Sunday Morning Dawg

The dog and the cat continue to hang out on the back porch.  The cat seems to take particular pleasure in aggravating the dog.  The dog, for his part, tries to maintain his dignity while ignoring the cat.  Like this.

Studiously ignoring the cat while the cat prances and preens around him.  Occasionally, though, I get the feeling that his aggravation is coming through.

I got that snap by simply holding the camera down close to him and firing blindly.   Y'all have a great Sunday.

Saturday Song

One of my favorites.  Fur Elise, by Beethoven.



Who is Elise?  No one's sure.  They have their suspicions, but they're not sure.

Junk Science

I am reminded that five years ago today, Al Gore told us that the North Pole would be completely ice free.  Of course, we all know that's not the case.

As was the case for October 2013, sea ice extent for November 2013 remained within two standard deviations of the long-term 1981 to 2010 average.

On the other hand, Cairo (Egypt, not Illinois) experienced the first recorded snowfall in over 100 years.  Yeah, the planet seems to be heating up according to Al Gore's schedule.

 One wag on a forum I frequent wondered if Al had been in the Middle East, what with all the cold weather they've been having lately.  It's a lot of fun to talk about the Gore Effect, but that's probably junk science too.

Fire Ant Art

The red imported fire ant is an invasive species that lives in the Southern US, among other places.  Here in Louisiana we face a constant battle with the damned little ants, striving mightily to keep them out of our yards, pastures and woodlands.  You can't completely eradicate them, but you can make them pay the price for setting up their house on your land.

As a bullet caster, I'd sometimes have an alloy that wouldn't act right, had too much trash in it, or for some reason was unsuitable for bullet casting.  When I'd get an alloy I couldn't use, I'd sometimes pour it down a convenient ant hill.  We'd let it cool, then dig it up, wash the dirt out of it, and the kids could see the intricate little tunnels that the ants dug.  The kids learned from the exercise and I eradicated one ant hill.  Win, win.

It seems some guy is doing this with aluminum, which is still cool.



All the usual disclaimers apply.  Don't try this at home, molten metal is hot, your mileage might vary.  Don't pour molten metal into your boots, keep away from children, etc.

Fundamental

Last November, the voters of Louisiana approved an amendment to our state constitution making possession of a firearm a fundamental right, subject to strict scrutiny.  What does that mean?  We're still figuring it out.  Two days ago, though, the Louisiana Supreme Court offered a narrow opinion that sheds some light on the question.  Mr. Justice Clark, writing for the majority, said:

After reviewing the statue under a strict scrutiny analysis, we hold La. R.S. 14:95.1, as applied to a convicted felon still under state supervision, does not unconstitutionally infringe upon the right to bear arms secured by article I, section 11 of the Louisiana Constitution. The district court’s ruling that La. R.S. 14:95.1 is unconstitutional is reversed. The district court's ruling granting the defendant's motion to quash the bill of information is reversed. This matter is remanded to the district court for further proceedings. 

So, it appears that our convicted felon law still applies to persons under state supervision.  Will it apply to those folks who have completed their sentences?  We don't know yet.  That question and others will have to work their way through our court system for clarification. Those questions will make life interesting for the police and prosecutors, but we're up to the challenge.

Let Freedom Ring.

In Other News

In other news, water is wet.  My thanks to JWF, who links to this article, where Kathleen Sebelius tells us that she wants an investigation into the botched ACA (ObamaCare) rollout.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a blog post early Wednesday that she is asking the department's inspector general to investigate the contracting process, management, performance and payment issues that may have contributed to the flawed launch of HealthCare.gov.

Really, Kathleen?  You need an investigation?  I can tell you what contributed to the flawed launch.  Management.  You screwed up.  You screwed the pooch on the rollout in an unbelievably incompetent manner.  You had three years to get this right, and you botched it.  You, dear heart.  The singular you.  You yourself were responsible and it's a rolling disaster that some wags have dubbed The Fail Fractal.

The very first lesson of management I ever learned, Kathleen, is that an organization will do what the boss checks.  Evidently, you didn't check.  You didn't manage, you didn't cajole, problem-solve, or lead.  Worst, you let your boss find out about it through the news cycle.  You screwed up, Kathleen.  You.

You deserve to be cashiered, Kathleen, and probably tried for malfeasance.  The only saving grace (for you, not the rest of us) is that your boss failed, too.  It's like a huge onion of fail, with more fail as you peel layers.  So, here's what happened, Kathleen.

The President failed to properly supervise you.
You failed to properly supervise the managers under you.
Those managers failed to properly lead their units.
Those units failed the American people.

There's no need for an investigation.  This is a management failure, purely and simply.

Bad-Teries

It's easy to tell a cold snap, because vehicle batteries die.  A month ago, my daughter called me and told me that her car wouldn't start.  She was in the Wal-Mart parking lot, so I grabbed some tools and went to her assistance.  Sure enough, a quick look at the battery revealed it was five years old, so I put a battery in her car.  Easy-peasy.

Two weeks ago, I tried to start my work car without success.  Lifted the hood, saw that the battery was six years old, so I went to the parts house and bought a battery.  Such is my karma.

An hour ago, Milady called me.  She's stuck at work, the Explorer won't start.  She purchased that vehicle brand-spanking new in the autumn of 2009.  That battery is four years old, and Ford probably didn't put a five-year battery in that vehicle.  Guess what I'm doing this afternoon?  You guessed it.

Neutered Cat

The little cat that adopted us went to the vet's today for neutering.  It's one thing to be adopted by a cat, it's something else entirely to find a litter of kittens living under your deck.  My daughter-in-law works at the vet office and got us a deal on a neutering job, and I'm very grateful for that.  The cat's a little groggy, so we'll leave it in the carrier until Milady gets home in another hour.

The cat is in no particular distress, but I bet that it is no mood to play, and Beau is worried sick about his cat.

They've become fast friends, and Beau can't figure out why that cat won't come out and play.  He's going to worry himself (and pester me) until Milady gets home to release the cat.

Sunday Song

Chloe Agnew, of Celtic Woman.

Sunday Morning Dawg

It's been a crazy week, with house guests both human and pet.  It's been fun, but crazy, and the dog has had plenty of playmates.  This morning he looked at me as if to ask what's happening next?

I don't know, pup, we'll just have to see.  As long as we're keeping family sheltered and safe, we're doing good.  Things should get back to normal really soon.  Whatever normal is.  That's subject to change at any time.

Knife Rights

Knives and the Second Amendment.  By David B Kopel, Clayton Cramer, and Joseph Edward Olson.  It's .pdf file, but it's worth the read.

Remember

Today is the 72nd anniversary of the day that the United States found itself finally, irrevocably, embroiled in Word War II.   When the naval forces of Japan launched the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Today was a defining day for my father's generation, just as the Kennedy assassination was a defining day for mine, and the September 11th attacks were a defining day that my children will always remember.

Today is a day that will live in infamy.

Cold Day

It's been cold today.  Rainy, drizzly, a clammy cold that sinks into your bones.  The weather snapshot doesn't tell the whole picture, because it doesn't show how miserable this type weather makes us in subtropical Louisiana.

