect gentleman's pocket knife.  Nothing fancy, nothing outrageous, just a simple bit of steel to open bags and boxes.  The price is right, too, at about $35.00.

It's a great design, it's been in production for over 50 years, and there is a reason for that.

Ordering Primers

 The big match has been over for two weeks, and I'm just about done putting stuff away. It doesn't matter how closely you plan or organize, when the math is over and the trailer is being loaded, at some point, you're just throwing stuff in boxes.

The first few days after the shoot was spent sorting boxes. Extension cords in one box, Cat5 cable into another. S-hooks back into another box. Untangling the Caat5 cable and coiling them neatly.  You get the idea. Putting stuff away, storing things, then begin the process of putting together the home range.

Inventory.  I'm about out of primers.  We go through a lot of shotshell primers in this silly game we play and I'm down to about 4000 in stock.  So, it's time to call the vendor and order 20K, which is my standard order.  I buy for the club and re-sell to the members at cost.

I can remember a time, not so long ago, that I could get primers shipped to my door for $20/1000. It's not like that anymore, although it has come down considerably from the $80/1000 that it was during the Covid debacle.

Los Angeles Burning

 I see that the migrants are rioting, for whatever reason.  I doubt that they are rioting for the reason advertised. Some riot out of misplaced anger, others just show up to watch the spectacle. Either ay, it's dumb. Like a child throwing a tantrum.  

If the mayor of Los Angeles had used half the energy she uses to protect migrants and used it instead on fire prevention, Los Angles might not have burned to the ground last year. The governor o that great state is useless.

Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about migrants. I'm a grandson of migrants, like most of the nation.  I know current, first-generation migrants who did it right. I have lots of admiration for those who did it right and absolutely no sympathy for those who snuck in illegally, or who rushed the border under Biden.

I'm really tired of hearing about the plight of the poor migrant. I didn't ask them to come here.  If they don't like it, they can go home.  If they are here illegally, they should be sent home. Either as a family, or alone.  I care not. Sympathy falls in the dictionary between shit and syphilis..

M3 and M3A1 Grease Gun SMGs

One of my favorite military weapons, I was issued an M3A1 in 1976 when I took over my tank platoon at Fort Knox.  I qualified with it as a personal weapon.  Crude, unbelievably simple, it matched my personality completely.  It was also a blast to shoot.. 

Produced by GMs Guide Lamp division, for ~$20, it gave a lot of bang for the buck.  I wish I had one in my personal collection.

Yardsticks

 Growing up in Alexandria, LA in the latter half of the 20th century, I remember the old-time lumber yards before Lowes and Home Depot.  In Alexandria, we had Martins and Handyman.  In Natchitoches, it was Natchitoches Lumber. Every small town had a lumber yard.

In each of those places, there were a couple of constants. Somewhere, normally near a cash register, was a barrel full of yardsticks. Complementary yard sticks. If you needed one, take one.  If you needed two, take two. If you grabbed three, they looked at you like you were a thief, and they would talk about you. These yardsticks were advertising with the company mane emblazoned on them, normally with a catchy slogan.

Grandpa had a work bench.  Along one edge, he had routed out a slot and screwed a yardstick into the surface. He also had a supply of yardsticks near the shop door, and the grandkids were forbidden to mess with his yardsticks. They were used for more than measuring. Often for discipline, with the bunch of rowdy boys I called cousins. Many times, if he needed a lath for a project, he would snip a yardstick rather than rip a piece of dimensioned lumber.

Several years ago, when I was working at the school, they were throwing away some old supplies, and part of the discards was a bundle of meter sticks that someone had bought for the curriculum.  I salvaged them from the trash and took then home.  I have used them up, and I miss yardsticks.

There is one old joke about how they are not making yardsticks any longer.  No, they are still 36 inches.

Overlord

 On this day in 1944, Allied forces entered the continent of Europe through the beaches at Normandy. As in all military operations, by the time the ramps dropped in the English channel, the generals had done their planning, the logisticians had obtained supplies and now it was up to the privates, corporals, sergeants and the junior officers.

We all know now that the landings were a success, but only because of the sacrifice of blood from the boys on the beach. Some historical revisionists find it fashionable to say that Overlord was only a sideshow, that Germany was doomed to defeat from the Russians.  There may be some truth to that but Stalin had long begged for a western front, if only to relieve the pressure on his forces in the east.

Overlord was absolutely necessary to extend Allied influence in the postwar period.

Mowing Grass

 Here in central Louisiana, the mowing season starts in March. I refuse to start a lawnmower in February, even if my neighbors choose to engage in such madness. With the wet spring in March, April and May, I have been unable to get into the ditches until today.

I have two close neighbors.  One across the street, one next door. They tend their lawns.  The next-door neighbors lawn looks like a putting green.  Across the street, the lawn looks like a well-tended fairway. My lawn is the rough.  I'm okay with hat.  If Belle doesn't complain, I'm good.

I am reminded that 83 years ago today an outnumbered American fleet surprised Kido Butai north of Midway in the Pacific. At 10:00 that morning, the Japanese fleet was the preeminent naval force in the Pacific.  By dark, it lay shattered on the ocean floor. This afternoon with my evening cocktail, I will raise a toast to McCluskey and Best, along with the sailors of the Yorktown.

We've all seen the movie, and there were a lot of sailors and airmen who did not come back from Midway. When your plane explodes, or your ship sinks beneath you, it doesn't matter if you are an admiral of a non-rated sailor. We need to remember to honor the loss, along with the victory.

Operation Spider’s Web: The Ukrainian Drone Attack, Explained | WSJ News

Did y'all see this?  It looks like Ukraine loaded some drones in commercial shipping containers and had then strategically delivered to Russia.  Then, the remotely launched them and used then to target Russian Air Force assets.

Just dam.  That is inventive.  Why invest in a long-range bomber, when a $5K drone will do the same job, cleaner, cheaper, and with less collateral damage?

Valid Target

 I'm sure by now, you have all heard about the incident in Boulder, CO on Sunday. A group of people meet regularly in Boulder to take a walk on Sunday afternoon in support of the hostages in Gaza.   Not that anyone needs a reason to take a walk on Sunday, but that is as good as any.

Then comes this illegal alien from Egypt, throwing Molotov cocktails. Shouting "Free Palestine". Bare-chested in jeans.  Odd behavior. Twelve people inured.  Youve seen the video. I have some questions.

Why did no one put a bullet into this motherfucker? Bare-chested guy holding a Molotov? Shouting "Free Palestine'? That is the trifecta of self-defense.

From the video I saw, there were several able-bodied males holding phone cameras, taking it all in.  What is up with these pussies? Citizen journalists?  I doubt it. I don't understand a person whose first instinct is to capture and incident on video rather than influence the outcome through personal action. Sure, have one person video it.  Even the Marines do that.  Everyone else should be acting to preserve life.

The police should never have had the opportunity to take this asshole into custody. He should have been dropped by someone with a handgun.

Barbequed Chicken

 Belle told me last night that she has been hankering for some barbequed chicken, and that sounds like a good idea.  I haven't cranked up the charcoal pit in about a year, and it's time.

First order of business this morning was to evict the red wasps that tend to homestead a pit when it is left unattended for months. I gingerly removed some grates, dumped in some charcoal, and lit a fire. That generally accelerates the eviction process. While the wasps were packing, I went to the grocers and picked up two medium fryers. I like a bird running between 3-4 pounds for the process.

Returning home, I got out the poultry shears, spatchcocked the birds and seasoned them well with Tony's seasoning.  They will go on the pit, indirect cooking, in a few minutes.

I'm not a big fan of putting barbeque sauce on chicken, but Belle likes it.  One bird will be sauced, one won't.  We will put together some potato salad and lunch will be served at noon.

Do The Unexpected

 I didn't realize that Jim Wilson was still writing.

Do The Unexpected  Make the bad guy play by your rules.

Good advice.  Don't let the bad guy make the rules.

Totes and Cat5

 We borrowed a members horse trailer to move the ranges to the shooting venue. M portable ranges are built out of 3/4 steel tubing that assembles very quickly.  From a bare floor, I can have a 6-target competition range assembled in about an hour.  The targets are wired for scoring, and the footprint of my range is 40' X 24.  I normally carry a dozen CAT5 cables, 75' long for each range. It is amazing how much stuff is needed to move a range from one spot to another.  Steel tubing, backdrop material, tables chairs, timers, targets, extension cords, ladders, tape, paper, computers, printers.  I can fill a 16' horse trailer and we did.

Three days of shooting, then break it all down and stuff it back in the trailer. No matter how carefully I plan, when it is time to leave, at some point we are simply throwing stuff into boxes and loading on the trailer.  That's where we were Sunday afternoon.  Monday and Tuesday turned into a weather disaster, and the past two days were spent unloading the trailer, sorting boxes and putting stuff away.

The club member cane by yesterday afternoon and got his horse trailer.  It's out of the shop now, and I an start putting together my home range. I spent a goodly portion of yesterday in inventory, straightening out tangled CAT5 cable.  Interestingly, I only lost one and it was shot in half.  I could put a connector on each end, and have two short cables, but Amazon sells it cheap, and my time is worth something, so that is a decision I'll make soon.

Putting on a major match is a huge hassle, and generally I vow to never do it again.  But, a week later, I'm already thinking about next year. There is a small subset of people in the organization who put on these matches.  I talked with a few of then this week, from Texas, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky. the main topic of conversation is how longer we will be able to continue to host major events.  The actuarial tables are not kid to any of us.

We'll see what happens next year.

Aftermath

 Pineville, LA took a hit yesterday.  A massive line of thunderstorms passed through yesterday about 11:00 m.  Power went out almost immediately.  No power, no internet.  About 3:00 pm, the cell towers started dropping off line.  

With the power off, the red lights don't work. Accidents occur, and no one can call 911.  With the routine darkness that occurs daily, that becomes a problem.  A dark state highway out of town, a single red light at an intersection, and disaster happens.  

The power crews, God bless them, worked diligently solving problems and the lights came on at my house about 10:30 last night. The internet was a bit slower, coming on about 10:30 this morning.  We are up and running, and now we start the cleanup. I hear that two tornados touched down and some folks lost their homes.

As for Belle and PawPaw, she is cooking lunch and I'm about to put the generator away.  This was good practice for hurricane season, which starts June 1. I need to buy some more gas cans, and I think I'm going with jerry cans.

Weather

 Bad thunderstorms this morning, and the power is out  I'm running on generator power in the shop.

A good friend reports that we had a tornado pass to the south of us, within a half-mile.  Power lines down, it's a damned mess.  Trees across the road, and another neighbor reports that he saw shingles in the air.  Someone lost a roof.

Belle went to town to get a bucket of chicken. This is good practice for when hurricane season cranks up in a couple of weeks. For the time being, we are safe.

Indy 500 parade lap Blackhawk helicopters! 2025

Did y'all see this?  Two Army Blackhawk helicopters did the parade lap at Indy this weekend.

That's cool, right there.  I don't care who you are, that's cool.

Memorial Day

 We loaded the trailer with two ranges o Wednesday, and short for four days, then yesterday, we loaded the trailer with two rages ad brought it back to the shop.  Lots of good shooting, lots of good camaraderie, and now it's time to sort out the detritus and put everything away.

The shoot was amazingly glitch-free.  Part of that stems from the fact that I am a firm believer in spares, spare lights, spare sensors, spare Cat 5 cable.  We used a few spares, but the glitches only shut us down for minutes. I give that credit to my crew, who is both knowledgeable and nimble. I have a truly magnificent crew and I couldn't do it without them.  They are truly an amazing bunch, each offering their labor ad expertise freely, from scorekeeping, to computer tech, to organization skills, to simple brute labor.  I give then all the credit.

This morning, I did some bookkeeping and counted the coin.  After lunch, I'm going to kick back, relax, and remember absent friends.  That is what today is all about, and I'm going to lift a glas to those who can't be with us today.  I am blessed because of their sacrifice.

It Begins

 Later today I am meeting my crew and beginning the prep work to turn a venue into a shooting range. We will proep the venue today, install the range tomorrow, and begin shooting on Friday.  As the old folks  used to say, I'll be "bowed up like a cutworm" until Sunday afternoon late.

Blogging will be sparse until this is over.

AI

 Listening to someone recently, may be Joe Rogan, saying that in five years we won't be able to tell the difference between reality and AI generated media.  He's probably correct.  Especially us old farts who may not be as tech-savvy as the youngsters, and whose eyes are getting dimmer.  I get it.

But then again, the past several years have been good practice.  Listening to the likes of Jake Tapper and Morning Joe, you would have never believed that there was anything wrong with Joe Biden.  Now, with the tell-all books coming out, we're supposed to believe that they were witless idiots rather than competent journalists.  We were supposed to believe then, rather than our lying eyes. And we are supposed to believe then now, too.  They can't have it both ways.

On the other hand, why limit them?  They can be both witless idiots and liars at the same time.  Both then and now. It cuts the Gordian knot of their narrative in a truly simple way.

Oh, and about Joe's cancer diagnosis.  I talked to a bunch of friends yesterday.  Friends my age.  A PSA test is simple, routine, and almost universal in men of a certain age.  I get one twice a year.  Anyone who believes that Joe just found out that he has cancer is much more gullible than I am. They have known this for a while.  The timing of this news tells you everything.

Biden Has Cancer?

 Many sources are reporting that Joe Biden just got a devastating cancer diagnosis.

As much as I detest the man and his politics, I can find no joy in this news. No one deserves this.

That is all.

Geese

About two weeks ago, there were eight goslings in this hatching.  Now, I only count five.

 Nature at work.

Slime ball

James Comey, the inveterate slime-ball who came to prominence and national attention after laying out a case against Hillary Clinton, and then saying she should not be prosecuted, is back in the news after posting on Instagram what some say was a call to assassinate President Trump.

Comey was the head of the FBI and was fined by Trump in 2017.  In this latest incident, he posted what appeared to be some seashells arranged in a manner to spell out 8647.  In gang-land parlance, 86 is code to "remove" someone, and 47 is President Trumps president number.

Comey denies everything, and has since deleted the Insty post. 

You can view a clip here.