Normally in December, it's not this cold.  Many times on Christmas Day I've worn a simple long-sleeved shirt and slacks.  Tonight we're cold and the temps will get under freezing, odd for this early in the winter.  I'm glad that we didn't get the ice that was predicted earlier this week.  Louisiana doesn't do well in an ice storm.

Two Sleeps

Instapundit leads me to an article on the history of sleep, where for much of our recorded existence, we've slept twice a night.  Generally two or three hours, then wakened, then gone back to sleep until morning.

His research found that we didn’t always sleep in one eight hour chunk. We used to sleep in two shorter periods, over a longer range of night. This range was about 12 hours long, and began with a sleep of three to four hours, wakefulness of two to three hours, then sleep again until morning.

Cool!  I do that sometimes, going to bed early, then waking for an hour or so, then falling back to sleep to await the morning alarm.  Milady and I do this frequently enough that we call it "vampire-ing".  As in "I vampired for a couple of hours last night.

As I understand the article, sleeping eight full hours is a fairly recent invention, since the time that electric lights were invented.  It seems that our forefathers thought that sleeping twice per night was perfectly common.

Cool!

The Mule

As far as I can recall, I've had the Mule about seven years.  The choke cable has become quite stuck, which is problematic when you're trying to start it on a cold morning.  Also, the designers at the Kawasaki plant tried to make it easy to use the choke cable, but they routed it so that it's a huge pain to replace.  So, I started casting about for a quick fix.

On looking at the engine, I realized that the choke lever and cable points directly to a body panel.  A quick disassembly of the choke cable, a quick hole punched in that body panel, and a short section of mild steel rod, and I can pull the choke from the driver's seat.  After the engine is started simply releasing the loop in the  rod releases the choke, since it is spring operated.  Easy, peasy, about a half-hour job, including figuring out just exactly how I wanted to route the rod.  It may not be beautiful, but it's certainly simple and workable.


Here's a picture.  Sorry about the focus, it's getting darker, earlier.

It ain't pretty, but it's darned sure workable.  When I grab that little ring and pull, the choke opens.  When I release it, the choke closes.  Now, maybe I can start it when it gets cold.  Until I can find a choke cable.

Sleet?

The weather weenies over at Weather Underground are calling for ice pellets (sleet?) for Friday night/Saturday morning.  Really.

Of course, this is right at the bitter edge of their forecasting powers.  Friday night is 72 hours out, and I've never seen a weather man that could predict what is going to happen in three days with any degree of certainty.  Still, a "wintry mix" storm would be quite early for these latitudes.  I can't ever recall icy precipitation in Central Louisiana in December.

We'll see.

Abolish the TSA

Professor Glenn Reynolds, of Instapundit fame, has an article at USA Today, where he makes the case for defunding the TSA.

The 9/11 attacks worked because they caught people -- used to theatrical hijackings that didn't kill anyone -- by surprise. Once Americans figured out this new game, which took, as Todd notes, only 109 minutes, they put an end to it by themselves. The creation of the TSA didn't do any good, and it costs a lot of money, and it does a lot of harm. Put an end to it.

Oh top of Reynolds excellent reasons, the TSA has become an overgrown parasite, existing in the public eye solely as a hindrance and a bother.  Regular readers here have long known of my contempt for the organization and their abuses.  For newer readers, I'll link to my own post from November 2010.

I'm renewing my objection to the TSA in general and calling on my Congressman and Senators to defund the TSA. Completely defund it.

I agree with Professor Reynolds that the TSA should go away.  Either defund or abolish, but it should become a tarnished memory of government over-reach.

Speed, huh?

Drudge is all over some guy named Paul Walker who was killed in an auto crash yesterday. I've never heard of the guy, but evidently he was a pop culture guy in a movie called "Fast and Furious".

Investigators have been unable to find evidence of a second car in the accident that killed popular "Fast & Furious" actor Paul Walker on Saturday, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman said Monday.

I'm not a traffic accident investigator, and I certainly haven't been on the scene, but I can pretty much tell you what caused this crash.

 Speed was a factor in the crash, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office said. A 45 mph speed limit sign was attached to the light pole knocked down by the Porsche.

Really?  Speed was a factor?  I bet if the car had been standing still, it wouldn't have been involved in the accident.

Again, I'm not a TAI, but I bet that there are very few calls involving parked cars and light poles.  Of course speed was a factor in the accident.  Speed was a factor to the point where the car was in flames when the cops got there.

Speed was a factor?  Really?  Imagine that.

Busy.

Life intrudes on blogging, sometimes.  I'm not neglecting y'all, I'm just taking care of family.  It's good, it's just busy.  Really, though, if I'm going to be busy, now's the time for this to happen.  The job is very calm and stable, so it's not like I'm juggling multiple requirements.  We're getting ready for Christmas with all the dynamics of the season, For the past several weeks, just about every time I think things are going to settle into a routine, something changes and I'm back at square one.  It's interesting.  I can't wait to see what's going to happen next.

Sunday Song

In my mind, I'm always going home.

Sunday Morning Dawg

The dog and cat continue to play on the back patio, enjoying a sunny spot that warms the November air.

The cat is bad about taking it vertical, climbing where the dog can't go.

If you ask the dog where the cat went, he's liable to look at you as if to say "I'm not sure.  She was here just a minute ago."

Don't Take Your Eye Off These Putzes

Not even for a second.  That's the advise of Instapundit, when he links to PJMedia, who reports that gun-control advocates are quietly building support for another bill.

Thompson said the bill protects rights under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by providing an exemption on background checks for firearm transfers between family and friends.
“You won’t have to get a background check when you inherit the family rifle, borrow a friend’s shotgun for a hunting trip or purchase a gun from a buddy or neighbor,” Thompson said.
It further bans the creation of a federal registry and makes the misuse of records a felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. It allows active duty military to buy firearms in their home states and the state in which they are stationed, authorizes the use of a state concealed carry permit in lieu of a background check to purchase a firearm and allows interstate handgun sales from licensed dealers.

That doesn't sound bad at all, does it?  Until you realize who's pushing the bill.  And we've been lied to by these bozos  before.

 “So we’re going to pass this law,” Schumer said. “We are going to finish the job and pass background checks and then move on and do other things we have to do to get guns off the streets and stop gun violence.”

Yeah, right, Chuck.  Tell me just exactly again how you intend to get guns off the street?

Friday Afternoon News Dump

Evidently, it was Black Friday today.  Drudge tells me that the search for the all-holy deal is getting a little rude.

Mall mayhem...Suspected shoplifter shot after dragging cop through KOHL's parking lot...Brawls...Woman uses stun gun in shopping fight...Man stabbed over parking spot...Shopper Kicked Out Of WALMART For Filming Fight...Man shot walking home with big screen...Shoppers Trampled In Race For $49 Tablet...SALVATION ARMY kettles stolen...REPORT: Profit margins jump for sales 'hoax'...

Really?  Someone stole the Salvation Army kettles?  Stun Gun?  Stabbed over a parking spot?

I'm glad I wasn't out there today.

In other news, Milady trotted down to the Dollar Store today and invested in real estate.  She bought a cat-house.