That Target

 Second son came into the shop with the target Lucas used to test the rimfire ammo, and it brought hack a memory form my early career.

That target is marked: US Army Official 50 Foot Smallbore Rifle.

During the early 80s I was standing in a unit arms room and saw a box of targets.  I asked the armorer if I could have a few and he handed me a whole box. There were probably 1000 in that box.  Nice targets, on good card stock, and I was glad to get them. I thought that they had been lost during moves and divorces, but evidently they survived.  

Now a whole new generation i learning to shoot on them, and that is a good thing.

I did a search on the Google and can't find them.  Probably the Army is using a different target these days.  I did find them on eBay, where they are marked as Vintage and wildly over-priced.

Ammo Test

The weather finally moderated and we got to do some ammo testing.  Grandson Lucas shoots on a 4-H rifle team, .22LR, and it is a fine program.  Shooting .22LR ammo takes the handloading equation out of the marksmanship program.  The best scores come with the best anno, tailored through your rifle and your ability to shoot.  Therefore, we test rifle ammunition.

Luke's rifle started life as a Ruger 10/22.  It has been heavily modified, with a Boyd stock, a Kidd barrel, and various other parts to increase accuracy and reliability.  It's a ice setup and his Dad has become quite the Ruger mechanic

The ammo in today's test was some SK rifle match ammo and some Federal Automatch rifle ammo.  I got the Automatch from Wideners.  As in all things, the target tells the tale.  Weather was moderate at 80F with calm winds.  The shooting done from a patio bench at 50 yards. Lucas was wearing eye and ear pro, and all shots were captured on a Lab Radar chronograph.

And there we have it.  The SK Rifle Match shot marginally better on a 10-shot string. but the Automatch wasn't no slouch. The Automatch had an Extreme spread of 44 with a Standard Deviation of 15.5.  The SK RIfle Match had an Es of 27 with a Sd of 9.4.  Both groups hovered around an inch at 50 yards, which will put him inside the 10-ring of the target he uses at competition.

Lucas will have to make up his mind.  As for myself, I have some Federal Automatch ammo and I think I'll sight ny rifle in with it at 25 yards in case a varmint needs some persuasion 

9*1*1

 The 911 telecommunications system, developed in the 1980s is probably the best system for enabling people to contact the police  Dial 911 and you are connected immediately.  The dispatcher can natch you call to the service you need, whether it is police, EMT, or fire.  It's a great service, but it is easily abused.

I've been going ddown the rabbit hole on Frank Sloup's channel and it is a frequent meme.  The citizen doesn't like the cop they are dealing with, and calls 911 to try to get another cop.  Some states have enacted legislation to make it illegal to call 911 in that situation.

At the turn of the century, I retired from state-level policing and went to work for the local sheriff, who was putting School Resource Officers in every school.  I had already had 20+ years of high-level police work and thought that working in a school would be a nice change of pace.  And it was.

In the immediate aftermath of hurricane Katrina, our school district had to absorb a population of displaced students.  IT wasn't their fault, and they needed to be in school, yet there was a friction.  A dynamic.  SOme of these kids were traumatized by the experience, in unfamiliar surroundings, and there was a time of settling in, at least a the high school where I worked.  One morning during a class change, I was called about a disturbance in the math department.

When I arrived, I found two teenaged girls involved in a good, old-fashioned hair-snatching. With the help of a coach, we separated then and took them down to the office.  The principal called the parents.  This wasn't a real big deal, and I didn't intend to get involved in a law-enforcement capacity. I was just going to be the adult in the room.  Keeping the peace.

One Dad showed up, totally outraged. He took one look at me and announced that he wanted the "Real Police, not some School-house Cop".  I was marginally amused while he called 911 and requested police assistance. My call sign was RP920.  Then, I got a call on the radio.

Dispatcher: "920"

Me: "Go ahead"

Dispatcher: "Citizen called, requesting you in the main office of your high school"

Me: "10-4.  I'm on scene, Code 4, but may be going 10-15 shortly. (that is police-talk for "yeah, I know.  Everything is fine now, but I may have to arrest this sonofabitch soon.)

I looked at Dad, who was deflating quickly. "Now, sir, you called 911 and they called me.  How can I help you?"

He calmed down, and no, I didn't have to arrest him.  His daughter was suspended for instigating the fight. After a couple of months, they moved away, presumably back to New Orleans.

Don't abuse the 911 system.

Escalation

Sometimes you make a traffic stop and it just goes sideways. This Florida deputy didn't want to make an arrest, but the driver forced the issue.  What could have been a simple  ticket turned into ta full-blown booking.  Seriously, sometimes it 's just easier to cooperate.

Hummingbirds

Yesterday afternoon, Belle and I were enjoying the back patio when a hummingbird flew into sight and hovered within ten feet.  Looking our direction, probably to remind me that the feeder was empty.

So, I grabbed one of the feeders, went inside, cleaned it, made sugar water, and filled it.  Came back outside and hung it on the Shepherds hook.

I haven't seen that little zoomer since.  I don't know what his problem was, but the feeders are full and he has vacated the airspace.

There is a purple martin house on the other end of the yard, and they must have fledglings in the nest, because the birds are giving the cat hell. The cat is spending a lot of time under patio furniture.

Redemption Tour

 it's Friday and I've been doing things various and sundry.  So, it's Friday afternoon and I have lit the smoking lamp and poured myself a beverage. Watching the news, I see that Joe Biden (may he rest in peace) was on The View yesterday, launching a redemption tour. Trying to make his reputation less miserable than it is right now.  And doing himself no favors.

A buddy asked me about it earlier today and the answer is simple.  He's broke. The Biden family for years has depended on Joe (may he rest in peace) for money.  Huge cash grabs based on access to a US Senator, or a US Vice President, or a President. That is over now.  As soon as he signed the pardons, his cash flow dried up. They made millions of dollars, but Hunter either sucked it up his nose, or blew it oh hookers.  It's gone. Joe (may he rest in peace) draws a pension now.  A princely sum, I'm sure, but for a man used to the luxury of graft, it is a meager stipend.  

The rumor is that someone is going to give him a $3 million book deal, and that would be throwing money away.  No one is going to read that thing. Any publisher that would give Joe (may he rest in peace) any money is hurling cash into the abyss.

There are a couple of books coming out in the next few weeks that will shed some light on the Biden presidency.  Tell-all books about corruption and dementia. I won't buy those books, either.  the journalists telling these tales should have been telling them all along.  Now, they simply seem as vultures, feeding from a moldering corpse. If these journalists (I'm talking to you, Jake Tapper_ these stories would have been told shortly after the Easter Bunny saved Joe from the crowd.

Pope Leo XIV

 It is reported that the Cardinals elected a new pope on the second day of voting.  The new Pope is Robert Prevost, an American, who will assume the name Leo XIV. 

Ain't that something?  An American pope.  Who'd have thunk it?

Conclave

 Today begins the Conclave of Cardinals, a secretive assembly charged with selecting a new Pope.  I was listening to Megan Kelly's show this morning and she was reporting that the Vatican is using high-tech to try and insure secrecy, to include cell phone jamming and anti-drone technology.  They are also going old school, threatening excommunication to anyone who breaches the secrecy of the Conclave.  This is the way the church chooses a Pope, and we are reduced to watching a chimney.  Black smoke or white smoke That is about as old school as it gets and I think it is grand.