I've always wanted to own a cat-house.  Now I can say that I do.

Hunting with Dogs

When I was a young scrapper, Thanksgiving was a closed day for deer hunting.  In fact, it separated a split in the season, the earlier portion for still hunting only, and the later portion for hunting with dogs. The still hunt season closed on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and the dog season opened the Friday following. In those days, hunting with dogs was a popular past-time and many hunters kept dogs for the late deer season.  Indeed, for many years, I'd eat lunch with the family, then we'd head north to Minden, LA where I hunted the whole weekend with my good friend Melvin, whose family kept deer dogs.

In effect, we'd ring a large portion of the forest with hunters, as many as two dozen or more, then two men would drop the dogs and follow them through the woods.  If the dogs jumped a deer, the chase was on, and it was considered poor form to miss a running deer.  It was considered even poorer form to let the dogs get past you if you were a stander.  I suspect that the deer season was closed on Thanksgiving to keep the hunters near the house on this most American of holidays.

Nowadays I hunt in Area 2, as defined by the Louisiana hunting regulations.  I also note that Thanksgiving is an open day, and the dog season doesn't begin in Area 2 until December 4th.    In most of Louisiana we now have deer leases, posted land, and the large timber companies no longer have open land.  Hunting with dogs is proscribed on most private land, and has fallen out of favor.  But, there was a time where I'd gather with  hunters on the Friday after Thanksgiving and hunt deer with dogs.  Sometimes we'd have a good day, and we'd stack deer up in a pickup truck like cordwood.

I never remember any of that meat going to waste.   The rules were simple.  If you were a hunter, you had a right to a portion of the game.  If you wanted to donate your portion, there was always a family nearby in dire financial straits who would gladly skin, dress, and butcher those deer to fill the family freezer.

So, on this Friday after Thanksgiving, as you read this, I'm sitting on a stand in Area 2, but I'm not hunting over dogs.  We're all a bit poorer, because we don't spend much time hunting deer with dogs.  It was a gand tradition, and like all traditions, it's passed with our time and circumstance.

Good hunting.

Thursday Song

I heard this one on the oldies station, coming home from the Thanksgiving feast.  Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black.



Y'all have a wonderful evening.

Prepping

Today is the final prep for Thanksgiving.  I've got to run to the store to pick up a few items, fill the truck with fuel, and drop by Momma's house to hug my sister.  She flew in from Knoxville yesterday and I want to see her before the hectic that tomorrow will  become.  We're all gathering on the family property tomorrow to share a meal and fellowship, then we'll retire to the pasture for a little target practice.  That's been a family tradition for several years, and as family changes we're never sure which traditions will change, or what the next year will bring.

Traditions change slowly, over time, and when we look back we see that what was once tradition is now simply a memory.  As families grow, and blend, and change, traditions change.  What we did when I was a child is certainly different than the way we do things now, and what my grandchildren experience in their youth will change as they grow and mature.  That's the nature of things and we cherish what we had and what we have, knowing that nothing lasts forever.

So, to each of you, I pray that you have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving.  That you experience the tradition that suits your situation, and that next year will find your traditions complete and fulfilling.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Tuesday Teaser

I'm watching a grandson today on a cold, rainy Tuesday in November.  Nothing much happening around the casa today, except that we've got to go shopping after while to restock our larder.  PawPaw is going to make a big gumbo later today because a cold, rainy November day demands a gumbo..

The kiddo is watching cartoons in the toy room, and PawPaw is surfing around the intertubes.  It seems that Nosler is bringing out a brand-new, whizbang cartridge.  The .26 Nosler.  According to their teaser, it's a non-belted, long action cartridge that will launch the 129 grain Accubond at 3400 fps.  Surfing around the usual forums doesn't reveal a great deal about the new cartridge.  Nosler is keeping the information close-held until the SHOT show roll out, and I can understand that they're trying to create buzz.  I get it.

Some folks are wondering if they'll use the .375 Ruger cartridge as a base for their new cartridge.  It seems to fit the criteria.  Non-belted, plenty of powder room, fits in a long action, etc.  Maybe so, it ought to hold a lot of powder.  Shades of PO Ackley and Charlie Newton, there's nothing new under the sun.  Many of the wagging tongues say that it's bound to be a barrel burner, but I suspect that this won't be a cartridge where people worry about their barrel throats.  Two kinds of shooters don't.  The first is the long-range target crowd, who regularly change barrels anyway.  The second is the pure FUDD hunting crowd, which aren't high-volume shooters.

Before you get your shorts in a knot, I readily identify with that FUDD group.  For example, my .30-06 gets shot maybe 20 times per year.  A few three shot groups to verify zero, then whatever I burn during the hunting season.  If my -06 was a barrel-burner and only good for 1000 rounds, at 20 rounds per year, I'd have to change the barrel every 50 years. Hunters simply don't care about throat erosion.  Nosler might be on a good thing with this new cartridge, or in five years it might just be an interesting footnote.  We'll see.

Honor Band

Milady and I are traveling to Baton Rouge today, with a host of family.  Our grandson, Michael was picked to play in the Louisiana Music Educator's Honor Band, Symphonic Band, as 1st chair Trombone.  He's a high school junior and we're thrilled at his accomplishments with the trombone.  As a junior, it's quite an honor to be chosen as 1st chair, and he deserves the honor.

The old saw about how you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice, practice, practice.  I've heard him practice solidly for hours.  He's got a rare musical talent, with the drive to turn that talent into a reality.  Scholarship offers are already coming in, and he's starting to pick his schools.  As a senior next year, he's way ahead of the curve.

At any rate, his concert is today, so we're traveling to Baton Rouge to listen to him toot his own horn.  If anyone is interested, the concert is at the Crowne Plaza Executive Center, Baton Rouge, LA at 2:00 pm.

Sunday Morning Dawg

It got cold and rainy yesterday, cold for these climes, and we've been spending time indoors.  The dog wanted to play "Don't Look At  The Camera", so getting a reasonable snapshot was interesting.

That will do, I guess, but I'm not sure how to caption that one.  Feel free to caption it in comments.

Off

Finally, I'm home, in my tennis shoes, wearing jeans.  It's been a long week.  I estimate I've worked nearly 60 hours this week, the majority of those before today, which only accounted for my standard 8 hours.  Just Damn!

It's not that the job is physically demanding.  It's not.  People offer to swap jobs with me every day.  I tell them that the job isn't hard, in fact is a really great job, right up till the moment it sucks.  And if the job ever goes to SUCK, it will go that way in just a few seconds.  But, this week is over and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

I've hooked the Mule to the truck, and partially loaded it with things I'll need in the morning.  Reports from the deer lease indicate that the rut might be starting to kick in, and I intend to be there before daylight.  In another hour, I'll go buy a pizza for Milady and myself, then commence with Happy Hour.

Good For You, Harry!

It looks like Harry Reid wants to change the rules on filibusters.

A senior Democratic aide told The Huffington Post on Wednesday that there's "a greater possibility" that Reid will hold a vote this week instead of waiting until after the Senate comes back from recess in December. The proposal that Reid is planning to put on the floor would strip the minority of its ability to filibuster executive and judicial nominees, but wouldn't apply to Supreme Court nominees.