I also hear that Trump's Secretary of Education has sent Harvard a letter, telling them to not bother applying for federal grants.  None will be forthcoming. They are free to be a private school and use their endowment money to promote anti-Semitism.  Or something.

M10 Booker Cancelled

 This may be old news, but I learned this morning that the Army has cancelled the M10 Booker program for a variety of reasons. Evidently, the Army wanted a light tank that was air-droppable.  One video here, and a short reel here. The thing that both cite is the fact that the M10 was not air-droppable.

What the wags compare the M10 to is the old M551 Sheridan.  I have some experience with the M551 Sheridan, and it was not air-droppable either. Or, to be more precise, anything is air-droppable once.  We used to say that if you were going to drop a Sheridan out of an airplane, be sure to drop it where you wanted it, because it would never move from that spot.

There may be ten dozen good reasons to cancel a program.  But, if you want an armored vehicle to parachute from an airplane, you are dooming that program to fail.  Light forces are good for a lot of things, but they will never be heavy forces. 

The conflict in Ukraine has taught us a lot, and we have seen the fielding of new technologies. The problem is that the US Arm is always training for the wrong war.  We might suspect that we will know what the next battlefield looks like, but we won't know until we get there.  And, I'm betting that the future commander will want the option of some heavy forces in his tool bag.

Parachute infantry is useful, but it is not the end-all for a battlefield commander.  The parachute is simply a method to get light infantry on the ground. Once you get light infantry on the ground, the commander needs to sustain them, which means he needs either an airfield or a port. We can bring in supplies either by air or water. Air is faster, but water brings more tonnage.

LINDA RONSTADT - 'Don't Know Much' (feat. Aaron Neville) 1989

Belle and I were talking about this song earlier, and I'm going to leave it right here so I can find it later.

8.6 Blackout?

 I never really understood the hype behind the .300 Blackout cartridge.  Basically, a blown-out 5.56 that would cycle through an AR platform and throw heavy bullets in the subsonic realm.

Now, I see that they have come out with the 8.6 Blackout.  Based on the 6.5 Creedmoor case, it throws a .338 bullet in the subsonic realm. From the article:

Another advantage of the 8.6 BLK has nothing to do with the cartridge at all, but everything to do with the barrel. Unlike .300 BLK and 338 ARC ammunition, which are designed to work with a rifling-twist rate of 1:8-inch, the 8.6 BLK uses a rifling-twist rate of 1:3-inch. This is an incredibly fast twist rate, but what’s it for? Well, it helps better stabilize bullets that are about the size of your little finger, but it also significantly enhances terminal performance.

A 1:3 twist? I understand that this isn't a cast bullet cartridge, but I've done work with cast bullets that won't stand a fast twist. 

RPM = MV X 720/Twist Rate

So, let's plug inn some numbers. If that bullet is going 800 fps down that barrel, it will be twisting at 192,000 rpm. If that is what it takes to stabilize a long bullet, then that is what it takes, but I'm wondering what the fouling is going to look like.

I don't get it.  I just don't see the utility.  But then again, I'm an old Fudd.  I have my rifle.  But, I hope they sell those things by the carload.  The more people in the shooting sports, the better.

Cinco De Mayo

 Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, is an American holiday based on a Mexican military victory over the French. As such, it is not much of a holiday, but a reason nonetheless to drink beer and eat Tex-Mex food, which is also not Mexican.

As if anyone needed a reason to drink beer and eat Tex-Mex.  It was a busy weekend, and I'm doing as little as possible today. 

A buddy came by, asking about chicken coops.  His wife has some chickens, and she's not educated in the poultry production game. A quick search, and I came up with this, from Tractor Supply.  Not bad for less than $100.

Sunday Tidbits

We spent yesterday entertaining Belle's side of the family.  Good gathering, but we were tired when it was over.  I woke this morning and over coffee checked my email and found that my ammo from Wideners had arrived late yesterday afternoon. 

A case of Federal AutoMatch .22LR.  3250 rounds, packed in 325 round boxes. I've bought other Federal ammo i bulk boxes, and I've often wondered why Federal decided on a 325 round box?  I don't know, but it seems like a random, arbitrary number.  I guess there is a reason, but I can't cipher it out.

Belle ad I live in a subdivision on a small lake. The lake is home to a resident flock of Canada geese, and it appears that they have hatched a bunch of goslings

The resident flock varies, generally between 6-10 adults. The population swells a bit during the migrations, but the resident population is generally under a dozen birds.  They are not much of a problem, they are fun to watch, and I keep reminding myself that those things are edible. Some say delicious.
.

The Frugal Outdoorsman

 After Junior died, his daughter Claire and I talked.  I wasn't interested in running the site, and she wanted to keep her Dads memory alive, so she decided to pay the fees to keep it online, and it is archived.

The whole thing is right here.

All the articles, the stories, the laughs and the lies are still where Junior left them.

So, if you want to know anything about cast bullets, or doing things on the cheap, just click on the link.

Wideners

  Back at the turn of the century, I was doing a lot of handloading and writing at The Frugal Outdoorsman with the late, great Junior Doughty. One of the companies I got powder from was Wideners. They sold all manner of stuff for the handloading enthusiast and were in my bookmarks when I was looking for supplies.  

Over the years, I changed direction.  Junior died, and the old website went into archive.  But, a month or so ago, I got an email from Wideners asking if I would review some ammo.  Sure, I'd be happy to review some ammo.  As it turns out, I have a grandson who is now on a 4-H rifle team. He is always looking for ammo. High-grade, match, .22 LR ammo.  He currently shoots SK red label, which does the best in his rifle, but he's tried Eley and just about everything that we can get at a big box store.

Grandson shoots what started life as a Ruger 10/22.  His dad has become fairly adept at customizing it, and I believe that the only things on that rifle that came in the Ruger box are the magazine and the receiver.  This rifle is custom, and it is sweet. But, I digress.

So, with Wideners offer, I clicked on the ink and found something called Federal AutoMatch.  It's a 40 grain, target grade ammo packed in a 3250 round box and comes in at under 7 cents a shot.  So, I ordered a box and we'll see how it shoots in grandson's rifle. If it beats what he is using now, it will last him a season of competition. If not, we'll use it for varmints and other things.

If you haven't looked at Wideners in a while, give them a look-see.  There are some pretty good ammo deals there.

String Trimmers

 In 2007 we lost my Dad, and shortly thereafter, Momma bought a string trimmer.  A battery operated string trimmer.  She didn't know a lot about power tools, but she knew that Dad always bought Craftsman tools, so she bought a Craftsman. The kit came with a charger and two batteries, and she would move around the place, running that trimmer until the battery died, then she would take a break, change batteries, and get after it again until the second battery died.  Then, se was done for the day.

Last year, I bought a string trimmer. A DeWalt.  Like this one.  I have DeWalt tools, and I couldn't see changing batteries, so I stayed with what I had.  Nowadays I'm just about as old as Momma was back then, and suddenly her work protocol makes sense. I get done what I can do with two small batteries.  The rest of it will wait till tomorrow, or the next day.