I think that will work out great, Harry.   Go ahead, make it easier for a majority to overrule a minority.  You'll enjoy that when it's your turn to be in the minority.

.22 Ammo Prices

I went by Academy Sports during the hour between work and more work, and bought some sock hats to keep my noggin warm.  While I was in the store, I wandered over to the ammo aisle and inquired about .22 long rifle ammo.  They had it in stock, limit two boxes per customer, so I asked for my ration.  The guy handed me two boxes of Remington Thunderbolt ammo, 50 round boxes.  I didn't ask about the price, but headed to the register.  $2.29 per box, which comes to just 4.5 cents per round.  They're still rationing ammo, but the prices are getting more reasonable.  I was pleasantly surprised, especially as I got out of Academy for less than $12.00.

Oh, just for the record, I'll be working a lot of hours this week.  The school-house is trying to close for Thanksgiving, so they've scheduled lots of things this week.

Tee Shirts and Price Match

I went to Wal-Mart this afternoon to buy some tee-shirts, then started just looking around.  I found a 2-pack of PNY Sd cards, 4gb, for $13.88.  On a lark, I took out my cell phone and scanned them on Amazon.  It came back at $10.00 on the phone, and when I went to the checkout line, I showed the cashier my phone and she called her manager over.  He said to give me the price match.

Score!  Two Sd cards for $10.00.  That isn't bad at all.  Who says you can't quibble at Wal-Mart?

I came home later and researched Wal-Mart's price-match policy.  It turns out that they don't do price-match on internet pricing.  But what the heck.  It worked this once, and I've got some spare Sd cards for the game cameras.  .

Natchitoches

Natchitoches (Nak-u-tush) is a little town in north-central Louisiana.  It's just like tens of thousands of other little sleepy towns all over our country.  Good people, a small college, a local historical society, but it's got one thing that other little small towns don't have.  Fairly deep history.

In 1714 a group of French soldiers came up from somewhere (New Orleans hadn't been founded yet) and built a small fort to garrison as a bulwark against Spanish expansion.  They called it Fort St. Jean Baptiste, and it was poised against the eastward expansion of the Spanish, just 20 miles up the road at Los Adaes.  For some reason, Natchitoches "stuck" when other settlements were abandoned, giving Natchitoches the distinction of being the oldest continual settlement in the Louisiana Purchase.  It's older than New Orleans, and has the distinction of being vaguely French, but not too French.  It's founder was a French Canadian, from whence the Acadians, who populated south Louisiana later came..  It's a point of distinction to trace lineage back to an ancestor who garrisoned the fort as the tip of the French spear.

I went to college in Natchitoches, at Northwestern in 1973.  I graduated in 1975, went into the Army, then came back in 1980 to raise my family.  Natchitoches is a great place to raise a family.  I left Natchitoches in 2001, for all the right reasons and moved closer to my childhood home, fifty miles south.  Still, I have lots of friends and a soft spot in my heart for that little town with the strange name.  I am told that they're celebrating their tri-centennial next year, and I'd like to pass along congratulations.

Happy Birthday, Natchitoches.

McAllister Wins

Political newcomer Vance McAllister has beaten State Senator Neil Riser for Rodney Alexanders US 5th District seat.  And when I say beaten, I mean with 60% of the vote.  Think about that for a minute.  Let it sink in.  This was McAllister's first political race.  McAllister's not a politician, he's a businessman.

And all the cards were stacked to make Riser the winner.  Riser had the governor's endorsement, the seat seemed to be Riser's for the asking.  We know that Riser was in on the details of Alexander's retirement from Congress, because the day after Alexander announced his retirement, Riser campaign signs started showing up.  How many people can get campaign signs designed, printed, and installed in 24 hours.  Not many.  Riser was able to get it done, if you believe that he made the decision to order signs when Alexander announced his retirement.

A 60% win over an entrenched political machine is huge.

Vance appealed to several constituencies.  He appealed to the working man, he appealed to the anti-politician crowd, he appealed to those who dislike Governor Jindal.  Some will say that McAllister's election was a rebuke to the Tea Party, but I don't buy that.  The Tea Party is fairly undefined, but in its inception it was a backlash against taxes and the political crowd.  The only political rally I've ever attended was one where Rodney Alexander was booed from the stage by folks who attended the rally.  The Tea Party, as defined by lots of folks, is an unaffiliated conservative movement representing low taxes, small government, individual freedom and personal responsibility.  The fact that the name has been co-opted by politicians doesn't change the fact that a lot of folks like me identify with the movement.

Still, congratulations to Vance.  He ran a good race and took advantage of a number of different things to put together a winning campaign.  He can attribute his win to a backlash against government as much as he can to the endorsement of the Duck Commander crowd.  Willie Robertson helped him win, but that wasn't the reason we sent him to Washington.

And, one word of caution.  We're watching you.  The power and influence in Congress is heady stuff, but if you forget who sent you, we'll send your ass packing without explanation or remorse.  We've got high hopes for you, but don't let us down.

Sunday Morning Dawg

Waiting expectantly for a chicken nugget.

Some say I spoil that dog, but when we go to a restaurant, I make sure that he gets an order of chicken nuggets.  And some fries if there are any left over.  It's part of his payment for watching over the place.

And he loves him some chicken nuggets.  He can't decide if he likes them best from McDonalds, Burger King, or the fried chicken joint.  Tonite, he got some from Red River Grill, and he didn't turn up his nose at them.

Voting Day

It's Saturday morning, and normally I'd be in my deer stand.  Except for a couple of things. First, I'm not mad at those deer, I'm going to give them a break today..  Second, Milady and I made other plans today and in a few hours we're going to get in the car and head east, toward Mississippi.  We're going to spend the day in Natchez, LA, look at something different, play together the whole live-long day.  And it's voting day.

Before we leave for our play-day, we're going to vote.  We're electing a US Representative today, for the US 5th District and because that's the only thing on the ballot, it's going to be a low-turnout vote.  In elections like this, every vote counts.  I've seen small rural elections turn on one vote.  I've also looked at balloting for different types of elections, and I'm amazed at the people who vote once a year, or once every four years.  Sometimes small elections, like this one, have less than half the registered voters show up at the polls.

We had one election recently, where the locality had 8500 registered voters, and they were voting on a vital economic initiative and less than 2400 people actually showed up to pull the lever.  What's up with those other 6000 people?  Too busy?  Too apathetic?  Too stupid?  Well, those 6000 have no reason to complain if they didn't show up at the polls.  They let other people make the decision for them.

Go vote, Louisiana.  It's important.

Legalizing Pot

For those of you who haven't been paying attention, last year Washington and Colorado both passed initiatives that legalize the recreational use of marijuana.  The regulatory regimes were supposed to be regulated in "a manner similar to alcohol".

For the record, I'm not advocating for the legalization of marijuana.  I've heard the arguments on both sides, and I'm simply not convinced.  However, the voters in those states were convinced and they passed the proposition.  Now, the state is trying to figure out how to deal with it, and it looks like they're going to tax the living hell out of it.  Which is fine, except that the free market is at work.

The upshot of such actions is predictable and depressing. Colorado lawmakers are banking on about $70 million a year in taxes from pot and their Washington counterparts have projected new revenues of $1.9 billion over the first five years of legalization. There’s just no way that’s going to happen if a legal ounce of pot is double the price or more of back-alley weed. Even the most stoned pothead isn’t that easy to scam.

Taxes have to be seen as fair on luxury, or sin items (and marijuana is definitely considered one or the other) or people will find a way around them.  The linked article says that a legal ounce of marijuana, after the tax man gets his bite, might be as much as between $482 an ounce and $723 an ounce.  The black market is going to love those prices.

If you're supposed to regulate it in a manner similar to alcohol, the most consumers would expect to see packs of Alcapulco Gold pre-rolled, right next to the Jack Daniels on the likker store shelves.

Again, I've heard all the arguments, and I'm not convinced, but it looks like the state tax-man is going to do his best to suppress the pot that the voters want.  Let Freedom Ring.

Wednesday Woes

If you've been watching the news, you know that ObamaCare is taking hit after hit.  HotAir is all over it, hit the link for the full run-down, but it looks like the Democrats in the Senate are in full uproar, including my own Senator Mary (hack, spit) Landrieu, who is offering a bill that will only increase the rate of spin.  The bill is in a death spiral, enrollments are in the toilet, the website is a total debacle, and the numbers are abysmal.  Other than that, the president is having a great week.  It looks like Iran is going to get the bomb, the economy is stuck in the doldrums, and ... well, hell, why go on?

This is turning out to be the best November evah!  With leadership like we've got, it's amazing we lasted this long.

Locally, I just got a call from the Neil Riser campaign.  Our idiot congressman, Rodney Alexander decided to retire before he was primaried, so we're having a special election.  Given Louisiana's jungle primaries, where everyone votes and the two highest candidates go to the general election, we have a choice between two Republicans.  Neil Riser and Vance McAllister.  Neil is a classical Louisiana politician and has been groomed for this position.  Some say that the timing of the special election was set by the Statehouse Crowd to give every advantage to Neil.  Neil was supposed to take it in a walk.

Except for one thing.  Vance McAllister is a successful businessman and he decided to throw his hat in the ring, having never been in politics.  He promptly picked up some great endorsements, including the endorsement of the Duck Commander clan, the Robertson family.  MrAllister has never run for anything, so he's not a career politician, and he's spending his own money on the campaign, so he's not beholden to anyone.  I like Vance and I intend to vote for him on Saturday.  This is going to be a low-turnout vote, so it will be interesting to see the polls on Saturday night.  The vote from the individual precincts should tell us a lot about the demographics of the race.

A Mess of Bream

Looking at my daughter-in-law's blog site, I see that my grandson (one of several) has learned to fish for bream.  They're living on family land, and fishing a pond that my father built.  Evidently, it's full of fish and the other grandad taught him how to fish for the tasty little fish.

That's a pretty good stringer of fish for the first time out.  Hopefully, he took good notes because it's a skill set that will keep him occupied for a long time, probably the rest of his life.

Up the little hill, in the barn behind the young'un is my father's shop.  My son has been working in there, blending his knowledge of old time woodworking and my Dad's tools to craft a piece of furniture for his family.

It's good to see a kid fishing the pond, and a family member using the shop.  I am glad that piece of land is continuing to educate and shelter our family.  The circle continues.

Geese Overhead

Standing at my duty post, the air crisp and clean from the cold front that's passing through, I heard geese and watched a flight of small geese (blues and snows) flying down the river.  Classic chevron pattern.  As usual one side of the Vee was longer than the other one, and I thought about that for a minute and decided that I might pass on the knowledge of why geese fly like that.

Do you know why one side of the Vee is always longer than the other side?

Henry V

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:  Act 4, Scene 3

It's been a long time since I stood with several others and took an oath of which I have not been relieved.

Happy Veterans Day.

Shooting Fruit

We've been listening to the grandkids, and we were concerned that they might not understand the power and potential of a firearm.

Let me explain.  Our family likes guns.  We like them a lot, and we shoot them every chance we get.  Paper targets or steel, or for that matter, clay targets with the shotgun, but that doesn't properly, visually, energetically demonstrate the power available with a squeeze of the trigger. The grandkids in question are adolescent, already safe with firearms, but we became concerned that they might not be fully familiar with the actual result of putting a bullet into something soft and squishy.  Hence, a demonstration was in order.  We accomplished that this afternoon.

Yesterday I made a quick trip to the grocers and bought a cantaloupe and a couple of spaghetti squash, each just a little smaller than the human head.  Today, we loaded the adolescents in the pickup and went to our private range.  We explained what we were going to do, then set the cantaloupe on a stump about five yards away.  I shot it with a common .45 ACP 230 grain hollowpoint.at a range of about five feet.  We were immediately all hit with the splash from the cantaloupe exploding.  The top half simply exploded because I hit it a bit high.  Then I shot a spaghetti squash at the same range.  We autopsied the groceries, explaining the similarity between them and the human anatomy.

When I looked at the boys, their mouths were open in stunned shock.  That's good.

They all like shooting my rifles.  And, they're perfectly capable of hitting what they see.  So, we walked some groceries out to about 50 yards, then got out the rifle.  A common, standard .308. The Ugly rifle. I let the boys lay down on the ground and take shots at the produce.  A cantaloupe explodes nicely, and the spaghetti squash is likewise disturbed when a rifle bullet plows  through them.

They each hit their target and I'm proud of them for that.  Laying on their bellies like real marksmen, they put the bullets where the bullets should have been put, then they looked agape at the results.

The ride back to the casa was fairly quiet.  "What did you learn?" I asked.

"Those things are dangerous."

That's just exactly what I was trying to portray.  Those things are dangerous.  Used properly, used safely, they are a source of great joy and pleasure.  One moment of carelessness and you'll have a moment that you regret forever.  I hope the lesson stays with them, and they learn a new respect for the power they command.

Sunday Song

Another one from Steve Wariner.



I"ve got to get ready for Sunday Lunch.  When I was a boy we always went to the grandparents house for Sunday Lunch.  It's quite the family tradition.  The kids and grandkids will start turning up here in another hour

Sunday Morning Dawg

The dog and the cat playing on the back porch settee.

The were wrasslin' around when I took this snap, one trying to get the upper hand on the other.  It looks like they're fast friends now.  The dog is learning to respect the claws on the cat's hind feet.

Saturday Song

Driving back from the deer stand, listen to old music on the radio, this one from Steve Wariner came up.



It's as true now as it was when he released it in 1987.

Friday I Got Nothing

It was quiet around the school-house this morning, and most of the afternoon.  Everyone was ready for a long weekend and the bureaucrats weren't stirring up anything.  I left promptly at 3:00, came home and hooked up the trailer for hunting tomorrow morning.

I haven't even checked the Friday afternoon news dump.  I just don't care.  I'm having a Friday-afternoon cocktail, then Milady and I are heading for the auction.  Tomorrow I'll be in the deer stand at daylight, and yes, I have a spare tire on the trailer.