Getting old ain't for sissies.

Pore Ol' Bill

 I don't follow football. I just don't care, but sometimes I brush up against it.  It's unavoidable in today's society. If pressed, I could probably name a few notable coaches from over the years.  Tom Landry, Bear Bryant.  And, I've heard the name Bill Belichick.

When I was in my mid-forties, I got divorced. Like millions of Americans.  It's a sad tale, but a common one.  Suddenly, you are thrust from married life to single life, and it's time to get out there and see how deep the dating pool is. Like many Americans, I spent some time in the dating pool.  But,,I never got down in the kiddie section. I dated gals with life experience. I culled some, and some culled me and eventually I met Belle.

We turn now to Coach Belichick, who has the same story.  He gave an interview recently, and some gal named Jordan was hanging close.  Evidently, they are a thing.  She's 24 and he isn't.  My first thought was "go ahead, Coach."  But then you watch Bill's eyes, and you can see that he isn't having much fun. The eyes tell the tale.  I'm not saying that anything nefarious is going on, but if you google Stockholm Syndrome, some insight might come through.

The dating pool can be a scary place, and I suspect that many men learn that the hard way.

Fort Bliss

 It looks like Fort Bliss, TX is going to be used to house migrant detainees.

Folks my age will remember that Fort Chafee, AR was used in the early 80s to house detainees that came over during the Mariel boatlift out of Cuba.  In the late 80s, For Polk housed a couple of hundred detainees for a short time. When I got there in 1990, the MPs on post were still talking about it.  It was part of the near-term organizational memory.

As I recall, the MPs at Polk considered the Cubans to be a huge pain in the ass. I'm betting that the soldiers at Bliss will consider the new detainees likewise.

Palace at Versailles

 Evidently, the Federal Reserve is building a new headquarters in Washington..  A place for them to gaze into crystal balls and manage the nation' money supply.  Problem is, they have gotten a little carried away with their own comfort.

Here is the headline:

Federal Reserve blows $2.5B on ‘Palace of Versailles’ HQ despite mounting losses: ‘Congress must put its foot down’

Evidently, this place is sheer luxury.  Rooftop gardens, water features, all manner of expensive bullshit. They do an important job, but if they want luxury, they can build it at home, at their own expense.  Federal buildings should be simple structures, designed for economy and versatility. I'm thinking Steelcraft desks like the Army uses.

$2.5 billion may not seem like much to the Federal Reserve, but to the rest of us, that is a shit-ton of money.  Our money.

Judges Acting Badly

 What's up with these activist judges?

Like the one in Milwaukee who literally let an illegal run from ICE.while he was in her courtroom.

Then the one in New Mexico who was harboring a gang-banger, gave him a rifle with a suppressor.  I can think of about a dozen ATF laws that he violated.

I've known corrupt judge and I've seen them disciplined, but nothing like this.

Thirty Days

 We're thirty days away from the major shooting competition I host every year, and while I've been planning and working on this match for about eight months, it's time to double-check everything and make sure we have what we need. Spare timers, spare sensors, extra Cat 5 cable. Ladders, rolls of duct tape, extra zip ties.

I have long known that if you have spares, everything will go smoothly, and you won't need them.  If you don't have spares, you will need three.

I have my teams together, and the trophies are ordered.  The insurance is paid, and the policy is in my hand. It's just time to check everything and keep the lists straight.

We normally host a state championship, but this year we are combining it with a regional tournament. More participants, more prizes, more stress. The secret is to make it look easy.  Do the planning and check everything twice.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

Running Errands

 Running errands this morning, I happened to see that egg prices continue to drop.

That's not as bad as it was on the 1st of the month.  They're coming down.  Driving to the next stop, I heard a talk radio guy ay that Louisiana has a bill pending to rescind all local sales taxes on groceries.  Currently, locally, we pay about 5 cents local taxes on groceries. That would be better, but I don't give it  snowball's chance of passing.  Local government loves their tax money.

Thence to the barber shop, where we discussed everything from bakes ham to Jesus.  In an old-style country barber shop, you never know what the topic of conversation might be. We're still paying $20 for a haircut, which is another indication of inflation.  The haircut is worth $8, but the conversation makes up for the other $12.

RIP

 I see that Pope Francis has died, peacefully at his residence in the Vatican.

Say what you will about the proper role of a Pontiff, but he exerts vast influence across the globe.

The College of Cardinals will now assemble and make their choice as to a successor.

Rest In Peace, Francis

Boosting The Signal

 If you haven't gone to covid.gov yet, maybe you should.

There seems to have been some updates recently.

WTF??

 I haven't the latest and greatest in handgun design over the past decade or longer. I freely admit that I am way behind the knowledge curve.

Lately, I've been noticing a meme about Sig Sauer handguns, specifically the P320 going off all by themselves.  I can't imagine a fire control group that would just fire randomly. Of course, that would make the Four Rules a whole lot more pertinent.

WTF?  Is this really a thing?  And, isn't the Army's new pistol a direct variant of the Sig?

Bell 206

 I'm sure by now you have all heard of the Bell 206 tourist helicopter that went down in the Hudson River last week.  A tragedy, and I'm sure that the NTSB will eventually figure it out.

Juan Brown covers it here.

Captain Steve follows it here.

Here is a short reel that everyone has seen.

I'm no pilot, but it looks like the transmission came out of the damned thing. That is both catastrophic and unrecoverable. I've never flown in one of those, but I did spend a little time in the Army's version when I was playing those silly games.  I always considered the OH-58 to be a damned fine helicopter.

As it turns out, a good friend of mine is tuned in to the helicopter maintenance community.  I haven't had a chance to pick his brains yet, but as soon as I get the chance, I will.

Disappeared

 Some pundits are saying that the Garcia fellow, that illegal from El Salvador, more recently from Maryland, was "disappeared" by the Trump administration.  Not likely.  We know exactly where he is, which is not a hallmark of being "disappeared".  If they were trying to "disappear" this fellow, it was truly inept. We know exactly where he is.

For a proper "disappearing", we can go back to Stalin, who knew how to "disappear" someone who crossed him.  Or Mao, or even Pol Pot.

Closer to home, we can go back to the 70s, when Louisiana Representative Hale Boggs disappeared on a campaign flight over the Alaskan wilderness. Some conspiracy theorists say that Boggs was lost because he was in a very public pissing contest with FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Others think that he was simply a victim of 1970s aviation technology and the vast Alaskan wilderness.  Either way, he was never found. And, Louisiana reelected him, even though he wasn't declared dead until after the election.

This Garcia case is interesting.  It seems that Garcia is an illegal alien, and in 2019  two immigration courts ruled that he is eligible for deportation because he is an MS-13 gang member. But, he can't be deported back to El Salvador because there is a chance that rival gangs may inflict great bodily harm. So, he was allowed to stay inthe United States.

Recently, Garcia was caught up in an ICE dragnet and deported to El Salvador to that prison that the Trump administration is using to house alien miscreants.  Garcia's lawyers got involved and sued for his return.  The Trump administration admits that it was a mistake to deport Garcia to El Salvador, but they had no power to have him returned.

The case got fast-tracked to SCOTUS, who upheld a lower court ruling ordering that Garcia be returned.