Tomorrow evening, LSU plays Alabama at Tuscalloosa.  I won't be there, but I have front-row seats at BIL's house, where he's cooking ribs.

That Was Quick

Well, that was certainly quick.  On Tuesday, November 5th I was surfing around and learned that Dick Metcalf, a writer for Guns and Ammo magazine and a long time gun-rag writer had penned an opinion piece entitled Let's Talk Limits: Do certain firearms regulation really constitute infringement? (.pdf warning) for inclusion in the December edition.

Notably, it caused a stir and the base became immediately and horribly enraged.

This morning, November 7th, we learn that Metcalf has been released, and his editor is leaving the magazine.  Forty-eight hours after I learned of the article, the two people responsible for it are gone.  Just gone.  That's quick.  Lessons learned?  Some will say that an immediate firing is rather harsh, and that Metcalf like everyone else has a right to free speech.  That's right, and he still has a right to speak freely.  No one has done anything to diminish that right.  Dick Metcalf can get a website like this one and post opinion after opinion, freely, without fear of suppression.

However, when you're paid good money to keep subscribers happy and sell magazines, you don't have a right to piss them off AND keep your job.  Evidently the writer and the editor wanted to have a reasonable discussion of firearms rights and regulation.  In doing so, they heartily offended the very subscribers and advertisers who pay their salaries.  That's not a good idea.

Really, folks, it's not a good idea to pee on the electric fence.

That Chicken

Why did the Libertarian Chicken cross the road?

Hat tip to My Muse

The Sodbuster

Of all the pocketknives I've carried in my life, there is one that I always gravitate toward.  The Case Sodbuster.  Case still makes these things, in several varieties and two sizes; the full size and the Jr.  As it turns out, I've got a Jr. in my pocket right now.

It's a simple knife, as pocketknives go.  One blade, a nice drop point blade suitable for most cutting tasks.  The blade is good steel, easily sharpened, and seems to maintain a relationship between being easy to sharpen yet holds an edge well.  Some blades are easy to sharpen yet the steel doesn't hold the edge, some knives hold an edge really well, but the knives are notoriously hard to sharpen.  The Sodbuster seems to find the middle ground.

The handle material is smooth, well rounded, so that if fits in a pocket easily.  This isn't a fighting knife, or a tacticool wonder, it's a using knife, a farmer's knife, a knife to keep in your pocket for routine cutting chores.  For cleaning game animals, skinning squirrels, or gutting fish, the blade design is almost perfect.  It makes short work of binder's twine and is suitable for opening packages.

I've had a dozen of these things over the years, and the reason for having that many is that for many years I ran a small hobby farm, the place where I raised my kids.  I kept a Sodbuster in my pocket and I was always losing them.  Sometimes they'd get dropped in a pond, other times they'd fall into a muddy paddock and the cattle would stomp them into the ground.  I never worn one out, but I'd lose them.

Luckily they are easily replaced and relatively inexpensive. I see that you can buy them from a variety of sources for about $30.00, and they've been made long enough that they're collectible.  The original handle colors were black and yellow.  I prefer the black, but I see that they now also come in green and blue.

If you're looking for a good, serviceable pocketknife for home or farm, it's hard to beat the Sodbuster.  It has PawPaw's seal of approval.

Don't Want a Job

According to the Wall Street Journal, 34.3 percent of the people not in the labor force, don't want a job.

Moreover, Messrs. Barnichon and Figura found, the decline in people who want a job wasn’t driven by people entering the labor force. It was driven by people switching from wanting a job to not wanting one. Long before the recession, in other words, Americans were drifting away from the labor force.

So, it seems that the number of people not in the labor force, who also don't want a job is up to about 34%, according to the number crunchers at the Journal, and as reported at Hot Air.

I don't have a problem with people not wanting a job.  What I have a problem with is people not willing to work, but wanting to eat on my dime.  If you don't want a job, fine, but don't sign up for food stamps, or free health care, or housing assistance, or anything.  No SNAP, no free lunches, nor Medicaid, nor anything.  I believe in the land of the free, but if you don't want to participate, then you should be free to starve to death.

I believe in the freedom to work or not work, but I also believe in the freedom to starve to death.  It's one thing to be disabled, or to be in a situation where you simply decide you don't want to work?  Fine, but don't burden me with paying it.

Tranpoline

We've had a trampoline in our side yard for about five years, the grandkids love it.  Recently, though, we had to change insurance carriers for our homeowner's insurance because Farmer's Insurance (hack, spit) decided that they didn't want to do business in the state of Louisiana.  So, I called the agent and we went with another carrier.  Saved a few bucks, too.

The guy came out last week and did an inspection, took pictures, made sure that there is actually a house standing here, then he left.  The insurance agent called this week.  "Do you have a trampoline?"

"Well, yeah", I replied.  "We've had one for several years"

"Oh, no," the agent said.  "Insurance companies hate trampolines.  Insurance companies won't insure anyone who has a trampoline.  Too much risk, too much liability."  He continued.  "Lots of folks buy those things, put them in their yards and never hear from their insurance company, as long as no one from the company comes out for an inspection.  As soon as they see the trampoline, they cancel the policy."

"Really?"  says I.

"Really" says he.  "I represent more than a couple insurance companies and none of them allow trampolines.  That trampoline has got to go.  Or I can't get insurance for you."

Evidently, trampolines are verboten on a homeowner's policy.  Take one guess what I disassembled as soon as I got home.  I'll go by the agent's tomorrow and sign a letter that the trampoline has vanished.

Old Pictures

Momma brought me some old pictures this morning.  Most of them were baby pictures and family memorabilia, but this one tweaked my memory strings.

That's my Dad's Ford Fairlane, probably a '58, but I have to admit I don't particularly remember.  I do remember that it was a two-tone brown over tan and had a big engine.  And it would run like a scalded ape.  I also remember that it was wrecked in my grandmother's front yard when the lady who lived across the street mistook her gas pedal for her brake pedal and slammed it sitting in my grandad's driveway.

Dad was sick, and Momma was worried about the weeks-worth of groceries in the crushed trunk, so my Grandad opened the trunk with a crow bar before the wrecker hauled it off.

Dad was heartbroken for weeks, especially after he learned that the car was totalled.

Sunday Song

From Allan Jackson.



We'll be headed to church in another half-hour.  Y'all have a great Sunday.

Sunday Morning Dawg

The dog got a trim this week, and he looks a heck of a lot better.

He's driving the cat crazy.  As it turns out, he had so much hair he could barely see.  Now, he can see plainly and he's able to chase the cat with a whole lot more accuracy.  That's tough on the cat, but she'll learn to adapt.

No Joy

What an adventure.  Grandson Zachary and I rolled out of the driveway at 5:00 a.m. this morning, heading for the deer woods.  We stopped at a local convenience store about halfway to the stand for a biscuit (bacon for him, sausage and egg for me), and got on the road.  Within 100 yards I knew that something was wrong, so I got out of the truck and found that our trailer was riding on a flat tire.  Well hell!  I turned around, got back to the store and dollied the trailer.