El Salvador's president said that Garcia is a citizen of his country and the country has cleaned up its gang problem and the president of El Salvador has no authority to take a citizen and smuggle him into the US.  Basically, El Salvador has told SCOTUS to go kick rocks.

The Supreme Court does not always get its way.

Traffic Stop

 Belle and I are sitting on the back porch, and she happens to notice a Sheriff's deputy sitting in our side yard.  We live on a corner, and have a street beside our house. I peek over the fence and see that the deputy has some teenager pulled over.  The teen is on a side-by-side four-wheeler.

We live in a subdivision outside of town. Four-wheelers on the road are an issue, and many of them have no registration or insurance. Many of the kids who ride them don't have a license yet.  It's a problem.  God forbid some kid gets run over.  Seriously.  No one wants that to happen.

So, I sit back down, tell Belle what's going on and give her my synopsis, based on what I did when I was a rural deputy.  Shut the kid down.  Give him a warning citation and get in touch with his parents.  No harm, no one gets fouled, and hopefully the kid learns a lesson.  Don't drive four-wheelers on public roads.

About an hour later, Belle notices that the deputy is still there, and I start making excuses for him.  He's doing paperwork, it's close to the end of shift and he has no calls pending.  Then, we hear air barks and a back-up warning.  I peer over the fence and see a wrecker.  A nice tilt-bed wrecker.

That deputy is impounding that four-wheeler. Don't ask me why, I can think of a few scenarios. None of them good for the kid, and I bet that Daddy is going to be pissed.

Weekend Update

 It seems that over the weekend, a federal immigration judge says that Whatshisname Khalil can be deported under current immigration law. Khalil, you may recall is a foreigner, married to a US citizen, studying at Columbia university, and a leader in a pro-Hamas group that has been disrupting the campus and threatening Jewish students.  SecState Marco Rubio had him detained and he is currently held in a detention facility i Jena, LA, awaiting final judgement.

Khalil's lawyers say that he is entitled to First Amendment protections.  The government disagress, under an immigration law that allows the SecState to declare some immigrants to be deported whenthey are stirring up crap.

I wonder how the defense lawyers would react if Khalil was an avowed Nazi and was riling up students to threaten and harm black students on campus?  I'm aware that Khalil is entitled to some degree of due process in this country, but I don't believe that he should expect the dame level of due process as a citizen.

If you're comig over here to study, that's fine.  Mind your manners.

Oh, Bullshit

 It seems that when we weren't paying attention yesterday, Colorado's governor signed into law an new bill that would restrict the rights of Colorado residents and visitors to possess certain firearms. According to the Colorado Sun.

Starting in August 2026, the manufacture, sale and purchase of certain semiautomatic firearms that can accept detachable ammunition magazines will be outlawed in Colorado. 

That will include AR-15 and AK-47 rifles, as well as a long list of their popular variants. Senate Bill 3 will also affect tactical shotguns and a small number of handguns.

The banned weapons would only be available for purchase to anyone who is otherwise allowed to purchase a gun if they have a magazine with a maximum capacity of 15 rounds that is welded, epoxied or soldered on. Right now, those kinds of weapons are rarely made. 

The bill also immediately bans so-called rapid-fire trigger devices, like bump stocks, which can make a semiautomatic weapon fire at a rate similar to that of an automatic gun. 

It seems to me that a number of lawsuits are virtually inevitable.  I don't imagine that the Colorado governor has ever read the 2nd Amendment.  He is certainly unfamiliar with the concept of firearm ownership

Another Water Heater

 Belle and I bought this place in 2004 and now I have replaced three water heaters.  The first in 200+, the second in March, 2020 and the third one today.  Grandson Zach lives with us and works for a major package shipper.  His trucks come to your house regularly.  He goes in to the warehouse at 0-dark-thirty,  moves packages from big trucks to little trucks and normally gets home about mid-morning.

Today he came in, found Belle and I in the shop, and told us that we had a major wter leak in the wash room.  Well damn. The only up-side was that he was here to help and as a 22-year-old, he needed to learn this skill.  So, I went to the lumber yard for a water heater.  Two hours later and much wetter, we were done.  Zach was there for the whole process, turning off the house water,  removing the old heater, filling the new one, installing the electrical connections.  

So, that job is done once again.  Five years seems to be the life of a hot water heater around here.

Why Now?

 I'm a bit amused and distracted by the number of tel-all books and articles coming out about the Biden White House. Insty talks about it here, and I understand that there are a couple of book coming out that will reveal when people suspected that Biden was done.

Many of us suspected that he was getting decrepit and senile, but for me, the proof that he was ready for the nursing home was the day that the Easter Buny was leasing him around the yard.  I'm not a paid political pundit, and I wasn't really paying attention, but that day I knew thatr Joe Biden was not making the decisions in the White House.

Yet those guys like George Steph-whathisname and Morning Joe continued to insist that Biden was on top of his game, when our own eyes told us that it was a lie.  The family didn't want to give up the access to the most powerful office in the United States.  Jill loved the perks of being First Lady and Hunter needed the access to graft.  I can understand their motives, but I cannot understand the motives of the journalists.  So, the questions remain, why now?

Perhaps the answer is simply the publishing cycle. It takes six months for a book to come out.  Their reputations and credibility are thoroughly in shambles, yet they think people want to buy their books?

This N' That

 Overheard a political commentor on the Tube of You yesterday, talking about the SCOTUS decision on the deportation flights.

"Oh, yeah, they will get a habeas hearing.  And a bag of peanuts before they get on the plane."

Got a letter from my homeowners insurance company yesterday.   Louisiana has some of the highest insurance rates in the South.  There are lots of reasons, but we can blame it on hurricanes, trial lawyers. and the insurance companies themselves. We've been trying hard to change the legislative climate in Louisiana and do thigs that other states have done to reduce insurance rates.  Maybe it's working.  Basically, the letter said that they have been working with our Dept of Insurance, and realize that they have been over-charging me. I'm going to get a refund in the next 30 days.  I'm not sure what brought this on, but I'll take it.

The Court Punts

 SCOTUS punted on the question of whether the President can remove illegal aliens under the 1798 law that allows him to remove aliens.  They said that he may remove them, but requires that they bea afforded a reasonable time to seek habeas.  Reuters reports:

Detainees "must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act. The notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs," the majority wrote.

The article said that is was an unsigned 5-4 opinion, so I'm curious which of the so-called "conservative"  justices voted with the liberals.  I thought we had a 6-3 Court. 

So, Trump can still deport people under that old law, but the detainee must be afforded the opportunity for judicial review. Okay, whatever that means.

More Confusion

 Sometime prior to the 1970s there was a fellow who lived in the woods east of Holloway, LA.  His initials were A.W. and he decided to build a restaurant and serve short-order foods to the people who lived in the community and travelers along the highway. AWs Drive In was born.

This place is not to be confused with the national chain, A&W, who makes great root beer. This is a down-home, family owned establishment. Their Yelp review is here, and I was not surprised to see that they get great reviews. This is one of those great, down-home local restaurants that used to be everywhere, but is now fading from the American scene.

A commenter asked how the BLIT was.  Served on Texas toast, with plenty of bacon, Belle reports that it was just fine. My fish plate was excellent as well, with good farm-raised catfish, fries, cole slaw, hush puppies and an onion slice.  

My Dad loved to fish, he even put in a catfish pond on the property.  In his later years, he said that AWs was his favorite fishing hole, because he didn't have to load the boat or clean the fish.  Fishing at AWs is a sure thing. You don't even need bait.

Confusion

I called in an order to a local drive-in for lunch.  Belle wanted a BLT sandwich, and I wasn't sure that they made a BLT.

Her. "AWs Drive-In"

Me. "Yeah, do you make a BLT sandwich?:

Her. "Sure do.  Do you want everything on that?"

Me. "Un.. Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato?"

Her. "Well, yeah, but some people like mayo on it."

Me, chuckling. "A little mayo would be great."

I picked up Belle's BLT and got myself a fish plate.  AWs has been a standard in the Deville community for decides.  Personally, I have known it sine the late 1960s When I was in high school, a great Sunday drive with a gal would be to go out to AWs and get a milkshake.  They made a great black walnut milkshake. It's changed hands a few times since then, but it's still open, making burgers and shakes, and evidently, BLT sandwiches.  With mayo.

Handgun Stopping Power

In the early 80s, when I first pinned on a badge and took the oath, the .357 Magnum was king of the law enforcement community.  Everyone carried one, along with the .38 Special. There were big things happening in the firearms world. Jeff Cooper was still the guru, touting the .45 ACP and the 1911 platform as the top of the lie for serious handgun use. Then, in 1986, a couple of things happened.

The FBI Miami shootout happened, calling into question the tactics and handguns currently in use. And, also in 1986, Gaston Glock introduced the Model 17 in the US market, introducing the popular age of polymer handguns.  Each of these developments spurred development of handguns and cartridges for law enforcement and self-defense use. There was no internet back then, so we would have to wait for the monthly magazines to come out, telling us what  the latest thinkers were saying and the products that were hitting the market.

Everything moved more slowly back then. s we hashed out our differences, the lines were drawn, and there were several lines to draw.  Semiauto vs revolver,  Polymer vs steel.  Glock vs 1911. Those were exciting times around the coffee pot in the squad room.  Everyone had an opinion.

In January of 1990, Smith and Wesson introduced the .40SW cartridge. It grew out of tests that the FBI was conducting to find a better handgun cartridge and the debate really cranked up. The US Army had adopted the Beretta 92FS in 1985, but I didn't see the first one until late 1990, supply issues being what they are. Exciting times.

We heard rumors about a big study being done as part of an academic exercise. Then, in 1992, Evan Marshal and Edwin Sanow published their study, Handgun Stopping Power.   You can still find it on Amazon, sometimes. With this study, the wheels fell off the debate. We can find a very brief summation of it at US Carry forum here.

I say all this to remind the youngsters that we are still arguing about the best gun to carry and use for self defense. The 9mm is now the king of the hill, but that does nothing to diminish the utility of the others. I find a couple of things interesting.  Marshal and Sanow found the diminutive .32 ACP to be a 64% stopper with good bullets.  And, the renowned FBI Miami shoot was finished with the old FBI .38 Special load. Both of those are considered extremely anemic by today's standards.

Todays bullets and powders are worlds apart from what we were using in the 1980s and 1990s. Yet, those same cartridges have benefitted from the technology that gives us better powder and bullets. Technique and bullet placement are still critical. The best parameter for success is still hitting the target. Every thing else is secondary. Don't scoff at the little lady with the .32, or the old man who is carrying a revolver. They probably know how to use them.

Liberation

 The markets are reacting poorly to President Trump's tariffs. Dow is down 4%, NASDAQ down5%, S&P down6%.  The markets are all about short-term gain and this is a long-term move.  The pain should be short and over soon.  Let the market react.

My Honda is in the shop at the shop.  I didn't have an appointment (really?  It's hard to schedule a major electrical issue.) but I'm told that it's next in line and the techs will get on it tomorrow morning.  We'll see, but before I left the dealership this morning, I had the service-critter check the status on the warranty.  I'm good.

Whut??

 In April of 2020, I bought a new car.  For myself.  Probably the first new car I had purchased since 1975. In my world, the lady drove the nice car, the man drove a clunker, probably a pickup truck.  My current ride is a 2020 Honda Odyssey.  It's been a good ride, and it's carried Belle and I to lots of cowboy shoots.  It hauls a lot of gear and I've been happy with it. It is still under warranty.

Today, I started getting some weird codes. Error messages on the dash.

Weird stuff like that.  Odd.  It all happened at once, and I'm getting about five error codes. Confusing.  I"m going to get up at 0-dark-thirty and have it sitting in front of the Honda dealer tomorrow morning when they open the doors.  I don't know what the issue is, but Honda will figure it out.

Eggs

 I worked the grocers list this morning while doing errands and noticed that the price of eggs have dropped.  Belle and I normally buy the Grade A Large eggs and that's what I looked at today.

$3.93 is a lot better that the ~$5.00 they were earlier when I checked. We don't eat a lot of eggs, but I needed them for lunch.  I fried some nice pork steaks and used an egg wash to help the breading stick to the pork.  

When I get ready to cook chicken fried steak, or chicken fried pork, I season the meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder, then run it through some all-purpose flour, then an egg/milk wash, then into crushed saltine crackers.  Hot oil at 350F, fry till golden brown.  It helps if you have the butcher run those little pork steaks through the tenderizer.

I don't fry chicken. Popeye's is just down the road, and I can't seem to get the motivation to fry chicken anymore. So, today's lunch was chicken fried pork, with mashed potatoes and a cream gravy.  

Torpedo Bat?

 The sports world is abuzz about the Yankees winning a ball game with something called a "torpedo bat". It's actually nothing new. Every kid who ever played sandlot ball knows that some bats work for you and some don't.

Evidently, the batting coach did some analytics and found that each hitter is different and had some bats made that match the hitter.  Good analytics, because it worked for him. But every kid who ever played baseball knows that a bat has a sweet spot, and when you connect that spot with the ball, magic happens. That same kid knows that if you can get to West Main Street in Louisville, the factory will make a bat designed just for you.

Baseball will survive the torpedo bat, just as surely as it survived lights on the field. Every good pitcher knows his hitter, and if he's hitting low and away, then give him high and inside.  Work the corners and keep him guessing.

Wisconsin?

 State Supreme Court races are normally as interesting as planning commission meetings, but somehow, this race in Wisconsin is being hyped as the harbinger of doom for the Republic.

I don't get it. Democrats, after their ignominious defeat in November, are searching for their muse, their path from the wilderness, and Republicans are having a good time watching them try.  But, this race has garnered a bunch of attention and a whole lot of money. It seems that this race, like all races, will be based on turnout and whoever gets more voters to the poll will win. That is all political races.

I would think that there are far more important races, like the congressional special elections in Florida.  Those might flip the House to the Democrats, or make it harder to sustain a majority later.   Maybe I'm not looking at it in the right vein, but a SUpreme COurt seat in Wisconsin?  I really don't get it.