Of course, I didn't have a spare tire.  A son, (who will remain nameless) had borrowed that trailer and the spare hadn't made it back.  So, Zach and I headed to Wally-World, where we bought two tires on rims, and turned around to get the trailer and the Mule.  Installed the tire, tried it again.  As we came around the final curve in the road, I saw the sun peeking above the pine trees.  We got to the stand about ten minutes after sunrise and settled in.

Of course, PawPaw had laid on a thermos of coffee, a thermos of hot cocoa, some trail mix and some jerky.  No joy on the deer movements.  At about 10:00, Zach and I came out of the woods and headed for the deer camp with our part of the noon meal and a large 2X12 to repair a picnic table.  Fixed the table, ate lunch, and headed toward mother-in-law's house about five miles from the camp.  Visited with family, drank a beer, visited some more, then headed home.

PawPaw's  tired and needs a shower.  With clean blue-jeans and my slippers I'm sure I'll feel a lot better.

Getting It Right

David Frum makes his point, in an article by the same name as this post, over at the The Daily Beast about Republican obstructionism to the Affordable Care Act.

But of course, if you have the opportunity to prevent or mitigate a debacle—and you fail to use that opportunity—then, yes you do bear some of the blame. Maybe not the moral blame, but the real world practical political blame. Political action is judged by its consequences. The consequences of Republican radicalism since 2009 have been almost uniformly negative—for the country as a whole and for the interests and principles the radicals claim to champion. That’s the point I’ve been trying to pound into the heads of massive-resistance conservatives this past half-decade. Apparently, I must keep pounding.

His argument, apparently, is that the Affordable Care Act is here to stay and the Republicans should do what they can to make it better.  Respectfully, I disagree.

I've been a military officer, and I've had to make bad ideas less bad.  Just as Shaara details in his exploration of Buford in Killer Angels;

 The vision was brutally clear: he had to wonder at the clarity of it. Few things in a soldier’s life were so clear as this, so black-line etched that he could actually see the blue troops for one long bloody moment, going up the long slope to the stony top as if it were already done and a memory already, an odd, set, stony quality to it, as if tomorrow had occurred and there was nothing you could do about it, the way you sometimes feel before a foolish attack, knowing it will fail but you cannot stop it or even run away but must even take part and help it fail.

Fortunately, Republicans aren't always professional soldiers, but sometimes we see something so brutally painful, so God-awful wrong and destructive that we must try to obstruct it.  Frum argues that the politically best motive would be to try to mitigate the damage.  Perhaps he's right.  But in politics you have to stand on a set of principles and this act goes against most of the principles that I've come to believe will sustain the Republic.

No, sometimes it is enough to not participate in a particular disaster.  But, just as Buford fought to hold the high ground to give his army a chance to succeed, we must also fight from the high ground.  But, unlike the duty-bound soldier, we have no duty to take part and help it fail.  We have even less of a duty to mitigate a debacle when against the majority, we stand athwart the tide and yell "stop".

The Democrats own this mess, lock, stock, and barrel.  It's up to them to work it, but I believe that it's doomed to fail.  Nothing that I've seen so far convinces me otherwise.

More Deer Cam

We're having plenty of fun looking at the game camera and this little buck shows a lot of promise.

That's a nice, shootable 6 point, probably two or three years old.  And, he's coming out right at the end of the legal shooting hours.  According to the app on my phone, absolute sunset on the day in question was 6:22 p.m.  We can hunt one-half hour after sunset and that deer came out at 6:47 p.m., fully five minutes before the end of the legal shooting hours.

That mirrors my experience with shootable bucks.  You've got to wait until the last possible minute of legal shooting hours.  Of course, once the rut starts, all bets are off, but if I had to bet on one buck that we might convert into venison, I believe this one is the best bet.  And, there is nothing wrong with a little basket-rack 6-point when you're converting deer into suppertime.  The season for this little buck starts on November 16th, and hopefully we'll get some more photos so we can pattern him.

Red Sky

Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.

This photo from near my duty post at daylight this morning.

As it turns out, the old caution was correct.  We had terrible weather today.

Cardio

When I was wearing a uniform for the reserve forces, I had a set routine.  I'd get up at 5:00 am, get into my workout togs and go to the gym.  I had a route planned, and I'd do some strength training, then run two miles, get back to the gym, shower and head to work, getting there at about 7:00 am.  The office officially opened at 8:00, so I'd have an hour of quiet time to get my act together for the day.

When I retired from the Guard in 1999 I quit running.  I haven't run more than ten steps since then, and I've gained some weight, in March of the year, I was up to 260 lbs.  I decided I needed to lose weight, so I got into Weight Watchers and started eating smart, getting off wheat, watching my carbs, doing all the smart stuff.  I dropped 20 lbs and stuck at 240.  I've been stuck at 240 for about three months, so I decided that some cardio (gag, spit) might be in order.  Especially after my doc told me that if I didn't drop another 40 lbs that I was in real danger of becoming diabetic.

So, today I began walking.  During the hour between the end of the work day I walked around downtown Alexandria.  By that I mean that I walked from the hospital to the Interstate, down to Lee Street, back to the river, then across to the hospital.  Something over a mile-and-a-half, in a little less than 30 minutes.  Not a fast pace, but I haven't done any cardio in about 13 years.

It's back to the PT, and I'm almost completely out of shape.  God, I hate PT.

Hillary as SecState

You all remember that Hillary was the Secretary of State, and some folks are even talking about her presumptive run as President.  John McCain weighed in recently, with faint praise for his former associate.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that Secretary Clinton would be a very strong candidate,” McCain said of the former secretary of state, senator from New York and first lady. “I don’t think there’s any doubt she has widespread support. Her work as secretary of state, with the exception of this issue of Benghazi — which isn’t going away — I think has been outstanding. I think she would be viewed by anyone, Republican or Democrat, as a very formidable candidate for 2016.”

Yeah, you see, John, that Benghazi thing isn't going away.  But beyond that can anyone give me one sterling accomplishment during Hillary's tenure as SecState?  Just one?  I'm not asking for three, or four.  Just one?

I've got nothing.

The New Stamp

Folks are telling me that the US Postal Service is rolling out a new Forever stamp to commemorate the rollout of Obamacare.

Hat Tip to The Cripple.

Line of Duty

Over at Pajamas Media, Bridget Johnson reports on the FBI crime report, specifically those officers killed in the line of duty.  She doesn't provide a link, but we can assume that she's quoting directly from the report.

The FBI reported this morning that 95 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in 2012, while 52,901 were assaulted while on the job.

That's 95 too many, and while some of those were killed in accidents, a substantial portion of those were not.

 “Of the 48 officers feloniously killed, 12 were killed in arrest situations, eight were investigating suspicious persons or circumstances, eight were conducting traffic pursuits/stops, six were ambushed, five were involved in tactical situations, and four were answering disturbance calls. Three of the slain officers were handling, transporting, or maintaining custody of prisoners; one was conducting an investigative activity, such as surveillance, searches, or interviews; and one officer was killed while handling a person with a mental illness,” the FBI said. “Offenders used firearms to kill 44 of the 48 victim officers. Of these 44 officers, 32 were slain with handguns, seven with rifles, and three with shotguns. The type of firearm used was not reported in the deaths of two officers. Two officers were killed with vehicles used as weapons, one with personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.), and one with a knife.”

It's appalling to look at the numbers, and it's even more appalling when you carry a brother to his final resting place.  We deplore the deaths, yet we look on them as a natural hazard of the job.  I could expound at length about the hazards of the job, but many of them are the same hazards that Americans face every day.  As I am nearing the autumn of my career, I have an assignment that's pretty quiet, fairly sedentary, and provides plenty of time for assessment.  People tell me every day, "Man, I'd love to have your job."

Depending on my attitude at the time, and the person I'm talking to, I might reply that it takes 30 years behind the badge to get a job like this.  Or, I might just say, "Yeah, it's a great job, right up until the instant when it isn't.  Then, it becomes a terrible job, real quick."

Rest in Peace, brothers.  You've passed the watch and can rest quietly.  The rest of us will be here watching.  Keep the coffee hot.  We'll get there eventually.

In the Game Cam

We put a game camera on the little acreage that the family owns and caught some pictures of a really stunning deer.  About 200 yards behind Momma's house.

That's one of several that's using the feeder.  He's often joined by a younger 6 point.  And a couple of does.  Rut hasn't started yet, but we have at least two big bucks using the feeder.

Sunday Morning Dawg

Hunting for the cat.

The cat's over here.

He's not a very good hunting dog.  But we knew that when we got him.

From the Stand

No, I didn't make meat this morning, but I spent several enjoyable hours in the deer stand.  Here's what I see when I'm sitting there.

I'm sitting in a chair, looking at that shadowed area down the pipeline.  The rifle is sitting on a bag on the window ledge.  If Bambi walks out, I'm ready to convert him to venison.  This isn't hard hunting, indeed, some would say that it's not hunting at all.  It's deer shooting, but it's a real common way of turning deer hide into food.

Milady and I have plans for two Halloween parties tonight, and I have to be ready to party, so I think I'll get a nap.  If you'll excuse me, my easy chair is calling me.

Final Prep

I could talk about politics, but that's so gauche when the hunting season is upon us.  I've got the truck partially loaded, and the final gear stacked by the door.  Checking my list to make sure I don't forget anything.

Goatwhiskers reminds me in comments earlier to not forget cartridges.  Good call, Goatwhiskers, but when I posted that the cartridges were already on the butt of the rifle.  There are nine in an elastic Allen cartridge holder and those nine should see me through the season.

I did leave my day-ruck off the list and it's going in the truck.  Things like a handheld GPS, a pair of Nikon binocs, a fawn bleat can call, a roll of toilet paper, some small wire-ties for affixing deer tags, and a small first aid kit.  All that will be left to do tomorrow will be to get my part of the noon meal out of the fridge, throw the day ruck into the truck, and fill my thermos.

I'll let y'all know tomorrow how it turns out.

Participation

When you're talking unemployment, it is instructive to remember that by definition, you can be unemployed for only a limited amount of time.  Once you exceed that time your unemployment benefits lapse and you drop off the rolls of the unemployed.  So, if a bazillion people lose their jobs, stay unemployed until their benefits run out, and still don't find a job, they're not unemployed any longer.

Courtesy of the Cajun, we find a little graph that shows labor force participation.  It's instructive because even if the official unemployment numbers get better, we see that there are a hell of a lot of people out of work.

Very instructive.  When our President first took office, the labor force participation rate stood at about 66%.  Now it's down to less than 64%.  We've lost a lot of people in the labor force, and many of those have part-time jobs thanks to our President's policies.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to leave this computer and get ready to go to work.  I'm one of the lucky 63% who gets up and goes to work every day.

Prepping

The regular gun season of our deer season starts Saturday, and I'm prepping.

Rifle, check
Carry bag, check
Deer stand, prepped and ready.
Fuel in truck, check
Coleman stove, check
My portion of the camp breakfast, check.
License and tags, check

I guess I'm ready.  We do breakfast at the hunting camp differently than most.  Everyone on the club lives nearby, so we'll get up at our houses and go directly to the stand on Saturday morning.  After the morning hunt, we'll meet at the camp, sometime about 10:00, and cook a big breakfast.  Oh, there will be biscuits and eggs, and sausage, and bacon, and who knows what else might show up there.  I'm bringing my Coleman stove and a skillet to cook eggs.  I'll probably be pressed into service to cook gravy as well.

If anybody gets lucky, we'll be dressing a deer.  If no one gets lucky, we'll tell lies, cook together, then say grace before the meal.  It's part and parcel of the camp cooking tradition.  We give thanks to our Maker for the woods, and the smoke, and the fire.

If you need me before noon on Saturday, I'll be in the woods.  I'll be home sometime in the early afternoon.

Quick Mixed Veggie Soup

On those busy days where you don't have time to cook, it's good to have a couple of recipes that are filling, tasty, and quick.  Today I'm highlighting my quick vegetable soup.  There's almost nothing to it.

Quick Veggie Soup

1 bag Pictsweet Mixed Vegetables
One piece good port tasso
One can Rotel original tomatoes and chilis.
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Prep.
Cut up the tasso into 3/8th inch chunks.  In a large saucepan, combine water, tasso, mixed vegetables and Rotel tomatoes.  Add water. Salt and pepper to taste.  Cook on a simmer for an hour or so, or until you can't stand it any longer.

Serve with saltine crackers, or a good cornbread.  If you don't know how to make cornbread, this recipe is as good as any, and better than most.  I think I'll ask Milady to make a cornbread when she comes home.  Yeah, I can cook cornbread, but she makes a better one than I do.  And, she can make a small pone, where mine always fill a big skillet.

Confused Democrat

It seems that Representative Alan Grayson (D-somewhere) doesn't seem to know history.  He's conflated the Tea Party with the KKK.  Oh, yeah, he went there.

The only problem, Congressman, is that the KKK was Democrat, all the way down.  No Republicans of any stripe in the KKK.  No, sir, it was all Democrat.  I'd think that a US Representative would know that, and would stop bringing it up.  But as long as you bring it up, I'll be here to remind you.

America's Finances

Jon Gabriel, over at Freedom Works, puts up a great little graphic that explains America's fiscal problem.  Sure, we can pay down the deficit, but what are we going to do about all that debt?

Jon goes on to explain.

The analogy is imperfect, but imagine the green is your salary, the yellow is the amount you're spending over your salary, and the red is your Visa statement. Then imagine your spouse runs into the room and shouts, “great news honey, our fiscal crisis is over. We just got approved for a new MasterCard!” Your first call would be to a marriage counselor or a shrink.

Yes, the analogy is imperfect, but the numbers give you some idea of what we're facing.  As daunting as the deficit might be, we've got to work on the debt.  By this chart, America owes about 7 times what it takes in every year and the debt can be laid across several administrations, both Republican and Democratic.

This is a serious problem and requires serious debate from both sides.  We're going to have to tighten belts and slash the budget if we ever intend to put these numbers in balance.  Kicking the can down the road is not an option.