Gun SHopping

 I stopped by the local gun shop today to look thru his used gun rack. Specifically J-frame Smiths.  He had one used Model 640 at over MSRP, and one Model 38 Airweight for over $900.00.  I told him that I had seen a lot of things in my time, but I had never seen a $900.00 Airweight. I am  not going to pay over MSRP for a used gun, it ain't happening.

I've been jonesing for another J-frame.  I gave my last one away after a cerakoting and rebuild, and my daughter-in-law fell in love with it. It rides with her now. The model I'm looking at is the Model 60 3". In .357 Magnum, it might be quite a handful, but I like that longer barrel and the adjustable sights. And, I can get it for less than the local shop wanted for the used 640. I may have to order it closer to BAG day.

Well, How About That?

Reading the news this morning, I was on an article abut ICE detainees being housed in Louisiana, specifically  Mahmoud Khalil, that asshole who has been stirring up Columbia University.  So, I started Googling around, and found an article that tells us where the facility is located.

Turns out, it's Jena, the hometown of my lady, Belle. From the article.

Since last week, Khalil — a Syrian-born Palestinian and permanent U.S. resident— has been locked up in the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, a privately-run immigration lockup with an average daily detainee population of nearly 1,200.

So, I turned and asked Belle, who is sitting on the couch.  "Yeah,", says she. "That place is behind our old house on a little road that winds through the country and eventually comes out at Olla, LA.  There ain't noting out there but pine trees." 

I know generally where she is talking about and it is just about as remote as you can get and still be where sunshine can hit you. It may not be in the middle of nowhere, but you can see nowhere from there.

That is interesting.  When ICE wants to send someone to purgatory, it is my wife's hometown.

Do The Maintenance

 I took my EDC out today, took all the ammo out of the mag, and decided to give it a good cleaning and lube. I carry a SW Shield in 9mm, but haven't shot it in a year or so.  Carry lots, shoot seldom.

I was amazed at how bone-dry it was, and how much dust and grit was in the innards. A half-hour with rags and oil and I feel a lot better about it. It's ready now for another period of carrying. I really need to get out to the range and do a little.  But life and winter got in the way. I also have a .22 carbine I need to shoot.  We'll make plans for both of those to go to the range, one day next week.

Signal Timeline

 Much ado about the Signal timeline, with more details leaking out.  Goldberg is trying to do as much damage as he can before becoming entirely irrelevant.  It seems USAToday has a timeline of the chat.

According to USAToday, Pete Hegseth revealed at 11:44 am that an attack would be ongoing.

Two hours later, at 1:45 pm, the attack occurred.

Okay, we are just seeing a summary, so we don't know exactly what had been revealed.  If it was a deep, dark secret at 11:45, within two hours, the Houthis knew that they had been attacked.  It was no longer a secret.  Everyone knew.  Even if the Houthis were plugged in to the chat, I doubt they could have done much in two hours.    Talking about national security on Signal is probably a bad idea, and including a leftie journalist is a terrible idea.  I'm sure that the principals have learned a good lesson from this debacle.

I'm reminded of the greatest national secret ever kept.  When the Allies invaded Normandy on June 6, 1944.  Ike and his generals kept it a secret until the evening before, but when the paratroopers started landing, even the Nazis suspected that something was happening.  By daylight, they know what was happening. Military secrets don't last long when the bombers or missiles are overhead.

Signal

 It seems that there is this app called Signal.  From what I've learned, it is an encrypted app that lets users send reasonably secure messages over the interweb.  It seems that it is also approved for government work.

Recent news indicates that a group of Trump officials was using the app for a test chain, and somehow a rabid left wing reporter got included on the chain.  Of course, he waited till the most inopportune moment to reveal that he was party to the messaging, and the Democrats lost their minds.

When we learned years ago that Hillary was running a server out of a broom closet, the Republicans list their minds.  Fair enough.  What goes around comes around. It appears from testimony, this most recent brouhaha revealed no classified information, unlike Hillary's broom closet server.

Oh, the Democrats are outraged, as we might expect and this should serve as a learning opportunity for Hegseth, Gabbard, Radcliff and others. The interweb is a poor place to discuss government matters. To misquote Shakespeare, "Get Thee to a SCIF."

How this rebid lefty reporter got added to the chain is a bit of a mystery, and I'm sure they will sort it out.  But the happiest guy in Washington today is Chuckie Schumer, because the heat is off him for a little while. 

Prices

 I was forced to go the big Wal Mart today, something I am generally loathe to do.  While in there I went by the dairy case and checked egg prices.  Roughly $5.00 a dozen for the large white eggs.  If you want brown, organic, pasture fed eggs, be prepared to pay a bit more.  For myself, we are still eating eggs from a neighbor, so I passed on any eggs.

Fuel has come down a few cents.  Your standard 87 octane ethanol blend is $2.41.9 at the Murphy pump in the Wal Mart parking lot.  These prices are in central Louisiana this morning.

Not too bad, maybe with time, it will come down another 50 cents.  That would be nice.

Irony

 Sent by Termite.

And, they are planning it all on X, which is run by... Elon.  I'm getting my popcorn ready for March 29th.

Declaration

 A top Houthi official says that "we are at war with America".  I don't know if that constitutes a formal declaration, but if I were he, I'd be careful with my verbiage.

The Houthis have been messing with our boats, and a cursory study of history shows that the US is generally hostile when a foreign power touches our boats.  Ask Japan how that worked out for them.  Or, recall that the whole "shores of Tripoli" thing was about our boats.

Many say that Iran is pushing the Houthis to touch the boats.  I admit that I am torn about the Iranians'.  I had a dear friend, back in the 70s, who was an Iranian army officer.  He was in the Shah's army, back when the Shah ran the place.  He was a professional officer and a good friend.  He was funny as hell, had a good sense of humor, with a lovely wife and young daughter.  We had much in common.  Professional, kind, generous to a fault, I learned a lot from him.  He hated communists.

But, I digress.  If he is still alive, he did not fare well under the Mullahs.  The Houthis claim that they are at war with us, and I'm not sure what legal status that places upon us.  Not that we care.  Don't touch our boats.

ProActive

 I was listening to the news, and just heard that the Molotov-tossing, spray-painting leftie lunatics are planning a day of protest against Tesla on March 29th. Over 500 protests at dealerships all over the US.

It's time to get proactive.

If I owned a Tesla dealership, I might be hiring some Roof Koreans. It worked in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots. Armed men with shotguns on the roof of a building tends to calm down protests in a big way.  Let them protest peacefully, but the first guy that waves a Molotov gets a wad of double-ought in the chest. If you are in the protest near that guy, you may have to deal with flyers, and the fact that he just dropped the firebomb at your feet. That is a motivator for retreat,

I'm just saying.

Here We Go

 President Trump today signed an executive order that will dismantle the Department of Education.

President Carter cranked it up in 1979, and it has been a huge drag on the education center ever since. I beleive that it will take and act of Congress to fully dissolve it, but there are lots of things the administration can do to hasten that end.  I mean, if a department has no staff, is there any reason to keep it?

Dolphins

 This is a cool photo.  Dolphins near the SpaceX capsule in the Gulf after it touched down.

The chyron says that the dolphins are celebrating.  I doubt it. They are probably wondering, "Where the hell did this come from?"